I literally wrote the NFL – I was furious that there wasn’t a fine/suspension placed on Mitchel by the next day. I recorded the game on my DVR, and I watched that facemask multiple times. No one could have missed that unless he had his back turned to the field. OFFICIALS – I’m talking to you. It doesn’t take 10 seconds to think that that maybe warranted a flag. And no one with an ounce of sincerity could have said it was “incidental.” It was a disgustingly cheap and dirty shot – plain and simple. If I were Sean Payton, Mitchell’s ass wouldn’t get a jersey and step foot on that field for several weeks. I get that football is a physical game, and that you should play with physicality and passion to help your team win. But play with some freaking dignity instead of trying to break Goodson’s neck. It is literally incredibly that Goodson was able to walk away from that. If the roles were reversed and a Panther did that to a Saints player, I’d be just as angry (I’ve only been watching the Panthers since shortly before Moore took over for Delhomme last season, but I can’t remeber a Panther taking that kind of shot during that time period). I want my team to win with pure talent and without resorting to that kind of crap.

Which reminds me of the commentators’ remarks about Brandon LaFell’s hit on special teams coverage earlier in the game. I can’t remember what player LaFell was blocking, but that Saints player was about to run into Goodson’s running lane. LaFell did his job, and he did it well. He lowered his shoulder into the Saints player’s shoulder. There was nothing remotely resembling near head contact. Yet the commentators had to say that players should avoid hits like that “out of respect for other players.” WTF? LaFell legitimately performed exactly as he was supposed to. Yet Mitchell’s grabbing of Goodson’s facemask and ripping his head down to the side was “incidental”?

Commentators and officials – try working on making your biases a little less obvious. Yeah, the Saints won the Super Bowl last year and are playing relatively well. But that doesn’t give them a free pass to play dirty. If they could play without shots like Mitchell took, I’d have some respect for that talent. But now I am disgusted by that team.

I don’t mean to anger any Saints fan’s who may happen to read this blog, but I’m calling it the way I honestly see it.