Kiko Alonso Needs To Be Suspended For Dirty Hit On Joe Flacco

Kiko Alonso’s brutal hit on Joe Flacco should earn him a suspension. The Miami Dolphins linebacker nailed the Baltimore Ravens quarterback with a cheap-shot after he went into a slide Thursday night. Flacco left the game with a concussion.

If you haven’t seen the hit, take a look below:

Alonso not only hit Flacco long after the quarterback gave himself up with a slide, he also lowered his shoulder right into a defenseless player’s helmet. He was flagged for a personal foul on the play but should have been ejected immediately.

You could argue that Flacco slid late and Alonso couldn’t avoid hitting him because of his momentum. I think that argument is dead wrong, but even if it were true, he still plowed his shoulder into Flacco’s head, which is illegal and unacceptable.

ESPN’s Kevin Seifert said the following about the play:

"The NFL’s definition for “flagrant” is “extremely objectionable, conspicuous, unnecessary, avoidable, or gratuitous.” That perfectly describes the hit that Dolphins LB Kiko Alonso put on Ravens QB Joe Flacco, driving his shoulder into Flacco’s helmet as Flacco gave himself up. referee John Parry should have ejected Alonso from this game. He didn’t, but it’s a good bet that the NFL will suspend him in the coming days."

I completely agree with Seifert’s assessment. It was an avoidable play and now Flacco has a concussion and could be out multiple weeks. This wasn’t incidental contact, it was a player actively head-hunting.

The league should suspend Alonso for several games as soon as possible. There is no place for that kind of hit in the NFL.