Is This Seriously a Penalty Now? [UPDATE]

The Hall of Fame Game is this evening and while it’s glorious to have football back in our lives, this is the first game of the helmet rule and if this is a 15-yard penalty now the sport is going to be very different:

Playing safety is effectively illegal in today's NFL. Penalty. pic.twitter.com/YmotYfLyzT
— Sam Monson (@PFF_Sam) August 3, 2018

Bears defensive back Nick Orr made what used to be a great play, lowering his head and diving into the Ravens receiver’s chest to dislodge the ball. When he was analyzing the play, Cris Collinsworth was under the belief that this is a penalty under the new helmet rules.

If that is really a penalty, it is going to take a lot of getting used to and there will be a lot of justified complaining about it along the way.

UPDATE: Terry McAulay, who is NBC’s rules analyst now, thinks this was a missed call:

Don’t think the hit in the end zone was a foul. Called a hit on defenseless receiver and not use of the helmet. Didn’t see forcible contact to the head or neck area.
— Terry McAulay (@tjmcaulay) August 3, 2018

Thus concludes the first chapter of what will surely be a novel entitled Nobody Understands the NFL Helmet Rule.