Darrell Taylor fined for late hit in Lions game

Taylor thought he had recorded a sack and a great hit, but the officials and league office had other news for him.

The Seattle Seahawks emerged from Ford Field in Week 2 with a 37-31 overtime victory over the Detroit Lions, giving the Hawks their first win of the season ahead of a return home to face the Carolina Panthers. The revamped Seattle defensive front entered the game having failed to record a sack in the season opening loss to the Los Angeles Rams, and entering the fourth quarter had failed to take down Lions quarterback Jared Goff.

The Hawks finally got their first sack of the season with just under nine minutes left when cornerback Tre Brown took down Goff.

On the next play Goff then threw an errant pass that Brown intercepted and returned for a score to give Seattle a ten point lead.

On the first play after the pick six, the Lions came back and ran a play that got the ball quickly to the motioning receiver, a fact Darrell Taylor completely failed to observe on his way to obliterating an unsuspecting Jared Goff.

The hit drew immediate flags from both officials, and Saturday afternoon it drew a fine of $11,957 from the league office.

It’s not the first time Taylor’s lack of awareness put him in violation of the rulebook, as it was in Week 12 of the 2022 season that he famously ran onto the field against the Las Vegas Raiders in celebration of a Quandre Diggs interception without realizing the play was not over. Not wanting to draw attention, Taylor did the only logical thing and joined the procession of Seahawks players blocking for Diggs during his interception return.

In any case, it’s on to Week 3 and the Carolina Panthers Sunday at Lumen Field.