Rule 12, Section 2, Article 8 (Unnecessary roughness) in the NFL rulebook

(j) any player who grabs a helmet opening of an opponent and forcibly twists, turns, or pulls his head.

Penalty: For unnecessary roughness: Loss of 15 yards. The player may be disqualified if the action is judged by the official(s) to be flagrant.

Note: If in doubt about a roughness call or potentially dangerous tactics, the covering official(s) should always call unnecessary roughness.

Play in question,

A.P. is running and is tackled by his helmet for a 4 yard loss in the Playoff game Saturday Night. No flag was thrown when the rule clearly states it is unnecessary roughness. I'm pretty sure the Tackler had to "PULL His Head" in order to get Peterson on the ground. We had enough problems with the fact we were without our stating QB and then you add in the Refs. It was a wonder we keep it as close as it was.

Tommy - VIKINGS Fan for Life!!