Jared Allen Fined For Hit On Lance Louis

In something that we pretty much should have expected, Minnesota Vikings' defensive end Jared Allen was fined for his hit on Chicago Bears' offensive lineman Lance Louis in Sunday's 28-10 Vikings' loss. The amount of the fine was $21,000.

For those of you that might have missed it, here's the hit.

Yes, it's an illegal hit. It wasn't helmet-to-helmet or anything like that, since Allen led with his shoulder pad. But the second that Allen left his feet, it became illegal.

The hit happened on an interception return by Antoine Winfield in the third quarter of the game, a play that led to the Vikings' only touchdown of the afternoon.

Again, I'm not surprised that Allen got fined for the hit, as it's illegal by the rules. I will point out, however, that we get stuff like this that happens on special teams all the time, and nobody says anything about it. (If you don't believe me, you can ask Cullen Loeffler, whose 2011 season was ended by a "douchpickling" in Atlanta that looked a lot like this one.)

The hit also ended Louis' season, as he suffered a torn ACL on the play. Obviously not Allen's intention, but it happened none the less.