NFL's latest decision on Chargers star defender won't help the Chiefs beat favoritism claims
The NFL has made it clear they don't much care for optics when it comes to sweeping claims of favoritism regarding the Kansas City Chiefs. Before the Chiefs' Week 4 tilt with the Los Angeles Chargers, the NFL announced that Chargers star safety Derwin James had been suspended for one game without pay for repeat violations […]
The NFL has made it clear they don't much care for optics when it comes to sweeping claims of favoritism regarding the Kansas City Chiefs.
Before the Chiefs' Week 4 tilt with the Los Angeles Chargers, the NFL announced that Chargers star safety Derwin James had been suspended for one game without pay for repeat violations of league rules related to player health and safety. He'll miss the upcoming matchup with Kansas City as a result.
This suspension comes after James made forcible contact with Pittsburgh Steelers TE Pat Freiermuth by lowering his head in their Week 3 game.
“Your continued disregard for NFL playing rules will not be tolerated," NFL Vice President of Football Operations Jon Runyan wrote in a letter to James. "Substantial penalties are warranted when players violate the rules intended to protect player safety on a repeated basis, particularly when the violations carry with them a significant risk of injury to an opposing player.”
The suspension is warranted as James has been flagged for seven unnecessary roughness penalties during his NFL career, which ranks second-most in the league since the 2018 NFL season. There is no indication that James will appeal the suspension from the NFL.
The timing of the suspension doesn't look great ahead of an AFC West game with two teams currently atop the division standings. To make matters worse, the VP of Football Ops played for Chiefs HC Andy Reid in Philadelphia from 2000-2008. It all gives the Chiefs' detractors and conspiracy theorists more ammunition to say that the NFL plays favorites with the back-to-back Super Bowl champions beyond a simple case of poor officiating.
This decision on James comes as Los Angeles is in the middle of some classic snake-bitten injury luck. The Chargers are already expected to be without their starting left and right tackle in Week 4 against the Chiefs. Joey Bosa is unlikely to play with a hip injury. Justin Herbert has an ankle injury that saw him in a walking boot after their Week 3 game.
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