The NFL is a battlefield. Some players dish it out, others take the hits, and the toughest players do both. On one side, you’ve got beasts like Will Campbell vowing to “die” protecting his quarterback; on the other, you’ve got his teammate, linebacker Christian Elliss, launching himself at opposing players. We get it. The adrenaline rush is sky-high as the league enters its final stretch. But his collisions have raised many eyebrows even within the NFL itself, especially after the recent game against the Giants.

ESPN’s Linda Cohn wasn’t holding back when she wrote, “I thought the NFL wanted to eliminate hits to the head?! No flag. Of course. But honestly, can you blame her?

She questioned the NFL after Elliss came at Giants returner Gunner Olszewski with a brutal helmet-to-helmet shot in the second quarter. This hit was so violent that it literally chipped the paint and decals off Olszewski’s helmet, left him shaken, and forced him off the field. And somehow there was no flag. Not a single one. Surprisingly, this wasn’t just a one-off; it’s this season.

During the Broncos and Commanders’ week 13 clash, Broncos rookie QB Bo Nix got blasted with a dangerous helmet-to-helmet hit from Commanders’ linebacker Frankie Luvu late in the game. No flag there either…but plenty of outrage. The league is reportedly investigating the matter for possible disciplinary violations, but that’s the part that has left many scratching their heads. We’ve seen it, the NFL keeps pushing for “player safety first,” yet these hits keep slipping through the cracks.

This season only, players like Baltimore‘s Marlon Humphrey were fined for a helmet-to-helmet clash with the Chicago Bears‘ Olamide Zaccheaus. Earlier this year, Javonte Williams and Saquon Barkley were slapped with fines of around $45,000 for leading with the helmet, even when the officials swallowed the whistle during the game.

So Elliss isn’t just under the spotlight for the helmet-to-helmet clash against Olszewski; it is shining brightly on him, combining his brutal clash with the Giants’ rookie Jaxson Dart.

Christian Elliss faces backlash over post-game comments on the “Dart incident”

It wasn’t like Elliss wasn’t under less scrutiny after a violent clash with Olszewski and Dart. But the linebacker intensified the heat after his recent comments on the clash against Dart.

“Make sure to slide,” he said during his postgame press conference after the Patriots’ 33-15 victory. “During the play, I saw him scramble. Started chasing him down, he started tip-toeing on the sideline. I thought he was just going to go out of bounds, but then I saw him tip-toeing, so I was like, ‘Stay in bounds.’ I mean, what am I supposed to do? We play hard on defense. We try to bring life to this team. That’s all I was trying to do — do my job and hit anything in the whites.”

Elliss made a jaw-dropping, textbook hit on Giants QB Jaxson Dart on Monday night. Dart was scrambling down the sideline on second-and-13, looking for a first down instead of stepping out. Elliss met him with shoulder to shoulder, launching the rookie out of bounds.

The hit sparked chaos on the field with Giants tight end Theo Johnson firing back at Elliss. After the game, Elliss tried to shrug it off, but two brutal hits that arguably should’ve been flagged, the Giants’ supporters are still hungry for some “justice.”