NFL Insider Ari Meirov noted that the Week 8 game between the Seattle Seahawks and the Chicago Bears was going to be “real physical” right at the beginning of the game. And he was right! Bodies clashed within the first minute of a contest that eventually ended in a 34-17 blowout victory for Chicago. But the real concern came when there was just over four minutes left in the first quarter.

The Bears were leading 7-0 during a third-and-eight play for the Seahawks. Quarterback Sam Darnold decided to make a rushing play. However, the play was cut short when Bears linebacker Devin Bush came sliding in to stop the quarterback’s scramble. Darnold was already going down when the Bears’ number 12 slammed into him.

“#Bears LB Devin Bush just obliterated Sam Darnold and got away without a penalty,” Ari Meirov noted. 

Bush’s hit targeted Darnold’s head and neck area after he had begun to slide, meeting the criteria for unnecessary roughness. Even the broadcasters believed that the hit would draw the yellow flag. But the Bears linebacker escaped the penalty. Soon after the visuals went viral on social media, fans and professionals began criticizing the rules officials for letting the linebacker go unpunished. 

“I’m surprised replay assist didn’t jump in on the Devin Bush hit on Sam Darnold. Seemed pretty clear,” Sr. NFL reporter Albert Breer wrote. 

Needless to say, fans slammed the referees, claiming that it was an obvious penalty. The officials could have flagged Bush for unnecessary roughness under Rule 12, Section 2, Article 8(d) of the NFL Rulebook, which prohibits a defender from diving or throwing his body against a runner who has slid or taken a knee. Rule 7, Section 2, Article 1(d)(2) also establishes when a sliding runner is considered down. The penalty would have cost Chicago 15 yards and given Seattle an automatic first down.

NFL analyst Jason McIntyre was stunned to see that Darnold didn’t suffer a concussion after the hit and gave his thoughts on the physicality the Bears are bringing: “Sam Darnold took a VIOLENT hit. Bears out here sending a message early. No idea how Darnold wasn’t concussed. Refs are swallowing the flags tonight.”

McIntyre’s disbelief hits at the core of why this missed call sparked such immediate outrage. NFL rules explicitly state that a quarterback is granted defenseless player protection the moment they initiate a slide to give themselves up, legally obligating defenders to avoid forcible contact, especially to the head and neck area. Historically, the league has been fiercely protective of signal-callers, throwing flags even when defenders appear to be making clean, split-second plays.

That strict protection is precisely what made the silence of the officials’ whistles on Devin Bush’s hit so baffling. However, an on-field miss doesn’t mean Bush is completely off the hook. The NFL has established a clear precedent of issuing retroactive fines during post-game tape reviews. Just recently, the league admitted to an officiating blunder in the Detroit Lions’ 20-17 win over the Green Bay Packers, penalizing Lions safety Brian Branch $23,882 for an unflagged head-to-head hit on tight end Tucker Kraft.

Bush now finds himself walking that same tightrope, with the league’s standard first-offense fine for a hit on a defenseless player set at $17,911. If the NFL chooses to escalate punishment, there is major precedent to back it up. During the 2024 season, Houston Texans linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair delivered a brutal blow to the head and neck of Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence as he initiated a feet-first slide.

That hit resulted in a severe concussion for Lawrence, but unlike the blown call on Darnold, officials ejected Al-Shaair on the spot. The league followed up with a multi-game suspension that cost Al-Shaair $264,705.88 in lost salary. The NFL has made it abundantly clear that protecting its franchise quarterbacks is a top priority, which is exactly why watching Bush walk off the field without a single penalty flag ignited an immediate firestorm across the football world.

Fans slam officiating failure after reckless no-call

“That was a penalty, easy call, refs s**k s***,” one fan wrote. “I can’t think of more text book late hit,” another fan added. 

Meanwhile, a few others expressed their concerns for the Seahawks’ quarterback. Judging by the impact, Bush could have seriously injured Darnold. After all, the hit affected the quarterback’s neck and head area. But Darnold brushed it off and went on with the game. 

“Late or not, still went for the head and neck,” a fan wrote. 

Even Chicago Bears fans couldn’t defend a reckless hit to the head and neck area that easily could have sent Seattle’s signal-caller to the blue medical tent. 

“I am a Bears fan and that should of been a flag no doubt for that hit,” one fan commented. 

For a league that routinely flags defenders for grazing a quarterback’s helmet inside the pocket, the fact that Bush obliterated a sliding Darnold without drawing a single whistle on Monday Night Football is certainly a tough pill to swallow. But the NFL might put a hefty fine on the linebacker after the game.