Was Mark Barron’s hit on Ben Roethlisberger a dirty one?

The Pittsburgh Steelers’ season might rest on the MRI results on Ben Roethlisberger’s left knee. But was the hit from St. Louis Rams safety Mark Barron dirty?

Barron came flying in on a blitz in the third quarter and appeared to hit Roethlisberger on or below his knee, causing him to crumple down and eventually be carted off the field.

No penalty was called on the hit.

In Rule 12, Section 2, Article 9 of the 2015 NFL playbook, this area of roughing the passer is described as such:

A rushing defender is prohibited from forcibly hitting in the knee area or below a passer who has one or both feet on the ground, even if the initial contact is above the knee. It is not a foul if the defender is blocked (or fouled) into the passer and has no opportunity to avoid him.

It further states two other caveats:

(1) A defender cannot initiate a roll or lunge and forcibly hit the passer in the knee area or below, even if he is being contacted by another player.
(2) It is not a foul if the defender swipes, wraps, or grabs a passer in the knee area or below in an attempt to tackle him.

Although the television broadcast does not show Barron from the start of the play, it appears he stumbled — and was not blocked — as he went in to make a play on Roethlisberger.

Was it a “lunge,” as described in the rule above? It appears it might have been. But dirty? Without context, it’s difficult to make that stretch. Former NFL vice president of officiating Mike Pereira, now an analyst for Fox, said the play should have warranted a penalty.

The NFL has taken greater lengths to protect quarterbacks in this situation. In the offseason after New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady suffered a torn ACL on a low hit from Baltimore Ravens safety Bernard Pollard in the 2008 season opener, the league’s competition committee changed the rules to add the below-the-knee hits language on penalizing hits by defenders who were not blocked into quarterbacks.