Lions' Dominic Raiola admits dirty hit
Foxborough, Mass. — Upset that the Patriots tacked on a touchdown late in the fourth quarter, Lions center Dominic Raiola took a cheap shot at a Patriots player on the final play of the game Sunday.
Trailing 34-9 with 17 seconds left, the Lions conceded defeat by taking a knee, but after snapping the ball, Raiola dove at the legs of defensive lineman Zach Moore.
"I cut him," Raiola said. "We took a knee, so I cut the nose (tackle). They went for a touchdown at 2 minutes; they could've took three knees and the game could've been over.
"It's football. If you want to keep playing football, let's play football. No big deal."
But the Patriots thought it was kind of a big deal, and nose tackle Vince Wilfork took issue with Raiola's dive, though he didn't see the play as it happened.
"I just heard what happened, but that was stupid," Wilfork said. "You're taking a knee. They'd get mad if we were just to blow up one of their players, so it's just uncalled for.
"But at the same time, you always have to protect yourself, so you always have to play with your neck on a swivel and being alert for 60 minutes. And it came down to it today on a bonehead play like that, but luckily no one got hurt and we can move on."
The Patriots scored on a 1-yard touchdown run by LeGarrette Blount with 1:57 remaining in the fourth quarter, but that was only after a Lions penalty nullified a 20-yard field goal by Stephen Gostkowski.
On the field goal, the officials gave Lions defensive tackle C.J. Mosley a personal foul for hitting the snapper with his helmet, resulting in an automatic first down at the 1.
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