NFL issues no fines in Chicago Bears nickel back Kyler Gordon’s face mask fracas with the Minnesota Vikings’ Brandon Powell
The NFL has weighed in on the skirmish in Monday night’s Chicago Bears game that broke nickel back Kyler Gordon’s face mask. Neither Gordon nor Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Brandon Powell was fined for the incident, with the league administering fines for only nine plays in Week 12.
In a bizarre sequence Monday, Gordon, after blocking Powell during a Jaylon Johnson interception return, was penalized 15 yards for what referee Alex Kemp originally announced as “unsportsmanlike conduct on No. 6 for taking his helmet off.” Kemp then clarified the penalty against Gordon as a taunting infraction.
Gordon tried to plead his case after the penalty was administered, holding up his helmet with the face mask partially detached. Replays showed Gordon’s initial block on Powell carried the two players into the Vikings bench, where a short tussle continued.
“I drove my dude into the benches and we just kind of got into it,” Gordon said. “Obviously it’s not cool getting driven back. He didn’t want to fall backwards so he pulled down on my face mask. It is what it is. Just football stuff.”
Gordon was surprised to learn he was flagged for taunting.
“I mean, it’s hard to taunt when someone is pulling your face mask down,” he said.
Gordon was penalized twice in Monday’s game; he also committed a 26-yard pass interference foul against Vikings tight end T.J. Hockenson late in the first half.
But the second-year cornerback also made two of the bigger defensive plays in the Bears’ 12-10 victory, stopping Hockenson a yard short of the line to gain on fourth-and-7 early in the third quarter and intercepting a tipped Joshua Dobbs pass for the last of four Bears takeaways.
Gordon was mic’d up by the Bears for the game, so his skirmish with Powell was fully documented.
