re: 49ers' Ahmad Brooks calls the flag "bull$hit"

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Maybe he could have flown into New Orleans' backfield and gotten away with pulling the Saints' backup quarterbacks Luke McCown or Ryan Griffin to the ground, separating them from the ball with a forearm smash.

But not Brees.

Not when that arm was placed so high on Brees' body as to look like a blow to the neck or even the head.

"Yup," one Niners pass rusher mumbled when the question of the Brees star treatment was asked of Brooks.

Hit Drew Brees close to the head, you're going to get a flag.

"I mean I'm going full speed and he is going full speed, and at the last second he ducked his shoulder, you know what I mean?" Brooks said. "I mean I don't think I could have done anything differently. I mean I could have tackled him lower but I'm running around quick and coming around the corner and I'm there trying to knock the ball out of his hands because I'm thinking he's going to throw the ball, but then he ducks his shoulder."

He had hit Brees on the chest. He hurled his forearm at a place right above the number and right below the neck.

"It was bs man," Brooks said as he stood in front of his locker.

This is the problem for pass rushers today. The NFL has become a quarterback league and the price for players who can break through the line and disrupt the best passers is huge. But the rise of the quarterback means the QB is all but packed in bubble wrap, protected by the officials to preserve his marketability.

Sometimes a hit that might not have drawn a flag against another quarterback will bring a penalty when the victim is Drew Brees.

Sometimes you have to understand this and still win the game.

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