Haloti Ngata flagged for controversial penalty on Robert Griffin III

The last thing a battered Ravens defense needs is Robert Griffin III receiving any undue help from the officials Sunday. But that's what seemed to occur on a

The last thing a battered Ravens defense needs is Robert Griffin III receiving any undue help from the officials Sunday. But that's what seemed to occur on a key first-quarter play.

On a 2nd-and-13 from the Washington 45, Griffin threw the ball away under pressure, drawing an intentional grounding flag. However, that penalty was offset by a roughing the passer penalty against Haloti Ngata for what was deemed a helmet-to-helmet hit.

But, was Ngata wrongly penalized? Here's the play in question, courtesy of SBNation:

The contact appeared much worse than it was because Griffin's helmet flew off when he hit the ground, an extraneous reaction that may have helped draw the flag. Ngata was also not late in getting to Griffin -- he drilled Washington's quarterback just as he released the pass:

Replays clearly show Haloti Ngata did not hit RG3 with the crown of his helmet. It was just a very hard push.

— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) December 9, 2012

Mike Pereira seemed to acknowledge that Ngata's hit wasn't to RGIII's helmet, but said it was close enough for the NFL.

It's crown of the helmet to the neck area. Close but they want that called on the Ngata hit. He likely will be fined.

— Mike Pereira (@MikePereira) December 9, 2012

Leonard Hankerson

Alfred Morris

Redskins