Cole Beasley gets lit up by Kentrell Brice (Video)

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 10:29 p.m. ET

Fansided, John Buhler/Fansided

Dallas Cowboys slot receiver Cole Beasley gets leveled on this hit from Green Bay Packers free safety Kentrell Brice. Should Brice have been flagged?

Cole Beasley has had a great season for the 2016 Dallas Cowboys as their slot receiver. He has been a huge reason that rookie quarterback Dak Prescott has come along just fine in his first year as a starter. Having a reliable wideout in the flats in Beasley has helped Prescott become a serious NFL MVP candidate.

Late in the second quarter, Prescott would find Beasley in the middle of the field for a big gain. Beasley would get absolutely wrecked by Green Bay Packers free safety Kentrell Brice. Should Brice have been assessed a penalty on this hit?

Shake it off @Bease11! Toughness knows no size. #GBvsDAL pic.twitter.com/9aDWrNcrks

— Dallas Cowboys (@dallascowboys) January 15, 2017

While college football has something called a targeting penalty, the NFL does not. However, the NFL will assess penalties on hits to the helmet with the overarching unnecessary roughness penalty.

Could Brice have been flagged for this hit on Beasley? Potentially, but having Beasley pop up as quick as he did didn’t help him get his team extra yards on a penalty. Had he have stayed on the ground after the hit, it would have been all the more likely that the officials would have littered the field with yellow flags.

That being said, Dallas needed to get points on that drive to keep pace with the Green Bay offense down 21-10. It was the fourth play of a 10-play drive that resulted in a made Dan Bailey 33-yard field goal. That drive helped get the Cowboys within eight points of the Packers at halftime.

Beasley took a huge hit on this play, but his ability to get up from this strike from Brice should have the Cowboys feeling confident about leaning on his pass catching abilities in the second half.