Report: NFL officials have missed every hip-drop penalty entering Week 8

According to the report, Smith is facing a $16,883 fine because it's his first offense of the new rule, though he could appeal the decision.

Jones wrote that the NFL has determined that the hip-drop tackle has an injury rate "20-25 times higher than that of other tackles" after spending "more than a year monitoring the play and coming up with how to define it so that it could be legislated out of the game."

While Smith was penalized by way of his wallet eventually, it's a concerning development that officials are struggling so mightily to identify the hip-drop tackle through the first half of the campaign.

The illegal move is supposed to lead to a 15-yard penalty and automatic first down, though, as Jones noted, it's "possible other tackles in Week 7 were deemed hip-drop tackles, which would increase the total."

His report noted that sources predicted over the summer that there wouldn't be many hip-drop tackle penalties called, due largely because it's tricky to officiate the play "with so many elements in real time."

Another notable instance of the hip-drop tackle not being called came in Week 2 on "Sunday Night Football," when Houston Texans star running back Joe Mixon was taken down by Chicago Bears linebacker T.J. Edwards.

The one-time Pro Bowler suffered an ankle injury and missed three games as a result of the play. Edwards was eventually fined $16,883, but Mixon blasted the NFL multiple times after the missed call.