One of the under the radar stories to come out yesterday was that the NFL is considering a possible suspension for PIttsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison. He drilled Colt McCoy on a helmet-to-helmet hit that was guaranteed to get him at least a significant fine.
Now Harrison may face the first suspension under this increased enforcement on player safety violations. If the NFL does announce a suspension, that does not guarantee he sits out the 49ers game. There would undoubtedly be an appeal of the suspension and if it operates like many appeals, it would carry over for an undetermined amount of time.
The Steelers have a strong defense even without James Harrison, but it would be a tough loss for the Steelers. They were already without LaMarr Woodley this past week due to a hamstring injury. Woodley is no lock to play against the 49ers, although Jason Worilds filled in quite ably for Woodley. Nontheless, if Harrison and Woodley were both out, that would be 17 sacks on the bench. Given the 49ers struggles against strong pass rushes in recent weeks, that could be a momentum changer.
The NFL will discuss the issue a bit more today, so we likely will hear some sort of news at some point today, even if it is just anonymous sources.