The reason why is was called targeting was because he lowered his head and hit him with the crown of his helmet. If he keeps his head up the whole way he probably doesn't get the penalty. Gotta see what you are hitting now.
So the defender can snap his own neck on the tackle?
Again, never played myself...but I think we've reached a point where the tackling in football and the rules of football are so unaligned that players can't play the game.