Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes has been absolutely ridiculous thus far in the playoffs and all of Kansas City is hoping that he can continue that type of play when they face the 49ers in Super Bowl 54.
How should a defense try to slow him down? Your guess is as good as mine, because right now it looks like he can’t be stopped.
But Mike Florio, the owner/founder of ProFootball Talk, offered his thoughts on how to defend Mahomes and he took it to a pretty careless level. While talking with Peter King, Florio suggested the 49ers “send a message” with some late hits either while he’s near the sideline are already in his slide.
For real.
Florio started off by saying, “I want to be careful here, because I’m not suggesting they try to knock him out of the game. That’s not what I’m saying.”
That is just rich, because he then immediately went to being the opposite of careful:
At a certain point you trade the risk of 15 yards if you can send a message. And football is still a physical, violent game. If you can hit him – even if it’s close to sideline, even if he’s started his slide – when the championship is riding on it I think it’s a different analysis. And yeah, we may give up 15 yards or half the distance to the goal line. I mean, that’s the thing Peter, if somebody had blown up Patrick Mahomes inside the 5, OK, it goes from the 4 to the 2, big deal. So again, I’m not saying that should be part of the deliberate effort but the Super Bowl is riding on it. And if this guy’s going to think he can just run through the defense without any physical consquence, they need to dispel him of that notion the first time he tries.
Hitting quarterbacks is fine and part of the game, but suggesting the 49ers take some late hits to “send a message” is pretty silly and dangerous.
Here’s the video of Florio laying out this game plan:
@ProFootballTalk is encouraging late hits with the possibility of taking Mahomes out of the game. pic.twitter.com/wUV3vYSnPC
— Thee AB (@AB_3127) January 23, 2020
He later tried to couch it with this:
Some Chiefs fans are getting a little riled up about the obvious reality that 49ers defensive players may choose to hit Patrick Mahomes hard if he chooses to abandon all quarterback protections and run the ball https://t.co/pR4h2kBls8
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) January 23, 2020
Which nobody bought:
You guys turn around and write this BS article @ProFootballTalk like a video/audio doesn’t exist of Florio advocating for Mahomes getting hit late out of bounds or while sliding to send him a message instead of doing the right thing and just apologizing #ClickBait https://t.co/kQKlI6pjKR
— Jeffstradamus (@JeffAllen71) January 23, 2020
“Some Chiefs fans are getting a little riled up about the obvious reality that I, Mike Florio, suggested that the 49ers should consider taking dirty hits on Mahomes to try to knock him out of the game at the expense of a called personal foul. I am a victim and not an instigator.” https://t.co/BwRLSQLCmm
— Platinum Sombrero (@platinombrero) January 23, 2020
Ah, the old Keitzman "you misunderstood what I said" defense. Florio blatantly advocated headhunting Mahomes. He said it was a good idea with little downside. That is indisputable and unconscionable. He owes a public apology and needs to be suspended.
— Dennis Boyer (@dboyekc) January 23, 2020
“At a certain point you trade the risk of 15yds” this is #1 NFL Twitter Clown @ProFootballTalk (Mike Florio) suggesting Niners take cheap shots at @PatrickMahomes — yeah real good take Mike guess you haven’t paid attention to CTE issues lately you POS pic.twitter.com/xcI9JEx43D
— IB 🔌 (@incarceratedbob) January 23, 2020
I'm not advocating for Mike Florio's show to be canceled, just saying that would "send a message" and it would "be worth" watching his backtracking ass shut down.
Damn right I'm "riled up."— AnonymousGamer (@Anonymo12869076) January 23, 2020
You literally advised them to hit him late and swallow the 15 yard late hit penalties. It was lame in the first place, but to double down on it is, well, Florio-level lame https://t.co/6PV9rUFRz0
— Ryan Landreth (@ryan_landreth) January 23, 2020
Probably because Mike Florio was advocating for Mahomes to get hit hard late out of bounds or get hit when he starts to slide giving himself up. He wasn’t talking about legal hits https://t.co/l2Qi8yuHeu
— Steven Kent (@CowsinSpace87) January 23, 2020
SF 49ers: okay how do we stop Mahomes this week?
Mike Florio: you know guys Football is an inherently violent game so hit him right in the forehead with a crowbar. Not to injure him tho check the record I never said that the full quote is in the article as you can se-
— cs (@94tilinfinite) January 23, 2020
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