It’s no surprise that when Las Vegas Raiders head coach Antonio Piece announced his strategy for managing Patrick Mahomes, he discovered a passionate fan in Skip Bayless.
Earlier in the week, Pierce made headlines with his appearance on the podcast “The Rush with Maxx Crosby. “During the podcast, Pierce explained his game strategy against Mahomes. He needs to see the Raiders take care of the Chiefs’ quarterback the way the Detroit Pistons took care of Michael Jordan three and a half decades ago: by being very physical.
Pierce lays out the concept that he needs his defense to consistently mistreat Mahomes on each and every play (a hit here, a hit there, after), anything that can be done to upset Mahomes and try to get into his head. Sure, he didn’t say the Raiders did anything outside the rules, and he didn’t go so far as to hint that there was some reward for the Super Bowl MVP, but it seemed like what he was expressing was doing it. It won’t necessarily be announced publicly.
Bayless wholeheartedly agrees with Pierce and even quoted Al Davis in a tweet, saying that quarterbacks want to be hit early and hard. He praised Pierce for his position.
There are some things wrong with all of this. First of all, while those kinds of methods have probably been around, in one form or another, since the beginning of football history, they are not regularly communicated in public. , after two years in which the NFL has hired more than 40 quarterbacks each season, is it a smart idea to communicate about being more physical with the most vital players on the field?Will that make officials pay more attention to the Raiders and their physical habit with Mahomes?
Finally, is it a smart idea to provide scoreboard equipment to Mahomes and Andy Reid?Let’s face it, the Chiefs were embarrassed by the Raiders on Christmas, but it’s also the spark that reshaped Kansas City’s season. They haven’t lost games.
Does Pierce claim that his strategy is the explanation for why his team crushed the Chiefs?Are you in a position to do so next season?
Bayless was simply Bayless and sold a hot plug. It’s not surprising. Fans know so far that if he can fan the flames, he will, but is he on the right side?Probably not.
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