The Arizona Cardinals lost to the Tennessee Titans on Sunday in part because a player decided to drop the ball before crossing the goal line, and Greg Olsen thinks he knows how coaches can prevent that from happening in the future.
Cardinals running back Emari Demercado exploded for what looked like a 73-yard touchdown run that was going to give his team a 27-6 lead over the Titans early in the fourth quarter at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz. Instead, he began celebrating early and dropped the ball just before it broke the plane. Replays showed that Demercado fumbled, which resulted in a touchback for the Titans.
Tennessee then came back to win 22-21 with the help of another wild play.
Olsen discussed Demercado’s fumble during a Monday morning appearance on FS1’s “Wake Up Barstool.” The former Pro Bowl tight end and FOX analyst said coaches need to start ordering players to keep the ball secured until they get back to the sideline.
“I don’t know why guys have the need to drop the ball,” Olsen said. “If I was a head coach, I’d be like, ‘If you don’t run with the ball to the sideline and keep it tucked until you get there, I’m just gonna cut you.’
“There’s probably a lot of ways you could do it. Everyone says, ‘Oh, cut him.’ But then, it’s like what happens if it’s Derrick Henry? Not that I think he would do it, but there’s always rules for some and not always everybody.”
Olsen added that he feels players spend too much time thinking about their touchdown celebrations.
“I think a big part of this is for a lot of these guys, you see it with a lot of young guys, they spend so much time during the week thinking through if I score, what am I gonna do?” Olsen said. “Run through the end zone, pat your teammates on the helmet, run to the sideline, get your high-fives and go try to win the game. Get ready to go play the next possession. I’m a little bit more old school with that. I have zero patience for the rest of the nonsense.”
Demercado was the second player in as many weeks to cost his team by dropping the ball before he crossed the goal line. Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Adonai Mitchell did almost the exact same thing when his team was trailing 13-10 in the second half against the Los Angeles Rams in Week 4. The Colts went on to lose 27-20.
It is beyond inexcusable to lose a game in the NFL because of a play like that, yet it seems to happen year after year. Some coaches might eventually resort to Olsen’s approach.
