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The Super Bowl trash-talking is underway, with Nick Bosa firing the first shots.
The 2022 Defensive Player of the Year took aim at the Kansas City Chiefs offensive line during the bye week.
What did Nick Bosa say about the Chiefs’ O-line?
San Francisco 49ers defensive end Nick Bosa says he notices a lot of penalties when examining game film on the Chiefs’ O-line.
The four-time Pro Bowler was asked recently to assess Chiefs offensive tackles, Donovan Smith and Jawaan Taylor.
“They hold a lot,” said Bosa.
That’s the first form of trash-talking from either Super Bowl participant heading into next week and some bulletin board material for Andy Reid.
According to nflpenalties.com, Taylor received more flags than any offensive lineman in 2023, with eight of his 20 penalties for holding.
Smith, meanwhile, had five penalties against him, four of which were holding calls.
There were 30 offensive holding calls against the Chiefs in 2023, with KC losing 286 yards.
They had 11 more offensive penalties than their subsequent most significant infraction, which again concerned the O-line, specifically false starts.
The league average for offensive holding penalties in 2023 was 18, with KC well above that mark.
Meanwhile, their 19 false starts are right around the NFL average this season of 19.84.
Per ESPN, KC’s been flagged for 10 penalties this post-season for 90 yards.
Half of them (5/10) were offensive holding violations, and three came in their AFC Championship victory over the Baltimore Ravens.
Trey Smith had two of those penalties, with Taylor taking the other.
What the 49ers owner said about the Chiefs’ blockers?
Bosa isn’t the first 49er to complain about the Chiefs’ holding.
Niners owner Jed York is still sour about the officiating when his team lost to KC in Super Bowl LIV.
“I remember Nick Bosa getting held on third-and-long and that not getting called” said York.
That play resulted in a 44-yard passing play from Patrick Mahomes to Tyreek Hill, with San Fran leading 20-10 at that stage with seven minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.
The Chiefs stormed back to win 31-20, their second Super Bowl victory at that time.
Their only offensive holding penalty in that game came from Byron Pringle.
The most controversial call of that Super Bowl came when refs flagged Niners tight end George Kittle for offensive pass interference, negating a 42-yard gain before half-time.
In the previous meeting between the Niners and Chiefs during the 2022 regular season, there were four offensive holding calls against KC.
One came from Joe Thuney, with Trey Smith, Jody Fortson and Andrew Wylie being the culprits.
Niner fans won’t be happy knowing who the referee will be for next Sunday’s big game.
Bill Vinovich will officiate his third Super Bowl, with his previous one being when the Chiefs and Niners faced off for the Lombardi Trophy.
Super Bowl XLIX was the first one he officiated, with the New England Patriots defeating the Seattle Seahawks thanks to a Malcolm Butler interception on Russell Wilson.