ORCHARD PARK, NY – NOVEMBER 08: DK Metcalf #14 of the Seattle Seahawks on the field before a game against the Buffalo Bills at Bills Stadium on November 8, 2020 in Orchard Park, New York. (Photo by Timothy T Ludwig/Getty Images)
A Cardinals defender had the wise idea to try to fight DK Metcalf.
DK Metcalf caught an early touchdown for the Seattle Seahawks and continues to be a dominant force Thursday night against the Arizona Cardinals defense, and it’s safe to say he’s in their heads.
One Cardinals defender, Dre Kirkpatrick, had the wise idea to try to fight the intimidating receiver. That idea went poorly and also resulted in a penalty that set up a Carlos Hyde touchdown.
A terrible plan of action
Who knows what was said, but clearly Kirkpatrick was angry at Metcalf. Still, this gave the Seahawks 15 free yards and had no positive outcome.
Why would anyone want to fight Metcalf? You aren’t going to win. Plus this was clearly going to result in a penalty and Kirkpatrick’s teammates were shown on the sidelines basically pleading with him to be smarter. They also don’t want to be forced into a fight against the super-human that is Metcalf.
The extra yardage put the Seahawks in the red zone and Hyde punched it in two plays later to make the score 23-14 in favor of Seattle. This is a critical divisional game and every negative play can be a killer. This was no exception.
The Cardinals are now forced into attempting a fourth-quarter comeback and still have to contend with Metcalf and Russell Wilson the rest of the game too. The wisest move will be to focus all the fighting energy on finding a way to slow the receiver down. That will actually help the team’s chances of winning.
NFL games get heated, that is no secret. But the moment penalties get called is when coaches and teammates have to calm that player down and force him to focus on the true task at hand. Also, a good word of advice is not to challenge the most physically-gifted player on the opposing team to a fight.