As if the Baltimore Ravens weren't reeling enough from Sunday's 17-10 AFC Championship Game loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, their opponent wasted no time whatsoever in piling on.
Immediately after the game, Chiefs offensive tackle Donovan Smith started an Instagram Live stream as his team celebrated its fourth Super Bowl appearance in five years. At the same time, a monitor in the Chiefs' locker room showed Ravens linebacker Roquan Smith speaking with reporters, which led to Donovan Smith relentlessly taunting his opponent with the same surname.
"Oh, look he's sad. Look at this sad a**,' Donovan Smith said, per the Daily Mail. "Be sad. Be sad. F***ing sad. 'Talking all that s***. He sad. Go cry. My fault, my language. I gotta check it.
"Ay that n**** can get dressed, I'm trying to get back home."
Sunday's game was incredibly chippy on both sides, with players getting in each other's faces before and throughout the match. Roquan and Donovan Smith (no relation) were frequently at each other's throats, and the fact that the former intentionally bulldozed another Chiefs lineman for a penalty to reset the downs late in the game certainly didn't help.
Days before the game, Roquan Smith downplayed the challenge of facing Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City offense, which likely played into Donovan Smith's jabs as well.
"We're going to get it done," Smith said. "That's the message. It's not about, 'Oh, this.' He puts his pants on just like any other quarterback. Yes, he's an elite quarterback, but at the end of the day, we're an elite defense, and that's our job – to stop the opposing offense. That's our job, play in and play out, and that's what we've got to do."
Roquan Smith is a notable trash-talker as well, as he even chirped Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud during a Divisional Round matchup a week earlier. He can certainly dish it out, but now that the Ravens are going home, he's on the receiving end this time.
More must-reads: