The Detroit Lions finally won their first playoff game in over 30 years, and it came at the expense of an old friend in Matthew Stafford, who, despite the Los Angeles Rams’ 24-23 loss, put up a performance that wouldn’t look out of place in a win. Making matters worse beyond the Rams’ season-ending loss, they also saw tight end Tyler Higbee suffer a torn MCL and ACL after a crunching tackle from Lions safety Kerby Joseph.
In the immediate aftermath of the play, the Rams quarterback was none too pleased with the way Joseph dove towards the legs of Higbee. Stafford immediately called the Lions safety out, saying that Joseph has had a pattern of recklessness on the field.
“Hey! That’s a good hit, but you’re dirty as f*** and you know it. It’s been on tape. I seen it,” Stafford was mic’d up as he confronted Joseph, via Ari Meirov of The 33rd Team.
Kerby Joseph is listed at 203 lbs., so it stands to reason that the Lions safety would want to put a bit more oomph into his tackles especially when coming up against powerful runners downfield. There’s a 50-pound or so disparity between Joseph and the Rams tight end, so Joseph had to dive low.
Alas, diving low should not be akin to taking out the knees of the opponent, which is what Matthew Stafford is decrying, and for good reason. Tyler Higbee now stands to miss plenty of time as he recovers from two serious knee injuries, and there has been a few videos making the rounds on social media showing that the Rams aren’t the only recipients of those kinds of tackles from the Lions safety.
Will the NFL take action towards Kerby Joseph and the Lions or is this kind of physicality part of what is considered fair grounds for defensive personnel? The Lions relish being a physical squad as they take after head coach Dan Campbell’s lead, and to say that it has worked for them this season would be an understatement.
Nonetheless, for the Rams, injuries may be a part of the game, but it will be rather frustrating for them to be on the receiving end of them especially with their season over.
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