In his debut season as a panelist for “Thursday Night Football” on Amazon Prime, the always vocal Richard Sherman has already made his distinct presence felt on a weekly basis.
Whether it be complaining about the lack of points being put up on the board or just being brutally honest, the Super Bowl XLVIII champion has kept the candor on a steady flow.
The latest chapter in Sherman’s ever-so-honest analysis was an incredibly harsh piece of criticism that landed squarely on the shoulders of quarterback Marcus Mariota during Thursday night’s Atlanta Falcons vs. Carolina Panthers game.
Come to think of it, said criticism hitting the Falcons quarterback right between the eyes might be a more accurate assessment when you consider just how hard he went after the eight-year NFL veteran.
Sherman bluntly saying without any pause whatsoever that the Falcons should bring in someone else was already pretty bold after one half of football, as there was still time for a veteran like Mariota to make good and clean things up. But referring to his first-half lowlights as “rookie mistakes” was a deep cut.
Related: Sportsnaut’s NFL QB rankings
Richard Sherman pulls no punches in criticism of Marcus Mariota
“At this point, you’ve gotta bring somebody else in. He’s making rookie mistakes, and as a veteran, you can’t have it. You have a good gameplan. You run the ball. You don’t turn the ball over. This is carelessness,” Richard Sherman on Marcus Mariota.
Admittedly, Mariota did make a bunch of terrible throws coupled with some baffling decisions that ultimately led to a horrendously forced interception to Carolina cornerback Jaycee Horn.
But, as previously noted, Mariota has been in the NFL for eight years and probably deserves the benefit of the doubt. Anyone familiar with his play over the years knows he’s a more capable quarterback than whatever was going on with his reads in the first half.
What’s truly great about a guy like Richard Sherman is — while he will absolutely crush what he deems to be a poor performance — his personality also lends itself to praising Mariota in the postgame analysis should he manage to turn things around.
The craziest part about this whole thing might be that the Mariota-led Falcons currently sit in a first-place tie with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFC South.
Sure, it’s a terrible division. But first place is first place.