Lamar Jackson shut the critics up in the best way possible on Monday, he did it on the field.
In the week leading up to the Christmas clash between the NFL’s conference leaders, Mike Florio, NBC NFL analyst and founder of Pro Football Talk, had predicted that the 49ers would “kick the sh*t” out of the Ravens.
“They’re going to kick the s–t out of everybody they face,” Florio said. “The quest is for second place. That’s it. As long as [key] people stay healthy. They’re currently healthy. The 49ers [will] kick the s–t out of the Ravens on Monday night.
“I’m sorry. I know that’s disrespectful for the Ravens, but let’s be realistic. At home, they got to fly across the country on Christmas night and the 49ers are waiting and the 49ers are going to dismantle the Ravens. If it’s a Super Bowl preview, the Super Bowl’s going to suck because the 49ers, as long as those guys are healthy, they’re going to run over everyone.”
Mike Florio on Ravens/49ers
“The 49ers kick the s**** out of the Ravens, I’m sorry I know that’s disrespectful to the Ravens, but let’s be realistic…the 49ers are going to dismantle the Ravens. If it’s a Super Bowl preview, the Super Bowl’s gonna suck” pic.twitter.com/Dj9k7UpNuP
— Kevin Oestreicher (@koestreicher34) December 22, 2023
That, however, did not happen. Instead, the Ravens kicked the sh*t out of the 49ers, thoroughly dominating them at home and winning 33-19.
After the game, Ravens QB Lamar Jackson blasted Florio for his “disrespectful” rant.
“You can’t just discredit us,” Jackson said. “We grown men, we got to feed our families. He can have his opinion but just don’t be talking like that. That’s disrespectful. That’s very disrespectful. Not to take away from the 49ers at all, like they’re great all across the board, but we gone come to play as well. Our record not no fluke. We play ball and we showed that.
“But he needs to keep doing his job and just don’t come off like that towards us. That’s disrespectful, like I said, cause he isn’t putting the pads on. If he were putting the pads on I feel he would’ve meant different for him. He wouldn’t say that. He would be respectful. I say that we are respectful to our opponents. Our opponents are respectful to us. But the guy we’re not even playing against just come out being disrespectful to us. I guess he wanted more views on his little channel. We’re going to leave it at that.”
🗣️ “We play ball. And we showed that.” pic.twitter.com/D1UEZOemF0
— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) December 26, 2023
Florio admitted his disrespect and apologized.
“Lamar is right,” Florio posted on X. “I apologize for how I phrased my opinion. I believed the 49ers were dramatically better than every other team in the NFL: Cowboys, Eagles, Chiefs, Dolphins, everyone. The Ravens proved otherwise. They deserve complete and total respect for what they accomplished.”
Lamar is right. I apologize for how I phrased my opinion. I believed the 49ers were dramatically better than every other team in the NFL: Cowboys, Eagles, Chiefs, Dolphins, everyone. The Ravens proved otherwise. They deserve complete and total respect for what they accomplished. https://t.co/4ja4gvuWnc
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) December 26, 2023
With the win, the Ravens advance to 12-3 with sole possession of 1st place in the AFC.