San Francisco 49ers star edge rusher Nick Bosa was asked Thursday what stands out about Chiefs tackles Jawaan Taylor and Donovan Smith ahead of Super Bowl LVIII. His response was brief, but echoed loudly.
"They hold a lot," Bosa said succinctly, via The Athletic's David Lombardi.
Taylor, who signed in K.C. in 2023, famously leads the NFL with 20 offensive penalties in 2023, including the playoffs, per NFL Research, which is eight more than the next closest player. While many of those flags were pre-snap violations, Taylor is an infamous grabber.
Over the last five seasons, Taylor has led the NFL with 26 holding penalties, including the playoffs. Smith, who also joined the Chiefs this season, has the third-most holding penalties over the past five years (21).
So, Bosa is not wrong about his muted analysis. The question is whether it will play out on Super Bowl Sunday.
Recalling Super Bowl LIV, when the Chiefs had Eric Fisher at left tackle and Mitchell Schwartz at right tackle, 49ers CEO Jed York lamented what he believed was a missed holding call on K.C. on the biggest play of the game -- a 44-yard pass from Patrick Mahomes to Tyreek Hill on third-and-15 with seven minutes remaining and the Niners up 10 points.
"I remember Nick Bosa getting held on third-and-long and that not getting called," York said Thursday, via KNBR. "But it's football. I should say this, I haven't talked to anybody with Detroit, but I feel for them when you're in a situation where you're up and you think you can win a game and make it memorable and things go the wrong way. I've been on good sides of that and I've been on bad sides of that. When you're up by 10 points against a team in a Super Bowl, thoughts are going through your head like, We're going to have a parade, somebody's going to Disneyland, this is going to be awesome, and then you don't."
