MOTORMOUTH MAHOMES

Brit Super Bowl winner Osi warns Chiefs star: Don’t wind up Bucs

PATRICK MAHOMES is a one-man talk show when it comes to playing in the NFL.

And he has a habit that gets under defenders’ skin – telling them “nice hit” or “good job” when they knock him to the ground.

Last year the Kansas City quarterback proved he could not only talk the talk but walk the walk as he led the Chiefs to their first Super Bowl win for 50 years.

Tonight he will attempt to help them become the first team in 16 years to defend successfully the Super Bowl title when he faces Tom Brady’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Mahomes will be up against the Bucs’ ferocious defensive line of Jason Pierre-Paul, Vita Vea, Ndamukong Suh and Shaquil Barrett. And Britain’s two-time Super Bowl champion, Osi Umenyiora (below), reckons Mahomes might want to rein in the vocal friendly fire before it backfires.

“It’s cute when quarterbacks do that, but they only do that for so long,” said the BBC presenter, who twice beat Brady in the Super Bowl.

“Once they start losing and you really start pummelling them, then all that goes out the window.

“You see their true nature, the anger coming out. But early on, of course, it’s all smiles – ‘ha ha, good game’ and all that nonsense – because you’re having fun.

“Let’s see you do that when you’re down 21 points and JPP and Shaq Barrett have their ears pinned back and blood coming out of their nose. Let’s see you tell them ‘good hit’ then.

“Over the course of how many years I played professionally and in college, I have never seen a quarterback who’s getting hit constantly, that it didn’t get to them.

“It gets to all of them, every last one of them, and don’t let them tell you any differently.”

Mahomes does not lack for confidence, and, at just 25, is destined to be one of the greats of the game if he stays healthy. He also knows that if the game turns into a physical battle that KC are up for the fight.

Mahomes said: “We might not have been able to handle that in 2018 but we have been through adversity and been through battles.

“If you watch our team now, it’s not just a fast, flying show. We have a lot of physical guys on this team as well. If it’s a physical game, we’re ready for that and if it’s a fast-paced game, we’re ready for that.”

Umenyiora played alongside Pierre-Paul nine years ago when they won the

Super Bowl with the New York

Giants and would love to see his great friend win another one.

Even though he thinks Tampa’s defensive line has the advantage over

KC’s offensive line, he knows which of the two teams he would worry about going up against if he was a defender.

Umenyiora said: “Kansas

City for sure.

“Not only do you have that quarterback but the receivers they have are extremely speedy plus they have Travis Kelce, the best receiving tight end in football.

“It’s difficult to match up against those kinds of players but Tampa Bay have the advantage on the defensive line.

“They will have to overwhelm the Kansas City Chiefs’ offensive line otherwise they’re not going to stand a chance.”