Jason Kelce opens up about the reality behind aftermath of Emari Demercado's goal line fumble

Jason Kelce gave his take on one of the NFL’s head-scratching moments this season: Arizona Cardinals running back Emari Demercado’s goal line fumble on Sunday.

The retired Philadelphia Eagles center, now a media personality and podcast host, addressed the play on Wednesday. He discussed how coaches typically respond when a player makes such an unthinkable mistake.

"I'll say this typically when something so is just flabbergasting, it's not even hyped up to the level that I think you would expect," Kelce said (56:24), via the "New Heights" podcast. "If this happened and I feel like I was the coach, or, like some of the coaches I've had, it'd be like, guys, like, what are we doing? What the f*ck are we doing?

"Finish through the letters and logos. Like, because the reality is this dude's been crushed enough like he knows right away he f*cked up. Yeah, so typically the coach is more, he's like, we don't need to harp on it. It's more like a 'Guys, we know we can't do this.' You emphasize the rule."

Demercado was set to deliver a 72-yard touchdown before letting go of the football just shy of the goal line. The ball rolled through the end zone for a touchback, handing possession to the Tennessee Titans early in the fourth quarter.

Cardinals' collapse followed Emari Demercado’s costly lapse

Syndication: Arizona Republic - Source: Imagn

Arizona’s 21-6 lead evaporated as Tennessee rallied behind a pair of late scoring drives, capped by Joey Slye’s 29-yard field goal to win 22-21.

Following the turnover, Cardinals coach Jonathan Gannon engaged in a confrontation with Emari Demercado on the sideline, which was captured live on the broadcast cameras. Arizona fined Gannon $100,000 for making contact with the running back. He apologized to the team the following day for losing his cool.

The fumble was one of several self-inflicted errors that doomed the team. A misfired snap off Kyler Murray’s facemask killed a red zone trip, while an interception return gave Tennessee another chance that resulted in a touchdown. The Cardinals’ conservative play-calling of three straight runs before punting on their final drive also drew postgame criticism.