New York Jets center Nick Mangold tackled New England Patriots cornerback Aqib Talib out of bounds following a game-ending interception in the Patriots' 13-10 victory Thursday night, which started a heated scrum.
After the game Mangold insisted he thought Talib was in bounds when he made the low hit.
"I made the tackle," Mangold said, via The Star-Ledger. "He was along the sideline. I obviously could not play defense in this league because I thought he was still in bounds, so I tried to make a tackle."
Clearly, Mangold was not born to play defense. And there's a flaw in his claim that Talib was in bounds. Based on the angle he took to dive at the cornerback, some part of him had to know he was going out of bounds.
The hit also was aimed directly at Talib's knees, something the Patriots clearly didn't take kindly to (if this was Ndamukong Suh making that hit, the Internet would have blown up).
Mangold said Patriots coach Bill Belichick in particular got a bit testy after the hit.
"He got heated about it," Mangold said. "I was a little surprised by that. I figured he'd have a little bit more poise. But it's obviously an intense game, intense rivalry and tempers flare. I'm not really sure (what Belichick said). I didn't catch it. There was a decent amount of yelling. So I couldn't tell you. You'll have to go to the NFL mics. I'm sure they've got plenty around."
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