Look At The Partiality As NBC’s Mike Florio Describes Nearly Identical Fumbles By Derek Carr and Rashard Higgins

We might never know why ProFootballTalk’s Mike Florio harbors so much disdain for Derek Carr. Maybe he doesn’t like that Carr has a particular faith, genuinely cares about people, is generous with his time, and/or has taken so many humanitarian trips to Haiti. Maybe it’s a combination of all of the above.

But what we do know is that Florio can’t help himself when it comes to Carr. He has shown no ability to think objectively about Carr. Take for the latest example Florio’s musings on the fumble through the endzone by Cleveland’s Rashard Higgins on Sunday. First pointed out on Twitter by Kenny King Jr., look at what Florio wrote about the play:

“’I will never ever doubt Rashard Higgins’ effort or our guys’ effort,’ Stefanski told reporters after the game. ‘Our rule there is not to reach the ball out when it is first and goal, and he knows that. Again, [I] appreciate his effort. He battled like he always does, but we have to fight that urge because it is such a big loss if it does end up being a touchback.’

Stefanski is right. And the Browns’ internal rule is accurate, given the nonsensical NFL rule that would have given Cleveland possession at the spot of the fumble if it had gone out of bounds at the one-inch line but that gave the Chiefs possession on their own 20 because the ball went into, and out of, the end zone.

The biggest problem with the rule is this: It penalizes effort. Yes, there’s a chance that a fumble into the end zone will be recovered by the defense. If it is, then the defense should get the ball. If it isn’t recovered before it goes out of play, the rule should be no different than it is if the ball goes out of bounds in the 100 yards of green.”

Not one criticism of Higgins other than that the team was penalized for his great effort.

Now go back to 2017 when Carr fumbled through the endzone against the Cowboys. Look at the central theme of the story:

“The rule makes no sense. And with the rule being applied seemingly more often than ever in 2017, maybe the rule will change.

But it hasn’t yet. Which makes Raiders quarterback Derek Carr solely to blame for his doing-too-much-while-trying-not-to-do-too-much effort to soar in to the end zone after he’d already successfully scrambled for a first down on a third-and-three play. It was a high-risk-low-reward maneuver, with Carr straining so hard to do that which he physically is incapable of doing resulting in Carr basically throwing the ball out of the end zone, and giving it to Dallas with 31 seconds left. Game over.

Carr gets paid $25 million per year to play quarterback. Playing quarterback means knowing the rules. So either Carr didn’t know the rules or Carr consciously decided on the same day that Ben Roethlisberger tried to be Dan Marino to try to be Mike Vick.

Either way, it’s a bad look for a quarterback who isn’t nearly as good in 2017 as he was in 2016. Carr has developed a habit of taking more blame than he should. As to the play that ultimately decided last night’s game, he deserves all of it.”

Sense the difference?

In a perfect world, you prefer national media sources to be objective, but Florio, for whatever reason, has taken objection to Carr for years. The personal attacks have always said more about Florio than they do about Carr and it hurts his credibility when he occasionally does make an effort to critique Carr’s play on the field.

Fortunately, the internet keeps accurate tabs on quotes like these from Florio and exposes the double standard that he has when it comes to Carr.

Now if we can just figure out what it is about Carr that so unceasingly pierces Florio’s soul.

twitter: @raidersbeat