Stephen A. Smith still doesn’t think the Dallas Cowboys are good enough I First Take

Stephen A. Smith still doesn’t think the Dallas Cowboys are good enough I First Take

We just left some plays out there that if we made them, I thought Dyke may have played one of the best games I’ve ever seen him play. And so, uh, we had the hands and, uh, we had the ball in the hands of our key guys. Uh, I just can’t say enough about this effort. And, uh, I give, uh, Brian and I give his staff all the credit in the world and the, uh, leadership and, uh, the guys that had a chance to make some plays, they’ll make those plays. They will make those plays. They’re good players and they’ll make those plays. We’ll bring home some victories. RC, did last night change your expectations of this Cowboys team? They did in a way. Uh I think when you were looking at the Dallas Cowboys, you were sort of hoping that this offense would play well. You Yeah, you were you were you were sort of hoping that this Dallas Cowboys team would play well. You were saying to yourself with CD Lamb, with George Pickkins, they can be explosive on offense with Jake Ferguson. You were asking yourself with three first round picks on the line of scrimmage, can they run the football? And then defensively, you were thinking to yourself, will they be better against the run? How will they find ways to pressure the quarterback? I think we got some of those answers last night, but the one thing I’m looking at is Dak Prescott. Dak Prescott two years ago finished second in MVP voting. That’s the sort of night we saw from him. That level of accuracy, the ability to move the pocket, the ability to scramble and create extra opportunities for his receivers downfield. I am extremely encouraged by this, but I hope Brian Shottenheimer, who showed last night he’s more than prepared to not only be a head coach, but to be a play caller again in this league, I hope he walks into that meeting disappointed because their level of expectations should be raised in going into next week and he should coach that way making sure he points out all of the miscues that led to that loss. If the Cowboys get Dak Prescott for the season, the one that they got last night, this will be a top 10 offense and this would be a playoff contending football team. Yep. You know, watching that team play last night makes you even a little bit more frustrated with the Micah trade cuz you sit there and go, “This team’s a playoff team with Micah Parsons.” And so I I think a lot of the points I agree with RC. Dak was very impressive. I think the interior part of their offensive line is impressive, but again, you have to caveat no Carter. Carter’s a game record. Carter’s a game record. The team looked prepared. That was often an issue for the past couple seasons. Like, oh, they’re not prepared. Um, defensively, I thought they were sound. The problem with their defense is as of right now, they don’t have a game record. They don’t have a game record. They have a couple like I’m so surprised scheme attention guys. Trayvon Diggs is a a guy as a quarterback you just have to have a tremendous amount of respect for. But the defense is solid. At least last night it was. They don’t have a game record. Those teams in the playoffs, they got are game records. They’ve Aiden Hutchinson, Jaylen Carter, um Vea. So these teams, yeah, they got game wreckers. Game changers. The Cowboys don’t have that defensively. And so that’s the only thing that gives me hesitation. I thought the offensive line protection was very good as well. They protected Dak more last night than they did quarterbacks all last season. So yeah, I think you’re just I thought the Cowboys were like a fringe playoff team before the Parsons trade and then maybe felt a little bit less I’m I’m more encouraged by what I saw specifically, but I I think it all starts and ends with that question. Stephen, how did your expectations change for the Cowboys this season after what you saw last night? They haven’t really changed. I mean, listen. Um do you think they’re a playoff team? I think they can challenge for one. I still see them in third place in the NFC East. So out of the playoffs. So So again, out of the playoffs or the or or one of the last ones in cuz they ain’t winning the division. Okay. And and I don’t think they’re going to finish ahead of the Commander Tom. That’s let them get away with what? What? That they’re not going to win the division? You do. You have them as a playoff football team? Yes or no? No. No. Okay. I don’t I’m not going to be like you though. You know what? I really really No. No. We going to hold this man accountable. Oh god. Oh my goodness. CD. Excuse me. Did anyone No, I don’t want to count Bill. I see you. I don’t want Billy. I see you weren’t here. When this man said Dallas Cowboys really got a chance, I mean, there’s only like seven or eight teams better than that. Watch. That’s what he said. All time quote. It’s the all time. It’s like seven to eight team. Hey, get the names of the teams. But yeah, he also says there’s like 15 elite quarterback. But that is really they really really have a chance. That’s how that’s how I look at them. So, you are never going to be in a position to hold me accountable about the Cowboys. Having said that, Dak Prescott looked pretty damn good last night. I know I believe in CD Lamb and George Pickkins and what they can bring to the table. And Ferguson is no joke either. So, I look at it from that standpoint. But what’s going to get in their way? Jerry Jones, cuz you let go of Michael Parsons. And we going to be talking all year long about what their defense is lacking at some point. Brian Cottenheimr is a guy that you can root for. You when you when you hear his story, it’s like this. Yeah, you know, nice guy, man. I I hope I hope he does well. I mean, even at the expense of the irritating fan base, you know what I’m saying? That get on my last nerves. I mean, it would be honest. You hope he does well, but not too well. That’s true. Yeah. True. I want him to, you know, go ahead and get to the playoffs. Go ahead, be competitive. Don’t win no damn conference championship game. Don’t win no damn Super Bowl. As long as you don’t do that. Can we Can we pull up the schedule? I want to see how many Let’s count the Let me Let me Let me count the wins. Let me count the wins. Let’s Let’s pull it up. Let’s go. Okay. They lost last night like I thought. Uh, let Dan pick the wins. Dan. All right. So, lost last night 0 and one. I’m going to put him at 1 and one. I’m going to put him at 1 and two. I’m going to put him at 1 and three. I’m going to put him at two and three. Wow. I’m going to put him at three and three. So, you got the Blues at Chicago and against Green Bay. Yeah. Uh, I’ll put him at three and three. I’ll put him at three and four. I’ll put him at three and five. Four and five. Uh, four and six. Four and seven. Four and eight. Four and nine. Five and nine. I’ll put him at seven and 10. eight and n Well, that means they’re not a playoff team then, Dan. And you have a finishing third, too. Yeah. But the thing But here’s what the Dallas Cowboys can’t do. They can’t go throw the kiss the Chris Kanty party, right? The the thing that Chris Kanty was talking about that even when we’re losing, it feels like we won the Super Bowl. They can’t be in the building today talking about all the things they did great. They don’t get to look at the game and say, “Hey, Jaylen Carter wasn’t there and we played well and we’re gonna do this every week.” They got to look at it and say, “You know what? Jaylen Carter wasn’t there. We can’t rely on our interior being this good every single week because we didn’t play one of the best players in the league.” Brian Shottenheimer does have to hold people accountable. The CD Lamb. Hey CD, you got to make that play. CD, not only do you have to make that play, I know you can make that play. Dak, we got to get this from you every single week. There has to be a level of expectation that’s raised in the building. They don’t get to think about themselves the way we do. Yeah. And I also think it’s like you’re not going to play against teams often that have nine defensive penalties for 100 plus yards and three or four of them give you first downs. That’s not going to be a consistent thing either. This guy does deserve some flowers cuz he said it’s going to be a good season for Dak Prescott. He expected Dak to take a step forward and to play well. And we all agreed that he did last night. A step forward. A step forward. Is it really that hard? The man missed nine games last year and it wasn’t looking that good before before he missed the nine games. It’s not big deal for him to take a step forward. Missed nine games. Hold on. Let me finish. I said he missed nine games last night and didn’t look that good before he got injured. But prior to that, the man went back to back to back 12 win seasons. We know he could ball in the regular season. 30 games over 500. What do you want a cookie? You want a cookie? Like kiss you and tell you something like that. A little better. can’t pee on my back. He told me this guy. This dude here will not he won’t you just can’t accept nothing good for nobody, bro. That’s not true. That’s very offensive. That’s very a very kind person. You say you’re not you’re not you’re not telling the truth about me. I’m a very nice man. I’m a very very very nice man. I just tell the truth. I just tell the truth. That’s all that’s Steeny Steven A. He be acting totally different. No, that’s brand new. I’m say this brand new. We won’t we won’t talk about the other the other changes that come recently where it’s extra brand new. Mo, I listen Molly. I’ve never seen this man’s arms out as much as we see him now. Look good. You know what? He checked him on an improvement. Come on now. You know what he know, bro? Bro, he walked into the catwalk. Hey, remember Hey, so he walked into the studio first, right? He walked into the studio. He walked into the studio like Right. When he first walked in, he said like Yeah. Oh, right. He walked in like that. Then they put the camera on it. They put the camera on. They gave him that mic. You know, that left one. Then he hit it right here. And then he waved to Brandon and all Brandon was telling him to do was walk to the desk. He hit Brandon with the open hand and then he walk exaggerated Teddy Teddy who never lies goes different got modern day Zoolanders calling me out who’s the master than this dude have you seen this dude have you seen RC do you see RC with on and he going like this RC is like this this RC there’s always a stop and then check this out this Hey, cuz I be clean. My jacket be up. Am I lying? Am I lying? Did you go somewhere with Steve Harvey recently? You know what I’m saying? Did you and Steve Harvey take a trip together somewhere? No, I met him in Abu Dhabi. You met him in Abu Dhabi. He said you was waving to people in Abu Dhabi because they were waving at me. He said nobody was waving. We just talked about it. That’s not true. I just talked to Steve Harvey. He said was over there. When I arrived in Abu Dhabi, there was a slew of people waiting. See, the people don’t know you. That’s not true. It’s Abu Dhabi. I promise you that’s not true. I swear to you that is not true in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Trust me on that. Trust me. Okay. This is this is just a lot. Humility. I know. You know, I know the right thing. Molly RC is not the one. Do you see him having the rosary? You see me going into a game. You see me going into a game. RC got stuff on him going to a car service. What are you? Come on now. I mean, excuse me. Who’s the Who’s the one with the emblem on the on the on the pill? Me. It’s called branding. It’s It’s It’s a We all know who RC is. The world knows who RC is. Why is that on there? Because he floss it. That’s why. That’s why. Okay. Thank you, guys. [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music]

Stephen A. Smith, Ryan Clark and Dan Orlovsky join Molly Qerim on First Take to talk about the Dallas Cowboys’ performance last night and what to expect the rest of the season.

0:00 Jerry Jones comments
0:35 Thoughts on Dallas Cowboys after last night’s performance
3:30 How does Stephen A. Smith feel about the Cowboys?
5:25 How will Dallas perform the rest of the season?
8:50 Ryan Clark & Stephen A. Smith joke around

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