Stephen A. predicts a Cowboys DOWNFALL 🤣 If the Panthers can do it, the Broncos can… | First Take

Stephen A. predicts a Cowboys DOWNFALL 🤣 If the Panthers can do it, the Broncos can… | First Take

Hello guys, where Aaron Rogers had to face the Green Bay Packers for the first time this Sunday. Rogers spent the first 18 years of his career in Green Bay before being traded to the Jets in 2023. However, when asked yesterday, Rogers insisted that Sunday is not a revenge game. I don’t have any animosity toward the organization. Um, obviously I wish that, you know, things have been better in our last year there, but um, you know, I have a great relationship with a lot of people still in that organization and, uh, I don’t, this is not a revenge game for me. I’m just excited to see some of those guys and be on Sunday Night Football again. Okay. Well, I know that Aaron Rogers is not going to say it’s a revenge game. However, we know he’s been there 18 seasons with the Green Bay Packers. So, Kim, are you buying what Aaron Rogers is selling right now? Hell no. But because at the end of the day, you have to think about what Aaron Rodgers feels and has felt. So, you mean to tell me you didn’t think that I still had it? Hey, so you chose that over this? Uh, I kept my receipts and I’m coming to cash in. You dig what I’m saying? So, yes, he doesn’t want to make it about him. Nevertheless, as the competitor, you have to take certain things personal, and that’s what creates that edge. If you don’t think Aaron Rodgers is going into this game without saying to himself, “Oh, I want to show you guys that you were wrong about me.” It could be love and it and and like I say, the professionalism in him does not want to make this a distraction about him verse them. It’s more about how can I be the best version of myself to show that I’m still that guy. I don’t disagree. Only thing that I would say to y’all is sort of the Jet experience sort of took some of the luster off. If he had gone from Green Bay to Pittsburgh looking like he’s looking and then you’re going to play against the Packers, that would be different. But to go to New York and to have the experience in New York that he had, it actually added credence to some of the skepticism about him that the Green Bay Packers had at that time in terms not you got to remember they weren’t talking about him Cam just as a thrower of the football. They were talking about him wanting more say, wanting to lead, wanting wanting to consist in making decisions and all, you know, he brought Nathaniel Hackett with him. It’s they were talking about those kind of things, too. And he kind of proved their point a little bit. Let me ask you this. A little bit. Let me ask you this question. Yeah. Looking now at what the Jets were and have been. Yes. It’s not his fault. Do you blame him? No, not at all. So now when you when you sit up here and you say, “Hey RC, hey I’m bringing you on, bro. Like we need you to be you.” And you’re experiencing these things and you’re saying like, “No, no, no, no. We have to change.” They’re 0 and7 right now. Yes. All right. Their starting quarterback that they thought and even he said, “Hey, we’re going a different direction.” Do you blame him when somebody is really bullish and saying we have to win this type of way and we’re not having winning recipes or tendencies to actually win? So I wouldn’t put that too much against him. Now, if the if the Jets was like six and one, seven and0, right? Yeah, you could consider that. But they’re over they’re over right now. Well, I mean, listen, the the Aaron Rogers piece of it is like he’s the most petty human we’ve ever had. Human. Oh my goodness. Like like Aaron Rogers held it against the San Francisco 49ers for two decades that they didn’t draft him. Yeah. Right. That that he failed to the mid20s. that he played with that chip on his shoulders. After Super Bowls, after four MVPs, he still felt the same way. He doesn’t necessarily need a real meaning to being petty, to being upset, to wanting to show up and be the best quarterback on the field. Hell yeah. All of us when we every time if I was when I was in Pittsburgh, every time we played Washington, somebody had to see it. Right. when we played the New York Giants and Tom Coughlin was on that sideline after I know he told me that I couldn’t make it in this league. Every hit I made, I looked right at him, right? Because you remember those things, you feel those things. Those things fuel you because if you put your entire life into being one thing and somebody in particular tells you you are no longer that thing, you want to show them every opportunity you get. So where it’s not Aaron Rodgers versus Jordan Love or Aaron Rogers versus Matt Laflur, it is Aaron Rodgers going back to a place and playing against a team that once that told him he no longer was the guy that he believes he was. And I know that has to fuel him in some way. So which quarterback, Cam, do you trust more in this matchup? Is it Aaron Rogers or Jordan Love? I’m going with A-Rod. Yeah. Now I trust A-Rod more, but I like Jordan Love’s amenities. I mean, Duke’s here, so I can’t call you. There you go. There you go. There you go. But no, but what I will say is is Aaron Rogers is playing a good brand of ball, right? That’s not to say Jordan Love, is it? Right. But the way Aaron Rogers has is has played, it looks almost vintage A-Rod, making plays outside the pocket. The guys are now understanding him because when you play with a quarterback like Aaron Rogers, he’s not your prototypical guy for obvious reasons. when he scrambles, he’s expecting you to still stay alive and to stay active. Receivers need to understand that. And once you start to play at that type of frequency, now that’s when you start to get scary. Here’s where I’m at with it, man. I’m going to go with love as the answer to this question by default. Cuz I don’t trust that damn Steelers defense. I’m not happy. I’m not happy. I’m not happy with what I see from the Steelers defense. A matter of fact, I don’t even recognize him. You understand? And that’s and that’s a subject that RC is going to have to explain. Okay. Because he keep anybody that does anybody that talk to him about this stuff. We hate this like talking and turn around. I’m I’m looking at the Steelers defense. I’m like, who the hell are they? Where Haywood at? Where TJ at? Where’s High Smith at? Where these cats at? They’re passing on them. They can’t get stops. For years, we looked at the Steelers and we said they need a quarterback. Big Ben Rothelber the last two years. Might as well retired. He’s gone to the Hall of Fame. We appreciate it, but damn it, two years too late. Okay, everybody, don’t get me started with the names of Mason Rudolph the Metro Bits. I mean, don’t get me started. Okay, and we finally get Aaron Rogers who’s balling. Yeah. Yeah. And they look like this. Nah, I don’t like it. I’m not happy at all. And and as far as I’m listen, everybody ain’t Cincinnati. I get that part. Everybody don’t have Jamar Chase and T. Higgins. But in the same breath, Green Bay is no slouch. They can ball and Jordan Love can ball. And against this Steelers defense, unless it shows up and remembers who the hell they supposed to be as a franchise, why would I side with Rogers over Love in this particular matchup? Rogers ain’t got to go against that defense. Love does. That’s what I was going to say. Individually, I trust Aaron Rodgers more because he’s proven more. Jordan Love going to have the better game. There ain’t no way you watch Joe Flacco last week and say to yourself, “This is a defense you can count on.” And you’re right, they do have future Hall of Famers in TJ. You have Cam Haywood. You’ve went out and you’ve added Patrick Queen who’s played well this season. You got Jaylen Ramsay, Hall of Famer. You got Darius Slay, he’s been a allpro. Joey Porter Jr., a guy that’s up and coming in this league to be a number one. And you put that on tape. If I’m Jordan Love, if I’m Josh Jacobs, if I’m Romeo Dos, if I’m Matthew Golden, this a week I’m I’m about to get right, right? I’m calling all the fantasy owners and be like, “Hey, I got y’all this week.” Slow down. I said, “Hey, I said I said fantasy owners, slow down.” You heard me say fantasy owners. The time cannot be any worse. It’s not a trading. I’m like, “Everybody owns step away from it. Look at what I am what I will say is this. If I’m Jordan Love, I mean popcorn watching last week game saying Joe Flaco Joe Flaco did that. Say less. Hold my lemonade. That’s right. You see what I’m saying? That’s right. Cuz he should be able to do I mean egregious work to uh this dormmented uh secondary from the Steelers. But I hate to say it like that way because last week we was we was extremely critical on Jaylen Ramsey. Okay. The competitor, he f to come back. Oh my goodness. Yes. That’s what I’m saying. And by the way, everybody ain’t Jamal Chase. A matter of fact, nobody’s Jamal Chase. So, he don’t have to worry about facing that at Green Bay against Green Bay this week. But still, it was a lot of T. Lot of T. Lot of T. But this is part of a lot of that T. Listen, they threw the ball at him 23 times. Okay. I mean, that you can’t knock him. He He actually didn’t do that bad considering. But the bottom line is the line team. The the thing is this though and and and this is my belief. I do believe that Mike Tomlin is one of the greatest message senders in all of football. Okay? He ain’t got to send a message this week. If he got to walk into that building, if he got to walk into that facility and get these players tapped in, get them focused to go play this game, he’s lost already. Yeah. When you let Chase Brown, Jamar Chase, T. Higgins, hell, Yoshi Voss, when you let those people do what they did to you last week, nah, they stole something from you. The the the whole air of what the steel curtain used to be or what we were in the 2000s, you don’t get to live off of that, right? The same way when we stepped on the field, Joe Green wasn’t going to come out there and help us. Mel Blunt wasn’t going to come out there, Jack. Jack Ham, Lambert, none of those. And guess what? They not coming to save this Steeler team anyway. That’s right. So if I’m Omar Khan, if I’m if I’m Mike Tomlin, all those decisions I made in the offseason, this is the week they show up. They show up through play, execution, effort, and leadership. Especially when you know on the other side, Micah Parson’s going to show up. Yep. You know, I mean, you just going to just let him show you up. I mean, do something about it. Do something. Yeah. They better come with the same plan they came with for Miles Garrett. Yeah. I will say this, though. Jordan loves Sunday Night Football. Uh, in the last four games, he’s had 11 touchdowns, no interceptions. So, maybe I Thanks a lot, Amina. I I’m just saying I just wanted to throw it out there, throw the numbers out there. She does deliver bad news. She does deliver bad news. Sometimes sometimes I do, really does. Look, we’re hanging out here at Legion Field. Everybody is hyped up, ready for this weekend, guys. Back to the NFL, guys. The Cowboys are on the road to face the Broncos this weekend with both teams coming off of impressive wins. Dallas took down the Commanders in their most complete game of the season. Meanwhile, Denver stage a comeback for the ages, scoring 33 points in the fourth quarter to beat the Giants. But when these two teams face off on Sunday, it will be strength versus strength. The Cowboys are scoring the second most points in the NFL this season at just 31 points per game, a little bit over that with the Broncos allowing the fourth fewest at just over 18 a game. RC, I’ll start with you. Are you taking the Cowboys or the Broncos? I’m taking I’m taking the Broncos, but barely. Barely barely and and this and here here’s the thing, right? The Cowboys offense is bonafide. I believe it’s the best offense in all of football with what Javvante Williams can do. Obviously, George Pickkins and CD Lamb on the outside, but this is a defense that’s been Swiss cheese. And I know we’re going to point to last week against the Washington Commanders and say, well, look the way they stepped up. Yeah, but look who the Washington Commanders didn’t have. And this is no disrespect to Robbie Chosen, but this is a guy who shows up last week and he’s thrust into action. He’s playing like the number one. What are you going to do when you’re playing against Courtland Sutton when it’s Bo Knicks and Sean Payton’s offense that we watch be explosive late in games? Now, here’s what they can’t do. They can’t come out there and play for three quarters like they did against the Eagles and like they did against the New York Giants. If the Denver Broncos allow the Dallas Cowboys to get up like that with that offense, the onslaught will not stop. But I do take the Broncos by a slight edge headed into the weekend. I wouldn’t say that, man, cuz uh we just seen uh Jersey in the crowd, man. Davy ass. We got a Dquacy back there. Quack crazy back there. I know that’s right. I’m telling you, he has been playing at a level that we’ve never seen him play. I’ve said this time and time again. And the thing about it is defense wins championships, offense wins games. Well, this ain’t a championship. So, the Dallas Cowboys has what it takes to to to outduel with anybody. I do not think Bo Nicks has it in his arsenal to really go shot for shot versus a Dallas team or offensive uh firepower. Now, I’m high on Bo. I’m high on the offense of Denver, the team holistically, but when you start to see CD Lamb come back in and he’s playing at a high level, George Pickkins playing at a high level, it’s tic-tac-toe, where do I want to go? And that’s what Dak has been doing this year. Well, I’m going to tell you something. Certain things in life are very, very simple. If the Carolina Panthers could do it to Dallas on on their home turf a couple weeks ago, why the hell can’t the Denver Broncos? Yeah, because the Carolina Panthers ain’t the Denver Broncos. And so the way I look at it, I get where you coming from and obviously CD Lamb wasn’t back at that particular moment in time if I remember correctly. But the bottom line is this with Pickkins with CD Land with Javvante Williams run the football effectively with an offensive line that looks respectable. We get it and Dak Prescott is a top two candidate for league MVP honors. I understand that. But you’re on the road in the mile high city in the altitude the whole nine. Denver is a bonafide playoff caliber team. Okay. Their defense is real. Offensively, they can do some things. There is no If I’m the Denver Broncos, I’m like, if the Carolina Panthers can handle their business, why the hell can’t we? And if that if that’s not if that’s not a question they can answer, that’s on them. And and and they’ve been a different team on the road aside from the New York Jets game. And I think that’s the big thing. But I do know this, Stephen A. If the Dallas Cowboys go win this game, we going to be looking for you like we looking for the bottom half of campaign. I was just about to say that to go into Denver and win that game. What does that mean for Dallas? I’m saying it’s just like we talked about them the postseason and things like that. If Dallas is able to go into Colorado and win that game, I am This is what This is what people like RC&M miss from time to time. I am not sad about the Cowboys. You got to remember last year they stunk up the joint very very early. It was nothing intriguing about them. I don’t want them for I mean meaning their fans. You had that that disgusted nauseating fan base that gets on my last damn nerves. It’s all trolling. I love trolling them. I want to see them crying. I want to see them miserable. I don’t want to see. That’s hilarious. That’s hilarious. It’s the most beautiful moment. I mean, did you see cats sitting over the rail and grown ass men crying? It was hilarious. I mean, it’s beautiful. I don’t want you falling off a curb if you’re the Cowboys. I want you falling off the roof. You understand? So, go ahead and win these games. Get to the playoffs. Be excited. Hell, go ahead and win the NFC’s. Knock yourself out. Just as long as you live up to form once the playoffs arrive. I am good. So, it doesn’t bother me. I I think before the season though, Cam, we talked about what Dak Prescott could do with this offense. We talked about leadership, the way that he needed to step up. To me, Dak is proving that he’s worth the money. That’s the question you’re going to be asked when you get $60 million a year. Are you worth the money? Can you carry an offense? Can you carry a team? And can you also lead in the manner that somebody that has been gifted and given and blessed and earned that sort of contract? And I believe Dak Prescott has proven that above and beyond this year thus far. Man, I don’t know where these sources is coming from, but man, if this were to happen, Stephen Anthony. Yes, sir. Ryan Terry, Amina, look at that. If they can get Max Crosby. Yeah. Oh, yes. Yeah. All right. But, but see, how does Jerry Jones look if this offense is prolific and it propels them to to new heights, meaning the playoffs? RC made the point you still needed a Micah Parson, no doubt. But if you go out and get a Max Crosby, if he’s less than what Micah was going to cost you, yes, and you win come playoff time, win a game or two, you can’t say nothing to Jerry Jones. Is Jerry Is Jerry Jones capable of saying I made a mistake? No. Right. Because Because that’s Is he So he’s like Steven Aiden? No. No, not at all. I mean, he’s my brother. He’s my brother. He’s like Steen Aiden. He’s my brother. But I am a humble man. I am a humble man. You understand? I have my moments. I’m not perfect. I’m pretty damn close, but I’m not perfect. You understand? But understand, even in the off season, Max Crosby has made it abundantly clear that he wants to do what? Win. Win. Yeah. Well, he ain’t going to win in Vegas. Exactly. So now he’s not going to win in Vegas because now you have another situation that is keep constantly coming up. Why am I not in the playoffs? Okay. Now you get an opportunity to get traded to a team that potentially is what you were looking for and still it also has collateral to say. What does the Las Vegas Raiders get? Picks. Here’s the but here’s the other piece of that, right? He said he wants to win a championship but he’s also said he wants to be a Raider for life. So which one you can’t know? Nobody can want to be a Raider for life. Think so. Is he going to is he going to choose loyalty or legacy? That’s going to be the question. What loyalty? I mean, loyalty to the Raiders. This Raiders Al Davis, God rest his soul. He been gone a while. He been going a while. Mark Davis ain’t Al Davis. Okay. And Tom Brady, we appreciate everything that he’s done. Deon, you know what? He needs to have more say that a little bit more. Al Davis ain’t never had Mark Davis haircut. You know what? Look, I just know I’ll be tuned in. If the Cowboys do win that game against the Broncos, y’all, I’m going to be glued to my TV screen cuz I want to see what you got to say, Stephen. Girl, hopefully my jaw will be better by the end of this damn tooth. You canal, man. It’s killing me. I’m trying. How y’all feeling? How y’all feeling? You know,

On First Take, Stephen A. Smith, Cam Newton and Ryan Clark react to Aaron Rodgers’ comments ahead of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ matchup against the Green Bay Packers before debating whether the Dallas Cowboys or Denver Broncos have the edge in Week 8.

0:00 Reacting to Aaron Rodgers’ “revenge game” comments
4:50 Who do you trust more: Jordan Love or Aaron Rodgers?
10:50 Which team wins on Sunday: Dallas Cowboys or Denver Broncos?
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