Will the Chiefs miss the postseason? 😳 + Thoughts on A.J. Brown’s comments | First Take

Will the Chiefs miss the postseason? 😳 + Thoughts on A.J. Brown’s comments | First Take

From the top team in the AFC, we now go to the top team in the MSE, and that would be the Eagles. Their offense has been put in the spotlight this week after a video surfaced of AJ Brown telling a streamer that you should quote get rid of him if he’s on your fantasy team and that things have been a a bleep show. Okay. He then answered to the media and pointed out that the offense isn’t producing to where it should be and you can’t, and I quote, put a band-aid over that. The Eagles will face the Lions true test on Sunday night. And although Philly is tied with the Seahawks for the best record in the NFC, the Eagles offense ranked in the bottom half of the NFL in multiple categories. Cam, we talked a little bit about this yesterday, but we haven’t heard from you yet. Do you think there is an issue with Philadelphia and the Eagles? I have a lot of issues with this. Uh, first and foremost, the fact that nobody played me in Madden and was on my stream. Uh, that’s what I have the first issue with because I’m really like, you know, with that. Secondly, the Philadelphia Eagles is a walking, ticking tomb bomb of dysfunction. It’s all in their resume. It’s all in the thing that they’ve been trying to do. And I’ve said this before and I will say it again. The Philadelphia Eagles have been masking, putting mascara, makeup, Beijing, all sorry Jaylen Brown, but they’ve been Jaylen Browning themselves so much because they’ve been winning, finding ways to win. And I get it. But when you start to see remarks like this, encrypted tweets like that, book reading on the sideline, Nick Seriani last year checking the fan, going into the stands and doing certain things and even calling off the dogs when you have a record-breaking or record setting uh uh running back. A lot of things that are raising flags of like, okay, we are able to cover this up because we are winning. So now when you have a person to speak truth, I do not have an issue with my receiver saying that because he is 100% right. The defense has been carrying the Philadelphia Eagles. But when you have the firepower and the arsenal that the Philadelphia Eagles have, and as a person who wants to make an impact, not a blocking impact, not a run down the middle of the field to just uh just to be a dummy. No, I know what I’m capable of. And he’s just setting the record straight and telling everybody what should be the expectations each and every week. Yeah. I mean, but that don’t mean they a ticket time bomb. Like they’ve been a mess. We all know those families, right? We all grew up around the family that if you went to their house and you was their people, they cut up on each other. They talk bad to each other. You know what the spades game was like, right? You know how grandma was talking. Rambunious. Hey, how auntie was talking, right? But when they walked out the house, I bet you was going to get jumped, right? I bet if you ran up on one of them, you was going to have to see them all. Yeah. Right. That’s who the Philadelphia Eagles are. And I have a spe a specific play that points to this. Right. You go to AJ Brown in this game, not getting the football. Three targets, only two catches, 13 yards. Who was the lead blocker on the Saquon Barkley catch, right? Who was hustling down the field to get the extra yardage? who was hustling down the field to be someone that can help Saquon Barkley advance this football as far as we could possibly go. Now on the big play to Devonte Smith, who drew the double coverage, right? Who drew the double coverage? Who had quarters to his side, was doubled, runs the dig, and now Devonte Smith could catch the post. He didn’t jog on that route. You smart enough to know this, Cam. You play quarterback in this league at a very high level. You knew at the start of that play that he wasn’t going to be open. You knew it. I knew it. Guess who else knew it? AJ Brown knew it. And he still ran his route. And you remember when Nick Serriani was arguing with people in the crowd? I like that because they have been talking bad. You have been booing. I’m rocking with these dudes on the field. We won. And we not only won, we went to win a Super Bowl. It’s not about what’s going on there. It’s about how you execute on the field. And we get a chance to see them do that this week. Here’s the deal. Um, one of the things we have to pay attention to, I I I think that you can make an argument that they’re on the brink of dysfunction based on the way that it has looked, but you can also summarily dismiss it because especially now, I mean, look at the games that they’ve been winning. Look at the fact that, you know, that Nick Cerriani is 10 and0 against the NFC North. He hasn’t lost a single game to them. Not to, not to Minnesota, not to Chicago. Hasn’t lost a single game to the NFC, not to Green Bay. Has he’s beaten all of them. Okay? He’s undefeated against them. So, we got to take that into consideration as well. Even though we got to look at Jared Goff and the way he he’s been throwing the ball on the road, completed about 70% of his passes when he’s been on the road. And this is a big game for them. Considering Detroit’s highpowered offense, it’s going to be a requirement for the Eagles in all likelihood to get AJ Brown involved in order to beat this Detroit Lions team. I think it’s safe to say that and I think this weekend can tell us a lot. But having said all of that, you know, I wanted RC to go back and to to be a bit redundant in doing what I did yesterday for Cam reading Cam Newton. Put Cam up on the screen, please. I want to see him. I want to read this quote to Cam and RC again from AJ Brown. Cam, this was AJ Brown last year, just a few days after they won the Super Bowl. He put this on Instagram, I believe. After a few days, I’ve had time to reflect on being a champion. I tried to feel how everyone made it seem to be a champion, and unfortunately, it was short-lived. Two days to be exact. Laugh out loud. I’ve never been a champion at the highest level before, but I thought my hard work would be justified by winning it all. I It wasn’t. My thrill for this game comes when I dominate. It’s the hunt that does it for me. It’s when the DB drops his head and surrenders because he can’t f with me. The intense battles, early mornings, late nights, sacrifices. I love putting smiles on people’s faces, don’t get me wrong, but it just wasn’t what I thought it would be. It’s the journey that I love the most. Back to work. That’s what he said. Cam, I’mma hand it to you by saying this. That’s a Super Bowl champion that was saying that the feeling of being the champion essentially pales in comparison to the work that comes with it every day. And with him being dominant as a person, I will remind everybody I worked for the Philadelphia Inquirer for 17 years. I was a general sports columnist in Philadelphia for the last seven years of my career there. I know Philadelphia and I’m telling you that the belief is by some, hey, it wasn’t winning that’s important to him. It’s him getting his and being dominant. That’s how they’ll interpret something like that. I know we’re not doing that. We get it. But nevertheless, that’s how some people are going to feel. I read you that quote, Cam. I heard from RC yesterday. What about you? Uh ladies and gentlemen, those who have never been great at anything, you understand that when you are great, when you are dominant, when you train, you don’t train to blend in. You don’t even work to do to to to just sit in your cubicle. You don’t work to do just to be average. Everything that you do is to dominate, to be the exception, to be the peak of the spear, not the middle of it. Now, the thing that people would love to say about AJ Brown, oh, he’s dysfunctional. Oh, he’s an individual player. He’s a GDI, a got individual. No, that’s not who it is. Because Ryan Terry, one thing that I love about you, you always bring in the culture and the per from a person that speaks for the culture, I can tell you this. When you used to be in PE and you start to say to yourself, you start to get picked the third and the fourth pick. Gotta be picked first. Just like, hold on, hold on. That’s not to say that your homeboy, your homeboy, like if we standing up and Shay’s sitting up here picking us and she keep picking Ryan. Okay. Okay, cool. Next week she still pick Ryan. Or then she may pick uh uh Stephen A. Smith. I’m gonna start to say, “All right, now hey, y’all gonna stop playing with me.” Because even though we’re winning, it’s still the idea that I’m not comfortable with being average. I have to dominate. It’s in me. It’s how I move. It’s how I live. So, when AJ Brown says those type of things, yes, we’re winning, but I’m not dominating. I didn’t come here to block versus a corner or to run dummy routes down the middle of the field. Hey, what about me? What about Hey, what about me? You know what I’m capable of, so allow me to get mine as I will allow others to get theirs. That’s fair. That’s fair. Press, did I just see footage? Did I just see the studio right there? Is that Cam Newton without his jacket on? That’s right. But hell toast. Hell no. How’d that happen? I mean I I mean it don’t matter. It’s 90° outside. You kept your damn coats on. The coat’s off now, huh? You’re hot, Cam. You finally joined the the rest of us now. It’s a little bit too hot in the studio. He did have I’ll give you one. Stephen Anthony and Ryan Terry. It was a Travis Shan mockery. Yeah, he was hot. He was getting a little toasty in here. He was hot. All right, we go to the NFL now. Chiefs and Broncos this weekend in what feels like a must-win situation for the Chiefs, right? Who with a loss would fall to 500 for the first time through 10 games since 2015. The Broncos currently have a three-game lead in the win column on the Chiefs in the division with the Chargers being sandwiched right in between them. However, Denver and Kansas City currently have the same odds to win the AFC West at plus 135 according to ESPN Sportsbook. While ESPN analytics gives the Broncos a 46% chance to win the division. All right, last time we saw the Broncos, they beat the Raiders by three on Thursday Night Football. So, they’ll be on added rest, right? Chiefs coming off a buy. We know how good Andy Reid is coming off a buy. Stephen A, who do you think needs this win more? Is it Kansas City or Denver? It’s definitely Kansas City. I mean, you two games out, you lose this game, you three games out. Um, you lose this game, I think you don’t have a chance of winning the AFC West. It’s just that simple. It’s not that complicated. Um, they got to figure it out. Kansas City Chiefs have not looked great throughout this season. We know that. They’re five and four. Uh, but they got all their horses back. I mean, you know, Rasheed Rice is back. you know, uh, you know, you got Xavier Worthy’s back. You got Thornton on those brothers. They there Travis Kelce there. You got to figure it out. It’s just that simple. And with Denver, honestly speaking, I’m going to say this, and I know it’s going to sound disrespectful. I don’t mean it that way, but it shouldn’t be that damn hard. It shouldn’t be that damn hard because with with with Denver, they’re going to give you opportunities to win the game, especially in Denver. You got to look at them. You know, they haven’t lost a home game since October of 2024. That is true. Here’s the flip side. Wins have been tight. Raiders by three, like you pointed out, beat the Jets by two, beat the Giants by, you know, beat the Giants by one. Okay. So, you got all of that going on that you have to pay attention to. Okay. Now, we know their defense is no joke. They can get to the quarterback. A plus 35 sack differential. That is the largest through 10 games in NFL history. These brothers get at the quarterback. And we know that’s Tra, you know, Patrick Mahomes kryptonite. We’ve seen that in the two Super Bowls he’s lost. So, we get that part. But when your offense struggles so miserably for the vast majority of three quarters and you going up against a team that has been consistently dominant and is used to being there in these pressurized situations like the Kansas City Chiefs and the Kansas City Chiefs are the ones with their back against the wall. They don’t have that cushion. They got to win this game. They cannot afford to fall to four to five and five and Denver ascend to nine and two. That can’t happen. They got to win this game. When you look at it from that standpoint, I think the urgency falls in the shoulders of the Kansas City Chiefs. They know it. They got to handle it. And Denver’s vulnerability on the offensive side of the ball gives them an opportunity to do just that. I’m going to play the long game here and I’m going to say Kansas City is probably one of probably one to three teams in the NFL that is a chameleon. Chameleon meaning that no matter where they are, I believe that they can win home or away. I say this week is a must-win for the Denver Broncos for one reason and one reason only. Bo Knicks. The last time we’ve seen the Denver Broncos take the field, it was an atrocious win versus the Las Vegas Raiders. And everybody leaves saying the same thing. Bo Knicks is holding us back or Bo Knicks is holding the Denver Broncos back. Hey, Shawn Payeyton is in some ways crippled because of the lack thereof of production from his quarterback. And as you start to go into the season, the narrative of teams with the best record has the biggest question going back to the Denver Broncos of their quarterback. you start talking about confidence, when you talk talking about ascending in the right direction and being a very dominant postseason game, a postseason team, you can’t be that with a quarterback that’s lacking. So therefore, I’m not worried if the Kansas City Chiefs lose this game because we know what they’re capable of and what they are and truly is. But for Bo Knicks and the Denver Broncos, if they lose this game and how they lose this game, will really have lasting impact for how we really view this team almost saying, “Hey, we back at the middle of the mile again, huh? Cubic Sonia.” Oh, there you go. And that should not be the situation. But that’s where the Denver Broncos are, man. Listen, you know what? I never thought you’d be part of this feelings crowd, right? I was talking about me and Shay was talking about parenting the other day and like we are in a real feelings era, right? People are like feel your feelings and explore your feelings. You talking about feelings, bro. See, you can’t have no argument about feelings. Let’s talk about facts. Okay. The facts are if the playoffs started today, the team that has won nine consecutive AFC West Championships, a team that’s been in seven consecutive AFC Championship games, a team that’s been to five Super Bowls, won’t be in the playoffs. And if they lose this, they have to me zero chance to win the AFC West because they still got to play the Chargers. They still got to play the Broncos again. And this is the Kansas City Chiefs. the Kansas City Chiefs who me on many occasions have said you don’t want to see them in the playoffs. I still believe they could win the Super Bowl. Guess guess what’s one way to ensure the Kansas City Chiefs don’t win the Super Bowl, Cam? That the Kansas City Chiefs don’t make the damn playoffs. That’s why this game is a must-win. It’s a literal must-win. It’s a numerical mustwin. It’s not some farcical unicorial metaphorical must-win because our quarterback ain’t played well. If they don’t win this game, they’re on the outside looking in and for the first time ever, Patrick Mahomes could be watching wild card weekend with all of us. Yeah, they’re quite The other thing is too I unicorn unicor I got to look that up. I got to look that up. That’s a word I never used before. I know a word I never used before. That’s number one. Number two, I would say this too. Patrick Satan is out. JK Dobbins is out. Your leading tackler Alex Singleton is out. I mean, there’s some vulnerabilities on both sides of the ball for the Denver Broncos, which also assist in the importance of Kansas City needing to win this game. There’s really no excuse. Your back’s against the wall. You’re the Kansas City Chiefs. You’re anything close to what we think you are based on what we’ve known you to be in the past. You win this damn game. You lose this game, all you’ve done, if you’re Kansas City, is show us that what once was is no longer. You know what’s this game? You know what’s funny, Shay, is how do you lead with a facts versus feelings and you don’t lead with facts? You lead with an if the playoff started today. That’s not a fact. It doesn’t. The playoff starts in January. We’re in November. Are you literal? You’re being literal. Are you serious? No. No. No. No. No. No. No, no, no, no. Ryan Terry, my brother, my good brother, I’m telling you, you can’t play a a a game of facts and feelings if that’s not the facts. Are they in position to go to the playoffs? Yes. If they lose this game, could they still be in a position to go to the playoffs? Yes. Those are facts. But also facts is if the Denver Broncos lose and they So now you back to ifs. Ifs are okay now. No, I’m I’ve never played the game, bro. I’m just letting you know. We’re on a debate show and I’m trying to make a point to say if they lose, right? Or if they win, cuz they won last week, how they won, it wasn’t pretty. It wasn’t sexy. It wasn’t nothing that we can say, “Okay, the Denver Broncos, they do have a dominant defense even though they have, you know, some players that’s missing.” It’s one of those situations that you start to say, “Okay, what’s the flaw?” the biggest flaw for the Denver Broncos and that’s gonna these haters can’t hold me back. No, no, no, no. It’s gonna be self-inflicted because of their quarterback. I agree with that. But if they win this game, maybe then he’s a little more legitimalized. Legitim. Yeah. Don’t put that one down. I got I got you. I got you. I got I didn’t even say right. Don’t put that one down. Got you. [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music]

On First Take, Stephen A. Smith, Ryan Clark and Cam Newton join Shae Cornette to discuss the Philadelphia Eagles and what is going on with A.J. Brown. Plus, who needs to win more, the Chiefs or the Broncos?!

0:00 The Eagles offense and A.J. Brown’s comments
0:42 Is there an issue with the Eagles?
5:29 A.J. Brown’s quote after winning the Super Bowl
6:35 Thoughts on A.J. Brown
10:00 Kansas City Chiefs vs. Denver Broncos
10:40 Who needs this win more, the Chiefs or the Broncos?

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