Chris Canty thinks Shedeur could carve up the 49ers’ defense 😬 + Joe Burrow’s back! | First Take

Chris Canty thinks Shedeur could carve up the 49ers’ defense 😬 + Joe Burrow’s back! | First Take

The next opponent they have will be the Browns. Yesterday, the Browns named Shadur Shadur Sanders the starter for their afternoon tilt on Sunday against the Niners. Sanders will make his second consecutive start. And Kevin Stfansky said the first thing was to win, which Sanders did obviously against the Raiders. Next thing now is improvement, which will be one game better. In his first start, Sanders went 11 for 20, 20 passing yards, one touchdown, one interception, leading the Browns to a big win obviously over the Raiders. Shador became the first Browns quarterback to win his first career start since Eric is it Zire? Am I saying it right? Zire in 1995. It had been a minute. Okay, that’s all we’re going to say. But what do we expect to see now from Shador Sanders on Sunday against the Niners? Just pointed out how Salah can really coach defense. So, a bigger challenge we would assume than what we saw in the Raiders. CeCe, what do you think? Well, here’s the thing. I think Shador Sanders had some good things to build on in his first start. being able to push the ball down the field, the off schedule throws to Isaiah Bond and Jerry Judy, those are things to be lauded for. The other thing that we got to point out, only one sack in that game against the Raiders. Huge. That’s big. Max Claus in that Raiders defensive front, they can get after quarterbacks. The fact that he’s not constantly retreating out of the back end of the pocket and putting himself up against it against NFL caliber pass rushers, that is a positive. Now, of course, it’s going to be uneven. He got fooled with the zone pressure. Charles Snowden ended up getting a pick. Where’d he go to school? Virginia. Just going to throw that out there. Uh but but here’s the thing. I I I think that the 49ers have their work cut out for him because this is a guy that has shown the ability to do some some special things in the downfield passing game. And this is not a 49ers front that gets after the quarterback. He ranked dead last in sacks in the NFL. That’s right. So if you give a quarterback, albeit going into his second NFL start, the kind of time that they’ve given quarterbacks in the past, this Cleveland Browns passing game led by Shidor Sanders could carve you up. So, I’m not going to take it as a fatal come plea that the San Francisco 49ers go into Cleveland and boat race the Browns. Okay. What do you think, Stephen A? You are. I think balling out is a bit too extreme. I don’t think we saw enough from Shador Sanders to say that he’s ready to do that against the 49ers team, which is obviously much much better than the Las Vegas Raiders. But what if he’s just better than what we saw last weekend? I think we’ll be satisfied with that. I think that would be an upgrade. I think that’ll be something that can build confidence in him. And he got the ball out of his hands quicker than usual. He wasn’t holding on to the ball as long as he’s customarily known to do. And obviously in Bond and others, he’s shown that he’s got some weapons, some speeders out there that he can dip and dunk to and they could potentially make some things happen. He missed Jerry Judy on a couple of occasions. I saw Judy over didn’t get him the ball. But outside of that, I’m looking at him and I’m saying, you know what, against this 49ers team that’s again is good, but in the same breath, don’t have their two elite guys. If he goes out there and balls and look better than he did against the Vegas Raiders, against the Las Vegas Raiders, I think that’ll be a huge plus. I don’t expect him to play lights out, throw for three or 400 yards or anything like that, but if he’s in the 200 plus yard range and he’s throwing the ball efficiently and not turning the ball over, you know, I think, you know, I think that’s a plus and I think that’s something to build on. Yeah, I listen, I fully agree. I I with Stephen, I think when you have these conversations about expectations on quarterback, keep them realistic, right? Like, think about think about Lamar Jackson just coming back and the way he’s played these three games being banged up, right? He hasn’t been like a world beater, but he’s finding ways to win, right? The most important part of QB play is not giving the game away. I thought that what Shore did, they haven’t done all season. In one game, Shadore had the long the three largest completions in the Cleveland Browns uh in all their games of the season. He had a 66, a 52, and a 39 yard completion in one game. So, he pushed the ball down. Now, one’s a quick screen out. I get everybody’s like, “Oh, it’s a screen.” Well, guess what? Stafford those screens, too. And so, as soon as I hear the quarterback and and and and that’s what your job is is to get it to the playmakers, allow them to go make plays. But the part that you said, uh, CC that I loved is the sacks. And I think what I would say is a negative in college at Colorado, he was under duress. I mean, let’s be honest, like there was some days where them boys were just coming through the gates and he was running for his life and making it. the the moment for me didn’t seem bigger than Shadore Sanders in that week. And that’s the most important thing. It’s he’s not going to go throw for 350 and four touchdowns like but the expectation shouldn’t be that it’s growth, right? It’s Caleb Williams was the first pick of the draft last year and played every game. This is the dude’s second start. Relas growth, protecting the football, getting in your playmakers hands, try to stay on time, right? let that defense do what they can do so well and hopefully they keep you in the game and you make it a game. But man, listen, was did did he absolutely light it up? No. But man, it was his first start in the NFL and he did plenty to listen, earn the right to start the next week. That’s the most important thing Shador Sanders did is he earned the right to start again. He played better than Gabriel has. He gave the Browns a win. All of those things should be massive checks in the pros column. I just respect the way they went about it. Quickly, you have you have a comment or you good? Yeah, I think it’s important to also note that Shador Sanders has put on tape the ability to be able to push the ball down the field and that’s going to impact everybody on that Cleveland Browns offense. That running game with Quinn Sean Juckkins and Dylan Samson and that offensive line, they’ll have a chance to get a little more room to operate because defenses now have to play the Browns offense a little more honest. When it came to what Dylan Gabriel did over a six-game sample size, he’s throwing the ball 5.1 yards per attempt. Shador Sanders in this game against the Vegas Raiders 10.4 yards per attempt. Yeah, he’s doubling the yards per attempt in the passing game. So, people understand what that does to DBs and the whole concept of Well, in simplest terms, the team is going to keep two safeties back deep as opposed to one safety back deep. So, you’re going to have lighter boxes to run the football against. And with that hard-nosed running, Gabe, then all of a sudden, you can feel some excitement about the direction that this Cleveland Browns offense is going to go in. Yeah, that’s where the one thing that we also have to bring up, the last thing that we also have to bring up is this. It it it really means nothing from a from a standpoint of, okay, this is this season. This is what this is. But since 1995, 17 different quarterbacks started for the Cleveland Browns. None of them won. Shador Sanders is the first to have done it. Why does that matter? Because somehow someway along the way, and we’ve talked about this with various quarterbacks throughout NBA history, that it factor, somebody else may have it when others don’t. And when you look at the Cleveland Browns and their history of futility, particularly at the quarterback position, even with Kevin Stfansky, who arrived in 2020 and was now on his 13th different quarterback, you do want someone to come along and you’re able to say, “Yo, that’s the one.” And that’s what everybody is looking to find out about Shidor Sanders. Definitely. And to your point, Jeff, too, like when you talk about the rookies, Cam Ward not played great. JJ McCarthy, Cam Ward has looked better in the month of November. Sure. But I mean, this is comparative. This is his second start. Like it’s it’s might take a minute. So, we’ll see what happens. Obviously, against the Niners this Sunday. Let’s stay in the AFC North because yesterday Zack Taylor announced that Joe Burrow is likely to start for on Thursday for the Bengals on their Thanksgiving Day matchup against the Ravens. Now, Burrow has been out nine games with a turf toe injury. With Burrow as the starter, the Bengals won their first two games. They’ve won only one game since. So, Burrow posted this on his IG yesterday with the caption, “He’s back.” Interesting. The jersey. The jersey is an interesting choice. Uh, Panty, can the Bengals with Burrow under center go on a little bit of a run here and get some things done? Absolutely. Joe Burrow has won six straight games in his career before? I absolutely think it’s on the board for him to be able to do it again. And here’s the deal. They lost a game on Sunday to the New England Patriots, but didn’t lose ground in the division. The division leader was three games up in the win column. And guess what? Sitting here today, the division leader is three games up in the win column. The only difference is it’s the Baltimore Ravens and not the Pittsburgh Steelers. Oh, by the way, the Bengals play the Ravens not once, but twice starting on Turkey Day this week. So, I absolutely think it’s plausible for Cincinnati to be able to get this done. When you look at Baltimore’s remaining schedule, for them to be able to go 500 would be a blessing. Every team they play, not named Cincinnati, is over 500. That includes dates with the Patriots and the Green Bay Packers. When you look at the Pittsburgh Steelers, they’re on quarterback number two with Mason Rudolph. And I’m not conceding the division to them. So, yeah, the Cincinnati Bengals absolutely have an opportunity to get into the playoffs by winning the AFC North. Well, you talk about a tall order now. that that and I and I love Burrow and I think he is my concern is and I would be disingenuous if I said a guy missing this much time walking back on the field and everything just clicks, right? And we don’t really know about T. Higgins. I’m not sure if he’s already been declared out or if he has a possibility of playing, but like when you look at this, I know Chase will be back. So, they h they have a plethora of riches on the outside and even even at Titan, they can make plays. My question is protection and and Joe Burrow protecting himself and understanding what that is and the Ravens defense has gotten better. They’re playing a little bit better now. The the the offense hasn’t put any pressure on and that bodess well, right? Because it’s Cincy’s defense that everybody’s concerned about. So, if they give them a chance and and to your point of beating the Ravens, now you’re really in the conversation. I I just got to see it to believe it. Like, I love Joe Burrow. I just think when guys miss this much time, there’s a lot of rust to work off. Especially, man, your toe and like pushing off and getting chased and all of those things that come into like a real game situation. It’s not practice. I just got to see it. Confirmed. T. Higgins will not practice on Thanksgiving. He is out. Yes. So, no T. Higgins. The answer to this question is no way in hell. He ain’t run no damn table. All right. Let’s stop this nonsense. First of all, let’s go to the injuries that you just alluded to, Jeff Sad. Let’s look at this here. Okay. So you got the wrist injury in 2023. In 2020, the left knee injury where he tore the ACL and other ligaments. We got let’s get not forget about that. We also got to remember the emergency appendecttomy that impacted the beginning of the 2022 season. Strain calf that affected the start of the 2023 season and then now we got this stuff. I mean my lord I I mean you know is is is the Bengals a football franchise or an infirmary? What the hell is going on? Okay, let’s get that out the way. That’s number one. And number two, we’re really going to have this conversation. You’re one and six against Lamar Jackson lifetime. One and six. We have got we have forgotten that. Okay, so let’s not forget that. Okay, that’s who you’re playing against. Even though Lamar Jackson has not looked great, you’re one in six lifetime against them. We got to pay attention to that. Plus, Baltimore is now in the thick of things and they’ve they’ve steered their ship in the right direction. Okay, that’s number two. Number three, even though we’re talking about a Joe Burus 18 and five lifetime in the month of December and January, including the postseason, the bottom line is that this is November. And I want to look at something here. I don’t know about the rest of y’all, but last time I checked, total defense dead last, scoring defense dead last, third down defense second worst in the next to last in the National Football League. Red don’t red zone defense fourth worst. They are awful. I mean, they’re so bad defensively. You’ve got defensive players hiding in public in in in in local areas not wanting anybody to know that they play defense for the Cincinnati Bengals. You know, that’s how bad it is. Okay? It’s horrible. Okay? So, we’re we’re talking about we’re looking at this schedule and they got two games against the Ravens, one at Buffalo. Okay? And and we’re acting like they can run the table. I expect them to lose two of these three games. I expect them to lose two of the next three games. Well, Stephen, and that will be that. The defense actually scored against the New England Patriots on a pick six. So, the defense wasn’t the issue on Sunday. It was the offense not being able to muscle. Well, I mean, come on, man. Consistently put together. Dear Chase was out and Joe Flacco still 41. You come on, man. Come on, man. Not a big deal about that, are we? Your point was about the defense. Their defense was horrible. Yeah, they weren’t horrible on Sunday against the New England Patriots who right now are in line to have the number one seed in the conference. So, we’re we’re we’re we’re starting to say this thing about the Cincinnati Bengals not being capable of being able to turn a corner. And I’m just going to put it out there. If Joe Burrow can come back and and and resemble the guy that we saw at the end of last season, which is a tall ass, I don’t think we can dismiss the Cincinnati Bengals being able to make a run at this thing. Now, their playoff starts now. If they lose this game on Thanksgiving night, it’s over. You might as well shut Joe Burrow down cuz your season is over. I hate to bring it up, but remember we were talking about two games for Jamar Chase for the spitting. It was only one game. And now look at this situation. Oh, a massive T. Higgins is out. Joe Burrow is back and you’re talking about maybe they could go on a playoff run. I’m just saying if they had listened to you and he was a kid. I’m not using this side of the Bengals. So it’s really I mean I’m really proud of you. This is growth, Jeff. This is growth. Go ahead, Stephen. And the last person that needs to grow is you. Let’s get that out the way. You’re the last person that needs to grow. All right. Let’s get that out the way. That’s okay. Let’s Let’s be very very clear with your monstrous self. Okay? No, you don’t need to grow. All right? But let me tell y’all this. Two of the next three games they’re going to lose. They’ll probably score over 35 at each of them. And they’ll still lose. What? How many games did the Bengals lose last year scoring 33 or more? I think they scored they they lost like eight or nine games last year scoring 33 or more. It’s what they do. We know they gonna score. We know with Joe Brow on the field they gonna put points up. It’s the defense. Who they going to stop? Let’s stop this nonsense. They’re losing to the next the Boston Ravens they scored 30 in a month. He talking about they going to put up to Stephen A’s point against Cincinnati. Yes, man. Come on, man. Boro has lost one straight against the Ravens. So that’s that’s not great news. But we will see what happens. It would be fun if Cincinnati went on a run. [Music]

On First Take, Stephen A. Smith, Chris Canty and Jeff Saturday join Shae Cornette to discuss how Shedeur will perform against the San Francisco 49ers and what to expect from the Cincinnati Bengals with the return of Joe Burrow.

0:00 Shedeur Sanders’ stats
0:42 How will Shedeur perform against the 49ers
6:50 The Cleveland Browns’ QB history
7:49 Thoughts on Joe Burrow’s return

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