Stephen A. is SCARED of the Texans in the playoffs 🗣️ ‘Will Anderson Jr. is SPECIAL’ | First Take

Stephen A. is SCARED of the Texans in the playoffs 🗣️ ‘Will Anderson Jr. is SPECIAL’ | First Take

Who do you think has more to gain at this point from winning a Super Bowl? Is it Matthew Stafford or Jaylen Hurd? No, Jayen Hurst. I mean, I I don’t even think this is close at this point. You’re talking about going back to back like that puts you in rare air anyway. And and not only the situation of being able to go back to back, but in the circumstances in which you will go back to back. I mean, last year, you think you had AJ Brown reading reading a book on the sideline and they catch heat and they they they take it all the way through. they end up winning uh beating Patrick Mahomes in the Super Bowl. Really not even a close game and and him getting the MVP and being able to take his team back there after all the scrutiny that he’s faced this season with, you know, AJ Brown in the tweets and people being upset and can he do it, can he not do it? And I and I look back at this and I go, man, all this guy does is win. And so when you think about the situation that his team is in, he has carried this team. He’s done all the things right for this football team. And I think you go back to back as Super Bowl champions. You’re you’re in a class all by yourself. And not only doing that, doing it in Philly under one of the most pressure-packed markets in the world and playing with people who have been upset dang near the whole season. I say, man, you have outdone yourself, sir. So, I think if you look at in totality, I would say that he has the most to to to gain from this uh from this win. Well, I I’m going to say Matt Stafford because his Hall of Fame case would be made if he finds a way to be able to win a Super Bowl. That gives him two championships since he arrived in LA in 2021. He was able to microwave the first one the first year he got there, but then being able to get back to the championship rounds and find a way to get some more hardware, get another crack at being able to get a chance to win Super Bowl MVP, I think that makes the case for Matt Stafford, being in the Hall of Fame. And to me, that is the pinnacle of pro football. It’s not winning a Super Bowl. It’s having your name enshrined in Canton. And Matt Stafford absolutely has an opportunity to do that with another ring. You look at his passing numbers. He’s top t top 10 in the major statistical categories. So, he’ll have those numbers, but it’s just a matter of him being able to add a little more hardware to their to his resume because Matt Stafford right now, he doesn’t have any allp pros. You know what I’m saying? and he’s only got a couple of Pro Bowls, but if he’s able to get another Super Bowl on his resume, then then all of a sudden now he’s a Hall of Famer. Yeah, that’s that’s an interesting I I didn’t I wasn’t even thinking Hall of Fame wise for sure. I think that’s a great point. Like I I would not have thought Matt, you know, but but to your point cuz because he has there’s there’s only one starting quarterback that has won multiple Super Bowls that’s not in the Hall of Fame. Yeah. As a starter, right? And that’s Jim Plunkin. That’s it. You win multiple Super Bowls, you get in the hall. Uh, who has more to gain from winning? Uh, Stephen A. What do you think? The Eagles and Jaylen Herds or Matthew Stafford and the Rams? I think it’s Stafford. I think it’s Stafford. I think when you see the the kind of an incredible uh year that he’s having in Los Angeles this year, I think you have to take into account some of the conditions. The numbers are there when you look at what he’s passed for in his career. He’s thrown for, you know, over 60,000 yards and all of this other stuff. his first year in his first 12 years in Detroit. Think about how much this franchise struggled and what zero postseason success they had. At no time did we look at Matthew Stafford and say it was because of him. We knew that he didn’t have enough around him. We knew he was elite. He was an elite quarterback in the National Football League when the Detroit Lions were not winning games. Now, think about the rarity of that, fellas. and Shay, when you are a team and you have little to no success in a postseason and everyone knows it’s not the quarterback. Think about that. That’s rare. That doesn’t happen. That’s what we knew about in his first 12 years in the league when he threw for over 12 thou 45,000 yards and had about 282 touchdowns to 144 interceptions. He gets traded to the Los Angeles Rams for Jared Goff to get a Super Bowl. And what does he do? He helps deliver a Super Bowl. And now here he is three years later or so, 37 years of age, bad back supposedly, and all of this other stuff. Leading candidate for MVP right now. Okay. Do y’all know that this man has not thrown an interception since like week like what is it? Week three. I think that’s what it is. Yeah. O over that span, he’s thrown 25 touchdowns and no interceptions. I mean, the guy is having a spectacular season. We know what is what game he can bring to the table. But to back that up with a second Super Bowl championship, first of all, it’s not just going to cement him, you know, as a champion and a Hall of Famer. He’s going to go down as one of the greatest quarterbacks we’ve ever seen. When he was with the Lions, think about it. To add on, think about it. Yeah. To add on to Stephen A’s point, when he was with the Lions and I was covering the Bears, we used to call him Pad Stafford because that’s what we felt like he was doing with the Lions was just padding his stats. That’s all there was to it. and now he goes to the Rams obviously and those stats actually pay off with W. So let’s ask this question now. Stafford right now is the favorite to win the MVP. Do you think it is Stafford and then a large gap with the rest of the quarterbacks in the NFC or is there someone that’s starting to catch up with him? No, I’m not going to say it’s a large gap because Dak Prescott is playing out of his mind right now. Dak Prescott is number one in QBR and he has the number one offense in the entire NFL. George Pickkins has as many receiving yards as the entire receiving court for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Yeah. Like like the Dak Prescott has been unbelievable this season. Probably probably would be better if CD Lamb, his number one wide receiver, could catch the damn ball. So, I mean, yeah, Dak Prescott, what he’s been able to do in terms of shephering this team through adverse circumstances, the best player on the team being traded at the eve of the season, the trai tragic passing of Marshon Neland to find ways to be able to keep this thing afloat, for the Dallas Cowboys to even be in the conversation for the postseason this year at this point is a testament to the greatness that Dak Prescott has displayed this year. So, even though I would still give the nod to Matt Stafford in terms of who’s having the better season, sure, that Prescott is right there. Yeah. When you start talking about large guests, I mean, even Sam Darnold, like you think about the numbers that they put up in Seattle, I mean, these guys are playing good football. Like, don’t just get all B and and and here’s the thing. You’re talking about Shawn McVey and an explosive offense and all the piece and parts. Like, Dak Prescott’s had a bad defense that he’s had to play with, right? So, you flip it around like the Seahawks have given given um Sam Darnold and JSN all these opportunities. They’re taking full advantage. I mean, Sam Darnold might break uh uh Calvin Johnson’s record with with uh JSN. We got six weeks left and the playoff races are heating up with some unlikely teams on the outside looking in. The Texans have won three straight to stay in the playoff hunt with the Chiefs and Lions getting huge comeback wins on Sunday to stay alive. And so, Kanty, here we are. Week 13. Week 13, right, in the NFL coming up. Who are the scariest teams right now currently in the playoff hunt? It’s the teams in Texas. It’s the Houston Texans and the Dallas Cowboys. I’ll start with the Texans first. They got guys up front that can hunt. Oh yeah. Will Anderson Jr. is flying under the radar. I know a lot of people are paying attention to what Miles Garrett is doing, what Brian Burns with the New York Giants are doing. Get a load of Will Anderson Jr. cuz Josh Allen did on Thursday Night Football. It didn’t go so well for him. Josh Allen sacked a careerhigh eight times. It was the third time in his career where he was held to no touchdowns passing or rushing and having multiple turnovers. They made him look very, very human. And that’s the reigning defending MVP. They’ve won three straight games with backup quarterback Davis Mills. Two of those victories against teams that are currently in the playoff picture right now. And it it would have been five straight games had their quarterback CJ Stra not got knocked out in the first quarter against the Denver Broncos. And that was a three-point game that went in Denver’s favor. So, there’s a lot to like with the Houston Texans. If they get CJ Style back with this upcoming game, week 13, against the Indianapolis Colts, you need to look out cuz the Texans are the team that nobody wants to play in the AFC. The NFC, it’s really simple for me with the Dallas Cowboys. I don’t think they’re going to get to the playoffs, but they’re going to play spoiler for a lot of teams. And as Mel Kyper always says, if you can’t beat them, you can’t block them. Well, the Dallas Cowboys, now that they got Quinnon Williams, they’re hard to block. And of course with that offensive line with all those first round draft picks named Tyler, they can block people up. And so the Dallas Cowboys now that offense has balance that Prescott has a little bit more margin for error because you got a defense that can get some stops. And we saw what that looks like in week 12 against the Philadelphia Eagles. So the Dallas Cowboys, the Houston Texans are teams that are going to give opponents tough times down the stretch. Stephen A, I’m going to go with CC on this in terms of the Houston Texans. I haven’t seen a defense like that in a long time. The way those brothers can get at the quarterback, I mean, Will Anderson is something special. These brothers are no joke. This defense is ferocious. They’ve got speed. They hit. They’re rough riders. They’re very physical. They come after you. And you get the impression, I’m not speaking in a literal sense, fellas, but you get the impression that just just give them 14 points. They got you. They got you. You ain’t getting anything this way. I mean, they come at you like that. And you understand they’re doing this without CJ Stra. So CJ Stra comes back and he and he shows you anything relevant or close to the potential. He showed you a couple of years ago or so. Okay. Um Houston could be deadly. I view them as as as my sleeper. You do not want to play this team. Not that defense. They are something to behold. I really believe that. I the only team I would say when you talk about the Texans and I think their defense is legit even with Straoud coming back I would say probably I would lean towards the Chiefs like the Chiefs you know the scariest team that that’s in the hunt that’s outside of it right now. I mean the Kansas they’ve been to a Super Bowl what seven time whatever they AFC championship seven times in a row whatever this crazy number is. Um they they they whipped the Colts like like I I did not expect that kind of game to go down that way. They played physical. Hunt got involved. It feels like as the year progresses, Andy Reid gets back to that Chief’s conversation of running the football first and then taking it through Momes and their defense. They I mean, they locked up Jonathan Taylor. And so, I get that they’ve been sporadic this season and and they haven’t won many score games, but if you’re going to tell me who’s scary and you got to dial up the the team that just always finds a way with Mahomes back there, they’re scary to me as well. Uh Kansas City. What a great segue. Uh we talked earlier about the Cowboys. Cowboys and Kansas City are going to face off against one another on Thanksgiving Day. And so, was it a mess win for the Cowboys? Everyone here thought maybe not. They just got to win one of their next two. But now for Kansas City on the flip side, is Thursday a must-win against Dallas? What do you think, Casey? Uh, no. It’s not It’s not a must-win against Dallas. It’s more of a a must-win for them the week after that against the Houston Texans, which starts a streak of five. Go to the board. Yeah, I got to go to the board. So, this Dallas Cowboys game, it’s great for ratings. Not necessarily a gota have it for the Kansas City Chiefs. This one right here is the one you got circle because the Kansas City Chiefs are looking up at the Houston Texans when it comes to playoff standings. If they’re able to get that win, that’s going to be a big one. The Chargers game as well. That’s another one. The Chargers beat him the first game of the season down there in Brazil. So, win or loss against the Chargers. I’m gonna give them a win against the Chargers. Okay. And then I’m gonna give them a win against the Tennessee Titans, which understood ain’t got to be said. This one becomes interesting against the Denver Broncos. Denver Broncos got the best of them in Mile High. The Denver Broncos have played them really well the last few seasons. I’m going to actually give that game to the Denver Broncos and then I’ll give them the win against the Las Vegas Raiders. So, that becomes the key to me. 10 and seven. It’s right on the fringe of whether or not it gets them in. They’re contending with teams like the Jacksonville Jaguars, like the LA Chargers, like the Buffalo Bills for those three playoff spots in the wild card. They’re not going to be able to catch up with the Broncos in the division. So, I think the Kansas City Chiefs have a path to get in, but they have no margin for error and likely they’re going to need some help. So, if they lose to the Cowboys and they lose to the Broncos, like Cece just said, that would give them a 66% chance to get in. Go ahead, Stephen A. I believe they’re beating the Cowboys. I believe they lose to the Texans and then they run the table and win the rest of their games. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Here I am coming at you live from s an undisclosed tropical like vacation. You going to have to be jealous about that. And just listen to that cuz I hear it’s cold in New York. My condolences y’all. My condolences. It’s time for the A-list. All right. Top five NFL teams following week 12. Listen up Shay. Listen up Sayi. Listen up Sergeant Friday. Here we go. I’m coming at you from remote. It don’t damn matter cuz I got the energy. Are you ready for this right now? Give me number five on the list, please. Right now. Bam. Right there. The Chicago Bears. Listen, I understand you want to take into account an absence of stiff competition because the first team they beat with a winning record, they just beaten the Pittsburgh. But here’s the bottom line. Here’s the bottom line. They look like plus 19 or 20 in turnover differential. Okay, you understand fourth quarter comebacks. You understand they got a young stud in Caleb Williams that’s showing you that the brother is ascending. Okay, they’re opportunistic. They’ve got a running game. They’ve got exceptional coaching. And even though we want to bloate about the Detroit Lions and about the Green Bay Packers, who’s in first place in the NFC North? That would be the Chicago Bears. We want to rave about the Dallas Cowboys and what the Dallas Cowboys can do. who beat up on the Dallas Cowboys a few weeks back. That was the Chicago Bears. It’s time to show them some respect. Right now, considering the way others have fallen and how they continue to survive, I’m going to throw them in top five for this week. Keep in mind, list is fluid. The list is fluid. Let’s go to number four on the list, please. Right now, give it to me. Bam. Right there. The Denver Broncos. We understand why they’re ahead of the AFC West. They beating everybody in front of them. Bo Nick showed up and played lights out when he had to. Of course, we’re looking at that defense, which is real. We understand who they are. Shawn Payeyton is finding a way to to coaches behind them. I don’t like what I’ve been seeing from this damn offense from time to time, but at least last week, they showed up. They’re still a top of the NFC AFC West. They’re winning football games right now. They’re a top seed in the AFC. We got to give love where love is due. They deserve it. I got them as top four, just not top three. Give me number three on the list, please, right now. Bam. Right there. There it is. Why is my audience waiting for it? It’s Drake May. It’s Mike Vrael. It’s the New England Patriots. We know they can D up. We know they’ve got their quarterback of the future. They can run with the football. They’re exceptionally well coached. I know that Mike Vrael took a shot at that first take, but you know what? We’re class personified here. We’re not going to overreact with him being coached into doing such a thing by Weii Radio. Okay? We’re not going to let that happen. We understand that the man is doing a great job. They’ve been morbid for the last few years, but that is no longer the case. They beaten they beaten the people that matter on their schedule right in front of them. One of those teams includes the Buffalo Bills. We understand that across the board they’re a quality team. They were top three last week. They deserve to stay top three. They just ain’t top two. Give me number two on the list, please. Right now. Bam. Right there. The Seattle Seahawks. This defense is something special. We understand that Sam Darnold is playing like an MVP. We know Injiga is the is the real deal. Okay, we know they can they can throw the football. We know they can make things happen. We know their defense can make things happen. And these brothers are something to behold. Nobody wants to go to Seattle to have to play a playoff game. I can tell you that much. They just ain’t the number one team in the NFL right now. Here is who that is. We all know. Put it up there, please. It is the Los Angeles Rams. They are the top team right now. their defense with these brothers right there verse and the rest of the crew. We know I mean damn it I’m just we we we might be lucky to say that Aaron Donald don’t decide to come out of retirement because God help us all if that happened because the Rams defense just looks that legit offensively whether it’s Devonte Adam whether it’s Puka Nua whether it’s Kyron Williams it still starts and ends with Matthew Stafford has two interceptions 30 touchdowns on the year hasn’t thrown an interception since week three playing like an all world quarterback play caller extraordinaire Shawn McVey and what he brings to the table easily their victories. A blocked field goal attempt at the end of the game by the Philadelphia Eagles and of course a fumble at the goal line against San Francisco that pushed that game into overtime which they lost. Those are their only two losses on the entire season. The Rams are the number one team in the National Football League. So there’s the list. It’s the Rams. It’s the Seahawks. It’s the Patriots. It’s the Broncos. And I’m throwing in the Chicago Bears as a top five right now. I already know that’s what they’re going to have the biggest problem with. So let me have a minute. Let me have a minute. Welcome to the list, my Bears. It only took me a month on this show. We can have Stephen A talking about Chicago sports. I love it. I love to see it, Stephen A. And look it, they play in a very competitive division up until the Minnesota Vikings decided to stink up the bed. Every team had a winning record in that division. They deserve to be there. Thank you, Stephen A. I appreciate it. Oh my word. Hey, you don’t even believe as a band fan that they are top five in the NFL. You don’t believe that, Shane? Hey, it’s fluid. It’s fluid. It’s fluid. This is week 12. I didn’t say that week 13 week a panic. Yeah, because the Philadelphia Eagles lost to the Dallas Cowboys. He panicked. He didn’t have a team to put in that spot. He looked around. Oh, Chicago Bears have eight wins. Look at the NFC North. Let me just throw that to the Eagles. Let me just put that. I’m not going to put the Eagles on that list. Let me take you a little deeper. You know what he thought? He thought large market. Everybody would Let’s go Bay. We throw them in. You’re throwing them in there. Give you the numbers. He likes to give you some freebies in Chicago just cuz you put the Bears in the top five. You ain’t getting free home runs in Chicago. I ain’t looking for no freebies. I ain’t going there. Stephen A. Stephen A. This was the only team with a winning record coming into week 12 that had a negative point differential. The only team in the NFL coming into Yeah, they still won. And they still win. Congratulations to them. They still won. But what I know is that’s a house of cards with the Chicago Bears. The second easiest strength of schedule up until this point. That is a house of cards. So who you going to put there? Okay. I can take You want to go? You want me go for it? All right. So So at five I had San Fran and the other four I had the same teams just in a different order. I had So I had San Fran at five, I had the Seahawks at four, Broncos at three, Patriots at two, and Rams at one. So four out of five is really solid. It’s really solid. But with with with the numbers, but I would I would put the Niners. Listen, the Niners have won with two different quarterbacks and one that’s struggling and they’re still finding ways to win. They beat the Panthers. Like this is a good 49ers are a good football team. Well coached. They give and listen, you even said it. They end up beating the Rams, man. Like I get it feels injuryated. The argument about the Rams is different. But but but I don’t like I I San Francisco looks just looks shaky to me. I mean I you think the bears look more solid than there? Yeah, I was about to say. What are are you drinking mimosas down in that little that tropical little drink with little hats or whatever? I see a cat I see a cat in Caleb Williams that’s ascending. I see DJ Mo D and those brothers balling. I see a defense that’s been opportunistic. I tell you that much. No you stop. Caleb Williams has gotten better every game. He’s gotten better. I’m not saying I can’t look much better from the pocket. Let’s relax a little bit with the the snide eye I see over there. Well, well, first of all, ju I’m just going to put this out there. Go back and watch the film for that game from the Pittsburgh Steelers. Caleb Williams missed some open receivers, open throws that he’s got to put on those guys. He ain’t making them. And then, of course, he gifted the Pittsburgh Steelers seven points. But you got San Francisco in there with Brock Pie throwing three interceptions in the first half. I’m not caping for the San Francisco 49ers. That was Jeff Saturday. It shouldn’t be that confusing. We don’t look anything about who you got at five. So, who you got at five? Stephen A. Steven A. against a team we already talked about on this show. I’m putting the Houston Texans at number five. I’m putting the Houston Texans at number five. Their offense lights out. No, but let me let me finish this. Let me finish my Well, they don’t have their starting quarterback, Shay. So, there is that. And they without their starting quarterback. How about that? The Houston Texans, the only reason people don’t want to put them in their top five is cuz they want to count what happened the first three weeks of the regular season against their starting quarterback. Yeah, I understand that, Shay. But this team has gotten a lot better. The offense with a new offensive coordinator and Nick Kayley has been improving steadily. They got a run game with Woody Mars and Nick Chub finally. So when CJ Stra does come back, this team, the Houston Texans are going to be a lot better. And I believe and I’m saying out there saying come to me when Nick when CJ Stra come back. That’s all I’m saying. Come to me when CJ Stout come back. We just going to beat all these playoff teams like the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Buffalo Bills and we’ll see about the Indianapolis Colts this week. That’s what they going to do. They beat good teams. They’re playing their best football at the right time of the season. So, so six and five. So, six and five and battling for a playoff spot compared to eight and three and being the top of your division. You going to do that? Stephen after week 12 power rankings. These are power rankings. I know that. Who is playing right now? So, but that’s what I say and then y’all get But when I say it, y’all get on me. See you two, you and that damn Sergeant Friday. Y’all be flipping it up. When I do that, then y’all turn around and y’all say, “Nah, nah, nah. Oh, who’s the who’s leading the division?” I mean, are you seeing this, Stephen? What you going about? And then I do that. You say, “Oh, no. It’s not standings. It’s power ranking.” Y’all flip it up week to week. You both of you both. You do that all the time. Fluid. It’s fluid. It’s fluid. It’s fluid, Stephen. It’s fluid. We try to keep it We try to keep it real with you. It’s fluid. So, the only spot we all have issue with, I don’t, but is five. Okay. Fine. So, pretty good. Pretty good overall. That’s the best list you’ve had all season. Pretty good list. Quick grade. What would you give him? I’m going to give him an A minus. A minus. A minus as well. [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music]

Stephen A. Smith, Jeff Saturday and Chris Canty join Shae Cornette on First Take to discuss some of the biggest storylines around the NFL headed into Week 13.

0:00 Matthew Stafford or Jalen Hurts need a Super Bowl more?
5:26 Stafford the runaway favorite in the NFC?
6:58 Scariest teams in the playoff hunt
11:15 Kansas City Chiefs vs. Dallas Cowboys
12:49 Stephen’s A-List
17:20 A-List Reactions

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