Stephen A. MAKES THE CASE for Shedeur Sanders to start the rest of the season | First Take

Stephen A. MAKES THE CASE for Shedeur Sanders to start the rest of the season | First Take

Sanders had a second start for the Browns in what was his first loss as an NFL starting quarterback in Cleveland. The Ners picked up a 26-8 road win. Sanders threw for 149 yards and a touchdown in the loss. He was sacked three times. After the game, Browns head coach Kevin Stfansky did name Sanders the starter now for week 14 against the Titans. Should Sanders though be the Browns starting quarterback for the rest of the season? Cam Newton, what do you think? Uh, I believe in equal opportunity. I believe that whatever you’ve given one, you should give the other. I believe that we have to develop our players in the best way we know how. And if you’ve given Dylan Gabriel, if you’ve given Joe Flacco an opportunity to properly evaluate them, you need to do the same thing for Shador Sanders. Is it a week- toeek basis? Is it a whole year basis? That that’s between Kevin Stfansky and his coaching staff. But the truth is, given what was, you know, the situation yesterday, I was pleased with what Shadur Sanders did do. Do I believe that the Cleveland Browns are a good team? Hell no. They don’t have the proper talent. They don’t have a a specific or a dynamic number one option, whether at the tight end position or a receiver position. And you’re asking a rookie and a and a rookie running back to carry your team or now a rookie quarterback to carry your team. And that’s not it’s not a recipe for success in the National Football League. So, you know, when you have this type of dynamic, the only thing that makes, you know, in in mo most recent history that that uh I can compare it to was when Dak Prescott was a uh was a rookie and then you had Ezekiel Elliott. But the thing that they had was an unbelievable offensive line and you had options at the receiver position. That’s not what Cleveland has right now and not at all. Stephen A get where you’re coming from Cam, but it was totally unnecessary. Dylan Gabriel ain’t your starting quarterback for the future. Therefore, find out whether or not Shador Sanders can be the rest of the season. I think Shador Sanders should be start for the rest of the season and that should be that. It’s very, very simple and plain to me. Um, because Joe Flacco is not there and he’s not going to be there any longer because uh Bailey Zappy ain’t going to be your quarterback because Dylan Gabriel ain’t going to be your quarterback. Does Shador Sanders have a shot to be your starting quarterback or not into the future? If that answer is yes, then you want to use every opportunity under the sun to explore whether or not that’s something that he can manufacture into or fall short of. Yesterday, you know, he moved he completed eight of his first 11 passes. That was good. Uh but in the second half, they only accumulated a grand total of 76 yards. That was not good. He was sacked three times. That was not good. Why? because it took him about 3.37 seconds uh to throw the football, which was the longest, if I remember correctly, to throw by a Browns quarterback over the last three seasons. And so, because of that reality, because that’s something that was that was seen as an impediment to his potential NFL success from his days in college when people were looking at him saying he holds on to the ball a little bit too long, he’s looking for the deep ball, etc., etc. You know, these are things that you have to alleviate and you have to overcome. You’re not a big- time scrambler. uh you don’t have those kind of wheels. Um you can’t hold on to the football as much as you possibly can. Yeah. Kevin Stfinsky, can you use these next few games to get rid of that kind of ailment so he can be better at it? Better at getting rid of the football quicker because we know he’s not looking to scramble with the football. Can that kind of stuff happen? You got to use these opportunities to find that stuff out. The Browns are not going anywhere. U and we know Dylan Gabriel ain’t the quarterback of the future. Therefore, you look at Shador Sanders and you utilize this time to find out whether or not he can will be he can and will be or not. He had a 12 QBR. Not great in that game. To your point, they don’t have a lot of weapons. Do the Browns. They don’t have a lot of talent on that roster outside of Miles Garrett and what they can do defensively and get after the quarterback. But what do you do? You’re constantly looking for a franchise quarterback. Do you know Dylan Gabriel is absolutely not a starter in this league after what how many games he starts? Six. I don’t know. What do you do with Shooter Sanders? Let him finish out the season, then you’re back to square one again. Are you looking for another quarterback? I don’t know. Yes, Shay. Yes. You start with the rest of the season and then you go back to square one because you don’t have anybody in your quarterback room to start off square one with. This is the only hope that you have. So therefore, find out, use the rest of this season, which is done and move on. So if that’s the case, then we will see Shador Sanders going forward. Right now, it seems like Stansky is just taking this game by game, which I don’t know if that’s the right answer either. Here’s tonight’s Monday Night Football match up. Drake May and the AFC leading Patriots host the Giants 8 Eastern, 5 Pacific on ESPN, ESPN Deportes in the ESPN app. Payton and Eli on ESPN 2. Coverage kicks off with NFL Live at 3 Eastern. Then Scott Vampelt and the Monday Night Countdown crew at 6 Eastern. So, the Rams suffered a shocking loss to the Panthers on Sunday. Matthew Stafford, who’s been unstoppable for most of the season, did not have his best game. three turnovers including two interceptions and a fumble lead in the fourth quarter with the game on the line. 3128 the L for the Rams that snapped the Rams sixgame win streak. So with the loss there was a shakeup at top the NFC standings. The Rams fell to the two seed. My Bears now sit right there at the top of the Commerce. But which team in the NFC are we most confident in right now today in the first day of December? Stephen A. It’s still the Rams to me because I think that yesterday was a complete aberration. That’s not something you need to count on. Matthew Staf is not going to throw a couple of interceptions. That’s just not what he does. Okay. So, I’m not really really worried about them at all. You know, I saw that I you know, you you saw the Carolina Panthers have their day. Bryce Young, nice touchdown pass. You saw them come together. Obviously, they were pressuring Matt Stafford and we saw him not look like himself. I just think that nine and two coming in, you know, it’s a clunker. You know, it happens during the regular season to most teams quite frankly. You know, you run into a little buzz saw right there. Not that I’m going to call Carolina that, but you know, they just catch you on a bad day. You wasn’t on your agame and that’s that. I think that certain losses can end up benefiting you exponentially. I think when you look at the Los Angeles Rams, you know, you see how ticked off Matthew Stafford was from the way that he performed with those couple of turnovers and what have you, they still with the they still had an opportunity to win the game. It just didn’t happen. I think it’s an aberration and I still think they’re the team to beat in the NFC right now. What do you think Damen Woody joins us now too by the way here on First Take. HD Wood. How you doing? Which team you most confident in right now in the NFC? I’m going to go I’m going to go off the beaten path. I’m going to go to the Green Bay Packers. I I think that that performance on Thanksgiving uh said a lot for me as far as Jordan Love and how Jordan Love this time of year. Usually that’s when he starts kind of elevating himself. Usually the first half the season is kind of juggling Hide, but I think Jordan Love has been playing absolutely fantastic football. 19 touchdown, three interceptions. I mean, you look at the thing I was most encouraged about about that game on Thanksgiving. thought his wide receivers really came to play for him. Yeah, because the wide receivers what we what they’ve been known for dropping the football. I thought wide receivers really made some outstanding plays in that game. Big- time plays in that game. And we know what the Green Bay Packers going to bring on the defensive side of the football lay by Michael Parsons who’s a finisher. So, they have a finisher on defense. The the quarterback has been playing outstanding. And the plus of all of that is the wide receivers are coming through for Jordan Love. If they get all those things working for it, Green Bay is going to be a very sky very scary team in the NFC. Love as the best QBR in the second half of the season since he started as the starter there in Green Bay. Go ahead. Yeah, I I want to say Green Bay, but those receivers is still a little He’s still a little hung up on Yeah. Okay. I And another person that I’m a little hung up on, but I’m going still go with the team is the Seattle Seahawks. I like them, too. And the reason why is tough defenses are now trending, right? As you know more than anybody, Mr. Woody is is in this time, this is where the real teams kind of separate themselves in November, December, and January. Well, what Seattle has shown us is they’re capable of stopping or halting or yielding any team, right? Good offense, you have a good pass. Okay, cool. We’ll defend that. Hey, we need to find ways to get sacks to get after the quarterback. We’ll we’ll do that. Right now, the thing that is still the liability here is Sam Darnold. And that’s the thing that is going to be held up. You know what’s so funny or the the the the unspoken truth about this is there’s only one position in all of sports that cannot be a liability. That’s the quarterback position. The quarterback position in in all of sports is always supposed to be the asset. You go to basketball, point guard, he could be okay. All right. You go to baseball, you can have a pitcher, you got multiple of those guys, right? You go to any other position on football, you dackle, you can compensate for that. But one thing you can’t compensate for is a quarterback that puts you at risk. When I look at the Seattle Seahawks, they have a defense that can win you a championship. But can their quarterback really give you enough to get you over that hump? And that’s the biggest question. And and to me, it’s like, are the Rams in kryptonite? Kryptonite? We saw what happened in the playoffs last year. We saw this year where he threw what was it? Three interceptions, four interceptions. And so to me, like that’s the biggest question with Sam Don. Can he get literally get over the Rams and you going to have to see that D Eagles? There’s Sam Sam Donald’s also a question mark. Sam Donald’s a question mark. I get that. But also McDonald, even though I like him a great deal. Why? Because we’re talking about McVey who you’re comparing him to. You got a guy that’s been to two Super Bowls already in his first eight seasons and won a Super Bowl championship. He’s been in the playoffs six times in his eight years. Shawn McVey is one hell of a coach and we know that. and the combination of him and Matthew Stafford is not something that could be ignored. So, I’d pay attention to that as well. Plus, the Rams defense and their ability to get to the quarterback. When it comes to the Eagles, I know that a lot of people expected me to say the Eagles, he can’t. How can you speak highly about the Eagles right now at this particular moment in time with the nonsense that’s been going on with them on both sides of the ball and with their offensive coordinator and arguably their head coach, there’s no reason to believe in the Eagles as being the elite team in the NFC right now. now based on what we’re seeing. Yeah, listen, I I I agree. I look at the Eagles, first of all, Jaylen Hurst is a winner. There’s no question about that. He can he he’s he’s shown that, you know, throughout his career that he can win at the highest of levels. But when I look at the Philadelphia Eagles, particularly in the offense, they don’t do Cam, they don’t do anything to challenge a defense. They don’t do anything to make a defense think. That’s the one thing as a offense what you want to do to a defense. You want a defense to communicate, to think. Because when you’re doing that, you’re playing slower. They just line up and just run what they run. And it’s almost a arrogance to the way that the Philadelphia Eagles play offense because they’re literally saying to you, “We’re better than you and we’re just going to run where we run.” Well, guess what? You’re not because their offensive line isn’t as isn’t as good as it was last year, and their elementary schemes don’t confuse anyone. And so when you have that going for you and we saw the Chicago’s Bears go into Lincoln Financial Field and absolutely bully the Philadelphia Eagles. When was the last time we seen the Philadelphia Eagles get bullied? They beat them at their own game. They beat them at their own game and their house. Almost 300 yards against the Philadelphia Eagles. So for me, I I just look at Philly. I have a lot more questions than answers with them. Go on. You chuckling. What are you laughing about? Oh, here we go. What’s he laughing Okay. I’m just say, look, when I make my takes, it’s always Cam Hayden. Camar Cam’s the guy that wanted to be what this particular indiv. It’s like, no. When you have an expectation as high as we all do for the teams like the Philadelphia Eagles, with teams like the Detroit Lions, and when they fall short of that, right, and you call it out, you’re a hater. Or are you a realist? Get yourself together over that You You straight like choked on my It’s all right. We gonna pray for you. All right. Oh, she she she happy because her bears, you know what I’m saying? That’s why she acted out. I have been living in in bliss. Yeah. In the last 24 hours. It’s been a long time since my Bears actually. But but those those insufficiencies for Philly has been wowing because they haven’t won over the last two weeks. We’ve said it a couple weeks ago. was like, “Yo, is this it’s a ticking time bomb.” That was the phrase, right? It’s a ticking time bomb. The fact that you can’t win the games that you typically win. All right. Now, everybody’s pointing the finger. What is the issue? But it comes down to this question. What does the Philadelphia Eagles do offensively? They have zero uh identity. Identity. Zero identity. Zero identity. That was a tongue twister, but they don’t have it. Stephen A, final word. Eagles, anything to add? They’re not good. Eagles could turn it around. Eagles could turn it around, but they need to because if not, they’re going to go home early. They just don’t look very good right now. And I think that when you look at Green Bay, Chicago, we obviously can’t ignore them. LA, and Seattle. That’s a given. But you got to throw the Cowboys into the mix now because it’s entirely plausible that the Cowboys could catch them. That’s right. The NFC East crown. That’s right. Um, all right. Let’s get to our DraftKings cover three parlay. And we’ve got three picks for tonight’s Monday Night Football game. Damen, you first going with Drake May rushing for at least 20 yards against the Giants. Why you like it? Yeah, I mean, listen, you talk about this Patriots offense. Uh they’re the left side of the offensive line, they got two rookies over there, both of them injured. So, you have to think that Drake May who already uses utilizing his legs um scrambling and stuff like that, he’s going to be doing a lot more with a couple pieces missing on the offensive line. Okay, Stephen A. Stefan Diggs to have five or more receptions. Why? Cuz he’s playing against the New York Giants. That’s why. Why should I expect anything less? Um, he’s got Drake May throwing him the football. They’re obviously still playing for a top seed within the conference. So, the road to the Super Bowl will have to come through Foxboro. And on top of all, he’s playing the New York Giants. Why would I think otherwise? Okay. And I’m going to go with Jackson Dart anytime touchdown. I think this is going to be a rushing touchdown. He’s had seven so far this season. He had two against my Bears. I remember it well. Plus, he’s been out the last two games. I expect Jackson Dart to be aggressive here. So an anytime TD tonight plus Mike Cafka now is in there at the helm. They don’t have Brian Dable anymore. You know who Mike Kfka played underneath. He was the third string for one Michael Vic. He likes to run the football into the end zone. Learned that firsthand. So I’m going to go Jackson Dart here anytime touchdown. And I think it’s going to be a rushing touchdown. So to recap, Drake May to have at least 20 rushing yards. Stefan Diggs to grab five or more passes and Jackson Dart anytime touchdown. A $10 bet wins you $120. Heat. Heat. N. [Music]

On First Take, Stephen A. Smith, Cam Newton and Damien Woody debate whether Shedeur Sanders should be the Cleveland Browns’ starter for the rest of the season, before sharing their thoughts on who the best team is in the NFC.

0:00 Should Shedeur Sanders be the Browns’ starter for the rest of the season?
5:23 NFC team picks
10:30 Are the Philadelphia Eagles a Super Bowl threat?
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