Tag: ESPN First Take

Former NFL MVP not sold on Steelers’ playoff aspirations

The Steelers face scrutiny over their playoff legitimacy as critics point to weak competition ahead of a pivotal Week 10 matchup.

Well, it appears not everyone is sold on the 6-2 Pittsburgh Steelers’ recent success. As a matter of fact, former 2019 NFL MVP QB Cam Newton described it as “delusional” to rely on recent games and stats to portray the Steelers as playoff contenders.

Newton, appearing on ESPN’s First Take with Molly Qerim, Stephen A. Smith, and Shannon Sharpe, argued that the best evidence of the Steelers being pretenders rather than contenders lies in their most recent level of competition—the New York Giants and the New York Jets.

Stephen A. was quick to defend his favorite team, pointing out that the offense has consistently struggled for several years. While the level of competition may indeed be lacking, he emphasized that it is promising to see the offense perform well under Russell Wilson.

While it is easy to dismiss the opinion of a former player who has never won a Super Bowl, is Newton correct in his assessment?

Pittsburgh will aim to continue proving their doubters wrong as they begin the toughest second-half stretch in the NFL, starting with the Washington Commanders in Week 10 on November 10 at 1:00 PM EST.

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Shannon Sharpe loves Commanders duo of Daniels & Kingsbury

Shannon Sharpe would take Daniels over the NFC East’s other quarterbacks.

Pro Football Hall of Fame tight end Shannon Sharpe really likes what he sees in Commanders rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels.

This week on ESPN, Sharpe, Stephen A. Smith, and former Patriots LB Tedy Bruschi assessed Daniels’ place among NFC East quarterbacks.

Sharpe declared: “Guys, you all know I hate being a prisoner of the moment. But the way this young man is playing now, and the way Kliff Kingsbury is in his ear and dialing up the plays? You’re absolutely right I am taking him over anybody else in that division.”

“Oh, I get it. It is a college offense, and it’s very simplistic. Well, a lot more teams need to make their offense simplistic if it’s going to cause their quarterback to play like this young man is playing.”

“He’s more mature than you would think. He had 55 career starts in college. I think that has a lot to do with it, and he has Kliff Kingsbury. No matter what you think of Kliff as a head coach, Stephen A., Bruschi, you know, there’s no denying his offensive mind and his ability to coach quarterbacks.”

Sharpe then discussed how Kingsbury coached Johnny Manziel, Patrick Mahomes, and Kyler Murray.

“There’s no denying his ability to relate, and to get on their levels, and extract the best out of a quarterback. I absolutely, right now, would take Jayden Daniels over any other quarterback in that division.”

Here is a video of the segment of the panel statements

Stephen A. Smith would take Commanders’ QB over others in NFC East

Stephen A. Smith is high on Jayden Daniels and the Commanders.

A recent ESPN “First Take” segment featuring Stephen A. Smith, Tedy Bruschi, and Shannon Sharpe focused on Washington Commanders QB Jayden Daniels’s early performance in his first four NFL games.

Smith wasn’t shy about praising Daniels over the other NFC East quarterbacks.

“I am rolling with Jayden Daniels. First of all, I’m not rolling with a guy like Dak Prescott, who’s had eight years to win a Super Bowl and can’t even win more than two playoff games in eight years. As far as I’m concerned, he has shown me what he is. He’s elite in the regular season but far from it in the postseason.”

“This brother (Daniels) brings me hope. Let’s understand something, 82.1 % completion percentage. Over their three-game winning streak, this man has scored on 22 of 24 of their drives over the last three games. Ten touchdowns, ten field goals, excluding kneel downs.”

Smith then referred to Dan Quinn saying he blew a 25-point lead in the Super bowl, but that he also got his team to the Super Bowl and concluded “he kinda knows what he is doing.”

Smith admitted then he had been down on Kliff Kingsbury, not thinking he had deserved a shot at an NFL head coaching job. He then said Kingsbury did not deserve to by pass a lot of other NFL coordinators to get that head coaching job with the Cardinals.

“But we all knows as a coordinator, he can call up some plays. We all know as coordinator he’s cultivated relationships with quarterbacks…and that’s going a long way. Now he is doing it with Jayden Daniels, because Daniels has raved about the level of communication they have with one another.”

Smith then recalled how much talk pre-draft was the number of hits Daniels took at LSU and how would he survive in the NFL “That’s not what he is doing. He is being smart, he’s running with the football, making plays with his legs. He’s certainly making plays with his arm.”

“We are looking at Washington being formidable, they could potentially win this division…The way this kid is playing, and the pieces he has around him, I like what I see.”

As if that wasn’t enough, Smith did his version of the NFL power rankings, and the Commanders were ranked No. 5.

Here is a video of the entire segment.

ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky ranks Sam Darnold pretty high heading into Week 4

ESPN NFL analyst Dan Orlovsky unveiled his top 5 quarterbacks in the NFL right now on Thursday, and Sam Darnold comes in at number 3.

The Minnesota Vikings have gotten off to a hot start this season, winning each of their first three games and doing so against some stiff competition. After a Week 1 victory over a poor New York Giants team, the Vikings backed it up with back-to-back wins over some of the NFL’s elite in the San Francisco 49ers and Houston Texans.

Now, as one of the league’s few unbeaten teams left, the Vikings head into a crucial division matchup against the Green Bay Packers, with many folks asking just how good this Vikings team really is. Most of that uncertainty circles around people waiting for the Sam Darnold Cinderella story to turn back into the pumpkin he’s been for much of his career.

However, some folks are on board with Darnold as one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL right now, including ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky. Thursday morning on ESPN’s First Take, Orlovsky unveiled his top 5 quarterbacks right now, and the much-maligned Vikings’ quarterback comes in at number 3 for Orlovsky, just behind Josh Allen and Aaron Rodgers.

Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray and Seattle Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith round out Orlovsky’s top five. Suspiciously absent from Orlovsky’s list is Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes. Also absent from that list is Packers quarterback Jordan Love, who could be back in the lineup this week after suffering a knee injury in Week 1.

Paul Finebaum suggests Deion Sanders as replacement for Lincoln Riley at USC

College football analyst Paul Finebaum shared another strange opinion regarding Deion Sanders

ESPN college football commentator Paul Finebaum has given another unsolicited opinion on Colorado head coach Deion Sanders.

One week after calling the Buffs an “irrelevant” college football program, Finebaum shared his opinion Monday that Sanders would be the perfect replacement candidate for sitting USC Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley. The Big Ten-bound Trojans took a considerable step back last season and although they haven’t fired Riley yet, Finebaum and others are putting the offensive-minded head coach on the hot season entering his third season in Los Angeles.

That’s where Coach Prime comes in, at least according to Finebaum. During an appearance on ESPN’s “First Take” Monday morning, the SEC pundit spoke on why he believes Sanders should take USC’s head job:

“I believe the answer after this season is Deion Sanders,” Finebaum said. “He’s going to be tired of Colorado because quite frankly, it’s not prime time. He’s done as well as he can with his son and Travis Hunter and all the Stephen A. and Shannon Sharpe appearances. But that’s really going to dry up this year because they’re not going to be that great.

“But you put Prime in Tinseltown, and I think you have one of the great combinations in history… I think Deion Sanders as the coach at Southern Cal is the answer to the problems.”

Finebaum did not acknowledge Sanders’ repeated pledges of loyalty to Colorado.

Contact/Follow us @BuffaloesWire on X (Twitter), and like our page on Facebook for ongoing coverage of Colorado news, notes and opinions.

Shannon Sharpe’s makeup had First Take fans making ‘Little Richard’ jokes and mortuary memes

Shannon, please. You’re scaring the viewers.

Former NFL player turned analyst Shannon Sharpe sported a caked-on makeup job during First Take on Monday, and fans of the show immediately roasted him, sparking hilariously brutal memes.

Sharpe moved to First Take earlier this year after spending seven years with now estranged co-host Skip Bayless on FS1’s Undsisputed. His new digs have him sharing the spotlight with Stephen A. Smith, a 20-year ESPN veteran. The partnership between Sharpe and Smith has produced some wild segments.

In September, Sharpe made light work of New Yok Jets quarterback Zach Wilson’s lousy play, saying, “The dude couldn’t play dead in a horror movie.”

It seems Sharpe’s words came back to haunt him — pun absolutely intended here —and First Take fans took to social media the moment they noticed Sharpe donning an overdone fresh makeup job.

Amid the concern for the host, the jokes started flying, invoking shades of famed musician Little Richard and other hysterical memes that included mortuary references.

Sharpe eventually responded to comments he received. “My appearance is important not as important as my takes,” Sharpe said. “Hopefully, the takes were [great] as usual.”

That should help clarify the concern, but that didn’t stop fans from getting creative with their thoughts.

Here are some of the best memes the internet has to offer:

Feature image courtesy of ESPN.

Must-see moments from ‘The Pat McAfee Show’ and ‘First Take’ going live from CU’s campus

Check out the best moments from “First Take” and “The Pat McAfee Show” going live from CU’s campus

ESPN’s “First Take” and “The Pat McAfee Show” both went live from the University of Colorado’s Business Field on Friday morning ahead of Saturday’s Week 3 matchup between the Buffs and Rams.

On “First Take,” hosts Stephen A. Smith, Molly Qerim and former Denver Bronco Shannon Sharpe welcomed CU head coach Deion Sanders, quarterback Shedeur Sanders and two-way phenom Travis Hunter to talk about the Rocky Mountain Showdown and more. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson then made a memorable appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show,” which included a bit of singing.

Check out some of the best moments from ESPN’s mega takeover of Boulder:

Shannon Sharpe accidentally calls Stephen A. Smith ‘Skip’ twice during his First Take debut

Old habits die hard.

Listen: This is completely understandable.

Shannon Sharpe spent seven years debating Skip Bayless on FS1’s Undisputed before leaving. Now that he’s joining ESPN’S First Take for a few times each week, some old habits are going to have to die hard.

That includes throwing in a “Skip” into his on-air speeches. As he began his run on First Take Monday morning, he accidentally called Stephen A. Smith “Skip” and immediately realized the error. Then? It happened again.

Like I said, totally understandable. He spent a long time automatically using Bayless’s name, and it might take some time to get out of that habit:

Kendrick Perkins wore a bizarre prison outfit on ‘First Take’ to make a point about the Warriors

Wow.

Yes, that photo above is a look at Kendrick Perkins’ fit on Friday’s edition of ESPN’s First Take.

And yes, that’s what the former NBA player wore on purpose.

The idea, he said when asked by a confused Molly Qerim about it, was that the Boston Celtics put the Golden State Warriors in “Alcatraz” on Thursday night in Game 1 of the NBA Finals with some stifling defense, especially after being down 15 points in the third quarter and despite a lack of Finals experience.

Heck, HE EVEN BROUGHT HANDCUFFS WITH HIM.

You’ve got to see Stephen A. Smith’s reaction, as well as the jokes people made on Twitter:

Steelers’ Minkah Fitzpatrick talks goals on ESPN’s ‘First Take’

Pittsburgh Steelers’ safety Minkah Fitzpatrick opens up about Ben Roethlisberger, the offseason, Tom Brady, and his goals for 2020.

Pittsburgh Steelers safety Minkah Fitzpatrick has his sights set on the Defensive Player of the Year award. When Fitzpatrick first came to Pittsburgh, he was making an excellent case for himself. With five interceptions in his first seven weeks in the black and gold, DPOY talk was legitimate.

 

“Every single year, I want to top what I did the past year,” said Fitzpatrick on ESPN’s “First Take“. “I think I grew a whole lot from my first year to my second year. Now I’m just going to continue to try to grow from my second year to my third year.”

Besides winning DPOY, his personal goals are to repeat All-Pro and the Pro Bowl and lead defensive backs in “at least” three or four categories.

Fitzpatrick’s overall stats fell off the second half of the season as offenses got wise and stopped throwing in his direction. The safety feels that the Steelers will have a different defensive system this season which will provide him the opportunity to make more plays on a consistent basis.

This is music to the ears of Steelers fans, as it’s always a rush to watch Fitzpatrick make explosive plays. His arrival in Week 3 added a much-needed spark to the defense that had allowed 640 yards passing in the first two weeks of the season.

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