Tag: Molly Qerim

ESPN ponders whether Steelers have a George Pickens problem

ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith weighs in on George Pickens’ Week 12 postgame comments, sparking debate about whether the Steelers have a problem.

As many fans are well aware, Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver George Pickens’ antics both during and after the team’s Week 12 loss to the Cleveland Browns left much to be desired. Pickens has found himself embroiled in drama throughout the 2024 season, and it appears his recent Week 12 behavior, along with his postgame comments blaming the weather for the loss, was enough to draw the attention of ESPN.

On a recent episode of ESPN’s First Take, host Molly Qerim posed a question that has been on the minds of Steelers fans: “Do the Steelers have a George Pickens problem?” ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith responded, stating that while he didn’t believe Pickens was a problem for the organization, he felt Pickens was wrong to make excuses for his team’s Week 12 performance: “You’re a Pittsburgh Steeler. I’ve never heard a Pittsburgh Steeler in my life complain about inclement weather.”

Smith is correct in his assessment, and the Pittsburgh Steelers could do without one of their star players drawing attention to themselves for all the wrong reasons.

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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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Molly Qerim is back on ESPN First Take after her absence and fans were so happy

Molly is back!

It’s been quite a week for viewers of First Take, who missed the heck out of Molly Qerim.

The host and moderator of the daily ESPN debate show was absent last week, with no word about when she was returning. Was she OK? Was it health related? Was it a bigger deal that that?

But there was a report that said she was simply getting the week off because she had planned a break before the 2024-25 NBA season started and that she’d be back this week. And that’s exactly what happened — she was back on Monday’s show.

And everyone was happy:

 

https://twitter.com/WayneBear77/status/1848293233010323870

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Why has Molly Qerim been absent from First Take? 1 report explains why.

Here’s what’s going on there.

Molly Qerim is, of course, a staple as the host and moderator of ESPN’s First Take every morning, but fans have wondered why she’s been absent all week.

There have been people worried about her health, but there’s one report that indicates why she’s been absent: per The U.S. Sun, she’s missing this week and will be back on October 21 because “she had always planned to have a break ahead of the NBA season. Despite viewers worries, she is thought to be doing well, and is looking forward to a return.”

There you have it. Hopefully, that’s the case and we’ll see her next week.

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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.