Tag: Skip Bayless

Stephen A. Smith joins Skip Bayless with Joe Burrow vs. Chiefs take Bengals fans will like

Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless are on the same page when it comes to Joe Burrow vs. Chiefs.

The Cincinnati Bengals are the favorites of talking heads right now.

The topic? Which team might just stand the best chance of slowing down Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs dynasty by the time next season starts.

First, Skip Bayless hit on these points. And now Stephen A. Smith has done the same on “First Take” recently.

“I think it’s the Cincinnati Bengals because of Joe Burrow,” Smith said. “A healthy Joe Burrow, with Chase and Higgins and Boyd and the crew, I can’t underestimate them…This dude is no joke. Patrick Mahomes has two postseason losses in his career. One is to a seven-time champion named Tom Brady. The other is to Joe Burrow.”

Smith added a question fans will like, too: “When Joe Burrow is healthy, who can he not beat?”

Burrow’s wins over Mahomes go much deeper than quarterback vs. quarterback conversations, of course, but these are the surface-level talking points that make the rounds amongst media and fans that grab attention.

And Smith does go on to point out that Burrow’s Bengals still nearly made the playoffs without him (going 9-8 in a historically strong division that sent the three other teams to the postseason), so adding him healthy back to the mix in 2024 keeps them in the title conversation.

The full clip:

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Skip Bayless floats a Joe Burrow vs. Chiefs take sure to thrill Bengals fans

Skip Bayless has thoughts on Joe Burrow vs. Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs.

As expected, there has been plenty of national discourse about Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals in the wake of the Kansas City Chiefs winning another Super Bowl.

Skip Bayless is one of those outside observers who made sure to point out that a healthy Burrow is one of those things most likely to prevent the Chiefs from hitting on a three-peat.

Appearing on “Undisputed,” Bayless cited Burrow as a major factor that was missing this year: “If Joe Burrow stays healthy they can take down the Chiefs…Just the same way that Mahomes has had San Francisco’s number, Joe Burrow has had Mahomes’ number. And it doesn’t matter to me who you get. As long as he’s got Ja’Marr Chase, they are serious business.”

Bayless went on to note that earlier this year, a fully healthy Burrow took apart the San Francisco 49ers and that he’s upended the Chiefs in Kansas City, too. There’s also commentary about Josh Allen in Buffalo struggling and potentially losing Stefon Diggs, plus mentioning Lamar Jackson’s recent stumble against Patrick Mahomes.

It’s a pretty mild take overall, given Burrow’s success against the Chiefs at times. For the Bengals to put their star quarterback in a position to play the dynasty spoiler, they’ll have to answer key questions this offseason along the offensive line, at wideout and across the defense.

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Skip Bayless on Commanders’ hire: ‘I don’t fear Dan Quinn’

Bayless and Michael Irvin say they don’t fear Dan Quinn. That’s probably good news for Washington.

Skip Bayless and Michael Irvin are not worried about Dan Quinn in Washington.

Friday on “Undisputed.” along with Keyshawn Johnson, Bayless did not offer much praise for the hire. He did begin praising the new ownership, “Right now in Washington, I fear Josh Harris because he’s a much smarter and better owner than the previous. That’s not hard to be, but it just is.”

But Bayless sang differently regarding Dan Quinn. “I don’t fear Dan Quinn, and I am amused by the fact that both Philly and Washington have now made recent hires that are Dallas-driven hires. Trust me on this, those two franchises live to beat the Dallas Cowboys. By the way, we are the defending champions in the division.”

“I respect Dan Quinn’s charisma…he is easy to be around, he’s inspirational, pulls his cap around backward, is fiery, a good motivational speaker, as opposed to our current head coach (Mike McCarthy).”

Bayless credited the Seahawks’ talent for why Quinn became the Falcons head coach. Then added he believed it was because of Kyle Shanahan that Atlanta won the NFC, and not Quinn. He pointed to Tom Brady passing for 246 yards after being down 28-3 as the Patriots stormed back, defeating Quinn’s Falcons in that Super Bowl.

Irvin had earlier stated he was “not worried about Dan coaching the Washington Commanders…everybody can run on Dan’s defense, so we are ok with that.”

Johnson countered, “He has been successful in the NFL both as an assistant and as a head coach. I understand you (Irvin) want to pound your chest and say you are not worried about that… but he is a coach that has done this before.”

Irvin then claimed he had the opportunity to leave Dallas as a free agent to join Norv Turner’s Redskins, but he never took the opportunity. Irvin stated he was so close to leaving Dallas for Washington. Perhaps Charley Casserly, then Washington’s general manager, could confirm or deny whether that was the actual case?

Bayless concluded that he does give it to the Commanders because they did not hire a man “that is completely unproven. He is proven to some degree, and yet I don’t think Michael nor I are all that intimidated by this hire.”

Jared Goff amazingly didn’t even want radio hosts to tell him about Skip Bayless’ Lions takes

Jared Goff wanted to “skip” over all Skip Bayless talk.

Jared Goff has the resurgent Detroit Lions on the doorstep of Super Bowl 58. Chances are, this might only be the beginning of a bright, competitive era in Detroit. So you’ll forgive him if he’s kind of above listening to hot takes about his football team that are often drummed up for attention.

During his weekly radio spot with 97.1 The Ticket in Detroit, hosts Doug Karsch and Scott Anderson asked Goff whether “bulletin board material” motivates the Lions in advance of their NFC title game date with the San Francisco 49ers. Goff clarified that it depends on who it comes from. When “Skip Bayless” was mentioned, Goff didn’t even entertain finishing the question.

He knew it was all unwarranted hot air.

Man, good for Goff. Here’s a rewind of his exact answer about even discussing Bayless’s opinions:

“Nah, I don’t care about anything he says,” Goff said. “You can stop now. Anything those guys say on daytime TV, you can skip over that.”

Goff knows some opinions are worth taking more into consideration. And he also knows some are just not even worth the trouble. Maybe it’s this kind of confident, focused mentality on what actually matters that has helped him take the Lions back to prominence.

Skip Bayless gets trolled for struggling with his automatic trash can while tossing his Cowboys gear

Skip Bayless vs. his automatic trash can is high comedy.

It’s a tradition unlike any other: When the Dallas Cowboys lose, Skip Bayless takes a jersey from the team he loves and tosses it in the garbage. It’s all filmed, of course.

He’s sometimes (always?) retrieved the jersey(s) from the trash, and he’s also gotten needled for the placement of his microwave in those videos.

This time, after the Cowboys lost to the Green Bay Packers, the videos took a turn: Bayless’s automatic garbage can kept closing on him as he tried to throw away a bunch of Dallas stuff. People, of course, had so many jokes on X (formerly known as Twitter):

LOL.

Skip Bayless praises LeBron James for reaching 39,000 career points

Polarizing Fox Sports 1 personality Skip Bayless actually gave LeBron James his flowers for his latest statistical accomplishment.

On Tuesday night, Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James reached a new career milestone when he surpassed 39,000 career points in a 131-99 blowout win over the Utah Jazz.

In the win, he was able to kick back, playing just 24 minutes and scoring 17 points while going 6-of-10 from the field and 3-of-5 from 3-point range. Despite his limited minutes, he also found the time to dish off nine assists and take down seven rebounds.

At age 38 and with his 39th birthday just over a month away, James is playing as if he hasn’t even reached his 30th birthday yet. Including Tuesday’s game, he’s averaging 25.7 points, 8.1 rebounds and 6.6 assists a game on the season. In addition, he’s shooting a red-hot 58.7% overall and 41.0% from downtown.

Polarizing Fox Sports 1 personality Skip Bayless, who has been branded as a James hater, took to X, formally known as Twitter, to congratulate the superstar for surpassing 39,000 points while acknowledging his insane longevity.

That isn’t a typo or a doctored tweet or image of any kind. Yes, Bayless actually gave James his flowers, and believe it or not, he has done so on several other occasions in the past.

Skip Bayless throws shade at LeBron James after game-winning free throw

Skip Bayless, an alleged LeBron James hater, used the superstar’s game-winning free throw on Sunday to criticize him.

Lately, LeBron James has been the man responsible for the Los Angeles Lakers’ surge. The team has won five of its last six games, and James has had a huge hand in that success.

On Sunday, he scored 37 points on 14-of-19 shooting and dished eight assists in a 105-104 win over the Houston Rockets. He found Austin Reaves for the 3-pointer that put Los Angeles up 103-100 with under 30 seconds left, and he hit the free throw that provided the final margin of victory with 1.9 seconds remaining.

Fox Sports 1 personality Skip Bayless, who has been accused of being a James hater, called that foul shot “one of the gutsiest late-game things” he has ever seen the 38-year-old do while derisively adding that maybe James is “starting to figure it out in Year 21.”

While James has missed a number of clutch free throws and shots over the years and has been inefficient in such situations, he has also made a very large number of clutch shots. In fact, he scored 13 of his 37 points on Sunday in the fourth quarter.

In what NBA.com defines as “clutch situations” (the final five minutes of the fourth quarter or overtime when the score is within five points), James is shooting 70% from the field and is tied for the second-most points at 38 (he’s one point behind Damian Lillard for first place) this season.

Fox Sports 1’s ‘Undisputed’ to air live from Boulder ahead of USC-Colorado

This is one part of the media circus enveloping Boulder before the Trojans face the Buffaloes.

Fox announced that its morning debate show Undisputed will hit the road this week. The show will air live from Boulder, Colorado, ahead of the Pac-12 matchup between Colorado and the USC Trojans.

“We’re taking the show on the road!” The show’s account on X, formerly Twitter, posted a few days ago.

This continues the recent and dramatic increase in national coverage of the Buffaloes. Deion Sanders, aka Coach Prime, is the coach everyone wants to talk to — and about. The Pat McAfee Show was in Boulder and was marked by an appearance from “The Rock,” Dwayne Johnson, who also appeared on ESPN’s “College GameDay” show. Fox’s “Big Noon Kickoff” will also be at USC-Colorado, after appearing on the Colorado campus in Boulder earlier this season for the Week 2 game (September 9) between the Buffaloes and the Nebraska Cornhuskers.

“Undisputed” is hosted by Skip Bayless and staffed by two former players: former Seattle Seahawks star and future Pro Football Hall of Famer Richard Sherman and USC football legend Keyshawn Johnson.

Follow Buffaloes Wire for complete coverage of Deion Sanders and Colorado, as CU prepares to play USC on Fox Big Noon Saturday.

USC win over ASU felt like a loss in many ways.

Alex Grinch is not quieting his critics, and bigger tests await.

USC-Colorado media frenzy roars into overdrive heading into the weekend

USC-Colorado has become a media playground, with the big talkers talking a big game before Big Noon Saturday on Fox.

Caleb Williams versus Shedeur Sanders. Lincoln Riley versus Deion Sanders. USC versus Colorado. Fox Big Noon Saturday. This is a media-magnet game with the big personalities saying all sorts of outrageous things before the Trojans take on the Buffaloes in an episode of “Breakfast in Boulder,” a serving of morning football in the Rocky Mountains. The game starts on Fox Sports just after 10 a.m. in Boulder, 9 a.m. in Los Angeles. The hype is soaring for this game for all the obvious reasons, one of them being that there won’t be too much time to hype the game on Saturday. It’s the first one on the docket.

Here’s just a small taste of what the big media personalities — especially those within the Fox family (since that’s the network which will broadcast the game) — are saying about USC-Colorado and the many storylines which are part of the drama in Boulder.

Trojans Wire staff writer Don James contributed significantly to this report:

Dan Lanning addresses backlash after pregame speech vs. Colorado goes viral

Dan Lanning addressed the backlash that came from his pregame speech against Deion Sanders and the Colorado Buffaloes.

Midway through the first half of the Oregon Ducks’ dominant 42-6 win over the Colorado Buffaloes, the ABC broadcast teased “unprecedented access” from Dan Lanning and his team that was given to their cameras before airing part of the pregame speech that Oregon’s coach delivered before kickoff.

It’s a video that you’ve likely seen by now unless you are completely tuned out of the sports media news cycle.

“They’re fighting for clicks, we’re fighting for wins,” Lanning said to his players. “There’s a difference. This game isn’t going to be played in Hollywood, it’s going to be played on the grass.”

When the speech was originally aired, social media went crazy for it, admiring the passion that Lanning showed while firing his team up for a marquee matchup.

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Unsurprisingly, though, the narrative has shifted over the last couple of days, and Lanning found himself as the center of many sports talk show debates on Monday because of his remarks. Some — including Fox Sports’ Skip Bayless on his show Undisputed — labeled Lanning as a bully, saying that he was filled with “venomous vengeance” when targeting Colorado coach Deion Sanders in his speech.

On Monday night, Lanning was able to speak to media members and address the backlash that has come from his comments. Here is what he had to say:

“I’ve watched him (Bayless) enough to know how often he gets it wrong. Ultimately, here’s what I say we’re playing to win the game and you saw a 15-second clip, from a window view outside the house, and what happens in the locker room,” Lanning said. “I know our locker room. I’m in the house 100 percent of the time. I know how our players felt going into that game. I know what it takes to motivate our players. That’s my job to motivate our players. He has a job, I have a job to, to get out there and perform on the field. But inside that house, they felt a certain way. They felt a certain way about a group stomping on the ‘O’, they felt a certain way about guys talking to him in the pregame. I’m proud of those guys, because what they decided to do is talk with their pads. They didn’t want to do anything extra afterward. They wanted to talk with their pads. and they did that on Saturday.”

Anyone who knows Lanning can feel certain that he did not make the comments with any hate towards Coach Prime.

“I’m also grateful and can clearly acknowledge that the attention that we got this Saturday, in large part was to Deion and what he’s doing to college football, and if anybody can’t see what he’s done for college football and how he’s bringing excitement to college football, you’re crazy,” Lanning said. “I said that last week as well. He’s done a lot for the game. He’s building something over there. I think that’s really really clear. There’s no secret there. But it wouldn’t matter if I was playing my 10-year-old son on the other sideline, I’m going to do everything I can to win. If I’m playing Bill Belichick I’m gonna do everything I can to win. Did I go for it on fourth down? Yeah, I have every game this year. I’ve gone for it nine times. Did I go for a two-point conversion? Yeah, I’ve done it three out of four games this year. And if we play again tomorrow, I’m gonna do the same thing. I’m gonna do everything I can to win a game and everything I can to motivate my team. So you know that to me is classless what he’s (Bayless) saying there but I’m not really worried about it.”

Obviously, the pregame speech worked to perfection. Oregon went on to dominate the game in every facet, and now they head into Week 5 with a 4-0 record ranked as one of the best teams in the nation.

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