Stephen A. Smith Rips Cowboys After a Win?! Dallas 'Beat Saquon & a Bag of Chips!'
After throttling the New York Giants 40-0 on Sunday Night Football, the Dallas Cowboys were almost universally crowned the biggest winners of Week 1 Monday.
But just as some began to wonder Monday whether the Cowboys opening statement was a precursor of a season that could end in a deep postseason run, their most outspoken critic (well, most outspoken "comic'') decided to pump the brakes.
In an appearance on "The Pat McAfee Show" Monday, Stephen A. Smith had a message that should be familiar to ESPN viewers -- not so fast, my friends.
"Props to the Dallas Cowboys -- they beat Saquon Barkley and a bag of chips," Smith said with a deadpan delivery. "Congratulations, I'm really, really touched by what I saw them do against the Giants. Oh please. Spare me."
Smith didn't necessarily say that the Cowboys weren't impressive Sunday, but pointed to disappointing ends to the last two seasons for Dallas, despite some impressive regular season peaks.
"Two years ago, they had Dak [Prescott], Ezekiel Elliott ... Tony Pollard was a backup ... Amari Cooper was a No. 1 [receiver] ... CeeDee Lamb was there ... Michael Gallup was there ... Dalton Schultz, a reliable weapon at the tight end spot was there for them. They went home to the San Francisco 49ers," Smith said.
After referencing the end to the 2021 season, Smith noted that the Cowboys again had an ugly playoff exit at the hands at the 49ers in the NFC Divisional Round in 2022.
"Last year, Micah Parsons, obviously in his second year ... this guy burst onto the scene, we know what a stud he is," Smith said. "Dan Quinn was patrolling the defense ... they looked absolutely, positively elite defensively last year.
"And all I said to everybody was 'Be patient. Just wait for it, they won't let you down. When something can go wrong, it will go wrong.' And for the 27th consecutive year, I was absolutely right.
"I mean, damn, the Dallas Cowboys make me look like a prophet for crying out loud."
The reality is that while Smith will make some valid points, he is essentially an actor. He has a background as a reporter but has found a more lucrative career as a TV talking-head shock jock. He's a wildly entertaining person -- he would be fun to listen to read the dictionary. But his distaste for the Cowboys is a "bit,'' a lucrative one at that. As long as you know that going into things, then it's all fun.
If the Cowboys lose again in the playoffs, Smith will continue the schtick. If Dallas wins a Super Bowl for the first time since the 1990s, Cowboys fans will be glad to rub it in his face. Either way, he'll make millions and millions of dollars.
