Dallas Cowboys vs. 'Scrubs!' ESPN's Stephen A. Smith Reacts to Record With Ignorant Rant
FRISCO - They say "Ignorance is Bliss.''
But as it relates to popular ESPN comic/shock jock Stephen A. Smith, we wonder ... is "Ignorance Also Funny''?
The 9-3 Dallas Cowboys have the second-best record in the NFL, boast the highest-scoring offense (32.3 points) in the NFL led by an MVP candidate and feature one of the top play-making defenses in the NFL led by two Defensive Player of the Year candidates.
They have won six of their last seven games, they have won four games in a row and they are a juggernaut at AT&T Stadium with a 6-0 record at home.
Aha! Ignoring all the numbers until he finds one that fits a negative narrative, Stephen A. grabbed himself a segment "hot topic'' following yet another Dallas success.
“The scrubs that they beat at AT&T Stadium… that ain’t the conditions that’s going to be waiting for him come playoff time," Smith said.
We assume Smith said "him'' in reference to Dak Prescott, the aforementioned MVP candidate of who absolutely nothing negative can be said ...
Unless you are an ESPN personality doing a comedy bit.
This is not to say that Dallas hasn't opposed lesser teams and won. It's also true that in head-to-head meetings with the other two NFC powerhouses, the San Francisco 49ers and the Philadelphia Eagles - both resulted in Cowboys road losses.
But what Smith and other critics are missing is this: Almost ever good team in the NFL has at least in part built its record of winning games it is favored to win.
The Niners, as just one example, have wins over "non-winning-record'' foes the Cardinals, the Seahawks, the Rams and the Bucs. Oh, and they also have losses to two such teams in the Vikings and the Bengals.
How is San Francisco getting to 8-3 any better than Dallas getting to 9-3?
Want more proof of how universal it is for good teams to feast on lesser teams? Let's go to the AFC, where Baltimore tops the conference at 9-3.
The Ravens have wins over the Bengals, the Cardinals, the Titans and the Seahawks - non-winners all.
The upstart Texans are now 6-5; Baltimore beat them. A mediocre Colts team is also 6-5; Baltimore lost to them.
There is nothing shocking about any of this ... except that Stephen A. Smith can't move the needle on his show by spending 15 minutes dissecting the Ravens' loss to the Colts.
So he spends those 15 minutes pretending to "hate'' and pretending to "analyze'' the Cowboys.
Dallas just beat a good team in Seattle. The "gauntlet'' continues next week as the next four games will be against the Eagles, Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins and Detroit Lions before their season finale against the rival Washington Commanders.
There will be tests. We assume there will be wins. And maybe even losses. And we assume that in "analyzing'' all of it, there will be - from one major corner of the NFL universe, anyway - comedic ignorance disguised as "sports talk.''
