Stephen A. Smith can often be divisive with his sports takes. Often spread too thin, Smith’s opinions on First Take can be quite puzzling as well. But this isn’t one of those occasions.
On Wednesday’s episode of ESPN’s hit midday show, Smith weighed in on a segment titled “Has Dak been the best QB in the NFC.” Smith, a known hater of the Dallas Cowboys did not think so but also provided a surprising and insightful take on which QB he thinks reigns supreme in the NFC.
"Jared Goff has been the best quarterback in the NFC."
—@stephenasmith pic.twitter.com/qpsNizLQf0
— First Take (@FirstTake) November 8, 2023
“Has anyone forgotten about Jared Goff? You just gonna ignore that?” asked Smith. “Jared Goff has completed 68 percent of his passes. His record is 6-2 — that’s a game better than the Dallas Cowboys. I saw three losses by the Dallas Cowboys this year. To Arizona, obviously a blowout loss to San Francisco, and then they lost to Philadelphia. I saw at least two of those games or at least two games this season where Dak has completed less than 60 percent of his passes.
“I’m looking at Jared Goff, 12 touchdowns, five interceptions, 2,174 yards passing, which is more than Dak. Completing 68 percent of his passes, they’re first place in the NFC North, they’re 6-2. They got the second-best record in the NFC. And then, we also have to take into account, statistically speaking, every game this season — with the exception of the opener, in which he completed about 63 percent of his passes — 80 percent, 67, 71, 68, 62, 70 percent of his passes.”
Take out the 38-6 loss to the Detroit Lions, and according to Smith, Goff has been the “model of consistency.”
“They’ve been winning football games,” he said of the Lions, “and I don’t think we can ignore that. [Goff] has been better than Dak Prescott. As far as I’m concerned, as a quarterback, he’s been better than Jalen Hurts. That’s not to say that he is better, but I’m talking about how he’s performed better thus far this year…But in the end, Jared Goff has been the best quarterback in the NFC.”
It’s certainly a bold take and we’ll have to see if Goff holds up his end of the bargain moving forward.
