NFL analyst rips into Stephen A. Smith for excluding Tom Brady's Buccaneers from his Power Rankings
ESPN media personality Stephen A. Smith on his weekly show First Take gave his list of the top five NFL teams at this stage of the season.
Each week he lists five teams and gives reasons as to why he has put them in each position in his top five. This week, however, Stephen A. Smith's list was met with some pushback from Bart Scott and Marcus Spears.
Stephen A. Smith's NFL top five teams after Week 5
As noted during the show, Smith stated that his list is "fluid," meaning that the teams he has selected can easily be removed or moved depending on how they fare during their latest match on Sunday.
Smith's list consisted of the Green Bay Packers, the Los Angeles Chargers, the Buffalo Bills, the Dallas Cowboys, and the Arizona Cardinals who are number one on the list.
.@stephenasmith's top 5 teams in the NFL after week 5:
1. Cardinals
2. Cowboys
3. Bills
4. Chargers
5. Packers
Thoughts? 🤔 https://t.co/tsM4BGWkuJ
While many will agree with Smith's list, there will certainly be some who will see other teams as a better fit to sit in the top five. One of those was Bart Scott.
Stephen A. Smith's list gets pushback
Scott, a former NFL linebacker with the Baltimore Ravens, immediately took issue with Smith's list for not having a certain seven-time Super Bowl winning quarterback.
The floor was given to both Scott and Spears to give their thoughts and Scott's initial reaction was, "Where is terrific Tom?"
Citing the absence of Tom Brady and his Tampa Bay Buccaneers after they put up 45 points on a poor Miami Dolphins team, Scott continued, "How dare you, Stephen A, disrepect Tom Brady?" and went a step further by stating that Smith will make it to Tom Brady's Hall of Fame speech when the Bucs quarterback speaks about how he disrespected him.
For Bart Scott's pushback rant, please begin at 3:55
All of this was tongue-in-cheek, however, and it is hard to miss what Brady did in Week 5, albeit against a Miami team that is struggling to keep its head above water.
Against the Dolphins, Brady had a superb performance, throwing for 511 yards and five touchdowns with zero interceptions. It is also worth noting that Brady only had 11 incompletions on the day, going 30/41 in the 45-17 demolition.
Despite his efforts, however, Stephen A. Smith left Brady and the Bucs out of his top five, considering the opponent they were against. Instead, he opted to put the Packers, the Chargers, the Bills, the Cowboys, and the Cardinals ahead of the Buccaneers.
Was he right in doing so? That is up for debate.