This will be Tom Brady’s first year as a broadcaster and he’s already making splashes in the media world. This time, it was his controversial take on The Stephen A. Smith Show. The 7-time Super Bowl winner thinks that the Los Angeles Rams are going to be the biggest threat to Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs this year. It sounds peculiar, doesn’t it?

“Huh? The Rams? How?” is all Chad Ochocinco Johnson could think of when Shannon Sharpe asked for his take on the Nightcap podcast. The ex-Bengals receiver couldn’t equate how watching the Rams defense casually practice wearing “shorts and shirts” would ever transition to a regular season football game. It didn’t take long for Ocho to shun Brady’s claims.

“When it’s time to actually, it’s going to be different,” Johnson said on Nightcap. “Hey, we got Xavier Worthy, Travis Kelce, you got Rashee Rice, we got, his shoulders are messed up, but he’ll be back, Hollywood Brown, man things are different. Things are different over there in Kansas City, man.”

Johnson speculated that Brady might have seen the Rams in joint practices wearing shorts and shirts and thought they were “flying around.” Furthermore, Johnson thinks the Rams personnel are outmatched when it comes to the Chiefs. Johnson got too deep into Brady’s words and pointed out the nitty gritty of a real football game. Even if they do, Mahomes has a knack of making quirky plays happen, like that behind-the-back pass in the preseason game against the Lions.

“It’s all about matchups, It’s all about personnel. Who are you putting out there? Who stopping who? Who’s covering who? It ain’t just…shhh…All right, this ain’t Madden,” added Chad Johnson. He just thought that Rams defense was “underrated.” Maybe Brady can see Madden ratings on individual players in real life. Who knows?

However, there is a huge lapse in both the arguments from Tom Brady and Chad Johnson. As Ochocinco said, Brady might not have considered all the permutations and combinations of matchups that can happen between the Rams and the Chiefs. On the other hand, the former Bengals receiver might not have considered the possibility that Rashee Rice and Marquise Brown might not get a lot of field time this year.

Patrick Mahomes won the Super Bowl without a decent receiver core last year so to stop him, the Rams might have to look beyond just stopping Chiefs plays. Mahomes is as improvisation-heavy as they come. However, Rice’s legal complications and Marquise Brown’s dislocated shoulder might be problems in the future.

Also, in about two months, Travis Kelce will turn 35 and while it’s hard for fans to watch him, Kelce slowing down is a very real possibility. But what did Tom Brady say to aggravate Chad Johnson so badly?

Tom Brady’s appearance on Stephen A. Smith stirs NFLs controversy pot

“I think it’s probably still the 49ers, and the Packers, I think, are going to be a great team,” Brady stated. “And you know what, the Rams are going to be a good team this year, too. Very good offense, there’s receiving core. They lost Aaron Donald. Nobody can replace him that guy is first ballot Hall of Famer, but they’ve drafted really well. They got a very underrated defense, that’s going to be a team to watch too.”

Not many present defenders in the Los Angeles Rams ring a bell. However, one name, Nick Hampton, is slowly cementing his name in the Rams’ defense this year. His last season wasn’t that impressive, but this year, he’s back with more “speed, power and hand technique”. Also, his “strength and quick burst off the line” are gathering the eyes of many as well.

In the second preseason game against the Dallas Cowboys, the Rams defender recorded six pressures, of which, one was a tackle and two were QB hits. The edge rusher will not fill in Aaron Donald’s shoes for sure, but he’s showing improvement as opposed to last year, where he played 10 games, recorded only 4 tackles, and defended 1 pass. However, there are others, like Jared Verse and Byron Young, who will be a great defensive help this year.

However, the mind begs the question of what the Rams will do without Aaron Donald, a standout veteran and arguably one of the best defenders in the league. Unfortunately, he decided to hang up his jersey and retire. Donald won a Super Bowl, has been a 3x DPOY, made it to 10 Pro Bowls, and a lot more. Can the Rams survive without his aid?