“Let Him Talk Basketball Only”: Amid Tua Tagovailoa’s 50-Yard Beauty, Stephen A. Smith Faces Fans’ Ire

Stephen A. Smith is human, after all. He displayed Nostradamus-like qualities ahead of the Dallas Cowboys’ clash with the San Francisco 49ers. Smith predicted Cowboys’ quarterback Dak Prescott would throw two interceptions in that game. However, Prescott threw three interceptions in that game. Later, Smith was present at the SoFi Stadium, having predicted another loss for the Cowboys. This time, though, they won 20-17 against the Los Angeles Chargers. That would not be the only time he was proved wrong, much to fans’ delight.

Another example of his human nature presented itself on ESPN’s First Take. Stephen A. Smith and co-host Shannon Sharpe were discussing the Miami Dolphins. In particular, they had zeroed in on quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and wide receiver Tyreek Hill. Smith claimed all the passes Tua zipped into Hill’s path only traveled two yards.

Stephen A. Smith and his analysis proved wrong live

Stephen A. Smith concluded Tyreek Hill had more to do with the Dolphins’ touchdowns than Tua. He arrived at said conclusion after watching the Dolphins in action. Smith said, “I don’t know if y’all are watching Miami enough. All of these passes ain’t for 19, 20, 30, 40 yards. You just got Tua dipping it two yards to him [Hill] and he’s the one taking it to the house.” Simultaneously, the clip playing in the background proved him wrong.

JPAFootball posted a video on this on their X handle captioning it “Stephen A Smith saying all Tua does is throw 2 yard passes to Tyreek Hill… Meanwhile Tua is literally throwing a 50 yard pass to Tyreek in the BACKGROUND of his segment. That’s awkward.” One fan pointed to the mistake on X, formerly called Twitter, and christened it an awkward moment.

Just as Smith explained himself, the highlight reel selected by the showrunners showed a long pass from Tua to Hill. That pass easily traveled 50 yards and resulted in an easy touchdown for the wide receiver to score. Other fans jumped on the bandwagon and chimed in with their takes.

Fans raise questions regarding the slip-up

The fans were not amused by the gaffe. Most of the responses posited such errors should be avoided, what with the teams of people responsible for every facet of the show. One fan opined Smith was an entertainer and not an analyst, much like the words Daniel Kaffee (Tom Cruise) used to describe Commander Stone in Rob Reiner’s A Few Good Men.

Another fan made the claim that Stephen A. Smith did not watch enough of the Dolphins’ games, given the glaring miss.

Yet another fan raised the question regarding Patrick Mahomes’ touchdown passes and left it open-ended.

One more took this gaffe as proof of Smith not watching the sport he analytically breaks down.

Lastly, one fan claimed Smith should stick to a sport about which he knew something. The fan in question hoped that Smith would comment only on basketball and steer clear of football for the foreseeable future. As the fan put it, “Let him [Smith] talk basketball only.”

Stephen A. Smith remained bullish after the Cowboys beat the Chargers. It remains to be seen whether he can repeat that feat after this error. That will take some doing on his part after his mistake during a live telecast.

Read More – “Exactly Why They Won”: Stephen A. Smith Mocked by Cowboys Fans for Good Luck Charm After Their 17-20 Victory Against Chargers

It is unknown how Smith will react to this incident. Will he get away with such a factual error? Only time will tell.

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