NFL Great Drew Brees Rips Philadelphia Eagles For Being 'Most Boring'

Drew Brees was great at his craft once upon a time because he was a dominant NFL quarterback, and I'll be casting my vote for him to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame some day. But as a broadcaster?

As a TV pundit giving his so-called expert opinion on all things NFL?

Ooof.

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA - DECEMBER 16: Drew Brees #9 of the New Orleans Saints celebrates the 34-7 win over the Indianapolis Colts at the Mercedes Benz Superdome on December 16, 2019 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)

Brees Goes Attention-Seeking Route

Rule 1 of NFL television punditry: Make a choice what road you're taking. Decide if you're going to be thoughtful and insightful and thus interesting. Or choose to be controversial and say off-the-wall stuff that, while subjective, is provably wrong but garners attention.

Brees apparently is going the latter route.

In his First Take debut, Brees joined for a segment with Stephen A. Smith and host Shae Peppler Cornette. And it didn't take long for him to get sideways with his view of things. 

Brees listed Jordan Love, Dak Prescott, and Josh Allen as three of his favorite NFL quarterbacks, which is his opinion, but Smith suggested Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts should be on that list (he shouldn't be, by the way). Brees saw that as an alley-oop opportunity to dunk on the Eagles.

Brees: Eagles Offense 'Boring'

"I respect Philly, they are winning games. They're finding ways to win games," Brees said. "I can’t stand to watch that offense. It’s the most boring offense. It is. I'm sorry."

Cornette chimed in that the Eagles are 3-0. 

And Brees then pushed back on the defending Super Bowl champions being undefeated, suggesting it's some sort of mirage that will soon disappear.

"Hey, we're in Week 3," Brees said. "We're in Week 3. We're going to be on every week. Let's just see how this thing plays out."

Smith also pushed back, asking if "boring" could win the Super Bowl and that seemed to get Brees sort of sideways.

"Absolutely," he said. "That's the toughest division in football, too. Let's see how it plays out. If CeeDee Lamb can catch a post route in Week 1, the Cowboys would've had them beat. Let's see how it plays out."

Brees Gets Into What Might Be

Three things:

Eagles coach Nick Sirianni was not asked about Brees on Wednesday, but he addressed the criticism from some that his offense is conservative.

"Everyone's entitled to their own opinion," Sirianni said. "We can't wrap ourselves up in any of that. Our job is to figure out a way to win, to put our players in positions to succeed and the players' job is to go out there and execute, play with great fundamentals and details together.

"I think a lot of people were saying that last year about our team."

Next, is Brees really going to play the "if this, then that" game that tipsy guys at the sports bar use as arguments to make a point?  If Lamb catches a post route and scores – which he did neither – then the Cowboys would have won?

The Eagles would have gotten the football back with 1:45 left in that regular-season opener. But Brees has decided the thing that didn't happen would've sealed the win because another thing that didn't happen – namely the Eagles staging a comeback – could never have happened.

NFC East The Toughest Division?

Secondly, the NFC East is not the toughest division in football.

Two clubs – the Giants and Cowboys – are under .500 and New York is winless.

Meanwhile, the NFC North, which had three teams make the playoffs last season, has those same teams, the Lions, Packers and Vikings, atop the division again this year. And the cellar dweller Bears just blew the doors off the Cowboys on Sunday.

Also, every team in the NFC West has a winning record and the 49ers lead the division because they're undefeated.

Drew Brees was an elite NFL quarterback whose feats went into the record books. But in the NFL pundit game?

Ooof.