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Richard Sherman: 49ers, not Cowboys, are the “best team in the NFL”
Sep 13, 2023 at 5:11 PM
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The Dallas Cowboys looked impressive in their 40-0 Week 1 win over the New York Giants. However, Richard Sherman has a problem with anyone, like
The Athletic this week, declaring the self-anointed "America's Team" the best in the NFL. Is that an overreaction? The All-Pro cornerback believes so.
Which team does Sherman view as the league's best? That would be none other than the San Francisco 49ers, who went into Pittsburgh on Sunday and routed what Sherman considers a "really solid" Steelers team 30-7.
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"They (The Athletic) know that the best team in the National Football League currently is the San Francisco 49ers," Sherman told Skip Bayless and Keyshawn Johnson during FOX Sports' "Undisputed" on Wednesday. "They did everything they could to show you that the other day, both offensively and defensively, and going out to Pittsburgh, playing a really solid Pittsburgh team, and [head coach] Mike Tomlin, and going out there and having their way.
"TJ. Watt had a Defensive Player of the Year-type day, but it wasn't enough to help his team. ... A judge of how great a player is, isn't what he can do when he's got the ball. It's the players around him and what they do when they don't have the ball. You see how they're fighting to get [RB]
Christian McCaffrey in the end zone. They wanted that man in the end zone as bad as he wanted to be in the end zone.
"That's a team that's playing for one another, that trusts one another, that wants to see themselves be successful and doing everything they can."
Sherman is very familiar with the 49ers. He played many years against them as a member of the Seattle Seahawks. Then, in 2018, the cornerback joined the division rival, playing for the Niners for three seasons.
"Defensively, they got lockdown defenders," Sherman continued. "They got pressure on the quarterback,
Charvarius Ward, who never gets enough credit, give me a book. Everybody blocking for him. Big-time playmakers on the defensive side, lockdown corners, pressure on the inside, All-Pro linebackers.
"Now, can we get a linebacker that can cover? Because the best linebacker in the National Football League, All-Pro
Fred [Warner], he can cover too. And then when he covers, then All-Pro [S]
Talanoa Hufanga gonna get the ball, and he's gonna say, 'Let's have a little fun out here. Let's pitch it and go.'
"They're out here having fun like they in the backyard. This is the National Football League, Skip. They got no pressure. This is the best defense in football, and they just out there having a good time. They're having a good time. Let's pitch it. Let's play in the backyard. Let's have a good time. That's what they're doing, and I appreciate them. I appreciate watching them."
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