ESPN First Take Stephen A. Smith Dolphins Screen grab: ESPN First Take
By Ben Axelrod on

While the illusion of sports media personalities being unbiased has long been shattered, Stephen A. Smith upped the ante on Thursday.

Discussing the upcoming de facto AFC East division title game between the Buffalo Bills and Miami Dolphins, Smith made it clear who he was rooting for — or more accurately, who he was rooting against.

“We play around on this show. We have a good time and all of that stuff. I like trolling Cowboys fans and stuff like that. We like exciting offenses like what we saw from Miami throughout most of this season. Tyreek Hill was that dude, an MVP candidate for the vast majority of this season,” Smith said on First Take. “But I’m going to say something that’s relatively unpopular: I’m hoping the Dolphins get their a** kicked. I’m sick of them. I am sick of the Miami Dolphins.”

Why? Smith admitted that his stance was an emotional one.

“I am sick and tired of the Dolphins going on the road and building up everybody’s hope, only to wet the bed. I’m sick of them,” Smith said. “Could you go some place away from South Beach and act like you know how to play football? That would be really, really, really nice. Now I understand that we should expect something better from them — how could you be much worse than what we saw last week against the Baltimore Ravens?… it makes me sick. I can’t stand when teams do stuff like that.”

To Smith’s point, Miami is 7-1 in home games this season, while laying claim to just a 4-4 record on the road. Furthermore, the Dolphins possess an average point differential of +17.3 at Hard Rock Stadium, compared to an average point differential of -3.3 in road games this season.

As Smith alluded to, Miami is coming off a 56-19 thrashing at the hands of the Ravens, which unsurprisingly, came in Baltimore. But while the Dolphins’ spotty track record on the road might help inform the potential outcome of this Sunday’s game in Buffalo, it’s still unclear why it has Smith so fired up.

About Ben Axelrod

Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.

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