There’s no question that ESPN served as the lackey for the NFL during the DeflateGate storyline. ESPN reporter Chris Mortensen’s initial, and false, “11 of 12” report was from an NFL source. ESPN talking head Stephen A. Smith received news of Patriots QB Tom Brady’s broken phone from an NFL source. ESPN edited and attributed posts by venerable Patriots beat writer Mike Reiss to be more NFL-friendly.

And now they’re stirring the pot for their First Take program, a show that is generally responsible for the downfall of American civilization.

What percentage chance do you give @JimmyG_10 to win the @Patriots starting job in his 4-week audition? pic.twitter.com/v6USBYY2cU — First Take (@FirstTake) July 18, 2016

Seriously? Seriously?!

What does back-up quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo have to accomplish in his first four games in order to take the job away from The Greatest Quarterback Of All Time Tom Brady?

Can Garoppolo win a Super Bowl each week? No? Well, he’d have to in order to match Brady’s number of Super Bowl victories.

There’s honestly nothing that Garoppolo can do to win the starting spot from Brady. He could go 4-0 with 2,000 yards, 20 touchdowns, and no interceptions, and head coach Bill Belichick would say, “Thanks for your time and for increasing your trade value to five first round picks, but hand the keys back to Brady.”

First Take could have an interesting debate on whether Brady would be rusty after his suspension, or if his September suspension will prevent him from building a rapport with tight end Martellus Bennett or wide receiver Chris Hogan, or whether or not Garoppolo could go 4-0.

But asking whether or not Garoppolo could replace Brady in four games is like asking how many sick days does Bill Belichick have to take for Josh McDaniels to ascend to the throne. Belichick could vacation on his boat in the middle of the ocean for the next three months and when he got back everyone would ask him for the next course of action- and probably assume that his boat trip was some next-level defensive genius that other coaches will adopt in the coming years.