Speaker 1: Welcome to the Steelers Point After show on WDBE Pittsburgh,
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Speaker 1: now here are your hosts, Rob King, Craig Wolfley, and
Speaker 1: Matt Williamson.
Speaker 2: And we thank you for being with us in the
Speaker 2: Point After on the Steelers Audio Network. Following the Steelers
Speaker 2: lost to the Chiefs twenty nine to ten on Christmas Day,
Speaker 2: but perhaps more importantly looking ahead to hopefully some point
Speaker 2: after touchdowns against the Cincinnati Bengals on Saturday night. But
Speaker 2: let's begin by talking about the Chiefs. Our first reaction
Speaker 2: is brought to you by First National Bank. Let's get started,
Speaker 2: Member FDIC, Craig Wolfey, Let's start with you your thoughts
Speaker 2: on what you saw with the Steelers game against the Chiefs.
Speaker 3: Well, I think it was summarized quite frankly by head
Speaker 3: coach Mike Tomlin it sucked. I mean, it just was
Speaker 3: not the game that you had expected that was going
Speaker 3: to be out there in front of everybody. They came
Speaker 3: out and they weren't able to establish what they wanted
Speaker 3: to do that. Yeah, they ran the ball well, but
Speaker 3: really it was all about trying to shut down Pat
Speaker 3: Mahomes to some degree, and that just didn't happen. And
Speaker 3: for the Steelers, you know, again it was one of
Speaker 3: those things where you know, you got five sacks and
Speaker 3: you had some ball bounces the wrong way yet again,
Speaker 3: and even though they were able to rush for two
Speaker 3: hundred plus yards, which normally would signify a victory in
Speaker 3: any game, you know, it just did not materialize and
Speaker 3: they lost to the Chiefs.
Speaker 2: Matt.
Speaker 4: Yeah, and you know, I was like to look at
Speaker 4: the opponent in these shows too, and I think the
Speaker 4: Chiefs are probably playing their best ball of the year,
Speaker 4: and it was a really buttoned up, clean performance by them.
Speaker 4: What they missed an extra point, but I can't remember
Speaker 4: really any self inflicted wounds by Kansas. He Mahomes was tremendous,
Speaker 4: I mean, to put it mildly, I mean, the ball
Speaker 4: came out of his hands incredibly quick and even like
Speaker 4: unblocked pressures didn't get to him. I mean, the ball
Speaker 4: came out so fast and he was so precise with it.
Speaker 4: But it's got to be better. I mean, it did suck.
Speaker 4: I mean the Steelers didn't play winning football. And Wolf
Speaker 4: mention it, there's a couple of things that haven't gone
Speaker 4: their way. They've they've caused fumbles, but they haven't been
Speaker 4: able to pick them up, you know, like those things
Speaker 4: will correct themselves, but you got to be better and
Speaker 4: both trenches. I thought the secondary got picked on quite
Speaker 4: a bit and is worrisome without you know, Porter in particular,
Speaker 4: but just in general and overall, it's just not good
Speaker 4: enough against the big dogs, you know. I mean he
Speaker 4: played three really good teams in a row, and you're
Speaker 4: not quite as good as those guys. I think that's
Speaker 4: pretty clear.
Speaker 2: So Matt, let me ask you this because Wolf and
Speaker 2: I have talked about this, and Wolf, I'm gonna get
Speaker 2: your thoughts on this as well. You know, I look
Speaker 2: at this game and try to put it in a
Speaker 2: larger context of what you just said. You know, this
Speaker 2: three game sort of measuring rod and you didn't scoreboard
Speaker 2: says you did not measure up, and I look back at,
Speaker 2: you know, an uncharacteristic drop pitch by Najie Harris as
Speaker 2: you're marching in potentially to tie the game up again.
Speaker 2: I use the word potentially advisedly because we don't know
Speaker 2: whether they would have scored a touchdown, kicked a field goal,
Speaker 2: what would have happened, whether you could have tied the
Speaker 2: game up, whether that would have stemmed the tide. But
Speaker 2: it could have tied that game up. Baltimore, you know,
Speaker 2: you lose it you don't pounce on a couple of fumbles,
Speaker 2: but Russell Wilson's taking it in. What happens if you
Speaker 2: score a touchdown there instead of turning it over again uncharacteristically?
Speaker 2: What happens if they don't call what again looked to
Speaker 2: me to be a dubious holding call on Darnold Washington
Speaker 2: that nullified a touchdown, and then the next play you
Speaker 2: throw an interception. You score there, You're actually ahead if
Speaker 2: you exchange field goals in the third quarter, you go
Speaker 2: into the fourth quarter ahead against the Chiefs. Now, it's
Speaker 2: a double edged sword saying that because these these scores
Speaker 2: get you in the game, or tied in the game,
Speaker 2: or maybe a slight lead in a game, but you
Speaker 2: still had other chances to respond and did not. So
Speaker 2: I want to have that caveat out there still when
Speaker 2: you look at it in that light, Matt does it.
Speaker 2: If you're a Steelers fan, should you be encouraged that
Speaker 2: had you gotten a break or two, had you not
Speaker 2: done some things that were uncharacteristic which you can't do
Speaker 2: to beat good teams, that you could have played with
Speaker 2: all these teams and potentially won one or more of
Speaker 2: these games.
Speaker 4: No, Okay, I mean it's a lovely way of looking
Speaker 4: at it, and it's an optimistic way of looking at
Speaker 4: it that and you didn't say this, but if Nause
Speaker 4: doesn't fumble that ball on the pitch, well then they're
Speaker 4: in the you know, then they're right in this thing.
Speaker 5: I just never in any.
Speaker 4: Of these games felt like the Steelers were the better
Speaker 4: team or in control of the game or taking control
Speaker 4: of the game. And yeah, it could have certainly gone different.
Speaker 4: But I bet if we were sitting here in Kansas City, Baltimore,
Speaker 4: or Philly, we could probably find two or three plays
Speaker 4: at our favorite team uncharacter riistically dropped the pass or
Speaker 4: had a hold or something as well that, oh, we
Speaker 4: could have want even bigger, you know, I mean right,
Speaker 4: there's two ways of looking at it, you know.
Speaker 2: Sure, and Wolf, I've said this before. The scenario I
Speaker 2: just laid out to Matt. I'd feel better about convincing
Speaker 2: myself one hundred percent. And I'm partially convinced. I still am.
Speaker 2: I didn't say those things if I didn't think I'd
Speaker 2: be a little bit convinced. But I'd be more convinced
Speaker 2: if you know, some different things happened. So after you
Speaker 2: know Kareem Hunt, or after that, you know Kareem Hunt
Speaker 2: two yard touchdown run. Just in this most recent game, Okay,
Speaker 2: they go up twenty two ten. Okay, now you respond
Speaker 2: by going down the field and making it twenty two
Speaker 2: seventeen and turning it into a one possession game with
Speaker 2: say nine minutes left on the clock. You didn't do
Speaker 2: that going back to Philadelphia. Maybe somewhere in a thirteen play,
Speaker 2: thirteen play and twenty one play. I think it was
Speaker 2: second half. You know the drive lengths for the Eagles.
Speaker 2: You made it stopping there somewhere and gave yourself one
Speaker 2: more chance to get back in it. I'd be more
Speaker 2: convinced if those things had happened but I can also
Speaker 2: understand that you said, hey, we didn't play if you,
Speaker 2: as a fan said hey, I didn't we didn't play
Speaker 2: complimentary football. We didn't do some of the small things
Speaker 2: that emerge bigger when you're playing better teams.
Speaker 3: Well, the whole thing is you can make any sort
Speaker 3: of argument you want. You know, there's there's lies, dang lies,
Speaker 3: and then there's statistics. As the saying goes, you know
Speaker 3: what I mean. And I will tell you this quite honestly,
Speaker 3: I've never felt like you didn't have a puncher's chance.
Speaker 3: I can't help myself. That's just the player's mentality that
Speaker 3: I still have to this day. It is what it is,
Speaker 3: you know, And you can sit there and quote me
Speaker 3: stats and I'll just look at you and go, yeah,
Speaker 3: but if you know, the buttefs get you nowhere. The
Speaker 3: point being is this, you went into a three game
Speaker 3: Cheese Greater Gauntlet and you were hoping for much better
Speaker 3: success than what you came out with. It cost you some,
Speaker 3: You got some flesh taking off, you were a little
Speaker 3: blood letting and everything else. And I do believe that,
Speaker 3: I still believe without a doubt that if you've got
Speaker 3: a certain play here a certain play there, you could
Speaker 3: have turned the thing around. It didn't happen. I believe
Speaker 3: in the power of the one eleventh. Everybody's got to
Speaker 3: win their one eleventh to a majority of the degree
Speaker 3: of the time. You know what I mean. You cannot
Speaker 3: have one guy not doing it and ten guys doing it.
Speaker 3: As who is that? Cam Hayward said. The fact of
Speaker 3: the matter is everybody's got to be on board and
Speaker 3: do their one eleventh. And when you don't do that,
Speaker 3: I mean, let's and let's let's be truthful too. Everybody
Speaker 3: in this league is a superior player. If you get
Speaker 3: to this level, you are in a very small percentage
Speaker 3: in the world of guys that can that that are
Speaker 3: able to do it. And the thing about it is,
Speaker 3: if you if guys were doing their job at the
Speaker 3: point in time, things could be different. They weren't. You
Speaker 3: got to move on. But you've got to find a
Speaker 3: way to turn this ship around. And it can be
Speaker 3: done with the with the next snap. I've seen it happen.
Speaker 3: I've been part of teams that have had that. It
Speaker 3: has happened. When people said there's just no way that
Speaker 3: you could do that, you find a way and that
Speaker 3: can the power of that is still there, and I
Speaker 3: believe in the power of the one snap Rob.
Speaker 4: Real quick to how I answered it too, is is
Speaker 4: I didn't mean it like, boy, there's no chance ever
Speaker 4: in the history of the world they can't hang with
Speaker 4: these teams. I mean, that's not exactly what I meant,
Speaker 4: But I on those days, I thought it was pretty
Speaker 4: clear on all three of those afternoons evenings whatever, they
Speaker 4: were the inferior team and it wasn't just a bounce
Speaker 4: away or anything like that, you know.
Speaker 2: Right, And I will say this so so Wolf before
Speaker 2: we get much further. I enjoy hearing your story of
Speaker 2: early on one season. I think you lost the Browns
Speaker 2: at fifty one.
Speaker 4: We were just talking about it, get right, So yeah,
Speaker 4: you would have to bring that, yeah, but.
Speaker 2: Again, you know, tell the people that story, and then
Speaker 2: as you're doing it, tell us all how that turnaround
Speaker 2: possibly could have happened. So go ahead and lay the
Speaker 2: story out there.
Speaker 3: You know, it was remarkable in the sense of nineteen
Speaker 3: eighty nine we opened at three Rivers Stadium against the
Speaker 3: Cleveland Browns at home, and we lost fifty one to nothing.
Speaker 3: I mean, we lost. It was a turn I think
Speaker 3: We had eight turnovers in that game. It was just unbelievable.
Speaker 3: Every other time it seemed like the ball was going
Speaker 3: the other way.
Speaker 2: And I can.
Speaker 3: Truthfully say that I was so dispirited and so down.
Speaker 3: I tried to start a fighting the fourth quarter, and
Speaker 3: I couldn't get thrown out because the referee knew what
Speaker 3: was going on. Yeah, it's like you deserve to stay
Speaker 3: in there. The point being is we lost fifty one
Speaker 3: and nothing, and everybody was kind of traumatized to a
Speaker 3: whole thing.
Speaker 5: Are you kidding me? The Browns come in and just
Speaker 5: pound you.
Speaker 3: If you want to talk about a game that you
Speaker 3: weren't even in before it was over, that was the game.
Speaker 3: So then we think, okay, back to the drawing board.
Speaker 3: Work hard, you got three hard practices at three rivers.
Speaker 3: You're pounding out in full pads on the artificial turf.
Speaker 3: You go into Cincinnati, We're gonna whop them, and they
Speaker 3: beat us forty five to ten. Now, optimist and me said, well,
Speaker 3: we cut out six points defensively.
Speaker 2: And we scored ten.
Speaker 5: All right, so we're getting better in the right.
Speaker 3: This is hanging. You're grasping that straw. Okay, like a
Speaker 3: dying man on the Titanic. You are grasping at that
Speaker 3: life saver. So we've gotten week three. We've got the
Speaker 3: two and zero Minnesota Vikings coming in, who have just
Speaker 3: been terrorizing the first couple of teams that they played
Speaker 3: and everyone just wrote us off. They made a couple
Speaker 3: of adjustments, started this guy that guy a little bit,
Speaker 3: but it was just a couple of guys, and boom,
Speaker 3: we beat the Vikings miraculously, unbelievably so beat. The Vikings
Speaker 3: finished that season with one drop pass away from going
Speaker 3: to the AFC Championship, and it was one of the
Speaker 3: most remarkable turnarounds ever seen. I certainly the most remarkable
Speaker 3: turnaround I've ever been a part of. But it came
Speaker 3: down to guys that refused to give up, guys that
Speaker 3: refused to accept the fact that we were less than
Speaker 3: what we were, and guys started to win more of
Speaker 3: their one elevenths and then you get this snowball effect.
Speaker 3: And that's really what happened. And that's why I say
Speaker 3: I believe in the power of the next snap. Get
Speaker 3: that next snap.
Speaker 2: And boom.
Speaker 3: You never know when you're going to start that comeback thing.
Speaker 2: Well, the other thing you beat the Browns a couple
Speaker 2: weeks later, didn't you.
Speaker 3: Oh yeah we did. Oh yeah, the same team that
Speaker 3: beat that got fifty one nothing. We went into Cleveland
Speaker 3: and beat them. I believe it was four weeks later,
Speaker 3: thirty four, fourteen or something like that.
Speaker 5: Yeah, we beat them.
Speaker 3: Well, you know, and it was just it was incredible
Speaker 3: because I don't know how you turn around from fifty
Speaker 3: one to nothing with the same people go in there,
Speaker 3: but we did.
Speaker 2: And that is the questions, how did it happen?
Speaker 3: Well, guys won more than one eleventh. That's the simple
Speaker 3: thing about it. You didn't turn the ball over, you
Speaker 3: were able to win possession downs, Guys made the block
Speaker 3: at key points, Guys covered at the right points that
Speaker 3: you don't all those things come together, and you had
Speaker 3: a determination to stay with it. I will say this
Speaker 3: that the the funniest part was after this the second game, Uh,
Speaker 3: Chuck Dole had us in the team meeting room and
Speaker 3: h there was a headline in the USA today and says,
Speaker 3: has the game bypassed Chuck Nolan. Chuck was adamant and
Speaker 3: making sure, listen, what you put into your brain is
Speaker 3: what's gonna come out in effort all right, you got
Speaker 3: to make sure you you make sure that you're not
Speaker 3: reading a lot of garbage and you're getting that negative,
Speaker 3: just as Russ was talking about this morning, the negativity
Speaker 3: that's associated with losing like that, you gotta keep that
Speaker 3: from your brain. So they said, you know, let me
Speaker 3: tell you you got a pool. Well, at this point,
Speaker 3: we know Chuck's gonna tell a story, and everybody's already gone,
Speaker 3: the eyes are kind of glazing over and stuff. And
Speaker 3: he talked about the you know, amount of chlorine and
Speaker 3: all other constituent parts of you know, doing this, and
Speaker 3: he's and he can tell he's losing.
Speaker 2: Everybody.
Speaker 3: The whole room's like going, oh, you gotta be kidding me.
Speaker 3: And finally Chuck gets frustrated, says, what I'm trying to
Speaker 3: tell you is don't let anybody pee in your pool.
Speaker 3: In other words, don't don't be taken in by the
Speaker 3: negativity of everybody else, and make sure that you protect
Speaker 3: in your mind what's going on. And I think that
Speaker 3: was the key. You know, the battle cry became over
Speaker 3: the next several weeks, the onlybody pe in your pool?
Speaker 2: Yeah, right, Well, I don't know how we can do
Speaker 2: better than that. I'm Matt's pretty great. I think at
Speaker 2: this stage of the game we should probably go ahead
Speaker 2: and take a break.
Speaker 4: That's a good one, good way in which, yeah, I
Speaker 4: don't know, there's nothing to add to that.
Speaker 5: Keep those pools clean, man.
Speaker 2: Matt Williamson, Oh, former pool cleaner, right, cleaning back of
Speaker 2: the day.
Speaker 5: I'm surprised you knew that.
Speaker 4: That's what I did out through college and then I
Speaker 4: bought the business. And coincidentally, you get winners off whenever
Speaker 4: you're a Pittsburgh pool owner. And so I started volunteering
Speaker 4: at Duquine and threw away a very successful pool business
Speaker 4: and joined the Pit Panthers.
Speaker 2: And we are glad you did.
Speaker 5: You'll be doo.
Speaker 2: Yeah, oh good.
Speaker 4: That was a good conversation with the wife. Like, I'm
Speaker 4: gonna make twelve grand a year as a GA at
Speaker 4: pitt and throw his pool business away.
Speaker 5: What do you think? Yeah, go for it, Matt. I'm
Speaker 5: sure you'll be really successful.
Speaker 2: Great. Yeah, that's probably were her love of Halloween started
Speaker 2: years later or whatever. Yeah, yeah, it turned out to
Speaker 2: be a treat for us. We're going to continue on
Speaker 2: clear pool services.
Speaker 5: By the way, don't in the pool.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's Matt Williams said, along with Craig hopefully I'm
Speaker 2: rob kidt you're listening to the point after on the
Speaker 2: Steelers Audio Network.
Speaker 5: Back to the point after on dv E play.
Speaker 2: Action pass rolling out to the left, Wilson trying to
Speaker 2: get to the edge. Wilson dies one two step and
Speaker 2: three is in for six touchdown Pittsburgh Steelers first rushing
Speaker 2: touchdown of the year for Russell Wilson. Uh. The play
Speaker 2: of the game is brought to you by S and
Speaker 2: T Bank, proudly serving our community since night. You know,
Speaker 2: two stBank dot com s and T Bank member fd
Speaker 2: I c little nod to to Russell's wife Sierra with
Speaker 2: a song one two step excellent song in case you're wondering.
Speaker 2: So there were some moments in that game, guys, as
Speaker 2: we welcome you back to the point after on this
Speaker 2: stee there's audio network. You know, we talked about that
Speaker 2: game and Wolf. You know, Russ is going in against
Speaker 2: Baltimore with an opportunity to give you an early fourteen
Speaker 2: to seven lead. Fumbles they turn around and score. You know,
Speaker 2: when when you look at what's been going on with
Speaker 2: the Steelers and the things to clean up and Mike
Speaker 2: Tom want address the media earlier today. I would think, uh,
Speaker 2: turnovers have to be at the very top of the list,
Speaker 2: creating more turnovers and having fewer turnovers. You know, we
Speaker 2: talked about, you know, the naugy pitch that never happens
Speaker 2: with Nagee. We talked about Russell Wilson. He's not a
Speaker 2: guy I would expect to fumble against Baltimore or there
Speaker 2: were opportunities I think for the team to get the lead. Now,
Speaker 2: the lack of response is one thing, but playing with
Speaker 2: the lead, you know, for me that that imbues the
Speaker 2: team with confidence and also puts you in a position
Speaker 2: to eventually get the game to go the way you
Speaker 2: want to, to not be one dimensional, but to force
Speaker 2: the other team to get one dimensional. Maybe that's just
Speaker 2: an end of half scenario. Maybe it's an end of
Speaker 2: game scenario. But these things go hand in hand to me,
Speaker 2: and I'd like to get your your thoughts on that. Well.
Speaker 3: It's also a win the first two downs scenario. You
Speaker 3: win the first two downs and you put them in
Speaker 3: a position where they're behind the chains, they're in the
Speaker 3: off schedule, and now you've got to make up ground.
Speaker 3: And that's where you always want to be defensively speaking,
Speaker 3: you want to have kind of like your foot kind
Speaker 3: of on the throat of the offense, or at least
Speaker 3: a three and out, if not a turnover or a
Speaker 3: takeaway because maybe they got to exceed their reach a
Speaker 3: little bit in a throw or in a run, and
Speaker 3: you know you're always poised for that. And this is
Speaker 3: a team, you know, It's what's amazing is this is
Speaker 3: a team that was plus seventeen going into this three
Speaker 3: game gauntlet stretch here and now you know, everything turned around.
Speaker 3: This is a team that the ball seem to find.
Speaker 3: These guys where you know, they work each and every day.
Speaker 3: I watch them in practice. They work every day on
Speaker 3: ball searching skills, on ball security, offensively, depending on which
Speaker 3: side of line of scrims you line up, they work
Speaker 3: at all those aspects of it. And in my experience,
Speaker 3: you always have the worm turns eventually, you know, especially
Speaker 3: when you stay dedicated to working the fundamentals and you
Speaker 3: stay positive about it and know that's part of your job,
Speaker 3: part of what you do. When you get into reflexive
Speaker 3: movements and a pile up and a tackle or you know,
Speaker 3: on the other side of it, whether it's offensively and
Speaker 3: protecting the ball and so forth. But these are the things.
Speaker 3: You got to have faith that your work is going
Speaker 3: to bear out and provide fruit inside the stadiums in
Speaker 3: game day. And that's something that is integral and you're
Speaker 3: working at it, and you can't just kind of like,
Speaker 3: you know, breeze through and go okay, I got more
Speaker 3: ball searching. You know, it's drills here or ball security drills. No,
Speaker 3: you've got to put your whole heart and effort into
Speaker 3: it and your mindset too, because the person who looks
Speaker 3: for it, who refuses to be discouraged by it but
Speaker 3: keeps looking, is the person that's going to find it.
Speaker 2: So Matt, let's get discouraged. Miss You and I do
Speaker 2: that together.
Speaker 3: So either way, if you get too discouraged, have a
Speaker 3: nice chocolate chip cookie, take a deep breath, and then
Speaker 3: get back to work.
Speaker 2: That sounds excellent, sage advice. Thank you, my friend. The
Speaker 2: last three games, you know, going into this gauntlet, and
Speaker 2: again we understand no pickings for some of this, but
Speaker 2: when I look at the offense first, you're averaging you know,
Speaker 2: twenty eight twenty nine points per game with Russell Wilson
Speaker 2: as your quarterback. Those opponents are the Jets, the Giants. Okay, Washington,
Speaker 2: you only score eighteen against Baltimore, you lose by scoring
Speaker 2: nineteen against Cleveland. You drop forty four on Cincinnati. You
Speaker 2: score twenty seven against Cleveland. So, on the one hand,
Speaker 2: the offense looks completely different than it has at any time,
Speaker 2: probably since Ben Roethlisberger was your quarterback, and he was
Speaker 2: kind of in his heyday, and even maybe the beginning
Speaker 2: of the twenty twenty season when they were doing the
Speaker 2: quick throwing and not really pressing the ball down the field. Regardless,
Speaker 2: it's been a while since we've seen the offense look
Speaker 2: that good. I think. Then, you know, you talk about
Speaker 2: the quality of opponents improving, and you're looking at thirteen points,
Speaker 2: seventeen points, and ten points. That that's not going to
Speaker 2: cut the mustard come playoff time. So in your opinion,
Speaker 2: what needs to happen for this offense to be better?
Speaker 2: And is there any encouragement you can take from the
Speaker 2: fact that the last two games at least they've run
Speaker 2: the ball better.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I definitely think there's some encouragement there. I mean that, now,
Speaker 4: let's not forget that there was what one drive at
Speaker 4: the end of the Chiefs game where Nausey's racking up
Speaker 4: a lot of rushing yards against very little pump.
Speaker 2: PETENTI what over a thousand, by the way, congratulations, that's.
Speaker 4: Impressive feet, no question. But I do think they ran
Speaker 4: the ball well in that game from start to finish.
Speaker 5: Basically.
Speaker 4: I mean, the running game look like it's turning the
Speaker 4: corner and it's something that they can rely on. Back
Speaker 4: to the turnover situation, I think that's bound to go
Speaker 4: back to where it was or close to, because it's
Speaker 4: something they've been really, really good at for years. To
Speaker 4: be honest, is they're very opportunistic on defense, and they
Speaker 4: have caused some turnovers over this stretch, and they do
Speaker 4: value the football. Nause he's not a fumbler. Wilson doesn't
Speaker 4: have a long history or turn the ball over either.
Speaker 4: It's one of the reasons he's here.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 5: So part of that was just some bad luck.
Speaker 4: And I also think that Pickens is a one of
Speaker 4: the guys you can't really replace. I mean, everybody can
Speaker 4: step up, but he's a noticeably chunk better than his
Speaker 4: teammates at his respective position. So he's coming back. And
Speaker 4: I also think it's huge that you have a nice
Speaker 4: long stretch before you play your next two games. You know,
Speaker 4: the Bengals are coming up here on Saturday, and then
Speaker 4: you know a playoff game wherever that ends up. And
Speaker 4: I think that there was a lot of fatigue on
Speaker 4: this team, rightfully, So you know, I mean, for of
Speaker 4: these teams had to play three games in eleven days,
Speaker 4: and that's Frankly, I don't think the NFL has player
Speaker 4: safety in mind at all whenever they designed that, and
Speaker 4: it's a bit of a money grab. And we're seeing
Speaker 4: games every night of the week this week, which is
Speaker 4: a little crazy. But two of those teams, Houston and
Speaker 4: Baltimore at least had a week fourteen by you know,
Speaker 4: where the Steelers are on the road a bunch before
Speaker 4: the three stretch, and then you start to see that
Speaker 4: three game stretch with Philly where the defense like never
Speaker 4: left the field in the second half. And where I'm
Speaker 4: going with this is just get back to winning time
Speaker 4: of possession. You know, like when you walked into Philly,
Speaker 4: you are the best time of possession team in the league,
Speaker 4: and that's dropped quite a bit over the last two weeks.
Speaker 4: But I mean three weeks, but You're still above average
Speaker 4: and it's still how you're built. And with a little
Speaker 4: bit of fresher legs, a little bit of health, if
Speaker 4: you can get back to holding the ball for thirty
Speaker 4: three to thirty four minutes, everything else will kind of
Speaker 4: fall into place.
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 5: I got to tell you, he is, Oh.
Speaker 2: Go ahead. Well if I just want to throw this
Speaker 2: out real quick to Matt, because you mentioned the schedule,
Speaker 2: I don't want to lose this, and then I want
Speaker 2: to get your thought. Yeah, the Chiefs announcer told me.
Speaker 2: The play by play guy was talking Tom before the game,
Speaker 2: said the Chiefs have played on every day of the
Speaker 2: week except Tuesday this year. Yeah. I heard.
Speaker 5: That's crazy.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that is insane. I'm sorry, Well, go ahead, I
Speaker 2: just I just had to throw that in there.
Speaker 3: No, and I mean Matt is exactly correct, you know.
Speaker 3: I mean the accumulative fatigue that comes with all that,
Speaker 3: that is something to be accounted for, and certainly for
Speaker 3: the players, they've got to get back to re establishing
Speaker 3: their routines. One of the things I've always said is
Speaker 3: players are very routine creatures. You know, we live by
Speaker 3: the routine. You know, five days out, you do this,
Speaker 3: four days out, three, days two one. You know, you
Speaker 3: have this routine of preparation that leads you into and
Speaker 3: when you have kind of like very where you're you're
Speaker 3: piling days four, three and two into one, it creates
Speaker 3: some problems. But listen, everybody whoever was there had to
Speaker 3: go through it too, whoever played in those those both
Speaker 3: in those games. But the fact is it does create
Speaker 3: some of those Some guys handle it better than others.
Speaker 3: You know, that's just the way it is. But certainly,
Speaker 3: you know, you look at this and you think to yourself,
Speaker 3: if they you know, if they were playing these games
Speaker 3: at a full full week off and so forth, and
Speaker 3: you had the opportunity to rethink some things, you know,
Speaker 3: I think things would be different. But that's just me,
Speaker 3: and that's my kind of optimistic players type of you know,
Speaker 3: that's how I see things.
Speaker 2: Well, if I think one of the things that makes
Speaker 2: me optimistic that this team can regain its offensive roof,
Speaker 2: you know, to me, they've got I think, you know,
Speaker 2: Pat Fryarmith is a really good tight end, and there's
Speaker 2: guys they can utilize in different ways. But I you know,
Speaker 2: and Calvin Austin can be a weapon. Carl Pickens is
Speaker 2: Carl Pickens playing Cincinnati already got my thoughts on the
Speaker 2: former Tennessee grad. Uh so George Pickens. But to me, man,
Speaker 2: we are seeing the best of Jalen Warren, and Jalen
Speaker 2: Warren uh in his own way, can be a real
Speaker 2: weapon on this team. And I think that you know,
Speaker 2: you talk about you know, we were a lot of
Speaker 2: us were critical. I think of Atlanta and not using
Speaker 2: Kirk Cousins in the preseason and some of these teams
Speaker 2: getting off to slow starts because they didn't play their
Speaker 2: guys in the preseason. Well, Jalen Warren was hurt and
Speaker 2: he's trying to come back without that preseason, without the
Speaker 2: regular season, without the regular reps. It looks to me
Speaker 2: like right now this is the Jaalen Warren we seen
Speaker 2: in the last couple of years. This is an explosive runner,
Speaker 2: a guy I would love to see get the ball
Speaker 2: out in space because I think he can do things
Speaker 2: with it. This guy, I think can be a weapon
Speaker 2: for this year. There's and I think that he is
Speaker 2: peaking as we get to the end of the season.
Speaker 3: There's no question in my mind that that's occurring right now.
Speaker 3: I mean, whatever the groove is. The groove has really
Speaker 3: been established with Jalen Warren doing some very positive things.
Speaker 3: And that's not taking away anything away from Nagy. Nage
Speaker 3: has been superb all season, long, worked tired. He's a banger.
Speaker 3: You got, you got a thumper, and you got a bumper.
Speaker 3: When the bumper is is Jalen Warren. This guy bounces
Speaker 3: off of things and and does things that are different
Speaker 3: than what than what Nagy's does, and Nage does things
Speaker 3: that are different than what Jalen does. But I love
Speaker 3: the aspect in which right now when you see when
Speaker 3: you see Jalen, he's feeling it. I mean, this guy
Speaker 3: is hotter than a bowl of Texas chili, you know.
Speaker 3: I mean he really is a guy that he you know,
Speaker 3: he sees the blocking schematics and he sees the hole,
Speaker 3: he reacts, he sees he does you know, I mean
Speaker 3: that sort of a sead type thing. He's doing it,
Speaker 3: and you love the fact that he's so good in
Speaker 3: open space also with catching the ball, and that's where
Speaker 3: I think one of the things if you saw what
Speaker 3: the Chiefs did, you think about Xavier Worthy and some
Speaker 3: of the things he did with the lateral passing game,
Speaker 3: and that's exactly how Jalen could be utilized too, in
Speaker 3: a manner of such as that very positively.
Speaker 4: So and Rob you kind of mentioned it, but I
Speaker 4: just wanted to kind of reiterate it too. It's clear
Speaker 4: that Warren is trending up in a big way right now,
Speaker 4: but I also think Austin and Frearmuth are trending in
Speaker 4: the right direction as well. And some of it's because
Speaker 4: Pickens was out. Somebody has to step up, and maybe
Speaker 4: he didn't win the game, but so good things happened
Speaker 4: while he was out, and now you get ten days
Speaker 4: off or whatever. And some of those rookies, you know,
Speaker 4: Frasier and McCormick that would never admit to hitting a
Speaker 4: rookie wall but have never played this much football or
Speaker 4: probably very much embracing it, let alone. The old dudes
Speaker 4: like Cam and Russ, you know, that know how to
Speaker 4: handle it. But the bodies are older, you know.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I I do think, Matt, that there's reason for
Speaker 2: optimism there that you know. It feels a little to me.
Speaker 2: And I've used this analogy with Wolf, like you got
Speaker 2: a bunch of puzzle pieces and they don't quite fit.
Speaker 2: They haven't quite fit why why the three and outs,
Speaker 2: and certainly Philadelphia had something to do with that, but
Speaker 2: now it feels.
Speaker 5: A lot to do with all of this stuff. I mean,
Speaker 5: they're really good team about no question.
Speaker 2: Absolutely, But I also think that you know, if you
Speaker 2: have Pickens back, George Pickens that is, and you have
Speaker 2: Russell Wilson and you have you know, this freshness of
Speaker 2: this sort of mini by at the end of the
Speaker 2: year and guys feeling good that they're there, should be
Speaker 2: reason for optimism. Now again, you're gonna have to carry
Speaker 2: that into Saturday night against Cincinnati to begin there. But
Speaker 2: I do think that they're you know, if you're a
Speaker 2: Steelers player, if you're a Steelers fan, take a breath
Speaker 2: and think, Okay, this this can still happen.
Speaker 4: Yeah, And I really want our listeners to under stand this.
Speaker 4: And Wolfe understand it even better than us because he's
Speaker 4: a player. But I host a Thursday show with Mike
Speaker 4: Persuda and Merrill Hodge and we always this Merril's with
Speaker 4: the whole second segment and we set it up and
Speaker 4: he exes and oes us to death and it's wonderful.
Speaker 4: And he had mentioned over this three game stretch. And
Speaker 4: there's other problems. But here's one example just sticks with
Speaker 4: me is when teams would go to trips offenses against
Speaker 4: the Steeler defense. The Steeler defense has had a lot
Speaker 4: of communication errors, bunches and trip sets three receivers the
Speaker 4: one side. Okay, I mean the Steelers recognize that. Every
Speaker 4: offensive coordinator on the planet recognizes that. But when you
Speaker 4: play three games in eleven days, you really don't even
Speaker 4: have the practice time to fix it.
Speaker 5: You know, Like, I know that's a problem. They know
Speaker 5: it's a problem.
Speaker 4: They're gonna pick that scab forever, but I got no
Speaker 4: time to heal the wound.
Speaker 5: You know, that's a great point. It This is how
Speaker 5: the world works.
Speaker 2: It really is.
Speaker 5: Yeah, you know, there's no question.
Speaker 3: One of the things that you see is how you
Speaker 3: are going to operate, say with the Travis Kelcey, Yeah,
Speaker 3: you know. I mean there's so many variations. One of
Speaker 3: them is an island bunch, where the bunch is that,
Speaker 3: you know, three guys in a bunch is slightly removed
Speaker 3: from the offensive tackle a little bit wider, and the
Speaker 3: guy motions to the bunch and then they go on
Speaker 3: crossing routes And I'm like are.
Speaker 5: You kidding me? That looks you know, it looks it
Speaker 5: looks like you could You couldn't.
Speaker 3: It was like guys playing tag in Grand Central Station
Speaker 3: at rush hour, trying to keep up with these guys
Speaker 3: crossing and everything else. And Matt makes a great point,
Speaker 3: how do you put that into a small time frame
Speaker 3: and work on that.
Speaker 4: When you got one real practice to get a fit, Like, yeah,
Speaker 4: you can sit there in the meeting rooms and no,
Speaker 4: it's a problem. But it's hard to work those problems
Speaker 4: out such a short amount of time.
Speaker 3: I can only tell you when you're in a limited walkthrough,
Speaker 3: you're not getting along.
Speaker 4: Right right right, let alone when the two time defending
Speaker 4: champs come to town and they're the best in the
Speaker 4: league at it, you know.
Speaker 2: Well, let's leave off there because we want to talk
Speaker 2: a little bit about this defense and we want to
Speaker 2: take a look ahead to the Cincinnati Bengals and maybe
Speaker 2: a sneak peek ahead of the playoffs as well. You're
Speaker 2: listening to the Point After on the Steelers Audio Network,
Speaker 2: back to the Point After on DVD by acun Pass
Speaker 2: Wilson looking backside pressure down, he goes, he is sacked
Speaker 2: and he's dropped by and Azuki Uzoma and A D
Speaker 2: kay Zoe. I think it was anyway, but but I
Speaker 2: only had to say that name once. Glad there weren't
Speaker 2: too many sacks. Although we will say this, The Sack
Speaker 2: Hunger segment is brought to you by the Greater Pittsburgh
Speaker 2: Community Food Bank. Get food, volunteer, donate at Pittsburgh Foodbank
Speaker 2: dot org. So the offense, we just talked about that
Speaker 2: a little bit. The defense guys, on the one hand,
Speaker 2: the offense has not helped the defense. And you know,
Speaker 2: I don't know if somebody were to say, you know,
Speaker 2: what's the biggest culprit offense? Defense? You don't get to
Speaker 2: say turnovers. You don't get to say special teams, although
Speaker 2: I don't think that's really been an issue. You don't
Speaker 2: get to say that you have to pick offense or defense.
Speaker 2: I'm not sure wolf which side I'd picked, because whereas
Speaker 2: the offense, you know, we just outlined the paucity of points.
Speaker 2: They've scored forty over the last three they've also given
Speaker 2: up a bunch to three top teams. Unless we forget,
Speaker 2: you know, when we want to look at and as
Speaker 2: I do, and I know you do, Hey, this could
Speaker 2: have turned out differently. You know, the Eagles kneeled down.
Speaker 2: They knelt down at the end of the game. That
Speaker 2: could easily if they could have gotten into the thirties
Speaker 2: net game. And you give up thirty four to Baltimore,
Speaker 2: you give up twenty nine to KC. There are some
Speaker 2: things there that need to be fixed, Wolf, and maybe
Speaker 2: this extra time, as we were saying at the end
Speaker 2: of the last segment, will give you time to fix
Speaker 2: those things.
Speaker 3: Well, in my mind, Matt nailed it from the get go.
Speaker 3: Time of possession. I am such a big believer in
Speaker 3: time possession doesn't guarantee a win, but at the same time,
Speaker 3: it guarantees you're in in the ball game. Okay, if
Speaker 3: you control the ball, obviously the opposition is not scoring
Speaker 3: too many points. Now, the problem is the more you
Speaker 3: how do I put this against a good team like
Speaker 3: the like like case, You got to control that ball
Speaker 3: like forty minutes. It's it can't be thirty one and change.
Speaker 3: It's you know where you're just slightly you know it.
Speaker 3: It's about you got to dominate that time of possession
Speaker 3: and then do something with it. And whether you're kicking
Speaker 3: eight what how many field six, field goals like they
Speaker 3: did in the Ravens game, you know, with with Boswell
Speaker 3: or what you know, it's it's you got to turn
Speaker 3: some points there. But the fact is winning possession is
Speaker 3: nine tenths of the law, and winning is nine tenths of
Speaker 3: the of the you know, possession. You know, I didn't
Speaker 3: think that made sense. The point being is I think
Speaker 3: we got close. You understand where I'm coming from. If
Speaker 3: you're hanging on to that ball, they ain't got it.
Speaker 3: And you got to keep mahomes on the blanket on
Speaker 3: the bench, keeping warm. That's the best way to do it.
Speaker 2: Matt. Do you have any to add to that?
Speaker 1: Well?
Speaker 5: How could you?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 4: It was all over the place, just the league wide though.
Speaker 4: I mean there aren't steel curtains anymore. There aren't eighty
Speaker 4: five bears, you know where you're happy to get the
Speaker 4: ten points, you know, like there's those defenses don't exist.
Speaker 4: I mean, the league has changed too dramatically. These offensive
Speaker 4: players are too good, et cetera, et cetera. But what
Speaker 4: is very true is too much defense is bad defense.
Speaker 4: It doesn't matter what defense it is.
Speaker 5: In this league.
Speaker 4: If they're out there thirty two plus minutes, they get
Speaker 4: figured out, Fatigues said, you know, certainly starts, the pass
Speaker 4: rush slows down, the pads come up. But maybe more
Speaker 4: importantly Mahomes and Red, for example, they're the latest opponent.
Speaker 4: But this is true for everybody, but they're the best
Speaker 4: at it. They start to learn all your checks, you know,
Speaker 4: like if I do this specific motion, they check the
Speaker 4: cover too. Okay, well I'm gonna do this motion next time,
Speaker 4: and I'm going to run my cover two beaters. And
Speaker 4: you can't just adjust everything on the sideline. They can't
Speaker 4: just stop and hit pause and be like, well, let's
Speaker 4: change all our checks. You know, they figure you out.
Speaker 4: And that's why teams script plays to start things. You know,
Speaker 4: we're just gonna put out thirteen personnel and see what
Speaker 4: kind of defense they play against it. Wow, they're playing base. Okay,
Speaker 4: we're gonna throw out of thirteen going forward. I mean,
Speaker 4: that's why you do those things. So the more you're
Speaker 4: out there, the more you're telling the homes and read
Speaker 4: the answers to the tests. And that's when it gets
Speaker 4: really ugly.
Speaker 2: You know. Whenever I think a time of possession and
Speaker 2: an explosive team, I mean the biggest discrepancy I can
Speaker 2: think of in Super Bowl history is that the Giants
Speaker 2: Bills in ninety one, you know, the wide right game.
Speaker 2: If Norwood makes the field goal, we're not even talking
Speaker 2: about it. But the time of possession in that game
Speaker 2: was nineteen twenty seven for Buffalo and forty thirty three
Speaker 2: for the Giants, and the Bill still almost won the game,
Speaker 2: still had a forty seven yard field goal at the
Speaker 2: buzzer to win it. The yards are almost identical, the
Speaker 2: point being the Giants didn't have an explosive offense. Their
Speaker 2: defense was good, but not the same defense that had
Speaker 2: been five years before. They won that game because they
Speaker 2: controlled the clock.
Speaker 4: That you know, like Otis Anderson all day on you
Speaker 4: right right, yeah yeah.
Speaker 2: And it wasn't even it wasn't even great running. I mean,
Speaker 2: the Bills ran for over six yards to carry. The
Speaker 2: Giants were just over four, just slugging it out. But
Speaker 2: the lack of negative plays, what Wolf said, the winning
Speaker 2: on first and second down, the ability to keep drives alive.
Speaker 2: You know, I think the notion that once we get
Speaker 2: into your territory, if it's fourth and one, we're probably
Speaker 2: going for it. With Otis Anderson here he comes. All
Speaker 2: those things so you're.
Speaker 4: Rise in rushing the pastor in the fourth quarter like
Speaker 4: he is in the first quarter.
Speaker 2: That's right, No, exactly right, yeah, yeah, all those things contribute.
Speaker 2: And even though I think the Steelers, going back to
Speaker 2: you know what we're talking about last segment, that they
Speaker 2: have the capacity to be more explosive, it is still
Speaker 2: seemingly more in their dna to win games that way. Now,
Speaker 2: I do think if you have everybody at your disposal
Speaker 2: and you have to get into a shootout, you have
Speaker 2: a greater chance to win now than any time in
Speaker 2: many many years as the Steelers. But that's not, you know,
Speaker 2: clearly not the way they want to do things. So well,
Speaker 2: if what do they have to do? Joe Burrow has
Speaker 2: been phenomenal. The Bengals have won four in a row.
Speaker 2: They're putting this game on Saturday night. I think, you know,
Speaker 2: they're wrapping up the AFC North. You can kind of
Speaker 2: understand probably where they're coming from. You know, if Cincinnati
Speaker 2: were to beat Baltimore, if Cincinnati would to beat Steeers,
Speaker 2: Baltimore would have nothing to play for. Okay, so you
Speaker 2: put Baltimore first. Now, the Steelers could be playing for
Speaker 2: a third seed. If if Baltimore loses or a fourth
Speaker 2: or fifth seed, or a fifth or sixty, you're guaranteeing
Speaker 2: yourself a fifth seed if you win the game. So
Speaker 2: it's still important to the Steelers. What do they need
Speaker 2: to do to beat a Bengals team that is starting
Speaker 2: to resemble the Bengals team we all thought it was
Speaker 2: going to be at the beginning of the year, which is,
Speaker 2: you know, a legitimate tough contender, a difficult team to beat.
Speaker 3: This is going to be a team that you got
Speaker 3: to dominate the time of possession. I mean, this is
Speaker 3: you got to keep Joe Burrow on the bench to
Speaker 3: the best of your abilities, and obviously Sacerman put pressure,
Speaker 3: what have you went, He's out there. But the fact
Speaker 3: of the matter is you need to win the time
Speaker 3: with possession, and you need to do that by doing
Speaker 3: a couple of things. You've got to win on first
Speaker 3: second downs. You've got to have the ability to convert
Speaker 3: on the possession downs. You've got to have a quarterback
Speaker 3: get the ball out on schedule. I'm sorry, but you
Speaker 3: cannot get in those four second ranges with the ball
Speaker 3: on pass pro You've got a group of young offensive
Speaker 3: linemen and when you have negative yardage through sacks on
Speaker 3: young offensive lineman. Look, you gotta understand these fivesome, these
Speaker 3: young guys all out there together. They play more for
Speaker 3: each other than they do anything else. It's about being
Speaker 3: part of a group effort when you're an offensive lineman,
Speaker 3: and the negativity that's associated with the sacks creates sometimes
Speaker 3: doubt and and lack of confidence and guys start looking around.
Speaker 3: That can be sort of problematic when you're a young
Speaker 3: guy not having weathered storms such as some of the
Speaker 3: older guys have already. Well, the fact of the matter
Speaker 3: is you got to help them out. The very first
Speaker 3: play that of last week against the Chiefs was a
Speaker 3: nice little eight year eight yard out to Pat Fryarmouth
Speaker 3: that took two seconds, maybe a one point nine to
Speaker 3: nine or something like that, And I thought that was
Speaker 3: a terrific tone setter. Now continue, you know, stay in
Speaker 3: that vein, in that sort of thing. I think the
Speaker 3: world to Russ. I think he is a great quarterback.
Speaker 3: I think he's capable of producing big things. But what
Speaker 3: he's got to be careful of is not trying not
Speaker 3: to take over the offense to such a degree that
Speaker 3: you start to put the passing schedule at risk, you know,
Speaker 3: with sacks. Negative plays like that just create a lot
Speaker 3: of problems.
Speaker 4: So from what I remember, that's great because from what
Speaker 4: I remember in the Bengals game, this is just off
Speaker 4: the top of my head, I think was Russ's shortest
Speaker 4: time to throw in like ten years, not let alone
Speaker 4: in a Steeler uniform. I mean, and he's a higher
Speaker 4: one to begin with. I mean, he's a good athlete,
Speaker 4: he moves around right at this stage of his career.
Speaker 4: I think it's a bit of a negative that he
Speaker 4: needs to s I mean, I always say, I've said
Speaker 4: this forever that sacks are as much a quarterback stats
Speaker 4: an O line stat.
Speaker 5: And I'm sure you O lineman agree. There's some guys
Speaker 5: that just take sacks that there's some that don't.
Speaker 4: And I think this the pressure against the Chiefs in particular,
Speaker 4: was probably more on the quarterback than the blocking. You know,
Speaker 4: you don't have to take sacks if you don't necessarily,
Speaker 4: you can throw the ball away, you can, you can
Speaker 4: dirt it whatever. And I think he needs to evaluate
Speaker 4: that part of it as well, because this offense can't
Speaker 4: afford those negative plays.
Speaker 2: So how about defensively and trying to slow down. It's
Speaker 2: gonna be and it's very difficult to slow down.
Speaker 3: They got so many weapons. I mean, you think about
Speaker 3: number one, Chase Brown, I mean Chase Brown, I mean
Speaker 3: he though, yeah.
Speaker 5: Fine, but look pretty bad at the end of the right.
Speaker 3: So then you've got also you got the wide receivers
Speaker 3: that can create you know, a lot of downfield yardage
Speaker 3: with t Higgins and whoever, you know, whoever they put
Speaker 3: out there. The fact of the matter is Joe Burrow
Speaker 3: is on a tear. He is just on a tear.
Speaker 3: Back in the day, Mike Webster used to say, it'd
Speaker 3: be like the mutual of Omaha Wild Kingdom. You know,
Speaker 3: Jim had the dart gun that would would make the
Speaker 3: wild beasts go to sleep, you know, you know, and
Speaker 3: Webby said, we need one of those guys out there
Speaker 3: had that, and so you can dart one of those
Speaker 3: quarterbacks that are getting out of control. The fact of
Speaker 3: the matter is it's very hard to do the things
Speaker 3: that you want to do against it, you know, somebody
Speaker 3: like Joe Burrow, other than keep them on the bench
Speaker 3: and pressure them, you know, And that's that that by
Speaker 3: and large is going to be about those guys up front.
Speaker 2: Well, how important is it to play a good game
Speaker 2: for the Steelers for their psyche and and to you know,
Speaker 2: I think it's probably at this stage of the game,
Speaker 2: it's psyche as much as anything else, isn't it. I'm
Speaker 2: just you know, you've beaten good teams. You beat Cincinnati
Speaker 2: Baltimore earlier this year, this year, you beat Denver earlier
Speaker 2: this year, You've beaten quality teams. But it just feels
Speaker 2: like after these last three games, maybe for your psyche,
Speaker 2: it's important to play a strong game one way or
Speaker 2: the other to give you, you know, a little bit
Speaker 2: of headway heading into the playoffs.
Speaker 3: Unquestionably, so, I mean, you want to write the ship
Speaker 3: and get to have a good feel about you as
Speaker 3: you enter into the playoffs, and certainly going out and
Speaker 3: mastering a second win over the Bengals is going to
Speaker 3: be important. And I can't think of anything other than say, yeah,
Speaker 3: you need to win and win, you know, in a good,
Speaker 3: good way, not you know, doing the things that they
Speaker 3: got you here. You know, the same guys that got
Speaker 3: to ten and three also are here at ten and six.
Speaker 3: And the fact of the matter is you can right
Speaker 3: this ship with the next snap of a game, you know,
Speaker 3: get in there and get do the things that you
Speaker 3: did to get to ten and three, and that's really
Speaker 3: where they've got to right the ship.
Speaker 2: Matt.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I also think there's something to kick the Bengals
Speaker 4: when they're down. You know, the Bengals are on a
Speaker 4: winning streak, They're they're riding high, they're pulling things out
Speaker 4: left and right, and Burrows on top of the world
Speaker 4: and playing great. But if you can end their season
Speaker 4: and keep a fabulous quarterback out of the playoffs and
Speaker 4: then all of a sudden they're back to the drawing
Speaker 4: board too, there's a double whammie there. I definitely think
Speaker 4: along with Wolf was saying, you do not want to
Speaker 4: limp into the playoffs on a four game losing streak.
Speaker 4: Can go on a road game, I mean, I think
Speaker 4: there's a lot to be had in this upcoming game.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and the Bengals offseason would be considerably better even
Speaker 2: if they don't get into playoffs. Hey, look what we
Speaker 2: did at the end of the season. Who we are.
Speaker 2: I mean, it's a complete reversal for them. Any thoughts
Speaker 2: on whether how important it is to maybe get that
Speaker 2: five seed and be taking on Houston. Houston hasn't looked
Speaker 2: that good. Matt and the Ravens have looked really good.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think the Ravens are playing at a extremely
Speaker 4: high level. Now, the last game didn't go this way,
Speaker 4: but we also still know that Ravens Steeler history implies
Speaker 4: tight physical games. I mean, I don't think that all
Speaker 4: of a sudden that that's out the window. But Houston's
Speaker 4: got a lot of issues. I mean, I would much
Speaker 4: rather go to Houston than go to home.
Speaker 2: Let's just play a good game first time. Wolf.
Speaker 5: Yeah, yeah, go get it.
Speaker 2: I mean, I don't mean, I'm not trying to be dismissive.
Speaker 2: I'm just saying, no, that's the first order of business.
Speaker 2: Just go play a good football game.
Speaker 3: That's exactly the first order of business, you know. I mean,
Speaker 3: and that you can't overlook it. You've got to focus
Speaker 3: on it. That's all that matters right now.
Speaker 2: Well, gear up with the latest game day necessities the
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Speaker 2: Steelers dot com. For Craig Wolfley, for Matt Williamson, For
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