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Speaker 1: Welcome to the drive. I'm Dale Lully. He is Matt

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Speaker 1: Williamson and Matt. It is a Wednesday. We got some

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Speaker 1: snow tuesday night in Pittsburgh. It's all starting to melt

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Speaker 1: off here though. It's a nice way to welcome the

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Speaker 1: Tennessee Titans to town.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, short week, you turnaround, come to our tough, chilly city.

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Speaker 2: After a lovely Halloween. I hope everyone had a happy

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Speaker 2: and safe Halloween. We had a bunch of people here.

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Speaker 2: I was busy doing podcasts. I wasn't the slavest bit festive.

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Speaker 2: But then you wake up there was a little bit

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Speaker 2: snow on the ground. So times are changing.

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Speaker 1: Let's go, Yeah, let's get it on here. And just

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Speaker 1: looking at this this Titans team a little well, first

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Speaker 1: of all, let's talk about this because overnight the Las

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Speaker 1: Vegas Raiders fire not only their head coach but their

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Speaker 1: general manager.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, made a quarterback change too, and made.

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Speaker 1: A quarterback change. And actually there's a quarterback change in

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Speaker 1: Atlanta as well. So lots of stuff going on around

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Speaker 1: the league.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, and trade deadline was yesterday and things are happening.

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Speaker 2: I think you know you're basically as you mentioned yesterday

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Speaker 2: about halfway through the season. You got a pretty good

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Speaker 2: idea if you're in it or not. I've actually expected

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Speaker 2: more deals at the trade deadline teams like Denver or Quiet,

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Speaker 2: which shocked me. I hope they don't think they're in it.

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Speaker 2: But the Raiders to me are a big deal. And

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Speaker 2: same with this Atlanta move. I mean, we've talked about

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Speaker 2: Ridder some but maybe not enough on here, and I

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Speaker 2: think you could correlate it to some degree to pick it,

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Speaker 2: you know, like Ridder, I would watch rather pick it.

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Speaker 2: Don't get me wrong, but Ridder doesn't make nearly enough

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Speaker 2: big plays to be mistake prone, and he is losing

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Speaker 2: his team games. You know, you and I often talk

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Speaker 2: about there's a difference between going out and winning a

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Speaker 2: game or going out and not losing it. And the

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Speaker 2: Steelers are more in the not lose it. Mold Well,

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Speaker 2: the Falcons have to be as well as many teams are,

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Speaker 2: and Ritter's out there losing them games.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, and that's the you know, as many criticisms as

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Speaker 1: there are out there pick it, and many of them

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Speaker 1: are warranted. Passing up some throws and things of that nature.

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Speaker 1: He's not turning the ball over, yeah, and that is

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Speaker 1: allowing his team a chance to win each week exactly.

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Speaker 2: I mean, he's not making bonehead plays. The fumbles with

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Speaker 2: Ritterer or unbelievable, unbelievable, unbelievable, and he's I mean his

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Speaker 2: I saw this today too, his sack rate, you know,

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Speaker 2: like when he's pressured, he gets sacked, you know, like

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Speaker 2: he's not he's just accepting his fate and not getting

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Speaker 2: rid of the ball and making those kind of mistakes.

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Speaker 2: You often talk about quarterback fumbles. I mean, he's as

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Speaker 2: bad as anyone right now with that.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, And so you know again, I I it's a

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Speaker 1: fine line to walk for young quarterbacks because you want

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Speaker 1: him to make plays. I mean, Sam Howe's making plays

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Speaker 1: down the field, but he's also taking a ridiculous a

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Speaker 1: number of sacks and he's turning the ball over. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: Like you kind of have to balance at do you

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Speaker 1: want to try are you trying? What are you trying

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Speaker 1: to do? What are you trying to accomplish by playing

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Speaker 1: the young quarterback? Are you trying to develop him right now?

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Speaker 1: And or are you trying to win football games? And

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Speaker 1: I think the Steelers are trying to balance that right now.

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Speaker 2: I think they are and I think more so than

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Speaker 2: some teams. You know, maybe the Bears of Fields comes

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Speaker 2: to mind right that. You know, if you're if I

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Speaker 2: think more than some teams, the Steelers are trying to win. Now,

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Speaker 2: you know, like Kenny, maybe this isn't the best best

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Speaker 2: thing for your long term development to be. Job number

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Speaker 2: one is not turning the ball over. But in the meantime,

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Speaker 2: if you learn how to win, and we get into

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Speaker 2: playoffs and win more games than we lose, that's what's

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Speaker 2: best for the organization. You know, where they might tell

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Speaker 2: Justin Fields, I'm not saying they're saying this, but hey, Justin,

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Speaker 2: we just want you to learn. If you make mistakes

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Speaker 2: on the fly, so be it. We don't think we're

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Speaker 2: gonna win a whole lot of games either way this year,

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Speaker 2: you know.

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Speaker 1: Right right? You know, I think if you gave some

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Speaker 1: people within the organization some truths here them you know,

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Speaker 1: there was well, the Steelers are holding Kenny Pickett back.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't quite go that way.

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Speaker 1: They're winning games here and they're allowing him when the

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Speaker 1: game is on the line to go out and play.

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Speaker 1: Mm hmm.

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Speaker 2: I mean, were the Steelers holding Ben back in his

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Speaker 2: first couple of years, or the Patriots holding Brady back

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Speaker 2: in his first couple of years. You know, I mean,

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Speaker 2: they were not the focal points of their offense. And

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Speaker 2: I'm not saying Kenny's going to turn in the next

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Speaker 2: Hall of Fame or when you know, more rings than

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Speaker 2: he can fit on one hand, like Tom Brady, but this

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Speaker 2: has been going on since the end of since the

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Speaker 2: beginning of time of NFL.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, you know, you again, you've got to

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Speaker 1: balance the winning with you know, not losing it and

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Speaker 1: in the development. Uh you know, I look at Pickett's

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Speaker 1: stats this year. He hasn't thrown an interception. He's thrown

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Speaker 1: one interception since Week two.

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Speaker 2: Well, he has led all year long, so that's I

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Speaker 2: didn't realize that. So he has one turnover this year

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Speaker 2: since since Week two, since since Week two, okay, yeah, yeah, yeah.

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Speaker 1: He had three in the first two games, two against

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Speaker 1: two against the forty nine ers, one against Cleveland and

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Speaker 1: hasn't turned and that that interception against Cleveland, if you remember,

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Speaker 1: was early in that game.

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Speaker 2: So I mean, he's got a lot of quarters without

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Speaker 2: turning the ball over.

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Speaker 1: I just wonder if they came into the season and

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Speaker 1: said Okay, Kenny, you know you played really well and

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Speaker 1: the you know this is year two. You played really

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Speaker 1: well in the in the preseason. Go out there against

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Speaker 1: the forty nine ers, let it fly. Okay, that was

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Speaker 1: against the forty nine ers. It didn't work. Go out

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Speaker 1: there against the Browns here and let it fly. He

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Speaker 1: throws it into an interception early, and then all of

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Speaker 1: a sudden, you go, okay, let's go back to last

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Speaker 1: year's formula. You yeah, take care of the football here.

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Speaker 1: Let's see a value the football now. You can do both,

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Speaker 1: of course, Aaron, Aaron Rodgers has done both his entire career,

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Speaker 1: Like he has been a low turnover but he'll make

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Speaker 1: some risky throws.

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Speaker 2: But and Dale, I know you know this, but I

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Speaker 2: haven't said it for a while on here, and since

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Speaker 2: the bye. Last year, Kenny was at the top of

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Speaker 2: the league in big time throws for PFF as well

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Speaker 2: as turnover where he plays. I mean, he was like

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Speaker 2: the best top five in both categories. So he's shown

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Speaker 2: that he can do both. I mean, because it wasn't

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Speaker 2: like he didn't lead people back from comebacks or whatever

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Speaker 2: last year while he wasn't turned the ball over. I mean,

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Speaker 2: he wasn't just dirting the ball and spiking into the ground.

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Speaker 2: I mean he was still being aggressive downfield with it,

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Speaker 2: and especially when it was warranted in the games.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, so you know, I think, you know, you balance

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Speaker 1: those things out and you try to win games. That's

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Speaker 1: what wasn't happening. The Falcons are Forida, but Ritter has

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Speaker 1: been a reason why directly why they have lost. He

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Speaker 1: cost him that game last week. Yes, he kept I

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Speaker 1: mean kept putting the ball on the ground.

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Speaker 2: Like again, I don't think either one of us is

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Speaker 2: saying Kenny's a great player, he should be a pro

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Speaker 2: bowler this year or anything like that. But I can

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Speaker 2: promise you the Falcons would probably be sitting at six

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Speaker 2: and two with Picket, et cetera.

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Speaker 1: Ritter.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, let alone Cousins, you know, a professional

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Speaker 2: Ben around the block.

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Speaker 1: You know Ben.

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Speaker 2: They're done at play making quarterback, which is.

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Speaker 1: Why they're switching to Taylor Heineke. They're looking at just going, yeah,

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Speaker 1: we're in first place in our division. We've got a

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Speaker 1: chance to do something here. We just can't turn the

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Speaker 1: ball over like crazy at the quarterback position. And oh,

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Speaker 1: by the way, we just lost maybe our best defensive

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Speaker 1: player last week.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, of course, of course, I mean red zone fumbles,

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Speaker 2: bad situational football. Maybe you can live with that if

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Speaker 2: you're getting Mahomes Brett.

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Speaker 1: Fav like big plays, yeah, right right, and.

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Speaker 2: Ritter or Picket et cetera, et cetera aren't providing that,

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Speaker 2: you know, So therefore you can't hurt us, you know.

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Speaker 2: And he was hurting the Falcons.

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Speaker 1: He was hurting the Falcons. Josh McDaniels was hurting the Raiders.

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Speaker 2: Yes, and Jimmy was terrible, and yes.

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Speaker 1: They both of those guys made the decision in the

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Speaker 1: offseason to move on from Derek Carr, who had been

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Speaker 1: pretty good for the Raiders. Yeah, yeah, yeah, move on

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Speaker 1: from him and go to Jimmy Garoppolo. And it's been

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Speaker 1: bad for both camps. Carr hasn't been the same for

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Speaker 1: New Orleans. The Raiders weren't the same with Garoppolo quarterback,

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Speaker 1: and now the coach and general manager have gotten fired.

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Speaker 2: So I have a couple theories big picture Raiders esque

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Speaker 2: that are don't paint them in a great light, but

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Speaker 2: I think they've earned that. So I have tremendous respect

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Speaker 2: for Al Davis, who I know is hated here by

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Speaker 2: generations and biggest steel arrival ever. Blah blah blah. I

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Speaker 2: think he's a tremendous football mind and not just an owner.

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Speaker 2: You know, doesn't what they he was talking about, But frankly,

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Speaker 2: the last ten years maybe more of the Al Davis

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Speaker 2: rain were pretty awful, right, I mean, they really were.

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Speaker 2: He lost his fastball, he got up in age, and

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Speaker 2: I don't know if his son certainly is not the

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Speaker 2: young version of Al Davis. But did as we all

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Speaker 2: do from our fathers and parents, did he learn end

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Speaker 2: of our stuff as an owner as opposed to early

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Speaker 2: ol stuff, you know? I mean, who knows. But the

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Speaker 2: whole Mark Davis rain has not been good either, and

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Speaker 2: so I think things have to start at the top

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Speaker 2: when you're that bad for that long. And I think

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Speaker 2: it's pretty obvious with the Raiders that ownership has held

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Speaker 2: them back. Now. I also think two off seasons ago,

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Speaker 2: not this past one where you referenced the car move,

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Speaker 2: two off seasons ago they had had to have a

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Speaker 2: come to Jesus meeting of are we good or is

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Speaker 2: it rebuild time? And they pushed all their chips in

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Speaker 2: the middle Vegas reference and said let's go trade for

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Speaker 2: Devonte Adams, we can hang with Mahomes and Herbert and Allen.

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Speaker 2: And that was a huge mistake. I think all of

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Speaker 2: us saw it coming that pushing your chips in to

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Speaker 2: win now that offseason is not going to pay off

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Speaker 2: for you.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, they were, they were coming off a playoff here

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Speaker 1: under and Rich Bistec had been there. Yeah, they're they're,

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Speaker 1: you know, kind of intern head coach. And they won

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Speaker 1: with him.

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Speaker 2: Yes, post Gruden, with all stuff.

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Speaker 1: And then they decided to go hire Josh McDaniels. And

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Speaker 1: and of course he's going to try to build New

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Speaker 1: England West.

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Speaker 2: The West Josh Byer and and.

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Speaker 1: I think I think we're finding out now, Matt, that

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Speaker 1: so much of what the Patriots success was over the

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Speaker 1: years was Tom Brady driven.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, or it's just not replicable, you know that. Yeah,

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Speaker 2: I mean and or all the above. You know that

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Speaker 2: they had the perfect storm in New England, they had

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Speaker 2: a glorious run. Just grabbing people from that organization, coaches

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Speaker 2: or players, doesn't make you the two thousand Pats.

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Speaker 1: And it's not the first time that that's happened in

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Speaker 1: league history. It happened, It happened with Lombardi. It's happened

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Speaker 1: over and over and over that they You know, when

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Speaker 1: people talk about coaching trees, uh, the best coaching tree

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Speaker 1: in league history might be that of of Marty Schottenheimer,

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Speaker 1: and Schottenheimer's you know, he's never gonna make even someday

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Speaker 1: he'll probably make the Hall of Fame. But when people

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Speaker 1: just he's not considered, Belichick, he's not considered. He's not considered. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: none of those guys, right, But but he produced a

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Speaker 1: lot of assistant coaches that went out and won a

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Speaker 1: lot of games and won Super Bowls.

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Speaker 2: Belan hasn't done that, not at all. And it's finding

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Speaker 2: me in this conversation on my podcast today and Peacock,

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Speaker 2: my my cohort, he's like, other than Rabel, I'm like,

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Speaker 2: I don't think Ravee.

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Speaker 1: Abel doesn't count.

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Speaker 2: He was never on Bill's staff. You know, he learned

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Speaker 2: a lot from him, but they were never coaches on

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Speaker 2: the same staff, not the same.

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Speaker 1: It's not the same like count. If you're going to

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Speaker 1: count Rabel, then you know people what people didn't want

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Speaker 1: to you know, uh, Byron Leftwich with Mike Tomlin. People

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Speaker 1: didn't want to say Byron Leftwich learned uner Mike Tomlin

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Speaker 1: Now that's not worked out. But you understand what I'm saying.

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Speaker 1: Just because they played for somebody doesn't make them part

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Speaker 1: of their coaching tree.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, they were not on the same coaching staff, the

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Speaker 2: contrary to popular believe Rabel and Belichick. You know, so

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Speaker 2: that doesn't count, and everybody else has been a failure.

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Speaker 2: Now we referenced Gruden a little bit because I think

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Speaker 2: him and Mayowk also deserve their blame because listen to this.

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Speaker 2: I mean, this is bonkers to me.

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Speaker 1: You know.

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Speaker 2: In so what year was it they drafted Amari Cooper

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Speaker 2: in the first round with the fourth pick overall in

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Speaker 2: twenty fifteen. The year before that they drafted Khalil Mack. Well,

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Speaker 2: Gruden gets there and decides those two have to go.

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Speaker 2: We're trade them for first round picks galore, you know,

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Speaker 2: Cooper goes, Mack goes, and these are their first round

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Speaker 2: picks since drafting Amari Cooper, Carl Joseph Garian, Conley, Colton Miller,

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Speaker 2: that's the one success, Cleveland Ferrell, Josh Jacobs, who's a success,

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Speaker 2: But finding a running backs not that hard. Jonathan Abram,

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Speaker 2: Henry Ruggs, Damon Arnett, Alex Leatherwood, and now Tyree Wilson,

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Speaker 2: who's done nothing his rookie year. Like, you couldn't use

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Speaker 2: first round picks any worse than that, and you had

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Speaker 2: a ton of them.

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Speaker 1: That's why you are where you are, right, I mean

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Speaker 1: it's all about the picks. I mean you can't blow

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Speaker 1: them like that.

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Speaker 2: Well, those guys don't even a league, right, and ones

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Speaker 2: in jail, well, I mean I mean, yeah, yeah, that

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Speaker 2: one is what it is, right right?

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Speaker 1: Yeah, But immediately this morning when I get up, Steelers

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Speaker 1: should hire Josh McDaniels as their offensive coordinator. Come on, people,

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Speaker 1: you mean, like right now, like they should bring him

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Speaker 1: in as an offensive guru and you know, potential coordinator

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Speaker 1: down the road. What has he done in his career

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Speaker 1: without Tom Brady?

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Speaker 2: I say, true. Have you've been watching the Raiders offense lately?

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Speaker 2: I mean it's not pretty.

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Speaker 1: They scored twenty points once this year, really once with

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Speaker 1: a with all those they got the leagus returning leading rusher,

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Speaker 1: they got Devonte Adams, they go out, they get Jakobe Brissett,

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Speaker 1: they change quarterbacks because that's the guy they wanted. And

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Speaker 1: the offense can't score twenty points.

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Speaker 2: No, And it was an ugly showing on both sides

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Speaker 2: of the ball against the Lions on Monday Night for

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Speaker 2: the whole world to see.

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Speaker 1: So yeah, yeah, I'm not on board with that. Let's

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Speaker 1: let Belichick hire him back and they can go up

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Speaker 1: there and they can both be try to get back

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Speaker 1: elusive three hundred and nineteen to win. It might be

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Speaker 1: happened four years from now.

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Speaker 2: They could join forces in with the Commanders or something.

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Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah. Anyways, we got to get to a break

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Speaker 1: bat and we'll talk more Steelers here in the next segment.

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Speaker 1: He is Matt Williamson. I am Dale Lolly. You're listening

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Speaker 1: to the Drive here on Steelers Nation Radio. We'll be

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Speaker 1: back with more right after this. Welcome back. I'm Dale Lolly.

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Speaker 1: He is Matt Williamson, and this is the Drive on

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Speaker 1: Steelers Nation Radio. And Matt, you know, I I again

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Speaker 1: watch that that game between the Titans in Atlanta last week,

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Speaker 1: and all I came all I came away with was that,

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Speaker 1: ma'am was was rich or bad? Now that being said,

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Speaker 1: you know, they did some good things offensively with the quarterback. Yeah, no,

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Speaker 1: I'm talking about with will Levis.

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Speaker 2: Oh okay, yeah, they did.

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Speaker 1: They gave him some easy they gave him some easy throws.

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Speaker 1: You know, he took his he took shots downfield. They

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Speaker 1: used a lot of play action. The interesting thing to

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Speaker 1: me is that the Tennessee Titans are dead last in

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Speaker 1: pre snap motion in the NFL. Are they dead last? Like?

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Speaker 1: So yeah, yeah, the Steelers play a large portion of

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Speaker 1: man d They play man defense, uh forty two point

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Speaker 1: nine percent of the time, which is the fourth most

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Speaker 1: in the league. And I just wonder, you know, why

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Speaker 1: wouldn't you, you know, in this game, if you're the Titans,

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Speaker 1: would you use more motion to try to get him

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Speaker 1: some pre snap breads. But that's but that's not what

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Speaker 1: you do, right, right, right?

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Speaker 2: That's a good question. Maybe. I mean, I think you

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Speaker 2: could scheme things up and bunch guys together, or you know,

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Speaker 2: use motion like you said, and rub routes and man

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Speaker 2: beater stuff. That would make some sense. What's hard to

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Speaker 2: answer about that question is the answer to the question

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Speaker 2: is whatever will Levis is comfortable with. If he's comfortable

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Speaker 2: with play action, If he's comfortable and he's played so little,

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Speaker 2: that's a picket or even a ritter. We can do

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Speaker 2: things that they can learn to get better at where

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Speaker 2: Levis at this point, especially on a short week, I mean,

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Speaker 2: on a super short week. Will what do you like

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Speaker 2: and we're going to do that, you know, Yeah, which

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Speaker 2: I hopinckly know.

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Speaker 1: So here the stats on the Titans. They are thirtieth

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Speaker 1: in the league in shotgun percentage, fifty four percent of

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Speaker 1: the time they line up a shotgun. I don't and

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Speaker 1: I don't know what the numbers are, you know, I

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Speaker 1: didn't go back and chart it to see if that

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Speaker 1: was vastly different last week with.

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Speaker 2: Levis because of that, I don't know.

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Speaker 1: He's coming from Kentucky, which runs a pretty spread offense.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, as almost all colleges do. I mean, learning

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Speaker 2: to go under centers usually a chore for rookie quarterbacks.

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Speaker 1: Yeah.

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Speaker 2: I would imagine they're under center a lot because they're

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Speaker 2: so play action.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, because they go play action thirty point three percent

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Speaker 1: of the time, which is the second highest rate in

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Speaker 1: the league. Now the Steelers are They use play action

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Speaker 1: thirteen point five percent of the time, which is thirtieth.

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Speaker 1: So it's kind of the exact opposite there. You got

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Speaker 1: the Steelers in the shotgun seventy four point eight percent

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Speaker 1: of the time, which is ninth highest in the league,

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Speaker 1: whereas again, the Titans are fifty four point eight percent.

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Speaker 1: Twenty percent difference is a massive difference there.

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Speaker 2: It's a huge deal.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, but the league average, the Steelers really aren't that

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Speaker 1: far off the league average in terms of that. But

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Speaker 1: if you look look at like, so the league average

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Speaker 1: and shotgun is sixty seven point eight percent, So the

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Speaker 1: Steelers are the Steelers are closest closer to average than Tennessee.

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Speaker 2: Is Tennessee's more of the anomaly here.

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Speaker 1: They're the anomaly, the same thing. Under center, under center.

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Speaker 1: The Steelers are under center twenty three point five percent

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Speaker 1: of the time. The league average is twenty six point six.

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Speaker 2: It's like he plays a game.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, the Titans are under center thirty six point five

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Speaker 1: percent of the time. So it's ten percentage points off.

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Speaker 2: Yes, And now I assume I don't know this, but

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Speaker 2: I bet Atlanta is also high in all these Tennessee

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Speaker 2: things because they took Tennessee's offense coordinator, made them their

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Speaker 2: head coach. And I think that's a big Tannehill thing.

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Speaker 2: It's a big Henry thing. You know that we are

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Speaker 2: going to and I don't think coincidentally. Over the last

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Speaker 2: week or so, they've gone back to Henry More. You know,

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Speaker 2: he's getting a lot of touch which has caught like

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Speaker 2: four balls, which is a ton for him that we're

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Speaker 2: going to old school big back play action off that

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Speaker 2: run after the catch. They trying to replicate AJ Brown.

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Speaker 2: They never should have let him go, but they want

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Speaker 2: Burks to be that guy. So I think that's who

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Speaker 2: they've been really during the Rabel era, no matter who

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Speaker 2: the offensive coordinator is, and it's mostly worked. Like I mean,

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Speaker 2: Tannehill had some good years and no one thinks he's

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Speaker 2: you know, Josh Allen or Herbert and Allen. So they

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Speaker 2: do do a good job helping their quarterback. And I

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Speaker 2: thought in Levis's first game, as you mentioned the start segment,

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Speaker 2: they definitely did some good things to help him, you know,

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Speaker 2: just a lot of easy completions behind the line of

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Speaker 2: scrimmage when you're gonna throw bombs and be aggressive, which

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Speaker 2: they did a lot.

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Speaker 1: It was usually second and short or first down. Yes,

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Speaker 1: and it was the Hopkins you know, right, throw it

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Speaker 1: to your best guy. Yeah, throw it to your best.

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Speaker 2: Guy who's great in contestant situations and at a minimum,

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Speaker 2: he'll probably not allow bad things to happen, and yeah,

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Speaker 2: he'll break it, come down with it.

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Speaker 1: He'll break it up if it you know, if it's yeah,

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Speaker 1: you know, if there's you know, it's a fifty to

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Speaker 1: fifty ball and he's not going to catch it, he'll

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Speaker 1: try to break it up at least.

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Speaker 2: So I expect a lot more of the same on

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Speaker 2: Thursday night.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I do too, you know. They they really haven't

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Speaker 1: had time to do anything else.

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Speaker 2: And it worked, and Levis everyone's talking about. You know,

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Speaker 2: he's doing well. That's a good first start.

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Speaker 1: It's a good first start. That being said, I just

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Speaker 1: tweeted this out a little while ago. The Steelers against

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Speaker 1: rookie quarterbacks at home one. If they're they're fifteen to

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Speaker 1: one in the last twenty in the last twenty years. Okay,

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Speaker 1: uh so, but I'm looking here at their target rate

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Speaker 1: shares last week. So Hopkins got had six targets. Mhm.

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Speaker 1: Chagun Ganko had six targets. Henry and Spears had four

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Speaker 1: targets each, which is a lot. For Henry, It's a lot,

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Speaker 1: a heck of a lot, that is. Westbrook of Kina

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Speaker 1: had two targets. Kyle Phillips had three targets. Traylon Burke's

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Speaker 1: had three two targets. I mean, this is really a

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Speaker 1: pass funnel here.

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Speaker 2: Now, it is. And what was strange to me, and

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Speaker 2: I don't really have an understanding of why is You

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Speaker 2: probably saw this in my packet that they used Hopkins, Burk's,

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Speaker 2: Westbrook of Kinna, Chris Moore, and Kyle Phillips five different

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Speaker 2: wide receivers on a team that never goes four wide

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Speaker 2: and rarely goes three wide. All those guys played between

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Speaker 2: eighteen and forty three snaps out of a possible sixty eight.

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Speaker 1: Well, I think I think they're they're kind of trying

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Speaker 1: to make things comfortable for the young quarterback. Yeah, because

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Speaker 1: that's what I'm Because he didn't he didn't play much

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Speaker 1: in a preseas. I don't know if he played at all.

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Speaker 1: Did he he got hurt? Didn't he that?

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Speaker 2: I'm not sure. I mean, I knew he couldn't beat

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Speaker 2: out Willis.

433
00:23:02,040 --> 00:23:04,840
Speaker 1: But maybe I thought he missed some time in the preseason.

434
00:23:05,480 --> 00:23:07,040
Speaker 2: That rings a bell. I should know that off the

435
00:23:07,040 --> 00:23:09,600
Speaker 2: top of my head. But it's weird to have five

436
00:23:09,720 --> 00:23:13,200
Speaker 2: guys at receiver rotate that much for only two spots.

437
00:23:13,200 --> 00:23:15,720
Speaker 2: More often than not, I do think they're trying to

438
00:23:15,760 --> 00:23:19,720
Speaker 2: bring Burks back slow, and maybe, as you were saying that,

439
00:23:19,800 --> 00:23:24,080
Speaker 2: maybe he knows more in Phillips and the second teamers

440
00:23:24,200 --> 00:23:26,040
Speaker 2: better than he knows the first teams, you know what

441
00:23:26,080 --> 00:23:28,040
Speaker 2: I mean, for practice some of those guys all the time.

442
00:23:28,080 --> 00:23:28,520
Speaker 2: I don't know.

443
00:23:28,960 --> 00:23:32,040
Speaker 1: Okay, he did play a sum in the preseason. I'm

444
00:23:32,080 --> 00:23:35,320
Speaker 1: just looking here at the preseason steat he played. He

445
00:23:35,640 --> 00:23:39,320
Speaker 1: played one game, and then he in that game, he

446
00:23:39,440 --> 00:23:44,359
Speaker 1: was nine for fourteen for eighty five yards. You know,

447
00:23:44,400 --> 00:23:48,200
Speaker 1: so really not. I know, he wasn't a ton of experience.

448
00:23:48,240 --> 00:23:52,159
Speaker 1: He threw twenty nine passes last week. So you're talking

449
00:23:52,160 --> 00:23:57,080
Speaker 1: about a guy here who's thrown forty three passes, half

450
00:23:57,080 --> 00:23:57,920
Speaker 1: of them the preseason.

451
00:23:58,480 --> 00:23:58,560
Speaker 3: Not.

452
00:23:58,680 --> 00:24:01,239
Speaker 1: Yeah, fourteen of them came in the preseason when he

453
00:24:01,280 --> 00:24:03,440
Speaker 1: was playing against dudes that aren't in the league right now.

454
00:24:04,080 --> 00:24:07,800
Speaker 2: Yeah. And even that Atlanta game, Again, I didn't study

455
00:24:08,640 --> 00:24:12,160
Speaker 2: every coverage tendency the Falcons threw at him. But they

456
00:24:12,240 --> 00:24:15,800
Speaker 2: lost their best pass rusher in Garrett or Jarrett, maybe

457
00:24:15,840 --> 00:24:18,520
Speaker 2: their best defensive lineman or maybe their best defensive player,

458
00:24:19,119 --> 00:24:23,119
Speaker 2: and they played a lot of pretty vanilla zones, you know, Like,

459
00:24:23,600 --> 00:24:26,359
Speaker 2: I don't think they stressed him mentally all that much,

460
00:24:26,520 --> 00:24:29,359
Speaker 2: you know, and they don't rush the passer real well, no,

461
00:24:29,480 --> 00:24:31,119
Speaker 2: I think they got to him one, sir. I mean

462
00:24:31,119 --> 00:24:33,520
Speaker 2: he wasn't you know, yeah right.

463
00:24:34,440 --> 00:24:38,840
Speaker 1: Despite despite being yeah, despite being a team that doesn't

464
00:24:38,840 --> 00:24:40,359
Speaker 1: they don't blitz a lot, they don't bring a lot

465
00:24:40,400 --> 00:24:42,400
Speaker 1: of pressure, they were able to pressure him quite a bit.

466
00:24:42,800 --> 00:24:46,119
Speaker 1: They only got to him twice. Yeah, but he was

467
00:24:46,200 --> 00:24:50,000
Speaker 1: under pressure a lot and said yeah.

468
00:24:49,840 --> 00:24:51,920
Speaker 2: Which is a very high number, and some of them

469
00:24:51,920 --> 00:24:55,080
Speaker 2: because he's dropping back and throwing bombs. I just think

470
00:24:55,119 --> 00:24:58,840
Speaker 2: the Steelers are a much much stiffer challenge for the

471
00:24:58,840 --> 00:25:03,119
Speaker 2: second year quarterback on the road short week than what Atlanta.

472
00:25:02,760 --> 00:25:05,320
Speaker 1: Throughout well, especially since you're talking about a team that

473
00:25:05,400 --> 00:25:07,919
Speaker 1: plays like if you're playing a team that only plays

474
00:25:07,920 --> 00:25:12,240
Speaker 1: man twenty percent of the time, okay, you don't. You

475
00:25:12,280 --> 00:25:14,000
Speaker 1: don't need to do a lot of shit, you know. Okay,

476
00:25:14,280 --> 00:25:16,760
Speaker 1: we're gonna we're going to assume that they're in zone here,

477
00:25:17,000 --> 00:25:19,640
Speaker 1: maybe we have one man beater out there, and if

478
00:25:19,640 --> 00:25:22,000
Speaker 1: it's not there, we'll just dump it off. If you're

479
00:25:22,040 --> 00:25:24,040
Speaker 1: playing a team that's playing a lot of man or

480
00:25:24,080 --> 00:25:26,320
Speaker 1: plays fifty to fifty or close to it, the Steelers.

481
00:25:26,560 --> 00:25:30,399
Speaker 1: Nobody plays fifty to fifty. The Steelers are sixty forty

482
00:25:30,480 --> 00:25:32,800
Speaker 1: zoned to man, which is a high rate in the NFL.

483
00:25:34,800 --> 00:25:36,680
Speaker 1: You're not doing the kid any favors. If you don't

484
00:25:36,720 --> 00:25:37,920
Speaker 1: have any pre snap motion.

485
00:25:38,560 --> 00:25:40,760
Speaker 2: No back your original point, you're probably right.

486
00:25:41,520 --> 00:25:43,840
Speaker 1: Like he's he's going to be guess guessing out there

487
00:25:43,840 --> 00:25:46,480
Speaker 1: whether they're in man or zone. And the Steelers also

488
00:25:46,480 --> 00:25:48,639
Speaker 1: play a lot of matchup zone even when they're not

489
00:25:48,680 --> 00:25:52,400
Speaker 1: playing man, and so it's it's going to be interesting.

490
00:25:52,560 --> 00:25:56,000
Speaker 1: I think they've bade him into some mistakes here, and uh, I.

491
00:25:56,040 --> 00:25:59,000
Speaker 2: Think you'd love to think for it.

492
00:25:59,080 --> 00:26:04,040
Speaker 1: But still, I mean KZ shown over of course his career.

493
00:26:04,080 --> 00:26:07,399
Speaker 1: He'll take the ball away, Patrick Peterson will take the

494
00:26:07,440 --> 00:26:12,159
Speaker 1: ball away. They got guys who catch football. Yeah, so

495
00:26:12,640 --> 00:26:15,280
Speaker 1: I think he'll make some mistakes out there, and the

496
00:26:15,280 --> 00:26:17,440
Speaker 1: Steelers going to make him pay when that happens. I

497
00:26:17,520 --> 00:26:20,160
Speaker 1: also think it's kind of underreported the Chris Hubbard injury

498
00:26:20,240 --> 00:26:20,880
Speaker 1: for them.

499
00:26:21,240 --> 00:26:22,919
Speaker 2: I was about to go to the protection. You know,

500
00:26:22,960 --> 00:26:25,200
Speaker 2: we mentioned that he was pressured on forty four percent

501
00:26:25,200 --> 00:26:28,040
Speaker 2: of his snaps, which is a very high number, but

502
00:26:28,600 --> 00:26:32,960
Speaker 2: I mean they're getting sacked on eleven percent of their dropbacks.

503
00:26:33,040 --> 00:26:35,200
Speaker 2: I mean, only the Giants are worse. I mean that's

504
00:26:35,359 --> 00:26:38,240
Speaker 2: Washington level. Yeah, I mean, and that.

505
00:26:38,359 --> 00:26:40,280
Speaker 1: Is one of the things, one of the problems that

506
00:26:40,359 --> 00:26:44,280
Speaker 1: you have with play action because they it does take

507
00:26:44,320 --> 00:26:47,760
Speaker 1: a second longer for things that develop and by the

508
00:26:47,800 --> 00:26:49,760
Speaker 1: time he by the time you make that play action

509
00:26:49,920 --> 00:26:53,440
Speaker 1: fake take your nine step drop or five step whatever,

510
00:26:53,480 --> 00:26:57,040
Speaker 1: you're whatever, you're you know you're doing there. The pressure

511
00:26:57,119 --> 00:26:59,440
Speaker 1: is there if if you got good edge rushers coming

512
00:26:59,440 --> 00:27:02,080
Speaker 1: off the edge, yeah, they're going to get there.

513
00:27:02,960 --> 00:27:04,920
Speaker 2: And you mentioned that you sent me a text earlier today.

514
00:27:05,040 --> 00:27:10,120
Speaker 2: Dillard's numbers are terrible tackle. I mean, Skeronsky's really their

515
00:27:10,160 --> 00:27:13,120
Speaker 2: only keeper on the so line long term. I mean

516
00:27:13,119 --> 00:27:15,080
Speaker 2: it's you and I thought it was the worst line

517
00:27:15,119 --> 00:27:18,879
Speaker 2: in the league on opening day. Maybe it's slightly better

518
00:27:18,920 --> 00:27:22,000
Speaker 2: than that considering some of the lines floating around like

519
00:27:22,040 --> 00:27:25,880
Speaker 2: the Giants, but it's a bottom five line for sure. Yeah.

520
00:27:26,040 --> 00:27:28,320
Speaker 1: I think he's going to be under duress a lot

521
00:27:28,320 --> 00:27:32,240
Speaker 1: in this game. I don't know how they walk TJ. Watt, Yes,

522
00:27:32,640 --> 00:27:34,520
Speaker 1: I mean either of the edge guys, right, Yeah, I

523
00:27:34,560 --> 00:27:36,840
Speaker 1: think I think Alex Highsmith could because if they if

524
00:27:36,840 --> 00:27:39,919
Speaker 1: they do what everybody else has done and devote a

525
00:27:39,960 --> 00:27:42,600
Speaker 1: lot of attention to TJ want Alex Heismith is going

526
00:27:42,640 --> 00:27:42,960
Speaker 1: to get.

527
00:27:42,880 --> 00:27:46,680
Speaker 2: Home him against Dillard is a nightmare for them.

528
00:27:46,760 --> 00:27:50,680
Speaker 1: Yeah, I don't. And high Smith actually leads the Steelers

529
00:27:50,680 --> 00:27:52,879
Speaker 1: in pressures with nineteen. He's one of the he's one

530
00:27:52,880 --> 00:27:56,520
Speaker 1: of the highest pressure guys in the League's you know,

531
00:27:56,600 --> 00:27:59,359
Speaker 1: he's not consistently gotten home as much as you'd you know,

532
00:27:59,359 --> 00:28:02,240
Speaker 1: maybe you'd like, but he's gonna get there in this one.

533
00:28:02,280 --> 00:28:05,639
Speaker 1: It could with somebody with the long developing plays and

534
00:28:05,720 --> 00:28:09,680
Speaker 1: a bad left tackle. That is not a good recipe

535
00:28:09,680 --> 00:28:10,840
Speaker 1: for success.

536
00:28:11,119 --> 00:28:14,400
Speaker 2: So we know that Levis took a lot of deep shots,

537
00:28:14,720 --> 00:28:16,720
Speaker 2: and I'm sure a lot of them are off play action.

538
00:28:16,880 --> 00:28:20,480
Speaker 2: I'm certain they were. Yeah, but even for the season,

539
00:28:20,560 --> 00:28:24,760
Speaker 2: no matter who their quarterback has been, their average depth

540
00:28:24,800 --> 00:28:28,760
Speaker 2: of target as a collective passing game is nine point

541
00:28:28,800 --> 00:28:31,760
Speaker 2: seven yards downfield, which is the highest in the league.

542
00:28:32,040 --> 00:28:35,040
Speaker 2: I mean, you wouldn't think of that as boy, their

543
00:28:35,080 --> 00:28:39,120
Speaker 2: bombs away and they do use extra fullbacks and tight

544
00:28:39,240 --> 00:28:42,800
Speaker 2: ends and they'll definitely keep those guys in. But man,

545
00:28:42,960 --> 00:28:45,640
Speaker 2: I don't love that strategy. If I'm Tennessee, you know,

546
00:28:45,800 --> 00:28:49,560
Speaker 2: just so much deep stuff, and I don't know how

547
00:28:49,600 --> 00:28:50,960
Speaker 2: you're going to get the edge guy's block.

548
00:28:51,600 --> 00:28:56,400
Speaker 1: No, I would go Steelers over four sacks in this game.

549
00:28:57,160 --> 00:29:00,280
Speaker 1: Four sacks are more. They get there quite a bit,

550
00:29:01,000 --> 00:29:04,640
Speaker 1: and you know, if you can do that, he's going

551
00:29:04,680 --> 00:29:09,000
Speaker 1: to make mistakes. He's going to make mistakes in Pittsburgh

552
00:29:09,280 --> 00:29:11,440
Speaker 1: in a primetime game like.

553
00:29:12,360 --> 00:29:15,200
Speaker 2: Yeah, on the road short we just where we aim.

554
00:29:15,280 --> 00:29:18,320
Speaker 3: It all sets up very badly for young will Levis.

555
00:29:18,720 --> 00:29:20,840
Speaker 3: I tend to agree. I mean, might he hit a

556
00:29:20,840 --> 00:29:23,680
Speaker 3: deep shot or two. He might probably complete a lot

557
00:29:23,680 --> 00:29:26,000
Speaker 3: of the behind the line of scrimante stuff. Sure, I

558
00:29:26,000 --> 00:29:29,520
Speaker 3: mean that as most quarterbacks should. But if you can

559
00:29:29,560 --> 00:29:34,239
Speaker 3: get him to not trust his eyes, throw stuff at him.

560
00:29:34,280 --> 00:29:37,840
Speaker 3: He hasn't seen packed that ball a second longer, I

561
00:29:37,880 --> 00:29:40,560
Speaker 3: think it's disaster considering who he's blocking for him.

562
00:29:40,800 --> 00:29:44,680
Speaker 1: Yeah. Conversely, I think the Steelers should be able to

563
00:29:44,720 --> 00:29:46,680
Speaker 1: throw the ball against these guys.

564
00:29:47,440 --> 00:29:51,520
Speaker 2: Said this couple times this year that it'll be alarming

565
00:29:51,560 --> 00:29:55,120
Speaker 2: if they don't. I mean, they should have success throwing

566
00:29:55,160 --> 00:29:59,920
Speaker 2: the football. The numbers this team allows the perimeter receiver

567
00:30:00,560 --> 00:30:04,800
Speaker 2: is really bad. Deontay and Pickens are always on the perimeter.

568
00:30:05,360 --> 00:30:07,600
Speaker 2: They don't have I mean just the eyeball test. They

569
00:30:07,600 --> 00:30:09,640
Speaker 2: don't have corners that can hang with either one of

570
00:30:09,680 --> 00:30:12,880
Speaker 2: those guys. I think their pass rush is good. It's

571
00:30:12,920 --> 00:30:16,040
Speaker 2: a four man rush. They'll drop seven a lot. They

572
00:30:16,040 --> 00:30:18,920
Speaker 2: don't blitch, they don't blitch, they don't blitz. I mean,

573
00:30:18,920 --> 00:30:22,080
Speaker 2: I don't think their linebackers or safeties are great in coverage.

574
00:30:22,640 --> 00:30:26,000
Speaker 2: Buyer's gone. Could there be some communication errors, let alone

575
00:30:26,440 --> 00:30:29,840
Speaker 2: step down and play. I think the Steilers have to

576
00:30:29,880 --> 00:30:32,760
Speaker 2: throw the ball with success, and if they don't, that's

577
00:30:32,760 --> 00:30:33,560
Speaker 2: alarming to me.

578
00:30:34,160 --> 00:30:38,240
Speaker 1: Yeah, they play the forty percent of the time they're

579
00:30:38,280 --> 00:30:42,360
Speaker 1: in split safety, you know. So again I think this

580
00:30:42,480 --> 00:30:43,960
Speaker 1: is another Deontay Johnson game.

581
00:30:45,360 --> 00:30:46,480
Speaker 2: Yeah, I agree.

582
00:30:46,520 --> 00:30:47,920
Speaker 1: I think he feasts on this one.

583
00:30:48,840 --> 00:30:53,080
Speaker 2: I tend to agree. And eight yard games, fifteen yard gains,

584
00:30:53,120 --> 00:30:55,480
Speaker 2: you know, I mean not necessarily because I have to

585
00:30:55,520 --> 00:30:58,200
Speaker 2: hit the home run over the top, but just catch

586
00:30:58,200 --> 00:31:00,480
Speaker 2: the football once thrown to you, and you know, make

587
00:31:00,520 --> 00:31:03,360
Speaker 2: good decisions, get it out on time. I think you

588
00:31:03,360 --> 00:31:04,560
Speaker 2: should have success for the air.

589
00:31:05,000 --> 00:31:08,120
Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely. You know, running is going to be difficult.

590
00:31:08,120 --> 00:31:11,000
Speaker 1: I mean, if you look at their run defense, it's

591
00:31:11,600 --> 00:31:15,040
Speaker 1: been pretty solid all year long. That's a traditional variable thing,

592
00:31:16,240 --> 00:31:19,560
Speaker 1: but you know, they're e p A in terms of

593
00:31:19,600 --> 00:31:21,240
Speaker 1: passing their twenty sixth in the league.

594
00:31:22,240 --> 00:31:22,720
Speaker 2: Defense.

595
00:31:22,840 --> 00:31:25,520
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, the Steelers by the way, Steelers by the way,

596
00:31:25,680 --> 00:31:30,480
Speaker 1: tenth and EPA passing past defense. As bad as things

597
00:31:30,480 --> 00:31:33,640
Speaker 1: have looked at times, and they've given up some plays,

598
00:31:33,640 --> 00:31:34,400
Speaker 1: they're still tenth.

599
00:31:35,240 --> 00:31:39,720
Speaker 2: Yeah, not so bad. Sacks and takeaways all factor into

600
00:31:39,720 --> 00:31:42,320
Speaker 2: that too, which they should. That's depending the past.

601
00:31:42,640 --> 00:31:44,959
Speaker 1: Absolutely, we're going to get to another break. He is

602
00:31:45,200 --> 00:31:47,720
Speaker 1: Matt Williamson. I am Dale, Lolly. You're listening to the

603
00:31:47,800 --> 00:31:50,600
Speaker 1: drive here on Steelers Nation Radio. We'll be back with

604
00:31:50,680 --> 00:31:55,160
Speaker 1: more right after this. Welcome back. I am Dale Lolly.

605
00:31:55,280 --> 00:31:58,280
Speaker 1: He is the Matt Williamson and Steeler fans. You can

606
00:31:58,320 --> 00:32:00,800
Speaker 1: gear up with the latest sideline apparel or jerseys of

607
00:32:00,880 --> 00:32:05,000
Speaker 1: your favorite players, authentic memorabilia, custom items, and exclusives you

608
00:32:05,000 --> 00:32:07,480
Speaker 1: can only find directly from the team at one of

609
00:32:07,480 --> 00:32:10,640
Speaker 1: the official Steelers pro shops. They're located at Akrosher Stadium,

610
00:32:10,800 --> 00:32:14,440
Speaker 1: Grove City Premium Outlets, or Tanger Outlets, or visit online

611
00:32:14,520 --> 00:32:18,720
Speaker 1: at shop dot Steelers dot com. Matt, we were talking

612
00:32:18,760 --> 00:32:21,920
Speaker 1: a lot about this particular game, of course, the Steelers

613
00:32:22,520 --> 00:32:25,840
Speaker 1: and the Tennessee Titans that will be a Thursday night,

614
00:32:26,040 --> 00:32:28,800
Speaker 1: a big Thursday night game for both of these teams.

615
00:32:29,560 --> 00:32:34,120
Speaker 1: Eight to fifteen kickoff here. The Steelers looking at the

616
00:32:34,160 --> 00:32:35,760
Speaker 1: rest of the schedule. Here, if they can get to

617
00:32:35,840 --> 00:32:39,240
Speaker 1: win here in this one and win the next one

618
00:32:39,320 --> 00:32:42,120
Speaker 1: against green Bay at home, which I mean they're terrible

619
00:32:42,160 --> 00:32:45,240
Speaker 1: by the way, they're playing really poorly, then you have

620
00:32:45,400 --> 00:32:48,200
Speaker 1: back to back games at Cleveland at Cincinnati. But if

621
00:32:48,240 --> 00:32:49,960
Speaker 1: you win these next to your six and three.

622
00:32:51,320 --> 00:32:54,000
Speaker 2: Oh, that's huge. I mean I feel like you almost

623
00:32:54,080 --> 00:32:57,360
Speaker 2: have to get these two because things are gets a

624
00:32:57,360 --> 00:32:58,240
Speaker 2: little rough after that.

625
00:32:59,280 --> 00:33:03,160
Speaker 1: Yeah, well, so then you play at Cleveland at Cincinnati,

626
00:33:04,280 --> 00:33:08,440
Speaker 1: then you come back home. You've got Arizona, New England, Indianapolis.

627
00:33:08,680 --> 00:33:11,120
Speaker 2: Yeah, I guess I spoke too soon, But the last

628
00:33:11,120 --> 00:33:11,560
Speaker 2: three are.

629
00:33:11,520 --> 00:33:17,560
Speaker 1: Rough, and then after that Sincinnat's Cincinnati at home at

630
00:33:17,560 --> 00:33:23,880
Speaker 1: Seattle at Baltimore. So I'm looking at this schedule and

631
00:33:25,320 --> 00:33:27,360
Speaker 1: you have to have these next two, there's no doubt

632
00:33:27,400 --> 00:33:29,440
Speaker 1: about that. If you could steal one of the games

633
00:33:30,080 --> 00:33:33,040
Speaker 1: in the state of Ohio. Now you're playing with house

634
00:33:33,320 --> 00:33:36,480
Speaker 1: you're playing with house money here because you should beat Arizona,

635
00:33:36,520 --> 00:33:40,280
Speaker 1: you should beat New England. And I know Indianapolis is

636
00:33:40,320 --> 00:33:44,840
Speaker 1: playing well or better. Yeah, they're not winning on those games. Yeah,

637
00:33:44,840 --> 00:33:48,400
Speaker 1: they're not winning some of these games. Yeah. Uh, but

638
00:33:48,480 --> 00:33:50,640
Speaker 1: getting Cam Hayward back would be huge.

639
00:33:51,680 --> 00:33:53,680
Speaker 2: Huge, Let me get him for Green Bay. And I

640
00:33:53,720 --> 00:33:56,120
Speaker 2: mean I'm just thinking about those Cleveland and Cincy games

641
00:33:56,160 --> 00:33:57,400
Speaker 2: in particular.

642
00:33:57,480 --> 00:33:59,760
Speaker 1: Like now now your pass rush is back to what

643
00:33:59,800 --> 00:34:00,720
Speaker 1: it's supposed to be.

644
00:34:01,760 --> 00:34:05,560
Speaker 2: And the run stuffing and just the ripple effect. Like

645
00:34:06,520 --> 00:34:09,960
Speaker 2: I've been really impressed with two guys I think they

646
00:34:10,000 --> 00:34:14,520
Speaker 2: out kicked their coverage, are Amani Watts and Montrevis Adams.

647
00:34:14,880 --> 00:34:17,279
Speaker 2: And if they can still play at that level, but

648
00:34:17,320 --> 00:34:22,040
Speaker 2: you ask them to play less or whatever or Oga

649
00:34:22,160 --> 00:34:25,040
Speaker 2: Jobi in particular, to me is more of a fast

650
00:34:25,080 --> 00:34:28,080
Speaker 2: starter not a marathon runner.

651
00:34:27,760 --> 00:34:31,480
Speaker 1: You know. Yeah if he plays five to ten fewer

652
00:34:31,520 --> 00:34:35,440
Speaker 1: snaps per game, yeah, and Adams and Adams is playing

653
00:34:35,440 --> 00:34:37,560
Speaker 1: five to ten fewer snaps for game. But you can

654
00:34:37,640 --> 00:34:40,720
Speaker 1: keep but you keep a guy, you know, the Marvin

655
00:34:40,800 --> 00:34:45,400
Speaker 1: Leals and the Keanu Bents at the same level, at

656
00:34:45,400 --> 00:34:47,680
Speaker 1: the same number of snaps that they're playing now. And

657
00:34:47,719 --> 00:34:50,359
Speaker 1: then you know you kind of fold Cam Hayward into that.

658
00:34:50,880 --> 00:34:52,240
Speaker 1: Now you've got something there.

659
00:34:52,200 --> 00:34:54,840
Speaker 2: You really got something right. I don't think that group's

660
00:34:54,880 --> 00:34:58,319
Speaker 2: been horrible without him. Again, Adams and Watts and some

661
00:34:58,360 --> 00:35:01,920
Speaker 2: of those guys have stepped up nicely, be better than I expected.

662
00:35:02,520 --> 00:35:04,480
Speaker 2: But now you throw the straw that serves a drinking

663
00:35:04,600 --> 00:35:06,600
Speaker 2: type of guy, you know, then there's just a huge

664
00:35:06,640 --> 00:35:11,320
Speaker 2: ripple effect. And frankly, we're gonna make our picks today.

665
00:35:11,719 --> 00:35:14,160
Speaker 2: I'm leaning strongly to taking the Steelers in this game.

666
00:35:14,280 --> 00:35:16,920
Speaker 2: I'll be shocked if a week from now, next Friday,

667
00:35:17,000 --> 00:35:19,200
Speaker 2: I don't take the Steelers at home against green Bay.

668
00:35:19,440 --> 00:35:21,279
Speaker 2: Just the way the Packers are playing, I don't know

669
00:35:21,280 --> 00:35:25,000
Speaker 2: if I picked them against anybody, but at Cleveland that sense,

670
00:35:25,040 --> 00:35:27,719
Speaker 2: he is a whole different ballgame. You know, I'm not

671
00:35:27,760 --> 00:35:29,960
Speaker 2: gonna start picking games a month away from now, but.

672
00:35:30,040 --> 00:35:31,319
Speaker 1: Right we don't know what's gonna happen.

673
00:35:31,440 --> 00:35:34,000
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, right, right, who knows? We'll make it me back.

674
00:35:34,040 --> 00:35:37,160
Speaker 1: I mean, who's gonna be quarterbacking the Browns at that point.

675
00:35:37,320 --> 00:35:40,719
Speaker 2: No, of course, But boy, I'm pretty certain Hayward will

676
00:35:40,719 --> 00:35:43,600
Speaker 2: be there for those That's gigantic.

677
00:35:43,760 --> 00:35:46,839
Speaker 1: That's massive to have him down the stretch. Not only

678
00:35:46,840 --> 00:35:50,440
Speaker 1: do you have him down the stretch, but he's gonna

679
00:35:50,480 --> 00:35:55,040
Speaker 1: be feeling better down the stretch. Then he's probably felt

680
00:35:55,040 --> 00:35:57,840
Speaker 1: in a long time when you would think the second

681
00:35:57,880 --> 00:35:58,680
Speaker 1: half of a season.

682
00:35:59,360 --> 00:36:01,480
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean the wear and tear on his body

683
00:36:01,600 --> 00:36:05,320
Speaker 2: is tremendous throughout the season. And like everyone, he gets

684
00:36:06,040 --> 00:36:08,239
Speaker 2: nicks and dinged up and all these little words that

685
00:36:08,239 --> 00:36:10,440
Speaker 2: we just throw around. Oh he got dinged up. Well

686
00:36:10,480 --> 00:36:13,719
Speaker 2: he's a bruised the size of Idaho on his thigh

687
00:36:13,920 --> 00:36:17,400
Speaker 2: or whatever. You know, we were that quote dinged up,

688
00:36:17,480 --> 00:36:21,640
Speaker 2: I wouldn't be able to do a podcast. So you've

689
00:36:21,680 --> 00:36:24,800
Speaker 2: got to think ninety five percent of his body feels

690
00:36:25,000 --> 00:36:28,640
Speaker 2: much fresher the day after Halloween than he usually does.

691
00:36:28,920 --> 00:36:32,160
Speaker 1: And not only that, but he's going to be playing

692
00:36:32,160 --> 00:36:36,960
Speaker 1: against offensive linemen who are nicked up. Yeah, and are

693
00:36:36,960 --> 00:36:39,120
Speaker 1: they going to be ready to handle? You know, his

694
00:36:40,239 --> 00:36:44,560
Speaker 1: straight stiff arm moved to just drive guards and power,

695
00:36:44,880 --> 00:36:47,239
Speaker 1: the power, the street power. The only other guy that

696
00:36:47,440 --> 00:36:49,560
Speaker 1: rivals at in terms of this this particular movie. We're

697
00:36:49,560 --> 00:36:50,480
Speaker 1: gonna see him this week.

698
00:36:51,480 --> 00:36:53,360
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, you're right, I mean he's going down the

699
00:36:53,440 --> 00:36:54,200
Speaker 2: middle of a guy.

700
00:36:54,320 --> 00:36:58,279
Speaker 1: Jeffrey Simmons is a very similar player to Cam Hey.

701
00:36:58,320 --> 00:37:02,520
Speaker 2: Really really powerful, you know, with the similar heavy but

702
00:37:02,600 --> 00:37:06,600
Speaker 2: light feet. You know, super heavy hands, just born with

703
00:37:06,680 --> 00:37:10,920
Speaker 2: a lot of strength, grown man strength, country strength, whatever

704
00:37:10,920 --> 00:37:14,160
Speaker 2: you want to say. But yeah, he's a handful. But

705
00:37:14,160 --> 00:37:16,160
Speaker 2: you're right, they have some similarities for sure.

706
00:37:16,920 --> 00:37:19,560
Speaker 1: And so I just think getting Cam Hayward back here

707
00:37:19,600 --> 00:37:22,000
Speaker 1: for this second half, the back half of this season

708
00:37:22,719 --> 00:37:24,680
Speaker 1: is going to be just a huge boost for this team.

709
00:37:26,120 --> 00:37:28,319
Speaker 1: Agree because they haven't been able to rush to past,

710
00:37:28,680 --> 00:37:30,640
Speaker 1: they haven't been able to rush the passer the way

711
00:37:31,080 --> 00:37:34,720
Speaker 1: like teams have. It's been too easy for opposing teams

712
00:37:34,760 --> 00:37:38,359
Speaker 1: to negate what the outside linebackers do because you don't

713
00:37:38,400 --> 00:37:39,640
Speaker 1: have a Cam Hayward in the middle.

714
00:37:40,160 --> 00:37:42,719
Speaker 2: Yeah yeah, I mean he makes you change everything in

715
00:37:42,800 --> 00:37:46,359
Speaker 2: terms of protect protection schemes. Not that teams have had

716
00:37:46,440 --> 00:37:50,480
Speaker 2: great success dealing with Watton Hysmith, but it is different

717
00:37:50,520 --> 00:37:53,680
Speaker 2: when you have the interior guy to mix with it.

718
00:37:54,960 --> 00:37:57,719
Speaker 1: Now, that doesn't mean that like you know, lel or

719
00:37:57,719 --> 00:38:00,200
Speaker 1: Benton or these guys don't develop maybe not in the

720
00:38:00,320 --> 00:38:04,719
Speaker 1: a Cam level player. They've both shown flashes of some ability,

721
00:38:04,840 --> 00:38:06,720
Speaker 1: you know, to rush the passer and things of that nature.

722
00:38:06,840 --> 00:38:09,800
Speaker 1: Adams has done a nice job. Ogunjobi has done a

723
00:38:09,880 --> 00:38:11,800
Speaker 1: nice job, and you know with that kind of stuff.

724
00:38:12,200 --> 00:38:16,680
Speaker 1: But the consistent level of Cam Hayward. Yes, being able

725
00:38:16,719 --> 00:38:18,680
Speaker 1: to just Okay, if you're gonna put one guy on me,

726
00:38:18,719 --> 00:38:21,200
Speaker 1: I'm gonna take him and walk him back into the

727
00:38:21,239 --> 00:38:23,800
Speaker 1: quarterback week after.

728
00:38:23,640 --> 00:38:27,440
Speaker 2: Week, play after play, season after season. I mean, that's

729
00:38:28,080 --> 00:38:31,840
Speaker 2: has unreal value value. I do think Benton. I'm not

730
00:38:31,880 --> 00:38:33,560
Speaker 2: saying he's to be Cam Hayward, but I think Benton

731
00:38:33,600 --> 00:38:38,239
Speaker 2: can be a above average starting defensive tackle, if not

732
00:38:38,360 --> 00:38:38,960
Speaker 2: better than that.

733
00:38:39,239 --> 00:38:42,600
Speaker 1: Yeah, I do too, I do too. So you know

734
00:38:42,640 --> 00:38:45,920
Speaker 1: I think that's uh, that's some from here. Yeah, you

735
00:38:46,040 --> 00:38:49,520
Speaker 1: get him back, you get him back, you get Minka

736
00:38:49,520 --> 00:38:53,040
Speaker 1: Fitzpatrick back here. Uh, they haven't done anything with Mika yet,

737
00:38:53,080 --> 00:38:56,200
Speaker 1: so you know, that looks promising that he's not going

738
00:38:56,239 --> 00:38:58,480
Speaker 1: to miss a long term. This isn't gonna be an

739
00:38:58,480 --> 00:39:01,399
Speaker 1: injury that keeps him out, you know, the next three

740
00:39:01,440 --> 00:39:02,520
Speaker 1: or four games.

741
00:39:03,360 --> 00:39:05,160
Speaker 2: You know, maybe even Green Bay, who knows.

742
00:39:05,400 --> 00:39:10,279
Speaker 1: Yeah, we we just haven't seen the Steelers defense as

743
00:39:10,320 --> 00:39:12,359
Speaker 1: they hoped it would be. We suffer about a quarter

744
00:39:12,719 --> 00:39:15,040
Speaker 1: a quarter against San Francisco by quarter.

745
00:39:14,840 --> 00:39:18,439
Speaker 2: Right, Yeah, yeah, I think you're right. I know you're right.

746
00:39:18,520 --> 00:39:22,040
Speaker 2: I mean, Hayward is a massive, massive addition, and there'll

747
00:39:22,040 --> 00:39:24,120
Speaker 2: be some things that go haywire. A couple of guys

748
00:39:24,160 --> 00:39:26,399
Speaker 2: will probably get hurt this game or you know who knows,

749
00:39:26,480 --> 00:39:29,560
Speaker 2: But they do have a long break after this as well.

750
00:39:30,320 --> 00:39:34,440
Speaker 2: But I am interested to see. And I also think

751
00:39:34,440 --> 00:39:36,319
Speaker 2: the secondary is starting to shake out a little bit.

752
00:39:36,560 --> 00:39:40,400
Speaker 1: No, not only that, but the secondary, but the inside

753
00:39:40,440 --> 00:39:44,840
Speaker 1: linebackers better than are starting to are really starting to

754
00:39:44,880 --> 00:39:47,960
Speaker 1: make impact plays here. And we again, we didn't have

755
00:39:48,000 --> 00:39:50,360
Speaker 1: that that first the first quarter of the season against

756
00:39:50,360 --> 00:39:52,759
Speaker 1: the San Francisco forty nine ers, when they had their

757
00:39:52,880 --> 00:39:56,799
Speaker 1: entire defense out there. The inside linebackers weren't playing then.

758
00:39:56,880 --> 00:39:57,960
Speaker 1: How they're playing now.

759
00:39:58,520 --> 00:40:00,960
Speaker 2: Well said, yeah, I mean that was a tough first test,

760
00:40:01,000 --> 00:40:04,360
Speaker 2: as tough as you get. But still they've gotten better.

761
00:40:05,200 --> 00:40:07,480
Speaker 2: I feel like almost on a game by game basis,

762
00:40:07,640 --> 00:40:11,520
Speaker 2: you know, I mean, that unit seems to keep taking

763
00:40:11,520 --> 00:40:14,279
Speaker 2: a small step forward every week, which is a huge

764
00:40:14,280 --> 00:40:16,720
Speaker 2: accomplishment over what eight week period or whatever.

765
00:40:16,880 --> 00:40:20,000
Speaker 1: I mean, it's right, And so I mean, I think

766
00:40:20,040 --> 00:40:23,720
Speaker 1: they're going to be critical in this game. Critical critical

767
00:40:23,760 --> 00:40:25,719
Speaker 1: against a team that runs so much play action, a

768
00:40:25,760 --> 00:40:29,360
Speaker 1: team against a team that has Derrick Henry. You're inside

769
00:40:29,400 --> 00:40:31,480
Speaker 1: linebackers have to be on top of their game. In

770
00:40:31,480 --> 00:40:32,000
Speaker 1: this one.

771
00:40:32,400 --> 00:40:35,040
Speaker 2: Yeah, and we didn't see a ton of it against

772
00:40:35,040 --> 00:40:38,480
Speaker 2: the Falcons. But they're nuts if they don't try to

773
00:40:38,560 --> 00:40:43,120
Speaker 2: use Chig like the Jags used Ingram too. Yeah, you know,

774
00:40:43,480 --> 00:40:45,239
Speaker 2: you know over the middle of the field and that

775
00:40:45,280 --> 00:40:49,040
Speaker 2: type of thing crossing routes. You know, they are being

776
00:40:49,000 --> 00:40:50,120
Speaker 2: insane not to use that.

777
00:40:50,280 --> 00:40:52,279
Speaker 1: Well, that was one thing, you know, Tara Austin talked

778
00:40:52,280 --> 00:40:56,560
Speaker 1: about yesterday. He was asked, you know if because after

779
00:40:56,640 --> 00:40:59,600
Speaker 1: Mika goes out, was really when they started attacking that

780
00:41:00,080 --> 00:41:11,319
Speaker 1: particular matchup the the Jaguars. You can't if you're the Steelers.

781
00:41:11,400 --> 00:41:16,319
Speaker 1: I mean, you get those guys practice time together and

782
00:41:16,360 --> 00:41:18,759
Speaker 1: they do that and you know those kind of thing. Yeah, yeah,

783
00:41:18,920 --> 00:41:20,440
Speaker 1: but you don't. I mean you come up with a

784
00:41:20,480 --> 00:41:23,480
Speaker 1: game plan for a week and then you lose Mekea Fitzpatrick.

785
00:41:24,239 --> 00:41:25,920
Speaker 1: It changes everything that you're doing.

786
00:41:26,280 --> 00:41:29,440
Speaker 2: Changed everything you're doing. And I've used this example a

787
00:41:29,480 --> 00:41:32,000
Speaker 2: lot of an article about this week, Like, you know,

788
00:41:32,040 --> 00:41:35,640
Speaker 2: he puts out fires, but he also just provides stability.

789
00:41:35,760 --> 00:41:37,759
Speaker 2: You know, he's going to do his job, you know,

790
00:41:38,000 --> 00:41:41,480
Speaker 2: and if Ingram starts to get hot, well who do

791
00:41:41,520 --> 00:41:43,480
Speaker 2: you think would have would have been on Ingram for

792
00:41:43,520 --> 00:41:47,000
Speaker 2: the whole fourth quarter. Oh yeah, obviously, I mean obviously,

793
00:41:47,640 --> 00:41:51,760
Speaker 2: and that doesn't and probably almost certainly would have limited

794
00:41:51,800 --> 00:41:52,560
Speaker 2: some of that production.

795
00:41:53,040 --> 00:41:55,200
Speaker 1: Yeah, Now I think you start to maybe he used

796
00:41:55,239 --> 00:41:58,279
Speaker 1: Patrick Peterson to do some of those type of things.

797
00:41:59,600 --> 00:42:02,440
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, I think that. I mean, he has the

798
00:42:02,440 --> 00:42:06,440
Speaker 2: head for it. He's not as explosive or as physically

799
00:42:06,480 --> 00:42:09,600
Speaker 2: impressive as Minka at this stage of his career, but.

800
00:42:09,600 --> 00:42:11,040
Speaker 1: He could run with the he could run with the

801
00:42:11,120 --> 00:42:15,920
Speaker 1: Chica Kwonkuo and yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, you know, I

802
00:42:16,120 --> 00:42:18,719
Speaker 1: don't want him out there running against Jamar Chase all

803
00:42:18,760 --> 00:42:21,480
Speaker 1: the time, but I'll take him against a tight end.

804
00:42:23,080 --> 00:42:25,400
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, yeah, And I think he's physical enough to

805
00:42:25,400 --> 00:42:28,520
Speaker 2: handle that or you know a lot of these slot corners,

806
00:42:28,600 --> 00:42:31,840
Speaker 2: corners get boxed out by a giant tight end. I

807
00:42:31,880 --> 00:42:33,920
Speaker 2: don't think Peterson will, you know, I mean just get

808
00:42:34,000 --> 00:42:36,040
Speaker 2: out physical, just not be able to get the rebound,

809
00:42:36,080 --> 00:42:36,520
Speaker 2: you know what I mean.

810
00:42:37,239 --> 00:42:40,120
Speaker 1: And that was one thing, you know, watching that game

811
00:42:40,200 --> 00:42:44,840
Speaker 1: last week. Uh, some of will Levis's ball placement not

812
00:42:44,920 --> 00:42:47,920
Speaker 1: his specialty, not his specialty. You know, even some of

813
00:42:47,920 --> 00:42:50,960
Speaker 1: those throws behind the line of scrimmage might have been

814
00:42:51,360 --> 00:42:53,920
Speaker 1: if he throws the ball where he's supposed to throw it.

815
00:42:54,440 --> 00:42:56,719
Speaker 1: They probably turned into better games than what they were,

816
00:42:57,200 --> 00:42:59,400
Speaker 1: but he didn't. He's throwing it behind the receiver and

817
00:42:59,440 --> 00:43:01,799
Speaker 1: things of that. And the first touchdown pass that he

818
00:43:01,840 --> 00:43:04,759
Speaker 1: throws down the field of DeAndre Hopkins, he throws it

819
00:43:04,800 --> 00:43:08,360
Speaker 1: to the instit to the hashmark instead of down the sidelines.

820
00:43:09,239 --> 00:43:11,600
Speaker 2: Yeah. I mean, you got one of the best ball adjuster,

821
00:43:11,880 --> 00:43:17,160
Speaker 2: ball skills, body control receivers in the league that bailed

822
00:43:17,200 --> 00:43:19,560
Speaker 2: out some bad throws, you know. Yeah, I mean they weren't.

823
00:43:19,760 --> 00:43:22,080
Speaker 2: They weren't great throws. Some of the end up being touchdowns,

824
00:43:22,120 --> 00:43:23,920
Speaker 2: but not everyone hauls all those in.

825
00:43:24,719 --> 00:43:28,480
Speaker 1: Yeah, right, right. So you know, if if you're playing

826
00:43:28,560 --> 00:43:31,520
Speaker 1: man coverage here and your your safeties are sitting you know,

827
00:43:31,520 --> 00:43:33,560
Speaker 1: you've got your safety sitting back there in center field

828
00:43:33,600 --> 00:43:38,040
Speaker 1: and he's correctly reading the quarterback, he should be able

829
00:43:38,080 --> 00:43:39,680
Speaker 1: to make some plays on some of these things. Again,

830
00:43:39,680 --> 00:43:41,640
Speaker 1: if the ball placement isn't quite where it needs to be.

831
00:43:44,160 --> 00:43:48,160
Speaker 2: Agree, one hundred percent agree. I don't think Levis, even

832
00:43:48,200 --> 00:43:50,560
Speaker 2: if he turns into a Pro Bowl player, is going

833
00:43:50,600 --> 00:43:53,479
Speaker 2: to be a precise passer. I mean it's a little

834
00:43:53,520 --> 00:43:56,080
Speaker 2: bit of a sprayed around type of guy. He does

835
00:43:56,160 --> 00:43:56,839
Speaker 2: have a big arm.

836
00:43:56,960 --> 00:43:58,520
Speaker 1: He can make all the home he can spin it.

837
00:43:58,640 --> 00:44:01,000
Speaker 2: Yeah yeah, I mean some of those throws he made

838
00:44:01,040 --> 00:44:04,160
Speaker 2: were off his back foot, you know. Not everyone can

839
00:44:04,200 --> 00:44:06,560
Speaker 2: get the ball to where he put it in some

840
00:44:06,600 --> 00:44:10,440
Speaker 2: of these games. But they're in some of these completions

841
00:44:10,480 --> 00:44:12,799
Speaker 2: yet last week. But you're right. I mean, if they're

842
00:44:12,800 --> 00:44:15,319
Speaker 2: gonna throw a ton a quarter of their passes behind

843
00:44:15,320 --> 00:44:18,800
Speaker 2: the line of scrimmage and they don't get a nice

844
00:44:18,840 --> 00:44:22,840
Speaker 2: ball there, that really makes things tough, especially on like

845
00:44:22,840 --> 00:44:25,400
Speaker 2: a Derrek Henry. If he's soft his feet, he's not

846
00:44:25,480 --> 00:44:27,239
Speaker 2: gonna jukey at your shoes.

847
00:44:27,239 --> 00:44:30,560
Speaker 1: Right, That's just not his game at all. But anyways,

848
00:44:30,560 --> 00:44:33,400
Speaker 1: we're gonna get to another break. He is the Matt Williamson.

849
00:44:33,520 --> 00:44:35,640
Speaker 1: I am Dale Lally. You're listening to the drive here

850
00:44:35,640 --> 00:44:38,920
Speaker 1: on Steelers Nation Radio. Man, I know it's Wednesday, and

851
00:44:38,960 --> 00:44:40,759
Speaker 1: we usually go around the league to look at all

852
00:44:40,760 --> 00:44:44,560
Speaker 1: the injury stuff. Yeah, but I think we because the

853
00:44:44,560 --> 00:44:46,560
Speaker 1: Steelers play on Thursday night, we've got to switch it

854
00:44:46,640 --> 00:44:48,680
Speaker 1: up a little bit here for the fantasy football focus.

855
00:44:49,120 --> 00:44:55,080
Speaker 1: Let's do a single game lineup on trackow okay, using

856
00:44:55,120 --> 00:44:57,399
Speaker 1: the captain's chair and all that good stuff, and see

857
00:44:57,400 --> 00:44:59,520
Speaker 1: if we can see if we can do something with

858
00:44:59,560 --> 00:45:01,799
Speaker 1: that here. We'll do that when we return right after this.

859
00:45:02,120 --> 00:45:02,720
Speaker 1: On the drive