Speaker 1: This is the Drive with Dale Lolly and Matt Williamson
Speaker 1: on your twenty four to seven home of the Black
Speaker 1: and Gold Steelers Nation Radio.
Speaker 2: Welcome to the Drive. I am Dale LOLLI he is
Speaker 2: the Matt Williamson and of course the Steelers making some
Speaker 2: big news today for the first time, not just relieving
Speaker 2: an offensive coordinator or a coordinator of his duties, but
Speaker 2: firing him in mid season. They've they've moved away from
Speaker 2: or taken play calling duties away from guys in best race.
Speaker 2: Sherman comes to mind, changes his response, Yeah, nineteen ninety eight,
Speaker 2: but they had never taken the move of actually firing
Speaker 2: the coordinator. And it all comes down to one thing, Matt,
Speaker 2: what the Steelers haven't done recently, which.
Speaker 3: Is complete passes.
Speaker 2: Complete passes.
Speaker 3: He complete more passes. Yep, that's the.
Speaker 2: Goal here, That is the goal. You know, whether this
Speaker 2: does that, we don't know.
Speaker 3: We don't know.
Speaker 2: I don't know.
Speaker 3: Coordinator hires are always hard for me. Any assistant coach
Speaker 3: stuff is hard for me because I've been in the
Speaker 3: building and I know what they do, and I know
Speaker 3: the public doesn't know what they do, and I don't
Speaker 3: know what they do now. I will say, I need
Speaker 3: to stress this to no end. They've played the hardest
Speaker 3: schedule of defenses and it's not even close. I mean
Speaker 3: it's not even close. So higher fire whatever, I would
Speaker 3: expect things from this point forward. Yeah, because the people
Speaker 3: they're playing are worse.
Speaker 2: Until they get to the Ravens in week seven eighteen.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean yeah, there's it's not like until they
Speaker 3: get to that.
Speaker 2: I mean right, They've played a ridiculous slate of defenses.
Speaker 3: To the defenses, and I gets easier as it should
Speaker 3: because it's been very, very difficult. That's not an excuse.
Speaker 3: You still need to win, you still need to complete
Speaker 3: more pass It's.
Speaker 2: A it's a result driven business. There's no offens or
Speaker 2: buts about it.
Speaker 3: Yes, but.
Speaker 2: I think what happened, you know, Mike Tomlin looked at
Speaker 2: this and said, Okay, we're six and four. We can't
Speaker 2: continue to do that. Something something has to change. Something
Speaker 2: has to change, and I don't want to change the
Speaker 2: quarterback at this point. So beyond not changing the quarterback,
Speaker 2: what other change can I make? Well? I can, I
Speaker 2: can change who's calling the place. Here's the thing, folks,
Speaker 2: the playbook's not getting changed. The playbook is the playbook.
Speaker 3: Right, You're not going to go back to day one
Speaker 3: mini camp install in practice.
Speaker 2: Somebody asked the question. Somebody asked actually asked the question
Speaker 2: today in the press conference, Mike Tomlin, did you look
Speaker 2: outside the building to bring somebody in in the middle
Speaker 2: of a season? Are you out of your mind?
Speaker 3: You could bring someone in as a consultant. You can't
Speaker 3: bring someone in be like, hey, why you install your
Speaker 3: in the.
Speaker 2: Next three days? Right, Let's see what we get to run.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean we'll all learn French tomorrow and have
Speaker 3: there's some Rosetta stone here for that, and we'll all
Speaker 3: have huge frenchmen chasing us, trying to kill us, and
Speaker 3: we the only way to fend them off as we
Speaker 3: know French perfectly tomorrow. Now, the sequencing of plays will change, Yes,
Speaker 3: tendencies and maybe there's a section of the playbook that
Speaker 3: they just throw in the fire. I mean, you might
Speaker 3: trim things, you might have an idea or two, Like
Speaker 3: I'm keeping an eye out for more play action, more
Speaker 3: middle of the field throws. But I've seen middle of
Speaker 3: the field receivers open and the ball doesn't go to them.
Speaker 2: I've seen those throws turn down. Yes, now maybe the
Speaker 2: emphasis becomes on making those throws.
Speaker 3: Yeah, right or right?
Speaker 2: Uh you know that that. You know, I just don't
Speaker 2: expect it to look night and day. And I think
Speaker 2: that's kind of what the expectation is for a lot
Speaker 2: of people. Know they're gonna come out and they're gonna
Speaker 2: run the football and they're going to play off of that.
Speaker 3: And frankly, if they get three hundred and twenty five
Speaker 3: yards of offense and twenty two points on Sunday, please
Speaker 3: don't tweet me. See that was all.
Speaker 2: Yeah. I fully expected them, regardless of who the coordinator
Speaker 2: is we talked about yesterday, still look good on offense
Speaker 2: against the Cincinnati Bengals.
Speaker 3: Yeah. No, I think they should have more success, way
Speaker 3: more success than against the Browns. I'll tell you that
Speaker 3: in Cleveland. Yeah. I mean, if they didn't show more
Speaker 3: success no matter who's in charge going forward this week,
Speaker 3: that would have been very alarming to me. I mean
Speaker 3: that's something I was gonna predict, and we did yesterday
Speaker 3: to some degree. I mean, it's an easier opponent. I
Speaker 3: expect them still to run the ball a lot. I
Speaker 3: expect them still to be adverse to turnovers, you know.
Speaker 3: I mean those messages I think come from the head coach,
Speaker 3: and it's still the head coach and still the same
Speaker 3: owner and those things. Maybe there'll be some more passing
Speaker 3: game concepts that are a little different, But I don't
Speaker 3: think the untrained eye would look at the offense and
Speaker 3: be like, wow, it's drastically different. I don't think the
Speaker 3: trained eye would look at it and be like, wow,
Speaker 3: it's drastically different. Yeah.
Speaker 2: Here's here's what the Bengals have allowed this year in
Speaker 2: terms of points. Twenty four, twenty seven, sixteen, twenty seven,
Speaker 2: twenty thirteen, seventeen eighteen, had a little stretcher where they
Speaker 2: were pretty good, and then the last two weeks has
Speaker 2: been thirty and thirty four.
Speaker 3: Yeah. Yeah, and they're gonna get less help from their
Speaker 3: offense now than at any point since Burrow was healthy.
Speaker 2: You know, if you look at the at the total yard.
Speaker 3: Shocked the defense as bad as it is.
Speaker 2: Listen to these yardage totals.
Speaker 3: I bit, they're high.
Speaker 2: Yeah, three point fifty four fifteen, two ninety two against
Speaker 2: the Rams. Okay, four hundred that's against the Titans against
Speaker 2: the Titans, two ninety four against the Cardinals. Uh three
Speaker 2: eighty four four sixty three, seventeen five, four and four
Speaker 2: oh five. Yes, the Steelers offense is go. It had
Speaker 2: better look better this week if it doesn't, now you now.
Speaker 3: What, Yeah, I just know everyone isn't. Just like, why
Speaker 3: didn't they do that earlier? It would have been so
Speaker 3: much better. I don't know that it would have been.
Speaker 3: I know that. Yeah, Kyle Shanahan could have been Bill Walsh.
Speaker 2: Could have could have come out and coordinated that game
Speaker 2: on Sunday, And I don't know that it would have
Speaker 2: looked more it would it looked? Would it look better? Yes?
Speaker 2: Might they have scored fourteen points to win the game, yes, exactly.
Speaker 2: But to put it all on you know, the plate
Speaker 2: of this wasn't all on Matt Canada. That is my point.
Speaker 3: To look at it like BC and AC, you know
Speaker 3: what I mean, Like since that point they were really good.
Speaker 2: Well, now that being said, he wasn't correcting the problems.
Speaker 2: Kenny Pickett had looked worse and worse in the last
Speaker 2: couple of weeks. That has to change.
Speaker 3: And I'm not objecting to the move. I mean by
Speaker 3: no means I think some thing had to change.
Speaker 2: I'm surprised by them, Yeah.
Speaker 3: I mean Steeler history shows. As you've opened the show
Speaker 3: with that, that's not usually their move. But you could
Speaker 3: also see players getting frustrated. This needs to change things
Speaker 3: like that.
Speaker 2: And I think that's kind of what that what pushed
Speaker 2: this exactly, not that not that Mike Tomlin was in
Speaker 2: danger of losing the locker room. But again, you can't
Speaker 2: The players are the players.
Speaker 3: They're frustrated.
Speaker 2: You have to You're not gonna you can't change you
Speaker 2: can't change the players that display and everybody, especially offensively,
Speaker 2: everybody's playing that. I mean, who who do you want
Speaker 2: to see play that? Not playing at all?
Speaker 3: Right, I'm sure there's people like, well Warren needs to
Speaker 3: be the feature back, Okay, give them five more carries
Speaker 3: a game. But well, here's the thing, he's going to
Speaker 3: be a part of it either way.
Speaker 2: The guy who makes that decision is Eddie Faulkner, who
Speaker 2: plays and when what plays within the scope of his room.
Speaker 3: People might not even know that, you know, the position
Speaker 3: coach is like, get in there, Jalen.
Speaker 2: That's not that's not a coordinating And now the coordinator
Speaker 2: and head coach have say no, we want this guy.
Speaker 3: But most of the play with eleven personnel most of
Speaker 3: the time.
Speaker 2: Yeah, there, most of the time, it's the it's the
Speaker 2: position coach who decides, Okay, this this guy's in there
Speaker 2: in this situation when you're rotating guys and things of
Speaker 2: that nature. Offensive line is different, yeah, because those guys
Speaker 2: are on the field constantly. Quarterbacks different because those guys
Speaker 2: are on the field constantly. But the rotations are decided
Speaker 2: by the position coach fresh not yea.
Speaker 3: Then the players, they can pull themselves out each a lot.
Speaker 3: I'll come off the field, or you know, a back
Speaker 3: will tap out, or receiver runs go routes and just
Speaker 3: goes right to the sideline. But I wonder, and what's
Speaker 3: what's interesting from and hard from where we're gonna sit here,
Speaker 3: is is that a Canada change, a Falconer change or
Speaker 3: was it that change coming anyway? So, like the Steelers
Speaker 3: are really high in eleven personnel in the league. Well,
Speaker 3: Fiarm's been hurt, you know, like if all of a
Speaker 3: sudden they start using a lot more twelve. That happened
Speaker 3: to coincide with Fierman, No, you got that guy back. Yeah,
Speaker 3: that was Canada's plan anyway, you know, like maybe Tomlins
Speaker 3: was that was his plan from the beginning. I'm pretty
Speaker 3: sure the plan wasn't. Hey, Matt Canada, coach Canada, you
Speaker 3: get all the hard games and we'll give the easier
Speaker 3: ones to somebody else. Like, I don't think that was it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so I I the other thing that really kind
Speaker 2: of it bothers me that people were celebrating somebody losing
Speaker 2: their job.
Speaker 3: I got fired, you know. I mean I use this example.
Speaker 3: My son went to school with Keith Haley's son. Act.
Speaker 2: Well, there you go, Keith Hale. I don't know who.
Speaker 3: He's a good dude. But anyway, riverboat captain interesting Okay,
Speaker 3: But anyways, Todd son couldn't go to school for a while,
Speaker 3: you know, like he was in like third grade being
Speaker 3: human beings? You know what are we doing?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, it's just it was a tough situation.
Speaker 2: That's why I felt bad from for Matt Canada because
Speaker 2: it's it. I don't believe that it was all Matt
Speaker 2: Canada's fault. No, the players have to execute one person's fault.
Speaker 2: I don't care what places you're calling if you don't
Speaker 2: execute them.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Uh, I can remember when we had J. T. Thomas
Speaker 2: on a couple of years ago at the he was
Speaker 2: out of training camp and and JT. Thomas telling us
Speaker 2: the Steelers defense in the seventies had basically three three plays,
Speaker 2: right right, Like that's all they did. That's all did
Speaker 2: because they.
Speaker 3: Were better, better, and they could shout.
Speaker 2: As they could shout across the line of scrimmage of
Speaker 2: the quarterbok, Hey we're cover two.
Speaker 3: Still, maybe we'll blitz Lambert this time, you know, maybe
Speaker 3: or whatever. Its side note, But like in those conversations,
Speaker 3: that's when we were people were lobbying to get Donnie
Speaker 3: Shell in the Hall of Fame. He's like, well, if
Speaker 3: they brought three receivers, Donnie would just be our nickel corner.
Speaker 3: There wasn't nickel corners back then, Like oh, okay.
Speaker 2: And and and that's what the offenses were. There wasn't
Speaker 2: all this scheming and like the quarterbacks calling the plays
Speaker 2: they had maybe, I honestly, how many plays do they
Speaker 2: have the court? Like May twenty five? You go into
Speaker 2: a game of twenty five plays, We're gonna run the
Speaker 2: same trap play here comes eighteen times.
Speaker 3: Yeah, exactly, and then again, and the defenses weren't diverse.
Speaker 3: Sometimes you bring a third, third receiver out. That was
Speaker 3: revolutionary start throwing the tight ends was revolutionary. Yeah.
Speaker 2: You know, I can remember Kevin Dotson when when he
Speaker 2: got drafted by the Steelers. One of the stories on
Speaker 2: him was that he would tell because he played at
Speaker 2: a small you know, a smaller du Yeah, Louisiana State States.
Speaker 2: He was at just yeah, flat louis It was just Louisiana.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: He would tell the defensive lineman across room and what
Speaker 2: the what the play was coming, because I don't care,
Speaker 2: I was going to dominate him. Well, so you're saying,
Speaker 2: well that guy knew what was coming, you still have
Speaker 2: to stop it.
Speaker 3: Yeah. Yeah, Like I'm sure Randy Johnson could go to
Speaker 3: the miners yeah, rehab and be like here comes the heater.
Speaker 2: He could do it in the majors too.
Speaker 3: Yeah, but no, times are different. I mean, it's why
Speaker 3: we went down that rabbit hole. But it was kind
Speaker 3: of fun. It's a massive job. It's a complex job.
Speaker 3: I'm betting the product on the field is better. I
Speaker 3: don't know that the coaching will be better, And maybe
Speaker 3: it will be. We won't really know.
Speaker 2: What we have seen. Like I compared it to Joe
Speaker 2: Brady taking over the play calling duties this past week
Speaker 2: for the for the Buffalo Bills. Well, hey, the Bills
Speaker 2: went out there and they scored a bunch of points
Speaker 2: against the Jets and they won. Yeah, because quarterback didn't
Speaker 2: throw a bunch of interceptions. I guarantee you. The former
Speaker 2: offensive coordinator there was not telling Josh Allen, Hey, Josh,
Speaker 2: why don't you throw a couple to the other team
Speaker 2: this week? And just to make just to make it
Speaker 2: a little more challenging.
Speaker 3: They were third in DVOA and e p A when
Speaker 3: he got to let go. Yeah, you know, like that's
Speaker 3: what third best offenses in the league do.
Speaker 2: And sometimes these moves don't work, as we just saw
Speaker 2: with Frank Reich and Carolina. Absolutely, you turn it over
Speaker 2: to the other guy for three weeks and it doesn't
Speaker 2: get any better. And he says, you know what, if
Speaker 2: I'm going down, I'm going down calling my place.
Speaker 3: The grass isn't always greener. But I do think it
Speaker 3: was time to change the grass, you know. I mean
Speaker 3: it sounded like.
Speaker 2: I don't disagree. Something had to change. You couldn't continue
Speaker 2: to do the same thing that you've been.
Speaker 3: Doing because they don't complete enough.
Speaker 2: Don't complete enough passes. They're auly one hundred and eighty
Speaker 2: one yards rushing per game over the last three games.
Speaker 3: Oh, yeah, that's you.
Speaker 2: That would lead the league by a lot, by a lot.
Speaker 3: Yeah. I mean they're rocketing up all the lists and
Speaker 3: everything too. I mean they're that part of the offense
Speaker 3: isn't broken.
Speaker 2: From Yeah, but they don't complete enough passes.
Speaker 3: They do, and that has to change. Hopefully the new
Speaker 3: coaches in charge, the new input will make life easier
Speaker 3: on Kenny, or get him to let the ball go
Speaker 3: when open guys are there more or well.
Speaker 2: That's the conundrum. That's the conundrum here, Matt. You're averaging
Speaker 2: one hundred and eighty rushing yards per game. Life should
Speaker 2: be really easy for your quarterback in that situation.
Speaker 3: It really should be, and it hasn't been at all.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you can't do it, you can. He's averaged i
Speaker 2: think one hundred and twenty yards passing over the last
Speaker 2: three games, with them averaging one hundred and eighty yards rushing.
Speaker 2: And it's not because they're not throwing passes. It's because
Speaker 2: they're not completing enough passes.
Speaker 3: Completing enough passes. Yeah, they're getting the three hundred yards part,
Speaker 3: the hard part you're doing. Yeah, the one hundred and
Speaker 3: eighty part. Yeah, you should be about one hundred yard
Speaker 3: rushing two hundred yards passing to get the three hundred
Speaker 3: or whatever. But no, Picket needs to get better. Passing
Speaker 3: game needs to get better. Protection needs to get better
Speaker 3: than it was this past week. Maybe there will be
Speaker 3: ways to scheme more guys open, but I have not
Speaker 3: seen a lack of open receivers, especially over the last
Speaker 3: month or so.
Speaker 2: And what we're not privy to is what Picket has
Speaker 2: been told that we will know something, and we'll never
Speaker 2: know that in some of these situations coaching, Again.
Speaker 3: What are they instructing him to do as he thought?
Speaker 3: Assume he's just following orders or he wouldn't still be
Speaker 3: out there. Yeah, I'm telling I know, they aren't telling
Speaker 3: him to not complete passes.
Speaker 2: Right, just like the Bills weren't telling Josh Allen to
Speaker 2: throw interceptions right.
Speaker 3: Or bring a twelfth guy out to try to drop
Speaker 3: a block the extra point or whatever, a field goal. Whatever. Yeah,
Speaker 3: I do wonder, and again we'll never know this. This
Speaker 3: game day, prep, game week, prep change, you know, like,
Speaker 3: does their install periods different is probably to some.
Speaker 2: Degree, you know, well, you'll have different voices leading those meetings.
Speaker 3: With the offense and they're gonna see things a little different.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Now, typically when you see something like this is
Speaker 2: this is where it's going to be interesting because you
Speaker 2: now have Eddie Faulkner coordinating the offense, but Mike Sullivan
Speaker 2: calling it on game day.
Speaker 3: Yeah. I was gonna ask you if you knew exactly
Speaker 3: how that is laid out. Are they considered co coordinators
Speaker 3: at the moment?
Speaker 2: I guess yeah, Yeah, I mean so you know, during
Speaker 2: the week, basically what Faulkner is going to be doing
Speaker 2: is running the staff and the way the Steelers come
Speaker 2: up with the game plan. Again, this wasn't just a
Speaker 2: Matt Canada thing. No, they all have everybody has their
Speaker 2: input a week.
Speaker 3: It's not just I sit around do nothing until the
Speaker 3: running backs come in the room and we coach them out. Yeah,
Speaker 3: they're they they're in charge of protection, they're in charge.
Speaker 2: Of so they all do their they all do their
Speaker 2: individual field film study, or they do it all together.
Speaker 2: They come up with a plan here's what we can
Speaker 2: execute with our guys, and then they go to the
Speaker 2: offensive coordinator. He comes up with the plan to Okay,
Speaker 2: here's here's where we're gonna sequences or you know in
Speaker 2: the end game stuff.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean if you go, if you walk through
Speaker 3: the coaches area of a facility during the week, it's
Speaker 3: very very quiet. All the defensive coaches are in their room,
Speaker 3: you know, chewing and scratching and watching tape in a
Speaker 3: dark room, and all the offensive coaches are in their
Speaker 3: room unless it's press conference time or you know, like
Speaker 3: all the other time that we don't know about is
Speaker 3: almost always you know, in the room seven I mean
Speaker 3: like auld pit, there would be six or seven eight
Speaker 3: guys in the room, you know, the offense or NFL
Speaker 3: will be more. There's a bigger coaching staff, you know,
Speaker 3: you might have two defensive back coaches or whatever, and
Speaker 3: they're all in there, you know, putting their ideas together.
Speaker 3: They're watching their guys or watching the upcoming opponent and say,
Speaker 3: well we try this, we should do that. You know.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that guys, that guy's the snickers bar. We need
Speaker 2: attack him.
Speaker 3: Absolutely. So everyone's job is gonna have to change a
Speaker 3: little bit, you know, because you've one less person, one
Speaker 3: less piece of the pie. But the pie the job
Speaker 3: is still the same size. Yeah, the week, So that's
Speaker 3: gonna be the interesting part. Of this and you know.
Speaker 2: It's going to be There'll be subtle differences, there's no
Speaker 2: doubt about it, no question, and in that that can help.
Speaker 2: We've seen situations where again where that has helped things.
Speaker 2: It makes the Steelers less predictable than they had been agreed.
Speaker 3: Agreed, so we see different types of motions where we
Speaker 3: see more play actions. Might Connor Hayward's snaps spike or
Speaker 3: I'm just making stuff up. Might Austin be out there
Speaker 3: more his role has been dropped more and more.
Speaker 2: Maybe not if they're going to run the ball the
Speaker 2: way they are agreed. That's Alan Robbins has been a big.
Speaker 3: Part of that tight end blocker guy. Yeah, that's why
Speaker 3: Austin's you know, stuff is down, you know, So it'll
Speaker 3: be interesting. Maybe there are bigger changes than I'm letting on,
Speaker 3: but I would be shocked.
Speaker 2: At this point. We just don't know. Oh until we
Speaker 2: see a couple of games. We won't even know after
Speaker 2: just watching against Cincinnati, not because you need at least
Speaker 2: a couple of games.
Speaker 3: Anything could be a Cincinnati specific game plan. Yeah, no
Speaker 3: matter what that they would plan in the day that
Speaker 3: they were playing on doing last Cincinnati game, like well
Speaker 3: we'll keep eighty percent of that and then we'll add something,
Speaker 3: you know whatever. So especially at division game.
Speaker 2: Yeah, he just it's it's it's gonna be interesting, but
Speaker 2: it's definite gonna be interesting. To your point, again, let
Speaker 2: me just go over those numbering they've given up three
Speaker 2: point fifty four, fifteen two ninety two, four hundred two
Speaker 2: ninety four, three eighty four, four sixty three, seventeen five,
Speaker 2: forty four and four or five. They've given up nine
Speaker 2: hundred and forty nine yards and sixty four points the last.
Speaker 3: Two weeks, just the last two weeks.
Speaker 2: Wow, that's against Houston and Baltimore. Now two good teams.
Speaker 3: To good teams. But like when we talked about the
Speaker 3: Browns defense last week, we'd say things like, yeah, ab
Speaker 3: Arizona never quarterback, Tennessee's not very good. Well, these are
Speaker 3: the same teams, yeah, you know, I mean not every
Speaker 3: game is the same, but they're still the same teams
Speaker 3: more or less. And Cincinnati's defense is very disappointing this year.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's certainly not been what it was, certainly what
Speaker 2: it was supposed to be.
Speaker 3: Anyways, they allow a lot of explosives. They're not good
Speaker 3: on first downs. They have two new safeties that I
Speaker 3: think has been somewhat of the problem too. But I'm
Speaker 3: a little shocked that it's as blow average as it is.
Speaker 2: Yeah, we're gonna get to a break. He is Matt Williamson.
Speaker 2: I am Dale Lollie. You're listening to the Drive here
Speaker 2: on Steelers Nation Radio. We'll be back with more right
Speaker 2: after this.
Speaker 1: This is the Drive with Dale Lolly and Matt Williamson
Speaker 1: on your twenty four to seven home of the Black
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Speaker 2: Steeler fans, you can gear up with the latest sideline apparel,
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Speaker 2: Tangle Outlets, or visit online at shop dot Steelers dot com. Matt,
Speaker 2: we mentioned this this Bengals defense. They're giving up three
Speaker 2: hundred and eighty six point one yards per game. There's
Speaker 2: actually two defenses worse than that, which is hardly it's
Speaker 2: the Chargers in the Broncos brutal the Broncos are still
Speaker 2: giving up four hundred yards total yards per game.
Speaker 3: They had won awful one, but they've had a lot
Speaker 3: about us too.
Speaker 2: The Bengals allow two hundred and forty seven point eight
Speaker 2: passing yards per game and one hundred and thirty eight
Speaker 2: point three rushing yards per game, So you could pretty
Speaker 2: much a lot of times when you see numbers like
Speaker 2: like if you look at, say the Chargers, people look
Speaker 2: at the Chargers and say, well, the Chargers a run defense.
Speaker 2: They're only giving up one hundred and tw rushing yards
Speaker 2: per game. They must have a good run defense, not
Speaker 2: necessarily because you're allowing two ninety one point six through
Speaker 2: the air. Teams are choosing not to run the ball
Speaker 2: as much against.
Speaker 3: You, you know, Like we talked about that a lot
Speaker 3: with the back to back Jags Titans games, that they
Speaker 3: excel stopping the run. Therefore teams throw against them more,
Speaker 3: you know, and they're kind of a pass funnel team. Now,
Speaker 3: sometimes you're as bad at both, which seems to be
Speaker 3: the case.
Speaker 2: With Cincinnati's the second worst run defense in the league.
Speaker 2: Now Denver's giving up one hundred and sixty rushing yards
Speaker 2: per game. They're dead last Cincinnati's what w one thirty
Speaker 2: eight point three, that's next to last, So there's a
Speaker 2: twenty two yard difference then between them and the next team.
Speaker 2: But here's the thing.
Speaker 3: I mean, it's still horrible.
Speaker 2: Five yards per carry, five yards per carry, Like people
Speaker 2: aren't just nickeling like this isn't Oh, they're just sticking
Speaker 2: with the run a lot, and you know, averaging four
Speaker 2: yards of carry against you know, five yards rushing per game.
Speaker 3: And sometimes when we look at some of those big
Speaker 3: numbers garbage time, they're just running like crazy or something
Speaker 3: like that. But this is they run the ball well
Speaker 3: against the Bengals. Yeah, and consistently.
Speaker 2: The one thing that they've done well, which is also
Speaker 2: the one thing that Denver has done well, if they
Speaker 2: forced ten fumbles.
Speaker 3: Well, what's really interesting is, I think everyone at this
Speaker 3: point knows the Steelers have been great with turnover differential.
Speaker 3: They're best in the league. But if you mimic, if
Speaker 3: you just go to turnover differential, the Bengals almost have
Speaker 3: the exact same numbers. Their turnover differential is only one less.
Speaker 3: They cause like one fewer interceptions. The offensive stuff, I
Speaker 3: think is exactly the same. Fumbles and interceptions are the
Speaker 3: same numbers. So they're living off that a little bit too,
Speaker 3: because the defense hasn't been good and their offense was
Speaker 3: really bad when when Burrow's not been himself, will put
Speaker 3: it that way.
Speaker 2: Denver's giving up five and a half yards per carry,
Speaker 2: by the way, that's I mean, that's just awful.
Speaker 3: Yeah, they've ben a chance to help thank for that too.
Speaker 2: Yeah. But yeah, so five yards per carry. Those are
Speaker 2: the only two teams in the league allowing five or
Speaker 2: more yards rushing per game, or five more yards per
Speaker 2: carry per game. The Steelers are now at four point
Speaker 2: four yards rushing per game. I think over the over
Speaker 2: the last I looked at the number going into the
Speaker 2: last their previous three games. Going into the game against
Speaker 2: the Browns, it was three point eight yards per carry,
Speaker 2: and it went down from that one because the only
Speaker 2: gave up three point one yards. The defense.
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, since Cam has been back, it's been very
Speaker 3: very good. Yeah, yeah, exactly. I think you're ting about
Speaker 3: steel offense against the Bengals defense, which also is going
Speaker 3: the right direction.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and that I mean some of the stuff they
Speaker 2: gave up some explosive runs early in the season, those
Speaker 2: are kind of gone away. Screen Bay had one that
Speaker 2: you know, but you know they've they've been pretty consistent
Speaker 2: with that. So you can run on this Bengals team,
Speaker 2: but you can also throw on this Bengals yea.
Speaker 3: And I don't think their defense as bad players.
Speaker 2: No, No, I don't think so either.
Speaker 3: I haven't wrapped my head around what is the big
Speaker 3: problem here, because it's not all boy they've been in
Speaker 3: the few too much or they've been hit hard by injuries.
Speaker 2: Not really.
Speaker 3: I mean it's not unusual.
Speaker 2: They're giving up eight yards per pass attempt, yeah, which
Speaker 2: is next to last. Yeah. The only team worse than
Speaker 2: that is the Chargers at eight point one. So it's
Speaker 2: the deep ball you're they're giving up deep stuff. Now,
Speaker 2: only thirteen touchdown passes allowed this year and they have
Speaker 2: twelve interceptions. The twelve interceptions was that second ty tight Yeah,
Speaker 2: tie for second. San Francisco leads with with fourteen. A
Speaker 2: big part of that has been the inside linebackers, Yes,
Speaker 2: getting their their hands on the ball, and they're good.
Speaker 3: They cover a lot of ground. Pratt and Wilson yeah players.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so I don't necessarily, but they've had issues covering
Speaker 2: tight ends.
Speaker 3: Yeah, they have. I know that in the fantasy world.
Speaker 3: They're like at the bottom the.
Speaker 2: League, bottom the league in that you know, obviously, Yeah,
Speaker 2: there's a lot of bad players.
Speaker 3: The defensive front's good. I mean, I'm not sure exactly
Speaker 3: what the issues are, but I will find out.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a it's a complete disconnect. I mean, the
Speaker 2: Steelers pass defense has not been great this year. No,
Speaker 2: it's it's very middle of the package. Completion percentage is awesome. Yeah,
Speaker 2: fifty eight point fours tops towards.
Speaker 3: The top of the lake, and they take the ball
Speaker 3: away and they create.
Speaker 2: Yeah, they've given up twelve touchdown passes eleven interceptions. Yeah,
Speaker 2: so I mean they're not giving up the touchdowns, no,
Speaker 2: but they're picking the ball off. But they're giving up
Speaker 2: some plays.
Speaker 3: But we know receivers have had big days.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, not so much as recently though.
Speaker 3: No, Maury wasn't great, and you know, Hopkins wasn't great.
Speaker 3: I think Porter being in there has something to do
Speaker 3: with that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, so they've cleaned up some of these things.
Speaker 2: Now it's just a.
Speaker 3: Matter of complete more pass completing.
Speaker 2: More passes and and maybe you got something. And I
Speaker 2: think that's I think that's when you when you start
Speaker 2: looking at why the Steelers made this move. Now, yes
Speaker 2: they're six, they could have looked a we're six and four,
Speaker 2: We're right in the mix of this thing. We're in
Speaker 2: good shape. But you don't want to keep living the
Speaker 2: way that you were living.
Speaker 3: It's a hard way to live. And frankly, I think
Speaker 3: they would be with an average NFL passing game. They're
Speaker 3: the eighth best team in the league, you know, something
Speaker 3: like that, maybe an eight and two team right now,
Speaker 3: or challenging for a division title with an average NFL
Speaker 3: passing game, you know, I mean that means protection, that
Speaker 3: means routes, quarterback, all the above.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so I you know, and I look at what's
Speaker 2: happening right now in the AFC, and we'll get to
Speaker 2: a little a little bit more on this and when
Speaker 2: we do power rankings later. Does Kansas City look nearly
Speaker 2: as scary as it has in previous years.
Speaker 3: They don't think receivers that can catch.
Speaker 2: They don't have any receivers.
Speaker 3: Any receivers period. They do not.
Speaker 2: Even Patrick Mahomes can't elevate that passing game. Once you
Speaker 2: take once you take Kelsey out of the equation, it's
Speaker 2: a bunch of guys.
Speaker 3: And I wonder if Kelsey is losing a slight step
Speaker 3: and he seems to have off the field interest.
Speaker 2: Might be it might have might be a little distracted
Speaker 2: at this point.
Speaker 3: But still, I mean, I thought that was what happened
Speaker 3: to him last year when Tyreek got traded. I'm quadrupled.
Speaker 2: Well, now the teams are doing that. Yeah, they don't
Speaker 2: have Yeah, they don't have the receivers to beat it.
Speaker 2: They don't look particularly scary. We've seen the Ravens, the
Speaker 2: Steelers beat the Ravens. I'm just talking about teams in general.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, yeah, Okay, I mean, yes, they're good, but
Speaker 2: they're not dominant.
Speaker 3: No, I mean the Bengals don't exist anymore.
Speaker 2: The Bengals are out. Like going into the season, the
Speaker 2: teams that you looked at that, okay, you got you
Speaker 2: got to get past Kansas City, you got to get
Speaker 2: past uh Cincinnati, you got to get past Buffalo. Those
Speaker 2: are the three big dogs in the a f C. Yeah,
Speaker 2: well two of them have been neutered. Yeah, I'm not
Speaker 2: sure the Bills are buried yet. I think the Bengals
Speaker 2: are buried. The Bengals are done.
Speaker 3: Bengals are done.
Speaker 2: The Bengals are done the Bills.
Speaker 3: Bills have to do miraculous stuff.
Speaker 2: They're gonna have to come up with, Like they still
Speaker 2: have to go to Philadelphia, they still get they still
Speaker 2: get to play Miami, they still get to play Kansas City,
Speaker 2: and they still have to play Dallas.
Speaker 3: No, that's the thing is they just dug too big
Speaker 3: a hole.
Speaker 2: Losing teams like New England and the Jets could be
Speaker 2: what keeps them out of the playoff picture.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and a lot's going to change. And unfortunately we've seen,
Speaker 3: you know, watching injury, borrow injury, things like that that
Speaker 3: have changed things. But are the Browns a contender? I
Speaker 3: mean they're Jacksonville a contender, Miami a contender. Like I'm
Speaker 3: not saying to contend to get the dot.
Speaker 2: I don't know that those teams are markedly there. I
Speaker 2: don't know that they're markedly better than the Steelers.
Speaker 3: If the Steelers complete more passes.
Speaker 2: The bit just works all week.
Speaker 3: Fortunately for our listeners only a three day week, five days.
Speaker 3: I would drive them.
Speaker 2: If they could only see us here every time, you know,
Speaker 2: we do it. It's just but they could really stand
Speaker 2: the complete more passes. They really need to go to
Speaker 2: complete more if if they if they just to your point,
Speaker 2: if it's just an NFL average passing game, if you
Speaker 2: can strive to get average, they would be a really
Speaker 2: hard team, especially run the ball the way that they
Speaker 2: are exactly. I mean, if everything else is in place,
Speaker 2: and yeah, you'll have some injuries, but you also get
Speaker 2: Minka back, and if all that stuff says reasonably even
Speaker 2: and Boz still makes kicks, the defense is dangerous. Yeah,
Speaker 2: the running game is dangerous. Yeah, rookies keep getting better.
Speaker 3: Yeah, if you could have an average passing game, you
Speaker 3: would be a good team. Yeah, top ten type of team.
Speaker 2: So, I mean that's what I think Mike Tomlin was
Speaker 2: looking at here, like we just need to find a way.
Speaker 3: To Yeah, we need to complete more passes.
Speaker 2: So you know, if they can do that, like even
Speaker 2: like people talk about Miami like there's something like like, yeah,
Speaker 2: they're good. They just scored twenty one points again at
Speaker 2: home against the Raiders.
Speaker 3: Yeah, people are starting to figure out the offense. And
Speaker 3: they are a finesse team, you know, like they're not
Speaker 3: going to bully you and just run the ball down
Speaker 3: your throat over and over and over. They will Schematically, you.
Speaker 2: Can do that to them. Yeah, yeah, you can bully
Speaker 2: them a little bit offensively and keep them off the field.
Speaker 3: I know they haven't but I think on their best
Speaker 3: day they could beat anyone. But they haven't come.
Speaker 2: They haven't done it. They haven't done.
Speaker 3: It at all. I mean that's worrisome for sure.
Speaker 2: You know, when I looked at they're they're they're trumpeting
Speaker 2: beating the Raiders as being a big win.
Speaker 3: I don't think the Raiders are good. Yeah out there
Speaker 3: you like to me, the Niners are scary, right, you
Speaker 3: know the Niners could.
Speaker 2: Be Well, that's the thing, all the all the scary teams.
Speaker 3: I think Dallas can be scary. I think Phillies still
Speaker 3: figuring things out. But then one loss Kansas City.
Speaker 2: And Dallas, to me though, is still kind of in
Speaker 2: the same boat as Miami. They haven't beaten anybody.
Speaker 3: They beat bad teams badly, and they don't beat the
Speaker 3: good ones.
Speaker 2: I mean, I look at this now. You know, before
Speaker 2: beating the big win against the five and five Raiders,
Speaker 2: Miami's signature win was over the.
Speaker 3: Chargers, which looked better then than now.
Speaker 2: It doesn't look good now. Yeah, you know, if you
Speaker 2: look at who they when they've lost games or when
Speaker 2: they've played teams you know with the winning records. Lost
Speaker 2: forty eight twenty to Buffalo, they lost thirty one seventeen
Speaker 2: to Philadelphia. They lost twenty one to fourteen to Kansas City.
Speaker 2: You know, they eked out. It was a twenty to
Speaker 2: thirteen win over the Raiders. That offense. Everybody looked at
Speaker 2: that seventy point point game at Ysome. Yeah, you know,
Speaker 2: coming off of the you know, Week one, they'd scored
Speaker 2: thirty six against the Chargers. We now know the Chargers defense.
Speaker 2: That was the worst matchup in the world for the Chargers.
Speaker 3: Yeah. Yeah, we just talked about that last night.
Speaker 2: They can't they can't cover anybody.
Speaker 3: No, it's horrible. And plus if you lose some of
Speaker 3: your advantages with the Miami heat and things like that
Speaker 3: early in the season, and your speed diminishes as the
Speaker 3: season goes on, just from wear and tear. Yeah, I mean,
Speaker 3: and I do think because they're such a unique offense,
Speaker 3: people have figured it out a little. I just don't.
Speaker 3: I have respect for the Dolphins. I think they have
Speaker 3: done some really good things. I like their head coach,
Speaker 3: but I'd be shocked if they go on a playoff run.
Speaker 3: You got to beat these teams they've talked about.
Speaker 2: Well. The other thing is, I know when the Steelers
Speaker 2: went down there last year and when of Kenny Pickt's
Speaker 2: first starts, just sixteen to ten game, Yeah, and the
Speaker 2: Steelers were throwing into the end zone twice in the
Speaker 2: last four minutes of that game with an opportunity to
Speaker 2: win it.
Speaker 3: Yeah, that was one that slipped away. I mean, there
Speaker 3: was two or three of those AFC games last year
Speaker 3: where you looked at and like, easily could have won,
Speaker 3: should have won at least one of them.
Speaker 2: And so while I respect Miami, yeah, yeah, they don't,
Speaker 2: I'm not. I'm not. If I'm the Steelers, I'm not
Speaker 2: afraid of going into Miami and playing them again.
Speaker 3: No, neither me neither.
Speaker 2: So so that to me is the entire AFC playoff field. Yeah,
Speaker 2: I don't want to go to Kansas City.
Speaker 3: Kansas City is still frightening because of what they've done
Speaker 3: in the past, and.
Speaker 2: That place is tough to play. But I don't. If
Speaker 2: I'm the Steelers, I don't fear going to Baltimore. I
Speaker 2: do that twice a year.
Speaker 3: No, and I think Baltimore might be the best team
Speaker 3: in the AFC. I mean maybe, but they seem to
Speaker 3: slip up more than they should too.
Speaker 2: They can't hold leads.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean that's a fatal flaw for them right now.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and you know that's a problem.
Speaker 3: And if we were on Baltimore would be like, hold
Speaker 3: more leads, complete more passes.
Speaker 2: Well, it might be complete more passes. That's going to
Speaker 2: be a problem for them. Now without Andrews, that's Lamars
Speaker 2: will be.
Speaker 3: That's a big, big loss. Likely we'll do some good things.
Speaker 2: But he's not. Yeah, he's not Andrews.
Speaker 3: And he can't do the exact same stuff with them.
Speaker 2: So the AFC playoff race right now, to me, just
Speaker 2: get in. Oh yeah, I agree, Just get in and
Speaker 2: and anything could happen. This is this is going to
Speaker 2: be a one through seven. You know, even assuming the
Speaker 2: Browns make it. The Browns might be the only team
Speaker 2: that I would really be shocked if they made if
Speaker 2: if we said last week, this is the seven teams
Speaker 2: that are in there right now. Yeah, we ago a
Speaker 2: week ago, which includes the division leaders and then Cleveland,
Speaker 2: Houston and Pittsburgh. We thought that was going to be
Speaker 2: the playoff field. Any of those teams could make a
Speaker 2: run to the super Bowl except maybe Cleveland because of
Speaker 2: the quarterback situation. They could win a game.
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, they could be really hard for to play.
Speaker 2: But as we noted yesterday day, their defense isn't as
Speaker 2: good on the road as at home. They would need
Speaker 2: to win the division.
Speaker 3: I think we haven't talked much about the upcoming schedule,
Speaker 3: but they're a two and a half to three point
Speaker 3: dog in Denver this week. Yeah, you know, like it
Speaker 3: wouldn't shock me if they lose to Denver, who's playing
Speaker 3: pretty well. Yeah, you know, so, I have great respect
Speaker 3: for where Cleveland's at, especially defensively, and they deserve to
Speaker 3: win that game. But that you sign Joe Flacco, Yeah.
Speaker 2: Kind of tell you. It kind of tells you what
Speaker 2: they think of the the young quarterback.
Speaker 3: Yeah. The offense is told together with its m a
Speaker 3: guvert up with duct tape, and you know, so that
Speaker 3: worries me. But they could beat any team given, no question.
Speaker 2: Can they Can they string together three wins to get
Speaker 2: to the super Bowl? Probably not?
Speaker 3: Probably not. I don't think they can. But interesting stuff.
Speaker 3: I think Jacksonville and Houston are interesting too. I think
Speaker 3: those organizations are moving the right direction.
Speaker 2: Well, they got a huge game against each other this week.
Speaker 3: Yeah, they played for the division lead this week. I
Speaker 3: think both could get in. I mean if the Steelers
Speaker 3: don't complete more passes.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think right now as things stand right now,
Speaker 2: I don't think and I know that both would be in.
Speaker 3: Yeah. Yeah, yeah, they are the Bills.
Speaker 2: And I would consider both of those two teams that
Speaker 2: if they got hot, yeah, could make a run at it.
Speaker 3: Could. I don't love the youth, you know, of the
Speaker 3: quarterback and stuff. I think this is the year you
Speaker 3: learn how to win for them and then next year
Speaker 3: you pick them to maybe go you know, both those teams,
Speaker 3: but they are trending the right direction. I think Houston
Speaker 3: might be coach of the Year candidate, you know. And
Speaker 3: people that were worried about Lawrence I thought were crazy.
Speaker 3: I mean, and he came out looked great this past week.
Speaker 3: So those teams are trending the right direction.
Speaker 2: As Trevor Lawrence is one and four in his career
Speaker 2: against Houston, is he really one in four? Houston hasn't
Speaker 2: been good. Yeah, in those years time they might that
Speaker 2: division might be turning into a rock paper scissors.
Speaker 3: Then, Yeah, I don't think Tennantse's.
Speaker 2: Indianapolis can't win in Jacksonville no matter what their record is.
Speaker 2: When I was thinking of the Titans always beat the Colts.
Speaker 3: Titans the Yeah, yeah, there's a lot of that going on.
Speaker 3: And there's a lot of new quarterbacks, so maybe that's changing,
Speaker 3: or maybe it's gona set and sowne.
Speaker 2: But I just I mean, for what we thought the
Speaker 2: AFC playoff picture was going to look like when the
Speaker 2: season began, now not so much.
Speaker 3: Chargers are shot.
Speaker 2: Chargers are out of it.
Speaker 3: Bengals are out of it. Yeah, right, and that's that's
Speaker 3: the surprising stuff. Bengal Bills stuff is really surprising. Chargers
Speaker 3: is rather surprising. Yeah, it could be out of it
Speaker 3: in November twenty.
Speaker 2: First, Yeah, that's the next I mean to me, if
Speaker 2: if Baltimore goes out there this week and rolls them,
Speaker 2: there could be there could be a coaching changing.
Speaker 3: We had a good conversation on the podcast about I
Speaker 3: brought up three teams that might take the raider route
Speaker 3: and promote somebody that's rather qualified from within to see
Speaker 3: if you want to keep them. Yeah, and I think
Speaker 3: McCown with the Panthers is a maybe. I think the
Speaker 3: enemy with Washington could absolutely happen, and their schedule going
Speaker 3: forward is awful, and I think the Chargers are the
Speaker 3: most likely. I don't love Kellen Moore, but he gets
Speaker 3: his name is thrown.
Speaker 2: I'm not good. I'm a good defensive on that thing.
Speaker 3: In terms of next year's higher I think would. But
Speaker 3: at least my thought was, if you're an owner and
Speaker 3: sitting here on November twenty first, deep down you're like,
Speaker 3: I'm going to fire this guy, you know, I mean,
Speaker 3: there's a ninety eight percent chance that he doesn't make
Speaker 3: it past Black Monday. Why not at least see if
Speaker 3: the enemy.
Speaker 2: Here's the problem with those kinds of things, And this
Speaker 2: is this is why Dan Rooney always never one of
Speaker 2: the He was completely against firing somebody in the middle
Speaker 2: of a season, because if you bring in an interim guy,
Speaker 2: what if the interim guy does well, now there's going
Speaker 2: to be pressure on you to you may you may
Speaker 2: know he's not the guy you didn't think he was
Speaker 2: the guy. The team catches fire a little bit because,
Speaker 2: for example, as we just talked about, now all of
Speaker 2: a sudden, your schedule he's is up in your playings.
Speaker 2: So now there's going to be some pressure to keep
Speaker 2: that guy as the coordinator or the head coach or
Speaker 2: whatever it may be.
Speaker 3: Right, That's why I don't think the Bears do it,
Speaker 3: you know, but those teams, those guys at least have
Speaker 3: interviewed for head jobs before, you know. That's why I
Speaker 3: think if I can learn more about the enemy or whomever,
Speaker 3: it's better than having less data on the guy. But
Speaker 3: like I was part of one in Cleveland when Butch
Speaker 3: got high who got fired? None of us thought that
Speaker 3: anyone in the staff was coming back every like Another
Speaker 3: good recent example is when Gruden got let go and
Speaker 3: they put in Versacia Rich and they had spark in life.
Speaker 3: But he's a lifetime Special Teams.
Speaker 2: And that's kind of what happens sometimes, you know that
Speaker 2: you catch a little well, it's it's a change. The
Speaker 2: Raiders are good for that, and and so you go,
Speaker 2: you win a few games, and then there's pressure to
Speaker 2: keep that guy.
Speaker 3: Even though deep down you think he's a special Teams code.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, so, which I think it was with
Speaker 2: Yeah anyway, so yeah, I think that you know, the
Speaker 2: AFC playoff race is open. Win this game this week.
Speaker 3: By the one you got a complete more pass.
Speaker 2: Completely more passes win this one. Your next you know,
Speaker 2: you don't play you don't play a team with a
Speaker 2: winning record. For the next five games, you have five
Speaker 2: games in a row against teams with losing records.
Speaker 3: I noticed the Bengals of the opposite everyone on their
Speaker 3: schedule is five hundred and above. Yeah.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so when you know, win four or five of
Speaker 2: these games, get on a little bit of a role
Speaker 2: here going. You know, if you can win at least
Speaker 2: four of them, now you're sitting at ten wins. You
Speaker 2: go in going into those games against Seattle in Baltimore,
Speaker 2: and you're probably going to be in the playoffs.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you can get to ten before those two games
Speaker 3: you're probably in.
Speaker 2: You're in. So you go win this one, complete more passes,
Speaker 2: win these games, get yourself into the tournament, and see
Speaker 2: where it goes.
Speaker 3: And I hate to say it this way, because if
Speaker 3: the Steelers passing game on Sunday is as bad as
Speaker 3: it was last Sunday, they could still beat the Bengals.
Speaker 2: They could. I mean, they could run for two hundred
Speaker 2: and fifty yards in this game and yeah, completely strangle
Speaker 2: like South Cincinnati scoring exactly.
Speaker 3: They don't turn the ball away in that game. If
Speaker 3: the passing game is just as bad. Yeah, I mean that.
Speaker 2: Would be tough, but that would be discouraging.
Speaker 3: That would be very discouraging.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so we're gonna get to a break. He is
Speaker 2: Matt Williamson. I am Dale Lolly. You're listening to the
Speaker 2: Drive here on Steelers Nation Radio. We will be back
Speaker 2: with more right after this.
Speaker 1: This is the Drive with Dale Lolly and Matt Williamson
Speaker 1: on your twenty four to seven home of the Black
Speaker 1: and Gold Steelers Nation Radio.
Speaker 2: Welcome back. I'm Dale Lolly. He is the Matt Williamson
Speaker 2: and Matt As you can imagine, a lot of the
Speaker 2: questions today to Mike Tomlin at his news conference dealt
Speaker 2: with the change at offensive coordinator. But Mike Tomlin also
Speaker 2: dropping a little news Minka Fitzpatrick looks like there's a
Speaker 2: chance that he could definitely play this week. Same with
Speaker 2: montrevious Adams.
Speaker 3: Good good, good good. I think Adams. They've made up
Speaker 3: for the loss of Adams very very well.
Speaker 2: It'd be nice to have another guy to put in
Speaker 2: the mix, though.
Speaker 3: Absolutely, I really liked how he was playing pre injury.
Speaker 3: I thought louder Milk had a really good game, maybe
Speaker 3: his best game as a Steeler, and I keep talking
Speaker 3: about him Watts. I think Watts has been a better
Speaker 3: version of Warmley.
Speaker 2: This He might be one of the it's one of
Speaker 2: the better defensive line groupings that they've had.
Speaker 3: I agree, I agree, And I think it's nice that
Speaker 3: you're not asking Cam and Ogunjobi to play ninety five
Speaker 3: percent of snaps and bent and you just want to
Speaker 3: keep getting him out there more and more and more.
Speaker 2: That's going to be a star.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think so too. And I don't know if
Speaker 3: they're down on him, but Leal's kind of been the
Speaker 3: forgotten guy. He's like a four or five snap of dude,
Speaker 3: a game guy now, and I think he's just kind
Speaker 3: of getting.
Speaker 2: Others are playing bad.
Speaker 3: I say, I don't think he's bad, it's just the
Speaker 3: others are stepping up. Yeah, more trustworthy at the moment.
Speaker 2: You know, So that that's uh, you know, and then
Speaker 2: you get making Fitzpatrick back. You know, they signed Trenton
Speaker 2: Thompson to their active roster.
Speaker 3: That was about to say, what if Trenton Thompson's a
Speaker 3: good third safety? Yeah, like that'd be great.
Speaker 2: Great, Yeah again, somebody got for free.
Speaker 3: Any thoughts on Neil He's on I R Oh, they
Speaker 3: did put him on IR Yeah, so that's gonna be
Speaker 3: a while, Okay, gotcha.
Speaker 2: Yeah, So I mean they need something there.
Speaker 3: You know, Killerbrew played eighteen snaps or so, yeah, he
Speaker 3: should be playing eighteen snap special.
Speaker 2: You definitely need to get make a Fitzpatrick back. They
Speaker 2: also signed Eric Rowe put him on their practice squad
Speaker 2: this week. Jack Miles, jack backer. They met another practice
Speaker 2: squad signing today of a of another defensive back, which
Speaker 2: kind of yeah, they're they're searching for something there, understandable,
Speaker 2: you know, just this one's just kind of another body,
Speaker 2: but you know, just you need some defensive back. Henry
Speaker 2: Black was signed to their practice squad. They released linebacker
Speaker 2: Tyler Murray. He tells me that they're they're now happy
Speaker 2: with what they have an inside linebacker.
Speaker 3: Yeah. I don't know if you caught this, but I
Speaker 3: bet most of our audience didn't. The only linebackers that
Speaker 3: played in the game were Roberts Are every snap and
Speaker 3: Walker for like three quarters of the snaphing like that.
Speaker 3: Robinson didn't play a stap on defense. Yeah, so I
Speaker 3: think that tells you a lot of what they think
Speaker 3: of him. But maybe Jack will be your third guy.
Speaker 2: Well, he would have to be I mean, he has
Speaker 2: to be activated from that. And Robinson still plays special teams.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, so you know he seems to be pretty
Speaker 3: much a fixture on special teams.
Speaker 2: Yeah, this year, So there's that.
Speaker 3: But yeah, it's it's they.
Speaker 2: Certainly you have to keep looking there and you can.
Speaker 2: And one of the big moves in the league today
Speaker 2: was Shaq Leonard being released by the Indianapolis Colts. And
Speaker 2: you texted me about it, and uh, I said, I'd
Speaker 2: kick the tires on it, and I started looking a
Speaker 2: little more into it. A he's making you're not going
Speaker 2: to claim him on waivers because he's making a ton of.
Speaker 3: Money, and assume that's the biggest reason they let him go,
Speaker 3: you know, so to pay the rest of this.
Speaker 2: I think it's fully guaranteed. They're still not fully guaranteed.
Speaker 2: If there's a lot of guaranteed money there.
Speaker 3: Because he's like the richest linebacker contract out there.
Speaker 2: Yeah, maybe they're hoping somebody claims him because it's not
Speaker 2: you know, you're not paying the signing bonuses and that
Speaker 2: those kind of things. Uh, but I can't see that happening.
Speaker 2: So you wait for him to clear waivers. You could
Speaker 2: get him on the cheap, But I just don't know
Speaker 2: what he has left now to.
Speaker 3: Say he had a major injury. Was it a neck
Speaker 3: or a back?
Speaker 2: Yeah, he had He's had a couple of back issues.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and he was really really good before that. Why
Speaker 3: why he signed this monster deal because he deserved it.
Speaker 3: He was a leader of the defense, flies around the field.
Speaker 3: But he's had a hard time staying on the field
Speaker 3: for them this year, not because of injury, because of
Speaker 3: you know, playing time.
Speaker 2: Yeah, he's not as good as at least they don't
Speaker 2: feel he's as good as the other guys.
Speaker 3: Now he's not.
Speaker 2: That being said, there was a coaching change there, true,
Speaker 2: so maybe he just didn't fit into what that coaching
Speaker 2: staff wants to do defense.
Speaker 3: Like possibly I haven't dug in their scheme enough, but
Speaker 3: maybe that's not a fit for them. I do. I
Speaker 3: do know they structure themselves like the Eagles, and the
Speaker 3: Eagles don't put line in the backer money. They don't
Speaker 3: care about linebackers. Yeah, it's low on the list for sure,
Speaker 3: So who knows. I mean, I would be interested if
Speaker 3: he cleared waivers and you could bring him in here
Speaker 3: and kick the tires on him and really good leader,
Speaker 3: great head for the game, all that stuff still there.
Speaker 3: But I don't think he is what he used to be.
Speaker 3: But maybe none of us are. Yeah, maybe it would
Speaker 3: be next year.
Speaker 2: Yeah, we just all know. He's still twenty eight years old.
Speaker 2: You know, came out in that same draft as making Fitzpatrick.
Speaker 2: So yeah, I mean I would, I would be interested
Speaker 2: in it at the right price. I'm certainly not interested
Speaker 2: in doing that and claiming him and having to pay
Speaker 2: him another six I think six million dollars rest this year.
Speaker 3: No, his tape is underwhelming this year. Look, he's coming
Speaker 3: back from injury, and who knows if he ever will
Speaker 3: be back.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it wouldn't surprise me if nobody claims him and
Speaker 2: maybe he winds up in Buffalo or somewhere like that.
Speaker 3: But could could be.
Speaker 2: I mean, they're they're really hurting at linebacker, even more
Speaker 2: so than the Steelers.
Speaker 3: There's plenty of teams out there that would I think
Speaker 3: would be interested at the situation we laid out. Yeah,
Speaker 3: but in terms of inheriting the contract.
Speaker 2: And I'm not I'm not interested in getting into a
Speaker 2: bidding war for him either. Now, one thing that might
Speaker 2: interest Shack Leonard for coming here. He's not Shack instead
Speaker 2: of Darius used. That's who we're talking about, is Darius Leonard.
Speaker 2: He now goes by Shack Colts by the way, folks, Yeah,
Speaker 2: the Steelers played the Colts in a few weeks.
Speaker 3: I'm sure you wouldn't mind that. Yeah, it'd be good
Speaker 3: for some intel as well, probably, But super smart guy.
Speaker 3: You know, I loved the player before this season. Yeah,
Speaker 3: you so rarely does that kind of thing happen, you know,
Speaker 3: just a pretty much.
Speaker 2: I mean really, a couple of years ago, when you
Speaker 2: know we're talking about t J. Watt winning Defensive Player
Speaker 2: of the Year, Shack Leonard was one of the guys
Speaker 2: who was in the running that year. He was in contention.
Speaker 3: Yeah, he's that type of dude. So interesting do you
Speaker 3: think Jack gets in the mix?
Speaker 2: Depends on what kind of shapey, I don't. I don't
Speaker 2: know what kind of I haven't seen him. I haven't
Speaker 2: laid eyes on him yet, so I have no idea.
Speaker 2: You know, we'll see him tomorrow for the first time
Speaker 2: and get it. You know, what's he been doing? And
Speaker 2: he was talking about going to plumber school for so.
Speaker 3: Was Yeah, didn't it didn't see that one coming.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: I don't know that he's the answer and all you
Speaker 3: know to your linebacker problems either, but he'd fit in
Speaker 3: quickly mentally.
Speaker 2: I mean, the defense hasn't changed. He knows that there's
Speaker 2: no problem with that.
Speaker 3: Physically, he could still do it. I'd be interested.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I just don't know that you know how that
Speaker 2: work workd You know, I kind of like what Michael
Speaker 2: Walker brings to you in terms of a little bit
Speaker 2: more rangy.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, he is, he is, and I didn't think
Speaker 3: he played great. But it's also his first real game
Speaker 3: back too, you know, so we'll see. But you're also thin, Yeah,
Speaker 3: you're very thin there. What if Roberts you know, yeah,
Speaker 3: God forbid that happen. He was, He was all over
Speaker 3: the field.
Speaker 2: And it just shows it shows you how much of
Speaker 2: that position is above the neck.
Speaker 3: So much, so much, and when you can have both
Speaker 3: you turn into roque or war or whatever, but above
Speaker 3: the neck goes a long way.
Speaker 2: Yeah. I mean he's just diagnosing things and tackling those
Speaker 2: backs in the flat on the path like he just
Speaker 2: he would just you know, made play after playing that game.
Speaker 3: He's physical and aggressive and he handled every snap.
Speaker 2: Well, yeah, so played well for the Steelers this year.
Speaker 2: He just can't afford to lose him at this point
Speaker 2: with some of the other losses that you've had. He
Speaker 2: is Matt Williamson. I am Dale Lally. You're listening to
Speaker 2: the Driver. You're on Steelers Nation Radio. We're gonna take
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