Speaker 1: This is the Steelers Preview show on WDVE Pittsburgh, presented
Speaker 1: by UNI Bet. The only thing better than a Steelers
Speaker 1: win is a Steelers win that pays double down on
Speaker 1: your team. With Unibet, proud partner of the Pittsburgh Steelers,
Speaker 1: here are your hosts, Mike Persuda, Matt Williamson and Merril Hodge.
Speaker 2: Good evening and welcome to another edition of Steelers Preview
Speaker 2: right here on your Steelers flagship one of two point
Speaker 2: five DVE and s n R. Mike Persuda and Matt
Speaker 2: Williamson with you until eight o'clock tonight. Merril Hodge, our
Speaker 2: factor back will be long for segment number two, as
Speaker 2: he always is, and we will do our best to
Speaker 2: get you ready for the Steelers and the Cleveland Browns.
Speaker 2: The Preview is brought to you by UNI Bet, by
Speaker 2: Brian Patton and associates. It's all about the benefits and
Speaker 2: by the Steelers Pro Shop get it direct from the
Speaker 2: team at shop dot Steelers dot com and Matt. Big
Speaker 2: news coming out of Cleveland this week relative to the
Speaker 2: status of Deshaun Watson, but a lot of news coming
Speaker 2: out of the South Side as well. The PTICE Report
Speaker 2: today included Keanu O'Neil rib did not practice for a
Speaker 2: second consecutive day, make a Fitzpatrick hamstring did not practice
Speaker 2: for a second consecutive day. Trenton Thompson, he's He's number seventeen.
Speaker 2: If fans are wonder who I'm talking about. He was
Speaker 2: the kid who was out there for the last seven
Speaker 2: snaps of the Green Bay game in the dime when
Speaker 2: Kean O'Neil got hurt at the end of his interception
Speaker 2: on the previous series.
Speaker 3: By the way, those were the first.
Speaker 2: Seven defensive snaps of Trent and Thompson's NFL career. Yeah,
Speaker 2: I thought he had played twelve special team snaps with
Speaker 2: the Giants in one game last season, But Thompson told
Speaker 2: reporters that he's been told he's going to start.
Speaker 3: Sunday in Cleveland now.
Speaker 2: Terrell Austin, the defensive Cord Niners, said that Neil and
Speaker 2: Fitzpatrick are going to be game time decisions. We'll see,
Speaker 2: but the possibility those possibilities certainly exists that you could
Speaker 2: be without Fitzpatrick and Kean O'Neil, And they already know
Speaker 2: without Cole Holcomb and with Kawn Alexander, Michael Walker, still
Speaker 2: on the practice squad, but he's going to get activated.
Speaker 2: Mike Tomlin hinted it that on Tuesday, and I spoke
Speaker 2: with Walker on Wednesday and he said he ran with
Speaker 2: the first team in practice that day. So you could
Speaker 2: be looking at number thirty eight out there, number seventeen
Speaker 2: out there.
Speaker 3: What's some Elijahriiley thrown in there?
Speaker 2: Number thirty seven, yep, yep, go Army beat Navy. What's
Speaker 2: the bigger issue going into this game against Cleveland that
Speaker 2: has a sledgehammer running attack and a quarterback in Dorian
Speaker 2: Thompson Robinson and even the Browns probably don't know for
Speaker 2: certain what they're going to get out of him.
Speaker 3: I mean, it's really hard to comment on the Steelers
Speaker 3: back seven. I mean, except for it scares me to
Speaker 3: death without Menca in particular, I mean, outside of Porter
Speaker 3: in that back seven, who do you really trust to
Speaker 3: be you know, a high quality athlete for one, I
Speaker 3: mean speed, change of direction, athletics, but a guy you
Speaker 3: can trust. And I'm I mean Porter's a young pup.
Speaker 3: I really like Roberts, but he's the thumper, the Vince Williams.
Speaker 3: I don't want him out there one hundred percent of snaps,
Speaker 3: you know, and he's probably gonna have to. Caz of course,
Speaker 3: is gonna be out there a hundred percent of snaps.
Speaker 3: And I think he's kind of a limited player, but
Speaker 3: he's one of the ones you can trust the most.
Speaker 3: Same with Peterson. Wallace has gotten picked on. Those other
Speaker 3: guys need to step up or at least prove themselves.
Speaker 3: It's real, real frightening.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think I'd be more worried about the back end.
Speaker 2: If they're playing Tom Brady Burrow next week. Well, that's yeah,
Speaker 2: next week exactly. Maybe those guys are exactly No.
Speaker 3: You're right.
Speaker 2: The one that concerns me, this one is the inside
Speaker 2: linebacker thing, particularly the guy in the dime as you
Speaker 2: mentioned Landon Roberts.
Speaker 3: That's not his game. I thought Neil would be the
Speaker 3: dimebacker at least he did a lot of that early
Speaker 3: in his career.
Speaker 2: If he could play, If he could play, maybe that's
Speaker 2: what they would have done. But yet, right, and Michael
Speaker 2: Walker has said he's done everything. He was three years
Speaker 2: with the Falcons. I studied him a little bit now
Speaker 2: he said, had a real bizarre career path. This year
Speaker 2: he's with the Falcons in August, then he got released,
Speaker 2: picked up by the Bears, released picked up by the Raiders.
Speaker 2: He was actually on the Raiders practice squad when the
Speaker 2: Steelers were out there in September, and then he got
Speaker 2: released by the Raiders. And he's been in Pittsburgh since
Speaker 2: October the thirtieth, not long, not less.
Speaker 3: Than three weeks, just in time to hand out Halloween candy.
Speaker 3: That's about it.
Speaker 2: But he says he can, you know, get it done
Speaker 2: whenever they ask him to do. If I had to guess,
Speaker 2: I would say that Roberts is.
Speaker 3: Going to be the dime guy.
Speaker 2: Walker's probably the backup guy. But as I mentioned, he
Speaker 2: said he was starting Walker did or running with the
Speaker 2: first team on Wednesday, so he might see Roberts and
Speaker 2: Walker to start and then mix in some Mark Robinson,
Speaker 2: who is another thumper and again nice slow but steady
Speaker 2: trajectory to his career, but not the guy he went
Speaker 2: out there as the loan inside linebacker with sixty b's.
Speaker 3: I don't think the trust factor with Robinson is particularly high.
Speaker 3: I mean, when they drafted him, he was a seventh
Speaker 3: thrownd pick. He's been a linebacker for two years running
Speaker 3: back before that, and when they drafted him I said,
Speaker 3: he's a year away from being a year away, you know.
Speaker 3: I mean, he's a year away if it all goes well.
Speaker 3: I mean, that doesn't mean he's going to be a superstar.
Speaker 3: And even like the big AJ Dillon run, you know,
Speaker 3: they led up one big run on Sunday, Robinson comes
Speaker 3: screaming with his hair on fire, takes on the lead
Speaker 3: blocker as Dylan runs right past me. I mean, he's
Speaker 3: just he's more of a running back than a linebacker
Speaker 3: at this point. So real, real quick on Walker. He's long,
Speaker 3: he's six three ish, He's got some length to him
Speaker 3: and runs well on a straight line. He played well
Speaker 3: over seven hundred snaps for the Falcons last year and
Speaker 3: they just got better guys, you know, I mean, so
Speaker 3: he's been around the block. He's a little bit of
Speaker 3: a clunky change of direction guy, he was.
Speaker 2: I talked to him yesterday for five minutes, not much
Speaker 2: of a conversation, but the points that I took away
Speaker 2: from it. He was upset that the Falcons let him go,
Speaker 2: and he didn't see that coming, and he if he
Speaker 2: knows why, he didn't want to tell me why. He
Speaker 2: still want to talk about that. Okay, other than to
Speaker 2: say that it really has bothered him as he's gone
Speaker 2: on this journey of you know, okay, Bears, see you later, Raiders,
Speaker 2: see you later. Now he's in Pittsford, he's wondering why
Speaker 2: he's having to go through this at this stage of
Speaker 2: his career. But he was highly excited about how he's
Speaker 2: being coached in Pittsburgh and he thinks that, you know,
Speaker 2: maybe this is finally the right place at the right time.
Speaker 3: He's going to get a chance to reinvent it, get
Speaker 3: an opportunity invent his career. Yeah, I mean, he may
Speaker 3: play more than our listeners, bet you know. I mean,
Speaker 3: he might be out there a lot because he has
Speaker 3: been around the block. I mean again, Roberts probably will
Speaker 3: be the dimebacker. What's interesting about this team has been
Speaker 3: a little bit because of who they've played. They're really
Speaker 3: high in their base, you know, four defensive backs on
Speaker 3: the field, and they're really high in dime. They don't
Speaker 3: play a lot of nickel with two linebackers on the field.
Speaker 3: I would assume you keep that up, you know, like,
Speaker 3: I don't think you want two linebackers on the field
Speaker 3: unless it's thumper time. And this Browns team will bring
Speaker 3: in an extray lineman a lot, and they are very physical.
Speaker 3: Especially without Watson in there, You're gonna have a lot
Speaker 3: of heavy personnel on the field. I would say.
Speaker 2: I wanted to ask about that because I know a
Speaker 2: lot of times personnel deployment is based on what the
Speaker 2: other guys have in the huddle. But is this the
Speaker 2: kind of game where if you're Pittsburgh, you say, you
Speaker 2: know what we're playing Nickel today, not Din.
Speaker 3: That's what I was saying.
Speaker 2: And this isn't This isn't necessarily a down the field team, and.
Speaker 3: It's a speat that way, then so be it.
Speaker 2: It's going to exploit that with their quarterback making his
Speaker 2: second career start.
Speaker 3: Now, this isn't the worst game for Roberts to play
Speaker 3: one hundred percent snaps, No, you know what I mean?
Speaker 3: Next week, next it might not be so good.
Speaker 4: Right.
Speaker 3: But the other part of me.
Speaker 2: I still have PTSD from Ryan Shay's ear because the
Speaker 2: Steelers have been working so hard to try to find
Speaker 2: a guy ever since his unfortunate career ending injury, and
Speaker 2: they've gone through a litany of guys. It's not as
Speaker 2: long a list as the Browns started quarterbacks since nineteen
Speaker 2: ninety nine, but it's it's become a significant list.
Speaker 3: And this year, I mean they went out and got
Speaker 3: two guys. They did it right, and now they're both
Speaker 3: out of the picture, right right, But they got three guys.
Speaker 3: Two of them are out of the picture. You know,
Speaker 3: it was a turning into a strength of the team.
Speaker 2: But I mean the two Hulcombe and Alexander were the
Speaker 2: three down capable guys.
Speaker 3: Oh right, right, right, no doubt, no doubt.
Speaker 2: I mean guys you know the run the show, guys
Speaker 2: in the dime, which they really like the dime when
Speaker 2: they have a guy that can play dime.
Speaker 3: Yeah, exactly, And so it's a hard conversation to have.
Speaker 3: It's one of the things I'm key and on most
Speaker 3: is what do they do with snap counts? What do
Speaker 3: they do situationally if Neil's not out there. I mean
Speaker 3: I thought they could at least count on him to
Speaker 3: be an undersized dimebacker, you know, that could help get
Speaker 3: people aligned. And even Minka, I mean he's playing the
Speaker 3: box a lot this year, played a lot of them.
Speaker 3: You could do every an article about how he just
Speaker 3: puts out fires. Whatever you need him to do, he'll
Speaker 3: just go put out the fire. Although it's interesting to me.
Speaker 2: I mean it's been two games and change now he
Speaker 2: got hurt in the Jacksonville game, and you know, the
Speaker 2: wheels enough fallen off.
Speaker 3: No, on the back end, I got a little Green
Speaker 3: Bay with a little que sketchy on that last green
Speaker 3: Bay drive.
Speaker 2: But again you had Thompson out there and you had
Speaker 2: Elijah Riley out there, and it was just sort of,
Speaker 2: you know, hang on for dear life.
Speaker 3: At the end. I mean, I'm worried about communication and
Speaker 3: things like that. And frankly, it was a one game
Speaker 3: in my opinion green Bay, where I didn't think the
Speaker 3: pass rush held their end of the bargain up either.
Speaker 3: I thought that would have been better. I mean, Love
Speaker 3: was back there tapping the ball morning.
Speaker 2: I would have thought for Cleveland some potential concerns that
Speaker 2: Dwan Jones their number three tackle the first two are
Speaker 2: on ir but Jones wasn't able to play in the
Speaker 2: Browns victory in Baltimore last Sunday. He upgrades from did
Speaker 2: not practice to limited today. Denzel Ward, their best cornerback
Speaker 2: and one of the best in the business, upgraded from
Speaker 2: limited till full. But Juan Thornhill's safety hasn't practiced yet
Speaker 2: this week either with a calf injury. Neither Ward nor
Speaker 2: Thornhill finished the Baltimore game.
Speaker 3: Yeah, Thornhill and Jones, I think are the ones that
Speaker 3: really keep an eye on because Jones is really their
Speaker 3: third tackle. I mean they went in with Willis and
Speaker 3: Conklin their Wills and Conklin as their top two. Jones
Speaker 3: has been good. I think everyone's familiar with them. He's
Speaker 3: as big as a house, and you know he was
Speaker 3: out there against the Steelers the first go round. Thornhill's
Speaker 3: will do it all safety, but that defense is so loaded,
Speaker 3: I think they can survive without him.
Speaker 2: Steelers Preview is brought to you by Unibut. The only
Speaker 2: thing better than a Steelers win is a Steelers win
Speaker 2: that pays double down with your team. With Unibut, a
Speaker 2: proud partner of the Pittsburgh Steelers, by Brian Patton and Associates,
Speaker 2: It's all about the benefits and by the Steelers Pro Shop.
Speaker 2: Get it direct from the team at shop dot Steelers
Speaker 2: dot com. Matt Williamson and Mike pursuita here until eight
Speaker 2: o'clock tonight. We're just getting warmed up when we come
Speaker 2: back we will welcome our Factor back to the show
Speaker 2: and give the ball to Merril Hodge, so you're gonna
Speaker 2: want to keep it here for Merrill. This is Steelers
Speaker 2: Preview right here on your Steelers flagship one on two
Speaker 2: point five DVE and SNR.
Speaker 1: Back to the Steelers Preview Show presented by uni Bet
Speaker 1: on DVE.
Speaker 2: Welcome back to the Preview, Mike Pursuda and Matt Williamson
Speaker 2: with you till eight o'clock tonight getting ready for the
Speaker 2: Steelers and the Browns in Cleveland on Sunday.
Speaker 3: Steelers Preview is brought to you by a Unibt.
Speaker 2: The only thing better than a Steelers win is a
Speaker 2: Steelers win that pays double down on your team. With Unibet,
Speaker 2: a proud partner of the Pittsburgh Steelers by Brian Patton
Speaker 2: and associates. It's all about the benefits and by the
Speaker 2: Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct from the team at
Speaker 2: shop dot Steelers dot com. Time now to welcome our MVP,
Speaker 2: the Factor back, Merril Hodge to the program and Merril,
Speaker 2: we have a lot to unpack regarding the Steelers Browns rematch,
Speaker 2: but I wanted to start with a little historical perspective,
Speaker 2: a little nostalgia, if you will. We speak with Mike
Speaker 2: Taylor every week on the DVE Morning Show, and I
Speaker 2: talked about going to Cleveland as kind of a different
Speaker 2: deal than going to Baltimore or Cincinnati in terms of
Speaker 2: AFC North rivalries or AFC Central whatever it was back
Speaker 2: in the day. Uh, they're all intense, they're all hostile environments.
Speaker 2: But I said, there's nothing like Cleveland. Uh what do
Speaker 2: you recall from those trips to the old municipal stadium
Speaker 2: and coming up out of the dugout steps and not
Speaker 2: taking the field in front of the dog Pound.
Speaker 4: Well, I will tell you this, you could almost feel
Speaker 4: the history of football pass.
Speaker 5: In that stadium. I mean when you see that picture.
Speaker 4: Of that football player stand in the mud, dreary, cold day,
Speaker 4: a big trench code over and you know, tape cut
Speaker 4: up like that's I think that picture must have been
Speaker 4: taken in Cleveland. I mean right in that stadium. To
Speaker 4: Ike's point, though, I will say this, when we got
Speaker 4: the schedule, like most people look for Monday night games,
Speaker 4: Sunday night games, the first thing we look for is.
Speaker 5: Where yeah bye weeks right.
Speaker 4: The first thing we look for is like when do
Speaker 4: we play Cleveland? The first time I looked for when.
Speaker 3: Do we play Cleveland at Cleveland?
Speaker 4: That's uh yeah, at Cleveland, or when they come in here.
Speaker 5: It doesn't matter, but when do we play them? When
Speaker 5: do we play them?
Speaker 3: Can't what's the bus ride?
Speaker 4: Like?
Speaker 3: I mean that many places we can.
Speaker 4: Bust to, you know, very true story. Now this is
Speaker 4: a true story. Okay, listen. This is my rookie year.
Speaker 5: So that's nineteen eighty seven. And what happened in nineteen.
Speaker 4: Eighty seven is we were going to go on strike
Speaker 4: after our second game. Our second game, it's.
Speaker 5: Cleveland in Cleveland. Now, the nfl PA.
Speaker 4: Comes up with one of their many brilliant and I
Speaker 4: say that with a big asterisk around it. They're brilliant,
Speaker 4: brilliant moves during that whole operation, which they completely we screwed.
Speaker 5: The whole thing up. But that's another show. Another time.
Speaker 4: We're gonna all shake hands, we're gonna show unity, and
Speaker 4: we're gonna shake hands at halftime. There was only one
Speaker 4: game and only two teams that did not shake hands.
Speaker 3: I've heard this before.
Speaker 4: Ain't no way you're walking across that field and shaking
Speaker 4: their hands, and they were like, we ain't shaking their
Speaker 4: hands either, And I sat like, well, okay, it's mutual,
Speaker 4: so we ain't doing it. So you don't care what
Speaker 4: the NFL PA says.
Speaker 5: We don't care what you do.
Speaker 4: You're trying to create, we ain't creating it here, period.
Speaker 3: That's awesome. Who were like that defensive players at that point,
Speaker 3: like the top guys.
Speaker 4: Yeah, okay, these guys actually, in fact, the first guy
Speaker 4: I'm going to say, he's the one who taught me.
Speaker 4: I just if you're going to be successful in this league,
Speaker 4: if you're going to maximize your skill set, you have
Speaker 4: to be a smart cat.
Speaker 6: I don't care what position is. Because Clay Matthews I
Speaker 6: realized that man, that is that dude.
Speaker 4: I mean, he would he'd start barking out things, you know,
Speaker 4: you know, he's buy the guard trap your side. I
Speaker 4: mean just all these details of how we were lined up,
Speaker 4: and I'm like, oh my gosh, she knows, he knows
Speaker 4: what plays coming based on how we're lined up. I
Speaker 4: was like just unbelievable because I was in the huddle.
Speaker 4: I mean, he was calling all this stuff out and I'm.
Speaker 5: Like, how's he doing this?
Speaker 4: Like you know, it's like how's he know? And one
Speaker 4: time he because here's here was one of our rules.
Speaker 4: If we're gonna run a sweep, we cheat up and out.
Speaker 5: If we're going to.
Speaker 4: Run a trap, we we cheat back and get a
Speaker 4: little more depth. Well he uh, and then he called
Speaker 4: sweet sweet trap trap sweet coming inside, coming over to
Speaker 4: your chip. Chip Banks was the other guy on the
Speaker 4: other side. Okay, that ain't no joke, Chip Banks, ain't
Speaker 4: no joke. So well, what was the the DB's back then?
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, yeah, Dixon. I think it was Frankfield.
Speaker 4: Yeah, those guys and so they were there are holy lairs.
Speaker 4: But he I would literally come back.
Speaker 5: You know, he knows every player running.
Speaker 4: It doesn't matter what we do. And he one time
Speaker 4: we were about the twenty yard line and we were
Speaker 4: running sleep and he tells.
Speaker 5: Chips he's up, he's cheated up and out.
Speaker 4: It's like, so he used what we used like and
Speaker 4: I'm like, oh my gosh, he knows what we're doing
Speaker 4: by alignment.
Speaker 5: Got especially. I was like I went back to I
Speaker 5: get it. Well, we better change out.
Speaker 4: So then, you know, like most of fans would are
Speaker 4: just people want to appreciate like the details, like so, well,
Speaker 4: what you had to start doing is running plays where
Speaker 4: you cheated up and out rather it's a pass play
Speaker 4: or a or a trap backside. But you have to
Speaker 4: study yourself like that too. You have to be so
Speaker 4: meticulous of yourself, not just your opponent. Is what makes
Speaker 4: this league so unique, you know, and so hard and
Speaker 4: why I only about eighteen hundred line up every Sunday
Speaker 4: and play.
Speaker 3: You know that just a requirement.
Speaker 5: You know.
Speaker 4: When I was working with them and scouting, I put
Speaker 4: that as my one number one criteria because what I
Speaker 4: said about your skill set is let's just say you're
Speaker 4: not very your IQ is not there then, and you
Speaker 4: may be an incredible athlete, your athleticism is going to
Speaker 4: be cut in half. Then you will never maximize your
Speaker 4: athletic ability because you lack the intelligence to maximize it.
Speaker 4: I mean, we well this show, We have fun with this.
Speaker 4: Jadeveon Clowney is a great example. Jon cons will never
Speaker 4: maximize his god gifted abilities because of his instincts he
Speaker 4: lacks and his IQ of the.
Speaker 3: Game, Matthew's brain and toughness. He's the best player of
Speaker 3: all time, right and he's Laura sALS never miss.
Speaker 4: You may never stop that cat you know. I mean,
Speaker 4: you might serious, but it's you know, that's that's you know,
Speaker 4: there's a lot of guys like that. You know, they're
Speaker 4: just so athletically gifted. And you know that's why when
Speaker 4: I look at my my career. Here's the one thing
Speaker 4: I have peace with, I think I probays.
Speaker 5: This is really one of the things I talk about.
Speaker 4: A lot when I speak, is that one of the
Speaker 4: greatest personal gifts you could ever give yourself, and this
Speaker 4: is in any profession, is that you get everything out
Speaker 4: of your God given ability, like you max your talents,
Speaker 4: I mean, and wherever that leaves you, you should have
Speaker 4: peace with that.
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 4: Like when my career ended, I was I struggled because
Speaker 4: of how my career ended, but you know I was
Speaker 4: always going to go.
Speaker 1: Man.
Speaker 5: I never won Super.
Speaker 4: Bowl, you know, Walter Payton was my favorite player. I
Speaker 4: didn't come close to those numbers. And then I could
Speaker 4: give you all kinds of scenarios I'd.
Speaker 5: Create where I went failed.
Speaker 4: And it wasn't until I talked about really self reflection.
Speaker 4: I looked in the mirror one day and I'm like,
Speaker 4: wait a minute, I mean I was, I was prepared.
Speaker 4: I worked as hard as I could work. I trained
Speaker 4: as hard as I I took care of myself I
Speaker 4: was I was never not prepared and ready and gave
Speaker 4: my full exhausted my account. I'm like, oh my gosh.
Speaker 5: I got piece at that. I fin I had piece.
Speaker 4: I was like, I just didn't have the town of
Speaker 4: Walter Payton, you know. I didn't play on a team
Speaker 4: that won a Super Bowl. So I'm like, but I
Speaker 4: did my part. And I was like, ah, I find
Speaker 4: I had peace, you know, And then it really hit me,
Speaker 4: like fast thing. You know, there's some sense of beating
Speaker 4: yourself up for things that you you have no control over,
Speaker 4: you know, and that's that I brought me peace finally,
Speaker 4: that I got the most out of my God given abilities.
Speaker 4: I tell people that you do that, you exhaust that
Speaker 4: a peace. I don't care where you are, You're excellent
Speaker 4: because that is a great gift you can give yourself.
Speaker 3: Meryl. Let's fast forward to Sunday.
Speaker 2: The Steelers came out of that Packers game after they
Speaker 2: rushed for two hundred and five yards on the heels
Speaker 2: of rushing for one hundred and sixty six yards against Tennessee,
Speaker 2: thinking that they have got the running game figured out
Speaker 2: and they can run the football.
Speaker 3: They think that's part of their identity. It's something they
Speaker 3: can hang their hat on.
Speaker 2: Talk to Kenny Picket about that, Nagie Harris about that,
Speaker 2: Mason Cole about that. Can they run it against Cleveland?
Speaker 4: Well, okay, this is how you know how good you are,
Speaker 4: because you do need to run against good Now. Listen,
Speaker 4: the Ravens did some good things against them, you know,
Speaker 4: and you can clearly take some of the stuff you
Speaker 4: saw them struggle with and match that with all the
Speaker 4: things that they're doing right now because they're doing a
Speaker 4: mix of things. They're doing zone stuff, they're doing man stuff.
Speaker 4: You know, they're pulling people, they are on the strong side,
Speaker 4: they're running weak side, they're on the perimeter, they're right
Speaker 4: at you. So this, to me is the litman's test
Speaker 4: for that. If they can do it here, it would
Speaker 4: be the greatest boost of confidence they could possibly have,
Speaker 4: and it's how they can win this division. It's the
Speaker 4: only phase in football that affects both sides of the ball.
Speaker 4: There's no other phase in football that does that. You know,
Speaker 4: the passing game does not the fact the defense like
Speaker 4: the running game does. The running game, when done well,
Speaker 4: and you're controlling you do Number one, you control the
Speaker 4: tempo of the game, which is most critical to win
Speaker 4: consistently in our league. You then make play calling and
Speaker 4: passing the ball much easier. You reduce the number of
Speaker 4: steps of your defense faces and how many times they
Speaker 4: got to come on the field, and oftentimes they're not
Speaker 4: in a deficit that they're dealing with. So if they
Speaker 4: can do that, which I think they have to in
Speaker 4: this game, and you try to put some burden on
Speaker 4: that their quarterback that they're starting, you've got a good
Speaker 4: chance to win this one. But that is going to
Speaker 4: be their recipe to win a division is how well
Speaker 4: they're committed to that. How well can they do that
Speaker 4: against everybody they face from here on out.
Speaker 3: So, Meryl, you mentioned, you know, how they're running the football.
Speaker 3: I wanted to expand on that a little bit. You know,
Speaker 3: my observations are fewer condensed formations. You know, they're running
Speaker 3: out of eleven personnel. But kind of asking Alan Robinson
Speaker 3: almost to be a move blocking, tight end edge guy.
Speaker 3: I mean, he's not just you know, playing patty Cake
Speaker 3: with nickel corners. They're obviously pulling guys a lot more.
Speaker 3: You know the the guards and Jones, and I think
Speaker 3: they're getting their running backs who both are playing really well,
Speaker 3: moving with some momentum before they even get the football
Speaker 3: a little bit more too.
Speaker 5: Now there's no doubt.
Speaker 4: I mean, you nailed it on a bunch of fronts,
Speaker 4: you know. I just think that their mixture in the way.
Speaker 5: Listen, I love.
Speaker 4: The pin poll type of runs where you because it
Speaker 4: gives your guys angles at bandage offense when you have
Speaker 4: a guy like a tackle that can pull and block
Speaker 4: like Jones is doing. Man, you talk about flexibility in
Speaker 4: your running attack, and you get him on a linebacker
Speaker 4: or you're going to win that time. Those battles and
Speaker 4: you're right. Eleven gets in there and I mean he
Speaker 4: gets his nose dirty.
Speaker 5: You know. He doesn't come in there and.
Speaker 4: Patty cakes stuff. He goes in there to block people.
Speaker 4: He gets people done. He gets a job done. Tight
Speaker 4: ends have done a better job. Eight He's done such
Speaker 4: a better job and that has helped this running game.
Speaker 4: And backs are finishing, you know, backs are breaking tackles,
Speaker 4: says you listen. The running lanes they have now they
Speaker 4: didn't have for five weeks, you know, and they have
Speaker 4: some They've had some massive holes and I'm just saying
Speaker 4: that this they do have a good enough running attack
Speaker 4: and versatility.
Speaker 5: That I do believe they will be able to well,
Speaker 5: they run on them.
Speaker 4: On Cleveland like they did backers know, but this running
Speaker 4: game I believe will be a significant a significant part
Speaker 4: of how this game truly plays out, you know, and
Speaker 4: if they, if they played to the level I think
Speaker 4: they are cable of running the football, that they can
Speaker 4: win this game because of their running game.
Speaker 3: Browns are probably thinking the same thing, Meryl.
Speaker 2: They're pretty good still without as Mike Tommin calls him,
Speaker 2: mister Chubb, haven't really slowed down. Jerome Ford gets it done,
Speaker 2: Kareem Hunt gets it done, and they're more than happy
Speaker 2: to put in an extra tackle as a tight end,
Speaker 2: the backup center as the fullback and put a turn
Speaker 2: on a knee on sign that says we're running the football,
Speaker 2: and they run it anyway. H Is it too simplistic
Speaker 2: to think that with the quarterback situation what it is,
Speaker 2: they're going to run the football Sunday?
Speaker 5: Yeah.
Speaker 4: Well, I'll say if there are some obvious things in
Speaker 4: this game, that would be one of them. Because I
Speaker 4: don't see how I don't know if you guys got
Speaker 4: to watch the quarterback play against the Ravens.
Speaker 5: Honestly, it was the most enjoyable tape I've.
Speaker 4: Seen all year. I have never seen a quarterback play
Speaker 4: so loose and so reckless and so carefree and and
Speaker 4: I can't tell you, I don't know if I've ever
Speaker 4: seen it.
Speaker 5: I mean, that guy through.
Speaker 4: Play balls where you were like, therey, no way he's
Speaker 4: making that throw.
Speaker 5: He chucked things up. I mean he was.
Speaker 4: They should have intercepted. They had six times that had
Speaker 4: the ball hands on the ball six six And there
Speaker 4: were some throws that I mean were just like, he
Speaker 4: is not going to make this throw right now?
Speaker 5: Oh yeah he is? Oh yeah. I was like, I'd
Speaker 5: love to know what's.
Speaker 4: Going on in this kid's head right now, because.
Speaker 5: He is just fearless. He either fearless or he has
Speaker 5: no clue what he's doing.
Speaker 4: He does, Yeah, it was probably it's started right there
Speaker 4: in the middle, and I'm just like, because he made
Speaker 4: some stuff that you know, I'm just like, oh my gosh,
Speaker 4: he had absolutely no boundaries none, And right after the
Speaker 4: ball had bounce off one defender's and he come right
Speaker 4: back and make the same another throw that would just
Speaker 4: blow your mind, and he almost picked that one.
Speaker 5: He never blinked out. Man, I know those coaches are like,
Speaker 5: oh my gosh, they're.
Speaker 4: Probably a booth losing their minds over this kid. That
Speaker 4: being said, there is no doubt that they're trying not
Speaker 4: to let him go. The football is as bimble as possible,
Speaker 4: and when they do, I'm sure that they will, you know.
Speaker 4: You know, they're really good at screens, like I expect
Speaker 4: to see at least six seven, maybe eight screens in
Speaker 4: this game, from a variety of places on the field,
Speaker 4: in a variety of players doing it in a variety
Speaker 4: of ways.
Speaker 2: Is that just means that's what they do or they
Speaker 2: want to attack what Pittsburgh doesn't have an inside linebacker and.
Speaker 3: The Joku gets along them too.
Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly the tied ending exactly right.
Speaker 5: Actually it could be Mike.
Speaker 4: That's a good point.
Speaker 5: A part of that, why why not.
Speaker 4: Make those guys play in areas that there's gonna be
Speaker 4: some guys but that's not their strengths. You know, I
Speaker 4: don't know who will start it inside, you know, and
Speaker 4: I don't know who they have it behind those guys.
Speaker 4: But that's a that's a bounded area right now for
Speaker 4: that defense is those inside guys, and those guys are
Speaker 4: pivotal in the screen game. So, but it's actually twofold.
Speaker 5: Cleveland does it a lot, and they're very good at it,
Speaker 5: and it's a safe pass.
Speaker 4: He got a young guy, and let's see if those
Speaker 4: guys could play that area. It kind of favors Cleveland,
Speaker 4: you know, why not. I mean, let's not try to
Speaker 4: throw it down the field right now. Let's you know,
Speaker 4: we maybe pick a moment or two there, but for
Speaker 4: the majority, I think it's run in that short passing
Speaker 4: game with the screen game being emphasis.
Speaker 3: So, Maria, we talked a lot about can the Steelers
Speaker 3: run on the Browns? Can they throw on the Browns?
Speaker 4: Well, I would say this, I do believe that they
Speaker 4: can run on the Browns.
Speaker 5: I'm just gonna not to the degree they.
Speaker 4: Have they did last week, but I do believe they
Speaker 4: can run on the Browns enough to make the Browns.
Speaker 3: Not like it.
Speaker 4: And if that happens, then yes, they'll have some opportunities
Speaker 4: in the passing game and it'll just make that that
Speaker 4: area much easier on.
Speaker 3: Them when they passed.
Speaker 2: Merrill, the point you made on the morning show about
Speaker 2: Kenny Pickett having first down eyes as supposed to touchdown eyes.
Speaker 2: Do you think the coaches tried to alter his vision
Speaker 2: a little bit?
Speaker 3: This week?
Speaker 2: I talked with Deontay Johnson then Pickett about that obvious
Speaker 2: play that he missed the third down late in the
Speaker 2: third quarter against Green Bay where he checked it down
Speaker 2: to Jalen Warren and Johnson was breaking free right off
Speaker 2: the snap on the left side of the field. You know,
Speaker 2: Johnson said he wished he would have seen him. It
Speaker 2: would have been a touchdown. Pickett said he wished he
Speaker 2: would have seen him. Can something like that spark a
Speaker 2: little incentive to maybe not be so moniacally focused on
Speaker 2: your pre snap read and maybe let it unfold for
Speaker 2: a second or second and a half before you decide.
Speaker 4: You know, something we didn't talk about that happened that
Speaker 4: I forgot of why. I think Kenny opted there, and
Speaker 4: it was more of a I think he kind of
Speaker 4: was he he was predetermining how things were gonna turn
Speaker 4: out based on how the linebacker was lined up, because
Speaker 4: he was lined up at the line of scrimmage at
Speaker 4: a blitzed position, and he knew he was gonna practic
Speaker 4: get rid of football quickly because he thought that linebacker
Speaker 4: was coming, and I think he made up his mind
Speaker 4: that it was gonna happen.
Speaker 5: And what he didn't do is he.
Speaker 4: Didn't adjust it when it didn't happen. Now, all that
Speaker 4: being said, sure, I don't think there's any question. I
Speaker 4: think Kenny's smart enough that you go, you learn from that.
Speaker 4: You look at that, and he realizes, Okay, I can't
Speaker 4: predetermine things just because they're in a blitz. Look, that
Speaker 4: doesn't mean they're gonna blitz. And I can't predetermine that
Speaker 4: I'm just gonna throw it to the flat, because that's
Speaker 4: almost how it looked.
Speaker 5: I actually went back.
Speaker 4: To look at it and I was like, you know,
Speaker 4: why did he do that? And then I shoot that
Speaker 4: linebackers up in the A gap, you know, and I'm like, oh,
Speaker 4: that's why he did it. And he got out of
Speaker 4: there quick too.
Speaker 5: You know, he got that quick, got to the flat.
Speaker 4: I know what Kenny was thinking, Shoot'm gonna get that
Speaker 4: flat and we're the first down number one, and he
Speaker 4: didn't even think about looking at that go. But now
Speaker 4: his scope has been widened to other things to think about.
Speaker 5: And I think Kenny's.
Speaker 4: Smart enough that if he sees something like that next time,
Speaker 4: he's not going to predetermine things. He'll let it play
Speaker 4: out and fill the ball where where it needs to go.
Speaker 2: I mean, if this this happens one or two times
Speaker 2: a game, if you hit those, it dramatically.
Speaker 3: Changes, doesn't I mean, no doubt.
Speaker 2: It's not like they got to come out and be
Speaker 2: the greatest show on turf. I think they just got
Speaker 2: to hit the gas a couple more times.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 5: Now, keep in mind, that's what he has kind of done.
Speaker 4: Even though he's he's missed throws earlier in games, you know,
Speaker 4: at the end when it mattered, he's made them.
Speaker 3: Yes, yes, he has, you know.
Speaker 4: I mean that that's the one thing he has done.
Speaker 4: So I still put my money on it on the
Speaker 4: kid that you know when it when it comes down
Speaker 4: to it and the throw that really has to be made,
Speaker 4: it's going to be the difference in the game.
Speaker 3: He'll make it for you some merrils you might have
Speaker 3: figured out recently. I kind of like my stat you know,
Speaker 3: it's a fun little project I do. And the thing
Speaker 3: I can't get did you realize, Wow, I had some
Speaker 3: extra time? Impressive. I'm proud of you.
Speaker 7: We'll talk about that later, by the way. That's incredible work,
Speaker 7: by the way, like a little side project Holy count.
Speaker 7: But anyway, the thing I can't get over, I'm with you,
Speaker 7: fan of it. Thing I can't get over though, is
Speaker 7: the Steelers' opponents have run seventy five more plays than
Speaker 7: the Steelers. I mean, that's more than a whole football game.
Speaker 7: But the Browns have run one hundred and sixty six
Speaker 7: more plays than their opponents. That's like two and a
Speaker 7: half football games.
Speaker 3: Like something's got to give here, you know, Like you
Speaker 3: watch that Ravens Browns game and people were like, how
Speaker 3: did the Browns pull that thing out? Well, they got
Speaker 3: some bounces, but they ran twenty five more plays than
Speaker 3: the Ravens, you know, Like that's I just look at
Speaker 3: the Browns as a body blow team. They're gonna take
Speaker 3: it fifteen rounds and they're gonna punch you in the
Speaker 3: gut a million times and if you're still standing at
Speaker 3: the end, best of luck.
Speaker 4: H Well, that's why that's what that that actually has
Speaker 4: to be the Steelers mindset, and that's why this this
Speaker 4: to me is a fist fight at the fifty Who's
Speaker 4: whoever's gonna win, is gonna win that fist fight at
Speaker 4: the fifty because and who's gonna blink? You know, And
Speaker 4: and Mike, to your point, might come down to that,
Speaker 4: you know what quarterback can compliment that running attack and
Speaker 4: fire and and make that one throw that opens it
Speaker 4: up or seals the deal.
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 4: I still put my money on Kenny in this, in this,
Speaker 4: in this, in this, in this battle. But that's the
Speaker 4: same mindset if he keep in mind when they played him,
Speaker 4: you know, was it was a week two.
Speaker 5: I mean, they fist fight.
Speaker 4: They went to the fifties, but they didn't really have
Speaker 4: a fist to fight.
Speaker 3: They didn't get inside the thirty.
Speaker 4: Yeah, at they can. They now though, have have a
Speaker 4: running game that can fight with, you know, and this
Speaker 4: will be in the test.
Speaker 5: I mean, this will really be a.
Speaker 4: Great test form to see if if they're in that
Speaker 4: league at that upper echelon with that ability to run.
Speaker 3: But the Steelers have to be that body blow team.
Speaker 3: They have to do exactly what we just said. No,
Speaker 3: that has to be their formula.
Speaker 5: Completely agree, completely agree, That's what I'm telling you.
Speaker 4: Mine set already at the fiftieth period.
Speaker 3: I'm looking forward to Meryl hey Man.
Speaker 4: Brother, no handshaking a hat over at the at.
Speaker 3: The no signs of unity.
Speaker 4: Yeah we are not united.
Speaker 2: Rock fight, fist fight at the fifty bar, brawl, whatever
Speaker 2: you want to call it, AFC North Football, Meryl, great stuff.
Speaker 2: We'll talk to you next Wednesday as we get it
Speaker 2: in a day early because of Thanksgiving. Getting ready for
Speaker 2: the Steelers and the Bengals.
Speaker 4: Awesome go Steelers boys, great time have with you.
Speaker 2: See guys, Meryl Hodge Here on the preview, which is
Speaker 2: brought to you by uni bet. The only thing better
Speaker 2: than the Steelers win is the Steelers win that pay
Speaker 2: double down on your team with uni Bet, a proud
Speaker 2: partner of the It'sburgh Steelers by Brian Patton and Associates.
Speaker 2: It's all about the benefits and by the Steelers Pro Shop.
Speaker 2: Get it direct from the team at shop dot Steelers
Speaker 2: dot Com. One more segment to go, so keep it
Speaker 2: here with Matt Williamson Mike Pursuit of This is Steelers
Speaker 2: Preview right here on your Steelers flagship. One of two
Speaker 2: point five DVE E and SNR.
Speaker 1: Back to the Steelers Preview Show presented by Unibet on.
Speaker 3: DVE Welcome back to the preview brought to you by unibitt.
Speaker 2: The only thing better than a Steelers win is a
Speaker 2: Steelers win that pays double down on your team. With
Speaker 2: Unibut it proud partner of the Pittsburgh Steelers by Brian
Speaker 2: Patton and Associates. It's all about the benefits and by
Speaker 2: the Steelers Pro Shop get it direct from the team
Speaker 2: at shop dot Steelers dot Com. Mike Pursuita and Matt
Speaker 2: Williamson wrapping things up this segment as we continue getting
Speaker 2: you ready for the Steelers and the Browns in Cleveland.
Speaker 2: This Sunday Are What to Expect segment is brought to
Speaker 2: you by Brian Patton and Associates. It's all about the benefits, Matt.
Speaker 2: What are you expecting Sunday in Cleveland?
Speaker 3: Not a lot of points. And one big thing that
Speaker 3: I'm harping on is I think, as we talked about
Speaker 3: with Merrill, these teams want to play a similar brand,
Speaker 3: you know. I mean, there's a very good defensive fronts,
Speaker 3: good pass rushes. I think the Steeler edge guys in
Speaker 3: front have a big advantage in the passing game. But
Speaker 3: one thing that stands out for me in a negative
Speaker 3: manner if from looking through a Browns lens is it
Speaker 3: doesn't matter who their quarterback is. All three of them
Speaker 3: have held the ball. They have not been accurate. But
Speaker 3: more importantly, the offense turns the ball over a lot
Speaker 3: for Cleveland. And that's the one thing that the Steelers
Speaker 3: don't do. I mean, knock on wood. Hopefully that keeps up.
Speaker 3: They have their formula, but if you're gonna play these
Speaker 3: close to the vest type games, you can't have the
Speaker 3: turnovers that Cleveland's had this year. Yeah, I expect the
Speaker 3: Steelers to run the ball.
Speaker 2: It was interesting here in Merrill's take on that, and
Speaker 2: I agree with them. This is the litmus test.
Speaker 3: It's a great call.
Speaker 2: Yeah, First, overall defense, first against the past.
Speaker 8: They're only seventh against the run, so somebody's running the.
Speaker 3: Ball on them.
Speaker 2: But I just I like what I've seen these last
Speaker 2: two weeks. I think it's invigorated them. I think it's
Speaker 2: gotten their confidence up. I think they're starting to feel
Speaker 2: it the way they did last year when they came
Speaker 2: out of the buy and they filed the running game.
Speaker 2: They have been working for this and trying to find this.
Speaker 2: I think Broderick Jones deserves a lot of the credit
Speaker 2: for it. But to your point about Alan Robinson, you know,
Speaker 2: doing dirty work, ticking his face in the fan. Robinson
Speaker 2: was acknowledged by Matt Cannon of the offensive coordinator today
Speaker 2: for the great works, you know, the subtle things that
Speaker 2: a lot of people might not see. I think the
Speaker 2: Steelers can run the ball in this game. They're gonna
Speaker 2: have to run the ball if they're gonna win it.
Speaker 2: But Matt, I wanted to get back to that turnover
Speaker 2: point because I think it's maybe more significant than some
Speaker 2: of us, definitely myself are giving it credit for.
Speaker 3: I told you I did read your stats this week.
Speaker 3: I'm impressed. I mean it's only taking what eleven weeks
Speaker 3: that pounded you.
Speaker 2: Had some time plus ten on the turnover differential for
Speaker 2: Pittsburgh tied with Cincinnati for the best in the NFL.
Speaker 2: The Browns are minus four. Cleveland has turned the ball
Speaker 2: over nineteen times, the most in the NFL. The Steelers
Speaker 2: defense has created the most turnovers in the NFL eighteen. Now,
Speaker 2: a lot of people have looked at the Steelers teams, Oh,
Speaker 2: they're they're historic in getting out gained every game to
Speaker 2: this point and still winning and they're not doing this.
Speaker 3: They're not doing that in the years. Blah blah blah. Right, turnovers,
Speaker 3: pretty big deal, Pretty big deal. You know.
Speaker 2: Traditionally, the team that turns it over fewer times than
Speaker 2: its opponent wins the game. First time these two teams played,
Speaker 2: the Browns turned it over four times, two of them
Speaker 2: ended up in the Browns end zone. Steelers turned it
Speaker 2: over two times now, which is a lot for the Steelers.
Speaker 2: I'm all for Kenny Pickett taking more shots and getting
Speaker 2: more aggressive and either seeing more of these one on
Speaker 2: one shots they're developing, or or pulling the trigger.
Speaker 3: But not Sunday Sunday.
Speaker 2: Protect the Yeah, let the Browns and their rookie quarterback
Speaker 2: make the critical mistake. And I think this is something
Speaker 2: that has proved to be sustainable, and I think something
Speaker 2: Steels deserve a little credit for that. They're clearly maniacally
Speaker 2: committed to this protect the ball thing, and it's working
Speaker 2: for him.
Speaker 3: They're winning games because of it. Yeah, it's something Dale
Speaker 3: Allie and I have been really harping on on the
Speaker 3: Drive this week. Is First off, Mike Tomlin has a
Speaker 3: tremendous record against rookie quarterbacks and as Merrill mentioned this
Speaker 3: guy was way over his head in his first appearance.
Speaker 3: But the other thing we keep talking about too is
Speaker 3: Steeler drives this week. If they ended a kick of
Speaker 3: any sort of any sort, that's fine by me. You know,
Speaker 3: Boz is going to be huge, punting it deep in
Speaker 3: their end. Making this offense go a long distance against
Speaker 3: the Steelers pass rush and all the things that dead
Speaker 3: entails is a chore for these guys. So kick it away,
Speaker 3: kick it away, play physical, don't let them have twenty
Speaker 3: five more snaps at the end of the game, and
Speaker 3: you're you know, fighting for air, you know. Yeah.
Speaker 2: One of the things I've since just interacting with people
Speaker 2: on social media or you know, however that occurs. People
Speaker 2: are frustrated to a degree because they're projecting to January
Speaker 2: already and thinking, well, they're never going to go win
Speaker 2: to Kansas City and win if they're playing like this.
Speaker 3: Let's jump off that bridge when we come to it,
Speaker 3: you know, right, yeah, right, you got to get there first.
Speaker 2: And I think going into Cleveland and winning a game,
Speaker 2: I don't know how many teams have a road victory
Speaker 2: over a six and three team this year.
Speaker 3: Yeah, right, right, right, let's let's worry about the division.
Speaker 2: A win by any means necessary would be a quality win,
Speaker 2: even if it's an ugly rock fight.
Speaker 3: Punt the ball exactly what's going to belfield position? You know,
Speaker 3: Kenny's not gonna throw for three hundred and five touchdowns
Speaker 3: in this game. That's not going to happen, but he
Speaker 3: might win another Matt's stat. There we go.
Speaker 2: When Kenny Pickett throws an interception, the Steelers are two
Speaker 2: and six.
Speaker 3: His whole career. When he does not throw an interception,
Speaker 3: they are eleven and three.
Speaker 8: I think that's unbelievably telling me, all right, two and
Speaker 8: six stinks eleven fast.
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's one pick.
Speaker 2: So maybe that's why they're so maniacally dedicated to not
Speaker 2: turning the football over.
Speaker 3: I'm sure you've had this conversation a lot too, But
Speaker 3: I get asked, well, are they holding Kenny's development back?
Speaker 3: They're just trying to win on Sundays. Winning is great
Speaker 3: for his development and the faith of its teammates. And
Speaker 3: you know, people are worried about big picture of him
Speaker 3: turning into the next Hall of Fame quarterback. I think
Speaker 3: they're just worried about beating the Browns on Sunday and
Speaker 3: not throwing picks is the way to do that.
Speaker 2: You mentioned the rookie quarterback thing, and uh, you know,
Speaker 2: I think it's significant. Now most teams probably have a
Speaker 2: good record against rookie quarterbacks.
Speaker 3: Of course I haven't. I haven't studied it to that degree.
Speaker 2: But since the nineteen seventy AFL NFL merger, Steelers are
Speaker 2: forty nine and fourteen against the rookie quarterback. That's a
Speaker 2: winning percentage of point seven seven eight. Mike tomlin record
Speaker 2: against rookie quarterbacks is twenty four and five. That's a
Speaker 2: winning percentage of point eight to eight. That is the
Speaker 2: highest for any coach since the nineteen seventy AFL NFL merger.
Speaker 3: Including Belichick.
Speaker 2: So if you know, maybe the other teams are doing
Speaker 2: well in this circumstance. Yeah, also, but Tomlin's doing better
Speaker 2: at that than anybody else. They're ten to one in
Speaker 2: their last eleven, the Steelers twenty three and four in
Speaker 2: their last twenty seven.
Speaker 3: CJ.
Speaker 2: Stroud, that didn't work out this year, right, But it's
Speaker 2: a pretty good player. I think we realized by now.
Speaker 3: CJ. Stroud's not your average bear rookie quarterback. Now and
Speaker 3: Dale did the research. Actually, he's like, boy, I bet
Speaker 3: a bunch of those Tomlin ones are against Brown's rookie quarterbacks. Yeah,
Speaker 3: and they are. And the only time that they lost
Speaker 3: to a Brown's rookie quarterback was Brandon Whedon, who's about
Speaker 3: my age, and the Steelers fumbled eight times in that game. Yeah,
Speaker 3: you know. So it doesn't mean history's gonna repeat itself
Speaker 3: on Sunday, but it's a pretty good trend. And you
Speaker 3: know the beat Will Levis.
Speaker 2: I think you could throw Jordan Love in there, even
Speaker 2: though he's not a rookie, but in terms of in
Speaker 2: helmet experience, he's a rookie.
Speaker 3: Yeah what started what ten period? Eleven games?
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, this is something I think that they're gonna
Speaker 2: need to.
Speaker 3: Take advantage of it if they're going to win this game. Yeah,
Speaker 3: and again dtr looked very overwhelmed in his first game
Speaker 3: against a good defense, and I'm sure they'll throw a
Speaker 3: lot at him, and boy, I sure wish I had
Speaker 3: my starting tackles if I were them.
Speaker 2: I didn't go back and look at that one, but
Speaker 2: I was interested to hear Meryll talking about the recklessness
Speaker 2: or the aggressiveness of every you want to look at it.
Speaker 2: But in that game, the Browns thought Deshaun Watson was
Speaker 2: going to play.
Speaker 3: And then at the last minute he did not correct.
Speaker 2: Kevin Stefanski has been emphasizing in Cleveland this week that
Speaker 2: it's the week, the entirety of the preparation that's going
Speaker 2: to make a difference.
Speaker 3: I've heard that, but from what my memories of that week,
Speaker 3: I don't think Watson practiced at all. Now, but I
Speaker 3: think they were kind of counting on them. But somebody
Speaker 3: must have practiced with a lot. We could have been Walker.
Speaker 3: I don't know then why would they have given Walker
Speaker 3: than not? Because I found Jay Walker. I did a
Speaker 3: lot of Walker homework. He's really bad. Yeah, so this
Speaker 3: is the right move for them, but.
Speaker 2: I think it is too and I don't know that.
Speaker 2: I think if I'm them, I know what I have
Speaker 2: in Walker. I don't know what I have in the
Speaker 2: other guy. So I'm gonna go with I don't know
Speaker 2: as opposed to not good enough.
Speaker 3: He had a really good preseason. Yeah, and he's a
Speaker 3: nice cheap backup for Watson, which is exactly what they
Speaker 3: need because he's a sixty four million dollar cap hit
Speaker 3: the next two years. So that's why they traded Josh Dobbs,
Speaker 3: because they liked this kid that much, you know, which,
Speaker 3: I'm sure they regret the moment, but such as well,
Speaker 3: there's probably a lot of Josh Dobbs regret going around
Speaker 3: right about now. Sure, sure, yeah, I can't explain that.
Speaker 3: I can't explain that either. I saw him practice a
Speaker 3: lot here, and I never thought he'd be this guy.
Speaker 3: I'm never once I still think he's gonna turn into
Speaker 3: a pumpkin.
Speaker 2: Well he may well, but yeah, he's already had his
Speaker 2: fifteen minute I unbelievable.
Speaker 3: Great for him. He is what fourth team in the
Speaker 3: twenty twenty three calendar year.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, it's remarkable. I mean it's like Tennessee scratching
Speaker 2: its head right about now. In Cleveland, maybe a little
Speaker 2: bit of head scratching on the south side maybe maybe,
Speaker 2: I think Arizona maybe they're.
Speaker 3: Not as interested in winning as uh, perhaps they are.
Speaker 2: But yeah, do you remember much of your draft prep
Speaker 2: on Dorian Thompson Robinson. Yeah, yeah, I mean I remember
Speaker 2: phenomenal stats at UCLA, but two hundred and three pounds
Speaker 2: really turned me off.
Speaker 3: Yeah, me too. He is very athletic. He's in the
Speaker 3: Watson Mold you know, the michelob ultra version. Of course,
Speaker 3: he is slight, he's built like a wide receiver, runs
Speaker 3: really well. He was very experienced at UCLA. I mean,
Speaker 3: he was there a long time and got better and
Speaker 3: better and better. And I'm sure some pit people remember
Speaker 3: him in the Bowl game, you know. So I think
Speaker 3: he's a long term backup. I mean, and his preseason
Speaker 3: was impressive.
Speaker 2: That's gonna do it for us tonight. Reminder programming note,
Speaker 2: next week we come at you on Wednesday night because
Speaker 2: a week from tonight is Thanksgiving Night, so we're not
Speaker 2: going to do the show then. But but we'll get
Speaker 2: that Bengals preview in on Wednesday after this Sunday's game
Speaker 2: in Cleveland. Until then, Thanks to everyone for finding us,
Speaker 2: however and wherever you found us. Thanks to Justin Miller
Speaker 2: for running the controls as expertly.
Speaker 3: As he always does. For Matt Williamson.
Speaker 2: A Mike pursuit of this has been Steelers Preview, brought
Speaker 2: to you by Uni Bet. The only thing better than
Speaker 2: the Steelers win is the Steelers win. To pay double
Speaker 2: down on your team with Uni Bet, a proud partner
Speaker 2: of the Pittsburgh Steelers by Brian Patton and associates. It's
Speaker 2: all about the benefits and by the Steelers Pro Shop.
Speaker 2: Get it direct from the team at shop dot Steelers
Speaker 2: dot com. We'll talk to you again next week. Until then,
Speaker 2: good night everyone,