Speaker 1: At least is the Drive with Dale Lolly and Matt
Speaker 1: Williamson on your twenty four to seven home of the
Speaker 1: Black and Gold in Steelers Nation Radio.
Speaker 2: And welcome to the Drive. I am Dale Lolly, he
Speaker 2: is Ze Matt Williamson, and it is a Friday here
Speaker 2: in Pittsburgh and there's no game this weekend because Steelers
Speaker 2: played three games eleven days or ten days or whatever.
Speaker 2: Somebody point it's ten days. I don't care. It's three
Speaker 2: games in less than two weeks. Yeah, that's what the
Speaker 2: reality is here. So Matt, I thought today we go
Speaker 2: through there are some questions on our YouTube. Okay, you
Speaker 2: know here Soccer we answer some of these questions on here.
Speaker 2: I also want to comment on some of the comments
Speaker 2: that were made on here.
Speaker 3: Okay, all right.
Speaker 2: Now Steelers Nation Australia, which we appreciate, so fellaws, you
Speaker 2: need to read the positive comments. Also, I do we
Speaker 2: do read the I do I read. Matt doesn't read
Speaker 2: it at all.
Speaker 4: So I've been there, but infrequent, say the least. And hey,
Speaker 4: you guys are all wonderful. I'm looking right in the
Speaker 4: camera actually, but ten years of writing for ESPN dot com,
Speaker 4: I stay away from the comments more often than not.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I go in les.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I go in and interact because that's just what
Speaker 2: I do. And sometimes we'll get into it. So, yes,
Speaker 2: we read the negati or the positive comments, read the
Speaker 2: negative comments.
Speaker 3: I will rest you swell.
Speaker 2: I will many times reply to the negative comments more
Speaker 2: because oftentimes, well, A, they're attacking me, and B I'm
Speaker 2: not going to let somebody put out something their truth
Speaker 2: when it's not reality. For example, today somebody said in
Speaker 2: a comment to me, let's not why is it.
Speaker 3: The question?
Speaker 2: Original question? Why does it feel like Andy Reid is
Speaker 2: playing chess and the Steelers are playing rock paper scissors,
Speaker 2: to which I replied, Andy Reid wasn't playing as much
Speaker 2: chess when he didn't have Patrick Mahomes, true, to which
Speaker 2: somebody then replied, Dale, do not do this. Andy ree
Speaker 2: was a winning was winning playoff games and playing in
Speaker 2: championships games before Mahomes, which is not true. He made
Speaker 2: conference championships in the NFC in his early.
Speaker 3: Day with the Eagles.
Speaker 2: Yeah, he then went ten years ten years, his last
Speaker 2: few seasons with the Eagles and his first six or
Speaker 2: seven seasons with Kansas City, a ten year period in
Speaker 2: which he went to and four in the playoffs.
Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, yeah, I always thought he was during that
Speaker 4: stretch pre Mahomes, he was at the Harbaugh Tomlin Peyton
Speaker 4: level in that neighborhood. Now he's up to the Belichick world.
Speaker 4: You know what's changed since maybe the best quarterback ever
Speaker 4: and Belichick might have had the other one, which doesn't
Speaker 4: hurt either.
Speaker 2: That makes it look better. I have all the respect
Speaker 2: in the I think I have all the respect in world. Friend,
Speaker 2: you Reid. I think they're both excellent football coaches. But
Speaker 2: you look a hell of a lot smarter when you
Speaker 2: got the best quarterback in the league.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean so to Reid's credit, if you look
Speaker 4: at his history, he took a lot of ty Detmer
Speaker 4: Kevin Cobb teams to the playoffs and was often criticized,
Speaker 4: you know.
Speaker 2: Winning any games. Else was taking teams with like Mason
Speaker 2: or you know, Kenny Picking.
Speaker 4: He got crushed for time management. You know, you always
Speaker 4: got your nose in your play sheet. You're not dealing
Speaker 4: with all the head coaching stuff. And then he got
Speaker 4: McNabb and it got better. They went to Super Bowl,
Speaker 4: they took away when a step further, I mean it
Speaker 4: was a Pro Bowl quarterback, very very good player. I mean, yeah, absolutely,
Speaker 4: They used like the fourth pick in the draft form
Speaker 4: or whatever. And then he left Philly, which isn't talked
Speaker 4: about enough, but I think needs to be there. In
Speaker 4: camp of the season, he left. His son, who worked
Speaker 4: for the team, passed away. Yeah, I mean during training camp.
Speaker 4: I don't know how he even coached the rest of
Speaker 4: the year, you know what I mean. And then he's like,
Speaker 4: I'm just kidding it. It wasn't like you're fired, you stink.
Speaker 4: It's like I'm getting out. They didn't have a great year. Yeah,
Speaker 4: I mean, of course. So he goes to Kansas City
Speaker 4: and it's successful. I mean, I think he had been
Speaker 4: successful in Chicago or Seattle or wherever. He's a successful
Speaker 4: head coach, but kept hitting his head on the ceiling.
Speaker 4: And people forget this little nugget. They were a playoff
Speaker 4: team the year they traded up for Mahomes. It wasn't
Speaker 4: like we're terrible. Alex Smith was good. He was a
Speaker 4: kind of a Pro Bowl type dude too, borderline. He
Speaker 4: wasn't a great player.
Speaker 2: First over overall pick in a draft, yes.
Speaker 3: Right, and he was put up. He had his best
Speaker 3: stint with Reid.
Speaker 2: Oh, by the way, the Steelers beat them in the playoffs.
Speaker 4: Yeah, right, right, with Reid as the head coach, and
Speaker 4: then he gets a transcendent player, you know, and the
Speaker 4: rest is history and there on their way to be
Speaker 4: in one of the better dynasties of all time.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 5: Who.
Speaker 2: By the way, the Steelers also loved the Homes Yeah,
Speaker 2: Kevin Colbert was a big Patrick Mahomes guy. They brought
Speaker 2: him in for a pre draft visit because if you remember,
Speaker 2: he wasn't even the first quarterback. We're the second quarterback
Speaker 2: taken in that draft.
Speaker 4: Right, I mean, the Bears traded from two to three
Speaker 4: to two from what I remember, to get Trubisky. Watson
Speaker 4: went well ahead of them, and then they traded up
Speaker 4: to twelve or eleven.
Speaker 3: I think it was eleven to get Mahomes. Yeah, all right,
Speaker 3: so now they're quite good.
Speaker 2: And again, I have all the respect in the world
Speaker 2: for Andy Reid, but he looks a hell of a
Speaker 2: lot smarter with that guy running his offense.
Speaker 4: Absolutely, and and they Tana and Walsh to their to
Speaker 4: their credit, they didn't rush to play him because they
Speaker 4: didn't have to.
Speaker 2: They still had it right Smith.
Speaker 4: They had a nice plan. Yeah, because Smith was a
Speaker 4: high end player who went on and started elsewhere. Then
Speaker 4: he had bad injuries, and then Mahomes is too good
Speaker 4: to keep off the field. But they had no plans
Speaker 4: on playing him his rookie year. Yeah, because he was
Speaker 4: a wild sallion come out of Texas tack Uh.
Speaker 2: This is another one that I got Dale's cold take
Speaker 2: of the week telling us how bad the Chiefs tackle are.
Speaker 2: But tj and indeed don't get Mahomes. Don't get the
Speaker 2: Mahomes once. Now. I don't want to rewrite history here again.
Speaker 2: But Matt had the same exact take.
Speaker 3: We both thought their tackles.
Speaker 2: Think, guess what the Chiefs know their tackles aren't very good. Right,
Speaker 2: Hence Mahomes gets the ball out in two point three
Speaker 2: four seconds yep, fastest of his career, of his career, right,
Speaker 2: So I think that needs to be unpacked more because
Speaker 2: I thought it was brilliant.
Speaker 4: But it was like Greg inventions. It's derived because of
Speaker 4: you know, meat taste terrible. We gonna vent catch up,
Speaker 4: you know whatever it is, you know, Yeah, I mean
Speaker 4: like it's because this isn't working. His mind is so
Speaker 4: sharp as a quarterback, he's to the point now I
Speaker 4: always talk about the axis, you know, like the game
Speaker 4: has slowed down to he's at his peak, meant to
Speaker 4: lead it. But he hasn't declined at all physically right,
Speaker 4: which makes me wonder if he's even his peak as
Speaker 4: a player period.
Speaker 3: But anyway, he has it.
Speaker 4: All, and I felt like we should have been on
Speaker 4: this more. Actually is okay. Their tackles stink. What are
Speaker 4: they gonna do? They're gonna get it out quick? Well,
Speaker 4: what do you do to combat that? It'd be nice
Speaker 4: if you could play man coverage and bang people with
Speaker 4: the line of scrimmage, but you're only good man coverage
Speaker 4: corners injured.
Speaker 3: So all of a sudden, it's like you're hoping.
Speaker 4: Mahomes screws up and he didn't, you know, enough, not
Speaker 4: enough right, So if he gets it out what two
Speaker 4: point three six which is insanely quick, As.
Speaker 2: I said, you saying Bolt's not getting there two point
Speaker 2: three four seconds.
Speaker 4: That means there's a lot of snaps that are to
Speaker 4: two point one because you know he extended.
Speaker 3: They schemed three up.
Speaker 2: And oh, by the way, when they did scheme it up,
Speaker 2: that's when Juwan Taylor had two holding penalties like yeah.
Speaker 4: And he's gonna extend stuff and he's gonna run around. Now,
Speaker 4: I think on those plays, if you go two four
Speaker 4: or less, it's almost impossible to.
Speaker 3: Get through the pressures. Right, you're not getting right, I mean,
Speaker 3: because someone's going to get in your way.
Speaker 4: But there were probably I'm guessing six to eight pass
Speaker 4: dropbacks that were two seven or longer. Okay, you could
Speaker 4: get better pressure, like I'm sure the Steelers aren't thrilled
Speaker 4: with the pressure they got. No, but he also maneuvers
Speaker 4: extremely well in the extremely well in the pocket. They
Speaker 4: kept talking about the b gaps. He kept hitting this,
Speaker 4: there's a be gap would open up. Boom, he's gone,
Speaker 4: you know. I mean, he's one of the most difficult
Speaker 4: guys to sack in the league. Yeah, and if they're
Speaker 4: gonna do that, he's gonna be almost ball.
Speaker 2: You're not gonna get him right at all. Right, it's
Speaker 2: just not gonna happen. You know. The week before that
Speaker 2: against Houston, which also has good head rushers, I think
Speaker 2: he was sacked once in that game and he'd gotten
Speaker 2: rid of the ball. I think the average time to
Speaker 2: throw was like two point five four seconds. Really, it
Speaker 2: was a little bit I know, it was very low.
Speaker 2: It was a little slower than that.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: So I then got to ask, well, if that's the case,
Speaker 2: why didn't the Steelers do that. Well, they thought their
Speaker 2: guys were going.
Speaker 4: To hold up hm And Wilson's a deep ball thrower.
Speaker 4: He's never a low target time to throw guy. He's
Speaker 4: gotten them. It's lower here than any point in his career,
Speaker 4: and he's had some games that are low.
Speaker 2: You know it was it was two point seven seconds, right.
Speaker 3: Near the top of the league the worst. That's highest.
Speaker 2: In fact, if you looked at and I looked this
Speaker 2: up on the day of the after the game, the
Speaker 2: time to pass for the three quarterbacks that played on
Speaker 2: on Christmas Day, let me find this here? Whoops, the
Speaker 2: four quarterbacks, the four quarterbacks who played that day, it
Speaker 2: was let me find it. This is good radio, Okay.
Speaker 2: So Stroud was at three point one seconds on Christmas
Speaker 2: Day on Christmas the four teams that played day, not
Speaker 2: season to day. No, Stroud was at three point one seconds.
Speaker 2: Lamar Ja action was at three point sixty seven.
Speaker 3: Sometimes he's incredibly high. Yes, I mean he'll run around there.
Speaker 3: His players.
Speaker 2: You watched them play last night where Caleb Williams late
Speaker 2: in the game, scrambled around and finally hit the pass
Speaker 2: on was a fourth down pass, fourth and ten. Yeah
Speaker 2: to DJ Moore, it's like six seconds.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, so that's skew things quite a bit.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, right, but I think so Russe officially
Speaker 2: he was at two point eight five seconds of that game.
Speaker 2: Actually for the Sill that's that's under three.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Yeah, like if you're under three, if you're under two
Speaker 2: point nine, you're about average.
Speaker 4: And it's not even like it's a good and bad thing,
Speaker 4: you know, Like I love Ben Roethlisberger as much as
Speaker 4: the next guy, but back in his heyday, nobody was
Speaker 4: timing time to throw, right. I bet he was late.
Speaker 4: I mean I bet he was long. Yeah, I mean,
Speaker 4: no doubt about it. At the end he was insanely quick.
Speaker 3: But it wasn't good.
Speaker 2: It wasn't there, and everybody complained about it.
Speaker 3: It wasn't a good thing.
Speaker 2: Everybody complained about it. So that's what you want to see,
Speaker 2: that's what you want. You want the Steelers.
Speaker 4: Dumpt a Nagie dumpt Anagi slanted deontay deontay. I mean
Speaker 4: that that's all they did, you know, because they don't
Speaker 4: have their receivers to do that.
Speaker 3: No, no, no, right, their receivers.
Speaker 2: Are built for this offense, and they don't have an
Speaker 2: immediate man beater on this roster. I think it was
Speaker 2: supposed to be Roman Wilson. Yeah, yeah, yeah, he's not available.
Speaker 2: Calvin Austin's not that kind of player. No, No, I
Speaker 2: mean Pickens can do it. Pickens can do it, but
Speaker 2: he gets all the attention, and so.
Speaker 4: I mean it's not necessarily a good or bad thing
Speaker 4: in terms of time to throw.
Speaker 3: It's just a stylistic thing.
Speaker 2: It's a stylistic thing.
Speaker 3: And Lamar is always gonna be high, you know.
Speaker 2: I mean they got a guy in Xavier Worthy that
Speaker 2: if you put the ball, and they finally kind of
Speaker 2: figured out, I think the last couple of weeks how
Speaker 2: to properly use Xavier.
Speaker 3: Worthy, no question.
Speaker 4: And one thing we said leading in that definitely held
Speaker 4: up was their receiving corps is kind of at its
Speaker 4: peak right now. I mean, they were really struggling to
Speaker 4: find these things out, especially after Racie Rice got hurt
Speaker 4: because he was there middle of the field kind of
Speaker 4: Kelsey replay placeman in a way, and that was a
Speaker 4: crippling blow and they lost that. Now Brown's back and
Speaker 4: has his feet under him worthy starting to figure it out,
Speaker 4: and they're starting to figure him out.
Speaker 2: And he's fast, and he's fast, I mean, but you
Speaker 2: can get the ball in his hands and he might
Speaker 2: not run somebody.
Speaker 4: Yeah, but his stuff is peeped lately. And the other
Speaker 4: guys are fine, you know, to get Hopkins and settled
Speaker 4: in all those guys. But I also think you got
Speaker 4: the Chiefs on their best day. I mean, they played really,
Speaker 4: really well.
Speaker 2: Another comment that I got no way, And again I
Speaker 2: wasn't comparing when I brought up the five teams recently
Speaker 2: at six, going back to the two thousand and five
Speaker 2: team that had had a three game losing streak at
Speaker 2: some point in their season, including the Ravens in twenty twelve,
Speaker 2: which to me is they lost four of their last
Speaker 2: five three game losing streak, won one, and then lost
Speaker 2: their last game going into the playoffs, and then got
Speaker 2: hot and won the Super Bowl. Wasn't saying that's what's
Speaker 2: going to happen with his Steelers.
Speaker 3: No, No.
Speaker 2: I brought that up to show that even when things
Speaker 2: look bad, it doesn't mean that you can't regain some
Speaker 2: momentum going and happened.
Speaker 3: Yeah, doesn't mean it will.
Speaker 2: I'm not saying at all.
Speaker 4: So somebody said, I mean, by that standard, it'd be like, well,
Speaker 4: I hope next year they go in a three game
Speaker 4: losing streak.
Speaker 2: I mean, it's not what I was saying. All right, right,
Speaker 2: k love five seven, six, five s. There's no way
Speaker 2: you can compare this to the five team. Ben didn't
Speaker 2: play those three games, lost two. The defense was better, three,
Speaker 2: the offense was better. Okay, Ben played in that three
Speaker 2: game stretch. They lost to the Ravens sixteen to thirteen
Speaker 2: down in Baltimore. Tommy Maddox started that game. They then
Speaker 2: Ben came back and they went to Indianapolis and lost
Speaker 2: twenty six to seven. With the great defense. It got
Speaker 2: torched in that game.
Speaker 3: I remember Manning ripped them up. Yeah.
Speaker 2: They then came home and lost thirty eight to thirty
Speaker 2: one to the Bengals with that great defense that you're
Speaker 2: talking about. Ben started that game too. Ben started two
Speaker 2: of those three games, and the great defense in the
Speaker 2: two of those losses gave twenty six and thirty eight. Now,
Speaker 2: I'm not saying that the Steelers two thousand and five.
Speaker 2: Defense wasn't great, sure, but great defenses sometimes have bad games.
Speaker 3: One.
Speaker 4: And I don't think you said this team's better than
Speaker 4: the two thousand nothing of the sort, right right, right, nothing.
Speaker 4: I like the two thousand and five teams chances of
Speaker 4: winning the Super Bowl better in this one.
Speaker 2: That team was coming off a fifteen in one year. Yeah,
Speaker 2: they had a lot of talent. But I was also
Speaker 2: there covering that team in two thousand and five, and
Speaker 2: I know the things that were being said five when
Speaker 2: they failed to seven and five and were out of
Speaker 2: the playoffs. Yeah, yeah, it was not pretty.
Speaker 3: I'm sure the sky was falling. Fire everybody, right, Yeah.
Speaker 2: Again, if you turn it tuning into this show to
Speaker 2: hear us say fire everybody, you're listening to the wrong
Speaker 2: damn show. That's all I'm gonna say. Because we're not
Speaker 2: going to look at things that way because it's not
Speaker 2: going to happen. You gotta look at things a little
Speaker 2: more realistically. And what's going to happen here? And there's
Speaker 2: still season left. They're still gonna play a game next weekend.
Speaker 2: At some point, they're gonna play two, right, right, But
Speaker 2: they're gonna line up next weekend for a regular season
Speaker 2: football game, and it's the job of not just the
Speaker 2: coaches on this team, but the players to figure this
Speaker 2: stuff out so they can win that football game.
Speaker 3: Yeah. Yeah, it's funny.
Speaker 4: I do a one weekly hit on the Lockdown NFL channel,
Speaker 4: the National Show, and the host asked me, because it's
Speaker 4: he knows I'm Steeler oriented, but if I wasn't, we
Speaker 4: were gonna go down this road.
Speaker 5: You know.
Speaker 4: He's like, what on earth are people complaining about Tom
Speaker 4: and for this guy covers the Jags. He's like, I
Speaker 4: would kill for that guy, you know, I mean, over
Speaker 4: and over and over. And he's like, Okay, I've been
Speaker 4: watching the Steeler team closely. They've been on National TV.
Speaker 4: I've watched almost every snap over the three game stretch.
Speaker 4: And he's a good now analyst and and he basically said, okay,
Speaker 4: so they're not quite as good as the best teams
Speaker 4: in the league, but most teams would be zero to.
Speaker 3: Three in the stretch. Why is this late breaking news?
Speaker 3: I hear you.
Speaker 4: I mean, I'll I don't think they're as good as
Speaker 4: the Ravens, Eagles and Chiefs on their best days, you know,
Speaker 4: and I think most of the league would probably be
Speaker 4: zero and three during that stretch, you know, in those
Speaker 4: buildings in that amount of time. Okay, I mean that
Speaker 4: doesn't mean you stink. I mean it means that right now,
Speaker 4: you're not an elite team. And I don't think that
Speaker 4: that's arguable right now.
Speaker 2: Well, that was one of the other comments that I
Speaker 2: wanted to touch on, is that the the Ravens and Chiefs
Speaker 2: had the same exact schedule as the Steelers, and yet
Speaker 2: they came through that three and zero. Well, they didn't
Speaker 2: have the same exact schedule, no, no, no, right, they didn't
Speaker 2: open with Philadelphia on the road, then go to Baltimore
Speaker 2: and then come home to play the defending two time
Speaker 2: world champions.
Speaker 3: Yeah, the Giants were a nice stretch.
Speaker 2: The Giants were a nice start to that. The Browns,
Speaker 2: for the on the Kansas City side of that, we're
Speaker 2: a nice start to that stretch, right.
Speaker 4: Right right, Yeah, starting with the Eagles is awful hando.
Speaker 4: By the way, in that Eagles game, you were on
Speaker 4: the field for like forty some minutes.
Speaker 3: Yeah, that was an awful.
Speaker 2: Way to start that stretch.
Speaker 4: That's the hardest opening round. It's like fighting Tyson.
Speaker 3: In his prime.
Speaker 2: Houston got Miami at home. You know, they weren't the
Speaker 2: same level of competition, so it wasn't the same exact
Speaker 2: no situation.
Speaker 4: And the workload asked of that defense in that Eagles
Speaker 4: game was as extreme as you'll ever see. You know,
Speaker 4: I also think there's some good and bad to this.
Speaker 4: That Houston and Baltimore getting the Week fourteen by is
Speaker 4: really helpful before three, before eleven, yeah, you know, no
Speaker 4: doubt about it. And frankly, I think the NFL screwed
Speaker 4: up and should have given all four that should have
Speaker 4: the last by Now, the first thirteen weeks aren't easy.
Speaker 4: If you do that, it's sure nice to have a
Speaker 4: you know, in week seven. No one's complained about a
Speaker 4: bye or week ten or whatever.
Speaker 2: But you did have some mini buys in there that
Speaker 2: were alleviated some of those issues.
Speaker 4: Well, and not to mention the Ravens rest stuff is
Speaker 4: bonkers this year in their favor, which needs to be
Speaker 4: examined to Yeah, but you.
Speaker 2: Know now that situation won't have the Ravens.
Speaker 3: The Chiefs are playing great, yeah yea yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2: Good for them. They've the deal with Netflix is for
Speaker 2: three seasons, okay, so they're going to play these these
Speaker 2: Christmas Day games like that only Christmas Day the next
Speaker 2: two seasons as well. The difference is that year it's
Speaker 2: going to be on a Thursday. In twenty twenty six,
Speaker 2: it's going to be on a Friday, So you're not
Speaker 2: going to have a situation where you need to have
Speaker 2: these teams play three games in eleven days.
Speaker 4: It's the worst day of the week for Christmas to
Speaker 4: land Wednesday, right, Well, you know if it had been
Speaker 4: on Tuesday, what were they going to do?
Speaker 2: Yeahs a bunch of the Monday night games back. I
Speaker 2: don't know Tuesday right right right, because it just doesn't happen.
Speaker 2: You just don't play games on that day. But isn't good,
Speaker 2: bad or anything, but it is ugly.
Speaker 3: I mean it win a lot, yeah.
Speaker 2: Right, you know, and you know you're missing guys, You're
Speaker 2: it is what it is. Again, I'm not making excuses.
Speaker 2: I'm giving you reasons why these things happened. And oh,
Speaker 2: by the way, they played three very good football teams.
Speaker 3: That's to me is the bottom line. Those three teams
Speaker 3: are really really good and I think.
Speaker 4: Are probably playing the best they have all year. I mean,
Speaker 4: I think Kansas City's really figuring things out. I think
Speaker 4: the buy and the defensive changes. Baltimore is really paid dividends.
Speaker 4: Eagle's been pretty strong for a while, but you didn't
Speaker 4: get the pick at Eagles, you know, right, I mean,
Speaker 4: the Eagles are strong.
Speaker 2: You know that's of course, people on here call me
Speaker 2: a homer. I'm such a homer that the first two
Speaker 2: games of that stretch I picked them to lose. But yeah, okay,
Speaker 2: I get it. I'm a homer. Whatever, call me whatever
Speaker 2: you want. You know, that's the thing. And again, I
Speaker 2: appreciate the good comments on here, the people who listen
Speaker 2: to the show. And hey, the people who are ripping
Speaker 2: me or ripping mad or ripping the show. Guess what,
Speaker 2: you're listening as well, and we appreciate that. And hopefully
Speaker 2: we're making this entertaining enough and we're getting in depth
Speaker 2: enough that you want to continue to listen, leave your
Speaker 2: leave your comments and all that stuff. That's fine.
Speaker 4: I mean, personally, my goal not to entertain. It's the inform.
Speaker 4: Inform that's what we're put some different spins on.
Speaker 2: We're not going to sing songs, we're not going to
Speaker 2: you know, jump around, and you.
Speaker 4: Know, compare to the other thirty one teams and what
Speaker 4: they're going through, and I think that's what we bring.
Speaker 3: To the table.
Speaker 2: That's what we try to do here. Just bring you
Speaker 2: information and you can make your own decisions about what
Speaker 2: you believe in what you don't believe And if you
Speaker 2: don't want to listen to to what what we feel
Speaker 2: about this, and you know that's that's your prerogative. Well
Speaker 2: that's the great thing about America. Well, and I love fandom.
Speaker 4: I mean, I love fandom, and I understand a lot
Speaker 4: of you guys listening aren't happy with how things have
Speaker 4: gone in the last three days.
Speaker 3: People don't. Facility aren't either.
Speaker 2: They're even less.
Speaker 4: I haven't been there since, but I'm not psyched to go.
Speaker 2: To be honest, they're even less happy about this than
Speaker 2: you are, because this is what they do.
Speaker 3: They're not singing jingle bells down there is.
Speaker 2: They can't turn the TV off and get away from this, right,
Speaker 2: they're living this.
Speaker 3: They have to figure out how to get it right.
Speaker 2: Yeah, So anyways, I'm down off my soapbox.
Speaker 3: There you go.
Speaker 2: But we did answer some questions on here that yeah,
Speaker 2: you know.
Speaker 3: I'm five with that too.
Speaker 4: If you guys ever just want to ask questions in general,
Speaker 4: like a mailbag type of thing.
Speaker 3: Throw it out. Oh.
Speaker 2: One last question I did want to get to here
Speaker 2: is I was asked if any chance that Troy Filotano
Speaker 2: is activated in January. I don't see that happening. He's
Speaker 2: at the facility, he's been working out, but he's not
Speaker 2: practiced at all him.
Speaker 3: I mean, he's obviously making progress.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, he's walking around. There's no the same
Speaker 2: thing with Cameron Johnston. Cameron Johnson's now out of the apparatus,
Speaker 2: the apparatus that he had on his knee. As said,
Speaker 2: you know, Fileatana, they're both you know, probably I don't know, well,
Speaker 2: probably not with Johnston. But you know, if Filotano had
Speaker 2: to come back and play, could he perhaps, But would
Speaker 2: it be fair to him to say, Okay, you haven't
Speaker 2: played football since September as a rookie and we're going
Speaker 2: to bring it back out and threw you right into
Speaker 2: the lineup. Probably not.
Speaker 4: I mean, I hope he gets to this point. But
Speaker 4: it's not Mike Webster's eighth year in the league, you know,
Speaker 4: or Joe Green's coming back and I'm putting them in
Speaker 4: the line up no matter what.
Speaker 3: You know, I mean, right, I mean.
Speaker 4: It's just you don't know. Yeah, I mean, how could
Speaker 4: you possibly bench any tackle?
Speaker 3: Really? I mean, like where would you put him? I
Speaker 3: don't even know at the moment. You know.
Speaker 4: Yeah, maybe he's better than both those guys. I hope
Speaker 4: he is, but.
Speaker 2: You've only had one game to show it, right, And
Speaker 2: that's the unfair part of it. But anyways, let's get
Speaker 2: through a break. He is Matt Williamson. I am Dale Lollie.
Speaker 2: You're listening to the Drive here on the Steelers Audio Network.
Speaker 2: When we return, we'll be joined by Steelers Sideline reporter
Speaker 2: Missy Matthews right after this.
Speaker 1: He's the Drive with Dale Lolly and Matt williamsonsha on
Speaker 1: your twenty four to seven home of the Black and
Speaker 1: Gold Steelers Nation Radio.
Speaker 2: And we are back. I'm Dale Lolli. He is the
Speaker 2: Matt Williamson and this is the Drive on the Steelers
Speaker 2: Audio Network. And we're joined now on the Justin Miller
Speaker 2: hot Line. Bye, Steelers Sideline reporter Missy Matthews. Missy is
Speaker 2: also the bringer of the Cake. Missy brought class cake
Speaker 2: to Actually I believe that Rob but King tweeted out
Speaker 2: a photo of said cake before it was demolished in
Speaker 2: the in the radio booth, they got the nice little
Speaker 2: Santa Claus cake. It didn't look like Santa Claus by
Speaker 2: the time I got to it.
Speaker 4: But you say demolished, you mean eating like crazy? Yeah, okay, yeah, okay.
Speaker 2: I had no idea, Missy. I had no idea that
Speaker 2: thing was a Santa Claus cake when I got there,
Speaker 2: because it was just a pile of cake at that point.
Speaker 2: I saw the picture from Rob and like, oh, it
Speaker 2: was Santa Claus. But it was delicious, Yeah it was.
Speaker 5: It was a Steeler Santa. He even had EyeBlack on.
Speaker 5: But he did not last very long, and it was
Speaker 5: weird as people started eating you know, eyes and parts
Speaker 5: of his mouth and whatnot.
Speaker 2: He probably lasted longer than the Steelers did in that game.
Speaker 5: That was no doubt. There was still part, like maybe
Speaker 5: a slice or two depending on you know, who is
Speaker 5: cutting it left after the game, which I was actually
Speaker 5: impressed that that was left. I thought it would have
Speaker 5: been completely gone.
Speaker 2: It was sitting there in front of west Euler the
Speaker 2: entire game, so I'm sure he was nibbling as the
Speaker 2: game went on.
Speaker 5: They definitely some at half time.
Speaker 4: I know that it Yeah, well that was very kind
Speaker 4: of you spreading.
Speaker 2: Missy.
Speaker 5: I cried.
Speaker 2: We saw at the game on Wednesday, sounds strange to
Speaker 2: say it does. Once again, a lot of defensive miscommunications
Speaker 2: and you saw some frustrations boil over into the locker
Speaker 2: room after the game with guys talking about that. And
Speaker 2: I know fans look at this and go, how is
Speaker 2: this happening in week sixteen and seventeen, And Deshaun Elliott
Speaker 2: said the same thing. This is a week one and
Speaker 2: two problem, not a week not you know, not something
Speaker 2: that should be happening at this time.
Speaker 3: Of the season.
Speaker 2: H Take take us through what you see on the sideline,
Speaker 2: like a general, the defense comes off the field, whether
Speaker 2: they give up a touchdown, whether they had a good stop.
Speaker 2: What what then happens?
Speaker 3: How?
Speaker 2: How does a breakdown happen? Which which group goes where?
Speaker 5: Uh?
Speaker 2: You know, do they you know, just Taro Austin come
Speaker 2: over and talk to the group? Does it just a
Speaker 2: position coaches? How does that all work?
Speaker 5: Well? They all offense and defense have very specific places
Speaker 5: where they sit when they come off the bench. You know,
Speaker 5: It's always funny when like Chris Boswell and them are
Speaker 5: sitting at the end that's usually where like the dbs are.
Speaker 5: They're allowed down there, but you're not going to find
Speaker 5: like a Cam Heyward over there sitting on that part
Speaker 5: of the bench. It's very regimented, and it usually is
Speaker 5: the position coaches talking to them first, but TA typically
Speaker 5: always ends up talking to the secondary guys. I feel
Speaker 5: like they're furthest on the bench, they're closest to probably
Speaker 5: you know where he's coming from. Has a conversation with them.
Speaker 5: But then it is, you know, there there was a
Speaker 5: time where Pa brought the whole defense together at one point,
Speaker 5: like Tomlin has done it multiple times during this three
Speaker 5: game stretch, trying to regroup, refocus and figure it out
Speaker 5: because as you said, I thought, you know, Deshaun Elliott
Speaker 5: was very blunt. He was very emotional and heated, and
Speaker 5: I get it. It was right after the game and
Speaker 5: that was not a fun locker room to be in.
Speaker 5: Many guys didn't even want to talk. But he's right, like,
Speaker 5: these are not problems that should be happening now. It
Speaker 5: would be one thing if it was you know, weeks
Speaker 5: one through four and you're like, all right, they really
Speaker 5: need there's new pieces they need to work through it.
Speaker 5: It does just feel like because it has gotten worse
Speaker 5: with each of the three losses, and just the open guys.
Speaker 5: You just think of Travis Kelsey's touchdown, even the tight
Speaker 5: ends in Baltimore where you're like how and why? You
Speaker 5: know you can say injuries. Max starkstucked a lot about
Speaker 5: just the fatigue and the battle that these guys have
Speaker 5: to go through to play those three games in eleven days,
Speaker 5: being that you were playing Philly, Baltimore and the rating
Speaker 5: Super Bowl champs. You know, it wasn't like you were
Speaker 5: taking a train to or to play the Giants after
Speaker 5: your bye week and getting to stay home and host
Speaker 5: a team and then going to play a team that's
Speaker 5: you know, in the playoffs but not doing very well.
Speaker 5: Yeah it's their own shade, but yeah.
Speaker 3: We did last a little bit too.
Speaker 5: But it's true. I mean, when you just look that
Speaker 5: stretch was brutal. It didn't matter if this was weeks three, four,
Speaker 5: and five. Playing those three teams in eleven days is
Speaker 5: not ideal, and I think especially because they were dealing
Speaker 5: with the injuries on the defense, especially because you did
Speaker 5: not have George Pickens and everyone, you know, the Browns
Speaker 5: game when he didn't play. Oh they're good. Look we
Speaker 5: don't even need George Pickens. They won, they won without them.
Speaker 5: And then you go play a real team and you're like, oh,
Speaker 5: oh yeah, we we kind of like when four teams
Speaker 5: in the lineup, you know, and then it was how
Speaker 5: how soon can we get them back? Take deal? So yeah,
Speaker 5: I think the only bright spot is that they have
Speaker 5: ample and that time to regroup. There's still one regular
Speaker 5: season game left, work out your kinks, figure it out,
Speaker 5: because you're only guaranteed one playoff game, and we all
Speaker 5: know that that is being one and done is not
Speaker 5: going to go over well in this town, in this organization.
Speaker 5: For these players are coaches, so they need to figure
Speaker 5: it out and figure it out very quickly.
Speaker 3: So you sort of touched on it.
Speaker 4: But over this three game losing streak, I mean, has
Speaker 4: the level of angst on the sidelines increased? I mean,
Speaker 4: was this definitely the one that was most noticeable and
Speaker 4: or that of all three been similar.
Speaker 5: I feel like Philly was kind of like you were
Speaker 5: hoping it was, you know, just like going to be
Speaker 5: a one off, and it felt like they were not.
Speaker 5: I don't want to say finger pointing, but I really
Speaker 5: feel like that is what it kind of turned into
Speaker 5: where Baltimore you could really see that people were starting
Speaker 5: to lose it and didn't feel like everybody was doing
Speaker 5: their job and didn't feel like, you know, everybody was
Speaker 5: on the same page. And then, of course, I think,
Speaker 5: you know, Christmas Day, you're excited, you want to go
Speaker 5: back home and be with your family, celebrate, and you
Speaker 5: knew you needed to win that game to make it
Speaker 5: easier on yourself to win the AFC North, and that
Speaker 5: just seemed to be I think. I think the lack
Speaker 5: of complimentary football and just the fact that the offense
Speaker 5: and defense both need fixed. I think that's where you
Speaker 5: really start to see the overpouring of the emotions and frustrations,
Speaker 5: which makes sense. You know. Coach Sutlon sat down at
Speaker 5: his press conference and little literally started it with, well,
Speaker 5: that sucked. And I'm sure he could have used other
Speaker 5: choice words, probably just you know, wouldn't have been used
Speaker 5: on air afterwards, but that that pretty much summed it up.
Speaker 2: I'm sure he did use more choice words with the
Speaker 2: team in the locker room before he came over, and
Speaker 2: that was the work. You know, he had actually had
Speaker 2: some a little bit of time to calm down and
Speaker 2: was still perturbed by how things had gone in that game.
Speaker 2: And I think largely, Missy, to me it was because
Speaker 2: of how this particular game unfolded. In those previous two games,
Speaker 2: the Steelers had gotten behind but then had fought back
Speaker 2: in the third quarter going into the fourth quarter to
Speaker 2: make a game of things this one against You know,
Speaker 2: the only thing that would have changed perhaps the outcome
Speaker 2: or kind of the trajectory of this game is if
Speaker 2: George Pickens hadn't been whistled dead early at the end
Speaker 2: of the first half on that play where he broke
Speaker 2: free and ran down the sidelines and they hadn't whistled
Speaker 2: the play dead. If they score there, it makes it
Speaker 2: fourteen thirteen Steelers at the half, and you know, this
Speaker 2: kind of changes the trajectory of the ball game. As
Speaker 2: it was. They got the sixteen to ten in the
Speaker 2: third quarter and then Kansas City just pulled away.
Speaker 5: Yeah, and I think, you know, even go back to
Speaker 5: the Jalen Warren touchdown that was called back to the
Speaker 5: holding call on Darnell. If, like you said, even if
Speaker 5: one of those went the Steeler's way, imagine if both
Speaker 5: went the Steelers way. I just think they knew coming
Speaker 5: in that Patrick Mahomes is Patrick Mahomes, does not matter
Speaker 5: if it's a high ankle sprain, how severe whatever, He's
Speaker 5: dealt with them before, he knows what he's doing. But
Speaker 5: just how quickly he was able to get the ball out.
Speaker 5: He was not going to give their pass rush time
Speaker 5: to get to them and to throw them off, and
Speaker 5: they just they executed. And like you said, once the
Speaker 5: second quarter or the second half, excuse me, got going,
Speaker 5: that's where you kind of just you felt the letdown
Speaker 5: really start to happen. And then you're like, oh crap,
Speaker 5: now this is this is three in a row. This
Speaker 5: isn't just this game, it's it's three in a row.
Speaker 5: We were ten and three and now here we sit
Speaker 5: at ten and six.
Speaker 4: Yeah, that was a very buttoned up, clean performance by
Speaker 4: the Chiefs when they didn't screw things up hardly at all.
Speaker 4: And I thought Mahomes probably played his best game of
Speaker 4: the year. Regardless of who the defense is. I mean
Speaker 4: a lot of it's just how well of what level
Speaker 4: he plays at was it pretty impressive just to watch
Speaker 4: him in action at game level, you know, to be
Speaker 4: where your seat is and watch an all time great player.
Speaker 5: No doubt, And you know I've gotten to see him
Speaker 5: a few times over the years in different circumstances of
Speaker 5: you know, games and whatnot. But like you said, I
Speaker 5: just think it was the level of execution. Just it's
Speaker 5: really remarkable to watch how quickly he gets the ball out,
Speaker 5: goes exactly where it's going, just even how his receiving
Speaker 5: core and running backs know what is happening and it's
Speaker 5: happening that quickly, and they're just able to get the
Speaker 5: chunks and keep moving and to just gash the Steelers defense.
Speaker 3: But it's that.
Speaker 4: Precise, but it's almost indefensible. But it's that precise timing, right, correct.
Speaker 5: Yeah, like that slants Hollywood Brown. I was just like, whoa,
Speaker 5: you know, you just have one of those like, Wow,
Speaker 5: they're wheeling and dealing, and hey, I give them credit.
Speaker 5: They had to come to Pittsburgh on a short week.
Speaker 5: That's not fun. We've all lived through the Thursday night games.
Speaker 5: I know this was Wednesday, but playing on Saturday makes
Speaker 5: it like a Thursday schedule. And then also the fact
Speaker 5: that they're playing for the one seat.
Speaker 3: Now they know.
Speaker 5: The playoffs can run through Arrowhead and they have a
Speaker 5: first round by and for everybody who's hurt, they're able
Speaker 5: to heal up. I mean, imagine if Chris Jones played
Speaker 5: that game. You just think about the five stacks that
Speaker 5: Russell Wilson took that, you know, I mean everyone on
Speaker 5: the offense gave up, and you just think, like, man,
Speaker 5: it could have been worse potentially, which is a scary thing.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Absolutely, But Missy won't take up any more of your time.
Speaker 2: On day off, you get to spend some time with
Speaker 2: you boys and do all that fun stuff. Kind of
Speaker 2: wallowing a pit losh yesterday.
Speaker 3: Wow, I took kick it at all.
Speaker 2: It took seven days long to complete, seemingly, but you know,
Speaker 2: it is what it is. Just not a good couple
Speaker 2: of days here in Pittsburgh.
Speaker 3: Was there a bunch of safeties at the end of
Speaker 3: the game or something weird?
Speaker 2: You go for two every time?
Speaker 5: Okay, you go when you go for two? Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 5: I say. It took years off my life. It literally
Speaker 5: took hours off my life. I was not as productive
Speaker 5: as I anticipated being when my boys went to hockey
Speaker 5: practice last night because the game was still on when
Speaker 5: they got help.
Speaker 2: That there you go. Our guest has been Missy. Matthew
Speaker 2: Steelers sideline reporter Missy. We appreciate you dropping by. Of
Speaker 2: course Missy does so every Friday. Here on the drive,
Speaker 2: he is Matt Williamson. I'm Dale Lollie. We'll be back
Speaker 2: with more right after this.
Speaker 1: This he's 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: And we are back. I'm Dale Lolly. He is the
Speaker 2: Matt Williamson and this is the Drive on the Steelers
Speaker 2: Audio Network. And of course you can hear the Drive
Speaker 2: every Monday through Friday from four to six pm on
Speaker 2: these very airwaves where you can download the Steelers mobile
Speaker 2: app and get it that way, or watch on YouTube
Speaker 2: and pavis your comments and maybe sometimes we'll answer your
Speaker 2: questions in the comments.
Speaker 3: Matt.
Speaker 2: For this next segment, I wanted to look at the
Speaker 2: preseason over under totals. Okay, see who's gotten there and
Speaker 2: who hasn't to this with one game or two games left,
Speaker 2: so leading things off their I'm looking here at Pro
Speaker 2: Football Reference. They break everything that they did this nicely.
Speaker 2: They have the win loss over under in one column
Speaker 2: and then their actual record. Now I don't have to
Speaker 2: go back and forth.
Speaker 3: That's perfect.
Speaker 2: So the Arizona Cardinals, they're over under to start the
Speaker 2: season was seven.
Speaker 4: I remember that thinking that was quite high considering their defense.
Speaker 2: Now they're seven and eight.
Speaker 4: Yeah, and they they all kicked them on the eye
Speaker 4: coverage with them over with two games left, they pretty quick.
Speaker 4: They could get there. They could get over they could
Speaker 4: get over right. I don't love their chances, but could.
Speaker 2: The Atlanta Falcons over under was nine and a half.
Speaker 2: They're eight and seven.
Speaker 4: A lot of that was based on a super easy
Speaker 4: schedule preseason, you know, and that doesn't always play out,
Speaker 4: but I like their chances.
Speaker 2: The Baltimore Ravens over under was ten and five. They're
Speaker 2: now eleven and five with one game remaining, so they've
Speaker 2: hit their over it. Yeah yeah. Buffalo Bills over under
Speaker 2: was ten and they croshed it twelve and three right now.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 4: A lot of people, myself included, thought this would be
Speaker 4: a slight step back year.
Speaker 3: You traded digs, you know, get your books in order.
Speaker 3: But they've been really good.
Speaker 2: The Carolina Panthers over under five and a half. They're
Speaker 2: four and eleven right now. They had three or four
Speaker 2: they got a shot to get there.
Speaker 3: They do.
Speaker 2: Now they need to win their final two games to
Speaker 2: do so. But they've been very competitive over the last year.
Speaker 2: I know they have five or six weeks, they have Tampa.
Speaker 4: Bay Tampa and then they have another it's either Saints
Speaker 4: or Falcons have a division game of course to finish it.
Speaker 4: Maybe maybe maybe, I mean, considering how bad things were
Speaker 4: at early deseason.
Speaker 2: Yeah, the Chicago Bears, they're definitely under. They're over. Under
Speaker 2: was eight and a half. They're four and twelve.
Speaker 3: Yeah, last night didn't do me.
Speaker 2: Last night was a disaster. Actually, they're four and thirteen.
Speaker 3: After No. Four and twelve, there are four and twelve.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that includes them.
Speaker 3: Last night's disaster really bad.
Speaker 2: You wouldn't see a how not the handle clock management
Speaker 2: at the end of the half. That's twice now this year.
Speaker 2: It cost you the last it costs Naggy as jaw
Speaker 2: or not Naggy flu Eberflus job when he butchered that
Speaker 2: one against the Lions, Well they butchered again us or
Speaker 2: horrendous horrendous Eberflus doesn't have any excuse. This guy was
Speaker 2: a position goes five or six weeks ago. I mean
Speaker 2: he got promoted and promoted in promoted twice A yeah,
Speaker 2: but that was insane. So they're four and twelve. They're
Speaker 2: well under.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: The Cincinnati Bengals, well under ten and a half was
Speaker 2: the over under. They're seven and eight.
Speaker 3: Not getting there.
Speaker 2: No, the Cleveland Browns, well, they were over under was
Speaker 2: eight and a half, higher than the Steelers, I might add,
Speaker 2: they're three and twelve.
Speaker 3: Yeah, not even close.
Speaker 2: The Dallas Cowboys under but sort of explainable. They're over
Speaker 2: under was ten. They're seven and eight.
Speaker 4: And maybe they'll win another or whatever. They're obviously they're
Speaker 4: not going to.
Speaker 2: Be awfully difficult now that cd.
Speaker 4: Lamb GOTA shut down and right they're in Philly this
Speaker 4: week or against Philly this week.
Speaker 2: The Denver Broncos over under was five and a half.
Speaker 2: I know they're nine and six. He knows how to
Speaker 2: he knows how to win games. I mean, he has
Speaker 2: a winning record as a Denver head coach. And they're
Speaker 2: not loaded with talent. You know, they've had quarterback changes
Speaker 2: and give them credit. The Detroit Lions beat the Bengals,
Speaker 2: by the way, I think they are too and we'll
Speaker 2: get to that later in the show. The Detroit Lions
Speaker 2: over under was ten and a half. They're thirteen and two.
Speaker 2: They crushing it, Yeah, crushing it. Green Bay Packers over
Speaker 2: under was ten. They're eleven and four. Blue right by it,
Speaker 2: and they got two tough games coming up.
Speaker 4: But okay, there's a lot of over so far, but
Speaker 4: we're only at the gs. I think some of it's
Speaker 4: there's so many three win teams that are so far under, and.
Speaker 2: Some of the unders are the unders are real. The
Speaker 2: Browns und the Bears, Bears were way under their total.
Speaker 2: The Houston Texans over runner nine and a half. They're
Speaker 2: nine and seven.
Speaker 3: Not positive they'll get there.
Speaker 2: I don't know.
Speaker 3: They got one more.
Speaker 2: Right they made They have nothing to play for it
Speaker 2: last year?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I say, why would they even bother?
Speaker 2: Indianapolis Colts over under eight and a half. They're seven
Speaker 2: and eight, okay, and in their favorite against the Giants,
Speaker 2: and then I should favor in their last two games. Yeah,
Speaker 2: I know they played a division game play either the
Speaker 2: Titans or the Jaguars, one of the two.
Speaker 4: I'm not sure if Richardson's even playing this week, but
Speaker 4: they'll still beat the Giants.
Speaker 2: Jacksonville's over under eight and a half.
Speaker 4: Yeah, they were considered a playoff fringe type.
Speaker 2: Three and twelve.
Speaker 3: Yeah, three and twelve, brutal.
Speaker 2: Kansas City's over under eleven and a half. They're fifteen
Speaker 2: and one. The Raiders over under six and a half.
Speaker 3: There's three and twelve, not getting there.
Speaker 2: The Chargers over under was nine. They're nine and six.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 4: I was big on the over on or the under
Speaker 4: on that team.
Speaker 2: The Rams over under eight and a half nine and six,
Speaker 2: say they're over right, Yeah. The Dolphins over under was
Speaker 2: ten seven and eight.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Minnesota's over under six and a half by more than that,
Speaker 2: thirteen and two, the only one in the city's pretty high.
Speaker 2: Kansas City's only three and a half games over, they're
Speaker 2: over under them. Minnesota's five. Yeah, six and a half over.
Speaker 3: They could lose either two or they could win either too.
Speaker 2: It doesn't matter that they're six and a half over
Speaker 2: their win total. The Patriots over under was four and
Speaker 2: a half. They're three and twelve.
Speaker 3: Yeah, right now, they had the second pick in the draft.
Speaker 2: Yeah. The Saints over under was seven and a half,
Speaker 2: not getting they're five and ten. The Giants over under
Speaker 2: was six and a half. Two and thirteen.
Speaker 3: Brutal. Yeah, some of these bad teams are far off.
Speaker 2: The Jets over under nine and a half. They're four
Speaker 2: and eleven. Right, The Eagles over under was ten and
Speaker 2: a half, they're twelve and three.
Speaker 3: Beat it.
Speaker 2: The Steelers over under eight ten and six.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: San Francisco's over under eleven and a half. They're six
Speaker 2: and nine. One of the more disappointing ones for sure.
Speaker 2: Seattle's over under was seven and a half. They're nine
Speaker 2: and seven.
Speaker 4: Really successful year for them. I mean last night wasn't
Speaker 4: a pillar, it wasn't a Beau duty. But now you
Speaker 4: got the win, you know, so alive.
Speaker 2: Tampa Bay's over under was seven and a half. Over
Speaker 2: they're eight and seven. Tennessee's over under six and a
Speaker 2: half they're three and twelve.
Speaker 3: Not getting there.
Speaker 2: And the Commander's over under, oh they had to be
Speaker 2: a big one was six and a half. They're get
Speaker 2: ten and five.
Speaker 4: I was guessing they were even lower than that preseason.
Speaker 4: They end up being gonna be somewhere between a ten
Speaker 4: and twelve win.
Speaker 2: Team given everything. So you got one, two, three, four, five, six, seven,
Speaker 2: eight eight teams this year with four or fewer wins. Yeah, Yeah,
Speaker 2: there wasn't an over under in the league this year.
Speaker 3: I think four is a very four and a half.
Speaker 2: Was the was the Patriots was the lowest. Yeah, and
Speaker 2: we're gonna have eight teams go under the under.
Speaker 4: I mean when you see ten or five, right, I
Speaker 4: mean there's a little bit of the play but they'll
Speaker 4: be six.
Speaker 2: Do we see that get adjusted next year?
Speaker 3: I don't know.
Speaker 4: I mean it was a really bad year for the
Speaker 4: number of bad teams, you know. I mean even like
Speaker 4: Browns and Jags, they were considered playoff fringe teams, you know,
Speaker 4: expectations wise.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, let's just look through that. Who are
Speaker 2: the biggest disappointments this year? I think San Francisco, the
Speaker 2: AFC's loaded with them. Yeah, I mean, Jets, Cincinnati.
Speaker 4: Right, Yags, Miami. They all looked like, ooh, can the
Speaker 4: Steelers beat them out for a wild card? You know,
Speaker 4: like that was the narrative going into uh and Denver
Speaker 4: stepped up. But those other teams, there were five of
Speaker 4: them that were good expectations did nothing.
Speaker 2: No, No, you're right. I mean if you looked at
Speaker 2: it at the beginning of the season, and we talked
Speaker 2: about this preseason, the Steelers, when the Steelers over under
Speaker 2: opened it was seven and a half and it went
Speaker 2: up to eight because everybody look thinking, you know, I'm
Speaker 2: surprised you didn't go to eight and a half. Maybe
Speaker 2: it did in some places, because usually don't get eight.
Speaker 3: It's almost always a half.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you always get the half out there. And I
Speaker 2: don't know how Pro Football Reference does this to the
Speaker 2: average amount. I'm sure one book eight and a half
Speaker 2: or or seven and a half, the other ones at
Speaker 2: eight and so they just took the average. But when
Speaker 2: you look at it in that fashion, the Steelers have
Speaker 2: won two more games than they were expected to win.
Speaker 2: According to Las Vegas, they're ten and six. There are
Speaker 2: some other teams on here, Minnesota being chief among them,
Speaker 2: that have outkicked theeah But you can't look at this
Speaker 2: season and say, well this season, what disappointment? No, no,
Speaker 2: you know, now, I get it. You can be disappointed
Speaker 2: by what's happened of late, yes, but nobody in their
Speaker 2: right minds you and I both picked them to lose
Speaker 2: in Philadelphia and in Baltimore.
Speaker 4: I can't remember if I picked them to make the
Speaker 4: playoffs or not. If I did, it was as a
Speaker 4: wild card. Yeah, it's like the rush or seventh seed.
Speaker 4: You know, yeah, I didn't think all those teams in
Speaker 4: the AFC would, namely Cincinnati, of all of them would
Speaker 4: just fall off a cliff like I took the Bengals
Speaker 4: to win division.
Speaker 2: So did I?
Speaker 3: Yeah?
Speaker 2: Yeah, and I had I had Baltimore and Pittsburgh going
Speaker 2: in as wild cards.
Speaker 4: I think I did too. I can't remember who was
Speaker 4: two and three for me. You're talking about bigges disappointments.
Speaker 4: I would say Dallas and the Niners were the two
Speaker 4: biggest NFC disappointments.
Speaker 2: Yeah, especially the Niners in particular. Yeah, six and you
Speaker 2: go six and nine right now, Yeah, you're over. Under
Speaker 2: was eleven and a half, which.
Speaker 3: Was and they got hit hard by injuries.
Speaker 2: Eleven and a half was tied for the most year
Speaker 2: of the the highest in league. If you looked at
Speaker 2: the odds to go to the Super Bowl prior to
Speaker 2: this season, they were in the top three.
Speaker 4: Oh yeah, because the NFC looked like it easier path too. Yeah,
Speaker 4: I mean they may have been number one, right, they
Speaker 4: didn't because Kansas City looked like they had a tougher path.
Speaker 4: AFC looked a lot harder when the season started.
Speaker 2: So folks, we're not We're not going through that here
Speaker 2: in Pittsburgh. No, no, no, no, Like people are complaining
Speaker 2: about this and that, and I get it again. Nobody
Speaker 2: go over or under. They're right on the number. They
Speaker 2: actually they're right under the number. Their number was an
Speaker 2: another win. They're over under was nine and a half.
Speaker 4: Kind of like, that's a disappointing year to me, despite
Speaker 4: your nine to seven, because they had so much momentum five.
Speaker 2: And one to start to see.
Speaker 4: Yeah, say that's a little bit different situation. That's a
Speaker 4: second year head coach, second year quarterback. They got this,
Speaker 4: you know, they've got this whole NFL thing figured out.
Speaker 4: They're steamrolling through. They added Diggs, they added you know,
Speaker 4: Daniel Hunter. They were ready to take a step with
Speaker 4: the big boys, and they didn't. I mean, they're gonna
Speaker 4: win their division, but and may even you may even
Speaker 4: win your bet on the over, but you're holding on
Speaker 4: by the skin of your teeth.
Speaker 2: To me, the two AFC biggest disappointments are both in
Speaker 2: this division.
Speaker 3: I did the Ohio teams.
Speaker 2: Cleveland's over under was eight and a half. Now I
Speaker 2: didn't think that was right.
Speaker 3: No, I took the under. Yeah, yeah, I.
Speaker 2: Didn't, you know, because that was counting on Deshaun Watson
Speaker 2: to be not who he had been the previous three seasons.
Speaker 2: There're three and twelve.
Speaker 4: But you could have made the argument they had the
Speaker 4: best defense in the league last year or one of
Speaker 4: and it's not.
Speaker 2: It's not been there right running game.
Speaker 5: You know.
Speaker 2: Similarly, Cincinnati's over under was ten and a half.
Speaker 3: Now I took the over on that one. I was
Speaker 3: on board with Cincinnati.
Speaker 2: There's seven and eight right now, and they can't blame
Speaker 2: a bunch of injuries.
Speaker 3: No, no, you can't.
Speaker 2: It's the defense.
Speaker 3: It's a defense. It's very simple. What the problem is.
Speaker 3: I mean, it's one side of the ball is an actor.
Speaker 2: And that was supposed to be well, you know, I
Speaker 2: mean two years ago, lou An Orumo is he's you know,
Speaker 2: why is this guy head coach? He's been illegal? Look,
Speaker 2: well he's going with the Cincinnati defense. Yep, that's not
Speaker 2: gonna be the case this offseason.
Speaker 4: And the other thing, too, is I don't like or
Speaker 4: either like. I'd much rather be in Houston shoes or
Speaker 4: Miami's or even the Colts for the most part of
Speaker 4: now what do I do? I mean Cleveland's and they're
Speaker 4: a novel spot. I mean, at least they have Burrow.
Speaker 4: I mean that's great, but they have a lot of
Speaker 4: things they have to figure out too to get back
Speaker 4: to being a I don't know, you know, eleven twelve
Speaker 4: win team in the preseason.
Speaker 3: Of you know where you're gonna be.
Speaker 2: And the problem for Cleveland this year is that they've
Speaker 2: there's so many other bad teams out there. They're not
Speaker 2: going to be in position to draft a quarterback this year,
Speaker 2: probably not. And it's only I don't even know if
Speaker 2: you want to this year, right, you know. That's the
Speaker 2: other thing. Yeah, but it's bad.
Speaker 3: It is bad.
Speaker 4: So coincidentally, I got this thing from Sports Info Solutions
Speaker 4: today talking about who's been hit hardest by injuries and
Speaker 4: they break it down offense, defense, and a couple of
Speaker 4: the teams that just just wanted to like, who are
Speaker 4: the extremes, Packers, Bills, Commanders, Falcons, Broncos got hit the least,
Speaker 4: you know, and that adds up all those teams have
Speaker 4: had pretty darn good years. Teams hit the most, the Lions,
Speaker 4: and it's like all on defense. They have this chart,
Speaker 4: you know, and they're still managing. Browns were next. They
Speaker 4: have got hit pretty hard, but don't tell me Watson.
Speaker 4: Watson getting hurt was It's not the same as your
Speaker 4: starting quarterbacks, the.
Speaker 2: Starting quarterback right now, if he hadn't gotten.
Speaker 3: Hurt, right, Cowboys were next. That adds up.
Speaker 4: I mean they have three studs and Lamb just went
Speaker 4: on I or the other two missed massive portions. Giants, Niners,
Speaker 4: you know, those are the teams that that adds up.
Speaker 4: I mean, that's kind of what it looks like. We're
Speaker 4: the Steelers falling that the right in the middle. They
Speaker 4: are dead middle with a much more so offense getting
Speaker 4: hurt than defense.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: I just wonder if they considered Russell Wilson the starter
Speaker 2: to start the season.
Speaker 3: I was curious how they.
Speaker 4: Yeah, you know, I mean, if you have a first
Speaker 4: round pick, you would he's going to be a starter,
Speaker 4: and they never got that opportunity.
Speaker 2: Yeah, he started one game and got hurt.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 4: I actually need to click on it and read further.
Speaker 4: But there's just a charge here.
Speaker 2: It's kind of interesting because they have had i mean
Speaker 2: the offensive line injuries early in the season where.
Speaker 4: Oh yeah, there was a lot of it. Yeah, I
Speaker 4: mean even pickings for a couple of games. I mean,
Speaker 4: that's a starter you know, yeah, so, yeah, they're right
Speaker 4: in the middle there. I think Firemouth missed a game
Speaker 4: or two, right, Uh no, no, has he been for all?
Speaker 3: I think so.
Speaker 2: I think he's played them. But the Steelers' injuries have
Speaker 2: kind of been clustered at the beginning of the season
Speaker 2: O line with the O line, yeah, and now late
Speaker 2: in the season with the defensive.
Speaker 3: Backs, right, which is a tough way to live.
Speaker 4: Yeah, you know, it'd be better if you could spread
Speaker 4: them out. That's obviously not how the world works.
Speaker 2: Now, we'll see about Joey Porter junior. Maybe they get
Speaker 2: him back here, and you know, they're they're somewhat healthy
Speaker 2: again going into the playoffs.
Speaker 3: You've dealt with a nice long break, You've dealt.
Speaker 2: With the offensive line stuff. But you I mean, at
Speaker 2: this point you'd love to have James Daniels and Folotano available.
Speaker 4: Oh yeah, I mean even Herbig was her big, it
Speaker 4: would have been useful there for a while. Or you know,
Speaker 4: no question, and you know your top three picks, you
Speaker 4: only got one out of them, and he's been a
Speaker 4: good one. Reman Wilson hasn't helped either. I mean, that's
Speaker 4: that's we talked about that earlier in the week. I mean,
Speaker 4: we're talking about rookie classes and things. They's got hit
Speaker 4: pretty hard by injury. Yeah, but McCormick looks like a keeper,
Speaker 4: and Fraser looks like a keeper, you know, Wilson looks
Speaker 4: like a keeper.
Speaker 3: Peyton.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so that's the situation. But I thought it'd be
Speaker 2: interesting to look at those over unders.
Speaker 4: Next year's camp will be kind of fun from that
Speaker 4: regard is you're gonna have a whole rookie class and
Speaker 4: those two.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, by the.
Speaker 4: Way, right right right, I mean we kind of dealt
Speaker 4: with that with Trice, but he was a seventh round pick.
Speaker 3: He was the first round pick, yeah.
Speaker 2: Right, you weren't necessarily counting on him to become something. Anyways,
Speaker 2: let's get to a break that's going to do it
Speaker 2: for our number one of the drive here on the
Speaker 2: Steelers Audio Network, Matt and I'll be back with our
Speaker 2: number two right after this.