December 8, 2025 • 33 mins
Mark talks Steelers and takes calls. Matt Williamson joins for his weekly hit
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's a great day for the Irish.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
Well, actually it's not.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
Notre Dame didn't make the the I just kind of
just said that randomly, and Notre Dame got screwed, which
makes me saying it even funnier. But the Steelers sit
atop the AFC North with a seven and six record, hazzah.
And that's because the Ravens are worse than the Steelers,
and because Harbaugh is a worst coach than Tomlin, and
because Lamar is worse than Rogers, and because it's not
(00:28):
about excellence, it's about surviving. The Steelers defense allowed four
hundred and twenty yards. Baltimore rushed for over two hundred yards.
The Steelers got Nott gained by one hundred and two yards.
The Steelers hit the ball for only twenty six minutes.
The Steelers needed not one, not two, but three kind
(00:50):
of three game deciding calls to all go their way,
and had to hang on by their fingernails to win
at the very end. That's okay, it's better than the alternative,
but I still don't think the Steelers are very good.
But the narrative got restoked by that win, Oh yes
it did. In particular, the Tomlin narrative. So you want
(01:14):
to fire tom Win, You want to fire that guy.
That's all the stooge is. After the big win, Schefter
reported that the Steelers have to pick up the option
for twenty twenty seven on Tomlin's deal at the beginning
of March. Yeah, like there's a doubts Tomlin ain't going nowhere.
(01:34):
He will coach the Steelers as long as he chooses to,
no matter.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
What happens, they could lose outs.
Speaker 1 (01:41):
They are picking up that option for twenty seven, and
he is coaching next year. And the Steelers are going
to be seen as part of the mix now, et cetera.
But they're not that good, But neither is the whole
AFC So for calls on the fifteenth which are so fit?
Which uh down now eight three three four one two WSDX,
(02:05):
Tell me where the Steelers are at in your mind,
maybe your fantasy world after having won yesterday? What teams
could they beat in a wildcard playoff game at Aquashore?
In what teams would they not? And are you real
comfortable assuming they win the division?
Speaker 2 (02:23):
Because I'm not.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
I think it's gonna come down to them having to
win Week eighteen when Baltimore visits Pittsburgh, and I know
what you're thinking. Baltimore has a real rough schedule between
now and there. The Steelers play a couple bummy teams
like the Cleveland Browns and this coming week the Miami Dolphins,
and all that's true, but I bet they lose one
(02:45):
of those two games for sure. I bet they lose
one of those two games for sure. So your thoughts
somewhere the Steelers are at Now, your thoughts Notre Dame. Hilariously,
I'm not gonna say they got screwed. And like I,
he keeps saying the bottom couple teams, it doesn't matter
who they are no chance to win anyway. Notre Dame
had no chance. Texas had no chance. So here's what
(03:09):
I did like about the win. There's what I didn't
like about the win, namely it's fluky nature, which we
just went over at Nausium.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
But here's what I liked about the win.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
Obviously, Rogers played with a sense of timing and guts.
Numbers were pretty good. Actually, his numbers were what we
expected Rogers's numbers to be in every game this year,
but he so rarely has reached He's only played about
two or three good games all year. I like the
defensive pressure on Lamar. They got tangible numbers two sacks
(03:42):
and five quarterback hits, but they still managed to mostly
contain him too, which is the most important thing when
you're trying to defend Lamar Jackson or a quarterback like him, which,
by the way, they did not do well when Josh
Allen beat him a couple weeks back. When Buffalo came
to ackershore Metcalf caught some balls in stride and made
(04:04):
some combat catches. Even the deep ball got dusted off
a bit. Here's the key thing not many have talked about.
I'm going to bring it up with Matt Williamson at
three thirty, Tree Essex at four thirty.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
The injury fill ins did okay.
Speaker 1 (04:19):
The Steelers had a lot of guys hurt going into
the game, and more got hurt during the game, but
the injury fill ins did okay. Cole Holcomb had had
nine tackles backup inside backer, even Carston Brunner marks Kid
got stabs. Inside backer did okay. Chuck Clarke Jabrill Peppers.
(04:40):
They played and didn't stink, which is the most I
believe we can ask for somebody said yesterday, I forget
it was the DV pregame show or the bat teams.
Jabrill Peppers is coming into this game with a real
chip on his shoulder because he thought he should have
played him instead of Dugger from the get go, Douger
being hurt and all. First off, I don't think that.
(05:02):
I think obviously proofs in the pudding. Dougger's done pretty good,
and Jabrill Peppers has been like a bench jockey for
how long. Maybe he should have got the chip on
his shoulder a little bit earlier. If indeed that's the case,
that's like, oh no, the ball boys mad, what are
we gonna do? So Peppers played okay, Chuck Clark played okay.
The guys who had to fill in on the O line,
(05:24):
I'm not even sure who they were at one point.
So many guys got hurt, and Tom said earlier in
the show, full credit the guys who went back in
after exiting the game hurt, like Keanu Benton left in
the game second or third minute and came back and
played and played pretty good. You know, with Derek Carmon,
the rookie already out on the D line. You know,
(05:46):
Benton had to play and he with the bonus was
that he played okay. Uh and that's all you want
from the bummy guys when the gummy When the bummy
guys played okay, I'll give you example a lot of
games this year with Rogers. Now he played okay. That's
the tone and delivery. He played okay with the kyl
(06:09):
like Chuck Clark. It's oh man. He played okay. He
played okay, and he did and a lot of the
bummy guys did. I like when Rogers gets mad, like
when Baltimore won that replay challenge the catch out of
bounds with Austin and they got the challenge in because
the Steelers didn't get the next play in quick enough,
(06:32):
gave Baltimore time to throw the red flag. Rogers was
pissed at the coaches and absolutely well should have been.
So get your calls in now for calls on the fifteens,
which is so fetched.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
I got to write that Sensation Nation stuff down.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
I got a little bit of talk in about this
with Tom on the pregame show. But the Penguins played
good at Dallas last night. Jari was outstanding, but the
Penguins conceded a game time goal late when Dallas had
the goalieacht and lost in the shootout. You can't lose
every single effing shootout, but the Penguins might.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
They seemed determined in that regard.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
That's oh and four and shootots this year and eight
shootout losses in a row. Like Tom and I talked about,
you got to start using different people to shoot. Jari
only allowed one goal in three shots. Penguins took a
big o fer. You can't just default your best players
with Latang and Crosby. Let the kids go, Let Kind'll go,
(07:35):
let coyven and go. Let somebody else have a try.
I think they practice it when Bosma practiced a shootout.
If you excelled in practice in the shootout, you got
to go in the game. I don't see any sign
that that's the case.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
Here. Doer scored and Novak scored.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
The pengu was not played five in a row at home,
starting tomorrow night with Anaheim coming to town. No John Gibbson.
I'm gonna miss Gibbe. He's with Detroit now when the
Ducks are in. My favorite player that's a non Penguin
is here, Cutter Gotier Well, Logan Cooley is He's supposed
to be here Sunday with Utah, but he's banged up.
We'll see about that. But cutter Gotie refused to play
(08:17):
for the Flyers. Now he has sixteen goals for the Ducks.
Hope he gets a couple tomorrow night and the Penguins
figure out a way to win. Anyway, here's one thing
discouraging about the Penguins.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
And like I said earlier, the report that.
Speaker 1 (08:35):
Edmonton turned down a deal for Jarry because they won't
pick up all of his salary. That's because Dubis, you know,
insisted on that, so Edmonton wouldn't take it because their
cap tight. Because if he traded Jarry now, the locker
room would get really pissed off. And for Elliott Friedman
to not figure that out honestly shows that he's the
(08:56):
most overrated hockey journalist there is in terms of hockey knowledge,
which I knew all right, but uh, Morisof's going to
be the number one goalie next year. You gotta trade
Jari sometimes, just not now. And it's worth noting that
I think the Penguins have played as well as they
can to this point in the season with what they got,
(09:17):
and they's still only one point clear in a playoff
berth Right, now they're the number one wild card by
one point. All right, we got Matt Williamson, our guru.
At the bottom of the hour. Get your calls in
next for calls on the fifteens A three three four
one two WXDX, Mark.
Speaker 3 (09:36):
Madden, All Hill fin All Hill, Mark, Matt.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
I think that says a lot about my integrity.
Speaker 4 (09:40):
I love it.
Speaker 3 (09:41):
I think it's great.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
Pung baby the X at one five nine. Okay, you
write it done.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
It's the audience participant page.
Speaker 2 (09:55):
Now I've stuttered over it.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
My faculties are going and I bet you don't notice
for a couple of years, mental faculties. Physically, I'm healthy
as a horse that's headed for the glue factory. It's
the audience participation, crazed and sweeping the nation. You win
the super genius. It's a talk radio sensation. It's called
(10:19):
on the fifteens every day three fifteen, four fifteen. Give
me a ring at eight three three four one two
w XDX. Let's go to Cameron. Cameron, you're on.
Speaker 2 (10:29):
With double M. Good day, Double m I said, good day, Hey, Mark.
Speaker 5 (10:35):
I wanted to talk about the swagger that Rogers had yesterday.
I don't know if you saw that, but he just
looked like a totally different guy compared to last week
against the Bills. And there was at one point in
the second quarter when he had he saw a coverage
that Baltimore was in and he was checking and they
had to call a time out. And I don't know,
did you catch him just chirping at the Baltimore sideline,
(10:55):
pointing at him, like saying in a not so nice way.
Speaker 2 (10:58):
Yeah, good, good for him.
Speaker 1 (10:59):
He's played two or three good games all year, So
forgive me if I'm not quite as impressed by that
as you are.
Speaker 5 (11:07):
I just thought he brought the swag that was near.
Speaker 2 (11:09):
The way, Yeah the swag. That was great.
Speaker 1 (11:11):
He's played two or three good games all year. They're
seven and six. But I heard you the swag. Thank
you for the call. Yeah, he played good. He's supposed
to play good. He's a four time MVP, he's a
Super Bowl champion. He's supposed to play better than he
has been. And I give him credit for doing that,
(11:32):
and I think it went a long way toward winning
the game yesterday. Rogers's play was the second biggest factor
in terms of winning the game for the Steelers, besides
the three calls that all went Pittsburgh's way, And if
you deny that then you're just living in denial. But yeah,
he had swag good, told them to shut up, been
(11:54):
here fifteen minutes, played two or three good games total.
The Steelers are seven and six, but he wants us
to shut up. And he thinks the coach, who he's
barely played for, is above criticism. I bet if you
injected it with true serum or ayahuasca, he wouldn't think
Tomlin was above criticism. Let's go to Jebediah. Jebediah, you're
(12:16):
all with double M. Good day, Mark, I said, good day.
Speaker 3 (12:21):
You're finally ready to eat some crow about your tom
and criticism.
Speaker 1 (12:25):
No, not, not in the least. He still hasn't won
a playoff game in eight seasons. I will not eat
any crow until he wins a playoff game. Yesterday means
so little in the big picture of resurrecting the Tomlin narrative,
But a dope like you proves that it's been resurrected anyway.
Speaker 5 (12:41):
He contently elevates.
Speaker 1 (12:43):
Yeah, I just he needed to hear what I said. Okay,
what's he consistently elevate? Go ahead, because I bet you
hang yourself with this rope.
Speaker 6 (12:52):
How about you be quieted?
Speaker 2 (12:54):
No, no, no, no, I don't need to do that because
it's my show.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
Nobody gives a frig about you and your jackass hill
billy named Jebediah.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
Yeah, so why don't you tell me what he's.
Speaker 6 (13:02):
Elevated and listens you can learn how wrong you are.
Speaker 1 (13:05):
Goodbye? How about that? Now I'll never know how wrong
I am, how terrible? What were you gonna say that
he's elevated bad rosters? He assembles the rosters. Whatever he
elevates and makes overachieve, he's responsible for. You can't just
(13:27):
ignore when he does bad and then bails himself thought
by doing good, which he doesn't do enough, because they're
only seven and six. Like I said, but I knew,
and I wrote a column about this for the trip.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
I knew the overreaction would be this big.
Speaker 1 (13:41):
I knew the narrative would spring up about coach t
you never had a losing season, you could never come
out of Tomlin team. And here we are here, we
absolutely are speaking to narratives. Cleveland lost at home yesterday
to Tennessee and that ain't good.
Speaker 2 (13:58):
But Schador did pretty good.
Speaker 1 (14:00):
Twenty three of forty two, three hundred and sixty four yards,
three touchdowns, one pick, quarterback rating of ninety seven point seven,
Like I said, did pretty good. Was there leading rusher
even three carries twenty nine yards, one touchdown. They had
this goofy two point conversion at the end where they
(14:20):
threw the ball back and forth, back and forth. It
didn't work and they didn't win. And it's only against
Tennessee Tennessee. But nonetheless that's a pretty good game for Shador,
as his stooges have been trumpeting.
Speaker 2 (14:36):
Let's go to Nick, Nick, you're all with Mark?
Speaker 6 (14:40):
Hey, Mark, I want to go back to Jebediah and
his comment about eating crow.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
Does it really matter?
Speaker 6 (14:46):
I mean, I don't think it's gonna happen, But if
Tomlin did win a playoff game this year, does it
really matter like you would eat crow or need to
for the fact that it's been so long.
Speaker 1 (14:54):
Well, no, that's a good point. If let's say Toma
wins a playoff game this year, you know what that'll be.
There'll be one playoff win in nine seasons. That'll be
five years out of twenty that he coached in and
won a playoff game only five out of twenty.
Speaker 2 (15:09):
So I think he's a crap coach.
Speaker 1 (15:11):
And like, I would have let Jebediah make this point,
but nobody gets to bully me on my own show.
In fact, nobody gets to bully me in real life.
If Jebediah would like to try.
Speaker 6 (15:19):
That on.
Speaker 3 (15:22):
Now.
Speaker 6 (15:22):
There is another reason why I call the defense, and
it's pretty specific. I don't know what you'll say about it, however,
Patrick Queen and the linebackers, yeah, they did fine, but
all season, like even Patrick Queen on play Away, they're
just completely going away from their cutback gaps and getting
blocked in to a because they're over pursuing like they're
(15:42):
not attacking the cutback gaps.
Speaker 3 (15:44):
And it's showing with.
Speaker 6 (15:45):
All these long runs that anybody we play gets and
if anybody knows what they're looking at, they'll be able
to see that on film. I don't understand why they're
not fixing that. It's not a difficult task or concept
to act.
Speaker 3 (16:00):
Actually see, uh.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
You should be talking to Matt Williams.
Speaker 1 (16:03):
Did not me, But yeah, I think I can boil
it down and see what you think a little simpler.
I think the Steelers inside backers when they're Queen and
Wilson are too finessy, and I think they think too much.
Because they do think too much. Like you just said,
they're easy to run away from.
Speaker 2 (16:20):
Is that fair?
Speaker 6 (16:22):
It is very fair. Yet I think they're they're pursuing
to the ball too quickly because they don't know where they.
Speaker 5 (16:27):
Fit in the scheme.
Speaker 6 (16:29):
And I don't know why that's with Patrick Queen. This
is his second year here. He should definitely know how
to attack a cutback gap. Maybe Matt Williamson will talk
about it, but it is obvious and it is there.
Speaker 2 (16:40):
Thank you for the calling it. Good stuff. Alrighty, another great.
Speaker 1 (16:45):
Segment of calls on the fifteens up next to our
football guru Matt Williamson, one oh five to nine.
Speaker 2 (16:50):
It's The Woody Show, weeked mornings at six. Of course,
X Music on the X.
Speaker 7 (16:59):
Music.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
When you're in the mood for holiday music, Colleen Christmas
Listen live with the iHeartRadio app and on.
Speaker 3 (17:10):
Pittsburgh's number one Christmas music station, ninety four point five
three WS.
Speaker 2 (17:16):
This is Super Bowl Champion Alfred Williams.
Speaker 7 (17:18):
Good, what's trending on the Iheartsports Network present in Vice
super Sure. It's Week fourteen of the NFL season, set
to wrap up with the Eagles taking on the Chargers
on Monday Night Football.
Speaker 2 (17:27):
That one's in LA.
Speaker 7 (17:28):
Steelers took some heat off coach Mike Tomlin with Sunday's
went over Baltimore. That spurts back on top of the
AFC North. Now they're seven and six hand Steelers white out.
DK Metcalf return to Pittsburgh today. Ebry stayed in Baltimore
overnight for observation from stomach pains.
Speaker 2 (17:44):
I'm Scott Davidson. Do you own a small business? You
need to hear this.
Speaker 6 (17:48):
A seismic shift is coming.
Speaker 2 (17:50):
It's time to get super sure. Not kind of sure,
not pretty sure? Yes, Mark Madden day, how you doing.
We're all gonna walk to the rules I make. Are
you like it?
Speaker 1 (18:01):
That d exit one five nine Steelers with a very necessary,
although not necessarily impressive win at Baltimore yesterday. Joining me
now to talk about it, the former pro and college
Scott It's our football guru, Matt Williamson. Matt, let's just
dive right in from that angle. Did the Steelers play well?
(18:21):
Or did Baltimore just play worse.
Speaker 3 (18:26):
I think the Steelers quarterback played extremely well, and we
know how important that position is in this league, in
the quarterback driven league. I mean, to me, that's the
most encouraging thing I think they've played. They've played better
in this game than they have of late. But to
your point, I don't think either team is particularly strong
(18:47):
at the moment or you know, really in a great
spot to contend or make noise in the playoffs.
Speaker 1 (18:54):
Well, and don't get me wrong, there are some things
the Steelers did I really liked.
Speaker 2 (18:57):
For example, did the.
Speaker 1 (18:59):
Steelers pay Lamar or did Lamar just play shaky or
a bit of both?
Speaker 3 (19:05):
A little bit of both. I mean, they traditionally do
well against him, but that's just the way he's done
playing since he came back from injury, and very, very
gradually he's starting to show a little bit more life.
But he's missing a lot of throws. He's not running,
they're not designing runs for him as much as he
usually does, so you're getting a fraction of the Lamar Jackson,
(19:30):
you know, experience. So he's kind of done that each
of the last five weeks, give or take. But still
I think they did a pretty decent job on him
all in all.
Speaker 1 (19:41):
Yeah, I thought that when you get a couple sacks,
five quarterback hits and still contain him, that's a pretty
good combination.
Speaker 3 (19:49):
Yeah, and well said, I think that's very true. He
did make some throws to flowers that you don't love,
and clearly the you know, the Ravens ran the ball
quite well when he was part of that. But still,
I think as scary as he can be, they did
a pretty good job.
Speaker 1 (20:05):
With him when they do contain him. What's the key
and who are the key players?
Speaker 3 (20:12):
Well, they want to throw in the middle of the
field a lot, and they did a lot of that,
and I think the Steelers recognize that well, but they
didn't defend it super great. Now, the Steelers are really
good at keeping him within the in the confines of
the pocket and making him beach a you know, in
a traditional manner, which used to work a lot better
(20:34):
early in his career than it has late because he's
become a really, really good pocket passer. But over the
last several weeks, because of all his lower body ailments,
his accuracy is not what it had been on his
MVP year. Things like that I also think a lot
of it which didn't really apply yesterday. When they do
(20:55):
a lot of their read option stuff, they choose to
drill him. I mean that they'll take free shots at
Lamar through the course of the game, you know, before
he pitches it, or take away the running back, which
is also easier to do when Gus Edwards is your
running back and it's not Derrick Henry who's scary. But
I also think as many hits as he takes against
(21:15):
the Steelers wears on him through the course of the game.
Speaker 2 (21:17):
A lot you mentioned Rogers, I thought he played well.
Speaker 1 (21:20):
I thought because of that, Metcalf played well.
Speaker 3 (21:24):
Yes, I think they did a much better job game
planning things up, scheming things up to get their best
receiver the football. That's been a big complaint of mine.
So going into this game, we know the Steelers basically
have the shortest passing game in the league. I mean
it's very clear. Well, Ravens, because of their active linebackers
(21:46):
and Cal Hamilton, were one of the best short pass
defenses in the league, if not number one. So I
still think the Ravens went into this game saying, I'm
sure Rogers is going to get out of his hands,
So they really defended the short well. But I think
Rogers kind of zagged on him and said, Hey, I'm
gonna hold the ball a little bit longer. You guys
(22:06):
don't have this fierce pass rush despite having a new
left tackle, and I'm gonna drive the ball down the field.
And he did a really good job of it. And
I thought his pocket movement was much better than it's
been the last couple of weeks. I mean, he did
some goofy things the last couple of games in terms
of trying to elude pressure. This looked like the early
(22:28):
season Rogers of knowing where the pass rush is at
and an under estimated thing about what they did the
whole offense, but especially him, was really limited mistakes. They
had very few negative plays.
Speaker 2 (22:43):
Yeah, I agree with all that.
Speaker 1 (22:44):
I think dusting off the deep ball was a huge factor.
And I think his comfort level went beyond even you know,
having a lighter what he had like a brace instead
of a cast on.
Speaker 2 (22:56):
But he seemed in a frame.
Speaker 1 (22:58):
I thought he looked the frame last week with that
broken left wrist, and I thought that part of it
disappeared yesterday.
Speaker 3 (23:05):
Yeah, one thousand percent. He looked confident. He looked like
it was game two with this, and he had a
better feel for what he could do. I'm sure it
hurt less, you know. I mean, it's easy for us
to say, you know, I'm sure it hurts like crazy,
but it probably wasn't as tender. You saw him under
center a little bit more, which I thought was really
telling you know again he would hold football longer, certainly,
(23:28):
more comfortable, more confident. So it's a really good step
in the in the right direction. I'm not saying they're
gonna win the Super Bowl or you know, win out
or anything like that. But see, I was really starting
to worry about Rogers considering his age that oh no,
you know, this could be hitting the wall. And seeing
him play as well as he did really, as Shane
(23:50):
my tune.
Speaker 1 (23:51):
We're talking about Williamson brought to us by shop dot
Steelers dot Com Matt up. On the negative side, the
Steelers can't run the ball at all, can they?
Speaker 3 (24:00):
Oh? Well, they do. They really don't even try, and
I mean they I thought going into this game it
would be a very run centric game plan and it wasn't,
I mean, and they weren't very good at it. They
don't stick with it. I'm not even one hundred percent
sold that they're not an okay running team, but the
(24:24):
inability to just stick with it over and over is
really troubling, especially because the defense can't stop the run.
The last two weeks and some of you and I
talk about every Monday, the defense now at this point,
Mark has played one hundred and seventy nine more snaps
than the offense. I mean, if you let that sync in,
(24:47):
that is almost exactly three full games that you've asked
the defense to play more than the offense. And as
terrible as the Raiders are, they have the second biggest
differential and it's like one hundred plays left. I mean,
this is off the charts in terms of, you know,
having your defense out on the field way too much.
(25:07):
And once again in the second half, Baltimore started moving
the ball with ease and easy completions, and the pass
rush slows down and the run defense is a little
softer because they're out there too much. And the only
way to remedy that is run the ball more and
stop the run more, and they're doing the opposite.
Speaker 2 (25:27):
Yeah, I agree with all that.
Speaker 1 (25:28):
I think in the second quarter, even a lot of
games lately, they start to look tired on defense. By
the third quarter, they start to look desperate, and I
think Baltimore sensed that and took advantage of it.
Speaker 2 (25:41):
I was surprised Baltimore didn't run the.
Speaker 1 (25:43):
Ball with more success in the first half, and for
that matter, run the ball more often.
Speaker 3 (25:48):
Yeah, a thousand percent. And it's just such a tough
way to live because you keep up this pace, you're
going to end up with more defensive injuries and they're
already sustaining a few, and then it gets worse and
then you're not able to go up the field even more.
I mean, these kind of issues snowball like crazy, and
(26:09):
I don't know how it's going to get better. And frankly,
if Lamar was one hundred percent, or maybe if a
call would have went the Ravens way, there'd been a
much different result.
Speaker 1 (26:20):
Uh, some of the Steelers' backups on defense came through
in the face of all the injuries, didn't they.
Speaker 3 (26:26):
Yes, I'm really warming up to Pierre as being a
legit starting corner And unfortunately he's a free agent after
the year and he's making himself a lot of money.
But he's won for sure. I thought we'd see a
fair amount of as Sante Samuel. I think he played
one or two snaps. Didn't even notice he got in
because Eccles and Pierre had played so well. Where they're
(26:50):
not getting the help though, from depth wise is the
D line.
Speaker 2 (26:54):
You know that.
Speaker 3 (26:55):
I thought Black had a tough.
Speaker 2 (26:56):
Game, Beck was able to go back in.
Speaker 1 (26:59):
I mean, you don't think of him as irreplaceable, but
he's pretty close with Harmon's.
Speaker 3 (27:03):
Out, yes, And I mean this is a small sample size,
but the games that Harmon has missed, they've allowed like
one hundred rushing yards more per game than the games
he's in there. And he's a good player, but he
shouldn't be that impactful. And frankly, the D line not
named Cam Hayward has just been going backwards too much
(27:26):
in the run game the last two weeks.
Speaker 1 (27:28):
And here's something scary too, Matt. I thought Chuck Clark
and Jabriel Peppers played okay. Carson Brunner got on the
field and actually made some plays, and don't get me wrong,
we're power of them, but that's something I don't want
to count.
Speaker 3 (27:40):
On, right, I mean, that's not a world you want
to live in. And just go to throw this out there.
Though you mentioned Carson Bruner. He made a lot of
plays on special teams too, by the way, so I
guess wanted to give him a quick little shout out. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (27:53):
No, I don't think he's a terrible talent. I just
I think the more he plays, the best.
Speaker 3 (27:59):
No, I think he's going to be man A Kavich.
I mean I think he'll be a Steeler for ten
years and be their next killerber.
Speaker 1 (28:06):
How firm is the Steelers control of the AFC Dwarf.
I know they're in first place, but all their reaction
I've heard today, a lot of people are assuming a
lot of things.
Speaker 3 (28:16):
Oh, one hundred percent agree.
Speaker 7 (28:18):
Now.
Speaker 3 (28:18):
I know that their schedule sets up to be easier
than the Ravens, and they may even be a better
team than the Ravens, but winning against Miami right now
is no guarantee. Miami is running all over teams right now.
They're playing really, really well, and like.
Speaker 2 (28:36):
You said, literally running.
Speaker 1 (28:37):
They're running the ball, which makes them automatically a bad
matchup for that Steelers defense.
Speaker 3 (28:42):
One thousand percent. And I know a Chan will be
on the injury report, but I bet he plays. They
were blowing out the Jets or he probably would have
went back in that game, and he's having a tremendous year.
I mean, you also look at like that Browns game,
but if it's a blizzard and you know it's a
first one to nine points or whatever, that's not a
(29:03):
definite win to be either. They probably lose against the Lions.
It wouldn't shock me one bit if this division comes
down the Week eight team.
Speaker 1 (29:13):
If the Steelers would win the AFC North and get
a home playoff game, what team would they be most
likely to beat out of the potential matchups and what
team could they just not beat?
Speaker 3 (29:25):
So I'm probably out on a limb on this one,
but I think, well, first of all, I think the
Colts won't win another game. You know, they lost their quarterback.
They have an awful, awful schedule, So as good as
the Colts started, I think they're going to be out
of contention here very soon, which is unfortunate. If you're them.
It's not really their fault, but they're in a real problem.
(29:46):
Maybe I'm crazy, but I think the Chargers are set
to kind of fall off a little bit too. Maybe
I'll look dumb, but I think they're going to get
beat bad tonight, so I think they could go backwards.
Now we're That leaves me though, is if I'm right
on those I still think Kansas City could win out,
and I know that on many tie breakers in their favor.
(30:09):
But if I'm right about that, they would be the
seven seed, which comes to then uh, well, then you'd
end up, you know, having mahomes allen all these scary
teams in the playoffs. I wouldn't want to play the
Chiefs and they would.
Speaker 2 (30:24):
They would all be in the bottom of the draw.
They'd all be on the road in the wild card too.
Speaker 3 (30:28):
That's what I mean. They all could come visit you.
But when you ask me that, I think the short
answer is the Bills will be the five seed. The
Steelers will be the four seed. That's not great, Matt.
Speaker 1 (30:40):
What did you think of the three calls that decided
the game? The touchdown to likely the the the uh
recovered fumble pass whatever it was by Rogers, and then
the the personal file against the long snappercoots.
Speaker 3 (30:57):
So if you break them all down super quick, I
never would have thrown I never would have thrown a
flag on the Coons one, you know, especially maybe by
the letter of the law. You touched the long snapper,
but this is football, and he's two hundred and fifty
pounds of pads on and the helmets, and it wasn't egregious.
I thought that was a bad flag that greatly benefit
(31:18):
the Steelers, And I'd be pretty fired up of either
if I was the Ravens. Frankly, I'd probably be pretty
fired up about them all if I was a Ravens fan. Anyway,
they they.
Speaker 1 (31:28):
Could have gone either way without outrage, is what I said.
Speaker 3 (31:33):
I thought so too, And the fact that both were
originally called the Ravens way and then they saw enough
to overturn it shocked me. On the Likely and Rodgers plays,
But frankly, when you study them and you break them
down frame by frame, I think they're the right call,
(31:53):
especially the Rogers one, because there's pretty clear evidence that
he has the ball in his hands with the knee
on the.
Speaker 1 (31:59):
Ground, right, But what he touched, what he tackled, because
at that point he's a receiver.
Speaker 3 (32:04):
Tht so right I thought he was. But the Likely
one I think I'd have more of a problem with.
But if I'm trying to be as impartial as possible,
I think they got the Rogers and likely call rights.
I think they got the long snapper one wrong.
Speaker 1 (32:19):
No, that's fair, and honestly I'm not outraged by any
of the three calls, nor would I have been at
they all yea, all all two.
Speaker 2 (32:28):
Or or none or one gone the other way.
Speaker 1 (32:30):
But they just all close calls, and that is what
decides the games. Matt, great stuff as always. We'll do
it again next week.
Speaker 5 (32:38):
How about take care.
Speaker 3 (32:39):
We'll talk to him.
Speaker 1 (32:39):
That's our football guru. Brought to us by Steelers dot Com.
Get a direct from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop.
We got Trey Essex, the two times Super Bowl champion,
joining us at four thirty.
Speaker 2 (32:50):
It's Smart Madden Show one oh five to nine, Redrew.
Speaker 4 (32:56):
It's the Exes Kick Ass Chris Lashow with Highly Suspect
Tuesday December nights at Stay je Get your tickets now
at w x DX dot com. Okay, Highly Suspects with
Flight Attendant.
Speaker 2 (33:20):
Tis this season two, The Jolly Party Rockin' Something.
Speaker 4 (33:24):
It's the Exes Kick Ass Christmas Show from one oh
Speaker 2 (33:27):
Five to nine The X This Hour The Mark Madden
Shows brought to you by bud Light
It's a great day for the Irish.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
Well, actually it's not.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
Notre Dame didn't make the the I just kind of
just said that randomly, and Notre Dame got screwed, which
makes me saying it even funnier. But the Steelers sit
atop the AFC North with a seven and six record, hazzah.
And that's because the Ravens are worse than the Steelers,
and because Harbaugh is a worst coach than Tomlin, and
because Lamar is worse than Rogers, and because it's not
(00:28):
about excellence, it's about surviving. The Steelers defense allowed four
hundred and twenty yards. Baltimore rushed for over two hundred yards.
The Steelers got Nott gained by one hundred and two yards.
The Steelers hit the ball for only twenty six minutes.
The Steelers needed not one, not two, but three kind
(00:50):
of three game deciding calls to all go their way,
and had to hang on by their fingernails to win
at the very end. That's okay, it's better than the alternative,
but I still don't think the Steelers are very good.
But the narrative got restoked by that win, Oh yes
it did. In particular, the Tomlin narrative. So you want
(01:14):
to fire tom Win, You want to fire that guy.
That's all the stooge is. After the big win, Schefter
reported that the Steelers have to pick up the option
for twenty twenty seven on Tomlin's deal at the beginning
of March. Yeah, like there's a doubts Tomlin ain't going nowhere.
(01:34):
He will coach the Steelers as long as he chooses to,
no matter.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
What happens, they could lose outs.
Speaker 1 (01:41):
They are picking up that option for twenty seven, and
he is coaching next year. And the Steelers are going
to be seen as part of the mix now, et cetera.
But they're not that good, But neither is the whole
AFC So for calls on the fifteenth which are so fit?
Which uh down now eight three three four one two WSDX,
(02:05):
Tell me where the Steelers are at in your mind,
maybe your fantasy world after having won yesterday? What teams
could they beat in a wildcard playoff game at Aquashore?
In what teams would they not? And are you real
comfortable assuming they win the division?
Speaker 2 (02:23):
Because I'm not.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
I think it's gonna come down to them having to
win Week eighteen when Baltimore visits Pittsburgh, and I know
what you're thinking. Baltimore has a real rough schedule between
now and there. The Steelers play a couple bummy teams
like the Cleveland Browns and this coming week the Miami Dolphins,
and all that's true, but I bet they lose one
(02:45):
of those two games for sure. I bet they lose
one of those two games for sure. So your thoughts
somewhere the Steelers are at Now, your thoughts Notre Dame. Hilariously,
I'm not gonna say they got screwed. And like I,
he keeps saying the bottom couple teams, it doesn't matter
who they are no chance to win anyway. Notre Dame
had no chance. Texas had no chance. So here's what
(03:09):
I did like about the win. There's what I didn't
like about the win, namely it's fluky nature, which we
just went over at Nausium.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
But here's what I liked about the win.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
Obviously, Rogers played with a sense of timing and guts.
Numbers were pretty good. Actually, his numbers were what we
expected Rogers's numbers to be in every game this year,
but he so rarely has reached He's only played about
two or three good games all year. I like the
defensive pressure on Lamar. They got tangible numbers two sacks
(03:42):
and five quarterback hits, but they still managed to mostly
contain him too, which is the most important thing when
you're trying to defend Lamar Jackson or a quarterback like him, which,
by the way, they did not do well when Josh
Allen beat him a couple weeks back. When Buffalo came
to ackershore Metcalf caught some balls in stride and made
(04:04):
some combat catches. Even the deep ball got dusted off
a bit. Here's the key thing not many have talked about.
I'm going to bring it up with Matt Williamson at
three thirty, Tree Essex at four thirty.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
The injury fill ins did okay.
Speaker 1 (04:19):
The Steelers had a lot of guys hurt going into
the game, and more got hurt during the game, but
the injury fill ins did okay. Cole Holcomb had had
nine tackles backup inside backer, even Carston Brunner marks Kid
got stabs. Inside backer did okay. Chuck Clarke Jabrill Peppers.
(04:40):
They played and didn't stink, which is the most I
believe we can ask for somebody said yesterday, I forget
it was the DV pregame show or the bat teams.
Jabrill Peppers is coming into this game with a real
chip on his shoulder because he thought he should have
played him instead of Dugger from the get go, Douger
being hurt and all. First off, I don't think that.
(05:02):
I think obviously proofs in the pudding. Dougger's done pretty good,
and Jabrill Peppers has been like a bench jockey for
how long. Maybe he should have got the chip on
his shoulder a little bit earlier. If indeed that's the case,
that's like, oh no, the ball boys mad, what are
we gonna do? So Peppers played okay, Chuck Clark played okay.
The guys who had to fill in on the O line,
(05:24):
I'm not even sure who they were at one point.
So many guys got hurt, and Tom said earlier in
the show, full credit the guys who went back in
after exiting the game hurt, like Keanu Benton left in
the game second or third minute and came back and
played and played pretty good. You know, with Derek Carmon,
the rookie already out on the D line. You know,
(05:46):
Benton had to play and he with the bonus was
that he played okay. Uh and that's all you want
from the bummy guys when the gummy When the bummy
guys played okay, I'll give you example a lot of
games this year with Rogers. Now he played okay. That's
the tone and delivery. He played okay with the kyl
(06:09):
like Chuck Clark. It's oh man. He played okay. He
played okay, and he did and a lot of the
bummy guys did. I like when Rogers gets mad, like
when Baltimore won that replay challenge the catch out of
bounds with Austin and they got the challenge in because
the Steelers didn't get the next play in quick enough,
(06:32):
gave Baltimore time to throw the red flag. Rogers was
pissed at the coaches and absolutely well should have been.
So get your calls in now for calls on the fifteens,
which is so fetched.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
I got to write that Sensation Nation stuff down.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
I got a little bit of talk in about this
with Tom on the pregame show. But the Penguins played
good at Dallas last night. Jari was outstanding, but the
Penguins conceded a game time goal late when Dallas had
the goalieacht and lost in the shootout. You can't lose
every single effing shootout, but the Penguins might.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
They seemed determined in that regard.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
That's oh and four and shootots this year and eight
shootout losses in a row. Like Tom and I talked about,
you got to start using different people to shoot. Jari
only allowed one goal in three shots. Penguins took a
big o fer. You can't just default your best players
with Latang and Crosby. Let the kids go, Let Kind'll go,
(07:35):
let coyven and go. Let somebody else have a try.
I think they practice it when Bosma practiced a shootout.
If you excelled in practice in the shootout, you got
to go in the game. I don't see any sign
that that's the case.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
Here. Doer scored and Novak scored.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
The pengu was not played five in a row at home,
starting tomorrow night with Anaheim coming to town. No John Gibbson.
I'm gonna miss Gibbe. He's with Detroit now when the
Ducks are in. My favorite player that's a non Penguin
is here, Cutter Gotier Well, Logan Cooley is He's supposed
to be here Sunday with Utah, but he's banged up.
We'll see about that. But cutter Gotie refused to play
(08:17):
for the Flyers. Now he has sixteen goals for the Ducks.
Hope he gets a couple tomorrow night and the Penguins
figure out a way to win. Anyway, here's one thing
discouraging about the Penguins.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
And like I said earlier, the report that.
Speaker 1 (08:35):
Edmonton turned down a deal for Jarry because they won't
pick up all of his salary. That's because Dubis, you know,
insisted on that, so Edmonton wouldn't take it because their
cap tight. Because if he traded Jarry now, the locker
room would get really pissed off. And for Elliott Friedman
to not figure that out honestly shows that he's the
(08:56):
most overrated hockey journalist there is in terms of hockey knowledge,
which I knew all right, but uh, Morisof's going to
be the number one goalie next year. You gotta trade
Jari sometimes, just not now. And it's worth noting that
I think the Penguins have played as well as they
can to this point in the season with what they got,
(09:17):
and they's still only one point clear in a playoff
berth Right, now they're the number one wild card by
one point. All right, we got Matt Williamson, our guru.
At the bottom of the hour. Get your calls in
next for calls on the fifteens A three three four
one two WXDX, Mark.
Speaker 3 (09:36):
Madden, All Hill fin All Hill, Mark, Matt.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
I think that says a lot about my integrity.
Speaker 4 (09:40):
I love it.
Speaker 3 (09:41):
I think it's great.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
Pung baby the X at one five nine. Okay, you
write it done.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
It's the audience participant page.
Speaker 2 (09:55):
Now I've stuttered over it.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
My faculties are going and I bet you don't notice
for a couple of years, mental faculties. Physically, I'm healthy
as a horse that's headed for the glue factory. It's
the audience participation, crazed and sweeping the nation. You win
the super genius. It's a talk radio sensation. It's called
(10:19):
on the fifteens every day three fifteen, four fifteen. Give
me a ring at eight three three four one two
w XDX. Let's go to Cameron. Cameron, you're on.
Speaker 2 (10:29):
With double M. Good day, Double m I said, good day, Hey, Mark.
Speaker 5 (10:35):
I wanted to talk about the swagger that Rogers had yesterday.
I don't know if you saw that, but he just
looked like a totally different guy compared to last week
against the Bills. And there was at one point in
the second quarter when he had he saw a coverage
that Baltimore was in and he was checking and they
had to call a time out. And I don't know,
did you catch him just chirping at the Baltimore sideline,
(10:55):
pointing at him, like saying in a not so nice way.
Speaker 2 (10:58):
Yeah, good, good for him.
Speaker 1 (10:59):
He's played two or three good games all year, So
forgive me if I'm not quite as impressed by that
as you are.
Speaker 5 (11:07):
I just thought he brought the swag that was near.
Speaker 2 (11:09):
The way, Yeah the swag. That was great.
Speaker 1 (11:11):
He's played two or three good games all year. They're
seven and six. But I heard you the swag. Thank
you for the call. Yeah, he played good. He's supposed
to play good. He's a four time MVP, he's a
Super Bowl champion. He's supposed to play better than he
has been. And I give him credit for doing that,
(11:32):
and I think it went a long way toward winning
the game yesterday. Rogers's play was the second biggest factor
in terms of winning the game for the Steelers, besides
the three calls that all went Pittsburgh's way, And if
you deny that then you're just living in denial. But yeah,
he had swag good, told them to shut up, been
(11:54):
here fifteen minutes, played two or three good games total.
The Steelers are seven and six, but he wants us
to shut up. And he thinks the coach, who he's
barely played for, is above criticism. I bet if you
injected it with true serum or ayahuasca, he wouldn't think
Tomlin was above criticism. Let's go to Jebediah. Jebediah, you're
(12:16):
all with double M. Good day, Mark, I said, good day.
Speaker 3 (12:21):
You're finally ready to eat some crow about your tom
and criticism.
Speaker 1 (12:25):
No, not, not in the least. He still hasn't won
a playoff game in eight seasons. I will not eat
any crow until he wins a playoff game. Yesterday means
so little in the big picture of resurrecting the Tomlin narrative,
But a dope like you proves that it's been resurrected anyway.
Speaker 5 (12:41):
He contently elevates.
Speaker 1 (12:43):
Yeah, I just he needed to hear what I said. Okay,
what's he consistently elevate? Go ahead, because I bet you
hang yourself with this rope.
Speaker 6 (12:52):
How about you be quieted?
Speaker 2 (12:54):
No, no, no, no, I don't need to do that because
it's my show.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
Nobody gives a frig about you and your jackass hill
billy named Jebediah.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
Yeah, so why don't you tell me what he's.
Speaker 6 (13:02):
Elevated and listens you can learn how wrong you are.
Speaker 1 (13:05):
Goodbye? How about that? Now I'll never know how wrong
I am, how terrible? What were you gonna say that
he's elevated bad rosters? He assembles the rosters. Whatever he
elevates and makes overachieve, he's responsible for. You can't just
(13:27):
ignore when he does bad and then bails himself thought
by doing good, which he doesn't do enough, because they're
only seven and six. Like I said, but I knew,
and I wrote a column about this for the trip.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
I knew the overreaction would be this big.
Speaker 1 (13:41):
I knew the narrative would spring up about coach t
you never had a losing season, you could never come
out of Tomlin team. And here we are here, we
absolutely are speaking to narratives. Cleveland lost at home yesterday
to Tennessee and that ain't good.
Speaker 2 (13:58):
But Schador did pretty good.
Speaker 1 (14:00):
Twenty three of forty two, three hundred and sixty four yards,
three touchdowns, one pick, quarterback rating of ninety seven point seven,
Like I said, did pretty good. Was there leading rusher
even three carries twenty nine yards, one touchdown. They had
this goofy two point conversion at the end where they
(14:20):
threw the ball back and forth, back and forth. It
didn't work and they didn't win. And it's only against
Tennessee Tennessee. But nonetheless that's a pretty good game for Shador,
as his stooges have been trumpeting.
Speaker 2 (14:36):
Let's go to Nick, Nick, you're all with Mark?
Speaker 6 (14:40):
Hey, Mark, I want to go back to Jebediah and
his comment about eating crow.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
Does it really matter?
Speaker 6 (14:46):
I mean, I don't think it's gonna happen, But if
Tomlin did win a playoff game this year, does it
really matter like you would eat crow or need to
for the fact that it's been so long.
Speaker 1 (14:54):
Well, no, that's a good point. If let's say Toma
wins a playoff game this year, you know what that'll be.
There'll be one playoff win in nine seasons. That'll be
five years out of twenty that he coached in and
won a playoff game only five out of twenty.
Speaker 2 (15:09):
So I think he's a crap coach.
Speaker 1 (15:11):
And like, I would have let Jebediah make this point,
but nobody gets to bully me on my own show.
In fact, nobody gets to bully me in real life.
If Jebediah would like to try.
Speaker 6 (15:19):
That on.
Speaker 3 (15:22):
Now.
Speaker 6 (15:22):
There is another reason why I call the defense, and
it's pretty specific. I don't know what you'll say about it, however,
Patrick Queen and the linebackers, yeah, they did fine, but
all season, like even Patrick Queen on play Away, they're
just completely going away from their cutback gaps and getting
blocked in to a because they're over pursuing like they're
(15:42):
not attacking the cutback gaps.
Speaker 3 (15:44):
And it's showing with.
Speaker 6 (15:45):
All these long runs that anybody we play gets and
if anybody knows what they're looking at, they'll be able
to see that on film. I don't understand why they're
not fixing that. It's not a difficult task or concept
to act.
Speaker 3 (16:00):
Actually see, uh.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
You should be talking to Matt Williams.
Speaker 1 (16:03):
Did not me, But yeah, I think I can boil
it down and see what you think a little simpler.
I think the Steelers inside backers when they're Queen and
Wilson are too finessy, and I think they think too much.
Because they do think too much. Like you just said,
they're easy to run away from.
Speaker 2 (16:20):
Is that fair?
Speaker 6 (16:22):
It is very fair. Yet I think they're they're pursuing
to the ball too quickly because they don't know where they.
Speaker 5 (16:27):
Fit in the scheme.
Speaker 6 (16:29):
And I don't know why that's with Patrick Queen. This
is his second year here. He should definitely know how
to attack a cutback gap. Maybe Matt Williamson will talk
about it, but it is obvious and it is there.
Speaker 2 (16:40):
Thank you for the calling it. Good stuff. Alrighty, another great.
Speaker 1 (16:45):
Segment of calls on the fifteens up next to our
football guru Matt Williamson, one oh five to nine.
Speaker 2 (16:50):
It's The Woody Show, weeked mornings at six. Of course,
X Music on the X.
Speaker 7 (16:59):
Music.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
When you're in the mood for holiday music, Colleen Christmas
Listen live with the iHeartRadio app and on.
Speaker 3 (17:10):
Pittsburgh's number one Christmas music station, ninety four point five
three WS.
Speaker 2 (17:16):
This is Super Bowl Champion Alfred Williams.
Speaker 7 (17:18):
Good, what's trending on the Iheartsports Network present in Vice
super Sure. It's Week fourteen of the NFL season, set
to wrap up with the Eagles taking on the Chargers
on Monday Night Football.
Speaker 2 (17:27):
That one's in LA.
Speaker 7 (17:28):
Steelers took some heat off coach Mike Tomlin with Sunday's
went over Baltimore. That spurts back on top of the
AFC North. Now they're seven and six hand Steelers white out.
DK Metcalf return to Pittsburgh today. Ebry stayed in Baltimore
overnight for observation from stomach pains.
Speaker 2 (17:44):
I'm Scott Davidson. Do you own a small business? You
need to hear this.
Speaker 6 (17:48):
A seismic shift is coming.
Speaker 2 (17:50):
It's time to get super sure. Not kind of sure,
not pretty sure? Yes, Mark Madden day, how you doing.
We're all gonna walk to the rules I make. Are
you like it?
Speaker 1 (18:01):
That d exit one five nine Steelers with a very necessary,
although not necessarily impressive win at Baltimore yesterday. Joining me
now to talk about it, the former pro and college
Scott It's our football guru, Matt Williamson. Matt, let's just
dive right in from that angle. Did the Steelers play well?
(18:21):
Or did Baltimore just play worse.
Speaker 3 (18:26):
I think the Steelers quarterback played extremely well, and we
know how important that position is in this league, in
the quarterback driven league. I mean, to me, that's the
most encouraging thing I think they've played. They've played better
in this game than they have of late. But to
your point, I don't think either team is particularly strong
(18:47):
at the moment or you know, really in a great
spot to contend or make noise in the playoffs.
Speaker 1 (18:54):
Well, and don't get me wrong, there are some things
the Steelers did I really liked.
Speaker 2 (18:57):
For example, did the.
Speaker 1 (18:59):
Steelers pay Lamar or did Lamar just play shaky or
a bit of both?
Speaker 3 (19:05):
A little bit of both. I mean, they traditionally do
well against him, but that's just the way he's done
playing since he came back from injury, and very, very
gradually he's starting to show a little bit more life.
But he's missing a lot of throws. He's not running,
they're not designing runs for him as much as he
usually does, so you're getting a fraction of the Lamar Jackson,
(19:30):
you know, experience. So he's kind of done that each
of the last five weeks, give or take. But still
I think they did a pretty decent job on him
all in all.
Speaker 1 (19:41):
Yeah, I thought that when you get a couple sacks,
five quarterback hits and still contain him, that's a pretty
good combination.
Speaker 3 (19:49):
Yeah, and well said, I think that's very true. He
did make some throws to flowers that you don't love,
and clearly the you know, the Ravens ran the ball
quite well when he was part of that. But still,
I think as scary as he can be, they did
a pretty good job.
Speaker 1 (20:05):
With him when they do contain him. What's the key
and who are the key players?
Speaker 3 (20:12):
Well, they want to throw in the middle of the
field a lot, and they did a lot of that,
and I think the Steelers recognize that well, but they
didn't defend it super great. Now, the Steelers are really
good at keeping him within the in the confines of
the pocket and making him beach a you know, in
a traditional manner, which used to work a lot better
(20:34):
early in his career than it has late because he's
become a really, really good pocket passer. But over the
last several weeks, because of all his lower body ailments,
his accuracy is not what it had been on his
MVP year. Things like that I also think a lot
of it which didn't really apply yesterday. When they do
(20:55):
a lot of their read option stuff, they choose to
drill him. I mean that they'll take free shots at
Lamar through the course of the game, you know, before
he pitches it, or take away the running back, which
is also easier to do when Gus Edwards is your
running back and it's not Derrick Henry who's scary. But
I also think as many hits as he takes against
(21:15):
the Steelers wears on him through the course of the game.
Speaker 2 (21:17):
A lot you mentioned Rogers, I thought he played well.
Speaker 1 (21:20):
I thought because of that, Metcalf played well.
Speaker 3 (21:24):
Yes, I think they did a much better job game
planning things up, scheming things up to get their best
receiver the football. That's been a big complaint of mine.
So going into this game, we know the Steelers basically
have the shortest passing game in the league. I mean
it's very clear. Well, Ravens, because of their active linebackers
(21:46):
and Cal Hamilton, were one of the best short pass
defenses in the league, if not number one. So I
still think the Ravens went into this game saying, I'm
sure Rogers is going to get out of his hands,
So they really defended the short well. But I think
Rogers kind of zagged on him and said, Hey, I'm
gonna hold the ball a little bit longer. You guys
(22:06):
don't have this fierce pass rush despite having a new
left tackle, and I'm gonna drive the ball down the field.
And he did a really good job of it. And
I thought his pocket movement was much better than it's
been the last couple of weeks. I mean, he did
some goofy things the last couple of games in terms
of trying to elude pressure. This looked like the early
(22:28):
season Rogers of knowing where the pass rush is at
and an under estimated thing about what they did the
whole offense, but especially him, was really limited mistakes. They
had very few negative plays.
Speaker 2 (22:43):
Yeah, I agree with all that.
Speaker 1 (22:44):
I think dusting off the deep ball was a huge factor.
And I think his comfort level went beyond even you know,
having a lighter what he had like a brace instead
of a cast on.
Speaker 2 (22:56):
But he seemed in a frame.
Speaker 1 (22:58):
I thought he looked the frame last week with that
broken left wrist, and I thought that part of it
disappeared yesterday.
Speaker 3 (23:05):
Yeah, one thousand percent. He looked confident. He looked like
it was game two with this, and he had a
better feel for what he could do. I'm sure it
hurt less, you know. I mean, it's easy for us
to say, you know, I'm sure it hurts like crazy,
but it probably wasn't as tender. You saw him under
center a little bit more, which I thought was really
telling you know again he would hold football longer, certainly,
(23:28):
more comfortable, more confident. So it's a really good step
in the in the right direction. I'm not saying they're
gonna win the Super Bowl or you know, win out
or anything like that. But see, I was really starting
to worry about Rogers considering his age that oh no,
you know, this could be hitting the wall. And seeing
him play as well as he did really, as Shane
(23:50):
my tune.
Speaker 1 (23:51):
We're talking about Williamson brought to us by shop dot
Steelers dot Com Matt up. On the negative side, the
Steelers can't run the ball at all, can they?
Speaker 3 (24:00):
Oh? Well, they do. They really don't even try, and
I mean they I thought going into this game it
would be a very run centric game plan and it wasn't,
I mean, and they weren't very good at it. They
don't stick with it. I'm not even one hundred percent
sold that they're not an okay running team, but the
(24:24):
inability to just stick with it over and over is
really troubling, especially because the defense can't stop the run.
The last two weeks and some of you and I
talk about every Monday, the defense now at this point,
Mark has played one hundred and seventy nine more snaps
than the offense. I mean, if you let that sync in,
(24:47):
that is almost exactly three full games that you've asked
the defense to play more than the offense. And as
terrible as the Raiders are, they have the second biggest
differential and it's like one hundred plays left. I mean,
this is off the charts in terms of, you know,
having your defense out on the field way too much.
(25:07):
And once again in the second half, Baltimore started moving
the ball with ease and easy completions, and the pass
rush slows down and the run defense is a little
softer because they're out there too much. And the only
way to remedy that is run the ball more and
stop the run more, and they're doing the opposite.
Speaker 2 (25:27):
Yeah, I agree with all that.
Speaker 1 (25:28):
I think in the second quarter, even a lot of
games lately, they start to look tired on defense. By
the third quarter, they start to look desperate, and I
think Baltimore sensed that and took advantage of it.
Speaker 2 (25:41):
I was surprised Baltimore didn't run the.
Speaker 1 (25:43):
Ball with more success in the first half, and for
that matter, run the ball more often.
Speaker 3 (25:48):
Yeah, a thousand percent. And it's just such a tough
way to live because you keep up this pace, you're
going to end up with more defensive injuries and they're
already sustaining a few, and then it gets worse and
then you're not able to go up the field even more.
I mean, these kind of issues snowball like crazy, and
(26:09):
I don't know how it's going to get better. And frankly,
if Lamar was one hundred percent, or maybe if a
call would have went the Ravens way, there'd been a
much different result.
Speaker 1 (26:20):
Uh, some of the Steelers' backups on defense came through
in the face of all the injuries, didn't they.
Speaker 3 (26:26):
Yes, I'm really warming up to Pierre as being a
legit starting corner And unfortunately he's a free agent after
the year and he's making himself a lot of money.
But he's won for sure. I thought we'd see a
fair amount of as Sante Samuel. I think he played
one or two snaps. Didn't even notice he got in
because Eccles and Pierre had played so well. Where they're
(26:50):
not getting the help though, from depth wise is the
D line.
Speaker 2 (26:54):
You know that.
Speaker 3 (26:55):
I thought Black had a tough.
Speaker 2 (26:56):
Game, Beck was able to go back in.
Speaker 1 (26:59):
I mean, you don't think of him as irreplaceable, but
he's pretty close with Harmon's.
Speaker 3 (27:03):
Out, yes, And I mean this is a small sample size,
but the games that Harmon has missed, they've allowed like
one hundred rushing yards more per game than the games
he's in there. And he's a good player, but he
shouldn't be that impactful. And frankly, the D line not
named Cam Hayward has just been going backwards too much
(27:26):
in the run game the last two weeks.
Speaker 1 (27:28):
And here's something scary too, Matt. I thought Chuck Clark
and Jabriel Peppers played okay. Carson Brunner got on the
field and actually made some plays, and don't get me wrong,
we're power of them, but that's something I don't want
to count.
Speaker 3 (27:40):
On, right, I mean, that's not a world you want
to live in. And just go to throw this out there.
Though you mentioned Carson Bruner. He made a lot of
plays on special teams too, by the way, so I
guess wanted to give him a quick little shout out. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (27:53):
No, I don't think he's a terrible talent. I just
I think the more he plays, the best.
Speaker 3 (27:59):
No, I think he's going to be man A Kavich.
I mean I think he'll be a Steeler for ten
years and be their next killerber.
Speaker 1 (28:06):
How firm is the Steelers control of the AFC Dwarf.
I know they're in first place, but all their reaction
I've heard today, a lot of people are assuming a
lot of things.
Speaker 3 (28:16):
Oh, one hundred percent agree.
Speaker 7 (28:18):
Now.
Speaker 3 (28:18):
I know that their schedule sets up to be easier
than the Ravens, and they may even be a better
team than the Ravens, but winning against Miami right now
is no guarantee. Miami is running all over teams right now.
They're playing really, really well, and like.
Speaker 2 (28:36):
You said, literally running.
Speaker 1 (28:37):
They're running the ball, which makes them automatically a bad
matchup for that Steelers defense.
Speaker 3 (28:42):
One thousand percent. And I know a Chan will be
on the injury report, but I bet he plays. They
were blowing out the Jets or he probably would have
went back in that game, and he's having a tremendous year.
I mean, you also look at like that Browns game,
but if it's a blizzard and you know it's a
first one to nine points or whatever, that's not a
(29:03):
definite win to be either. They probably lose against the Lions.
It wouldn't shock me one bit if this division comes
down the Week eight team.
Speaker 1 (29:13):
If the Steelers would win the AFC North and get
a home playoff game, what team would they be most
likely to beat out of the potential matchups and what
team could they just not beat?
Speaker 3 (29:25):
So I'm probably out on a limb on this one,
but I think, well, first of all, I think the
Colts won't win another game. You know, they lost their quarterback.
They have an awful, awful schedule, So as good as
the Colts started, I think they're going to be out
of contention here very soon, which is unfortunate. If you're them.
It's not really their fault, but they're in a real problem.
(29:46):
Maybe I'm crazy, but I think the Chargers are set
to kind of fall off a little bit too. Maybe
I'll look dumb, but I think they're going to get
beat bad tonight, so I think they could go backwards.
Now we're That leaves me though, is if I'm right
on those I still think Kansas City could win out,
and I know that on many tie breakers in their favor.
(30:09):
But if I'm right about that, they would be the
seven seed, which comes to then uh, well, then you'd
end up, you know, having mahomes allen all these scary
teams in the playoffs. I wouldn't want to play the
Chiefs and they would.
Speaker 2 (30:24):
They would all be in the bottom of the draw.
They'd all be on the road in the wild card too.
Speaker 3 (30:28):
That's what I mean. They all could come visit you.
But when you ask me that, I think the short
answer is the Bills will be the five seed. The
Steelers will be the four seed. That's not great, Matt.
Speaker 1 (30:40):
What did you think of the three calls that decided
the game? The touchdown to likely the the the uh
recovered fumble pass whatever it was by Rogers, and then
the the personal file against the long snappercoots.
Speaker 3 (30:57):
So if you break them all down super quick, I
never would have thrown I never would have thrown a
flag on the Coons one, you know, especially maybe by
the letter of the law. You touched the long snapper,
but this is football, and he's two hundred and fifty
pounds of pads on and the helmets, and it wasn't egregious.
I thought that was a bad flag that greatly benefit
(31:18):
the Steelers, And I'd be pretty fired up of either
if I was the Ravens. Frankly, I'd probably be pretty
fired up about them all if I was a Ravens fan. Anyway,
they they.
Speaker 1 (31:28):
Could have gone either way without outrage, is what I said.
Speaker 3 (31:33):
I thought so too, And the fact that both were
originally called the Ravens way and then they saw enough
to overturn it shocked me. On the Likely and Rodgers plays,
But frankly, when you study them and you break them
down frame by frame, I think they're the right call,
(31:53):
especially the Rogers one, because there's pretty clear evidence that
he has the ball in his hands with the knee
on the.
Speaker 1 (31:59):
Ground, right, But what he touched, what he tackled, because
at that point he's a receiver.
Speaker 3 (32:04):
Tht so right I thought he was. But the Likely
one I think I'd have more of a problem with.
But if I'm trying to be as impartial as possible,
I think they got the Rogers and likely call rights.
I think they got the long snapper one wrong.
Speaker 1 (32:19):
No, that's fair, and honestly I'm not outraged by any
of the three calls, nor would I have been at
they all yea, all all two.
Speaker 2 (32:28):
Or or none or one gone the other way.
Speaker 1 (32:30):
But they just all close calls, and that is what
decides the games. Matt, great stuff as always. We'll do
it again next week.
Speaker 5 (32:38):
How about take care.
Speaker 3 (32:39):
We'll talk to him.
Speaker 1 (32:39):
That's our football guru. Brought to us by Steelers dot Com.
Get a direct from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop.
We got Trey Essex, the two times Super Bowl champion,
joining us at four thirty.
Speaker 2 (32:50):
It's Smart Madden Show one oh five to nine, Redrew.
Speaker 4 (32:56):
It's the Exes Kick Ass Chris Lashow with Highly Suspect
Tuesday December nights at Stay je Get your tickets now
at w x DX dot com. Okay, Highly Suspects with
Flight Attendant.
Speaker 2 (33:20):
Tis this season two, The Jolly Party Rockin' Something.
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