November 19, 2025 • 32 mins
Mark plays an interesting soundbite from Paul Skenes. Mike Decourcey joins the show for his weekly hit
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is the Mark mannon show call now eight three
three four one two WXDX. We want your take on
the scatter bow thing at the WBE show. And could
the Pirates really have a chance to sign Kyle Schwarber
passing saying that just insults everybody's intelligence unless you're really stupid.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
Those offensive stats for Chicago one hundred and forty six
point six yards rushing per game, four point nine yards
per carry. That's monster stuff with the running games, so
it ain't gonna be easy. The Steelers are two and
a half point dogs last time I looked, and I'm
surprised the numbers that low. I don't know what to
(00:46):
make a Caleb Williams. His passing numbers are man not
too bad. He can run the ball some and he
looks the part. I think he's going to be an
excellent NFL quarterback. I think he shows flashes now, but
he's not quite there yet. And then after this game,
Buffalo visits acrashuer Josh Allen. That's going to be a
(01:08):
ring of ding dong dandy not least if the Steelers
beat Chicago, the Steelers need to get six takeaways.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
Well, that would help.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
Chicago is plus sixteen in takeaways, number one in the NFL.
They've committed twenty two takeaways, that's number one in the NFL.
Fifteen interceptions, that's number one in the NFL. I was
gonna pick the Steelers, but I'm talking myself out of
it little by little. Now, I do believe Rogers protects
(01:42):
the ball very well, protects the ball better than Caleb Williams,
protects the ball better than Mason Rudolph. That could mean
a lot uh in a battle of takeaways. But teams
that rely on takeaways, boy, that's a slippery slope because
there's a lot of luck in with those, as the
Steelers know all too well. I am at Marino's American
(02:05):
Eatery in Greensburg for that Steelers game on Sunday, watch
party one pm kickoff.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
I love Westmoreland County.
Speaker 1 (02:12):
And then after I want to watch Cleveland at Vegas,
assuming Shaudor Sanders gets to start at quarterback for Cleveland,
which seems likely with Dylan Gabriel having been concussed and
Shaudor will be making the start after getting snaps in practice.
You're happy, Josina, and I bet he still sucks. And
(02:35):
then on Saturday, I'm at Shiloh Clayton Poor. I'm at
Washington for a River Hauns watch party noon kickoff USL
Championship game. It's for all the marbles. That's at Shiloh,
Playton Poor. I'm at Washington and I'll be there at
ten am as well for Liverpool.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
And Noddingham Forest. But don't talk to me. Don't you
dare talk to me. Don't you dare disturb me. That's over.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
I want to get stuck into all that absolute horseman
or Passon said about the Pirates.
Speaker 2 (03:08):
What makes it worse is Passon's.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
Usual credibility, his rep because Passon knows, he knows the
Pirates won't get Kyle Schwarber. He knows they're not serious suitors.
Schwarber wants north of thirty million, which Notthting won't pay.
He ain't gonna pay Skeen's that. You think he's gonna
pay Schwarber that? What if he paid Schwarber that and
then Skeen's left, and people would say, well, why didn't
(03:33):
you give Skeens that? The safest thing to do is
to pay neither, which is exactly what the pirates will do.
And even if Nutting would pay Swarbur what he wants.
Why would Schwarbur want to come to a losing team
like Pittsburgh at thirty two for his last big deal
and last big run in MLB he won hundred percent?
(03:54):
Would not for Passing to suggest that is irresponsible. There's
no reason to think that remotely logical or possible. But
Passing reported it and got all the Bucco rubs all
worked up.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
So passes a stooge.
Speaker 1 (04:10):
People saying, well, passion, why would he stooge for the
Pirates Because it's easy content, because you feel like you
got to say something about every big league team, and
this is easy content to spew about the Pirates. I mean,
Schwarber to the Pirates, come on, come on, that's just
not gonna happen.
Speaker 3 (04:30):
Now.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
I'm more intrigued in the Steelers in Chicago. The game.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
It's really a coin flip to me, two teams that
depend on takeaways. But like I said, what if there's
no takeaways period? It could be a six to three
game because takeaways can certainly dry up. And I'm talking
to myself, and to think it's starting Rogers is the
way to go, even with the bummy wrist because he
does protect the ball. So you got both teams relying
(05:01):
on takeaways. You got the Rogers subplot with him being hurt,
the Bears leading. That's super tough division, but maybe that's
Fool's gold and Baltimore sneaking up on the Steelers. All
that is tangible. All those are topics to be taken seriously.
Schwarber to the Pirates is not the Pirates DFA and
(05:24):
a bunch of guys today, including the reliever Colin Holderman,
who really, you know, started off promising but showed his
true collers, namely red, white and suck. There's probably a
better joke in there somewhere like black and suck sucking gold.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
I wasn't gonna say our long national nightmare is over,
but let's face the Pirates have plenty of pitchers still
on the roster that are as bad as or worse
than Colin Holderman. Like I said, we want your calls next.
If not, we'll find something to fill the time. We
got great guests today, Mike the Course, he joins me
at three thirty, Paul's Ice and four PM. Former Penguin
(06:01):
Tyler Kennedy at four thirty. It's the park Man Show
one oh five.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
Nine from the Seaton Hill University Traffic Center. Schedule your
campus visit today. This report is sponsored by I've Been in.
Speaker 1 (06:12):
Love with Me and this is just your moment of clarity.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
Oh, I know, so the exit one.
Speaker 1 (06:25):
I met a guy today and he called me a
sports talk out law and I'm like, what what?
Speaker 2 (06:31):
What does that mean? That sounds like an La Gun song.
Speaker 1 (06:35):
I'm a hard man to find, I'm an easy man
to please. Really into La Guns lately, And one young
lady said she was a big fan of my cat, Clipper,
but she wouldn't take Clipper when I offered to give
Clipper to her. I'm just kidding. Clipper's definitely listening. I
leave the radio on Clipper Clipper. Let's go right to
(07:00):
the phones. Let's go to Scott in the van. Scott,
what's up.
Speaker 4 (07:05):
I just wanted to make a comment about pirates and
Schwarber right that the pirates will never go for him
because what are they gonna do with Captain booboo face
if they get him? And effectively and Andrew mccutchen's career.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
That's a real good point.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
Although the usual suspects are saying Schwarber could play right
field at PNC, Well, what about the other eighty one
games where you gonna stick the fat ass?
Speaker 2 (07:29):
Then? So you're right. It would end mccutchen's career.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
And I think they see more value in McCutcheon at
his price as a mascot than they would paying thirty
million dollars for Schwarber.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
Agreed, Let's go to Michael. Michael, you're all with.
Speaker 5 (07:45):
Double m H.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
Good day, I said, good day.
Speaker 5 (07:51):
Longtime listener, first time calling.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
Though.
Speaker 5 (07:53):
The thing I wanted to talk about was Aaron Rodgers. Right,
I'm originally from Chicago, Okay, And Aaron Rodgers he owns
the Bears wooms, he literally owns booms. Yeah, I mean
he never loses to the Bears.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
Yeah, I know. I said, his record, what is it like?
Speaker 1 (08:12):
Twenty five and six and sixty four touchdowns to ten interceptions.
But I'm a big believer that each game is a
separate occurrence and what he did there with Green Bay.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
Against Chicago doesn't necessarily apply here.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
And this is a what how many years has it
been since he played the Bears? If he did with
the Jets, I don't remember, but yeah, his numbers are great.
I'm not sure how much weight to give that when
it comes to kickoff on Sunday, but it could.
Speaker 5 (08:40):
Be a Flaco type of a thing. You know Tomlin
still you know Flaco beats Tomlin.
Speaker 2 (08:45):
Yeah, but he did this past Sunday.
Speaker 5 (08:48):
Well that's that's true. But you know, I was just
thinking of the game before that. But anyway, with the
with the Bears, I mean, he always he tends to
put it into their face too, he brubs it in
and so I think he really wants to play this game.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
That's really I think Aaron Rodgers.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
I mean, I give the guy and thank you for
the call. I give Aaron Rodgers full credit. He wants
to play every game. I mean, we talk about guys
being a competitor and that's cliched, but it definitely applies
with Aaron Rodgers, and I have mad respect for him.
You know, wanting to practice tomorrow, I mean, the easiest
thing to do would be the way till Friday and
practice under the guys of having that risk her, but no,
(09:24):
he wants to get ready and and get the team ready.
So again, the way Aaron Rodgers has conducted himself since
getting to Pittsburgh has been exemplary and I admire him
for it.
Speaker 2 (09:36):
Let's go to Patrick Patrick growing double.
Speaker 3 (09:38):
M save US one sixty six? What up? What? I
give no credence to the uh, the news on Schwarber
or the rumor, because the only way the Pirates have
a chance to sign that dude is if they preemptively
signed a couple more bats to proceed that. Why would
(10:01):
Schwarber want to come to this team without that in place?
Speaker 2 (10:05):
Oh that's a really good point. That's a real good point.
Speaker 1 (10:07):
To even realistically have a remote chance to sign Schwarber,
you would have to show him something before it put
pen to paper. I mean to me, if I'm Schwarber,
I'd say, you want me signed schemes to at tend
year deal because then I'll know you're serious.
Speaker 3 (10:23):
Yeah, And what real impact is he going to have
if nobody's on base to score runs?
Speaker 2 (10:29):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (10:30):
What fifty six home runs last year? It'd come here
have fifty six home runs and eighty RBI.
Speaker 5 (10:38):
Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 3 (10:39):
Real quick, on Mason, where do you think his head's at?
Speaker 5 (10:42):
Liken?
Speaker 6 (10:43):
Get?
Speaker 3 (10:43):
Can you give me the pulse on him?
Speaker 2 (10:45):
Like?
Speaker 3 (10:45):
How bad do you think?
Speaker 1 (10:46):
I don't know, Mason it only met him once briefly
years ago. I think he's resigned to just being a backup,
not least here in Pittsburgh. I mean, he came back
here even though he has to know that Tomlin just
doesn't have the faith in him he should, especially after
Rudolph you know, won those three games at the end
of the twenty twenty three season and his reward for
(11:07):
it was being allowed to leave, you know, being turned loose.
Speaker 2 (11:11):
So uh, I think Mason knows what he is.
Speaker 1 (11:14):
I think that he has nothing to be ashamed of
career wise. I think he's maximized just about every opportunity
he's gotten. Let's go to Nick, Nick, you're all with
double m hey.
Speaker 5 (11:26):
Mark Pershudo answered that question why would Schwarber want to
come to Pittsburgh earlier, and I think he came up
with a pretty good answer. He said that Schwarber would
want to.
Speaker 3 (11:33):
Come to Pittsburgh because they have a real deal pitching staff.
Speaker 7 (11:37):
They wouldn't take much for us to win.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
Right right, right?
Speaker 1 (11:43):
How long are they going to have a real deal
pitching staff? How long is it going to happen? How
much longer will the schemes be here?
Speaker 3 (11:51):
Well?
Speaker 7 (11:51):
Until he can get traded to the Yankees.
Speaker 1 (11:54):
Scheme is going to be here one more year. Schwarper's
not going to sign a one year deal. He's going
to sign a make good deal for mega years. I mean,
come on, be smarter than that.
Speaker 7 (12:04):
I'm just saying with PURSUITO said, I liked it, but
here's what I thought.
Speaker 2 (12:07):
What's gonna happen, and he should be smarter than that.
Speaker 5 (12:11):
Nothing is going to make an offer for schwarbur that's respective,
but understanding he's not gonna get them. It's going to
be one of those well we're trying to put money
out there, but they're not coming.
Speaker 2 (12:21):
Well, that's like the Dalton Seattle.
Speaker 1 (12:23):
But then again, if you put money out there and
nobody comes, that's an indictment of where your team's at
and what your intent is known to be, which in
this case is to make profit and not win. Let's
go to Chris. Chris, real quick, mister Madden, good day,
I said, good day.
Speaker 5 (12:43):
The thought that.
Speaker 7 (12:44):
I've been chewing around, I want to spit at you
real quick.
Speaker 8 (12:47):
See what you thought?
Speaker 2 (12:49):
That's lovely. Go ahead.
Speaker 7 (12:51):
So the defense. We've already established that the defense lives
and dies by the turnover. Right right, So Mark quick
for you anyways, why hasn't there been more spotlight shed
on the fact that our top like our most expensive
defense in the NFL is ranked second with eighty one
(13:12):
missed tackles this year. Why is that?
Speaker 1 (13:16):
Because that that precludes the myth that the Steelers are
the Steel Curtain and based on tough defense. Everything that
the Steelers used to be based on they betray now.
But nobody wants to shed the myth. That's why, simple
as that. But you're right, they're tackling is is awful.
The only thing the only thing good about their defense, bro,
(13:36):
is flash plays. The only thing good about that that
d is sacks and takeaways.
Speaker 2 (13:40):
That's it. Thank you for the call, Jake, real quick.
Speaker 8 (13:45):
Yeah, I just wanted to say, Mark to everyone out
there saying we're flip flopping all year. The takeaways have
been the key to winning this year from the defense, right,
We've been consisting on all year with the pass the
Colts and even this week, living and dying by that.
It's not healthy for a football team. And you're not
gonna make anything.
Speaker 2 (14:01):
It's a slippery slope. It's a slippery slope.
Speaker 1 (14:04):
You will never get enough takeaways consistently to be a
legitimate contender, and you're never gonna get, you know, any
kind of takeaways against good teams in the playoffs. You
have to actually go and win the game in the playoffs,
not having gifted to you. Thanks for the call the
course up next one oh five to nine.
Speaker 2 (14:21):
This is Doug Gottlieb. Here's what's trending from the Iheartsports
Network President by Joe Ball gmc well. Aaron Rodgers pushes
to play with this broken risk.
Speaker 9 (14:29):
The Steelers are optimistic and running back Jalen Warren will
play Sunday against Chicago. Over to college basketball, it rolls
on tonight when Dukane host Ullyola Maryland. The Dukes are
looking to rebound from their loss to Villanova at twenty
times Grand Slam. Champ Roger Federer. He was elected to
the International Tennis Hall of Fame today. It was his
first year of being eligible. Hop Scott David said.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
Save up to twelve house old.
Speaker 1 (14:51):
He got a young Trophy, White owes money to I
can't even quote the big o'boski right, goodbye.
Speaker 2 (14:56):
T exit one oh five nine.
Speaker 1 (14:59):
Oh and Andy and Andy Andy robertson, I'm going to
be Scottish for the World Cup. I think they drink
and they have good songs. Joining me now from the
Sporting News. Always great to talk to Pittsburgh's on Mike
de Corsi. Mike, before we get to the Steelers, a
couple of topics I want to skim. Did Penn State
make a mistake firing James Franklin and how do you
(15:21):
think he's going to do it Virginia Tech?
Speaker 6 (15:24):
Even though I don't have great hope for his virgin
the Tech situation, it's just the ACC is a difficult
league to win in now, and it's also a difficult
league to make a huge impact. Like I think he'll
do fine. They'll be a better They'll be better than
they were under Brent Prye, and I think that's the
(15:45):
first priority. But I don't think that that's going to
resonate nationally. It's a lot of schools that are a
lot alike that somebody's going to win the league and
make the playoff and everybody else is probably going home.
He may get them to that level. He's an excellent
coach and excellent program builder. I still believe Penn State
(16:07):
made a mistake in doing this. Yes, because the odds
of upgrading over James Franklin aren't great they are. There
are there some coaches out there that might be an upgrade.
Could you get lucky in the old Tom Brady in
the sixth round kind of situation? Sure, but I don't
(16:30):
believe in firing somebody over and narrative and yeah, like, okay,
so the number is real, but it becomes a narrative
because people harp on it. Yes, they were four and
twenty one against top ten teams, okay, but what were
they against everybody else? And who where? What was in
the number out of that top out of that twenty
(16:51):
one win twenty one losses? Excuse me? I think nine
or ten of them were against Ohio State. You know
who else lost to Ohio State? Everybody. That's just how
it is. Ohio State was better than than Penn State
and for this century has been better than them for
most of the time. So I don't think that Penn
State should fire their coach because Ohio State is better
(17:14):
than them.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
Jeff Passing the ESPN said the pirates are going after
Kyle Schwarber is passing out of his mind to report
that is just irresponsible.
Speaker 6 (17:26):
Well, I think It depends on how one reports it.
If one puts it in the context of it's you know,
I am going after a half a billion dollars by
playing the power ball, that's that's reality and so, but
it also shows how implausible it is that I'm going
to win a half a billion dollars. The situation that
(17:50):
happened with Josh Naylor is a perfect example of what
the Pirates are up against. Do they want to go
out and spend a little more money, sure, but are
they going to over pay? Probably not. And so Naylor
they offered supposedly, according to these reports, eighty million dollars
over however many years, and the Mariners came up and
(18:10):
outbid them. And that's going to happen almost every time
because they don't have Mariners income, and they certainly don't
have Yankees or Dodgers or Phillies income. So if the
Phillies decide they want to bring Kyle Schwarber back, let's
just say the Pirates. I don't even know what the
number would be, right, So let's just say the Pirates
offer him forty five million dollars a year. If the
Phillies want it back, they'll offer him forty eight and
(18:32):
it'll be over. That's just that's the reality of the
Pirates situation.
Speaker 1 (18:36):
And I can't help but thinking, Mike, the Pirates make
an offer to guy like Naylor, no one, they're not
gonna have to pay it off, and they get their
name in the headline in a somewhat positive way.
Speaker 2 (18:46):
Oh well, at least we tried to spend more money.
Speaker 6 (18:49):
Yeah, there's there's some truth to that, one hundred percent.
But it's also when you look at their reality, I
mean it's I try to tell people that baseball talent
is like fine art, and the market for fine art
is like if you want a van Go, I mean,
you know you're not getting it because there's a lot
(19:09):
of richer people out there who can afford it more
than you can. I mean, you can afford the van
Go copy. I got one, but I can't afford a
Van Go. And that's that's the Pirates compared to most
of the people in their in their league. And so
I think that what has to happen is they have
to commit to paying the great players that they have
(19:30):
in house. And of course we know what that means.
That means Paul Skeens a year or two from now.
They have to commit to that, and if they don't,
then how seriously do you take anything they do?
Speaker 1 (19:42):
Yeah, and whether Skimes would would willing to commit back
I have graved.
Speaker 2 (19:46):
Dots, Well he doesn't.
Speaker 6 (19:47):
I'm talking about the RB years. He doesn't have threet that.
Speaker 1 (19:51):
Right, No, And I don't think the Pirates will even
want to pay what he gets awarded there.
Speaker 3 (19:55):
Now.
Speaker 1 (19:55):
I want to get to the Bears and Steelers, Mike,
because that's an odd matchup business. It's two teams that
rely on takeaways more than any other teams in the league.
Speaker 6 (20:06):
I think the difference is that the Bears at least
know what their direction is. They have some young receivers.
Romadenze from Washington played in the National Championship Game a
couple of years ago, has had some nice games. They've
got the quarterback that they believe in in Caleb Williams,
and he's made some very impressive plays and some not great,
(20:27):
not great decisions along the way, and that's kind of
a part of being put out there as quickly as
he was. And so I think they know what they
want to be, whereas the Steelers are still in the
process of trying to work through getting to that point.
They want to win where they are, but what they
really want to be is a year from now, if possible,
(20:48):
they want to have their own Caleb Williams.
Speaker 1 (20:51):
Do you buy the Bears at the top of the
NFC North right now and you buy the Caleb Williams.
Speaker 6 (20:57):
Well, I don't think they're the best team in the
NFC North, and I think that they showed in the
Ravens game that they are beatable. I mean they that
that was a Ravens team that was not led by
Lamar Jackson and still was able to beat them. So
I think Williams is a talent. I think that I'm
not a big fan mark of putting a rookie out
(21:21):
to play immediately. I know that ben it worked here, but.
Speaker 2 (21:26):
I alsoback correct.
Speaker 6 (21:29):
Yeah, quarterback, yeah, other positions, Yeah, I was talking strictly quarterback,
other positions, whatever, But at quarterback. I think that more
often than not, the best quarterbacks are allowed to watch
and observe and then maybe towards the end of their year,
whether it's because of an injury as was the case
with Lamar Jackson that took out Flaco and he had
to play, or because the games don't matter anymore, and
(21:52):
it's now okay, now you've been out there for ten
weeks in practice, you can get a look those kinds
of things. Fine, but you give the guy the starting
job like they did with Tennessee and cam Ward on
day one on a bad team, and what do they learn?
They learn how to be bad. So that Williams is
still trying to fight his way back a little bit
from that. Uh, And they and what's around him is
(22:14):
not elite, but their schedule has broken a certain way
and they've taken advantage of a lot of those opportunities.
Like like I said, they really should be eight and two.
They got off to a great start against the Ravens
and then just dissolved. So I do I think they're
the best team in that in that division. No, but
they could certainly win that that division if they continue
(22:35):
to take care of business in the way that they have,
and for them, that would be Including Sunday.
Speaker 1 (22:41):
We're talking to Mike the course of the Sporting News.
He's brought to us by South Hills Kia. South Hills
Kia has the ride and price for you, Mike, Who
would you start, Mason Rudolph one hundred percent or Aaron
Rodgers with a broken wrist. It looks like it's going
to be Rogers for sure right now.
Speaker 6 (22:57):
Well, I think it totally depends on Rogers demonstrating that
he's not compromised, and so it's it's not just a
question of patting him and all of that sort of stuff,
so that so that reinjury is unlikely, he has to
show that with that padding uh and with whatever discomfort
still finds its way through that that he is still
(23:18):
as capable as he was. And ideally he shows he's
as capable as he was in week four or five,
not in these past couple of weeks when he wasn't
very capable at all. The one thing that I saw
in Mason Rudolph when he came in Mark was an
energy like he was over the last couple of weeks.
(23:39):
I've gotten the feeling in watching that that Aaron Rodgers
is fighting his protection more so than okay, all right,
dealing with it like Okay, that guy's coming from the left.
I got to move to the right. It's that guy's
coming from the left again. And you know, I just
with Rudolph, it was like, Okay, whatever's happening. I got
to deal, and I got to cope there. Look, every
(24:02):
offensive line, you want to have a clean pocket on
every drop back. But if that were the case with
the Steelers have had five sacks against the Chargers two
weeks ago. They didn't have a clean pocket on every
drop back. He went down five times, and a couple
of them might have been at garbage time, but there
were still the three that warn't or so and he
still won the game. He still made enough plays to
(24:22):
win the game. You've got to cope with that from
time to time that you get this pressure from this
angle or that angle, and you either move away from
it and extend the play and make something happen, or
in some cases, you just got to take the lumps
and then go on to.
Speaker 7 (24:38):
The next play.
Speaker 6 (24:39):
And what the Steelers have done really well I e
excuse me, really poorly, Mark, is take that lump and
then go on to the next play. Them them in
third and long is really difficult. They very rarely convert,
and we saw them do that once or twice on
Sunday when Mason came in. We saw them throw a
swing past the game well that he turned into a
(25:01):
big first down. We just haven't seen that very often
from this team, no matter who's been at quarterback.
Speaker 1 (25:06):
No, I bind all of that, and long story short,
I think Rudolph is better in the pocket right now
than Rogers. I think Rogers dumps out of plays too quick,
and I think that'll even be more so with a
bum wrist. But I will say, yeah, Rogers protects the
ball that's important against this team, and he's got that.
Speaker 2 (25:24):
Guy that could win a close game.
Speaker 1 (25:27):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (25:27):
I mean, like I said, like through seven, eight weeks,
whatever it was, all of us were happy with the
way he had.
Speaker 2 (25:33):
Performed up till the LA game.
Speaker 8 (25:36):
Yeah, I mean that.
Speaker 6 (25:37):
Was the start, and he wasn't very good. Again, I
don't think he was as poor in that first half
before he got injured. I don't think he was as
poor in that game as he had been against the Chargers.
But it still wasn't the right direction. After the initial
drive that seemed like okay, LA's over, he's back, it
started to go back in the direction that you're talking about.
(25:59):
He just wasn't comfortable with his protection. When when there
was any leakage at all, he seemed to get frustrated.
And again, I just don't think that you can play
with a what is I consider to be, essentially, with
the exception of Sayamalu, a rookie offensive line and expect
that you're going to have a clean pocket all the time.
Speaker 3 (26:20):
What did we like about.
Speaker 6 (26:21):
Ben back in the day. He was running around all
over the place because sometimes his offensive line wasn't good enough,
but he made it not matter.
Speaker 1 (26:33):
I think that Rudolph and and Rogers is a legitimate debate.
I mean, whatever they decide. If it's Rogers, I get it.
Speaker 5 (26:43):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (26:43):
But the one that I disagree with.
Speaker 1 (26:45):
Vehemently, assuming it happens, if Slay's healthy, Commin says he's
going back in in place of Pierre, how could you
possibly do that? Every single metric you can look at,
not to mention the eye test.
Speaker 2 (26:58):
Mike says that Slay's sucks.
Speaker 6 (27:01):
He has not been good at all, and that was well.
Prior to the injury. He had been one of the
major problems in the secondary. The biggest problem was at safety,
at free safety in particular, that was where the biggest
problem was. But Slay had really struggled and Pierre was
fantastic on Sunday against the against the tandem of receivers
(27:25):
primarily Chase, but the tandem from time to time, that
the Steelers had gotten completely blown away by a couple
of weeks earlier, and that they've had problems with for
years dealing with and he completely dealt with that and
was very rarely beaten. I mean, no cornerback is going
to have a perfect record, but you want to keep
(27:47):
those those big plays to a minimum, and he was
almost never beaten in that game. I was concerned going
in that after sort of supporting the elevation of Brandon
Eckels in slaves into slaves, and then we saw that
happen by partially by necessity, and then Eccles really struggled
in l A. I worried that the same would happen
(28:08):
to James, who had been good in limited opportunities this year.
I worried that he would take the same course as Echoles.
And not only did he not take that course, uh,
he took like he would. He became Ike Taylor. He
became a guy that was really controlling things in the
second here.
Speaker 2 (28:24):
Oh wait, I thought you many couldn't read well.
Speaker 6 (28:28):
No, No, I meant I'm no, And I didn't mean
he dropped every potential interception. I Ike was an elite
cover Colory, No question, that's the you know. I every
now and then I still call it that. When when
somebody has a clear opportunity to intercept the ball, I
call it an Ike Taylor interception. Uh, you still disrupted
the play and and they didn't get a completion, but
(28:49):
the interception didn't happen.
Speaker 5 (28:50):
Uh.
Speaker 6 (28:51):
But what I what I would do, What I think
he's meaning is face Slay will have a role, and
he may start, but you can't Pierre out after what
he did, especially when you go on the road to
a team that's got multiple targets. If you do that,
you're basically asking to get eaten.
Speaker 1 (29:10):
Mike, Mike, I'll cut the line a little a little
more strictly. I wouldn't give Slay a helmet if you
have enough guys. I mean, he's been that bad. He
really has been, which he's been. My question about the
defense with with Ramsey at safety, I think he's done
really well. But I'm also surprised you didn't get suspended
(29:30):
a game along with Jamar Chase for that incident. How
do you think Ramsey's playing in safety and is he
the main catalyst on that defense right now?
Speaker 6 (29:40):
His he and Dougar being placed at safety. I think
Deshaun Elliott is a tremendous run support me too, but
I'm you know, the coverage thing is still not his strength,
and that was not the strength of the group in
general because of Slay and some other things that were
going on. And so I love the idea of having
(30:03):
Dugger and Slay back there. Excuse me, Dugger and Ramsey
back there. I think they've made a tremendous difference in
how effective the Steelers are in past coverage. I think
that's been the big but that's been the biggest thing.
But Slay has been the key part of that, because
Elliott was at least passable of what you were playing
at free safety before was absolutely not. And I think
(30:25):
the fact that thorn Hill has since been sent home
tells everyone that I was right all along that they
needed a safety. They just happened to decide that they
had one on their roster and they were going to
move Ramsey there. I think it's been a huge change,
and I don't think he should have been suspended. He
was ejected from the game. It was a second personal
(30:47):
foul penalty. I understood why the refs didn't see the
spitting incident, because there was somebody out there and I
don't know who it was, some guy it might have
been from the I think it was from the Bengals sideline,
but not one hundred percent shore. But there was some
person that wasn't really authorized to be out there, who
was where an official might ordinarily be. So I think
that person blocked the view of Actually I think he
(31:13):
might have been out there because the timeout was called,
so he might have been authorized in that sense. The
timeout was called, so he was on the field, and
so he was blocking the view that the official might
have been able to use to see what transpired between
Ramsey and Chase, and so I understood why they didn't
see it. I think they did the right thing. But
under no circumstances should Ramsey have been punished further given
(31:36):
what transpired.
Speaker 1 (31:37):
Mike, you hit the essence of talk radio just a
few seconds ago. You said I was right all along.
That is the key to this business, being able to
say that, especially when it's true. But even if it's not. Hey,
great stuff. We'll do it again next week. Enjoy the football.
Speaker 6 (31:51):
Thanks Mark.
Speaker 2 (31:52):
That's Mike.
Speaker 1 (31:52):
The course of the Sporting News brought to us by
South Hills, Kia. Up next, Paul Skeen said something interesting
we had that just fromund the corner, and then Paul's
ice at the top of the hour one oh five
nine The X.
Speaker 2 (32:05):
It's The Woody Show weekday mornings at six.
Speaker 5 (32:07):
Training news headlines, redneck news and more on one.
Speaker 2 (32:10):
Oh five nine The X. This hour the Mark Madden Shows,
brought to you by by Blight. Probably served a Blinkys
in Green Tree. Stopping Blinky's and enjoy three fifty b
This is the Mark mannon show call now eight three
three four one two WXDX. We want your take on
the scatter bow thing at the WBE show. And could
the Pirates really have a chance to sign Kyle Schwarber
passing saying that just insults everybody's intelligence unless you're really stupid.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
Those offensive stats for Chicago one hundred and forty six
point six yards rushing per game, four point nine yards
per carry. That's monster stuff with the running games, so
it ain't gonna be easy. The Steelers are two and
a half point dogs last time I looked, and I'm
surprised the numbers that low. I don't know what to
(00:46):
make a Caleb Williams. His passing numbers are man not
too bad. He can run the ball some and he
looks the part. I think he's going to be an
excellent NFL quarterback. I think he shows flashes now, but
he's not quite there yet. And then after this game,
Buffalo visits acrashuer Josh Allen. That's going to be a
(01:08):
ring of ding dong dandy not least if the Steelers
beat Chicago, the Steelers need to get six takeaways.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
Well, that would help.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
Chicago is plus sixteen in takeaways, number one in the NFL.
They've committed twenty two takeaways, that's number one in the NFL.
Fifteen interceptions, that's number one in the NFL. I was
gonna pick the Steelers, but I'm talking myself out of
it little by little. Now, I do believe Rogers protects
(01:42):
the ball very well, protects the ball better than Caleb Williams,
protects the ball better than Mason Rudolph. That could mean
a lot uh in a battle of takeaways. But teams
that rely on takeaways, boy, that's a slippery slope because
there's a lot of luck in with those, as the
Steelers know all too well. I am at Marino's American
(02:05):
Eatery in Greensburg for that Steelers game on Sunday, watch
party one pm kickoff.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
I love Westmoreland County.
Speaker 1 (02:12):
And then after I want to watch Cleveland at Vegas,
assuming Shaudor Sanders gets to start at quarterback for Cleveland,
which seems likely with Dylan Gabriel having been concussed and
Shaudor will be making the start after getting snaps in practice.
You're happy, Josina, and I bet he still sucks. And
(02:35):
then on Saturday, I'm at Shiloh Clayton Poor. I'm at
Washington for a River Hauns watch party noon kickoff USL
Championship game. It's for all the marbles. That's at Shiloh,
Playton Poor. I'm at Washington and I'll be there at
ten am as well for Liverpool.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
And Noddingham Forest. But don't talk to me. Don't you
dare talk to me. Don't you dare disturb me. That's over.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
I want to get stuck into all that absolute horseman
or Passon said about the Pirates.
Speaker 2 (03:08):
What makes it worse is Passon's.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
Usual credibility, his rep because Passon knows, he knows the
Pirates won't get Kyle Schwarber. He knows they're not serious suitors.
Schwarber wants north of thirty million, which Notthting won't pay.
He ain't gonna pay Skeen's that. You think he's gonna
pay Schwarber that? What if he paid Schwarber that and
then Skeen's left, and people would say, well, why didn't
(03:33):
you give Skeens that? The safest thing to do is
to pay neither, which is exactly what the pirates will do.
And even if Nutting would pay Swarbur what he wants.
Why would Schwarbur want to come to a losing team
like Pittsburgh at thirty two for his last big deal
and last big run in MLB he won hundred percent?
(03:54):
Would not for Passing to suggest that is irresponsible. There's
no reason to think that remotely logical or possible. But
Passing reported it and got all the Bucco rubs all
worked up.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
So passes a stooge.
Speaker 1 (04:10):
People saying, well, passion, why would he stooge for the
Pirates Because it's easy content, because you feel like you
got to say something about every big league team, and
this is easy content to spew about the Pirates. I mean,
Schwarber to the Pirates, come on, come on, that's just
not gonna happen.
Speaker 3 (04:30):
Now.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
I'm more intrigued in the Steelers in Chicago. The game.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
It's really a coin flip to me, two teams that
depend on takeaways. But like I said, what if there's
no takeaways period? It could be a six to three
game because takeaways can certainly dry up. And I'm talking
to myself, and to think it's starting Rogers is the
way to go, even with the bummy wrist because he
does protect the ball. So you got both teams relying
(05:01):
on takeaways. You got the Rogers subplot with him being hurt,
the Bears leading. That's super tough division, but maybe that's
Fool's gold and Baltimore sneaking up on the Steelers. All
that is tangible. All those are topics to be taken seriously.
Schwarber to the Pirates is not the Pirates DFA and
(05:24):
a bunch of guys today, including the reliever Colin Holderman,
who really, you know, started off promising but showed his
true collers, namely red, white and suck. There's probably a
better joke in there somewhere like black and suck sucking gold.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
I wasn't gonna say our long national nightmare is over,
but let's face the Pirates have plenty of pitchers still
on the roster that are as bad as or worse
than Colin Holderman. Like I said, we want your calls next.
If not, we'll find something to fill the time. We
got great guests today, Mike the Course, he joins me
at three thirty, Paul's Ice and four PM. Former Penguin
(06:01):
Tyler Kennedy at four thirty. It's the park Man Show
one oh five.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
Nine from the Seaton Hill University Traffic Center. Schedule your
campus visit today. This report is sponsored by I've Been in.
Speaker 1 (06:12):
Love with Me and this is just your moment of clarity.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
Oh, I know, so the exit one.
Speaker 1 (06:25):
I met a guy today and he called me a
sports talk out law and I'm like, what what?
Speaker 2 (06:31):
What does that mean? That sounds like an La Gun song.
Speaker 1 (06:35):
I'm a hard man to find, I'm an easy man
to please. Really into La Guns lately, And one young
lady said she was a big fan of my cat, Clipper,
but she wouldn't take Clipper when I offered to give
Clipper to her. I'm just kidding. Clipper's definitely listening. I
leave the radio on Clipper Clipper. Let's go right to
(07:00):
the phones. Let's go to Scott in the van. Scott,
what's up.
Speaker 4 (07:05):
I just wanted to make a comment about pirates and
Schwarber right that the pirates will never go for him
because what are they gonna do with Captain booboo face
if they get him? And effectively and Andrew mccutchen's career.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
That's a real good point.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
Although the usual suspects are saying Schwarber could play right
field at PNC, Well, what about the other eighty one
games where you gonna stick the fat ass?
Speaker 2 (07:29):
Then? So you're right. It would end mccutchen's career.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
And I think they see more value in McCutcheon at
his price as a mascot than they would paying thirty
million dollars for Schwarber.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
Agreed, Let's go to Michael. Michael, you're all with.
Speaker 5 (07:45):
Double m H.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
Good day, I said, good day.
Speaker 5 (07:51):
Longtime listener, first time calling.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
Though.
Speaker 5 (07:53):
The thing I wanted to talk about was Aaron Rodgers. Right,
I'm originally from Chicago, Okay, And Aaron Rodgers he owns
the Bears wooms, he literally owns booms. Yeah, I mean
he never loses to the Bears.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
Yeah, I know. I said, his record, what is it like?
Speaker 1 (08:12):
Twenty five and six and sixty four touchdowns to ten interceptions.
But I'm a big believer that each game is a
separate occurrence and what he did there with Green Bay.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
Against Chicago doesn't necessarily apply here.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
And this is a what how many years has it
been since he played the Bears? If he did with
the Jets, I don't remember, but yeah, his numbers are great.
I'm not sure how much weight to give that when
it comes to kickoff on Sunday, but it could.
Speaker 5 (08:40):
Be a Flaco type of a thing. You know Tomlin
still you know Flaco beats Tomlin.
Speaker 2 (08:45):
Yeah, but he did this past Sunday.
Speaker 5 (08:48):
Well that's that's true. But you know, I was just
thinking of the game before that. But anyway, with the
with the Bears, I mean, he always he tends to
put it into their face too, he brubs it in
and so I think he really wants to play this game.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
That's really I think Aaron Rodgers.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
I mean, I give the guy and thank you for
the call. I give Aaron Rodgers full credit. He wants
to play every game. I mean, we talk about guys
being a competitor and that's cliched, but it definitely applies
with Aaron Rodgers, and I have mad respect for him.
You know, wanting to practice tomorrow, I mean, the easiest
thing to do would be the way till Friday and
practice under the guys of having that risk her, but no,
(09:24):
he wants to get ready and and get the team ready.
So again, the way Aaron Rodgers has conducted himself since
getting to Pittsburgh has been exemplary and I admire him
for it.
Speaker 2 (09:36):
Let's go to Patrick Patrick growing double.
Speaker 3 (09:38):
M save US one sixty six? What up? What? I
give no credence to the uh, the news on Schwarber
or the rumor, because the only way the Pirates have
a chance to sign that dude is if they preemptively
signed a couple more bats to proceed that. Why would
(10:01):
Schwarber want to come to this team without that in place?
Speaker 2 (10:05):
Oh that's a really good point. That's a real good point.
Speaker 1 (10:07):
To even realistically have a remote chance to sign Schwarber,
you would have to show him something before it put
pen to paper. I mean to me, if I'm Schwarber,
I'd say, you want me signed schemes to at tend
year deal because then I'll know you're serious.
Speaker 3 (10:23):
Yeah, And what real impact is he going to have
if nobody's on base to score runs?
Speaker 2 (10:29):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (10:30):
What fifty six home runs last year? It'd come here
have fifty six home runs and eighty RBI.
Speaker 5 (10:38):
Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 3 (10:39):
Real quick, on Mason, where do you think his head's at?
Speaker 5 (10:42):
Liken?
Speaker 6 (10:43):
Get?
Speaker 3 (10:43):
Can you give me the pulse on him?
Speaker 2 (10:45):
Like?
Speaker 3 (10:45):
How bad do you think?
Speaker 1 (10:46):
I don't know, Mason it only met him once briefly
years ago. I think he's resigned to just being a backup,
not least here in Pittsburgh. I mean, he came back
here even though he has to know that Tomlin just
doesn't have the faith in him he should, especially after
Rudolph you know, won those three games at the end
of the twenty twenty three season and his reward for
(11:07):
it was being allowed to leave, you know, being turned loose.
Speaker 2 (11:11):
So uh, I think Mason knows what he is.
Speaker 1 (11:14):
I think that he has nothing to be ashamed of
career wise. I think he's maximized just about every opportunity
he's gotten. Let's go to Nick, Nick, you're all with
double m hey.
Speaker 5 (11:26):
Mark Pershudo answered that question why would Schwarber want to
come to Pittsburgh earlier, and I think he came up
with a pretty good answer. He said that Schwarber would
want to.
Speaker 3 (11:33):
Come to Pittsburgh because they have a real deal pitching staff.
Speaker 7 (11:37):
They wouldn't take much for us to win.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
Right right, right?
Speaker 1 (11:43):
How long are they going to have a real deal
pitching staff? How long is it going to happen? How
much longer will the schemes be here?
Speaker 3 (11:51):
Well?
Speaker 7 (11:51):
Until he can get traded to the Yankees.
Speaker 1 (11:54):
Scheme is going to be here one more year. Schwarper's
not going to sign a one year deal. He's going
to sign a make good deal for mega years. I mean,
come on, be smarter than that.
Speaker 7 (12:04):
I'm just saying with PURSUITO said, I liked it, but
here's what I thought.
Speaker 2 (12:07):
What's gonna happen, and he should be smarter than that.
Speaker 5 (12:11):
Nothing is going to make an offer for schwarbur that's respective,
but understanding he's not gonna get them. It's going to
be one of those well we're trying to put money
out there, but they're not coming.
Speaker 2 (12:21):
Well, that's like the Dalton Seattle.
Speaker 1 (12:23):
But then again, if you put money out there and
nobody comes, that's an indictment of where your team's at
and what your intent is known to be, which in
this case is to make profit and not win. Let's
go to Chris. Chris, real quick, mister Madden, good day,
I said, good day.
Speaker 5 (12:43):
The thought that.
Speaker 7 (12:44):
I've been chewing around, I want to spit at you
real quick.
Speaker 8 (12:47):
See what you thought?
Speaker 2 (12:49):
That's lovely. Go ahead.
Speaker 7 (12:51):
So the defense. We've already established that the defense lives
and dies by the turnover. Right right, So Mark quick
for you anyways, why hasn't there been more spotlight shed
on the fact that our top like our most expensive
defense in the NFL is ranked second with eighty one
(13:12):
missed tackles this year. Why is that?
Speaker 1 (13:16):
Because that that precludes the myth that the Steelers are
the Steel Curtain and based on tough defense. Everything that
the Steelers used to be based on they betray now.
But nobody wants to shed the myth. That's why, simple
as that. But you're right, they're tackling is is awful.
The only thing the only thing good about their defense, bro,
(13:36):
is flash plays. The only thing good about that that
d is sacks and takeaways.
Speaker 2 (13:40):
That's it. Thank you for the call, Jake, real quick.
Speaker 8 (13:45):
Yeah, I just wanted to say, Mark to everyone out
there saying we're flip flopping all year. The takeaways have
been the key to winning this year from the defense, right,
We've been consisting on all year with the pass the
Colts and even this week, living and dying by that.
It's not healthy for a football team. And you're not
gonna make anything.
Speaker 2 (14:01):
It's a slippery slope. It's a slippery slope.
Speaker 1 (14:04):
You will never get enough takeaways consistently to be a
legitimate contender, and you're never gonna get, you know, any
kind of takeaways against good teams in the playoffs. You
have to actually go and win the game in the playoffs,
not having gifted to you. Thanks for the call the
course up next one oh five to nine.
Speaker 2 (14:21):
This is Doug Gottlieb. Here's what's trending from the Iheartsports
Network President by Joe Ball gmc well. Aaron Rodgers pushes
to play with this broken risk.
Speaker 9 (14:29):
The Steelers are optimistic and running back Jalen Warren will
play Sunday against Chicago. Over to college basketball, it rolls
on tonight when Dukane host Ullyola Maryland. The Dukes are
looking to rebound from their loss to Villanova at twenty
times Grand Slam. Champ Roger Federer. He was elected to
the International Tennis Hall of Fame today. It was his
first year of being eligible. Hop Scott David said.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
Save up to twelve house old.
Speaker 1 (14:51):
He got a young Trophy, White owes money to I
can't even quote the big o'boski right, goodbye.
Speaker 2 (14:56):
T exit one oh five nine.
Speaker 1 (14:59):
Oh and Andy and Andy Andy robertson, I'm going to
be Scottish for the World Cup. I think they drink
and they have good songs. Joining me now from the
Sporting News. Always great to talk to Pittsburgh's on Mike
de Corsi. Mike, before we get to the Steelers, a
couple of topics I want to skim. Did Penn State
make a mistake firing James Franklin and how do you
(15:21):
think he's going to do it Virginia Tech?
Speaker 6 (15:24):
Even though I don't have great hope for his virgin
the Tech situation, it's just the ACC is a difficult
league to win in now, and it's also a difficult
league to make a huge impact. Like I think he'll
do fine. They'll be a better They'll be better than
they were under Brent Prye, and I think that's the
(15:45):
first priority. But I don't think that that's going to
resonate nationally. It's a lot of schools that are a
lot alike that somebody's going to win the league and
make the playoff and everybody else is probably going home.
He may get them to that level. He's an excellent
coach and excellent program builder. I still believe Penn State
(16:07):
made a mistake in doing this. Yes, because the odds
of upgrading over James Franklin aren't great they are. There
are there some coaches out there that might be an upgrade.
Could you get lucky in the old Tom Brady in
the sixth round kind of situation? Sure, but I don't
(16:30):
believe in firing somebody over and narrative and yeah, like, okay,
so the number is real, but it becomes a narrative
because people harp on it. Yes, they were four and
twenty one against top ten teams, okay, but what were
they against everybody else? And who where? What was in
the number out of that top out of that twenty
(16:51):
one win twenty one losses? Excuse me? I think nine
or ten of them were against Ohio State. You know
who else lost to Ohio State? Everybody. That's just how
it is. Ohio State was better than than Penn State
and for this century has been better than them for
most of the time. So I don't think that Penn
State should fire their coach because Ohio State is better
(17:14):
than them.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
Jeff Passing the ESPN said the pirates are going after
Kyle Schwarber is passing out of his mind to report
that is just irresponsible.
Speaker 6 (17:26):
Well, I think It depends on how one reports it.
If one puts it in the context of it's you know,
I am going after a half a billion dollars by
playing the power ball, that's that's reality and so, but
it also shows how implausible it is that I'm going
to win a half a billion dollars. The situation that
(17:50):
happened with Josh Naylor is a perfect example of what
the Pirates are up against. Do they want to go
out and spend a little more money, sure, but are
they going to over pay? Probably not. And so Naylor
they offered supposedly, according to these reports, eighty million dollars
over however many years, and the Mariners came up and
(18:10):
outbid them. And that's going to happen almost every time
because they don't have Mariners income, and they certainly don't
have Yankees or Dodgers or Phillies income. So if the
Phillies decide they want to bring Kyle Schwarber back, let's
just say the Pirates. I don't even know what the
number would be, right, So let's just say the Pirates
offer him forty five million dollars a year. If the
Phillies want it back, they'll offer him forty eight and
(18:32):
it'll be over. That's just that's the reality of the
Pirates situation.
Speaker 1 (18:36):
And I can't help but thinking, Mike, the Pirates make
an offer to guy like Naylor, no one, they're not
gonna have to pay it off, and they get their
name in the headline in a somewhat positive way.
Speaker 2 (18:46):
Oh well, at least we tried to spend more money.
Speaker 6 (18:49):
Yeah, there's there's some truth to that, one hundred percent.
But it's also when you look at their reality, I
mean it's I try to tell people that baseball talent
is like fine art, and the market for fine art
is like if you want a van Go, I mean,
you know you're not getting it because there's a lot
(19:09):
of richer people out there who can afford it more
than you can. I mean, you can afford the van
Go copy. I got one, but I can't afford a
Van Go. And that's that's the Pirates compared to most
of the people in their in their league. And so
I think that what has to happen is they have
to commit to paying the great players that they have
(19:30):
in house. And of course we know what that means.
That means Paul Skeens a year or two from now.
They have to commit to that, and if they don't,
then how seriously do you take anything they do?
Speaker 1 (19:42):
Yeah, and whether Skimes would would willing to commit back
I have graved.
Speaker 2 (19:46):
Dots, Well he doesn't.
Speaker 6 (19:47):
I'm talking about the RB years. He doesn't have threet that.
Speaker 1 (19:51):
Right, No, And I don't think the Pirates will even
want to pay what he gets awarded there.
Speaker 3 (19:55):
Now.
Speaker 1 (19:55):
I want to get to the Bears and Steelers, Mike,
because that's an odd matchup business. It's two teams that
rely on takeaways more than any other teams in the league.
Speaker 6 (20:06):
I think the difference is that the Bears at least
know what their direction is. They have some young receivers.
Romadenze from Washington played in the National Championship Game a
couple of years ago, has had some nice games. They've
got the quarterback that they believe in in Caleb Williams,
and he's made some very impressive plays and some not great,
(20:27):
not great decisions along the way, and that's kind of
a part of being put out there as quickly as
he was. And so I think they know what they
want to be, whereas the Steelers are still in the
process of trying to work through getting to that point.
They want to win where they are, but what they
really want to be is a year from now, if possible,
(20:48):
they want to have their own Caleb Williams.
Speaker 1 (20:51):
Do you buy the Bears at the top of the
NFC North right now and you buy the Caleb Williams.
Speaker 6 (20:57):
Well, I don't think they're the best team in the
NFC North, and I think that they showed in the
Ravens game that they are beatable. I mean they that
that was a Ravens team that was not led by
Lamar Jackson and still was able to beat them. So
I think Williams is a talent. I think that I'm
not a big fan mark of putting a rookie out
(21:21):
to play immediately. I know that ben it worked here, but.
Speaker 2 (21:26):
I alsoback correct.
Speaker 6 (21:29):
Yeah, quarterback, yeah, other positions, Yeah, I was talking strictly quarterback,
other positions, whatever, But at quarterback. I think that more
often than not, the best quarterbacks are allowed to watch
and observe and then maybe towards the end of their year,
whether it's because of an injury as was the case
with Lamar Jackson that took out Flaco and he had
to play, or because the games don't matter anymore, and
(21:52):
it's now okay, now you've been out there for ten
weeks in practice, you can get a look those kinds
of things. Fine, but you give the guy the starting
job like they did with Tennessee and cam Ward on
day one on a bad team, and what do they learn?
They learn how to be bad. So that Williams is
still trying to fight his way back a little bit
from that. Uh, And they and what's around him is
(22:14):
not elite, but their schedule has broken a certain way
and they've taken advantage of a lot of those opportunities.
Like like I said, they really should be eight and two.
They got off to a great start against the Ravens
and then just dissolved. So I do I think they're
the best team in that in that division. No, but
they could certainly win that that division if they continue
(22:35):
to take care of business in the way that they have,
and for them, that would be Including Sunday.
Speaker 1 (22:41):
We're talking to Mike the course of the Sporting News.
He's brought to us by South Hills Kia. South Hills
Kia has the ride and price for you, Mike, Who
would you start, Mason Rudolph one hundred percent or Aaron
Rodgers with a broken wrist. It looks like it's going
to be Rogers for sure right now.
Speaker 6 (22:57):
Well, I think it totally depends on Rogers demonstrating that
he's not compromised, and so it's it's not just a
question of patting him and all of that sort of stuff,
so that so that reinjury is unlikely, he has to
show that with that padding uh and with whatever discomfort
still finds its way through that that he is still
(23:18):
as capable as he was. And ideally he shows he's
as capable as he was in week four or five,
not in these past couple of weeks when he wasn't
very capable at all. The one thing that I saw
in Mason Rudolph when he came in Mark was an
energy like he was over the last couple of weeks.
(23:39):
I've gotten the feeling in watching that that Aaron Rodgers
is fighting his protection more so than okay, all right,
dealing with it like Okay, that guy's coming from the left.
I got to move to the right. It's that guy's
coming from the left again. And you know, I just
with Rudolph, it was like, Okay, whatever's happening. I got
to deal, and I got to cope there. Look, every
(24:02):
offensive line, you want to have a clean pocket on
every drop back. But if that were the case with
the Steelers have had five sacks against the Chargers two
weeks ago. They didn't have a clean pocket on every
drop back. He went down five times, and a couple
of them might have been at garbage time, but there
were still the three that warn't or so and he
still won the game. He still made enough plays to
(24:22):
win the game. You've got to cope with that from
time to time that you get this pressure from this
angle or that angle, and you either move away from
it and extend the play and make something happen, or
in some cases, you just got to take the lumps
and then go on to.
Speaker 7 (24:38):
The next play.
Speaker 6 (24:39):
And what the Steelers have done really well I e
excuse me, really poorly, Mark, is take that lump and
then go on to the next play. Them them in
third and long is really difficult. They very rarely convert,
and we saw them do that once or twice on
Sunday when Mason came in. We saw them throw a
swing past the game well that he turned into a
(25:01):
big first down. We just haven't seen that very often
from this team, no matter who's been at quarterback.
Speaker 1 (25:06):
No, I bind all of that, and long story short,
I think Rudolph is better in the pocket right now
than Rogers. I think Rogers dumps out of plays too quick,
and I think that'll even be more so with a
bum wrist. But I will say, yeah, Rogers protects the
ball that's important against this team, and he's got that.
Speaker 2 (25:24):
Guy that could win a close game.
Speaker 1 (25:27):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (25:27):
I mean, like I said, like through seven, eight weeks,
whatever it was, all of us were happy with the
way he had.
Speaker 2 (25:33):
Performed up till the LA game.
Speaker 8 (25:36):
Yeah, I mean that.
Speaker 6 (25:37):
Was the start, and he wasn't very good. Again, I
don't think he was as poor in that first half
before he got injured. I don't think he was as
poor in that game as he had been against the Chargers.
But it still wasn't the right direction. After the initial
drive that seemed like okay, LA's over, he's back, it
started to go back in the direction that you're talking about.
(25:59):
He just wasn't comfortable with his protection. When when there
was any leakage at all, he seemed to get frustrated.
And again, I just don't think that you can play
with a what is I consider to be, essentially, with
the exception of Sayamalu, a rookie offensive line and expect
that you're going to have a clean pocket all the time.
Speaker 3 (26:20):
What did we like about.
Speaker 6 (26:21):
Ben back in the day. He was running around all
over the place because sometimes his offensive line wasn't good enough,
but he made it not matter.
Speaker 1 (26:33):
I think that Rudolph and and Rogers is a legitimate debate.
I mean, whatever they decide. If it's Rogers, I get it.
Speaker 5 (26:43):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (26:43):
But the one that I disagree with.
Speaker 1 (26:45):
Vehemently, assuming it happens, if Slay's healthy, Commin says he's
going back in in place of Pierre, how could you
possibly do that? Every single metric you can look at,
not to mention the eye test.
Speaker 2 (26:58):
Mike says that Slay's sucks.
Speaker 6 (27:01):
He has not been good at all, and that was well.
Prior to the injury. He had been one of the
major problems in the secondary. The biggest problem was at safety,
at free safety in particular, that was where the biggest
problem was. But Slay had really struggled and Pierre was
fantastic on Sunday against the against the tandem of receivers
(27:25):
primarily Chase, but the tandem from time to time, that
the Steelers had gotten completely blown away by a couple
of weeks earlier, and that they've had problems with for
years dealing with and he completely dealt with that and
was very rarely beaten. I mean, no cornerback is going
to have a perfect record, but you want to keep
(27:47):
those those big plays to a minimum, and he was
almost never beaten in that game. I was concerned going
in that after sort of supporting the elevation of Brandon
Eckels in slaves into slaves, and then we saw that
happen by partially by necessity, and then Eccles really struggled
in l A. I worried that the same would happen
(28:08):
to James, who had been good in limited opportunities this year.
I worried that he would take the same course as Echoles.
And not only did he not take that course, uh,
he took like he would. He became Ike Taylor. He
became a guy that was really controlling things in the
second here.
Speaker 2 (28:24):
Oh wait, I thought you many couldn't read well.
Speaker 6 (28:28):
No, No, I meant I'm no, And I didn't mean
he dropped every potential interception. I Ike was an elite
cover Colory, No question, that's the you know. I every
now and then I still call it that. When when
somebody has a clear opportunity to intercept the ball, I
call it an Ike Taylor interception. Uh, you still disrupted
the play and and they didn't get a completion, but
(28:49):
the interception didn't happen.
Speaker 5 (28:50):
Uh.
Speaker 6 (28:51):
But what I what I would do, What I think
he's meaning is face Slay will have a role, and
he may start, but you can't Pierre out after what
he did, especially when you go on the road to
a team that's got multiple targets. If you do that,
you're basically asking to get eaten.
Speaker 1 (29:10):
Mike, Mike, I'll cut the line a little a little
more strictly. I wouldn't give Slay a helmet if you
have enough guys. I mean, he's been that bad. He
really has been, which he's been. My question about the
defense with with Ramsey at safety, I think he's done
really well. But I'm also surprised you didn't get suspended
(29:30):
a game along with Jamar Chase for that incident. How
do you think Ramsey's playing in safety and is he
the main catalyst on that defense right now?
Speaker 6 (29:40):
His he and Dougar being placed at safety. I think
Deshaun Elliott is a tremendous run support me too, but
I'm you know, the coverage thing is still not his strength,
and that was not the strength of the group in
general because of Slay and some other things that were
going on. And so I love the idea of having
(30:03):
Dugger and Slay back there. Excuse me, Dugger and Ramsey
back there. I think they've made a tremendous difference in
how effective the Steelers are in past coverage. I think
that's been the big but that's been the biggest thing.
But Slay has been the key part of that, because
Elliott was at least passable of what you were playing
at free safety before was absolutely not. And I think
(30:25):
the fact that thorn Hill has since been sent home
tells everyone that I was right all along that they
needed a safety. They just happened to decide that they
had one on their roster and they were going to
move Ramsey there. I think it's been a huge change,
and I don't think he should have been suspended. He
was ejected from the game. It was a second personal
(30:47):
foul penalty. I understood why the refs didn't see the
spitting incident, because there was somebody out there and I
don't know who it was, some guy it might have
been from the I think it was from the Bengals sideline,
but not one hundred percent shore. But there was some
person that wasn't really authorized to be out there, who
was where an official might ordinarily be. So I think
that person blocked the view of Actually I think he
(31:13):
might have been out there because the timeout was called,
so he might have been authorized in that sense. The
timeout was called, so he was on the field, and
so he was blocking the view that the official might
have been able to use to see what transpired between
Ramsey and Chase, and so I understood why they didn't
see it. I think they did the right thing. But
under no circumstances should Ramsey have been punished further given
(31:36):
what transpired.
Speaker 1 (31:37):
Mike, you hit the essence of talk radio just a
few seconds ago. You said I was right all along.
That is the key to this business, being able to
say that, especially when it's true. But even if it's not. Hey,
great stuff. We'll do it again next week. Enjoy the football.
Speaker 6 (31:51):
Thanks Mark.
Speaker 2 (31:52):
That's Mike.
Speaker 1 (31:52):
The course of the Sporting News brought to us by
South Hills, Kia. Up next, Paul Skeen said something interesting
we had that just fromund the corner, and then Paul's
ice at the top of the hour one oh five
nine The X.
Speaker 2 (32:05):
It's The Woody Show weekday mornings at six.
Speaker 5 (32:07):
Training news headlines, redneck news and more on one.
Speaker 2 (32:10):
Oh five nine The X. This hour the Mark Madden Shows,
brought to you by by Blight. Probably served a Blinkys
in Green Tree. Stopping Blinky's and enjoy three fifty b
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