October 8, 2025 • 32 mins
Mark talks about Bill Belichick after playing a soundbite of Paul Finebaum obliterating him. Mike Decourcey joins the show to talk Steelers
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is the mark Man Show. Are you with me
so far?
Speaker 2 (00:04):
You could hop on the show by ding eight three
to three four one two wxdx, or you can follow
me on Twitter at mark Man. Next week, the guests
are in Flox, Okay, so it's gonna be a surprise
day for the guests. You should like that. That's how
do you do in wrestling. The guy that you didn't
think would be there was there. Oh my god, look
(00:24):
who's here? And it takes you a while to realize
you don't care, but you get the early pop. And
that's all I ever wanted, was the quick and early pop.
Not in the way you're thinking. Brunick was good in
the second and third period. Kindle was excellent all night long.
If Kindall keeps playing like that, he could stick for
(00:46):
the whole year.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
I don't think he will.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
I think when Rust, Hayes and mcgroarty'll come back, and
then it's a numbers game up front. It's still a
developmental thing for Kindall. What will serve him best. But
I like him for the long, long term. I think
he's gonna be a good NHL player.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
He has.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
Not a swag, but maybe he's just has what it takes.
I can't quite find the words. And there's some guys
like I'll give an example. I hate to say it
because he's still I think kind of maybe in their plans.
I saw it Blumquist for two games last year and I.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
Thought, I don't think so. I hope so, but I
don't think so. Kindle. I'm like, Okay, this kid can
play in the NHL.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
Brudick, I'm like, this kid can play in the NHL.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
The biggest upset of the night was Eric Carlson was
very good. He minimized his mistakes. He played sensibly, almost
as if he cared about winning. It was almost weird
to watch fundamentals Fundamentals. I remember Bob Johnson would say
that fundamentals fundamental and like rub his face as he
said it.
Speaker 1 (02:03):
A Silovs and goal?
Speaker 2 (02:06):
Does he get to start in the home opener after
pitching the shutout? It's what I would do, And after
starting him ahead of Zari in the opener, to start
him again in the home opener.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
Would also make a statement.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
And let me make clear, I think it's more important
that the Penguins get a top five draft pick than
you know, eke out a wild card playoff spot. But
it's nonetheless good that the Penguins won. You got to
try to win until it no longer makes sense to
try to win. I'm not talking about the players, because
they're pros always in terms of effort, they want to win.
(02:44):
I'm talking about the team's construction. I'm talking about when
you trade Rushed, when you trade Raquel, and by the way,
the Rangers suck worse than I thoughts Sully gonna have
some problems JT.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
Vincenzo.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
My heart goes on because I can see what's coming
and I don't like it. I talked before about Carlson
playing a game that's not typical for him.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
Responsible and accountable. I can't even say that with a
straight face. Uh.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
That could be created by the pressure of the kids
as much as the structure of the coach.
Speaker 4 (03:21):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
Kids in the locker room. I talked about this a
moment ago.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
It brings out that teacher vibe with kids, you know
to witness and learn to do the right thing.
Speaker 1 (03:30):
It brings out that right way vibe.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
Eric Carlson knows that Harrison Brunnick shouldn't play like he
does God anything. But even if it's worked for Carlson,
So any hoodles Penguins one and oh, I guess you
can't judge a book by looking at the cover. Bampa
damp and damp Damp, Bamp, Bampa damp and damp damp Bamp.
Speaker 1 (03:57):
I guess we got to talk Stealers Tommy Radio and
I did before.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
I just love, absolutely love the quarterback swit Cherou Flack
go to Cincinnati and now Chador is number two for
Cleveland and in play for duty Sunday at Pittsburgh, and
I'm convinced that has them. The Bronze owner he mandated
the trade of Flacco to get Shador that much closer
on the field because he's the guy who wanted to
(04:24):
draft Shadoor in the first place.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
In the fifth round.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
Had to be that way because the coaching GM, the
personnel guys, they don't want to use the fifth round
pick on a quarterback effort. Having picked a quarterback in
the third round. It is absolutely nonsensic Coal. That's either
an owner decision or a Tomlin decision. And we got Tomlin.
(04:47):
By the way, Come join me to watch the game
Sunday at one pm. Bronze and Steelers at Big Fellas
in Cannonsburg. That's a zany place to say the least.
I love it, So come on feel the noise with
me one PM Sunday at Big Fellas Great Wings. Although
I've never heard of place say our wings suck. Everything
(05:09):
else really good, our wings sucked. That's always the trademark
great Wings. That said, all the places that say they
have great wings have great wings, including Big Fellas in Cannonsburg. Now,
I just don't get some things about the Steelers. I
just don't get not using Firemouth and John Newmore when
your offense is supposed to be built around tight ends.
(05:29):
I just don't get Mount Washington and Spencer Anderson and
seven offensive linemen. I just don't get making that offense
as prehistoric as it is in this era. And it's
not like you've got the running backs to maximise. You
got a bunch of backups. And maybe it prediccts Rogers better.
(05:54):
But maybe it keeps Aaron Rodgers from being Aaron Rodgers.
Maybe it leaves him without enough targets out there. Maybe
it minimizes what you need to get from him to
win enough, not just beat Cleveland Sunday, but to win enough. Uh,
the way they're playing the way they're lining up offensively.
(06:15):
It'll beat bad teams in one score games like Sunday
against Cleveland until it doesn't. But will it beat good
teams in big games? Will it beat good teams and
playoff games? Will it enable you to come from behind
when you're down by more than a score against anybody
and you just say, well, then you open up the offense.
Speaker 1 (06:33):
Yeah, that'll go great. That'll go great when.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
You use seven offensive linemen all the time till you trail,
and then you put everybody else out there that you
should head out there in the first place, say hey, boys,
go win the game. They're gonna say fu. I mean,
they're gonna try to do it. It reminds me I
forget who it was. A young kid playing for Liverpool.
(06:56):
Might have been Robbie Fower because he had a smart mouth.
And he got bench for a game. He was like
nineteen or twenty and they were done two nothing with
four minutes left, and they put him in and he
said to the manager, Hey, what do you want me
to do?
Speaker 1 (07:07):
Win it or tie it?
Speaker 2 (07:10):
It ain't that easy to do the switcheroo in a
situation like the Steelers have developed for themselves and get
things accomplished.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
Yo, seven offensive linemen in twenty twenty five. That is much.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
And don't forget there's a tight end. There's like sometimes
it's double tight, sometimes it's double tight with an extra tackle.
Why not just have ten offensive linemen and snap the
ball directly to one of your bummy running backs?
Speaker 1 (07:39):
One oh five nine.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
X smart Madden mark when you got a young trophy,
white ohs money to I can't even quote the big
o'bowski right, goodbye.
Speaker 4 (07:50):
DX one.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
The guest list is stabilized. Do you want to surprise
or should I reap the ratings benefit? Well, it's only
an hour promo, forty five minutes in advance.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
I'm gonna tell you anyway. Mike de Corsi of.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
The Sporting is at three thirty, Ryan Malone exit the
Penguins analyst on sports and at Pittsburgh at four thirty.
But at four o'clock we'll be joined by Penguins captain
Sidney Crosby said no longer kid, but they'll join me
at four o'clock.
Speaker 1 (08:26):
Right here on the Home of the Penguins one oh
five ninety x uh. Here's Paul Feinbaum on ESPN who's
a great heel.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
Talking about the disaster that is Bill Belichick coaching football
at the University of North Carolina, and he spares no words.
Speaker 3 (08:42):
We're talking about Bill Belichick, who is the greatest NFL
coach in history. Right now, Jeff, He's working toward being
the worst coach in college football history. That's how bad
he is. There's nothing to be happy about the I mean,
it's an abject disaster. I feel badly for the guy
because it seemed like a good idea at the time.
(09:04):
But right now, I mean, who in their right mind
would want to go play for him.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
Finebaum is not.
Speaker 2 (09:12):
At all exaggerating, not at all, any cashe Belichick earned,
Belichick earned somewhere else. Belichick should be fired right now,
Right now, he is destroying his reputation and more germane
to the concerns down in Chapel Hill. He is destroying
(09:34):
that North Carolina football program for years to come. It's
not like James Franklin. I heard some dope on the
B team comparing the situation today to James Franklin. Franklin
has earned at Penn State, I mean Final four just
last year. He has earned getting till the end of
the season to put it right, and Franklin could put
(09:55):
it right. Yet at Penn State there's important games to
still win. There's a playoff Berth that's still abe. Probably not,
but if they went out, they could get one. North
Carolina Lina ain't going nowhere. Ever, with Bill Belichick coaching.
They need to get rid of Belichick. Now, get rid
of his kids and his cronies. Now get his gold
(10:16):
Diggers Fngali out of there. Now, buy everybody out. Take
the l what the janitor coach the rest of the season.
If you gotta but that fine Bomb's not again. He's
not exaggerating. That is the biggest disaster I remember in
college football history. James Franklin should send Belichick a thank
(10:36):
you note because if Belichick finishes the season North Carolina,
what happens there will make everybody forget about Penn State
losing to UCLA, except, of course, for Penn State fans.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
Let's go to Tyler.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
Tyler, you're only double m what.
Speaker 5 (10:54):
I man, They're glad you slidfied the guests like Mark,
I was getting nervous. But anyway, I thought the Penguins
brought a youthful energy last night It's exactly what we
were looking for. Ben Kendall and that line of him,
Tomasino and Novak looked sharp all night, all around the net,
all around the punk thought Runeck looked like he was nineteen,
But that'll come with time.
Speaker 1 (11:15):
Glad, this energy is up.
Speaker 5 (11:16):
And it was just fitting that they played Mike Solivan
and the Rangers and you watch that same game we've
watched for years. Here look unorganized and it looked like
a total disaster out there for the Rangers. The chances
were few and far between, and when they got there,
good Saved by Sea loss thought it was a good night.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
They did not. The Rangers did not look good.
Speaker 2 (11:35):
My one complain about the Kindle line is that Kindall
was by far the best player on it. Now that's
encouraging in terms of, you know, Kindle's development.
Speaker 1 (11:44):
I thought tom Asino was okay.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
I thought Novak played as if any physical contact would
give him syphilis.
Speaker 5 (11:52):
Well that's how he plays, that's how he plays Mark.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
But uh, you know, if that's a bit different.
Speaker 1 (11:58):
If that's the case, then somebody else needs to play.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
But on all your other points, you're absolutely correct.
Speaker 1 (12:04):
Thank you for the call.
Speaker 2 (12:07):
A three three four one two WXDX. Sid joins me
at four o'clock. My mistress team has its opening game tonight.
I think they're kind of Sid's mistress team too. The
Canadians son La Montreal at Toronto at the old enemy
Frenchies versus English pigs with no brains. I have a
(12:29):
ton of Canadians merchandise. That's because I really like the
Canadians as a kid.
Speaker 1 (12:33):
Me and Mario too. Mario is a Canadians fan.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
Remember that famous picture of him behind the Canadians bench
is like a sixteen year old, fifteen year old when
Lafleur was saluting the crowd after having reached some milestone.
Speaker 1 (12:45):
Mario is a Lafleur guy, big time Lafleur guy.
Speaker 2 (12:48):
And I was a fan of those teams, like you know,
those those Cup winners in the seventies, you know, I
mean I rooted it for the Pengless first, but you know,
the Canadians were good and they were entertaining. They had flair,
they had Lafleur, they had dried and they had those
three great defenseman savarg la Point and Robinson who played
the whole game, that Jacq Lamier with a big shot
Steve Shutt, you know, Bob Ganey, the quint essential checking forward,
(13:12):
Geek Carboneau the quint essential two hundred foot center. I
remember those guys. That's all off the top of my
head right now. That was just an amazing team and
fun to watch. And I have a ton of Canadians merchandise.
And that's because, you know, because I liked them, because
you know it's Red. I love Red rad or Dad
some like it, Hot Eye like it Red. And they
got an exciting young team now, I think the third
(13:33):
youngest roster in the National And wait till my buddy L. J.
Mooney gets there from West Mifflin. The two kids they
got now, Demodolph and Slevkowski are gonna be great. So
I'm gonna be watching the Canadian at Toronto this evening
up next Mike the Course, even the Sporting News sit
at four o'clock one o five to nine.
Speaker 4 (13:54):
One oh five nine.
Speaker 6 (13:55):
The X says your shot at ex dray cash because
we're nice. Thirteen times a day, nine am through nine pm,
the X will give you the keyword at the top
of every hour. Enter it at wxdx dot com and
you could win one thousand dollars jesting you.
Speaker 4 (14:09):
Can spread it on the bed and roll around at
one thousand.
Speaker 6 (14:11):
Dollars or whatever is your money, Listen all day for
your chanceitsm extra cash.
Speaker 4 (14:17):
On one oh five nine The X.
Speaker 1 (14:20):
This is Doug gollib Here's what's trending from the Iheartsports Network,
presented by Matthews Wallanger and Waterproofing.
Speaker 7 (14:25):
After enjoying a bye week, the Steelers are back to
work again. A visit from the rival Browns is next up.
Pittsburgh leads a division now they're three to one. The
Penguin season is off to a great start. They dumped
the Rangers last night and welcome the Islanders next for
the home opener tomorrow night. And former NFL player Herschel
Walker has been confirmed as the US ambassador to the Bahamas.
Speaker 1 (14:45):
He's the first in more than fifteen years. I'm Scott
David said.
Speaker 4 (14:49):
If you're selling your home and have a Wettsmark Madden.
Speaker 5 (14:52):
Double m mark it afternoon, gall Mark Madden.
Speaker 1 (14:56):
What do you want? What do you want? Damnit?
Speaker 6 (14:58):
DX at one oh five nine.
Speaker 2 (15:01):
Joining me not had taught me off the ledge about
some Steelers stuff. He writes for the Sporting News. He's
local guy Mike de Corsi, Mike, you gotta talk me
off the ledge on this in particular, here's what I
hate about the Steelers. Even at three and one, they're
using basically seven offensive linemen with Washington a tight end
and Spencer Anderson is the extra tackle. It's prehistoric and
(15:24):
will not beat good teams in big games.
Speaker 4 (15:27):
I don't think that the plan is to do that
for the rest of the year. And I think that's
part of why Mike Tomlin answered one of the questions
he was asked at this week's press conference in the
manner that he did. I think he wants people to think, Okay,
we're doing this every game now, that's not the plan.
The plan was that specifically against the Vikings, they expected
(15:49):
it would work and it did. And if you saw
the Vikings follow up that game against the Browns, they
had trouble with the Browns running game as well, So
that was part of it. And the other part of
it is to mask a deficient offensive line while it's deficient. Now,
(16:10):
if the offensive line does not improve to the level
of its talent, then no, they're not going to be
good teams. That's but they are only at the beginning
stages of being this offensive line. They didn't have Troy
Faltano a year ago. They had Broderick Jones at right
tackle instead of left tackle. So it's a relatively new
(16:32):
offensive line. I'm not promising it's going to get straightened out,
but there's certainly the ability there and with time together,
they should improve.
Speaker 2 (16:45):
Okay, that hasn't helped, to be honest, but I will
say if they if they maintain that alignment against Cleveland,
that'll be Cleveland.
Speaker 1 (16:54):
It will very much help contain Miles Garrett.
Speaker 4 (16:58):
Yeah, I think that. I think that you'll see some
of those looks for sure because they were so successful
in the last game that until Cleveland shows that they
can deal with it, then you would certainly want to
at least give it a try habit in your package
for the game, and it might help it as well.
Mike's not wrong about the fact that having more size
(17:21):
on the field against big four to three lines is helpful.
It also detracts from your ability to go around those players,
to go past those players with faster guys, whether they
be wide receivers or tight ends, but it does allow
you to manage somewhat the physical pressure. They're able to
(17:44):
bring from their defensive lines.
Speaker 2 (17:49):
What's your take on how that alignment has put Friarmouth
and John Who kind of on the paino mind list.
Speaker 1 (17:55):
I never saw that coming.
Speaker 2 (17:56):
I thought they would be used more than they were,
and now there'll be used less.
Speaker 4 (18:01):
Well, I think I think it was it was it
was a short term thing. And I know there's been
a massive panic around the city of Pittsburgh about Pat Fryermuth.
Speaker 1 (18:10):
Yeah, because they love him, they can, they can shout
his last syllable.
Speaker 4 (18:14):
Yes, But it's it's one game. And here's the thing,
Mark they won the game.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
No, No, I know, but I.
Speaker 4 (18:23):
Just don't understand. Sometimes there was there was a great
consternation about how he chose not to go for the
fourth and one, even though that worked, And then now
the consternation has moved on to Mooth only getting I
think fifteen snaps, right. I think it was John Who's
sixteen and him fifteen. But it was one game. And look,
(18:46):
I've been wanting them to throw the ball over the
middle on relatively quick routes from almost the beginning of
the season. Once it became apparent that the offensive line
was still struggling to pass, block I've been wanting to
see that. I thought that it would be with Moves
and that it would be with John Hue, but they
managed to do with DK, which, let's be honest, it's
better because he can go farther with it.
Speaker 1 (19:09):
Here's a weird stat. Tell me if it's good or bad.
Speaker 2 (19:12):
The Steelers running backs are getting sixty four percent of
the offensive touches.
Speaker 4 (19:19):
Yeah, you know, I think I I again, I think
that that's not the grand design. But it's hard for
you to play the ball downfield that you know. There's
a lot of conversation about Aaron Rodgers and how quick
he quickly he gets rid of the ball and then
and the the Pro Football Focused comedy show grades him
(19:40):
out at like a like a D level or whatever
it would be, because he's not throwing the ball down
the field. But you can't throw the ball down the
field from you're behind. You can't. It's for one, it's
an incomplete it's it's you know, it's you're down. So
you even if you if you're if you're sitting on
your behind, I suppose and you have an arm like
Aaron Rodgers, you could, but if you're placed there, you can't.
(20:02):
The play's over and through the first four games, that's
still an issue. And again, this team will not be
what it's capable of being until the offensive line grows
and they are in a nice position. They've been able
to manage to find ways to win. In spite of that.
(20:23):
They seem to have found a way to improve on
the defensive line with Harmon back and with Benton. Maybe
you know, I'm not a one hundred percent sure about this.
I haven't heard it talked about a lot, but I
think they're moving him a little bit off the nose
so that he's not just getting squished as soon as
the ball is snapped. And I think that. I mean,
(20:44):
he had to get his best game as a pro
in Ireland. He'd want to play every game in Ireland.
The way that went for him.
Speaker 2 (20:53):
Well, no, everything we're talking about, I understand that the
part of the reasoning with the extra lineman and the
quick releases to protect Rogers, and I'm not sure if
that lets Rogers be Rogers. Then again, I've been talking
frequently on the show about how Rogers and Pittsburgh may
turn out to be Manning in Denver or Brady in Tampa,
(21:14):
where he wins more with guile than anything else, because
you know the old gray marriages ain't what she.
Speaker 1 (21:20):
Used to be.
Speaker 4 (21:22):
Well, yeah, I mean, I think the guile parts a
big part of it. I think you still see things
from him that are specific to him. To throw off
the back foot that he made I think it was
to Austin in the opener. It was on the right
side of the field that no one else I don't
think in the history of football has been as comfortable
throwing off his back foot. And why is that valuable?
(21:43):
Because at a certain point you may be getting contacted
and you need to get rid of the ball as
quickly as possible, and if you have to set your feet,
that gives the defender time to close. His ability to
get rid of it off the back foot allows him
uh to complete plays that others can't. So there's still
some of that there. The ability to put the ball
(22:05):
all the way downfield to DeVante Adams, that may still
be there, but he's got to get that time and
you've got to get that route open before we'll really know.
I guess the closest we've seen was the mooth pass
in the I think it was in the opener that
Mooth dropped. Uh, maybe that was a Seattle game. That
(22:27):
he still has the ability to put the ball way
out there. He just doesn't getting a lot of opportunities
to do that, and I think the time he will
get more of them.
Speaker 2 (22:36):
We're talking to Mike the course of the Sporting News.
Mike brought to us by South Hills Kia. South Fields
Kia has the ride and a price you'll love, Mike.
Where's Cleveland at Flack Goes Gone? Five rookies are starting,
including a quarterback. I love the rookie running back. Are
the Browns moving forward?
Speaker 4 (22:54):
Yeah? See, I don't think. I think the Browns are
still trying to recover from the disaster of Deshaun Watson,
no question, and they're hopeful that Dylan Gabriel can do
that for them. And Dylan Gabriel was a terrific college quarterback.
And it was interesting to hear the reminder from from
Mike Tomlin this week in his press conference that Gabriel's
(23:16):
twenty five years old and played like six years of
college football.
Speaker 1 (23:21):
And yeah, that worked out real great with Kenny Pickett.
Speaker 4 (23:24):
Yeah, well and true, But and look, I don't know
that I don't know that Dylan Gabriel is going to
be a better pro quarterback than did Kenny Pickett, but
he might be better for now than Joe Flacco is.
Joe wasn't getting a whole lot done with the Browns,
and and Gabriel played reasonably well on Sunday against Minnesota,
(23:47):
they just weren't able to put up enough points with
where they are to be able to withstand a late
Minnesota rally. And I think that the Steelers certainly have
to be wary of Gabriel. But one of the things
that they do well, really well is the fleck passes.
I mean, Cam Hayward's as good, maybe as anybody that's
(24:07):
played the defensive line at his side, sure doing that,
and so that's something that they have to be very
much aware of because Gabriel is not tall. He's very
much a small NFL quarterback, and so they have to
use that against him.
Speaker 2 (24:24):
Don't you feel like the trade of Flacco was designed
by the owner to get Shador Sanders at the number
two spot and to put him in play for getting
on the field. I heard a report though the Bailey
Zappi might be the number two quarterback with Shaudor still
be a number three and that would cause the entire
Sanders family to have a cerebral hemorrhage.
Speaker 4 (24:45):
Yeah, you know. The the the interesting thing about seedar
situation is that he got he got dropped in the
draft for various reasons, whether it some of it to me,
It starts with ability. I mean, he's he he's a
super accurate quarterback, but the arm strength is not there.
And he's not a great athlete. I mean he's his
(25:07):
dad was among the five best American athletes in history. Yeah,
and and and Shader is not super dynamic and so
as so there were reasons why he dropped, and a
lot of them were purported to be off the off
the field stuff. Uh and and then he goes last
week and he does that little pantomime thing where he's
(25:30):
not where, he's answering questions without speaking, and it's like,
you're four games into your rookie year and you're already
starting nonsense like this, why do you think you did drop? Well?
Speaker 2 (25:40):
And he's the third string quarterback. Nobody wants a celebrity
third string quarterback.
Speaker 4 (25:45):
That's true, that is true. But I think that he's
only making himself less attractive to other teams by doing
stuff like that. And when you're when you're on a
fel depth chart and you're not the number one, your
your first goal is to get to number one on
your team, but your second goal is to try to
(26:06):
get to number one on another team. And you're not
helping yourself with that by doing what he did last week.
And it's not a huge deal, but it's just like
they look at that in other front offices and say,
you know, they roll their eyes and say, why do
I want to deal with that?
Speaker 2 (26:24):
How do the Steelers deboy their secondary without Ramsey who's
not only their best defensive back and who has done
very well so far, but he's also the Swiss army knife.
Everything kind of rotates around positioning him, doesn't it.
Speaker 4 (26:36):
Well, it does, And so I think that they're going
to have to be a little bit more conventional and
they won't be as good because the safety play has
been average at best. Joey Porter coming back gives them
a cover guy that can be comparable at least and
and so, and they get some of their depth back.
(26:58):
But if Ramsey's unavailable to play, then then that that
causes other problems in their secondary, but problems that can
be mitigated if they get the kind of pass rush.
I mean, they don't have to get seven sacks, but
the kind of pressure on Dylan Gabriel that they got
on wins would be very helpful.
Speaker 2 (27:20):
Dude, the Steelers had the AFC North locked up right
now because well but let me, okay, let me make
my case because the division is in tatters, shadou be. Yeah,
but like I know, they blew it last year too,
So I mean, like I have, like, here's what I
think for sure, Mike, see what you think and tell
me why it's not locked up. And I think they
(27:42):
will be leading the Baltimorons when they play them on
December seventh. And I think they will be in the
conversation for the number one seed in the conference when
they played Buffalo on November thirties. Now, let's see how
those games go, obviously, but can you see that happening.
Speaker 4 (27:58):
They'd have to continue to prove at a pretty rapid rate,
especially as I mentioned on the offensive line. What I
what I remember is when when I'm hearing people talk about, well,
if they don't win the division out, it'll be a
massive disaster and disappointment and all of that and I'm like, well,
how do you think they got here? Well, Lamar Jackson's hurting,
(28:18):
Joe Burrow's hurt. Well, who's to say that your guys
don't get hurt? I mean, so until you get to
that point and your guys are all all or mostly
in one piece, they then talk to me about whether
or not they should have it locked up. I mean,
think about it, Mark, when you and I were young,
This is almost the equivalent of entire seasons still remaining.
(28:41):
There's thirteen games on the schedule. That's one fewer than
the seventies Steelers played. So it's way too long a
season to think they have it locked up. But what
they want to do is continue to put as much
distance between themselves and the Bengals and the Ravens as
they can. And they have opportunity head to head a
(29:02):
week from tomorrow. They certainly have to take care of
Sunday and they and they can you know, secretly root
for the Rams to take care of Baltimore on the
road on Sunday. And the more ground you put between
yourselves and the Ravens, the more likely your scenarios will
come true.
Speaker 2 (29:23):
Yeah, I should offer a disclaimer for them to get
to the scenarios I describe. They have to win both
the next two games, and you know, with the Steelers
traditionally against you know, underdogs, there's many a slip TwixT
cup and lip quick College football Question two parter. Can
James Franklin keep his job after that tragic loss at UCLA?
(29:45):
And is Bill Belichick, as Paul Finbaum says, already the
worst coast in college football history?
Speaker 4 (29:53):
You know what, in terms of the technical part of it,
the up certainly not. There have been guy there who
could barely call a play right. But in terms of
how he has operated as a college football coach, it's
hard to find someone who's done it worse. Everything he's
done to this point has been wrong, literally, like every
(30:14):
single thing that who he hired, how he's comported himself,
the whole thing with his girlfriend. Everything has been wrong.
And you're hearing and you're hearing it's so so loudly
from the media North Carolina, who are not I mean,
they're not a vicious medium. And this is not like
it's New York or something. I mean, they're excellent journalists
(30:37):
down there, but they don't want Carolina to be the disaster.
But if it is, they're going to report it. So
this is this is totally you know, this is not
invention on the part of the media down there. This
is what's happening, and it's it's a disaster.
Speaker 1 (30:52):
What about Franklin.
Speaker 4 (30:54):
As far as Franklin's concerned, I think I think the
premature calls for his dismissal or whatever. I think what
people forget is that college football isn't like it was
ten years ago, five years ago. If I'm not saying
this is going to happen, but they have Ohio State
on the road first, I think it's first weekend in November,
(31:15):
and then the second weekend in November something like that
they go to they have Indiana come in to Beaver Stadiums.
If they won both of those games, then yeah, all
of a sudden, it's a different season. Now he's got
a couple of wins against top ten teams, and now
that narrative starts to fade and people forget Mark like
Joe Paterno used to do the kind of things that
(31:37):
they want James Franklin to do in the seventies and
eighties and then one team in the nineties, but in
the two thousands, he had three or four losing seasons.
In this century, he had three or four losing seasons.
James Franklin came in when the place was in relative tatters,
and Bill O'Brien did a really nice job of straightening
it out in a short term, but then he left
(31:58):
and caused more problem and James got all that straightened
out and got them back to winning big and no
one's appreciating that. I thought the UCLA thing was a disaster, inexplicable, inexcusable. Uh,
but there's still time for him to straighten that out.
And that's the job. You got to go figure it out.
Speaker 1 (32:17):
Mike, great stuff, will do it again next week.
Speaker 4 (32:19):
Sounds great, Mark, that's Mike.
Speaker 1 (32:21):
The course he brought to us by south Fields.
Speaker 3 (32:22):
Key.
Speaker 2 (32:22):
You don't forget Sydney Crosby. At the top of the
hour one oh five nine.
Speaker 1 (32:26):
It's the Woodie Show.
Speaker 4 (32:28):
Woodies Show, weekend mornings at six. Precocious and full of wonderment.
One d X what if you had the smartest Wi Fi?
If you did
This is the mark Man Show. Are you with me
so far?
Speaker 2 (00:04):
You could hop on the show by ding eight three
to three four one two wxdx, or you can follow
me on Twitter at mark Man. Next week, the guests
are in Flox, Okay, so it's gonna be a surprise
day for the guests. You should like that. That's how
do you do in wrestling. The guy that you didn't
think would be there was there. Oh my god, look
(00:24):
who's here? And it takes you a while to realize
you don't care, but you get the early pop. And
that's all I ever wanted, was the quick and early pop.
Not in the way you're thinking. Brunick was good in
the second and third period. Kindle was excellent all night long.
If Kindall keeps playing like that, he could stick for
(00:46):
the whole year.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
I don't think he will.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
I think when Rust, Hayes and mcgroarty'll come back, and
then it's a numbers game up front. It's still a
developmental thing for Kindall. What will serve him best. But
I like him for the long, long term. I think
he's gonna be a good NHL player.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
He has.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
Not a swag, but maybe he's just has what it takes.
I can't quite find the words. And there's some guys
like I'll give an example. I hate to say it
because he's still I think kind of maybe in their plans.
I saw it Blumquist for two games last year and I.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
Thought, I don't think so. I hope so, but I
don't think so. Kindle. I'm like, Okay, this kid can
play in the NHL.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
Brudick, I'm like, this kid can play in the NHL.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
The biggest upset of the night was Eric Carlson was
very good. He minimized his mistakes. He played sensibly, almost
as if he cared about winning. It was almost weird
to watch fundamentals Fundamentals. I remember Bob Johnson would say
that fundamentals fundamental and like rub his face as he
said it.
Speaker 1 (02:03):
A Silovs and goal?
Speaker 2 (02:06):
Does he get to start in the home opener after
pitching the shutout? It's what I would do, And after
starting him ahead of Zari in the opener, to start
him again in the home opener.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
Would also make a statement.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
And let me make clear, I think it's more important
that the Penguins get a top five draft pick than
you know, eke out a wild card playoff spot. But
it's nonetheless good that the Penguins won. You got to
try to win until it no longer makes sense to
try to win. I'm not talking about the players, because
they're pros always in terms of effort, they want to win.
(02:44):
I'm talking about the team's construction. I'm talking about when
you trade Rushed, when you trade Raquel, and by the way,
the Rangers suck worse than I thoughts Sully gonna have
some problems JT.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
Vincenzo.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
My heart goes on because I can see what's coming
and I don't like it. I talked before about Carlson
playing a game that's not typical for him.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
Responsible and accountable. I can't even say that with a
straight face. Uh.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
That could be created by the pressure of the kids
as much as the structure of the coach.
Speaker 4 (03:21):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
Kids in the locker room. I talked about this a
moment ago.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
It brings out that teacher vibe with kids, you know
to witness and learn to do the right thing.
Speaker 1 (03:30):
It brings out that right way vibe.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
Eric Carlson knows that Harrison Brunnick shouldn't play like he
does God anything. But even if it's worked for Carlson,
So any hoodles Penguins one and oh, I guess you
can't judge a book by looking at the cover. Bampa
damp and damp Damp, Bamp, Bampa damp and damp damp Bamp.
Speaker 1 (03:57):
I guess we got to talk Stealers Tommy Radio and
I did before.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
I just love, absolutely love the quarterback swit Cherou Flack
go to Cincinnati and now Chador is number two for
Cleveland and in play for duty Sunday at Pittsburgh, and
I'm convinced that has them. The Bronze owner he mandated
the trade of Flacco to get Shador that much closer
on the field because he's the guy who wanted to
(04:24):
draft Shadoor in the first place.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
In the fifth round.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
Had to be that way because the coaching GM, the
personnel guys, they don't want to use the fifth round
pick on a quarterback effort. Having picked a quarterback in
the third round. It is absolutely nonsensic Coal. That's either
an owner decision or a Tomlin decision. And we got Tomlin.
(04:47):
By the way, Come join me to watch the game
Sunday at one pm. Bronze and Steelers at Big Fellas
in Cannonsburg. That's a zany place to say the least.
I love it, So come on feel the noise with
me one PM Sunday at Big Fellas Great Wings. Although
I've never heard of place say our wings suck. Everything
(05:09):
else really good, our wings sucked. That's always the trademark
great Wings. That said, all the places that say they
have great wings have great wings, including Big Fellas in Cannonsburg. Now,
I just don't get some things about the Steelers. I
just don't get not using Firemouth and John Newmore when
your offense is supposed to be built around tight ends.
(05:29):
I just don't get Mount Washington and Spencer Anderson and
seven offensive linemen. I just don't get making that offense
as prehistoric as it is in this era. And it's
not like you've got the running backs to maximise. You
got a bunch of backups. And maybe it prediccts Rogers better.
(05:54):
But maybe it keeps Aaron Rodgers from being Aaron Rodgers.
Maybe it leaves him without enough targets out there. Maybe
it minimizes what you need to get from him to
win enough, not just beat Cleveland Sunday, but to win enough. Uh,
the way they're playing the way they're lining up offensively.
(06:15):
It'll beat bad teams in one score games like Sunday
against Cleveland until it doesn't. But will it beat good
teams in big games? Will it beat good teams and
playoff games? Will it enable you to come from behind
when you're down by more than a score against anybody
and you just say, well, then you open up the offense.
Speaker 1 (06:33):
Yeah, that'll go great. That'll go great when.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
You use seven offensive linemen all the time till you trail,
and then you put everybody else out there that you
should head out there in the first place, say hey, boys,
go win the game. They're gonna say fu. I mean,
they're gonna try to do it. It reminds me I
forget who it was. A young kid playing for Liverpool.
(06:56):
Might have been Robbie Fower because he had a smart mouth.
And he got bench for a game. He was like
nineteen or twenty and they were done two nothing with
four minutes left, and they put him in and he
said to the manager, Hey, what do you want me
to do?
Speaker 1 (07:07):
Win it or tie it?
Speaker 2 (07:10):
It ain't that easy to do the switcheroo in a
situation like the Steelers have developed for themselves and get
things accomplished.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
Yo, seven offensive linemen in twenty twenty five. That is much.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
And don't forget there's a tight end. There's like sometimes
it's double tight, sometimes it's double tight with an extra tackle.
Why not just have ten offensive linemen and snap the
ball directly to one of your bummy running backs?
Speaker 1 (07:39):
One oh five nine.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
X smart Madden mark when you got a young trophy,
white ohs money to I can't even quote the big
o'bowski right, goodbye.
Speaker 4 (07:50):
DX one.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
The guest list is stabilized. Do you want to surprise
or should I reap the ratings benefit? Well, it's only
an hour promo, forty five minutes in advance.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
I'm gonna tell you anyway. Mike de Corsi of.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
The Sporting is at three thirty, Ryan Malone exit the
Penguins analyst on sports and at Pittsburgh at four thirty.
But at four o'clock we'll be joined by Penguins captain
Sidney Crosby said no longer kid, but they'll join me
at four o'clock.
Speaker 1 (08:26):
Right here on the Home of the Penguins one oh
five ninety x uh. Here's Paul Feinbaum on ESPN who's
a great heel.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
Talking about the disaster that is Bill Belichick coaching football
at the University of North Carolina, and he spares no words.
Speaker 3 (08:42):
We're talking about Bill Belichick, who is the greatest NFL
coach in history. Right now, Jeff, He's working toward being
the worst coach in college football history. That's how bad
he is. There's nothing to be happy about the I mean,
it's an abject disaster. I feel badly for the guy
because it seemed like a good idea at the time.
(09:04):
But right now, I mean, who in their right mind
would want to go play for him.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
Finebaum is not.
Speaker 2 (09:12):
At all exaggerating, not at all, any cashe Belichick earned,
Belichick earned somewhere else. Belichick should be fired right now,
Right now, he is destroying his reputation and more germane
to the concerns down in Chapel Hill. He is destroying
(09:34):
that North Carolina football program for years to come. It's
not like James Franklin. I heard some dope on the
B team comparing the situation today to James Franklin. Franklin
has earned at Penn State, I mean Final four just
last year. He has earned getting till the end of
the season to put it right, and Franklin could put
(09:55):
it right. Yet at Penn State there's important games to
still win. There's a playoff Berth that's still abe. Probably not,
but if they went out, they could get one. North
Carolina Lina ain't going nowhere. Ever, with Bill Belichick coaching.
They need to get rid of Belichick. Now, get rid
of his kids and his cronies. Now get his gold
(10:16):
Diggers Fngali out of there. Now, buy everybody out. Take
the l what the janitor coach the rest of the season.
If you gotta but that fine Bomb's not again. He's
not exaggerating. That is the biggest disaster I remember in
college football history. James Franklin should send Belichick a thank
(10:36):
you note because if Belichick finishes the season North Carolina,
what happens there will make everybody forget about Penn State
losing to UCLA, except, of course, for Penn State fans.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
Let's go to Tyler.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
Tyler, you're only double m what.
Speaker 5 (10:54):
I man, They're glad you slidfied the guests like Mark,
I was getting nervous. But anyway, I thought the Penguins
brought a youthful energy last night It's exactly what we
were looking for. Ben Kendall and that line of him,
Tomasino and Novak looked sharp all night, all around the net,
all around the punk thought Runeck looked like he was nineteen,
But that'll come with time.
Speaker 1 (11:15):
Glad, this energy is up.
Speaker 5 (11:16):
And it was just fitting that they played Mike Solivan
and the Rangers and you watch that same game we've
watched for years. Here look unorganized and it looked like
a total disaster out there for the Rangers. The chances
were few and far between, and when they got there,
good Saved by Sea loss thought it was a good night.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
They did not. The Rangers did not look good.
Speaker 2 (11:35):
My one complain about the Kindle line is that Kindall
was by far the best player on it. Now that's
encouraging in terms of, you know, Kindle's development.
Speaker 1 (11:44):
I thought tom Asino was okay.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
I thought Novak played as if any physical contact would
give him syphilis.
Speaker 5 (11:52):
Well that's how he plays, that's how he plays Mark.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
But uh, you know, if that's a bit different.
Speaker 1 (11:58):
If that's the case, then somebody else needs to play.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
But on all your other points, you're absolutely correct.
Speaker 1 (12:04):
Thank you for the call.
Speaker 2 (12:07):
A three three four one two WXDX. Sid joins me
at four o'clock. My mistress team has its opening game tonight.
I think they're kind of Sid's mistress team too. The
Canadians son La Montreal at Toronto at the old enemy
Frenchies versus English pigs with no brains. I have a
(12:29):
ton of Canadians merchandise. That's because I really like the
Canadians as a kid.
Speaker 1 (12:33):
Me and Mario too. Mario is a Canadians fan.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
Remember that famous picture of him behind the Canadians bench
is like a sixteen year old, fifteen year old when
Lafleur was saluting the crowd after having reached some milestone.
Speaker 1 (12:45):
Mario is a Lafleur guy, big time Lafleur guy.
Speaker 2 (12:48):
And I was a fan of those teams, like you know,
those those Cup winners in the seventies, you know, I
mean I rooted it for the Pengless first, but you know,
the Canadians were good and they were entertaining. They had flair,
they had Lafleur, they had dried and they had those
three great defenseman savarg la Point and Robinson who played
the whole game, that Jacq Lamier with a big shot
Steve Shutt, you know, Bob Ganey, the quint essential checking forward,
(13:12):
Geek Carboneau the quint essential two hundred foot center. I
remember those guys. That's all off the top of my
head right now. That was just an amazing team and
fun to watch. And I have a ton of Canadians merchandise.
And that's because, you know, because I liked them, because
you know it's Red. I love Red rad or Dad
some like it, Hot Eye like it Red. And they
got an exciting young team now, I think the third
(13:33):
youngest roster in the National And wait till my buddy L. J.
Mooney gets there from West Mifflin. The two kids they
got now, Demodolph and Slevkowski are gonna be great. So
I'm gonna be watching the Canadian at Toronto this evening
up next Mike the Course, even the Sporting News sit
at four o'clock one o five to nine.
Speaker 4 (13:54):
One oh five nine.
Speaker 6 (13:55):
The X says your shot at ex dray cash because
we're nice. Thirteen times a day, nine am through nine pm,
the X will give you the keyword at the top
of every hour. Enter it at wxdx dot com and
you could win one thousand dollars jesting you.
Speaker 4 (14:09):
Can spread it on the bed and roll around at
one thousand.
Speaker 6 (14:11):
Dollars or whatever is your money, Listen all day for
your chanceitsm extra cash.
Speaker 4 (14:17):
On one oh five nine The X.
Speaker 1 (14:20):
This is Doug gollib Here's what's trending from the Iheartsports Network,
presented by Matthews Wallanger and Waterproofing.
Speaker 7 (14:25):
After enjoying a bye week, the Steelers are back to
work again. A visit from the rival Browns is next up.
Pittsburgh leads a division now they're three to one. The
Penguin season is off to a great start. They dumped
the Rangers last night and welcome the Islanders next for
the home opener tomorrow night. And former NFL player Herschel
Walker has been confirmed as the US ambassador to the Bahamas.
Speaker 1 (14:45):
He's the first in more than fifteen years. I'm Scott
David said.
Speaker 4 (14:49):
If you're selling your home and have a Wettsmark Madden.
Speaker 5 (14:52):
Double m mark it afternoon, gall Mark Madden.
Speaker 1 (14:56):
What do you want? What do you want? Damnit?
Speaker 6 (14:58):
DX at one oh five nine.
Speaker 2 (15:01):
Joining me not had taught me off the ledge about
some Steelers stuff. He writes for the Sporting News. He's
local guy Mike de Corsi, Mike, you gotta talk me
off the ledge on this in particular, here's what I
hate about the Steelers. Even at three and one, they're
using basically seven offensive linemen with Washington a tight end
and Spencer Anderson is the extra tackle. It's prehistoric and
(15:24):
will not beat good teams in big games.
Speaker 4 (15:27):
I don't think that the plan is to do that
for the rest of the year. And I think that's
part of why Mike Tomlin answered one of the questions
he was asked at this week's press conference in the
manner that he did. I think he wants people to think, Okay,
we're doing this every game now, that's not the plan.
The plan was that specifically against the Vikings, they expected
(15:49):
it would work and it did. And if you saw
the Vikings follow up that game against the Browns, they
had trouble with the Browns running game as well, So
that was part of it. And the other part of
it is to mask a deficient offensive line while it's deficient. Now,
(16:10):
if the offensive line does not improve to the level
of its talent, then no, they're not going to be
good teams. That's but they are only at the beginning
stages of being this offensive line. They didn't have Troy
Faltano a year ago. They had Broderick Jones at right
tackle instead of left tackle. So it's a relatively new
(16:32):
offensive line. I'm not promising it's going to get straightened out,
but there's certainly the ability there and with time together,
they should improve.
Speaker 2 (16:45):
Okay, that hasn't helped, to be honest, but I will
say if they if they maintain that alignment against Cleveland,
that'll be Cleveland.
Speaker 1 (16:54):
It will very much help contain Miles Garrett.
Speaker 4 (16:58):
Yeah, I think that. I think that you'll see some
of those looks for sure because they were so successful
in the last game that until Cleveland shows that they
can deal with it, then you would certainly want to
at least give it a try habit in your package
for the game, and it might help it as well.
Mike's not wrong about the fact that having more size
(17:21):
on the field against big four to three lines is helpful.
It also detracts from your ability to go around those players,
to go past those players with faster guys, whether they
be wide receivers or tight ends, but it does allow
you to manage somewhat the physical pressure. They're able to
(17:44):
bring from their defensive lines.
Speaker 2 (17:49):
What's your take on how that alignment has put Friarmouth
and John Who kind of on the paino mind list.
Speaker 1 (17:55):
I never saw that coming.
Speaker 2 (17:56):
I thought they would be used more than they were,
and now there'll be used less.
Speaker 4 (18:01):
Well, I think I think it was it was it
was a short term thing. And I know there's been
a massive panic around the city of Pittsburgh about Pat Fryermuth.
Speaker 1 (18:10):
Yeah, because they love him, they can, they can shout
his last syllable.
Speaker 4 (18:14):
Yes, But it's it's one game. And here's the thing,
Mark they won the game.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
No, No, I know, but I.
Speaker 4 (18:23):
Just don't understand. Sometimes there was there was a great
consternation about how he chose not to go for the
fourth and one, even though that worked, And then now
the consternation has moved on to Mooth only getting I
think fifteen snaps, right. I think it was John Who's
sixteen and him fifteen. But it was one game. And look,
(18:46):
I've been wanting them to throw the ball over the
middle on relatively quick routes from almost the beginning of
the season. Once it became apparent that the offensive line
was still struggling to pass, block I've been wanting to
see that. I thought that it would be with Moves
and that it would be with John Hue, but they
managed to do with DK, which, let's be honest, it's
better because he can go farther with it.
Speaker 1 (19:09):
Here's a weird stat. Tell me if it's good or bad.
Speaker 2 (19:12):
The Steelers running backs are getting sixty four percent of
the offensive touches.
Speaker 4 (19:19):
Yeah, you know, I think I I again, I think
that that's not the grand design. But it's hard for
you to play the ball downfield that you know. There's
a lot of conversation about Aaron Rodgers and how quick
he quickly he gets rid of the ball and then
and the the Pro Football Focused comedy show grades him
(19:40):
out at like a like a D level or whatever
it would be, because he's not throwing the ball down
the field. But you can't throw the ball down the
field from you're behind. You can't. It's for one, it's
an incomplete it's it's you know, it's you're down. So
you even if you if you're if you're sitting on
your behind, I suppose and you have an arm like
Aaron Rodgers, you could, but if you're placed there, you can't.
(20:02):
The play's over and through the first four games, that's
still an issue. And again, this team will not be
what it's capable of being until the offensive line grows
and they are in a nice position. They've been able
to manage to find ways to win. In spite of that.
(20:23):
They seem to have found a way to improve on
the defensive line with Harmon back and with Benton. Maybe
you know, I'm not a one hundred percent sure about this.
I haven't heard it talked about a lot, but I
think they're moving him a little bit off the nose
so that he's not just getting squished as soon as
the ball is snapped. And I think that. I mean,
(20:44):
he had to get his best game as a pro
in Ireland. He'd want to play every game in Ireland.
The way that went for him.
Speaker 2 (20:53):
Well, no, everything we're talking about, I understand that the
part of the reasoning with the extra lineman and the
quick releases to protect Rogers, and I'm not sure if
that lets Rogers be Rogers. Then again, I've been talking
frequently on the show about how Rogers and Pittsburgh may
turn out to be Manning in Denver or Brady in Tampa,
(21:14):
where he wins more with guile than anything else, because
you know the old gray marriages ain't what she.
Speaker 1 (21:20):
Used to be.
Speaker 4 (21:22):
Well, yeah, I mean, I think the guile parts a
big part of it. I think you still see things
from him that are specific to him. To throw off
the back foot that he made I think it was
to Austin in the opener. It was on the right
side of the field that no one else I don't
think in the history of football has been as comfortable
throwing off his back foot. And why is that valuable?
(21:43):
Because at a certain point you may be getting contacted
and you need to get rid of the ball as
quickly as possible, and if you have to set your feet,
that gives the defender time to close. His ability to
get rid of it off the back foot allows him
uh to complete plays that others can't. So there's still
some of that there. The ability to put the ball
(22:05):
all the way downfield to DeVante Adams, that may still
be there, but he's got to get that time and
you've got to get that route open before we'll really know.
I guess the closest we've seen was the mooth pass
in the I think it was in the opener that
Mooth dropped. Uh, maybe that was a Seattle game. That
(22:27):
he still has the ability to put the ball way
out there. He just doesn't getting a lot of opportunities
to do that, and I think the time he will
get more of them.
Speaker 2 (22:36):
We're talking to Mike the course of the Sporting News.
Mike brought to us by South Hills Kia. South Fields
Kia has the ride and a price you'll love, Mike.
Where's Cleveland at Flack Goes Gone? Five rookies are starting,
including a quarterback. I love the rookie running back. Are
the Browns moving forward?
Speaker 4 (22:54):
Yeah? See, I don't think. I think the Browns are
still trying to recover from the disaster of Deshaun Watson,
no question, and they're hopeful that Dylan Gabriel can do
that for them. And Dylan Gabriel was a terrific college quarterback.
And it was interesting to hear the reminder from from
Mike Tomlin this week in his press conference that Gabriel's
(23:16):
twenty five years old and played like six years of
college football.
Speaker 1 (23:21):
And yeah, that worked out real great with Kenny Pickett.
Speaker 4 (23:24):
Yeah, well and true, But and look, I don't know
that I don't know that Dylan Gabriel is going to
be a better pro quarterback than did Kenny Pickett, but
he might be better for now than Joe Flacco is.
Joe wasn't getting a whole lot done with the Browns,
and and Gabriel played reasonably well on Sunday against Minnesota,
(23:47):
they just weren't able to put up enough points with
where they are to be able to withstand a late
Minnesota rally. And I think that the Steelers certainly have
to be wary of Gabriel. But one of the things
that they do well, really well is the fleck passes.
I mean, Cam Hayward's as good, maybe as anybody that's
(24:07):
played the defensive line at his side, sure doing that,
and so that's something that they have to be very
much aware of because Gabriel is not tall. He's very
much a small NFL quarterback, and so they have to
use that against him.
Speaker 2 (24:24):
Don't you feel like the trade of Flacco was designed
by the owner to get Shador Sanders at the number
two spot and to put him in play for getting
on the field. I heard a report though the Bailey
Zappi might be the number two quarterback with Shaudor still
be a number three and that would cause the entire
Sanders family to have a cerebral hemorrhage.
Speaker 4 (24:45):
Yeah, you know. The the the interesting thing about seedar
situation is that he got he got dropped in the
draft for various reasons, whether it some of it to me,
It starts with ability. I mean, he's he he's a
super accurate quarterback, but the arm strength is not there.
And he's not a great athlete. I mean he's his
(25:07):
dad was among the five best American athletes in history. Yeah,
and and and Shader is not super dynamic and so
as so there were reasons why he dropped, and a
lot of them were purported to be off the off
the field stuff. Uh and and then he goes last
week and he does that little pantomime thing where he's
(25:30):
not where, he's answering questions without speaking, and it's like,
you're four games into your rookie year and you're already
starting nonsense like this, why do you think you did drop? Well?
Speaker 2 (25:40):
And he's the third string quarterback. Nobody wants a celebrity
third string quarterback.
Speaker 4 (25:45):
That's true, that is true. But I think that he's
only making himself less attractive to other teams by doing
stuff like that. And when you're when you're on a
fel depth chart and you're not the number one, your
your first goal is to get to number one on
your team, but your second goal is to try to
(26:06):
get to number one on another team. And you're not
helping yourself with that by doing what he did last week.
And it's not a huge deal, but it's just like
they look at that in other front offices and say,
you know, they roll their eyes and say, why do
I want to deal with that?
Speaker 2 (26:24):
How do the Steelers deboy their secondary without Ramsey who's
not only their best defensive back and who has done
very well so far, but he's also the Swiss army knife.
Everything kind of rotates around positioning him, doesn't it.
Speaker 4 (26:36):
Well, it does, And so I think that they're going
to have to be a little bit more conventional and
they won't be as good because the safety play has
been average at best. Joey Porter coming back gives them
a cover guy that can be comparable at least and
and so, and they get some of their depth back.
(26:58):
But if Ramsey's unavailable to play, then then that that
causes other problems in their secondary, but problems that can
be mitigated if they get the kind of pass rush.
I mean, they don't have to get seven sacks, but
the kind of pressure on Dylan Gabriel that they got
on wins would be very helpful.
Speaker 2 (27:20):
Dude, the Steelers had the AFC North locked up right
now because well but let me, okay, let me make
my case because the division is in tatters, shadou be. Yeah,
but like I know, they blew it last year too,
So I mean, like I have, like, here's what I
think for sure, Mike, see what you think and tell
me why it's not locked up. And I think they
(27:42):
will be leading the Baltimorons when they play them on
December seventh. And I think they will be in the
conversation for the number one seed in the conference when
they played Buffalo on November thirties. Now, let's see how
those games go, obviously, but can you see that happening.
Speaker 4 (27:58):
They'd have to continue to prove at a pretty rapid rate,
especially as I mentioned on the offensive line. What I
what I remember is when when I'm hearing people talk about, well,
if they don't win the division out, it'll be a
massive disaster and disappointment and all of that and I'm like, well,
how do you think they got here? Well, Lamar Jackson's hurting,
(28:18):
Joe Burrow's hurt. Well, who's to say that your guys
don't get hurt? I mean, so until you get to
that point and your guys are all all or mostly
in one piece, they then talk to me about whether
or not they should have it locked up. I mean,
think about it, Mark, when you and I were young,
This is almost the equivalent of entire seasons still remaining.
(28:41):
There's thirteen games on the schedule. That's one fewer than
the seventies Steelers played. So it's way too long a
season to think they have it locked up. But what
they want to do is continue to put as much
distance between themselves and the Bengals and the Ravens as
they can. And they have opportunity head to head a
(29:02):
week from tomorrow. They certainly have to take care of
Sunday and they and they can you know, secretly root
for the Rams to take care of Baltimore on the
road on Sunday. And the more ground you put between
yourselves and the Ravens, the more likely your scenarios will
come true.
Speaker 2 (29:23):
Yeah, I should offer a disclaimer for them to get
to the scenarios I describe. They have to win both
the next two games, and you know, with the Steelers
traditionally against you know, underdogs, there's many a slip TwixT
cup and lip quick College football Question two parter. Can
James Franklin keep his job after that tragic loss at UCLA?
(29:45):
And is Bill Belichick, as Paul Finbaum says, already the
worst coast in college football history?
Speaker 4 (29:53):
You know what, in terms of the technical part of it,
the up certainly not. There have been guy there who
could barely call a play right. But in terms of
how he has operated as a college football coach, it's
hard to find someone who's done it worse. Everything he's
done to this point has been wrong, literally, like every
(30:14):
single thing that who he hired, how he's comported himself,
the whole thing with his girlfriend. Everything has been wrong.
And you're hearing and you're hearing it's so so loudly
from the media North Carolina, who are not I mean,
they're not a vicious medium. And this is not like
it's New York or something. I mean, they're excellent journalists
(30:37):
down there, but they don't want Carolina to be the disaster.
But if it is, they're going to report it. So
this is this is totally you know, this is not
invention on the part of the media down there. This
is what's happening, and it's it's a disaster.
Speaker 1 (30:52):
What about Franklin.
Speaker 4 (30:54):
As far as Franklin's concerned, I think I think the
premature calls for his dismissal or whatever. I think what
people forget is that college football isn't like it was
ten years ago, five years ago. If I'm not saying
this is going to happen, but they have Ohio State
on the road first, I think it's first weekend in November,
(31:15):
and then the second weekend in November something like that
they go to they have Indiana come in to Beaver Stadiums.
If they won both of those games, then yeah, all
of a sudden, it's a different season. Now he's got
a couple of wins against top ten teams, and now
that narrative starts to fade and people forget Mark like
Joe Paterno used to do the kind of things that
(31:37):
they want James Franklin to do in the seventies and
eighties and then one team in the nineties, but in
the two thousands, he had three or four losing seasons.
In this century, he had three or four losing seasons.
James Franklin came in when the place was in relative tatters,
and Bill O'Brien did a really nice job of straightening
it out in a short term, but then he left
(31:58):
and caused more problem and James got all that straightened
out and got them back to winning big and no
one's appreciating that. I thought the UCLA thing was a disaster, inexplicable, inexcusable. Uh,
but there's still time for him to straighten that out.
And that's the job. You got to go figure it out.
Speaker 1 (32:17):
Mike, great stuff, will do it again next week.
Speaker 4 (32:19):
Sounds great, Mark, that's Mike.
Speaker 1 (32:21):
The course he brought to us by south Fields.
Speaker 3 (32:22):
Key.
Speaker 2 (32:22):
You don't forget Sydney Crosby. At the top of the
hour one oh five nine.
Speaker 1 (32:26):
It's the Woodie Show.
Speaker 4 (32:28):
Woodies Show, weekend mornings at six. Precocious and full of wonderment.
One d X what if you had the smartest Wi Fi?
If you did
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark
My Favorite Murder is a true crime comedy podcast hosted by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark. Each week, Karen and Georgia share compelling true crimes and hometown stories from friends and listeners. Since MFM launched in January of 2016, Karen and Georgia have shared their lifelong interest in true crime and have covered stories of infamous serial killers like the Night Stalker, mysterious cold cases, captivating cults, incredible survivor stories and important events from history like the Tulsa race massacre of 1921. My Favorite Murder is part of the Exactly Right podcast network that provides a platform for bold, creative voices to bring to life provocative, entertaining and relatable stories for audiences everywhere. The Exactly Right roster of podcasts covers a variety of topics including historic true crime, comedic interviews and news, science, pop culture and more. Podcasts on the network include Buried Bones with Kate Winkler Dawson and Paul Holes, That's Messed Up: An SVU Podcast, This Podcast Will Kill You, Bananas and more.