January 14, 2026 • 39 mins
The Houston Texans' historically dominant defense played catalyst to what could very well be Aaron Rodgers' final game in the NFL. They also spotlighted Mike Tomlin's status as head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers. After a one-sided beatdown, it's the Houston Texans that will advance to the Divisional round, one step closer to Super Bowl glory. Gregg Rosenthal and Jourdan Rodrigue provide recap and analysis of the night's action LIVE following the final whistle ... with highlights, debate and answers along the way!
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
And Rogers tap of his gut, takes the snap, Rodgers
pocket collapses.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Rodgers, who's gonna go down?
Speaker 3 (00:07):
And the ball is out?
Speaker 4 (00:08):
Who's got it?
Speaker 3 (00:09):
Rakarts picks it up? Who's on the move?
Speaker 4 (00:11):
Darty twenty five, twenty fifteen Test five touchdown Sheldon Raggins
Rocket Roll, the big guy touchdown.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
The ball came out and Sheldon his second touchdown of
the year.
Speaker 4 (00:28):
And what a huge one in the postseason way.
Speaker 3 (00:33):
Rock and roll. That's Mark vandermir on k I L T.
And how fitting was it that a large man on
this epic Houston Texans defense scored the most important touchdown
on a night where the Texans defense absolutely dominated the
(00:56):
Pittsburgh Steelers. Texans move on to the divisional round in Foxborough.
They win thirty to six. That touchdown came with just
over ten minutes left in the game. It's only ten
to six at that point, and yet it was only
one of two defensive touchdowns on the night. Just a
signature performance by maybe the signature group in the entire
(01:18):
NFL this season. Jordan rodrieg is with me. She's been
tracking this Texans team ever since she picked them to
make the Super Bowl, and that pick is looking good today.
You talked to my friend, and by friend I mean guy.
I love watching play football Jalen Petrie in the locker room.
What was the quote that he gave you in the
locker room after that Chargers game.
Speaker 5 (01:40):
God is the greatest, but the Texans defense is probably second.
Speaker 3 (01:45):
I mean amazing. We might have after tonight, we might
have to move the Texans up a spot in the rankings.
I love the rankings. I know you love defense. I
know you love this defense. Just kind of big picture
first takeaways after watching them on a night where yeah,
they did not allow the Steelers to score, obviously, they
did not even allow the Steelers to get two hundred yards.
Speaker 5 (02:07):
Men lie, women lie, numbers lie. The Texans defense never lies.
It never lets you down, Greg, It just keeps on rolling.
It comes at you. It is magical, it is vicious,
it is physical. It is the one of the smartest
defenses yet the simplest looks that you could possibly get.
(02:28):
And they are relentless, and they tormented Aaron Rodgers for
nearly the entirety of this game. Outside of the Steelers'
scripted opening drive, this was absolutely one of the most
dominant performances you're gonna see, but you could flip on
the tape all season and this is the Texans defense.
(02:48):
This is the heart and soul and ethos of this
defense led by Demico Ryans and Matt Burke. What a
masterpiece for their first road playoff win in franchise history.
Speaker 3 (02:59):
Yet, you know the craziest stat of this game I
got for you, which is I think the Steelers had
five first downs in their first eight plays, which is
outrageous to think about. They only got a handful the
entire rest of the day. And after those first two
drives which were like thirty forty five yard drives which stalled,
it was only you know, they only had three points
(03:21):
out of it, and I was thinking, that's trouble. And
they basically didn't do anything the rest of the day.
Big picture, like before we get into the nitty gritty
of everything that happens, I think what you said about
how simple it is is really cool. Tory Yikman talked
about it a lot tonight. We know it to be true.
I love that in this world of all the disguised
looks and different formations and matching personnels and everything like that,
(03:45):
the Texans are maybe the simplest defense in the league,
and that lets them play with an aggression that made
me fearful for Aaron Rodgers's life. It looked like elder
abuse at one point.
Speaker 6 (03:58):
I mean, it was crazy.
Speaker 3 (03:59):
Greg.
Speaker 5 (04:00):
We talk all the time about how fun it is
to like notice some of the chess match that goes
on through the course of this game. At the beginning
of this game, ESPN had the field mics turned up
really loudly, and so the center you can hear the
center and the quarterback communicate. This was a real hit
when Phil Rivers did this in his game first game
back for the Colts, and it was you could hear
(04:21):
Aaron Rodgers pointing out like azizel Shayer and some of
the communication. Azizel Shaier told the sideline reporters that list
assaulters specifically that they could hear that Aaron could hear
what they were saying and was king on some of
their communications, and so they just moved to hand signals
and you could hear the mics flip off after they
said that. Because but it doesn't matter. That's the entire point.
(04:44):
Like Aaron Rodgers knew what this Texans defense was.
Speaker 6 (04:47):
Going to do. The entire game, even.
Speaker 5 (04:50):
When they switched to hand signals, and it did not
matter because their dudes are better than your dudes, and
their dudes are better than your dudes at every single
position on this defense.
Speaker 3 (05:03):
Yeah, and it's almost hard to pick out one, like
Daniel Hunter had Foulatanu in all sorts of problems tonight
and in Fletan who had had a good season, you know,
Will Anderson, on the other hat, gets a couple of
sacks going up against like a backup tackle. That's an
unfair matchup. But I think the players that stand out
to me more for this team is our guy Petrie
(05:25):
that you talk about Petrie and Lasseter and the tone
that they set early in this game. And I think
what you said about like Rogers can figure out what
you're doing, and so they go to the Hansuckings, and
so maybe this is the worst matchup possible for a
Steelers team, where like that's their one advantage is he
can figure things out. But there there's nothing, uh to
(05:48):
figure out. Jordan's laughing because we have a comment in
the chat that says, I'm never as smug as when
a team he dislikes loses in the playoffs. I apologize.
I have loved the Texans all year, and to be fair,
my son, for some reason, he doesn't really love me,
so he chose the Texans as his favorite team. But
I love him. And we had cupcakes tonight that said
(06:08):
go Texan, so they needed to come through. Or also,
it was going to be a bad night in the
Rosenthal House tonight, so I am happy that they were.
Speaker 5 (06:14):
So it does the rankings did change Greg. It goes
the Texans defense is the greatest, and then there's Greg.
Speaker 3 (06:21):
Sure and they did it too on a night where CJ.
Stroud fritzed out for a good portion in this game.
And I think that is kind of like the last
level of a dominant defense is that you can completely
pick up. We can get into CJ's night a little
more in depth in a second. I do want to
(06:41):
stay on the Texans defense, but I do think that
is kind of the final form me and you have
talked about to this Texan defense. There's been a couple
fourth quarters earlier in the season where they gave up
game winning drives and I was thinking, like, if they
want to be all time defense, and that's kind of
what they're gonna have to do. I think to make
the Super Bowl, to win the Super Bowl, they have
to do things like they did tonight, which is pick
up the other side of the ball on a night
(07:02):
where because of CJ's turnovers, almost any defense would have
given up the lead and maybe give up the game.
Speaker 5 (07:09):
You know, I was thinking about I tried to like
reverse game theory this and think about, like, what is
the way that you could try to beat the Texans defense.
If you're another team and you're the Patriots, for example,
and you're looking down the line, how do you possibly
beat these guys? And really, one of the few ways
to do it, if one of maybe the only ways
to do it, is those intermediate and deep crossers that
(07:31):
we saw maybe two of them have success. Because the
Texans don't often carry their corners with a single receiver.
They pass things off really well. If you pass things
off in the middle of the field, you're going to
need some safety help, and they're missing their one of
their best safeties to injury, and Jalen Reed left the
game as well. He started this game, left the game
(07:51):
to injury, and right after that you saw DK Metcalf
have success on one of those those intermediate crossers. Well,
you also have to count on the fact that the
quarterback can get to enough of a step and his
dropback to get to that deep cross or intermediate crosser,
and at a certain point they showed it's just not possible.
So it's like there is very little margin of error,
(08:14):
if any against this team and especially Jalen Peatrie coming
down the corners, coming down as well and tackling this
Pittsburgh team. They've been yack merchants all year. They've been
yards after the catch merchants. That's where they've had success
running backs in the passing game as well, and they
couldn't get anything after that first script like I said,
(08:35):
the scripted drive that got them a couple of first
downs because of how well this Texans team tackles, because
of repeated back to back tackles for loss run and
pass into the flats that they can just smother and
snuff out, so you're behind the sticks before you even
get your drive started. And that is exactly why they're
so fearsome and why they were such a great foil
(08:57):
to everything that that's Pittsburgh likes offense likes to do,
inclusive to Aaron getting the ball out fast, which he
know he loves to do.
Speaker 3 (09:05):
The crazy thing is like he has played so much
of this season to avoid taking big hits, letting go
of the ball, throwing the ball near the line of scrimmage.
I was wondering if he'd be a little more willing
tonight to stand in there and take a hit the
very first I believe, third and long in the game,
I thought, nope, he got rid of it very quickly
to avoid a hit. And it really felt like once
(09:26):
there was pressure and you moved him off the spot,
that the play was essentially over. If you're watching us,
we love that you're with us live on YouTube, keep
the comments coming, and if you're watching later on YouTube,
you can see actually the sack that Rogers took in
the red zone late in the second quarter at this
point that the Steelers are trying to go in for
(09:47):
a touchdown after another one of those CJ. Stroud turnovers.
And this sack, to me, was kind of typical of
the night because you know, Anderson caves in the pocket
and Rogers wants to step up, but there is nowhere
to step up because Hunter is pushing the pocket on
the right side. There's interior pressure and Rogers doesn't even
(10:07):
really like get hit. He just sort of trips on
the feet that are in front of him. And look,
if you're a big time Aaron Rodgers fan like this,
if it was his last game, I kind of think
it won't be. His last game was a sad way
to go out. Let's actually listen to the pick six
in the fourth quarter that finished off the score.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
Short side left friar mouth will be the target here.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
On fourth and five.
Speaker 1 (10:32):
Rogers looks it over. Here's the snap, Rogers in the pocket,
Rogers leaning at downfield.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
They're picked off, helped up Betsy pull Off to his
left forty thirty five thirty pull Off, twenty pull off,
I'll pack it with the sideline, maintains his palace head
runs poor pay dirt. Pull Off took a hit, kept
going penny scars two defensive touchdowns to the game.
Speaker 3 (11:00):
I want that to be like his last moment. But
if ever there was a game that was going to
kind of make you question whether you were going to
come back, because it started to sound that Aaron Rodgers
would be coming back, and in my mind, he talked
to his teammates by all reports about that and just
the way he's talk publicly, sounded like his mind was
maybe changing, like this would be that game because they
(11:20):
really got after him and hit him hard.
Speaker 6 (11:23):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (11:23):
By the way, you catch Jalen Petrie running all the
way down to lead block from Kaylen Bullock. I believe
the season started out with a Kaln Bullock pick six
as well. So nice little bookend for the Texans here.
Speaker 6 (11:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (11:36):
You know, Aaron Rodgers is one of the greatest we've
ever seen play the position, that anyone's ever seen play
the position, So something about it. You know, players never
like to leave on a sour note. Often it's unavoidable,
such as injury. He's not injured, so I would not
be surprised if he comes back. I don't see another
(11:57):
pairing with this Pittsburgh Steelers off and with or without
Mike Tomlin. I know we'll get into sort of the
stakes in the future and all of that, but I
know they.
Speaker 6 (12:07):
Get along really well personally.
Speaker 5 (12:08):
I just don't see him sticking with this type of
offense the way that it was. You just it was
lacking in some ways. He was really needing to get
the receivers on the same page. They shuffled the receiver's
room a Ton he ended up loving thrown to the
running backs the most. So it's just I don't know.
We'll see how it goes Baron Rodgers, but you I mean,
it's it's tough to go out that way exactly to
(12:31):
your point, Greg, So I just can't see it happening
for that reason.
Speaker 3 (12:34):
Well, it's interesting. Well we're talking about it now, let's
talk about it, because yeah, on this night, he was
getting upset with the receivers a couple of times, but
he was upset with himself, like he missed an open
third down dk metcalf I thought his drop which I
think he alluded to in the second drive of the game,
second or third drive of the game, where he springs
open and it just clangs off his hand against a
(12:55):
defense like this when they do make a mistake. That
was where you texted me. You know, Stingley lost on
that one, and he is prone to gambling a little bit,
so occasionally you can beat him, and there's just so
few chances like that that you have to make make
it happen. So Rogers, you know, misses a thrower or
two here. Tomlin has been reported to be considering going
(13:16):
to television to me it is really hard to imagine
Aaron Rodgers back if Mike Tomlin is not back, Like,
why would the Steelers want to keep that going? Cut feeling?
What the heck? Jordan, we have no information. Do you
think Mike Tomlin is going to be back with the
Pittsburgh Steelers because this is what They're six straight playoff loss.
(13:40):
It is now more than more than eight seasons since
they won a playoff game. I was there at that
AFC Championship game which started this losing streak for Tomlin
in the playoffs. They're now the first team in NFL
history to lose five straight playoff games by double digits,
for whatever that's worth. And it's just the same thing
over and over. And they get that win over the
(14:02):
Ravens last week with a little bit of luck, certainly,
but it almost makes it feel worse here because it
just feels like it's groundhog Day. And maybe Mike Tomlin,
not the Steelers, but maybe Mike Tomlin has had enough.
Speaker 5 (14:15):
I think there's something to the maybe he's had enough point,
because it has taken since Ben Roethlisberger for Mike Tomlin
to have a quarterback like Aaron Rodgers. Even this version
much older version of Aaron Rodgers to even get into
his building. And this was after an incredibly fruitless sweepstakes
(14:37):
where you know, the Steelers were in at one point
and trying to convince Matthew Stafford like lurking sort of
quietly in the background. They were trying to if I'm
remembering right, they were in on justin Field.
Speaker 6 (14:48):
You know who else were they in on this?
Speaker 3 (14:50):
They wanted justin Field to come reports, but they weren't
willing to go as far financially as the.
Speaker 5 (14:55):
Jets were, correct, Like they they really were thinking about
their different avenue at quarterback. And I think it's good
for them in a way that they landed with Rogers
because him and Tomlin do seem to have a very
good working relationship for personal relationship as well, And this
was as good as it was going to get for
this version of the Steelers, right And so that's where
(15:16):
I think maybe it is time for a break, reset, recalibrate,
look at where the rest of the league is at
right now now. I also believe that if he decided
that he was going to step away, he'd have teams
blowing up his phone immediately, like this would now start
to be a competitive situation between someone who wants to
hire him and potentially a TV situation at one of
(15:38):
these broadcasters. You know, there's a vacant CBS spot now
because Matt Ryan's no longer in the chair.
Speaker 6 (15:42):
So I feel like this, which is.
Speaker 3 (15:44):
A why I feel like every network would literally just
like be in a room. I'm not going to say
who they might, you know, kick off, but some of
those guys have been out a while, or they'll just
make a new spot. The money is just flowing. Have
you seen the ratings lately? Give all the money to
Mike Tomlin. I feel like if you wanted to like
he would do that, and if you wanted to take
a year off, kind of like Sean Payton, who quote
(16:05):
unquote retired from the Saints if you remember back in
the in the day, and then a year later, you
know he was back looking for a job, So that
could be an option. I almost feel bad talking about
such negative things on a beautiful night for the Texans
moving to the Final eight, and what a fascinating matchup
it is against the Patriots. Drake may having just faced
(16:25):
you know, maybe his toughest defensive challenge of the season
and now has to go up a level and the
two best tackling teams. I would argue in the NFL
the Patriots are not a great defense, but they do
not give up any extra yards. They are really sound
tacklers and just two physical teams. I'm really excited for it.
But I want to give you the floor here at Jeordan.
So you said, you know you lead the way tonight,
(16:47):
you know, you decide what we're going to do. Just
anything that we haven't mentioned about the Texans defense so
far that you want to get in there, whether it's
a shout out to a player or something that they
do schematic before we get to the fact that this
game was way closer than it needed to be, despite
the Texans putting up four hundred yards, Like this thing
(17:08):
was on a knife edge till about ten minutes left
of this game.
Speaker 6 (17:11):
Yes, and you're so correct.
Speaker 5 (17:12):
I'm glad we're going to get to that part of
it too, and especially the offense, which still has its issues.
But this interior of this defensive line, as good as
the exterior is, the interior often gets slept on, in
my opinion, Tommy TOGII and Sheldon Rankins. Obviously, both of
those guys have a touchdown in back to back weeks,
which I love that for them, big Man thick six,
(17:33):
you know, happening, and this is a defensive front that
plays in such a an egoless way. They you know,
Demiko Ryans, I think there was some fun being poked
at him because of his acronym swarm and what a
swarm and what does that mean or whatever?
Speaker 6 (17:51):
Probably not on this show, but you know.
Speaker 3 (17:53):
Like maybe I mean, don't babe aggressive, I like aggressive aggressive,
just say so fun with this. We were having it
in a fun way.
Speaker 5 (18:02):
I just you know, I truly actually I actually could
not remember if it was you that was that was
poking fun at it, but so I guess I should
have just assumed. But the greatest thing about this is
how as one they rush, they rush in layers. They
see each other's space that they create. They are very
egoists about the numbers, they're very ego lists about opportunity.
(18:25):
You don't see a lot of freestyling out there. You
see a lot of discipline. They play so professionally with
each other that is so incredible to me. And you
see it in these little moments like Nick Schuk and
I did a show a couple of weeks several weeks
ago or it was another Texans game, and we were
talking about how when Daniel Hunter and Will Anderson were
(18:45):
tackling the quarterbacks sometimes the physics of their body were
twisting them around where they could have gotten flagged for
a roughness penalty or even a hip drop because.
Speaker 6 (18:54):
Of the way the physics were carrying their bodies.
Speaker 5 (18:56):
And if they didn't let go of the quarterback's legs
at that moment, they would have gotten flagged. And so
they knew they had the quarterback contained, so they let go.
This is similar, you know, trying not to step on
Aaron Rodgers when all that mess is happening, is being
tackled by his own offensive lineman, right, and he's being
sacked by his own offensive linemen. Staying underneath sort of
(19:18):
that pile to make sure that you have a hand
on the quarterback when he's on the ground, like Will
Anderson did. It just is like really professional football in
every single phase. I love their linebackers. I don't think
I just think they're just clean everywhere. They're so good, Greg,
it's just incredible to watch.
Speaker 3 (19:44):
They just don't have a weak spot. And you thought
maybe Reid gets hurt, and like is the other seaf
They're going to get picked on, toe toe. I think
had a really good game. Like yeah, in coverage like
that is where you would think you would be able
to get some of these linebackers. But Aaron Rodgers's eyes
very often going to the place where the linebackers were
and he had to hold the ball like an extra
(20:05):
half a beat. And I thought they all were just swarming.
To use that word in terms of their tackling, it was.
It was just a magnificent performance. I mentioned those five
first downs in the first eight plays. They only had
six more the rest of the day. The Steelers had
a twenty one percent success rate, which is just absolutely
brutal throwing the ball. And then here's here's my favorite
(20:27):
just stat I'm pulling. This is from next Gen. They
had a forty five percent pressure rate, which is sky high.
You know how many times they blitzed tonight, zero times
zero crazy, but three is three is nuts. And so
they just they just don't have to send any extra rushers.
(20:49):
And yeah, Anderson and Hunter are going to be keeping
Mike Braboll up at night, and Will Campbell and Morgan
Moses because I think that's the biggest weakness of the Patriots,
and they can get after Drake maybe had fifteen pressures
combined tonight. Let's talk about the offense, and I guess
(21:09):
we got to start kind of with the bad. What
was happening with CJ? Here to give you just like
a quick overview. I need to double check this, but
he ended up with five turnovers on I mean five
fumbles on the night right because he reminiscent to that
you know, crazy Jalen Hurts Herbert game and play that
(21:33):
happened in the game I went to on Monday Night
football where there's like, you know, a multiple turnovers on
one play. Twice tonight, c J. Stroud had two fumbles
on one play, so he had four total fumbles, I
mean on two combined plays. And in each one of
those plays he wasn't paying attention and fumbled the shotgun
snap and then eventually fumbled because he held the ball
(21:55):
too long on that play and lost both of those films,
and then had another one later on and then also
had a red zone interception. It was really a crazy
combination of him getting so in his head on a
night when if you just took those plays away. It
(22:15):
was a great offensive performance by the Texans and a
good one by c J. Stroud. If you took those
plays away.
Speaker 6 (22:22):
Yes, big caveats are that's a big if.
Speaker 3 (22:25):
I just mean the other fifty plays, which are a
lot of plays.
Speaker 5 (22:28):
Totally, I thought it was one of the more balanced
games that I've seen from this Texans offense, in huge
part because the run game was great. Now, it's been
a work in progress all season and they've chipped away
at it. And really want to give credit to Nick Keyley,
the offensive coordinator here, who has been through his fair
share of battles here on the season, but didn't run
(22:49):
away from it, kept going even when the turnovers would happen,
kept trying to find ways to balance and settle this
offense down. Woody Marks goes over one hundred yards and
has a touch down at the end of the game,
and it's like they just kept chipping at it. They
were at or over nearly a fifty percent success rate
between Woody Marks, who had the line's share of Carrie's
left the game at one point, came back in, and
(23:12):
Nick Chubb as well, who had three consecutive really solid
runs in the first half that started getting this run
game going, settled the offensive line down. When they got
into the third quarter, they really started moving the offensive line,
They really started controlling the line of scrimmage more so
especially half over half. This third quarter was when they
(23:33):
really started, you know, settling and digging into that trench work.
And I thought it was It was great because you
had a combination of Nick Chubb with a lot of
that middle zone or gap running, and then you would
get Woody Marx who can also do that, but then
would hit you with like some explosive speed around the
edge too, and the Steelers were just not quite sure
whether they were going to be stretched physically or stretched wide.
(23:55):
And that was just really like special to me because
that's kind of balance with in the run game that
you also need to have in order to really challenge
these defenses in the postseason. And this was the best,
to me, the best game that Nick Kayley has called.
Because there was chaos, Greg, you mentioned it, c J. Stroud,
I mean, dude, take take the sack, take the four
(24:18):
yard scramble, don't try to force the play. He just
was so in his head Greg through this game, and
there was clear issues with the center Jake Andrews too,
and issues in the shotgun, but they just kept steady
and they got a monster performance out of their defense.
And that's like, I hope that's not the formula because
we know CJ.
Speaker 6 (24:36):
Stroud can be better.
Speaker 3 (24:37):
Than this, and maybe maybe I was. I remembered it
incorrectly that he had was credited for two fumbles on
two separate plays, because he also, of course had the
fumble on what I thought was Kayley's. I mean, it's
hard to say it's his worst call the night, but
they didn't execute it perfectly. The flea flicker.
Speaker 5 (24:55):
What is happening with these flea flickers?
Speaker 3 (24:57):
What's happening? I love playing on be on the bad grass.
This is the worst field maybe in the league. Green
Bay certainly up there, and woody marks just like slightly
slipped I think on the flee flick are very similar
to that Carolina game in Week eighteen, and he still
got the ball back to c J. Stroud, but the
timing was just messed up just a little bit, and
(25:19):
then c J. Stroud gets his arm hit. Now it
appeared there was a wide open receiver down the field,
so if they had time to do it, he would
have gotten it deep, but instead Jack Sawyer comes up
with the first of a few really big plays in
this game. But I'm glad you brought up, you know,
the running game and how great it was. And look,
they ended up putting up what one hundred and sixty
(25:42):
four yards on the ground. And the crazy thing is tonight,
they didn't have a ton of drives. There's only nine
drives in this game. If it wasn't for the turnovers,
they actually played pretty good, complimentary football, and they do
deserve some credit, I think, because you see the final
score and you're like, this is this is a joke.
In the fourth quarter, they go on a pretty long
field goal drive to actually, you know, get it up
to ten six at the very least, and then they
(26:05):
do capitalize with a touchdown drive after the Texans you know,
get their fun and get the turnover on Rogers and
it was just a waterfall. So like, there's no rule
that says they were gonna have to go and score
a touchdown there in the fourth quarter to completely put
the game away on offense, and they did it, and
so they deserve credit for that. And they also deserve
credit for that second quarter drive which was fourteen plays
(26:28):
ninety two yards. They start with the ball on the
eight yard line and they go mostly running, but some
nice throws by c J. Stroud. Let's actually listen to
how that drive was capped off. The first touchdown of
the game and three.
Speaker 1 (26:45):
That's a sixth Stroud takes the snap, takes the Tossbahinda
throws right side Chris Drake Kirk.
Speaker 3 (26:50):
To the end zone.
Speaker 4 (26:52):
Touchdown, show stand six yard touchdown pass from CJ. Strout
our christ Jane Kirk and the Texans go in.
Speaker 3 (27:02):
Stroud did have some nice throws, like his first first
down of the game was a dime down the field
to Christian Kirk. There also was a forty six yard
reception late in the third quarter to Christian Kirk which
came on third and fifteen. This is with about forty
(27:23):
seconds left in the fourth quarter, right after c J.
Stroud had had his fifth fumble on a ball that
he was very lucky to get back. He wasn't looking
before the ball was snapped, and it's third and fifteen.
You think you're thinking they really might blow this game.
It's seven to six, and he gets protected really well,
and I think the offensive line actually had a sneaky
good game in front of c J. Stroud, even pass
(27:44):
protecting and he hits a dime down the field to
Christian Kirk. So there were moments. So I do want
to pat him on the back. But there's something weird
about Stroud when he gets in his head, like he
kind of stays there.
Speaker 5 (27:56):
Sometimes he's kind of like a he wears his heart
on his sleeve as a quarterback, where you can tell
exactly when he's overthinking things, and it's I think it's
a I think it's a product of being young. I
think it's a product of all the hits he took
last year and all the chaos at offensive line. I
think some of it's a product of changing systems and
still trying to figure out what his rhythm is. Nico
(28:16):
Collins was in and out of the game. Hope he's okay.
He left on a cart to the locker room in
the concussion protocol, but it and so trying to figure out,
you know, different guys, different timing and those types of things.
Christian Kirk really stepped up for CJ. Stroud, gave him
wide open targets. There were a couple of times where
I worried about some of the other receivers because CJ
(28:37):
was throwing them into some danger too, because and this
is not this The thing is, we know what his
potential is and we know what his ability is, and
you saw it in a lot of the past plays
and a lot of the the decision making this game.
I love that Christian Kirk touchdown because it was a
fake toss to one direction and then he throws a
(28:57):
touchdown to the other direction, calm and steady as can be.
A lot of misdirection cadence timing has to happen on
that type of play, selling the fake flowing in one direction,
hitting the.
Speaker 6 (29:08):
Other side like you see it right, it's there.
Speaker 5 (29:10):
And then you know he throws a high sort of
hospital eball to Jaden Higgins, and Jaden Higgins somehow hangs
on and he overthrows a couple too, and and you know,
it just is one of those things where they're gonna
need more consistency out of CJ.
Speaker 6 (29:25):
Strout.
Speaker 5 (29:25):
They don't need him to be a superhero anymore at
this point or or ever, because he has this defense
that's going to be the hero of this team and
he's got a great even keel Special Teams unit just
needs some consistency, and that's why I love that the
run game was there. If this run game wasn't there, Greg,
they don't recover like this.
Speaker 3 (29:44):
Yeah, I totally agree. And I was watching this game
with with, you know, my family and in Amica. My
wife is just like, what why is every pass so hard?
And it's a great point because the first half of
this game, ever, recompletion was contested and for the most
part CJ was on point and some were broken up
(30:05):
and some were and so I don't know if the
receivers just weren't open or he's just trying to fit
it into tight windows, but they were like very difficult throws.
I actually think the Steelers defense overall, you know, played
a pretty good game. Their their offense just sold them out.
Maybe not good. You give four hundred yards to the
Texans and nine drives. That's not good. And you also
allow Christian Kirk, who's been quiet all year, to be
(30:27):
the guy who makes me say that it is time
for delivering results presented by Uber Eats. When football makes
you hungry, order Uber eats, and yes, Christian Kirk goes
eight catches, one hundred and forty four yards and a touchdown,
a couple of times gets them out of bad field position,
a couple of times sets up a big score. And
(30:51):
these playoff games are funny because Christian Kirk has not
been a productive, you know, trade chip for what they
expected it for a good chunk of this season. He's hurt,
and then the rookies end up kind of passing him
in terms of importance on the team. He plays thirteen
games and he somehow only ends up with two hundred
and thirty nine yards, like he almost matched that tonight.
(31:14):
But I'll tell you what, Like that front office is
so happy they made that move. Now, it's like the
Brandon Cooks move in Buffalo, Like it's all worth it
if they come up in a big spot like this.
And he's obviously a really talented, experienced receiver, and he
gave them something tonight that they absolutely needed. And if
Nico Collins is out next week he went into the
(31:35):
concussion protocol tonight, then Christian Kirk's importance is even going
to be bigger next week.
Speaker 5 (31:40):
A little Bertie told me that Christian Kirk was set
to be a huge factor tonight in part because of
the way with a healthy Nico Collins, and part of
because of the way that they thought the Steelers were
going to defend them, which I think is a fair
fair assumption to make. Unfortunately, Nico Collins, who had a
couple of great catches himself, including a really tough one
(32:02):
over the middle for a big conversion. You know, that's
as he just took so much contact to his head
and hopefully he's gonna be okay. And we'll hear more
about that obviously in the in the coming in the
coming days.
Speaker 3 (32:16):
Yeah, and they are on a short week, which I
think is unfair for these teams that that have to
do it. The Monday night game is sort of inherently unfair.
Teams have won coming out of it, teams of loss
coming out of it hasn't been you know, decisive or anything.
The Rams won the Super Bowl coming out of it
as as you know. But yeah, shout out to Christian
Kirk getting it done. And it's a free agency year
(32:37):
for him, so reminds everyone how good he can be.
That was delivering results presented by Uber Eats. When football
makes you hungry, get game day deals on Uber eats,
the official on demand delivery partner of the NFL. Order.
Now I am frustrated by the Nico concussion because I
(32:58):
just thought it seemed kind of obvious on TV when
he took a hit on that very I think it
was the first target he had of the game that
he was shaken up and he just goes over to
the sideline and I didn't see them examine him for
a potential concussion, but he got up very slowly after
that first play. And I do feel like it's becoming
a little bit of a trend lately that they are
(33:20):
not taking care of the players as much as they
were let's say, five to ten years ago. There's just
not as much attention on it. And you can have
a rudimentary understanding of science and concussions and everything that
when you suffer maybe a more minor one before suffering
(33:40):
a bigger one, like in the same game, it makes
it worse. And he did, you know, as Troyman pointed out,
like he was walking the wrong way after the second one.
You just you just hate to see that, and you
just hope that like they did everything that they were
supposed to do before that, because I was a little
surprised how quickly he returned to that game. If you remember,
I think he sat out basically like five or six
(34:01):
plays on the first drive and then came in for
the final third down. I was like, Wow, that was
quick for him to come back in there. So you
just hope he's gonna be okay, and he's really important
that It almost goes without saying for this team.
Speaker 5 (34:12):
I'll just say, too, Greg, to your point, which is
a great one, that it's not for lack of technological
tools to help the spot or see what they should
be pointing out. They had every tool available to them
up in the booth to literally spot, to spot these
things and to raise the alarm.
Speaker 6 (34:30):
So that's that's what I'll say on that.
Speaker 3 (34:32):
Yeah, and it's crazy. I'm checking the stats while we're
talking in terms of Kirk because I was like two
hundred and thirty nine yards. That's even less than I expected.
He was not wide receiver two for this team as
everyone expected Jordan he was. That was Jayden Higgins in
the end. He was not wide receiver three for this
team in the end, that was Xavier Hutchinson. And if
(34:53):
we're just going off yards, he was not wide receiver
four for this team. That was Jalen Noel. He was
wide receiver five on the season, and he steps up
on a big night and yeah, helps helps c J.
Stroud out. It's why you know, it's a it's a
team game, and we talk about quarterback wins and everything.
(35:14):
The rest of his team picked up c J. Stroud
and you know he's a much more accurate quarterback than
than he was tonight. I think he'll play better next week.
But you want to know who my comp is for him,
just in a little way right now in terms of
in terms of the streakiness that he has within games,
the emotions on his sleeve you mentioned, really hammered it
(35:34):
home for me.
Speaker 6 (35:36):
I mean c J.
Speaker 3 (35:37):
Stroud, c J. Stroud's comp that I'm that popped in
my mind right now in terms of how he's playing
something maybe not style. One of my least favorite quarterbacks,
as you know, in terms of frustrating to watch Baker
Mayfield because because it's just like he doesn't never.
Speaker 6 (35:50):
Miss an opportunity. Greg never missed an opportunity.
Speaker 3 (35:54):
It's like it's just that he because of the emotions,
you could almost see it, like you said, drive to drive,
like quarter to quarter he can just get so hot.
And that they obviously are different in different sorts of ways.
I think you know CJ can be a great pocket
quarterback at his best. We'll wrap up with Tomlin because
we do have some quote shout out to Chris Bobona,
(36:15):
who's been doing great on these live shows all season long.
We have one more next or this Saturday night. After
the divisional round, Mike Tomlin was asked about, you know,
the status of him with the team. He said, it's
not time for talk. We agreed we'll meet tomorrow and
go from there. When you're in this single elimination tournament,
there's not a whole lot to talk about. You win
or go home. And then when asked for a message
(36:37):
to the fans, he just said, when you don't get
it done, words are cheap. There's too much talking in
our business.
Speaker 6 (36:43):
Fair just another manic Monday.
Speaker 3 (36:49):
I want you to promise we can you know, count
on you singing at the end of all these shows.
What a night for the Houston Texans thirty to six.
Speaker 6 (37:00):
You know, I keep smiling. I shouldn't be smiling this
big what No. I love this team so much.
Speaker 3 (37:07):
The Steelers fans are going to take take offense. But
for everyone who it's like I want, you know, the
Texans are kind of what you would want the Steelers
to be. Right like this, they are the closest thing
we have right now to the steel curtain. If you
want some nineties set seventies, maybe even nineteen eighties ass
(37:27):
looking football like this, is it right here? It's crazy.
I love it.
Speaker 6 (37:34):
It's true. It's true.
Speaker 5 (37:35):
And I you know, if this is what Mike Tomlin
steps away after it, it is there's you know, we've
had some crazy poetry in football.
Speaker 6 (37:43):
It's John Harbaugh who uh parts.
Speaker 5 (37:46):
Ways quote unquote with the with the Ravens after a
game that is going to most be remembered for some
special teams errors, including a miss field goal as the
special teams expert, who is one of the few special
teams coach has ever hired to be a head coach.
And then Mike Tomlin, the defensive mastermind, getting beat in
(38:06):
his own house by the best one of the best
defenses we've seen in modern football. That's playing like a
total throwback run and hit somebody defense. It is there's
there's poetry in there, I think.
Speaker 3 (38:19):
And it's true. The Steelers are, if not the most
expensive defense in the league, they're like second or third.
And when this losing streak in the playoffs started a
lot of the criticism with Tomlin and this happens in
the regular season. Two from his fans are like, well,
they're just so static and they're just the same defense
year after year. And I think Demiko Ryans is showing
(38:41):
like you know you can. You can be all about
fundamentals and hitting and playing fast and old school, but
you just got to have the right players in the
right coaching and the right system. And they they are
the new. So we will We will be tracking obviously
everything with Mike Tomlin and the Steelers throughout the week.
We'll be talking about this Texans and Patriots game. We
(39:04):
might get Seth Payne on the show, I think for
the preview show. Yes, who's a big Houston Texans follower,
So I can't wait for that. Let's hit the music here,
Chris Babona. I told Walker my son earlier today, not
many teams make the playoffs every year, Like, how many
teams have made the playoffs three straight years like the Texans.
You can't take this for granted. How many teams have
(39:26):
won a playoff game now three straight years? You can't
take them for granted. We find out Next week Drake
May versus c J Strowd. Can the Texans win too
And Rogers tap of his gut, takes the snap, Rodgers
pocket collapses.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Rodgers, who's gonna go down?
Speaker 3 (00:07):
And the ball is out?
Speaker 4 (00:08):
Who's got it?
Speaker 3 (00:09):
Rakarts picks it up? Who's on the move?
Speaker 4 (00:11):
Darty twenty five, twenty fifteen Test five touchdown Sheldon Raggins
Rocket Roll, the big guy touchdown.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
The ball came out and Sheldon his second touchdown of
the year.
Speaker 4 (00:28):
And what a huge one in the postseason way.
Speaker 3 (00:33):
Rock and roll. That's Mark vandermir on k I L T.
And how fitting was it that a large man on
this epic Houston Texans defense scored the most important touchdown
on a night where the Texans defense absolutely dominated the
(00:56):
Pittsburgh Steelers. Texans move on to the divisional round in Foxborough.
They win thirty to six. That touchdown came with just
over ten minutes left in the game. It's only ten
to six at that point, and yet it was only
one of two defensive touchdowns on the night. Just a
signature performance by maybe the signature group in the entire
(01:18):
NFL this season. Jordan rodrieg is with me. She's been
tracking this Texans team ever since she picked them to
make the Super Bowl, and that pick is looking good today.
You talked to my friend, and by friend I mean guy.
I love watching play football Jalen Petrie in the locker room.
What was the quote that he gave you in the
locker room after that Chargers game.
Speaker 5 (01:40):
God is the greatest, but the Texans defense is probably second.
Speaker 3 (01:45):
I mean amazing. We might have after tonight, we might
have to move the Texans up a spot in the rankings.
I love the rankings. I know you love defense. I
know you love this defense. Just kind of big picture
first takeaways after watching them on a night where yeah,
they did not allow the Steelers to score, obviously, they
did not even allow the Steelers to get two hundred yards.
Speaker 5 (02:07):
Men lie, women lie, numbers lie. The Texans defense never lies.
It never lets you down, Greg, It just keeps on rolling.
It comes at you. It is magical, it is vicious,
it is physical. It is the one of the smartest
defenses yet the simplest looks that you could possibly get.
(02:28):
And they are relentless, and they tormented Aaron Rodgers for
nearly the entirety of this game. Outside of the Steelers'
scripted opening drive, this was absolutely one of the most
dominant performances you're gonna see, but you could flip on
the tape all season and this is the Texans defense.
(02:48):
This is the heart and soul and ethos of this
defense led by Demico Ryans and Matt Burke. What a
masterpiece for their first road playoff win in franchise history.
Speaker 3 (02:59):
Yet, you know the craziest stat of this game I
got for you, which is I think the Steelers had
five first downs in their first eight plays, which is
outrageous to think about. They only got a handful the
entire rest of the day. And after those first two
drives which were like thirty forty five yard drives which stalled,
it was only you know, they only had three points
(03:21):
out of it, and I was thinking, that's trouble. And
they basically didn't do anything the rest of the day.
Big picture, like before we get into the nitty gritty
of everything that happens, I think what you said about
how simple it is is really cool. Tory Yikman talked
about it a lot tonight. We know it to be true.
I love that in this world of all the disguised
looks and different formations and matching personnels and everything like that,
(03:45):
the Texans are maybe the simplest defense in the league,
and that lets them play with an aggression that made
me fearful for Aaron Rodgers's life. It looked like elder
abuse at one point.
Speaker 6 (03:58):
I mean, it was crazy.
Speaker 3 (03:59):
Greg.
Speaker 5 (04:00):
We talk all the time about how fun it is
to like notice some of the chess match that goes
on through the course of this game. At the beginning
of this game, ESPN had the field mics turned up
really loudly, and so the center you can hear the
center and the quarterback communicate. This was a real hit
when Phil Rivers did this in his game first game
back for the Colts, and it was you could hear
(04:21):
Aaron Rodgers pointing out like azizel Shayer and some of
the communication. Azizel Shaier told the sideline reporters that list
assaulters specifically that they could hear that Aaron could hear
what they were saying and was king on some of
their communications, and so they just moved to hand signals
and you could hear the mics flip off after they
said that. Because but it doesn't matter. That's the entire point.
(04:44):
Like Aaron Rodgers knew what this Texans defense was.
Speaker 6 (04:47):
Going to do. The entire game, even.
Speaker 5 (04:50):
When they switched to hand signals, and it did not
matter because their dudes are better than your dudes, and
their dudes are better than your dudes at every single
position on this defense.
Speaker 3 (05:03):
Yeah, and it's almost hard to pick out one, like
Daniel Hunter had Foulatanu in all sorts of problems tonight
and in Fletan who had had a good season, you know,
Will Anderson, on the other hat, gets a couple of
sacks going up against like a backup tackle. That's an
unfair matchup. But I think the players that stand out
to me more for this team is our guy Petrie
(05:25):
that you talk about Petrie and Lasseter and the tone
that they set early in this game. And I think
what you said about like Rogers can figure out what
you're doing, and so they go to the Hansuckings, and
so maybe this is the worst matchup possible for a
Steelers team, where like that's their one advantage is he
can figure things out. But there there's nothing, uh to
(05:48):
figure out. Jordan's laughing because we have a comment in
the chat that says, I'm never as smug as when
a team he dislikes loses in the playoffs. I apologize.
I have loved the Texans all year, and to be fair,
my son, for some reason, he doesn't really love me,
so he chose the Texans as his favorite team. But
I love him. And we had cupcakes tonight that said
(06:08):
go Texan, so they needed to come through. Or also,
it was going to be a bad night in the
Rosenthal House tonight, so I am happy that they were.
Speaker 5 (06:14):
So it does the rankings did change Greg. It goes
the Texans defense is the greatest, and then there's Greg.
Speaker 3 (06:21):
Sure and they did it too on a night where CJ.
Stroud fritzed out for a good portion in this game.
And I think that is kind of like the last
level of a dominant defense is that you can completely
pick up. We can get into CJ's night a little
more in depth in a second. I do want to
(06:41):
stay on the Texans defense, but I do think that
is kind of the final form me and you have
talked about to this Texan defense. There's been a couple
fourth quarters earlier in the season where they gave up
game winning drives and I was thinking, like, if they
want to be all time defense, and that's kind of
what they're gonna have to do. I think to make
the Super Bowl, to win the Super Bowl, they have
to do things like they did tonight, which is pick
up the other side of the ball on a night
(07:02):
where because of CJ's turnovers, almost any defense would have
given up the lead and maybe give up the game.
Speaker 5 (07:09):
You know, I was thinking about I tried to like
reverse game theory this and think about, like, what is
the way that you could try to beat the Texans defense.
If you're another team and you're the Patriots, for example,
and you're looking down the line, how do you possibly
beat these guys? And really, one of the few ways
to do it, if one of maybe the only ways
to do it, is those intermediate and deep crossers that
(07:31):
we saw maybe two of them have success. Because the
Texans don't often carry their corners with a single receiver.
They pass things off really well. If you pass things
off in the middle of the field, you're going to
need some safety help, and they're missing their one of
their best safeties to injury, and Jalen Reed left the
game as well. He started this game, left the game
(07:51):
to injury, and right after that you saw DK Metcalf
have success on one of those those intermediate crossers. Well,
you also have to count on the fact that the
quarterback can get to enough of a step and his
dropback to get to that deep cross or intermediate crosser,
and at a certain point they showed it's just not possible.
So it's like there is very little margin of error,
(08:14):
if any against this team and especially Jalen Peatrie coming
down the corners, coming down as well and tackling this
Pittsburgh team. They've been yack merchants all year. They've been
yards after the catch merchants. That's where they've had success
running backs in the passing game as well, and they
couldn't get anything after that first script like I said,
(08:35):
the scripted drive that got them a couple of first
downs because of how well this Texans team tackles, because
of repeated back to back tackles for loss run and
pass into the flats that they can just smother and
snuff out, so you're behind the sticks before you even
get your drive started. And that is exactly why they're
so fearsome and why they were such a great foil
(08:57):
to everything that that's Pittsburgh likes offense likes to do,
inclusive to Aaron getting the ball out fast, which he
know he loves to do.
Speaker 3 (09:05):
The crazy thing is like he has played so much
of this season to avoid taking big hits, letting go
of the ball, throwing the ball near the line of scrimmage.
I was wondering if he'd be a little more willing
tonight to stand in there and take a hit the
very first I believe, third and long in the game,
I thought, nope, he got rid of it very quickly
to avoid a hit. And it really felt like once
(09:26):
there was pressure and you moved him off the spot,
that the play was essentially over. If you're watching us,
we love that you're with us live on YouTube, keep
the comments coming, and if you're watching later on YouTube,
you can see actually the sack that Rogers took in
the red zone late in the second quarter at this
point that the Steelers are trying to go in for
(09:47):
a touchdown after another one of those CJ. Stroud turnovers.
And this sack, to me, was kind of typical of
the night because you know, Anderson caves in the pocket
and Rogers wants to step up, but there is nowhere
to step up because Hunter is pushing the pocket on
the right side. There's interior pressure and Rogers doesn't even
(10:07):
really like get hit. He just sort of trips on
the feet that are in front of him. And look,
if you're a big time Aaron Rodgers fan like this,
if it was his last game, I kind of think
it won't be. His last game was a sad way
to go out. Let's actually listen to the pick six
in the fourth quarter that finished off the score.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
Short side left friar mouth will be the target here.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
On fourth and five.
Speaker 1 (10:32):
Rogers looks it over. Here's the snap, Rogers in the pocket,
Rogers leaning at downfield.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
They're picked off, helped up Betsy pull Off to his
left forty thirty five thirty pull Off, twenty pull off,
I'll pack it with the sideline, maintains his palace head
runs poor pay dirt. Pull Off took a hit, kept
going penny scars two defensive touchdowns to the game.
Speaker 3 (11:00):
I want that to be like his last moment. But
if ever there was a game that was going to
kind of make you question whether you were going to
come back, because it started to sound that Aaron Rodgers
would be coming back, and in my mind, he talked
to his teammates by all reports about that and just
the way he's talk publicly, sounded like his mind was
maybe changing, like this would be that game because they
(11:20):
really got after him and hit him hard.
Speaker 6 (11:23):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (11:23):
By the way, you catch Jalen Petrie running all the
way down to lead block from Kaylen Bullock. I believe
the season started out with a Kaln Bullock pick six
as well. So nice little bookend for the Texans here.
Speaker 6 (11:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (11:36):
You know, Aaron Rodgers is one of the greatest we've
ever seen play the position, that anyone's ever seen play
the position, So something about it. You know, players never
like to leave on a sour note. Often it's unavoidable,
such as injury. He's not injured, so I would not
be surprised if he comes back. I don't see another
(11:57):
pairing with this Pittsburgh Steelers off and with or without
Mike Tomlin. I know we'll get into sort of the
stakes in the future and all of that, but I
know they.
Speaker 6 (12:07):
Get along really well personally.
Speaker 5 (12:08):
I just don't see him sticking with this type of
offense the way that it was. You just it was
lacking in some ways. He was really needing to get
the receivers on the same page. They shuffled the receiver's
room a Ton he ended up loving thrown to the
running backs the most. So it's just I don't know.
We'll see how it goes Baron Rodgers, but you I mean,
it's it's tough to go out that way exactly to
(12:31):
your point, Greg, So I just can't see it happening
for that reason.
Speaker 3 (12:34):
Well, it's interesting. Well we're talking about it now, let's
talk about it, because yeah, on this night, he was
getting upset with the receivers a couple of times, but
he was upset with himself, like he missed an open
third down dk metcalf I thought his drop which I
think he alluded to in the second drive of the game,
second or third drive of the game, where he springs
open and it just clangs off his hand against a
(12:55):
defense like this when they do make a mistake. That
was where you texted me. You know, Stingley lost on
that one, and he is prone to gambling a little bit,
so occasionally you can beat him, and there's just so
few chances like that that you have to make make
it happen. So Rogers, you know, misses a thrower or
two here. Tomlin has been reported to be considering going
(13:16):
to television to me it is really hard to imagine
Aaron Rodgers back if Mike Tomlin is not back, Like,
why would the Steelers want to keep that going? Cut feeling?
What the heck? Jordan, we have no information. Do you
think Mike Tomlin is going to be back with the
Pittsburgh Steelers because this is what They're six straight playoff loss.
(13:40):
It is now more than more than eight seasons since
they won a playoff game. I was there at that
AFC Championship game which started this losing streak for Tomlin
in the playoffs. They're now the first team in NFL
history to lose five straight playoff games by double digits,
for whatever that's worth. And it's just the same thing
over and over. And they get that win over the
(14:02):
Ravens last week with a little bit of luck, certainly,
but it almost makes it feel worse here because it
just feels like it's groundhog Day. And maybe Mike Tomlin,
not the Steelers, but maybe Mike Tomlin has had enough.
Speaker 5 (14:15):
I think there's something to the maybe he's had enough point,
because it has taken since Ben Roethlisberger for Mike Tomlin
to have a quarterback like Aaron Rodgers. Even this version
much older version of Aaron Rodgers to even get into
his building. And this was after an incredibly fruitless sweepstakes
(14:37):
where you know, the Steelers were in at one point
and trying to convince Matthew Stafford like lurking sort of
quietly in the background. They were trying to if I'm
remembering right, they were in on justin Field.
Speaker 6 (14:48):
You know who else were they in on this?
Speaker 3 (14:50):
They wanted justin Field to come reports, but they weren't
willing to go as far financially as the.
Speaker 5 (14:55):
Jets were, correct, Like they they really were thinking about
their different avenue at quarterback. And I think it's good
for them in a way that they landed with Rogers
because him and Tomlin do seem to have a very
good working relationship for personal relationship as well, And this
was as good as it was going to get for
this version of the Steelers, right And so that's where
(15:16):
I think maybe it is time for a break, reset, recalibrate,
look at where the rest of the league is at
right now now. I also believe that if he decided
that he was going to step away, he'd have teams
blowing up his phone immediately, like this would now start
to be a competitive situation between someone who wants to
hire him and potentially a TV situation at one of
(15:38):
these broadcasters. You know, there's a vacant CBS spot now
because Matt Ryan's no longer in the chair.
Speaker 6 (15:42):
So I feel like this, which is.
Speaker 3 (15:44):
A why I feel like every network would literally just
like be in a room. I'm not going to say
who they might, you know, kick off, but some of
those guys have been out a while, or they'll just
make a new spot. The money is just flowing. Have
you seen the ratings lately? Give all the money to
Mike Tomlin. I feel like if you wanted to like
he would do that, and if you wanted to take
a year off, kind of like Sean Payton, who quote
(16:05):
unquote retired from the Saints if you remember back in
the in the day, and then a year later, you
know he was back looking for a job, So that
could be an option. I almost feel bad talking about
such negative things on a beautiful night for the Texans
moving to the Final eight, and what a fascinating matchup
it is against the Patriots. Drake may having just faced
(16:25):
you know, maybe his toughest defensive challenge of the season
and now has to go up a level and the
two best tackling teams. I would argue in the NFL
the Patriots are not a great defense, but they do
not give up any extra yards. They are really sound
tacklers and just two physical teams. I'm really excited for it.
But I want to give you the floor here at Jeordan.
So you said, you know you lead the way tonight,
(16:47):
you know, you decide what we're going to do. Just
anything that we haven't mentioned about the Texans defense so
far that you want to get in there, whether it's
a shout out to a player or something that they
do schematic before we get to the fact that this
game was way closer than it needed to be, despite
the Texans putting up four hundred yards, Like this thing
(17:08):
was on a knife edge till about ten minutes left
of this game.
Speaker 6 (17:11):
Yes, and you're so correct.
Speaker 5 (17:12):
I'm glad we're going to get to that part of
it too, and especially the offense, which still has its issues.
But this interior of this defensive line, as good as
the exterior is, the interior often gets slept on, in
my opinion, Tommy TOGII and Sheldon Rankins. Obviously, both of
those guys have a touchdown in back to back weeks,
which I love that for them, big Man thick six,
(17:33):
you know, happening, and this is a defensive front that
plays in such a an egoless way. They you know,
Demiko Ryans, I think there was some fun being poked
at him because of his acronym swarm and what a
swarm and what does that mean or whatever?
Speaker 6 (17:51):
Probably not on this show, but you know.
Speaker 3 (17:53):
Like maybe I mean, don't babe aggressive, I like aggressive aggressive,
just say so fun with this. We were having it
in a fun way.
Speaker 5 (18:02):
I just you know, I truly actually I actually could
not remember if it was you that was that was
poking fun at it, but so I guess I should
have just assumed. But the greatest thing about this is
how as one they rush, they rush in layers. They
see each other's space that they create. They are very
egoists about the numbers, they're very ego lists about opportunity.
(18:25):
You don't see a lot of freestyling out there. You
see a lot of discipline. They play so professionally with
each other that is so incredible to me. And you
see it in these little moments like Nick Schuk and
I did a show a couple of weeks several weeks
ago or it was another Texans game, and we were
talking about how when Daniel Hunter and Will Anderson were
(18:45):
tackling the quarterbacks sometimes the physics of their body were
twisting them around where they could have gotten flagged for
a roughness penalty or even a hip drop because.
Speaker 6 (18:54):
Of the way the physics were carrying their bodies.
Speaker 5 (18:56):
And if they didn't let go of the quarterback's legs
at that moment, they would have gotten flagged. And so
they knew they had the quarterback contained, so they let go.
This is similar, you know, trying not to step on
Aaron Rodgers when all that mess is happening, is being
tackled by his own offensive lineman, right, and he's being
sacked by his own offensive linemen. Staying underneath sort of
(19:18):
that pile to make sure that you have a hand
on the quarterback when he's on the ground, like Will
Anderson did. It just is like really professional football in
every single phase. I love their linebackers. I don't think
I just think they're just clean everywhere. They're so good, Greg,
it's just incredible to watch.
Speaker 3 (19:44):
They just don't have a weak spot. And you thought
maybe Reid gets hurt, and like is the other seaf
They're going to get picked on, toe toe. I think
had a really good game. Like yeah, in coverage like
that is where you would think you would be able
to get some of these linebackers. But Aaron Rodgers's eyes
very often going to the place where the linebackers were
and he had to hold the ball like an extra
(20:05):
half a beat. And I thought they all were just swarming.
To use that word in terms of their tackling, it was.
It was just a magnificent performance. I mentioned those five
first downs in the first eight plays. They only had
six more the rest of the day. The Steelers had
a twenty one percent success rate, which is just absolutely
brutal throwing the ball. And then here's here's my favorite
(20:27):
just stat I'm pulling. This is from next Gen. They
had a forty five percent pressure rate, which is sky high.
You know how many times they blitzed tonight, zero times
zero crazy, but three is three is nuts. And so
they just they just don't have to send any extra rushers.
(20:49):
And yeah, Anderson and Hunter are going to be keeping
Mike Braboll up at night, and Will Campbell and Morgan
Moses because I think that's the biggest weakness of the Patriots,
and they can get after Drake maybe had fifteen pressures
combined tonight. Let's talk about the offense, and I guess
(21:09):
we got to start kind of with the bad. What
was happening with CJ? Here to give you just like
a quick overview. I need to double check this, but
he ended up with five turnovers on I mean five
fumbles on the night right because he reminiscent to that
you know, crazy Jalen Hurts Herbert game and play that
(21:33):
happened in the game I went to on Monday Night
football where there's like, you know, a multiple turnovers on
one play. Twice tonight, c J. Stroud had two fumbles
on one play, so he had four total fumbles, I
mean on two combined plays. And in each one of
those plays he wasn't paying attention and fumbled the shotgun
snap and then eventually fumbled because he held the ball
(21:55):
too long on that play and lost both of those films,
and then had another one later on and then also
had a red zone interception. It was really a crazy
combination of him getting so in his head on a
night when if you just took those plays away. It
(22:15):
was a great offensive performance by the Texans and a
good one by c J. Stroud. If you took those
plays away.
Speaker 6 (22:22):
Yes, big caveats are that's a big if.
Speaker 3 (22:25):
I just mean the other fifty plays, which are a
lot of plays.
Speaker 5 (22:28):
Totally, I thought it was one of the more balanced
games that I've seen from this Texans offense, in huge
part because the run game was great. Now, it's been
a work in progress all season and they've chipped away
at it. And really want to give credit to Nick Keyley,
the offensive coordinator here, who has been through his fair
share of battles here on the season, but didn't run
(22:49):
away from it, kept going even when the turnovers would happen,
kept trying to find ways to balance and settle this
offense down. Woody Marks goes over one hundred yards and
has a touch down at the end of the game,
and it's like they just kept chipping at it. They
were at or over nearly a fifty percent success rate
between Woody Marks, who had the line's share of Carrie's
left the game at one point, came back in, and
(23:12):
Nick Chubb as well, who had three consecutive really solid
runs in the first half that started getting this run
game going, settled the offensive line down. When they got
into the third quarter, they really started moving the offensive line,
They really started controlling the line of scrimmage more so
especially half over half. This third quarter was when they
(23:33):
really started, you know, settling and digging into that trench work.
And I thought it was It was great because you
had a combination of Nick Chubb with a lot of
that middle zone or gap running, and then you would
get Woody Marx who can also do that, but then
would hit you with like some explosive speed around the
edge too, and the Steelers were just not quite sure
whether they were going to be stretched physically or stretched wide.
(23:55):
And that was just really like special to me because
that's kind of balance with in the run game that
you also need to have in order to really challenge
these defenses in the postseason. And this was the best,
to me, the best game that Nick Kayley has called.
Because there was chaos, Greg, you mentioned it, c J. Stroud,
I mean, dude, take take the sack, take the four
(24:18):
yard scramble, don't try to force the play. He just
was so in his head Greg through this game, and
there was clear issues with the center Jake Andrews too,
and issues in the shotgun, but they just kept steady
and they got a monster performance out of their defense.
And that's like, I hope that's not the formula because
we know CJ.
Speaker 6 (24:36):
Stroud can be better.
Speaker 3 (24:37):
Than this, and maybe maybe I was. I remembered it
incorrectly that he had was credited for two fumbles on
two separate plays, because he also, of course had the
fumble on what I thought was Kayley's. I mean, it's
hard to say it's his worst call the night, but
they didn't execute it perfectly. The flea flicker.
Speaker 5 (24:55):
What is happening with these flea flickers?
Speaker 3 (24:57):
What's happening? I love playing on be on the bad grass.
This is the worst field maybe in the league. Green
Bay certainly up there, and woody marks just like slightly
slipped I think on the flee flick are very similar
to that Carolina game in Week eighteen, and he still
got the ball back to c J. Stroud, but the
timing was just messed up just a little bit, and
(25:19):
then c J. Stroud gets his arm hit. Now it
appeared there was a wide open receiver down the field,
so if they had time to do it, he would
have gotten it deep, but instead Jack Sawyer comes up
with the first of a few really big plays in
this game. But I'm glad you brought up, you know,
the running game and how great it was. And look,
they ended up putting up what one hundred and sixty
(25:42):
four yards on the ground. And the crazy thing is tonight,
they didn't have a ton of drives. There's only nine
drives in this game. If it wasn't for the turnovers,
they actually played pretty good, complimentary football, and they do
deserve some credit, I think, because you see the final
score and you're like, this is this is a joke.
In the fourth quarter, they go on a pretty long
field goal drive to actually, you know, get it up
to ten six at the very least, and then they
(26:05):
do capitalize with a touchdown drive after the Texans you know,
get their fun and get the turnover on Rogers and
it was just a waterfall. So like, there's no rule
that says they were gonna have to go and score
a touchdown there in the fourth quarter to completely put
the game away on offense, and they did it, and
so they deserve credit for that. And they also deserve
credit for that second quarter drive which was fourteen plays
(26:28):
ninety two yards. They start with the ball on the
eight yard line and they go mostly running, but some
nice throws by c J. Stroud. Let's actually listen to
how that drive was capped off. The first touchdown of
the game and three.
Speaker 1 (26:45):
That's a sixth Stroud takes the snap, takes the Tossbahinda
throws right side Chris Drake Kirk.
Speaker 3 (26:50):
To the end zone.
Speaker 4 (26:52):
Touchdown, show stand six yard touchdown pass from CJ. Strout
our christ Jane Kirk and the Texans go in.
Speaker 3 (27:02):
Stroud did have some nice throws, like his first first
down of the game was a dime down the field
to Christian Kirk. There also was a forty six yard
reception late in the third quarter to Christian Kirk which
came on third and fifteen. This is with about forty
(27:23):
seconds left in the fourth quarter, right after c J.
Stroud had had his fifth fumble on a ball that
he was very lucky to get back. He wasn't looking
before the ball was snapped, and it's third and fifteen.
You think you're thinking they really might blow this game.
It's seven to six, and he gets protected really well,
and I think the offensive line actually had a sneaky
good game in front of c J. Stroud, even pass
(27:44):
protecting and he hits a dime down the field to
Christian Kirk. So there were moments. So I do want
to pat him on the back. But there's something weird
about Stroud when he gets in his head, like he
kind of stays there.
Speaker 5 (27:56):
Sometimes he's kind of like a he wears his heart
on his sleeve as a quarterback, where you can tell
exactly when he's overthinking things, and it's I think it's
a I think it's a product of being young. I
think it's a product of all the hits he took
last year and all the chaos at offensive line. I
think some of it's a product of changing systems and
still trying to figure out what his rhythm is. Nico
(28:16):
Collins was in and out of the game. Hope he's okay.
He left on a cart to the locker room in
the concussion protocol, but it and so trying to figure out,
you know, different guys, different timing and those types of things.
Christian Kirk really stepped up for CJ. Stroud, gave him
wide open targets. There were a couple of times where
I worried about some of the other receivers because CJ
(28:37):
was throwing them into some danger too, because and this
is not this The thing is, we know what his
potential is and we know what his ability is, and
you saw it in a lot of the past plays
and a lot of the the decision making this game.
I love that Christian Kirk touchdown because it was a
fake toss to one direction and then he throws a
(28:57):
touchdown to the other direction, calm and steady as can be.
A lot of misdirection cadence timing has to happen on
that type of play, selling the fake flowing in one direction,
hitting the.
Speaker 6 (29:08):
Other side like you see it right, it's there.
Speaker 5 (29:10):
And then you know he throws a high sort of
hospital eball to Jaden Higgins, and Jaden Higgins somehow hangs
on and he overthrows a couple too, and and you know,
it just is one of those things where they're gonna
need more consistency out of CJ.
Speaker 6 (29:25):
Strout.
Speaker 5 (29:25):
They don't need him to be a superhero anymore at
this point or or ever, because he has this defense
that's going to be the hero of this team and
he's got a great even keel Special Teams unit just
needs some consistency, and that's why I love that the
run game was there. If this run game wasn't there, Greg,
they don't recover like this.
Speaker 3 (29:44):
Yeah, I totally agree. And I was watching this game
with with, you know, my family and in Amica. My
wife is just like, what why is every pass so hard?
And it's a great point because the first half of
this game, ever, recompletion was contested and for the most
part CJ was on point and some were broken up
(30:05):
and some were and so I don't know if the
receivers just weren't open or he's just trying to fit
it into tight windows, but they were like very difficult throws.
I actually think the Steelers defense overall, you know, played
a pretty good game. Their their offense just sold them out.
Maybe not good. You give four hundred yards to the
Texans and nine drives. That's not good. And you also
allow Christian Kirk, who's been quiet all year, to be
(30:27):
the guy who makes me say that it is time
for delivering results presented by Uber Eats. When football makes
you hungry, order Uber eats, and yes, Christian Kirk goes
eight catches, one hundred and forty four yards and a touchdown,
a couple of times gets them out of bad field position,
a couple of times sets up a big score. And
(30:51):
these playoff games are funny because Christian Kirk has not
been a productive, you know, trade chip for what they
expected it for a good chunk of this season. He's hurt,
and then the rookies end up kind of passing him
in terms of importance on the team. He plays thirteen
games and he somehow only ends up with two hundred
and thirty nine yards, like he almost matched that tonight.
(31:14):
But I'll tell you what, Like that front office is
so happy they made that move. Now, it's like the
Brandon Cooks move in Buffalo, Like it's all worth it
if they come up in a big spot like this.
And he's obviously a really talented, experienced receiver, and he
gave them something tonight that they absolutely needed. And if
Nico Collins is out next week he went into the
(31:35):
concussion protocol tonight, then Christian Kirk's importance is even going
to be bigger next week.
Speaker 5 (31:40):
A little Bertie told me that Christian Kirk was set
to be a huge factor tonight in part because of
the way with a healthy Nico Collins, and part of
because of the way that they thought the Steelers were
going to defend them, which I think is a fair
fair assumption to make. Unfortunately, Nico Collins, who had a
couple of great catches himself, including a really tough one
(32:02):
over the middle for a big conversion. You know, that's
as he just took so much contact to his head
and hopefully he's gonna be okay. And we'll hear more
about that obviously in the in the coming in the
coming days.
Speaker 3 (32:16):
Yeah, and they are on a short week, which I
think is unfair for these teams that that have to
do it. The Monday night game is sort of inherently unfair.
Teams have won coming out of it, teams of loss
coming out of it hasn't been you know, decisive or anything.
The Rams won the Super Bowl coming out of it
as as you know. But yeah, shout out to Christian
Kirk getting it done. And it's a free agency year
(32:37):
for him, so reminds everyone how good he can be.
That was delivering results presented by Uber Eats. When football
makes you hungry, get game day deals on Uber eats,
the official on demand delivery partner of the NFL. Order.
Now I am frustrated by the Nico concussion because I
(32:58):
just thought it seemed kind of obvious on TV when
he took a hit on that very I think it
was the first target he had of the game that
he was shaken up and he just goes over to
the sideline and I didn't see them examine him for
a potential concussion, but he got up very slowly after
that first play. And I do feel like it's becoming
a little bit of a trend lately that they are
(33:20):
not taking care of the players as much as they
were let's say, five to ten years ago. There's just
not as much attention on it. And you can have
a rudimentary understanding of science and concussions and everything that
when you suffer maybe a more minor one before suffering
(33:40):
a bigger one, like in the same game, it makes
it worse. And he did, you know, as Troyman pointed out,
like he was walking the wrong way after the second one.
You just you just hate to see that, and you
just hope that like they did everything that they were
supposed to do before that, because I was a little
surprised how quickly he returned to that game. If you remember,
I think he sat out basically like five or six
(34:01):
plays on the first drive and then came in for
the final third down. I was like, Wow, that was
quick for him to come back in there. So you
just hope he's gonna be okay, and he's really important
that It almost goes without saying for this team.
Speaker 5 (34:12):
I'll just say, too, Greg, to your point, which is
a great one, that it's not for lack of technological
tools to help the spot or see what they should
be pointing out. They had every tool available to them
up in the booth to literally spot, to spot these
things and to raise the alarm.
Speaker 6 (34:30):
So that's that's what I'll say on that.
Speaker 3 (34:32):
Yeah, and it's crazy. I'm checking the stats while we're
talking in terms of Kirk because I was like two
hundred and thirty nine yards. That's even less than I expected.
He was not wide receiver two for this team as
everyone expected Jordan he was. That was Jayden Higgins in
the end. He was not wide receiver three for this
team in the end, that was Xavier Hutchinson. And if
(34:53):
we're just going off yards, he was not wide receiver
four for this team. That was Jalen Noel. He was
wide receiver five on the season, and he steps up
on a big night and yeah, helps helps c J.
Stroud out. It's why you know, it's a it's a
team game, and we talk about quarterback wins and everything.
(35:14):
The rest of his team picked up c J. Stroud
and you know he's a much more accurate quarterback than
than he was tonight. I think he'll play better next week.
But you want to know who my comp is for him,
just in a little way right now in terms of
in terms of the streakiness that he has within games,
the emotions on his sleeve you mentioned, really hammered it
(35:34):
home for me.
Speaker 6 (35:36):
I mean c J.
Speaker 3 (35:37):
Stroud, c J. Stroud's comp that I'm that popped in
my mind right now in terms of how he's playing
something maybe not style. One of my least favorite quarterbacks,
as you know, in terms of frustrating to watch Baker
Mayfield because because it's just like he doesn't never.
Speaker 6 (35:50):
Miss an opportunity. Greg never missed an opportunity.
Speaker 3 (35:54):
It's like it's just that he because of the emotions,
you could almost see it, like you said, drive to drive,
like quarter to quarter he can just get so hot.
And that they obviously are different in different sorts of ways.
I think you know CJ can be a great pocket
quarterback at his best. We'll wrap up with Tomlin because
we do have some quote shout out to Chris Bobona,
(36:15):
who's been doing great on these live shows all season long.
We have one more next or this Saturday night. After
the divisional round, Mike Tomlin was asked about, you know,
the status of him with the team. He said, it's
not time for talk. We agreed we'll meet tomorrow and
go from there. When you're in this single elimination tournament,
there's not a whole lot to talk about. You win
or go home. And then when asked for a message
(36:37):
to the fans, he just said, when you don't get
it done, words are cheap. There's too much talking in
our business.
Speaker 6 (36:43):
Fair just another manic Monday.
Speaker 3 (36:49):
I want you to promise we can you know, count
on you singing at the end of all these shows.
What a night for the Houston Texans thirty to six.
Speaker 6 (37:00):
You know, I keep smiling. I shouldn't be smiling this
big what No. I love this team so much.
Speaker 3 (37:07):
The Steelers fans are going to take take offense. But
for everyone who it's like I want, you know, the
Texans are kind of what you would want the Steelers
to be. Right like this, they are the closest thing
we have right now to the steel curtain. If you
want some nineties set seventies, maybe even nineteen eighties ass
(37:27):
looking football like this, is it right here? It's crazy.
I love it.
Speaker 6 (37:34):
It's true. It's true.
Speaker 5 (37:35):
And I you know, if this is what Mike Tomlin
steps away after it, it is there's you know, we've
had some crazy poetry in football.
Speaker 6 (37:43):
It's John Harbaugh who uh parts.
Speaker 5 (37:46):
Ways quote unquote with the with the Ravens after a
game that is going to most be remembered for some
special teams errors, including a miss field goal as the
special teams expert, who is one of the few special
teams coach has ever hired to be a head coach.
And then Mike Tomlin, the defensive mastermind, getting beat in
(38:06):
his own house by the best one of the best
defenses we've seen in modern football. That's playing like a
total throwback run and hit somebody defense. It is there's
there's poetry in there, I think.
Speaker 3 (38:19):
And it's true. The Steelers are, if not the most
expensive defense in the league, they're like second or third.
And when this losing streak in the playoffs started a
lot of the criticism with Tomlin and this happens in
the regular season. Two from his fans are like, well,
they're just so static and they're just the same defense
year after year. And I think Demiko Ryans is showing
(38:41):
like you know you can. You can be all about
fundamentals and hitting and playing fast and old school, but
you just got to have the right players in the
right coaching and the right system. And they they are
the new. So we will We will be tracking obviously
everything with Mike Tomlin and the Steelers throughout the week.
We'll be talking about this Texans and Patriots game. We
(39:04):
might get Seth Payne on the show, I think for
the preview show. Yes, who's a big Houston Texans follower,
So I can't wait for that. Let's hit the music here,
Chris Babona. I told Walker my son earlier today, not
many teams make the playoffs every year, Like, how many
teams have made the playoffs three straight years like the Texans.
You can't take this for granted. How many teams have
(39:26):
won a playoff game now three straight years? You can't
take them for granted. We find out Next week Drake
May versus c J Strowd. Can the Texans win too
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