November 14, 2023 • 23 mins
Tom and Labs discuss the big Ohio trip coming up the next two weeks and then get into this weeks questions
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
This is asked and answered questions with Tom Upferman and
Steelers Digest editor Bob Labriola.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Once again down the stretch.
Speaker 3 (00:11):
Some members of Steeler Nations might have been feeling heart
palpitations as the Steelers close that game out against Green
Bay on Sunday.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
But a win is a win.
Speaker 3 (00:19):
They are six and three, and LABS this road trip
into Ohio these next two weeks. I don't think you
can overstate how big it is. Starting with Cleveland on Sunday.
Speaker 4 (00:29):
Yeah, you know.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
And let's let me just comment on the first part
of your statement there you were almost doing this podcast
by yourself.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Let me tell you one of the heart palpitations.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
Oh my god, you know, and it's just one after another,
you know, I I longed for you know, I don't
have a fourteen point lead at the two minute warning for
the second half.
Speaker 4 (00:53):
I guess that's too much, Dask.
Speaker 3 (00:54):
And you kind of got teased on Sunday Labs too,
with that seventeen to seven lead. You're like, yeah, is
this happening for once?
Speaker 1 (01:01):
Yeah, really definitely got spoiled, you know, the offense scoring
you know, points. For a while there, it seemed like
it was going to happen every possession. You know, I
kept pinching myself a little bit just to make sure
I was awakened. It wasn't a dream. But yeah, six
and three going into you know, the battle for Ohio.
(01:23):
I guess you could nickname it if you wanted to.
At Cleveland and then at Cincinnati. You know, you look
and you look at the AFC North.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
I mean, it's insane.
Speaker 4 (01:34):
Oh it is.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
I mean, And what maybe the most insane thing to
me is that Cincinnati's last. I really think I've said
this on you know, to you, on this very program.
If I if I was given any choice of a quarterback,
you know, for my team, I would pick Joe Burrow
(01:57):
over what's his name? And Kansas City Jake from State.
Speaker 5 (02:02):
Farm made Yeah right, but uh, you know I I
their last.
Speaker 4 (02:13):
So yeah, that this division is crazy. I think.
Speaker 1 (02:17):
I really don't think you can look at any of
the a f C North games between any of the
teams in the North and feel really confident that one
team is going to win and one team is going
to lose. I think you just don't know. And to me, this,
this to me was really really revealing. Remember what the
(02:40):
Ravens did to Seattle. Okay, see what what what the
Browns did to them? So I mean that that's that
to me, is just the most recent exhibit a of
you know, you need to know how to play a
f C North football to be successful against a f
North teams because you know, I don't know that you
(03:04):
could line up the Browns and the Seahawks and say that,
you know, the the the Browns are that significantly better
from a talent perspective, you know, over the their entire roster,
both sides of the ball, special teams, coaching staff, all
that stuff than Seattle. But when you look at the
scores of the game, the respective games against the Ravens,
(03:26):
that that's what that would indicate that their roster and
coaching staff as far superior than Seattle's roster and coaching staff.
So yeah, buckle it up. It's going to be a
heck of a ride here this next fortnite. You know
what a fortnite is?
Speaker 4 (03:40):
Right? Two weeks there, you go.
Speaker 1 (03:46):
I thought maybe I could slip wondering on you, but
I can see you've been studying. You've been studying those
those questions I send you every week. But yeah, the flashcars,
So yeah, the next Fortnite should be very inter and
certainly revealing in terms not only of you know, the Steelers'
chances for the postseason, but also maybe how you know
(04:08):
the AFC North starts to take shape as we head
into December, which is always a critical month in an
NFL regular season.
Speaker 3 (04:15):
All four of those Bungles losses in last place are
AFC losses, two labs that really hurts come tiebreaker time.
Speaker 1 (04:23):
Yeah, you know, And but the thing I always caution
people about is tiebreakers only come into play if your
record is tied. If you have a better record or
a lesser record than the other team in question, the
tiebreakers don't matter. So yeah, it's still the first tiebreaker
(04:43):
is you know your record, So you know, just keep
that in mind before you start doing all the gazentas
with all those tiebreakers and all the permutations of them.
Speaker 3 (04:57):
Let's get to this week's batch of questions. Our first
one comes from Jared Honeker from Afton, Virginia. I felt
like the five penalties against the Steelers on the Titans
opening drive were more than we actually committed or deserved.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
Even the announcers were annoyed.
Speaker 3 (05:11):
Was it a statement from the officials that they won't
tolerate comments like Mike Tomlin made the previous Sunday after
the loss to the Jaguars.
Speaker 1 (05:22):
I got my belief is the only statement that was
made by the flag happy crew working Steelers Titans was
that they approach almost every game believing they get graded
by volume. You know, more flags, the higher the grade.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
That's pretty free.
Speaker 4 (05:39):
Oh yeah.
Speaker 1 (05:40):
Referee John Hussey and his crew are known for throwing
a lot of flags.
Speaker 4 (05:46):
Unlet's.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
In the October fifteenth game, when Cleveland upset the San
Francisco forty nine ers, Hussey and his crew called twenty
five accepted penalties for two hundred and twenty four yards. So,
I mean again, I've said this a million times. Once
the NFL figures out that people are not paying money
(06:08):
to sit in stands or watch on TV officials dominate
a game, maybe they'll figure it out that, you know,
less is more and just for just to kind of
tie a bow on this for Jared, the final numbers
in that Steelers Titans game seventeen accepted penalties for one
(06:28):
hundred and thirty one yards. So who knows, maybe Hussey
and his group got a low grade for that because
we're below to twenty five.
Speaker 3 (06:35):
I gotta say seventeen pretty low there. John having her
off night. Grant Spellerberg from Cutler Bay, Florida has our
next question.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
He asks, aside from.
Speaker 3 (06:44):
The backup quarterback, who usually only plays if the starter
is hurt, how many of the other active players do
not play on game days.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
Don't most of the other positions rotate throughout the game?
Speaker 1 (06:55):
Yes, they do, And you know that's why I've always
maintained and people sometimes get a little too excited about
who starts at receiver or who starts at running back
or no excuse me, or who starts in the defensive backfield.
But I mean, you know, you cannot be on the
field for the first snap of the game as a
(07:16):
wide receiver and end up playing more snaps than any
of the other wide receivers in that game because of
the rotation that Grant is referring to. So to get
to this question, Yes, it's typically the backup quarterback, and
then recently for the Steelers, it has been their seventh
offensive lineman. That recently has been Spencer Anderson, the rookie
(07:38):
seventh round pick. He's typically given a helmet because of
his ability to line up at multiple positions on the
offensive line in the event of, you know, more than
one in game injury, so usually it can change, but
usually it's the backup quarterback who is Mitch Trubisky and
the seventh offensive lineman who was Spencer.
Speaker 3 (07:58):
Anderson Whiteside from Hagerstown, Maryland. Do you think that the
Steelers have a chance of making the playoffs? Also?
Speaker 2 (08:06):
What do you think the best division is in the NFL?
Speaker 1 (08:10):
I'll take the second question first. You know, we were talking
about it girl. To me, it's got to be the
AFC North. The Bengals are in the last place at
five and four. You know, in quantifying the best division,
you know is the only way I can do it,
except for what I think is how many look at
the standings. How many teams over five hundred are in
(08:33):
each division? Now, the AFC North has four teams over
five hundred, the only there's no other division in the
NFL with more than two teams over five hundred, even
though the AFC South has two teams over five hundred
and then a team at five hundred in third place.
(08:56):
But you know, seriously, the Bengals are last in the
AFC North right now, The only AFC South team that
I believe could handle the Bengals would be Jacksonville. Maybe
the Texans on a good day. But you know, when
your last place team is maybe better than the first
place team in the other division, you're kind of looking
(09:18):
at To me, that's not much of a contest. Okay,
onto the other part of the question. Yeah, the Steelers
have a chance absolutely to make the playoffs. I think
it's gonna take ten wins in the AFC this year,
so we'll find out. You know, there's eight weeks left,
eight games left, and there's six and three, so that's
(09:38):
six wins already, eight games left, need to get to ten.
Quick math there, young Thomas. Four, There you go for.
I was gonna say four and four, but five hundred
is also an acceptable answer in this and I think
I think that'll do it.
Speaker 4 (09:54):
Now.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
I'm not saying that that's gonna be easy or likely,
but that's how I see it.
Speaker 3 (10:00):
Yeah, I agree with you. It just seems like it's
especially when you look at the schedule. You know, you
don't want to do that and predict based on how
the other team's looking right now. But there are definitely
some wins to be had for the Steelers down the
stretch here.
Speaker 1 (10:11):
Yeah, and also some very difficult you know, like that
at Seattle o New Year's Eve, right.
Speaker 2 (10:21):
Even if Seattle wasn't a good team, that'd be a
tough trip.
Speaker 1 (10:24):
Yes, yes, I could tell you horror stories about plane
rides to Seattle, but I'll spare you that right now.
Maybe you know next time, next training camp and where
it to peer having a cold beverage after a hot day.
I can regale you with some horror stories of being
on a plane, the endless plane ride to Seattle, flat
(10:49):
into the wind in the winter. Yeah, that's brutal.
Speaker 3 (10:52):
John White from Lancaster, Lancashire in the United Kingdom, Wow,
labs across the pond here with this question. Miles Boykin
is excellent when it comes to covering punts in a
role where stats don't give a clear picture. Who is
the best coverage man from your time covering the team?
Also a shout out and good luck to Cole Holcomb
(11:13):
who has been a stud this season.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
Yeah, and John might want to add one Quanta Alexander
to that. Seems to be an epidemic there. I hate
to see that happen to guys and so best best
wishes to both them on their recoveries. Anyway, when it
comes to special teams, I mean, the Steelers have had
a long history of players beginning their careers, you know,
(11:40):
on special teams and then going on to being very
integral contributors on either offense or defense. I mean, I
can here's just a partial list off the top of
my head, and these are recent guys. Levon Kirkland, Chad Brown,
Jerial Savsky, Brett Keesl remember him covering punts, three hundred
(12:00):
pound guy flying down, Buston Wedges, James Harrison, Joey Porter,
Senior Hines Ward, and there's a lot of other ones.
But I'm gonna give you guys who who were primarily
on the team, who stayed on the team because they
played special teams. They weren't young players working their way
(12:23):
into roles on either offense or defense. Chronologically in order
at the time that they played for the Steelers. The
first is Fred McAfee, and then Cheety oh Woma is
the other guy. McAfee was a running back by trade,
but he covered kicks. He played five seasons with the Steelers.
(12:44):
In five seasons, he had a total of one hundred
and twenty four offensive touchdowns excuse me, offensive touchdowns touches
said it wrong twice, but his career lasted for ten
seasons and a hundred ninety four games because he covered
kicks and he was good at it. A Wona's career
(13:07):
followed a similar path. He was a defensive back by trade,
but during his five seasons with the Steelers one to
five and two thousands, played in seventy one regular season games,
but he only started one of those on defense, So
that kind of makes my point right now. By the way,
(13:27):
chid O Woma is in his fourth season as a
college scout for the Steelers after serving eight seasons as
Pittsburgh's blessed those scouts, so he remains with the team
contributing to the scouting department in very much a way
that was as unsung as was his playing career, but
(13:49):
noteworthy contributions.
Speaker 3 (13:51):
Nonetheless, we keep it international with our next question from
Israel Pickholtz from Askalan Israel, So coach Mike Tomlin said
he plans to bring in officials to help avoid penalties
in the future.
Speaker 2 (14:04):
How exactly does that work?
Speaker 3 (14:06):
Seems to me that if the team is playing, certain
officials to come in and the team is paying certain
officials to come in. There, you go, there is a
relationship that ought not to be allowed.
Speaker 1 (14:17):
Okay, the officials who brought or brought in to practices
at the up mc rooney Sports Complex, they're either college
officials or high school officials, and they're local. They're local people,
local men and women. You know, it's easier for them
to travel. Uh, you know, it's easier. They do get paid,
(14:38):
but they're high school or college officials, so there isn't
that conflict that Israel asked about. And you know, this
is what Mike Tomlins said about what he's looking for
from officials that are brought into work stealers practices. He said,
I can stand in front of the group and say,
we need to clean the penalties up. So how do
(14:59):
we go about that. We intensify our standard of expectations
and a practice by having officials and having them throw
flags when appropriate, and most importantly, the dialogue after the
play of why and what was the trigger in terms
of creating the penalty. It's all done in an effort
to kick our own butts less, because being part of
(15:20):
a tough team to beat is not beating yourself So
just to kind of recap, the Steelers had the penalty
issues against Tennessee and then against the Packers. As I'm
looking this up really quickly here on the fly, they
were only penalties three times, so you know a lot
(15:42):
of times that does work.
Speaker 4 (15:45):
Three times against the Green.
Speaker 3 (15:47):
Baker Jack Baker from Heisham, Montana. Has the NFL considered
expanding into Canada like other professional teams NBA, MLB and
of course the NHL, it seems like they would have
a great fan base.
Speaker 1 (16:00):
No, the NFL has stayed out of Canada. I you know,
my impression is the reason for that is it's kind
of like a professional courtesy.
Speaker 5 (16:11):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (16:11):
The NFL doesn't want to kill the Canadian Football League,
which is still a very viable sport in Canada with
franchises you know, throughout the country there. And I just
believe that, you know, the NFL likes there's no competition,
you know, but for players between the NFL and the CFL,
(16:34):
and I think that the NFL kind of would like
to keep it that way. You don't want to get
into another bidding war like there was between the NFL
and the AFL for players and raiding teams and trying
to sign draft picks that are picks players who are
picked by the other league. There was a lot of
that going on in the in the sixties, and so,
(16:55):
you know, I just think that that's that's why it's
done that way. And you know, NFL football fans in Canada,
if they want to watch the NFL, there's you know,
TVs pick it up up there, satellite dishes, you know,
whatever is necessary to get CBS or Fox or NBC
(17:20):
or you know, any of the even Amazon Prime or
YouTube or whatever services are broadcasting NFL games. And I
just think that that's the way that the NFL would
prefer the relationship to be going.
Speaker 3 (17:34):
Plus, I mean, come on, Minnesota, Buffalo, that's basically Canada anyway,
it's close enough.
Speaker 2 (17:37):
I mean, they could just go on onto those teams.
Speaker 1 (17:39):
It's good enough for them, Okay.
Speaker 3 (17:43):
Chris Weinschenker from Latroe, PA, when Texans running back, I
can't believe you're going to make me try to pronounce
this name.
Speaker 2 (17:51):
Ogumbwawalla.
Speaker 3 (17:52):
I think I did a decent job. Made a field
goal last weekend. I immediately recalled that. In the early
late nineteen seventies, the Steeler center Ray Mayfield at least
tried to kick a field goal or apat. I look
through some online football stat sites and could find no
record of it. Am I suffering from the Mandela effect?
Speaker 1 (18:12):
No, you're not. In the reason that you probably couldn't
find it. A lot of stats sites do not automatically
include playoff stats in overall stats for individuals and or teams.
And that's why because Ray Mansfield did kick two extra points,
(18:35):
but both of those came in the playoffs after the
nineteen seventy six season, one in the Divisional round game
in Baltimore and the other in the AFC Championship game
in Oakland, both of those because of injuries to Roy Dirella,
who was the full time placekicker at the time. So
in that particular statistical category, Ray Mansfield retired a perfect
(18:59):
two foot.
Speaker 2 (19:00):
I'd love to see a center kick an extra point. Laughs.
Speaker 1 (19:04):
All right, let's see. I mean that's you know, that
used to be the way it was done. I mean,
Paul Horning, I still consider that one of the greatest.
His nineteen sixty two season one of the greatest seasons
by an individual in the NFL, because not only was
he a running back and a receiver. But he was
(19:24):
also the place kicker for real, not just in emergencies,
and he rang up a whole bunch of points as
a player who was MVP, you know all of that stuff.
So yeah, I that would be good. That would be
great if you had to go back to a time
where you.
Speaker 2 (19:42):
Find someone on your roster that's good enough to kick.
Speaker 1 (19:45):
Can't be just a kicker, right, punter, kicker, all of those,
all of those spots would make it interesting, that's for sure.
Speaker 3 (19:57):
And our final question today comes from Ed Johnson from Intown, Ohio.
I believe Franco Harris was considered a fullback during his career.
In today's NFL, would he be listed as a running
back or as a halfback. It seems like fullbacks are
mostly used as blockers today. Also, we're not wide receivers
once referred to either as a tight end or a
split end.
Speaker 1 (20:18):
Okay, Franco Harris will deal with that first. His playing
weight was listed at two thirty. He was listed as
a full back officially. You know other fullbacks of the
time where Jim Brown, Larry Zonka.
Speaker 4 (20:32):
Uh so decent.
Speaker 1 (20:34):
You know, fullbacks right in those days were often the
primary ball carriers and so yes, he was a fullback.
He was listed at two thirty and he would be
called a running back now because just as a couple
of recent examples, Jerome Bettis was listed as a running
back and he his playing weight was two fifty two
(20:58):
at least on the On the pro Derrick Henry is
listed as a running back. His playing weight is currently
listed at two forty seven. So yes, frank O Harris
would be a running back.
Speaker 4 (21:12):
Now.
Speaker 1 (21:13):
Prior to the all encompassing term of wide receivers, those
players were listed as split ends and flankers because you
used to have, you know, in the backfield you had
a full back and then you had a left half
back and a right half back, and one of those
halfbacks turned into a flanker once the passing became more
(21:36):
of a prevalent part of an NFL offense. Going back
even farther than that, a tight end was listed as
a right end because they were right ends and left ends,
you know. Not so yeah, because LB Nickel, as an example,
who's in the Steelers Hall of Honor, who is considered
(21:59):
was considered is considered the second best tight end in
franchise history, behind Eath Miller. If you looked him up
specifically during his the time he played, there was no
such thing as a tight end.
Speaker 4 (22:12):
He was a right end.
Speaker 1 (22:14):
And the reason that that tight end position lined up
on the right side was offenses were primarily right handed,
and so you ran to the right, and the tight
end was on the strong side as a blocker. And
then he became a receiver. And you know, that's enough
of the olden days for everybody.
Speaker 4 (22:31):
I'm sure.
Speaker 3 (22:34):
Steelers Brown's Sunday six excuse me six and three verse
six and three one o'clock kickoff in Cleveland for the
beginning of the Battle of Ohio. As Labs coined at
the beginning of this podcast, thanks for everybody who got
their questions in today. If you want to get your
questions in and read on a future episode, just send
them into Labs now and hopefully you'll be the lucky
if you selected.
Speaker 2 (22:55):
For Bob Labriola. I'm Tom Opferman.
Speaker 3 (22:57):
Thanks as always, and we'll talk to you next week
on another ass then answered
This is asked and answered questions with Tom Upferman and
Steelers Digest editor Bob Labriola.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Once again down the stretch.
Speaker 3 (00:11):
Some members of Steeler Nations might have been feeling heart
palpitations as the Steelers close that game out against Green
Bay on Sunday.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
But a win is a win.
Speaker 3 (00:19):
They are six and three, and LABS this road trip
into Ohio these next two weeks. I don't think you
can overstate how big it is. Starting with Cleveland on Sunday.
Speaker 4 (00:29):
Yeah, you know.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
And let's let me just comment on the first part
of your statement there you were almost doing this podcast
by yourself.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Let me tell you one of the heart palpitations.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
Oh my god, you know, and it's just one after another,
you know, I I longed for you know, I don't
have a fourteen point lead at the two minute warning for
the second half.
Speaker 4 (00:53):
I guess that's too much, Dask.
Speaker 3 (00:54):
And you kind of got teased on Sunday Labs too,
with that seventeen to seven lead. You're like, yeah, is
this happening for once?
Speaker 1 (01:01):
Yeah, really definitely got spoiled, you know, the offense scoring
you know, points. For a while there, it seemed like
it was going to happen every possession. You know, I
kept pinching myself a little bit just to make sure
I was awakened. It wasn't a dream. But yeah, six
and three going into you know, the battle for Ohio.
(01:23):
I guess you could nickname it if you wanted to.
At Cleveland and then at Cincinnati. You know, you look
and you look at the AFC North.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
I mean, it's insane.
Speaker 4 (01:34):
Oh it is.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
I mean, And what maybe the most insane thing to
me is that Cincinnati's last. I really think I've said
this on you know, to you, on this very program.
If I if I was given any choice of a quarterback,
you know, for my team, I would pick Joe Burrow
(01:57):
over what's his name? And Kansas City Jake from State.
Speaker 5 (02:02):
Farm made Yeah right, but uh, you know I I
their last.
Speaker 4 (02:13):
So yeah, that this division is crazy. I think.
Speaker 1 (02:17):
I really don't think you can look at any of
the a f C North games between any of the
teams in the North and feel really confident that one
team is going to win and one team is going
to lose. I think you just don't know. And to me, this,
this to me was really really revealing. Remember what the
(02:40):
Ravens did to Seattle. Okay, see what what what the
Browns did to them? So I mean that that's that
to me, is just the most recent exhibit a of
you know, you need to know how to play a
f C North football to be successful against a f
North teams because you know, I don't know that you
(03:04):
could line up the Browns and the Seahawks and say that,
you know, the the the Browns are that significantly better
from a talent perspective, you know, over the their entire roster,
both sides of the ball, special teams, coaching staff, all
that stuff than Seattle. But when you look at the
scores of the game, the respective games against the Ravens,
(03:26):
that that's what that would indicate that their roster and
coaching staff as far superior than Seattle's roster and coaching staff.
So yeah, buckle it up. It's going to be a
heck of a ride here this next fortnite. You know
what a fortnite is?
Speaker 4 (03:40):
Right? Two weeks there, you go.
Speaker 1 (03:46):
I thought maybe I could slip wondering on you, but
I can see you've been studying. You've been studying those
those questions I send you every week. But yeah, the flashcars,
So yeah, the next Fortnite should be very inter and
certainly revealing in terms not only of you know, the Steelers'
chances for the postseason, but also maybe how you know
(04:08):
the AFC North starts to take shape as we head
into December, which is always a critical month in an
NFL regular season.
Speaker 3 (04:15):
All four of those Bungles losses in last place are
AFC losses, two labs that really hurts come tiebreaker time.
Speaker 1 (04:23):
Yeah, you know, And but the thing I always caution
people about is tiebreakers only come into play if your
record is tied. If you have a better record or
a lesser record than the other team in question, the
tiebreakers don't matter. So yeah, it's still the first tiebreaker
(04:43):
is you know your record, So you know, just keep
that in mind before you start doing all the gazentas
with all those tiebreakers and all the permutations of them.
Speaker 3 (04:57):
Let's get to this week's batch of questions. Our first
one comes from Jared Honeker from Afton, Virginia. I felt
like the five penalties against the Steelers on the Titans
opening drive were more than we actually committed or deserved.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
Even the announcers were annoyed.
Speaker 3 (05:11):
Was it a statement from the officials that they won't
tolerate comments like Mike Tomlin made the previous Sunday after
the loss to the Jaguars.
Speaker 1 (05:22):
I got my belief is the only statement that was
made by the flag happy crew working Steelers Titans was
that they approach almost every game believing they get graded
by volume. You know, more flags, the higher the grade.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
That's pretty free.
Speaker 4 (05:39):
Oh yeah.
Speaker 1 (05:40):
Referee John Hussey and his crew are known for throwing
a lot of flags.
Speaker 4 (05:46):
Unlet's.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
In the October fifteenth game, when Cleveland upset the San
Francisco forty nine ers, Hussey and his crew called twenty
five accepted penalties for two hundred and twenty four yards. So,
I mean again, I've said this a million times. Once
the NFL figures out that people are not paying money
(06:08):
to sit in stands or watch on TV officials dominate
a game, maybe they'll figure it out that, you know,
less is more and just for just to kind of
tie a bow on this for Jared, the final numbers
in that Steelers Titans game seventeen accepted penalties for one
(06:28):
hundred and thirty one yards. So who knows, maybe Hussey
and his group got a low grade for that because
we're below to twenty five.
Speaker 3 (06:35):
I gotta say seventeen pretty low there. John having her
off night. Grant Spellerberg from Cutler Bay, Florida has our
next question.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
He asks, aside from.
Speaker 3 (06:44):
The backup quarterback, who usually only plays if the starter
is hurt, how many of the other active players do
not play on game days.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
Don't most of the other positions rotate throughout the game?
Speaker 1 (06:55):
Yes, they do, And you know that's why I've always
maintained and people sometimes get a little too excited about
who starts at receiver or who starts at running back
or no excuse me, or who starts in the defensive backfield.
But I mean, you know, you cannot be on the
field for the first snap of the game as a
(07:16):
wide receiver and end up playing more snaps than any
of the other wide receivers in that game because of
the rotation that Grant is referring to. So to get
to this question, Yes, it's typically the backup quarterback, and
then recently for the Steelers, it has been their seventh
offensive lineman. That recently has been Spencer Anderson, the rookie
(07:38):
seventh round pick. He's typically given a helmet because of
his ability to line up at multiple positions on the
offensive line in the event of, you know, more than
one in game injury, so usually it can change, but
usually it's the backup quarterback who is Mitch Trubisky and
the seventh offensive lineman who was Spencer.
Speaker 3 (07:58):
Anderson Whiteside from Hagerstown, Maryland. Do you think that the
Steelers have a chance of making the playoffs? Also?
Speaker 2 (08:06):
What do you think the best division is in the NFL?
Speaker 1 (08:10):
I'll take the second question first. You know, we were talking
about it girl. To me, it's got to be the
AFC North. The Bengals are in the last place at
five and four. You know, in quantifying the best division,
you know is the only way I can do it,
except for what I think is how many look at
the standings. How many teams over five hundred are in
(08:33):
each division? Now, the AFC North has four teams over
five hundred, the only there's no other division in the
NFL with more than two teams over five hundred, even
though the AFC South has two teams over five hundred
and then a team at five hundred in third place.
(08:56):
But you know, seriously, the Bengals are last in the
AFC North right now, The only AFC South team that
I believe could handle the Bengals would be Jacksonville. Maybe
the Texans on a good day. But you know, when
your last place team is maybe better than the first
place team in the other division, you're kind of looking
(09:18):
at To me, that's not much of a contest. Okay,
onto the other part of the question. Yeah, the Steelers
have a chance absolutely to make the playoffs. I think
it's gonna take ten wins in the AFC this year,
so we'll find out. You know, there's eight weeks left,
eight games left, and there's six and three, so that's
(09:38):
six wins already, eight games left, need to get to ten.
Quick math there, young Thomas. Four, There you go for.
I was gonna say four and four, but five hundred
is also an acceptable answer in this and I think
I think that'll do it.
Speaker 4 (09:54):
Now.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
I'm not saying that that's gonna be easy or likely,
but that's how I see it.
Speaker 3 (10:00):
Yeah, I agree with you. It just seems like it's
especially when you look at the schedule. You know, you
don't want to do that and predict based on how
the other team's looking right now. But there are definitely
some wins to be had for the Steelers down the
stretch here.
Speaker 1 (10:11):
Yeah, and also some very difficult you know, like that
at Seattle o New Year's Eve, right.
Speaker 2 (10:21):
Even if Seattle wasn't a good team, that'd be a
tough trip.
Speaker 1 (10:24):
Yes, yes, I could tell you horror stories about plane
rides to Seattle, but I'll spare you that right now.
Maybe you know next time, next training camp and where
it to peer having a cold beverage after a hot day.
I can regale you with some horror stories of being
on a plane, the endless plane ride to Seattle, flat
(10:49):
into the wind in the winter. Yeah, that's brutal.
Speaker 3 (10:52):
John White from Lancaster, Lancashire in the United Kingdom, Wow,
labs across the pond here with this question. Miles Boykin
is excellent when it comes to covering punts in a
role where stats don't give a clear picture. Who is
the best coverage man from your time covering the team?
Also a shout out and good luck to Cole Holcomb
(11:13):
who has been a stud this season.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
Yeah, and John might want to add one Quanta Alexander
to that. Seems to be an epidemic there. I hate
to see that happen to guys and so best best
wishes to both them on their recoveries. Anyway, when it
comes to special teams, I mean, the Steelers have had
a long history of players beginning their careers, you know,
(11:40):
on special teams and then going on to being very
integral contributors on either offense or defense. I mean, I
can here's just a partial list off the top of
my head, and these are recent guys. Levon Kirkland, Chad Brown,
Jerial Savsky, Brett Keesl remember him covering punts, three hundred
(12:00):
pound guy flying down, Buston Wedges, James Harrison, Joey Porter,
Senior Hines Ward, and there's a lot of other ones.
But I'm gonna give you guys who who were primarily
on the team, who stayed on the team because they
played special teams. They weren't young players working their way
(12:23):
into roles on either offense or defense. Chronologically in order
at the time that they played for the Steelers. The
first is Fred McAfee, and then Cheety oh Woma is
the other guy. McAfee was a running back by trade,
but he covered kicks. He played five seasons with the Steelers.
(12:44):
In five seasons, he had a total of one hundred
and twenty four offensive touchdowns excuse me, offensive touchdowns touches
said it wrong twice, but his career lasted for ten
seasons and a hundred ninety four games because he covered
kicks and he was good at it. A Wona's career
(13:07):
followed a similar path. He was a defensive back by trade,
but during his five seasons with the Steelers one to
five and two thousands, played in seventy one regular season games,
but he only started one of those on defense, So
that kind of makes my point right now. By the way,
(13:27):
chid O Woma is in his fourth season as a
college scout for the Steelers after serving eight seasons as
Pittsburgh's blessed those scouts, so he remains with the team
contributing to the scouting department in very much a way
that was as unsung as was his playing career, but
(13:49):
noteworthy contributions.
Speaker 3 (13:51):
Nonetheless, we keep it international with our next question from
Israel Pickholtz from Askalan Israel, So coach Mike Tomlin said
he plans to bring in officials to help avoid penalties
in the future.
Speaker 2 (14:04):
How exactly does that work?
Speaker 3 (14:06):
Seems to me that if the team is playing, certain
officials to come in and the team is paying certain
officials to come in. There, you go, there is a
relationship that ought not to be allowed.
Speaker 1 (14:17):
Okay, the officials who brought or brought in to practices
at the up mc rooney Sports Complex, they're either college
officials or high school officials, and they're local. They're local people,
local men and women. You know, it's easier for them
to travel. Uh, you know, it's easier. They do get paid,
(14:38):
but they're high school or college officials, so there isn't
that conflict that Israel asked about. And you know, this
is what Mike Tomlins said about what he's looking for
from officials that are brought into work stealers practices. He said,
I can stand in front of the group and say,
we need to clean the penalties up. So how do
(14:59):
we go about that. We intensify our standard of expectations
and a practice by having officials and having them throw
flags when appropriate, and most importantly, the dialogue after the
play of why and what was the trigger in terms
of creating the penalty. It's all done in an effort
to kick our own butts less, because being part of
(15:20):
a tough team to beat is not beating yourself So
just to kind of recap, the Steelers had the penalty
issues against Tennessee and then against the Packers. As I'm
looking this up really quickly here on the fly, they
were only penalties three times, so you know a lot
(15:42):
of times that does work.
Speaker 4 (15:45):
Three times against the Green.
Speaker 3 (15:47):
Baker Jack Baker from Heisham, Montana. Has the NFL considered
expanding into Canada like other professional teams NBA, MLB and
of course the NHL, it seems like they would have
a great fan base.
Speaker 1 (16:00):
No, the NFL has stayed out of Canada. I you know,
my impression is the reason for that is it's kind
of like a professional courtesy.
Speaker 5 (16:11):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (16:11):
The NFL doesn't want to kill the Canadian Football League,
which is still a very viable sport in Canada with
franchises you know, throughout the country there. And I just
believe that, you know, the NFL likes there's no competition,
you know, but for players between the NFL and the CFL,
(16:34):
and I think that the NFL kind of would like
to keep it that way. You don't want to get
into another bidding war like there was between the NFL
and the AFL for players and raiding teams and trying
to sign draft picks that are picks players who are
picked by the other league. There was a lot of
that going on in the in the sixties, and so,
(16:55):
you know, I just think that that's that's why it's
done that way. And you know, NFL football fans in Canada,
if they want to watch the NFL, there's you know,
TVs pick it up up there, satellite dishes, you know,
whatever is necessary to get CBS or Fox or NBC
(17:20):
or you know, any of the even Amazon Prime or
YouTube or whatever services are broadcasting NFL games. And I
just think that that's the way that the NFL would
prefer the relationship to be going.
Speaker 3 (17:34):
Plus, I mean, come on, Minnesota, Buffalo, that's basically Canada anyway,
it's close enough.
Speaker 2 (17:37):
I mean, they could just go on onto those teams.
Speaker 1 (17:39):
It's good enough for them, Okay.
Speaker 3 (17:43):
Chris Weinschenker from Latroe, PA, when Texans running back, I
can't believe you're going to make me try to pronounce
this name.
Speaker 2 (17:51):
Ogumbwawalla.
Speaker 3 (17:52):
I think I did a decent job. Made a field
goal last weekend. I immediately recalled that. In the early
late nineteen seventies, the Steeler center Ray Mayfield at least
tried to kick a field goal or apat. I look
through some online football stat sites and could find no
record of it. Am I suffering from the Mandela effect?
Speaker 1 (18:12):
No, you're not. In the reason that you probably couldn't
find it. A lot of stats sites do not automatically
include playoff stats in overall stats for individuals and or teams.
And that's why because Ray Mansfield did kick two extra points,
(18:35):
but both of those came in the playoffs after the
nineteen seventy six season, one in the Divisional round game
in Baltimore and the other in the AFC Championship game
in Oakland, both of those because of injuries to Roy Dirella,
who was the full time placekicker at the time. So
in that particular statistical category, Ray Mansfield retired a perfect
(18:59):
two foot.
Speaker 2 (19:00):
I'd love to see a center kick an extra point. Laughs.
Speaker 1 (19:04):
All right, let's see. I mean that's you know, that
used to be the way it was done. I mean,
Paul Horning, I still consider that one of the greatest.
His nineteen sixty two season one of the greatest seasons
by an individual in the NFL, because not only was
he a running back and a receiver. But he was
(19:24):
also the place kicker for real, not just in emergencies,
and he rang up a whole bunch of points as
a player who was MVP, you know all of that stuff.
So yeah, I that would be good. That would be
great if you had to go back to a time
where you.
Speaker 2 (19:42):
Find someone on your roster that's good enough to kick.
Speaker 1 (19:45):
Can't be just a kicker, right, punter, kicker, all of those,
all of those spots would make it interesting, that's for sure.
Speaker 3 (19:57):
And our final question today comes from Ed Johnson from Intown, Ohio.
I believe Franco Harris was considered a fullback during his career.
In today's NFL, would he be listed as a running
back or as a halfback. It seems like fullbacks are
mostly used as blockers today. Also, we're not wide receivers
once referred to either as a tight end or a
split end.
Speaker 1 (20:18):
Okay, Franco Harris will deal with that first. His playing
weight was listed at two thirty. He was listed as
a full back officially. You know other fullbacks of the
time where Jim Brown, Larry Zonka.
Speaker 4 (20:32):
Uh so decent.
Speaker 1 (20:34):
You know, fullbacks right in those days were often the
primary ball carriers and so yes, he was a fullback.
He was listed at two thirty and he would be
called a running back now because just as a couple
of recent examples, Jerome Bettis was listed as a running
back and he his playing weight was two fifty two
(20:58):
at least on the On the pro Derrick Henry is
listed as a running back. His playing weight is currently
listed at two forty seven. So yes, frank O Harris
would be a running back.
Speaker 4 (21:12):
Now.
Speaker 1 (21:13):
Prior to the all encompassing term of wide receivers, those
players were listed as split ends and flankers because you
used to have, you know, in the backfield you had
a full back and then you had a left half
back and a right half back, and one of those
halfbacks turned into a flanker once the passing became more
(21:36):
of a prevalent part of an NFL offense. Going back
even farther than that, a tight end was listed as
a right end because they were right ends and left ends,
you know. Not so yeah, because LB Nickel, as an example,
who's in the Steelers Hall of Honor, who is considered
(21:59):
was considered is considered the second best tight end in
franchise history, behind Eath Miller. If you looked him up
specifically during his the time he played, there was no
such thing as a tight end.
Speaker 4 (22:12):
He was a right end.
Speaker 1 (22:14):
And the reason that that tight end position lined up
on the right side was offenses were primarily right handed,
and so you ran to the right, and the tight
end was on the strong side as a blocker. And
then he became a receiver. And you know, that's enough
of the olden days for everybody.
Speaker 4 (22:31):
I'm sure.
Speaker 3 (22:34):
Steelers Brown's Sunday six excuse me six and three verse
six and three one o'clock kickoff in Cleveland for the
beginning of the Battle of Ohio. As Labs coined at
the beginning of this podcast, thanks for everybody who got
their questions in today. If you want to get your
questions in and read on a future episode, just send
them into Labs now and hopefully you'll be the lucky
if you selected.
Speaker 2 (22:55):
For Bob Labriola. I'm Tom Opferman.
Speaker 3 (22:57):
Thanks as always, and we'll talk to you next week
on another ass then answered
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