December 2, 2025 • 24 mins
Labs and Tom break down the loss to the Bills then get into this week's batch of 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):
Steeers fell to the Bills, and it was pretty ugly.
Twenty six to seven was the final score at Akroscher
Stadium on Sunday and Labs, there's a couple of stats
that really jump out to me that kind of illustrate
how ugly it was for the Steelers. The Bill's rushing
totals two hundred and forty nine yards on fifty one
carries of four point nine yards per carry average. They
(00:33):
scored a rushing touchdown as well. That's the most rushing
yardage that has been put up against the Steelers by
an opponent at Akroscher slash Hinz Field history. It's the
most put up by an opponent since the Buffalo Bills
since nineteen seventy five in Pittsburgh. And then the other one,
Labs is the time of possession and that kind of
feeds off of that running attack. Almost forty two minutes
(00:53):
to the Bills and eighteen for the Steelers.
Speaker 3 (00:57):
Yeah, I mean, it was.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
It was ugly in just about every category you would
choose to to look at. I mean, and it just
seemed as though, at least to me leading up to
the game, that the Bills were kind of ripe to
be to be upset. No, they were without their stude,
(01:19):
excuse me, they were. They were without their two starting
offensive tackles. Their tight end Dalton Kincaid was also inactive.
He is, you know, Josh Allen's security blanket. And you know,
the Bills receivers aren't aren't any great shakes. So you know,
(01:42):
James Cook, the running back, seemed to me to be,
you know, the primary guy you had to get under control,
and it just never happened never. You know, you mentioned
his statistic, well you mentioned the Bills statistics overall rushing.
You know, Cook thirty who won forty four thirty two attempts.
(02:05):
You know, he was also their leading receiver too, in
terms of he tied for the team lead with three
catches and then he was the leading yardage receiver with
thirty three. So as you can see, the Bills leading
receiver only had thirty three yards. So that really kind
of emphasizes the emphasis that they put on the running game.
(02:30):
And because it was so dramatically successful, it was good.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
Enough, no doubt, And I don't want to pin everything
on a rookie, like all their successes stopping the run
and all their failures not stopping it is when he's
in and out of the lineup. But it is hard
to ignore a drastic difference happening when Derek Harmon was
down in that game. Again, I don't think Derek Harmon
comes in and he shuts James Cook down to the
tune that the Steelers defense did to Jonathan Taylor, but
(02:57):
he would have helped.
Speaker 4 (02:58):
I have no doubt about that.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
Yeah, And you know it's a trickle down thing too,
because you know, without Derek Carmon as the starter, okay,
someone moves up into the starting role, and then that's
a position that you know, you rotate guys in and
out a lot, and so now you know, let's just
just to say, y a Black is a top backup, Well,
now he's a starter, So then who's your top backup?
(03:24):
And it just it stresses a team in a in
a spot where usually you don't have a lot of
extra you know, defensive line is not a lot of
teams have a lot of extra quality defensive lineman.
Speaker 3 (03:42):
So yeah, it.
Speaker 1 (03:45):
Yeah, like I said, it wasn't it wasn't pretty. Let
me just get this into right now before I forget.
That was a penalty on Bosa for roughing the past.
Speaker 4 (03:54):
So it had it written down. I was going to
get to it.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
It absolutely was weight of the quarterback or weight of
the body on the quarterback.
Speaker 3 (04:00):
I mean, see that.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
This is the kind of stuff that makes me crazy
because I firmly believe if that had happened to Tom Brady,
whoever did, it would be on death row. Now there's
there's just a i won't say even double standard. I mean,
there are favorites who are protected more than other guys.
(04:26):
And it has happened all the way back to when
Heloi Nauda punched Ben in the face and broke his
nose and there was no.
Speaker 4 (04:33):
Penalty, yep, exactly.
Speaker 3 (04:34):
I mean, so anyway, I just had to get that
off my chest.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
I'm glad you had that on your chest as well,
because I did too. And it sounds like sour grapes,
right Like, it sounds like we're whining and complaining because
that was such a big momentum changing play. But the
fact is the fact that, by the rule of the
current day of the NFL, is a penalty on Joey Bosa.
He put his entire weight on Aaron Rodgers. CA do
that to the quarterback. That should have been Steelers ball,
(05:02):
that should have wiped away that touchdown from the Bills.
And just to show that we're unbiased labs, because we are. Okay,
we're the most unbiased podcast out there.
Speaker 4 (05:12):
I thought that there was that's a low ball Josh Allen.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
I think he's another one of these guys that you know,
is almost a victim of who he is when it
comes to how the rest refereeum. There was a play
in that game where I thought he slid and Patrick
Queen I think it was TICKI techy. It wasn't as
egregious as the Rogers and Bosa thing, but I thought
Patrick Queen might have got him a little bit late.
And I just think the refs look at Josh Allen
and say, hey, dude, you're basically a linebacker.
Speaker 4 (05:36):
We're never giving you those calls that we give the
Bradys and the Mahomes.
Speaker 1 (05:40):
Well, let me say this, I don't you know. I
thought Josh Allen could have gone down quicker too. See
that's what these guys.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
It wasn't as egregious as the Bosa Rogers thing. That
was a clear cut and dry.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
Penalty because when you decide to slide has a lot
to do. In my opinion, you're the the chance that
the defensive player has, you know, to avoid you because
if you come up soft on Josh Allen, he will
lower his shoulder and run you over. And that happened
(06:12):
in the playoff game last year the KZ. So when
you come up to you got attack. You got to
bring it to tackle Josh Allen and he knows that.
And you know again, you know, like in the game
last night, the Monday Night game, Jackson Dart running down
(06:34):
the sideline, he pulls that Patrick Mahomes thing. You know,
he's running down the sideline, You're going to step out.
You're going to step out. How far you think you're
going to go before you step out? Then he wants
to get to the stick. Well, now I got to
hit you because I remember just just you know, I
(06:54):
digress here. But this is one of my favorite stories.
Jack Lambert once got ejected from a Steelers Browns game
in Free River Stadium, uh and he got ejected after
a hit on Brian's side, Cleveland quarterback at the time.
So after the game, We're standing around Lambert's locker and
(07:16):
somebody asked him about the penalty, and you know what
did they say to you when they ejected you? And
he Lambert said that the referee said that I hit
him too hard and something. Then follow up question to
Lambert was, well, did you hit him too hard? And
Lambert said, I hit him as hard as I could.
(07:36):
And that's you know, you want to run. At some
point you become a runner, and I think you then
that allows the defense to treat you like a running back.
That's my opinion. But it's in the minority, and things
(07:57):
are going to be like they are. And as as
you said, I believe just now it sounds like sour grapes.
I don't think it uh cost it was the play
that costs the Steelers that game. Certainly not. But you know,
you'd just like to see it done fairly. If you're
(08:18):
gonna if you're gonna hammer TJ. Watt the week before
for that, yes, you gotta hammer h Nick Bosa or
Joey which both Joey Bosa for that.
Speaker 3 (08:30):
When it happens, it's Fair's fair.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
Rogers got rocked on that play, had the bloody nose
came into that game with the broken wrist. We found
out there were three broken bones in that risk. You
can't question the guy's toughness. I mean, we knew that
going into this season as a track record of it
back to his days in Green Bay. But it really
is remarkable to see him out there and wanting to
play through these injuries. But you do have to wonder
labs how his effectiveness was, and you could clearly see
(08:55):
that there were some limitations out there with that broken wrist.
Speaker 1 (08:59):
Yeah, and you know, I don't the thing to me
is could he have been effective under center? If he
was not? You know, is that enough to want to
play the other guy? Mason Rudolph. I don't know. I
don't know the answers to this. You know, I think,
(09:21):
you know, Aaron Rodgers, is this is going to be
his last season. I mean, I don't know anything, but
it just seems to me that we're kind of trending
in that way. And I don't think he wanted to
be sitting on the bench, you know, for the last
few games of his NFL career. And so, yeah, he's
(09:41):
a tough guy. He wants to play, he loves to play.
He wouldn't still be playing if he wasn't a tough
guy and loved to play.
Speaker 3 (09:49):
You know, but I don't, I know.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
I just don't know how how much that affected him
or how much that impacted the offense if he was
if he was on a to be under center.
Speaker 4 (10:02):
No, I completely agree.
Speaker 2 (10:03):
I think it really limits your playbook and a lot
what you could do in running and in the play
action when you can't get under center. Hopefully Rogers can
do that this week and that bone heals a little
bit more and he's feeling a little bit better.
Speaker 4 (10:15):
Let's get to this week's batch of questions.
Speaker 2 (10:17):
We start with Paul Middler from Avella, Pennsylvania. With all
the talk about the Pitt Panthers playing at Akrocher Stadium,
would it be possible to adapt the PNC Park for
college football? Being smaller, it would be easier for fans
to fill it.
Speaker 1 (10:31):
Well, you know, a lot of the same problems exist.
I mean, the Pirates baseball season extends through September, which
is also football season. I believe Pitt played a game
at Akrocher Stadium at the end of August, So you're
still in a situation where you have two different sports
(10:54):
professional sports playing on grass and then you know, you
have the base paths and the pitching mound and home
plate and all that's dirt instead of grass, and then
you're going to reconfigure, you know, in terms of lining
the field. You got to go from baseball to football,
(11:14):
and then what's the outfield look like if you have
to play a baseball game there the next day. So
that's not a solution. I there's no way that. And
why would the Pirates all, you know, turn over their
grass field for a college football game. For college football
(11:35):
games during the last month and a half of their
regular season. It just makes no sense.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
I used to think it was so cool as a kid, though,
Labs when you'd see those old Oakland Raiders games, right,
and they'd share the stadium with the Oakland A's and
the dirt field would still be in there, be like
running off for twenty yards. The next thing you know,
he's trying to steal second base out of nowhere. I
have to imagine that the NFL did not like the
optics of that on TV, though, A giant dirt patch
in the middle of their field.
Speaker 1 (11:59):
Yeah, and that's one of the you know the Dolphins, right,
that's Dan Marino torn Achilles on that, you know, going
from grass to dirt.
Speaker 3 (12:12):
So, I mean it can be dangerous.
Speaker 2 (12:14):
Regis Hess from Chestertown, Indiana, I truly appreciate and respect
your opinions, but as a fan. But as a fan,
it gets frustrating seeing the same thing offensive and defensive
play calling that is so predictable that even I can
tell what they are going to do. I cannot understand
why they don't run the ball more your opinion on
(12:36):
play calling.
Speaker 1 (12:38):
Okay, this is my opinion on play calling, and I'm
including me in this too. Okay, Whenever the play works,
it's a great call. Whenever the play doesn't work, it's
a lousy call. I mean, you don't hear people complaining about, oh,
that was a lousy play call that just gained fifty
yards on third and six, And you don't hear some
(13:00):
one say, wow, that was a great call. Yeah, it
didn't get the first down and turn the ball over,
but that was really creative. I mean, you know, it's
it's very much a result driven formula. If it works,
it's great. If it doesn't, it's not. And that's that's
play calling.
Speaker 2 (13:19):
Yeah, And you know, as far as the predictability thing goes,
that was pretty predictable what the Bills.
Speaker 4 (13:23):
Were going to do on Sunday after a while.
Speaker 3 (13:25):
Huh.
Speaker 2 (13:25):
I mean they ran like the same few plays over
and over again and it was just as effective. So
you can be predictable and still be effective, yes, Jason
Debrido from Providence, Rhode Island. In the first half of
the Bears game, Connor Hayward appeared to gain a first
down on a tush push, but the officials deemed him
to be short of the line to gain, which caused
(13:45):
the turnover on downs. With the extra time because of
the possession change, and with replay clearly showing the runner
making the line to gain before the whistle was blown,
stopping play, why didn't Mike Tomlin challenge the spot?
Speaker 3 (13:58):
Okay? Well?
Speaker 1 (14:00):
Well, as Jason mentioned in his question, the failed tush
push resulted in a turnover on downs, and in the
NFL now a turnover on downs is considered a turnover
the same way an interception or a fumble recovery is
considered a turnover, and all turnovers are automatically reviewed in
(14:21):
the NFL. Okay, So somewhere during that time delay because
of the possession change, commercials, you know, and all of that.
The play was reviewed by the NFL office in New York,
and the review there determined that the on field officials
spotted the ball correctly. Now I happen to agree with
(14:41):
Jason that they didn't. This is one of the reasons
that I hate to tush push because they cannot. It
cannot be officiated properly. But that's for another argument. But anyway,
so that was the review determined that call on the
field was correct. Once that's communicated to the on field
(15:02):
referee in Chicago, it's over. Replay made a decision. There's
no way for either coach to challenge to play. You
can't relitigate. Once the judge says guilty or not guilty,
that's it. So, yes, I agree what replay clearly showed.
I agree that he had got the line Togain. But
(15:25):
once it was called on the field and reviewed and upheld,
that's it.
Speaker 3 (15:29):
It's over. You cannot challenge.
Speaker 4 (15:31):
Joe Werner from West Henrietta, New York.
Speaker 2 (15:35):
Joe greens Wikipedia page states that he is one of
four people outside the Rooney family to have Super Bowl
rings from all six Steelers' victories, who are the other three.
Speaker 1 (15:47):
Okay, here's the other three. Bill Nunn, everybody knows who
he is, Geraldine Glenn, who was a longtime ticket manager.
And Bob McCartney, a longtime video director who's one of
his first assignments filming games.
Speaker 3 (16:04):
Was the immaculate reception.
Speaker 4 (16:08):
Wow, talk about that on your resume. That's impressive.
Speaker 2 (16:10):
And what was me and Joe doing for those other
two Super Bowls labs specifically or was it just like, hey,
you're me and Joe Green, we want to give you
these rings.
Speaker 1 (16:17):
No, he was in the player personnel. He was in
the player personnel department.
Speaker 2 (16:20):
Because you want to give them them to who's going
to tell him?
Speaker 3 (16:25):
No?
Speaker 4 (16:25):
You just take them right exactly.
Speaker 2 (16:29):
Eric Ash from Las Vegas, Nevada has our next question.
If I understand the Halo route or the Halo rule correctly,
the punting team has to give the punt returner a
two yard cushion to catch the ball. It looks to
me that a lot of punt returners have someone almost
in their face when they catch the ball. Is this
one of those rules that isn't enforced except when it is.
Speaker 1 (16:52):
There is? It's not a rule in the NFL. There
is no halo rule in the NFL. The punt team
cannot contact the returner in any way before he catches
the ball, or it's a penalty. That's that's that's the
only rule. I remember long ago in training camp, Antonio
(17:16):
Brown was a rookie, and you know he's back there
catching punts, and they'd run James Harrison at him.
Speaker 4 (17:28):
Factor.
Speaker 1 (17:28):
Yeah, you know, so if you could still concentrate on that.
I'm sure Harrison wasn't exactly quiet as he was approaching.
You know, if you concentrate on the ball and make
the catch with that in your face, maybe you've got
the uh, the qualifications for the job.
Speaker 2 (17:49):
That's got to be one of those things at the
top of the list where people you know, on their
couch or in the stands watching are like, how could
you flinch? Or how could you fumble that ball? If
he hits you, it's a penalty. You just take the
fifteen yards, be a man about it. Seeing those people
scream at you out of your peripheral vision while you're
trying to track a ball has to be the most
terrifying thing. I would just bail. I'd be like, just
let this ball bounce. You can down to that the one.
Speaker 3 (18:10):
I don't care, Anthony, It's not.
Speaker 2 (18:14):
For me, No, Anthony, That's why we podcast. Anthony Benevete
is from West Sacramento, California. With the news of Corey
Trice's season being officially over, are we going to move
on from him? He reminds me of san Quez Golson
in terms of being talent that is unavailable. Would investing
in the secondary through the draft become more of a necessity?
Speaker 1 (18:36):
You know, Corey Trice has had a long history with injuries,
and there were they've been significant injuries, and those injuries
have gone all the way back to his time in
college at Purdue. Now that's why it was a sixth
round or seventh round draft pick. I mean, because a
cornerback with his height and athletic ability when he's not
(18:58):
injured is not a seventh ron pick. I mean, you know, so,
I just think that the Steelers took a flyer on
him as a seventh round pick while they were hopeful
maybe that he could play, or you know, maybe excited
by the potential that he had. I don't know that
(19:19):
the team ever was counting on him because of the
fact that he was always injured and as I mentioned,
you know, these are not hamstring pulls. You know, these
are knee injuries that require surgery and often it's you know,
major surgery.
Speaker 3 (19:36):
And so.
Speaker 1 (19:39):
Corey Trice's situation, you feel bad for him, but I
don't know that it really moves the needle on terms
in terms of how the team is or was building
its secondary when he was on the team, and how
it might view it if his if if, and I
mean make I want to emphasize them saying if his
(20:01):
career is over, if it is, how they then proceed
because of that.
Speaker 2 (20:08):
That news and our final question today comes from Robert
Jackson from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Adam Schefter reported that the suspension
of Bengals receiver Jamar Chase would cost Chase five hundred
and seven one hundred and fifty six dollars, But when
Chase signed his major contract, it was reported to be
forty million per season. My question is why would his
suspension not be closer to two point three five million,
(20:30):
or one seventeenth of his annual salary.
Speaker 1 (20:35):
Well, first of all, when contracts are reported to be
forty million per season, that's a number based on the
total divided by the years that doesn't mean that's what
he's paid per year. So you know they're signing bonuses
and you know all that other kind of stuff, maybe
(20:56):
even incentive bonuses that add to the total in terms
of how it's reported, but that doesn't mean it's, you know,
what he has paid per year. So when you look
at Jamar Chase's actual contract, his base salary is eight
point oh seven million dollars for twenty twenty five. Okay,
(21:19):
So in the NFL, players get game checks over the
course of the regular season. There's seventeen games plus a
bye week, so that means there's eighteen paychecks, eighteen game
checks over the course of a regular season to an
NFL player, So you divide eight point seven million by
(21:40):
eighteen and then also for this season, in season roster
bonus for Jamar Chase is one million total paid in
weekly installments, So for every game that he is on
the roster, he makes one seventeenh of one million dollars. Okay,
(22:03):
So when you do the arithmetic, one eighteenth of his
base pay is four hundred and forty eight thousand, three
hundred and three three hundred and thirty three dollars. One
seventeenth of his in roster bonuses fifty eight thousand, eight
hundred and twenty three dollars, so that comes to five
hundred and seven one fifty six.
Speaker 2 (22:23):
Losing that amount of money would break me as a person,
and Chase probably just rolled his eyes at.
Speaker 1 (22:28):
It so well, losing that amount of money would probably
make your wife a murder suspect.
Speaker 4 (22:35):
Also that ex wife murder suspect, Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1 (22:39):
Or that might the judge might say, that's justifiable homicide.
Speaker 3 (22:44):
Let her off, let her off.
Speaker 4 (22:48):
Well, labs.
Speaker 2 (22:48):
As ugly as it was against the Bills, Steelers got
to bounce back, and they got a hurry go to
M and T Bank Stadium on Sunday to take on
the Ravens at one o'clock. You're six and six, just
like the Ravens are. Everything is still in front of you,
and Baltimore doesn't look that great, Like it's not like
you're going into a buzzsaw. Kind of like last year
when the Steelers were reeling down the stretch and the
(23:10):
Ravens were starting to pick it up heading into the playoffs.
The Baltimore has looked awful in recent weeks, despite picking
up some wins in those recent weeks, and I think
Lamar Jackson is not playing at one hundred percent health.
Speaker 4 (23:21):
He just isn't as mobile as usually is.
Speaker 1 (23:26):
I'm not going to stick my foot in my mouth.
I had too many stupid things to say before the
Buffalo game about what I thought about Josh.
Speaker 3 (23:34):
Allen and how they were playing look.
Speaker 1 (23:36):
Yeah, and their injuries and how they looked, and so
I'm just going to keep my mouth shut because I
don't want to anger the football gods. But let me
say this, I'm not disagreeing with anything you just said.
Speaker 4 (23:50):
Sounds good to me.
Speaker 2 (23:51):
We'll keep those football gods appeased for now, and hopefully
that I'll pay off with the Steelers getting a big
win in Baltimore one o'clock kickoff against the Ravens. Thanks
for giving us a listen as always, and Labs and
I will be back again next week for another edition
of Asden Answered
This is asked and answered questions with Tom Upferman and
Steelers Digest editor Bob Labriola.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Steeers fell to the Bills, and it was pretty ugly.
Twenty six to seven was the final score at Akroscher
Stadium on Sunday and Labs, there's a couple of stats
that really jump out to me that kind of illustrate
how ugly it was for the Steelers. The Bill's rushing
totals two hundred and forty nine yards on fifty one
carries of four point nine yards per carry average. They
(00:33):
scored a rushing touchdown as well. That's the most rushing
yardage that has been put up against the Steelers by
an opponent at Akroscher slash Hinz Field history. It's the
most put up by an opponent since the Buffalo Bills
since nineteen seventy five in Pittsburgh. And then the other one,
Labs is the time of possession and that kind of
feeds off of that running attack. Almost forty two minutes
(00:53):
to the Bills and eighteen for the Steelers.
Speaker 3 (00:57):
Yeah, I mean, it was.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
It was ugly in just about every category you would
choose to to look at. I mean, and it just
seemed as though, at least to me leading up to
the game, that the Bills were kind of ripe to
be to be upset. No, they were without their stude,
(01:19):
excuse me, they were. They were without their two starting
offensive tackles. Their tight end Dalton Kincaid was also inactive.
He is, you know, Josh Allen's security blanket. And you know,
the Bills receivers aren't aren't any great shakes. So you know,
(01:42):
James Cook, the running back, seemed to me to be,
you know, the primary guy you had to get under control,
and it just never happened never. You know, you mentioned
his statistic, well you mentioned the Bills statistics overall rushing.
You know, Cook thirty who won forty four thirty two attempts.
(02:05):
You know, he was also their leading receiver too, in
terms of he tied for the team lead with three
catches and then he was the leading yardage receiver with
thirty three. So as you can see, the Bills leading
receiver only had thirty three yards. So that really kind
of emphasizes the emphasis that they put on the running game.
(02:30):
And because it was so dramatically successful, it was good.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
Enough, no doubt, And I don't want to pin everything
on a rookie, like all their successes stopping the run
and all their failures not stopping it is when he's
in and out of the lineup. But it is hard
to ignore a drastic difference happening when Derek Harmon was
down in that game. Again, I don't think Derek Harmon
comes in and he shuts James Cook down to the
tune that the Steelers defense did to Jonathan Taylor, but
(02:57):
he would have helped.
Speaker 4 (02:58):
I have no doubt about that.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
Yeah, And you know it's a trickle down thing too,
because you know, without Derek Carmon as the starter, okay,
someone moves up into the starting role, and then that's
a position that you know, you rotate guys in and
out a lot, and so now you know, let's just
just to say, y a Black is a top backup, Well,
now he's a starter, So then who's your top backup?
(03:24):
And it just it stresses a team in a in
a spot where usually you don't have a lot of
extra you know, defensive line is not a lot of
teams have a lot of extra quality defensive lineman.
Speaker 3 (03:42):
So yeah, it.
Speaker 1 (03:45):
Yeah, like I said, it wasn't it wasn't pretty. Let
me just get this into right now before I forget.
That was a penalty on Bosa for roughing the past.
Speaker 4 (03:54):
So it had it written down. I was going to
get to it.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
It absolutely was weight of the quarterback or weight of
the body on the quarterback.
Speaker 3 (04:00):
I mean, see that.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
This is the kind of stuff that makes me crazy
because I firmly believe if that had happened to Tom Brady,
whoever did, it would be on death row. Now there's
there's just a i won't say even double standard. I mean,
there are favorites who are protected more than other guys.
(04:26):
And it has happened all the way back to when
Heloi Nauda punched Ben in the face and broke his
nose and there was no.
Speaker 4 (04:33):
Penalty, yep, exactly.
Speaker 3 (04:34):
I mean, so anyway, I just had to get that
off my chest.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
I'm glad you had that on your chest as well,
because I did too. And it sounds like sour grapes,
right Like, it sounds like we're whining and complaining because
that was such a big momentum changing play. But the
fact is the fact that, by the rule of the
current day of the NFL, is a penalty on Joey Bosa.
He put his entire weight on Aaron Rodgers. CA do
that to the quarterback. That should have been Steelers ball,
(05:02):
that should have wiped away that touchdown from the Bills.
And just to show that we're unbiased labs, because we are. Okay,
we're the most unbiased podcast out there.
Speaker 4 (05:12):
I thought that there was that's a low ball Josh Allen.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
I think he's another one of these guys that you know,
is almost a victim of who he is when it
comes to how the rest refereeum. There was a play
in that game where I thought he slid and Patrick
Queen I think it was TICKI techy. It wasn't as
egregious as the Rogers and Bosa thing, but I thought
Patrick Queen might have got him a little bit late.
And I just think the refs look at Josh Allen
and say, hey, dude, you're basically a linebacker.
Speaker 4 (05:36):
We're never giving you those calls that we give the
Bradys and the Mahomes.
Speaker 1 (05:40):
Well, let me say this, I don't you know. I
thought Josh Allen could have gone down quicker too. See
that's what these guys.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
It wasn't as egregious as the Bosa Rogers thing. That
was a clear cut and dry.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
Penalty because when you decide to slide has a lot
to do. In my opinion, you're the the chance that
the defensive player has, you know, to avoid you because
if you come up soft on Josh Allen, he will
lower his shoulder and run you over. And that happened
(06:12):
in the playoff game last year the KZ. So when
you come up to you got attack. You got to
bring it to tackle Josh Allen and he knows that.
And you know again, you know, like in the game
last night, the Monday Night game, Jackson Dart running down
(06:34):
the sideline, he pulls that Patrick Mahomes thing. You know,
he's running down the sideline, You're going to step out.
You're going to step out. How far you think you're
going to go before you step out? Then he wants
to get to the stick. Well, now I got to
hit you because I remember just just you know, I
(06:54):
digress here. But this is one of my favorite stories.
Jack Lambert once got ejected from a Steelers Browns game
in Free River Stadium, uh and he got ejected after
a hit on Brian's side, Cleveland quarterback at the time.
So after the game, We're standing around Lambert's locker and
(07:16):
somebody asked him about the penalty, and you know what
did they say to you when they ejected you? And
he Lambert said that the referee said that I hit
him too hard and something. Then follow up question to
Lambert was, well, did you hit him too hard? And
Lambert said, I hit him as hard as I could.
(07:36):
And that's you know, you want to run. At some
point you become a runner, and I think you then
that allows the defense to treat you like a running back.
That's my opinion. But it's in the minority, and things
(07:57):
are going to be like they are. And as as
you said, I believe just now it sounds like sour grapes.
I don't think it uh cost it was the play
that costs the Steelers that game. Certainly not. But you know,
you'd just like to see it done fairly. If you're
(08:18):
gonna if you're gonna hammer TJ. Watt the week before
for that, yes, you gotta hammer h Nick Bosa or
Joey which both Joey Bosa for that.
Speaker 3 (08:30):
When it happens, it's Fair's fair.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
Rogers got rocked on that play, had the bloody nose
came into that game with the broken wrist. We found
out there were three broken bones in that risk. You
can't question the guy's toughness. I mean, we knew that
going into this season as a track record of it
back to his days in Green Bay. But it really
is remarkable to see him out there and wanting to
play through these injuries. But you do have to wonder
labs how his effectiveness was, and you could clearly see
(08:55):
that there were some limitations out there with that broken wrist.
Speaker 1 (08:59):
Yeah, and you know, I don't the thing to me
is could he have been effective under center? If he
was not? You know, is that enough to want to
play the other guy? Mason Rudolph. I don't know. I
don't know the answers to this. You know, I think,
(09:21):
you know, Aaron Rodgers, is this is going to be
his last season. I mean, I don't know anything, but
it just seems to me that we're kind of trending
in that way. And I don't think he wanted to
be sitting on the bench, you know, for the last
few games of his NFL career. And so, yeah, he's
(09:41):
a tough guy. He wants to play, he loves to play.
He wouldn't still be playing if he wasn't a tough
guy and loved to play.
Speaker 3 (09:49):
You know, but I don't, I know.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
I just don't know how how much that affected him
or how much that impacted the offense if he was
if he was on a to be under center.
Speaker 4 (10:02):
No, I completely agree.
Speaker 2 (10:03):
I think it really limits your playbook and a lot
what you could do in running and in the play
action when you can't get under center. Hopefully Rogers can
do that this week and that bone heals a little
bit more and he's feeling a little bit better.
Speaker 4 (10:15):
Let's get to this week's batch of questions.
Speaker 2 (10:17):
We start with Paul Middler from Avella, Pennsylvania. With all
the talk about the Pitt Panthers playing at Akrocher Stadium,
would it be possible to adapt the PNC Park for
college football? Being smaller, it would be easier for fans
to fill it.
Speaker 1 (10:31):
Well, you know, a lot of the same problems exist.
I mean, the Pirates baseball season extends through September, which
is also football season. I believe Pitt played a game
at Akrocher Stadium at the end of August, So you're
still in a situation where you have two different sports
(10:54):
professional sports playing on grass and then you know, you
have the base paths and the pitching mound and home
plate and all that's dirt instead of grass, and then
you're going to reconfigure, you know, in terms of lining
the field. You got to go from baseball to football,
(11:14):
and then what's the outfield look like if you have
to play a baseball game there the next day. So
that's not a solution. I there's no way that. And
why would the Pirates all, you know, turn over their
grass field for a college football game. For college football
(11:35):
games during the last month and a half of their
regular season. It just makes no sense.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
I used to think it was so cool as a kid, though,
Labs when you'd see those old Oakland Raiders games, right,
and they'd share the stadium with the Oakland A's and
the dirt field would still be in there, be like
running off for twenty yards. The next thing you know,
he's trying to steal second base out of nowhere. I
have to imagine that the NFL did not like the
optics of that on TV, though, A giant dirt patch
in the middle of their field.
Speaker 1 (11:59):
Yeah, and that's one of the you know the Dolphins, right,
that's Dan Marino torn Achilles on that, you know, going
from grass to dirt.
Speaker 3 (12:12):
So, I mean it can be dangerous.
Speaker 2 (12:14):
Regis Hess from Chestertown, Indiana, I truly appreciate and respect
your opinions, but as a fan. But as a fan,
it gets frustrating seeing the same thing offensive and defensive
play calling that is so predictable that even I can
tell what they are going to do. I cannot understand
why they don't run the ball more your opinion on
(12:36):
play calling.
Speaker 1 (12:38):
Okay, this is my opinion on play calling, and I'm
including me in this too. Okay, Whenever the play works,
it's a great call. Whenever the play doesn't work, it's
a lousy call. I mean, you don't hear people complaining about, oh,
that was a lousy play call that just gained fifty
yards on third and six, And you don't hear some
(13:00):
one say, wow, that was a great call. Yeah, it
didn't get the first down and turn the ball over,
but that was really creative. I mean, you know, it's
it's very much a result driven formula. If it works,
it's great. If it doesn't, it's not. And that's that's
play calling.
Speaker 2 (13:19):
Yeah, And you know, as far as the predictability thing goes,
that was pretty predictable what the Bills.
Speaker 4 (13:23):
Were going to do on Sunday after a while.
Speaker 3 (13:25):
Huh.
Speaker 2 (13:25):
I mean they ran like the same few plays over
and over again and it was just as effective. So
you can be predictable and still be effective, yes, Jason
Debrido from Providence, Rhode Island. In the first half of
the Bears game, Connor Hayward appeared to gain a first
down on a tush push, but the officials deemed him
to be short of the line to gain, which caused
(13:45):
the turnover on downs. With the extra time because of
the possession change, and with replay clearly showing the runner
making the line to gain before the whistle was blown,
stopping play, why didn't Mike Tomlin challenge the spot?
Speaker 3 (13:58):
Okay? Well?
Speaker 1 (14:00):
Well, as Jason mentioned in his question, the failed tush
push resulted in a turnover on downs, and in the
NFL now a turnover on downs is considered a turnover
the same way an interception or a fumble recovery is
considered a turnover, and all turnovers are automatically reviewed in
(14:21):
the NFL. Okay, So somewhere during that time delay because
of the possession change, commercials, you know, and all of that.
The play was reviewed by the NFL office in New York,
and the review there determined that the on field officials
spotted the ball correctly. Now I happen to agree with
(14:41):
Jason that they didn't. This is one of the reasons
that I hate to tush push because they cannot. It
cannot be officiated properly. But that's for another argument. But anyway,
so that was the review determined that call on the
field was correct. Once that's communicated to the on field
(15:02):
referee in Chicago, it's over. Replay made a decision. There's
no way for either coach to challenge to play. You
can't relitigate. Once the judge says guilty or not guilty,
that's it. So, yes, I agree what replay clearly showed.
I agree that he had got the line Togain. But
(15:25):
once it was called on the field and reviewed and upheld,
that's it.
Speaker 3 (15:29):
It's over. You cannot challenge.
Speaker 4 (15:31):
Joe Werner from West Henrietta, New York.
Speaker 2 (15:35):
Joe greens Wikipedia page states that he is one of
four people outside the Rooney family to have Super Bowl
rings from all six Steelers' victories, who are the other three.
Speaker 1 (15:47):
Okay, here's the other three. Bill Nunn, everybody knows who
he is, Geraldine Glenn, who was a longtime ticket manager.
And Bob McCartney, a longtime video director who's one of
his first assignments filming games.
Speaker 3 (16:04):
Was the immaculate reception.
Speaker 4 (16:08):
Wow, talk about that on your resume. That's impressive.
Speaker 2 (16:10):
And what was me and Joe doing for those other
two Super Bowls labs specifically or was it just like, hey,
you're me and Joe Green, we want to give you
these rings.
Speaker 1 (16:17):
No, he was in the player personnel. He was in
the player personnel department.
Speaker 2 (16:20):
Because you want to give them them to who's going
to tell him?
Speaker 3 (16:25):
No?
Speaker 4 (16:25):
You just take them right exactly.
Speaker 2 (16:29):
Eric Ash from Las Vegas, Nevada has our next question.
If I understand the Halo route or the Halo rule correctly,
the punting team has to give the punt returner a
two yard cushion to catch the ball. It looks to
me that a lot of punt returners have someone almost
in their face when they catch the ball. Is this
one of those rules that isn't enforced except when it is.
Speaker 1 (16:52):
There is? It's not a rule in the NFL. There
is no halo rule in the NFL. The punt team
cannot contact the returner in any way before he catches
the ball, or it's a penalty. That's that's that's the
only rule. I remember long ago in training camp, Antonio
(17:16):
Brown was a rookie, and you know he's back there
catching punts, and they'd run James Harrison at him.
Speaker 4 (17:28):
Factor.
Speaker 1 (17:28):
Yeah, you know, so if you could still concentrate on that.
I'm sure Harrison wasn't exactly quiet as he was approaching.
You know, if you concentrate on the ball and make
the catch with that in your face, maybe you've got
the uh, the qualifications for the job.
Speaker 2 (17:49):
That's got to be one of those things at the
top of the list where people you know, on their
couch or in the stands watching are like, how could
you flinch? Or how could you fumble that ball? If
he hits you, it's a penalty. You just take the
fifteen yards, be a man about it. Seeing those people
scream at you out of your peripheral vision while you're
trying to track a ball has to be the most
terrifying thing. I would just bail. I'd be like, just
let this ball bounce. You can down to that the one.
Speaker 3 (18:10):
I don't care, Anthony, It's not.
Speaker 2 (18:14):
For me, No, Anthony, That's why we podcast. Anthony Benevete
is from West Sacramento, California. With the news of Corey
Trice's season being officially over, are we going to move
on from him? He reminds me of san Quez Golson
in terms of being talent that is unavailable. Would investing
in the secondary through the draft become more of a necessity?
Speaker 1 (18:36):
You know, Corey Trice has had a long history with injuries,
and there were they've been significant injuries, and those injuries
have gone all the way back to his time in
college at Purdue. Now that's why it was a sixth
round or seventh round draft pick. I mean, because a
cornerback with his height and athletic ability when he's not
(18:58):
injured is not a seventh ron pick. I mean, you know, so,
I just think that the Steelers took a flyer on
him as a seventh round pick while they were hopeful
maybe that he could play, or you know, maybe excited
by the potential that he had. I don't know that
(19:19):
the team ever was counting on him because of the
fact that he was always injured and as I mentioned,
you know, these are not hamstring pulls. You know, these
are knee injuries that require surgery and often it's you know,
major surgery.
Speaker 3 (19:36):
And so.
Speaker 1 (19:39):
Corey Trice's situation, you feel bad for him, but I
don't know that it really moves the needle on terms
in terms of how the team is or was building
its secondary when he was on the team, and how
it might view it if his if if, and I
mean make I want to emphasize them saying if his
(20:01):
career is over, if it is, how they then proceed
because of that.
Speaker 2 (20:08):
That news and our final question today comes from Robert
Jackson from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Adam Schefter reported that the suspension
of Bengals receiver Jamar Chase would cost Chase five hundred
and seven one hundred and fifty six dollars, But when
Chase signed his major contract, it was reported to be
forty million per season. My question is why would his
suspension not be closer to two point three five million,
(20:30):
or one seventeenth of his annual salary.
Speaker 1 (20:35):
Well, first of all, when contracts are reported to be
forty million per season, that's a number based on the
total divided by the years that doesn't mean that's what
he's paid per year. So you know they're signing bonuses
and you know all that other kind of stuff, maybe
(20:56):
even incentive bonuses that add to the total in terms
of how it's reported, but that doesn't mean it's, you know,
what he has paid per year. So when you look
at Jamar Chase's actual contract, his base salary is eight
point oh seven million dollars for twenty twenty five. Okay,
(21:19):
So in the NFL, players get game checks over the
course of the regular season. There's seventeen games plus a
bye week, so that means there's eighteen paychecks, eighteen game
checks over the course of a regular season to an
NFL player, So you divide eight point seven million by
(21:40):
eighteen and then also for this season, in season roster
bonus for Jamar Chase is one million total paid in
weekly installments, So for every game that he is on
the roster, he makes one seventeenh of one million dollars. Okay,
(22:03):
So when you do the arithmetic, one eighteenth of his
base pay is four hundred and forty eight thousand, three
hundred and three three hundred and thirty three dollars. One
seventeenth of his in roster bonuses fifty eight thousand, eight
hundred and twenty three dollars, so that comes to five
hundred and seven one fifty six.
Speaker 2 (22:23):
Losing that amount of money would break me as a person,
and Chase probably just rolled his eyes at.
Speaker 1 (22:28):
It so well, losing that amount of money would probably
make your wife a murder suspect.
Speaker 4 (22:35):
Also that ex wife murder suspect, Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1 (22:39):
Or that might the judge might say, that's justifiable homicide.
Speaker 3 (22:44):
Let her off, let her off.
Speaker 4 (22:48):
Well, labs.
Speaker 2 (22:48):
As ugly as it was against the Bills, Steelers got
to bounce back, and they got a hurry go to
M and T Bank Stadium on Sunday to take on
the Ravens at one o'clock. You're six and six, just
like the Ravens are. Everything is still in front of you,
and Baltimore doesn't look that great, Like it's not like
you're going into a buzzsaw. Kind of like last year
when the Steelers were reeling down the stretch and the
(23:10):
Ravens were starting to pick it up heading into the playoffs.
The Baltimore has looked awful in recent weeks, despite picking
up some wins in those recent weeks, and I think
Lamar Jackson is not playing at one hundred percent health.
Speaker 4 (23:21):
He just isn't as mobile as usually is.
Speaker 1 (23:26):
I'm not going to stick my foot in my mouth.
I had too many stupid things to say before the
Buffalo game about what I thought about Josh.
Speaker 3 (23:34):
Allen and how they were playing look.
Speaker 1 (23:36):
Yeah, and their injuries and how they looked, and so
I'm just going to keep my mouth shut because I
don't want to anger the football gods. But let me
say this, I'm not disagreeing with anything you just said.
Speaker 4 (23:50):
Sounds good to me.
Speaker 2 (23:51):
We'll keep those football gods appeased for now, and hopefully
that I'll pay off with the Steelers getting a big
win in Baltimore one o'clock kickoff against the Ravens. Thanks
for giving us a listen as always, and Labs and
I will be back again next week for another edition
of Asden Answered
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