Week 18 vs Cincinnati

Labs and Tom break down the playoff scenarios for the Steelers and then get into this week’s batch of questions.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
This is asked and answered questions with Tom Upferman and
Steelers Digest editor Bob Labriola.

Speaker 2 (00:09):
We are headed into the last week of the NFL
regular season, Steelers and Bengals this Saturday at eight pm
and labs. Based on the results from week seventeen, we
now know the three possible opponents that the Steelers could
be facing in the wild card round. What are those scenarios?
Just in case no one's up to speed on those.

Speaker 1 (00:29):
Okay, Well, the two games on Saturday coming up. It's
Cleveland at Baltimore at four o'clock and then the Steelers
host the Bengals at eight o'clock at Acertuur Stadium. So
if the Ravens defeat the Browns on Saturday in Baltimore,
they win the AFC North. Okay, that ends it. The

(00:52):
only way for the Steelers to win the AFC Norse
still is for the Browns to upset the Ravens in
Baltimore and then the Steelers beat the Bengals Saturday at
eight o'clock. If that happens, the Steelers win the AFC North,
they would open the postseason home game against the Los
Angeles Chargers Super wild Card weekend. The NFL will take

(01:14):
care of the dates and times for those games all
a later time. Okay. So the most likely scenario has
the Ravens beating the Browns. Okay, so that sends the
Steelers into the playoffs as a wildcard team. If the
Ravens and the Steelers both win, the Steelers go to
Houston for a game against the AFC South champion Texans.

(01:37):
If the Ravens win and the Steelers lose, and then
the Chargers defeat the Raiders, it would be Pittsburgh at
Baltimore in the first round of the playoffs. The Bengals
are still technically alive, okay, the only way they get in,
and they would come in as the seventh seed, which
doesn't really impact the Steelers in terms of who they

(01:59):
would play in the first round. The Bengals get in
if they beat the Steelers and then the Broncos lose
to the Raiders and a loss or a tie by
Miami who are playing the New York Jets in New York.

(02:19):
So those are the scenarios. I think the most likely
is Pittsburgh in Houston.

Speaker 2 (02:27):
Yeah, I mean, we see this. We saw this team
beat the Cincinnati Bengals once already this season. This game's
at home. There's a disgusting taste of a three game
losing streak in the Steelers' mouth. I like what Tomlin
said in the pressure yesterday, Labs, we got to get
this stench off of us, right well, this is a
familiar opponent that you can get this stench off of
you with. And it's at home, which again I like.

Speaker 1 (02:45):
That, yes, And it's you know, and the Bengals are
playing well right now too, so this isn't a male
it in kind of situation. I do think that this
kind of this game gives the Steelers a pretty good
chance to experience kind of what they're going to be
facing once they get into the postseason. I mean, you've
got to prepare for this team because, as I said,

(03:06):
they're playing well, in my opinion, the best quarterback in
the AFC North, and he's playing well individually. They're gonna
be desperate, and so you've got to play a good game.
And again, I mean that's kind of what you're going
to be facing in the playoffs. Good teams, good quarterbacks,

(03:28):
desperate teams, backs against the wall. So yeah, good good dress, rehearsal.

Speaker 2 (03:34):
Well, all of that will reveal itself starting Saturday into
Sunday as Week eighteen in the NFL season concludes and
we get ready for the first round of the NFL Playoffs.
Before we get to all of that, though, we got
questions that need answered. Our first one today comes from
Peter Valletta from Lake Barrington, Illinois. Is it fair to
suggest Russell Wilson should recognize his limitations. He's not there

(03:58):
to win the game for no mistakes and let the
team win. His fumble and interception against the Ravens were critical.
Love what he's brought, But there's another layer, you know.

Speaker 1 (04:10):
I actually believe that it's the job of every NFL
starting quarterback to win the game. Okay, and he is
the most critical person in determining the outcome of every
game ever played at the NFL level, especially in this
current climate with the way the rules are. So maybe

(04:32):
Peter is referring to a player getting himself into trouble
by trying to do too much. Okay, So okay, let's
go back to the Ravens game. On that scramble. My
opinion is it would have been fine if he Russell
Wilson had just secured the ball a little bit better
as he was going for the goal line. You know,
time was not of the essence at that point. Okay,

(04:52):
so it's okay for me to go for the goal
line as long as the ball is secured. Put two
hands on the ball. When you see you're getting into traffic,
put two hands on the ball. You want to go
for the goal line, that's fine, but you got to
protect the football. The pick six that happens. I'm not
going to say that it was a good throw, but

(05:15):
I don't think there was anything reckless about trying to
make that play.

Speaker 2 (05:20):
You know, they assign wins and losses to quarterbacks on
their Pro Football Reference page. That's the statistics that you
know gets credited to them. So I think we can
put the pressure on winning football games and the shoulders
of that position.

Speaker 1 (05:34):
Yeah, whether we do it or not, I mean it's
got pressure, is there. Yeah, And the players know it.
The other players know it. They know that they're the quarterback. Really,
he has it in his hands literally and figuratively every
snap of the game.

Speaker 2 (05:53):
Paul Snead from Lake Mary, Florida. With a few exceptions,
it seems the successive running backs throughout the league depends
highly on the quality of the offensive line. Does it
make sense to sign Naji Harris to a large contract
in the offseason or invest those dollars in areas which
could have more impact on our offensive production, like the
O line and the receiving corps.

Speaker 1 (06:15):
Well, I mean, this is the this is the this
is the debate raging throughout the NFL now and you know, lately,
maybe ever since Le'Veon Bell, you know, was trying to
set the market for running backs back. I don't know,
in the late teens. You know, it is it worth

(06:37):
spending the money on the running back or is a
running back somebody you can get in the mid to
later rounds and you plug him in against it with
a good offensive line and weapons around him, and they're successful.
You know. That's as I said, that's the debate. So
I think history will look back on this era and

(06:59):
it will determine, you know, whether it was foolish to
pay running backs a big amount of money or maybe
it's certain running backs you should pay a lot of
money too. You know, I think the people in Baltimore
and Philadelphia this season a little bit of an argument
for paying running backs. But then again, those guys make money,

(07:23):
but they're also behind big offensive lines with a lot
of other offensive weapons. So I don't know. We'll have
to wait and see to see how history judges the
two respective strategies.

Speaker 2 (07:37):
Ron Camp from Buffalo, New York. When Antonio Brown was
traded to the Raiders for a second round draft pick,
what player did the Steelers select with that pick?

Speaker 1 (07:46):
Okay, actually, the trade of Antonio Brown to the Raiders
brought the Steelers a number three pick and a number
five pick, both in the twenty nineteen NFL Draft. With
those picks, the Steelers got wide receiver Deontae Johnson's sixty
sixth overall that was the third round pick, and Zach

(08:07):
tight end Zach Gentry one hundred and first overall on
excuse me one and forty first overall with that number
five pick.

Speaker 2 (08:18):
Tom Brusda from Litemar, California. I'm perplexed about why the
play clock is running while allowing substituting players to get
on and off the field. I noticed the umpire stands
over the ball while the substituting is taking place, and
that's fair and easy to understand. What I don't get
is allowing the play clock to keep ticking down to zero,

(08:39):
all the while prohibiting the offense from running a play.
Can you please explain that rationale to me?

Speaker 1 (08:46):
Okay. In the NFL, the pace of play is determined
by the team with the football. If the team with
the football, you know, in other words, it's offense, chooses
to operate in no huddle or hurry up, then the
d defense is forced to adjust. Okay, if the onus
is on the defense to adapt to the offense's chosen pace. However,

(09:14):
the rules will not allow the offense to substitute players
and play at pace. If the offense chooses to substitute players,
then the defense is given an opportunity to match. And
by match, I don't mean if the offense sends two
guys out on the field, the defense is able to

(09:34):
match the new formation that the offense has created with
that substitution. So if an offense wants to go hurry up,
then keep the same people on the field. And you'll
see that a lot of times the offense doing that,
keeping all the personnel on the field, then they can
get right on the ball and you're forcing the defense

(09:57):
to keep that personnel on the field. So you know
that it's it's a fairness thing for me, and I
think in the NFL's mind as well. So and as
I said, you have to give the defense time to match,
and if you stop the play clock, then you're allowing

(10:20):
you know, the offense an advantage really that I don't
think it needs or deserves. So if you on offense
want to make changes, then you have to I guess
the penalty. I'll use that word. The penalty is the
defense gets to match and the playclock gets to run. So,

(10:41):
for an example, if the offensive coordinator or the offense
decides to send substitutions on the field with fifteen seconds
left in the playclock, because then that's when the helmet
communicator goes off and the quarterback's head, so you know,
the offense would have been able to talk to the
quarterback da okay, now we're going to send these players out.

(11:06):
If you stop the play clock, then it allows the
offense really extra time to do what it wants to do.
And again, it's an advantage I don't think the offense deserves.
So that's why it's done the way it's done.

Speaker 2 (11:22):
Yeah, one of the small advantages in the rules in
the modern NFL that goes in the favor of the
defense actually laps. It's usually going the other way.

Speaker 1 (11:29):
Yes, yes, and you know there are some things you
got to keep it. I won't say equal because we're
long past equal. Has been in the rear view mirror
for years. But yeah, this is I think a realistic compromise.

Speaker 2 (11:49):
Joe lammel on there from Dallas, Georgia. When there is
a pass interference calling the defense, does the quarterback get
credited with the completion in the yardage?

Speaker 1 (11:58):
No noual statistics are awarded on that kind of play.
The quarterback doesn't get any credit, the receiver doesn't get
any credit. There are no penalties against you know, the
defense beyond the penalty in terms of you know, statistical penalties.

(12:21):
So the answers though, there are no statistics awarded in
situations such as Joe describes in his question.

Speaker 2 (12:31):
And our final question today comes from Don Gary from Muskegon, Michigan.
Now that Deontay Johnson is available, one are the chances
the Steelers will pick him up to help this season?

Speaker 1 (12:44):
You know during the just as a quick aside during
the pregame show. I think it was before the Steelers
Ravens game on December twenty first, you know, and the
Ravens were doing all that, all their machination trying to
because they were totally paranoid about Deontay Johnson going from

(13:04):
their team to the Steelers team and then playing against them.
I jokingly said, because what the Ravens did was they
waived Deontay Johnson before the Steelers game, but they did
it in a way where waivers wouldn't clear until the
Monday after the game, so that prevented him from joining

(13:25):
the Steelers. And I jokingly said that, you know, maybe
Mike Tomlin should get him a sideline pass and have
him standing next to him on the sideline in Baltimore,
just to mess with Harbaugh's head a little bit. But anyway,
back to the question, you know, I would handicap what

(13:45):
are the chances? Down asked, I would handicap it this way,
he has a better chance of being picked up to
help this season than the Steelers picking up Deontay Johnson.
And there has been lag time since this question was
submitted and we were doing one of these and today,

(14:06):
so Deontay Johnson actually is no longer available because the
Texans when they lost Tank Dell to that serious injury
in that game. I think it was November twenty first,
or excuse me, December twenty first. The Texans played that day.

(14:27):
Did you see that on TV? By any chance? That
a little sidelight that play Tank Dell went for a
caught a touchdown pass.

Speaker 2 (14:34):
The play got injured in. Yeah, I wish I didn't
see it. I wish I could forget that. It was
really rough.

Speaker 1 (14:41):
It was really rough.

Speaker 2 (14:42):
I appreciate Ty doing the slow motion replace too.

Speaker 1 (14:45):
That was really great them. And you know, I always
in those situations, I always look at the other players
there and you can tell by their reaction how gruesome
it was. And you saw se Jay Stroud and other
Texans players openly crying as they watched him being attended to.

(15:07):
So anyway, after that injury, the Texans needed actual receiver help,
and so they went and signed Deontay Johnson. And as
we started this podcast with, the Steelers have a real
chance of going to Houston to playing the Texans. So
maybe we get to see Deontay Johnson against the Steelers

(15:30):
more than once this season because he did play in
that in the November seventeenth game against the Steelers at
Akersher Stadium, as a member of the Ravens so drama.
Another chapter to the the drama script that the NFL
loves when it happens.

Speaker 2 (15:51):
Yeah, double reunion with Deontay Johnson on two different teams
would be quite something for this season. In the Pittsburgh
Steelers eight o'clock Saturday against the Cincinnati Bengals, Steelers flex
into that Saturday primetime slot on ABC. We will get
a better picture on what their playoff positioning will look
like once that game comes to a conclusion. For Bob Labriola,

(16:13):
I'm Tom Afferman. Thanks has always for giving us a listen.
We'll be back again next week. So get your questions
into Labs now and maybe you'll hear them answered on
a future edition of Asked and Answered.