September 16, 2025 • 23 mins
Tom Opferman and Bob Labriola talk about the Steelers loss to Seattle and then get to this weeks questions.
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
This is asked and answered questions with Tom Upperman and
Steelers Digest editor Bob Labriola.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Well also got a bad taste in my mouth, Labs,
when it comes to the Steelers' home opener falling to
the Seahawks thirty one to seventeen. You lose games in
the NFL. Okay, no one goes undefeated. Even the Patriots
a while back couldn't all the way go undefeated, thank
you to Eli Manning. But that one just stunk a
little extra hard. I think, Labs, that game seemed like
it should have been winnable. Not to say Seattle's a
(00:32):
bad team. I think they're a pretty solid team, but
I don't know, have that feeling of it slipping through
your fingers a little bit.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
Yeah, I mean, you know, we talked about it on
the pregame show a little bit. You know. One of
the issues posed was, you know, Seattle a worthy opponent
in this situation, having come up short against I believe
that Denver Broncos in their opener, and one of the
(01:01):
things that the Niners, Okay, thank you. One of the
things that I noted was I was worried that it
was a bad matchup for the Steelers because a couple
of the areas where I thought Seattle was good was
their defensive front was good, and the Steelers had had
(01:22):
some issues protecting the passer against the Jets. And then
the other thing that the Seattle offense could do was
run the football with Charbonney and Kenneth Walker. You know,
they had a tandem of running backs that you know,
I thought they were pretty good and could pose a problem.
And you know, those were there. I thought the two areas.
(01:44):
You know, I don't think Seattle dominated all phases of
play at all time, but I think that if you
go back and look at it, the Seahawks defensive line,
Leonard Williams in particular, was a problem. Kenneth Walker, the
running back, was a problem, and you know the Steelers.
(02:04):
Steelers just didn't have enough to answer those things.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
Yeah, you know, I know Caleb Johnson had the mental
gaff on the kick return and people point to that
and go, oh, I can't believe that happened. That's how
the game got lost. Now, the game was lost because
of the two things that you referenced.
Speaker 3 (02:18):
Their labs.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
They couldn't protect Aaron Rodgers and couldn't get much push
in the run game offensively against that Seattle front, and
then defensively, I mean, Kenneth Walker's averaging eight yards per carry.
That's just unacceptable. You're not going to win many football
games with that.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
Well, and then you know, I really thought, if if
you want to point to a play that ended it
in terms of really, in my view, removed all hope,
was a third and goal from the nineteen. Oh yes,
Kenneth Walker runs virtually untouched on just a simple I
(02:57):
mean it seemed to me when the play first started,
I thought, well, there's going to settle.
Speaker 3 (03:00):
For a field goals absolutely what they were doing, and.
Speaker 1 (03:04):
He goes into the end zone untouched. I mean, that's
just that. You can't have that. That's inexcusable. I mean,
whatever phrase or adjectives you want to use to talk
about how bad that play was, fine, have at it,
because that, to me, it's the NFL. I mean, I
(03:25):
don't know that there's a lot of high school well
contested games. If the two teams are close, and you're
not already in the mercy rule third and goal from
the nineteen, you just run a sweep and the guy
goes into the end zone virtually untouched. I mean, you
just don't see that.
Speaker 3 (03:42):
You've never seen, it's never happened until.
Speaker 1 (03:45):
Then, well there you go. Yeah, you know, and it
probably has never happened in NFL history partly because offenses
just don't do that.
Speaker 3 (03:54):
They don't run on third nineteen and goal.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
To go right right, Yes, so there, I mean.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
Yeah, I mean, I think it was clear, like you said,
they were trying for the field goal, trying to go
up ten, and that's a win ish for the Steelers defense.
You gave up the big play to Jackson Smith and
Jigbaw already, but you would have been able to get
off the field with just giving up that field goal.
You're still alive. And then that play happens and it's
just such a backbreaker. I mean, that run defense, I
think to me, Labs is at the top of the
list of things they definitely need to improve because now it's,
(04:21):
you know, starting to become a common known thing around
the NFL, like, hey, we should try running on the Steelers.
And I know that the Patriots this coming week, that's
probably going to be their game plan to start that
game and they're going to say, hey, try to stop
the run or else we're going to keep doing.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
It right, Why wouldn't every opponent take that approach at
this point?
Speaker 2 (04:39):
Yeah, I think that that is something that is crucial
for the Steelers to fix and fix fast.
Speaker 3 (04:45):
All right, let's get to this week's batch of questions.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
Our first ones come from Peter Hammerer from Baltimore, Maryland.
What was the injury that put quarterback Skyler Thompson on
the injured reserve list?
Speaker 1 (04:56):
Okay, We've got to go back to the the last
practice of the week in preparation for the regular season opener,
that being against the Jets. Skylard Thompson injured a hamstring. Okay,
And so then on Fridays before Sunday's game. Before on
Fridays before Sunday games, the teams have to put out
(05:22):
what they call status report, where you list the probability
of anyone who's appeared on the injury report, their probability
of playing, and the designations are out doubtful, which means
it's a seventy five percent chance that he's not going
to play, or questionable, which is a fifty percent chance
(05:44):
that the guy's not going to play. So, Skylar Thompson
injured a hamstring. He was listed as questionable on the
Friday status report. Again, the injury had just kind of happened,
so it was so late in the week no roster
move was made at that time. He didn't have another quarterback.
Logan Woodside was somewhere in the country. I don't know where,
(06:07):
but he wasn't in Pittsburgh. It wasn't you know.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
I just like the image of it has been out
in the country somewhere fishing or something like that.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
So, you know, the Steelers made Skyler Thompson the emergency
quarterback thankfully didn't need him against the Jets. Obviously his
hamstring once they had some more time to evaluate it
and everything, saw what kind of an injury it was.
That convinced him to put him on ir Then they
(06:36):
found Logan Woodside from his fishing trip and added signed
him to the practice squad.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
Vernon King from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Truthfully, why did Mike Tomlin
not keep Justin Fields as the quarterback of the future
for the Steelers?
Speaker 1 (06:52):
Well, I mean, you know, it's not up. It's not
a it's not just an issue of keeping him. I
mean it's un restricted free agency. Justin Fields was going
into unrestricted free agency for the first time in his career,
and a lot of times you only get really one
chance at it as a player to pick your spot,
(07:16):
uh and go to the team you want to go
to for the price that you want to be paid.
And I think that the Steelers were interested in Justin Fields,
but at a certain level, you know, what he was
worth to them, and you know, the whole concept of
keeping Justin Fields as the quarterback of the future, I
(07:37):
just I just don't think that he was thought of
as that kind of a player at that point. So,
I mean, they they made him an offer, and we
talked about this, and I believe that it was going
to come down to Justin Fields deciding, you know, where
(07:59):
he wanted to go, what offer was the best thing
for him, what situation was the best thing for him,
And he decided on the Jets, and so, hey, you know,
good for him. He's a nice guy, worked hard, kept
his mouth shut, all of those things. I got nothing
against Justin Fields. But let me say this to Vernon King,
(08:22):
Justin Fields quarterback of the future. On Sunday, he was
three for eleven for twenty seven yards, passing thirty nine
point six passer rating. I mean, that's the book on
Justin Fields. He's not consistent. He doesn't have or has
not yet shown in his time in the NFL that
(08:44):
he can't play the quarterback position at in the NFL
the way it's required to be played on a consistent basis.
And so he's talented, as I said, he's a good guy,
good teammate, all of that stuff. I just don't know
that any team is going to want to make him
their long term quarterback of the future, certainly not commensurate
(09:08):
with where he was drafted first round what was the eleventh.
Speaker 3 (09:11):
Over the Bears.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
Yeah, yeah, you know, but hey, there's a lot of
there bring a lot of Missus picking quarterbacks high in
the draft, and you know, the Bears are not the
only team that has messed that up, but.
Speaker 3 (09:27):
They mess it up a lot. Actually, now that we're
thinking about.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
It, well okay, but you know, I'm just saying I
I just don't think Justin Fields is a long term
quarterback of the future for it any NFL team.
Speaker 3 (09:42):
I agree.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
And he fumbled the ball twice against the Bills last
Sunday as well, losing one of them to Buffalo. And
that's always been his problem is he's just too loose
with the football, he fumbles too much, he turns it over.
Bruce Thomas from Furnace Run, Pennsylvania. On the botch kickoff return,
the Seahawks player didn't maintain any kind of possession. The
ball obviously bounced back into the end zone as he
rolled out of bounds. Was that ruled correctly or should
(10:06):
the Steelers have contested the touchdown call?
Speaker 1 (10:09):
Well, the botched kickoff return that Bruce refers to is,
of course Caleb Johnson's what I've been referring to as
his brain cramp, where he did not play that ball
correctly let it roll into the end zone. And Lancy
what it used to be easier when this happened, because
(10:32):
you know, all kickoffs were live balls. Now it has
to land in the landing zone first. You know, there's
there's different rules. But anyway, no excuses. I know Danny
Smith is a is a maniacal rules guy. They go
over that constantly. It was a brain cramp. He messed
(10:52):
it up. So anyway, that's the botched kickoff return. Now
watching watching the game, I was there at Akrashuer Stadium
in the press box watching the game there and then
seeing the replays that were provided by you know, Fox
which did the did the game. I agree, I didn't
(11:13):
think that uh, Seattle running back George Halaaney clearly controlled
the ball in the field of play before the momentum
took them out of the back of the end zone. Okay,
so I'm kind of agreeing with Bruce. That was one
of the first things I thought was, you know, is
that somehow a touchback or you know, what is it
(11:33):
when you know, the the a live ball and a
kickoff rolls out of the back of the end zone
before it is recovered. Whatever the rule on the dynamic
kickoff now is for that, but it was it was
called a touchdown on the field. Okay. Now the rules
of the NFL are all touchdowns are automatically reviewed, and
(11:57):
we all know how that stuff works. You know, the
referee in the game, Scott Novak, he does go over
to the video monitor, but he puts on the headsets
and you know who he's talking to there himself, well
maybe somebody in New York at NFL headquarters. And when
(12:18):
he came off that that thing and said, uh, it's
a touchdown. That's it. That's it. That's the ruling is final.
There's no more contesting it. You can't challenge it. There's
nothing you know, you can stamp your feet or whatever,
but it's not going to change the ruling. Now why
they ruled it that way, I don't know. I don't
(12:39):
know that we're ever going to get a specific, detailed reason.
But that's what happened. The procedure was followed. New York
decided what the play was and that's it.
Speaker 2 (12:55):
Bob Scott from Venetia, Pennsylvania. As I write this, I'm
watching this Seattle game and noticed that Aaron Rodgers does
not appear to wear a wristband with a list of
offensive plays on it. Is that indicative of how well
and quickly Rogers digested the Steelers playbook?
Speaker 3 (13:11):
Or am I reading too much into this?
Speaker 2 (13:12):
And it's something as simple as he just doesn't like
wearing them and never has.
Speaker 1 (13:17):
You know, the Aaron Rodgers are not wearing the wristband thing.
We talked about that fans of the training camp report,
which we did daily during our time at Saint Vincent College.
I remember talking about that with you. Then Rogers has
not ever worn that during his time with the Steelers.
(13:41):
Now I don't I didn't follow Aaron Rodgers' career closely
enough with the Packers or this, you know, first couple
of seasons with the Jets to know whether he wore
it then or not. I can't answer that, but I
know that he never wore it with the Steelers. And
let's not forget Aaron Rodgers didn't show up or sign
(14:01):
with the Steelers until Mini camp. He didn't wear it
at Mini camp, right, But then it's there's not a
whole lot of that there anyway. But then once I
got the training camp, he wasn't wearing it, and he
wasn't wearing it even in situations where during practices there,
(14:22):
Arthur Smith was using a walkie talkie, you know, to
send the plays in when the Steelers were trying to
you know, replicate using the forty second clock and getting
things in and out, you know, those kind of things.
So you know the reason. Let me just explain the
wristband really quick. The wristband, you know, it's one of
those wide things that has a little flap that covers it,
(14:43):
and the play caller in the Steelers situation, Arthur Smith
has an exact copy of what is on the wristband
that the quarterback is wearing, and so when it's time
to call the play, Arthur Smith looked at his list
and instead of reading me all the verbiage for the play,
(15:05):
he'll just say something like call him three number four, okay,
And then the quarterback looks on his call him three
number four. There's the play listed, so then he can
just read it right off the wristband to the people
in the huddle okay. And that's done so that there's
no confusion in terms of using the correct verbiage, because
(15:28):
if you miss up the mess up the words a
little bit, that can screw up the formation or the
protection or the routes or you know, all that kind
of stuff that's all involved and coded in the verbiage.
Aaron Rodgers doesn't need that. You know, Arthur Smith reads
him the play, Rogers knows what it is. He correctly
(15:52):
then communicates that to the people in the huddle and
they run the play. So my answer to the question
is Aaron Rodgers is that smart? So yeah, kudos to him.
And it's just another thing that he brings that the
(16:14):
Steelers have not had recently in terms of their quarterback play.
Speaker 2 (16:18):
I used to like to keep my cheat sheet in
the back of my calculator when I was doing like
math tests in high school, and now that the statute
of limitations have passed, I.
Speaker 3 (16:25):
Can admit that on the air.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
There you go, I wasn't as.
Speaker 2 (16:28):
Smart as Rogers, is what I'm trying to get across here.
Bill Quigley from Columbus, Ohio. It seems the Steelers' opening
game is usually an away game. In the last ten years,
how many times were they at home for the opener.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
Last ten years would be the seasons starting with twenty
sixteen and ending with twenty twenty five. In those ten years,
the Steelers have opened on the road nine times. The
only opener at home during that stretch was in twenty
twenty three against the San Francisco forty nine Ers. Why
that happens is this, Major League Baseball puts out their
(17:02):
schedule first, and the Pirates, being the fine neighbors that
they are on the North Shore, do not either request
Major League Baseball or whatever to you know, not put
them at home all the time the weekend after Memorial Day,
which is when the NFL season opens, so Major League
(17:27):
Baseball schedule comes out first. The NFL reacts to that
schedule doing theirs and the Steelers are on the road.
Speaker 3 (17:33):
Damn Pirates. It makes me so mad that they do that.
To us Dan Turak from Brille, New Jersey.
Speaker 2 (17:39):
When NFL sports journalists discuss reviewing film, what film are
they watching? Is it network feeds or something unique? Do
they have access to the same film the NFL coaches utilize.
Speaker 1 (17:52):
I don't think it's the same film NFL coaches utilized,
because when coaches are watching video, you know, they can
they have the programming things, you know, DVR Sports you can,
for example, if one of the Steelers coaches wants to watch,
(18:15):
you can program it in so you get all plays
third and three or less in plus territory, you know
what I mean. So all of that the computer thing
you can code however you'll want it. But all coaches
film is all twenty two is what they call it.
(18:35):
And all twenty two means you see all twenty two
of the players on the field the whole time. So
it's you know, it's not like watching it on TV
where they kind of you know, they don't show it
from that far away. A lot of times they try
and get a little closer and for on offense, for example,
you might not see where the wide receivers are if
(18:58):
they're split wide of the formation, and who among the
defensive backs are covering them, and then certainly not whether
you know the safeties are deployed, you know in center
field or you know where they are. Okay, So so
ALL twenty two is what the coaches watch now the
NFL in their never ending quest for revenue. You can
(19:21):
now buy that. You can subscribe to that ALL twenty
two and you're just regular people. You go to go
to NFL dot com. They have a on their home
page something to subscribe to NFL Plus. So if you
subscribe to NFL Plus Premium, whatever that costs, you can
(19:43):
access the NFL Pro platform and you can sign up
for you know, ALL twenty two and it'll be you'll
have access to it. You can watch it on your laptop. So, Dan,
if you're interested in becoming an expert or you know,
playing one on social media, which I've see, I see
(20:04):
a lot of people do subscribe to that. I have
no idea how much it costs. And you two can
get watch that same kind of footage.
Speaker 2 (20:14):
Howard O'Neil from Stafford, Virginia, in your professional opinion, why
do you think we kept James Pierre on the active
roster instead of Beanie Bishop special teams.
Speaker 1 (20:23):
No, that's it. You know, Beanie Bishop was a he
was a productive nickelback as a rookie. But then the Steelers,
you know, Brandon Eckles is a better player than Beanie Bishop,
all due respect, I mean, I got nothing against Beanie Bishop,
but Brandon Eckles is a better player. And the veteran
upgrades in the safe in the secondary. You know, I
(20:48):
won't say that put him in a precarious position, but
he was not going to be playing the number of
defensive snaps that he played as a rookie. Okay, So
then if you want to make the roster as a
defensive back, you better be doing something on special teams.
And Beanie Bishop was not. He didn't you know, I'm
not saying he couldn't or wouldn't or anything, but he
(21:10):
just wasn't as good at it as James Pierre, who
gonna run punt teams whatever else he does. But what
got him a spot over Beanie Bishop was strictly special
teams coverage.
Speaker 2 (21:25):
And our final question today comes from Steve Selk from Somerton, Tennessee.
Bill Dudley played in the two way player era of
the NFL.
Speaker 3 (21:34):
Didn't He also lead the league.
Speaker 2 (21:36):
In interceptions as well as yards rushing. Possibly in the
same year.
Speaker 1 (21:41):
Bill Dudley had one of the most unbelievable seasons of
a Steelers player. I think in NFL history. First of all,
let me say this, Bill Dudley's a running back tailback.
He is the answer to a trivia question, and that
I would venture very few Steelers fans or people who
(22:04):
call themselves Steelers fans would get correct. And that is
this who is the last Steelers running back to lead
the NFL in rushing? People think Franco, people think Jerome,
people think you know very fast.
Speaker 2 (22:16):
I's still the guys that would come to mind. I
bet you some people don't even have fast. Willy come
to mind first.
Speaker 1 (22:21):
Right, Bill Dudley is the answer. Okay, So in nineteen
forty six it was an eleven game season. Bill Dudley
led the NFL in rushing attempts with one hundred and
forty six, in rushing yards with six hundred and four,
in interceptions with ten, in interception return yards with two
hundred and forty two in punt returns with twenty seven
(22:42):
in punt return yards with three hundred and eighty five,
and in average yards per punt return with fourteen point
three in nineteen forty six. Despite that, Jesus, the Steelers
finished five to five and one. Okay, but Bill Dudley
was voted the Joe F. Carr Trophy at the time
was what the NFL referred to. What they gave to
(23:04):
the guy who was voted the NFL MVP.
Speaker 3 (23:08):
Well, see the only Steeler out there, I mean, good.
Speaker 1 (23:11):
Lord, yeah, yes, yes, he did everything. He's in the
Hall of Fame.
Speaker 3 (23:20):
That'll do it for us. This week.
Speaker 2 (23:21):
Steelers will try to bounce back shake off that loss
as they head to Foxborough, Massachusetts this weekend to take
on the New England Patriots. Get your questions in now,
maybe we'll hear them on a future edition of this podcast.
Before Bob Labriola, I'm Tom Opferman and this has been
aston answered.
This is asked and answered questions with Tom Upperman and
Steelers Digest editor Bob Labriola.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Well also got a bad taste in my mouth, Labs,
when it comes to the Steelers' home opener falling to
the Seahawks thirty one to seventeen. You lose games in
the NFL. Okay, no one goes undefeated. Even the Patriots
a while back couldn't all the way go undefeated, thank
you to Eli Manning. But that one just stunk a
little extra hard. I think, Labs, that game seemed like
it should have been winnable. Not to say Seattle's a
(00:32):
bad team. I think they're a pretty solid team, but
I don't know, have that feeling of it slipping through
your fingers a little bit.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
Yeah, I mean, you know, we talked about it on
the pregame show a little bit. You know. One of
the issues posed was, you know, Seattle a worthy opponent
in this situation, having come up short against I believe
that Denver Broncos in their opener, and one of the
(01:01):
things that the Niners, Okay, thank you. One of the
things that I noted was I was worried that it
was a bad matchup for the Steelers because a couple
of the areas where I thought Seattle was good was
their defensive front was good, and the Steelers had had
(01:22):
some issues protecting the passer against the Jets. And then
the other thing that the Seattle offense could do was
run the football with Charbonney and Kenneth Walker. You know,
they had a tandem of running backs that you know,
I thought they were pretty good and could pose a problem.
And you know, those were there. I thought the two areas.
(01:44):
You know, I don't think Seattle dominated all phases of
play at all time, but I think that if you
go back and look at it, the Seahawks defensive line,
Leonard Williams in particular, was a problem. Kenneth Walker, the
running back, was a problem, and you know the Steelers.
(02:04):
Steelers just didn't have enough to answer those things.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
Yeah, you know, I know Caleb Johnson had the mental
gaff on the kick return and people point to that
and go, oh, I can't believe that happened. That's how
the game got lost. Now, the game was lost because
of the two things that you referenced.
Speaker 3 (02:18):
Their labs.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
They couldn't protect Aaron Rodgers and couldn't get much push
in the run game offensively against that Seattle front, and
then defensively, I mean, Kenneth Walker's averaging eight yards per carry.
That's just unacceptable. You're not going to win many football
games with that.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
Well, and then you know, I really thought, if if
you want to point to a play that ended it
in terms of really, in my view, removed all hope,
was a third and goal from the nineteen. Oh yes,
Kenneth Walker runs virtually untouched on just a simple I
(02:57):
mean it seemed to me when the play first started,
I thought, well, there's going to settle.
Speaker 3 (03:00):
For a field goals absolutely what they were doing, and.
Speaker 1 (03:04):
He goes into the end zone untouched. I mean, that's
just that. You can't have that. That's inexcusable. I mean,
whatever phrase or adjectives you want to use to talk
about how bad that play was, fine, have at it,
because that, to me, it's the NFL. I mean, I
(03:25):
don't know that there's a lot of high school well
contested games. If the two teams are close, and you're
not already in the mercy rule third and goal from
the nineteen, you just run a sweep and the guy
goes into the end zone virtually untouched. I mean, you
just don't see that.
Speaker 3 (03:42):
You've never seen, it's never happened until.
Speaker 1 (03:45):
Then, well there you go. Yeah, you know, and it
probably has never happened in NFL history partly because offenses
just don't do that.
Speaker 3 (03:54):
They don't run on third nineteen and goal.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
To go right right, Yes, so there, I mean.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
Yeah, I mean, I think it was clear, like you said,
they were trying for the field goal, trying to go
up ten, and that's a win ish for the Steelers defense.
You gave up the big play to Jackson Smith and
Jigbaw already, but you would have been able to get
off the field with just giving up that field goal.
You're still alive. And then that play happens and it's
just such a backbreaker. I mean, that run defense, I
think to me, Labs is at the top of the
list of things they definitely need to improve because now it's,
(04:21):
you know, starting to become a common known thing around
the NFL, like, hey, we should try running on the Steelers.
And I know that the Patriots this coming week, that's
probably going to be their game plan to start that
game and they're going to say, hey, try to stop
the run or else we're going to keep doing.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
It right, Why wouldn't every opponent take that approach at
this point?
Speaker 2 (04:39):
Yeah, I think that that is something that is crucial
for the Steelers to fix and fix fast.
Speaker 3 (04:45):
All right, let's get to this week's batch of questions.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
Our first ones come from Peter Hammerer from Baltimore, Maryland.
What was the injury that put quarterback Skyler Thompson on
the injured reserve list?
Speaker 1 (04:56):
Okay, We've got to go back to the the last
practice of the week in preparation for the regular season opener,
that being against the Jets. Skylard Thompson injured a hamstring. Okay,
And so then on Fridays before Sunday's game. Before on
Fridays before Sunday games, the teams have to put out
(05:22):
what they call status report, where you list the probability
of anyone who's appeared on the injury report, their probability
of playing, and the designations are out doubtful, which means
it's a seventy five percent chance that he's not going
to play, or questionable, which is a fifty percent chance
(05:44):
that the guy's not going to play. So, Skylar Thompson
injured a hamstring. He was listed as questionable on the
Friday status report. Again, the injury had just kind of happened,
so it was so late in the week no roster
move was made at that time. He didn't have another quarterback.
Logan Woodside was somewhere in the country. I don't know where,
(06:07):
but he wasn't in Pittsburgh. It wasn't you know.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
I just like the image of it has been out
in the country somewhere fishing or something like that.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
So, you know, the Steelers made Skyler Thompson the emergency
quarterback thankfully didn't need him against the Jets. Obviously his
hamstring once they had some more time to evaluate it
and everything, saw what kind of an injury it was.
That convinced him to put him on ir Then they
(06:36):
found Logan Woodside from his fishing trip and added signed
him to the practice squad.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
Vernon King from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Truthfully, why did Mike Tomlin
not keep Justin Fields as the quarterback of the future
for the Steelers?
Speaker 1 (06:52):
Well, I mean, you know, it's not up. It's not
a it's not just an issue of keeping him. I
mean it's un restricted free agency. Justin Fields was going
into unrestricted free agency for the first time in his career,
and a lot of times you only get really one
chance at it as a player to pick your spot,
(07:16):
uh and go to the team you want to go
to for the price that you want to be paid.
And I think that the Steelers were interested in Justin Fields,
but at a certain level, you know, what he was
worth to them, and you know, the whole concept of
keeping Justin Fields as the quarterback of the future, I
(07:37):
just I just don't think that he was thought of
as that kind of a player at that point. So,
I mean, they they made him an offer, and we
talked about this, and I believe that it was going
to come down to Justin Fields deciding, you know, where
(07:59):
he wanted to go, what offer was the best thing
for him, what situation was the best thing for him,
And he decided on the Jets, and so, hey, you know,
good for him. He's a nice guy, worked hard, kept
his mouth shut, all of those things. I got nothing
against Justin Fields. But let me say this to Vernon King,
(08:22):
Justin Fields quarterback of the future. On Sunday, he was
three for eleven for twenty seven yards, passing thirty nine
point six passer rating. I mean, that's the book on
Justin Fields. He's not consistent. He doesn't have or has
not yet shown in his time in the NFL that
(08:44):
he can't play the quarterback position at in the NFL
the way it's required to be played on a consistent basis.
And so he's talented, as I said, he's a good guy,
good teammate, all of that stuff. I just don't know
that any team is going to want to make him
their long term quarterback of the future, certainly not commensurate
(09:08):
with where he was drafted first round what was the eleventh.
Speaker 3 (09:11):
Over the Bears.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
Yeah, yeah, you know, but hey, there's a lot of
there bring a lot of Missus picking quarterbacks high in
the draft, and you know, the Bears are not the
only team that has messed that up, but.
Speaker 3 (09:27):
They mess it up a lot. Actually, now that we're
thinking about.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
It, well okay, but you know, I'm just saying I
I just don't think Justin Fields is a long term
quarterback of the future for it any NFL team.
Speaker 3 (09:42):
I agree.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
And he fumbled the ball twice against the Bills last
Sunday as well, losing one of them to Buffalo. And
that's always been his problem is he's just too loose
with the football, he fumbles too much, he turns it over.
Bruce Thomas from Furnace Run, Pennsylvania. On the botch kickoff return,
the Seahawks player didn't maintain any kind of possession. The
ball obviously bounced back into the end zone as he
rolled out of bounds. Was that ruled correctly or should
(10:06):
the Steelers have contested the touchdown call?
Speaker 1 (10:09):
Well, the botched kickoff return that Bruce refers to is,
of course Caleb Johnson's what I've been referring to as
his brain cramp, where he did not play that ball
correctly let it roll into the end zone. And Lancy
what it used to be easier when this happened, because
(10:32):
you know, all kickoffs were live balls. Now it has
to land in the landing zone first. You know, there's
there's different rules. But anyway, no excuses. I know Danny
Smith is a is a maniacal rules guy. They go
over that constantly. It was a brain cramp. He messed
(10:52):
it up. So anyway, that's the botched kickoff return. Now
watching watching the game, I was there at Akrashuer Stadium
in the press box watching the game there and then
seeing the replays that were provided by you know, Fox
which did the did the game. I agree, I didn't
(11:13):
think that uh, Seattle running back George Halaaney clearly controlled
the ball in the field of play before the momentum
took them out of the back of the end zone. Okay,
so I'm kind of agreeing with Bruce. That was one
of the first things I thought was, you know, is
that somehow a touchback or you know, what is it
(11:33):
when you know, the the a live ball and a
kickoff rolls out of the back of the end zone
before it is recovered. Whatever the rule on the dynamic
kickoff now is for that, but it was it was
called a touchdown on the field. Okay. Now the rules
of the NFL are all touchdowns are automatically reviewed, and
(11:57):
we all know how that stuff works. You know, the
referee in the game, Scott Novak, he does go over
to the video monitor, but he puts on the headsets
and you know who he's talking to there himself, well
maybe somebody in New York at NFL headquarters. And when
(12:18):
he came off that that thing and said, uh, it's
a touchdown. That's it. That's it. That's the ruling is final.
There's no more contesting it. You can't challenge it. There's
nothing you know, you can stamp your feet or whatever,
but it's not going to change the ruling. Now why
they ruled it that way, I don't know. I don't
(12:39):
know that we're ever going to get a specific, detailed reason.
But that's what happened. The procedure was followed. New York
decided what the play was and that's it.
Speaker 2 (12:55):
Bob Scott from Venetia, Pennsylvania. As I write this, I'm
watching this Seattle game and noticed that Aaron Rodgers does
not appear to wear a wristband with a list of
offensive plays on it. Is that indicative of how well
and quickly Rogers digested the Steelers playbook?
Speaker 3 (13:11):
Or am I reading too much into this?
Speaker 2 (13:12):
And it's something as simple as he just doesn't like
wearing them and never has.
Speaker 1 (13:17):
You know, the Aaron Rodgers are not wearing the wristband thing.
We talked about that fans of the training camp report,
which we did daily during our time at Saint Vincent College.
I remember talking about that with you. Then Rogers has
not ever worn that during his time with the Steelers.
(13:41):
Now I don't I didn't follow Aaron Rodgers' career closely
enough with the Packers or this, you know, first couple
of seasons with the Jets to know whether he wore
it then or not. I can't answer that, but I
know that he never wore it with the Steelers. And
let's not forget Aaron Rodgers didn't show up or sign
(14:01):
with the Steelers until Mini camp. He didn't wear it
at Mini camp, right, But then it's there's not a
whole lot of that there anyway. But then once I
got the training camp, he wasn't wearing it, and he
wasn't wearing it even in situations where during practices there,
(14:22):
Arthur Smith was using a walkie talkie, you know, to
send the plays in when the Steelers were trying to
you know, replicate using the forty second clock and getting
things in and out, you know, those kind of things.
So you know the reason. Let me just explain the
wristband really quick. The wristband, you know, it's one of
those wide things that has a little flap that covers it,
(14:43):
and the play caller in the Steelers situation, Arthur Smith
has an exact copy of what is on the wristband
that the quarterback is wearing, and so when it's time
to call the play, Arthur Smith looked at his list
and instead of reading me all the verbiage for the play,
(15:05):
he'll just say something like call him three number four, okay,
And then the quarterback looks on his call him three
number four. There's the play listed, so then he can
just read it right off the wristband to the people
in the huddle okay. And that's done so that there's
no confusion in terms of using the correct verbiage, because
(15:28):
if you miss up the mess up the words a
little bit, that can screw up the formation or the
protection or the routes or you know, all that kind
of stuff that's all involved and coded in the verbiage.
Aaron Rodgers doesn't need that. You know, Arthur Smith reads
him the play, Rogers knows what it is. He correctly
(15:52):
then communicates that to the people in the huddle and
they run the play. So my answer to the question
is Aaron Rodgers is that smart? So yeah, kudos to him.
And it's just another thing that he brings that the
(16:14):
Steelers have not had recently in terms of their quarterback play.
Speaker 2 (16:18):
I used to like to keep my cheat sheet in
the back of my calculator when I was doing like
math tests in high school, and now that the statute
of limitations have passed, I.
Speaker 3 (16:25):
Can admit that on the air.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
There you go, I wasn't as.
Speaker 2 (16:28):
Smart as Rogers, is what I'm trying to get across here.
Bill Quigley from Columbus, Ohio. It seems the Steelers' opening
game is usually an away game. In the last ten years,
how many times were they at home for the opener.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
Last ten years would be the seasons starting with twenty
sixteen and ending with twenty twenty five. In those ten years,
the Steelers have opened on the road nine times. The
only opener at home during that stretch was in twenty
twenty three against the San Francisco forty nine Ers. Why
that happens is this, Major League Baseball puts out their
(17:02):
schedule first, and the Pirates, being the fine neighbors that
they are on the North Shore, do not either request
Major League Baseball or whatever to you know, not put
them at home all the time the weekend after Memorial Day,
which is when the NFL season opens, so Major League
(17:27):
Baseball schedule comes out first. The NFL reacts to that
schedule doing theirs and the Steelers are on the road.
Speaker 3 (17:33):
Damn Pirates. It makes me so mad that they do that.
To us Dan Turak from Brille, New Jersey.
Speaker 2 (17:39):
When NFL sports journalists discuss reviewing film, what film are
they watching? Is it network feeds or something unique? Do
they have access to the same film the NFL coaches utilize.
Speaker 1 (17:52):
I don't think it's the same film NFL coaches utilized,
because when coaches are watching video, you know, they can
they have the programming things, you know, DVR Sports you can,
for example, if one of the Steelers coaches wants to watch,
(18:15):
you can program it in so you get all plays
third and three or less in plus territory, you know
what I mean. So all of that the computer thing
you can code however you'll want it. But all coaches
film is all twenty two is what they call it.
(18:35):
And all twenty two means you see all twenty two
of the players on the field the whole time. So
it's you know, it's not like watching it on TV
where they kind of you know, they don't show it
from that far away. A lot of times they try
and get a little closer and for on offense, for example,
you might not see where the wide receivers are if
(18:58):
they're split wide of the formation, and who among the
defensive backs are covering them, and then certainly not whether
you know the safeties are deployed, you know in center
field or you know where they are. Okay, So so
ALL twenty two is what the coaches watch now the
NFL in their never ending quest for revenue. You can
(19:21):
now buy that. You can subscribe to that ALL twenty
two and you're just regular people. You go to go
to NFL dot com. They have a on their home
page something to subscribe to NFL Plus. So if you
subscribe to NFL Plus Premium, whatever that costs, you can
(19:43):
access the NFL Pro platform and you can sign up
for you know, ALL twenty two and it'll be you'll
have access to it. You can watch it on your laptop. So, Dan,
if you're interested in becoming an expert or you know,
playing one on social media, which I've see, I see
(20:04):
a lot of people do subscribe to that. I have
no idea how much it costs. And you two can
get watch that same kind of footage.
Speaker 2 (20:14):
Howard O'Neil from Stafford, Virginia, in your professional opinion, why
do you think we kept James Pierre on the active
roster instead of Beanie Bishop special teams.
Speaker 1 (20:23):
No, that's it. You know, Beanie Bishop was a he
was a productive nickelback as a rookie. But then the Steelers,
you know, Brandon Eckles is a better player than Beanie Bishop,
all due respect, I mean, I got nothing against Beanie Bishop,
but Brandon Eckles is a better player. And the veteran
upgrades in the safe in the secondary. You know, I
(20:48):
won't say that put him in a precarious position, but
he was not going to be playing the number of
defensive snaps that he played as a rookie. Okay, So
then if you want to make the roster as a
defensive back, you better be doing something on special teams.
And Beanie Bishop was not. He didn't you know, I'm
not saying he couldn't or wouldn't or anything, but he
(21:10):
just wasn't as good at it as James Pierre, who
gonna run punt teams whatever else he does. But what
got him a spot over Beanie Bishop was strictly special
teams coverage.
Speaker 2 (21:25):
And our final question today comes from Steve Selk from Somerton, Tennessee.
Bill Dudley played in the two way player era of
the NFL.
Speaker 3 (21:34):
Didn't He also lead the league.
Speaker 2 (21:36):
In interceptions as well as yards rushing. Possibly in the
same year.
Speaker 1 (21:41):
Bill Dudley had one of the most unbelievable seasons of
a Steelers player. I think in NFL history. First of all,
let me say this, Bill Dudley's a running back tailback.
He is the answer to a trivia question, and that
I would venture very few Steelers fans or people who
(22:04):
call themselves Steelers fans would get correct. And that is
this who is the last Steelers running back to lead
the NFL in rushing? People think Franco, people think Jerome,
people think you know very fast.
Speaker 2 (22:16):
I's still the guys that would come to mind. I
bet you some people don't even have fast. Willy come
to mind first.
Speaker 1 (22:21):
Right, Bill Dudley is the answer. Okay, So in nineteen
forty six it was an eleven game season. Bill Dudley
led the NFL in rushing attempts with one hundred and
forty six, in rushing yards with six hundred and four,
in interceptions with ten, in interception return yards with two
hundred and forty two in punt returns with twenty seven
(22:42):
in punt return yards with three hundred and eighty five,
and in average yards per punt return with fourteen point
three in nineteen forty six. Despite that, Jesus, the Steelers
finished five to five and one. Okay, but Bill Dudley
was voted the Joe F. Carr Trophy at the time
was what the NFL referred to. What they gave to
(23:04):
the guy who was voted the NFL MVP.
Speaker 3 (23:08):
Well, see the only Steeler out there, I mean, good.
Speaker 1 (23:11):
Lord, yeah, yes, yes, he did everything. He's in the
Hall of Fame.
Speaker 3 (23:20):
That'll do it for us. This week.
Speaker 2 (23:21):
Steelers will try to bounce back shake off that loss
as they head to Foxborough, Massachusetts this weekend to take
on the New England Patriots. Get your questions in now,
maybe we'll hear them on a future edition of this podcast.
Before Bob Labriola, I'm Tom Opferman and this has been
aston answered.
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