May 6, 2025 • 44 mins
Dale and Matt discuss the Ravens releasing kicker Justin Tucker, analyze Warren Sharp's strength of schedule projections for the 2025 NFL season, and postulate the idea of the NFL having a draft lottery.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
He's the Drive with Dale Lolly and Matt Williamson on
your twenty four to seven home of the Black and
Gold car Steelers Nation Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Welcome to the Drive. I am Dale Lolly, he is
the Matt Williamson and Matt lo And behold we talked
about Justin Tucker. Yeah about that yesterday at the end
of the show, and about ten minutes after the show ended,
Justin Tucker gets released.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
Gets released. They drafted a kicker in the sixth round,
and I guess they had rookie Minni Caamp, so they
actually got to be with the young man and have
enough trusted him to move on. I suppose the.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
Funny football Yeah, only a football decision. The funny thing
about that is I kept seeing videos out on the
ex Twitter today about their new kicker Lowton. Yeah, well
here's the next generation and the Ravens drafted him, so
he's going to be great, and all that is showing
him kicking ball is off the kicking team. Really like
that doesn't show me anything.
Speaker 3 (01:07):
That don't show me anything. I don't know anything about
the other Every.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
Kicker out there who's worth anything, Yeah, can kick the
ball when there's nobody rushing him. There's nobody in the state.
You're just kicking the ball.
Speaker 3 (01:17):
Yeah, that doesn't mean you're special at all. My only
take on it was he played at Arizona. That's not
what you want for this area of the country. Maybe
he'll be great in the weather and the wind and
all that stuff, but the year is with the Browns,
Phil Dawson was our kicker. Yeah, he ended up lasting
a lot longer, but we were he was old at
that point too, and we were like, we better start
(01:38):
looking at kickers. And the only rule, and especially teams
coach is quite good, actually, but the only rule was
give me some evidence of him being able to kick
in weather. Yeah, I mean, you kick in Cleveland is
probably harder than Baltimore. But you play in Pittsburgh, you're
playing Baltimore. You hope to go beat the Bills.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
And we saw that every year and training yeah, right,
right right. Presley Harvin is as good as Cameron Johnston
looked last year in training camp. Presley harvem was even
more impressive in training camp.
Speaker 3 (02:10):
Oh, he had some boomers, man.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
Like eighty yard punts that just sounded different, like a
shotgun hung in the air for like seven seconds. They
were hitting jets going over by going and flying into
the Latrobe Airport and like, Wow, this is going to
be the year. And then you get into the season
and it would start to get cold. It's like kicking
off the tee and the ball would just go nowhere.
Speaker 3 (02:32):
Yeah yeah, yeah, I mean he could kick off the tee,
but he couldn't do it with a rush and all
those things, yeah, exactly, and the pressure of it, all
the wind, the rush, all that stuff. Late in the year,
it was never the same form. But man, if you
ever visited Latrobe while he was a pitch of some presser,
you're like, oh, I see why they drafted that. Yeah, yeah, right,
I mean, but consistency is really important.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
It really is. And you know, you can't in the
NFL unless you're you know, with it, one of the
Dome teams or you know, right in the Northeast in particular.
We're in the Midwest for that matter. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (03:10):
Yeah, it's gonna take a while to prove.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
You're gonna have to kick out doors you.
Speaker 3 (03:13):
Have it, right, I mean, you play in nasty North
and Cleveland's a terrible place to kick. Yeah, Pittsburgh's not easy.
That doesn't seem to be as brutal as it was
when the stadium was new.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
They've closed it off. They closed that end of little Yeah.
Speaker 3 (03:26):
Changed think the field's a little more solid too. I remember,
like my pit years were the beginning of it, and
the footing was bad to mix with the win. But Baltimore,
I'm sure is not great. I mean in November December,
you know, Cincinnati as well, and the teams you're competing against,
the Bills, the Chiefs, you know. I mean, these are
tough places to kick. He might be fine, who knows,
(03:46):
but coming from Arizona, I didn't love that correlation.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
No, No, Now, they also brought in a kicker as
an undrafted free agent from Wyoming, so they're going too.
So they were, they're so they're so sold on this
sixth round that they also signed another.
Speaker 3 (04:02):
Rookie kicker, which is the same as drafting one, basically, yeah,
you know, at that position. So I assume they've known
Tucker being gone is basically a foregone conclusion. But let's
at least get our hands on somebody else and go
from there. And I remember, I mean week ten, week twelve,
I mean, he was not doing well. He was missing,
(04:22):
missing a lot of kicks, and he's old and he's expensive,
and I thought he's not going to be a Raven
next year. And that's before I knew any offense.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
Is he going to be well he kick in the NFL?
Ever again, I think no. I don't think he will either.
Speaker 3 (04:35):
Right.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
The league is investigating this, the sixteen allegations against Yeah,
it's a lot. It's a lot, all right. And I
just don't know that anybody, any other team is going
to touch something that that's toxic like that, especially given
the fact that he's fallen off his age and his
recent his age. This isn't Deshaun Watson situation here, no, right, right?
Speaker 3 (04:58):
I mean watching was a top five quarterback. Yeah, this
guy's a kicker for one, and is not a top
five kicker anymore. And he's older, and you have these
things out there. Now, what if he gets cleared soon?
But it probably won't be soon. I can't imagine it
would be soon, right, I can't imagine by the beginning
of the year. It's like, Oh, he didn't do anything wrong,
don't worry about it. Hey, And for his I hope
(05:18):
that's true.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
But the sake of the women, I hope that, right,
for everybody, right, nothing happens, right, right, but it doesn't
look great. Sixteen of him, I'm gonna think something happens.
Speaker 3 (05:28):
Yeah, it doesn't look great. And the fact that the
team moved on from him and drafted a kicker and
signed another one. You know, I don't think he kicks again.
I don't like thirty six ish.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
Uh yeah, I believe so. So I've ran some numbers today.
Right now, Tucker is the all time leading field goal
kicker in NFL history and percentage wise eighty nine point
one zero three percent, which might be what he ends with,
might be what he ends with. Yeah, yeah, Chris Boswell
right now his fourth all time. Okay, uh, he's got
(06:00):
the guy in.
Speaker 3 (06:02):
His coup's still ahead of him.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
No, right, yeah, and that's really I mean all it
takes Harrison, Butker is at eighty eight point six percent.
Speaker 3 (06:10):
He's another expensive one that's been really good.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
Eddie Pinero is at eighty eight point zero nine to
five percent. Now, he doesn't have the longevity that these other.
Speaker 3 (06:20):
Guys, so they know it's talking about him as a
Hall of Famer or anything like that, but he's putting
it through the uprights.
Speaker 2 (06:24):
Boswell's at eighty eight point zero two six percent. But
Boswell's made over ninety percent of his kicks in five
of the last six years.
Speaker 3 (06:33):
Really wow, So he's above that number, which is fourth
all time recently in a big way.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
Yeah, in a big way. The one year that he
didn't was the year he went on I uh, that
was growing right. In twenty twenty two. He only kicked
in twelve games. He was twenty of twenty eight that year. Yeah,
some fighting, some issues.
Speaker 3 (06:52):
I say, I believe that he had a groin all year. Yeah,
that he fought through, which it's not like a shoulder
for a kicker.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
But if you look at you know, he had that
year and he had the twenty eighteen season that was
that was definitely a groin injury in that one where
he was thirteen of twenty ninety point six percent his
first year eighty four percent is second year, which now
looks like, wow, that was really down the year for me.
He was twenty one to twenty five, but it's not
too shabby. Ninety two point one percent sixty five percent
(07:21):
in that two thousand and eight eighteen season. The Steelers
stuck with him, right right. I remember there was some doubts.
What do you do now? You know, ninety three point
five percent in twenty nineteen, ninety five percent in twenty twenty,
ninety percent in twenty twenty one, seventy one point four
percent in that injury season twenty twenty two. Then she
hung it up after twelve games. Did you say, yeah?
Speaker 3 (07:42):
Okay?
Speaker 1 (07:43):
Uh?
Speaker 2 (07:43):
Ninety three point five percent and ninety three point two
percent the last two years, and it was a ninety
five in there. He's missed five kicks in the last
two years years. Three of them have been beyond fifty
plus yards.
Speaker 3 (07:55):
Yeah, they're not sure. I mean they're tough kicks. Yeah.
One of them was over sixty.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
One of them was over sixty. He's missed into the
half or something. He's missed two kicks inside of fifty
yards in the last two years.
Speaker 3 (08:05):
Wow, and again weather Weather. Yeah, these a playoff games
and late in the season.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
He's never missed a playoff kick.
Speaker 3 (08:13):
Wow. And he's good on kickoffs and he's good.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
On so I ran the numbers on him. Right now
he is at He's made two hundred and seventy two
of three hundred and nine career field goal attempts. If
he gets to if he goes twenty eight to twenty
eight to get to three hundred, that moves him past Tucker.
(08:36):
Now he's not going to go twenty eight to twenty.
Speaker 3 (08:38):
Yeah, right, but he might go twenty eight to thirty
or eventually keep that pace up.
Speaker 2 (08:43):
I also then I then ran the numbers on Okay,
so if he has what what he has averaged the
last two seasons, the average I think go past him.
He would be thirty five. He would make thirty five
of thirty seven and a half kicks. So obviously he
can't kick thirty seven and.
Speaker 3 (08:58):
A half this year.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
If he went thirty thirty five of let's say thirty seven,
that would put his career percentage at eighty eight point six.
Speaker 3 (09:07):
Does that make him one? No, Okay, he would.
Speaker 2 (09:10):
Still be just behind, but he's closing fast.
Speaker 3 (09:13):
What it would be nice is if someone does pick
up Tucker and he keeps missing, I mean him stopping
now might be the best thing for Tucker's legacy might
be you know, I mean, if he's declining that much.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
Right now, Butker is at eighty six or eighty eight
point six percent, that's where he's at it now.
Speaker 3 (09:29):
Kicks weather too. I get credit. That's a windy player.
Speaker 2 (09:31):
If you look at the guys on top, I mean
it's Tucker, Butcker Pinero.
Speaker 3 (09:36):
Yeah, he kind of doesn't look like the others though.
Let's see you can do it for five more years.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
Boswell Daniel Carlson is number five. He kicks, yeah, yeah,
in a good environment. I remember Ku was up there
for a while, but he couldn't keep it up and
he kicked in the down. Fair Baron's at eighty six
point eight, KOs falling off down to eighty six percent.
Speaker 3 (09:56):
I do find it interesting funny that these are all
active guys well kickers or.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
Six all times. Josh Lambeau, okay, uh, eight is Mike
vander Jack. You wouldn't necessarily think of that.
Speaker 3 (10:08):
Yeah, I had a good career.
Speaker 2 (10:09):
Robbie gold is nine, Ky Fairburn or fore Bath is
so well.
Speaker 3 (10:13):
Those guys too, Yeah, I mean those guys have a
lot of attimes. Huh. But I could definitely see a
couple of the dudes that are kicking now fall off,
you know, Like I think Bucker's out of the woods.
He's going to be I mean, he looks like he's
had a really good career. Tucker is probably done, but
the other guys you mentioned around Boz, Let's see where
(10:34):
you're at in two three years. I mean, you just
don't have a great body of work.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
Yeah, So it's it's just interesting and it goes this
is and I don't want to compare apples to apples
here with the Shador Sanders situation because this isn't the
same thing, right, But you're only valuable to the team if, if,
if Justin Tucker doesn't have this, if he has a
normal Justin Tucker season last year, last if he makes
(11:01):
he hits thirty seven or forty kicks, he's the fifth
best actor, He's seven of nine from fifty and beyond.
They're not cutting them.
Speaker 3 (11:09):
I don't think, I mean, unless this stuff is really
really bad or they're waiting for a.
Speaker 2 (11:12):
Com I don't even know if it comes out in
that situation.
Speaker 3 (11:15):
Yeah, who knows.
Speaker 2 (11:16):
Hint hint, nudge, nudge, right, wink wink that you know,
this suddenly comes out after he you know, right after
he has had his worst season, and it's the stuff's
been you know, happened. Most of it happened five six
years ago, and all of a sudden, now people are
coming out of the woodwork on this like.
Speaker 3 (11:34):
Oh yeah, along the shore Sanders thing, which is kind
of a somewhat of a left TURNU. I heard a
good comparison about like why people don't want to deal
with Sanders. It's like, so think of some of those
first round pick quarterbacks that like busted, like Blaine Gabbert,
but he's lasted in the league for ten years, twelve
(11:54):
years or whatever. Or a better example is like the
case keenums that last five years because they're a good
dude and people want to be around them. You know, like,
it's not necessarily that he throws the ball better than.
Speaker 2 (12:06):
It's not even so much that he has in you know,
everything that I have heard regarding his interview process, and
it is an interview process, right, You're interviewing for a job, yes,
not the other way around. You're not interviewing the team, right,
You're not being recruited, You're being interviewed.
Speaker 3 (12:26):
And all my stuff sounds really bad.
Speaker 2 (12:27):
He treated it like he was being recruited by these teams.
Speaker 3 (12:30):
Yes, exactly, I don't have time for you. I'm not interested.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
I'm not going up on the whiteboard. Why would I
do that? Yeah, exact things like that.
Speaker 3 (12:37):
Exactly unless it was like the Browns of the Giants,
who weren't going to use a second or third pick
on them. You know, it was a couple teams. I
got time for you. Frankly, if the Steelers invited him
to for a visit at combine time, I bet he
has said, no, you're picking. I'm not gonna be around
for that, you know, like, and I think they brought
(12:58):
him into the smokes. He acted entitled, right, right, right,
that's not good enough, and you weren't entitled. If you're
the best quarterback in the draft, that's different. If you're
a backup grade on the field, which I think he is.
I mean, he's a second third round player. I can't
have that stuff.
Speaker 2 (13:13):
And yet people still want to try to make this
and I had some there was somebody on our message
board to try to compare this to Colin Kaepernick's situation.
Speaker 3 (13:20):
Oh, I think it's different.
Speaker 2 (13:21):
They're completely different, very different, right, I mean, you know,
whether you agree with Kaepernick or not, the NFL made
a stand and said, he look, you're working.
Speaker 3 (13:35):
You're an NFL employee.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
You're an NFL employee, and we don't want you doing
that right now and ticking off half of our fan base, yeah,
or the other half of the fan base if you
don't do it, and it just opened the can of worms.
They didn't want to deal with that situation like that,
and so they said, you know, teams just said, we
don't want to deal with that distraction, and I think nobody.
The bottom line is that's for the only equitable thing
(14:00):
there is that teams don't want to deal with a distraction, right,
unless you're a star player. If you're Antonio Brown, you
can get away with a little bit more than if
you're Marcus Wheaton, you can get along away with a
lot more than if you're Marcus Wheaton.
Speaker 3 (14:13):
People knew Lawrence Taylor was up to bad stuff, you know,
but he was the best player on the planet.
Speaker 2 (14:18):
Yeah right.
Speaker 3 (14:19):
I mean, even Jimmy Johnson will tell you, Michael wort
a rule.
Speaker 2 (14:23):
For Michael Irvin and another set of rule for for
Curtis Richardson who they are, Curtis richards who they cut
for falling asleep in a meeting.
Speaker 3 (14:28):
But Michael can fall asleep at a meeting and probably could
have a bed in the meeting right right to show
up on game that right, It's all it's all relative
that way.
Speaker 2 (14:38):
And that's that's not just the NFL. No, that's every
walk of life.
Speaker 3 (14:43):
I'm sure, I'm sure. And the example I was using
before the draft was when Tim Tebow got signed by
the Jets, not when he was a first round pick.
Speaker 2 (14:52):
It's different to be a tight end.
Speaker 3 (14:56):
Slash personal protector, you know, special t Taysom Hill guy.
They had to have a huge press conference and the
left tackle who's been in the league for ten years
with three kids and millions in the banks, getting a
microphone in his face. So what do you think of
the Tim Tebow signing? He's a personal protector, That's what
I think about it. I guess he had a good
(15:18):
college career, but I don't watch college football. I don't care,
you know, right, it's not worth it. You're again, and
the difference between Kaepernick. You at least saw a NFL
film of Kaepernick, right, you know, like he did good
things as an NFL quarterback should or you don't even
know yet, right, That's and that'd be different.
Speaker 2 (15:34):
That's what I explained to the to the gentleman who
was who's going back and forth with me on the
message board about it. I'm like, there's a huge difference here.
Colin Kaepernick had at least done something in.
Speaker 3 (15:43):
The league, right, He was an early second round pick
with a lot of ability and was starting to turn
into a door.
Speaker 2 (15:50):
Sanders has done nothing.
Speaker 3 (15:51):
He's done nothing nothing. The league will move on without
him either way.
Speaker 2 (15:54):
You know, yeah, right, I mean there's you're not. It's
not an inalienable right to be draft it into the NFL.
Speaker 3 (16:01):
Right, right, team thirty two teams don't know.
Speaker 2 (16:04):
It's it's an honor. I give that. I give the
same speech every year. When when were you know, because
I run the baseball league in Washington when we're picking
our all star team, it's not it's you don't have
a right to be on that team. It's an honor
to be chosen for that team.
Speaker 3 (16:18):
You might think you're the best first baseman.
Speaker 2 (16:19):
In the league, doesn't matter, doesn't matter, right, what does
everybody else think about you? What happened in the tryout
and everything else that's involved with.
Speaker 3 (16:26):
It and in the NFL draft, every team has a
right to pick who they want. They're Kuiper be damn
right or right. He canna have his opinion too, But
if they're going to pick who they want, it's going
to force them to pick this guy or that guy.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
You know, it's just it's just the reality of the situation. Again,
he was being he was being interviewed, not recruited, and
he treated it like it was a recruiting process.
Speaker 3 (16:50):
There's been so much this came out that he's just
wanted to enough time for people. He rubbed them wrong.
Was but just go through the motions right right?
Speaker 2 (17:00):
Meetings again, they try to put him on the board
that I don't want to do that. No, no, do Okay,
well then I'm not gonna drive. I guess you don't
want the job then yeah, yeah, you don't want the job.
If I go in an interview for it's step brothers,
if I go into the into the meeting and you know,
start passing gas in my interview process, I'm probably not
going to get that job.
Speaker 3 (17:19):
Right or hey, can you give us your last three articles?
Oh sorry, I can't do it. Not going to do
it right?
Speaker 2 (17:27):
Right, I don't expect to get the job then, right.
You know that's which.
Speaker 3 (17:31):
To me, it reflects a little on Dion in that
he's getting advice from someone. I mean, at this point,
whoever he's getting advice from did not do him any favors,
you know, but he's a he's over eighteen. He's an
adult now too. He can make his own mind up.
Speaker 2 (17:48):
And the difference was could he could do all that
stuff because he was he was right? The sun isn't
Dion right. He may be a great football player. I hope,
I hope he for his that he is. I hope
he turns into a starter and all that could start.
Speaker 3 (18:03):
Maybe maybe this was the kick in the pants he
needs to be, like, well, I got to take this
thing more seriously. And yeah, we'll at least have an
opportunity to.
Speaker 2 (18:11):
Bring this back to Justin Tucker again. If Tucker does,
if Tucker had the season that Chris Boswell had last year,
Justin Tucker is still a raven.
Speaker 3 (18:20):
I bet they're not drafting a kicker.
Speaker 2 (18:22):
They're not drafting a kicker, and he is still a raven.
And well we're we we back our.
Speaker 3 (18:27):
Player, our dual diligence until the end, right, Yeah, yeah,
I agree with that too. Yeah. Now, if he gets convicted,
that's different story.
Speaker 2 (18:35):
Different story gets very clear. Well, I mean, even at
that the Browns financially had to stick behind Watson, but
they that all that stuff, all happened. Yeah, yeah, he's
he's paid his fines and all that stuff. We're good
with it.
Speaker 3 (18:51):
I mean to the Raven's credit. Like as soon as
ray Rice thing happened, You're gone.
Speaker 2 (18:55):
That was a video video Evan showing. Yeah, it's got
I hope that's visual. The better be no video evans
of any of that happy endings, right, Yeah, anyways, let's
get through a great topic of the day.
Speaker 3 (19:11):
Yeah, and reflects all we ended yesterday.
Speaker 2 (19:13):
Yeah. He is Matt Williamson. I am Dale Lolli. You're
listening to the Drive here on the Steelers Audio Network.
Matt and I'll be back with more right after.
Speaker 1 (19:21):
This is the Drive with Dale Lolly and Matt Williamson
on your twenty four to seven home of the Black
and Gold SNR Steelers Nation Radio.
Speaker 2 (19:41):
We are back. I'm Dale Lolli. He is the Matt
Williamson and Matt Warren Sharp does his yeah yeah, strength
of schedule a little bit differently than just looking at
last year's win total and saying, okay, well they won
nine games last year, pencil them in for nine games
again this year and yeah, right right, combined and looking
(20:05):
at it that way, So he thinks is so much smarter.
He has come up with his strength of schedule schedule
will be released next week by the NFL.
Speaker 3 (20:14):
The other thing he does after that point is, remember
he went back and looked at all like the rest
and all that stuff too, Like the Ravens set the
world record for rest advantage.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
That's why I wanted to look at this now.
Speaker 3 (20:24):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (20:24):
Yeah, And then next week when this after the schedule
is released. Then when he comes out with his he.
Speaker 3 (20:28):
Usually just overnight. I think he doesn't sleep that night
and puts it all together and it's pretty crazy.
Speaker 2 (20:33):
Yeah. Then we find out, you know, who what what
the actual schedule is, because it matters as much as
where you play them as when you play absolutely teams absolutely,
I mean three Thursday night you're playing Yeah, absolutely? Are
you in Miami in September? Are you in Miami in November?
Speaker 3 (20:52):
And that article that he puts out, he'll even tell
you he's like the road team on Thursday, road games
on four days rest is thirty yeah, I mean, or
another one is like three road games in a row,
your chances go down, you know. The first one is
just like forty eight house and the second one goes
(21:15):
to like forty and the third one is like ten,
like three road games in a row. It's like it
probably it doesn't even matter who you play, you're probably
not going to win the third league.
Speaker 2 (21:22):
That's why, I mean, the league doesn't do that as
much anymore as it No, there better been cognizant about. Yeah,
he don't give us.
Speaker 3 (21:29):
Some of the rest though, is pretty goofy. I mean
there's a lot of the same teams have been getting advantages.
Speaker 2 (21:35):
And yeah, so looking at the strength of schedule this year.
Speaker 3 (21:39):
Well, the way he does it is based off Vegas odds,
you know, like the Raiders are a lot different. They
have a new quarterback, they have a new head coach.
It doesn't matter really how many games they won last year,
it's what do they expected to win? Were they expected
to win? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (21:53):
Yeah, So his strength of schedule, he has the forty
nine ers with the easiest schedule by far New England
at two. San Francisco's win total is ten and a half.
The Patriots are seven and a half.
Speaker 3 (22:08):
I'm almost certain the NFC West plays both South Division
they do, which obviously has something to do.
Speaker 2 (22:13):
With The Saints have the third easiest schedule at six
and a half with six and a half win total.
When you look at it that way, the fact that
they have an easier schedule and still only have a
six and a half win total.
Speaker 3 (22:29):
Right, right, right, they're going to be don't expect to
be really bad? Right. And when we start doing like
over underwind total stuff, I look at the teams that
are at the top and at the bottom too, like, yeah,
well I'm on the fence here, but they have a
really tough schedule. I'm gonna go under right.
Speaker 2 (22:45):
The Falcons are fourth their win total seven and f
I see a trend here with all the NFC South team.
Speaker 3 (22:50):
A lot of times one division will get hit hard,
and especially if you're the last place team in that one,
that's two games that are easier than the others most
likely three.
Speaker 2 (23:00):
Yeah, it's right, but you also play those other bad
teams in your division. The Bills have the fifth easiest schedule,
their win totals eleven and a half.
Speaker 3 (23:08):
That's the first pretty darn good team. Who knows about
the Niners, But you.
Speaker 2 (23:12):
Know, could they be this year's fourteen and three fifteen
and two team?
Speaker 3 (23:18):
We talked about this a lot. I mean, I think
their chance of going six to zero in the division.
Are pretty strong, maybe as good as any team in
the league.
Speaker 2 (23:26):
Yeah, Jacksonville is six. Their win total seven and a half. Okay, Yeah,
Carolina seventh, six and a half win total. Of those
South teams, the Titans eighth, five and a half win total.
Speaker 3 (23:39):
Yeah. I wonder how much Vegas takes into account what
Warren did or is it. I don't know if it's
a chicken or the egg, right, Yes, I mean I bet,
I bet it's not. See here's where it goes off
the rails a little bit here, because when we talked
about this last week, when we did the win totals
for the league, his first draft, Yeah, he has the
(24:00):
Dolphins at nine and the Dolphins win totals eight and
a half. And I would go under on that all
day long. I would do because they have the ninth
easiest schedule.
Speaker 2 (24:09):
You're saying, But I'm just saying, like, I don't think
their win total like Vegas, I don't think is dead
Almo with some of these win totals.
Speaker 3 (24:15):
No, and I think they get adjusted a little too.
Like eight and a half seems really high for Miami, Yeah,
really high. I mean that's a future defense and they
have a lot of holes. Yeah, entry for play owing quarterback,
a lot of things could go wrong.
Speaker 2 (24:28):
Tampa Bay is tenth, nine and a half win totasies Okay,
behind all the teams in their division because they got
to play three first place teams in there.
Speaker 3 (24:40):
But the teams in the division have to play Tampa. Yeah, right,
so that sort of balances out. But I think a
lot of it is because the first place schedule.
Speaker 2 (24:48):
Arizona at eleven.
Speaker 3 (24:50):
These are the teams are like average eight.
Speaker 2 (24:53):
Eight and a half. And when you look at it
this way, here are the teams the Steelers are lumped
in with a eight and a half wins. Miami, Arizona,
the Steelers, the Bears, the Vikings. Those are your eight
and a half win teams.
Speaker 3 (25:13):
Yeah, I'd be a little offended if I were the
Vikings too. They won a lot of games last year.
Speaker 2 (25:17):
They won a lot of games. I get it, it's
a rookie quarterback.
Speaker 3 (25:20):
But we don't if I hopes for Donald a year
ago either, I mean they end up exceeding it now. Well,
JJ be as good as Donald, probably not this year.
They have a tough division too, but so the Bears. Right,
But the Steelers have a harder schedule than most of those
teams you mentioned too.
Speaker 2 (25:36):
Well, they don't have a harder schedule than the Vikings.
They don't have a harder schedule than the Bears. Okay,
those are they're in the middle of those eight and
a half win teams. Looking at the twelfth is the Colts,
they're seven and a half, thirteenth is the Seahawks. There
are seven and a half. Denver is fourteenth, nine and
(25:58):
a half. Because these are like league average schedule difficulty,
Chargers fifteenth, nine and a half. You see that, I
mean clumped clusters of the.
Speaker 3 (26:09):
Nine and a half. Seems like a lot of the
Chargers too.
Speaker 2 (26:11):
You know, the Jets are sixteenth at five and a half.
Speaker 3 (26:16):
Yeah, it doesn't sound like a real difficult schedule. Yeah,
it's the middle of the road, but I mean the
division is not that hard.
Speaker 2 (26:23):
Seventeen is Cincinnati nine and a half. That's the first
day of first the easiest schedule. And then and they
said they weren't the last place team. No, the Raiders
at eighteen six and a half, You got the Commanders
at nineteen at nine and a half. You could see
(26:44):
some plexiglass.
Speaker 3 (26:46):
Yeah, yeah, principal if they're old too for being a
young team.
Speaker 2 (26:51):
At twenty other Rams at nine and a half. See
the difference between that and the forty nine Ers.
Speaker 3 (26:55):
Yeah, I don't know why the Niners are so much easier.
There must be something on their schedule.
Speaker 2 (27:01):
The bad teams that they play are bad bad. Yeah. Yeah,
same thing with like Cincinnati versus the rest of the
in Cleveland, Cleveland.
Speaker 3 (27:08):
It's weird to me when one team in the division
stands out so much more than they others.
Speaker 2 (27:13):
Twenty of the Rams at nine and a half, The
Ravens come in at twenty first eleven and a half.
Who wins the Cowboys at twenty two seven and a half?
Speaker 3 (27:23):
I have, division's pretty tough.
Speaker 2 (27:25):
The Packers are twenty three at nine and a half.
Speaker 3 (27:28):
These are the tougher schedules, then.
Speaker 2 (27:30):
Yes, these are the tougher schedules. The Steelers are twenty
fourth twenty four, eight and a half wins, and.
Speaker 3 (27:35):
A lot of its division are in I mean both
norths are going to have a tough time.
Speaker 2 (27:38):
Yeah, which is why when you look at who's thirty first,
it's Cleveland. Yeah, they got to play all the other
AFC North teams. Yeah, and the NFC Central and right.
Speaker 3 (27:49):
Right, right right, So now they were a real tough r.
Speaker 2 (27:52):
The Bears are twenty six, eight and a half win total.
The Chiefs are twenty seventh this year.
Speaker 3 (27:58):
I mean, I'm sure they have the Bills and the
and the division their division also division looks better. Yeah, yeah,
I'm sure the win totals on the Denver went up
from last year.
Speaker 2 (28:06):
Definitely, the Chargers Raiders, probably at least by a game. Yeah,
you get the at twenty eight. The Vikings, their win
totals eight and a half. Twenty ninth is the Eagles. Well,
their win totals eleven and a half.
Speaker 3 (28:18):
I mean, obviously the first place schedule, but that's not shocking.
Speaker 2 (28:21):
Thirtieth is Detroit. They get the third toughest schedule. Okay,
their win totals ten and a half.
Speaker 3 (28:28):
Those first place teams. It sounds like in the NFC
it's a little harsher than it used to be.
Speaker 2 (28:33):
Yeah, and then you know, bring up the rear. You
get the Browns and the Giants at thirty one and
thirty two, both at five and a half wins.
Speaker 3 (28:39):
I found it interesting that they're the two toughest schedules
because they picked second and third in the draft. They
were the two quarterback half to have teams. Yeah, you know,
like they're kind of in parallel universes to something.
Speaker 2 (28:51):
They're five and a half is not the same as
Tennessee's five and a half, right, win total. Tennessee has
the eighth easiest schedule.
Speaker 3 (28:58):
Like you might look at the Giants and I think
they're in a better place than the Titans, but the
roads ahead is way harder, way harder.
Speaker 2 (29:07):
Even the Jets that had the sixteenth's the middle of
the road. Whereas though those two teams are both also
picked to get five and a half wins and their
thirty first and thirty second, they might not even get
the five and a half.
Speaker 3 (29:19):
Yeah, right right. I would lean towards the under on that.
From what I remember, this time last year, the Steelers
were thirty one or thirty two. They were at the bottom. Yeah,
I mean it, and it ended up being that way,
and I think the year before they were at the bottle.
Big part of that is a division and you're a
playoff team, like you're not going to have many last
place teams on your schedule, and the division's good. Yeah,
(29:41):
I mean, at this time last year, the Browns over under,
it was like nine wins, right, I mean the whole
division looked.
Speaker 2 (29:48):
Yeah, the Steelers had the fourth highest win total in
the division last at this point, right, I think they
were still they were at eight and a half at
that At this point last year, Cleveland was at nine
and a half.
Speaker 3 (29:58):
Which was why the Dealers had a harder schedule than
the other three teams, because they didn't get to play
what was perceived as the weakest team, which was Pittsford. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (30:08):
So well, now, whether this plays out or not, I
still think there's some flies in the ointment.
Speaker 3 (30:15):
I just think that, of course. I mean it's still
a prediction. Maybe I don't know how the schedule is
going to go. And so much of it has to
do with Okay, Houston's on the schedule, they look good,
but the week you played them, they know Stroud. I
mean there's a lot of luck involved. There's plus of
stuff that's going to come out next week. Is are
you on multiple road games? Is this a short super
(30:35):
short week? You know, losing to the Yeah, we looked
at when I remember schedule released day last year, another
short week in Cleveland. I don't think Cleveland's as good
as everyone thinks they are, but that's gonna be.
Speaker 2 (30:47):
A tough game.
Speaker 3 (30:48):
That's a really tough game, right. I think it was
piggybacked with the Ravens or something too. I think they're
coming off a raven game and then they'd go there.
It's like, oh, that's bad luck of just how it
lines up too.
Speaker 2 (30:59):
And even know all all the division games late in
the year.
Speaker 3 (31:02):
Right, last year was not right and we all saw
the three and eleven day thing too. That's a nightmare.
Speaker 2 (31:09):
I just looking at those win totals in this perspective,
I understand San Francisco's win total.
Speaker 3 (31:18):
It's a little bit higher now than I remember when
we talked about the first time, Like, well, that seems
a lot for a team that's that fragile, but their
roads easier than everybody else.
Speaker 2 (31:26):
Yes, I don't understand the Saints at six and a
half though. Even if if the Saints go, can the
Saints go three and three in the division?
Speaker 3 (31:36):
Best?
Speaker 2 (31:36):
I don't see it, right, I mean, that's a home
run for them. So where are they getting to six
and a half wins?
Speaker 3 (31:42):
Right? Right? I mean I think Shuck's going to be
their quarterback.
Speaker 2 (31:47):
And I like Shuck, But where they getting six and
a half wins?
Speaker 3 (31:49):
Asking a ton, right.
Speaker 2 (31:50):
Yeah, because I think Carolina is better. Yes, I think
Atlanta's better than them. I think the Saints have a
really I think the Saints are the worst team in
a division.
Speaker 3 (31:59):
I think you have a chance to pick first overall. Yeah,
I think they're right in that hunt.
Speaker 2 (32:05):
And you may look at it, well, Atlanta's seven and
a half. I think Atlanta's probably better than the seven
and a half win team playing in that division.
Speaker 3 (32:12):
Probably.
Speaker 2 (32:12):
I think they're the second best team in that division.
Speaker 3 (32:14):
Was it worth trading a future first? Who cares? You
got better? Right?
Speaker 2 (32:18):
You know?
Speaker 3 (32:19):
And that doesn't matter for this exercise if your whole
goal is to win as many games you possibly can
this year. Their defense looks better.
Speaker 2 (32:25):
The Bills are clearly the best team. Yeah in the AFC.
Are they going to go six and zero in the
AFC East? I would tend to think so.
Speaker 3 (32:32):
I mean the over under should probably be five. Yeah,
I mean I doubt they're four and two.
Speaker 2 (32:36):
Five and a half would be there right right, right, So,
I mean they're they're halfway to eleven and a half
right out of.
Speaker 3 (32:42):
The gate, and a big thing we'll be looking at too,
and certainly in that division. You don't want to go
to Miami the first couple of weeks. You don't want
to go to Denver, the first couple of weeks heat games.
Miami doesn't want to go to Buffalo in week eighteen,
you know, I mean some of those things matter too.
Speaker 2 (32:58):
Jacksonville's win total seven and a half, they've got the
six easiest schedule, might lean towards the over there. Cleveland
wouldn't be happy with that, right right, thinking they were gonna,
you know, coach everything else. Oh, they're gonna have two
top ten picks, are they?
Speaker 3 (33:13):
I don't know, I don't know.
Speaker 2 (33:14):
I think go one and they'll earn that. Yeah, what's there?
Over under the five and a half? Five and a
half and they have a brutals, They have the thirty.
They have the second toughest schedule.
Speaker 3 (33:26):
So if the Bills have the best chance, off the
top of my head, to be six and zero in
their respective division, do the Browns have the best chance
to be oh and six?
Speaker 2 (33:37):
It probably beats They always beat Cincinnati every year.
Speaker 3 (33:40):
I mean, I wouldn't bet on it, but I mean,
I think the Titans have a better chance to win
a division game. I bet maybe the Giants. Yeah, the
Giants at the bottom.
Speaker 2 (33:49):
Here's the other interesting thing about it. Looking at it
this way, You've got five teams who are projected six
six teams. They were projected to have double digit win totals.
San Francisco, Buffalo, Baltimore, Kansas City, Philadelphia, Detroit.
Speaker 3 (34:07):
The Niners are not like the others.
Speaker 2 (34:10):
Detroit has the third toughest schedule, Philadelphia has the fourth
toughest schedule because they played each other. The Chiefs have
the sixth, yeah, sixth toughest schedule, Baltimore is eleventh, Kansas
City has the fifth easiest schedule, and the forty nine
ers have the easiest schedule.
Speaker 3 (34:28):
Who had the fifth easiest Kansas Cityfalo, Buffalo. Okay, yeah,
I don't think the Niners are nearly in the level
of those other teams, especially based off just last year's results.
Those are the best couple teams in the league. But
the best teams usually do have the hardest schedules. It's why, right,
I mean, the Steelers are one of them. I mean,
year after year, it's what the league wants. They want parody,
(34:48):
they want some of these you know, the Texans two
years ago Washington last year to come from the seller
up till the playoff time.
Speaker 2 (34:57):
But it just tells me if I were betting, if
I were looking at this and going, Okay, who's gonna
have Who's gonna be the number one seed in the AFC?
Speaker 3 (35:04):
Buffalo Buffalo feels real good? Yeah, right, Like you don't
love seeing that if you're Kansas City, No, you know
or bald right, you know, a team like you know
that your your your aspirations, your goal is to get
that number one seed, not just win division, but be
the best team in the AFC. Buffalo's got a nice.
Speaker 2 (35:19):
Pass and they've got the easiest division.
Speaker 3 (35:22):
But yeah, it all correlates, of course.
Speaker 2 (35:23):
Right, yeah, right, same thing with Detroit, Like Detroit and Philadelphia,
their division's got tougher.
Speaker 3 (35:28):
Detroit looks real, Detroit looks brutal, right, right, I mean
that's why the Giants to me, might be the leader
in the clubhouse for the first overall pick. Yeah, I
mean they easily could be and six in their division.
Speaker 2 (35:40):
And I saw something like Detroit last year I think
went seven and oh or something like that against non
playoff teams, six and two against playoff teams, something along
those lines. They were unbeaten, maybe nine and oh against
against the non playoff team.
Speaker 3 (35:54):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (35:54):
Yeah, they are six and two against the playoff teams.
Speaker 3 (35:58):
Well, they're gonna get more of them.
Speaker 2 (35:59):
They're going to get more.
Speaker 3 (36:00):
Yeah. Yeah. That's hard to stay on top, it really is.
But those teams have the quarterbacks. Yeah, they're also correlids. Yeah,
you know, the teams that are at the top. That's
one that's good. Bring you back to the Steelers, I mean,
if they're the Steelers are consistently having one of the
harder schedules in the league, which they have if you
go back to years of Sharp doing this. They don't
(36:22):
have my homes, they don't have Allen, you know, I mean,
and they still have battled the really hard schedules. It's
the tough road, and nobody feels bad for you.
Speaker 2 (36:30):
Nobody does. Yeah. In fact, some people are underwhelmed by
it all.
Speaker 3 (36:35):
There are a few of them out there.
Speaker 2 (36:36):
Yeah. Yeah. Anyways, let's get through break. He is the
Matt Williamson. I am Dale, Lolly, you're listening to the Drive.
You're on the Steelers Audio network, Matt, and I'll be
back with more right after this.
Speaker 1 (36:52):
He's the Drive with Dale Lolly and Matt Williamson on
your twenty four to seven home of the Black and
Gold Steelers Asian.
Speaker 2 (37:00):
Radio, and we are back on Dale Lolli he is
the Matt Williamson and Matt. The NHL held its draft
lottery last night. Yeah. Yeah, and the Pittsburgh Penguins ended
up eleventh. They had been the ninth best.
Speaker 3 (37:18):
They were projected to win the ninth.
Speaker 2 (37:20):
Yeah or whatever.
Speaker 3 (37:21):
Right, that's a ping pong balls. Right.
Speaker 2 (37:24):
Major League Baseball doesn't do that, don't the but and
the NBA and NHL do use the lottery system.
Speaker 3 (37:33):
If you don't know the answer, don't. Obviously you don't
know the answer.
Speaker 2 (37:36):
Draft order. Is it only the non playoff team? Yes,
it's not like you make the playoffs. You just go
in based on how you.
Speaker 3 (37:41):
How you get eliminated, just like the NFL. Yeah, but
I didn't know if it was just like the top
five teams or if it's everyone that missed the playoffs.
And if you're the best team that missed the playoffs,
I think you get one ping pong ball. If you're
the worst team, you got twelve or whatever whatever you Yeah, Yeah,
it's weighted.
Speaker 2 (37:58):
Yeah. Should the NFL consider doing something like that.
Speaker 3 (38:02):
I've been asked that a lot, and I don't think
it's a terrible idea because, first of all, you know
how many viewers they get for that, A bazillion gajillion,
you know, I mean, there's no question about that. They
could do it pretty early in the process, which you'd
have to do it before free agency, because it might
if I picked it right after the combine, maybe even earlier.
I want to do it before free agency.
Speaker 2 (38:23):
You can't get it that the combine is before free
agency combines two weeks after the Super Bowl. You have
to kind of wait until the Super Bowl. You don't
have to wait until the Super bowls obviously. The NH
and NBA do their playoffs last six months long each.
Speaker 3 (38:37):
Right right, right, No, that's a great time to do it, absolutely,
because it wouldn't change your strategy as a My.
Speaker 2 (38:44):
Free agency doesn't start until two weeks after the combine, right.
Speaker 3 (38:47):
Right right after the combine. It'd be great to ideally
than the NFL is so smart about this, do it
during a down stretch so everybody watches. Just like schedule release,
there's not a lot going on right now. Schedule release
has turned into a event and you wanted some sort
of early because if I pick one, verse nineteen is
a heck of a lot different. I mean, the nineteenth
(39:08):
best team could win the first overall pick. I don't
think they'll do it because that is such a dramatic shift,
but I definitely think they'll consider it if teams start
really tanking, yeah, you know, like if they really put
out garbage the last two week weeks or whatever, the
bad teams to try to get a first overall or
(39:29):
second overall or maintain their spot. I think the NFL
will be like, no, no, no, you know, we want
those games to be as meaningful as possible.
Speaker 2 (39:37):
I think, you know, that was why there was so
much pushback on the Brian Flores Dolphins tanking situation.
Speaker 3 (39:44):
Right right, any word of tanking is going to be right,
no question. I'm trying to think. I think the Eagles
late in the season like sat everybody or the second
half or something like that. Sort of Recently this has
come up a lot, just because I think the Patriots
going into Week eighteen had the first overall.
Speaker 2 (40:05):
They had the first overall pick, and they won.
Speaker 3 (40:07):
And they won, Yeah, and they easily could have just
put out their worst players Tanking is a weird word
their worst players.
Speaker 2 (40:17):
That may. I guess it's it's more difficult to do.
I think in a sport like the NFL. Yeah, tanking
in particular, because you get twenty two guys on the field.
You only have a fifty three man roster.
Speaker 3 (40:34):
How many offensive linemen, right, you.
Speaker 2 (40:36):
Only have a certain number of that. You only have
so many defensive linemen. You only so many different players
at each position.
Speaker 3 (40:43):
And no one's going to give half effort.
Speaker 2 (40:45):
And those guys are going out there, they're trying because
they're not just playing for this year you're playing. There's
nothing guaranteed in the in the NFL.
Speaker 3 (40:52):
I'm not putting bad tape out there for anybody. Hell no,
or Plus, I could get injured if I'm not giving
one hundred percent, you know, But I'm taking on a block.
It's not all starts, and.
Speaker 2 (41:01):
Most of the contracts aren't guaranteed, right right, Like I'm
playing for a next year's contract.
Speaker 3 (41:06):
And in any given game, the twenty two players on
the field at once, I bet eleven of them are
set to be free agents after the year, you know,
Like I don't even have loyalty of this team. I
don't know if I'm bringing me back so that.
Speaker 2 (41:17):
The coach may be getting fired and you're going to
clean house anyways.
Speaker 3 (41:20):
So I was a little young, But I think the
best example and exactly what the NFL doesn't want is
when the Penn's got Lemieux, which is my all time
favorite athlete. They called up a Goldie from the miners
who wasn't a particularly good at stopping pucks and for
the last month he played goal when they let up
a whole lot. You know, So you put your worst
(41:42):
guys out there if you want to lose. But the
NFL doesn't want that, and you don't.
Speaker 2 (41:46):
But it's almost it's kind of impossible to do in
the NFL.
Speaker 3 (41:50):
I mean, you could sit your best guys and if
you win, you win. I mean like the Willie Parker game,
didn't they in Buffalo or whatever? Yeah, they sat guys
because they have spot locked up.
Speaker 2 (42:01):
But they're guys that are bringing off the bench with
Willie Parker and James.
Speaker 3 (42:03):
Harris right, and they're gonna play like crazy.
Speaker 2 (42:06):
That's their audience. Their hair is on fire because they
want a job.
Speaker 3 (42:09):
Absolutely, I do think it is harder. I mean, I
guess in the NBA, you could sit all right, Lebron,
you got to take this one. Yeah, we'll play our
best guys that always touch the ball on the bench.
For now, NFL is tougher, there's a lot more people. Yeah,
but I do think if we start seeing serious tanking,
there'll be more.
Speaker 2 (42:27):
I mean we've seen a couple of you know, the
Lions in the in the Browns in recent years have
gone winless. Really hard to do.
Speaker 3 (42:35):
Kind of by design. I mean, I really think tanking
is done in the front office. Like a coach isn't
going to call the wrong plays, quarterbacks not going to
miss a throw by accident, kicker is not going to
blast it into the seats. But if I don't putting
good teams on, if I don't get my coaches any
good players, well I'll probably lose some game. But that's
you know, that's that's different than this issue. I mean,
(42:56):
that's a productive struggle.
Speaker 2 (43:02):
And guys do get better the more they play, the
better they get.
Speaker 3 (43:06):
Well that's the thing too. Yeah, Well we.
Speaker 2 (43:08):
Just guys out there were guys, lesser guys out there.
But as this course of the season goes on, they
might get better.
Speaker 3 (43:16):
They might get better and that's part of the benefit
to you know, play all your young guys, three or
four of them really emerge. I mean, nobody tanks with
a bunch of thirty five year olds.
Speaker 2 (43:26):
Right, you know, I mean, and those guys are that pride,
you know, Yeah, at least have a bit of a
job for Yeah, like the Texans a few years ago
when they had a really bad team, but they went
out and got a bunch of thirty something one guys
on one.
Speaker 3 (43:41):
See if any of them hit, and they're all going
to try like crazy for us. The know what they're
doing right, right, They're not as talented as the guys
across from them. But maybe I can bring him back
and I'll draft someone in the third round that learns
from him and then hopefully goes past them. You know.
Speaker 2 (43:57):
It's just it's just tougher to do in the NFL.
Speaker 3 (43:59):
I think it is too. But boy, the night on
NFL Network that was the lottery would get a lot
of views, it would it would probably do a live show,
and even Steelers weren't in it.
Speaker 2 (44:11):
Yeah, absolutely, But anyways, that's going to do it for
our number one of the drive here on the Steelers
Audio Network, Matt and now I'll be back with our
number two right after this
He's the Drive with Dale Lolly and Matt Williamson on
your twenty four to seven home of the Black and
Gold car Steelers Nation Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Welcome to the Drive. I am Dale Lolly, he is
the Matt Williamson and Matt lo And behold we talked
about Justin Tucker. Yeah about that yesterday at the end
of the show, and about ten minutes after the show ended,
Justin Tucker gets released.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
Gets released. They drafted a kicker in the sixth round,
and I guess they had rookie Minni Caamp, so they
actually got to be with the young man and have
enough trusted him to move on. I suppose the.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
Funny football Yeah, only a football decision. The funny thing
about that is I kept seeing videos out on the
ex Twitter today about their new kicker Lowton. Yeah, well
here's the next generation and the Ravens drafted him, so
he's going to be great, and all that is showing
him kicking ball is off the kicking team. Really like
that doesn't show me anything.
Speaker 3 (01:07):
That don't show me anything. I don't know anything about
the other Every.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
Kicker out there who's worth anything, Yeah, can kick the
ball when there's nobody rushing him. There's nobody in the state.
You're just kicking the ball.
Speaker 3 (01:17):
Yeah, that doesn't mean you're special at all. My only
take on it was he played at Arizona. That's not
what you want for this area of the country. Maybe
he'll be great in the weather and the wind and
all that stuff, but the year is with the Browns,
Phil Dawson was our kicker. Yeah, he ended up lasting
a lot longer, but we were he was old at
that point too, and we were like, we better start
(01:38):
looking at kickers. And the only rule, and especially teams
coach is quite good, actually, but the only rule was
give me some evidence of him being able to kick
in weather. Yeah, I mean, you kick in Cleveland is
probably harder than Baltimore. But you play in Pittsburgh, you're
playing Baltimore. You hope to go beat the Bills.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
And we saw that every year and training yeah, right,
right right. Presley Harvin is as good as Cameron Johnston
looked last year in training camp. Presley harvem was even
more impressive in training camp.
Speaker 3 (02:10):
Oh, he had some boomers, man.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
Like eighty yard punts that just sounded different, like a
shotgun hung in the air for like seven seconds. They
were hitting jets going over by going and flying into
the Latrobe Airport and like, Wow, this is going to
be the year. And then you get into the season
and it would start to get cold. It's like kicking
off the tee and the ball would just go nowhere.
Speaker 3 (02:32):
Yeah yeah, yeah, I mean he could kick off the tee,
but he couldn't do it with a rush and all
those things, yeah, exactly, and the pressure of it, all
the wind, the rush, all that stuff. Late in the year,
it was never the same form. But man, if you
ever visited Latrobe while he was a pitch of some presser,
you're like, oh, I see why they drafted that. Yeah, yeah, right,
I mean, but consistency is really important.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
It really is. And you know, you can't in the
NFL unless you're you know, with it, one of the
Dome teams or you know, right in the Northeast in particular.
We're in the Midwest for that matter. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (03:10):
Yeah, it's gonna take a while to prove.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
You're gonna have to kick out doors you.
Speaker 3 (03:13):
Have it, right, I mean, you play in nasty North
and Cleveland's a terrible place to kick. Yeah, Pittsburgh's not easy.
That doesn't seem to be as brutal as it was
when the stadium was new.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
They've closed it off. They closed that end of little Yeah.
Speaker 3 (03:26):
Changed think the field's a little more solid too. I remember,
like my pit years were the beginning of it, and
the footing was bad to mix with the win. But Baltimore,
I'm sure is not great. I mean in November December,
you know, Cincinnati as well, and the teams you're competing against,
the Bills, the Chiefs, you know. I mean, these are
tough places to kick. He might be fine, who knows,
(03:46):
but coming from Arizona, I didn't love that correlation.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
No, No, Now, they also brought in a kicker as
an undrafted free agent from Wyoming, so they're going too.
So they were, they're so they're so sold on this
sixth round that they also signed another.
Speaker 3 (04:02):
Rookie kicker, which is the same as drafting one, basically, yeah,
you know, at that position. So I assume they've known
Tucker being gone is basically a foregone conclusion. But let's
at least get our hands on somebody else and go
from there. And I remember, I mean week ten, week twelve,
I mean, he was not doing well. He was missing,
(04:22):
missing a lot of kicks, and he's old and he's expensive,
and I thought he's not going to be a Raven
next year. And that's before I knew any offense.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
Is he going to be well he kick in the NFL?
Ever again, I think no. I don't think he will either.
Speaker 3 (04:35):
Right.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
The league is investigating this, the sixteen allegations against Yeah,
it's a lot. It's a lot, all right. And I
just don't know that anybody, any other team is going
to touch something that that's toxic like that, especially given
the fact that he's fallen off his age and his
recent his age. This isn't Deshaun Watson situation here, no, right, right?
Speaker 3 (04:58):
I mean watching was a top five quarterback. Yeah, this
guy's a kicker for one, and is not a top
five kicker anymore. And he's older, and you have these
things out there. Now, what if he gets cleared soon?
But it probably won't be soon. I can't imagine it
would be soon, right, I can't imagine by the beginning
of the year. It's like, Oh, he didn't do anything wrong,
don't worry about it. Hey, And for his I hope
(05:18):
that's true.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
But the sake of the women, I hope that, right,
for everybody, right, nothing happens, right, right, but it doesn't
look great. Sixteen of him, I'm gonna think something happens.
Speaker 3 (05:28):
Yeah, it doesn't look great. And the fact that the
team moved on from him and drafted a kicker and
signed another one. You know, I don't think he kicks again.
I don't like thirty six ish.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
Uh yeah, I believe so. So I've ran some numbers today.
Right now, Tucker is the all time leading field goal
kicker in NFL history and percentage wise eighty nine point
one zero three percent, which might be what he ends with,
might be what he ends with. Yeah, yeah, Chris Boswell
right now his fourth all time. Okay, uh, he's got
(06:00):
the guy in.
Speaker 3 (06:02):
His coup's still ahead of him.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
No, right, yeah, and that's really I mean all it
takes Harrison, Butker is at eighty eight point six percent.
Speaker 3 (06:10):
He's another expensive one that's been really good.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
Eddie Pinero is at eighty eight point zero nine to
five percent. Now, he doesn't have the longevity that these other.
Speaker 3 (06:20):
Guys, so they know it's talking about him as a
Hall of Famer or anything like that, but he's putting
it through the uprights.
Speaker 2 (06:24):
Boswell's at eighty eight point zero two six percent. But
Boswell's made over ninety percent of his kicks in five
of the last six years.
Speaker 3 (06:33):
Really wow, So he's above that number, which is fourth
all time recently in a big way.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
Yeah, in a big way. The one year that he
didn't was the year he went on I uh, that
was growing right. In twenty twenty two. He only kicked
in twelve games. He was twenty of twenty eight that year. Yeah,
some fighting, some issues.
Speaker 3 (06:52):
I say, I believe that he had a groin all year. Yeah,
that he fought through, which it's not like a shoulder
for a kicker.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
But if you look at you know, he had that
year and he had the twenty eighteen season that was
that was definitely a groin injury in that one where
he was thirteen of twenty ninety point six percent his
first year eighty four percent is second year, which now
looks like, wow, that was really down the year for me.
He was twenty one to twenty five, but it's not
too shabby. Ninety two point one percent sixty five percent
(07:21):
in that two thousand and eight eighteen season. The Steelers
stuck with him, right right. I remember there was some doubts.
What do you do now? You know, ninety three point
five percent in twenty nineteen, ninety five percent in twenty twenty,
ninety percent in twenty twenty one, seventy one point four
percent in that injury season twenty twenty two. Then she
hung it up after twelve games. Did you say, yeah?
Speaker 3 (07:42):
Okay?
Speaker 1 (07:43):
Uh?
Speaker 2 (07:43):
Ninety three point five percent and ninety three point two
percent the last two years, and it was a ninety
five in there. He's missed five kicks in the last
two years years. Three of them have been beyond fifty
plus yards.
Speaker 3 (07:55):
Yeah, they're not sure. I mean they're tough kicks. Yeah.
One of them was over sixty.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
One of them was over sixty. He's missed into the
half or something. He's missed two kicks inside of fifty
yards in the last two years.
Speaker 3 (08:05):
Wow, and again weather Weather. Yeah, these a playoff games
and late in the season.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
He's never missed a playoff kick.
Speaker 3 (08:13):
Wow. And he's good on kickoffs and he's good.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
On so I ran the numbers on him. Right now
he is at He's made two hundred and seventy two
of three hundred and nine career field goal attempts. If
he gets to if he goes twenty eight to twenty
eight to get to three hundred, that moves him past Tucker.
(08:36):
Now he's not going to go twenty eight to twenty.
Speaker 3 (08:38):
Yeah, right, but he might go twenty eight to thirty
or eventually keep that pace up.
Speaker 2 (08:43):
I also then I then ran the numbers on Okay,
so if he has what what he has averaged the
last two seasons, the average I think go past him.
He would be thirty five. He would make thirty five
of thirty seven and a half kicks. So obviously he
can't kick thirty seven and.
Speaker 3 (08:58):
A half this year.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
If he went thirty thirty five of let's say thirty seven,
that would put his career percentage at eighty eight point six.
Speaker 3 (09:07):
Does that make him one? No, Okay, he would.
Speaker 2 (09:10):
Still be just behind, but he's closing fast.
Speaker 3 (09:13):
What it would be nice is if someone does pick
up Tucker and he keeps missing, I mean him stopping
now might be the best thing for Tucker's legacy might
be you know, I mean, if he's declining that much.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
Right now, Butker is at eighty six or eighty eight
point six percent, that's where he's at it now.
Speaker 3 (09:29):
Kicks weather too. I get credit. That's a windy player.
Speaker 2 (09:31):
If you look at the guys on top, I mean
it's Tucker, Butcker Pinero.
Speaker 3 (09:36):
Yeah, he kind of doesn't look like the others though.
Let's see you can do it for five more years.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
Boswell Daniel Carlson is number five. He kicks, yeah, yeah,
in a good environment. I remember Ku was up there
for a while, but he couldn't keep it up and
he kicked in the down. Fair Baron's at eighty six
point eight, KOs falling off down to eighty six percent.
Speaker 3 (09:56):
I do find it interesting funny that these are all
active guys well kickers or.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
Six all times. Josh Lambeau, okay, uh, eight is Mike
vander Jack. You wouldn't necessarily think of that.
Speaker 3 (10:08):
Yeah, I had a good career.
Speaker 2 (10:09):
Robbie gold is nine, Ky Fairburn or fore Bath is
so well.
Speaker 3 (10:13):
Those guys too, Yeah, I mean those guys have a
lot of attimes. Huh. But I could definitely see a
couple of the dudes that are kicking now fall off,
you know, Like I think Bucker's out of the woods.
He's going to be I mean, he looks like he's
had a really good career. Tucker is probably done, but
the other guys you mentioned around Boz, Let's see where
(10:34):
you're at in two three years. I mean, you just
don't have a great body of work.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
Yeah, So it's it's just interesting and it goes this
is and I don't want to compare apples to apples
here with the Shador Sanders situation because this isn't the
same thing, right, But you're only valuable to the team if, if,
if Justin Tucker doesn't have this, if he has a
normal Justin Tucker season last year, last if he makes
(11:01):
he hits thirty seven or forty kicks, he's the fifth
best actor, He's seven of nine from fifty and beyond.
They're not cutting them.
Speaker 3 (11:09):
I don't think, I mean, unless this stuff is really
really bad or they're waiting for a.
Speaker 2 (11:12):
Com I don't even know if it comes out in
that situation.
Speaker 3 (11:15):
Yeah, who knows.
Speaker 2 (11:16):
Hint hint, nudge, nudge, right, wink wink that you know,
this suddenly comes out after he you know, right after
he has had his worst season, and it's the stuff's
been you know, happened. Most of it happened five six
years ago, and all of a sudden, now people are
coming out of the woodwork on this like.
Speaker 3 (11:34):
Oh yeah, along the shore Sanders thing, which is kind
of a somewhat of a left TURNU. I heard a
good comparison about like why people don't want to deal
with Sanders. It's like, so think of some of those
first round pick quarterbacks that like busted, like Blaine Gabbert,
but he's lasted in the league for ten years, twelve
(11:54):
years or whatever. Or a better example is like the
case keenums that last five years because they're a good
dude and people want to be around them. You know, like,
it's not necessarily that he throws the ball better than.
Speaker 2 (12:06):
It's not even so much that he has in you know,
everything that I have heard regarding his interview process, and
it is an interview process, right, You're interviewing for a job, yes,
not the other way around. You're not interviewing the team, right,
You're not being recruited, You're being interviewed.
Speaker 3 (12:26):
And all my stuff sounds really bad.
Speaker 2 (12:27):
He treated it like he was being recruited by these teams.
Speaker 3 (12:30):
Yes, exactly, I don't have time for you. I'm not interested.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
I'm not going up on the whiteboard. Why would I
do that? Yeah, exact things like that.
Speaker 3 (12:37):
Exactly unless it was like the Browns of the Giants,
who weren't going to use a second or third pick
on them. You know, it was a couple teams. I
got time for you. Frankly, if the Steelers invited him
to for a visit at combine time, I bet he
has said, no, you're picking. I'm not gonna be around
for that, you know, like, and I think they brought
(12:58):
him into the smokes. He acted entitled, right, right, right,
that's not good enough, and you weren't entitled. If you're
the best quarterback in the draft, that's different. If you're
a backup grade on the field, which I think he is.
I mean, he's a second third round player. I can't
have that stuff.
Speaker 2 (13:13):
And yet people still want to try to make this
and I had some there was somebody on our message
board to try to compare this to Colin Kaepernick's situation.
Speaker 3 (13:20):
Oh, I think it's different.
Speaker 2 (13:21):
They're completely different, very different, right, I mean, you know,
whether you agree with Kaepernick or not, the NFL made
a stand and said, he look, you're working.
Speaker 3 (13:35):
You're an NFL employee.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
You're an NFL employee, and we don't want you doing
that right now and ticking off half of our fan base, yeah,
or the other half of the fan base if you
don't do it, and it just opened the can of worms.
They didn't want to deal with that situation like that,
and so they said, you know, teams just said, we
don't want to deal with that distraction, and I think nobody.
The bottom line is that's for the only equitable thing
(14:00):
there is that teams don't want to deal with a distraction, right,
unless you're a star player. If you're Antonio Brown, you
can get away with a little bit more than if
you're Marcus Wheaton, you can get along away with a
lot more than if you're Marcus Wheaton.
Speaker 3 (14:13):
People knew Lawrence Taylor was up to bad stuff, you know,
but he was the best player on the planet.
Speaker 2 (14:18):
Yeah right.
Speaker 3 (14:19):
I mean, even Jimmy Johnson will tell you, Michael wort
a rule.
Speaker 2 (14:23):
For Michael Irvin and another set of rule for for
Curtis Richardson who they are, Curtis richards who they cut
for falling asleep in a meeting.
Speaker 3 (14:28):
But Michael can fall asleep at a meeting and probably could
have a bed in the meeting right right to show
up on game that right, It's all it's all relative
that way.
Speaker 2 (14:38):
And that's that's not just the NFL. No, that's every
walk of life.
Speaker 3 (14:43):
I'm sure, I'm sure. And the example I was using
before the draft was when Tim Tebow got signed by
the Jets, not when he was a first round pick.
Speaker 2 (14:52):
It's different to be a tight end.
Speaker 3 (14:56):
Slash personal protector, you know, special t Taysom Hill guy.
They had to have a huge press conference and the
left tackle who's been in the league for ten years
with three kids and millions in the banks, getting a
microphone in his face. So what do you think of
the Tim Tebow signing? He's a personal protector, That's what
I think about it. I guess he had a good
(15:18):
college career, but I don't watch college football. I don't care,
you know, right, it's not worth it. You're again, and
the difference between Kaepernick. You at least saw a NFL
film of Kaepernick, right, you know, like he did good
things as an NFL quarterback should or you don't even
know yet, right, That's and that'd be different.
Speaker 2 (15:34):
That's what I explained to the to the gentleman who
was who's going back and forth with me on the
message board about it. I'm like, there's a huge difference here.
Colin Kaepernick had at least done something in.
Speaker 3 (15:43):
The league, right, He was an early second round pick
with a lot of ability and was starting to turn
into a door.
Speaker 2 (15:50):
Sanders has done nothing.
Speaker 3 (15:51):
He's done nothing nothing. The league will move on without
him either way.
Speaker 2 (15:54):
You know, yeah, right, I mean there's you're not. It's
not an inalienable right to be draft it into the NFL.
Speaker 3 (16:01):
Right, right, team thirty two teams don't know.
Speaker 2 (16:04):
It's it's an honor. I give that. I give the
same speech every year. When when were you know, because
I run the baseball league in Washington when we're picking
our all star team, it's not it's you don't have
a right to be on that team. It's an honor
to be chosen for that team.
Speaker 3 (16:18):
You might think you're the best first baseman.
Speaker 2 (16:19):
In the league, doesn't matter, doesn't matter, right, what does
everybody else think about you? What happened in the tryout
and everything else that's involved with.
Speaker 3 (16:26):
It and in the NFL draft, every team has a
right to pick who they want. They're Kuiper be damn
right or right. He canna have his opinion too, But
if they're going to pick who they want, it's going
to force them to pick this guy or that guy.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
You know, it's just it's just the reality of the situation. Again,
he was being he was being interviewed, not recruited, and
he treated it like it was a recruiting process.
Speaker 3 (16:50):
There's been so much this came out that he's just
wanted to enough time for people. He rubbed them wrong.
Was but just go through the motions right right?
Speaker 2 (17:00):
Meetings again, they try to put him on the board
that I don't want to do that. No, no, do Okay,
well then I'm not gonna drive. I guess you don't
want the job then yeah, yeah, you don't want the job.
If I go in an interview for it's step brothers,
if I go into the into the meeting and you know,
start passing gas in my interview process, I'm probably not
going to get that job.
Speaker 3 (17:19):
Right or hey, can you give us your last three articles?
Oh sorry, I can't do it. Not going to do
it right?
Speaker 2 (17:27):
Right, I don't expect to get the job then, right.
You know that's which.
Speaker 3 (17:31):
To me, it reflects a little on Dion in that
he's getting advice from someone. I mean, at this point,
whoever he's getting advice from did not do him any favors,
you know, but he's a he's over eighteen. He's an
adult now too. He can make his own mind up.
Speaker 2 (17:48):
And the difference was could he could do all that
stuff because he was he was right? The sun isn't
Dion right. He may be a great football player. I hope,
I hope he for his that he is. I hope
he turns into a starter and all that could start.
Speaker 3 (18:03):
Maybe maybe this was the kick in the pants he
needs to be, like, well, I got to take this
thing more seriously. And yeah, we'll at least have an
opportunity to.
Speaker 2 (18:11):
Bring this back to Justin Tucker again. If Tucker does,
if Tucker had the season that Chris Boswell had last year,
Justin Tucker is still a raven.
Speaker 3 (18:20):
I bet they're not drafting a kicker.
Speaker 2 (18:22):
They're not drafting a kicker, and he is still a raven.
And well we're we we back our.
Speaker 3 (18:27):
Player, our dual diligence until the end, right, Yeah, yeah,
I agree with that too. Yeah. Now, if he gets convicted,
that's different story.
Speaker 2 (18:35):
Different story gets very clear. Well, I mean, even at
that the Browns financially had to stick behind Watson, but
they that all that stuff, all happened. Yeah, yeah, he's
he's paid his fines and all that stuff. We're good
with it.
Speaker 3 (18:51):
I mean to the Raven's credit. Like as soon as
ray Rice thing happened, You're gone.
Speaker 2 (18:55):
That was a video video Evan showing. Yeah, it's got
I hope that's visual. The better be no video evans
of any of that happy endings, right, Yeah, anyways, let's
get through a great topic of the day.
Speaker 3 (19:11):
Yeah, and reflects all we ended yesterday.
Speaker 2 (19:13):
Yeah. He is Matt Williamson. I am Dale Lolli. You're
listening to the Drive here on the Steelers Audio Network.
Matt and I'll be back with more right after.
Speaker 1 (19:21):
This is the Drive with Dale Lolly and Matt Williamson
on your twenty four to seven home of the Black
and Gold SNR Steelers Nation Radio.
Speaker 2 (19:41):
We are back. I'm Dale Lolli. He is the Matt
Williamson and Matt Warren Sharp does his yeah yeah, strength
of schedule a little bit differently than just looking at
last year's win total and saying, okay, well they won
nine games last year, pencil them in for nine games
again this year and yeah, right right, combined and looking
(20:05):
at it that way, So he thinks is so much smarter.
He has come up with his strength of schedule schedule
will be released next week by the NFL.
Speaker 3 (20:14):
The other thing he does after that point is, remember
he went back and looked at all like the rest
and all that stuff too, Like the Ravens set the
world record for rest advantage.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
That's why I wanted to look at this now.
Speaker 3 (20:24):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (20:24):
Yeah, And then next week when this after the schedule
is released. Then when he comes out with his he.
Speaker 3 (20:28):
Usually just overnight. I think he doesn't sleep that night
and puts it all together and it's pretty crazy.
Speaker 2 (20:33):
Yeah. Then we find out, you know, who what what
the actual schedule is, because it matters as much as
where you play them as when you play absolutely teams absolutely,
I mean three Thursday night you're playing Yeah, absolutely? Are
you in Miami in September? Are you in Miami in November?
Speaker 3 (20:52):
And that article that he puts out, he'll even tell
you he's like the road team on Thursday, road games
on four days rest is thirty yeah, I mean, or
another one is like three road games in a row,
your chances go down, you know. The first one is
just like forty eight house and the second one goes
(21:15):
to like forty and the third one is like ten,
like three road games in a row. It's like it
probably it doesn't even matter who you play, you're probably
not going to win the third league.
Speaker 2 (21:22):
That's why, I mean, the league doesn't do that as
much anymore as it No, there better been cognizant about. Yeah,
he don't give us.
Speaker 3 (21:29):
Some of the rest though, is pretty goofy. I mean
there's a lot of the same teams have been getting advantages.
Speaker 2 (21:35):
And yeah, so looking at the strength of schedule this year.
Speaker 3 (21:39):
Well, the way he does it is based off Vegas odds,
you know, like the Raiders are a lot different. They
have a new quarterback, they have a new head coach.
It doesn't matter really how many games they won last year,
it's what do they expected to win? Were they expected
to win? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (21:53):
Yeah, So his strength of schedule, he has the forty
nine ers with the easiest schedule by far New England
at two. San Francisco's win total is ten and a half.
The Patriots are seven and a half.
Speaker 3 (22:08):
I'm almost certain the NFC West plays both South Division
they do, which obviously has something to do.
Speaker 2 (22:13):
With The Saints have the third easiest schedule at six
and a half with six and a half win total.
When you look at it that way, the fact that
they have an easier schedule and still only have a
six and a half win total.
Speaker 3 (22:29):
Right, right, right, they're going to be don't expect to
be really bad? Right. And when we start doing like
over underwind total stuff, I look at the teams that
are at the top and at the bottom too, like, yeah,
well I'm on the fence here, but they have a
really tough schedule. I'm gonna go under right.
Speaker 2 (22:45):
The Falcons are fourth their win total seven and f
I see a trend here with all the NFC South team.
Speaker 3 (22:50):
A lot of times one division will get hit hard,
and especially if you're the last place team in that one,
that's two games that are easier than the others most
likely three.
Speaker 2 (23:00):
Yeah, it's right, but you also play those other bad
teams in your division. The Bills have the fifth easiest schedule,
their win totals eleven and a half.
Speaker 3 (23:08):
That's the first pretty darn good team. Who knows about
the Niners, But you.
Speaker 2 (23:12):
Know, could they be this year's fourteen and three fifteen
and two team?
Speaker 3 (23:18):
We talked about this a lot. I mean, I think
their chance of going six to zero in the division.
Are pretty strong, maybe as good as any team in
the league.
Speaker 2 (23:26):
Yeah, Jacksonville is six. Their win total seven and a half. Okay, Yeah,
Carolina seventh, six and a half win total. Of those
South teams, the Titans eighth, five and a half win total.
Speaker 3 (23:39):
Yeah. I wonder how much Vegas takes into account what
Warren did or is it. I don't know if it's
a chicken or the egg, right, Yes, I mean I bet,
I bet it's not. See here's where it goes off
the rails a little bit here, because when we talked
about this last week, when we did the win totals
for the league, his first draft, Yeah, he has the
(24:00):
Dolphins at nine and the Dolphins win totals eight and
a half. And I would go under on that all
day long. I would do because they have the ninth
easiest schedule.
Speaker 2 (24:09):
You're saying, But I'm just saying, like, I don't think
their win total like Vegas, I don't think is dead
Almo with some of these win totals.
Speaker 3 (24:15):
No, and I think they get adjusted a little too.
Like eight and a half seems really high for Miami, Yeah,
really high. I mean that's a future defense and they
have a lot of holes. Yeah, entry for play owing quarterback,
a lot of things could go wrong.
Speaker 2 (24:28):
Tampa Bay is tenth, nine and a half win totasies Okay,
behind all the teams in their division because they got
to play three first place teams in there.
Speaker 3 (24:40):
But the teams in the division have to play Tampa. Yeah, right,
so that sort of balances out. But I think a
lot of it is because the first place schedule.
Speaker 2 (24:48):
Arizona at eleven.
Speaker 3 (24:50):
These are the teams are like average eight.
Speaker 2 (24:53):
Eight and a half. And when you look at it
this way, here are the teams the Steelers are lumped
in with a eight and a half wins. Miami, Arizona,
the Steelers, the Bears, the Vikings. Those are your eight
and a half win teams.
Speaker 3 (25:13):
Yeah, I'd be a little offended if I were the
Vikings too. They won a lot of games last year.
Speaker 2 (25:17):
They won a lot of games. I get it, it's
a rookie quarterback.
Speaker 3 (25:20):
But we don't if I hopes for Donald a year
ago either, I mean they end up exceeding it now. Well,
JJ be as good as Donald, probably not this year.
They have a tough division too, but so the Bears. Right,
But the Steelers have a harder schedule than most of those
teams you mentioned too.
Speaker 2 (25:36):
Well, they don't have a harder schedule than the Vikings.
They don't have a harder schedule than the Bears. Okay,
those are they're in the middle of those eight and
a half win teams. Looking at the twelfth is the Colts,
they're seven and a half, thirteenth is the Seahawks. There
are seven and a half. Denver is fourteenth, nine and
(25:58):
a half. Because these are like league average schedule difficulty,
Chargers fifteenth, nine and a half. You see that, I
mean clumped clusters of the.
Speaker 3 (26:09):
Nine and a half. Seems like a lot of the
Chargers too.
Speaker 2 (26:11):
You know, the Jets are sixteenth at five and a half.
Speaker 3 (26:16):
Yeah, it doesn't sound like a real difficult schedule. Yeah,
it's the middle of the road, but I mean the
division is not that hard.
Speaker 2 (26:23):
Seventeen is Cincinnati nine and a half. That's the first
day of first the easiest schedule. And then and they
said they weren't the last place team. No, the Raiders
at eighteen six and a half, You got the Commanders
at nineteen at nine and a half. You could see
(26:44):
some plexiglass.
Speaker 3 (26:46):
Yeah, yeah, principal if they're old too for being a
young team.
Speaker 2 (26:51):
At twenty other Rams at nine and a half. See
the difference between that and the forty nine Ers.
Speaker 3 (26:55):
Yeah, I don't know why the Niners are so much easier.
There must be something on their schedule.
Speaker 2 (27:01):
The bad teams that they play are bad bad. Yeah. Yeah,
same thing with like Cincinnati versus the rest of the
in Cleveland, Cleveland.
Speaker 3 (27:08):
It's weird to me when one team in the division
stands out so much more than they others.
Speaker 2 (27:13):
Twenty of the Rams at nine and a half, The
Ravens come in at twenty first eleven and a half.
Who wins the Cowboys at twenty two seven and a half?
Speaker 3 (27:23):
I have, division's pretty tough.
Speaker 2 (27:25):
The Packers are twenty three at nine and a half.
Speaker 3 (27:28):
These are the tougher schedules, then.
Speaker 2 (27:30):
Yes, these are the tougher schedules. The Steelers are twenty
fourth twenty four, eight and a half wins, and.
Speaker 3 (27:35):
A lot of its division are in I mean both
norths are going to have a tough time.
Speaker 2 (27:38):
Yeah, which is why when you look at who's thirty first,
it's Cleveland. Yeah, they got to play all the other
AFC North teams. Yeah, and the NFC Central and right.
Speaker 3 (27:49):
Right, right right, So now they were a real tough r.
Speaker 2 (27:52):
The Bears are twenty six, eight and a half win total.
The Chiefs are twenty seventh this year.
Speaker 3 (27:58):
I mean, I'm sure they have the Bills and the
and the division their division also division looks better. Yeah, yeah,
I'm sure the win totals on the Denver went up
from last year.
Speaker 2 (28:06):
Definitely, the Chargers Raiders, probably at least by a game. Yeah,
you get the at twenty eight. The Vikings, their win
totals eight and a half. Twenty ninth is the Eagles. Well,
their win totals eleven and a half.
Speaker 3 (28:18):
I mean, obviously the first place schedule, but that's not shocking.
Speaker 2 (28:21):
Thirtieth is Detroit. They get the third toughest schedule. Okay,
their win totals ten and a half.
Speaker 3 (28:28):
Those first place teams. It sounds like in the NFC
it's a little harsher than it used to be.
Speaker 2 (28:33):
Yeah, and then you know, bring up the rear. You
get the Browns and the Giants at thirty one and
thirty two, both at five and a half wins.
Speaker 3 (28:39):
I found it interesting that they're the two toughest schedules
because they picked second and third in the draft. They
were the two quarterback half to have teams. Yeah, you know,
like they're kind of in parallel universes to something.
Speaker 2 (28:51):
They're five and a half is not the same as
Tennessee's five and a half, right, win total. Tennessee has
the eighth easiest schedule.
Speaker 3 (28:58):
Like you might look at the Giants and I think
they're in a better place than the Titans, but the
roads ahead is way harder, way harder.
Speaker 2 (29:07):
Even the Jets that had the sixteenth's the middle of
the road. Whereas though those two teams are both also
picked to get five and a half wins and their
thirty first and thirty second, they might not even get
the five and a half.
Speaker 3 (29:19):
Yeah, right right. I would lean towards the under on that.
From what I remember, this time last year, the Steelers
were thirty one or thirty two. They were at the bottom. Yeah,
I mean it, and it ended up being that way,
and I think the year before they were at the bottle.
Big part of that is a division and you're a
playoff team, like you're not going to have many last
place teams on your schedule, and the division's good. Yeah,
(29:41):
I mean, at this time last year, the Browns over under,
it was like nine wins, right, I mean the whole
division looked.
Speaker 2 (29:48):
Yeah, the Steelers had the fourth highest win total in
the division last at this point, right, I think they
were still they were at eight and a half at
that At this point last year, Cleveland was at nine
and a half.
Speaker 3 (29:58):
Which was why the Dealers had a harder schedule than
the other three teams, because they didn't get to play
what was perceived as the weakest team, which was Pittsford. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (30:08):
So well, now, whether this plays out or not, I
still think there's some flies in the ointment.
Speaker 3 (30:15):
I just think that, of course. I mean it's still
a prediction. Maybe I don't know how the schedule is
going to go. And so much of it has to
do with Okay, Houston's on the schedule, they look good,
but the week you played them, they know Stroud. I
mean there's a lot of luck involved. There's plus of
stuff that's going to come out next week. Is are
you on multiple road games? Is this a short super
(30:35):
short week? You know, losing to the Yeah, we looked
at when I remember schedule released day last year, another
short week in Cleveland. I don't think Cleveland's as good
as everyone thinks they are, but that's gonna be.
Speaker 2 (30:47):
A tough game.
Speaker 3 (30:48):
That's a really tough game, right. I think it was
piggybacked with the Ravens or something too. I think they're
coming off a raven game and then they'd go there.
It's like, oh, that's bad luck of just how it
lines up too.
Speaker 2 (30:59):
And even know all all the division games late in
the year.
Speaker 3 (31:02):
Right, last year was not right and we all saw
the three and eleven day thing too. That's a nightmare.
Speaker 2 (31:09):
I just looking at those win totals in this perspective,
I understand San Francisco's win total.
Speaker 3 (31:18):
It's a little bit higher now than I remember when
we talked about the first time, Like, well, that seems
a lot for a team that's that fragile, but their
roads easier than everybody else.
Speaker 2 (31:26):
Yes, I don't understand the Saints at six and a
half though. Even if if the Saints go, can the
Saints go three and three in the division?
Speaker 3 (31:36):
Best?
Speaker 2 (31:36):
I don't see it, right, I mean, that's a home
run for them. So where are they getting to six
and a half wins?
Speaker 3 (31:42):
Right? Right? I mean I think Shuck's going to be
their quarterback.
Speaker 2 (31:47):
And I like Shuck, But where they getting six and
a half wins?
Speaker 3 (31:49):
Asking a ton, right.
Speaker 2 (31:50):
Yeah, because I think Carolina is better. Yes, I think
Atlanta's better than them. I think the Saints have a
really I think the Saints are the worst team in
a division.
Speaker 3 (31:59):
I think you have a chance to pick first overall. Yeah,
I think they're right in that hunt.
Speaker 2 (32:05):
And you may look at it, well, Atlanta's seven and
a half. I think Atlanta's probably better than the seven
and a half win team playing in that division.
Speaker 3 (32:12):
Probably.
Speaker 2 (32:12):
I think they're the second best team in that division.
Speaker 3 (32:14):
Was it worth trading a future first? Who cares? You
got better? Right?
Speaker 2 (32:18):
You know?
Speaker 3 (32:19):
And that doesn't matter for this exercise if your whole
goal is to win as many games you possibly can
this year. Their defense looks better.
Speaker 2 (32:25):
The Bills are clearly the best team. Yeah in the AFC.
Are they going to go six and zero in the
AFC East? I would tend to think so.
Speaker 3 (32:32):
I mean the over under should probably be five. Yeah,
I mean I doubt they're four and two.
Speaker 2 (32:36):
Five and a half would be there right right, right, So,
I mean they're they're halfway to eleven and a half
right out of.
Speaker 3 (32:42):
The gate, and a big thing we'll be looking at too,
and certainly in that division. You don't want to go
to Miami the first couple of weeks. You don't want
to go to Denver, the first couple of weeks heat games.
Miami doesn't want to go to Buffalo in week eighteen,
you know, I mean some of those things matter too.
Speaker 2 (32:58):
Jacksonville's win total seven and a half, they've got the
six easiest schedule, might lean towards the over there. Cleveland
wouldn't be happy with that, right right, thinking they were gonna,
you know, coach everything else. Oh, they're gonna have two
top ten picks, are they?
Speaker 3 (33:13):
I don't know, I don't know.
Speaker 2 (33:14):
I think go one and they'll earn that. Yeah, what's there?
Over under the five and a half? Five and a
half and they have a brutals, They have the thirty.
They have the second toughest schedule.
Speaker 3 (33:26):
So if the Bills have the best chance, off the
top of my head, to be six and zero in
their respective division, do the Browns have the best chance
to be oh and six?
Speaker 2 (33:37):
It probably beats They always beat Cincinnati every year.
Speaker 3 (33:40):
I mean, I wouldn't bet on it, but I mean,
I think the Titans have a better chance to win
a division game. I bet maybe the Giants. Yeah, the
Giants at the bottom.
Speaker 2 (33:49):
Here's the other interesting thing about it. Looking at it
this way, You've got five teams who are projected six
six teams. They were projected to have double digit win totals.
San Francisco, Buffalo, Baltimore, Kansas City, Philadelphia, Detroit.
Speaker 3 (34:07):
The Niners are not like the others.
Speaker 2 (34:10):
Detroit has the third toughest schedule, Philadelphia has the fourth
toughest schedule because they played each other. The Chiefs have
the sixth, yeah, sixth toughest schedule, Baltimore is eleventh, Kansas
City has the fifth easiest schedule, and the forty nine
ers have the easiest schedule.
Speaker 3 (34:28):
Who had the fifth easiest Kansas Cityfalo, Buffalo. Okay, yeah,
I don't think the Niners are nearly in the level
of those other teams, especially based off just last year's results.
Those are the best couple teams in the league. But
the best teams usually do have the hardest schedules. It's why, right,
I mean, the Steelers are one of them. I mean,
year after year, it's what the league wants. They want parody,
(34:48):
they want some of these you know, the Texans two
years ago Washington last year to come from the seller
up till the playoff time.
Speaker 2 (34:57):
But it just tells me if I were betting, if
I were looking at this and going, Okay, who's gonna
have Who's gonna be the number one seed in the AFC?
Speaker 3 (35:04):
Buffalo Buffalo feels real good? Yeah, right, Like you don't
love seeing that if you're Kansas City, No, you know
or bald right, you know, a team like you know
that your your your aspirations, your goal is to get
that number one seed, not just win division, but be
the best team in the AFC. Buffalo's got a nice.
Speaker 2 (35:19):
Pass and they've got the easiest division.
Speaker 3 (35:22):
But yeah, it all correlates, of course.
Speaker 2 (35:23):
Right, yeah, right, same thing with Detroit, Like Detroit and Philadelphia,
their division's got tougher.
Speaker 3 (35:28):
Detroit looks real, Detroit looks brutal, right, right, I mean
that's why the Giants to me, might be the leader
in the clubhouse for the first overall pick. Yeah, I
mean they easily could be and six in their division.
Speaker 2 (35:40):
And I saw something like Detroit last year I think
went seven and oh or something like that against non
playoff teams, six and two against playoff teams, something along
those lines. They were unbeaten, maybe nine and oh against
against the non playoff team.
Speaker 3 (35:54):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (35:54):
Yeah, they are six and two against the playoff teams.
Speaker 3 (35:58):
Well, they're gonna get more of them.
Speaker 2 (35:59):
They're going to get more.
Speaker 3 (36:00):
Yeah. Yeah. That's hard to stay on top, it really is.
But those teams have the quarterbacks. Yeah, they're also correlids. Yeah,
you know, the teams that are at the top. That's
one that's good. Bring you back to the Steelers, I mean,
if they're the Steelers are consistently having one of the
harder schedules in the league, which they have if you
go back to years of Sharp doing this. They don't
(36:22):
have my homes, they don't have Allen, you know, I mean,
and they still have battled the really hard schedules. It's
the tough road, and nobody feels bad for you.
Speaker 2 (36:30):
Nobody does. Yeah. In fact, some people are underwhelmed by
it all.
Speaker 3 (36:35):
There are a few of them out there.
Speaker 2 (36:36):
Yeah. Yeah. Anyways, let's get through break. He is the
Matt Williamson. I am Dale, Lolly, you're listening to the Drive.
You're on the Steelers Audio network, Matt, and I'll be
back with more right after this.
Speaker 1 (36:52):
He's the Drive with Dale Lolly and Matt Williamson on
your twenty four to seven home of the Black and
Gold Steelers Asian.
Speaker 2 (37:00):
Radio, and we are back on Dale Lolli he is
the Matt Williamson and Matt. The NHL held its draft
lottery last night. Yeah. Yeah, and the Pittsburgh Penguins ended
up eleventh. They had been the ninth best.
Speaker 3 (37:18):
They were projected to win the ninth.
Speaker 2 (37:20):
Yeah or whatever.
Speaker 3 (37:21):
Right, that's a ping pong balls. Right.
Speaker 2 (37:24):
Major League Baseball doesn't do that, don't the but and
the NBA and NHL do use the lottery system.
Speaker 3 (37:33):
If you don't know the answer, don't. Obviously you don't
know the answer.
Speaker 2 (37:36):
Draft order. Is it only the non playoff team? Yes,
it's not like you make the playoffs. You just go
in based on how you.
Speaker 3 (37:41):
How you get eliminated, just like the NFL. Yeah, but
I didn't know if it was just like the top
five teams or if it's everyone that missed the playoffs.
And if you're the best team that missed the playoffs,
I think you get one ping pong ball. If you're
the worst team, you got twelve or whatever whatever you Yeah, Yeah,
it's weighted.
Speaker 2 (37:58):
Yeah. Should the NFL consider doing something like that.
Speaker 3 (38:02):
I've been asked that a lot, and I don't think
it's a terrible idea because, first of all, you know
how many viewers they get for that, A bazillion gajillion,
you know, I mean, there's no question about that. They
could do it pretty early in the process, which you'd
have to do it before free agency, because it might
if I picked it right after the combine, maybe even earlier.
I want to do it before free agency.
Speaker 2 (38:23):
You can't get it that the combine is before free
agency combines two weeks after the Super Bowl. You have
to kind of wait until the Super Bowl. You don't
have to wait until the Super bowls obviously. The NH
and NBA do their playoffs last six months long each.
Speaker 3 (38:37):
Right right, right, No, that's a great time to do it, absolutely,
because it wouldn't change your strategy as a My.
Speaker 2 (38:44):
Free agency doesn't start until two weeks after the combine, right.
Speaker 3 (38:47):
Right right after the combine. It'd be great to ideally
than the NFL is so smart about this, do it
during a down stretch so everybody watches. Just like schedule release,
there's not a lot going on right now. Schedule release
has turned into a event and you wanted some sort
of early because if I pick one, verse nineteen is
a heck of a lot different. I mean, the nineteenth
(39:08):
best team could win the first overall pick. I don't
think they'll do it because that is such a dramatic shift,
but I definitely think they'll consider it if teams start
really tanking, yeah, you know, like if they really put
out garbage the last two week weeks or whatever, the
bad teams to try to get a first overall or
(39:29):
second overall or maintain their spot. I think the NFL
will be like, no, no, no, you know, we want
those games to be as meaningful as possible.
Speaker 2 (39:37):
I think, you know, that was why there was so
much pushback on the Brian Flores Dolphins tanking situation.
Speaker 3 (39:44):
Right right, any word of tanking is going to be right,
no question. I'm trying to think. I think the Eagles
late in the season like sat everybody or the second
half or something like that. Sort of Recently this has
come up a lot, just because I think the Patriots
going into Week eighteen had the first overall.
Speaker 2 (40:05):
They had the first overall pick, and they won.
Speaker 3 (40:07):
And they won, Yeah, and they easily could have just
put out their worst players Tanking is a weird word
their worst players.
Speaker 2 (40:17):
That may. I guess it's it's more difficult to do.
I think in a sport like the NFL. Yeah, tanking
in particular, because you get twenty two guys on the field.
You only have a fifty three man roster.
Speaker 3 (40:34):
How many offensive linemen, right, you.
Speaker 2 (40:36):
Only have a certain number of that. You only have
so many defensive linemen. You only so many different players
at each position.
Speaker 3 (40:43):
And no one's going to give half effort.
Speaker 2 (40:45):
And those guys are going out there, they're trying because
they're not just playing for this year you're playing. There's
nothing guaranteed in the in the NFL.
Speaker 3 (40:52):
I'm not putting bad tape out there for anybody. Hell no,
or Plus, I could get injured if I'm not giving
one hundred percent, you know, But I'm taking on a block.
It's not all starts, and.
Speaker 2 (41:01):
Most of the contracts aren't guaranteed, right right, Like I'm
playing for a next year's contract.
Speaker 3 (41:06):
And in any given game, the twenty two players on
the field at once, I bet eleven of them are
set to be free agents after the year, you know,
Like I don't even have loyalty of this team. I
don't know if I'm bringing me back so that.
Speaker 2 (41:17):
The coach may be getting fired and you're going to
clean house anyways.
Speaker 3 (41:20):
So I was a little young, But I think the
best example and exactly what the NFL doesn't want is
when the Penn's got Lemieux, which is my all time
favorite athlete. They called up a Goldie from the miners
who wasn't a particularly good at stopping pucks and for
the last month he played goal when they let up
a whole lot. You know, So you put your worst
(41:42):
guys out there if you want to lose. But the
NFL doesn't want that, and you don't.
Speaker 2 (41:46):
But it's almost it's kind of impossible to do in
the NFL.
Speaker 3 (41:50):
I mean, you could sit your best guys and if
you win, you win. I mean like the Willie Parker game,
didn't they in Buffalo or whatever? Yeah, they sat guys
because they have spot locked up.
Speaker 2 (42:01):
But they're guys that are bringing off the bench with
Willie Parker and James.
Speaker 3 (42:03):
Harris right, and they're gonna play like crazy.
Speaker 2 (42:06):
That's their audience. Their hair is on fire because they
want a job.
Speaker 3 (42:09):
Absolutely, I do think it is harder. I mean, I
guess in the NBA, you could sit all right, Lebron,
you got to take this one. Yeah, we'll play our
best guys that always touch the ball on the bench.
For now, NFL is tougher, there's a lot more people. Yeah,
but I do think if we start seeing serious tanking,
there'll be more.
Speaker 2 (42:27):
I mean we've seen a couple of you know, the
Lions in the in the Browns in recent years have
gone winless. Really hard to do.
Speaker 3 (42:35):
Kind of by design. I mean, I really think tanking
is done in the front office. Like a coach isn't
going to call the wrong plays, quarterbacks not going to
miss a throw by accident, kicker is not going to
blast it into the seats. But if I don't putting
good teams on, if I don't get my coaches any
good players, well I'll probably lose some game. But that's
you know, that's that's different than this issue. I mean,
(42:56):
that's a productive struggle.
Speaker 2 (43:02):
And guys do get better the more they play, the
better they get.
Speaker 3 (43:06):
Well that's the thing too. Yeah, Well we.
Speaker 2 (43:08):
Just guys out there were guys, lesser guys out there.
But as this course of the season goes on, they
might get better.
Speaker 3 (43:16):
They might get better and that's part of the benefit
to you know, play all your young guys, three or
four of them really emerge. I mean, nobody tanks with
a bunch of thirty five year olds.
Speaker 2 (43:26):
Right, you know, I mean, and those guys are that pride,
you know, Yeah, at least have a bit of a
job for Yeah, like the Texans a few years ago
when they had a really bad team, but they went
out and got a bunch of thirty something one guys
on one.
Speaker 3 (43:41):
See if any of them hit, and they're all going
to try like crazy for us. The know what they're
doing right, right, They're not as talented as the guys
across from them. But maybe I can bring him back
and I'll draft someone in the third round that learns
from him and then hopefully goes past them. You know.
Speaker 2 (43:57):
It's just it's just tougher to do in the NFL.
Speaker 3 (43:59):
I think it is too. But boy, the night on
NFL Network that was the lottery would get a lot
of views, it would it would probably do a live show,
and even Steelers weren't in it.
Speaker 2 (44:11):
Yeah, absolutely, But anyways, that's going to do it for
our number one of the drive here on the Steelers
Audio Network, Matt and now I'll be back with our
number two right after this
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Therapy Gecko
An unlicensed lizard psychologist travels the universe talking to strangers about absolutely nothing. TO CALL THE GECKO: follow me on https://www.twitch.tv/lyleforever to get a notification for when I am taking calls. I am usually live Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays but lately a lot of other times too. I am a gecko.