Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
At least is the Drive with Dale Lolly and Matt
Williamson on your twenty four to seven home of the
Black and Gold cast in Steelers Nation Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
And welcome to the Drive. I am Dale Lollly, he
is the Matt Williamson and it is a snowy, snowey
Monday here in Pittsburgh. Of course, the Steelers heading into
a playoff week following their eight or nineteen seventeen loss
on Saturday night to the Cincinnati Bengals at Knox. That
(00:35):
couple with the win by the Chargers on Sunday Knox,
the Steelers down to the number six seed. Of course,
the Ravens had won earlier in the day as expected
against well who Brown quarterly Brad Browns Brown. I saw
stat today According to DVOA, the Browns had the sixth
(00:57):
worst offense going back to like nineteen eighty.
Speaker 3 (01:02):
Something for the whole season. Yeah, and with a lot
of different quarterbacks. Watson was some of the problem, but
not the only problem. Over there.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
Next few games with Winston weren't Piston that weren't bad,
And then other than that it was just bad.
Speaker 3 (01:14):
They probably would have been last if it wasn't for
the Winston Era very much. I mean, those guys they
tried out were terrible. But the Ravens are really good too.
I mean they wiped the floor with them. Steelers had
a tough one, but you're right, it's uh onto the Ravens.
I mean, it's amazing. Like I did a podcast today
and we hardly talked about any of the games yesterday
because there's coach firings, there's playoffs stuff. I mean, this
(01:35):
league's moving fast.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
Yeah, absolutely, and you know, looking at the game, we
won't talk about the game work on the Saturday. I
thought there were some good things to take out of
that game. I thought there were some not so good
things to take out of that game. And you know,
to me, we'll start with the with the good. I
thought the defense kind of stood on its head at
(01:58):
times in that game. And really, uh against as good
an offense as you're gonna see in the postseason.
Speaker 3 (02:05):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, played well. Yeah, one of the best
offenses in the league. And you know, if we were
set on Friday, you're gonna hold the Bengals nineteen points.
I don't care how you get there. WHOA I'll take
that thousand times. Yeah, I mean, I'll give you whatever
you want for that. With that outcome, now, I know
we're starting with good stuff, but I think most of
the defense is good stuff. Another slow start though, I mean,
(02:27):
obviously their worst drive of the day was the opening one,
and the slow starts on both sides of the ball
is problematic, I mean, and it doesn't set a great tone.
But really from that point on, defensively, I thought they
made a lot of splash plays. You know, they're big
time guys. Yeah, made plays, you know, getting your hands
on footballs, you know, sacks, big hits, et cetera. And
(02:50):
they did well, you know, especially you harped on all week.
Was tackled to catch. I mean, they're tackling. Their fundamental
stuff was really strong too, where that was one of
the bigges issues the last three ames. They just weren't
fundamentally sound. I think fatigue was an issue. And speaking
of fatigue, they were on the field a ton in
this game too, and didn't there was a point where
(03:11):
I'm like, that's probably about the most of the can do,
and that wasn't the case at all. They were strong
after the first drive pretty much till the end whistle.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
Even on the opening drive, well, yes, the Bengals went
down and scored twelve yards, nine yards, sixteen yards, five yards,
four yards, eight yards, seven yards, twelve yards. That's the
way the defense is built to perform, right.
Speaker 3 (03:37):
You know, it was just said death by a thousand
paper cuts.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
It was a nine play, seventy three yard drive. Like
it wasn't, oh, you're going to give up a fifty
yard bomb over the top or right the long The
longest gain that the Bengals had in the game was nineteen.
Speaker 3 (03:49):
Years, nineteen yards.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
They didn't give up a twenty yard catching that game
against the Cincinnati Bengals.
Speaker 3 (03:53):
Yep, I mean part of it well, by design, Burrow
had zero deep shots, never even took a shot, and
I think they might even regret that because it's hard
to matriculate the ball down the field.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
But at some point somebody gets a hand on a ball,
somebody drops from a holding callack fitball, you.
Speaker 3 (04:11):
Know, right, And you know his line wasn't great. But
that first drive, I know everyone wants to blame the
coaching staff. How can you not be prepared? I thought, Burrow.
They put it on the TV after that drive. Two
point zero five seconds per throw on that drive coming
insanely fast. I mean insanely it.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
Was catching throw catching, catching, Like there.
Speaker 3 (04:34):
Was a play I can't remember where it was in
the game where TJ. Watt was totally unblocked and couldn't
get home in time. I mean that never happened. As
I said against you know, when they played Mahomes.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
Yeah, if he's going to get it out in two
point three four seconds on average.
Speaker 3 (04:50):
On average, because there was some extended that were well
over three.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
You know, that didn't happen in this one, and they
still got home. But if they're going to get rid
of it that quickly to you know, around two point
twenty five seconds, you could put you same bolt, Yeah,
get him in his sprinter stance and put him out
on the edge unblocked, and he's not getting to the
quarterback in.
Speaker 3 (05:09):
Time, let alone with a Burrow or a Mahomes that
buys time well too, or even the small shuffling. I mean,
that's just really really high level quarterbacking, you know, and
it's hard to do over the course of sixty minutes.
And Burrow wasn't able to do that over sixty minutes.
That's a plus stuff. But that first drive was just
I mean.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
Just throwing arts if they can do that on Saturday
to Lamar Jackson, because here's what you count on when
you're doing something like that. Yeah, at some point the
quarterback is going to get antsy and say I got
to make a big play.
Speaker 3 (05:40):
I know. See that's a huge thing. Like Allan and
Mahomes and Burrow have changed really quickly early in their career.
And I don't know where they're getting this information from,
but it's.
Speaker 2 (05:51):
What Brady used to do.
Speaker 3 (05:52):
And I think it's probably from Brady, you know, because
they were all huge, big game hunters. Burrow's first two years.
If you're don't play single high, hey, I'm throwing a
bomb to chase. You know. Mahomes is run around like
a lunatic. They didn't take the death by a thousand
paper cuts. Now these guys are, and even Jackson's better
at it too. I mean that these guys inherently are
so aggressive that they've adapted really early in their careers
(06:16):
to I'll just take what gives them, you know, I
just want to win. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
But Jackson not like those nearly to the degree that
those guys are. He still wants to hold the ball
in the pocket and look for the big he does
the home run.
Speaker 3 (06:26):
Ball much higher time to throw than those guys. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
If you look at what's happened to the Steelers over
the last four games, the one outlier is Lamar Jackson.
Like everybody else, everybody else was getting rid of the
ball in under two point five seconds.
Speaker 3 (06:40):
Especially Mahomes, and he was over three in that game
against the Steelers. Ye, and he's still really high in general. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
So you know, if if you can force Lamar Jackson
into that kind of game, and he may be without
the guy who helps him move the football the most
in that kind of situation.
Speaker 3 (06:58):
Yeah, I mean, this gonna be a tough test. I mean,
we're talking about all, no doubt, no question, and he's
really gotten good from the pocket overall. But we also
saw Minca do a really good number on Andrews. And
I've only just started thinking about matchups, but we've seen
it just twice pretty recently. If they don't have Flowers, Okay,
(07:19):
you know, I'll take my chances if you know, with
that pass rush and the way that they played Burrow
that if they don't have their best wide receiver.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
Nelson Alar beat you so b Yeah.
Speaker 3 (07:30):
Even Bateman who's playing a lot better, and like it would.
Speaker 2 (07:32):
Take and put him on Bateman and say okay, yeah,
now what you got and.
Speaker 3 (07:35):
She'd go from there. I think they will, Yeah, I
think they will. Again, I haven't really started thinking about
strategy of that, but I just thought Minka Andrews and
then you saying Porter Bateman makes a lot.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
Of sense because he's a bigger receiver and he's gonna
be a downfield guy. I mean, if you look at
what happened after after they lost Flowers, I mean Bateman
had what seven catches or whatever in that game.
Speaker 3 (07:54):
He's he's had a good year.
Speaker 2 (07:56):
Yeah, I would I would take that and do that.
We all saw the Steels get some turnovers in this game. Yeah,
ball was on the ground a couple of times. They
didn't get all of them, but.
Speaker 3 (08:05):
They like can they ever get a bubble? You know?
Just bad luck, you know, but no, that's starting. You
knew that was gonna reverse.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
Yeah, So again, if you can, if you can play
defense like that and get the takeaways, you're gonna have
a chance to win.
Speaker 3 (08:18):
Splash plus consistency on defense. Yeah, for thirty eight minutes,
I mean make it thirty minutes. Yeah, you know that's
that's a huge key, which I assume brings us to
the offense, which isn't as rosie.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
Well, there are a couple other things I wanted to mention. Yeah,
despite having the ball as much as they did, Cincinnati
was five or thirteen on third downs. Yeah, yeah, you'll
take that. They would go for one on fourth downs zone. Yeah,
and the red zone won for four in the red zone,
you know, the money downs. You know, those are things
that should lead to wins.
Speaker 3 (08:48):
Yeah, they should. That was winning football on defense.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
Now, Burrow was thirty seven to forty six, which, okay,
that's a ton of passes though to get to two
hundred and seventy seven yards, I'd.
Speaker 3 (08:59):
Say a lot of short and quick and the Steelers
were conceding that as well.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
I mean, so you can again live with that. Cincinnati
averaged four point four yards per play. Yeah, that's fine,
that's you'll take that. All.
Speaker 3 (09:11):
That's right.
Speaker 2 (09:12):
And what is anything under five is outstanding.
Speaker 3 (09:15):
I think the Steelers are at five for the season,
which is like six worst in the league. Six best
you mean, no Steelers offense. Oh, you know, to get
to put in some perspective, if you're under.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
Five defensive defensively, they're what they were like five point
something three or something like that, I don't know if
top my head.
Speaker 3 (09:32):
But also about six best.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
Yeah yeah, so I mean anything under five is no,
your cook is pretty rare, especially against that particular offense.
It had been red hot. Yes, like as much as
you like. Burrow had eight consecutive games with at least
two hundred and fifty plus passing yards and three touchdowns
and you broke that.
Speaker 3 (09:53):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely, And yeah they lost Higgins for a
while and they didn't.
Speaker 2 (09:57):
Have Jayden Lui Higgins until late in the third quarter.
Speaker 3 (10:00):
I know he was there for most of the game.
Kasecki did didn't kill him. Chase didn't kill him.
Speaker 2 (10:04):
And yeah you take I mean nine point six per
catch for Chase.
Speaker 3 (10:09):
Yeah, I've heard a lot of people or a lot
of people have asked me about trice Is performance in
this game. And I know if you like, even like
the next gen stats will tell you, boy, he Chase
did a number on Trice. I'm like, yeah, I mean
it's Chase. It's still a below average game for Jamar Chase,
who just won the Triple Crown. He's like the best
(10:29):
player on the planet. Right now.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
It wasn't you know ten catches for three hundred and
seventy two yards right, four touchdowns. That's what he did
to the Ravens earlier.
Speaker 3 (10:37):
This Trice was physical. He was you know, combatd catches,
I mean tackled. It makes plays too and gets you know,
he came up and played plays against the run. I
was really encouraged with Trice, and I thought they could
have helped them more. Yeah, you know, I thought sometimes
they left him on an island and okay, you only
gave up an eight yard catch there.
Speaker 2 (10:54):
Fine, Chase, Jamar Chase. He might be the best wide
receiver in the league.
Speaker 3 (10:58):
Right. That's as hard to test as you can have.
You know, I thought he played really well. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:03):
I talked to him after the game, and you could tell,
like he said, I said, you know, how did you
come out of that? Did you feel you know, like
you did a pretty good job? Because I thought it
was pretty good. But there are still some things I
can work on. I can play the ball better in
the air.
Speaker 3 (11:17):
That's a good point because there were some catchpoints stuff
that Chase just wins, right, So I.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
Think he continues he just hadn't that enough.
Speaker 3 (11:24):
Experience right right, and in the real NFL stadium against
and Chase.
Speaker 2 (11:28):
That was the biggest test that you can throw a
guy into and say, okay, here you go, swim blind colors.
Speaker 3 (11:32):
Yeah, I wouldn't mind it all if he's starting this
upcoming game.
Speaker 2 (11:35):
Yeah, we'll see about that. We'll talk about that later
in the game or in the show.
Speaker 3 (11:38):
Here.
Speaker 2 (11:39):
Now, offensively, it's worrisome here here was my biggest issue
in that. So when the Steelers beat the Bengals in Cincinnati,
they came out and were an attack mode right away.
They went into getting the ball back at the two
(12:02):
minute or inside of two minutes, and Russell Wilson had
attempted four passes.
Speaker 3 (12:08):
Four Oh, you're talking about going into the half.
Speaker 2 (12:10):
Going into the hat. He threw some passes at the
end of it. He got up to eight passes past
attempts at the half.
Speaker 3 (12:19):
And it was so successful the first time.
Speaker 2 (12:20):
It was so successful. Now they had success on their
third or fourth drive running the football.
Speaker 3 (12:27):
Yes, yes, yes, but it was all keyed.
Speaker 2 (12:31):
By the twenty five yard completion to Mike Williams down
the sideline exactly on third down. Because the Bengals were
loading the box and saying you're not going to throw,
you're not going to run the ball against us, and
they weren't going to allow the checkdowns that we talked
about last week necessarily.
Speaker 3 (12:48):
And they did have one good passing drive or they
were in hurry up and the second half. Yeah, you know,
I mean it was it was there. I guess it's
my point, right, So I felt that was short sighted
or just a stake by the coaching staff, and a
lot of that's Monday morning QUARTERA.
Speaker 2 (13:03):
And but Wilson said after the game, He's like, we
wanted to establish our physicality at the line of scrimmage.
Speaker 3 (13:07):
Which I thought was absolutely clear. Like I'm sure they
they went into that game.
Speaker 2 (13:11):
They might as well have big signs out there. Yes,
said we're gonna we think we're the more physical football team, right.
Speaker 3 (13:16):
I'm sure Priority one in prepping for Bengals was we're
gonna win time possession because we're getting murdered in time
of possession for three games. We're gonna be the most
physical team. We're gonna get a running game going leading
into the playoffs. We're gonna land body blow after body
blow in the first half, and then those runs will
turn into eight yard runs. In the forest now the
ball on enough to do it, and in the end,
(13:38):
it just I mean it didn't work. I mean that
that failed. I mean because you ended up with twenty
two minutes of time possession and the run game wasn't
great and I forget what number it was, but it
was deep into the game before they called their first
first down play pass. I mean, every first down was running,
run and run for a long stretch. And I know
(13:58):
what they were trying to do. He was out there
instead of warring, you know, like I know that, you
know that, I know that, you know, but it's like,
just do what you did last game that worked so well. Yeah,
and if that doesn't work, then go back to that.
I mean, I didn't know why you you know, flipped
the coin on that.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
Yeah, and maybe it was, hey, we got we got
to try to generate something here. Our first quarter offense
hasn't worked the last right a few weeks.
Speaker 3 (14:22):
Opening drives, bad opening.
Speaker 2 (14:23):
Drives, you know, all season long have been an issue.
Let's try to establish that running game early and get.
Speaker 3 (14:28):
It going and platoff just didn't work.
Speaker 2 (14:30):
Say that, and they ran the ball on first down
on their first play in the game. Then they throw
the quick bubble screen to George Pickens, and he decides
to run backwards right, get zero yard, get zero yards
instead of at least getting three or four to set
you up in a manageable third down. And then he
just disappeared the rest of the game.
Speaker 3 (14:51):
Brutal. Yeah, I mean there was a long stretch he
didn't get a target, and then everyone's bouncing off his
hands and left and right. I mean, that's a hard
stat line to do. Six targets, five of which probably
hit in the hands.
Speaker 2 (15:03):
If he catches the thirty eight yard pass down the
sideline that he dropped, that was a flat out drop, yeah, initially,
the other one was a miss. The last one, the
last one right right right, he dropped that one.
Speaker 3 (15:15):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (15:17):
But if he catches that, they're around the twenty five
yard line, if not farther down the field, because he
might have still and he might have ran out of
a tackle there and scored. They went a football game.
That's one pass play one, let alone the slant over
the middle that he allowed to get knocked free because
he didn't tuck it quick enough. There was another drop
(15:37):
in there. It was just an awful game for George
Pickens and.
Speaker 3 (15:43):
And frankly, I didn't think Austin stepped up. I thought
it was one of his worst games too. We don't
think he's a one, but I mean he kind of
came back to earth a little bit. Thank the Lord
for Friarmuth. I mean, who's Yeah. I know the last
play didn't go as you wanted, but I thought he's
really come on strong and is making a strong case
for I need to be an eight target guy every week.
(16:03):
Nott More, you know, nows just so vallatile. I don't
know what to think. I mean, I'm the most capable way.
Speaker 2 (16:10):
More than that, I'm not excusing how Russell Wilson played
in the game. It wasn't outstanding, it wasn't hot, you know,
but he was good enough I thought to win that
game if he had some help from his receivers.
Speaker 3 (16:23):
Yeah, I think it's safe to say at this point
of Wilson's career, he's not going to elevate around him
like he's Pat Mahomes. I mean, he needs help. You
got to catch the football. You got to catch the football.
Speaker 2 (16:36):
Jackson has a third down catch right in front of
the right in front of the Steelers bench and he's
he's five yards behind beyond the sticks, but instead of
coming back to the football, he stands flat footed and
allows the defensive back to come in and break up
the pass. Like, No, you're a coach's son.
Speaker 3 (16:52):
I say, Daddy the receivers coach right now.
Speaker 2 (16:55):
You're not supposed to make those kind of mistakes.
Speaker 3 (16:57):
Yeah, exactly. I mean you're not Randys in terms of
physical gifts. You need to do all the little things. Yeah,
without without a doubt. So no, he did not get
help from a running game or nearly enough for help
from his receivers. But I also think Wilson was or
Dan Moore for that matter. I mean, he's come back
to earth in a big way the last month too.
(17:17):
But the offense is problematic right now. I mean, I
think that there's no way around that. As bench I
did in a show with Wolf and Rob and you know,
we kept going back to it wasn't that long ago.
It was a month or so ago where this offense
was humming pretty good, pretty good, And it's still the
same guys. Yeah, and that Bengal defense isn't good. I
(17:37):
mean I don't think, Yeah, you should do way more
damage collectively against that.
Speaker 2 (17:41):
You absolutely should, unless you decide that you're going to
run into eight man and nine man boxes and just say, oh,
we're gonna we're gonna be the more physical team here,
and then drop passes and then drop passes on third
downs yep, and.
Speaker 3 (17:53):
Then you get twenty two minutes of time possession and
you're not snapping the ball that much to begin with.
Speaker 2 (17:58):
Yeah, So I I put place to blame all the
way across the board.
Speaker 3 (18:04):
Yeah, coaching, all the way down to the guy that
played one snap on offense. I mean, there wasn't anyone
friar Muth I thought was good. Some of the line
play was okay, But I don't know who's happy with
their performance on offense, nor should they be, nor should
they be.
Speaker 2 (18:17):
Right it was, it was bad.
Speaker 3 (18:19):
He had a few runs, but at the end of
the day he ended up with thirty some yards or something,
you know, like not nothing or Dylan was good.
Speaker 2 (18:25):
Yeah, now you know he carried him on the touchdown
drive in the first half, the play that he got
hurt on where you got it. I mean, he had
to your point, a couple of runs. It was just
like it should have been nothing and he was yeah fighting, Yeah,
you know, but you know later in the game they're
(18:45):
they're without both Nause Harris and Jalen Warren because Jalen
Warren got nicked up on a on a he took
him I think it was a helmet to the to
the hip and he was out there for ony it
was on a kickoff return. No, because that wasn't clear
to me either. That's on his last round, not until
after the fact. Yeah, his last run. I think it
was in the third quarter. He took a helmet to
(19:06):
the hip. Because that's why Cordero Patterson was then in there,
because I've heard people talking about that. Well, they had
to get cord Allo Patterson his his touches, Like, No,
that was not what that was, but they they hadn't.
Speaker 3 (19:20):
Played for warren injury because I just.
Speaker 2 (19:24):
Happened to see it was coming off because he he
got up from the power and was limping off and
then didn't return after that.
Speaker 3 (19:30):
He Yeah, I was watching on TV. Weren't aware of that.
Speaker 2 (19:35):
So it was not about trying to force cord Aero
Patterson into some touches. Warren was hurt. Nogie Harris was
getting checked for a concussion. That's what you had your
back but you also have to know that in that situation,
you got a quick turnover. How many times do you
see teams when they get a quick turnover, you go
for the you go for the jugular.
Speaker 3 (19:56):
Yeah. Yeah, I mean you're a deep ball team. You
got pickings, you got Williams, who might deserve some more
snaps too.
Speaker 2 (20:02):
I would I would definitely get Williams some more work.
Speaker 3 (20:05):
Yeah, I mean he's the only one that should hold
his head high on a per route basis was pretty good.
Speaker 2 (20:10):
Yeah, and I think he challenges the defense more.
Speaker 3 (20:14):
Yeah, I think he's harder to play against. Even if
he doesn't run as well as he did back in
the day or whatever, he's still physical, he's still big.
Speaker 2 (20:20):
You're still looking at at your five foot eleven cornerback
matched up on a six to four. Dude, did you
know can high point the ball?
Speaker 3 (20:28):
And I don't think you're implying like time to bench
pickings or any of that. I don't think you can
do those. You know, he has a bad game, and
I understand he's volatile, but you you got to deal
with that. You got to manage that and get him
back on track.
Speaker 2 (20:40):
Yeah, absolutely, But yeah, not a not a stellar day
for the offense, all against against a defense at which
quite frankly, it should have been much better against the other.
Speaker 3 (20:51):
Thing too, is I know that they created a turnover
on special teams and Boz is awesome, but you allowed
a couple too. I mean some starting field condition you can't.
Speaker 2 (21:01):
Know.
Speaker 3 (21:01):
Yeah, yeah, that's like, if you're gonna be winning the margins,
that stuff needs to be sharp. And I don't expect
him a block of kick every week. Now, that kind
of stuff's crazy. I mean, they were on a ridiculous
pace earlier in the year. But the coverage teams are
lacking a little bit right now.
Speaker 2 (21:15):
Yeah, not the punt return coverage team, now the kickoff returns.
Speaker 3 (21:19):
There was two or three of them that were Yeah,
that's too good an offense to give.
Speaker 2 (21:23):
Them the ball to forty four or whatever. Yeah, yeah,
I agree, Yeah, I agree. Let's get through a break. Well,
Matt and I will continue talking about well, we'll move
on to more a lot of talk about pleasant thoughts,
but we move on to playoffs. Playoffs. All right, We're
gonna move on to his playoffs. Start talking about matchup
against the Ravens. The what has happened has happened? It
(21:46):
is what it is. You can't change anything that's happened there,
but you can change the perception of your season if
you get a win this weekend in Baltimore, Matt, and
now we'll talk about that when we return. He is
Matt Williamson. I am Dale Lollie here listening to the
drive here on Thisheelers Audio Network.
Speaker 1 (22:05):
At least he's the drive with Dale Lolly and Matt
Williamson on your twenty four to seven Home of the
Black and Gold Steelers Nation Radio.
Speaker 2 (22:19):
And we are back. I am Dale Lolly. He is
theing Matt Williamson and Matt Steelers Ravens. Yeah, get Saturday
eight o'clock. Just what I figured. Yeah, they didn't even
need to wait. Oh I do right away. I mean
as soon as a Steelers Ravens, I'm like, that's going
to be the Saturday night game.
Speaker 3 (22:39):
They both played Saturday too, of course he's no doubt right, Yeah,
which painted but for our purposes, especially you being on
the road. But nobody really asked our opinions on the mat.
Speaker 2 (22:47):
They don't. Yeah, they don't, you know, say, hey, Dale,
when do you want.
Speaker 3 (22:50):
To do this? Right? What's most convenient?
Speaker 2 (22:52):
So the Steelers will have gone a month without playing
a one o'clock where a Sunday game, even just an
a game on a Sunday. Wow, I guess it's the
longest the team has gone without playing a game on
a Sunday since nineteen thirty three, which happens to be
the year they were founded. Are a little different because
Pittsburgh had the Pennsylvania had the blue loss. They couldn't
(23:14):
play on Sunday.
Speaker 3 (23:15):
What's a blue law?
Speaker 2 (23:17):
You couldn't do anything on Sunday?
Speaker 3 (23:18):
Oh, okay, okay, you had to be a good boy.
Speaker 2 (23:20):
Yeah, so they would play on Wednesday. By Saturdays or like,
they couldn't play on So they've gone a month. It's
the longest. Nineteen thirty three.
Speaker 3 (23:28):
Is a long time ago, almost one hundred years, almost
one hundred Yeah, so can you remember? I bet the
answer is no. COVID aside a weirder stretch than this, No,
I mean three and eleven Christmas the teams you played
Ravens three times in a short stretch, say Saturday, Saturday again,
don't play on Sunday. Like, my mind is befuddled.
Speaker 2 (23:50):
It's almost like I'm having a tough time keeping track
of what day of the week it is.
Speaker 3 (23:54):
I did too.
Speaker 2 (23:55):
I mean, I really am.
Speaker 3 (23:56):
Yeah, So this kind of funny story. I do a
daily podcast for DK Pittsford Sports, and I did my
game preview last week a day early, and then I went,
I'm like, I got to come up with an that's
supposed to be my last one of the week because
I didn't know what day it was like this, I
did it on Wednesday instead of Thursday because or whatever
it was, Tuesday was a Wednesday. And I came back
(24:17):
and I did another podcast, like I'm sorry, folks, but
I'm going to talk about something totally off off base
because I forgot what day it was.
Speaker 2 (24:25):
And I give you right, people might look at that,
you know, outside of what we do and say, how
does that happen? I know, but you get so immersed
in what you're doing. Yeah, and you know, we're doing
radio shows on a daily basis. I'm at the facility
on a daily basis. Wednesday schedules end up being you know,
Tuesday schedules, and Thursday becomes Wednesday.
Speaker 3 (24:46):
And this is another week and a short work week.
Speaker 2 (24:49):
Everything gets you know, mixed around.
Speaker 3 (24:51):
Tuesday's really Wednesday or Wednesday's really Tuesday, et cetera, et cetera.
And then with all the national stuff I do too.
There's been so many Christmas and Saturday games and night
games and stuff like that too. And like I told
my wife, I'm like, she's on top of the stuff.
And I'm like, so the good News Hounds. There's no
Monday football tonight. And I'm like, but Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday,
(25:12):
Monday again, I'm probably gonna be glued to the TV.
So it's oh great. Probably threw something at me and
call me bad words, you know, but no Monday night.
Speaker 2 (25:20):
You know you didn't hear it. So this will be
the fifth time in their history that the Steelers will
have played the Ravens in a playoff game. Yeah yeah, yeah,
But the first time they've done it at M and
T Bank Stadium.
Speaker 3 (25:35):
Oh okay, I didn't.
Speaker 2 (25:36):
Rather four all took place in Pittsburgh. The Steelers three
and one in those games. They're ten and two against
divisional opponents in the third matchup in their history.
Speaker 3 (25:45):
Are they really? I didn't know that? Okay, guess that
adds up. I mean, I know the most recent one
against the Ravens didn't go to Steelers' way. But that's
their only playoff loss against Baltimore. Yeah, you probably knows too,
but Wolf mentioned it. They do have a winning record
in that stadium, Yes, at Baltimore Stadium.
Speaker 2 (26:04):
Yeah, including winning four of the last five and six
of the last eight in Bolton Baltimore.
Speaker 3 (26:12):
Okay, so it's not the craziest thing in the world.
I mean, one team's playing really really well and one
team's on a big losing streak. But history shows that
these the Steelers can win there.
Speaker 2 (26:24):
When the Steelers see the purple and the and the
Ravens see the black and gold, you just wipe the
slate clean and it's yeah.
Speaker 3 (26:34):
Yeah. So I was thinking about this from Harbaugh's perspective, like, man,
we've turned things around since our bye. We're playing great,
We're playing as well as any team in the league.
I'm so happy with my team. And then he goes
into the weekend, like.
Speaker 2 (26:47):
What team don't I want to play in the first round?
Speaker 3 (26:50):
I am either going to get palmlin or my brother, Like,
who knows me better than those two people on the
whole planet that's not one of my parents or wife
or the like, not even football side. I'm gonna get
Tomlin or my brother that evens a play feel great. Ye,
just when we're playing as well as we can and
have probably the moment more talented team, all of a sudden,
(27:11):
I gotta deal with that.
Speaker 2 (27:12):
And I know people look at the score of the
matchup in Baltimore earlier this season and the Ravens course
won that when thirty four to seventeen, they wow, the
Ravens blew them out. If you look at the game,
it was not a thirty four to seventeen game. It
was the Steelers on Baltimore's opening drive because of the details. Again,
(27:33):
Ravens got the ball first. They start matriculating the ball
down the field right around the forty yard line. Alex
Highsmith comes up with a sack. Lamar fumbles.
Speaker 3 (27:44):
Yeah, that was a game they couldn't win.
Speaker 2 (27:46):
Ronnie Stanley gets, Ronnie Stanley falls on it. If the
Steelers fall on that ball, I'm of the mindset that
Lamar Jackson goes man, here we go again against this team,
and goes into a shell again.
Speaker 3 (28:01):
So along those lines, I just have this conversation with
on that other show, you know that leading into that game,
everyone's probably hounding Lamar why are you so good?
Speaker 2 (28:11):
At five times?
Speaker 3 (28:13):
Over and over and over, And it had to be
on his mind, even if he can pretend like it isn't.
And he overcame that demon, but it could have, to
your point, gone down a different road off the start.
Now this week, you know he's gonna hear why can't
you win the playoffs? You know, I mean, it's gonna
be the same type of the pressure is on them,
(28:33):
That's what I say. It's all you know. I mean,
he's two and four in the playoffs, which really isn't
as bad as it looks, trust me. But he's the
only multiple MVP winner to not have a Super Bowl.
And you know, I mean there's some there's just things
like that. I mean, it's the legacy stuff, and they're
gonna be a big favor, Like it's gonna be on
(28:54):
his mind, and.
Speaker 2 (28:55):
No doubt, of course, no doubt. Other things that happened
to that game. The Ravens punt after that fumble, it's
it's down that the what was it the three yard
line or whatever it was. Yeah, they started, they were
at their yeah, their own three. So they run Nase Harris.
(29:17):
They get five yard run on first down. Great, three
yard run on second down. All right, Now you're in
third and two and they get called for uh it's
an incomplete pass. On third down, third and two, they punt.
Desmond King gets the ball. It's a fifty eight yard punts.
(29:40):
It was actually a good punt, fifty eight yards. The
Steelers give up a sixteen yard return, which might be
the longest return they gave up all seasons. Yeah, James
Pierre forces a fumble on the play. It bounces ten
yards forward and Chris Board recovers it at the Pitts
forty one. So the Ravens get the ball back exactly
(30:02):
where they punt it from. Basically, yeah, they punt it
from there. They punt it from the forty two. They
get back at the forty one, And you.
Speaker 3 (30:09):
Can't do that right, right, And again, that was a
good play by the special teams unit. That couldn't fall
in the football, you know.
Speaker 2 (30:15):
Couldn't fall in the football. So then coming out of
that one, because let's remember Jackson had just fumbled on
the previous possession.
Speaker 3 (30:24):
That's something he's prone to do. He is not throwing
picks at all, but he does.
Speaker 2 (30:27):
He does. He puts the ball on the ground what
do the Ravens do. They say, Okay, we're not gonna
We're not gonna set Lamar up for that again. The
next one, two, three, The next five plays are all
Derrick Henry runs, which.
Speaker 3 (30:42):
They kind of got away with in the away from
in the first meeting.
Speaker 2 (30:45):
To the Pittsburgh nine, and Lamar throws a touchdown. Finally
he throws and after that.
Speaker 3 (30:55):
You know that.
Speaker 2 (30:57):
Yeah, the game could have started different, could have started
much differently, Let's put it that way. Could have started
much differently. The Steelers answered with a touchdown.
Speaker 3 (31:08):
Okay, I'm still trying to remember the script of the game.
Speaker 2 (31:11):
They got the ball back at the twenty seven, they're
twenty seven, went down the field. You got the completion
of Van Jefferson of twenty one yards to the Baltimore
six or to Baltimore one, i should say, and Russell
Wilson throws a one yard touchdown pass to Michael prut
tied the game at seven. You answered, yeah, you answered,
(31:31):
Baltimore score with one of your own. On the Steelers
force a punt, Okay, on the next onetive game, yeah.
At on the next possession, the Steelers are driving down
the field. They get the ball back at their own
forty four. They're driving down the field, Wilson breaks the pocket,
(31:53):
gets into into uh he's running free, sees the end zone,
goes for it. A Darius Washington guess is right. Versus
the fumble, the Steelers would have been up fourteen to
seven in that game.
Speaker 3 (32:04):
That was a crucial cruise, crucial right, And he's not
a fumbler. And you know, I mean, that's didn't go
your way to say the least. So my biggest takeaway
of reliving that as you kind of broke down the
play by play the three fumbles, none went your way.
Speaker 2 (32:21):
None. All was on the ground three times, right, and
you recovered none of them.
Speaker 3 (32:25):
And if you get one of those, or if he
just slides, yeah, yeah, I mean it's probably a different
game alone again, cover any of the three.
Speaker 2 (32:31):
I said this at the time. I have no problem
with him trying to make a play in that situation.
He's got one guy to beat and the guy it's
it's again, it's like a goalie in soccer. You get
the big net to cover. He had thirty yards of field,
are twenty yards of field to cover by himself.
Speaker 3 (32:46):
With Darius Washington, he's the smallest defender on the field
and he guessed right, he did.
Speaker 2 (32:50):
He dove to his right as opposed to diving to
his left, and you know, made a play.
Speaker 3 (32:56):
Wilson needs to hold the ball though, Yeah, yeah, I mean, oh,
no doubt. That's the crime. Not trying to run over
the small guy.
Speaker 2 (33:03):
And he wasn't trying to run over me. He's trying
to run around him.
Speaker 3 (33:06):
But the guy got and you're sniffing the goal line.
It's right there. Yeah. I remember not being mad at
him or upset or thought it was the wrong decision
to not slide, but you got Fumbling's never okay, you know.
Speaker 2 (33:17):
The defense and compounds that mistake by giving up a
ninety six yard touchdown right on which the Ravens never
saw a third down until Jackson threw his third down
touchdown pass at the from the eight or fourteen I'm
sorry it was third and eight from the fourteen. They
finally got the third down and couldn't get off the
(33:38):
field give up the touchdown. That's where the game was
lost right there.
Speaker 3 (33:42):
To me, right, that's the turning point.
Speaker 2 (33:43):
Those plays in the game. Now, there was obviously the
interception after the Lamar Jackson interception in the second half,
didn't you know that just turned things.
Speaker 3 (33:54):
But the whole script changes after those things too.
Speaker 2 (33:56):
If it's fourteen to seven, if you score on that
drive and it's fourteen seven, or it's fourteen nothing because
you didn't have you recovered either one.
Speaker 3 (34:06):
Of those first two balls.
Speaker 2 (34:07):
Yeah, I'm telling you right now, Lamar Jackson, who's been
asked a thousand times in the last three years, why
do the Steelers have your number? Why can't you play
well against the Steelers? Goes back farther than three years. Yeah,
and I've seen his answers time and again. I don't know.
I don't know what's going on with this. I don't know.
Speaker 3 (34:25):
It's not because of Cam Hayward or Yeah. The site
one thing, right, if that happens, stadium would be a
solely totally different of course.
Speaker 2 (34:33):
I mean, if you're if you're up ten nothing, you're
up fourteen nothing, you're up fourteen three, whatever it is.
Now A you're taking Derrick Henry out of the game, Yeah, yeah,
because they'll give up on Dereck Henry. They do it
because when they get when they go to third downs,
Derrick Henry is not on the field.
Speaker 3 (34:48):
Now I remember previewing that game going I think it
was a game before that Baltimore and is like he
only played like fifty percent of snap. Yeah, I mean
there's a couple games like that.
Speaker 2 (34:56):
But if you let the Ravens get up on you,
oh you're you're gonna get a hell he dosed Derick Henry.
Speaker 3 (35:01):
And that even before Henry was a Raven. I mean
that was been their specialty of late. They get a
big lead and then they're really hard to come back. Yeah.
But I mean, if you look at it, can't start slow.
Speaker 2 (35:10):
You can't start slow, and you can't on either side
of the ball, on either side of the ball.
Speaker 3 (35:15):
And this and the Eagles of the two worst teams traditionally,
if you start slow against them, forget about it, you know.
Speaker 2 (35:22):
And you look at Jackson's overall numbers in the game,
and what happened.
Speaker 3 (35:26):
They didn't light him up.
Speaker 2 (35:27):
No, he was fifteen to twenty three for two hundred
and seven yards, which is fine. He had the three
touchdown passes again that's you don't want that to happen.
But he had an interception. He had nine carries for
twenty two yards.
Speaker 3 (35:40):
Yeah. Yeah, as usual, they bottle himup.
Speaker 2 (35:42):
Pretty well and he lost a fumble or he had
a fumble like so he had the interception in the fumble.
That was a typical kind of Lamar Jackson game against
the Steelers other than the three touchdown passes.
Speaker 3 (35:51):
The Henry stuff.
Speaker 2 (35:52):
You can the Henry stuff can't happen. No, it can't.
You can't allow him to take over the game.
Speaker 3 (35:57):
And it worries me. I mean, I keep coming back
to time possession that I thought it would be so
much better in this past game. But I mean there's
been two hundred and forty minutes of game time over
this four game losing streak, and the Steelers have had
the ball for like one oh one. It's slightly over
one oh one. Now, I didn't think they wore down
(36:19):
like they did in other games this past week, coming
off somewhere, coming off the rest, and Preston Smith's it
in there and you know, we don't talk about him
later too, but like rotating some dudes, and I think
they're better equipped to deal with that now. But it
can't be another thirty eight minutes, no, you know type
of thing against I mean, even Henry's getting thre.
Speaker 2 (36:37):
Yards unless you win a turnover battle like four to
nothing or four to one.
Speaker 3 (36:41):
As a kick, right, you know, something like they can't
make a kick or something. And he's gotten a little better,
but he's only had like three kicks since we saw
him last.
Speaker 2 (36:47):
If you remember in that game as well, the Steelers
actually ran the ball effectively.
Speaker 3 (36:52):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (36:52):
Yeah, because what Baltimore is now doing, Kyle Hamilton's not
at the line of scrimmage any now. Kyle Hamilton's playing
free safety.
Speaker 3 (37:00):
They have smaller people near the ball.
Speaker 2 (37:02):
Yeah, And so you can run the ball against these guys.
Speaker 3 (37:05):
It used to be nobody runs against the first time
we previewed Steelers Ravens. Best run defense in the league,
worst pass defense in the league. Well, both are the
pass defenses light years get better, and since we saw
them last or that game, the defense as a whole
is much better. But people have run on them. I mean,
the run defense is not disinpended. That's kind of one
(37:26):
of the things they gave up, which was a good
deal for them. If they traded twenty percent of their
run defense they couldn't continue to right right and got
back fifty percent of their pass defense. It was good trade.
But their run defense is not impended.
Speaker 2 (37:41):
If you look at that game, the Steelers had one
hundred and ninety eight passing yards. The Ravens had one
hundred and ninety eight passing yards. You know, both quarterbacks
through an interception, the difference being the Steelers interception was
returned for a touchdown right right, easily the worst pass
that Russ Wilson has thrown as a Steeler shouldn't happen.
(38:05):
Tell you that, Tell you that shouldn't happen. The difference
in the game to me was Derrick Henry.
Speaker 3 (38:12):
But your points strong that if the game starts differently.
Speaker 2 (38:15):
You take Derrick Henry out, you get up ten points
on that if.
Speaker 3 (38:18):
You ever take them out.
Speaker 2 (38:19):
But I mean it's you see hack of a lot
less of them.
Speaker 3 (38:22):
It's not over and over and over and over trying
to tackle him.
Speaker 2 (38:27):
That's the That's what happened the first time in the
victory here against the Ravens. The Steelers forced that early fumble. Now,
they were kicking field goals in that game. They forced
Henry to fumble early, and you didn't see as much
of him in that game.
Speaker 3 (38:41):
No, No, he's not the third down back, right. I
assume that's Mitchell now because it.
Speaker 2 (38:46):
Used to be Hill Hill should be back this week.
It was it was cleared last week and they decided
to sit him.
Speaker 3 (38:51):
Again because they didn't give them Okay, yeah, he's kind
of valuable to them. He's not a special player, but
he's on the field more than you think. He's not
out there all the time.
Speaker 2 (38:59):
No, again, if you can get off to a fast
start in this game, it's been a problem, even if
it's just a if it's a fast start defensively to
where you force them get a three and out early,
or even if they get one first down and you
force a punt o.
Speaker 3 (39:19):
Three and outs over and over from both sides, to
be fine by me. Yeah, flog it up.
Speaker 2 (39:23):
Turn this into a rock fight again, absolutely, because I
don't think the Ravens want to play a rock fight.
Speaker 3 (39:28):
No, I don't think they're that as much of that
type of team as they have.
Speaker 2 (39:32):
They want Lamar out there running around and doing Lamar
things and you know.
Speaker 3 (39:35):
Yeah, yeah, throwing the ball all over the lighter and
faster on defense now than you know, physical and nasty,
you know, right, which is working, you know. But they're
they're a little bit different, constructive.
Speaker 2 (39:45):
And I think Flowers being out.
Speaker 3 (39:46):
It's big, it's huge, it's huge, huge. It should help
you defend Henry. Yes, it is the bottom line, Like
of course they're not just going to eliminate them, you know,
like Gary Payton happy wow. But if poor can deal
with Bateman and make it can deal with Andrews a
reasonable amount of time, third downs leaves a lot of
(40:08):
resources to off the run. Yeah, you know.
Speaker 2 (40:10):
Yeah, so that's where they're at.
Speaker 3 (40:12):
You know, it's gonna be a call. I means we're
not saying, oh, money in the bank. You know, these
guys are really good.
Speaker 2 (40:16):
We'll get more into this game as the week goes on.
We're gonna get to another break. He is Matt Williamson.
I am Dale Lollie. 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 3 (40:31):
At least.
Speaker 1 (40:31):
He's the Drive with Dale Lolly and Matt Williamson on
your twenty four to seven home of the Black and
Gold in Steelers Nation Radio.
Speaker 2 (40:43):
Welcome back. I am Dale Lolli. He is the Matt
Williamson and this is the Drive on the Steelers Audio Network.
And Matte you mentioned the Preston Smith stuff, and yeah,
I don't know if that was born because what they
were doing was they're putting him out there in some
nickel and dime situation. Is allowing him to be an
interior rusher in those situations. I don't know if some
(41:05):
of that was because Cam Hayward had to flu which way.
Speaker 3 (41:10):
I didn't know until after the game. I don't know
if you did, But.
Speaker 2 (41:12):
No, I didn't know until he mentioned it after the game.
He wouldn't have been able to tell by the way
he plays. He was one of the best players on
the field, but they did kind of limit his snaps
a little bit more than usual. And when Cincinnati ran
the ball, it was like if Cam Hayward was standing
on the sidelines. Yeah, the Bengals ran.
Speaker 3 (41:28):
The football, and that's been something all year, by the way, folks, Yeah,
I mean like it's very I wonder how many rush
attempts Hayward faces. I mean it's a really low percentage.
It's not none, but it's a very low percentage. So
watching that game, not knowing that the Cam situation, I thought,
this is an interesting wrinkle. You know, put three outside
(41:48):
linebackers on the field together. I've always been interested of
how you could do that. He's a power player. He's
different than Herbig. He wouldn't do that same thing with Herbig,
you know, over guards and centers and things. And I thought, well,
Burrow's not the easiest guy to get on the ground.
You want to be a little more agile.
Speaker 2 (42:06):
You don't want him stepping up on the pocket.
Speaker 3 (42:08):
You don't want to them step on in the pocket.
Preston's length is impressive, not that Haywards isn't. But they
also don't have a much of a run threat either,
you know, like if it's third and five and they
check to a run because Cam's got out there, Okay,
we'll take that chance against Herbert.
Speaker 2 (42:21):
One of the reporters around me like Herbert's running a lot.
Speaker 3 (42:26):
Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (42:26):
At times in that game again, when Hayward was on
the sideline and one of the reporters around me's like, boy,
he's really being effective. How many yards does he have
in some like it wasn't much. He was three point
five yards to carry. Yeah, like you wanted to keep
doing that? Have had it?
Speaker 3 (42:40):
Yeah, that's a win. I thought the same thing, like
he's not great. The block run was eight. Yeah, there's
no explosives. It's fine, you know, right again you mentioned
the first segment. The longest play they let up all
day was nineteen yard. Yeah, were on the field for
thirty eight minutes.
Speaker 2 (42:52):
Yeah, you know again, it was a lot of you know,
Burrow completions and short completions. But the running game didn't
you know, that didn't kill you. No, they converted some
stuff and that. But again, at the end of the day,
they were five or thirteen on third downs.
Speaker 3 (43:04):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I mean that wasn't super efficient angles performance, No,
there was. The passing game is efficient. It was explosive. Yeah,
the run game was kind of neither.
Speaker 2 (43:15):
Yeah, but I I thought that was interesting.
Speaker 3 (43:20):
I wonder if it's here to stay in some capacity,
Like I'm never in favor of Hayward not being on
the field, but you could do it with Cam. Yeah,
you know that's that's not against.
Speaker 2 (43:28):
And there were some instances where they did do that.
Speaker 3 (43:30):
I thought. So. Yeah, Benton got his first sack, and
he's gonna be out there I think more on third
downs too, I mean yeah, yeah, right, and he's a
way better pass for it. Sounds like, boy, his first sack,
he's been a really good pass rusher all year.
Speaker 2 (43:44):
Yeah, he's just a big guy that yeah takes you know,
you're coming from the interior. You're getting doubled a lot
because you're the nose, you know, even in pass rush situations.
But I you know, he's going to get there more
often to me than Ogan ob does.
Speaker 3 (44:00):
I tend to think. So. I didn't think this was
a great Ogren Jobe game. Again, And it feels he's
always one of those doesn't always practice on Wednesday guys.
Has had a lot of ailments. And you know, Tim
Bens and I often joke that most of his plays
come in the first quarter. You, I mean, like, I
think he is problems going. I don't think he's a
(44:22):
marathon runner. Just put it that way, you know. And
he's a good player. He's a little expensive. I would
love to see that be kind of an upgrade in
the offseason. Again, he's an asset. He's not bad, but
he seems to late in games, late in the season
be less effective.
Speaker 2 (44:39):
Yeah, so you know, I thought, I again, I thought
that was a plus. Yeah, I thought Trice was a
plus me too.
Speaker 3 (44:48):
People gave Trice a hard time. I thought he had
played a really good game. Yeah, absolutely, and Porter was
really good. And Porter was yeah, very good, as well
as Higgins or rafter. Higgins went out.
Speaker 2 (44:58):
And you know, I know Ogus sick. He ended up
with what he finished with.
Speaker 3 (45:04):
It wasn't crazy.
Speaker 2 (45:04):
He had eight for sixty eight, you know, on ten targets. Again,
if that's I mean, that's your your top one of
your top receivers, and that's the foundation in your offense.
It's not bottom line. The Bengals average seven point five
yards per catch in that game.
Speaker 3 (45:20):
Okay, okay, yeah, yeah, I got nothing over the top.
Great receivers, great quarterback. Take it again. Tackling was great.
Speaker 2 (45:29):
The tackling was great. And it doesn't hurt that Deshaun
Elliott was back. Deshaun Elliott missed the game against the
Ravens the first time around. Yeah, back to steels with
without several starters in that game, and uh, you know
that could be something that makes a little bit of
a difference in this one.
Speaker 3 (45:44):
I probably should have mentioned this earlier, But what what
kind of injury stuff are we looking at coming out
of the game.
Speaker 2 (45:49):
The only thing that they had was the Mason McCormick
hand fracture that looks like he has a good chance
to play this week.
Speaker 3 (45:57):
Yeah, I assume though they could do some kind of cast.
I don't think. Yeah, like a club and brace, it
would be the obvious replacement.
Speaker 2 (46:05):
Yeah, they could go that direction. I don't. I don't
think that's going to be the case. I think Mason
McCormick plays. Tomlin said that that he saw Dante Jackson today.
The back was feeling much better, you know, so you
might be at full strength here for this one, which
is something you weren't first summer. You didn't have Ogun Joby,
(46:26):
you didn't have uh.
Speaker 3 (46:29):
I think Elliott's.
Speaker 2 (46:30):
Elliott has been really especially against tight ends, against tight ends,
against a run, I mean against Henry.
Speaker 3 (46:35):
I think he's a glue guy that does everything. Yeah,
he's more important than stats would ever indicate.
Speaker 2 (46:41):
Who else?
Speaker 3 (46:42):
Real they missing?
Speaker 2 (46:42):
They missing Jackson in that game too? Or is it
Porter was missing? So you're taking Porter, Elliott and Ogan
Joby out of your defense for that game against the Ravens.
Speaker 3 (46:53):
Right right, No, it's in better shape now and it's fresher.
Speaker 2 (46:56):
No, Jackson was already out. And then and then Porter
got hurt because he already missed the entire Kansas City game.
He got hurt in game in that one.
Speaker 3 (47:04):
That makes sense, that's exactly what happened.
Speaker 2 (47:06):
JA was already and Jackson was already out.
Speaker 3 (47:08):
Yeah, and you're helping Pierre and those guys. Yeah. Yeah,
And I think it's pretty clear that Trice is past
Pierre on the depth chart. Like when Jackson was ruled out,
I I just sent a tweet out. I'm like, I
hope Trice gets a start. I don't know if he
will or not. I'm glad he did because I think
there's something to build on there.
Speaker 2 (47:24):
Yeah, I would agree. I would agree. Let's get to
a break. That's going to do it for our number
one of the drive here on the Steelers Audio Network.
Matt and I will be back with our number two
right after this