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December 31, 2024 • 47 mins
Matt and Dale discuss a ton during the first half of today's show including the MVP race, playoff picture, and roster moves made by the Steelers.

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Episode Transcript

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Speaker 1 (00:03):
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 (00:16):
And welcome to the Drive. I am Dale LOLLI he
is the Matt Williamson. And uh, well it's a Tuesday.
That's a Wednesday here in Pittsburgh on Saturday. Yep, just
another one of the Like every week this entire month
has been like that.

Speaker 3 (00:32):
It's been at least that, I mean, going back to Thanksgiving.
I think it's just I don't know, there's never been
like a normal week, a normal and I've come to notice.
I mean, like when I got hired by pitt and
was a full time employee, I was shocked how much
creature have it. Players are and coaches and everything is
so exact.

Speaker 2 (00:51):
Everything's regimented.

Speaker 3 (00:52):
Yep. And frankly I've become the same way. I mean,
like such a dork. I build a spreadsheet before the
seatop right there, and like every week at Tuesday at
three o'clock, I know where're gonna be. Or Thursday at
four thirty, like you always know where you're gonna be.
And these last couple of weeks have messed with my brain.

Speaker 2 (01:09):
Its like I was at the Steelers facility today, I'm like,
what day is today? Like a normal week, Today's New
Year's Eve, I didn't even know, Like Happy New Year's Eve. Everybody,
hope everybody stays safe, and the Joey Day's right around
the corner. Yeah, it's like, you know, every every week
this thus far has been a challenge in this you know,

(01:31):
in this fashion, just from the fact that your your schedules.

Speaker 3 (01:34):
All. Yeah, Christmas was the craziest, but i mean, yeah,
three and eleven days plus that, plus all the games
every night too. I don't know which one is Monday FOOTBA,
which on Thursday football, Wednesday night football.

Speaker 2 (01:46):
You know, I was actually looking forward to having a
Sunday game. I'm thinking when.

Speaker 3 (01:50):
When before chances are, before the.

Speaker 2 (01:53):
Colts lost, I'm like, Okay, they're going to be four
teams playing for for one playoff spot in the a
f C. You know, maybe they'll Saturday. Yeah, maybe they'll
put all those games at well, they'll put them at
four o'clock because you get some West Coast teams in
there mixed in. I'm like, that'll be perfect four o'clock.
Pay a lot of attention to them, and then the
Colts lose.

Speaker 3 (02:12):
Yeah, thanks, which means you're doing pregame during the Ravens game,
and then you're up late. And then Sunday's nice, but
you're gonna get up late because you're up to four
in the morning.

Speaker 2 (02:23):
And you know what's gonna happen, Okay, one way or
the other, whether the Steelers play Houston or whether the
Steelers play Baltimore. If it's Baltimore, I guarantee you right now,
that game will be Saturday night.

Speaker 3 (02:40):
Yeah, I would think because they're both Saturday games. Yeah, yeah,
I would think that. If it's Houston, it will be.

Speaker 2 (02:47):
Saturday afternoon, it'll be the four thirty game or four
o'clock game, whatever that is.

Speaker 3 (02:52):
Which is fine by me because that gives a Steelers
seven days. It'd be nice to pick up eight for
the playoffs.

Speaker 2 (02:57):
It's just another condensed week of practice, weird.

Speaker 3 (03:00):
Way of practice Wednesdays or Thursday.

Speaker 2 (03:02):
Because they won't they won't do anything Sunday, of course,
right right, is.

Speaker 3 (03:06):
It safe to say? I mean, playing on Sunday night
the last game of the regular season isn't great. But
I understand what the especially for the road team, especially
for the road team. Yeah, so that.

Speaker 2 (03:17):
Team is gonna them there, they'll end up playing the late.

Speaker 3 (03:20):
That's what I was going to ask you. I mean,
because both those teams are going to playoffs. It's just
a matter of who's the number one. But they're not
gonna make either one. They're not gonna make that team
that travels play on Saturday. That's what I was gonna
ask right, right, Okay, because I forgot that one of
them gets to buy, so the loser will play on Sunday. Yeah, yeah,
that makes sense, which is better? I mean, if you
make them play on Saturday, that's.

Speaker 2 (03:40):
Not completely on Friday, right, Yeah.

Speaker 3 (03:42):
And I would think Ravens and Steelers, no matter who
they play, are likely to be on Saturdays. They're both
playoff teams.

Speaker 2 (03:48):
Yeah, and Houston always gets the early slot on Saturday
if you look back through you look back through their
playoff history because it's Houston and nobody.

Speaker 3 (03:57):
Just because they're not a big draw. Yeah okay, okay,
I mean that the Steelers would be in that situation, right,
but that's usually where Houston lands. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (04:05):
Plus they're a west coast you know, or western part
you know, west of the Mississippi. Anyways, we have a
Steelers injury report. Oh okay, it looks pretty good. Actually,
Justin Fields a full participant today with that abdominal injury issue.
Russell Wilson got the day off the rest he was limited.

(04:26):
The Steelers made three roster moves today.

Speaker 3 (04:28):
No really have moms on top anders though.

Speaker 2 (04:30):
Roman Wilson, Cole Holcome, Logan Lee all had their practice
windows opened today.

Speaker 3 (04:36):
Oh wow, okay, guys we haven't heard from for a while. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (04:39):
So, Roman Wilson was a full participant in practice today.
Cole Holcombe and Logan Lee were both limited. And you
do that now because you get to act. You get
to start that window or open that window before the
playoffs start. And therefore, if something happens, let's say you
lose somebody this weekend, well okay, let's say you lose

(05:00):
an inside linebacker for me, right right, right, right, all right,
we're just going to activate Cole Hulk.

Speaker 3 (05:04):
Yeah. So a couple questions on that. Well, first off,
i feel like I've disrespected Logan Lee because we've talked
about this draft class. I'm like, well, even a third
round pickers.

Speaker 2 (05:13):
I've gotten forty five questions about when's room and Wilson
coming back. I've got no questions about when Logan Lea's are, right.

Speaker 3 (05:20):
I kind of you. I'm sorry I forgot you with that,
you know what I mean. But great. I mean he's
added to the group as well. So it's every team
going to do this with their guys that are playoff teams.
I think they're smart. I mean, if you guys to lose, yeah,
because you if the window opens for twenty one days
and shuts, what'd you lose? Yeah?

Speaker 2 (05:38):
Right, right, right right, Yeah, you get the opportunity at
least see these guys practice in case you might.

Speaker 3 (05:43):
Need them, and many of the teams will get eliminated
next twenty one days. Yeah, you know that. If you
open the window, why why not even if they I
mean unless there's like no physical chance that they can
do it, like Aiden Hutchinson's window will open, guys like that,
because the.

Speaker 2 (05:56):
Other thing that then happens is once these other teams
are done playing the teams that don't make the playoffs,
they start signing guys, yeah, to futures contracts, and they
can sign guys off of anybody's roster ups, you know,
practice squad or anything like that. So you've got three
extra basically three extra practice squad spots here that you

(06:17):
just created by activating those three guys.

Speaker 3 (06:20):
Yeah, that makes sense. And hey, you kind of like
we were talking before we hit record here, you know
that the bowl games are in full swing. There's one
going on as we speak, I think, and you know,
like back in my pit days, that was valuable extra
practice time. Like maybe nobody cared about the Blue Bonnet
Bowl or the weed Eater Bowl, but we're like, we
got an extra whole month of practice. You know, all
my young our young guys are going to play like crazy.

(06:42):
You know, we didn't play Larry's last year like crazy
in that month, but we played all the new guys
that were incoming. You know, they were fitting on the
bench all week for a year.

Speaker 2 (06:50):
And I had somebody ask on the message board as
well today, well, why is it that Ricky Pearsoll can
go out there and have a big game on Monday
night and the Steelers can't see him to get Roman
Wilson activated at all? I'm like, well, first, and Ricky
Pearsall went through way worse than Roman Wilson did, so well.
Pearsall was activated earlier in the season. Oh, he's been

(07:11):
practicing with He's been practicing all season long.

Speaker 3 (07:13):
And before last night, everyone's like, why did they get
more of the first round pick? He looks like a bust? Yeah,
I mean that's a what I was. That was the
Pearsall narrative until twenty four hours ago. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (07:22):
He had one other game this season where he flashed.
I think he had like four catches for like fifty
six yards. Yeah, and then last Yeah, make an impact
so far and he was a first round pick.

Speaker 3 (07:30):
Yeah. He's also drafted well ahead with Wilson.

Speaker 2 (07:32):
Right, whereas Roman Wilson missed all a training camp, came
back for like three weeks, finally got his first playing time,
was active for a game for the first time, and
then got hurt again.

Speaker 3 (07:42):
Yeah. The Niners also didn't trade for wide receivers the
trade deadline. I mean there's only so many.

Speaker 2 (07:47):
Spots, right, that's the other third.

Speaker 3 (07:48):
Yeah, and none of them play special teams, right, you know,
scouring it is gonna run down like punts.

Speaker 2 (07:54):
Yeah, you need those guys. We're scronic.

Speaker 3 (07:56):
I called him, I call him everything under the book.
I do both.

Speaker 2 (08:00):
Yeah, I get that some names that's like a Bill
cowerism thing. You know Mike Thomas Zach was always Jerry Oldslavsky.

Speaker 3 (08:08):
Uh.

Speaker 2 (08:08):
He always puted a lot of names close with no cigar. Anyways,
getting back to the injury a report, Uh, you mentioned
Ben Scronic his he was limited today with that hip issue,
but limited as a step in the right direction. Joey
Porter Junior a full participant today. That is a step
in the right direction. Jayleen Warrem was limited with his
rib issue. That's not shouldn't hold him back. And then

(08:30):
Isaac Samalu was given the day off to rest.

Speaker 3 (08:34):
So I assume they won't treat this like a playoff game,
but they were. It's all hands on deck. They're playing
our guys.

Speaker 2 (08:42):
Yea dok to Cam Heyward earlier today and he was
asked about that, he said, how do you feel about it?

Speaker 3 (08:46):
What if?

Speaker 2 (08:47):
What if Baltimore wins earlier in the day and they
clinched a division.

Speaker 3 (08:49):
He's like, I don't think that matters at all.

Speaker 2 (08:51):
We want to we want to go out and win.
We don't want to go into the playoffs on a
four game losing. We're gonna try to win this game.
And there's a chance you could follow the sixth seed, right,
I mean, I think see matters. I don't know that
they're necessarily thinking about it that way, but they do
want to win the football game. Y. Yeah, as Mike
Tomlins said, wash the stink away from the last three games.

Speaker 3 (09:10):
No, I think there's value in that as well. What
I meant by a playoff game is questionable dudes would play,
you know. I mean, I don't think there's any of
those on this list.

Speaker 2 (09:19):
They don't really have anybody that's going to be questionable qualified.
On the Cincinnati side of things, though, Chase Brown did
not practice today.

Speaker 3 (09:27):
I think his season's over.

Speaker 2 (09:29):
I don't said yet. Here's the thing, and I could
see him wanting to play. He's ten yards short of
a thousand for the season. Is really ten yards?

Speaker 3 (09:37):
That's a bummer.

Speaker 2 (09:38):
Yeah, but it's a high ankle sprain, like you know,
you're running back the high ankle sprain. I just don't
know that even if he would happen to play.

Speaker 3 (09:47):
He would be real and it looks pretty brutal.

Speaker 2 (09:49):
Yeah, Orlando Brown Junior with a fibula injury limited Joe
Burrow with right wrist and knee issues that he is
six things. Yeah, without a doubt. The right wrist has
been the issue all season long or not. Offensive tackle
Devin Cochrane did not practice because of personal issues.

Speaker 3 (10:11):
We held in form yeah, and then true, so he
was the starting right tackle. And I'm like, who's Devin Cochrane?
I had never heard of the dude and I still
don't know him more than that, except for he might
be their starting right tackle on Saturday.

Speaker 2 (10:24):
He can very well could be. We'll get to that
here in a minute. T Higgins ankle and knee issues
was limited. That's kind of been his situation the last
couple of weeks. Sam Hubbard did not practice. He's out.

Speaker 3 (10:36):
Yeah, I think he's done.

Speaker 2 (10:38):
Tanner Hudson, another one of their tight ends, has a
knee issue. He was limited. McKinley Jackson, one of their
defensive tackles, was a full participant with a wrist Chris
Jenkins one of their other defensive tackles. Both those guys, yeah,
limited with a knee issue. Charlie Jones, who's our wide
receiver slash kick returner, he has a groin he was limited.

(10:58):
Amarus Mims with the ankle in hand those are not connected,
was limited. And then tight Andrew Sample with a groin
issue was did not practice.

Speaker 3 (11:08):
Okay, So the announcers didn't do a great job on
the Mims injury, but he was ruled out pretty quickly
after getting hurt. I think it was like twenty snaps
into the game. So I thought he'd be done, you know,
like it was serious, seriously, not limited. He still got
a chance.

Speaker 2 (11:24):
It was the ankle during the game, I think so, yeah,
because big man fall down like tree. Yeah, yeah, yeah,
I think he got some friendly fire. There wasn't it.
I don't remember Bough fell into his the back of
his ankle or something like that for a member correctly.

Speaker 3 (11:40):
But we'll see.

Speaker 2 (11:41):
I mean, you know, again with with the Bengals, Yeah,
they need to win this game, but they've got a
six percent chance. It's not so many things too. Things
they need they need to win, and then they need
Miami and Denver to lose. It's not a lot, right,
but both of those teams are favored.

Speaker 3 (12:00):
I say both are unlikely, you know. I mean if
you just go by Vegas, well they get a good
shot in Pittsburgh. Man, I don't think Kansas City is
a good shot beating Denver. However, I was talking about
this on my podcast today.

Speaker 2 (12:13):
Like talking about it on this podcast as well.

Speaker 3 (12:15):
Here we go. You know, like, oh, they're not gonna
play anybody, Well, you're still gonna put five offensive linemen
on the field, you know, like the Chiefs will probably
play Humphrey or one.

Speaker 2 (12:25):
Of the guards. I bet they don't play Humphrey.

Speaker 3 (12:27):
It's just it's hard to field an offensive line. I
understand what I mean, Like you're gonna have eight of
them active on game.

Speaker 2 (12:33):
Day, but it's probably Smith the right the right guard
is the one he's gonna sign for next year.

Speaker 3 (12:37):
I'm gonna say him too with Toon, he's the one.
I think you definitely shut.

Speaker 2 (12:41):
That, yeah, Tony, and Tony's been playing left tackle.

Speaker 3 (12:43):
For right right. Obviously, Kelsey's not playing, Chris Jones isn't playing,
Mahomes isn't going to be active. But it's not easy
to field twenty two starters plus all the other guys
are gonna play. This is in college with you know,
one hundred guys available. That's the that's the problem, and
that's why lines where it gets sticky. Start sitting guys,
you know, especially these teams that make these decisions.

Speaker 2 (13:03):
We're gonna sit. We're gonna sit our key guys. And
then you don't sit somebody and he's.

Speaker 3 (13:08):
Going I thought I was key.

Speaker 2 (13:10):
I'm not a key guy. I gotta play this seventeenth
game and the guy next to me doesn't. Yeah, yeah, yeah,
Like what's that? What's that about?

Speaker 3 (13:16):
Like if the Steelers were to do it, it's not
a guarantee Queen and high Smith would get that call,
you know. I mean, like they probably would, but you
got to put people on the field. Yeah, I mean
it's not as easy as you think.

Speaker 2 (13:27):
We're you know, a Landom Roberts has to play the
whole game. He's like, I'm a ten year vet man.

Speaker 3 (13:31):
Yeah, yeah, you want to, and you want me, You
need me for the wildcard round as much as anybody, Right,
It's it's a stress on somebody else.

Speaker 2 (13:38):
Yeah. So that's where the Bengals are at in terms
of there they are.

Speaker 3 (13:42):
I mean they're asking a lot.

Speaker 2 (13:43):
Yeah, I mean, I just don't expect all the stuff
to happen for them, even if they would happen to
beat the Steelers. And by the way, that line has
now moved a few point. Where's the Steelers?

Speaker 3 (13:53):
The other thing is that Jets are utter embarrassment too. Yeah,
there's that. Yeah, as if you're Kansas City could pull
a rap rather had. I don't know if the Jets
can do that.

Speaker 2 (14:02):
Does Aaron Rodgers start this week?

Speaker 3 (14:05):
I think he came out and said something, but I
don't know what.

Speaker 2 (14:07):
Well he may have said, that doesn't mean it's gonna happen.

Speaker 3 (14:11):
I don't know what to think of that organization. I mean,
do they have any intentions of bringing him back? I
don't believe so. But but they don't have a GM
or coach. So who's making the decision? Yeah?

Speaker 2 (14:21):
What he Johnson's grandson.

Speaker 3 (14:24):
Exactly. That's what makes me think.

Speaker 2 (14:27):
Who replaced him on? I can't remember who they're back to,
Tyrod Taylor? Tyrod Taylor, which is fine, right right right?
Why wouldn't you play just play Tyrod Taylor say hey,
we're not real interested in winning it. We got a
top ten draft pick right now.

Speaker 3 (14:37):
I mean, then he's shutting down Adams and Hall and
I don't know, sloweyah that it's bad. I mean, this
administration is not going to be there, so's it's.

Speaker 2 (14:46):
Gonna be a lot of that, a lot of that. Yeah,
questions across the league, and people wonder sometimes why would
you shut this guy down? He's he's you. You're you know,
contracted to play seventeen games. Here's the thing. If a
guy goes out there and plays, and let's say he's
a big part of your team, he's a big part

(15:07):
of your plans moving forward. Yeah, yeah, but he goes
out there in this week seventeen game that is meaningless
for you, for your team and tears inn acl Yeah
he's not ready for camp or tears an achilles. Yeah,
you just lost him for the start of next year.

Speaker 3 (15:21):
Yeah, it really affects the upcoming season. And then all
of a sudden, you better go find somebody else. You
just created another need. Ye you know. I means if
you don't have enough when your team's garbage like the
Jets or whatever.

Speaker 2 (15:32):
I don't know, different when you're a playoff team or
you're fighting for a playoff spot than these teams that
aren't in it, and you're like, or you know, as
we saw last year with Russell Wilson, hey, we don't
want to there.

Speaker 3 (15:43):
There's an injury injury stuff.

Speaker 2 (15:44):
There's an injury guarantee in there that if he gets hurt,
we got to pay him, and we don't want to
pay him playing on bring him back yeah, right, that's
why Jamis Winston's not playing.

Speaker 3 (15:52):
Right now, or Daniel Jones isn't a giant or right
Car did the same thing with the Raiders. I mean
it's usually a quarterback thing. But yeah, Cleveland matter.

Speaker 2 (16:00):
Cleveland's gonna play uh Dorian Thompson, Robinson and Bailey Zappi
this week?

Speaker 3 (16:05):
Is that their plan?

Speaker 2 (16:06):
That's their plan?

Speaker 3 (16:06):
Yeah? No, under their eighteen and a half point dogs,
that game's on.

Speaker 2 (16:09):
They have no interest in playing Jameis Winston again. He's
the only way that they would even have a shot. Yeah,
they probably still lose in Baltimore, but they would have
a shot.

Speaker 3 (16:18):
He's beating the Ravens, he's beating the Steelers. I mean
he's a ball at all. Yeah yeah, yeah. He might
throw four touchdowns and not a throw pick that day.

Speaker 2 (16:26):
He might throw six interceptions. Yeah right, that's the roller coach.

Speaker 3 (16:29):
That's what I didn't know that Zappi DTR thing until
just now. I was thinking DTR is so bad. Maybe
they'll play Winston, which gives them at least a puncher's chance, right, they.

Speaker 2 (16:41):
Have no chance more now they're throwing butterfly kisses at them.

Speaker 3 (16:46):
I'm not sure Lamar even has to play for them
to win. No, he'll probably play some.

Speaker 2 (16:51):
Oh yeah, they're trying to win him an MVP award. Yeah,
they'll let him go out there and throw the ball
twenty five times in the first half in sing sit
him down.

Speaker 3 (16:57):
So along those lines I heard on the way here,
Schefter said something like he doesn't think Barkley's gonna play. Yeah,
Like will Josh Allen play in quest of an m VP.
They've said he's gonna play briefly, Okay, I guess that's
what I mean.

Speaker 2 (17:13):
I get that this week, these last couple of weeks
should not have affected who you think.

Speaker 3 (17:17):
The m v P is not. I mean, this week shouldn't.
What the Ravens do against that Browns team shouldn't matter. Why.

Speaker 2 (17:23):
I don't care when iota what's happened to Alsca, What
what's your what's your season been to this point? Where
have you gotten your team to?

Speaker 3 (17:31):
Yeah? I don't I mean for those teams. No, I
don't care one bit. I mean, if Goff and Darnold
were in the race, they still have a case to
be made because they have a big game, right, you
know what I mean? But Jackson or especially Allen. Allen
is going to be the number two seed no matter what.
Right his case should be written.

Speaker 2 (17:48):
I think it is and these last couple of weeks
haven't affected that for me.

Speaker 3 (17:52):
You know, the last couple of weeks have I mean
games matter for the bill.

Speaker 2 (17:56):
Well, they've won that, they've won. My point is they've
won the games. The last couple of weeks. His numbers
haven't exactly been stellar, but then you look at the
game against the Jets and it's played in a downpour.
You know, sorry, but it's still find the way to
win the game, right.

Speaker 3 (18:11):
And this year's crazy because you're splitting hairs. I mean,
the MVP race is harsher than usually.

Speaker 2 (18:17):
I think it's pretty cut and dried. But that's just me.

Speaker 3 (18:19):
Allen.

Speaker 2 (18:20):
Yeah, I would.

Speaker 3 (18:21):
I would think that should be a co MVP, to
be honest with you, that's happened before. But I would
vote for Allen if I got one. But I think
it's really close.

Speaker 2 (18:29):
I mean, the people out there arguing for Lamar, well,
he's the best player in the league, Okay, I hear
that he's the most dynamic player in the league. Should
we just hand him the MVP award for the next
ten seasons in I.

Speaker 3 (18:42):
Think the best four players in the league are Mahomes,
Lamar Allen, and Burrow, including Watt and Garrett and Jefferson
and Chase and every offensive lineman. I think that we
happen to have the best four planet people on the
planet are all playing quarterback right now.

Speaker 2 (18:56):
But it also certainly helps in the case of Lamar
jack that he is Derrick Henry. I'm gonna go back
to the argument I had at mid season, as Derrick
Henry goes, so go the Ravens, and that has been
That's been the case all season long. He opens everything
up for Lamar Jackson.

Speaker 3 (19:12):
Yeah, but Jackson's been noticeably better well because he's had
Derrick Henry. That's what I mean. He was an MVP
last year. I mean his case is really strong.

Speaker 2 (19:20):
Last year I thought his case was stronger in fact,
because because the competition wasn't good and he had a
lot less around him. They're running the ghost of you know, JK.
Dobbins and Gus Edwards out there running back. This year,
he's got a dynamic running back.

Speaker 3 (19:35):
Yeah, yeah, but he's capitalized on it.

Speaker 2 (19:38):
Sure. Yeah, But if I look at what Josh Allen
has it's not nearly as good. It's not as good. No,
it's not, and yet the team has been better. I
understand that they beat Buffalo head to head, but I don't.

Speaker 3 (19:48):
Care about wouldn't influence my MVP. No, we're talking about Bies.

Speaker 2 (19:51):
I think he has done more with less. Actually think
I think Mahomes has done.

Speaker 3 (19:57):
It's funny to me that he doesn't even get brought up. Yeah,
I mean.

Speaker 2 (20:00):
If you're going to talk about Joe Burrow, bring up
Joe Burrow in this argument. Burrow's having a great year.
Oh yeah, How can you bring up Mahomes for a
team that's fifteen and one.

Speaker 3 (20:09):
Because the stats aren't as good, which shouldn't matter.

Speaker 2 (20:11):
It didn't matter for Lamar last year.

Speaker 3 (20:14):
Yeah, they weren't bad. I mean, Mahomes is like middle
of the road though in a lot of.

Speaker 2 (20:17):
Category, but they don't Statistically they're nowhere near fifteen and
one with anybody else's quarterback.

Speaker 3 (20:22):
No, I mean, if Goffs are quarterback, they might not
be five hundred. And I think Goff's really good. Yeah,
I mean they probably are like five hundred. They're fighting
first spot with the Chargers or Denver right.

Speaker 2 (20:30):
Now, right Anyways, let's get to break. He is the
Matt Williamson. I am Dale Lolly. You're listening to the
Drive here on the Steelers Audio Network. Matt and I
will be back with more right after this.

Speaker 3 (20:46):
Least.

Speaker 1 (20:46):
He's 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 (20:58):
Welcome back. I am Dale. He is the Matt Williamson
and Matt. I'm looking here at a piece on the
ESPN by Ben Sullick, who does good work on there
for them, and he won. He says the dangerous Wildcard teams.
He's picking out the dangerous wildcard teams and why those
teams will be dangerous, and these are the most dangerous

(21:19):
wild teams. And his first team on there is Green Bay.
Let's talk about Green Bay for a second.

Speaker 3 (21:26):
Yeah, So I really like their roster construction. I'm a
love fan. But I think what's shown up is they're
five losses, as we all know, are against basically elite.

Speaker 2 (21:39):
Team Detroit twice, Minnesota twice in Philadelphia, right.

Speaker 3 (21:43):
And I think it's safe to say on New Year's
Eve they are a step below those teams. Maybe not
three steps, but there are a step below.

Speaker 2 (21:51):
Those could have beaten Minnesota.

Speaker 3 (21:53):
Oh and good. Yeah. I think what they're missing though,
is one more star, Like take Love out of the equation.
Jacobs is a really good back, But who's the guy
that you change your game plan for? You know what
I mean?

Speaker 2 (22:07):
Like the receivers are all good, but they don't have
a true number one, That's what I mean. They don't
have a George Pickens Jefferson.

Speaker 3 (22:12):
You know, or like they like or they like ra
Shan Gary, but he's not Mike Ah Parsons, right, you
know what I mean, Like if one of their guys.
They have a lot of good players. McKinney's a good safety,
but I mean with a safety, I'm not going to
change my life. Like, who are they gain planning around
when you play the Packers of Man, I can't let
that dude beat me.

Speaker 2 (22:33):
They really have that guy? They don't have anybody like
even with I mean Love again a good player.

Speaker 3 (22:37):
Right, excluding it's not a great player, right right right?
I mean it's not like Jacobs elevating everybody. Right, Jacobs
is a good player. Yeah, he's the closest This is
Barkley or Derek.

Speaker 2 (22:47):
Kenn one of those.

Speaker 3 (22:48):
He might not be a top five back, and he's
having a great career, a great season. He's close, he's
the closest thing. But still it's not like what he
brings is so special that we can't deal with it,
you know, especially when he comes to playoff times in
big dog game.

Speaker 2 (23:03):
Yeah, I mean when it's when it's third and eight,
who's the ball going to right?

Speaker 3 (23:08):
And more so to me even I mean guess certainly
that matter.

Speaker 2 (23:12):
Or when it's third eight on you and you're on defense,
who's making the big play for me?

Speaker 3 (23:15):
That's where I was going with it, you know, like
they want that to be Gary, but that's asking a lot.
You know, Gary's a high smith level player, really good player,
but he's not I have to roll my protections that
way all the time. And it's not how they're built,
I mean, because they don't have ownership and they're a
different organization. But like if Miles Garrett became available, I'll
give you any of one, you know, like, just give
me a stud to change the game. They don't have it.

Speaker 2 (23:38):
Yeah, well that's really what they you know, when they
made the trade for Reggie White, Oh yeah, way back
when right right, he was that guy.

Speaker 3 (23:44):
He was that guy.

Speaker 2 (23:45):
The second team on here for him is the Steelers. Okay,
and here's what he has to say about them. I
promised myself around week eleven.

Speaker 3 (23:54):
Oh, I thought that's what I apologized for interrupt them,
but I thought I would saying barn Well did something similar.
I thought this right up about the Steelers was really good.
By bets, Ben's really good.

Speaker 2 (24:03):
I love to Barnwell always misses the mark on the Steelers.

Speaker 3 (24:06):
He does because he does, but he still doesn't.

Speaker 2 (24:08):
But he's because he's completely tied into the analytics, right,
and they a lot of times defy the analytics.

Speaker 3 (24:14):
Yep, now this is a really good right up. I
thought this right up was barnwells. I got my author's crossed,
but this is good, he said.

Speaker 2 (24:20):
I promise myself around a week eleven. Okay, I'm not
gonna interrupt on after their wins over the Commanders and
Ravens that I would not rule out a heroic Steelers
postseason run no matter what. Here they are having lost
three games in a row, and I'm still here to
tell you that it's in the cards. I'll acknowledge that
Pittsburgh might still win a division. It might not be

(24:40):
a wild card team, but we're still including it here.
The past three games against the Steelers have been perhaps
the most brutal stretch of any team this regular season.
At Philadelphia Short Week, at Baltimore Short Week, Kansas City.

Speaker 3 (24:54):
I don't know if you could create one harder. No,
I mean, it has to be the hardest three game.

Speaker 2 (24:57):
It might be the hardest three games that I've ever
se in a tech play.

Speaker 3 (25:00):
Yeah, right, right right In.

Speaker 2 (25:02):
That span they saw absences from star wide receiver George Pickens,
defensive tackle Larry Ogun, Joe Be, cornerback Joey Porter Jr.
Cornerback Dante Jackson, and safety Deshaun Elliott. Oh and TJ.
Watt is clearly hurt, even if he isn't missing time. Yeah, yeah, Now,
there isn't a fairy godmother to wave a magic wand
and make everybody healthy in the postseason, the Steelers are

(25:23):
going to have to carry some of these nagging injuries
with them. But I'm confident that Pittsburgh is better, is
a better team than recent memory is telling us.

Speaker 3 (25:31):
Yep. I agree with that. Yeah, although I'm not surely
I agree with the nagging injury thing. Yeah, I don't
know that those are I don't know, but we'll never
know what Watts status is. And everyone in this time
of year across the league has something. But yeah, they're
reasonably healthy, you know, right right.

Speaker 2 (25:45):
The hamstring injury for Pickens was particularly glaring. Here's what
quarterback Russell Wilson has looked like in the in this
this season, throwing the Pickens relative to any non Pickins
receiver receiver regardless of position.

Speaker 3 (25:56):
Cut and paces right in the Mats stats. Boom, there
you go.

Speaker 2 (25:59):
So Epa per drop back and you can explain this
better than me.

Speaker 3 (26:03):
I ignored that on the stat pack because people don't
explain it. It's hard to explain. But I think it's
the best indicator. But okay, what are the numbers.

Speaker 2 (26:10):
It's point three four when he throws to Pickens. When
it's not Pickens, it's point two.

Speaker 3 (26:15):
Which doesn't sound like much. But the way Epa is
structured is every time I throw him, the ball translates
to points on the scoreboard. Right, So over the course
of the year, if it's point one difference between him
and everybody else, that's gigundis. I mean, it really is.

(26:36):
Now one thing about Ben's article that I have a
slight little issue with. These numbers are going to be
lower when you throw to Warren and Nausey and the
flat you know what I mean. Right, So they're they're great,
of course, you know, but the discrepancy between him and
everybody else is still massive.

Speaker 2 (26:54):
What you're about to show us the success rate on
the on the throws to Pickens, it's forty six point
two percent, to the others at fifty one point one.
So it's it leans the other way because Pickens get
so much attention and he's a deeper target.

Speaker 3 (27:07):
And also success rate is a little more. Again, did
you get a first down? Yeah? Yeah, first and ten?
Did you get four yards? Right? So that swing the
Nausey is going to get that a heck of a
lot more than the eighteen yard bomb.

Speaker 2 (27:20):
Think about that. The first meeting was Cincinnati, when they
completed thirteen or.

Speaker 3 (27:23):
Thirteen passes to the backs, they were all a success, right,
I mean success rate. Whoever the best deep thread is
in the NFL isn't going to have as good as
success rate catching the ball as Christop McCaffery, right, not.

Speaker 2 (27:35):
Even close, you know, first down plus touchdown rate. Pickens
is at forty two point three percent. The rest of
the roster thirty six point four percent.

Speaker 3 (27:44):
Yeah. Think about that. Every time you throw his way,
not every completion, almost two percent of.

Speaker 2 (27:49):
The time, almost half the time, you either get a
first down or a touchdown.

Speaker 3 (27:52):
Yeah, pretty good.

Speaker 2 (27:54):
Pretty good explosive play rate. This is where it really
really shows up. Pickens just twenty five percent, so one
out of every four of his catches is an explosive play. Yeah,
twenty or more yards down the field. Right for the
rest of the roster at sixteen point four.

Speaker 3 (28:10):
Percent, Yeah, that's massive, I mean, especially because the structure
of this offense. You know, it's a lot of shorter stuff.
I mean, and Russ has been like this for a
long time. He's got a chipper and a potter, and
he's got a driver, you know what I mean. But
you know what I mean. I mean, like, the explosive
stuff has to be part of this offense, and he's
where it comes from most of the time.

Speaker 2 (28:30):
Yards per attempt it's a big one too. Ten point
three yards per attempt when targeting George Pickens, that's just
targeting George Pickens attempt eight yards per attempt when targeting anybody.

Speaker 3 (28:41):
Else, And of course it's gonna those are gonna be
shorter when you dump at the Warren or Nausey. But
still it's a big discreption.

Speaker 2 (28:47):
And those are just Russell Wilson's numbers. Yes, that's the
thing that you have to kind of weigh in there
with this with the Steelers team, because you have to
remember that the first six games of the season were
justin fields games. Yeah, and Pickens wasn't really hadn't blown
up at that point, yep.

Speaker 3 (29:01):
Because if you keep I want to continue this obviously,
but like Ben also talks about the Bengals in this category,
and when he does T Higgins, he does T Higgins
when he's active versus inactive, not when the ball goes
to him versus everybody else. And there's a big discrepancy.
But that's a little different.

Speaker 2 (29:19):
The disparity becomes increasingly worrisome going back to Ben's piece
here on deep passes, which are not just integrated, which
are not just integral to Wilson's game, but also an
integral part of any playoff push for the Steelers. Pickens
has caught nine of seventeen downfield targets. That's twenty or
more air yards from Wilson since he became the starter,

(29:41):
which is a catch rate over expectation of plus twenty
four point three percent, which is huge, huge.

Speaker 3 (29:46):
I mean, that's it, folks. That's let me just take
our word. That's a huge discrepancy versus Joe average receiver,
starting receiver.

Speaker 2 (29:53):
Anyone with eyes can tell you this. But Pickens catches
downfield passes at a preposterous rate. For the season. On
downfield part targets, Pickings has five point eight receptions over expectation,
which leads the league for next Gen stats, one hundred
and ninety nine receiving yards over expectation, which again leads
the league, and twenty seven expected points added, which is

(30:17):
fourth in the league overall.

Speaker 3 (30:19):
Yeah, those are hues, not as easy to go into
detail exactly what they mean, folks, but they're really really
indicative of how good a football player you are, and
basically he's one of the best receivers in the league.

Speaker 2 (30:32):
Wilson has been better in all facets of quarterbacking, including
throwing underneath, the quick game, moving in the pocket, and
scrambling than I expected given his performances in Denver. But
the reality is Wilson remains the same. He has to
connect on the moon balls. Without pickings from week fourteen
to sixteen, the offense was clearly missing the explosive element
necessary to keep pace with top scoring teams.

Speaker 3 (30:53):
And again, anyone with eyeballs could have seen that, Yeah.

Speaker 2 (30:55):
With pickings back on the field, that possibility returns to
the table. You know he talked to in the next
paragraph here is talking about you know, Mike Tomlin's in
the four losses since their last playoff win for Yeah, yeah, yeah,
he says, you know, basically, yeah, they lost forty five
to forty two to Blake Portal's Jaguars. Everybody will tell

(31:18):
you that was a bad loss, but it was also
a bad matchup for them. Since then, Tomlin has hasn't
had so much as much lost postseason games as somehow
dragged his teams into the postseason. In twenty and twenty
one and twenty three, the Steelers were quarterback by thirty
eight year old Ben Roethlisberger, thirty nine year old Ben
Roethlisberger and Kenny Pickett slash Mason Rudolph. Two of those

(31:39):
three offenses were coordinated by Matt Canada. Now, Tomlin did
make that decision sure, sure, but he also got out
of that decision last year.

Speaker 3 (31:49):
And we all know they weren't good offenses and he
got them to the play.

Speaker 2 (31:52):
Yeah, he said, it's a miracle those teams even made
the playoffs in the first place. According to the numbers,
the Pittsburgh offense doesn't look all that much different since
Wilson took over. Pittsburgh's averaging minus point zero three epa
per play on offense with a success rate of forty
point seven percent, both of which are below the league average.
But the explosive pass rate is thirteen point six percent

(32:17):
higher than anything we've seen in recent seasons. And that's
what the mid season quarterback change in a stretch of Pickens,
Pickett's absence, Pickens's absences. So ye, I mean that's factoring
in those three games that you didn't have George Pickens
out there.

Speaker 3 (32:29):
He keeps stressing, like we mentioned, how important the explosive
deep stuff is. Yeah, I mean, that's the foundation of
this offense. It has to be there.

Speaker 2 (32:39):
The ideal runout for the According to Ben Solik, if
the eighteen point underdog Browns can somehow upset the Ravens
in Week eighteen and gift the Steelers AFC North title.
That would be ideal as so long as Steelers beat
the Bengals, that would be swell. Short of that, Pittsburgh
might draw the fifth seed, or the five seed or
the sixth seed, depending on the result of this game
against the Bengals. In the Chargers matchup against the Raiders,

(33:01):
the five seed is optimal as the four seed four
seed Texans are as weak of a division winner as
there is in the field this season. They might be.
They might end up being I don't know, if you
want to say the worst team in the playoffs in
the AFC or NFC, it's possible they might be.

Speaker 3 (33:20):
In that conversation, sure, yeah, things have gone really really
wrong after that got fixed, the.

Speaker 2 (33:25):
Steelers would love a third crack at the Ravens, who
they already beat once and hung with much closer than
the thirty four to seventeen score would indicate in the
rematch when you didn't have Pickens. Buffalo is the most
important team for the Steelers to avoid. I don't think
they have a shot ab out scoring the Bills.

Speaker 3 (33:41):
That's what he does with every king. Who do you
want to avoid most? Who do you what's your best
path all those good things.

Speaker 2 (33:46):
Not surprisingly, his key player for the Steelers as they
head into the postseason is George George Pickens. The outside
cornerbacks of the AFC playoff pitcher are eminently gettable. Chiefs
cornerbacks beside Trent McDuffie had struggled all season.

Speaker 3 (34:00):
I thought that was a really good point. There's not
many good corners in the postseason.

Speaker 2 (34:03):
They really aren't.

Speaker 3 (34:04):
There really aren't.

Speaker 2 (34:05):
And Pickens already put McDuffie on a poster last week.
Buffalo's Rasul Douglas and Christian Benford are good players, but
neither one is great locking down a man for four quarters.
Nate Wiggins and Brandon Stevens are where you want to
attack the Ravens. So Pickens has a chance to dominate
in each and every postseason game the Steelers play.

Speaker 3 (34:23):
Yeah, you're not going to see certain No, I mean,
like that's not gonna happen. I mean unless it's AFC
champions and right right, yeah, and be.

Speaker 2 (34:29):
In your place.

Speaker 3 (34:29):
Yeah, let's do it.

Speaker 2 (34:31):
You know, Houston Stingley's Rey's really good, But I'll take
Pickens in that matchup.

Speaker 3 (34:37):
I would too, but I mean, now I think about it,
that's the thing I like least about the Texans matchup
is their edge rushers and Stingley. Yeah, you know, but
the offenses they also.

Speaker 2 (34:46):
Have to deal with the Steelers edge rushers.

Speaker 3 (34:48):
Right, and their protection is really really bad, really bad. Yeah uh.

Speaker 2 (34:52):
And then there's his third team on here is Detroit
slash Minnesota. Whichever team loses that game. I just like
to be that team, I know.

Speaker 3 (34:59):
I mean, you're going to be You're gonna be a
fifteen win team going on the road in Week one.

Speaker 2 (35:03):
It's like the ninety seven in nineteen ninety seven when
the Broncos went thirteen and three and didn't win their division,
came here and beat the Steelers in ninety seven nine.
I forget which year it was, Maybe it was ninety seven, whatever,
the one hear the Broncos were thirteen and three and

(35:24):
had to travel in the playoffs. Yeah, and people, oh
you lost to that wild card. Well, they were thirteen
and three. They went on to win the Super Bowl.
We're going to a super Bowl talking about this on
an earlier show today. The last time a similar meeting
to Vikings Lions just late in the season occurred was
nineteen ninety Giants Joe Montana Niners. But they're not in

(35:46):
the same division, right, you know, Like they.

Speaker 3 (35:48):
Were fighting for the first overall seed and the bye,
but the loser didn't have to go on the road
the next week. You didn't lose the division to the team,
you just lost to This brings me back to last night, though,
Like Boiler the Lions fun and I'm glad they won
and great and bite knee caps and all that good stuff.
I would be so worried if I were them though,

(36:10):
the aggressive nature with the way they played. I mean,
I didn't realize even until last night they had the
earliest bye week in the whole league. They've been running
a marathon at a sprint pace forever, and if they
lose the Vikings, I could see him going to Tampa
and get right, you know what I mean, Like you
gotta pace yourself a little bit here, you know. I

(36:32):
think that they're running the race car in the.

Speaker 2 (36:35):
Red Yeah, yeah, yeah, all season long.

Speaker 3 (36:37):
Absolutely. So.

Speaker 2 (36:38):
He has three predictions down here of playoff predictions. He
thinks his super Bowl, the Super Bowl would be the
between the Ravens and Vikings.

Speaker 3 (36:46):
Wow, I'm out there on the Vikes, but I don't.

Speaker 2 (36:50):
Know if the Ravens can get there either. I don't
know if they can go into Kansas City or into
Buffalo and win.

Speaker 3 (36:58):
I think Buffalo is a good matchup for him, Yeah,
because I don't like their run.

Speaker 2 (37:01):
Their run defense is bad.

Speaker 3 (37:02):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (37:03):
Yeah, But if it's Buffalo in January or early February
and it's three feet of snow, we see what that
looks like.

Speaker 3 (37:10):
I don't think. I mean, I respect the Vikes and
if they win, that'd be great. I think I'm taking
the Eagles out of the NFC, assuming Hurts is back.

Speaker 2 (37:18):
Well, here's the thing, So his next prediction is Justin
Herbert will get his first playoff win. So if Justin
Herbert is to get a playoff win this year, he's
either going to have to.

Speaker 3 (37:28):
Do it in Houston or in Baltimore. Right, Well, Baltimore
is not going to go that way, right I would
probably take the Chargers in Houston, though, Yeah, you know,
I mean it'd be close.

Speaker 2 (37:41):
I don't think that's gonna happen, but.

Speaker 3 (37:43):
I don't either, but I mean that would be the path. Yeah,
I'd be shocked the Chargers went to Baltimore and won.
But the Harbaugh factor, how about this one? The Chiefs
and Lions, as the top seeds in their respective conferences
will both be won and done. Mm maybe who are

(38:04):
the Chiefs most likely to see?

Speaker 2 (38:07):
Probablysurgh, Yeah, Houston, Yeah, or if it's the Chargers in Houston.

Speaker 3 (38:16):
And the Lions would probably get the Vikings again. Yeah,
the Vikings be the five seed going to Tampa or
Atlanta as a favorite.

Speaker 2 (38:27):
Although if Tampa wins this week and the Rams lose
and the Rams aren't, the Rams are sitting guys. The
Rams could fall to the four seed and Tampa could
move by past them.

Speaker 3 (38:39):
Either way, though, the Vikes, the loser of Lions Vikings
is going to be favored in the wildcard round.

Speaker 2 (38:45):
Tampa's already gone to Detroit and beat them earlier, and
they have the firepower to do it.

Speaker 3 (38:50):
They're a giant killer. Yeah, they have some big wins.
I think it's more likely the NFC because you might
get the game this weekend Lions Vikings. Yeah, match in
two weeks.

Speaker 2 (39:00):
I think the Vikings win that game. I think they're
gonna win this week, That's what I'm saying. Yeah, Yeah,
I think They're gonna win that game and be the
top seed.

Speaker 3 (39:07):
Right. I don't understand the Lions on a short week
playing insane like that. It's great, you want I just
think it's the rooster's coming out of the ends, are
coming to the roots, or.

Speaker 2 (39:18):
Send a message to the forty nine ers who, by
the way, don't give me the Kyle Shanahan stuff anymore.
I don't want to hear anything about Kyle Shanahan being
a great coach and being included in that upper echelon
because he's now lost ten games in a season four
times in eight years. Yeah, half half of his seasons
have ended with ten losses.

Speaker 3 (39:37):
He could use a kicker too.

Speaker 2 (39:39):
Yeah, well he's tried to draft one.

Speaker 3 (39:40):
I know they're goofy about their kickers. Anyways, let's get
through a break. He is the met was another one.
By the way, he's not a great personnel guy. It
reminds me to end a career Belichick where he has
too much power in the room because every year he
stands on the table for some fourth round running back
that is out a league in a year, or a
kicker or a backup to and or I mean something weird.

(40:02):
I don't like him as a personnel guy.

Speaker 2 (40:04):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, note or perhaps a game day manager.

Speaker 3 (40:08):
As well, he's an offensive guru.

Speaker 2 (40:10):
Yeah, that's what he is. Anyways, let's get to a break.
He is Matt Williamson. I am Dale Lolly. You're listening
to the Drive here on the Steelers Audio Network, Matt
and now will be back with more right after this.

Speaker 1 (40:25):
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 (40:37):
Welcome back. I'm Dale Lali. He is the Matt Williamson.
And I had something I wanted to talk about as
we were going through the Ben Slick article. I want
to dive into it a little bit more.

Speaker 3 (40:46):
Yeah, there is some Bengal stuff in there. That's pretty
good of it.

Speaker 2 (40:48):
And then we started talking about something else off the air,
and all of a sudden, I was like, I can't
remember what it was now.

Speaker 3 (40:54):
Sometimes we get sidetracked on between segments. Here, it's a
nice long break and we start chatting excusually about football,
but who knows what else we were talking about, Like
Cam Jordan, Well we were talking about that. Let's let's
lay Campbell, let's dig into that a little bit. Because
Ezekiel Elliott's about to get released. That's what's brought the
conversation around.

Speaker 2 (41:10):
So we've got some of these veteran players, and it
came up last week or two weeks ago with cambll
Uh with Kalais Campbell that if the Dolphins had fallen
out of the playoff race, they were going to release
him so that he could go back to Baltimore.

Speaker 3 (41:22):
And give him him a favor. Yeah, I mean the
way they.

Speaker 2 (41:25):
Said it, Baltimore tried to trade, tried to acquire him
at the trade deadline, and the Dolphins said no, they're
still in the hunt. They were still in the hunt
at that point, and and so they think they figure, well,
we could just you know, release him. He would have
to go through waivers, but he could go back to
the Ravens. In that situation. He could, but there's no
guarantee that's going to happen.

Speaker 3 (41:45):
Because there's a million teams in between team number one
in the Ravens that could grab them off waivers, right
and pay him one paycheck like the Steelers like to steal.

Speaker 2 (41:55):
You actually just have the playoff check.

Speaker 3 (41:58):
I guess you wouldn't even to pay him for week
team Huh, well you would, yeah.

Speaker 2 (42:02):
Well right, if you sign him going into the playoffs,
you get a playoff check.

Speaker 3 (42:07):
Yeah, well, Miami needs him this week. He's not the
best example because he's you know, nobody's gonna claim is
equal Elliot No, you know, and and the Cowboys are
out of it. I brought up Cam Jordan. I guess
there was a huge fuss around Cam Jordans. Yet last
week was the Saints' final home game of the year,
and they made a big to do as if this
was going to be his last game, which it could

(42:28):
be with the state of that team, that they could
cut him after the season or move on or push
him into retirement whatever, put him the ring on or.

Speaker 2 (42:35):
He's thirty five years old that.

Speaker 3 (42:37):
Has been Yeah, I think there's a good chance.

Speaker 2 (42:40):
Because he is signed through next year.

Speaker 3 (42:41):
Is yeah, okay, but you had some good points, like
it's kind of cheating, you know, thirty pool. Yeah, but
there are some teams in between his desired destination could
say we're not letting you, let you go to the Ravens.
Why would the Steelers do that?

Speaker 2 (43:00):
Yeah, I mean, why would the Chargers do that? Why
would why would any team that has to potentially play
the Ravens in the first round of the playoffs. Let
them get Kalais Campbell going into the playoffs.

Speaker 3 (43:10):
And think of the playoff teams, most could use Kalais
Campbell on thirty snaps a game or whatever, just block
punk kicks or whatever. Yeah. I do think it's a trend.
Like you mentioned in docway got dumped and these teams
that are out of it. If you're not gonna bring
him back, fine, But the other point you brought up
I thought was really good too, is well, now those

(43:30):
teams aren't gonna get a compick for those guys that
have expiring contract, right, and the new team could correct. Yeah,
so if you all costs me's a waiver claim.

Speaker 2 (43:39):
Yeah, if you if you've I think Khalais Campbell was
signed for just one year because yeah, he's on one
year deals basically.

Speaker 3 (43:46):
If he's from Miami and wanted to go home and you.

Speaker 2 (43:48):
Know right, yeah, he signed a one year, two million
dollar contract. But he played well this year.

Speaker 3 (43:55):
Yes, I mean he's still good. Yeah, unlike Zeke. I
mean he's still good, right, so.

Speaker 2 (43:58):
But he'll be thirty nine next year. But could somebody give.

Speaker 3 (44:01):
Him or one point five or whatever.

Speaker 2 (44:05):
Or two point five or three point five inflation say, well,
he's showed he still has something left here and that
helps your comp pick formula.

Speaker 3 (44:14):
Yeah, not a great deal, but a great deal. But
let's say he gets dumped and the Steelers like, we're
not let him go to Baltimore. We'll just grab him
and him and his Walter Payton Men of the Year
friends all get along here for a week or two.
Cam Hayward says, why don't you run it back? Play
us and we'll do. Yeah, maybe we'll draft some them,
Maybe we'll wait a year and we'll just have one

(44:37):
more great defensive lineman. Or thanks for hanging out and
being a Steeler when you sign with whoever next year.
That helps our comp game. Yeah, I mean, what's really
to lose, except for if your louder Milk or Lowry
or somebody has to go or you know, I mean,
but maybe one of those guys as inspiring contract or

(44:57):
whatever too and you wrekt go and bring him back. Yeah, I.

Speaker 2 (45:01):
You look at that. You wait, you know, what's this
player going to be worth in our locker room? M M,
what's he going? Is he gonna play for us right away?
Class Campbell at that position?

Speaker 3 (45:10):
Probably? Yeah, I'm gonna throw the receiver.

Speaker 2 (45:12):
And you'll get fifteen twenty snaps out of class Campbell
and you know it's not like all year.

Speaker 3 (45:17):
Yeah, yeah, he's been really good. Yeah, and he's like
the highest character guy out there and you know, wants
to win and all that stuff too.

Speaker 2 (45:22):
So there's no guarantee that, you know, if the Dolphins
were let's say they lose something and now they haven't
done this yet. They talked about it a couple of
weeks ago.

Speaker 3 (45:30):
If they fell out of the playoffs, they're still alive.

Speaker 2 (45:32):
So I don't know how that works. If if you know,
they lose on Sunday and they then cut him, they
can't because all season's over. I don't think that.

Speaker 3 (45:39):
I think contract is expired.

Speaker 2 (45:41):
I think it's off the table at that point because
everybody would just do.

Speaker 3 (45:44):
That if they were gone. So with him, I assume
it's moved because they had to get eliminated a week
ago or whatever to make it feasible and they would
be doing a solid for their player. I mean, he
wants to go get playoff checks and maybe win a
super Bowl, et cetera. But I don't know how that
could work with him now.

Speaker 2 (46:01):
Yeah, they need to win, like in Dockway got cut today.

Speaker 3 (46:04):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2 (46:05):
Now I don't think he is a great player, but
certainly there might be a playoff team that Detroit could use.

Speaker 3 (46:12):
Yeah another pass, right, giving ten snaps a game. It's
just an edge dude or whatever. I'm sure somebody considering
him at this point. Yeah, yeah, we're similar ones. Yeah,
I mean, if Zeke was better, somebody would want him. Yeah,
and the Cowboys we're doing him a favor.

Speaker 2 (46:25):
I mean, let's let's say you're a playoff team and
you had a rash of running back injuries.

Speaker 3 (46:29):
Well, at least he can protect and he knows what
he's doing. Yeah, right, all right, he's a veteran. He's
not going to embarrass us out better than picking up
the guy off the couch. Yeah, at least he's played
all season. It's not like he's gonna need to warm
up to this. Yeah yeah, yeah. But it's a weird
little trend going on in the league that I don't
know if they have to like nip it in the
bud with the next you know, uh agreement or whatever,

(46:51):
or is it just what we're gonna do. You know,
you're going to do guys a favor and let them
go once you're eliminated, so they can go on another team. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (46:59):
I don't know. I mean, if I'm the team that's
doing that, I'm like, I'm not getting anything out.

Speaker 3 (47:02):
Of this, like to at least get a six round pick,
or I still have to pay the guy. Yeah, you know,
unless the deadline came and went like somebody claims him
and he's not helping my compact. Yeah. Yeah, I mean
you have to. That's a true favor, it really is. Yeah, yeah,
so it is.

Speaker 2 (47:16):
Anyways, 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
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