Week In Review Episode 45 - Viva Las Vegas

The Week In Review looks back at a heartbreaking loss to Dallas, and ahead to this weekend's opportunity in Las Vegas.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
He's the Steelers.

Speaker 2 (00:01):
We can review with Wesley Hueler on Steelers Nation Radio
at Steelers dot com. Hello Steelers Nation, and welcome to
the Steelers. We can review your one stop shop for
all the current news and headlines for your Pittsburgh Steelers.
I'm West Schuler, host of the Steelers Blitz on the
Steelers Audio Network. Let's get you up to speed on
all the latest for the Black and Gold. Pittsburgh dropped

(00:24):
its second straight game Sunday night at home, falling to
the Cowboys twenty to seventeen on a last second touchdown.
Mike Tomlin outlined where the Steelers came up short against Dallas.

Speaker 1 (00:35):
As I mentioned after the game, man, it was just
a really tough, hard fart and close contest by two groups.
We came up on the short end of it. And
from my perspective, particularly as you look back at it,
you know, how do you learn and grow from it?
The pain that comes with not getting it done? How
do we use that as fuel as we lean in

(00:55):
on this week? How do we make necessary corrections in
certain areas that become repetitive and sometimes two instances is
a pattern. I like to use that cliche and coaching,
and so it's in that spirit that I analyzed some
things in the game, some things that we need to
do better or could have done better. We met yesterday

(01:16):
afternoon and kind of went over some of those things.
One thing that I didn't mention after the game that
you all that I thought was significant in terms of
looking at it was the explosion play game. I thought
they had big plays in game and we didn't have
enough big plays in game, and oftentimes, man, those chunk

(01:36):
plays really affect how games unfold from a climate perspective.
You can put together drives with less execution when you
have big plays. You also obviously can change the field
positioning component of circumstance when you have big plays. I
thought a big sequence was we had them in third
down prior to the first half and they hit a

(01:58):
big play on us for about forty eight yards. We
got out of that sequence without giving up any points
because Djack had an interception, but we missed an opportunity
to maybe put points on the board prior to the
half when we got the ball back because of how
much ground we had to cover. I think we were
ninety five plus yards away by the time we got
the ball back. Had we won that third down and

(02:21):
not giving up that forty eight yard play, the end
of the first half could have been dramatically different. We
had some big plays we had dialed up offensively. For example,
maybe the second or third player of the game, we
had Connor leak out of the backfield down their sideline
for a really potential score or big game. We didn't

(02:42):
connect on that. Sometimes we're just not putting them in
the very best positions schematically to kind of get those
things done on both sides, And so all of us
players and coaches are going to continue to work. We
realized explosion plays don't often define games, but they do
kind of shape perspective within games, particularly from a field
positioning standpoint. As I mentioned after the game, I thought

(03:07):
the turnover game was significant. I thought we were able
to keep the score down with some big plays. We
blocked the field goal, we recovered the fumble and scoring territory.
We had an interception in scoring territory, but those don't
necessarily te you up to score. We had good field
position on the one interception that Joey Porter had. We
turned that into points, for example, And so I thought

(03:30):
the turnover component was big We didn't produce the points
off of turnovers like we normally do, but they kept
the score down because of the territory that they were in.
I thought that was a positive. I thought the guys
played extremely hard. It was a physical game. We had
some attrition things happened in game. A lot of young

(03:51):
guys and the guys who are usually in more supplementary
roles had had expanded roles and had an opportunity to
participate more. And I think is growth in some of
that individually and as a collective, particularly as we push
through this thing and we get uh some of these
guys back to health, We're gonna have a really strong
and and in game experience group, which is a good thing.

Speaker 2 (04:16):
As he always does, Mike Tomlin outlined injury concerns and
updates for the Steelers ahead of these weekends clash with
the Las Vegas Raiders.

Speaker 1 (04:24):
Before I lean in on this week's challenge, let's let's
go over somewhat of a laundry list of some injuries
that we're dealing with. The Marvin Leal could be characterized
as out as we sit here with the neck injury.
Nick Herbert could be characterized as out with a hamstring injury.
Patterson could be characterized as out again this week with

(04:45):
his ankle injury, Alex Highsmith out with his growing injury,
pru It doubtful with his knee injury, Jalen Warren doubtful
with his knee injury. A new addition to that list,
kz Kz rolled his ankle in pregame. Was able to

(05:06):
function in game, but obviously on the other side of
the game, you know, it really swelled and he's not
in a good spot. He'll probably be characterized as doubtful
as well this week. We have some other bumps and
bruises associated with play. We will manage those at the beginning
of the week and expect those guys to pick up

(05:28):
in terms of participation as we push through the week.
Included in that as Isaac Samalu, who played in his
first game, will manage him at the beginning of the week,
but no negative consequence for performance there from a health
perspective for him. We're in a little bit different place
as I stand here today with Russ this week than

(05:51):
we have been in recent weeks. Just met with him
in the training staff in preparation for tomorrow. Tomorrow be
the first Wednesday that he'll be a schedule full participant.
We'll see what that leads us. First, we'll see if
he's able to obviously pull it off and get through
the through the session, and if he does, what does
the quality at work look like, his ability to protect himself,

(06:13):
et cetera, or some of the conversations that we've been having,
but just been having more in a hypothetical way. He's
at the point of health now where we can work
on a Wednesday without restrictions, and so we'll do so.
He'll get reps with the second unit as to not
disrupt justice preparation, and then we'll see where all of
that leads us as we push through the week.

Speaker 2 (06:35):
Steelers head to Vegas looking to change their luck and
get back on the winning path. Mike Tomlin outlined the
challenge that awaits the Steelers out west.

Speaker 1 (06:42):
We're somewhat familiar with them because we played them a
year ago, but there's been a lot of turnover, not
only in terms of coaching, but some significant players in
that short period of time that you know that makes
this expiration a different one for us. I'll start first
on the defense. Patrick Graham is back as their coordinator,

(07:04):
got a lot of respect for him. Man, he challenges
you in a lot of ways. Schematically, He's thoughtfully aggressive
in a lot of circumstances. He likes to apply pressure
even when he doesn't apply press, even when he doesn't
apply pressure. In terms of number of people, he's got
top quality rushman that really control the climate. From a

(07:25):
passing standpoint, Max Crosby is a game wrecker. To be
quite honest with you, it starts there. You got to
minimize his impact on the game, particularly in one dimensional
passing moments. And it's more than just wishing someone good
luck in terms of blocking them. You better do some
schematic things to minimize him with body position and two people,

(07:47):
et cetera. Things that he sees each and every week.
Though it's not like I'm rediscovering the wheel here, you know,
he sees those type of things every week, and so
we better do those things, but also work with extreme
urgency in terms of minimizing his impact on the game.
And then Christian Wilkins they picked up in free agency

(08:07):
from the Dolphins. Man is somebody that's new to them, that's,
you know, really talented. He's got a well rounded game.
He's disruptive in the run, he's disruptive in the interior
in terms of passing. It looks like he's really catching
his stride over the last two and a half weeks
or so in terms of his disruption negativity that he's

(08:29):
creating in his playmaking. And so it starts there for us.
Not only did the individuals, but the aggressive schematics deployed
by Patrick Graham and then at the second level, you know,
just got a lot of respect for Robertsplane, had a
lot of respect for when when he was here in
terms of his approach to business. It's really good to

(08:51):
see how his career is taken off in Las Vegas.
I think he is their defensive captain. He's a splash playmaker.
He made a ridiculous amount of tackles a year ago,
but also had plays on the ball in terms of turnovers,
three or four interceptions. He's doing similar things for him
this year. He's in all circumstances. He's a really good communicator,

(09:13):
doing a really good job for those guys. They got
some top quality people on the back end. Man, some
balls killed corners, a good safety rotation to guys. They
play a lot of people, as I mentioned when I
was talking about Patrick Graham schematically, particularly in situational moments.
Man his utilization of personnel. He'll go nickel four two,

(09:33):
nickel five to one, He'll go dime uh, He'll put
six dbs on the field in one dimensional pass of moments.
Out of all of those personnel groups, he has a
solid complementary package of blitzes UH, strong side stuff, weak
side stuff, zone blitzes, man concepts. He just does a
really good job of working to keep coordinators and offensive

(09:57):
units off balance with a well thought of of aggressive
football on the offensive side of the ball. I know
they've been rotaking quarterbacks some over the first five weeks,
but I got a lot of respect for minchew Man
been in the stadium with him. I've just always appreciated
his moxie and and end game savvy, his ability to extend,

(10:19):
his ability to utilize his legs, and an effort to
make things happen. Just this past Sunday, the first two
third downs in the game, he converted with his legs
on two eleven yard runs as an example of that. Obviously,
they got talented people to distribute the ball to. I
don't notice status of Davante Adams. But if I'm talking
about eligibles, I better start there. You know, we had

(10:43):
our issues with him a year ago. Thankfully it didn't
determine the outcome of the game, but it just speaks
to the type of dynamic player he is and to
wait that he can, you know, explode it in a game,
not only in terms of volume of catches, but what
he does with it after the catch. He's just got
a well rounded football game. Route running, hand selection, late hands, combat,

(11:09):
catch and you name it. He does it all at
a really high level. Got a new acquisition in brock
Boers that that requires our attention. Since Davante has missed
some time, you really feel and see an uptick in
and the utilization of him as a target. He's doing
the same things really in the NFL that we saw

(11:30):
on Georgia tape. I think he leads all tight ends
in receptions and yards. His run after his exceptional, His
combat catch skills and his ability to come down with
with with the ball in traffic is exceptional. You saw
that early last week on that catch and run that
produced that I think fifty eight yard touchdown. But they

(11:53):
got a lot of guys man I've always respected Jacoby
Myers in his well rounded game. Trey Tucker is a
jet sweeper, double move guy. He's got really good top
end speed. Uh DJ Turner's role has been elevated since
Davante has missed some time. Uh DJ was next door
here at pitt. He's a sturdy body wide out. He's

(12:15):
good in traffic. He can oftentimes play inside against linebackers
and positions like that because of his sturdy build. I
think they even handed him a ball out of the
backfield on a run last week as an example of
the versatility within his skill set. So we got a
lot to deal with them.

Speaker 2 (12:35):
Steelers Audio Network host West Hueler, thanks for listening to
this episode of the Steelers Week in Review. Take care
and I'll talk to ends next week.