Week In Review Episode 46 - Back In Primetime

The Week In Review looks back at a win in Las Vegas, and ahead to another primetime opportunity against the Jets.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
He's the Steelers Week in Review with Wesley Hueler on
Steelers Nation Radio at Steelers dot com.

Speaker 2 (00:07):
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 Wes Sjuler, 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. The Steelers were feeling lucky in
Las Vegas as they took down the Raiders for the
second time.

Speaker 1 (00:26):
In as many years.

Speaker 2 (00:27):
Mike Tomlin talked about the effort that was needed to
secure victory.

Speaker 1 (00:32):
Man, what do you say about about that support that
we had in Vegas? Steller Nation, It's special. We don't
take it for granted, man. We really appreciate it, not
only in terms of the support in terms of attendance
and the crowd noise and so forth in play, but
I just thought it was really cool. Twenty thirty minutes
after the game, when we're going through the arena on

(00:54):
our way to our bus, has meant alta steal. A
nation was still in the stands and force and so forth.
As we were going to our buses, and so that
relationship is a real thing. The new stealers are in
awe of it. Whether they're veterans or young people. It's
just good to kind of share that with them and

(01:14):
to show them what that's about. They've heard about it,
but to get an opportunity to experience it. It's nothing
like it. I've been in a lot of organizations, and
obviously I've been here a number of years. Man, that
was a special day from a support standpoint for visiting
football group in regards to play and how we played
in the significant components of the game. I thought the

(01:37):
turnover game was really significant, and obviously centerpiece of that
was TJ Wide and his exploits, his talents, his awareness,
his willingness to put those things on display, and particularly
his ability to deliver timely plays and the weightiest of
moments those two punch outs that he had was really
significant in terms of the turnover game. D Jack has

(02:02):
also continued to take the ball away and I proved
to be an awesome new asset to us. Can't say
enough about the contributions of him and d Elliott as
new stealers and guys that are obviously playing significant roles
and doing a really good job of fitting in and
being productive, and then also a component of the splash

(02:25):
play game and the turnover game that was significant. I
thought the punt block to start the second half by
Moon really was significant. You know that we value the
block game here culturally. To have another guy that has
that on his resume, I don't think people understand how

(02:46):
difficult it is to block kick, so you can have
people that are unblocked and can't land the plane at
the block point, and so to have another guy within
our group that's displayed that ability to have that in
his hip pocket, man, I just think it's strengthens us
as a block collective. We got some guys with some
resumes in that regard, whether it's Killer Brew obviously who

(03:08):
is the NFL standard for that, or Connor who displayed
that a year ago, Tyler has done it in the
past for us, and now adding a guy like Moon
who has that blockability we blocked a field goal or
a couple of weeks ago with louder Milk. We just
really value that component of play and what it can
do for a football game and how it energized as

(03:31):
a group and affects the outcome of a game. Directly,
I just thought those contributions were really significant in terms
of how the game unfolded. And I thought on the
offensive side, man our run game really controlled it and
it's an eleven man job when you're doing it effectively.
And I think the number of ten plus yard runs

(03:53):
kind of display that ten plus yard runs are more
than just alignment, controlling the line of scrimmage or ball
carrier putting the ball in the correct place and whatnot.
It's all of that, and then it's perimeter people, offensive
lineman getting on the second level. All of those things
were on display in terms of our efforts in game,

(04:14):
and hopefully we can build upon that. We've suffered a
lot of instability, particularly in the offensive line. I think
we've had six lineups through six games, and sometimes that
affects our ability to maybe start fluidly, that connectedness, that
cohesion that comes with continued collective reps. But the group,

(04:36):
I can't say enough about their efforts from a large
perspective and their ability to continue to deliver in spite
of some of those challenges. We had some of those
challenges in game. Zach Fraser got heard and Ryan McCullum
went in and the train kept rolling as another example
of that group and the men that coach that group,
their resilience and their ability to step up and deliver

(04:58):
when things are less than idea, as.

Speaker 2 (05:01):
He always does. Mike Tomon outlined injury concerns and updates
for the Steelers ahead of this weekend's clash with the
New York Jets.

Speaker 1 (05:08):
Nick Herbert can still be categorized out with his hamstring.
Zach Frasier be categorizes is out with his ankle. Ryan McCullum,
who finished the game, UH is scheduled to play in
his place. As I mentioned some of these other guys, man,
we're gonna we're gonna watch their participation during the course
of the week and let their participation be our guide

(05:31):
in terms of their potential availability. See Patterson UH as
he works his way back to us. Really optimistic about
about Alex high Smith working his way back to US
kz pror to some others that will be getting at
least a limited amount of work at the top part
of the week and and kind of letting it pick

(05:51):
up based on what transpires and then considerations from there
as we go. At the quarterback position. Like I said,
last week, we were sched for us to work in totality.
He did that over the course of the week. I
got comfortable with his the ability to display his health.
Now it's about, you know, knocking the rust off. He

(06:12):
did some of that last week. He is in consideration
this week. We'll see where that leads us. Man. Both
guys at the quarterback position are scheduled to work tomorrow
and we'll just walk it day by day, all geared
toward putting ourselves in in best position to win the
football game.

Speaker 2 (06:30):
It's another opportunity in prime time for the Steelers this weekend,
as the Jets will come to town for Sunday Night football.
Mike Tomlin preview the challenge that Aaron Rodgers and the
New York Jets will present.

Speaker 1 (06:41):
Let's talk about the Jets a little bit. Obviously, things
are changing by the minute. I was getting ready for
Davante last week. I'm getting ready for Davante this week.
But that's life in the National Football League. I'd imagine
his acquisition is going to create some news, not only today,
but just as it pertains to his game, and and
I'm respectful of his talents, but I don't imagine that

(07:03):
his acquisition changes our approach to this game a whole lot.
To be quite honest with you, we're playing an Aaron
Rodgers leg group on offense, and that means certain things.
When you got a quarterback who's had the resume that
he has and has had the type of success that
he's had, it's a challenge. Regardless of who the eligibles are.

(07:24):
You better carry enough defense, You better have enough types
of defense. You better pressure them. You better play man,
you better play zone. You better bogus pressure them. You
better tie it all together with good pre snap looks.
You better make them read things out post snap. That's
what you do when you play a guy of his caliber.
We've been in stadiums with guys like him. We've been
in stadiums with him. That's the spirit in which we

(07:47):
prepare ourselves. It's no different than you're playing guys, you know,
like Matt Stafford or some guys within our division, Lamar
and Joe Burrows. You know, we're gonna need a lot
of defense, and we're gonna have to perform it relatively well.
We can't sit in anything too long. He's too good
for that. There's too much continuity, there's too much water

(08:08):
underneath that bridge. Familiarity not only with what he's doing,
but with what's going on around around him that allows
him to make some of the no look throws and
things that we all have appreciated over the years. And
so you know, from a competitor's perspective, Man, we're just
really excited about pitting our collective skills versus theirs, and

(08:28):
including a guy like Aaron Rodgers in that discussion, it's
really awesome. And then they got a top quality running
back in hall Man who is really good in all areas. Man,
He's good on the inside run, he's good on the
perimeter run, He's good in the passing game out of
the backfield. He's also good in the passing game removed

(08:48):
as a wide receiver and running a variety of routes. Man.
Aaron has a lot of flexible tools at his disposal
of the acquisition of Mike Williams Lazarrer. Wilson is a
talented young player who's got aw some run after and
separation ability at breakpoints, just a well rounded game, getting

(09:09):
familiar with his talents levels his talent level. They got
a new young runner from Wisconsin to supplement and play
alongside Hall. They're gonna provide some challenges as well. Their
transition to be quite honest with you is a challenge
for us. From a coach's perspective, we don't have a
lot of video evidence of Todd Downing's intentions, and so

(09:32):
sometimes what is a challenge for you can also be
a challenge for others. Is they prepare for you. They've
had some turnover and some things you know happening from
a staffing perspective, but that is a challenge for us
just to try to anticipate Todd Downing's perspective on on

(09:53):
on the talent at his disposal, his isms, how he
plays moments, how he chooses to to utilize the talents
of of of the people that he has in situations,
his thoughtful use of pace, how he chooses to quell
the crowd or not. All of those things are are
things that that that has our attention and things that

(10:14):
we have to adjust to because of the change on
the defensive side of the ball. This is a group
man that hangs their hat there and has for a
number of years, got a lot of respect for their
schematics and their players Brick does a heck of a
job as an aggressive schematic play caller. He's still absorbing

(10:36):
those duties along with his intermim head coaching duties. Based
on what he said last week, and when you watched
the tape last night, it looked like that they're an
aggressive group. They got a bunch of top quality players
up front. I'd be remiss if I didn't talk specifically
about will McDonald, a second year player who is who

(10:56):
is playing really well and in his in his displaying
game kerk characteristics. I think he's got six sacks already,
looked a lot. Looked at him a lot in draft
prep a couple of years ago when he came out
and the Biddy, to be quite honest with you, my
two favorite rushers in that draft were were he and
Herbert and so I'm not surprised that he is doing

(11:17):
it to the level that he's doing it. And Williams
inside is a climate control guy. He is he's good
versus the run, he's good versus the pass. Oftentimes you
gotta put four hands on him in an effort to
minimize his efforts or his impact on the game. That
allows guys like CJ. Moseley and and the other Williams

(11:39):
to run run around on the second level and make
the type of plays that they make. They just got
top quality players at every level, and they got real
good schematics in the secondary man. The cornerback tandem of
Sauce and DJ reid Man is really impressive. Sauce obviously
gets a lot of recognition, and rightfully so, I'm just

(11:59):
one that believe that DJ reid doesn't get enough. That's
a guy that plays top quality ball, is highly competitive,
He's got displays, really good instincts and vision. He's an appropriate,
calculated risk taker. He doesn't shrink in the face of competition.
I just got a lot of respect for for their
cornerback tandem, the style of play that they deploy, in

(12:22):
the manner in which they utilize their talents. We got
some challenges obviously in the special teams game. We got
to look for a winning edge there. From a field
positioning perspective, we got to continue to work to build
off the traction that we've kind of gained in that area.
We got a big week ahead of us man. It's
primetime ball here in Pittsburgh. We respect that. It's important

(12:45):
to me that we respect that through our actions in
prep the type of urgency, the type of detail, the
amount amount of communication. We need to have good days
leading up to this if we want to have the
type of fund that we desire to have.

Speaker 2 (12:59):
On Sunday Night, I'm Steeler's Audio Network host Wes Shuler.
Thanks for listening to this episode of the Steelers Week
in Review. Take care and I'll talk to you ends
next week