November 20, 2024 • 13 mins
The Week In Review looks back at a big win over Baltimore, and ahead to the short week challenge in Cleveland.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
He's the Steelers Week in Review with Wesley Heler on
Steelers Nation Radio at Steelers dot com.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Hello Steelers Nation, and welcome to the Steelers Week in 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. Let's get you up to speed on
all the latest for the Black and Gold. A huge
win against AFC North rival Baltimore at home for the
Steelers this past Sunday eighteen to sixteen over the Ravens.
(00:31):
But Mike Tomlin on the short week doesn't really have
time to sit around and enjoy the fruits of those
labor as he's already focused on Cleveland on a.
Speaker 3 (00:40):
Short week, Man, my attention needs to turn to Cleveland,
and so my assessing of the game really is just
kind of from memory conversations and you know, reading the
game book and seeing some things on highlights and so forth.
As I mentioned after the game, man, I was really
excited about the efforts of the guys. I think there's
growth associated and being in games like that and persevering
(01:03):
and doing what is required to win.
Speaker 1 (01:06):
It's growth for the collective.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
It's growth and not only belief in themselves but each
other and what it is that we're doing. And I
think it just further positions you for appropriate performance with
challenges that lie ahead. And so it was productive from
that standpoint. Obviously it wasn't a perfect effort, but I'm
appreciative of it. As I mentioned postgame, and what can
(01:32):
you say about Chris Boswell in twenty twenty four that
hadn't been written or said. He's been everything that we
need him to be. He is performing at an extremely
high level. We're extremely comfortable and calling upon him and
just about any circumstances. It's just been special. And to
(01:53):
do what he's done, obviously with a change at holder
in the middle of the thing is is doubly impressive.
And so I'd be remiss if I didn't start first
with his contributions. And you know Corless not only as
a punter but as a holder, just being solid in
the specialist form of play that that collective in particular
(02:17):
has been rock solid for us. Can't say enough about
what Corlis has been doing for us in terms of
flipping the field as well. The field position component is
always gonna be significant when you're in games like that,
And it was not only in terms of what Corliss
did or what Bobs was able to do from great
distances in terms of securing points for us, but the
(02:38):
turnover game I thought was significant. We got turnovers and
we provided the offense the short field a couple of times,
and you know that's big in a game like that.
Obviously we didn't perform well in the red area on offense.
Anytime a guy kicks six field goals, you have some
things to work on.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
But it's good to do that with a W.
Speaker 3 (03:00):
But it's also important that we acknowledge the talents and
the expertise of the Ravens. We've been in a bunch
of games like that. With those guys. It's always back
and forth. There's always gonna be some components of the
game that are troublesome to you from a performance standpoint,
but that's just the nature of being in in five
star matchups.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
And so.
Speaker 3 (03:23):
We'll grow from it. We'll grow with the W as
we lean in on this next outing. And obviously this
next outing is a really significant one. When you have
back to back division games, it is significant, but also
to have back to back division games, and the second
one be on a short week on the road man
that has our attention and urgency from.
Speaker 1 (03:44):
A lot of perspectives.
Speaker 3 (03:46):
Obviously, we've got to make really good decisions this week
about strategy, what to run, what not to run, What
can we perform on a limited amount of physical repetitions?
What do we need to you know, take a calculated
risk in terms of running on a limited amount of
physical repetitions. I just think that that's always the case
(04:10):
on Thursday. We don't default to, you know, based menus
and things of that nature. Particularly when you plan someone
that is familiar with you, as Cleveland is with us,
It is worth the trouble to ponder what's appropriate to
run and what's not. How innovative can we be, how
(04:30):
expansive can our menus be impress the envelope in that direction?
And so we got some hardcore decisions there. You also
got some hardcore decisions about how you work.
Speaker 1 (04:41):
What's the nature of your work? Are they walk throughs?
Speaker 3 (04:44):
Are they run throughs on a limited amount of preparation
time on a short week? What does that look like?
And you know, you you manage the balancing act of
getting them in the stadium physically prepared while at the
same time preserving them acknowledge that they were in a
significant physical football game yesterday and so got that decision
(05:04):
to make.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
And as he always does, Mike Tomlin outlined injury concerns
and updates particularly important on this short week before traveling
to Cleveland.
Speaker 3 (05:15):
Hadn't checked in on Alex high Smith in terms of
seeing what his availability might look like. If you press me,
I'd probably say he's more out than in. But we'll
see where his short week leads us. Like the trajectory
of some others, prou it Ben went down in game,
(05:37):
but that appears to be a non issue from yesterday.
All the guys that sustained something in game doesn't appear
to be an issue moving forward, and so that's exciting.
We opened the window for Corey Trice, as you guys know,
last week, and he had a good week's work and
maybe available to us, and so we'll see where that
leads us as well, and so we'll manage some of
(06:00):
these player availability things.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
It is another AFC North Division foe, a team that
the Steelers are very familiar with, a team that the
Steelers will see again this season, first time taking on
the Cleveland Browns. Mike Tomlin previewed the challenge that awaits
the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Speaker 3 (06:17):
Starting first and foremost with their offense. Man, I'm really
just trying to get a sense of what does Ken
Dorsey as the primary play caller mean? How is it different?
What are the challenges for us relative to what we're
used to regarding Cleveland? And so that's gonna be a challenge.
Obviously we've seen Ken in the past from his time
(06:40):
in Buffalo, but these last three games wait a heck
of a lot more than the ones that proceed because
of the significance of him as the central play caller.
Coupled with that, obviously is Winston in that quarterback, and
so we got to familiarize ourselves with with that tandem.
Speaker 1 (06:59):
And how they work.
Speaker 3 (07:00):
But does that mean to their schematics and personality on offense?
Obviously they got some known people that we have to
deal with. Mister Chubb first and foremost, just got so
much respect for his game and his body of work
and his capabilities. From an appreciator football standpoint, man, it's
(07:21):
really good to see him back. But from a guy
that competes against him this week, obviously he has our
attention Jerome Ford I thought stood in for him in
a real solid way a year ago and continues to
do those things. Man, he's a home run hitter. He's
a guy that's capable of breaking big runs. He broke
(07:41):
a big run on his last year. His last year
at Cincinnati, we did a lot of work on him
in draft prep. I think he had more explosion runs
than anybody in that draft pool, and so his big
play capabilities have our attention. They got some turnover at
the receiver position, but it's not lack of talent there.
Judy is new to them, but he's not new to
(08:02):
the NFL.
Speaker 1 (08:03):
Man.
Speaker 3 (08:03):
He's coming off of a really big game. They're acquired
more from the Jets last year, and he's a top
notch slot receiver. There's been some strong development in Tillman
on the outside, and I think his growth and development
is probably the central reason why they were comfortable moving
on from Cooper at the trade deadline. Watching his play
(08:24):
and looking at his statistics and particularly of late, you
see that growth in production, in the cohesion that he's
gaining in terms of his professional career. We got some
work to do there. And then last week it was
the first time they activated Tony and they had some
packages for him. You couple all of those eligibles that
(08:46):
I mentioned with Nimjoku at tight end, and obviously we're
highly familiar with him. He is a challenge. He does
a lot of things well. His vertical game is excellent.
I've been really impressed with the development of his blocking
over the years.
Speaker 1 (08:59):
Man.
Speaker 3 (08:59):
He is become a significant point of attack blocker. I
don't think he was that when he came into the league.
As a matter of fact, I think I complimented him
on in post game last year.
Speaker 1 (09:09):
Is real.
Speaker 3 (09:11):
His point of attack blocking is excellent. The tight end
screen game and him as an outlet to the quarterback
is a dangerous one because his run after abilities are
unique for the position. You can throw a tight end screen,
he can turn it into a big game. They can
throw him a check down or a spot of the ball.
He can bounce off some tacklers in your secondary and
(09:31):
turn it into a big game. And so we got
a lot on that side of the ball to get
ready for and to be urgent about, particularly because of
the lack of familiarity in some instances, particularly at the
quarterback and play caller position. Some of the receivers are
new and so we got some challenges there. They got
more continuity on the defensive side of the ball, but
(09:52):
it doesn't mean that it's easy work. Jim Schwartz last year,
in his first year, proved his capable ability has been.
He's been added a long time. They were tops in
the league and a lot of things last year past defense,
yards per game and things of that nature. They got
really good continuity and staffing and in the secondary, and
(10:14):
so we're working to manage those things. Denzel Award is
top notched. But Newsom, that whole tandem, uh, that whole
collective back there is top notched. The safety, the safety group, Delpit, Thornhill,
they've all played really good ball and as I mentioned,
they were a top tier pass defense group in the
league last year. Man, and they got after you. They
(10:36):
play a lot of people. Their multiple Delpit is very
versatile man. He plays safety, he plays big nickel, he
plays dimond passing circumstances, he plays corner and some one
wide out packages when you go big on offense, and
so they got versatile players. The same could be said
for Nickel. Newsom's capable of playing inside out. Award is
(10:58):
capable of playing inside now, although I hadn't seen him
inside of late that he is on his resume and
in his background. The positional flexibility and versatility of those
guys couple with the continuity is a challenge.
Speaker 1 (11:13):
Obviously.
Speaker 3 (11:13):
Up front, we got to deal with Miles Garrett Man.
He's a game wrecker. You get in one dimensional moments, Man,
you better be real solid there. It's not possible that
he's going to impact the game. It's probable in those circumstances.
We're highly familiar with that. I would imagine the Chargers
were less familiar because he took that game over a
couple of weeks ago in a big way. But we
(11:35):
know he's capable of that. We've been in stadium with
him quite often, and so we got some work to
do in terms of preparing ourselves to minimize him and
that collective. Upfront, they allocate a lot of resources to
that group. Tomlinson is a big time run stop and
interior guy who's also providing some top notch interior pocket
(11:56):
push for him. The interior games have have have been
eye opening. They've gotten some pressure and gotten home some
and when they collapse the pocket in that way, they
just make it easier for guys like Miles Garrett on
the edge to get home as well. And so those
things have our attention. The environmental component has our attention. Man,
(12:16):
Thursday night in a hostile division environment is something that
we need to be ready for. We've been really fortunate
in road game environments this year in terms of the
support of our fans and their ability to acquire tickets. Man, DC, Atlanta, Vegas, Denver,
et cetera. I don't know that that's going to happen
in Cleveland. I know as a collective we better be
(12:39):
prepared for a hostile environment the dog Pound, et cetera.
And so we got some new people, whether they're new
to us and new to the National Football League, they
need some quick education while we do the physical work
that's that's necessary to position ourselves for performance. And so
it's very early in this process. Got a lot of
work to do, but excited about doing it, excited about
(13:03):
leaning in on divisional play.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
It's Pittsburgh against Cleveland Thursday night in primetime. I'm Steelers
Audio network host West Shuler. Thanks for listening to this
episode of the Steelers Week in Review. Take care and
I'll talk to ends next week,
He's the Steelers Week in Review with Wesley Heler on
Steelers Nation Radio at Steelers dot com.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Hello Steelers Nation, and welcome to the Steelers Week in 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. Let's get you up to speed on
all the latest for the Black and Gold. A huge
win against AFC North rival Baltimore at home for the
Steelers this past Sunday eighteen to sixteen over the Ravens.
(00:31):
But Mike Tomlin on the short week doesn't really have
time to sit around and enjoy the fruits of those
labor as he's already focused on Cleveland on a.
Speaker 3 (00:40):
Short week, Man, my attention needs to turn to Cleveland,
and so my assessing of the game really is just
kind of from memory conversations and you know, reading the
game book and seeing some things on highlights and so forth.
As I mentioned after the game, man, I was really
excited about the efforts of the guys. I think there's
growth associated and being in games like that and persevering
(01:03):
and doing what is required to win.
Speaker 1 (01:06):
It's growth for the collective.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
It's growth and not only belief in themselves but each
other and what it is that we're doing. And I
think it just further positions you for appropriate performance with
challenges that lie ahead. And so it was productive from
that standpoint. Obviously it wasn't a perfect effort, but I'm
appreciative of it. As I mentioned postgame, and what can
(01:32):
you say about Chris Boswell in twenty twenty four that
hadn't been written or said. He's been everything that we
need him to be. He is performing at an extremely
high level. We're extremely comfortable and calling upon him and
just about any circumstances. It's just been special. And to
(01:53):
do what he's done, obviously with a change at holder
in the middle of the thing is is doubly impressive.
And so I'd be remiss if I didn't start first
with his contributions. And you know Corless not only as
a punter but as a holder, just being solid in
the specialist form of play that that collective in particular
(02:17):
has been rock solid for us. Can't say enough about
what Corlis has been doing for us in terms of
flipping the field as well. The field position component is
always gonna be significant when you're in games like that,
And it was not only in terms of what Corliss
did or what Bobs was able to do from great
distances in terms of securing points for us, but the
(02:38):
turnover game I thought was significant. We got turnovers and
we provided the offense the short field a couple of times,
and you know that's big in a game like that.
Obviously we didn't perform well in the red area on offense.
Anytime a guy kicks six field goals, you have some
things to work on.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
But it's good to do that with a W.
Speaker 3 (03:00):
But it's also important that we acknowledge the talents and
the expertise of the Ravens. We've been in a bunch
of games like that. With those guys. It's always back
and forth. There's always gonna be some components of the
game that are troublesome to you from a performance standpoint,
but that's just the nature of being in in five
star matchups.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
And so.
Speaker 3 (03:23):
We'll grow from it. We'll grow with the W as
we lean in on this next outing. And obviously this
next outing is a really significant one. When you have
back to back division games, it is significant, but also
to have back to back division games, and the second
one be on a short week on the road man
that has our attention and urgency from.
Speaker 1 (03:44):
A lot of perspectives.
Speaker 3 (03:46):
Obviously, we've got to make really good decisions this week
about strategy, what to run, what not to run, What
can we perform on a limited amount of physical repetitions?
What do we need to you know, take a calculated
risk in terms of running on a limited amount of
physical repetitions. I just think that that's always the case
(04:10):
on Thursday. We don't default to, you know, based menus
and things of that nature. Particularly when you plan someone
that is familiar with you, as Cleveland is with us,
It is worth the trouble to ponder what's appropriate to
run and what's not. How innovative can we be, how
(04:30):
expansive can our menus be impress the envelope in that direction?
And so we got some hardcore decisions there. You also
got some hardcore decisions about how you work.
Speaker 1 (04:41):
What's the nature of your work? Are they walk throughs?
Speaker 3 (04:44):
Are they run throughs on a limited amount of preparation
time on a short week? What does that look like?
And you know, you you manage the balancing act of
getting them in the stadium physically prepared while at the
same time preserving them acknowledge that they were in a
significant physical football game yesterday and so got that decision
(05:04):
to make.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
And as he always does, Mike Tomlin outlined injury concerns
and updates particularly important on this short week before traveling
to Cleveland.
Speaker 3 (05:15):
Hadn't checked in on Alex high Smith in terms of
seeing what his availability might look like. If you press me,
I'd probably say he's more out than in. But we'll
see where his short week leads us. Like the trajectory
of some others, prou it Ben went down in game,
(05:37):
but that appears to be a non issue from yesterday.
All the guys that sustained something in game doesn't appear
to be an issue moving forward, and so that's exciting.
We opened the window for Corey Trice, as you guys know,
last week, and he had a good week's work and
maybe available to us, and so we'll see where that
leads us as well, and so we'll manage some of
(06:00):
these player availability things.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
It is another AFC North Division foe, a team that
the Steelers are very familiar with, a team that the
Steelers will see again this season, first time taking on
the Cleveland Browns. Mike Tomlin previewed the challenge that awaits
the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Speaker 3 (06:17):
Starting first and foremost with their offense. Man, I'm really
just trying to get a sense of what does Ken
Dorsey as the primary play caller mean? How is it different?
What are the challenges for us relative to what we're
used to regarding Cleveland? And so that's gonna be a challenge.
Obviously we've seen Ken in the past from his time
(06:40):
in Buffalo, but these last three games wait a heck
of a lot more than the ones that proceed because
of the significance of him as the central play caller.
Coupled with that, obviously is Winston in that quarterback, and
so we got to familiarize ourselves with with that tandem.
Speaker 1 (06:59):
And how they work.
Speaker 3 (07:00):
But does that mean to their schematics and personality on offense?
Obviously they got some known people that we have to
deal with. Mister Chubb first and foremost, just got so
much respect for his game and his body of work
and his capabilities. From an appreciator football standpoint, man, it's
(07:21):
really good to see him back. But from a guy
that competes against him this week, obviously he has our
attention Jerome Ford I thought stood in for him in
a real solid way a year ago and continues to
do those things. Man, he's a home run hitter. He's
a guy that's capable of breaking big runs. He broke
(07:41):
a big run on his last year. His last year
at Cincinnati, we did a lot of work on him
in draft prep. I think he had more explosion runs
than anybody in that draft pool, and so his big
play capabilities have our attention. They got some turnover at
the receiver position, but it's not lack of talent there.
Judy is new to them, but he's not new to
(08:02):
the NFL.
Speaker 1 (08:03):
Man.
Speaker 3 (08:03):
He's coming off of a really big game. They're acquired
more from the Jets last year, and he's a top
notch slot receiver. There's been some strong development in Tillman
on the outside, and I think his growth and development
is probably the central reason why they were comfortable moving
on from Cooper at the trade deadline. Watching his play
(08:24):
and looking at his statistics and particularly of late, you
see that growth in production, in the cohesion that he's
gaining in terms of his professional career. We got some
work to do there. And then last week it was
the first time they activated Tony and they had some
packages for him. You couple all of those eligibles that
(08:46):
I mentioned with Nimjoku at tight end, and obviously we're
highly familiar with him. He is a challenge. He does
a lot of things well. His vertical game is excellent.
I've been really impressed with the development of his blocking
over the years.
Speaker 1 (08:59):
Man.
Speaker 3 (08:59):
He is become a significant point of attack blocker. I
don't think he was that when he came into the league.
As a matter of fact, I think I complimented him
on in post game last year.
Speaker 1 (09:09):
Is real.
Speaker 3 (09:11):
His point of attack blocking is excellent. The tight end
screen game and him as an outlet to the quarterback
is a dangerous one because his run after abilities are
unique for the position. You can throw a tight end screen,
he can turn it into a big game. They can
throw him a check down or a spot of the ball.
He can bounce off some tacklers in your secondary and
(09:31):
turn it into a big game. And so we got
a lot on that side of the ball to get
ready for and to be urgent about, particularly because of
the lack of familiarity in some instances, particularly at the
quarterback and play caller position. Some of the receivers are
new and so we got some challenges there. They got
more continuity on the defensive side of the ball, but
(09:52):
it doesn't mean that it's easy work. Jim Schwartz last year,
in his first year, proved his capable ability has been.
He's been added a long time. They were tops in
the league and a lot of things last year past defense,
yards per game and things of that nature. They got
really good continuity and staffing and in the secondary, and
(10:14):
so we're working to manage those things. Denzel Award is
top notched. But Newsom, that whole tandem, uh, that whole
collective back there is top notched. The safety, the safety group, Delpit, Thornhill,
they've all played really good ball and as I mentioned,
they were a top tier pass defense group in the
league last year. Man, and they got after you. They
(10:36):
play a lot of people. Their multiple Delpit is very
versatile man. He plays safety, he plays big nickel, he
plays dimond passing circumstances, he plays corner and some one
wide out packages when you go big on offense, and
so they got versatile players. The same could be said
for Nickel. Newsom's capable of playing inside out. Award is
(10:58):
capable of playing inside now, although I hadn't seen him
inside of late that he is on his resume and
in his background. The positional flexibility and versatility of those
guys couple with the continuity is a challenge.
Speaker 1 (11:13):
Obviously.
Speaker 3 (11:13):
Up front, we got to deal with Miles Garrett Man.
He's a game wrecker. You get in one dimensional moments, Man,
you better be real solid there. It's not possible that
he's going to impact the game. It's probable in those circumstances.
We're highly familiar with that. I would imagine the Chargers
were less familiar because he took that game over a
couple of weeks ago in a big way. But we
(11:35):
know he's capable of that. We've been in stadium with
him quite often, and so we got some work to
do in terms of preparing ourselves to minimize him and
that collective. Upfront, they allocate a lot of resources to
that group. Tomlinson is a big time run stop and
interior guy who's also providing some top notch interior pocket
(11:56):
push for him. The interior games have have have been
eye opening. They've gotten some pressure and gotten home some
and when they collapse the pocket in that way, they
just make it easier for guys like Miles Garrett on
the edge to get home as well. And so those
things have our attention. The environmental component has our attention. Man,
(12:16):
Thursday night in a hostile division environment is something that
we need to be ready for. We've been really fortunate
in road game environments this year in terms of the
support of our fans and their ability to acquire tickets. Man, DC, Atlanta, Vegas, Denver,
et cetera. I don't know that that's going to happen
in Cleveland. I know as a collective we better be
(12:39):
prepared for a hostile environment the dog Pound, et cetera.
And so we got some new people, whether they're new
to us and new to the National Football League, they
need some quick education while we do the physical work
that's that's necessary to position ourselves for performance. And so
it's very early in this process. Got a lot of
work to do, but excited about doing it, excited about
(13:03):
leaning in on divisional play.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
It's Pittsburgh against Cleveland Thursday night in primetime. I'm Steelers
Audio network host West Shuler. Thanks for listening to this
episode of the Steelers Week in Review. Take care and
I'll talk to ends next week,
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