November 17, 2022 • 43 mins
Matt Williamson and Mike Prisuta break down the Bengals and Steelers matchup this Sunday at Acrisure Stadium. The duo is joined by Merril Hoge as always.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is the Steelers Preview Show on w d v
E Pittsburgh, presented by uni Bet. The only thing better
than a Steelers win is the Steelers win that pays
double down on your team. With Unibet, proud partner of
the Pittsburgh Steelers. Here are your hosts, Mike Pursuita, Matt
Williamson and Merril Hodge. Good anything, and welcome to another
or Thursday night edition of Steelers Preview right here on
(00:22):
your Steelers Flagship one or two point five d V
and S n R. I'm Mike Pursuita, joined as always
by Matt Williamson. Merrill Hodge will be joining us for
segment number two as we get you ready for the
Steelers and the Bengals tonight. And Matt, as we like
to say sometimes in the business, we have a development
(00:42):
the Practice Participation Report for today MINCA Fitzpatrick's Safety Appendix
FP that stands for full participation. What do you make
of this? Right? I mean, this dude's a warrior. He's
ultra competitive as a massive leader at Bama. It's a
big reason why he didn't get along with the folks
in Miami that were tanking. You know it was like,
(01:05):
I don't be part of a winner. And he's also
a great football player, and I think they were very
fortunate that the when his appendix was an issue last
week happened to be the same week the CAZy came back.
So he's a an adequate replacement, compliment, whatever. But I'm
really excited to see them all together. It looks like
that they's gonna be how they drew it up in camp. Yeah,
(01:25):
this is uh just short of amazing to me. I
was impressed enough when Fitzpatrick showed up on Sunday for
the Saints game. Right he was on the sideline, he
was in the locker room, he was engaged with his teammates.
A bunch of the dvs were talking about that after
the Steelers twenty to ten victory and how much they
appreciated that making. Fitzpatrick met the media briefly after practice
(01:46):
today and explained that he was basically feeling poorly on
Thursday night and didn't feel great on Friday, but he
got through practice front fine, got through the walk through
on Saturday, and as he put it, couldn't go to
the bathroom. Okay, So he talked to the trainers and
they gave him something to ensure that he would go
to the bathroom. He did and still didn't feel right,
(02:09):
so they had him get a scan, and they did
the scan, and as Minka put it, twenty minutes later,
I was on the operating table. Wow, it's pretty good service.
I don't know you and I get that service. But
but then he was at Accresser Stadium on Sunday and Saturda.
He's been around this week and didn't practice on Wednesday,
(02:30):
but he practiced today. Both Fitzpatrick and defensive coordinator Tarrell Austin,
who also spoke to the media today as a part
of the much anticipated coordinator Thursday uh Terrell said, hey,
he'll wait until Sunday if he has to. Uh. As
Austin put it, I have no expectation, but as Mike
Tomlin would put it, the lightest being left on. Fitzpatrick said,
(02:53):
we'll see on Sunday. He's not ruling anything out. I'm
of the opinion you mentioned. You mentioned Monte Casey coming
back last Sunday against the Saints. He hadn't played all
season because the injury he suffered in the preseason. I
think it was the Seattle game they wouldn't be having
make a participate fully if they didn't think there was
a shot, because CAZy needs the reps with the first team.
(03:16):
It's not like he's been doing this all along. Absolutely,
I mean, he's kind of new to the defense. He's
been sitting in safety defensive back rooms, and I'm sure
he knows all that part, and he's a veteran and
he's a good player. But right, I mean, I gotta think.
I mean, it's total hunch Thursday night, but it seems
like it's trending the right direction that you see make
a kickoff, which is amazing. I am with you. Other
(03:38):
notable developments from today on the south side, Noahkello Witherspoon
again hamstring didn't work for the second consecutive day. Marcus
Allen getting over illness, was a full participant. Devin Bush
a full participant. They're kind of monitoring his knee a
little bit. Saying with Kevin Dotson hip. Both of those
guys didn't work Wednesday, full work today. A um is
(04:02):
Withers been the only one that might not go of
that list. Looks like, yeah, Larry ogen Job went from
did not practice too limited as Dotson did that was
kind of how those guys progressed last week. So tomorrow
big day, as it always is. But uh, we shall see.
They got t J. Watt back last Sunday and they
might get making Fitzpatrick back this Sunday. It would be
(04:23):
the first time that they have t J. Watt, make
of Fitzpatrick and Demonte Casey all available to the defense
on the same day. How they drew it up when
they built the team, you know, and it's anty rare
round Thanksgiving to have that real quick question on the
injury report. I mentioned Witherspoon. Is he still a starter?
Like if he come, does he? I don't think so.
I don't know that that's ever been clear to me.
(04:43):
You know. You know, he got benched at halftime in
the Philadelphia game, and uh, he said after the game,
I'm I'm I was healthy enough to play. I didn't
play well, I didn't make the plays on the ball.
It wasn't the injury thing. And he hasn't played since
and they've been listing him as handstring. Yeah, so, uh,
maybe a little calm Ay and a little calm by,
but I think he's at the back of the line now. Yeah,
(05:05):
I don't think he plugs right in and as I
think it's Wallace and Sutton and Millette as Uh the
slot guy. We saw Terrell Edmunds play some slot in
recent weeks. And now you can hold up on the
outside too. And now if you get k z Uh
as part of your sub package, or maybe he starts,
and maybe Mincas the third down guy who knows, but
(05:26):
she apparently have some options. Bengals development in Cincinnati, DJ
reader Uh the massive run stopping into your defensive line.
And he's been on I R. But he began practicing
this week. Now they don't have to list him, they
don't have to activate him. Well, they gotta activate activate him,
but that doesn't mean yes by Saturday and I think
(05:46):
three o'clock. But he doesn't have to be listed under report,
so he's not. But the expectation both in the Steelers
offensive line room here and in Cincinnati from the people
I talked to. Their people think he's gonna play. That's
a big deal. I mean, he's not as well known
as some of the top defensive tackles in the league
because he wasn't drafted in the top ten. He's a
(06:07):
phenomenal player and he's he's a modern day knows that
is phenomenal against the run. Their defensive numbers are night
and day. Not to the what level, but their night
and day within Without him, he's gonna demand a double team.
He can push the pocket. He's a really good player. No,
Jamaar Chase hip h doesn't look like he's gonna go
(06:27):
your guy. Dax Hills Shoulder was also did not participate
for the Bengals today. Uh. Their secondary is a little
not great. I mean not we're not great right now.
Whosi's out of the year. Yeah. And the other corner
um that's been filling in, Uh, Taylor britt Uh, he's
another rookie. He's a rookie. What third rounder? Yeah? Hill
(06:48):
was the first. I think he was a second rounder,
late second because they were the Super Bowl runner up,
so he was at the very end of round two.
Um sort of a safety corner hybrid, bigger guy, but
can pick on him. And you and I were talking
off the air, Eli, Apple's nothing right home about I
think they're outside corners, not necessarily Hilton. It could be
in for a long day against Pickings and Deonte And
(07:11):
I thought those guys roasted the Saints corners too. Yeah,
Cam Taylor Britt was the second round pick out of Nebraska. UM,
he's been filling in for a Woozier Mike Hilton, the
slot guys coming off a pinky surgery who looks like
he's gonna be good to go. But yeah, not exactly
any lockdown corner or coverage candidates between Hilton Apple and
(07:32):
Taylor Britt right and the Woozier was having a really
good year. It's kind of like it's kind of like
last week where your top corners out. The other guys
were guys who pick on when your top corners out.
Now you can pick on two of them. You know
you got Dax Hilla wanted to get back to him shoulder.
Uh he's only played uh nine games. He's played in
all nine games, but he's only played eight percent of
the defensive saves. His snap counts very low. Really surprised
(07:54):
by that. Yeah, I thought, I mean us the first
round pick on the defensive back. Usually they're plug and play,
and I don't know what the hang up is. Von
Bell and Bates have I don't think they've missed a
snap basically, I mean, and they're a really good tandem.
But what I loved about Hill is he could play slot,
he's athletic enough to play outside corner. You would think
(08:16):
you'd have like a safety cover like a corner, Yeah, right,
right right. I mean you'd think you'd have a three
safety package in mind from day one. I mean as
opposed to he's probably be Bates his replacement next year
when he when he probably is. Yeah, I thought we'd
see a lot more of him in the Opena than
we did. He only played a handful of place then
I think five snaps, and it's kind of gone that
way for him. Maybe he's a Michigan guy. Maybe he's
(08:38):
having a hard time picking it up. Yeah, Mike, you
might might be a little challenged that way. What to
expect is brought to you by Brian Patton and associates.
It's all about the benefits. And man, I don't have
a great feel for this game other than I expect
typical a f C North football. I think these games
are usually tugs of war, slogs, uh physical, everybody knows
(09:01):
everything about everybody and uh low scoring him close. That
that's my expectation. I can't get a whole lot more
detailed than that. Yeah, And that's the Steelers formula, you know.
I mean, I don't think either one of us thinks
they are the Steelers all of a sudden gonna put
up thirty or forty points. Um. But it's a quality
defense or playing against some oddities. I don't think it's
(09:22):
an anomaly. But the Bengals are oh and three in
the division so far, and one of them is against
the Steelers, of course, and we saw the Browns beat
up on them pretty good. But their offensive production in
in the a f C North games versus the other
ones is like fifteen points difference. Like I kind of
feel like the division has a beat on these guys,
(09:43):
you know, Like Dane and I were talking about on
the Drive today. If you watch Week one, there's that
back to back play when t J. Watt almost takes
the handoff and then basically decapitates mix In and then
the next play he gets a picks the ball off
at the line of scrimmage, like I think he The
divisional teams are understanding some of the Bengals tells, you know,
(10:04):
and they're a little bit predictable. Twenty Steelers, of course,
in the regular season opener on September the eleventh, that
game went to overtime because the Bengals missed an extra
point that would have won the game for them after
their long snapper got hurt. And uh, that guy is
still out by the way. Uh, apparently they've replaced him.
(10:25):
Clark hallis Clark Harris excuse me? Uh was the guy
he got hurt and starting in week two the kid
from pitt cal Auta Midas Uh is the new long snapper.
They have not had any issues since they went to him.
But those other division games, uh that you referenced. The
Bengals lost nineteen to seventeen at Baltimore in late September.
(10:50):
Again not a lot of explosions there, and thirty two
to thirteen to the Browns a couple of weeks ago.
After that lost to Cleveland, Cincinnati played Carolina on November
the sixth, then had to buy this past weekend and
the Panthers. In that Panthers game, the Bengals had more
points thirty five in the first half than the Panthers
(11:12):
had yards two. I remember reading that after. I don't
know if I've ever seen that happens. Yeah, but I
think the division thing is real, and you know, we've
seen a lot of games where we thought the Steelers
were gonna roll over the recent years, and they did not,
and they have got beater. It was a struggle, uh,
you know, Cleveland place, Pittsburgh tough, Cleveland Place, Baltimore tough,
Baltimore placed, Cincinnati tough. You know, around it goes. It's
(11:35):
just one of those divisions. And I think that plays
a little bit in the Steeler's hands too, because if
you are the lesser team, you want to dumb it down,
drag them down to your level, exactly, muck and grinding
up a little bit, and no doubt. And I'm not
implying the Steelers are gonna sweep the table and go
to the playoffs or anything, but pretty much all their
difficult games starting this week ahead of them our division games.
(11:58):
And I think that's a better situation because you could
do damage your division and just just the knowledge. I mean,
I bet Raven Steelers is gonna come down to the
field goal. I mean it just kind of always does,
you know. Speaking of which, Danny Smith, the Special team's coordinator,
actually spoke today as well. He is a very infrequent
participant in coordinator Thursday festivities, but we talked at length
(12:22):
about Matthew Wright the kicker that they brought into a place,
Chris Boswell, who's on the reserve injured list right went
two for four against New Orleans, missing from thirty nine
and forty eight yards and hitting a couple of thirty
three yarders, and Danny Smith expressed great faith in Matthew
Wright said he trusts him. He's a good player who
had a bad game. Now one bad kick. I mean
(12:46):
he missed a long one barely. I mean the one
was ugly. You know, they don't have a lot of
choice because, uh, having taken him off the Chiefs practice squad,
he has to spend three weeks on the fifty three
man roster. Now you could, you know, theory go get
another kicker and just not dress them. But they're not
gonna do that because they're thin enough already. Uh, Smith,
(13:07):
get them. You know. He was four for four for
the Steelers on field goals in in I think twenty
four for Jacksonville the next year, and then three for
four for the Chiefs this year, including a fifty nine
yard And Danny talked about hey that you know snap
hold kick. Yeah, a guy can snap, a guy can hold,
and a guy can kick. But they all have to
(13:28):
be able to do it together. And Uh. He again
was adamant that they think Matthew Royd will be just fine.
I asked him about what he thought, rights, you know,
the line of demarcation is in terms of how long
he could make a kick, and Danny Smith basically said, well,
I don't want to tell you that, but I will
tell you things are very fluid in a game. Uh.
(13:51):
You know, you might not try a fifty nine yard
that was the length he used at the end of
the first drive of the game. But if there's two
seconds left and you're down too, you're gonna try. And
kickoffs depend on whether you want to pooch it or
not and how good the other team's return is. He said, basical,
there's a lot of factors that go into this, but
they think they're okay at kicker. Um. The Bengals, Matt,
(14:13):
we don't do think Bobs will be back this year though,
right you think this is probably another three or four weeks. Uh,
have no information on that one way or the other.
But no Jamaar Chase for the Bengals. That that's huge
for them. But just two games the Browns game they
lost in Carolina, they didn't need them. I don't know
that we know what this team looks like yet without them,
(14:34):
other than they leaned on Joe mix and they did
and sort of like the Steelers. Just this isn't what
you ask and I'll just that in a minute, but
sort of like the Steelers, They've had one really really
good game on the ground and it happens to be
their most recent one. You know, So are they turning
the corner? Is this the start of a good run
of running or do we look back at the end
(14:55):
of the season we remember that game in the middle
of year when they actually ran the ball, you know, like,
because Mixing is not had a great year, the line
is not rebuilt. I can promise you that. And in
in what we do know about the Bengals, yeah, we
thought that the opener was just well, they hadn't played
together in the preseason, and I think that was a
part of it. But it hasn't got much better. Um.
They and the Rams are by far the teams that
(15:17):
use eleven personnel the most, three receivers, a tight end,
and a running back. But I bet they won't because
how do you get t J blocked and you don't
have jamar Ches, so you're kind of making them play
left handed, and I bet you see a lot more
two tight end sets, Joe Mixing. Uh five total touchdowns
against Carolina four rushing four is d al Bundy. Yeah,
(15:41):
five touchdowns. We'd like to call that the Kenneth Walker.
The third around here a lot more to get to,
uh so keep it here. In addition to naming numbers
of touchdowns, we will welcome Merrill Hodge, who knows a
little bit about scoring touchdowns and all other things Steelers
and NFL. Merrill Joy, it's us on the other side
(16:02):
of the break. Steelers Preview on DV is brought to
you by UNIVET. The only thing better than the Steelers
win is the Steelers win the pace double down on
your team with UNIVET, proud partner of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
With Matt Williamson on Mike Pursuita. You're listening to Steelers
Preview right here on your Steelers Flagship one or two
point five d V Back to the Steelers Preview show
(16:24):
presented by Univet on dv E. Welcome back to the
Preview Mike Pursuita and Matt Williamson with you tonight until
eight o'clock getting ready for the Steelers and the Cincinnati
Bengals this Sunday. The Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank reminds
you to sack hunger, get food, volunteer or donate at
Pittsburgh Food Bank dot org. Time now to welcome the
(16:46):
third member of our team to the show, Meryl Hodge,
joining us and Meryl I wanted to put down the
chalk and stop diagram and X s and os at
the outset here tonight and talk a little intangibles with you,
because what we saw at Akasher Stadium last Sunday was
the return of a very special player, t J. Watt.
And Uh he brought down the thunder when the defense
(17:09):
was introduced one by one and he ran out of
the tunnel. He made a couple of plays on the
first two snaps for the Saints. He was engaging with
the crowd. Seemed like everybody was inspired. Tarrell Auston, a
defensive coordinator, said today even he was clapping when he
saw t J. Watt run out of the tunnel. Uh,
there are guys, I guess that that just take everybody up.
(17:31):
And Austin mentioned from his Baltimore days, Ed Reid and
uh ray lewis Uh. I mean, I know what t
J has done over his career, but I guess maybe
when I'm this close to it, maybe don't appreciate it
as much as I should. Um. I guess what I
wanted to ask you first was is that kind of
(17:52):
effect real in the NFL? Uh? In a league of
highly paid, highly skilled professionals. Can a group of men
be impressed and inspired by a special man? Well, there's
no doubt with one certainty. You know. I always say that,
you know, one guy does not make a defense, but
one guy can make a big difference. Um. And that
(18:14):
goes for offense and defense and even special teams. And
he's um, he's that type of player. Now what I
appreciate about him, Um, it's really not um the sacks,
the destructions that he he creates, even though those are
a lot, and those are consistent, but he plays all
the other elements of the game fundamentally sound. You know,
(18:37):
Like when he was responsible for contain and he's got
to hold up the edge and not give contain, he
does that. He forces the back the other way. Um. Um,
when he's supposed to hit a gap and you know,
disrupt and get penetration best he can to force the
back or force the runner to the to the free defenders.
He does that, you know, he does all of these
(18:59):
things that you um that count, that ultimately count, you know,
Like I think the sack is the most overrated statistic
and the most hyped up non true football playing um statistic.
That's capless. If you get says okay that that would
(19:19):
you would consider that guy good football player, right, record
setting football player, right, And so you're like, but in reality,
that's twenty sacks out of some plays. What's he doing
on the other, you know, seventeen eighty you know throughout
the year? You know, good math? What's that good math?
(19:43):
On the fly there? Yeah, well I was trying to
use normals, like my first grade math would stay with me,
you know, So I was I did the test that
had the answer. So that's why I was able to
do that. You know, I'm just I was trying to calculate,
you know, roughly, and you see how many players and
now you won't play that many plays this year because
he missed he missed games. But you know, on average,
(20:06):
you know, throughout the year, you can play around that
that many plays, you know. Um, But even if you
use round numbers instead of thousands, you know, and you
have twenty sacks, what are you doing on the other
nine does matter? You know? Um? Um? Unless those twenty
sacks were the absolutely decision making factor in confirming a win,
(20:28):
you know. Um, It's just it's an overrated one to evaluate,
to say you're a good football player, is what I'm
getting at. You know, you sacked the quarterback. That's all
that means. You sacked the quarterback twenty times. You did
a good time job twenty times. But what are you
doing the rest of the time. And the rest of
the time he's equivalent to those twenty sacks and how
(20:50):
he plays, And that's what I think, well, I do
not think. I know that's what people appreciate, you know,
when you go in to film room on Monday and
none of us are there with him, it's true, and
I played. You just start watching all the little things
people do and players do. Those those those ones that
give everything that I'll use a Chuck Nol term. You know,
(21:11):
they're they're on common and I don't do the minimum,
They do the maximum, And he does the maximum in
every aspect of the game. You know, when we when
he's getting double, he fights through that double team continues
to fight on. I can't tell how many times I've
seen shoe Seattle. I think it was the Seattle game
last year. He's stripp and sacked at the end, um
(21:33):
n the game and he was being doubled the whole time,
you know, um, but it never gave up. You know,
those are so those type of plays that are lost
in it. But why you just mentioned all those people
are clapping because I can see why your coordinators stopped.
I'll be clapping too. I'm about I'm just about me
become a better coach nineties walking out on the football
(21:57):
field and and you know, um, I think Mike you
mentioned ago, you get around it and maybe you don't
appreciate it. Sometimes these injuries are you know, I would
be a better way to get Yeah. But now now
that he's been away, you know, it's just like Ben.
You know, for two years, everybody's like, oh man, you
(22:17):
know it's Ben, it's Ben. It's Ben Well and Ben
leaves and is like a wait a minute, which it
was never been. But honestly, he kept you in. He
kept you in everything, quite honestly, you know, without him,
you might not even have a winning record. Um. Now,
and then he's gone, You're like, oh wow, you know
so um and then you could tell I mean he's
(22:40):
he's got great energy too, you know. And and people
resonate with that. Fans resonate with that, and teammates resonate
with that. So he did make a big difference and
he'll continue to do that as long as he's playing. Um.
So they're lucky to have him. So it looks as
though we may have another guy coming back from an
(23:01):
appendix situation unexpected and could you could bring us some
more energy to a defense and really the defense is
currently constructed if that's true how they drew it up
in training camp. I mean, if Minka's back, do you
expect to see a lot or a fair amount of
big Nickel or maybe him near the line of scrimmage
blitzing slot because KZ can handle some stuff. Sure, Um, well,
(23:27):
I okay this you know, in the last four or
five weeks. You know what what probably has gone unnoticed
is they've done they've been really creative in the back end,
you know, and done that with guys that just came aboard,
you know. So when you have guys that clearly know
what they're doing. Um, you know they're probably doing some
more flexibility with how you go about defending. And it's
(23:47):
a divisional opponent. So that I think is one of
the most pivotal challenges for coaches is you know each
other so well. It isn't like you can be a
complete new offense and complete new defense. You have to
find different wrinkles. Those drinkles happen to have to happen, well,
you know in critical moments. You know it's not the
first and ten of games. You know it's the third
(24:08):
and six. You know, the third and two, um down
in you know, scoring territory in his first down intend
you know those those type of moments where um, you're
going to decide to gain So um That's where I
think when you're planning a divisual opponent, you as as
a staff have to be creative and you have to
self evaluate and make sure you don't fall into the
(24:32):
same tendency so they can take advantage of it, um
and take you know, build on your tendencies. You know
they've been seeing you do a all year long. You
did it last time, Well, now you gotta you gotta
come up with b so Um, they've done that, you know.
They did that well against the Bucks. I did really
a good job against Miami. Um, trying to think of
a couple of the games. But they've done that, you know,
(24:53):
and they and they have that creativity. I think it's
a staff. They've done a really good job of of
matching up, been doing the type of things that you
need to do based on your opponent. You know this,
this opponent has a lot of options, you know, in
the receiving department, and they're on the football a little better,
which always makes a team dangers when that's happening is
(25:14):
when you when you're doing that. So I'm not to
be at their best, you know, because they're not going
to get as lucky as they did in the first matchup,
all the turnovers more than like that just doesn't happen
the second go around, So you know, more likely if
it's a clean game and you're gonna have to play
your best football. But if they play like they did
against the Saints, and they're absolutely analysts, I would say
(25:35):
there's one line that matters in football, and it's the
line of scrimmage and what side do you play on
you know, defense, you're playing on the other side, you've
got a good chance of of of controlling your opponent.
If the offense plays on the other side of the
line of scrimmage, they've got a good chance of controling
the game. And that's what they did against the Saints.
(25:56):
When you failed to do that, hard to win the NFL.
So um, since they've done it, you know, and they
really did well get the Saints. They really did some
things the Taysom Hill package. I've watched them all year
at the Saint so they've been I mean the power,
oh on the counter. When they do run the football,
then they do a good job. Very few I haven't
seen anybody stop. I can't get back the Bengals actually,
(26:20):
did you know, they really attacked their RPO with Taysom
Hill and destroyed that um and that was one of
the things that helped him win the game. Well, the
Steelers would not let them get that package going. Yeah,
that's interesting. You're interesting to bring that up because you
were talking about what always doing his assignment and being
where he was supposed to be. They ran a red
(26:42):
option with Taysom Hill and he gave it to Camara
and Camara actually ended up gaining fourteen yards, but what
just smashed Taysom Hill and cam Hayward brought that up
in the postgame talking uh to emphasize the point Heyward
was making that the Steelers played really good assignment football.
He said, even I played t J. Yeah, they got
(27:03):
a run out of it, but that gave me confidence.
We're gonna be in the right spot. We're gonna do
what we're supposed to do. And that's a pretty subtle thing,
but a big deal in then. Yeah, well it looks
at this those read options, and I like that they
have always felt the teams that will attack that and
not think about it conceptually. Okay, um, well, I'll go
(27:25):
back to what Chuck Mill said about, you know, making
a big run. He's like, you don't dance. You've got
time to dance, okay, and you're not a dancer. You know,
you've got to be decisive, even got to get to
the line's primmeger Okay, you've got to get the one
yard two yard when you can get there. That's how
the running game, that's how, that's just how precise the
National Football League is now. In a read option, you're
(27:48):
leaving an unblocked defender. Sometimes it's their best player because
he's on the end. Okay, in this case would be
t J. Watt Um. I have never understood why defensively
you're okay with that and you make that guy sit
there and play along. She's like, I don't you know,
I mean, take it, take it, take it, but decide
(28:12):
where you're gonna go now, listen, I've seen different ways
of handling it. Like, you know, the path will usually
be to the quarterback to force the handoff, if you
know the kind of what you're trying to do defensity.
The others will be just gonna get the back, you know,
depending on what, who where you want the ball to be.
You know how comfortable you feel with your perimeter guys,
(28:32):
you know, you know, from a Lamark Jackson aspect, I
could clearly think you'd rather have it handed off, but
they maybe do such a good job up front. You
don't want that. You want him to run laterally first,
and you have a free defender in there. You know
it's Mika Lincoln's coming up. You know he's responsible before him,
you know, but the free defender takes the back, forces
(28:52):
forces him to keep it, pushes him lateral and now mink,
you gotta make the tackle and you know, obviously gotta
have pursuit to to help us. But I've just seen
I can't tell game plans. I've seen what that work
so well. But that's how the Bengals handled the SAT
So I played him a few weeks ago, and that
read option that they run with Tayson Hill. I mean
they keyed off on them. I mean they quit running it.
(29:13):
They have the first to quit running could run it.
And I was like, why don't this is bind boggling
with the defenses. Don't every defense doesn't do that makes
that play irrelevant? Merrill. The other narrative here this week
really started with Mike Tomlin after the game Sunday and
then again on Tuesday, and the offensive lineman have talked
(29:34):
about this with me a lot this week as well.
The Steelers think they got the double team thing figured
out in terms of how long to stay with the
double team so that it's effective, and when to break
off so that you can go get the linebacker at
the second level, and boy, it worked a couple of times.
Against New Orleans, Nagy Harris looked like Nagy Harris again.
(29:57):
All of a sudden. This could be potentially he's game
changing for the offense. Is a healthy defense could be
on that side of the ball, could it not? Well,
I told you that this game they control the line
scrimmage on both sides of the ball for the majority
of the game. Not all the time, but the majority,
And that nobody's gonna do it all the time. You know,
at the end of the day, you just you get
(30:18):
you have seventy snaps. You hope you win forty five
of them, okay, and forty five and got a good
chance to win your games. Um, they were outstanding up front. Um.
Not only did they work in unison and no when
to come off, but they got movement. You know that
that's some of the biggest problems. When you don't get
movement and you're sitting there fighting the defender. You know, um,
(30:40):
now you're back late. Now you're late. He has nowhere
where to run. Um. You know, timing things and seeing
things as one is why I think that group has
the hardest in all of football. Five guys have to
work as one, you know, and maybe six because you
throw a tight end in there, and they had people
on the ground, have people accounted for and they got
(31:02):
movement and they sustained blocks. That that's ultimately what you
gotta do. Making wall block is one thing. Sustaining it's another.
They did all of those shoot um pickens um. You know,
they put him inside. I don't know that he's probably
been closer to the formulation. I just haven't seen him
do it a lot. You know, he comes in and
you know, tattoos defensive end on one of the roads.
(31:23):
You know, I mean, you know, and you know I mean,
and that's what you need, you know. And I tell
you this, you guys have a blocking is about I'm
telling you what it is just being a willing participant. Okay,
most people aren't willing. Okay, this is honest, especially we're
talking about wide receivers. You know though some sprinkles, some
tight ends in there, even even backs. You know, there's
(31:44):
they don't want to get. Just your effort to be
committed to go get somebody is just not you've said
in the battle. You know, then there's some fundamentals and techniques,
guy you gotta apply. But you know, getting a guy
to just be willing to go do it is is
the biggest task. He looks like it will like you know,
he knocks people off the line of scrimmage all the time.
Now going down the box and taking on a defensive
(32:05):
band now, listen, he chips the defensive but nonetheless did
a great job. Got him on the ground. That's what
you need. That's what you ask you for. You're not
asking him to take him on one on one, you know,
head up, because that's a mismatch. Kind of stood over
him for a half second, sort of let the guy
know who did it. Yeah, you might want to reconsider
that because those guys remember that stuff. They looked you up.
(32:33):
I'm sorry, but I liked it. I liked it that
you know that you saw that, you know, and that
makes such a difference, you know, in the running game,
and you know, hopefully they see that. They go, you know, go,
you go and film and you get energized by that.
And here's what they've done for themselves. You've established you know,
your ability of your your standard lives. You can do this,
you know. Now, you just got to have it on
a consistent basis. So maryl this was the first game
(32:55):
without Chase Claypool and that opens up a lot of
snaps for if skill guy, did you like how they
handled that. I mean they used a lot of different
bodies there, but bigger bodies. Well I do you know,
And first of all, I think they have um, you know,
Chase cliff Will you know played in the slot area.
You know he did that, notre Dame, he played all over.
(33:17):
But you know, if you want to, if you really
think about it, Um, I can't think baby names name
right off the top of my heads escaping there right now.
But there you go. He's a true he's a true
slot guy. You know. He plays that slot very well.
And yeah, I think you really have good balance and
you have a lot of options, you know, and different
(33:38):
phases that you have players in your passing game. I'm short,
intermediate to vertical, and you can really stress the defense.
You know, schematically you do it right, you know, you
can stress on every play and um, you gotta tied
in the control Mills field and does a lot of
things for you. So from a skill position perspective, you
have a lot. You have the people in place, you know.
(34:00):
Now you just gotta get your your quarterbacks. He gets
more experience and get more confidence, he's gonna play better.
And listen, if they were in the ball like that,
I will tell you this any quote. Every quarterback loves that.
It makes it so much easier, and you play caller,
makes it so much easier. Let's it's found it easier
to be second in one second and five, third and two,
(34:21):
third and three than second and eight and third and eight,
second and ten and third and ten. And you like
the Saints worth you know, they're along the yard is
almost all the time because the defense you know, controlled
them so much by winning the line of screamings with
their running games. So, um, this actually this is gonna
be a very interesting game, you know, because the Bengals
have gotten a lot better in areas they needed to.
(34:43):
They're off the wine, and so have the Steelers. You know,
um jare more Chase. You know, I think there a
lot of people are wondering if he's gonna play. I
think you're gonna play. I don't know, you know that
guy's that guy's a problem gonna play this week? I
think you will. I think you will. I don't. I
haven't heard one way. I mean, I don't know he's
(35:04):
not practicing if that means anything, But I guess they
could probably throw him out there. You know, you know
I would say, yeah, he's just he's a he's one
of those difference makers, you know. Um, just it's hard
to have an answer for you know. So they've got
a great chemistry there. So if he doesn't play that
(35:25):
truly helpful, you know, less stress on your account. But
you can't go to sleep. So I'm gonna tell you.
They say they do have mean their receivers are. They're deep,
as deep as anybody in football. You know. So you
didn't like their their wounded now beyond repair, and you know,
don't don't think that way because they are not, and
they go back to the running games. Has gotten a
lot better too. They played brand the ball much better
(35:47):
in the last couple of weeks. Mary, last thing for you,
the point you made about the Steeler's offensive line and
having confidence in knowing what they're capable of. I thought
New Orleans a little banged up, mostly in the secondary,
a little bit upfront, but a pretty good front, pretty
comparable to the Bengals in your estimation. If you can
(36:08):
do it against Mario Davis and those guys the Saints
have in the trenches, you can ordinate those guys. You
can do it against DJ Reader and Jermaine Pratt and
Logan Wilson. Yeah, listen, you know when you think about it,
you know there's not much difference. You know, they're they're smidgeons.
(36:28):
You know, it's not like college or listening. Ye, out
of my eleven games, we're just better than the other guy,
because this is not that case. I mean, you watched
Monday night game in Philadelphia, undefeated Washington. You know they're
they're they're coming along behind a key. You know, he's
giving them an energy and you end up beating him.
This is they're all pros and clearly once you you
(36:53):
play the way you did against the Saints, that they
need a shot of confidence. You're I'm sure they've been
rap you know, because you know they have not played
well consistently at any point of the season. Tell that
same game. Now, this bangle front seven. They have some
ends and I just think they're they're a little better
at the front, but they're not so good that you
(37:14):
can't we can't run like we did last week, We
can't play like we did last week. You know that
has no bearing on how we play. You know they're
not that good. You know that that's the mindset you
already have to create and your and yourself. They're very good,
you know, but they are not. They are not better
than we are. And that they play the way they
played against Saint I'll tell you they did a great
(37:35):
job of getting They played fast too. I mean, I
can't I'm telling you can't telling the time players. I
just slowed down, like good gosh. These guys are just
smoking off the ball, you know, and they had them
on they had him on skates. You know, they got
to move into right away, whereas prior to that, you know,
it's almost like a hesitation at the snap, if that
makes any sense. There's hesitation and boy, first contact wins
(37:57):
and football that they were not having first contact. It
makes great sense, great sense, and it looked different, and uh,
I hope it stays that way. Meryl will do it
again next week before Thanksgiving as we get ready for
the Steelers in the Colt. Alright, go steel the Sank
Meryl Hodge. Here on Steelers Preview, you gear up with
the latest sideline apparel, hats or jerseys of your favorite players,
(38:20):
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other side of the break with Matt Williamson Mike pursuita.
(38:43):
You're listening to Steelers Preview right here on your Steelers
Flagship one or two point five d V. Back to
the Steelers Preview show presented by Uni bet on d V.
Welcome back, Mike suit and Matt Williamson with you until
eight o'clock tonight here on Steelers Preview on Steeler Flagship
one or two point five d V and s n R.
(39:03):
Against Chat is the Steelers predictive and trivia game. Answer
questions to make picks and win prizes. Play on your
own against Steeler Nation in our new pub public group,
or create your very own private group to compete against
family and friends. You can play against Chat exclusively in
the Steelers official mobile app. Matt the YenS Chat question
of the week this week t J Watt over or
(39:25):
under one and a half sacks Well in these last
seven home games, Mr Watt has fifteen sacks and didn't
have one last one. I'm going over at Leo Collins
is probably gonna be stuck on him alone from time
to time. That's problem. Um two is a big number,
but I'm going over. I'm gonna go under. I think
(39:47):
he gets one. I think they're gonna spend a great
deal of time and energy block on him, as the
Saints did. But I think he's gonna get the ball
out once because he was. He was hammering away even
on the runs. Uh. I think he's gonna force a
turnover and come up with a sex. So that's more
than one and a half. But Burrows getting the ball
of his hands very quick. It's not gonna win the question. Uh.
(40:09):
Kenny Pickett, we haven't talked about him until just now,
and I guess that's progress that there were some other
things to actually discuss. I looked at his performance Sunday
as well. He wasn't very accurate, but at least they
were trying to take some shots, and I've been waiting
for that for so long. I'm almost okay with them
missing as many times as they did. Uh, what say
(40:31):
you about the number eight? I was of all the
positive things that came out of that where I'm gonna
kind of end here on a down note because I
was not happy with the way he played. To be
very honest with you, when you watch the tape, Pickens
and Johnson consistently got the better of the Saints corners.
If you watched it on TV, you probably noticed there
(40:52):
was easily five or six throws he should have completed.
There's probably more he should have attempted. I'm with you.
I like the aggression. He's never made that. It's never
been a problem for him. He will attempt the throws.
Not all quarterbacks do. But what worried me most and
this it doesn't mean it's gonna be set for life,
is he was very frenetic in the pocket. They did
(41:15):
not rush the passer like a six sack defense. He
ran into sacks. Pay attention to his helmet and eye level.
He drops his eyes a lot, which means he's looking
at the rush and not receivers. And but I'm not
saying he should be tom Brady, but think of tom
Brady's calm helmet. I'll Pickett doesn't have a calm helmet,
(41:35):
and good thing he can run because that bailed him
out of a lot of bad pocket presence. Things, you know,
running into sacks, making life harder on his lineman, not
feeling the rush, the marinos and bradies that are in
mannings that aren't great athletes, short little steps within the pocket.
(41:56):
That's pocket presence. It's hard to be hard to have,
and he didn't show much of it. You know. That
bothered me a little bit as well. The one in
particular that really stood out to me was a goal
line play. It was the one in which Pat Fryerman
got called for an illegal formation because he wasn't up
on the line of scrimmage. But it was just it
was a seven man protection against the four man rush,
and he just got skittish back there and started running
(42:17):
around and it ended up as and then they ended
up trying to field goal um. One of the things
that uh lyman, don't know where you're at your back
is turned. You might run right into him and he's
gonna have to work on that. Steelers preview on DV
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of the Pittsburgh Steelers. That's gonna do it for us tonight.
(42:41):
We won't be coming at you next Thursday night because
that's Thanksgiving, but we will be on the air soon
as I found out exactly when that's gonna be. We'll
pass that along via Twitter and some other social media
outlets until then. For Merrill Hodge and Matt Williamson, for
I U Jake behind the glass key put us on
the air, Mike Pursuita, thanks for finding us wherever and
(43:03):
however you found us. You have been listening to Steelers
Preview right here on your Steelers flagship one or two
point five TV. Goodnight everyone,
This is the Steelers Preview Show on w d v
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the Pittsburgh Steelers. Here are your hosts, Mike Pursuita, Matt
Williamson and Merril Hodge. Good anything, and welcome to another
or Thursday night edition of Steelers Preview right here on
(00:22):
your Steelers Flagship one or two point five d V
and S n R. I'm Mike Pursuita, joined as always
by Matt Williamson. Merrill Hodge will be joining us for
segment number two as we get you ready for the
Steelers and the Bengals tonight. And Matt, as we like
to say sometimes in the business, we have a development
(00:42):
the Practice Participation Report for today MINCA Fitzpatrick's Safety Appendix
FP that stands for full participation. What do you make
of this? Right? I mean, this dude's a warrior. He's
ultra competitive as a massive leader at Bama. It's a
big reason why he didn't get along with the folks
in Miami that were tanking. You know it was like,
(01:05):
I don't be part of a winner. And he's also
a great football player, and I think they were very
fortunate that the when his appendix was an issue last
week happened to be the same week the CAZy came back.
So he's a an adequate replacement, compliment, whatever. But I'm
really excited to see them all together. It looks like
that they's gonna be how they drew it up in camp. Yeah,
(01:25):
this is uh just short of amazing to me. I
was impressed enough when Fitzpatrick showed up on Sunday for
the Saints game. Right he was on the sideline, he
was in the locker room, he was engaged with his teammates.
A bunch of the dvs were talking about that after
the Steelers twenty to ten victory and how much they
appreciated that making. Fitzpatrick met the media briefly after practice
(01:46):
today and explained that he was basically feeling poorly on
Thursday night and didn't feel great on Friday, but he
got through practice front fine, got through the walk through
on Saturday, and as he put it, couldn't go to
the bathroom. Okay, So he talked to the trainers and
they gave him something to ensure that he would go
to the bathroom. He did and still didn't feel right,
(02:09):
so they had him get a scan, and they did
the scan, and as Minka put it, twenty minutes later,
I was on the operating table. Wow, it's pretty good service.
I don't know you and I get that service. But
but then he was at Accresser Stadium on Sunday and Saturda.
He's been around this week and didn't practice on Wednesday,
(02:30):
but he practiced today. Both Fitzpatrick and defensive coordinator Tarrell Austin,
who also spoke to the media today as a part
of the much anticipated coordinator Thursday uh Terrell said, hey,
he'll wait until Sunday if he has to. Uh. As
Austin put it, I have no expectation, but as Mike
Tomlin would put it, the lightest being left on. Fitzpatrick said,
(02:53):
we'll see on Sunday. He's not ruling anything out. I'm
of the opinion you mentioned. You mentioned Monte Casey coming
back last Sunday against the Saints. He hadn't played all
season because the injury he suffered in the preseason. I
think it was the Seattle game they wouldn't be having
make a participate fully if they didn't think there was
a shot, because CAZy needs the reps with the first team.
(03:16):
It's not like he's been doing this all along. Absolutely,
I mean, he's kind of new to the defense. He's
been sitting in safety defensive back rooms, and I'm sure
he knows all that part, and he's a veteran and
he's a good player. But right, I mean, I gotta think.
I mean, it's total hunch Thursday night, but it seems
like it's trending the right direction that you see make
a kickoff, which is amazing. I am with you. Other
(03:38):
notable developments from today on the south side, Noahkello Witherspoon
again hamstring didn't work for the second consecutive day. Marcus
Allen getting over illness, was a full participant. Devin Bush
a full participant. They're kind of monitoring his knee a
little bit. Saying with Kevin Dotson hip. Both of those
guys didn't work Wednesday, full work today. A um is
(04:02):
Withers been the only one that might not go of
that list. Looks like, yeah, Larry ogen Job went from
did not practice too limited as Dotson did that was
kind of how those guys progressed last week. So tomorrow
big day, as it always is. But uh, we shall see.
They got t J. Watt back last Sunday and they
might get making Fitzpatrick back this Sunday. It would be
(04:23):
the first time that they have t J. Watt, make
of Fitzpatrick and Demonte Casey all available to the defense
on the same day. How they drew it up when
they built the team, you know, and it's anty rare
round Thanksgiving to have that real quick question on the
injury report. I mentioned Witherspoon. Is he still a starter?
Like if he come, does he? I don't think so.
I don't know that that's ever been clear to me.
(04:43):
You know. You know, he got benched at halftime in
the Philadelphia game, and uh, he said after the game,
I'm I'm I was healthy enough to play. I didn't
play well, I didn't make the plays on the ball.
It wasn't the injury thing. And he hasn't played since
and they've been listing him as handstring. Yeah, so, uh,
maybe a little calm Ay and a little calm by,
but I think he's at the back of the line now. Yeah,
(05:05):
I don't think he plugs right in and as I
think it's Wallace and Sutton and Millette as Uh the
slot guy. We saw Terrell Edmunds play some slot in
recent weeks. And now you can hold up on the
outside too. And now if you get k z Uh
as part of your sub package, or maybe he starts,
and maybe Mincas the third down guy who knows, but
(05:26):
she apparently have some options. Bengals development in Cincinnati, DJ
reader Uh the massive run stopping into your defensive line.
And he's been on I R. But he began practicing
this week. Now they don't have to list him, they
don't have to activate him. Well, they gotta activate activate him,
but that doesn't mean yes by Saturday and I think
(05:46):
three o'clock. But he doesn't have to be listed under report,
so he's not. But the expectation both in the Steelers
offensive line room here and in Cincinnati from the people
I talked to. Their people think he's gonna play. That's
a big deal. I mean, he's not as well known
as some of the top defensive tackles in the league
because he wasn't drafted in the top ten. He's a
(06:07):
phenomenal player and he's he's a modern day knows that
is phenomenal against the run. Their defensive numbers are night
and day. Not to the what level, but their night
and day within Without him, he's gonna demand a double team.
He can push the pocket. He's a really good player. No,
Jamaar Chase hip h doesn't look like he's gonna go
(06:27):
your guy. Dax Hills Shoulder was also did not participate
for the Bengals today. Uh. Their secondary is a little
not great. I mean not we're not great right now.
Whosi's out of the year. Yeah. And the other corner
um that's been filling in, Uh, Taylor britt Uh, he's
another rookie. He's a rookie. What third rounder? Yeah? Hill
(06:48):
was the first. I think he was a second rounder,
late second because they were the Super Bowl runner up,
so he was at the very end of round two.
Um sort of a safety corner hybrid, bigger guy, but
can pick on him. And you and I were talking
off the air, Eli, Apple's nothing right home about I
think they're outside corners, not necessarily Hilton. It could be
in for a long day against Pickings and Deonte And
(07:11):
I thought those guys roasted the Saints corners too. Yeah,
Cam Taylor Britt was the second round pick out of Nebraska. UM,
he's been filling in for a Woozier Mike Hilton, the
slot guys coming off a pinky surgery who looks like
he's gonna be good to go. But yeah, not exactly
any lockdown corner or coverage candidates between Hilton Apple and
(07:32):
Taylor Britt right and the Woozier was having a really
good year. It's kind of like it's kind of like
last week where your top corners out. The other guys
were guys who pick on when your top corners out.
Now you can pick on two of them. You know
you got Dax Hilla wanted to get back to him shoulder.
Uh he's only played uh nine games. He's played in
all nine games, but he's only played eight percent of
the defensive saves. His snap counts very low. Really surprised
(07:54):
by that. Yeah, I thought, I mean us the first
round pick on the defensive back. Usually they're plug and play,
and I don't know what the hang up is. Von
Bell and Bates have I don't think they've missed a
snap basically, I mean, and they're a really good tandem.
But what I loved about Hill is he could play slot,
he's athletic enough to play outside corner. You would think
(08:16):
you'd have like a safety cover like a corner, Yeah, right,
right right. I mean you'd think you'd have a three
safety package in mind from day one. I mean as
opposed to he's probably be Bates his replacement next year
when he when he probably is. Yeah, I thought we'd
see a lot more of him in the Opena than
we did. He only played a handful of place then
I think five snaps, and it's kind of gone that
way for him. Maybe he's a Michigan guy. Maybe he's
(08:38):
having a hard time picking it up. Yeah, Mike, you
might might be a little challenged that way. What to
expect is brought to you by Brian Patton and associates.
It's all about the benefits. And man, I don't have
a great feel for this game other than I expect
typical a f C North football. I think these games
are usually tugs of war, slogs, uh physical, everybody knows
(09:01):
everything about everybody and uh low scoring him close. That
that's my expectation. I can't get a whole lot more
detailed than that. Yeah, And that's the Steelers formula, you know.
I mean, I don't think either one of us thinks
they are the Steelers all of a sudden gonna put
up thirty or forty points. Um. But it's a quality
defense or playing against some oddities. I don't think it's
(09:22):
an anomaly. But the Bengals are oh and three in
the division so far, and one of them is against
the Steelers, of course, and we saw the Browns beat
up on them pretty good. But their offensive production in
in the a f C North games versus the other
ones is like fifteen points difference. Like I kind of
feel like the division has a beat on these guys,
(09:43):
you know, Like Dane and I were talking about on
the Drive today. If you watch Week one, there's that
back to back play when t J. Watt almost takes
the handoff and then basically decapitates mix In and then
the next play he gets a picks the ball off
at the line of scrimmage, like I think he The
divisional teams are understanding some of the Bengals tells, you know,
(10:04):
and they're a little bit predictable. Twenty Steelers, of course,
in the regular season opener on September the eleventh, that
game went to overtime because the Bengals missed an extra
point that would have won the game for them after
their long snapper got hurt. And uh, that guy is
still out by the way. Uh, apparently they've replaced him.
(10:25):
Clark hallis Clark Harris excuse me? Uh was the guy
he got hurt and starting in week two the kid
from pitt cal Auta Midas Uh is the new long snapper.
They have not had any issues since they went to him.
But those other division games, uh that you referenced. The
Bengals lost nineteen to seventeen at Baltimore in late September.
(10:50):
Again not a lot of explosions there, and thirty two
to thirteen to the Browns a couple of weeks ago.
After that lost to Cleveland, Cincinnati played Carolina on November
the sixth, then had to buy this past weekend and
the Panthers. In that Panthers game, the Bengals had more
points thirty five in the first half than the Panthers
(11:12):
had yards two. I remember reading that after. I don't
know if I've ever seen that happens. Yeah, but I
think the division thing is real, and you know, we've
seen a lot of games where we thought the Steelers
were gonna roll over the recent years, and they did not,
and they have got beater. It was a struggle, uh,
you know, Cleveland place, Pittsburgh tough, Cleveland Place, Baltimore tough,
Baltimore placed, Cincinnati tough. You know, around it goes. It's
(11:35):
just one of those divisions. And I think that plays
a little bit in the Steeler's hands too, because if
you are the lesser team, you want to dumb it down,
drag them down to your level, exactly, muck and grinding
up a little bit, and no doubt. And I'm not
implying the Steelers are gonna sweep the table and go
to the playoffs or anything, but pretty much all their
difficult games starting this week ahead of them our division games.
(11:58):
And I think that's a better situation because you could
do damage your division and just just the knowledge. I mean,
I bet Raven Steelers is gonna come down to the
field goal. I mean it just kind of always does,
you know. Speaking of which, Danny Smith, the Special team's coordinator,
actually spoke today as well. He is a very infrequent
participant in coordinator Thursday festivities, but we talked at length
(12:22):
about Matthew Wright the kicker that they brought into a place,
Chris Boswell, who's on the reserve injured list right went
two for four against New Orleans, missing from thirty nine
and forty eight yards and hitting a couple of thirty
three yarders, and Danny Smith expressed great faith in Matthew
Wright said he trusts him. He's a good player who
had a bad game. Now one bad kick. I mean
(12:46):
he missed a long one barely. I mean the one
was ugly. You know, they don't have a lot of
choice because, uh, having taken him off the Chiefs practice squad,
he has to spend three weeks on the fifty three
man roster. Now you could, you know, theory go get
another kicker and just not dress them. But they're not
gonna do that because they're thin enough already. Uh, Smith,
(13:07):
get them. You know. He was four for four for
the Steelers on field goals in in I think twenty
four for Jacksonville the next year, and then three for
four for the Chiefs this year, including a fifty nine
yard And Danny talked about hey that you know snap
hold kick. Yeah, a guy can snap, a guy can hold,
and a guy can kick. But they all have to
(13:28):
be able to do it together. And Uh. He again
was adamant that they think Matthew Royd will be just fine.
I asked him about what he thought, rights, you know,
the line of demarcation is in terms of how long
he could make a kick, and Danny Smith basically said, well,
I don't want to tell you that, but I will
tell you things are very fluid in a game. Uh.
(13:51):
You know, you might not try a fifty nine yard
that was the length he used at the end of
the first drive of the game. But if there's two
seconds left and you're down too, you're gonna try. And
kickoffs depend on whether you want to pooch it or
not and how good the other team's return is. He said, basical,
there's a lot of factors that go into this, but
they think they're okay at kicker. Um. The Bengals, Matt,
(14:13):
we don't do think Bobs will be back this year though,
right you think this is probably another three or four weeks. Uh,
have no information on that one way or the other.
But no Jamaar Chase for the Bengals. That that's huge
for them. But just two games the Browns game they
lost in Carolina, they didn't need them. I don't know
that we know what this team looks like yet without them,
(14:34):
other than they leaned on Joe mix and they did
and sort of like the Steelers. Just this isn't what
you ask and I'll just that in a minute, but
sort of like the Steelers, They've had one really really
good game on the ground and it happens to be
their most recent one. You know, So are they turning
the corner? Is this the start of a good run
of running or do we look back at the end
(14:55):
of the season we remember that game in the middle
of year when they actually ran the ball, you know, like,
because Mixing is not had a great year, the line
is not rebuilt. I can promise you that. And in
in what we do know about the Bengals, yeah, we
thought that the opener was just well, they hadn't played
together in the preseason, and I think that was a
part of it. But it hasn't got much better. Um.
They and the Rams are by far the teams that
(15:17):
use eleven personnel the most, three receivers, a tight end,
and a running back. But I bet they won't because
how do you get t J blocked and you don't
have jamar Ches, so you're kind of making them play
left handed, and I bet you see a lot more
two tight end sets, Joe Mixing. Uh five total touchdowns
against Carolina four rushing four is d al Bundy. Yeah,
(15:41):
five touchdowns. We'd like to call that the Kenneth Walker.
The third around here a lot more to get to,
uh so keep it here. In addition to naming numbers
of touchdowns, we will welcome Merrill Hodge, who knows a
little bit about scoring touchdowns and all other things Steelers
and NFL. Merrill Joy, it's us on the other side
(16:02):
of the break. Steelers Preview on DV is brought to
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With Matt Williamson on Mike Pursuita. You're listening to Steelers
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(16:24):
presented by Univet on dv E. Welcome back to the
Preview Mike Pursuita and Matt Williamson with you tonight until
eight o'clock getting ready for the Steelers and the Cincinnati
Bengals this Sunday. The Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank reminds
you to sack hunger, get food, volunteer or donate at
Pittsburgh Food Bank dot org. Time now to welcome the
(16:46):
third member of our team to the show, Meryl Hodge,
joining us and Meryl I wanted to put down the
chalk and stop diagram and X s and os at
the outset here tonight and talk a little intangibles with you,
because what we saw at Akasher Stadium last Sunday was
the return of a very special player, t J. Watt.
And Uh he brought down the thunder when the defense
(17:09):
was introduced one by one and he ran out of
the tunnel. He made a couple of plays on the
first two snaps for the Saints. He was engaging with
the crowd. Seemed like everybody was inspired. Tarrell Auston, a
defensive coordinator, said today even he was clapping when he
saw t J. Watt run out of the tunnel. Uh,
there are guys, I guess that that just take everybody up.
(17:31):
And Austin mentioned from his Baltimore days, Ed Reid and
uh ray lewis Uh. I mean, I know what t
J has done over his career, but I guess maybe
when I'm this close to it, maybe don't appreciate it
as much as I should. Um. I guess what I
wanted to ask you first was is that kind of
(17:52):
effect real in the NFL? Uh? In a league of
highly paid, highly skilled professionals. Can a group of men
be impressed and inspired by a special man? Well, there's
no doubt with one certainty. You know. I always say that,
you know, one guy does not make a defense, but
one guy can make a big difference. Um. And that
(18:14):
goes for offense and defense and even special teams. And
he's um, he's that type of player. Now what I
appreciate about him, Um, it's really not um the sacks,
the destructions that he he creates, even though those are
a lot, and those are consistent, but he plays all
the other elements of the game fundamentally sound. You know,
(18:37):
Like when he was responsible for contain and he's got
to hold up the edge and not give contain, he
does that. He forces the back the other way. Um. Um,
when he's supposed to hit a gap and you know,
disrupt and get penetration best he can to force the
back or force the runner to the to the free defenders.
He does that, you know, he does all of these
(18:59):
things that you um that count, that ultimately count, you know,
Like I think the sack is the most overrated statistic
and the most hyped up non true football playing um statistic.
That's capless. If you get says okay that that would
(19:19):
you would consider that guy good football player, right, record
setting football player, right, And so you're like, but in reality,
that's twenty sacks out of some plays. What's he doing
on the other, you know, seventeen eighty you know throughout
the year? You know, good math? What's that good math?
(19:43):
On the fly there? Yeah, well I was trying to
use normals, like my first grade math would stay with me,
you know, So I was I did the test that
had the answer. So that's why I was able to
do that. You know, I'm just I was trying to calculate,
you know, roughly, and you see how many players and
now you won't play that many plays this year because
he missed he missed games. But you know, on average,
(20:06):
you know, throughout the year, you can play around that
that many plays, you know. Um, But even if you
use round numbers instead of thousands, you know, and you
have twenty sacks, what are you doing on the other
nine does matter? You know? Um? Um? Unless those twenty
sacks were the absolutely decision making factor in confirming a win,
(20:28):
you know. Um, It's just it's an overrated one to evaluate,
to say you're a good football player, is what I'm
getting at. You know, you sacked the quarterback. That's all
that means. You sacked the quarterback twenty times. You did
a good time job twenty times. But what are you
doing the rest of the time. And the rest of
the time he's equivalent to those twenty sacks and how
(20:50):
he plays, And that's what I think, well, I do
not think. I know that's what people appreciate, you know,
when you go in to film room on Monday and
none of us are there with him, it's true, and
I played. You just start watching all the little things
people do and players do. Those those those ones that
give everything that I'll use a Chuck Nol term. You know,
(21:11):
they're they're on common and I don't do the minimum,
They do the maximum, And he does the maximum in
every aspect of the game. You know, when we when
he's getting double, he fights through that double team continues
to fight on. I can't tell how many times I've
seen shoe Seattle. I think it was the Seattle game
last year. He's stripp and sacked at the end, um
(21:33):
n the game and he was being doubled the whole time,
you know, um, but it never gave up. You know,
those are so those type of plays that are lost
in it. But why you just mentioned all those people
are clapping because I can see why your coordinators stopped.
I'll be clapping too. I'm about I'm just about me
become a better coach nineties walking out on the football
(21:57):
field and and you know, um, I think Mike you
mentioned ago, you get around it and maybe you don't
appreciate it. Sometimes these injuries are you know, I would
be a better way to get Yeah. But now now
that he's been away, you know, it's just like Ben.
You know, for two years, everybody's like, oh man, you
(22:17):
know it's Ben, it's Ben. It's Ben Well and Ben
leaves and is like a wait a minute, which it
was never been. But honestly, he kept you in. He
kept you in everything, quite honestly, you know, without him,
you might not even have a winning record. Um. Now,
and then he's gone, You're like, oh wow, you know
so um and then you could tell I mean he's
(22:40):
he's got great energy too, you know. And and people
resonate with that. Fans resonate with that, and teammates resonate
with that. So he did make a big difference and
he'll continue to do that as long as he's playing. Um.
So they're lucky to have him. So it looks as
though we may have another guy coming back from an
(23:01):
appendix situation unexpected and could you could bring us some
more energy to a defense and really the defense is
currently constructed if that's true how they drew it up
in training camp. I mean, if Minka's back, do you
expect to see a lot or a fair amount of
big Nickel or maybe him near the line of scrimmage
blitzing slot because KZ can handle some stuff. Sure, Um, well,
(23:27):
I okay this you know, in the last four or
five weeks. You know what what probably has gone unnoticed
is they've done they've been really creative in the back end,
you know, and done that with guys that just came aboard,
you know. So when you have guys that clearly know
what they're doing. Um, you know they're probably doing some
more flexibility with how you go about defending. And it's
(23:47):
a divisional opponent. So that I think is one of
the most pivotal challenges for coaches is you know each
other so well. It isn't like you can be a
complete new offense and complete new defense. You have to
find different wrinkles. Those drinkles happen to have to happen, well,
you know in critical moments. You know it's not the
first and ten of games. You know it's the third
(24:08):
and six. You know, the third and two, um down
in you know, scoring territory in his first down intend
you know those those type of moments where um, you're
going to decide to gain So um That's where I
think when you're planning a divisual opponent, you as as
a staff have to be creative and you have to
self evaluate and make sure you don't fall into the
(24:32):
same tendency so they can take advantage of it, um
and take you know, build on your tendencies. You know
they've been seeing you do a all year long. You
did it last time, Well, now you gotta you gotta
come up with b so Um, they've done that, you know.
They did that well against the Bucks. I did really
a good job against Miami. Um, trying to think of
a couple of the games. But they've done that, you know,
(24:53):
and they and they have that creativity. I think it's
a staff. They've done a really good job of of
matching up, been doing the type of things that you
need to do based on your opponent. You know this,
this opponent has a lot of options, you know, in
the receiving department, and they're on the football a little better,
which always makes a team dangers when that's happening is
(25:14):
when you when you're doing that. So I'm not to
be at their best, you know, because they're not going
to get as lucky as they did in the first matchup,
all the turnovers more than like that just doesn't happen
the second go around, So you know, more likely if
it's a clean game and you're gonna have to play
your best football. But if they play like they did
against the Saints, and they're absolutely analysts, I would say
(25:35):
there's one line that matters in football, and it's the
line of scrimmage and what side do you play on
you know, defense, you're playing on the other side, you've
got a good chance of of of controlling your opponent.
If the offense plays on the other side of the
line of scrimmage, they've got a good chance of controling
the game. And that's what they did against the Saints.
(25:56):
When you failed to do that, hard to win the NFL.
So um, since they've done it, you know, and they
really did well get the Saints. They really did some
things the Taysom Hill package. I've watched them all year
at the Saint so they've been I mean the power,
oh on the counter. When they do run the football,
then they do a good job. Very few I haven't
seen anybody stop. I can't get back the Bengals actually,
(26:20):
did you know, they really attacked their RPO with Taysom
Hill and destroyed that um and that was one of
the things that helped him win the game. Well, the
Steelers would not let them get that package going. Yeah,
that's interesting. You're interesting to bring that up because you
were talking about what always doing his assignment and being
where he was supposed to be. They ran a red
(26:42):
option with Taysom Hill and he gave it to Camara
and Camara actually ended up gaining fourteen yards, but what
just smashed Taysom Hill and cam Hayward brought that up
in the postgame talking uh to emphasize the point Heyward
was making that the Steelers played really good assignment football.
He said, even I played t J. Yeah, they got
(27:03):
a run out of it, but that gave me confidence.
We're gonna be in the right spot. We're gonna do
what we're supposed to do. And that's a pretty subtle thing,
but a big deal in then. Yeah, well it looks
at this those read options, and I like that they
have always felt the teams that will attack that and
not think about it conceptually. Okay, um, well, I'll go
(27:25):
back to what Chuck Mill said about, you know, making
a big run. He's like, you don't dance. You've got
time to dance, okay, and you're not a dancer. You know,
you've got to be decisive, even got to get to
the line's primmeger Okay, you've got to get the one
yard two yard when you can get there. That's how
the running game, that's how, that's just how precise the
National Football League is now. In a read option, you're
(27:48):
leaving an unblocked defender. Sometimes it's their best player because
he's on the end. Okay, in this case would be
t J. Watt Um. I have never understood why defensively
you're okay with that and you make that guy sit
there and play along. She's like, I don't you know,
I mean, take it, take it, take it, but decide
(28:12):
where you're gonna go now, listen, I've seen different ways
of handling it. Like, you know, the path will usually
be to the quarterback to force the handoff, if you
know the kind of what you're trying to do defensity.
The others will be just gonna get the back, you know,
depending on what, who where you want the ball to be.
You know how comfortable you feel with your perimeter guys,
(28:32):
you know, you know, from a Lamark Jackson aspect, I
could clearly think you'd rather have it handed off, but
they maybe do such a good job up front. You
don't want that. You want him to run laterally first,
and you have a free defender in there. You know
it's Mika Lincoln's coming up. You know he's responsible before him,
you know, but the free defender takes the back, forces
(28:52):
forces him to keep it, pushes him lateral and now mink,
you gotta make the tackle and you know, obviously gotta
have pursuit to to help us. But I've just seen
I can't tell game plans. I've seen what that work
so well. But that's how the Bengals handled the SAT
So I played him a few weeks ago, and that
read option that they run with Tayson Hill. I mean
they keyed off on them. I mean they quit running it.
(29:13):
They have the first to quit running could run it.
And I was like, why don't this is bind boggling
with the defenses. Don't every defense doesn't do that makes
that play irrelevant? Merrill. The other narrative here this week
really started with Mike Tomlin after the game Sunday and
then again on Tuesday, and the offensive lineman have talked
(29:34):
about this with me a lot this week as well.
The Steelers think they got the double team thing figured
out in terms of how long to stay with the
double team so that it's effective, and when to break
off so that you can go get the linebacker at
the second level, and boy, it worked a couple of times.
Against New Orleans, Nagy Harris looked like Nagy Harris again.
(29:57):
All of a sudden. This could be potentially he's game
changing for the offense. Is a healthy defense could be
on that side of the ball, could it not? Well,
I told you that this game they control the line
scrimmage on both sides of the ball for the majority
of the game. Not all the time, but the majority,
And that nobody's gonna do it all the time. You know,
at the end of the day, you just you get
(30:18):
you have seventy snaps. You hope you win forty five
of them, okay, and forty five and got a good
chance to win your games. Um, they were outstanding up front. Um.
Not only did they work in unison and no when
to come off, but they got movement. You know that
that's some of the biggest problems. When you don't get
movement and you're sitting there fighting the defender. You know, um,
(30:40):
now you're back late. Now you're late. He has nowhere
where to run. Um. You know, timing things and seeing
things as one is why I think that group has
the hardest in all of football. Five guys have to
work as one, you know, and maybe six because you
throw a tight end in there, and they had people
on the ground, have people accounted for and they got
(31:02):
movement and they sustained blocks. That that's ultimately what you
gotta do. Making wall block is one thing. Sustaining it's another.
They did all of those shoot um pickens um. You know,
they put him inside. I don't know that he's probably
been closer to the formulation. I just haven't seen him
do it a lot. You know, he comes in and
you know, tattoos defensive end on one of the roads.
(31:23):
You know, I mean, you know, and you know I mean,
and that's what you need, you know. And I tell
you this, you guys have a blocking is about I'm
telling you what it is just being a willing participant. Okay,
most people aren't willing. Okay, this is honest, especially we're
talking about wide receivers. You know though some sprinkles, some
tight ends in there, even even backs. You know, there's
(31:44):
they don't want to get. Just your effort to be
committed to go get somebody is just not you've said
in the battle. You know, then there's some fundamentals and techniques,
guy you gotta apply. But you know, getting a guy
to just be willing to go do it is is
the biggest task. He looks like it will like you know,
he knocks people off the line of scrimmage all the time.
Now going down the box and taking on a defensive
(32:05):
band now, listen, he chips the defensive but nonetheless did
a great job. Got him on the ground. That's what
you need. That's what you ask you for. You're not
asking him to take him on one on one, you know,
head up, because that's a mismatch. Kind of stood over
him for a half second, sort of let the guy
know who did it. Yeah, you might want to reconsider
that because those guys remember that stuff. They looked you up.
(32:33):
I'm sorry, but I liked it. I liked it that
you know that you saw that, you know, and that
makes such a difference, you know, in the running game,
and you know, hopefully they see that. They go, you know, go,
you go and film and you get energized by that.
And here's what they've done for themselves. You've established you know,
your ability of your your standard lives. You can do this,
you know. Now, you just got to have it on
a consistent basis. So maryl this was the first game
(32:55):
without Chase Claypool and that opens up a lot of
snaps for if skill guy, did you like how they
handled that. I mean they used a lot of different
bodies there, but bigger bodies. Well I do you know,
And first of all, I think they have um, you know,
Chase cliff Will you know played in the slot area.
You know he did that, notre Dame, he played all over.
(33:17):
But you know, if you want to, if you really
think about it, Um, I can't think baby names name
right off the top of my heads escaping there right now.
But there you go. He's a true he's a true
slot guy. You know. He plays that slot very well.
And yeah, I think you really have good balance and
you have a lot of options, you know, and different
(33:38):
phases that you have players in your passing game. I'm short,
intermediate to vertical, and you can really stress the defense.
You know, schematically you do it right, you know, you
can stress on every play and um, you gotta tied
in the control Mills field and does a lot of
things for you. So from a skill position perspective, you
have a lot. You have the people in place, you know.
(34:00):
Now you just gotta get your your quarterbacks. He gets
more experience and get more confidence, he's gonna play better.
And listen, if they were in the ball like that,
I will tell you this any quote. Every quarterback loves that.
It makes it so much easier, and you play caller,
makes it so much easier. Let's it's found it easier
to be second in one second and five, third and two,
(34:21):
third and three than second and eight and third and eight,
second and ten and third and ten. And you like
the Saints worth you know, they're along the yard is
almost all the time because the defense you know, controlled
them so much by winning the line of screamings with
their running games. So, um, this actually this is gonna
be a very interesting game, you know, because the Bengals
have gotten a lot better in areas they needed to.
(34:43):
They're off the wine, and so have the Steelers. You know,
um jare more Chase. You know, I think there a
lot of people are wondering if he's gonna play. I
think you're gonna play. I don't know, you know that
guy's that guy's a problem gonna play this week? I
think you will. I think you will. I don't. I
haven't heard one way. I mean, I don't know he's
(35:04):
not practicing if that means anything, But I guess they
could probably throw him out there. You know, you know
I would say, yeah, he's just he's a he's one
of those difference makers, you know. Um, just it's hard
to have an answer for you know. So they've got
a great chemistry there. So if he doesn't play that
(35:25):
truly helpful, you know, less stress on your account. But
you can't go to sleep. So I'm gonna tell you.
They say they do have mean their receivers are. They're deep,
as deep as anybody in football. You know. So you
didn't like their their wounded now beyond repair, and you know,
don't don't think that way because they are not, and
they go back to the running games. Has gotten a
lot better too. They played brand the ball much better
(35:47):
in the last couple of weeks. Mary, last thing for you,
the point you made about the Steeler's offensive line and
having confidence in knowing what they're capable of. I thought
New Orleans a little banged up, mostly in the secondary,
a little bit upfront, but a pretty good front, pretty
comparable to the Bengals in your estimation. If you can
(36:08):
do it against Mario Davis and those guys the Saints
have in the trenches, you can ordinate those guys. You
can do it against DJ Reader and Jermaine Pratt and
Logan Wilson. Yeah, listen, you know when you think about it,
you know there's not much difference. You know, they're they're smidgeons.
(36:28):
You know, it's not like college or listening. Ye, out
of my eleven games, we're just better than the other guy,
because this is not that case. I mean, you watched
Monday night game in Philadelphia, undefeated Washington. You know they're
they're they're coming along behind a key. You know, he's
giving them an energy and you end up beating him.
This is they're all pros and clearly once you you
(36:53):
play the way you did against the Saints, that they
need a shot of confidence. You're I'm sure they've been
rap you know, because you know they have not played
well consistently at any point of the season. Tell that
same game. Now, this bangle front seven. They have some
ends and I just think they're they're a little better
at the front, but they're not so good that you
(37:14):
can't we can't run like we did last week, We
can't play like we did last week. You know that
has no bearing on how we play. You know they're
not that good. You know that that's the mindset you
already have to create and your and yourself. They're very good,
you know, but they are not. They are not better
than we are. And that they play the way they
played against Saint I'll tell you they did a great
(37:35):
job of getting They played fast too. I mean, I
can't I'm telling you can't telling the time players. I
just slowed down, like good gosh. These guys are just
smoking off the ball, you know, and they had them
on they had him on skates. You know, they got
to move into right away, whereas prior to that, you know,
it's almost like a hesitation at the snap, if that
makes any sense. There's hesitation and boy, first contact wins
(37:57):
and football that they were not having first contact. It
makes great sense, great sense, and it looked different, and uh,
I hope it stays that way. Meryl will do it
again next week before Thanksgiving as we get ready for
the Steelers in the Colt. Alright, go steel the Sank
Meryl Hodge. Here on Steelers Preview, you gear up with
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(38:20):
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other side of the break with Matt Williamson Mike pursuita.
(38:43):
You're listening to Steelers Preview right here on your Steelers
Flagship one or two point five d V. Back to
the Steelers Preview show presented by Uni bet on d V.
Welcome back, Mike suit and Matt Williamson with you until
eight o'clock tonight here on Steelers Preview on Steeler Flagship
one or two point five d V and s n R.
(39:03):
Against Chat is the Steelers predictive and trivia game. Answer
questions to make picks and win prizes. Play on your
own against Steeler Nation in our new pub public group,
or create your very own private group to compete against
family and friends. You can play against Chat exclusively in
the Steelers official mobile app. Matt the YenS Chat question
of the week this week t J Watt over or
(39:25):
under one and a half sacks Well in these last
seven home games, Mr Watt has fifteen sacks and didn't
have one last one. I'm going over at Leo Collins
is probably gonna be stuck on him alone from time
to time. That's problem. Um two is a big number,
but I'm going over. I'm gonna go under. I think
(39:47):
he gets one. I think they're gonna spend a great
deal of time and energy block on him, as the
Saints did. But I think he's gonna get the ball
out once because he was. He was hammering away even
on the runs. Uh. I think he's gonna force a
turnover and come up with a sex. So that's more
than one and a half. But Burrows getting the ball
of his hands very quick. It's not gonna win the question. Uh.
(40:09):
Kenny Pickett, we haven't talked about him until just now,
and I guess that's progress that there were some other
things to actually discuss. I looked at his performance Sunday
as well. He wasn't very accurate, but at least they
were trying to take some shots, and I've been waiting
for that for so long. I'm almost okay with them
missing as many times as they did. Uh, what say
(40:31):
you about the number eight? I was of all the
positive things that came out of that where I'm gonna
kind of end here on a down note because I
was not happy with the way he played. To be
very honest with you, when you watch the tape, Pickens
and Johnson consistently got the better of the Saints corners.
If you watched it on TV, you probably noticed there
(40:52):
was easily five or six throws he should have completed.
There's probably more he should have attempted. I'm with you.
I like the aggression. He's never made that. It's never
been a problem for him. He will attempt the throws.
Not all quarterbacks do. But what worried me most and
this it doesn't mean it's gonna be set for life,
is he was very frenetic in the pocket. They did
(41:15):
not rush the passer like a six sack defense. He
ran into sacks. Pay attention to his helmet and eye level.
He drops his eyes a lot, which means he's looking
at the rush and not receivers. And but I'm not
saying he should be tom Brady, but think of tom
Brady's calm helmet. I'll Pickett doesn't have a calm helmet,
(41:35):
and good thing he can run because that bailed him
out of a lot of bad pocket presence. Things, you know,
running into sacks, making life harder on his lineman, not
feeling the rush, the marinos and bradies that are in
mannings that aren't great athletes, short little steps within the pocket.
(41:56):
That's pocket presence. It's hard to be hard to have,
and he didn't show much of it. You know. That
bothered me a little bit as well. The one in
particular that really stood out to me was a goal
line play. It was the one in which Pat Fryerman
got called for an illegal formation because he wasn't up
on the line of scrimmage. But it was just it
was a seven man protection against the four man rush,
and he just got skittish back there and started running
(42:17):
around and it ended up as and then they ended
up trying to field goal um. One of the things
that uh lyman, don't know where you're at your back
is turned. You might run right into him and he's
gonna have to work on that. Steelers preview on DV
is brought to you by Uni Bet. The only thing
better than the Steelers win is a Steelers wind that
paced doubled down on your team with Univet, proud partner
of the Pittsburgh Steelers. That's gonna do it for us tonight.
(42:41):
We won't be coming at you next Thursday night because
that's Thanksgiving, but we will be on the air soon
as I found out exactly when that's gonna be. We'll
pass that along via Twitter and some other social media
outlets until then. For Merrill Hodge and Matt Williamson, for
I U Jake behind the glass key put us on
the air, Mike Pursuita, thanks for finding us wherever and
(43:03):
however you found us. You have been listening to Steelers
Preview right here on your Steelers flagship one or two
point five TV. Goodnight everyone,
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