Week 13 vs. Ravens

Mike Prisuta and Matt Williamson preview the Ravens and Steelers matchup this Sunday at Heinz. The duo is joined by Merril Hoge as always.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is the Steelers Preview Show, presented by Univet on
w d V Pittsburgh. Here your hosts, Mike Pursuita and
Matt Williamson. It's good evening and welcome to the Preview.
Mike Pursuita along with Matt Williamson getting ready for the
Steelers in the Ravens Sunday at Hines Field. Merril Hodge
will be joining us as always, and we've got an

(00:21):
interesting topic lined up to break down with Meryl, specifically
how to stop Lamar Jackson. We could probably spend a
lot of time, Matt war more than an hour, but uh,
maybe there's a blueprint for at least containing him. Maybe
maybe I'm excited to have that chat with Maryland. There's
been some success lately, and we know Lamar has also

(00:42):
fought some illness and whatnot. He played a very rocky
game against the Browns past week and was kind of,
I don't say kind of embarrassed by his performance. But
then he also makes some unbelievable plays in the game too,
and the Ravens win as usual, and it's been a
crazy year for Baltimore. Yeah, Steelers can relate to the problem.

(01:04):
Is there five five and one and the Ravens are
eight and three. Let's start the show as we always do,
by updating everyone on the practice slash participation reports for
both teams. Ben Roethlisberger back to full go today for
the Steelers. He did not work yesterday. Peck slash shoulder.

(01:25):
Chase Claypool upgraded from limited to full with the toe.
That's kind of managing going on there. He's had that
for a while. That must be why he falls down
all the time. Are important. Arthur Millette showed up with
a quad as it did not practice. That's a little
concerning because he's the nickelback and dun is a pretty

(01:47):
good slot and you know they and if Hayton I'm
sure we'll get the Hayden here in a minute two.
I mean, if you're down two corners, you know, it
doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that you're
gonna move some things around. Yeah, and uh, if if
Malette can't go at corner at slot, excuse me, you
would think Trey Norwood would be in line. I would

(02:07):
think to take that over. And the last time Trey
Norwood played a lot, he didn't play hardly at all.
The next game, right, I guess enough set on that one,
I mean, the one thing. If Hayden does play, could
you see Sutton go to this lot? Well hold that thought,
because Hayden did not participant a second consecutive day, Zach

(02:30):
Banner illness second consecutive day didn't work so much for
tweaking the offensive line. I guess, I guess, I mean,
I still wouldn't mind some some six offensive line sets
here and there are more than two or three game
and uh Tynan and Pat fryarm with a full go
for the second consecutive day. He's trying to work his
way back out of the concussion protocol. Seems to be

(02:51):
making great strides in that direction. Isaiah Buggs also, in
addition today ankle limited. He was a healthy scratch Sunday
in Cincinnati, So yeah, he seems to be in the
doghouse and now a little bit injury on top of that.
And um Montevis Adams, it looks like he's quickly thrown
into the mix after getting picked up. Um you didn't

(03:11):
mention what or Haig? They're COVID guys. I mean, we
know Haig won't be there, right, and you know who
knows about what. Yeah, he just went on it today. Butler,
the defensive coordinator today said he is hoping what can play,
but planning on what not playing. That makes perfect I
thought that was revealing. Ravens have a long laundry list

(03:33):
of concerns as well. That's been the case for them
all year. I'll give you the highlights. Quarterback Anthony Averett
uh limited today. He didn't work yesterday's shoulder ankle. They've
had a lot of injuries at corner. He's one of
the filling guys. Tight End Nick Boyle didn't work for
the second consecutive day. He played ten snaps against Cleveland
last Sunday. Boil is a good tight end. He's a good, solid,

(03:55):
two way type guy who's coming off of a couple
of knee surgeries and they're just trying to get him
to the fish line load management they call it in
the NBA, not playing a ton. Center Bradley Bozeman and
defensive tackle Calais Campbell both full go. Marlon Humphrey, the
outstanding cornerback Illness, didn't practice. Outside linebacker Daffi o a

(04:18):
shoulder didn't work today. That's a new addition to the
Baltimore list. Also, Fullbackpatrick Ricard foot thigh did not work
for the second consecutive day. Some good news for Baltimore
quarterback Jimmy Smith a full participant. He did not play
last Sunday against Cleveland, but they could use any help
they can get in the secondary. Yeah. Secondary is interesting
because the way they drew this team up is we're

(04:42):
gonna spend at corner. We're gonna play a lot of
man coverage, we're gonna play six defensive backs. We're gonna
go four deep at corner, so injuries don't kill us,
and we're gonna blitz like crazy. Well, the Marcus Peters
Peter's injury early, you know, in the process that was
preseason or trading camp or whenever that happened before the
season even started, really hurt them. I mean that really

(05:05):
hurt that whole philosophy. And Jimmy Smith would have been
the third guy. He's missed a ton of time. You
mentioned Averitt, who is coming, Who's who is on the
injury report this week? He's been Waldo, you know, I mean,
where's Waldo? Let's find Averit and pick on him and
throw his direction time and time again. And if he's

(05:26):
not in. I don't know who's behind him, but it
can't be all that great if they can't beat out
aver It because he has been targeted over and over
in this team. I know they're eight and three, and
I'm sure we'll have a lot of this discussion in
the next hour. They have holes, and one of them
is just downfield coverage. I mean, they've allowed a lot
of big plays. Aver It has been victimized there a lot,

(05:47):
and again they're just not Some injuries hit him hard
and it's changing how they have to play. They are
the thirty second past defense about you know why. The
two reasons, well, there's only thirty two. There aren't thirty
three teams. And nobody runs on them though either, you know.
I mean for logical reasons. They're great against the run
and they see very little runs. I mean, the run

(06:10):
pass percentage against them is the lowest run percentage in
the league, partially because the passing game is very fruitful
for the throwing on against the Ravens. Right now, Ravens
are eight and three, But I wanted to start off tonight.
I know Steelers fans are probably still reeling after what
they saw in Cincinnati on Sunday and it it probably

(06:31):
doesn't look like the sky is falling. It probably looks
like the sky and fell right on top of everybody's head.
And uh, you know you heard Cam Heyward after the
game Sunday saying, if we keep playing like this, we're
not gonna win another game. He's right, very real possitive
based on how things looked in Cincinnati. But the Ravens
at eight and three are not the eighty five Bears.

(06:53):
The analogy I've been making is the Ravens this year
are the eleven and those Steelers last year where they
kept finding a way getting by, things kept falling their way,
and you kept wondering booking to keep this up. Because
I'm not overly impressed. I don't say smoking mirrors because

(07:14):
that sells these guys a little short. I mean, there
certainly is an art to winning close games in the NFL.
And if you have a coach like Tomlin Harbough Belichick
read that have been around the block many times and
know how to win those tight games, certainly that's an advantage.
If you have an unbelievable playmaker and a former m

(07:35):
v P like Lamar, certainly an advantage. If you're great
on special teams that Baltimore always always is, and have
the best kicker in the history of the world. That's
certainly helpful. But you can't tell me that they're not
lucky too this year. I mean, they've gotten bounces at
the absolute right time. The Detroit games a perfect example.
I mean, your nation lost their mind because the Steelers

(07:57):
tied to Lions. Real. I mean rarely do I say
this team should have won, but they didn't. The Ravens
should have lost in Detroit. The clock runs out and
Tucker hits a sixty six yard or that if it's
two inches shorter doesn't go in, you know, like it's
as close as you get, and they end up escaping
with a tie, not a win, not a loss. And

(08:20):
that They've had a lot of those this year, and
more power to them, but they're not quite as good
as their record. Yeah, here's here's some of the other ones.
And that, uh that nineteen seventeen went over the lines
in week three. Yeah, there was the blown delay game
and the sixty six yard or off the cross bar
and over. Prior to that, there was a fourth and
nineteen at the Baltimore sixteen yard line with twenty six

(08:41):
seconds left in regulation, they hit a thirty six yard
pass the Sammy Watkins, and that's that's the kick the figgle.
The week before, the Ravens had trailed the Chiefs by
eleven in the third quarter, thirty five to twenty four.
They rallied to win thirty six to thirty five, and
they caused the fumble on Edwards Hilaire like on the

(09:02):
last as as Kansas City is closed out the game,
that ball pops out and they fall on it and
they win. Against Indianapolis, Baltimore is down twenty two to
three in the third quarter, when's it thirty one to five?
In overtime? Against Minnesota? Baltimore's down twenty four to ten
in the third quarter, when's it thirty four to thirty
one in overtime? At Chicago, Ravens did not have Lamar

(09:27):
Jackson trail the Bears thirteen to nine with one minute
and forty one seconds left in the game one at
sixteen to thirteen. That's five games, man, from eight and
three to three and eight. And I know you're not
the biggest analytics believer in the world, and it's up
my alley, but I mean, you look at the hits

(09:49):
the last twenty years the history of the game. When
you start looking at one score game, seven points are
less generally speaking, it all evens out, and you're pretty
much fifty fifty over the Belichick era, they were a
little above fifty fifty. Russell Wilson's a little above fifty fifty.
The Steelers with Ben are a little over. But none

(10:10):
of them get that, like, well, these guys are hitting
a hundred right now, and they're hitting a thousand, like
it's bound to come back to the meat. You're absolutely right.
I'm not the biggest analytics guy, but I get where
you're coming from. It's almost hidden vigorous that you know.
They're eight and three, and I'm certainly not going to

(10:31):
criticize them for being eight and three. No, there's an
art to winning those games. Claud them for doing it
as as resourcefully as they have, but I'm also not
going to expect them to keep winning at that pace. No,
I don't look at them and say, Wow, they're the
best team in the division or they're one of the
best teams in the league. Frankly, I think Cincinnati is
a better football team than them right now, and it's

(10:51):
playing better than them right now. Um, but they're formidable.
I mean, clearly, it sounds like we're sitting here cutting
on the Ravens. Well, they're playing a lot better than Dealers. Yeah,
and I think I think the big issues you mentioned
that they're very hard to run against. So even if
you're getting thrown on, being able to stop the run,
the kicker can kick it coming off the bus. It's

(11:14):
unbelievable they crossed the fifty yard line. They're got a
good points right, and then a weapon. Then there's the
Lamar Jackson factor. And I know he hasn't thrown the
ball that well of late. I thought he was better
earlier in the year than he is now. Four interceptions
against the Browns, and yet he makes two or three
plays a game that I don't think anybody else in
the league can make, right And frankly, he hasn't been

(11:34):
on his game, but I bet he plays better in
this one than he did against Cleveland. I mean that
was kind of an anomaly to me in terms of
his passing, his decision making, forcing the ball to Andrews
at times, and he can ally he always has the
trump card, though he always has the joker up his sleeve,
the ace up your sleeve, that I can improve her,
I can out athlete you. And he sees the game

(11:56):
extremely well. He's very special. I mean, with all respect
actor Michael Vick, who I remember in his prime, he's
not the Lamar is better. I mean, he's just different.
He's harder to play against than all those guys. He uh,
he's he's throwing his share picks, not just saying that.
He lost two fumbles in that overtime loss at the
Raiders that started the season. For they take a lot

(12:17):
of sacks to a lot of negative plays on offense,
didn't get the sack, but these guys will go for
it on fourth down. And when they do a lot
of times they put in Lamar's hands and just say,
make a play, get us the yard, we need, get
us to two yards. We need to figure it out,
and he usually does. And if they're making it up
as they go along, it makes a little tougher the scheme,
doesn't it. I mean, he certainly does. I mean a

(12:38):
lot of things are off script, but it's not like
he's bad on script most of the time. Again, this
past week was a little bit of a anomaly, and
he guess he was coming off a very serious illness too.
It wasn't COVID, but that's why he missed the Bears game. Um,
they're well coached. I mean, I think the passing game
has come along. Marky's Brown and Andrews are formidable. Bateman

(12:59):
is gonna be a good player. Um, you don't think
about that with this team. But they're they're throwing the
ball a much higher percentage than they did in other
Lamar years, you know. I mean, they're they're trying to
expand what they do offensively and for the most parts working.
Since he's completed sixty four point two percent of his
passes twelve picks to go along with fifteen TVs, which

(13:20):
is not great. But then you factor in that the's
a rushed for seven hundred seven yards by far the
Ravens leading rusher more than two to one over DeVonta Freeman,
who's the number two restaurant the team. And I think
Lamar is like the fifth leading rushuran the league, the
number one running It's weird. You're not supposed to be
able to win with a quarterback driven running game, and

(13:41):
they are. The Ravens are winning. Jackson's Ratings only eighty
seven point five. Well that's well done. That's lower than
Ben Roethlis. Yeah, the last couple of weeks have not
helped him. I'm especially this past week. I'm sure kind
of de values passer rating while I sit here and
think about, say, passer rating to me is not my
favorite status at guys who right exactly? And one thing

(14:05):
that has They had a lot of big plays and
a lot of deep passing early in the season. They
have not been as successful with that lately. They do
have some disturbing trends from a Ravens perspective over the
last couple of weeks, I mean, not putting up a
ton of points, turn the ball over too much, things
like that. But I also expect this team to get

(14:25):
it right. I mean I mentioned it's a good, strong organization,
coaching staff. Everyone listening knows that. But I'm sure that
they are self scouting to no end two and going
to get things right. And I think Lamar wasn't particularly
healthy last week, coming back off of a major illness.
We talked on this show last week about Mike Tomlin
shoving all the chips into the middle of the table

(14:46):
and basically saying you gotta win this game or else. Well,
what does or else look like? One Steelers? I don't
think it's pretty. I mean, in a way, their upcoming
schedule to me is a blessing because they need to
hand losses to those teams up on the schedules, you know.

(15:06):
So maybe you get wiped out because they're good teams,
well then you didn't deserve to be there anyway. But
if you can hand out some losses to these opponents,
you can keep your head above water. But I mean,
like Cam Hayward said, though, if they play anything close
to like what we saw in Cincinnati, they're not beat
anybody little in the Ravens, although I'm with you on
the schedule, you still have the Ravens twice and the

(15:27):
Browns once right out of your final six. That's what
you want. If you can get those three somehow, then
you're in it. Then you're you're in a factor in
the division. Now the other ones. What's Minnesota gonna look
like without Dalvin Cook? Right? A short week on the
road too, and write what's Tennessee? Is Tennessee starting to
start the inevitable descent without Derrick Henry without question? And

(15:49):
then you know, Kansas City probably won't have anything wrapped
up by the time the Steelers have to go there,
but but they're figuring things out. I don't like the
stealose chances. Now one funny leg and know it's a
week to week leg and you never know. Um this
much really surprised me about the Steelers, and that is
that despite Tomlin's declaration that you know this is the

(16:12):
game against the Bengal States just did not. They weren't competitive,
not just on the score, but they were easy to
play against. To use a hockey termine and you like,
I use that one a lot. Yeah, they become too
easy to play against when when you get out physical
in both trenches. I think one side you can work
around it too is a deal breaker. And they don't

(16:33):
have the playmakers to make up for it or the
Lamar like quarterback when things go wrong, to improv and
things like that. They have to play a certain script.
And boy did that script go right in the right
in the toilet from the from the get go and
um losing it both lines of scrimmage. And I think
coach Homony even said this raft of the game, it's
like that's how this league you go you start getting,

(16:55):
you lose the both lines of scrimmage. This is often
the result. And he's right, I expect the Steelers not
to get bullied like that. I mean, that would blow
me away if that happens another game in a row.
But boy, the Steeler run defense. I mean, this isn't
a one time thing. No. And you could even that
Chargers game that gave up a lot of yards, but
ninety of them were to the quarterback. And I know

(17:16):
they're responsible to that, But to me, vacating a rush
lane or rushing too deep making a mistake that way
is way different than lining up with your hand in
the ground and getting moved back, and also not to
The Ravens are also a little different. I mean, of
course they're a great running team, of course they are,

(17:36):
but they're not going to just run outside zone at
your time and time again too, I mean a lot
of its misdirection and how you play things and being
in the proper gap and adjusting to Lamar keeping it
or handing it and things like that. I mean, they
play different than any team in the league. While the
Eagles are starting to get that way too, so playing
against them, I think it's a huge advantage. You know

(17:59):
you've seen this four at least people play Lamar the
first time off and are like, I didn't realize he
was that fast. You know, it's until you actually line
up against them. Yeah, if you know, if they're at
all capable of making a stand, you would figure back
home coming off of what they're coming off of and
the you know, the standings being what they are. Uh,
they got to be aware that maybe Mike Tomlin was

(18:22):
one week prematurities now are never kind of vibe that
he put out last week, but it certainly applies this week. Yeah,
I mean, I if it, if they lose, I gotta
think it's probably close to over. If they get embarrassed
like this, they start to look at me like can
they get any of those wins coming up? You know
who knows? I mean, is this the beginning of the

(18:43):
end or is this the bounce back time or the
beginning to end? Probably happened a couple of weeks ago.
We've got a lot more to get to tonight, so
keep it here, Matt. Now, are gonna be here until
eight o'clock. When we come back, we will be joined
by the third member of our third day Night team,
Meryl Hodge, and we're gonna talk to Meryl about blitzing
Lamar Jackson a little bit and Dolphins tried to seem

(19:06):
to work out okay back on November eleven, and uh,
maybe a Steelers defense that's gotten away from blitzing. But
it's also uh talked this week at least the coaches
have about changing some things up and trying to shake
some effectiveness out of the group. Maybe that's the answer.
We'll see what Meryl has to say about that. So

(19:26):
keep it here with Matt Williamson on Mike pursuit Of.
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 Univet DV. Welcome back
to the preview Mike pursuit Of and Matt Williamson getting
ready for the Ravens at the Steelers on Sunday at

(19:46):
Hines Field. Time now to welcome Meryl Hodge to the show,
as we do every week, and before we get to
the nuts and bolts of what we're about to receive, Meryl,
I gotta offer again my condolences in case people missed
your appearance on the d V Morning Show this week.
You had vowed that you were going to shoot your
Thanksgiving turkey or not eat one, and and you didn't

(20:11):
get one. And I feel terrible about that. I was
overloading on I was gorging myself on turkey, and then,
poor Meryl, all you got was, I don't know what
I feel for you. Chicken, roistory chicken. You always have
a backup, always having backup, you know, And really, I mean,
who's the wiser you know, white meat, dark meat, close

(20:33):
your eyes? Who would know it's turkey your chicken? You know.
It sounds like you're accepting defeat though, Yeah, well I know.
I'm actually you need to have a plan. You need
to have a backup plan. All I'm saying in case
the first plan doesn't work. Did you come closer? Was
it turkey Hodge ten? Yeah? Yeah, there was. There was
a beat Now, let's just put it that way, a

(20:54):
beat down, that's the best way to put it. That's
how happens in the woods, nod. I try to tell
you all the time, people that you know of people
that are kind of like against hunting. You know, I
don't want to hunt. Go listen hunting is pent. Sight
seeing and hiking, all right, there's not one. You actually
see something and you're able to harvest something, alright one percent.

(21:16):
So if you like hiking and sight seeing, you got
to come out with me because it's fun. That might
take you up on that, but I'm gonna try to
get through Sunday first. Is that manageable? Possible? Remotely? An
option for a Steeler team that got Turkey? Did Cincinnati? Yeah?
You know, um, I'll tell you this. It' that's a

(21:41):
hard one to answer, just because you know, listen, you
have enough evidence. Where can they respond? Sherman? I watched
what they did in Cleveland? Okay, did absolutely dominate the
Lion scare played the run, um in the way you
should play the right and you have to play the
run to be successful in this league. Um, Offensively, they
have had success and they had good balance. Um, but

(22:03):
you know, early sense then it just kind of it
hasn't been there on either side of the ball. Now
I can just attest to this. I mean, I don't know,
this is probably captain obvious because you know, step the
fans aren't idiots. I mean they walk their division. I
mean dis raban offense is. I mean it is a
This is the most dynamic running attack in all of football. Um.

(22:23):
The way they go about it, like their staple run
you know, which may or may not mean something to people,
but it does to the opponent likes clearly know this.
They run a power Oh can an a power of
teams that are committed to that. I'm gonna tell you
this from my experience. They're committed to run the football
and they want to run in a physical fashion. What

(22:45):
is different about them and a power Oh, they do
it in about eight different ways. I mean you have
to really study it to see it's really a power. Oh.
But you know, running back could be taken at, the
quarterback could be taken in just do it in a
whole host of ways. Um, they do them read you know,
the read option, UM is not always the read option.

(23:05):
When it looks like the quarterback is is, you know,
reading something, and the way he hands the ball and
stands there, you know that that's usually sometimes that's a
designated grun not a read option. So they do have
a mixture of things that challenge the defense to be
extremely disciplined and make sure they trust what they see
and they're where they need to be more than any
running game they're gonna face. You have to do that

(23:27):
with this team. And one thing, you know, listen, the
last couple of years, they've handled their running game pretty
well though. You know, they've matched up. You know, I
forget what formation they call them, and I call it
an elephant or a bully formation. They got those two
tight ends and I'm trying to take a forty twos
last name Yeah, okay, car fullback Yeah, Oh my gosh, yeah,

(23:51):
like a walking defensive tackle. You know in the backfield
that hey, there's little either of Grizzly Bear. I mean
this guy ca mall you. I mean he digs people out.
He's he's a kind of blocker where I used the
sort he digs you out. He don't block it. He
moves you. And the students use their five linebackers. They
did this in the last couple of years. They've used
that against their package and actually had success against their

(24:14):
read option, which I'm telling you, I go back to
when RG three first came in the league. You know
they did it. That's when you kind of saw a
lot of the run option being used. And it was
actually the Ravens, ironically as you know, I watched the
entirely this like ten years ago, whenever Urgent three came
in the league, everybody was trying to play that read defender,

(24:37):
you know, trying to get him to you know, see it,
read it right right. Okay. The Ravens walked in and
they're like, you know what, we ain't doing any of that.
If you don't leave our guy on block, we're gonna
go get your quarterback. And that's exactly what they did.
Bill Bill Belichick always does that. He lets that unfunn
Do you think about it from a just from a
schematic perspective, You're not going to block this guy. Why

(24:59):
would you let him sit there and put him in
an awful position where he had he could be fooled.
Let him go attack. Well that's what the Steelers did
really last year. They attacked that guy that was being
read was unblocked. He went and what that does You
can make it that the quarterback now has to give
the ball off and don't let go put it in
his hands. You know, the Patriots and they played the

(25:21):
Broncos right after the Broncos beat the Steelers in the
playoff camp, what would they do with Tim Tebow? They
did the opposite. They're like, no, we wanted in your
hand because you can't outrun anybody. We're gonna force you
to the perimeter, and you don't even go around our
defensive tackle. We're gonna do a destroyer. And so there's
ways you got to go about it, you know, schematically,
ride it up, and then you got to executed. Well,

(25:42):
they have executed it, you know, and you know, I
know people are hurt, and I know they may or
may not be there, but and yes, you want your
best guys, but that still doesn't mean you abort some
schemes that have worked with you before and even create
some others that can really disrupt their running in because
if you can do that, then you force him where
they don't want to be. You force them to throw

(26:02):
it in certain environments where it's you can pressure him.
You can get after the quarterback, and you can force
him to do what he doesn't do well, which is
throw with great anticipation. He does not do that very well,
and people get that confused by when when they see
him throw a bomb or they see him throw an
intermediate pass. Yes he can make all those throws, but

(26:23):
all those throws are not when you have to identify
pressure and throw it before the wide receiver has come
out of his break. He doesn't trust that. He's never
done it. Didn't do it Louisville. He's never done it
in the National Football League, and he'll hesitate. You can't.
You don't have time in this league to hesitate. So
if you can get him in those environments, in that position,
you clearly can win. You know, from a defensive side,

(26:45):
and I know you still have to the officitive side.
But if you don't control that, you've got no shot.
And which is ultimately they gotta do. They got none.
They got none there. They will control the game. Um,
they'll score points, and they'll put you in a bad
spot and it's it's over. That's why they will always
be in every game because of the things that are
true in the history of the of the National Football League.

(27:07):
They control the tempo, they stopped the run, They run
the ball great. So they might not have a great
day case in point, last week, passing game did have
a good day, but they did all those other things
right to keep them in the game that if they
did just a couple of things right, they could win it,
which they did. Merrild, the Steelers, Shore could have used
the Casey Hampton, Joel Steve Vincent Wooll for type these

(27:30):
past couple of weeks, But this week, to me, I contend,
you'd rather have speed on defense, you know, I mean,
it's not all about just power. But that's the problem
the Ravens create is they can also bully you. Yeah. Well,
you know I would tend to agree other than you know,
they do such a good job of getting double teams

(27:51):
and movements. So if you're gonna to your point, what
you can do is create movement. You know, you shift,
you know, you slant your screat things out when you're
slat and scrape things. You blow things up because it's
very hard for the offensive guy to account for you.
You know, you're standing there and all of a sudden,
the guys slants across my face, takes me off of you,

(28:11):
and you scrape over the bo I miss you. Well,
the problem with that is if we get you and
then you're gonna be out the door, You're out the gate.
Because we used to play teams like that and we're like, hey, listen,
they will blow runs up, but we're gonna We're gonna
pop one on them. As soon as we pop along,
they're done doing that, which was was always true. So
you can do some things. They don't have to be

(28:32):
a strategic you know, then your coordinator has to really
be in sync with when you do it, you know. Um,
you know. Actually the Steelers did a little bit of
that in the first matchup game with the Bengals, never
they had all those injuries. The Bengals gashed them early,
and so what they did is they started to do that.
They stood their linebackers up, made a little confusing off
the offensive line of who you're gonna double two, and

(28:53):
then they attacked a gap before they could get there,
and you know, create a penetration that way, which is
the number one killer in the running games. So that
can surely be if that's what they end up being
with a personnel they feel like they got more speed
and they can't just line up and play the power
game with them, then yeah, that's a great, a great
way to go about it. You just can't get caught.

(29:15):
And if you get caught, it's not like a ten
yard grown it's usually a touchdown. Meryl Miami back on
November the eleventh Blitz, getting off the bus the two
safeties blitzed more at the time than any dB had
in the league this year, a lot of zero blitz
and it ended up being Lamar Jackson's least productive game

(29:37):
statistically in his starting quarterback career. Now Cleveland didn't follow
the same path, but almost did as well, but for
a couple of miracle plays that the Jackson's athleticism produced.
If you were coordinating the Steelers defense, would you attack
or play coverage? Okay, right down to look at the

(29:59):
col the cults did exactly what you don't do against
Lamar Jackson. You don't rush for you know, because they listen.
They do pretty If you're gonna get four, they're gonna
give you time. You do not want to give that
cat time and be creative. That is where he is
at his best and most dangerous. If you look at
and listen like you don't even have to take my

(30:20):
word for Miami told you everything about Lamar Jackson. Okay,
an NFL coaching staff, great mind, blitzed him like I
have never seen before. I can't even recall. And so
forty years of being playing this game, stud in this game,
I can't recall a blitz fest like that. I can't
recall it they did that. If they chose to do that,

(30:43):
why would they choose to do that. It's very simple.
He doesn't handle that very well. That's where he struggles
in the passing game. It's those anticipating throws where it's
third and five. I run a six yard speed and
that ball has to come out before the break, So
wouldn't break happens as the receiver to get his head
around he catches it. Lamar wants to see it, and

(31:05):
that's why he hesitates. He did it in Louisville almost
every close critical game. I remember the first game they
played against Kansas City. They got him in the third
and five. Did the same thing to him. He hesitates
when he goes athore, he gets sacked. Game over playoff game, games,
Miami game. I mean, you could do all those games
that you can get him in that. He doesn't play

(31:26):
well like that. That's the area of the passing game.
He has not been able to get over the hurdle yet.
Um I don't know if he ever will because more
evidence says he won't, because there's nothing to say he will.
So yes, I would come at him because he doesn't
trust things like You're watching him hold hold the ball
and hold the ball and flinch and flinch. Then he
finally lets it go if he has time. But by

(31:46):
about the times, you just don't have that much time. Now,
Miami got him in a lot of third and tens too,
you know. But I'm telling you, if it was third
down and it was six or long and they were coming,
and if you looked at the old are all the
bacle was. It wasn't all lamar either. You know. The
office line got roasted in the media, you know, and

(32:07):
on morning shows about being awful. That office line gave
up one sack or even one pressure. Okay, they only
miss up. It was the tide end and the running
backs ironically lazy on bell making most of the mistakes.
It was the perimeter blockers. That's it kills me, like
you get a blitz and quarterback sack off a do line? Okay, well, listen,
tide ends are responsible backs responsible, even your quarterbacks responsible.

(32:31):
It's not always on the offite line. That office line
did a great job. Actually against Miami. It was the
perimeter blockers and it was the quarterback there was the problem.
Now they do build things in She just tells you
everything too. You just watch how they go about calling place.
It's third and ten and they smoke it. Well, what
a smoke is like? You just turn and throw it
to the wide receiver and try to get a screen

(32:51):
on the outside. Why did they do that, Well, sure
they're anticipating pressure. The quarterback doesn't throw with great anticipation,
So let's not do that to this didn't get the
ball out, See if we can make a play on
the on the perimeter. They designed things like that to
help him out, to take him out of what he
doesn't do well right now. So at end today, absolutely,

(33:14):
you get a spot to come at him. I would
come at him all day long and make him prove
to me he can do it, because he had not
done it yet. Mary, let's just stick with that Miami
approach for people that don't didn't watch the game or
weren't studying it. I mean, they've really put like seven
guys on the line of scrimmage. A lot of them
are safeties and linebackers and guys that can run no

(33:36):
second level defenders at all, and then sort of a
four man pick at fence, you know, as the last
layer of defense, but not super deep. I mean, it
was extremely successful for all the reasons you laid out.
But if he could get that ball to Marquis Brown
now and he breaks one tackle, what's an a d
R game though? Right, yeah, it's risky. That's what he

(33:57):
doesn't do well, right, right, risky risk he if you
if that's if he if he threw the ball with
great anticipation. Okay, that is what he doesn't do well.
And that that's where people get confused when you're saying
he struggles in the past game. This is the area
struggles there? Can he fill the deep ball? Keep throw
an internet around? They attacked, they do half filled reads.
They do either they do hard run action. It's not

(34:20):
a hard readons either. If you either here check down
a run conducts not difficult. He does that great and
he can do that and if they can keep you there,
he will kill you in that. But now flip the
script to your point. You have to throw with anticipation.
My ball has to come out before he gets out
of the break. But once he's out of the break,
ball has to be there. He doesn't do that, He's

(34:41):
never really done that well. And you force him to
do that, you'll see him. He'll sit there, He'll be
ready to throw and he's just waiting for you to
get out of your break. He did it all the
time at Louisville. But it's not a big deal in college, okay,
because eventually the guy gets open, there's not many throws,
or he goes and runs for a touchdown. I'm not
in the NFL. He's just not gonna do that. So yes,

(35:04):
there's no evidence, the proofs he's gonna beat you like that.
So that's what my point is, Why did Miami do that?
That's these are NFL coaches, they're in the National Football
They chose to operate like that. That tells you everything.
They know who he is, they know what he's good at,
and they know what he's not good at, and they
exploited that. So do you ever wanted some evidence to

(35:27):
go hog and listen? And you got one team matter
Listen everybody who's attacking like that. I don't know what
the culture thinking. When I was watching that game, I
was like, you got to be kidding me. I mean
that offense, court, defensive cording. I don't know what he
was thinking. Why you would even do that. They had
that game wrapped up, they had exactly where they wanted
to be, and they lay him off the hook. Meryl

(35:48):
does the Steelers defense without t J. Watt and maybe
without Joe Hayden have the capability to make that work.
It's gonna be hard, you know, um and out when
you come about you know, listen, here's what t J
gives you. You know they're going to count for him,
so you know you can kind of count. There's gonna
be maybe the back or tied in you know, you

(36:10):
or they're gonna slide. You can get it. You can.
You can help you from a caller's perspective and a
scheme perspective and a pressure perspective. You can date him
and use him. You know they're gonna slide left, and
let's bail him and let's pressure on the other side.
You lose that, you do lose that. So it's harder.
It's harder. But you know, I go back to some

(36:31):
of the things they've done over the last couple of years,
and um, listen, you've got nothing to lose at this point,
you know. I mean, I agree the guns are the
blazing on this one. I would not be playing this.
Say listen, let's just you know, we'll see if we
can get some pressure there or keep him in letting,
don't let him escape vertically, making escape laterally, and then

(36:53):
rally to it. I mean, I just wouldn't play. I
mean I'd go out with my guns blazing on this one.
So that doesn't mean being reckless and careless. He strategically
got a plan right next few things, but I would
I would have a heavy pressure package and try to
create some type of front look and movement to help
to discrew I mean, like to have them struggle identifying

(37:16):
who they're blocked in to confuse them in their running game,
and then you're you're downhill attackers. Meryl, you mentioned you
know he's seen a lot more blitz and from what
I've noticed on with if you agree, But I mean
teams are a lot more apt to play man coverage
against the Ravens now than early in Lamar's career too,
and some of the receivers haven't proven to be able

(37:38):
to get off it right, which I mean, which is Mimi,
Miami did that and and you're right, um, and that's
why you got to be so good up front. You know,
if he escapes, he escapes laterally, you know, you just
can't let him get vertically on you, you know, And
that's what Miami did a good job up to. It's
probably they probably got um and then they had to

(37:59):
use the free guy, you know, and they brought eight
guys sometimes, which was on the quarterback now, you know.
And there's I mean there's a couple of times. I
mean you could see the guys ran the hot. They
knew the hot. The ball didn't come out because this l.
Margins is not you. He does not I'm telling you.
He he wants to he wants to see you. And

(38:21):
and that guy accounted for him and he had nowhere
to escape, you know, quickly if he escaped anywhere, he
started to move laterally and back, and that's what you
ultimately have to do. When you do that type of pressure,
then it doesn't hurt that your guys are running with
their backs turned covering, because you've done your job in
the box. MARYL. I think we got Lamar figured out.
How do the Steelers score points? Boy? Yeah, that's right.

(38:46):
I'm gonna be hard one tonight. Sorry, we got the
thirty We gotta we gotta know the thirty minutes on
the field, don't um, you know, I just did this
off of the line has I mean, let's I know,
the coaches have to be rustrated. They they looked like
they did the first month's Um, yeah, they're just you know,
in the rookies are really struggling. I mean really, and

(39:08):
you know this is a time of year where you
know it's getting long long for them. You know, Um,
you left tackle had a bad, bad day. I mean,
you know, everybody did. That's the problem. It's like everybody's
not just the rookies even though they're really you know,
Green is in him, He's going to get better, but
he plays too high. He's not big enough guy to

(39:29):
play like that. Most people aren't, and he just gets
destroyed the line of scrimmage, just pushing the back and
you know, I mean it's not like I know, and
there's there's times when he doesn't right. But anyway, that's
gonna be He'll be better, but that's gonna take a
while to get bet it's not gonna get better this season.
You left guard keeps making mistakes and missing people. I mean,

(39:53):
you're right guard. Um and as a whole, they don't
play well together, you know, and when you watch other
teams too, just like they they probably struggle more than
most that I see in the NFL. It's run and pass,
you know, really, I mean Naja Harris, gosh, dang, he

(40:14):
had nothing last two weeks. He's had nothing, no hope anywhere.
Um and that's and you know, shoot a lot of
bench throws. You know, that pick, you know, it looked
like it was a bad throw. Shirt was bad throw
because he had five pounds in his lap to step
into the throw. You know, Katherine driven back and hitching

(40:35):
the chest just as you're going to throw, because you
know you got to have velocity on it, and she
there's nothing. You know, you missed that throw. Worst case,
you don't throw a pick. But if you're delayed and
the ball doesn't have what you need on it, then
it's gonna be a pick. You just can't can't throw
the ball. You got people in your lap like that
so quick, you know, um so, but they have shown

(40:56):
that they can't respond. You know, there's been moments where
they played so so well. I just it's kind of
frustrating to see how they've kind of fallen back into
what they were they're originally playing. The teams are going
to continue to challenge that. I guarantee. The Ravens are
gonna move a lot. They're gonna move the fronts a
lot against it, because these guys get big, get confused quick.

(41:18):
They lose people quick. You know, you shift on them,
you you do a settle shift, and they they they
just they lose people. They lose people, and they're running free.
And it's people that are really most important. You know,
you always tell the runner you're going to be accountable
for somebody we can't block, and that's usually safe to
drop into the box likef but not the thing linebacker

(41:40):
that's right in the middle of the field. But we're
trying to run. You know, those guys are being missed
and that's just can't win like that. These guys and
the Ravens are gonna they'll do everything they can to
make that harder on them. They're not gonna make it
easy on them. Were the last thing for you? Uh?
I keep waiting for you to say, never underestimate professional
who's been embarrassed. Is that is that the ace? Uh

(42:05):
that the Steelers are gonna pull out of their sleeve
and say, hey, we're embarrassed. Now we're gonna play way
better than last week. Well, you had two. You have
two weeks of it, Okay, not not one. You got
to you know you could argue three. You could be convincingly.
Oh yeah, right, you're perculating the sense of line lost.

(42:25):
So this is kind of be at this point you
got to be beside yourself and um, you gotta the talk.
I'm sure around these jobs are on the line here
took in college. We're on scholarship. Kay, jobs jobs that
that there's nothing to get to know players attention as
your job. You might have that, I'm not have that job.

(42:47):
As much as you think you have showed up. You
know you got like Chase Claypool. I mean, for whatever
reason that kid has I thought he arrived. You know,
he had a rookie year and he did too many
commercials and has read too many clippings. Um, he's a
mere shadowing himself. His routes are terrible. Goes in and
puts two hand touch on people and get out of

(43:09):
box as quickly as possible. It's embarrassing, actually, you know,
to see what he was last year to where he
is this year. Um, the way they play, or the
lack of energy and effort and commitment that they play
to the team and to get better. Um, he's just
not there and you're just not gonna be a championship
team with effort like that, you know, and nobody decided.

(43:29):
You know, once you think you've arrived, that's probably the
quickest way that the door is going to show you
out of here. So somebody's gonna have to wake up,
you know. The letter be sooner, sooner than later. So
let's hope they all feel that way and see that
way again. You've got some listen, can Heyward You ain't,
You never have to worry about that. But you know
Cam Hayward, you know, is is responsible for Cam every Sunday.

(43:53):
He can't continue to motivate people and scare him into
playing right now. I need to send more of those
that guy, and I think, uh they're good A Meryll
appreciate it as always Again, condolence is about the Thanksgiving turkey.
I hope you're not hunting for Christmas. I hope you're
not hunting for Christmas goose or anything like that. And

(44:15):
if you are, better luck next time. Am I say?
I might have to consider that. Meryl Hodge here on
the preview, Matt and I still have a few more
details to get to before we get out of here
at eight o'clock tonight. So keep it right here with
Matt Williamson on Mike Pursuiting. 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

(44:39):
by Univet on dB. Welcome back to the preview, Mike
Pursuit and Matt Williamson finishing things off tonight. Matt, I
want to close with this. When the season started in
Buffalo and they got out of Buffalo with a victory
years ago, I thought I saw Blueprint play very good defense,

(45:01):
don't make the catastrophic mistake on offense, win special teams,
try to establish some sort of running game as the
season goes on, and if you have to win it
in the fourth quarter, right, I see this team is
way less capable of playing that way now, and I
don't have an alternative to victory, right. I mean I

(45:21):
always bring this up with the Ravens. First of all,
they're they're better and everyone on special teams. I mean,
it doesn't mean you can't get a bounce or Tucker
can't miss a kike or whatever. But that's you know,
playing in the margins. And really, to your point, the
offense hasn't gotten better or they haven't developed any other
tricks and are too easy to play against. It seems

(45:43):
to be something. We brought it three or four times
in the last hour and the defense is crumbled. I
mean it's crumbled. Yeah. I never would expect that the interior,
even if you know, not necessarily counting on Stafont to
it at the start of the year based on his circumstances.
But I didn't think losing us twice and al Ala
would be the deal breaker that turned out to be.

(46:03):
Boy could they use him? And because of watts periodic absences,
and I don't think Highsmith has progressed as a disciplined
edge center. You are what you are and it ain't
good enough without question. I mean, I said many times
after they traded for show Bird, this is the best
front seven in the league. And now I chuckle, maybe

(46:25):
not that's gonna do it for tonight. I want to
thanks Shirtless Tom behind the Glass for keeping things running smoothly.
Thanks to Meryl for joining us as he always does,
and thank you for finding us however and wherever you
found us reminder that next week we're gonna be on
the air on Wednesday from seven to eight right here
on d V E and S and R. The game

(46:46):
next week is at Minnesota. Until then, for Matt Williamson
on Mike Pursuit of Thanks for listening. This has been
Steel's preview right here on your Steelers flagship one or
two point five d V and S n R. Good
Night everyone,