October 7, 2025 • 28 mins
Ed Troup and Jacob Recht spotlight the RB duo of Jaylen Warren and Kenneth Gainwell both being major contributors on the offense, and the defense overall has shown big strides of improvement as the season has progressed.
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Speaker 1 (00:04):
The Steelers have won their last seven games in a
row after a bye week, with the last loss coming
against the Ravens twenty one to fourteen in Baltimore back
in twenty sixteen. When playing after a bye week, Pittsburgh
out scores their opponents by an average of a touchdown
or more. Cleveland is next and awaits the Steelers this
Sunday at Akuschure Stadium. This is the Steelers standard on
Steelers Nation Radio, part of the Steelers Audio Network. I
(00:26):
Am at Trupe. Enjoying me is Jacob Brect Jacob Mike
Tomlin is thirteen and four after a bye week, and
he attributes this team's success to a tailored, approached door
in the bye week, providing rest and focused practice based
on individual player needs and overall team strategy. He emphasizes
I'm gonna try to say that again. He emphasizes self
(00:46):
reflection in utilizing the extra time for in depth analysis
of the team's performance. All in all, they're very good
after the bye and that should point to possibly some
success this upcoming Sunday against the Browns.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
Yeah, we we know that Mike Talen has a history
of getting his players ready for following the bye week.
It's very rare that he loses that game, and it's
also a confluence of other good fortune. You're getting the Browns,
who are a one win team so far this year.
You're getting a rookie Dylan Gabriel who's very untested and unproven,
(01:19):
and you're getting this game at home in Pittsburgh. So
a lot of arrows pointing in the right direction for
the Steelers to win this game. They're going to go
out and do it and execute.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
We're going to do our injury news update in our
next segment during our Terrible Takes and other general updates
in and around the team. But a quick note, Alex
high Smith and Joey Porter Junior both returned to practice yesterday,
as the Steelers did return to the practice field on Monday,
and both were in uniform and involved involved in fact
fully from our understanding, we'll get all the updates today
(01:51):
during the Mike Tomlin press conference at noon as he
addresses the media to get ready here for the upcoming
Week six game against the ball More Ravens at home.
It's time for our Still City Spotlight to start things
off today. We're going to talk about the areas on offense, defense,
special teams, and overall for the football team that adjustments
that needed to be made during this bye week. We'll
(02:13):
start on offense. How about getting some of these young
receivers involved, Jacob, There is a clear need to increase
the involvement of players like Roman Wilson outside of Calvin
Austin on this team so far, the ability to stretch
the field other than DK Metcalf, and really that's been
on just the short routes when they've been able to
hit DK, most of his yardage comes after the catch. Currently,
(02:34):
the wide receivers outside of DK Metcalf and really Calvin
Austin are not being utilized up to this point. Now
that could be because of their skill level, their abilities
or Rogers this isn't comfortable with them yet, but they
need guys like Roman Wilson to step up unless they
make some type of move here and bring in another receiver.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
Yeah, and I don't know if they're going to. I
mean Omar Conson in the offseason that they were comfortable
with this rod receiver room and right now they're three
to one, and the Steelers have a tendency of kind
of doing a if it's not broke, don't fix it
kind of mentality. And I know you could say, oh, well,
they got to a winning record last year with George Pickens,
(03:12):
so while they get rid of him in DK Metcalf, Well,
that was a clear necessity because George Pickens, as we
all know, is a little bit of a head case.
I know he's doing well in Dallas, but I mean
when things started to go wrong for Dallas, and we've
already seen it happen so far this season, only five
weeks in and we've seen George Pickens throw those tantrums
on the on the Cowboys sideline, So that needed to go.
(03:35):
That problem needed to be fixed. But like I said,
because Omar Khan said that he was comfortable with the
wide receiver room with DK Metcalf, Calvin Austin and the
carousel of other guys, I can't imagine that they're gonna
blow not blow it up, but see that they're gonna
bring in an upgrade unless an ideal candidate or an
obvious candidate services. Similarly to last year where Mike Williams
(03:59):
was upset during his time in New York and he
was a much needed deep threat for the Steelers offense
and it worked out that he was able to come here.
So unless something very glaringly obvious surfaces as a candidate
for the Steelers to bring in as a wide receiver option,
I don't see them really making it a significant change.
(04:19):
And they're going to keep moving forward with Skronic and
Roman Wilson and Scottie Miller because Mike Toalman loves his
role players and even though they don't have a huge
role Betskeronick more so on the special teams, Scotty Miller
more so on the special teams. We know that Mike
Toman likes to have these guys that can just come
in for one play and maybe make a difference on
(04:40):
a big catch like Ben Skarnik did in Week one
against the Jets with that touchdown. But would love to
see more of Roman Wilson. I think of all those
guys behind Calvin and d K, Roman Wilson is the
one that I think needs to step up the most.
It looks like if if he finishes the year with
something like single digit catches on the year, that's an
(05:03):
official bust of a third round DRAFTI they made two
years ago, and you might just have to move on
just because.
Speaker 3 (05:09):
If he's fully healthy.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
And remember there were times last year where apparently he
wasn't injured, but he was just a healthy scratch, and
that was due to an inability for him to get
ready for the game day. With the playbook, you have
to say that this isn't about him not being healthy.
It's about him not knowing the game well enough. It's
about him not being available to the team enough. And
(05:32):
you have to make that executive decision. It's gonna be tough,
it's gonna be It's always hard to say when one
of your draft picks really doesn't work out, but right
now it looks that way for Roman Wilson unless he
turns things around.
Speaker 1 (05:42):
Roman Wilson only one catch for seven yards for the
first four games.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
I mean he is on pace for single digital catches
this year.
Speaker 1 (05:49):
That's got to change here in the second half of
the season. Dk Metcalf leads the team in receptions with fifteen.
But my point I wanted to make with you, Jacob
is out of your top five receivers for a number
of receptions the first four games. Two of them are
running backs Kenny Gamewell thirteen catches, Jalen Warren eleven, which.
Speaker 2 (06:05):
Isn't a bad thing. Like you're allowed to get your
running backs involved in Remember Le'Veon Bell was close to
having a two thousand yards from scrimmage season one year,
with one thousand yards on the ground and one thousand
yards through the air. You're allowed to get those guys involved.
The issue with that is but the issue for the
Steelers is it's out of necessity that they're getting Kenny
(06:26):
g and Jalen Warren involved in the passing game simply
because there's no receiving options beyond DK and Calvin Austin.
Speaker 1 (06:33):
Yeah, your number two wide receiver, Calvin Austin is fifth
on that list. You'd like him to be two or
three at least. I agree with you. Your running backs
getting receptions is not a bad thing as long as
you have other receivers up near the top. John new
Smith is second. He's next up on the list. Addressed
John hu Smith's role here during the bye week. Get
his usage and production up. It's been questioned so far
(06:53):
through the first four games. Coming in during training camp.
This was a guy the Steelers traded with the Jalen
Ramsey trade with the Miami Dolphins, and a lot of
expectations in and around John new Smith as that tight
end to be more of the hybrid. So we're talking
about all this need for a second wide receiver. John
new Smith was to be that guy, but again, fourteen
receptions looks great through the first four games, but only
(07:13):
seventy one yards out of sixteen targets and only one
touchdown so far through the first four games. So I
think they have an opportunity with John new Smith to
increase his workload and try to target him downfield as
we go throughout the rest of their twenty twenty five season.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
Yeah. I mean that's something we've been preaching all years.
Don't get just John who Smith, get every tight end
more involved, but John ow Smith more so. Simply because
per our last conversation about wide receiver death, you kind
of brought in John Whu to be that wide receiver two,
maybe even wide receiver three behind Calvin, be that guy,
and like you said, he's just not getting involved enough.
(07:50):
And I don't want to blame him. I kind of
want to play the coaching and then play calling simply
because John new Smith has been great his entire NFL career,
especially last season in his last year in Miami when
he was top three in yards and touchdowns and receptions
among all tight ends across the entire league. So how
is it that in Miami, where they were struggling with
(08:11):
Tuah with injuries, that he was able to create those numbers.
He comes over to Pittsburgh and all of a sudden
he's become a ghost. I have to assume it's the organization,
it's the situation he's in now. It's not just the
player just made this huge drop off.
Speaker 1 (08:26):
Next up on our offensive to do list here dorin
the bye week, how about getting more explosive plays. The
offense is struggling to generate those big splash plays other
than the big Metcalf eighty yards strike that we saw
in doubling. But you take that out of it, it's
been an offense of just chipping away.
Speaker 3 (08:40):
Now again, can't criticize too much.
Speaker 1 (08:42):
They've won three of the first four games, and the
offense has had a lot to do with that, as
the defense has given up late scores and a lot
of points throughout those first four games. So the offense
has stepped up. But I think with this offense is
missing Jacob and we saw a glimpse of it on
the dk eighty yard touchdown, but again that was generated
on a short slant past that speed and explosiveness took
off from there with the yards after catch, taking more
(09:04):
shots down field, and again, just to use our last
two examples, a number two wide receiver a John news Smith.
There's players in this offense that can provide those big sparks,
in those big splash plays. I think this offense needs that,
and a lot of it could also do with the
lack of the running game, which we'll get to do
here in a second, but more explosive plays here coming
out of the buy we could certainly help this offense.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
Yeah, definitely. I think that's something this team has been lacking,
not just this year, but over the past couple of years.
It's just flash plays. And that's again why I referenced
Mike Williams earlier, That's why you brought him in last year,
was to create more of those splash plays, and of
course in his first week he was the one that
had that long touchdown reception on third down against Washington.
(09:46):
You need to have more splash plays. You need to
be more of a vertical passing team and a vertical
running team than in a horizontal one, and we've seen
a lot of that so far, and you know, a
lot of that has to do with the old age
of Aaron Rodgers. He just doesn't have that arm throw ability.
I mean, like you mentioned, the only big splash play
this year is the eighty yard catch and run by DK.
That ball traveled like eight yards in the air and
(10:08):
then DK took it the rest of the way. So
you have to be able to move the ball vertically
if you want to be an effective offense, and we've
seen them struggle to do that, which is why they
are bottom of the barrel when it comes to yards
per game and total offense per game and pass yards
per game and run yards per game. They need to
create more splash if they want to see those numbers increase.
Speaker 3 (10:29):
Especially you become predictable too, of course.
Speaker 1 (10:31):
Yeah, you know, if you're just taking short five, six,
seven dunks at a time and trying to chip away
at things, eventually the defense will play up on you.
Now again, that's when you can kind of go the
other direction too and take some shots downfield, so you
could play off that, but overall, more explosive plays are needed.
Speaker 3 (10:48):
Next up is the running game.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
They need a boost to control the game and start
pounding the ball like they used to, and of course
that will set up those big explosive pass plays warning game. Well,
at this point, Jacob, maybe they share fifty to fifty
going forward. We saw Gainwell with a nice glimpse in
Ireland with the ninety nine yards rushing against the Vikings.
You know again, added another thirty four thirty five yards
(11:09):
passing almost one hundred and thirty five yards total in
that game. We're gonna get Jalen Warren back. I would
expect possibly this week. Again, we'll get that update from
Mike Tomlin today this press conference as he missed the
Vikings game. But Warren Gainwell a two headed monster moving forward,
a fifty to fifty split out of the backfield rushing
I think could possibly be a good thing for this offense.
Speaker 3 (11:29):
Yeah, definitely.
Speaker 2 (11:30):
I mean, he was a huge part of this offense
before he went down or I don't know what went down,
but missed that one week in Ireland. I remember we
brought it up a billion times. He was the team's
leading receiver and rusher and we all thought that when
the news broke before the Ireland game that he was
going to be unavailable, that they were going to struggle
(11:51):
mightily on the ground, but that wasn't the case. Kenny
G really stepped up. So having both of them back healthy,
it's kind of gonna be a similar situation you saw
to the Naji Harris and Jalen Warren tandem. And I
know Naji Harris had a lot more pedigree coming out
of college than either Jalen Warren and Kenneth Gainwell. But
(12:14):
right now you see you've seen both of them be
effective this for this offense, and having them both available,
now that you've seen that breakout performance by Kenny G,
you should feel better.
Speaker 3 (12:25):
It's just about the protection.
Speaker 2 (12:26):
It's it's about the the the offensive lineup front. Can
they create the holes? Can they create enough protection for
Aaron Rodgers to get then the ball if it's through
the air. That's what it comes down to. Because you know,
on an individual level, Jalen Warren sure has more heart
than anyone, more determination to stay upright than anyone. And
after last week against Minnesota, a pretty good Minnesota defense
(12:50):
led by a pretty great DC and Brian Flores, you
should have confidence that these two guys together can do
something special.
Speaker 1 (12:58):
Next up on our list is the offensive line and
getting better. You know, they got to protect Rogers though,
because again we talked about his age coming in forty
one years old. You gotta get him through this season,
get through all seventeen games. In order to do that,
you got to pass protect better the last game. If
it's a glimpse of where they're heading. We're encouraged by that,
But the first few games were rough. Seven sacks given
(13:18):
up in the first three games, only two sacks against
the Vikings, one to start the game out and then
just one more after that. So nine sacks given up
in the first four games, but against seven of those
in the first three. Ninety nine yards rushing by game
well this past week, but overall the offense from a
rushing perspective only averaging three point three yards per carrying
only three rushing touchdowns for the first four games, and
(13:39):
a lot of that goes back to your offensive line.
Young offensive line. Roger Jones moves over to the left side.
You got Fonatanu now active. First year really for him,
more like his rookie season. Both those tackles are still
getting acclimated, but by all means, hopefully hopefully, Jacob, what
we saw against the Vikings. Is where this team, this
offensive line is trending.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
Yeah, I mean that's It's something that I just brought
up in our conversation surrounding or about the running backs,
is it comes down to the offensive line, because again,
you probably trust or you can trust your running backs
to get the job done. It's just will they have
the right protection up front, Will they have the right
blocking up front to create more opportunities, because again, I
(14:22):
think individually they can do less with or more with
less provided by the offensive line. But if the offensive
line is going to continue to show those signs of improvement,
then we're we're not gonna poo poo that away. We're
gonna encourage that. Yeah. I think everything kind of boils
down to the offensive line. And I think you're right
in the last two games have shown encouraging signs of improvement.
(14:45):
But it's just a two games sample. I mean, if
it was the reverse, you know, if it was the
first two games looked good in the last two games
didn't look as good, then we'd be really worried. But
luckily it's it's trending in the right direction, but it's
still not enough of a window to say, oh, I'm
I'm confident the offensive line is fixed and it will
be totally fine in a non issue for the rest
(15:06):
of the season.
Speaker 1 (15:07):
It's projecting upward, as sure said the last couple still,
which is good.
Speaker 2 (15:11):
You need to see more and more of that because
you can't just say, oh, I'm going to bank on
the success of the offensive line just because they got
better with over a two game stretch.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
Right That incline is slow small. So I agree with
you that I think this will be a good, good
test this upcoming Sunday against a Cleveland defense that is
pretty good, especially upfront with Miles Garrett company. So they'll
have a big test this upcoming Sunday. Jacob and I
are and are still City Spotlight are talking about adjustments
needed during the bye week. We just talked about offense.
Let's talk defense and switch gears. How about continuing this
(15:41):
defensive momentum that they had against the Vikings. Again, defense
was a little slower to get going at the beginning
of the season. A lot of points given up against
the Jets Week one, with the thirty two points given up,
they lose to the Seahawks. The Patriots, they give up
fourteen not too bad against the Vikings twenty one. But
in that Vikings game, for the first three quarters, they
(16:01):
looked like the defense that we thought they would be
during the preseason. The free agents that were brought in
the draft picks, with Harmon getting in there, they're gonna
get healthy.
Speaker 3 (16:11):
Elliott came back against the Vikings.
Speaker 1 (16:12):
We're gonna get Joey Porter junior back and Alex high
Smith this week. So that's all good news. They should
be clicking at all cylinders this upcoming Sunday against the Browns.
But they got to keep this defensive momentum that they
started against the Vikings.
Speaker 2 (16:24):
Definitely, I want to see this defense get better. I
think that's kind of the overall narrative for the season
is it was a slow start kind of everywhere except
pretty much Chris Boswell. And as the season has gone on,
you've seen guys starting to click, whether it's on offense
or defense, but defense especially, we saw them really struggle
(16:45):
with the allowing of the one hundred yard back to
back performances by Breece Holl in Week one and then
Kenneth Gainwell I'm sorry, Kenneth Gaybell Kenneth Walker from Seattle
in week two, but they've really clammed down the last
couple of weeks and you need to see more of that.
And I do think when you're going up against Cleveland,
who is a terribly offensive team, I think you're able
(17:08):
to really use that game as an opportunity to make
it a tune up game. Not to say that they're
treading in the raw direction and this is going back
in the right direction, but just use this game as
another way to continue that momentum of improving on the
defensi side of the football, because as we know, Cleveland's
offense has really been pissed poor pretty much all year.
(17:29):
They have one of the lowest scoring offenses in football.
Don't let them get out to an early lead and
have yourselves questioning what the hell just happened.
Speaker 1 (17:37):
It's another game to continue to get right. We talk
about these get right games against the Patriots offense that
had struggles the Vikings, and now we look at this
game against the Browns. You bring up a good point
offense defensively Cleveland, and we're going to talk about it
more tomorrow and as we get into the end of
the week Wednesday and Thursday about the Cleveland game.
Speaker 3 (17:53):
So we'll save it for that.
Speaker 1 (17:54):
But yeah, their defense, very good offense has had their
struggles that they are young, so good opportunity for the
defense to keep that momentum going. Next up on the defense,
shore up the coverage issues. The secondary has been affected
by injuries, but they're getting healthy nout Toshaan Elliott was
a huge plug in against the Vikings.
Speaker 3 (18:09):
Getting him back.
Speaker 1 (18:09):
We talked about that yesterday in his big game against
the Vikings. But they've led to some big plays against them.
They've had some coverage issues, some communication issues, and again
that's all stuff early in the season. It can be corrected,
but they've got to continue to shore up those coverage
issues as they go throughout this season. Tighten things up
in that secondary.
Speaker 2 (18:25):
Yeah, definitely, But I do think that, as you mentioned
at the start of the segment ed, getting Joey Porter
Junior back will be a huge help for that. And
then we saw last week with the Shawn Elliott returning
to the starting lineup that he was a huge asset
to them. So having two guys who were huge assets
to you last year and then even the year before
that for Joey Porter Junior, you saw them kind of
(18:48):
struggle in the secondary without both of them for the
couple of weeks that they were both out. But having
them both back now is going to be what I
think is going to be a huge help. I do
think you're gonna see that improvement in the secondary. You
already did, and last week against them, I guess two
weeks ago at this point against the Vikings, I know
(19:10):
Addison and Jefferson kind of torched it. They both got
I think I know Jefferson did got over one hundred yards.
I'm assuming Addison did with that long catch and run.
But still you were able for the most part, for
that majority of the game to kind of keep things
under wraps in the secondary. And again, I just don't
imagine with both Elliott and Joey Porter Junior returning, I
(19:33):
can't imagine of all people, Dylan Gabriel is going to
be the one that's going to carve up that secondary.
Speaker 1 (19:38):
Yeah, Addison had one hundred and fourteen yards receiving one
hundred and twenty six for Jefferson, and I cheated Jacob
the full disclosure the statutes right in front of me
for the Vikings gave so I didn't have to dig
too far to got it to confirm what you were
thinking and what you said. Next up is getting home.
Blitzburg is back at times, sack numbers are on the rise.
They're now up the fourteen sacks on the season. The
last couple games against the Page and the Vikings.
Speaker 3 (20:01):
Very very much better, much improved.
Speaker 1 (20:03):
I would say, after the first couple games of the
season we were questioning, like, why aren't they blitzing, Why
aren't the sack numbers up? The last two games, I
think a lot of that has to do too with
Nick Herbig getting home, you know, TJ. Watt finally starting to,
you know, get that engine going again. Here during the
regular season, Patrick Queen has been excellent covering the middle
side of the field, Derek Harmon being back on that
(20:24):
defensive line, to Sean Elliott back in that secondary. Their
playmakers are back, and their playmakers are making place.
Speaker 2 (20:29):
Yeah, I mean that's what you want to see. And
like you said, Alex Heismith returning should be a huge help.
I know we're big fans of Nick Herbig on the show,
but what I've said before, I'll say it again.
Speaker 3 (20:40):
I do think that their best served.
Speaker 2 (20:43):
Excuse me, when all three guys are healthy, you can
really mix and match your your duos on the defensive
line are at the defensive edge spot when you can
put TJ in Heinsmith out there, or TJ and Herbig,
or Herbig and Heismith out there, and maybe even throw
Jack Sore into the mix. I know he's probably not
gonna get a lot of playing time now that high
(21:05):
Smith is back, and knock on wood, hopefully he stays
healthy and stays and available to them. But you have
four guys now who are contributors, and right now all
four are healthy. I mean, like you said, Alex Heihsmith
was a full participating yesterday in their first practice since
the bye week, so you should be able to go
(21:25):
all out against the Browns this week. And again, I
know we're big fans of Nick Herbig, but just because
Alex Highsmith is back, doesn't mean that you'll see less
of this less of Nick Herbig. You'll just see more
of Alex Heigsmith.
Speaker 1 (21:38):
Next up was to figure out that Nick Herbig and
Alex Smith fifty to fifty split or how you're going
to row to him.
Speaker 3 (21:43):
But you just spoke to that, so I'm gonna skip
over that.
Speaker 1 (21:44):
We'll go right to the end here of the defensive
talk the Peyton Wilson and I thought it was interesting
when we talked to Ray Fadapaldo last week from the
Pittsburgh Post Gazette that he had mentioned that he had
talked to Terrell Austin, the defensive coordinator. What they did
against the Vikings was he split more time with Cole Holcombe,
and they're gonna have Melee Harrison back to here at
some point off the ir during this season. Both are
very good, Holcombe and Harrison against the run, where Wilson's
(22:07):
more of your coverage inside linebacker. So they're starting to
put Peyton Wilson in positions where he can excel, and
especially being a young, first time starter at that inside
linebacker position.
Speaker 3 (22:18):
Mentally, I think that's important for Peyton Wilson because he's
got the tools.
Speaker 1 (22:21):
Jacob, He's gotten burned a few ties, But it sounds
to me, at least from what Race said to us
last week, the defense, because of injuries and other movement
within that defense, they were putting him in positions where
he couldn't excel, and against the Vikings they started putting
him in more positions and on certain downs, right, not
every single down, certain downs where he could do what
he does best. So I'm encouraged by that and hopefully
(22:43):
that strategy can continue, especially as they get healthy.
Speaker 2 (22:45):
Yeah, definitely. I just think again, like I said earlier,
the overall narrative for this team is improving and trending
in the right direction as the season has gone on.
And I do think that Peyton Wilson is one of
the I think few guys where it's maybe a toss
up to say that has he really gotten much better.
But one thing you can point to that's a tangible
(23:06):
was his chase down tackle of Jordan Adison. The guy
just never gave up and you really have to applaud
him for that. And I do think and race at
the same thing that it stuck. It stuck out to
the rest of the players, and I do think that's
going to kind of help him mentally just get better
as the season goes on. Just to have that ability
to say I won't ever quit on a play and
(23:29):
I have that speed.
Speaker 3 (23:30):
That's my biggest asset.
Speaker 2 (23:31):
That was why I was I won the Blittantikoff or
I'm sorry, not the Blittantkoff, the Buckets Award coming out
of NC State top linebacker yeah, exactly, and so I
just think that right now you could probably point at
Peyton Wilson is of the eleven guys on the field
(23:52):
playing at once. He might be eleven, he might be ten.
But it's not the worst person to have as your
weakest link.
Speaker 3 (24:00):
Stuff is special teams.
Speaker 1 (24:01):
I don't have anything to adjust for Chris Boss or
Corliss Weightman for that matter. I think Weightman has punted
the ball very well, averaging almost fifty yards per punt,
which is about where you want your punter to be.
But the coverage, that is one adjustment I think they
need to. They got better. I thought against the Patriots
and even the Vikings the first couple of games they
were awful. I mean teams were starting out the thirty
five forty yard line on every kickoff, so you got
(24:23):
to tight continue to tighten that up on your kickoff coverage,
and then your punt and kickoff returns have not been
good either.
Speaker 3 (24:29):
Punt return.
Speaker 1 (24:30):
I think they're under four yards per punt return and
kick return. We knew the struggles with Kayleb Johnson. They
need to continue to work with that. Find a true
returner on this team. I'm really surprised they haven't gone
to Austin Moore in the return game, but I think
that's one area where they.
Speaker 2 (24:43):
Can sure And we know Austin's going to be out
for a while too, so you probably won't see that
improve at all. The punt returner, I think it's gonna
be Scotty Nailer out there returning punts for the foreseeable
future until Calvin's back. Yeah, I mean, it's unfortunate, but
I do think the bigger point here is the fact
that they've gotten better at the coverage because, like you said,
(25:05):
it gives the opponent, the opposing team such an advantage
having a much better starting field position. But that's something
they clearly have improved on, is that coverage for both
punt and kickoff return. So, I mean, this team has
never been great at kickoff and punt returns themselves. And
(25:25):
you know, it's one of the hardest things to do
is to have a legit guy who can get you
an extra ten to fifteen yards on those returns. So
I'm not going to fault them for not having the
guy again this year. It's just it's like I said,
it's one of the harder things to do is to
find special team success in the return game. But it
is good to see them getting better at the coverage
(25:46):
because that's not something that they've actually struggled with the
past couple of years. It's actually been something they've been
pretty good at, and so the fact that they were
struggling through the first couple of weeks was really concerning.
But obviously it's getting better. But we as as we've
said so many times already, that you want to see
more improvement, don't don't just do it for two games
in a row and that's it.
Speaker 1 (26:06):
Keep trending up in all these categories, that's for sure. Okay,
let's finish up the segment with this coaching. And yesterday
I praised Mike Tomlin. You came back and you and
I disagreed a little bit with it, and you made
up very good points. But I think Tomlin needs to
keep balancing this roster with the big names, with the
mix of the younger players and ultimately the veteran roster
that he has preserve and protected. Again, there's the guys
(26:26):
on this roster. This is again it's a good mix. Right.
You got Rogers and DK Metcalf and Jalen Ramsey.
Speaker 3 (26:33):
Uh Deshaun Elliott.
Speaker 1 (26:34):
You got some some really seasoned veterans that you got
to continue to protect throughout this season. Because one of
these guys go down with an injury, you're in trouble.
We saw that with Elliott when Ellie was out of
that secondary and then he came back.
Speaker 3 (26:45):
How big of a difference that was.
Speaker 1 (26:46):
You lose a DK Metcalf at receiver that could be
cast he out, That can almost I don't want to
say it sinks your season, but far as your passing game,
that makes a big impac because they don't have anybody else.
Speaker 3 (26:54):
So you got to continue to protect these guys.
Speaker 2 (26:56):
Yeah, definitely. I mean, I actually do think it could
sink your seat. And the only way it doesn't add
is just the fact that the rest of the AFC
North is just so depleted.
Speaker 3 (27:05):
We're still hurting. It may it may just be.
Speaker 2 (27:08):
You remember a couple of years ago, the AFC North
was the first division in football and NFL history to
have all four teams finished with a winning record. The
way it's going right now, I certainly assume Cleveland and
Cincinnati will finish with a losing record. Baltimore right now
is in a one and four hole. We know their
schedule isn't super forgiving. I think they have the Rams
(27:29):
this week, Chicago next week. They could fall to one
and six without Lamar Jackson and just and by the
process of elimination, that just leaves the Steelers is the
only team that isn't struggling right now. But like you said,
if they do have that big blow, it could derail
them on an individual level, but just given, as I
(27:51):
pointed out, the rest of the division all kind of
suffering right now. I don't want to say I don't
want to predict this, but we've seen it happen before.
We're teams win their division with a losing record. It's happened,
it has And if that if the Steelers, like you said,
land that blow or get that blow and lose Rogers
for the year, you could be looking at a team,
maybe with a losing record, who wins this division. I
(28:13):
don't know. If I don't, I'm not saying that's gonna
happen because it's very unlikely. I think it's only happened
twice in the history of the league, so it's very unlikely.
But if you get that, if you lose your starting quarterback,
like the other teams have done so far. It's going
to be it's gonna be a big blow. It's going
to be very tough to battle back from that.
Speaker 1 (28:30):
They should be wrapping Aaron Rodgers and bubble wrap right now,
each and every day after what we've seen in the
AFC North so far. When we come back, Jacob and I,
our favorite segment of the week are terrible takes from
in and around the Pittsburgh Steelers and the NFL. It
is the Steelers Standard with Ed Troop and Jacob Wreck
here on Steelers Nation Radio, part of the Steelers Audio Network.
The Steelers have won their last seven games in a
row after a bye week, with the last loss coming
against the Ravens twenty one to fourteen in Baltimore back
in twenty sixteen. When playing after a bye week, Pittsburgh
out scores their opponents by an average of a touchdown
or more. Cleveland is next and awaits the Steelers this
Sunday at Akuschure Stadium. This is the Steelers standard on
Steelers Nation Radio, part of the Steelers Audio Network. I
(00:26):
Am at Trupe. Enjoying me is Jacob Brect Jacob Mike
Tomlin is thirteen and four after a bye week, and
he attributes this team's success to a tailored, approached door
in the bye week, providing rest and focused practice based
on individual player needs and overall team strategy. He emphasizes
I'm gonna try to say that again. He emphasizes self
(00:46):
reflection in utilizing the extra time for in depth analysis
of the team's performance. All in all, they're very good
after the bye and that should point to possibly some
success this upcoming Sunday against the Browns.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
Yeah, we we know that Mike Talen has a history
of getting his players ready for following the bye week.
It's very rare that he loses that game, and it's
also a confluence of other good fortune. You're getting the Browns,
who are a one win team so far this year.
You're getting a rookie Dylan Gabriel who's very untested and unproven,
(01:19):
and you're getting this game at home in Pittsburgh. So
a lot of arrows pointing in the right direction for
the Steelers to win this game. They're going to go
out and do it and execute.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
We're going to do our injury news update in our
next segment during our Terrible Takes and other general updates
in and around the team. But a quick note, Alex
high Smith and Joey Porter Junior both returned to practice yesterday,
as the Steelers did return to the practice field on Monday,
and both were in uniform and involved involved in fact
fully from our understanding, we'll get all the updates today
(01:51):
during the Mike Tomlin press conference at noon as he
addresses the media to get ready here for the upcoming
Week six game against the ball More Ravens at home.
It's time for our Still City Spotlight to start things
off today. We're going to talk about the areas on offense, defense,
special teams, and overall for the football team that adjustments
that needed to be made during this bye week. We'll
(02:13):
start on offense. How about getting some of these young
receivers involved, Jacob, There is a clear need to increase
the involvement of players like Roman Wilson outside of Calvin
Austin on this team so far, the ability to stretch
the field other than DK Metcalf, and really that's been
on just the short routes when they've been able to
hit DK, most of his yardage comes after the catch. Currently,
(02:34):
the wide receivers outside of DK Metcalf and really Calvin
Austin are not being utilized up to this point. Now
that could be because of their skill level, their abilities
or Rogers this isn't comfortable with them yet, but they
need guys like Roman Wilson to step up unless they
make some type of move here and bring in another receiver.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
Yeah, and I don't know if they're going to. I
mean Omar Conson in the offseason that they were comfortable
with this rod receiver room and right now they're three
to one, and the Steelers have a tendency of kind
of doing a if it's not broke, don't fix it
kind of mentality. And I know you could say, oh, well,
they got to a winning record last year with George Pickens,
(03:12):
so while they get rid of him in DK Metcalf, Well,
that was a clear necessity because George Pickens, as we
all know, is a little bit of a head case.
I know he's doing well in Dallas, but I mean
when things started to go wrong for Dallas, and we've
already seen it happen so far this season, only five
weeks in and we've seen George Pickens throw those tantrums
on the on the Cowboys sideline, So that needed to go.
(03:35):
That problem needed to be fixed. But like I said,
because Omar Khan said that he was comfortable with the
wide receiver room with DK Metcalf, Calvin Austin and the
carousel of other guys, I can't imagine that they're gonna
blow not blow it up, but see that they're gonna
bring in an upgrade unless an ideal candidate or an
obvious candidate services. Similarly to last year where Mike Williams
(03:59):
was upset during his time in New York and he
was a much needed deep threat for the Steelers offense
and it worked out that he was able to come here.
So unless something very glaringly obvious surfaces as a candidate
for the Steelers to bring in as a wide receiver option,
I don't see them really making it a significant change.
(04:19):
And they're going to keep moving forward with Skronic and
Roman Wilson and Scottie Miller because Mike Toalman loves his
role players and even though they don't have a huge
role Betskeronick more so on the special teams, Scotty Miller
more so on the special teams. We know that Mike
Toman likes to have these guys that can just come
in for one play and maybe make a difference on
(04:40):
a big catch like Ben Skarnik did in Week one
against the Jets with that touchdown. But would love to
see more of Roman Wilson. I think of all those
guys behind Calvin and d K, Roman Wilson is the
one that I think needs to step up the most.
It looks like if if he finishes the year with
something like single digit catches on the year, that's an
(05:03):
official bust of a third round DRAFTI they made two
years ago, and you might just have to move on
just because.
Speaker 3 (05:09):
If he's fully healthy.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
And remember there were times last year where apparently he
wasn't injured, but he was just a healthy scratch, and
that was due to an inability for him to get
ready for the game day. With the playbook, you have
to say that this isn't about him not being healthy.
It's about him not knowing the game well enough. It's
about him not being available to the team enough. And
(05:32):
you have to make that executive decision. It's gonna be tough,
it's gonna be It's always hard to say when one
of your draft picks really doesn't work out, but right
now it looks that way for Roman Wilson unless he
turns things around.
Speaker 1 (05:42):
Roman Wilson only one catch for seven yards for the
first four games.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
I mean he is on pace for single digital catches
this year.
Speaker 1 (05:49):
That's got to change here in the second half of
the season. Dk Metcalf leads the team in receptions with fifteen.
But my point I wanted to make with you, Jacob
is out of your top five receivers for a number
of receptions the first four games. Two of them are
running backs Kenny Gamewell thirteen catches, Jalen Warren eleven, which.
Speaker 2 (06:05):
Isn't a bad thing. Like you're allowed to get your
running backs involved in Remember Le'Veon Bell was close to
having a two thousand yards from scrimmage season one year,
with one thousand yards on the ground and one thousand
yards through the air. You're allowed to get those guys involved.
The issue with that is but the issue for the
Steelers is it's out of necessity that they're getting Kenny
(06:26):
g and Jalen Warren involved in the passing game simply
because there's no receiving options beyond DK and Calvin Austin.
Speaker 1 (06:33):
Yeah, your number two wide receiver, Calvin Austin is fifth
on that list. You'd like him to be two or
three at least. I agree with you. Your running backs
getting receptions is not a bad thing as long as
you have other receivers up near the top. John new
Smith is second. He's next up on the list. Addressed
John hu Smith's role here during the bye week. Get
his usage and production up. It's been questioned so far
(06:53):
through the first four games. Coming in during training camp.
This was a guy the Steelers traded with the Jalen
Ramsey trade with the Miami Dolphins, and a lot of
expectations in and around John new Smith as that tight
end to be more of the hybrid. So we're talking
about all this need for a second wide receiver. John
new Smith was to be that guy, but again, fourteen
receptions looks great through the first four games, but only
(07:13):
seventy one yards out of sixteen targets and only one
touchdown so far through the first four games. So I
think they have an opportunity with John new Smith to
increase his workload and try to target him downfield as
we go throughout the rest of their twenty twenty five season.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
Yeah. I mean that's something we've been preaching all years.
Don't get just John who Smith, get every tight end
more involved, but John ow Smith more so. Simply because
per our last conversation about wide receiver death, you kind
of brought in John Whu to be that wide receiver two,
maybe even wide receiver three behind Calvin, be that guy,
and like you said, he's just not getting involved enough.
(07:50):
And I don't want to blame him. I kind of
want to play the coaching and then play calling simply
because John new Smith has been great his entire NFL career,
especially last season in his last year in Miami when
he was top three in yards and touchdowns and receptions
among all tight ends across the entire league. So how
is it that in Miami, where they were struggling with
(08:11):
Tuah with injuries, that he was able to create those numbers.
He comes over to Pittsburgh and all of a sudden
he's become a ghost. I have to assume it's the organization,
it's the situation he's in now. It's not just the
player just made this huge drop off.
Speaker 1 (08:26):
Next up on our offensive to do list here dorin
the bye week, how about getting more explosive plays. The
offense is struggling to generate those big splash plays other
than the big Metcalf eighty yards strike that we saw
in doubling. But you take that out of it, it's
been an offense of just chipping away.
Speaker 3 (08:40):
Now again, can't criticize too much.
Speaker 1 (08:42):
They've won three of the first four games, and the
offense has had a lot to do with that, as
the defense has given up late scores and a lot
of points throughout those first four games. So the offense
has stepped up. But I think with this offense is
missing Jacob and we saw a glimpse of it on
the dk eighty yard touchdown, but again that was generated
on a short slant past that speed and explosiveness took
off from there with the yards after catch, taking more
(09:04):
shots down field, and again, just to use our last
two examples, a number two wide receiver a John news Smith.
There's players in this offense that can provide those big sparks,
in those big splash plays. I think this offense needs that,
and a lot of it could also do with the
lack of the running game, which we'll get to do
here in a second, but more explosive plays here coming
out of the buy we could certainly help this offense.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
Yeah, definitely. I think that's something this team has been lacking,
not just this year, but over the past couple of years.
It's just flash plays. And that's again why I referenced
Mike Williams earlier, That's why you brought him in last year,
was to create more of those splash plays, and of
course in his first week he was the one that
had that long touchdown reception on third down against Washington.
(09:46):
You need to have more splash plays. You need to
be more of a vertical passing team and a vertical
running team than in a horizontal one, and we've seen
a lot of that so far, and you know, a
lot of that has to do with the old age
of Aaron Rodgers. He just doesn't have that arm throw ability.
I mean, like you mentioned, the only big splash play
this year is the eighty yard catch and run by DK.
That ball traveled like eight yards in the air and
(10:08):
then DK took it the rest of the way. So
you have to be able to move the ball vertically
if you want to be an effective offense, and we've
seen them struggle to do that, which is why they
are bottom of the barrel when it comes to yards
per game and total offense per game and pass yards
per game and run yards per game. They need to
create more splash if they want to see those numbers increase.
Speaker 3 (10:29):
Especially you become predictable too, of course.
Speaker 1 (10:31):
Yeah, you know, if you're just taking short five, six,
seven dunks at a time and trying to chip away
at things, eventually the defense will play up on you.
Now again, that's when you can kind of go the
other direction too and take some shots downfield, so you
could play off that, but overall, more explosive plays are needed.
Speaker 3 (10:48):
Next up is the running game.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
They need a boost to control the game and start
pounding the ball like they used to, and of course
that will set up those big explosive pass plays warning game. Well,
at this point, Jacob, maybe they share fifty to fifty
going forward. We saw Gainwell with a nice glimpse in
Ireland with the ninety nine yards rushing against the Vikings.
You know again, added another thirty four thirty five yards
(11:09):
passing almost one hundred and thirty five yards total in
that game. We're gonna get Jalen Warren back. I would
expect possibly this week. Again, we'll get that update from
Mike Tomlin today this press conference as he missed the
Vikings game. But Warren Gainwell a two headed monster moving forward,
a fifty to fifty split out of the backfield rushing
I think could possibly be a good thing for this offense.
Speaker 3 (11:29):
Yeah, definitely.
Speaker 2 (11:30):
I mean, he was a huge part of this offense
before he went down or I don't know what went down,
but missed that one week in Ireland. I remember we
brought it up a billion times. He was the team's
leading receiver and rusher and we all thought that when
the news broke before the Ireland game that he was
going to be unavailable, that they were going to struggle
(11:51):
mightily on the ground, but that wasn't the case. Kenny
G really stepped up. So having both of them back healthy,
it's kind of gonna be a similar situation you saw
to the Naji Harris and Jalen Warren tandem. And I
know Naji Harris had a lot more pedigree coming out
of college than either Jalen Warren and Kenneth Gainwell. But
(12:14):
right now you see you've seen both of them be
effective this for this offense, and having them both available,
now that you've seen that breakout performance by Kenny G,
you should feel better.
Speaker 3 (12:25):
It's just about the protection.
Speaker 2 (12:26):
It's it's about the the the offensive lineup front. Can
they create the holes? Can they create enough protection for
Aaron Rodgers to get then the ball if it's through
the air. That's what it comes down to. Because you know,
on an individual level, Jalen Warren sure has more heart
than anyone, more determination to stay upright than anyone. And
after last week against Minnesota, a pretty good Minnesota defense
(12:50):
led by a pretty great DC and Brian Flores, you
should have confidence that these two guys together can do
something special.
Speaker 1 (12:58):
Next up on our list is the offensive line and
getting better. You know, they got to protect Rogers though,
because again we talked about his age coming in forty
one years old. You gotta get him through this season,
get through all seventeen games. In order to do that,
you got to pass protect better the last game. If
it's a glimpse of where they're heading. We're encouraged by that,
But the first few games were rough. Seven sacks given
(13:18):
up in the first three games, only two sacks against
the Vikings, one to start the game out and then
just one more after that. So nine sacks given up
in the first four games, but against seven of those
in the first three. Ninety nine yards rushing by game
well this past week, but overall the offense from a
rushing perspective only averaging three point three yards per carrying
only three rushing touchdowns for the first four games, and
(13:39):
a lot of that goes back to your offensive line.
Young offensive line. Roger Jones moves over to the left side.
You got Fonatanu now active. First year really for him,
more like his rookie season. Both those tackles are still
getting acclimated, but by all means, hopefully hopefully, Jacob, what
we saw against the Vikings. Is where this team, this
offensive line is trending.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
Yeah, I mean that's It's something that I just brought
up in our conversation surrounding or about the running backs,
is it comes down to the offensive line, because again,
you probably trust or you can trust your running backs
to get the job done. It's just will they have
the right protection up front, Will they have the right
blocking up front to create more opportunities, because again, I
(14:22):
think individually they can do less with or more with
less provided by the offensive line. But if the offensive
line is going to continue to show those signs of improvement,
then we're we're not gonna poo poo that away. We're
gonna encourage that. Yeah. I think everything kind of boils
down to the offensive line. And I think you're right
in the last two games have shown encouraging signs of improvement.
(14:45):
But it's just a two games sample. I mean, if
it was the reverse, you know, if it was the
first two games looked good in the last two games
didn't look as good, then we'd be really worried. But
luckily it's it's trending in the right direction, but it's
still not enough of a window to say, oh, I'm
I'm confident the offensive line is fixed and it will
be totally fine in a non issue for the rest
(15:06):
of the season.
Speaker 1 (15:07):
It's projecting upward, as sure said the last couple still,
which is good.
Speaker 2 (15:11):
You need to see more and more of that because
you can't just say, oh, I'm going to bank on
the success of the offensive line just because they got
better with over a two game stretch.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
Right That incline is slow small. So I agree with
you that I think this will be a good, good
test this upcoming Sunday against a Cleveland defense that is
pretty good, especially upfront with Miles Garrett company. So they'll
have a big test this upcoming Sunday. Jacob and I
are and are still City Spotlight are talking about adjustments
needed during the bye week. We just talked about offense.
Let's talk defense and switch gears. How about continuing this
(15:41):
defensive momentum that they had against the Vikings. Again, defense
was a little slower to get going at the beginning
of the season. A lot of points given up against
the Jets Week one, with the thirty two points given up,
they lose to the Seahawks. The Patriots, they give up
fourteen not too bad against the Vikings twenty one. But
in that Vikings game, for the first three quarters, they
(16:01):
looked like the defense that we thought they would be
during the preseason. The free agents that were brought in
the draft picks, with Harmon getting in there, they're gonna
get healthy.
Speaker 3 (16:11):
Elliott came back against the Vikings.
Speaker 1 (16:12):
We're gonna get Joey Porter junior back and Alex high
Smith this week. So that's all good news. They should
be clicking at all cylinders this upcoming Sunday against the Browns.
But they got to keep this defensive momentum that they
started against the Vikings.
Speaker 2 (16:24):
Definitely, I want to see this defense get better. I
think that's kind of the overall narrative for the season
is it was a slow start kind of everywhere except
pretty much Chris Boswell. And as the season has gone on,
you've seen guys starting to click, whether it's on offense
or defense, but defense especially, we saw them really struggle
(16:45):
with the allowing of the one hundred yard back to
back performances by Breece Holl in Week one and then
Kenneth Gainwell I'm sorry, Kenneth Gaybell Kenneth Walker from Seattle
in week two, but they've really clammed down the last
couple of weeks and you need to see more of that.
And I do think when you're going up against Cleveland,
who is a terribly offensive team, I think you're able
(17:08):
to really use that game as an opportunity to make
it a tune up game. Not to say that they're
treading in the raw direction and this is going back
in the right direction, but just use this game as
another way to continue that momentum of improving on the
defensi side of the football, because as we know, Cleveland's
offense has really been pissed poor pretty much all year.
(17:29):
They have one of the lowest scoring offenses in football.
Don't let them get out to an early lead and
have yourselves questioning what the hell just happened.
Speaker 1 (17:37):
It's another game to continue to get right. We talk
about these get right games against the Patriots offense that
had struggles the Vikings, and now we look at this
game against the Browns. You bring up a good point
offense defensively Cleveland, and we're going to talk about it
more tomorrow and as we get into the end of
the week Wednesday and Thursday about the Cleveland game.
Speaker 3 (17:53):
So we'll save it for that.
Speaker 1 (17:54):
But yeah, their defense, very good offense has had their
struggles that they are young, so good opportunity for the
defense to keep that momentum going. Next up on the defense,
shore up the coverage issues. The secondary has been affected
by injuries, but they're getting healthy nout Toshaan Elliott was
a huge plug in against the Vikings.
Speaker 3 (18:09):
Getting him back.
Speaker 1 (18:09):
We talked about that yesterday in his big game against
the Vikings. But they've led to some big plays against them.
They've had some coverage issues, some communication issues, and again
that's all stuff early in the season. It can be corrected,
but they've got to continue to shore up those coverage
issues as they go throughout this season. Tighten things up
in that secondary.
Speaker 2 (18:25):
Yeah, definitely, But I do think that, as you mentioned
at the start of the segment ed, getting Joey Porter
Junior back will be a huge help for that. And
then we saw last week with the Shawn Elliott returning
to the starting lineup that he was a huge asset
to them. So having two guys who were huge assets
to you last year and then even the year before
that for Joey Porter Junior, you saw them kind of
(18:48):
struggle in the secondary without both of them for the
couple of weeks that they were both out. But having
them both back now is going to be what I
think is going to be a huge help. I do
think you're gonna see that improvement in the secondary. You
already did, and last week against them, I guess two
weeks ago at this point against the Vikings, I know
(19:10):
Addison and Jefferson kind of torched it. They both got
I think I know Jefferson did got over one hundred yards.
I'm assuming Addison did with that long catch and run.
But still you were able for the most part, for
that majority of the game to kind of keep things
under wraps in the secondary. And again, I just don't
imagine with both Elliott and Joey Porter Junior returning, I
(19:33):
can't imagine of all people, Dylan Gabriel is going to
be the one that's going to carve up that secondary.
Speaker 1 (19:38):
Yeah, Addison had one hundred and fourteen yards receiving one
hundred and twenty six for Jefferson, and I cheated Jacob
the full disclosure the statutes right in front of me
for the Vikings gave so I didn't have to dig
too far to got it to confirm what you were
thinking and what you said. Next up is getting home.
Blitzburg is back at times, sack numbers are on the rise.
They're now up the fourteen sacks on the season. The
last couple games against the Page and the Vikings.
Speaker 3 (20:01):
Very very much better, much improved.
Speaker 1 (20:03):
I would say, after the first couple games of the
season we were questioning, like, why aren't they blitzing, Why
aren't the sack numbers up? The last two games, I
think a lot of that has to do too with
Nick Herbig getting home, you know, TJ. Watt finally starting to,
you know, get that engine going again. Here during the
regular season, Patrick Queen has been excellent covering the middle
side of the field, Derek Harmon being back on that
(20:24):
defensive line, to Sean Elliott back in that secondary. Their
playmakers are back, and their playmakers are making place.
Speaker 2 (20:29):
Yeah, I mean that's what you want to see. And
like you said, Alex Heismith returning should be a huge help.
I know we're big fans of Nick Herbig on the show,
but what I've said before, I'll say it again.
Speaker 3 (20:40):
I do think that their best served.
Speaker 2 (20:43):
Excuse me, when all three guys are healthy, you can
really mix and match your your duos on the defensive
line are at the defensive edge spot when you can
put TJ in Heinsmith out there, or TJ and Herbig,
or Herbig and Heismith out there, and maybe even throw
Jack Sore into the mix. I know he's probably not
gonna get a lot of playing time now that high
(21:05):
Smith is back, and knock on wood, hopefully he stays
healthy and stays and available to them. But you have
four guys now who are contributors, and right now all
four are healthy. I mean, like you said, Alex Heihsmith
was a full participating yesterday in their first practice since
the bye week, so you should be able to go
(21:25):
all out against the Browns this week. And again, I
know we're big fans of Nick Herbig, but just because
Alex Highsmith is back, doesn't mean that you'll see less
of this less of Nick Herbig. You'll just see more
of Alex Heigsmith.
Speaker 1 (21:38):
Next up was to figure out that Nick Herbig and
Alex Smith fifty to fifty split or how you're going
to row to him.
Speaker 3 (21:43):
But you just spoke to that, so I'm gonna skip
over that.
Speaker 1 (21:44):
We'll go right to the end here of the defensive
talk the Peyton Wilson and I thought it was interesting
when we talked to Ray Fadapaldo last week from the
Pittsburgh Post Gazette that he had mentioned that he had
talked to Terrell Austin, the defensive coordinator. What they did
against the Vikings was he split more time with Cole Holcombe,
and they're gonna have Melee Harrison back to here at
some point off the ir during this season. Both are
very good, Holcombe and Harrison against the run, where Wilson's
(22:07):
more of your coverage inside linebacker. So they're starting to
put Peyton Wilson in positions where he can excel, and
especially being a young, first time starter at that inside
linebacker position.
Speaker 3 (22:18):
Mentally, I think that's important for Peyton Wilson because he's
got the tools.
Speaker 1 (22:21):
Jacob, He's gotten burned a few ties, But it sounds
to me, at least from what Race said to us
last week, the defense, because of injuries and other movement
within that defense, they were putting him in positions where
he couldn't excel, and against the Vikings they started putting
him in more positions and on certain downs, right, not
every single down, certain downs where he could do what
he does best. So I'm encouraged by that and hopefully
(22:43):
that strategy can continue, especially as they get healthy.
Speaker 2 (22:45):
Yeah, definitely. I just think again, like I said earlier,
the overall narrative for this team is improving and trending
in the right direction as the season has gone on.
And I do think that Peyton Wilson is one of
the I think few guys where it's maybe a toss
up to say that has he really gotten much better.
But one thing you can point to that's a tangible
(23:06):
was his chase down tackle of Jordan Adison. The guy
just never gave up and you really have to applaud
him for that. And I do think and race at
the same thing that it stuck. It stuck out to
the rest of the players, and I do think that's
going to kind of help him mentally just get better
as the season goes on. Just to have that ability
to say I won't ever quit on a play and
(23:29):
I have that speed.
Speaker 3 (23:30):
That's my biggest asset.
Speaker 2 (23:31):
That was why I was I won the Blittantikoff or
I'm sorry, not the Blittantkoff, the Buckets Award coming out
of NC State top linebacker yeah, exactly, and so I
just think that right now you could probably point at
Peyton Wilson is of the eleven guys on the field
(23:52):
playing at once. He might be eleven, he might be ten.
But it's not the worst person to have as your
weakest link.
Speaker 3 (24:00):
Stuff is special teams.
Speaker 1 (24:01):
I don't have anything to adjust for Chris Boss or
Corliss Weightman for that matter. I think Weightman has punted
the ball very well, averaging almost fifty yards per punt,
which is about where you want your punter to be.
But the coverage, that is one adjustment I think they
need to. They got better. I thought against the Patriots
and even the Vikings the first couple of games they
were awful. I mean teams were starting out the thirty
five forty yard line on every kickoff, so you got
(24:23):
to tight continue to tighten that up on your kickoff coverage,
and then your punt and kickoff returns have not been
good either.
Speaker 3 (24:29):
Punt return.
Speaker 1 (24:30):
I think they're under four yards per punt return and
kick return. We knew the struggles with Kayleb Johnson. They
need to continue to work with that. Find a true
returner on this team. I'm really surprised they haven't gone
to Austin Moore in the return game, but I think
that's one area where they.
Speaker 2 (24:43):
Can sure And we know Austin's going to be out
for a while too, so you probably won't see that
improve at all. The punt returner, I think it's gonna
be Scotty Nailer out there returning punts for the foreseeable
future until Calvin's back. Yeah, I mean, it's unfortunate, but
I do think the bigger point here is the fact
that they've gotten better at the coverage because, like you said,
(25:05):
it gives the opponent, the opposing team such an advantage
having a much better starting field position. But that's something
they clearly have improved on, is that coverage for both
punt and kickoff return. So, I mean, this team has
never been great at kickoff and punt returns themselves. And
(25:25):
you know, it's one of the hardest things to do
is to have a legit guy who can get you
an extra ten to fifteen yards on those returns. So
I'm not going to fault them for not having the
guy again this year. It's just it's like I said,
it's one of the harder things to do is to
find special team success in the return game. But it
is good to see them getting better at the coverage
(25:46):
because that's not something that they've actually struggled with the
past couple of years. It's actually been something they've been
pretty good at, and so the fact that they were
struggling through the first couple of weeks was really concerning.
But obviously it's getting better. But we as as we've
said so many times already, that you want to see
more improvement, don't don't just do it for two games
in a row and that's it.
Speaker 1 (26:06):
Keep trending up in all these categories, that's for sure. Okay,
let's finish up the segment with this coaching. And yesterday
I praised Mike Tomlin. You came back and you and
I disagreed a little bit with it, and you made
up very good points. But I think Tomlin needs to
keep balancing this roster with the big names, with the
mix of the younger players and ultimately the veteran roster
that he has preserve and protected. Again, there's the guys
(26:26):
on this roster. This is again it's a good mix. Right.
You got Rogers and DK Metcalf and Jalen Ramsey.
Speaker 3 (26:33):
Uh Deshaun Elliott.
Speaker 1 (26:34):
You got some some really seasoned veterans that you got
to continue to protect throughout this season. Because one of
these guys go down with an injury, you're in trouble.
We saw that with Elliott when Ellie was out of
that secondary and then he came back.
Speaker 3 (26:45):
How big of a difference that was.
Speaker 1 (26:46):
You lose a DK Metcalf at receiver that could be
cast he out, That can almost I don't want to
say it sinks your season, but far as your passing game,
that makes a big impac because they don't have anybody else.
Speaker 3 (26:54):
So you got to continue to protect these guys.
Speaker 2 (26:56):
Yeah, definitely. I mean, I actually do think it could
sink your seat. And the only way it doesn't add
is just the fact that the rest of the AFC
North is just so depleted.
Speaker 3 (27:05):
We're still hurting. It may it may just be.
Speaker 2 (27:08):
You remember a couple of years ago, the AFC North
was the first division in football and NFL history to
have all four teams finished with a winning record. The
way it's going right now, I certainly assume Cleveland and
Cincinnati will finish with a losing record. Baltimore right now
is in a one and four hole. We know their
schedule isn't super forgiving. I think they have the Rams
(27:29):
this week, Chicago next week. They could fall to one
and six without Lamar Jackson and just and by the
process of elimination, that just leaves the Steelers is the
only team that isn't struggling right now. But like you said,
if they do have that big blow, it could derail
them on an individual level, but just given, as I
(27:51):
pointed out, the rest of the division all kind of
suffering right now. I don't want to say I don't
want to predict this, but we've seen it happen before.
We're teams win their division with a losing record. It's happened,
it has And if that if the Steelers, like you said,
land that blow or get that blow and lose Rogers
for the year, you could be looking at a team,
maybe with a losing record, who wins this division. I
(28:13):
don't know. If I don't, I'm not saying that's gonna
happen because it's very unlikely. I think it's only happened
twice in the history of the league, so it's very unlikely.
But if you get that, if you lose your starting quarterback,
like the other teams have done so far. It's going
to be it's gonna be a big blow. It's going
to be very tough to battle back from that.
Speaker 1 (28:30):
They should be wrapping Aaron Rodgers and bubble wrap right now,
each and every day after what we've seen in the
AFC North so far. When we come back, Jacob and I,
our favorite segment of the week are terrible takes from
in and around the Pittsburgh Steelers and the NFL. It
is the Steelers Standard with Ed Troop and Jacob Wreck
here on Steelers Nation Radio, part of the Steelers Audio Network.
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