October 16, 2025 • 27 mins
Ed Troup and Jacob Recht list their keys to victories for the Steelers on offense and defense to take down the Bengals tonight. And Ed and Jacob pick a winner for tonight’s matchup.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
Welcome back into the Steelers Standard.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
I am at Troop alongside Jacob Bret here on Steelers
Nation Radio, part of the Steelers Audio Network. It's time
for our third segment here today, the Three Rivers Confluence,
where we give you injury updates for both teams and
the keys to tonight's game between the Steelers and the
Bengals Thursday Night Football now just says the time. We
record this a little bit after eleven am. Do my
(00:29):
math real quick, nine hours right, and we'll kick off
eight to fifteen tonight in Cincinnati at pay Corpse Stadium.
And the Steelers are going to try to make history
tonight and when their first divisional road game in the
history of the franchise, oh to eight on Thursday nights
on the road inside their division, so tonight would be
their best opportunity. And Jacob, we were just talking to
Ray fit Apado from the Pittsburgh Post is at about that,
(00:51):
and I completely agree with them.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
Tonight's tonight.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
If you're gonna do it, tonight's when the stars are aligning,
the boxes are being checked. If you don't win tonight,
then that may continue on for a long long time.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
Yeah, definitely.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
I mean Like I said, you made the point saying, oh,
they're due here, they're oh to six, But what happened
when they were oho and two even and owen three
and one four and oh one five? They were doing
all those games too, and they never got the job done.
But like we talked about with Ray Fitteputal, like you
just mentioned, this matchup seems to be the best case
(01:25):
scenario for the Steelers to break that spell of a
losing streak given how bad the defense is, and it
could be even worse without Trey Hendrickson. Given the signs
of improvement you've seen by the offensive line, by the
offense in general, the defense is starting to clamp down.
You're playing a forty one year old quarterback. You played
a what a twenty two year old or twenty three
(01:48):
year old rookie. I mean with a transfer portal. It's
hard to tell how old Dylan Gabriel could be. He
could be as old as twenty four at this point.
But you played a kid. He was basically twenty years
younger than Flacco, and you saw what six sacks and
sixteen quarterback hits it to him. All you gotta do
is doc Flacco a little bit around and he's gonna
go down. It's gonna be hard for him to get
back up and just make make his life a living hell,
(02:09):
and you should be.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
Okay, let's go over the injury news going into this game.
As of this morning here, Calvin Austin is out tonight
for is this his second third straight game? Right?
Speaker 3 (02:21):
He got hurt in the miss got hurt in Minnesota,
So it is the second full game that he's missed.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
Yeah, I missed some of that Minnesota game and now
the last two. So Austin out And you just heard
Ray talk about their circle in that Sunday night game.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
The next game in.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
Ten days at home against the Packers as a potential
return for Calvin Austin which would make sense at this point.
Why rush him back tonight, give him the extra ten days.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
Again.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
Our breaking news late last night and into this morning
to Shaun Elliott now questionable for tonight due to a
personal reason.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
We don't want to speculate on that.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
But right now, as of the time we record this
here on Thursday morning, we don't know if he'll be
able to go tonight or not. So that's now and play.
Miles Kilbrew is out with the knee injury and Malie
Harrison again, he is questionable for tonight coming off the
IR in that twenty one day window. I guess he's
not officially off the IR, but they've activated him to
(03:12):
potentially come off the IR. They have twenty one days
to do that, so may not be this game again.
Listening to Ray, it sounds like there's no need for
him tonight, So I'd be surprised if he gets a
hat and is active here tonight.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
Yeah. I don't think it's gonna happen right now.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
If I were beting, I would say he you know,
he's he's going to be out tonight. We know Austin's out.
We don't know about Deshaun Elliott yet. But other than that,
they're relatively healthy going into Thursday night, And that says
a lot from since you just played three days ago.
Speaker 3 (03:40):
And given the fact that the injuries they've been dealing
with pretty much all season long, it seemed like they
were running up a total every single week of different
guys popping up in that injury report. But besides the
unfortunate Deshaun Elliott development where he's dealing with some personal
personal news, it's nothing two out of the ordinary, right,
(04:01):
they've been like you said, they they played majority of
that game against Minnesota in Dublin with Al Calvin. They
played without him last week, so they their offense has
I guess you could say adjusted to being without him
and just having to go out there with d Kan
and the rest of the guys. And in terms of
Deshaun Elliott missing from the secondary, you're getting Joey Porter
(04:22):
Junior back for the second consecutive week. You have Delian
Ramsey healthy. You remember he was questionable to play last
week against Cleveland, so he's fully back. I think you're
you're in pretty good shape and like you said, this
matchup just isn't as threatening. I think the only thing
that's threatening the Steelers right now is that Bengals receiving
core against the Steelers secondary. But considering you have Ramsey
(04:45):
and Porter alongside guys like Darius Slay and others who
were doing a serviceable, serviceable job so far, I really
don't know, like where where the recipe is for the
Bengals to truly pick apart the Steelers defense.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
Mike Kuseki, the talented tight end is out tonight. When
we look at the Bengals injury report as is. Fellow
tight end Tanner Hudson is out with a concussion, So
two of their tight ends will not get a hat
tonight in Cincinnati.
Speaker 1 (05:15):
Two players questionable.
Speaker 2 (05:16):
Charlie Jones, who I mentioned earlier, one of their big
kick returners, is questionable tonight with ribs. No update yet
on their guard Lucas Patrick with a calf. He was
limited this week in practice. He's questionable for tonight. But
the biggest name on that list is Trey Hendrickson with
his hip. He is questionable for tonight. As of right now,
we don't know if he's going to be a go
or not. Again reported yesterday questionable. He's huge because if
(05:39):
Hendrickson can't go tonight, that really depletes this defense even
more than where it already is. It's already struggled averaging
thirty points per game, giving up Jacub. Now you take
Hendrickson out of the mix, and even if Hendrickson plays,
as we were talking with Ray, he's not one hundred percent,
so you know his play's already going to be downgraded tonight,
and again opportunity for Broderick Jones to have another big
(06:00):
matchup tonight and that's good between the years.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
I like it for Bob Jones. I mean you brought
it up with Ray.
Speaker 3 (06:06):
He's shown big signs, have been proven east of the
last two weeks, and if you're not having to go
up against Trey Hendrickson this week, that's another chance for
him to move in the right direction, right And like
you said, he showed he showed that signs. He showed
those signs against a solid top to bottom defensive front
against Minnesota, he played well against individually against Miles Garrett,
(06:28):
and Trey Hendrickson is not out there this week. Like
you said, it's just another chance for him to move
in that right direction, and I fully expect him to do.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
So. We're in our three rivers confluence segment here is
we give you the injury updates for both teams, and
now let's get to our keys to the game for
tonight on Thursday Night Football. Five keys on offense, five
keys on defense. The first on offense is what we
just talked about, Broderick Jones versus Trey Hendrickson.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
If he plays again.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
Broderick Jones last week against Miles Garrett, one of the
best edge defenders in the NFL, limiting him to only
two assist tackles on the day, no sacks, and again
he was double teamed a couple of times because they
bringing Calvin Anderson as a swing tackle Broderick Jones in
the heavy packages so he gets help. But it was
also pointed out that there were numerous times where Broderick
Jones went one on one against Miles Garrett. Well, tonight,
(07:17):
he'll be up against Trey Hendrickson, I would think most
of the night if Hendrickson goes and again, key to
success on offense is winning that battle and again, keeping
Aaron Rodgers upright and healthy.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
Yeah, I mean, you want to keep Aaron upright.
Speaker 3 (07:31):
Remember this is the unk Bull, this is the Icy
hot Bull, this is the AARP Bowl, and your defensive
front is much better than theirs, especially if they're playing
without Trey Hendrickson, So you have the advantage, right, I mean,
you could get out to the early leads simply because
of Aaron Rodgers not getting or not taking on the
hits that Joe Flacco will be taking on versus the
(07:54):
Steelers defense. So I think it's a huge, huge point
of emphasis for the Steelers to say to themselves, keep
Rogers upright. Don't let him get beat down because these
guys are both over forty years old. I mean, it's,
as we mentioned earlier in our first second, this is
the second oldest matchup between quarterbacks in the regular season
and NFL history.
Speaker 2 (08:13):
The go ahead, I was gonna say our yeah, well
before I get to our next point, just to back
up what you said.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
Yeah, two aging quarterbacks, but two different quarterbacks.
Speaker 3 (08:22):
Right, I mean Aaron Yeah, But Aaron Rodgers is one
of the greatest of all time, right, Like he is
a top five, top ten quarterback if you want to
make that argument of all time. Joe Flacco, Yes, he's
a super Bowl MVP and a and a borderline Hall
of Famer. I don't know if he gets in or out,
but he's a super Bowl MVP, super Bowl champion.
Speaker 1 (08:42):
He had that magical run.
Speaker 3 (08:43):
But besides that, you know, he's not done anything nearly
to the level of Aaron Rodgers.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
And his play so far in twenty twenty five, right, right,
he's showing his age a lot more than Aaron Rodgers. Still,
Aaron Rodgers has still playing at a high level. Is
Aaron Rodgers? Joe Flacco, Hey, he was ben for a
reason In Cleveland. Yeah, there's a reason why they sat it,
and there's a reason why they traded him. I mean,
I was a better option in Cleveland. He'd still be
the Browns quarterback. But now he's in Cincinnati. Yes, an
(09:09):
upgrade from Browning, but ultimately nowhere near where Joe Burrow is.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
All right.
Speaker 2 (09:14):
Our next key to the game on offense, stack the points.
The Bengals are number thirty one in the NFL with
an average of thirty point five points given up per game.
The Steelers coming in on their offense averaging twenty three
point eight points per game, So not too bad, but
an opportunity tonight, Jacob to really put light up that scoreboard.
And the offense has been clunky at times. There's a
lot of positives. We just talked about it with Aaron Rodgers,
(09:36):
not throwing, not turning the football over. They've done a
real nice job so far the season of that, but
they've had drives stall out and have had to settle
for boss Field goals. So tonight, I think getting across
the goal line, especially early in this game, building a lead,
building momentum, and getting this whole intangible of what you've
done on Thursday Night football in the past on the road,
get that out of your brain, get a lead, and
(09:58):
build some points.
Speaker 3 (09:58):
Yeah, we talked about this same bullet point last week,
right about getting out to that early lead against Cleveland,
because you knew that points were gonna be hard to
come by against that Cleveland defense, so and you knew.
Speaker 1 (10:11):
Their offense was gonna struggle as well.
Speaker 3 (10:13):
So all you to do is get out to an
early sixth to nothing or seventh to nothing or ten
to nothing lead, and you'd feel a lot better about
that game. Same goes here, right, because if your offense
can get out to that early lead and shrike first
before Joe Flacco connects with Jamar Chason t Higgins, that
should be able to set the tone for the rest
of the night.
Speaker 1 (10:31):
Right, They're going to score points.
Speaker 3 (10:33):
Like rayfit Apoto said in our last sevente Flacco is
gonna connect with Jamar and t Higgins eventually. So what
you have to do to best suit yourself or best
set yourself up to win this game is score those
points early so that it's not coming down where last
week or similar to last week for the Bengals and
the Packers, where the Bengals were able to come back.
(10:55):
If you don't have those points scored early. Flacco could
tear it up on the second and half like he
did against Green Bay and just take the lead and
not look back.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
Part of stacking those points is our next couple points,
and we'll go with the first the next star. Third
key to victory on offense, attack the middle of the
football field. Bengals linebacker corps the third worst in the
NFL against pass coverage. So how do you do that
DK on those quick counter runs? But I'll get the
DK in a second. He's my next key to this game.
But first, attack the mill of football field with your
(11:26):
tight ends. Last week, for only this second time in
franchise history, the Pittsburgh Steelers hit their.
Speaker 1 (11:32):
Four different tight ends in a football game.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
That's the second time ever that that's happened where four
tight ends on the roster all got at least one
reception or more, and that happened last week. Darnell Washington
leading that group this season with eighty two yards receiving.
You have Pat Fryermuth with seventy six yards receiving. These
numbers don't jump out at you, Jacob, but there's an
opportunity tonight along with John hus Smith and Hey, Connor Hayward.
(11:56):
He has a touchdown, he's the you know him and
John news Smith on the season also so as the
other touchdown, but I think his was on that shuffle
pass if I remember correctly, early in the season. Get
these four involved again, why not have the third game
in franchise history where you find all four tight ends
at some point and again, Cincinnati just to get to
your point in a second third worst pass defense their
(12:16):
linebacker corps in the NFL.
Speaker 3 (12:18):
Yeah, Ray Filopado mentioned the jumbo package, so you'll see
a lot of that, and I think that means that
you'll see clearly a lot of Darnell, a lot of
John who I don't know about Pat, I don't know
about Connor Hayward. But to your point ed, get those
guys involved. However, you can expose the middle of the field,
and that's something that Aaron Rodgers does so well, has
on his entire career. This is your moment, right, I
(12:39):
mean we've talked about chicking boxes. This is one of
those boxes. The tight ends are going to be an
asset if you choose to use them. Look how you
used all four guys last week? The plays obviously that
stick out are the first play from scrimmage for the Steelers,
that nice route that Darnell Washington had for thirty yards
(13:00):
in the touchdown pass from Rogers to Connor Hayward. You're
gonna see even more open looks to those guys against
this defense, against the Bengals linebacking corps.
Speaker 1 (13:10):
So you need to take advantage of that.
Speaker 2 (13:12):
Our fourth key on offense is go to DK again.
Let him be the playmaker that he is. Four straight
games in which DK Metcalf has scored touchdowns, Let's make
it five in a row tonight in Cincinnati. Three hundred
and fifty six yards receiving coming in averaging eighteen point
yards per catch.
Speaker 1 (13:29):
And just to go back to our.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
Last point, attacking the middle of the football field, here's
another guy outside the tight ends you can hit on
those real quick slant passes. And what does DK do
better than any other receiver in the NFL jacub yards
after catch. He likes to stack those numbers so fast,
so athletic man. I can see him tonight across the
middle of the football field taking off on a seven
or eight yard pass and then turning it into a
(13:51):
thirty or forty yard game.
Speaker 3 (13:53):
Yeah, good luck to anyone on the Bengals defense who's
assigned to covering DK. Metcalf right, Oh absolutely, I mean
Yesan burn the Brown secondary last week, who is again
we mentioned it had I think coming in the second
best pass defense in the entire league. Well, the Bengals
rank second from the bottom in terms of that category.
(14:13):
So you need to take advantage. I mean again, this
is just another easy box that you can check come
the end of the game, saying, get Aaron and DK going,
get those yak, get that yak for DK, and get
them in the end zone. It shouldn't be too hard
to check those boxes against this really, really bad Bengals defense.
Speaker 2 (14:34):
So we talked with our five keys on offense so far,
stack the points, Roderick versus Hendrickson. If he plays Hendrickson,
attack the middle of the football field, get DK going again,
and the last point, run, run and run some more.
The Bengals have the fifth most rush defense giving up
this season, and the Steelers are getting better last couple
(14:55):
of games. That's starting to increase. When you take a
look at the numbers. One hundred and twenty four, four
hundred and twenty yards rushing averaging three point four yards
per carry, eighty four yards per game, and three rushing touchdowns.
An opportunity tonight to increase those numbers. Stack those numbers,
get Warren involved, get game well involved. Heck even get
(15:15):
Caleb Johnson involved, get everyone involved.
Speaker 1 (15:17):
Jacob, you run to Cincinnati, We'll get you in the
back end. Fifth. I'm happy to do it.
Speaker 2 (15:21):
Fifth, most rushing yards giving up on the season, Pound
the ball in the ground, set up the pass, the
old football adage, and then start taking some shots with
DK and company downfield again, at least on offense. And
we're gonna talk defense next. That's gonna be the same story.
By the way, the boxes are checking for this game tonight.
Attack attack, attack, and I think they have a great
opportunity to do that.
Speaker 1 (15:41):
I guess they banged up Bengals D.
Speaker 3 (15:43):
I think so too, And I'd love to see Caleb
Johnson just get a little more involved. Right We're not
calling for him to be RB one right now, but
just give him those reps, give him that confidence booster.
You're always preaching that, ed. Give these guys an extra
opportunity to be a little more confident in their game.
And I think against a really bad Bengals D defense.
You have that opportunity here, and you know what, if
(16:04):
it's not Keeble's night, fine, then feed the hot hand,
give it to Jallian Warren. I mean, this is this,
This has Jalen Warren, Jaillien Warren's name written all over
for him to have a big shot, right, And even
Kenneth Gamewell because we know how speedy he is out
of the backfield, whether it's getting the ball on the
ground or getting those checkdown passes. We've seen him be
effective in both roles. So get all I'm with you,
(16:26):
get all three guys involved. But I think if anyone.
Speaker 2 (16:29):
This is going to be Jillian Warren's big game, let's
get to our five keys on defense. Those were our
five keys on offense on the defensive side of the
ball for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Speaker 1 (16:38):
Number One, don't let Cool Joe get in a groove. Right.
Speaker 2 (16:41):
If Flaco gets confidence early in this game, you start
rehashing everything in his career with the Ravens, with the Colts,
with the Browns most recently, and the success he's had
against our franchise, the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Speaker 1 (16:53):
You can't let Joe.
Speaker 2 (16:54):
Get in a groove and start attacking with Jamar Chase
and t Higgins. Shut him down early, get an head,
get pressure on him. He's an older quarterback. Heck, you know,
if you're able to get some turnovers, get the interceptions
off this guy because that will start getting doubt in
his mind. The more positive place he has, the more
confidence he'll get, and the more old Joe Flacco we
(17:15):
will see. So that's a key I think number one
on the Steeer defense tonight. Get after Flacco and don't
let him get into a groove.
Speaker 1 (17:22):
Yeah. Absolutely, you gotta beat this guy down.
Speaker 3 (17:24):
There is I don't know what priority you know on
the whiteboard that Mike Tomlin has for his keys of
the game in his locker room, but this one should
be at the top of the list. Just knock the
hell out of Joe. I keep going for Joe Burrow,
but I mean Joe Flacco. It's easy to do, right
it is. This guy is so old, and like you
(17:45):
said at the beginning of the segment ed, not only
does he not have the career that Aaron Rodgers has had,
but he's not playing nearly at the level at Aaron
Rodgers playing This season with both of them playing at
the age past forty.
Speaker 1 (17:58):
So just get to him.
Speaker 3 (17:59):
I mean, like you said, he was bench for Dylan Gabriel,
who the Steelers just took down six times on top
of sixteen quarterback hits. So if you can recreate that
against the Bengals offensive line, which is worse than the
Browns offensive line which you faced off against last week,
you should be able to stop this Bengals offense.
Speaker 1 (18:18):
That is That is the key.
Speaker 3 (18:19):
That is I think maybe the most important key on
defense this week.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
And catch the ball this week.
Speaker 3 (18:24):
Last week they had offered there was like six dropped
interceptions last week. Get one of those, just at least.
Speaker 2 (18:31):
One of those, get after him early and often, and
I bet that's part of the game plan and what
they intend to do tonight in Cincinnati. Okay, next up.
Part of that is this blitz early and often. It
gets a bad offensive line. The Cincinnati offensive line has
been a major problem this year. We said earlier in
our first segment Pro Football Focus, ranking them the fourth
(18:51):
worst pass blocking offense in the NFL.
Speaker 1 (18:54):
So what does that spell out to? Blitz blitz all
night long.
Speaker 2 (18:57):
Blitzberg's been back the last few weeks, six sacks last week.
They stacked sacks up against multiple sacks up against the
Vikings and the Patriots the two weeks prior before. Good
opportunity tonight, and how do you get that pressure on
Joe Flacco? You blitz all night long against a bad
offensive line. Win the line of scrimmage. That's an understand
with Derek Harmon and key On, Tu Benton and Cam Hayward,
(19:18):
dominate up front. Get your linebackers, free them up. This
could be a big game for TJ. Watt tonight on
National TV.
Speaker 1 (19:24):
Yeah, I mean we've talked about it before.
Speaker 3 (19:26):
How the Steelers are second in the league right now
behind the Broncos and sacks with twenty.
Speaker 1 (19:31):
The Broncos are in first place with thirty.
Speaker 3 (19:33):
But the Steelers are also tied with the Broncos for
the most guys register with at least one sack, and
I believe they're also tied with the Broncos for the
most guys who have at least one quarterback hit on
the season. Spread their love again. You remember you saw
what was it six different guys or five different guys
get a sack last week?
Speaker 1 (19:54):
Recreate that. Spread the ball around.
Speaker 3 (19:56):
Confuse the hell out of that Bengals off as the
line confused the hell out of Flaco, not Burrow and
get everyone involved in the backfield.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
Good job, Yeah, thank you. Here you go, hey, it
only took the future out.
Speaker 2 (20:07):
Yeah right, Hey, listen, you're talking to the master of
everything that I do on my side saying all kinds
of different names. Uh yeah, I I completely agree with you.
Our next point on defense is let Ramsey go after Jamar.
Let Ramsey be Jalen Ramsey, be that playmaker, be that
trash talker, and get him after Jamar. You heard Ray
Fittipaldo in our last segment, mich but we've been referencing
(20:29):
a Ray. It's almost like Ray's on this sears almost
like good at what he does. It's like he's sitting
right here with us. We referenced them ten times already
in this segment. But he had a lot of good stuff.
If you didn't get a chance, go back and listen
to it in our second segment here today with Ray
Filpado from the Pittsburgh Post head.
Speaker 1 (20:43):
But Ray said it Mike Tomlin in training camp.
Speaker 2 (20:46):
This is why we brought Jalen Ramsey into the Black
and Gold, into the locker room. Is to face a
guy like Jamar Chase from the Cincinnati Bengals, who you'll
see twice in one season, maybe even a third time
if the playoffs doesn't look like it this year, but
if we've seen in the past at least twice where
the Steelers have played him a third time in the postseason.
But this is why you brought Jalen Ramsey here, Jacob,
to get after Jamar Chase.
Speaker 3 (21:07):
Absolutely, I mean, this is the matchup to watch. This
is what we've been paying attention to all week. It
is this is the Bengals best player across the team
probably against the Steelers one of at least one of
their best players across the team, and so they're going
up head to head. You if Jalen Ramsey can handle
(21:28):
Jamar Chase, there's no reason. You know, we were talking
about checking all the boxes. If you can do this,
if you can do this, if you can do this,
you should win the game. If Jalen Ramsey can take
away Jamar Chase. Where tell me where the path to
victory is for the Bengals. They're simply there, simply is none.
It's not gonna be through Mike Ooseki, who you said
(21:49):
is hurt. It's not gonna be through Chase Brown. It's
not gonna be through the Bengals defense. Anyone on the defense,
that's for sure. It's Jamar Chase and it's see Higgins.
But if Ramsey can really take out of the equation
Jamar Chase, I don't see the path to victory for
the Bengals in any other way possible.
Speaker 2 (22:07):
Our next key on defense is win the turnover battle.
The Bengals are a negative four coming into this game.
The Steelers are plus seven, so they have continued to
be one of the leaders in the NFL.
Speaker 3 (22:17):
And I believe this past week against the Browns was
the first week.
Speaker 1 (22:21):
Without a turnover on either side. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (22:23):
Right, So you have to you have to get back
to forcing that, forcing the turnovers, getting the football out defense.
Speaker 2 (22:31):
Protect the football on offense, and force them on defense.
They've done a good job so far this season with that. Again,
plus seven, the Bengals not so much negative four. So
win the turnover battle tonight. And finally, the last key
on defense is keep stopping the run. I was gonna
say stop the run, but keep stopping the run. They're
the thirty second rush the rush offense in the NFL
(22:54):
their defenses, I think thirty first, as I mentioned earlier. Yeah,
but on the offense thirty second last. Chase Brown has
not had a good year, so you know, Derek Harmon
and again got to stress that defensive line up front
with Keanu Benton and Cam Hay were a good opportunity
tonight to dominate the line of scrimmage, get pressure in
the backfield, and again shut down that running game where
(23:15):
last week they limited sixty five total yards with the
Cleveland Browns on the ground, the week before that seventy
against the Vikings. So make it three games in a
row where the team you're facing total rushing is under
one hundred yards.
Speaker 3 (23:28):
Yeah, and there's no reason again, there's no reason that
Chase Brown should be the MVP of this game. Oh No,
given that his lack of production, given that Zach Taylor's
and unwillingness really to make a more balance or go
with a more balanced offense, getting the run offense just
overall more involved. And given the success the recent successes
(23:49):
you mentioned the last two weeks against the Browns and
the Vikings, how well the Dealers have done against the run,
there's no reason that Chase Brown should all of a sudden,
he turn things round against an improving Steelers run defense.
Speaker 2 (24:03):
All right, Jacob, let's end the segment with this. Let's
set it up for you. I'm gonna get you some
stats and then we'll get to our picks. So again
we opened the morning up with this. The Steelers are
nine and eleven all time on Thursday Night football under
Mike Tomlin, two and eight on the road, and oh
and six in road divisional games under Mike Tomlin on
Thursday Night. The last time they won on the road
(24:25):
in general on Thursday Night was twenty sixteen versus the Colts.
Speaker 1 (24:29):
As a franchise that way, and that too.
Speaker 3 (24:31):
Also, remember that was a a Thanksgiving game, Thanksgiving Day
game right at night. It's a weird Thursday night. It's
not even like a normal Thursday night game.
Speaker 1 (24:41):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (24:41):
Good, good little asterisk there, good point uh eight lifetime
the franchise is on Thursday Night football divisional road games.
They've never won in the history of the franchise a
divisional game on the road. So will history be made tonight?
Ray Fitepato thought so. He took the Steelers twenty to thirteen.
I'll go for then I'll go with you because you're
still on the fence. I think I'm gonna go ahead
(25:03):
and agree with Ray tonight. I think the Steelers put
up thirty tonight on the bank, like that, thirty to thirteen.
Speaker 1 (25:10):
I like the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Speaker 3 (25:11):
So I like that because if you remember last year
in Cincinnati, granted and it wasn't a Thursday night primetime game,
it was a one o'clock kickoff, they scored forty four
points and they outscored Joe Burrow forty four to thirty eight.
Speaker 1 (25:24):
That was Joe Burrow. I'm gonna go with the Steelers
win here.
Speaker 3 (25:27):
I think they also break the streak, but you can
tell in the tone of my voice I'm not one
hundred percent confident in it. I think they win, and
I think the score is gonna be something like, let's
say twenty seven for Pittsburgh, and I think Joe Flacco
still finds the end zone. I'm gonna go twenty seven
fourteen in Pittsburgh because I think you're gonna do a
(25:49):
good enough job to stop Joe Flacco, but he's still
gonna find the end zone.
Speaker 2 (25:53):
With Chase and Higgins, I will say this, I think
it's another classic AFC North matchup. It'll be clunky in
the first quarter, maybe even the entire first half, kind
of what we saw against Cleveland this past week. Maybe
three or four Chris Boswell field goals or the drives
you know, stall out. But I think ultimately in the
second half, the better football team takes over. Maybe DK
breaks one and they get things going and they ultimately
(26:14):
pull away. I think they get the thirty points tonight
against a Bengals defense, they.
Speaker 1 (26:18):
Yeah, just bend up.
Speaker 3 (26:19):
That's the thing, is just it's it's how many points
can the Bengals offense score on the Steelers defense is
the biggest question.
Speaker 1 (26:26):
Mark, and they're reeling right now.
Speaker 2 (26:27):
Are the Cincinnati Bengals list we're both going against our
preseason predictions. Well, I was gonna mention that because you
and I both had them losing tonight in Cincinnati. Now
have them winning because of their lack of success. Well,
it's the lack of Joe Burrow, right. Oh yeah, I'm
saying the preseason pick was because of the two factors,
Joe Burrow and the lack.
Speaker 1 (26:48):
Of this right right.
Speaker 2 (26:50):
We both looked at that and scratched our heads. But yeah,
now that was that was for me an easy me to.
I just throw it up there. I almost marked it first. Yeah,
when I went through the schedule, I said, now this
is definitely a loss.
Speaker 1 (27:00):
But now we feel different about it.
Speaker 2 (27:02):
The Steelers are on the rise, the Bengals are on
the they're falling down. Everything works right, they can't lose Ed,
Come say that. Come on, we know how it is.
Will they make history tonight and get their first road
divisional win in the history on Thursday Night footballs of
the franchise. We will find out, that's for sure, and
Jacob and I will talk about it tomorrow. Here on
(27:22):
the standard. It is the Steelers Standard with Ed Troop
and Jacob Brett on Steelers Nation Radio, part of the
Steelers Audio Network.
Welcome back into the Steelers Standard.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
I am at Troop alongside Jacob Bret here on Steelers
Nation Radio, part of the Steelers Audio Network. It's time
for our third segment here today, the Three Rivers Confluence,
where we give you injury updates for both teams and
the keys to tonight's game between the Steelers and the
Bengals Thursday Night Football now just says the time. We
record this a little bit after eleven am. Do my
(00:29):
math real quick, nine hours right, and we'll kick off
eight to fifteen tonight in Cincinnati at pay Corpse Stadium.
And the Steelers are going to try to make history
tonight and when their first divisional road game in the
history of the franchise, oh to eight on Thursday nights
on the road inside their division, so tonight would be
their best opportunity. And Jacob, we were just talking to
Ray fit Apado from the Pittsburgh Post is at about that,
(00:51):
and I completely agree with them.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
Tonight's tonight.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
If you're gonna do it, tonight's when the stars are aligning,
the boxes are being checked. If you don't win tonight,
then that may continue on for a long long time.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
Yeah, definitely.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
I mean Like I said, you made the point saying, oh,
they're due here, they're oh to six, But what happened
when they were oho and two even and owen three
and one four and oh one five? They were doing
all those games too, and they never got the job done.
But like we talked about with Ray Fitteputal, like you
just mentioned, this matchup seems to be the best case
(01:25):
scenario for the Steelers to break that spell of a
losing streak given how bad the defense is, and it
could be even worse without Trey Hendrickson. Given the signs
of improvement you've seen by the offensive line, by the
offense in general, the defense is starting to clamp down.
You're playing a forty one year old quarterback. You played
a what a twenty two year old or twenty three
(01:48):
year old rookie. I mean with a transfer portal. It's
hard to tell how old Dylan Gabriel could be. He
could be as old as twenty four at this point.
But you played a kid. He was basically twenty years
younger than Flacco, and you saw what six sacks and
sixteen quarterback hits it to him. All you gotta do
is doc Flacco a little bit around and he's gonna
go down. It's gonna be hard for him to get
back up and just make make his life a living hell,
(02:09):
and you should be.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
Okay, let's go over the injury news going into this game.
As of this morning here, Calvin Austin is out tonight
for is this his second third straight game? Right?
Speaker 3 (02:21):
He got hurt in the miss got hurt in Minnesota,
So it is the second full game that he's missed.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
Yeah, I missed some of that Minnesota game and now
the last two. So Austin out And you just heard
Ray talk about their circle in that Sunday night game.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
The next game in.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
Ten days at home against the Packers as a potential
return for Calvin Austin which would make sense at this point.
Why rush him back tonight, give him the extra ten days.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
Again.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
Our breaking news late last night and into this morning
to Shaun Elliott now questionable for tonight due to a
personal reason.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
We don't want to speculate on that.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
But right now, as of the time we record this
here on Thursday morning, we don't know if he'll be
able to go tonight or not. So that's now and play.
Miles Kilbrew is out with the knee injury and Malie
Harrison again, he is questionable for tonight coming off the
IR in that twenty one day window. I guess he's
not officially off the IR, but they've activated him to
(03:12):
potentially come off the IR. They have twenty one days
to do that, so may not be this game again.
Listening to Ray, it sounds like there's no need for
him tonight, So I'd be surprised if he gets a
hat and is active here tonight.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
Yeah. I don't think it's gonna happen right now.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
If I were beting, I would say he you know,
he's he's going to be out tonight. We know Austin's out.
We don't know about Deshaun Elliott yet. But other than that,
they're relatively healthy going into Thursday night, And that says
a lot from since you just played three days ago.
Speaker 3 (03:40):
And given the fact that the injuries they've been dealing
with pretty much all season long, it seemed like they
were running up a total every single week of different
guys popping up in that injury report. But besides the
unfortunate Deshaun Elliott development where he's dealing with some personal
personal news, it's nothing two out of the ordinary, right,
(04:01):
they've been like you said, they they played majority of
that game against Minnesota in Dublin with Al Calvin. They
played without him last week, so they their offense has
I guess you could say adjusted to being without him
and just having to go out there with d Kan
and the rest of the guys. And in terms of
Deshaun Elliott missing from the secondary, you're getting Joey Porter
(04:22):
Junior back for the second consecutive week. You have Delian
Ramsey healthy. You remember he was questionable to play last
week against Cleveland, so he's fully back. I think you're
you're in pretty good shape and like you said, this
matchup just isn't as threatening. I think the only thing
that's threatening the Steelers right now is that Bengals receiving
core against the Steelers secondary. But considering you have Ramsey
(04:45):
and Porter alongside guys like Darius Slay and others who
were doing a serviceable, serviceable job so far, I really
don't know, like where where the recipe is for the
Bengals to truly pick apart the Steelers defense.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
Mike Kuseki, the talented tight end is out tonight. When
we look at the Bengals injury report as is. Fellow
tight end Tanner Hudson is out with a concussion, So
two of their tight ends will not get a hat
tonight in Cincinnati.
Speaker 1 (05:15):
Two players questionable.
Speaker 2 (05:16):
Charlie Jones, who I mentioned earlier, one of their big
kick returners, is questionable tonight with ribs. No update yet
on their guard Lucas Patrick with a calf. He was
limited this week in practice. He's questionable for tonight. But
the biggest name on that list is Trey Hendrickson with
his hip. He is questionable for tonight. As of right now,
we don't know if he's going to be a go
or not. Again reported yesterday questionable. He's huge because if
(05:39):
Hendrickson can't go tonight, that really depletes this defense even
more than where it already is. It's already struggled averaging
thirty points per game, giving up Jacub. Now you take
Hendrickson out of the mix, and even if Hendrickson plays,
as we were talking with Ray, he's not one hundred percent,
so you know his play's already going to be downgraded tonight,
and again opportunity for Broderick Jones to have another big
(06:00):
matchup tonight and that's good between the years.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
I like it for Bob Jones. I mean you brought
it up with Ray.
Speaker 3 (06:06):
He's shown big signs, have been proven east of the
last two weeks, and if you're not having to go
up against Trey Hendrickson this week, that's another chance for
him to move in the right direction, right And like
you said, he showed he showed that signs. He showed
those signs against a solid top to bottom defensive front
against Minnesota, he played well against individually against Miles Garrett,
(06:28):
and Trey Hendrickson is not out there this week. Like
you said, it's just another chance for him to move
in that right direction, and I fully expect him to do.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
So. We're in our three rivers confluence segment here is
we give you the injury updates for both teams, and
now let's get to our keys to the game for
tonight on Thursday Night Football. Five keys on offense, five
keys on defense. The first on offense is what we
just talked about, Broderick Jones versus Trey Hendrickson.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
If he plays again.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
Broderick Jones last week against Miles Garrett, one of the
best edge defenders in the NFL, limiting him to only
two assist tackles on the day, no sacks, and again
he was double teamed a couple of times because they
bringing Calvin Anderson as a swing tackle Broderick Jones in
the heavy packages so he gets help. But it was
also pointed out that there were numerous times where Broderick
Jones went one on one against Miles Garrett. Well, tonight,
(07:17):
he'll be up against Trey Hendrickson, I would think most
of the night if Hendrickson goes and again, key to
success on offense is winning that battle and again, keeping
Aaron Rodgers upright and healthy.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
Yeah, I mean, you want to keep Aaron upright.
Speaker 3 (07:31):
Remember this is the unk Bull, this is the Icy
hot Bull, this is the AARP Bowl, and your defensive
front is much better than theirs, especially if they're playing
without Trey Hendrickson, So you have the advantage, right, I mean,
you could get out to the early leads simply because
of Aaron Rodgers not getting or not taking on the
hits that Joe Flacco will be taking on versus the
(07:54):
Steelers defense. So I think it's a huge, huge point
of emphasis for the Steelers to say to themselves, keep
Rogers upright. Don't let him get beat down because these
guys are both over forty years old. I mean, it's,
as we mentioned earlier in our first second, this is
the second oldest matchup between quarterbacks in the regular season
and NFL history.
Speaker 2 (08:13):
The go ahead, I was gonna say our yeah, well
before I get to our next point, just to back
up what you said.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
Yeah, two aging quarterbacks, but two different quarterbacks.
Speaker 3 (08:22):
Right, I mean Aaron Yeah, But Aaron Rodgers is one
of the greatest of all time, right, Like he is
a top five, top ten quarterback if you want to
make that argument of all time. Joe Flacco, Yes, he's
a super Bowl MVP and a and a borderline Hall
of Famer. I don't know if he gets in or out,
but he's a super Bowl MVP, super Bowl champion.
Speaker 1 (08:42):
He had that magical run.
Speaker 3 (08:43):
But besides that, you know, he's not done anything nearly
to the level of Aaron Rodgers.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
And his play so far in twenty twenty five, right, right,
he's showing his age a lot more than Aaron Rodgers. Still,
Aaron Rodgers has still playing at a high level. Is
Aaron Rodgers? Joe Flacco, Hey, he was ben for a
reason In Cleveland. Yeah, there's a reason why they sat it,
and there's a reason why they traded him. I mean,
I was a better option in Cleveland. He'd still be
the Browns quarterback. But now he's in Cincinnati. Yes, an
(09:09):
upgrade from Browning, but ultimately nowhere near where Joe Burrow is.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
All right.
Speaker 2 (09:14):
Our next key to the game on offense, stack the points.
The Bengals are number thirty one in the NFL with
an average of thirty point five points given up per game.
The Steelers coming in on their offense averaging twenty three
point eight points per game, So not too bad, but
an opportunity tonight, Jacob to really put light up that scoreboard.
And the offense has been clunky at times. There's a
lot of positives. We just talked about it with Aaron Rodgers,
(09:36):
not throwing, not turning the football over. They've done a
real nice job so far the season of that, but
they've had drives stall out and have had to settle
for boss Field goals. So tonight, I think getting across
the goal line, especially early in this game, building a lead,
building momentum, and getting this whole intangible of what you've
done on Thursday Night football in the past on the road,
get that out of your brain, get a lead, and
(09:58):
build some points.
Speaker 3 (09:58):
Yeah, we talked about this same bullet point last week,
right about getting out to that early lead against Cleveland,
because you knew that points were gonna be hard to
come by against that Cleveland defense, so and you knew.
Speaker 1 (10:11):
Their offense was gonna struggle as well.
Speaker 3 (10:13):
So all you to do is get out to an
early sixth to nothing or seventh to nothing or ten
to nothing lead, and you'd feel a lot better about
that game. Same goes here, right, because if your offense
can get out to that early lead and shrike first
before Joe Flacco connects with Jamar Chason t Higgins, that
should be able to set the tone for the rest
of the night.
Speaker 1 (10:31):
Right, They're going to score points.
Speaker 3 (10:33):
Like rayfit Apoto said in our last sevente Flacco is
gonna connect with Jamar and t Higgins eventually. So what
you have to do to best suit yourself or best
set yourself up to win this game is score those
points early so that it's not coming down where last
week or similar to last week for the Bengals and
the Packers, where the Bengals were able to come back.
(10:55):
If you don't have those points scored early. Flacco could
tear it up on the second and half like he
did against Green Bay and just take the lead and
not look back.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
Part of stacking those points is our next couple points,
and we'll go with the first the next star. Third
key to victory on offense, attack the middle of the
football field. Bengals linebacker corps the third worst in the
NFL against pass coverage. So how do you do that
DK on those quick counter runs? But I'll get the
DK in a second. He's my next key to this game.
But first, attack the mill of football field with your
(11:26):
tight ends. Last week, for only this second time in
franchise history, the Pittsburgh Steelers hit their.
Speaker 1 (11:32):
Four different tight ends in a football game.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
That's the second time ever that that's happened where four
tight ends on the roster all got at least one
reception or more, and that happened last week. Darnell Washington
leading that group this season with eighty two yards receiving.
You have Pat Fryermuth with seventy six yards receiving. These
numbers don't jump out at you, Jacob, but there's an
opportunity tonight along with John hus Smith and Hey, Connor Hayward.
(11:56):
He has a touchdown, he's the you know him and
John news Smith on the season also so as the
other touchdown, but I think his was on that shuffle
pass if I remember correctly, early in the season. Get
these four involved again, why not have the third game
in franchise history where you find all four tight ends
at some point and again, Cincinnati just to get to
your point in a second third worst pass defense their
(12:16):
linebacker corps in the NFL.
Speaker 3 (12:18):
Yeah, Ray Filopado mentioned the jumbo package, so you'll see
a lot of that, and I think that means that
you'll see clearly a lot of Darnell, a lot of
John who I don't know about Pat, I don't know
about Connor Hayward. But to your point ed, get those
guys involved. However, you can expose the middle of the field,
and that's something that Aaron Rodgers does so well, has
on his entire career. This is your moment, right, I
(12:39):
mean we've talked about chicking boxes. This is one of
those boxes. The tight ends are going to be an
asset if you choose to use them. Look how you
used all four guys last week? The plays obviously that
stick out are the first play from scrimmage for the Steelers,
that nice route that Darnell Washington had for thirty yards
(13:00):
in the touchdown pass from Rogers to Connor Hayward. You're
gonna see even more open looks to those guys against
this defense, against the Bengals linebacking corps.
Speaker 1 (13:10):
So you need to take advantage of that.
Speaker 2 (13:12):
Our fourth key on offense is go to DK again.
Let him be the playmaker that he is. Four straight
games in which DK Metcalf has scored touchdowns, Let's make
it five in a row tonight in Cincinnati. Three hundred
and fifty six yards receiving coming in averaging eighteen point
yards per catch.
Speaker 1 (13:29):
And just to go back to our.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
Last point, attacking the middle of the football field, here's
another guy outside the tight ends you can hit on
those real quick slant passes. And what does DK do
better than any other receiver in the NFL jacub yards
after catch. He likes to stack those numbers so fast,
so athletic man. I can see him tonight across the
middle of the football field taking off on a seven
or eight yard pass and then turning it into a
(13:51):
thirty or forty yard game.
Speaker 3 (13:53):
Yeah, good luck to anyone on the Bengals defense who's
assigned to covering DK. Metcalf right, Oh absolutely, I mean
Yesan burn the Brown secondary last week, who is again
we mentioned it had I think coming in the second
best pass defense in the entire league. Well, the Bengals
rank second from the bottom in terms of that category.
(14:13):
So you need to take advantage. I mean again, this
is just another easy box that you can check come
the end of the game, saying, get Aaron and DK going,
get those yak, get that yak for DK, and get
them in the end zone. It shouldn't be too hard
to check those boxes against this really, really bad Bengals defense.
Speaker 2 (14:34):
So we talked with our five keys on offense so far,
stack the points, Roderick versus Hendrickson. If he plays Hendrickson,
attack the middle of the football field, get DK going again,
and the last point, run, run and run some more.
The Bengals have the fifth most rush defense giving up
this season, and the Steelers are getting better last couple
(14:55):
of games. That's starting to increase. When you take a
look at the numbers. One hundred and twenty four, four
hundred and twenty yards rushing averaging three point four yards
per carry, eighty four yards per game, and three rushing touchdowns.
An opportunity tonight to increase those numbers. Stack those numbers,
get Warren involved, get game well involved. Heck even get
(15:15):
Caleb Johnson involved, get everyone involved.
Speaker 1 (15:17):
Jacob, you run to Cincinnati, We'll get you in the
back end. Fifth. I'm happy to do it.
Speaker 2 (15:21):
Fifth, most rushing yards giving up on the season, Pound
the ball in the ground, set up the pass, the
old football adage, and then start taking some shots with
DK and company downfield again, at least on offense. And
we're gonna talk defense next. That's gonna be the same story.
By the way, the boxes are checking for this game tonight.
Attack attack, attack, and I think they have a great
opportunity to do that.
Speaker 1 (15:41):
I guess they banged up Bengals D.
Speaker 3 (15:43):
I think so too, And I'd love to see Caleb
Johnson just get a little more involved. Right We're not
calling for him to be RB one right now, but
just give him those reps, give him that confidence booster.
You're always preaching that, ed. Give these guys an extra
opportunity to be a little more confident in their game.
And I think against a really bad Bengals D defense.
You have that opportunity here, and you know what, if
(16:04):
it's not Keeble's night, fine, then feed the hot hand,
give it to Jallian Warren. I mean, this is this,
This has Jalen Warren, Jaillien Warren's name written all over
for him to have a big shot, right, And even
Kenneth Gamewell because we know how speedy he is out
of the backfield, whether it's getting the ball on the
ground or getting those checkdown passes. We've seen him be
effective in both roles. So get all I'm with you,
(16:26):
get all three guys involved. But I think if anyone.
Speaker 2 (16:29):
This is going to be Jillian Warren's big game, let's
get to our five keys on defense. Those were our
five keys on offense on the defensive side of the
ball for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Speaker 1 (16:38):
Number One, don't let Cool Joe get in a groove. Right.
Speaker 2 (16:41):
If Flaco gets confidence early in this game, you start
rehashing everything in his career with the Ravens, with the Colts,
with the Browns most recently, and the success he's had
against our franchise, the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Speaker 1 (16:53):
You can't let Joe.
Speaker 2 (16:54):
Get in a groove and start attacking with Jamar Chase
and t Higgins. Shut him down early, get an head,
get pressure on him. He's an older quarterback. Heck, you know,
if you're able to get some turnovers, get the interceptions
off this guy because that will start getting doubt in
his mind. The more positive place he has, the more
confidence he'll get, and the more old Joe Flacco we
(17:15):
will see. So that's a key I think number one
on the Steeer defense tonight. Get after Flacco and don't
let him get into a groove.
Speaker 1 (17:22):
Yeah. Absolutely, you gotta beat this guy down.
Speaker 3 (17:24):
There is I don't know what priority you know on
the whiteboard that Mike Tomlin has for his keys of
the game in his locker room, but this one should
be at the top of the list. Just knock the
hell out of Joe. I keep going for Joe Burrow,
but I mean Joe Flacco. It's easy to do, right
it is. This guy is so old, and like you
(17:45):
said at the beginning of the segment ed, not only
does he not have the career that Aaron Rodgers has had,
but he's not playing nearly at the level at Aaron
Rodgers playing This season with both of them playing at
the age past forty.
Speaker 1 (17:58):
So just get to him.
Speaker 3 (17:59):
I mean, like you said, he was bench for Dylan Gabriel,
who the Steelers just took down six times on top
of sixteen quarterback hits. So if you can recreate that
against the Bengals offensive line, which is worse than the
Browns offensive line which you faced off against last week,
you should be able to stop this Bengals offense.
Speaker 1 (18:18):
That is That is the key.
Speaker 3 (18:19):
That is I think maybe the most important key on
defense this week.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
And catch the ball this week.
Speaker 3 (18:24):
Last week they had offered there was like six dropped
interceptions last week. Get one of those, just at least.
Speaker 2 (18:31):
One of those, get after him early and often, and
I bet that's part of the game plan and what
they intend to do tonight in Cincinnati. Okay, next up.
Part of that is this blitz early and often. It
gets a bad offensive line. The Cincinnati offensive line has
been a major problem this year. We said earlier in
our first segment Pro Football Focus, ranking them the fourth
(18:51):
worst pass blocking offense in the NFL.
Speaker 1 (18:54):
So what does that spell out to? Blitz blitz all
night long.
Speaker 2 (18:57):
Blitzberg's been back the last few weeks, six sacks last week.
They stacked sacks up against multiple sacks up against the
Vikings and the Patriots the two weeks prior before. Good
opportunity tonight, and how do you get that pressure on
Joe Flacco? You blitz all night long against a bad
offensive line. Win the line of scrimmage. That's an understand
with Derek Harmon and key On, Tu Benton and Cam Hayward,
(19:18):
dominate up front. Get your linebackers, free them up. This
could be a big game for TJ. Watt tonight on
National TV.
Speaker 1 (19:24):
Yeah, I mean we've talked about it before.
Speaker 3 (19:26):
How the Steelers are second in the league right now
behind the Broncos and sacks with twenty.
Speaker 1 (19:31):
The Broncos are in first place with thirty.
Speaker 3 (19:33):
But the Steelers are also tied with the Broncos for
the most guys register with at least one sack, and
I believe they're also tied with the Broncos for the
most guys who have at least one quarterback hit on
the season. Spread their love again. You remember you saw
what was it six different guys or five different guys
get a sack last week?
Speaker 1 (19:54):
Recreate that. Spread the ball around.
Speaker 3 (19:56):
Confuse the hell out of that Bengals off as the
line confused the hell out of Flaco, not Burrow and
get everyone involved in the backfield.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
Good job, Yeah, thank you. Here you go, hey, it
only took the future out.
Speaker 2 (20:07):
Yeah right, Hey, listen, you're talking to the master of
everything that I do on my side saying all kinds
of different names. Uh yeah, I I completely agree with you.
Our next point on defense is let Ramsey go after Jamar.
Let Ramsey be Jalen Ramsey, be that playmaker, be that
trash talker, and get him after Jamar. You heard Ray
Fittipaldo in our last segment, mich but we've been referencing
(20:29):
a Ray. It's almost like Ray's on this sears almost
like good at what he does. It's like he's sitting
right here with us. We referenced them ten times already
in this segment. But he had a lot of good stuff.
If you didn't get a chance, go back and listen
to it in our second segment here today with Ray
Filpado from the Pittsburgh Post head.
Speaker 1 (20:43):
But Ray said it Mike Tomlin in training camp.
Speaker 2 (20:46):
This is why we brought Jalen Ramsey into the Black
and Gold, into the locker room. Is to face a
guy like Jamar Chase from the Cincinnati Bengals, who you'll
see twice in one season, maybe even a third time
if the playoffs doesn't look like it this year, but
if we've seen in the past at least twice where
the Steelers have played him a third time in the postseason.
But this is why you brought Jalen Ramsey here, Jacob,
to get after Jamar Chase.
Speaker 3 (21:07):
Absolutely, I mean, this is the matchup to watch. This
is what we've been paying attention to all week. It
is this is the Bengals best player across the team
probably against the Steelers one of at least one of
their best players across the team, and so they're going
up head to head. You if Jalen Ramsey can handle
(21:28):
Jamar Chase, there's no reason. You know, we were talking
about checking all the boxes. If you can do this,
if you can do this, if you can do this,
you should win the game. If Jalen Ramsey can take
away Jamar Chase. Where tell me where the path to
victory is for the Bengals. They're simply there, simply is none.
It's not gonna be through Mike Ooseki, who you said
(21:49):
is hurt. It's not gonna be through Chase Brown. It's
not gonna be through the Bengals defense. Anyone on the defense,
that's for sure. It's Jamar Chase and it's see Higgins.
But if Ramsey can really take out of the equation
Jamar Chase, I don't see the path to victory for
the Bengals in any other way possible.
Speaker 2 (22:07):
Our next key on defense is win the turnover battle.
The Bengals are a negative four coming into this game.
The Steelers are plus seven, so they have continued to
be one of the leaders in the NFL.
Speaker 3 (22:17):
And I believe this past week against the Browns was
the first week.
Speaker 1 (22:21):
Without a turnover on either side. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (22:23):
Right, So you have to you have to get back
to forcing that, forcing the turnovers, getting the football out defense.
Speaker 2 (22:31):
Protect the football on offense, and force them on defense.
They've done a good job so far this season with that. Again,
plus seven, the Bengals not so much negative four. So
win the turnover battle tonight. And finally, the last key
on defense is keep stopping the run. I was gonna
say stop the run, but keep stopping the run. They're
the thirty second rush the rush offense in the NFL
(22:54):
their defenses, I think thirty first, as I mentioned earlier. Yeah,
but on the offense thirty second last. Chase Brown has
not had a good year, so you know, Derek Harmon
and again got to stress that defensive line up front
with Keanu Benton and Cam Hay were a good opportunity
tonight to dominate the line of scrimmage, get pressure in
the backfield, and again shut down that running game where
(23:15):
last week they limited sixty five total yards with the
Cleveland Browns on the ground, the week before that seventy
against the Vikings. So make it three games in a
row where the team you're facing total rushing is under
one hundred yards.
Speaker 3 (23:28):
Yeah, and there's no reason again, there's no reason that
Chase Brown should be the MVP of this game. Oh No,
given that his lack of production, given that Zach Taylor's
and unwillingness really to make a more balance or go
with a more balanced offense, getting the run offense just
overall more involved. And given the success the recent successes
(23:49):
you mentioned the last two weeks against the Browns and
the Vikings, how well the Dealers have done against the run,
there's no reason that Chase Brown should all of a sudden,
he turn things round against an improving Steelers run defense.
Speaker 2 (24:03):
All right, Jacob, let's end the segment with this. Let's
set it up for you. I'm gonna get you some
stats and then we'll get to our picks. So again
we opened the morning up with this. The Steelers are
nine and eleven all time on Thursday Night football under
Mike Tomlin, two and eight on the road, and oh
and six in road divisional games under Mike Tomlin on
Thursday Night. The last time they won on the road
(24:25):
in general on Thursday Night was twenty sixteen versus the Colts.
Speaker 1 (24:29):
As a franchise that way, and that too.
Speaker 3 (24:31):
Also, remember that was a a Thanksgiving game, Thanksgiving Day
game right at night. It's a weird Thursday night. It's
not even like a normal Thursday night game.
Speaker 1 (24:41):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (24:41):
Good, good little asterisk there, good point uh eight lifetime
the franchise is on Thursday Night football divisional road games.
They've never won in the history of the franchise a
divisional game on the road. So will history be made tonight?
Ray Fitepato thought so. He took the Steelers twenty to thirteen.
I'll go for then I'll go with you because you're
still on the fence. I think I'm gonna go ahead
(25:03):
and agree with Ray tonight. I think the Steelers put
up thirty tonight on the bank, like that, thirty to thirteen.
Speaker 1 (25:10):
I like the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Speaker 3 (25:11):
So I like that because if you remember last year
in Cincinnati, granted and it wasn't a Thursday night primetime game,
it was a one o'clock kickoff, they scored forty four
points and they outscored Joe Burrow forty four to thirty eight.
Speaker 1 (25:24):
That was Joe Burrow. I'm gonna go with the Steelers
win here.
Speaker 3 (25:27):
I think they also break the streak, but you can
tell in the tone of my voice I'm not one
hundred percent confident in it. I think they win, and
I think the score is gonna be something like, let's
say twenty seven for Pittsburgh, and I think Joe Flacco
still finds the end zone. I'm gonna go twenty seven
fourteen in Pittsburgh because I think you're gonna do a
(25:49):
good enough job to stop Joe Flacco, but he's still
gonna find the end zone.
Speaker 2 (25:53):
With Chase and Higgins, I will say this, I think
it's another classic AFC North matchup. It'll be clunky in
the first quarter, maybe even the entire first half, kind
of what we saw against Cleveland this past week. Maybe
three or four Chris Boswell field goals or the drives
you know, stall out. But I think ultimately in the
second half, the better football team takes over. Maybe DK
breaks one and they get things going and they ultimately
(26:14):
pull away. I think they get the thirty points tonight
against a Bengals defense, they.
Speaker 1 (26:18):
Yeah, just bend up.
Speaker 3 (26:19):
That's the thing, is just it's it's how many points
can the Bengals offense score on the Steelers defense is
the biggest question.
Speaker 1 (26:26):
Mark, and they're reeling right now.
Speaker 2 (26:27):
Are the Cincinnati Bengals list we're both going against our
preseason predictions. Well, I was gonna mention that because you
and I both had them losing tonight in Cincinnati. Now
have them winning because of their lack of success. Well,
it's the lack of Joe Burrow, right. Oh yeah, I'm
saying the preseason pick was because of the two factors,
Joe Burrow and the lack.
Speaker 1 (26:48):
Of this right right.
Speaker 2 (26:50):
We both looked at that and scratched our heads. But yeah,
now that was that was for me an easy me to.
I just throw it up there. I almost marked it first. Yeah,
when I went through the schedule, I said, now this
is definitely a loss.
Speaker 1 (27:00):
But now we feel different about it.
Speaker 2 (27:02):
The Steelers are on the rise, the Bengals are on
the they're falling down. Everything works right, they can't lose Ed,
Come say that. Come on, we know how it is.
Will they make history tonight and get their first road
divisional win in the history on Thursday Night footballs of
the franchise. We will find out, that's for sure, and
Jacob and I will talk about it tomorrow. Here on
(27:22):
the standard. It is the Steelers Standard with Ed Troop
and Jacob Brett on Steelers Nation Radio, part of the
Steelers Audio Network.
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