October 3, 2025 • 28 mins
Ed Troup and Jacob Recht hand out their grades on offense, defense, special teams, and to the coaching staff through the Steelers first four games of the season.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
The Steelers hit the bye week at three and one,
and it's been an eventful start. The Black and Gold
have had back to back wins, including a gritty twenty
four to twenty one victory over the Vikings in Dublin
last weekend. Aaron Rodgers has had more ups than downs
behind an inconsistent offensive line, and Jalen Ramsey and Patrick
Queen have been different makers on the defense. This is
the Steelers Standard on Steelers Nation Radio, part of the
(00:28):
Steelers Audio Network. I am at Troup and joining me
is Jacob Brett. Jacob, the Steelers are coming off back
to back wins and have some real momentum early in
this season. With no game preview this weekend, today, we're
going to take a step back and we're going to
hand out our first quarter season report cards, breaking down
what's working and what needs fixing.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
But so far, so good for the Black and Gold.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
Yeah, so far, so good.
Speaker 4 (00:51):
I think winning heals all wounds right, green kind of
covers up anything that could be looked upon as a blunder.
There's still more to dig into this team than there
is just that three to one record.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
I agree with you, there's again, it's been a roller
coaster of a ride. There's been times where you've scratched
your head with the offensive line, the lack of a
running game. You know, the defense given up big splash plays,
giving up leads towards the end of games, and you
think to yourself, man, are we heading down this nine
and eight path again?
Speaker 2 (01:22):
Or ten and seven path?
Speaker 1 (01:23):
First round playoff exit that hasn't happened since twenty sixteen.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
And there's been other times.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
Where you know, Aaron Rodgers has made good plays sitting
in the pocket under pressure and has showed his veteran
type of leadership that he has at the quarterback position.
And then you look at DK Metcalf some of the
big plays he's had. Kenny Gainwell had a very good
game over in Dublin, Ireland. The defense has made splash plays.
Nick Herbig has played at a big level for Alex Highsmith.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
TJ. Watt has come on. So there's a lot of
good and a lot about.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
To me, it's a fifty to fifty mixed bag through
four games, but facts are facts.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
They're three and one.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
They're a top the AFC North and they're second in
the AFC behind the Buffalo Bills. We'll talk about the
division here in a bit with what's happening in Cincinnati,
what's happening in Baltimore, in Cleveland. But they are in
a great spot here going into this byweek.
Speaker 4 (02:10):
Yeah, we'll talk with rayfe Opaldo a little bit later
on today, and I'm sure he'll bring up the fact
that the quarterback situation among the AFC North right now,
all arrows are pointing up for the Steelers while all
other teams are pointing down. We know this week Dylan
Gabriel will make his NFL debut for the Browns in
London against Brian Floyd's and that intimidating Vikings defense. Jake
(02:32):
Browning is going to be the guy again moving forward
for the Cincinnati Bengals unless they go out and get
a free agent. I don't know if there's a guy.
You know, it's ironic the two names I could mention
right now, Kenny Pickett, who doesn't have a job, and
Russell Wilson, who just got benched. How ironic would that
be if the Bengals picked up one of the former
(02:52):
Steelers starting quarterbacks just because one, like I said, out
of the job and Russ just got benched. So I'm sure,
he's itching to play what ever he can, and I
don't think the Giants are gonna turn back to rust
anytime soon. And you have the Ravens right now. Right now,
it looks like they're just gonna move forward with Cooper
Rush in the interim until Lamar comes back, and I
(03:12):
have a feeling they're not gonna rush him back simply
because the schedule for them is pretty late. I think
they have Houston. I think they had Miami thrown in there.
I think they have Cleveland at some point. They have
the bye week to give him an extra week's rest
if he needs it. So yeah, I mean, there's really
no need for Lamar Jackson to come back unless he's hurting,
(03:34):
or unless he's one hundred percent ready to go, or
the team struggles that much without him, because we know
Lamar Jackson is not the only guy banged up on
that Ravens team. The defense has injuries galore. But yeah,
so looking at it right now, it's just you have
to feel good about where the Sealers stand.
Speaker 2 (03:52):
They've done their job so far.
Speaker 4 (03:53):
As you mentioned, three to one, they've they've beaten every
team that they're supposed to beat. I think so far
this season. I think that the three teams that were
toss ups were the Jets. Now it looks even better
that you beat the Jets because if you hadn't, and now,
if the Jets were one and three, that loss would
look pretty bad. The Patriots and the Vikings are both
two and two, so it looks good that you've beaten
(04:16):
teams that are about five hundred. It's a toss up
and you came out the victor. The only team that
seems legitimately better than the Seelers right now are the Seahawks, which, okay,
they're three and one, Like, you can't really fall to
the team for losing to the Seahawks, who right now
stand on top of the NFC West competitive NFC West
for that matter.
Speaker 3 (04:33):
H So, yeah, you have to feel good about where
the Sealers stand right now.
Speaker 4 (04:36):
And then coming off the bye week, they get maybe
Dylan Gabriel, I don't know who. It's always hard to
predict to the Brown starting quarterback will be, uh week
to week. They've already it's only four weeks in. They've
already moved on from what guys to do. Yeah, it
could be could easily be shoudre By that point, but
they'll whether it's Gabriel or Shoud or it will be
(04:58):
a rookie that they're facing off against next week at
home in Pittsburgh, a place that Cleveland never wins, and
then the following week they travel to play Jake Browning.
Speaker 3 (05:08):
You could easily be staring down a.
Speaker 4 (05:10):
Five to one record right now for the Steelers, which
is I think best case scenario for the team. I think,
if I remember correctly on ESPN, dan Orlowski said you
could easily predict an zero to six start for this team.
So imagine the irony if they go five and one
compared to owen six as some predicted.
Speaker 2 (05:29):
They could absolutely get to five and one as well.
Speaker 4 (05:31):
I think that should be the goal right going into
that that what week seven or week game matchup against
the Packers, I think the goals should be to get
to five.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
And one, and your next three of four games are
at Akershore Stadium at home too. The only away game
is at Thursday night at Cincinnati, which might be the
only blip on the radar, but you know, we'll have
to wait and see, Jacob. When you look at the schedule,
the seventeen game schedule, a lot of NFL teams look
at as quarters the first quarter of the season, every
four games, and you kind of attack that four game schedule.
(05:59):
For the it was the Jets, the Seahawks, the Patriots,
and Minnesota Vikings in Ireland. Now they're at the buye week,
so we're going to take a look at this first
part of the season, the first quarter, if you will,
and give out our grades for offense, defense, special teams,
and coaching. The next four will be when they come
out of the buy on Sunday, October twelfth at home
against Cleveland. Then they go to Cincinnati on that Thursday
(06:19):
night game, than green Bay and Indianapolis back to back weeks,
green Bay on Sunday Night Football on the twenty sixth,
and in November two against the Colts at home at one.
But let's talk about Jets, Seattle, Patriots, Minnesota the first
four games. Your assessment on offense, defense, special teams, and
coaching will start with the offense and get your grade.
I'm going to give them a B a C minus
(06:42):
on the run offense and a B plus with the
pass offense. So for me, that averages out to a
B overall. I think Rogers has had flashes, but has
not really had pass protection that has been very shaky.
That has also leaked over into the run game. Though
you can make the case against the Vikings that the
run game got better Kenny Game one ninety nine yards
rushing Rodgers did have more time, so I like where
(07:03):
that's heading, But those other three games it was very shaky.
I think the run game is still inconsistent. I want
to see more. I want to see the game well
where Warren get back these next few games and get
closer to that century mark. The positive though explosive plays
every turn for this offense, especially in the red zone.
The Steelers are hitting big, chunky yardage plays for the air.
DK Metcalf has been highly involved with those plays. The
(07:23):
red zone offense is humming at a high level. We
even seen that in years from the Steelers in the
red zone. They've been very successful. So I'm giving them
a bee. Where do you got them? I'll go B minus.
Speaker 4 (07:32):
If not C plus, I think you have to Yes,
you have to acknowledge that without Aaron Rodgers, this team
maybe could be owing for as danie Rolowski predicted, But
they have him, and I think he's the reason.
Speaker 3 (07:45):
He's the biggest reason why they're winning these games right now.
Speaker 4 (07:47):
I agree, but I might say I might go a
little harsher on my grave for the offense B minus.
It's not even a C plus simply because the run game,
I mean, it's been well. I'll say that's the reason
why I would are regraded a little more harshly.
Speaker 3 (08:01):
It's just because the expectations for the offensive line.
Speaker 4 (08:04):
I know they've gotten better, but they had a really
rough start to the season. They really allowed Aaron Rodgers
to get uh banged up. I think it was a
combined seven or eight sacks allowed through the first two weeks.
Speaker 3 (08:17):
They did a lot better.
Speaker 4 (08:18):
They allowed zero against the Patriots, they allowed only two
against the Minnesota Vikings, So that ratio from the first
two weeks to the second two weeks looks a lot better.
But let's be honest, they're bottom four in total yards
per game, their bottom ten and total pass yards per game,
and their second to last and rushing yards per game.
So it's hard to really say, like, oh, let's give
(08:40):
them a good grade here when they're really not moving
the ball effectively down the field. And I know you
mentioned splash plays have returned the red zone success as returned,
but that also took a dip this past week in Minnesota.
They had the block field goal, they had the more
than one on the gold to go situation which they
(09:02):
did not convert, and the offense kind of looked out
of sync on that play. It seemed like they were
rushed on the offense getting the ball going there. So
two really bad red zone possessions there that you had
by by the offense.
Speaker 3 (09:16):
So that was a step back in my opinion.
Speaker 4 (09:20):
So yeah, I actually think a B minus is actually
kind of a generous grade. I might I think it
might even be more so fair to say it's C
plus just because, like I said, the expectations for the
offensive line were way higher. And I'll also incorporate the
lack of playmakers involved. And what I mean by that
is you came into this season saying, Okay, we're gonna
(09:41):
we're gonna move forward with DK Metcalf, Calvin Austin, Roman Wilson,
guys like Scottie Miller, Ben Scaronik.
Speaker 3 (09:49):
That's gonna be our receiving corps.
Speaker 4 (09:51):
We're gonna have our three tight ends between Darnell, pat
and John new Smith. Well, when you look at it now,
that Calvin Austin is hurt, you really have no receiver
two because you remember we looked at the numbers. Ben
Skronic and Roman Wilson have combined, what three catches on
the season so far? Between those two guys, your your
(10:12):
wide receiver three, wide receiver four. John new Smith only
has fourteen catches. Pat Roman only has seven catches. I
think Darnell only has two. So you're not getting these
guys involved. And now, as I mentioned, without Calvin Austen,
who's gonna be your number two guy?
Speaker 3 (10:27):
You really can't.
Speaker 4 (10:28):
You can't say it's gonna be Johnny Smith because you
never got him involved beforehand. So incorporating that just the
lack of preparedness to have someone help or be ready
to help out if there was an injury, I mean,
it's it's unfortunate that Calvin Austin is out. You know,
he's a big contributor on offense, he's a big contributor
on special teams even uh, but God forbid, it was
(10:50):
DK Metcalf who had that Imagine where this offense would
be even forward without DK Metcalf.
Speaker 3 (10:57):
Just unimaginable.
Speaker 4 (10:58):
You don't, I am no idea what Aaron Rodgers would
do without DK and knock on wood that that guy stays,
that both of those guys stay healthy. So that's why
I also am leaning toward the C C plus grade,
just the lack of preparedness overall for the offense.
Speaker 1 (11:13):
You did the same thing I did, because when I
first started assessing the offense yesterday, when I was preparing
for this today, I gave him a higher grade. I
think it was a B plus, and I felt good
about it. Then I started thinking more and more about
the struggles with the offensive line, the run game, bringing
that down. Rogers under a lot of pressure through those
first few games. Seven sacks in the first two games,
and even though you look at the Vikings game as
improvements in those areas with the offensive line. Again, we're
(11:36):
grading all four games, Jacob, not just the game against
the Vikings. So for me, that brought the grade down
to a B. I'm with you, man, I'm almost a
C plus with you with this offense, however, I think
they are trending in the right direction after that Vikings game.
Speaker 2 (11:48):
Just one note on the red zone.
Speaker 1 (11:49):
The Steelers are seven of eight so far this season
converting touchdowns inside the twenty yard line. It's pretty good.
I think that only misses what you just mentioned. The
block field goal by Boss was that within the twenty
year cardline.
Speaker 3 (12:00):
Well, I think they're now.
Speaker 4 (12:01):
They should be seven to nine now because they were
seven and eight coming into that week and then they
had I think seven and nine would have been that
one year.
Speaker 2 (12:08):
Google's lying to me. Yeah, I think so they're a
week behind.
Speaker 3 (12:11):
Can't trust I'm not surprised.
Speaker 1 (12:12):
AI gets gets you off a little bit as far
as giving you the actual information they do. This is
a fact though I do have the twenty twenty four numbers.
They were as low as forty four percent UH with
scoring in the red zone last year. So if they
can continue to clip at a seven of nine rate,
as you just said, that's really good stuff.
Speaker 2 (12:32):
Okay, let's look at the defense now.
Speaker 1 (12:34):
Jalen Ramsey has been a huge spark with this defense,
game changing plays.
Speaker 2 (12:38):
He's led the secondary. Patrick Queen has.
Speaker 1 (12:41):
Done a very good job in the middle, leading the
team in tackles with thirty five physical, disruptive, has a sack,
very fast to run. Defense needs to tighten up, but overall,
this group is dictating more games than reacting. So far,
they've made some big plays when they have had to
in the three victories that they had so far the season,
especially at the end, Ramsey getting in there, Echles there
(13:03):
the last game against the Patriots. So they've performed, in
my opinion, pretty good. But again, just like the offense,
with the lack of a running game, this run defense
got gashed the first couple of games. And if we're
looking at all four games, I'm at a B with
this group.
Speaker 2 (13:16):
As well with the defense.
Speaker 1 (13:17):
I'm giving the rush defense a C plus and I'm
giving the pass defense a B.
Speaker 4 (13:22):
How about you, Yeah, I'm gonna have to go probably
be if not B minus overall for the defense. And
I know that sounds really harsh considering the sacks they've
come away with, the turnovers they've come away with, But
this was the highest paid defense coming into the season.
Speaker 2 (13:39):
Expectations were high, I.
Speaker 3 (13:40):
Mean monumentally high.
Speaker 4 (13:42):
You cannot understate like how much people expected this, especially
when you consider yes, they were the highest defense paid,
highest paid defense coming in but on top of that
this offseason.
Speaker 3 (13:54):
They paid Cam Hayward, they paid TJ.
Speaker 4 (13:57):
Watt, they brought over Jalen Ramsey, therought in Darius Slay.
All these moves to really solidify your defense, and you
can't make any excuses for how slow of assertive was
to the season. I know they've shown signs of getting
better the last two weeks, but I really can't excuse
what I saw the first two weeks.
Speaker 3 (14:17):
Really, so I think it's trending.
Speaker 4 (14:20):
I'm more inclined to say because you were saying you
adjusted your offensive grade, but you're hoping that it gets
better because you think the offense trending in the right direction.
I actually have more belief that the defense will kind
of adjust back to the norm of which they should
be operating. But yeah, I really can't give them higher
than a be er be minus simply simply because.
Speaker 3 (14:43):
How much better they should be doing.
Speaker 4 (14:45):
I know they're second in the league in sacks force,
they're second in the league in takeaways, but that's what
they should be and it shouldn't have all come in
the last two weeks. Right, majority of those numbers came
against the Patriots and the Vikings, so that means you
were left winning a lot more against Minnesota. I'm sorry,
against New York and against the Seahawks. And you can't
(15:07):
ignore the ironic Bend Dome break mentality of this defense
simply because look at the points against on this the
Steelers to face so far.
Speaker 3 (15:18):
They allowed thirty points in back to back.
Speaker 4 (15:20):
Weeks to open up the season, which was the first
time I believe they've ever done that. They allowed twenty
one points against the Minnesota Vikings, fifteen of which were
unanswered in the fourth quarter. So I really can't say
I'm confident in the Steelers' ability to win games on defense.
I know all three of their wins have come down
to the last possession, and yes, the defense was able
(15:41):
to make the game saving stop, but those games shouldn't
have come down to that, especially the Minnesota game, when
you have a fifteen point lead in the fourth quarter,
there was no reason why you should be threat you
know why, you should be sweating it, sweating it out
until the very last second.
Speaker 1 (15:55):
Yeah, they won three of the four quarters last week,
but the most important quarter, the final quarter, they almost
gave it up towards the end.
Speaker 2 (16:03):
So far this season, TJ.
Speaker 1 (16:04):
Watt is back on track of the slow start in
nineteen total tackles, two and a half sacks or three sacks,
three sacks on the season, one force fumble, one interception.
Patrick Queen thirty five total tackles, one sack so far
for the Steeler defense, and they've shined at times. But
overall points allowed twenty first in the league, yards allowed
(16:25):
twenty eighth, sacks their second. That's the good news, and
with turnovers are also second. So the splash plays of
getting to the quarterback getting the sack numbers up and
the turnovers good, but overall yards allowed and points allowed
not so much. They are on the other half of that.
We're talking here on Steelers Nation Radio, part of the
(16:45):
Steeers Audio network, the Steelers Standard.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
I am at Troop with Jacob Breck.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
We're talking grades through the first four games, the first
quarter of the season so far. I have the offense
with a B and I have the defense with a BEE.
Jacob meanwhile, C plus for the offense and a BF
the defense. Let's talk special teams next. Chris Boswell has
been very good through the first half of the season,
only one field goal miss. The return game though, hasn't
been much of a factor. Big room for improvement there.
(17:11):
They're averaging less than five yards on their punt returns
and I believe on the average kickoff return. We went
over these numbers the other day, somewhere in the mid twenties,
maybe twenty six yards per return, twenty five yards per return.
Nothing spectacular there. Of course, they had the hiccup with
Caleb Johnson in the Seattle game, missplaying the football, fumbled
into the end zone return for a touchdown. He's been
(17:32):
pulled since. We see Kenny Gamwell now returning kickoffs. Not
too bad against Minnesota this past week, but again they
got to get that average number back up. The coverage
has not been great either. I've talked about this a
lot for the first half of the season. The first
quarter of the season, I should say, kickoff coverage has
yielded really good field position for the Steelers opponents. Those
are areas I especially think Jacob during these two weeks
(17:54):
this week and next week that they can clean up
on special teams. So, having said all that, I'm giving
this unit a C plus. Yeah, I think that's all right.
Speaker 4 (18:03):
I might go C plus B minus in that range
simply because Boswell is just so good and you have
no idea, you exactly, you have no idea where the
special team's grade would be without him. If if you
had just an average NFL kicker available, to you. Uh,
someone who, unlike Boss, is not You're not comfortable sitting
out there for a sixty yard game winning field goal
(18:25):
or a go ahead field goal in Week one and
and remember too, his only missfield goal on the year
came on a block by the by the one of
the bigger playmakers on the on the Minnesota defense. Uh
so you can't even fault Boss for that. But I
do think as much as he is bringing that grade up,
as you said, the coverage and then the ability to
(18:47):
return when you're on the receiving end really brings it down.
Speaker 3 (18:51):
So I am I, where did you land?
Speaker 2 (18:53):
I came in with a C plus.
Speaker 1 (18:55):
Yeah, I'm gonna echo you on that, and it always
might get the C plus. The plus part that is
Boss boss up this year because I don't think they've
been good on kickoff coverage.
Speaker 2 (19:02):
Their return numbers are.
Speaker 1 (19:03):
Not good, right, But the most Corlis weightman's been good
at punting the football. His erage is close to fifty
yards per punt, which is great. So really's why you
signed them?
Speaker 4 (19:12):
Yep?
Speaker 2 (19:12):
Yeah, Jacob.
Speaker 1 (19:13):
When you look at the special teams as a whole,
you know your kicker and your punter are going to
lead that assessment. However, man, when you give up field
position and the offense is starting in their offensive drive
at the thirty five between the thirty five and forty
yard line, you really are starting your defense with their
backs up against the wall. And that happened several times,
especially in those first couple games against the Jets and
the Seahawks. It's gotten better, a little bit better against
(19:35):
the Patriots and Vikings, but still not where I think
it needs to be.
Speaker 4 (19:38):
Yeah, I mean the coverage has really remained pretty I
think you said it's gotten better, but the return ability
has really remained dormant. We have not seen any improvement
ever since Caleb Johnson had that boneheaded play against or
boneheaded decision against the Seahawks.
Speaker 3 (19:57):
Really, whether it was.
Speaker 4 (19:58):
Calvin Austin or now without Kavinasen, I'm not even sure
who the Steelers have lined up to recover kickoffs and
puns with him being out and injured.
Speaker 2 (20:07):
That they have Scotty Miller next on the list for PEA.
Speaker 4 (20:09):
I don't have faith and Scotty Miller to all of
a sudden change change the mentality of the returnability. So yeah,
I think, like you said, as good as Boz and
Wakeman have been this season. They're being overshadowed by the
lack of coverage and the lack of an ability to
put your offense in it in a good starting field position.
(20:31):
So I think C plus, if not a C, is
probably the appropriate grade.
Speaker 2 (20:36):
Here. Here are the rankings on special teams. I just
pulled it up.
Speaker 1 (20:39):
A field goal percentage with boss about eighty six percent
with that one miss, that's seventh best in the league.
Kickoff return average up twenty four point seven yards. That
is thirteenth in the NFL. Kickoff return yards allowed here's
the number I was talking about, twenty eight point three yards.
I actually thought it was more than that, but that's
still twenty eighth in the NFL, near the bottom for
(21:00):
most yards given up on kickoff returns. Punt return average
almost last thirty first in the league four point five yards.
Punt coverage allowed is nineteenth with twenty six point five
yards per return. I was not aware of that, and
then the rest is kind of useless at this point.
Block field was they have one block field goal. They
have no block punts and special teams tackles. Ben Scronick
(21:20):
tied for first in the NFL with special team tackles.
Speaker 2 (21:22):
There you go.
Speaker 1 (21:23):
Ben Scronick was seven special team tackles, So there you go.
That's how you get to a C plus bos and Scronick.
Speaker 4 (21:28):
Huh, yeah, of course that's what you want to hold
your head high at.
Speaker 1 (21:33):
Boz does have that sixty yarder gets suggest Yeah, of course,
so you know that definitely helps them. Okay, let's move
on to coaching before we wrap up our grades in
this segment. Mike Tomlin, you know, he's been managing a
veteran locker room very well in my opinion. And again
he has his critics out there, a whole bunch of
them about the the winning season streak and the lack
of playoff wins.
Speaker 2 (21:54):
And hey, when you won.
Speaker 1 (21:55):
The Super Bowl, you know, two super Bowl runs there
early on in your career. Nothing since, right, the one
super Bowl win, the other loss against the Packers, then
nothing since. But in my opinion, Mike Tomlin has done
a great job so far through the first quarter of
the season. Good chemistry of new players with Rogers metcalf Ramsey.
These are big personalities, big veteran personalities that you have
to have a manager to be able to manage that well.
(22:17):
The Seahawks, in my opinion, the best the better team
in Week two when they lost that game against the
Seattle Seahawks, and they found a way to win the
other games. Mike Tomlin very good in one score games.
Gives us a lot of cardiac situations on the edge
of our seats, but they find ways to win. In
facts are facts. I'm giving the coaching an A through
the first season.
Speaker 4 (22:35):
I'm going way lower. I'm going B minus if not
that C plus range. The calls against the Vikings, well
that obviously rings aloudest for the recency bias, the decision
at midfield to allow that delay game to happen, and
then the uncoordinated play calling at the goal line which
you eventually just missed out on. And then I just
(22:58):
have to I just have to t tiy Tomlin or
criticize Toman for again coming out slow to start the season.
You had, as we mentioned, Aaron Rodgers as your starting quarterback,
a Hall of Fame quarterback. You have the highest paid
defenses in the NFL coming in and you just cannot
make excuses for those slow starts, and they looked really
(23:19):
bad against Seattle. He was out coached for sure in
that game by a second year head coach. He was
nearly out coached by a first year head coach and
Aaron Glenn in the Jets game, I mean, without Boswell,
you lose that game. And then in New England, how
do you make up? How do you account for your
gifted five turnovers? And you can't do anything with them?
(23:40):
Five turnovers and you only managed to score twenty one
points in total.
Speaker 3 (23:44):
I don't know.
Speaker 4 (23:45):
I think of those five turnovers, they only scored points
on them one time that came at the very end
of the game. So I mean, can you imagine that
seven points off of five turnovers? That is inexcusable. And
then of course, most recently with Minnesota, just terrible clock management.
Speaker 3 (24:02):
And you've just seen bad clock management out of Mike Tomlin.
Speaker 4 (24:06):
You're in the straft. I agree with that, yep. So
I'm gonna have to go way lower than you. I
understand the big personality argument that you brought with all
the big names on defense, but really, this team, I
know they're three to one right now, but every game
has has looked pretty ugly so far. They've they've really
had to inch and claw their way to the finish
line to get to that three to one record, and
(24:28):
the one time they faced the better team, they looked
really bad. And if you want to go in on
the micro level even more, how do you how do
you excuse the coaching staff for allowing Caleb Johnson want
to be out there to begin with? Clearly he was
not prepared to be a returner, as you mentioned when
we were talking about that Seattle game, only returned five
kickoffs in total in his time at IOWA, So why
(24:52):
is he your number one guy? And then allowing him
to not know the rules? I mean, it just makes
no sense at all. So you have to put that
on the coaching staff as much as you do on
Caleb Johnson, because it's their responsibility to make sure that
Caleb knows the rules. So yeah, I'm gonna go a
little bit harsher on the coaching staff just overall. I
think Tara Austin said that he actually takes full blame
(25:14):
for the blown coverage on the eighty one yard touchdown,
not touchdown, but the long pass that Jordan Addison. When
asked about it, he said he takes full blame. So
if that's the case, I gotta put her on the
coach's shoulders. So I am not pleased so far with
the coaching decision making so far through the first four weeks.
Speaker 2 (25:32):
Well, I think you can bring up a good point.
Speaker 1 (25:34):
I guess I was looking at it more one sided,
just for Mike Tomlin leading the team. But if we're
talking coaching, we should be talking offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator,
special teams coaching.
Speaker 3 (25:43):
Yeah, and I even get coaching. Get to Arthur Smith
in that argument.
Speaker 4 (25:47):
I mean, the guy has a Hall of Fame quarterback,
He has all these weapons. I mean, this is a
guy who likes to get his tight ends evolved, who
likes to be a run first kind of guy, and
his tight ends are barely anywhere to be seen. He
was completely unable to run the football through the first
three weeks. I know Jillian Warren had a pretty decent
game against New England, but really, when you look at it,
(26:08):
I mean New England was pretty much all over them.
I know Jillian Warren individually got over one hundred yards
or at least close to one hundred yards from scrimmage
in that game, but only finished with I'm looking at
it here forty seven yards on offense running the football.
You cannot say that was a successful day. I know
Kenneth game will eventually broke through that and nearly got
(26:29):
to one hundred yards. But right now the Steelers are
one quarter of the way through the season with is
with zero guys who have made it over the century
mark and on an individual level, so I really have
to to criticize him in there.
Speaker 3 (26:41):
I didn't even get to him.
Speaker 4 (26:42):
I was more so focused on Tomlin and Danny Smith
and Tarall Austin. I didn't even mention Arthur Smith. So yeah,
I even more so stand by my C plus grade. Jacob,
You've convinced me to change my grade on coaching. Good job, good,
good debater you are. I'm going with a B. I'm
going to downgrade him to a bit.
Speaker 1 (26:59):
That's a big it would be yeah, yeah, and a
I'm gonna go full full letter down to be okay,
real quick, I know we have just a few more
minutes left in the segment. Team MVP for me so
far through the first four games. Jalen Ramsey Most improved
players so far. Patrick Queen, looking back at last season,
leading the team in tackles. My biggest concern is still
that offensive line, the lack of a run game and
(27:19):
pass protection needs to keep getting better. How about your
three Team MVP, most improved and biggest concern?
Speaker 4 (27:25):
Team MVP is Aaron Rodgers. Without Aaron Rodgers, the team,
as I said before, would be zero to four. I
don't think there's any which way about it. They do
not come away with a win in those three games.
If it's Mason Rudolph out there leading the offense most improved,
that's a tough one.
Speaker 3 (27:42):
Excuse me, I like the Pac queen argument.
Speaker 4 (27:47):
You could say one of the offensive line guys just
because that pass protection and run blocking has gotten better.
So I'm not one hundred percent where I would go
on that one. And then what was the last one?
The biggest concern going biggest concern is I think offensive
line is still You're with me?
Speaker 3 (28:03):
Is still a good call on your party? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (28:05):
Yeah, And you can't argue with Aaron Rodgers being team
MVP leading leading that locker room with that. When we
come back, We're going to talk with Ray Fittipaldo of
the Pittsburgh Post Gaze and get his thoughts on the
first four games of the season so far for the
Black and Gold. It is the Steelers standard with Ed
Trup and Jacob Brett here on Steelers Nation Radio, part
of the Steelers Audio Network
The Steelers hit the bye week at three and one,
and it's been an eventful start. The Black and Gold
have had back to back wins, including a gritty twenty
four to twenty one victory over the Vikings in Dublin
last weekend. Aaron Rodgers has had more ups than downs
behind an inconsistent offensive line, and Jalen Ramsey and Patrick
Queen have been different makers on the defense. This is
the Steelers Standard on Steelers Nation Radio, part of the
(00:28):
Steelers Audio Network. I am at Troup and joining me
is Jacob Brett. Jacob, the Steelers are coming off back
to back wins and have some real momentum early in
this season. With no game preview this weekend, today, we're
going to take a step back and we're going to
hand out our first quarter season report cards, breaking down
what's working and what needs fixing.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
But so far, so good for the Black and Gold.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
Yeah, so far, so good.
Speaker 4 (00:51):
I think winning heals all wounds right, green kind of
covers up anything that could be looked upon as a blunder.
There's still more to dig into this team than there
is just that three to one record.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
I agree with you, there's again, it's been a roller
coaster of a ride. There's been times where you've scratched
your head with the offensive line, the lack of a
running game. You know, the defense given up big splash plays,
giving up leads towards the end of games, and you
think to yourself, man, are we heading down this nine
and eight path again?
Speaker 2 (01:22):
Or ten and seven path?
Speaker 1 (01:23):
First round playoff exit that hasn't happened since twenty sixteen.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
And there's been other times.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
Where you know, Aaron Rodgers has made good plays sitting
in the pocket under pressure and has showed his veteran
type of leadership that he has at the quarterback position.
And then you look at DK Metcalf some of the
big plays he's had. Kenny Gainwell had a very good
game over in Dublin, Ireland. The defense has made splash plays.
Nick Herbig has played at a big level for Alex Highsmith.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
TJ. Watt has come on. So there's a lot of
good and a lot about.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
To me, it's a fifty to fifty mixed bag through
four games, but facts are facts.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
They're three and one.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
They're a top the AFC North and they're second in
the AFC behind the Buffalo Bills. We'll talk about the
division here in a bit with what's happening in Cincinnati,
what's happening in Baltimore, in Cleveland. But they are in
a great spot here going into this byweek.
Speaker 4 (02:10):
Yeah, we'll talk with rayfe Opaldo a little bit later
on today, and I'm sure he'll bring up the fact
that the quarterback situation among the AFC North right now,
all arrows are pointing up for the Steelers while all
other teams are pointing down. We know this week Dylan
Gabriel will make his NFL debut for the Browns in
London against Brian Floyd's and that intimidating Vikings defense. Jake
(02:32):
Browning is going to be the guy again moving forward
for the Cincinnati Bengals unless they go out and get
a free agent. I don't know if there's a guy.
You know, it's ironic the two names I could mention
right now, Kenny Pickett, who doesn't have a job, and
Russell Wilson, who just got benched. How ironic would that
be if the Bengals picked up one of the former
(02:52):
Steelers starting quarterbacks just because one, like I said, out
of the job and Russ just got benched. So I'm sure,
he's itching to play what ever he can, and I
don't think the Giants are gonna turn back to rust
anytime soon. And you have the Ravens right now. Right now,
it looks like they're just gonna move forward with Cooper
Rush in the interim until Lamar comes back, and I
(03:12):
have a feeling they're not gonna rush him back simply
because the schedule for them is pretty late. I think
they have Houston. I think they had Miami thrown in there.
I think they have Cleveland at some point. They have
the bye week to give him an extra week's rest
if he needs it. So yeah, I mean, there's really
no need for Lamar Jackson to come back unless he's hurting,
(03:34):
or unless he's one hundred percent ready to go, or
the team struggles that much without him, because we know
Lamar Jackson is not the only guy banged up on
that Ravens team. The defense has injuries galore. But yeah,
so looking at it right now, it's just you have
to feel good about where the Sealers stand.
Speaker 2 (03:52):
They've done their job so far.
Speaker 4 (03:53):
As you mentioned, three to one, they've they've beaten every
team that they're supposed to beat. I think so far
this season. I think that the three teams that were
toss ups were the Jets. Now it looks even better
that you beat the Jets because if you hadn't, and now,
if the Jets were one and three, that loss would
look pretty bad. The Patriots and the Vikings are both
two and two, so it looks good that you've beaten
(04:16):
teams that are about five hundred. It's a toss up
and you came out the victor. The only team that
seems legitimately better than the Seelers right now are the Seahawks, which, okay,
they're three and one, Like, you can't really fall to
the team for losing to the Seahawks, who right now
stand on top of the NFC West competitive NFC West
for that matter.
Speaker 3 (04:33):
H So, yeah, you have to feel good about where
the Sealers stand right now.
Speaker 4 (04:36):
And then coming off the bye week, they get maybe
Dylan Gabriel, I don't know who. It's always hard to
predict to the Brown starting quarterback will be, uh week
to week. They've already it's only four weeks in. They've
already moved on from what guys to do. Yeah, it
could be could easily be shoudre By that point, but
they'll whether it's Gabriel or Shoud or it will be
(04:58):
a rookie that they're facing off against next week at
home in Pittsburgh, a place that Cleveland never wins, and
then the following week they travel to play Jake Browning.
Speaker 3 (05:08):
You could easily be staring down a.
Speaker 4 (05:10):
Five to one record right now for the Steelers, which
is I think best case scenario for the team. I think,
if I remember correctly on ESPN, dan Orlowski said you
could easily predict an zero to six start for this team.
So imagine the irony if they go five and one
compared to owen six as some predicted.
Speaker 2 (05:29):
They could absolutely get to five and one as well.
Speaker 4 (05:31):
I think that should be the goal right going into
that that what week seven or week game matchup against
the Packers, I think the goals should be to get
to five.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
And one, and your next three of four games are
at Akershore Stadium at home too. The only away game
is at Thursday night at Cincinnati, which might be the
only blip on the radar, but you know, we'll have
to wait and see, Jacob. When you look at the schedule,
the seventeen game schedule, a lot of NFL teams look
at as quarters the first quarter of the season, every
four games, and you kind of attack that four game schedule.
(05:59):
For the it was the Jets, the Seahawks, the Patriots,
and Minnesota Vikings in Ireland. Now they're at the buye week,
so we're going to take a look at this first
part of the season, the first quarter, if you will,
and give out our grades for offense, defense, special teams,
and coaching. The next four will be when they come
out of the buy on Sunday, October twelfth at home
against Cleveland. Then they go to Cincinnati on that Thursday
(06:19):
night game, than green Bay and Indianapolis back to back weeks,
green Bay on Sunday Night Football on the twenty sixth,
and in November two against the Colts at home at one.
But let's talk about Jets, Seattle, Patriots, Minnesota the first
four games. Your assessment on offense, defense, special teams, and
coaching will start with the offense and get your grade.
I'm going to give them a B a C minus
(06:42):
on the run offense and a B plus with the
pass offense. So for me, that averages out to a
B overall. I think Rogers has had flashes, but has
not really had pass protection that has been very shaky.
That has also leaked over into the run game. Though
you can make the case against the Vikings that the
run game got better Kenny Game one ninety nine yards
rushing Rodgers did have more time, so I like where
(07:03):
that's heading, But those other three games it was very shaky.
I think the run game is still inconsistent. I want
to see more. I want to see the game well
where Warren get back these next few games and get
closer to that century mark. The positive though explosive plays
every turn for this offense, especially in the red zone.
The Steelers are hitting big, chunky yardage plays for the air.
DK Metcalf has been highly involved with those plays. The
(07:23):
red zone offense is humming at a high level. We
even seen that in years from the Steelers in the
red zone. They've been very successful. So I'm giving them
a bee. Where do you got them? I'll go B minus.
Speaker 4 (07:32):
If not C plus, I think you have to Yes,
you have to acknowledge that without Aaron Rodgers, this team
maybe could be owing for as danie Rolowski predicted, But
they have him, and I think he's the reason.
Speaker 3 (07:45):
He's the biggest reason why they're winning these games right now.
Speaker 4 (07:47):
I agree, but I might say I might go a
little harsher on my grave for the offense B minus.
It's not even a C plus simply because the run game,
I mean, it's been well. I'll say that's the reason
why I would are regraded a little more harshly.
Speaker 3 (08:01):
It's just because the expectations for the offensive line.
Speaker 4 (08:04):
I know they've gotten better, but they had a really
rough start to the season. They really allowed Aaron Rodgers
to get uh banged up. I think it was a
combined seven or eight sacks allowed through the first two weeks.
Speaker 3 (08:17):
They did a lot better.
Speaker 4 (08:18):
They allowed zero against the Patriots, they allowed only two
against the Minnesota Vikings, So that ratio from the first
two weeks to the second two weeks looks a lot better.
But let's be honest, they're bottom four in total yards
per game, their bottom ten and total pass yards per game,
and their second to last and rushing yards per game.
So it's hard to really say, like, oh, let's give
(08:40):
them a good grade here when they're really not moving
the ball effectively down the field. And I know you
mentioned splash plays have returned the red zone success as returned,
but that also took a dip this past week in Minnesota.
They had the block field goal, they had the more
than one on the gold to go situation which they
(09:02):
did not convert, and the offense kind of looked out
of sync on that play. It seemed like they were
rushed on the offense getting the ball going there. So
two really bad red zone possessions there that you had
by by the offense.
Speaker 3 (09:16):
So that was a step back in my opinion.
Speaker 4 (09:20):
So yeah, I actually think a B minus is actually
kind of a generous grade. I might I think it
might even be more so fair to say it's C
plus just because, like I said, the expectations for the
offensive line were way higher. And I'll also incorporate the
lack of playmakers involved. And what I mean by that
is you came into this season saying, Okay, we're gonna
(09:41):
we're gonna move forward with DK Metcalf, Calvin Austin, Roman Wilson,
guys like Scottie Miller, Ben Scaronik.
Speaker 3 (09:49):
That's gonna be our receiving corps.
Speaker 4 (09:51):
We're gonna have our three tight ends between Darnell, pat
and John new Smith. Well, when you look at it now,
that Calvin Austin is hurt, you really have no receiver
two because you remember we looked at the numbers. Ben
Skronic and Roman Wilson have combined, what three catches on
the season so far? Between those two guys, your your
(10:12):
wide receiver three, wide receiver four. John new Smith only
has fourteen catches. Pat Roman only has seven catches. I
think Darnell only has two. So you're not getting these
guys involved. And now, as I mentioned, without Calvin Austen,
who's gonna be your number two guy?
Speaker 3 (10:27):
You really can't.
Speaker 4 (10:28):
You can't say it's gonna be Johnny Smith because you
never got him involved beforehand. So incorporating that just the
lack of preparedness to have someone help or be ready
to help out if there was an injury, I mean,
it's it's unfortunate that Calvin Austin is out. You know,
he's a big contributor on offense, he's a big contributor
on special teams even uh, but God forbid, it was
(10:50):
DK Metcalf who had that Imagine where this offense would
be even forward without DK Metcalf.
Speaker 3 (10:57):
Just unimaginable.
Speaker 4 (10:58):
You don't, I am no idea what Aaron Rodgers would
do without DK and knock on wood that that guy stays,
that both of those guys stay healthy. So that's why
I also am leaning toward the C C plus grade,
just the lack of preparedness overall for the offense.
Speaker 1 (11:13):
You did the same thing I did, because when I
first started assessing the offense yesterday, when I was preparing
for this today, I gave him a higher grade. I
think it was a B plus, and I felt good
about it. Then I started thinking more and more about
the struggles with the offensive line, the run game, bringing
that down. Rogers under a lot of pressure through those
first few games. Seven sacks in the first two games,
and even though you look at the Vikings game as
improvements in those areas with the offensive line. Again, we're
(11:36):
grading all four games, Jacob, not just the game against
the Vikings. So for me, that brought the grade down
to a B. I'm with you, man, I'm almost a
C plus with you with this offense, however, I think
they are trending in the right direction after that Vikings game.
Speaker 2 (11:48):
Just one note on the red zone.
Speaker 1 (11:49):
The Steelers are seven of eight so far this season
converting touchdowns inside the twenty yard line. It's pretty good.
I think that only misses what you just mentioned. The
block field goal by Boss was that within the twenty
year cardline.
Speaker 3 (12:00):
Well, I think they're now.
Speaker 4 (12:01):
They should be seven to nine now because they were
seven and eight coming into that week and then they
had I think seven and nine would have been that
one year.
Speaker 2 (12:08):
Google's lying to me. Yeah, I think so they're a
week behind.
Speaker 3 (12:11):
Can't trust I'm not surprised.
Speaker 1 (12:12):
AI gets gets you off a little bit as far
as giving you the actual information they do. This is
a fact though I do have the twenty twenty four numbers.
They were as low as forty four percent UH with
scoring in the red zone last year. So if they
can continue to clip at a seven of nine rate,
as you just said, that's really good stuff.
Speaker 2 (12:32):
Okay, let's look at the defense now.
Speaker 1 (12:34):
Jalen Ramsey has been a huge spark with this defense,
game changing plays.
Speaker 2 (12:38):
He's led the secondary. Patrick Queen has.
Speaker 1 (12:41):
Done a very good job in the middle, leading the
team in tackles with thirty five physical, disruptive, has a sack,
very fast to run. Defense needs to tighten up, but overall,
this group is dictating more games than reacting. So far,
they've made some big plays when they have had to
in the three victories that they had so far the season,
especially at the end, Ramsey getting in there, Echles there
(13:03):
the last game against the Patriots. So they've performed, in
my opinion, pretty good. But again, just like the offense,
with the lack of a running game, this run defense
got gashed the first couple of games. And if we're
looking at all four games, I'm at a B with
this group.
Speaker 2 (13:16):
As well with the defense.
Speaker 1 (13:17):
I'm giving the rush defense a C plus and I'm
giving the pass defense a B.
Speaker 4 (13:22):
How about you, Yeah, I'm gonna have to go probably
be if not B minus overall for the defense. And
I know that sounds really harsh considering the sacks they've
come away with, the turnovers they've come away with, But
this was the highest paid defense coming into the season.
Speaker 2 (13:39):
Expectations were high, I.
Speaker 3 (13:40):
Mean monumentally high.
Speaker 4 (13:42):
You cannot understate like how much people expected this, especially
when you consider yes, they were the highest defense paid,
highest paid defense coming in but on top of that
this offseason.
Speaker 3 (13:54):
They paid Cam Hayward, they paid TJ.
Speaker 4 (13:57):
Watt, they brought over Jalen Ramsey, therought in Darius Slay.
All these moves to really solidify your defense, and you
can't make any excuses for how slow of assertive was
to the season. I know they've shown signs of getting
better the last two weeks, but I really can't excuse
what I saw the first two weeks.
Speaker 3 (14:17):
Really, so I think it's trending.
Speaker 4 (14:20):
I'm more inclined to say because you were saying you
adjusted your offensive grade, but you're hoping that it gets
better because you think the offense trending in the right direction.
I actually have more belief that the defense will kind
of adjust back to the norm of which they should
be operating. But yeah, I really can't give them higher
than a be er be minus simply simply because.
Speaker 3 (14:43):
How much better they should be doing.
Speaker 4 (14:45):
I know they're second in the league in sacks force,
they're second in the league in takeaways, but that's what
they should be and it shouldn't have all come in
the last two weeks. Right, majority of those numbers came
against the Patriots and the Vikings, so that means you
were left winning a lot more against Minnesota. I'm sorry,
against New York and against the Seahawks. And you can't
(15:07):
ignore the ironic Bend Dome break mentality of this defense
simply because look at the points against on this the
Steelers to face so far.
Speaker 3 (15:18):
They allowed thirty points in back to back.
Speaker 4 (15:20):
Weeks to open up the season, which was the first
time I believe they've ever done that. They allowed twenty
one points against the Minnesota Vikings, fifteen of which were
unanswered in the fourth quarter. So I really can't say
I'm confident in the Steelers' ability to win games on defense.
I know all three of their wins have come down
to the last possession, and yes, the defense was able
(15:41):
to make the game saving stop, but those games shouldn't
have come down to that, especially the Minnesota game, when
you have a fifteen point lead in the fourth quarter,
there was no reason why you should be threat you
know why, you should be sweating it, sweating it out
until the very last second.
Speaker 1 (15:55):
Yeah, they won three of the four quarters last week,
but the most important quarter, the final quarter, they almost
gave it up towards the end.
Speaker 2 (16:03):
So far this season, TJ.
Speaker 1 (16:04):
Watt is back on track of the slow start in
nineteen total tackles, two and a half sacks or three sacks,
three sacks on the season, one force fumble, one interception.
Patrick Queen thirty five total tackles, one sack so far
for the Steeler defense, and they've shined at times. But
overall points allowed twenty first in the league, yards allowed
(16:25):
twenty eighth, sacks their second. That's the good news, and
with turnovers are also second. So the splash plays of
getting to the quarterback getting the sack numbers up and
the turnovers good, but overall yards allowed and points allowed
not so much. They are on the other half of that.
We're talking here on Steelers Nation Radio, part of the
(16:45):
Steeers Audio network, the Steelers Standard.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
I am at Troop with Jacob Breck.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
We're talking grades through the first four games, the first
quarter of the season so far. I have the offense
with a B and I have the defense with a BEE.
Jacob meanwhile, C plus for the offense and a BF
the defense. Let's talk special teams next. Chris Boswell has
been very good through the first half of the season,
only one field goal miss. The return game though, hasn't
been much of a factor. Big room for improvement there.
(17:11):
They're averaging less than five yards on their punt returns
and I believe on the average kickoff return. We went
over these numbers the other day, somewhere in the mid twenties,
maybe twenty six yards per return, twenty five yards per return.
Nothing spectacular there. Of course, they had the hiccup with
Caleb Johnson in the Seattle game, missplaying the football, fumbled
into the end zone return for a touchdown. He's been
(17:32):
pulled since. We see Kenny Gamwell now returning kickoffs. Not
too bad against Minnesota this past week, but again they
got to get that average number back up. The coverage
has not been great either. I've talked about this a
lot for the first half of the season. The first
quarter of the season, I should say, kickoff coverage has
yielded really good field position for the Steelers opponents. Those
are areas I especially think Jacob during these two weeks
(17:54):
this week and next week that they can clean up
on special teams. So, having said all that, I'm giving
this unit a C plus. Yeah, I think that's all right.
Speaker 4 (18:03):
I might go C plus B minus in that range
simply because Boswell is just so good and you have
no idea, you exactly, you have no idea where the
special team's grade would be without him. If if you
had just an average NFL kicker available, to you. Uh,
someone who, unlike Boss, is not You're not comfortable sitting
out there for a sixty yard game winning field goal
(18:25):
or a go ahead field goal in Week one and
and remember too, his only missfield goal on the year
came on a block by the by the one of
the bigger playmakers on the on the Minnesota defense. Uh
so you can't even fault Boss for that. But I
do think as much as he is bringing that grade up,
as you said, the coverage and then the ability to
(18:47):
return when you're on the receiving end really brings it down.
Speaker 3 (18:51):
So I am I, where did you land?
Speaker 2 (18:53):
I came in with a C plus.
Speaker 1 (18:55):
Yeah, I'm gonna echo you on that, and it always
might get the C plus. The plus part that is
Boss boss up this year because I don't think they've
been good on kickoff coverage.
Speaker 2 (19:02):
Their return numbers are.
Speaker 1 (19:03):
Not good, right, But the most Corlis weightman's been good
at punting the football. His erage is close to fifty
yards per punt, which is great. So really's why you
signed them?
Speaker 4 (19:12):
Yep?
Speaker 2 (19:12):
Yeah, Jacob.
Speaker 1 (19:13):
When you look at the special teams as a whole,
you know your kicker and your punter are going to
lead that assessment. However, man, when you give up field
position and the offense is starting in their offensive drive
at the thirty five between the thirty five and forty
yard line, you really are starting your defense with their
backs up against the wall. And that happened several times,
especially in those first couple games against the Jets and
the Seahawks. It's gotten better, a little bit better against
(19:35):
the Patriots and Vikings, but still not where I think
it needs to be.
Speaker 4 (19:38):
Yeah, I mean the coverage has really remained pretty I
think you said it's gotten better, but the return ability
has really remained dormant. We have not seen any improvement
ever since Caleb Johnson had that boneheaded play against or
boneheaded decision against the Seahawks.
Speaker 3 (19:57):
Really, whether it was.
Speaker 4 (19:58):
Calvin Austin or now without Kavinasen, I'm not even sure
who the Steelers have lined up to recover kickoffs and
puns with him being out and injured.
Speaker 2 (20:07):
That they have Scotty Miller next on the list for PEA.
Speaker 4 (20:09):
I don't have faith and Scotty Miller to all of
a sudden change change the mentality of the returnability. So yeah,
I think, like you said, as good as Boz and
Wakeman have been this season. They're being overshadowed by the
lack of coverage and the lack of an ability to
put your offense in it in a good starting field position.
(20:31):
So I think C plus, if not a C, is
probably the appropriate grade.
Speaker 2 (20:36):
Here. Here are the rankings on special teams. I just
pulled it up.
Speaker 1 (20:39):
A field goal percentage with boss about eighty six percent
with that one miss, that's seventh best in the league.
Kickoff return average up twenty four point seven yards. That
is thirteenth in the NFL. Kickoff return yards allowed here's
the number I was talking about, twenty eight point three yards.
I actually thought it was more than that, but that's
still twenty eighth in the NFL, near the bottom for
(21:00):
most yards given up on kickoff returns. Punt return average
almost last thirty first in the league four point five yards.
Punt coverage allowed is nineteenth with twenty six point five
yards per return. I was not aware of that, and
then the rest is kind of useless at this point.
Block field was they have one block field goal. They
have no block punts and special teams tackles. Ben Scronick
(21:20):
tied for first in the NFL with special team tackles.
Speaker 2 (21:22):
There you go.
Speaker 1 (21:23):
Ben Scronick was seven special team tackles, So there you go.
That's how you get to a C plus bos and Scronick.
Speaker 4 (21:28):
Huh, yeah, of course that's what you want to hold
your head high at.
Speaker 1 (21:33):
Boz does have that sixty yarder gets suggest Yeah, of course,
so you know that definitely helps them. Okay, let's move
on to coaching before we wrap up our grades in
this segment. Mike Tomlin, you know, he's been managing a
veteran locker room very well in my opinion. And again
he has his critics out there, a whole bunch of
them about the the winning season streak and the lack
of playoff wins.
Speaker 2 (21:54):
And hey, when you won.
Speaker 1 (21:55):
The Super Bowl, you know, two super Bowl runs there
early on in your career. Nothing since, right, the one
super Bowl win, the other loss against the Packers, then
nothing since. But in my opinion, Mike Tomlin has done
a great job so far through the first quarter of
the season. Good chemistry of new players with Rogers metcalf Ramsey.
These are big personalities, big veteran personalities that you have
to have a manager to be able to manage that well.
(22:17):
The Seahawks, in my opinion, the best the better team
in Week two when they lost that game against the
Seattle Seahawks, and they found a way to win the
other games. Mike Tomlin very good in one score games.
Gives us a lot of cardiac situations on the edge
of our seats, but they find ways to win. In
facts are facts. I'm giving the coaching an A through
the first season.
Speaker 4 (22:35):
I'm going way lower. I'm going B minus if not
that C plus range. The calls against the Vikings, well
that obviously rings aloudest for the recency bias, the decision
at midfield to allow that delay game to happen, and
then the uncoordinated play calling at the goal line which
you eventually just missed out on. And then I just
(22:58):
have to I just have to t tiy Tomlin or
criticize Toman for again coming out slow to start the season.
You had, as we mentioned, Aaron Rodgers as your starting quarterback,
a Hall of Fame quarterback. You have the highest paid
defenses in the NFL coming in and you just cannot
make excuses for those slow starts, and they looked really
(23:19):
bad against Seattle. He was out coached for sure in
that game by a second year head coach. He was
nearly out coached by a first year head coach and
Aaron Glenn in the Jets game, I mean, without Boswell,
you lose that game. And then in New England, how
do you make up? How do you account for your
gifted five turnovers? And you can't do anything with them?
(23:40):
Five turnovers and you only managed to score twenty one
points in total.
Speaker 3 (23:44):
I don't know.
Speaker 4 (23:45):
I think of those five turnovers, they only scored points
on them one time that came at the very end
of the game. So I mean, can you imagine that
seven points off of five turnovers? That is inexcusable. And
then of course, most recently with Minnesota, just terrible clock management.
Speaker 3 (24:02):
And you've just seen bad clock management out of Mike Tomlin.
Speaker 4 (24:06):
You're in the straft. I agree with that, yep. So
I'm gonna have to go way lower than you. I
understand the big personality argument that you brought with all
the big names on defense, but really, this team, I
know they're three to one right now, but every game
has has looked pretty ugly so far. They've they've really
had to inch and claw their way to the finish
line to get to that three to one record, and
(24:28):
the one time they faced the better team, they looked
really bad. And if you want to go in on
the micro level even more, how do you how do
you excuse the coaching staff for allowing Caleb Johnson want
to be out there to begin with? Clearly he was
not prepared to be a returner, as you mentioned when
we were talking about that Seattle game, only returned five
kickoffs in total in his time at IOWA, So why
(24:52):
is he your number one guy? And then allowing him
to not know the rules? I mean, it just makes
no sense at all. So you have to put that
on the coaching staff as much as you do on
Caleb Johnson, because it's their responsibility to make sure that
Caleb knows the rules. So yeah, I'm gonna go a
little bit harsher on the coaching staff just overall. I
think Tara Austin said that he actually takes full blame
(25:14):
for the blown coverage on the eighty one yard touchdown,
not touchdown, but the long pass that Jordan Addison. When
asked about it, he said he takes full blame. So
if that's the case, I gotta put her on the
coach's shoulders. So I am not pleased so far with
the coaching decision making so far through the first four weeks.
Speaker 2 (25:32):
Well, I think you can bring up a good point.
Speaker 1 (25:34):
I guess I was looking at it more one sided,
just for Mike Tomlin leading the team. But if we're
talking coaching, we should be talking offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator,
special teams coaching.
Speaker 3 (25:43):
Yeah, and I even get coaching. Get to Arthur Smith
in that argument.
Speaker 4 (25:47):
I mean, the guy has a Hall of Fame quarterback,
He has all these weapons. I mean, this is a
guy who likes to get his tight ends evolved, who
likes to be a run first kind of guy, and
his tight ends are barely anywhere to be seen. He
was completely unable to run the football through the first
three weeks. I know Jillian Warren had a pretty decent
game against New England, but really, when you look at it,
(26:08):
I mean New England was pretty much all over them.
I know Jillian Warren individually got over one hundred yards
or at least close to one hundred yards from scrimmage
in that game, but only finished with I'm looking at
it here forty seven yards on offense running the football.
You cannot say that was a successful day. I know
Kenneth game will eventually broke through that and nearly got
(26:29):
to one hundred yards. But right now the Steelers are
one quarter of the way through the season with is
with zero guys who have made it over the century
mark and on an individual level, so I really have
to to criticize him in there.
Speaker 3 (26:41):
I didn't even get to him.
Speaker 4 (26:42):
I was more so focused on Tomlin and Danny Smith
and Tarall Austin. I didn't even mention Arthur Smith. So yeah,
I even more so stand by my C plus grade. Jacob,
You've convinced me to change my grade on coaching. Good job, good,
good debater you are. I'm going with a B. I'm
going to downgrade him to a bit.
Speaker 1 (26:59):
That's a big it would be yeah, yeah, and a
I'm gonna go full full letter down to be okay,
real quick, I know we have just a few more
minutes left in the segment. Team MVP for me so
far through the first four games. Jalen Ramsey Most improved
players so far. Patrick Queen, looking back at last season,
leading the team in tackles. My biggest concern is still
that offensive line, the lack of a run game and
(27:19):
pass protection needs to keep getting better. How about your
three Team MVP, most improved and biggest concern?
Speaker 4 (27:25):
Team MVP is Aaron Rodgers. Without Aaron Rodgers, the team,
as I said before, would be zero to four. I
don't think there's any which way about it. They do
not come away with a win in those three games.
If it's Mason Rudolph out there leading the offense most improved,
that's a tough one.
Speaker 3 (27:42):
Excuse me, I like the Pac queen argument.
Speaker 4 (27:47):
You could say one of the offensive line guys just
because that pass protection and run blocking has gotten better.
So I'm not one hundred percent where I would go
on that one. And then what was the last one?
The biggest concern going biggest concern is I think offensive
line is still You're with me?
Speaker 3 (28:03):
Is still a good call on your party? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (28:05):
Yeah, And you can't argue with Aaron Rodgers being team
MVP leading leading that locker room with that. When we
come back, We're going to talk with Ray Fittipaldo of
the Pittsburgh Post Gaze and get his thoughts on the
first four games of the season so far for the
Black and Gold. It is the Steelers standard with Ed
Trup and Jacob Brett here on Steelers Nation Radio, part
of the Steelers Audio Network
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist
It’s 1996 in rural North Carolina, and an oddball crew makes history when they pull off America’s third largest cash heist. But it’s all downhill from there. Join host Johnny Knoxville as he unspools a wild and woolly tale about a group of regular ‘ol folks who risked it all for a chance at a better life. CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist answers the question: what would you do with 17.3 million dollars? The answer includes diamond rings, mansions, velvet Elvis paintings, plus a run for the border, murder-for-hire-plots, and FBI busts.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com