The Point After Week 1

The trio of Rob King, Mike Prisuta, and Matt Williamson recap the Steelers' first victory of the season against the Jets on Sunday.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Hello, everybody, Welcome to the Point After, presented by your
neighborhood Ford Store and the Steelers Pro Shop. Get it
direct from the team at shop dot Steelers dot com.
Alongside Matt Williamson and Mike Persuda. I'm Rob king, thanks
very much for being with us, guys. As Steelers are
one to zero, something that I'm sure the Baltimore Ravens

(00:26):
wish they could say. I'm sure the Kansas City Chiefs
wish they could say. I'm sure the Houston Texans wish
they could say. As some of the top teams got
knocked off. Now, no matter what the result was of
the Sunday night game, a top team and a favorite
to win their division was gonna get knocked off, but
three of the favorites to win their divisions Matt go
down to defeat. Yeah, any weekend.

Speaker 2 (00:46):
I mean, I know we're out here to recap Sunday
Night football Ravens Bills, but holy smokes, was a a
heck of a game.

Speaker 3 (00:51):
And an unbelievable one.

Speaker 2 (00:53):
But really, I mean, if you had no dogs in
the fight, Jet Steelers wasn't far behind in terms of
just entertainment value for sure. I mean I think there's
something to be said for that, but we were here
to break down the black and Gold, and they won.
There's some good things and there was some timeliness, but boy,
there's a lot that needs to be worked on in

(01:15):
order to keep winning.

Speaker 4 (01:16):
In my opinion, Mike, I think it's appropriate we call
this show the Point After because what we saw in
the Meadowlands. Another new coach, another I'm gonna be mister addressive.
I'm gonna go with analytics and I'm gonna go for two. Well,
if they just kick two extra points, they might still
be playing. So maybe lesson learned for Aaron Glenn, But
I'm with Matt. A lot to work on, but it's

(01:38):
a results driven business. The object of the exercise. What
did Herman Edwards say years ago? You play to win
the get game? And for everything that's making people cringe,
I can't believe the sixty point type hammer headline.

Speaker 5 (01:57):
Is it?

Speaker 4 (01:58):
Yes, they have a quarterback, Yeah right, I mean Stiller
Nation has been waiting for that since pre Ben Roethlisberger injury.
Now he's just got to find a way to keep
Aaron Rodgers from becoming injured.

Speaker 5 (02:10):
So he's still really good now, you know.

Speaker 1 (02:14):
I would have liked to have had this conversation before
our thoughts were tinged by what we saw Sunday at
the Metalians. Because they are tinged, right, you can't help.
But if you had some preconceived notions about what the
team is going to be good at or bad at,
that those were and I think those were largely the
things you were thought they were going to be good at,

(02:36):
they were good at, and the things you were worried
about they cause you to worry. But I have to
tell you, Mike. I'll start with you, and then Matt,
I want your opinion on this as well. Going around
the league before the season began, all the preseason prognosticators ESPN,
the Atlantic, the Athletic, the Athletic, not the Atlantic, the Athletic,

(03:00):
the Atlantics, the other one, right, I was wondering what
that was. But yeah, I don't even know.

Speaker 5 (03:04):
That covers a lot of football.

Speaker 1 (03:07):
You know, they cover a lot of football, like the
So anyway, yes, uh, around the around the country, I
didn't see and somebody told me I saw somebody. I
didn't see a single person pick the Steelers to make
the playoffs. I picked. I saw a couple of people

(03:27):
predict that they would have an eight and nine record
and have the first losing season under Mike Tomlin. And
I've talked to some local people who said, yeah, I
could see the playoffs, but I could see an absolute
implosion on the part of the Steelers. One of the
one of the shows that I think is very good
a national podcast, said wide range of outcomes. They could

(03:47):
be a team that has a poor season, they could
be a team that goes to the super Bowl. I
am just surprised when I look at the team and
to me, again, I'm trying to go back before Sunday
because he this is what I was saying before or
Sunday that I'm surprised at a team that was ten
and seven and made the playoffs and made to me

(04:08):
some very obvious improvements. They're better at quarterback. You haven't
you are?

Speaker 5 (04:14):
You know?

Speaker 1 (04:14):
You trade it for DK Metcalf, You got Ramsey, you
got Sleigh, you Johnny Smith. You essentially added a first
round pick from last year into the fold, so you
had like two first round picks, a third round pick.
It's like having two third rounders and a sixth round
pick that basically didn't play. So you add that all

(04:35):
into the team and no one's got them going to
the playoffs. I'm that that I have to say, and
that some of that has to do with the other
teams in the league. I get that, but that really
shocked me that that was the case.

Speaker 4 (04:45):
Yeah, I gotta be honest with you, Kinger, I was torn.
I could see this team winning twelve and I could
see the bottom falling out.

Speaker 5 (04:54):
That's a lot of people seem to think for the
game yesterday.

Speaker 4 (04:57):
Yeah, I think there's potentially a very high ceiling.

Speaker 5 (05:00):
With Aaron Rodgers.

Speaker 4 (05:00):
I think if Mason Rudolphin's up starting most of the games,
you're probably looking at eight, nine to nine and eight.

Speaker 5 (05:06):
Not that it would be.

Speaker 1 (05:07):
Disasterus who's Buffalo's back up?

Speaker 5 (05:10):
No idea?

Speaker 1 (05:10):
Okay, so what happens if he starts?

Speaker 4 (05:12):
Well, you you're asking me about Pittsburgh.

Speaker 1 (05:14):
Right, But I'm just saying you could say that about it.
You could say that about any team.

Speaker 4 (05:17):
But I think the legitimate skepticism regarding the Steelers was
the way the defense just collapsed at the end of
last year.

Speaker 5 (05:25):
Run defense.

Speaker 4 (05:25):
Again, I'm going back before yesterday. If they don't stop
the run, and if the Steelers running game is not good,
and let's face it, broughder at Jones again.

Speaker 5 (05:35):
Before yesterday there.

Speaker 1 (05:37):
Was a lot of, uh, we'll get to all this suff.

Speaker 4 (05:40):
Questioning about him, and I think that directly affects whether
Aaron Rodgers stays upright or not. So yeah, I get
it if if there were doubters out there. And I
also think guys game ones.

Speaker 5 (05:54):
Are a unique entity.

Speaker 1 (05:57):
Absolutely.

Speaker 4 (05:58):
I mean, are the Ravens gonna blow every fifteen point
lead they get the rest of the way. Are they're
gonna give up forty one points every game?

Speaker 1 (06:04):
I'm predicting seventeen, it's gonna be very good in seventeen,
with a seventeen minus seventeen point differentially every game at one.

Speaker 5 (06:12):
Point seventeen touchdown receptions.

Speaker 4 (06:14):
Yes, I don't think he's gonna okay, all right, stuff happens,
all right. These guys either have played hardly at all
in the preseason or not at all. Right, and now
all of a sudden, you got to play sixty five
snaps in hot weather and all that good stuff and
funny stuff happens.

Speaker 1 (06:31):
Matt, what did you think about the preseason thoughts on
the Steelers?

Speaker 2 (06:35):
I never understood that the floor could fall, you know,
the sky could fall. Yeah, I think there's a pretty
proven track record no matter who the quarterback is, the
offensive coordinator or the center of the right tackle, whatever,
that the floor around here is pretty high.

Speaker 1 (06:52):
I mean, listen, man, it's only been twenty one years.
I know, you know, we want to we want to
we want over to ride this out for a little
bit longer.

Speaker 3 (07:01):
I mean, we can go back to Chuck Noll's third
year in the league.

Speaker 2 (07:05):
They've only had like seven losing seasons, you know, in
my lifetime. So I don't know, I think that's a
little crazy to think, oh, this is a year they're
going five wins, six wins.

Speaker 3 (07:14):
I never understood that at all.

Speaker 2 (07:16):
Frankly, even if Rudolph plays half the games, I still
think they're competitive. I never quite understood that.

Speaker 3 (07:22):
And I'm with you.

Speaker 2 (07:22):
I do think the roster on opening day in twenty
twenty five was better than it was on opening day
in twenty twenty four, let alone on closing day in
twenty twenty four.

Speaker 1 (07:32):
Yeah, I thought it was. I think it's actually a
great above. Yeah, this is this is kind of how
I thought about the Steelers. And again, this is the
point after and we will get into the game, But
I did want to, you know, set the the for
this show, sort of set the expectations and what our
direction is.

Speaker 5 (07:50):
You know.

Speaker 1 (07:51):
To me, the Steelers two years ago going up to
Buffalo playoff game had no chance of winning it. There's
just no chance. They just weren't good enough last year.

Speaker 5 (08:02):
And they were actually down by seven in the fourth
quarter in that game.

Speaker 1 (08:05):
Yeah, which is crazy, But think a lot of stuff
went right for them in that game, a lot of
stuff right. Last year. I thought they made a step
in the right direction. You know, they beat Washington. They
they proved they could maybe win a shootout, you know,
down into when they went to Cincinnati. They beat Baltimore once,

(08:26):
even those games that they were losing down the stretch.
You know, they were competitive in Baltimore till it fell apart.
They were competitive in Philadelphia until Nagy drops a pitch
when you're going in to try tied up. They were.
They was closer, but still not good enough. Right, they
were clearly still not good enough. Again against the best
teams in the league, the teams that we had seen them,

(08:47):
the Steelers uncharacteristically get blown out by some of these
teams a few years ago. I think that they have
made one more step. Now we'll see whether they've closed
the gap completely, but I think they have made another
further step this offseason. One other thing too, I think
one of the one of the sort of the narratives

(09:07):
around the league is that this is an older roster
because Aaron Rodgers is older, you know, TJ. Watt, Cam Hayward,
Jalen Ramsey, Darius Slay.

Speaker 4 (09:18):
So they've kept perceived as being old because they have
a bunch of old.

Speaker 1 (09:21):
Guns except except for this, except for the fact that
they've kept they have every single draft pick in the
last three years except Ryan Watts who injured his neck.
Every one of them is on this team. So, yes,
you you're talking about a lot of the key players
and the marquee players are older. But there's an undercurrent
of youth moving throughout this this team as well.

Speaker 2 (09:41):
And even I think that is a step further other
than wat off the top of my head, none of
those names you mentioned are they financially tied to for
a le yes, right, and they have all these other
draft picks coming into I mean, it's a it's a
really nice balancing act between living now with some older
dudes and some veterans and leaders with hopefully a youth
move that follows in their footsteps, you know.

Speaker 1 (10:01):
Yeah, So Mike, let's let's talk about Let's start by
talking about the good and I agree with you one
hundred percent. The headline to me is Aaron Rodgers.

Speaker 4 (10:13):
Yeah. And the second part of that, to me, it
wasn't just the statistics. I thought when the Jets drove
down and kicked a field goal relatively easily, they needed
to respond to that, and but down I got a
touchdown on the first possession for that, and itself should
be the headline for the first time since twenty twenty three.

(10:35):
It was starting to get a little wobbly late in
the second quarter, they went down and got a touchdown
and kind of a nice two point deficit I think
going in a halftime. And then again when they fell
behind by a couple of scores, they scored and then
you got that beautiful turnover. You got to take advantage
of that, right. There was a time probably last year,

(10:56):
when they would have kicked a field goal there they stuck.

Speaker 5 (10:59):
In the end zone.

Speaker 4 (10:59):
And then at the end of the game they got
another possession. You know, they had to punt and the
defense actually got the ball back for him and they
went down and got Boswall just close enough. So I
think there was a lot of response. In addition to
a lot of statistics, there was production, but it was
when you needed it to happen, and I think that,

(11:22):
coupled with the way the defense finished, you get a
little juice from that. Mike Tomlin talked about that, you know,
having to tough it out, gut it out, grind it out.
You know, things aren't going to go your way all
the time in the NFL, and I think particularly guys
when you have so many new pieces now there are
a lot more of a team than a theory.

Speaker 5 (11:41):
In the wake of that game, I.

Speaker 1 (11:42):
Think, yeah, you know. And when you talk about Aaron Rodgers,
first of all, I have a great statistic to share
with you. In the last six years, seems it only
had ten opening drive touchdowns. Did you know that? I
do you know where I got that statistic from? Matt Williamson.
Thank you, Matt.

Speaker 3 (12:00):
He's afraid I stole it.

Speaker 1 (12:02):
I stole I stole it from you, But you're right here.
I'm giving it to you. Yeah, not even close.

Speaker 5 (12:08):
I get Matt's stats every week.

Speaker 4 (12:09):
I just rather read something that's a little bit more
time friendly, like Warren Peace.

Speaker 1 (12:16):
There are a lot of stats to glean through, but
that extra it's good stuff.

Speaker 3 (12:21):
Started that one in like January.

Speaker 1 (12:23):
You know, uh it is when you look at Aaron
Rodgers and you and I have had these conversations about
what an unbelievable throw at the football. He is the
best I've ever seen and he and he made some
of those quote unquote off platform throws, moving forward, moving backwards,
moving off his right foot, you know, jumping in the
air to throw the touchdown pass. I think it was

(12:43):
the Calvin Austin, you know, all the different things he
can do. And he finished last year strong. And don't
forget he came off the Achilles injury. Now you know
understood that there are there there was Obviously he's a
polarizing figure. And you could say, well, you know, if
he hadn't gone to Egypt, maybe he would have come

(13:03):
back from the injury sooner, whatever, whatever you want to say.
I just wanted to try to try to play fair here.
But to me, he finished the season strong. I mean, yes, yes, yes,
with the Jets last year, even as they were struggling.
His numbers, but a lot his numbers were excellent. And
if you want to believe those numbers, and you didn't

(13:26):
know what to believe because he didn't see him in
the preseason, you want to believe those numbers, then you
saw him on Sunday, you are a believer that this
is a significant upgrade for this Steelers at the quarterback position.

Speaker 2 (13:36):
I one hundred percent believe that, and I expected that
when they signed him. I mean I said things like
I think he'll be their best guy since Ben's elbow injury,
and then being around him a camp as you guys were,
everything about him is so deliberate and engaged and professional
but well thought out that I got super impressed with
the person, the professional. That's why he lasted until age five,

(14:00):
already one, and why he's going to the Hall of
Fame to match with the gifts he had and frankly,
to pull back the curtain. The year I was with
the Browns was a year he came out of Cow.
He was nothing like that twenty one years ago or
whatever it was. He's he's reinvented himself over and over,
which is it speaks to his intelligence and even if
his skills are diminishing, which they are from the MVP versions.

(14:21):
Of course, what he did pre snap yesterday I thought
was invaluable, you know, and getting them in the right
plays and nowhere to go with the football where blitzes
are coming from, because there's a lot of time he
didn't have a lot of help.

Speaker 1 (14:34):
Yeah, and those are things we're going to talk about
when we continue. The Point After is presented by your
neighborhood Forge Store and the Steelers Pro Shop. Get it
direct from the team at shop dot Steelers dot com.
Back with more with Matt Williamson, Mike Persuda, I'm Rob
King when we continue on DV and the Steeler's Audio Network.

Speaker 6 (14:52):
Right after this, back to the Point After on DVD.

Speaker 1 (14:58):
Ifs a ticket right between just lost the football? There
it is recovered Finus Steelers. Ben Scronic is on it.

Speaker 6 (15:06):
I think it may have been Gainwell who knocked it loose, and.

Speaker 1 (15:09):
It's Scronic who recovers Max Stark's good call. Max Stark's
predicting what Max Stark's saying. You know, we're hey, we
need a three and out. Max Sark says, how about
a turnover?

Speaker 5 (15:21):
There?

Speaker 1 (15:21):
He go, he he just he just kind of calls
his shots here and there the point after its presented
by our neighborhood Forward Stour and the Steelers Pro Shop.
Get it direct from the team at shop dot Steelers
dot com. Thanks very much for being with us following
the Steelers thirty four to thirty two victory alongside Matt
Williamson and Mike Persuda. I'm rob king Mike. You know,
Matt said something before we went to break about Aaron

(15:42):
Rodgers getting the team in the right plays and organizing things.
And you know, watching the show last night, the game
last night at NBC, you know they're talking about the
analyst talking about man was a nightmare when you go
up there and Aaron Rodgers New Year defense better than
you did and got everybody in the right spot. I
do wonder if if perhaps that led to the Steelers

(16:08):
you know, running game not being quite as good as
we were kind of thinking it might be. I will also,
though again it's week one, we didn't see him in
the preseason. Arthur Smith had the great quote that we
did not bring DK Metcalfe in and Aaron Rodgers in
to run the wishbone. So this may be a team
that throws the ball a lot. I don't know, but

(16:29):
it was interesting that they didn't run it all that much,
but they sure were effective throwing the football.

Speaker 4 (16:34):
Yeah, and I think you know you saw early they
weren't effective running it, and so they had to throw it,
and then at the end of the game they had.

Speaker 5 (16:41):
To throw it.

Speaker 4 (16:42):
I was actually hoping that one of the reasons the
run game would be way better than what I saw
in the preseason was that Rogers preaching appability to get
him and to make sure the play's going left when
it should go left and right when it should go right,
and make sure the blocking is squared away.

Speaker 5 (16:58):
And you know the.

Speaker 4 (17:00):
Fact that I'd hate to see what it looks like
if somebody else was calling the place because the running
game was awful. Imagine what Aaron Rodgers might do if
he had a running game and protection.

Speaker 5 (17:09):
That was one of my.

Speaker 4 (17:12):
After further review hot takes. He had a great game
and it wasn't exactly put on a t form.

Speaker 2 (17:19):
No, And you mentioned week ones are weird, and I
think they're extra weird. Unlike Bill's Ravens, those guys played
each other to finish the season. The staff's are saying
the quarterbacks are the same. I don't know how you
prepare for a team with a whole new coaching staff,
a new quarterback, even if you're familiar with fields. I mean,
I think that that's a major disadvantage for any team

(17:40):
game planning for the Jets or a new coaching staff.
You know that he's a defensive minded head coach, and
they're aggressive, and you know their players, and you do
know their quarterback. But I thought, where I'm going with this,
I thought Rogers and Arthur Smith quickly understood what they
were doing well and what they were doing poorly, and
got the most out of a difficult situation, to say

(18:02):
the least. I mean, if you look, the running game
was horrendous. I thought that both sides of the ball,
they lost pretty dramatically at the line of scrimmage, although the.

Speaker 4 (18:12):
One play I wish they would have called a whole
lot more was the toss to Caleb Johnson that results
in a fifteen yard pedalty.

Speaker 5 (18:20):
On the defense, I think they should have. I think
they should have three or four more times because a
thirteen yard game because they lost to lost.

Speaker 2 (18:28):
Yeah, we'll get the defense in a minute, but just
you know, protection I thought was horrendous, and I think
you have to give the Jets a little credit to
quinnin Williams was unbelievable. They're two edge guys McDonald and
Johnson first round picks or blossoming stars as well. And no, right,
right right, I mean the Jetus Jets seems better and
more talented on both lines of scrimmage than people realize.

(18:50):
And Field played the best game I've ever seen him play,
by the way. So once in a while, I'm gonna
do that a lot on these Mondays. Is let's at
least recognize who they played. Some of them are allowed
that they get paid to.

Speaker 1 (18:59):
You know, I think there's a couple of things to point,
and I totally agree with you. And you know, I
was concerned about this game going in as I to
the to the to the radio crew before the show,
and Max Starks told me to keep it to myself.
No negative vibe here, he said, But you know there there,
I think that you know, you talk about a coach
coming in sort of organizing things and and and running

(19:24):
a certain type of style, and you know, I think
we're seeing that with Hardball out in uh LA with
the Chargers, right he comes in, uh organizes things, makes
him a good team. Last year and then looks like
maybe they're going to be a better team this year.
Aaron glenn Is the guy who came in demanded accountability,
and it was clear what they wanted to do. Offensively.

(19:48):
They were I think they threw the ball. They ran
the ball the fourth fewest times in the NFL last year.
They will be the fourth most this year. If not,
I they are going to run the ball. They have
number one picks on their off fensive line. They lost
one in Elijah Vera Tucker, but Tipman the center was
a second round pick. Both offensive tackles were not only

(20:08):
first round picks, but high first round picks. Eleventh overall,
seventh overall. You got a running quarterback. You know, Fields
ran for over eleven hundred yards a couple of years
ago in Chicago. They've got a.

Speaker 3 (20:19):
Great stable impressive.

Speaker 1 (20:20):
Reese Hall is really good. They've got a stable of
running backs. They want to jam the ball down your throat.
And again I'm not excusing anything, but look what Baltimore
did to Buffalo last night. You didn't think You don't
think Buffalo knew the running game was coming, and they
ran for two hundred and fifty plus yards in that game,

(20:41):
and then the other thing is, to your guys point,
that front six for the Jets is really good. Both
those linebackers. Look, Quincy Williams went to the Pro Bowl
two years ago, Jamien Sherwood led the NFL and solo
tackles a year ago. The pickup of Harrison Phillips, that
was a really good pickup. He is a very very
solid player. Williams is one of the best in the business.

(21:02):
Jermaine Johnson, who essentially didn't play for him last year,
was a Pro Bowl or two years ago. On the
other side, McDaniel McDonald, Why keep calling on McDaniel at
ten and a half sacks? That is a That is
a good group and they're gonna be a good group
up front. Now where are the weaknesses? The back end? Right,
Sauce Gardner is really good and then after that they're

(21:23):
kind of stitching things together.

Speaker 2 (21:25):
So the Steelers took advantage of that, that's right.

Speaker 1 (21:29):
And so you know when we think about what the Steelers,
you know, the Steelers wanted to go out this year
be better at stopping to run, and they wanted to
have technically they were Yeah, they also wanted to have
better defensive backs to deal with to deal with receivers. Now.
I think next year, next week, when we're in here,

(21:50):
we're gonna be talking about a team that's more like
the team that the Steelers are are equipped right now,
without Harmon in there and without getting better at the
run defense to stop. You have these corners, Well, what
does Seattle have they want to throw the ball with Darnold?
Probably they have Jackson Smith and Jigba, they have Cooper cups.
They have a pair of receivers. Well, you got guys

(22:11):
that can cover those receivers. I don't expect Kenneth Walker
to get thirty carries in this game, or Zach Charbona
Charbonay to get that. So I just I think stylistically,
this wasn't probably a great way for the Steelers to
open up. If you wanted to see them running the
ball and stopping the run.

Speaker 3 (22:29):
I mostly agree.

Speaker 2 (22:30):
I mean I mostly agree, especially to Mike's point that
no one has played sixty minutes yet in week one.
You know this is going to be a fifteen round fight.
You know, the stamina issue in not playing together. But
I can't excuse the run defense or the inability to
run the football. Oh I thought it would be I
thought they both were wable attle line.

Speaker 1 (22:51):
I thought the Jets would come out and run for
one hundred and forty yards. Yeah, yeah, I didn't think
they're going to add another one hundred to that.

Speaker 5 (22:59):
I did not.

Speaker 1 (23:00):
I mean, I totally agree with you, totally agree with
you not. I mean, those two things will need to
get better. My point was that the other team plays too,
and I think those happened to be the Jets strengths
real quick.

Speaker 2 (23:13):
On the Jets too, I mean, they had a lot
of good players. They had a bad year last year,
and a lot of people are picking them to be
really poor this year.

Speaker 3 (23:20):
But they don't lack talent at all, right, I.

Speaker 2 (23:22):
Mean they have a lot of first round picks on
both lines of scrimmage fields. Looks like a different player
to me. Their problems last year were firing a coach
mid season, rogers starting slow, like they had a lot
of extenuating issues, not bad players.

Speaker 1 (23:37):
Let me just say this too about the Jets, and
I don't want to build them up like they're a
super team. No, no, but I think they're one of
those teams. I think they're going to win, you know whatever,
they win seven eight games, They're going to be a
pain in the neck people are. It's going to be
a team that you're not necessarily thrilled to be playing.
I know this is a Steelers show, but they just
played them. I think the other I think there's two

(23:58):
teams going into the season, couple teams that I thought
could be better than people think. I think Jacksonville could
be better because they got a lot of weapons, they
have a new coach again, new coach being a big thing.
Same with the Jets, new coach, with the talented team,
and when you think about what a horrendous field goal
kicking team they were a year ago.

Speaker 2 (24:18):
Penalty they took us seventy they just destroyed themselves, right.

Speaker 1 (24:21):
Seventy one point four percent. That cost them against New
England and probably cost them against Buffalo. So you know,
you might be looking at a team that was, you know,
four and two or or five and three, if they
had just been good at some of the basic things
last year, like kicking field goals. I think this Steelers

(24:43):
didn't just beat a five win team from here ago.
I think they beat a seven win team because you
give him any kicker, give him any kicker, and they
win two more games. Any other kicker than the four
that they had last year. They win two more games anyway, Mike,
please go ahead.

Speaker 5 (24:58):
What do you got for us off that? Okay?

Speaker 4 (25:05):
They need to drove me a little crazy, it was,
and I was I'm with Matt, I justin Fields looked
like a different guy to me. But what I anticipated
was the Reid option, and they handled it terribly again
until they.

Speaker 5 (25:18):
Absolutely had to stop it.

Speaker 4 (25:19):
Then they did on that critical third down that got
him the ball back to go down and kick the
Boswell field goal. But the walk in touchdown. I don't
know what's going on with the Steelers defense. They have
played Lamar Jackson for a long time and been as
effective as anybody against him. The Ravens game, the Ravens
were lighting it up against everybody they played the Steelers,

(25:41):
it would be a rock fight. And they always had
this figured out that an outside linebacker would always hit
him even if he didn't have the ball back in
the day. And when I say back in the day,
I mean like before the playoff, right, And you saw
t J. Watt do that once last yesterday, right, he
lit him up. I think it was a quarter because

(26:01):
the idea is you're trying to convince him maybe it's
not a good idea to keep running all these fakes
because I'm going to get destroyed. And it's a free hit.
You're allowed to do it. Yes, in the playoff game
they started everybody crashing, so the running back and then
Jackson was free to do whatever he wanted. And then
yesterday Justin Fields walks in. I'm watching the end of

(26:24):
the formation and Darius Slay is the last guy on
the left. If you're looking at the defense from behind,
TJ wats the second guy. What went right for the
running guy like he was attacking Normandy? I mean he
was determined to go to the running Somebody's got to
account for the quarterback who can run in that situation.

(26:45):
How have they all of a sudden forgotten how to
deal with a read option?

Speaker 1 (26:47):
It is mystifying. And by the way, you're allowed need.

Speaker 4 (26:50):
To fix that because they're playing Lamar Jackson again twice.

Speaker 1 (26:53):
Yeah, you're allowed to tackle a quarterback on a read option.
You're not just like if that was a handoff and
Aaron Rodgers are just standing there, come up from plastum.
But because there's like it's like, I'm sorry, but football's
definition of plausible deniability, right, I mean, you know.

Speaker 5 (27:11):
I thought he had.

Speaker 1 (27:12):
It's it's not rocket science, you know. And I'll go
back to that Ravens game. Remember Steelers get the ball
in the playoffs, they kick it, they pin Baltimore deep,
they get him in a third and two right, and
the fake to Justice Hill they crashed down and Lamar
runs for first down, And I'm thinking, what if they
stopped him right there? What if they stopped them? What

(27:34):
if they stopped them and you know they got to
punt it away on fourth down? Do you get a
little equilibrium and maybe a little bit of a lyft
and good field position and all those things. Anyway, it
didn't happen.

Speaker 4 (27:43):
So yeah, I mean this is I don't think Sam
Darnold's going to run a lot of readoptions. No, No,
it's probably not A don't have to worry about it
for a few weeks. They got to get this fixed, guys.
I mean yeah, two games in a row they have
looked embarrassingly inept at times against a very basic play.

Speaker 2 (28:00):
Yes, I'm gonna fight you at all, because the Ravens
game was horrendous. I mean it was that was just
tactical problems as well as getting pushed around, and same
with the field touchdown that you reference. I don't know
what Wat's doing. He's a tremendous player. I mean, the
only excuse I can make for him is most of
the Jets runs were away from what on purpose.

Speaker 4 (28:19):
Unless they had unless Slay was the quarterback guy and
Watt was supposed to be the running back guy.

Speaker 3 (28:24):
I don't know.

Speaker 2 (28:24):
I don't know this, but when somebody was more concerning
to me yesterday was Cam Hayward the defensive line. They
were going backwards. I mean it wasn't I'm getting out schemed.
It was these big people were moving your big people,
and there's big holes.

Speaker 4 (28:41):
So the big picture here is when I have a
major issue and you have a major issue, and they're
not the same thing, the.

Speaker 1 (28:49):
Major issues, right I I totally agree, and that's something
you know. The two So the disappointments that I wrote
down were twenty carries for fifty three yards for this
teer's offense. You know, even if you're gonna only run
it twenty times, and it's possible, Aaron Rodgers you might
only run it, you got to be at ninety yards

(29:09):
or something along those lines. You can't be at fifty three.

Speaker 5 (29:13):
As great as.

Speaker 4 (29:13):
Rogers is, I still want them running at least as
much as they're passing.

Speaker 1 (29:17):
I don't care what they do as long as they
win well.

Speaker 5 (29:19):
But you do need to be support.

Speaker 1 (29:21):
But I want to be able to run the ball
more effectively. I think we agree on that.

Speaker 4 (29:25):
Press on him and expect him to be what he
was yesterday.

Speaker 5 (29:28):
Every week.

Speaker 2 (29:30):
Where I was going earlier though, that I thought was
very impressive was I thought Arthur Smith and Rogers quickly understood.
We have very little running game, we have very little protection.
You're not as mobile as you used to be. So
this is gonna sound bad, but I don't mean it
to be. But his average depth of target Rogers was very,
very low. He didn't attempt one pass of twenty yards

(29:51):
or further down the field. A lot of screens. Quick
ball came out really really quick. And he's using his mind,
not his you know ability. He's not gonna extend plays
like he used to. He's gonna need help and protection.

Speaker 5 (30:03):
But he can still bootleg and get it to the
right game.

Speaker 2 (30:05):
He gets it to the right guy. And yeah, there's
some negative plays. And they had they had one hundred
and seventy one yards after the catch. You know, so
you know they got Metcalf in space, and they got
some players you know, using their ability to make a
guy miss and those type of things because they did
not have protection.

Speaker 4 (30:20):
Well, god knows, we were all screaming during training camp.
More yak from Scoronic.

Speaker 1 (30:27):
Okay, So with that, Mike, thank you very much. We're
gonna take a brief break. I wanted to let you
know a Clearview Federal Credit Union. They are always upping
their game for those in need through touchdowns for Hope.
Clearview will donate five hundred dollars to the Light of
Like Life Rescue Mission for every black and goal touchdown
scored this season. Visit CLEARVIEWFCU dot org slash touchdown to

(30:52):
learn more. Point After presented by your neighborhood Fords Tour
and by the Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct from
the team at shop dot Steelers dot com.

Speaker 6 (31:00):
After this back to the Point After on dv E.

Speaker 1 (31:06):
You get your snap back to pass looking steps up
in the pocket, Hash and Room throws to his left,
but and the ball is just blocked.

Speaker 7 (31:13):
Jalen Ramsey, Wallops Garrett Wilson. It is in complete and
Ramsey makes the play that seals at victory for the
Fitchburg Steelers.

Speaker 1 (31:25):
Another point after presented by our neighborhood Ford Store and
by the Steelers Pro Shop get it direct from the
team at Shop dot Steelers dot Com. Final play of
the game, and again that's that's one of the new acquisitions,
Jalen Ramsey coming in and making the big play at
the end of the game when you needed something to
make sure you could seal it.

Speaker 4 (31:42):
You know, it was apparent early in training camp, and
the fans didn't really get to see this guy play
at all in the preseason either or other than the
one series at Carolina when he had the big blow
up hit and then the penalty kind of like the
whole Jalen Ramsey experience in one snap. But I haven't
seen it all twenty two on that yet, but I
think he came off guy. It looked like they ran
the running back kind of like a wheel down the

(32:05):
sideline because they wanted to get Ramsey out of the
way so they could run Wilson on the shallow cross,
passed the linebacker who wasn't going to cover our shallow
cross against Garrett Wilson and Ramsey just sniffed it out
and came off his guy and blew it up. I
mean that he was a week in the training camp.
He was the best guy on the field. Yeah, and

(32:27):
he is a difference maker. It's it's not just violent
and vicious, it's when you need it to be.

Speaker 5 (32:34):
And uh he you know, he saved the game.

Speaker 4 (32:37):
He should get a save Kinger, I know you're a
baseball guy, should get.

Speaker 5 (32:40):
He should get up to save.

Speaker 1 (32:42):
So again, just to sort of recap the things, you know,
the number one thing we liked was Aaron Rodgers the
number and and Arthur Smith and the game plan and
all the things you were able to execute. Didn't like
the rushing attack. Didn't like the Jets running for one
eighty two. Uh not too fond of that kickoff return
could have been a little tighter twenty nine point four average.

(33:03):
I thought the special teams by and large were a plus,
but the kick turn could be a little bit better.

Speaker 3 (33:09):
Huge plus. Yeah, oh yeah, yeah they kickoff coverage.

Speaker 1 (33:12):
Yeah yeah, the kick so Corliss weightman. And by the way,
the last negative I'll get to and then we can
turn back to the positives. You know, there was no harmon,
no herbig also, no Joey Porter Junior, no Deshaun Elliott
normally Carrison at the end of that game, so looking
forward to the lost Elliott earlier. The injury updates for
those four guys are those, yeah, because her big two,

(33:33):
well Harmon for that matter. I don't know as you'll
play this week, but that'll be interesting to get from.
Mike Tomlin on on Tuesday. Soot all defensive guys, right,
all defensive.

Speaker 4 (33:43):
I thought Eccles and Clark really stepped up. Those guys
were impactful and coming out of La Trobe, we're coming
out of the end of the preseason. Yeah, they got
good depth because Eccles can play, Clark can play, and
they had to play and they did right.

Speaker 1 (33:57):
Another reason, by the way, that I thought was was
shocked that people aren't picking the Steelers. So you have
all these young guys come in, you know, basically almost
like a draft class and a half. You add all
the guys that we talked about, But you look down
this roster man. Eccles is a good player, Malik Harrison
is a good play. These guys are good players.

Speaker 3 (34:17):
At a fourth corner like Eccles.

Speaker 1 (34:19):
Yeah, they're and they're like I mean, you're talking about
your You're talking about your forty fifth and forty six
guys on game day. I mean, I I just think anyway,
so enough of that. But I but I, yes, I agree.
I thought I thought, Uh Eccles was very good. You know,
the pluses for me before we get to the special team.
So I thought that was a big plus. A lot

(34:39):
of talk going into this season, Matt about a second receiver,
and I've heard you talk about it on your podcast.

Speaker 3 (34:45):
I'm not I'm not.

Speaker 1 (34:46):
That sold that it's necessary. Last year, I thought they
were definitely looking for it. And again, like we talk
about with the quarterback position, I mean, would you like
to have another The only the only reason I really
want that number two receiver, or the number one reason
i'd want it, is if something happens to DK.

Speaker 3 (35:01):
That's my biggest concern.

Speaker 1 (35:02):
But you could also say that about what happens if
what happens if Josh Allen gets hurt, what happens if
Lamar Jackson gets hurt.

Speaker 3 (35:08):
Well it's a little different.

Speaker 1 (35:09):
Those teams aren't going to sure, true, but they're not
going to They're not going to the super Bowl, of course.
But I think that with John new Smith and with
Roman Wilson coming back, because you know Roman Wilson. To me,
you know last year, everyone's just all the Steeler fans
are just blithely like we took him into third round,
he's our starting slot. Like, hang on a second, let's

(35:30):
see if you can play. Not every third down receiver
is going to come in and catch sixty balls in
a year. Then this year he's like he's on a
milk carton, like fans have forgotten about him. They had
him starting last year and they have him dismissed this year.
I just think it's a I think it's a and
I think John new Smith is that that's a. He's
I think he's going to be their second leading receiver
behind DK Metcalf. So I think they're better equipped at

(35:52):
the at the passing attack. And of course we haven't
even mentioned Ben' skronicy score is the first touchdown of
the year.

Speaker 5 (35:58):
Ibout that.

Speaker 2 (35:58):
So I thought they're usage was really interesting. And I'm
with you to I can live with this group, but
we saw it when Pickens got hurt. If DK's out
of the mix, I think you're too easy to play against,
no matter who you play against.

Speaker 1 (36:11):
But I think they could. I think they could massage
it for a week or two. Yes, yes, I think
there's enough there.

Speaker 2 (36:18):
But I think Austin and Smith are legit guys, you know,
John Whu and Austin to me are legit dudes. And
I thought their usage was really interesting John who had
the most snaps of any of the tight ends Austin.
I mean, no one else had more than ten snaps
at the wide receiver position after Austin and DK, so

(36:38):
they were clearly the one and two, and then all
the other dudes were kind of rotating in romand Wilson
played ten snaps you know what I mean.

Speaker 4 (36:44):
And yet he was on the field during the last
drive for the field goal when they went when they
when they went through y yeah right, they when they
went to But I agree that I think I.

Speaker 3 (36:55):
Think Scoronic's the blocker.

Speaker 4 (36:56):
And you know, right, I don't know the numbers in
front of me, but Metca and Austin playing the vast
majority of the fats, like ninety eighty five something like that.
Like yeah, that's if they really believe Calvin Austin is
a legit number two, and they've been telling us that
since the spring. Then treat him as such. Yeah, and
that leads me to one of my favorite plays of

(37:17):
the game was the one just before the Boswell field goal,
because they're sixty yards away and they had enough faith
in Boswell that they didn't feel compelled to check it
down or run it and get four five.

Speaker 5 (37:28):
You're talking about what you do is to get them
a little close.

Speaker 4 (37:30):
Yeah, they went for the throat man and they got
single coverage on Austin. Again, he got a lot of
single yesterday. I'm assuming that's because they metcalf was on
the field, right, they chook the shot man, they went
for the throat and maybe it was past interference, but
it doesn't matter whether it worked or not. They went
for it. They did not play concert. They went to

(37:51):
win the game right there, like, Okay, it didn't work, Boswell.

Speaker 5 (37:54):
Do your thing.

Speaker 4 (37:56):
That to me is not just saying we think Calvin
Austin's the number two, but they showed it.

Speaker 5 (38:01):
That's treating like he's a number.

Speaker 4 (38:02):
Two and expecting him to play like a number two,
and for a day at least he did.

Speaker 2 (38:06):
And your point same with John new I mean, their
action showed that they have a lot of faith in Austin.

Speaker 3 (38:11):
And John John.

Speaker 1 (38:12):
This is the point I've been trying to make in
the pre he is your slot guy, so I'm not
surprised at all among the tight ends, and he got
the most amount of snaps because if you go three wides,
he's your third wide. He's going to be the guy
in the slot, I think, for a lot of the
season over another receiver, and then he's also going to
plays the tight end, so he's going to get a
ton of snaps super quick.

Speaker 2 (38:31):
Eleven personnel is one tight end, one running back, three receivers.
All personnel is you know, two tight ends?

Speaker 3 (38:36):
Right with him?

Speaker 2 (38:37):
It's eleven and a half, right, Yeah, I mean really, yeah,
it's exactly what it is.

Speaker 1 (38:40):
Yeah, I agree with that, and I think I think
what we're going to see is that so you're going
against the Jets team that does not have a really
good corner opposite Sauce. They've got a great corner and
Sauce they don't really have that guy. I think what
we're going to see is that this others are gonna
it's gonna be a committee approach. So this week it

(39:03):
was Calvin Austin and I know John Smith had five receptions,
but next week, depending upon who you're playing, agains him.
We're gonna see Witherspoon this week for Seattle, right, another
elite corner, you know.

Speaker 3 (39:13):
If it seems like your second a lot better.

Speaker 1 (39:15):
Yeah, if you if you have two corners right now,
maybe John O. Smith or Friarmouth is going to be
that next. I think Metcalf's always going to be a guy.
He's always going to get targets. I don't care who
who is on the other side, But I think week
by week, you know, we saw the running backs combined
for five receptions. You know, there might be a week
in which that's ten. There might be a week in

(39:36):
which John OU Smith has nine catches for ninety five
yards and a touchdown. I think that's the way wherever
you can find something to exploit. You've got an offensive
coordinator and a quarterback we're going to and the personnel
to be able to exploit that. In my opinion, we're
all in agreement.

Speaker 5 (39:51):
Metcalf is the clear number one, clear number, no no doubt.
That's why a monster player, Right, you're paying them thirty
million dollars a year.

Speaker 4 (39:57):
Yeah, Rogers had four touchdown pass This is yesterday. Metcalf
didn't catch a touchdown pass.

Speaker 2 (40:04):
No, five different guys cup balls on the opening drive
when they actually put the ball in the end zone.

Speaker 4 (40:08):
I mean they got in the end zone with Scornic, Warren,
Austin and Smith. Now that was kind of a technical pass.
It was, you know, a little toss forward.

Speaker 1 (40:19):
But you'll take that fourth touchdown pass and I think.

Speaker 5 (40:21):
That's some beauty of Rogers.

Speaker 4 (40:22):
He knows how to balance that h fast line between
I'm not going to let you just take my number
one option away because your name is Sauce Gardener, I'm
going I'm going to test you a little bit. But
if you want to spend all day taking him away,
I got other toys I can play with for sure.

Speaker 5 (40:39):
We'll play with them for sure.

Speaker 1 (40:41):
So special teams, you know, Okay, So I'll get to
some of the other things first. So the kickoff return
last year was terrible for this Yeelers twenty seven point
five on six kick return, So that's an improvement.

Speaker 3 (40:55):
I like this new kickoff roll, by the way, actually
adds action to it.

Speaker 1 (40:59):
Yeah, I think think on the Thursday night broadcast, I
believe they said that when a team started the thirty
five yard line, it results in a score fifty two
percent of the time. Now you don't want you don't
want to give a team to thirty five yard lines.
You're gonna kick it off. Yeah, so we saw we
didn't see a single touchback yesterday in this game. Right, No,

(41:20):
we did see one Jets the Jets. The Jets kick
when I'm.

Speaker 3 (41:24):
Not even sure they were trying to but right.

Speaker 1 (41:26):
Or did or did the Steelers kick in the I
can't remember now, but teams are avoiding it was. It was,
after all a good twenty four hours ago. I don't
know you can expect when you remember that. So the
you know, the the rejection of the two point conversions, right,
that was a huge part in the game, the kick
return being better cordless weight man.

Speaker 4 (41:44):
But the Jets average like eleven and a half yards
of carry or something.

Speaker 3 (41:49):
I've seen, it was extremely high.

Speaker 5 (41:51):
Yeah, they had the ball of.

Speaker 4 (41:52):
One yard line and they tried to throw.

Speaker 2 (41:55):
It for a two point oh yeah, yeah, right, they
were run the ball the ball yard line for a
two point version.

Speaker 1 (42:00):
It wound up being it wound up being four point
seven yards per carre. Yeah, it was a lot, but
it actly you would expect that you would expect them
to get a yard.

Speaker 5 (42:08):
They just give it the beast bug.

Speaker 1 (42:10):
So Weightman last year, so the kick returns are better,
the two point conversions. Weightman last year was twelfth in
the league in net average forty one point nine and
net last year forty two point eight net yes yesterday.
And so that's a combination of course of weatement and
good kick coverage. I think a lot of people expected
Cam Johnston win that job. Weightman won the job. It

(42:32):
was a legit battle and Weightman won it. And then
best for last full Okay, the fumble recovery, that was
pretty good play the game. That might be the play
of the game if it wasn't for sixty yards. I mean,
Chris Boswell's just he's he's he was an All Pro
last year. He's the best kicker in the game, I think.
I mean, it's just ice water in the veins. He's

(42:53):
just so good and a big, big check mark for
the special teams. They talk about this, Matt, I know
you and I have had this conversation. Teams will pay
lip service to special teams and then practice time comes
and maybe that gets edged out a little bit. This
year's practice special teams they put good players on special teams.

(43:14):
They expect something out of special teams, and you can
easily make the case that special teams won the game
for this year that yesterday, Oh.

Speaker 2 (43:20):
You can easily make the case in that. I mean
three plays in itself. You hit a fifty six yarder,
which we won't even talk about because he hits a sixty, right,
I mean, a fifty six yarder in a self freed
aren't good. Sixty to win? It is unbelievable. And the
strip by game, well, I mean those three plays, especially
the sixty in the strip, were as big as anything
that happened in that game. And I'm not even lumping

(43:42):
into two point conversions. I mean, to me, that's a
defensive play. But I do think the Jets are having
some regrets their first time head coach, going, man, I'm
chasing these two pointers and I've got zero points out
of it.

Speaker 4 (43:53):
You know, sometimes there are ramifications to these decisions.

Speaker 3 (43:57):
Yes, no question, it's great to be it's great to
be aggressive.

Speaker 4 (44:00):
It's all fun and games until it doesn't work and
then you end up losing by two when you were
two kicks away from a tie.

Speaker 1 (44:06):
And so Mike, by the way, the ideal way to
work on things right. Win games, yes, you know, I'm
a big believer. Just stack up the wins early, you know,
try to show some improvement obviously, try to get something established.
But it's not you know, it's not frequent that the
team that's best in week eight wins the super Bowl.
You're building towards something or week one. Yeah, and you

(44:28):
gotta have wins, and they've got to they got wins
or one and O.

Speaker 4 (44:31):
I'm also big believer, and I mentioned this once already today,
but I want to repeat it. The satisfaction and the
energy and the momentum you get from finding a way
and from the game, you know, from getting punched in
the face a couple of times and not going down
and punching back and the way. Really all three phases

(44:52):
contributed there at the end, it was a very choppy, uneven,
pull your hair out kind of game for the Steelers
until they got a stop, a score and a stop.

Speaker 3 (45:02):
And today that screams experience.

Speaker 2 (45:04):
Yeah, Tom Rogers, the old guys we talked about, they're
not just laying out.

Speaker 4 (45:09):
You get momentum from that, you become a team, and
you have that in your memory back now Okay, we
didn't have our fastball, but we found a way to
win the game. We didn't play our best, but we
found a way to win the game. I think there's
value in that.

Speaker 1 (45:22):
I agree, And just real quick, I think the Jets
are two and seven, and one score game is one
of the other reasons I think that they're going to
get a little bit better this year. Like you talk
about baseball, and I love a baseball Usually if you
win a lot of one run games, you're going to
regress the next year. But that's usually a fifty to
fifty proposition. But as you've pointed out, Matt, this is
Mike Tomlin football man. He's got a tremendous record in

(45:43):
one score game.

Speaker 4 (45:44):
But it could be a game in the thirties. It
doesn't have to be fifteen to third.

Speaker 1 (45:47):
Right, totally agree, one game, Totally agree, But I mean
that that is one statistic where I do not expect
the Steelers to deviate back to the norm because Mike
Tomlin's proven it.

Speaker 2 (45:58):
I mean, you guys know, I'm into analytics, and the
analytic dorks will tell you all the time one score
games are gonna regress. The mean they were seven to
one and one score games. That means they'll probably go backwards.
Like you mentioned in baseball, I believe that less and
less in football. Mahomes was seventeen and oh in one
score games before two days ago. The best guys ever
in one score games are Tomlin Belichick. I mean like

(46:20):
there's an art to it, and I don't think the
Jets have mastered that, nor should they they they're a
brand new organization where Rogers Tomlin, They're gonna win one
score games because there's an art to it.

Speaker 1 (46:33):
Uh, guys, we're off and running.

Speaker 5 (46:35):
Man.

Speaker 1 (46:35):
Steelers are one tozer. Always a pleasure to be with.
Matt Williamson and Mike Brazia. I'm Rob King. We thank
you for listening to the Point After presented by your
neighborhood Forward Stour and by the Steelers Pro Shop. Get
it direct from the team at shop dot Steelers dot com.
We'll see you next week on DVE and the Steelers
Audio Network