The Point After Week 4

Rob, Matt, and Mike rejoice as the Steelers won across the pond against the Vikings and are in the driver seat in the division heading into their week 5 bye.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:05):
Hello, Welcome to the Point After, presented by your neighborhood
Ford Store and the Steelers Pro Shop. To get it
direct from the team at shop dot Steelers dot com.
Alongside Mike Pursuita and Matt Williamson.

Speaker 2 (00:16):
I'm Rob King.

Speaker 1 (00:17):
We are all back from Ireland, back from a trip
that included quite a bit of work and uh fair
portion of fun we all had. We all had a
pretty good time, did we not, Guys? Matt, your your
thoughts on your trip abroad.

Speaker 3 (00:35):
I don't travel much. First time I've ever been overseas.
Now we had some perks I was on the plane
with you there and back in terms of some conveniences
that way, Thank you Steelers.

Speaker 4 (00:46):
But it was unbelievable, I'll be honest.

Speaker 3 (00:48):
I mean I learned some things like, you know, my
NFL package doesn't work over there, and just weird things
like that the outlets are different and things I had
never thought of before. But I so enjoyed the people,
the atmosphere, the Guinness, all the above, and the game
itself was such a blast.

Speaker 4 (01:07):
And man if it would.

Speaker 3 (01:08):
Have snuck out of their fingertips at the end, could
you imagine the feeling that we be having now. I mean,
I'm glad we don't have to have that conversation. That's
all I can think about at the end.

Speaker 2 (01:16):
Did you what did you think of the food?

Speaker 3 (01:20):
I realized I hardly ate over there. I think I
think there's a little sand West and I are making
this joke. I think there's like a little baby sandwich
in the bottom of every guinness. Because I didn't need
hardly anything on I was over there.

Speaker 5 (01:31):
Mike, Yeah, I'll say the one negative, and I don't want,
I hate to have any negatives because God bless Ireland
and God bless the people, and that was just a
phenomenal trip. But the food was bad and I didn't
need much. I didn't need much part of it.

Speaker 4 (01:46):
That's part of I didn't.

Speaker 5 (01:47):
One of the things I heard was a Papa John's pizza.

Speaker 4 (01:51):
And I had a five guys burger the way.

Speaker 5 (01:54):
I knew what I was getting in that instance, but
such a minor almost not even I'm worth mentioning asterisk to.

Speaker 4 (02:02):
What That's why I didn't.

Speaker 5 (02:03):
It was about a perfect four days otherwise, just incredible.
What a what an atmosphere at that stadium. And I
don't know, I guess Rob, you've probably got a plan
for how you want to steer this show. But can
I just open up with a little soliloquy here my
my hottest take, if you will, since we're back on
this side of the pond.

Speaker 1 (02:24):
You know, he just came back from the country of
Yates and other big famous Irish poets.

Speaker 2 (02:29):
You know James.

Speaker 5 (02:31):
I had James Joyce in the in the pregame opening kickoff.

Speaker 1 (02:35):
By the way, can I just say quickly, I every
once in a while I will try to do some
James Joyce and I've literally gotten one page in and
just flung the book aside.

Speaker 2 (02:44):
It just like I can't. I can't get there.

Speaker 1 (02:47):
It supposed to be the greatest writer of I give
it another chance, all right, I'll give it another chance.

Speaker 5 (02:51):
It's pretty good stuff. We're doing the pregame show. And
I had heard at this point Cam Hayward talking about
our Rooney the Second addressing the Steelers on Wednesday, which
doesn't happen every week. I knew the history with the
Steelers in Ireland. I had been in Ireland for a
while and saw all the fans and all the emotion.

(03:13):
And I'm interviewing Matt during his regular hit on our
pregame show, and he's talking about how they're going to
have such an emotional edge and what the crowd's going
to be like, and Rob, you know, I have nothing
but the utmost respect for Matt and his ability to
watch football and break football down. But I also know

(03:33):
him well enough because I've worked with him for so long.
He does not care about emotional ledgend. We were talking
either before or after the Seattle game, and I was
bringing up what Kenneth Walker did for Michigan State against
Michigan and the emotional this and that, and He's like, yeah,
I don't care. College football's minor league. I just evaluate
the players. I don't care who wins. I don't care
about any of that stuff, strictly business. And he's talking

(03:54):
about this emotional edge, and I'm thinking, all right, I
know it's fun for fans when you go somewhere unfamiliar
and you have a bunch of same minded people and
you feel like you're in the biggest gang in the world.
But I didn't think that really affects the game once
the game starts being played. And I asked, Williams, you
really think this is gonna matter? And he said, how
could it not. It's the most unanalytical, unexcile thing I've.

Speaker 4 (04:18):
Ever heard, and it was overwhelming me at the time.

Speaker 5 (04:21):
And then you see Calvin Austin tearing down the field
the block for DK Metcalf inside the ten yard line.
And you see Peyton Wilson chasing down a guy who's
probably faster than him to prevent a touchdown which was
a really critical play. And you see Broderick Jones chasing
his quarterback Aaron Rodgers on a third down scramble that

(04:41):
actually produced a first down but resulted in a fumble
and Jones was there to recover it. And I just think, Rob,
I think the Steelers found an extra gear. The crowd
did the rest, like they you know, they knew the
history and what it meant to the organization and the
family and all that the Rooney family. The crowd did
the rest to keep them engaged throughout. Now they got

(05:04):
to find a way to realize that gear on a
regular basis, because when they do this just did, they're
a pretty good football team.

Speaker 3 (05:12):
Yeah, And taking the emotion out of it and get
back to being the cold hearted snake that I am.
They did a bunch of new wrinkles, and you know
I say that, Oh, I think that's a massive compliment.

Speaker 5 (05:22):
But we're different, you know, I think that's good scouting
by you. I'm a more emotional guy than There's no doubt.
That doesn't make us wrong or right. It just makes
us different. But I really, god, I saw it in
practice like that stuff does have an effect massively.

Speaker 3 (05:36):
And again, now we're overseas, let's me get the emotions.

Speaker 4 (05:40):
I'm only emotional in Europe, I guess. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (05:42):
And so.

Speaker 3 (05:44):
They did so many things schematically different. Now you go
into buy and be like that stuff works. You know,
we're gonna put Anderson next to Washington and just mash
your face.

Speaker 4 (05:53):
Okay, sign me up for that. Every week.

Speaker 5 (05:55):
You can't block the rum with five, block it with
seven or.

Speaker 4 (05:57):
Seven and then being right, yeah, yeah, you know.

Speaker 1 (06:00):
And it leads me back to this conversation, Matt, what
you're talking about and the way the Steelers use their personnel.
And we'll get into specifics too about the game, because
there were just so many heroes in this game for
the Steelers. But you know, as people talk about this
need for a second wide receiver, I have not been
on the bandwagon as much as you know, and clearly

(06:24):
they were trying to get that guy last year. You know,
when there's that much smoke, there had to be some fire.
But you know, when you add Johnny Smith and you
have Roman Wilson coming back, you're bring in DK Metcalf
and you have a quarterback who can identify mismatches. First
of all, from a financial standpoint, there's no way. It's
not like they're gonna get another thirty million dollar receiver

(06:46):
to pair with DK Metcalf.

Speaker 2 (06:47):
That's not going to happen.

Speaker 1 (06:48):
That doesn't mean you couldn't get a guy in an
expiring deal with your cap space, or a young up
and coming player. I just think what we saw is
that the Steelers are going to be able to use
matchups to their advantage. And it's kind of why I thought.
I thought those matchups would mitigate the need for, you know,
a prototypical quote unquote number two receiver, because I think

(07:11):
we've seen there are times when you know, Calvin Austin
is better than their second corner.

Speaker 2 (07:18):
We've seen.

Speaker 1 (07:18):
We saw this week Darna Washington did not have a
catch before Sunday. He had three in this game. Johnny
Smith was your leading receiver in terms of receptions. He
only had two catches this week. Pat Fryernmith wasn't even
targeted this week. I just think right, I just think right.
And part of that is the two tight end thing.
And I think if everybody's okay with that, if everybody's

(07:42):
okay with, you know, pulling on the ore and being
part of the team and helping it progress and move
forward and not worrying about the stats, that this team
has enough weapons to be able to kind of do
what they did against Minnesota. Find the weakness and pound
it home. And that's what the Steelers did. And I
think the Steelers can continue to do that, in part

(08:04):
because you know, they've they've got different personnel, but they've
got a guy running the ship. I just thought Aaron Rodgers, Yes,
I just thought he played a phenomenal game. And you're
gonna look at the numbers, eighteen for twenty two, two
hundred yards.

Speaker 2 (08:20):
I just thought he was great. His decision making it
the line.

Speaker 1 (08:23):
You know, I did the Calvin Austin show last week
and he said the fade for a touchdown the week
before was supposed to be a slant hand signal with
the line of scrimmage you know, Rogers telling him to
do something differently. He does a lot of that. I
just think that that's such a big factor. That the
Steelers have plenty of weapons, and so I'm tying in both,
but I guess let's lean it toward Rogers, who I

(08:45):
just thought was terrific.

Speaker 5 (08:46):
No question. I think he's been great every game because
everything you just broke down. Whatever they can get out
of this offense, he's going to get it for him. Yeah,
because he's going to get them out of bad place.
He's going to get them into good place. He's gonna
find one on one. He's going to try to exploit
it when he does see it. Maybe they're not going
to see it a ton, but when he sees it,

(09:07):
he's not going to miss it. To make a baseball analage,
he's not going to miss that belt high fastball and
where she get it again. But now they're gonna be
a little stressed. Now Calvin Austin is a question mark.
How much time is he going to miss and how
do they compensate for that? Can they just move a
Jon and Smith into a wide receiver type route. Will

(09:28):
that have the same effect on the defense? Will he
be able to exploit whatever the defense presents in that situation.
You know, it's a constantly changing league based on health.
I got to kick out of people talking after the
game from what little reaction I've seen and heard about, Oh,
they finally got the ball of Metcalf over the middle. Well,

(09:48):
the reason they were able to do that is the
linebacker Ivan Pace went to double Darnell Washington running a
route along the line of scrimmage in the right flat
like that was a defensive bust and the Steelers exploited it.
We'll see if they keep getting those, but I bet
if they do, Rogers gives them a chance to take
advantage of.

Speaker 2 (10:06):
Them real quick.

Speaker 1 (10:08):
Metcalf had a drop in week one and a drop
in week two, and they're both on crosses that looked
very similar to that one he took to the house.
I think he's a guy you can throw, you know,
and he's a guy Matt if I'm not mistaken, and
you know more about these stats than I do. A
guy that has been throughout his career targeted down field
right in my long routes, A lot of the balls
in the air a long time before it gets to DK. Metcalf,

(10:31):
sure I would never say don't do that, but I
don't think you have to do that. I'm not in
the camp of people who say, hey, third and eight,
you got to get to the sticks. Well, if you
have a well crafted sure, that certainly works. If you
have a well crafted play and you hit a guy
like DK Metcalf and stride, you know, five yards across
the middle, I'm you know, if he's got Inscride, I'm

(10:53):
gonna bet he's gonna get the other three he needs
for a first down, you know, and then some right
so you know, again, he was Max's calling for him
in the pregame show. You know, this is a good
time for him to start making some big plays. And
we've seen him make nice plays and seldom have they
been long throws up the field.

Speaker 3 (11:10):
Yes, and I'd like to see more of those. I
still think that's in the back. He threw three passes
over ten yards in that game. I mean, they don't
hardly ever take shots, and I still think they in
again like that they didn't need it, you know, like
if people start crowding the short passing game in the
run game and you start playing heavy personnel, I think
the shots are still coming. So There's a lot to

(11:32):
unpack here. First off, I'm so blown away with Rogers mentally, wisdom, approach, timing,
ability to elevate others. And I don't care what his
stat line looks like. And frankly, I don't care if
he throws, you know, every past one yard pass the
line of scrimmage or not. I mean, he's making everything work.
Doesn't matter what ingredients you give him. It's a five

(11:53):
star meal. And again I think what Mike says, he
maximizes those around him like nobody else. It's a question
about Metcalf. They're definitely reinventing Metcalf to some degree, a
lot more in breaking routes and yards after catch than
his Seattle days. Now, he wasn't just a go ball guy,
but that was his best thing. He was big, strong, fast,
you know, and we all see that. But now he's

(12:15):
breaking over the middle more get the ball. In timing,
Rogers is great at that. Going into this game, they
led the league in yards after catch, which is very
much a quarterback stat. But I do want to rewind
a little bit and fight you, Rob. I don't say
that they need a number two receiver, and this is
something Tom and I have really stressed in the pre

(12:36):
pregame show. I think you can get by with what
you have, but I don't want to survive. I want
to thrive. Why not add another guy to the mix,
you know what I mean? Especially with Austin hurt and
you're on a bye week. I mean, I'm just throwing
this out there, but there's a lot of teams in
bad shape right now, the Raiders with Meyers, the Saints
with a lava but whatever. I mean, we've gotten to

(12:58):
the point in the season where there's teams that know
that they're not in it. Then if you could grab
a guy this week, I would consider it, get them
breaking in for two weeks and really make a run
at this thing. You got a two game lead in
the division.

Speaker 1 (13:10):
Yeah, I don't disagree with the notion that you can
go out and get one. What I'm saying is, I
don't think you have to get one. I don't think
you have to get one and still be effective. I
thought last season, you know, for obvious reasons, they really
needed that guy. And I think part of the reason is,
you know, the two biggest reasons for me are Aaron
Rodgers and John new Smith, and also I do think

(13:33):
I'm interested to see if Roman Wilson. You know, look,
let's face it, Caleb Johnson got carries because they had
he had to have carries, right. I don't know how
much he would have been part of the game plan
if Jale and Warren had been able to go in
this game, but we sew you do, what's that.

Speaker 5 (13:51):
Right?

Speaker 2 (13:51):
Yeah?

Speaker 5 (13:51):
Yeah, he'd have been watching it, right.

Speaker 1 (13:53):
But you know, sometimes necessity is good for a player,
like he had to play and he had to drop early,
and his first run wasn't that good, and then he
seemed to get more comfortable. Maybe this is Roman Wilson time.
Maybe this is a time for Wilson to step from
the shadows and and let's see what he can do. Again.
I'm not saying don't get it now. The other thing

(14:15):
that's happened around the league, the leak. Neighbors is hurt,
you know, Tyreek Hill is hurt. So there there may
be teams that are that are in the receiver market.
Although again, if you're the Giants kind of you know,
why why are the Dolphins? Yeah, although they might be,
you know, in fighting for their their professional lives and
they may think differently about that. But anyway, Yes, it's

(14:38):
so much, so much to get to. There were so
many great players and so many great moments. Just real
quick before we go to break, do you think part
of the quick throwing guys and Mike, I'll start with
you here. This is just let's make sure that offensive line.
I think the offensive line deserves a lot of praise.
It's Captain Rogers.

Speaker 5 (14:56):
Pretty much we chas because they can't protect. Okay, and
I know Mike Tomlins said that's not the case last week.
I disagree. They can't protect. They're not going to get
their quarterback killed. It has to be quick game right now.
It has to be. They fixed the run blocking because
they went with seven guys and now they can run
the ball. Okay, if you want to take a shot,
you better block with eight and throw it into a

(15:18):
double triple coverage against Metcalf down the field, because that's
what's going to require to pull that off.

Speaker 3 (15:23):
I also think they've looked at it before this game
as an extension of the run game. They be getting
killed in time and possession and that's a hard way
to live. So if I can just get if I
can control the football with easy completions.

Speaker 4 (15:35):
When I'm not running the ball.

Speaker 2 (15:36):
Well.

Speaker 4 (15:36):
We can at least stay on the field.

Speaker 5 (15:38):
They gave them a sack yesterday on a two man rush.
It's not where it needs to be right now. I'm
not saying I forget about it forever, but with what
you're working with right now, you've got to win every
seven days. You cannot throw balls that take a long
time to come out of the pocket. You cannot.

Speaker 1 (15:55):
I would like to think that it has improved since
Week one and will continue to improve.

Speaker 2 (16:00):
I hope that's the case.

Speaker 1 (16:02):
The other thing, I wanted to say, just three three
and outs, and I think that and they weren't consecutive,
like when you go back and you think about last
year's game in Philadelphia, start the game with five straight
three and outs. You know last week that in New England,
the long stretches of three and outs five or six
possessions in a row, putting your defense in a bad spot.

(16:23):
These three and ounts were at least spread out a
little bit. One of them was your first possession of
the game. Not a great way to start the game, clearly,
but at least your defense is fresh. So I did
think that that helped out. Even though that wint time
of possession. They didn't have as many plays as the Vikings.
When you have a one play eighty yr drive, that's
going to happen. I do think that that was a

(16:43):
step in the right direction. And if you guys disagree,
hold your water for just a moment, because we'll get
to it on the other side of the break. The
point After is presented by your neighborhood, Ford Store and
the Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct from the team
at shop dot Steelers dot com. Back with more than
the steel there's audio network after this.

Speaker 5 (17:00):
Back to the point after.

Speaker 1 (17:02):
On DV play action pass looking, he throws over the
middle of a field pass metcalf open head on the
runcrack cross the forty, fock midfield cross the forty, the thirty,
the twenty yard line to fifteen, picks.

Speaker 6 (17:14):
Up a block and rubble in a the hand zone.
Calvin Austin set him up with a block at metcalf
E goes eighty yards for.

Speaker 2 (17:22):
The score.

Speaker 1 (17:25):
And were welcoming back to the point after, presented by
your neighborhood, Ford Stour and the Steelers Pro Shop. Get
it direct from the team at Shop DoD Steelers dot Com.
By the way that really was. I went back and
looked at it again earlier today. It really was a
good block by Calvin Austin. Maybe that defender who had
a good angle on Metcalf. And by the way, attacking
him from the side, that's the only place to attack

(17:46):
DK Metcalf with a full head of steam.

Speaker 2 (17:49):
If you're a.

Speaker 1 (17:49):
Defensive back and that's from the side, I think you
would have had an opportunity to get Metcalf for you know,
inside the fifteen yard line. But Austin got enough of
him by the time the guy rallied uh at about
the three yard line, Metcalf just swept him right into
the end zone with him.

Speaker 2 (18:05):
That is a large man moving very very quickly down
the field.

Speaker 3 (18:09):
Don't never forget F equals m A and that guy's
got a lot M and a lot of a.

Speaker 2 (18:13):
F equals m A.

Speaker 4 (18:15):
Force equals mass times acceleration.

Speaker 1 (18:17):
Oh, I was going at mc square.

Speaker 2 (18:20):
What is the the.

Speaker 4 (18:21):
The I I don't think that applies here at all.

Speaker 2 (18:23):
No energy, energy, mass acceleration.

Speaker 5 (18:28):
Okay, sont Phillaps is talking physics and emotion. I don't
even know who this guy is.

Speaker 2 (18:32):
And it really is.

Speaker 3 (18:39):
Spread on Pittsburgh once in a while, crazy stuff happens.

Speaker 1 (18:42):
Yeah, it is. So I did want to mention guys
on the offensive side. I think we've praised Rogers and
Metcalf both, Kenneth gain Well, what.

Speaker 5 (18:53):
About It took us till the second break to get
to him.

Speaker 1 (18:56):
Really, and you know what, man, my list is extremely long.
I don't know who we're going to get to all
these guys. It clicked off of the cap. By the way,
Mike tom Win tied Chuck Knox for eleventh all time.
So Wickley's Chuck Knox eleventh all time in NFL wins.
Congratulations to Mike Tomlin.

Speaker 5 (19:11):
If he wasn't so bad at decision making, he'd probably
be number one by now because.

Speaker 2 (19:15):
He's oh wow, okay, so gain Well.

Speaker 5 (19:19):
That a sarcasm, by the way, Yeah.

Speaker 2 (19:21):
I know that I was with you.

Speaker 5 (19:23):
You're right, Honestly, I can't believe there were people carping about.
I mean, we want to go there.

Speaker 4 (19:29):
Sorry I brought it up.

Speaker 1 (19:30):
Well, we may get there, we may get there. Gain
Well nineteen for ninety nine. He had that negative run
late in the game, and I think he lost two
yards on one hundred and thirty four scrimmage yards and again,
you know, a wider conversation will narrow this to gain Well.
The wider conversation is just the quality depth that you know,
Omar Khan has continued to pound away with his staff

(19:54):
and add to this team. And you know, look some
of these Malik Harrison, who I really like, he's hurt. Okay,
other guys have gotten hurt, but you still have more guys.

Speaker 2 (20:04):
It's like eventually you run out. I get it.

Speaker 1 (20:06):
But to have a gain Well is your number two
running back and have him have a career game for you.
I just what a tremendous game he turned in.

Speaker 5 (20:16):
You know, I want to back this up, maybe look
at it from a thirty thousand foot perspective. Another thing
that Matt and I talked about on the pregame show
was we were both in steadfast agreement that this with
Jalen Warren unavailable, this had to be Caleb Johnson's chance. Yeah.

Speaker 4 (20:32):
I was not saying how wrong.

Speaker 5 (20:32):
I was about to reboot, restart, give him the carries,
make him the guy, because Matt and I were both
in agreement one hundred percent. Game Well is a perimeter
player and he's a complimentary piece.

Speaker 4 (20:45):
I think my exact words were you can't give him
a full worklod.

Speaker 5 (20:47):
Yeah, and there he goes, running through the tackles and
running it in over the goal line from short yardage
and converting third and short and doing tough guy running
back stuff. He was brilliant and rob to your point.

Speaker 4 (21:02):
Before we went to break.

Speaker 5 (21:04):
I agree with Williamson that you know, if you can
get a receiver, go get them. But I also agree
with you maybe they don't have to because Roman Wilson.
Let's just look at some of the guys this season
who have confirmed what the coaches thought of them. And
a lot of people didn't agree with the coaches that
Calvin Austin was a legit number two. Why are we
even arguing about this? A lot of people didn't agree

(21:26):
with the coaches that Jalen Warren can handle the load
and be the number one guy. They like Roman Wilson
and we haven't seen him much. I didn't needed him yet,
I didn't notice. We saw him on the hands team
for the on side kick, So.

Speaker 4 (21:40):
There's that's a trust factor thing.

Speaker 5 (21:42):
Yeah, maybe Roman Wilson next week becomes with Matt You
and I thought Caleb Johnson was going to be this past,
this past Sunday, and that's the guy who all right,
all of a sudden opportunity has found you. What are
you going to do with it?

Speaker 3 (21:55):
Yeah, I mean there's been a lot of instances now
I think through it, guys like Ecoles and you know,
a lot of dude on defense that we've praised the
depth to Rob's point going into the season, and as
every team is gonna have to, you're gonna have to
test that depth. But those guys that aren't surefire starters
have more than pass the test. I mean the tight
end room. I mean, you can go down down the list.

(22:15):
All Calvin Anderson's not a starter, he's pretty good. You know,
maybe we'll be next year. I mean there's a lot
of these guys. Spencer, Yeah, I'm sorry, ye Spencer, right.

Speaker 1 (22:25):
But I'm glad you said that because I believe I
had Calvin Austin or Calvin Anderson hauling in a pass
last week, so so he hasn't done that. Tough guy
to bring down in the open field, Calvin Anderson. So yes,
a lot of Calvin's and Anderson's and all kinds of
things on this team.

Speaker 5 (22:44):
But yeah, this might be I mean, they obviously go
way more to tight end than they go three wide
receivers relative to what they did in the past. Uh
maybe now for Roma Wilson's the number two wide receiver,
maybe he gets a chance and maybe he takes advantage
of it. And I don't think they need him to
be justin Jefferson or DK Metcalf, But if you need
him to make a third down, or you need him
to get you in the second and short, wherever that

(23:05):
opportunity happens to be, maybe convert a play in the
red zone and you keep going for a touchdown instead
of kicking a field goal. Maybe you can catch four
passes for sixty one yards and make that stuff matter.

Speaker 3 (23:17):
I also say Miller and Scoronic have value and trust
you know, they're not ever going to lead the league
in receptions or anything, but they have a role, and
Miller played more when Austin got hurt. Last note just
on the receiver needs stuff. And this has been my
point all along is that's all great, but what if
DK gets hurt? You know, I mean, that's a big thing.
You know, Well, that's still got a lot of football head.

Speaker 5 (23:38):
That's been the elephant in the room all along. Good
question so far, so good there.

Speaker 1 (23:42):
Well yeah, yeah, And by the way, and again it's
it's a very good point because that was I think
maybe an unremembered part of the Steelers decline at the
end of last year was he wasn't there the head
of that thing when they lost four in a row.
He was out the first co game talking about the pickens,

(24:02):
you know, So that's and they didn't have that next guy.

Speaker 2 (24:05):
There was too big of a drop off.

Speaker 1 (24:07):
You're right, a security blanket for that, right, So you know,
you'd like to have the opportunity to see if guys
can progress to get to that. That's the other thing
to the I'm glad they moved it back a little bit,
but the trade deadline so early that maybe you haven't
even sorted that out by the time it rolls around.

Speaker 4 (24:24):
But there are some that are obviously gonna be sellers
at this.

Speaker 2 (24:27):
Right for sure? Yeah, for sure.

Speaker 1 (24:30):
O line in general, Spencer Anderson, I think we kind
of touched on that, guys, but once again, a real
positive and the balance they had offensively to be able
to throw the ball, to be able to run the ball,
I think that makes them difficult. And I you know,
I talked a little bit about the matchups in the
passing game and finding one to your liking in the game.

(24:53):
But maybe this is something too Okay, you want to
you want to play X defense or we think you
can be exploited.

Speaker 2 (24:59):
We're gonna run the ball.

Speaker 1 (25:00):
By the way, Atlanta just hammered the ball at Minnesota
earlier this year, and this year there's hammered it away there.
So I think kudos to Spencer Anderson. And by the way,
the more is Spencer Anderson, Roman Wilson making the recovery
in the on side kick Scotty Miller, Ben Squaddick, the
more guys that are involved in a positive way, I

(25:20):
think the better for a team in general when you're
having success.

Speaker 5 (25:24):
No question, no question. But I do think now they
ran a lot of Spencer Anderson. I didn't compare his
snaps yesterday to what they had done previously. Wasn't the
first time seventy four was eligible. I'm guessing it was
way way more.

Speaker 1 (25:37):
Yeah, fourteen snaps, and I think one of those was
at left guard for Ciamala, and.

Speaker 5 (25:41):
They ran multiple times behind seventy four and eighty like
they weren't just out there for window dressing. It was
like Okay, it's going here. Defense stop it. Oh they
can put up on the scoreboard and they did and
they didn't, so that was really effective. One minor, maybe
not so minor, complained Zack Fraser got to work on
the snaps because Roger more than a.

Speaker 3 (26:01):
Couplet West has said this has gone back to West Virginia.

Speaker 4 (26:04):
He ended three or four a year.

Speaker 5 (26:06):
You can't read because when the ball's got to come
out quick and you have Albert Einstein a quarterback to
get it to the right spot, don't make him have
to bend down and reset and take and it takes
longer than he normally would have to get him get
that fixed yesterday.

Speaker 1 (26:22):
The last thing you want is him thinking is it
equals mc squared.

Speaker 4 (26:25):
Or or scos mass times acceleration.

Speaker 2 (26:28):
You can't have that, Yeah, you can't have it.

Speaker 3 (26:30):
But speaking of Einstein at quarterback, like I am an
offensive coordinators around here pretty much my whole life.

Speaker 5 (26:35):
Should have set Upenheimer because I watched that age on
the place flight.

Speaker 3 (26:39):
Yeah, but offensive coordinators in my lifetime as a Steeler fan, analyst, whatever,
never really are the light of Steeler Nation, you know,
I mean, they have a tough go of things. And
I feel bad because Arthur Smith, I thought was spectacular
in this game. But to Mike's point earlier, when you
have a rocket scientist a quarterback, he's always got the

(27:00):
guys in the right you know, the right plays. They
never run the wrong one. And sometimes and Rob, this
was a weird game for me. You always talk about
how you have to watch the game through a different
lens than when you're sitting, you know, on your lazy boy,
and I'm used to sitting on my ladies, right, I
think you're doing now, Kurtin. But I really felt like Rogers.

(27:20):
We know Flores is so well known for and remember
Rogers faced you know, you know he faced Flora as before.
But I mean he would wait really late in the
snap count let the Vikings do all their stuff. It's
like Indiana Jones when the swordsman's like slashing at him
and he pulls the gun out and shoots him. You know,

(27:41):
waits till the very end, late in the down, snaps
the ball after he knows what they're gonna do and
all the window dressing's gone. Or he would tepohad and
not let them do all their nonsense, you know, like
I thought, he had a really good vibe of how
to deal with all their window dressing.

Speaker 5 (27:56):
Yeah. He It was interesting because he talked before the
game Rogers about Yeah, respect to Brian Flores, but he's
not playing Harrison Smith. The guy. Harrison Smith is the
guy I'm going against. That's what I was taking here.
Smith have gone against safety who's a great player, and
get himself back in the lineup.

Speaker 4 (28:11):
He was ill and missed some time, but nor counterpart.

Speaker 5 (28:14):
Yeah, that was that was a great matchup. Rogers won.

Speaker 1 (28:17):
Yeah, by the way, this year is and I do
you like to point this out to people, they did
have a true rocket scientist to quarterback with Josh do
and did your rockets doesn't take a rocket side to that?

Speaker 2 (28:30):
They have one Josh Topps.

Speaker 1 (28:32):
So anything else you guys wanted to get to you.
On the offense, I thought it was great to see.
By the way, as far as little individual plays that
I think I will remember. They threw the ball going
right to left toward the open end which Max said
was called the hill end of the of the of
Croke Park, right to left if you're watching on TV.

(28:52):
H he got a little pass along the side sideline
and then it was just hand to hand combat.

Speaker 2 (28:58):
He was Darnell Washington.

Speaker 1 (29:00):
He was flinging guys off of him, and then Rodriguez,
who's a nose tackle, came flying up and pinballed off
of him. Did you I know, if you guys saw that,
he ran into him and just then just ping and
he went flying and Darnault never left his feet.

Speaker 2 (29:16):
He didn't.

Speaker 5 (29:16):
Yeah, it was a five yard game, but it was fascinating.
It was It was so exacta you're talking about.

Speaker 2 (29:22):
He literally like two guys were coming up and he was.

Speaker 1 (29:25):
He took a big handout and then just like up
ended him just like you just tossed him aside with
one hand.

Speaker 2 (29:31):
I thought it was phenomenal.

Speaker 5 (29:32):
The last thing I wanted to talk about offensively, guys,
was the decision making, and I alluded to some of
the criticisms I had heard how I'm just, hey, if
you want to complain about something, find something to complain
about and complain. But they're up ten points, We're getting
down inside of five minutes. It's fourth and goal. Rogers
is gesturing to the bench, don't send the field goal

(29:52):
team off the offensive lineman. We want to go for
this like you've run the ball all day. You've owned
this game. You have a chance to drive us stake
through their heart, and your players want that opportunity. When
I am more than a one score lead, I am
giving it to them.

Speaker 4 (30:07):
And worst case scenario, you leave him at the one.

Speaker 2 (30:10):
Thing.

Speaker 5 (30:11):
The one thing I don't want to do is pass
the ball and get it tipped or picked off or
something and they get feel position out of it. So
if they have to start at the one I'm fine
with that. With a ten point lead, I thought it
was a great job by Mike Tomlins, who sense the
emotion of the moment. He was gonna kick initially and say,
you know what, guys, you want it, you got it,
show me something, go for you, and they ran gay

(30:33):
Owl's a terrible play game, almost making that playwork all day.
The Vikings stopped him. Credit to the Vikings. The problem
was the eighty one yard completion after It wasn't a decision,
but absolutely I go for that. I go for that
watching that unfold in real time, in real life, in
the emotion of the moment, I absolutely go for that.
And I also punted at the end because I don't

(30:55):
want to take a chance on allowing them one completion
to kick a field goal and tie the game.

Speaker 4 (31:00):
I agree with everything you said.

Speaker 3 (31:01):
And even when they landed on the one, I thought
they'll get the ball back at midfield, you know. I mean,
maybe they get a first down or two. They're not
gonna have an eighty r completion. My complaint with the
punt isn't the call on the punt. You can't kick
it in the end zone? Well, yea, the only gain
night it's a bad punt. Well no, unless Tomlin said
kick at the end.

Speaker 5 (31:17):
That the technique, it looked to me like it wasn't
his pooch technique, it was his. They're not They're not
returning this technique. Yeah, nineteen yards That I have a problem. Yeah, yeah, yeah,
not the punt, but the execution of it.

Speaker 3 (31:30):
Last thing I got, Rob, I know, we gotta get
to break when you have a This league is full
of freak athletes, but there are freaks that stand out
amongst others, and Washington is one of them. I mean,
when nose tackles can't get him on the ground, I've
been calling forever that he needs to be your tight
end one in terms of just snap count usage. Now,
Friar Mooth is the one that suffered here.

Speaker 5 (31:49):
Pretty close yesterday.

Speaker 3 (31:50):
Yeah, I mean fifteen snaps by friar Mouth, and I
think he's in the doghouse. I mean his effort from
what I saw on the field goal block was him.
I don't know if that's a direct reflection or if
he's fading out of favor. I don't mean to end
on a negative, but when someone steps up, somebody else
gets pench, you know.

Speaker 1 (32:10):
So I'm not gonna allow it to end on a
I'm going to end at a positive. The Steers since
twenty twenty three are now seventeen to one when they
scored twenty or more points.

Speaker 2 (32:19):
That is the best in the NFL.

Speaker 1 (32:21):
I'm gonna go ahead and claim that stat although I'm
pretty sure Matt, that came from you.

Speaker 4 (32:25):
Yeah, and I'm sure I stole from someone too, Okay.

Speaker 1 (32:28):
At 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 Life
Rescue Mission for every black and goal touchdown scored this season.
Visit CLEARVIEWFCU dot org slash touchdown to learn more. The
point after is presented by our neighborhood Forge store and
by the Judis Pro Shop. Get it direct from the

(32:49):
team at shop dot Steelers dot com. Back with more
on the Steer's Audio network after this, back.

Speaker 5 (32:56):
To the point after on dve.

Speaker 1 (32:59):
Back the past looking throws underneath did it pickoff?

Speaker 6 (33:03):
TJ Watt on an inflection and the interception driven down
by Scott but he hasn't at the thirty five yard
out of the Viking T want a play by TJ
Watt who runs down the field and boots it rugby
style into.

Speaker 2 (33:17):
The stands.

Speaker 1 (33:19):
And the point after is presented by your neighborhood Ford's
door and by the Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
from the team at shop dot Steelers dot com.

Speaker 2 (33:28):
Guys. One of several great plays by TJ. Watt.

Speaker 1 (33:30):
I just thought this defense was phenomenal and just overwhelmed
the Vikings throughout much of the game. And look, yes,
I know they got some late scores to make it
look more interesting than it really was, but you know,
I thought the Steelers just completely stifled Minnesota throughout this game.

Speaker 3 (33:50):
I adored the aggression, the blitz stuff. You know, we're
coming at you, We're weaponizing Patrick Queen and his athleticism. Now,
we'd be remiss to say that was the most difficult
opponent you're going to face. I mean, their their their
backup guard or their starting guard who's a really promising
rookie didn't play.

Speaker 4 (34:10):
Then for them they lose O'Neill.

Speaker 3 (34:12):
And I know I've been picking on this skull guy
all week, but I'm not sure why he's in the league.
Watching him the first couple of weeks, so like their
third tackle is really bad and then Kelly gets hurt
and frankly, Wentz invites bad things to happen. That's why
he's on a lot of different teams. But that's great.
I mean, right, destroy those guys. You know, maybe you

(34:33):
won't do have the exact same results against Alan and Mahomes,
but you played the Vikings and you just destroyed them
and got such pressure and okay, justin Jefferson got his,
so what he always gets his, you know, I mean
that doesn't worry me at all. They just created so
much chaos and destruction.

Speaker 1 (34:51):
So Mike, I want to start up front with maybe
not the sexiest guys to pick in this game, because
I don't I think I don't know if Cam Heywood
had to tackle. I think Derek Harmon had won. They
both had deflections. One of Harmon's deflections led to an interception.
But those two a quality I think was noticeable at
times in this game. But you know this, this influence

(35:12):
that Derek Harmon is bringing, and the ability to take
the pocket and push it back in the face of
the quarterback, whether you're getting stats or not, that is
a hard thing for a quarterback. You can't step up
into your throw now you get you kind of have
to move out of the pocket, and that helps the
guys on the edge. Of course, the guys in the
edge also helped the guys at the middle. I understand

(35:34):
that when you talk about complimentary football, that's the micro
complimentary football. Keanu Benton, of course, was sensation. I was
shocked that he had to share some of those sacks.
I fully expected to look up and see Keanu Benton
with three sacks, but he shared some nice man, good guy,
huge reggae fan, Keanu Benton sack and.

Speaker 3 (35:52):
I think he's benefiting from Harmon's presence more than anything.

Speaker 1 (35:55):
I yes, and he was mad. It seemed to me
that he was in a lot of those two down
linemen you know the the.

Speaker 3 (36:03):
Which is what he should be doing. He's not in
those He's not a take on double guy, you know.

Speaker 1 (36:06):
Right right, he was in a better position. But I
thought those three guys, Mike and what they're able to
do in the middle of the field, and if they
can continue to do that, and again, now you can
bring a quality in, and you can and you can
bring others in and maybe a role that benefits them
and benefits the club more. Maybe sometimes a little bit

(36:29):
less is going to be a lot more from some
guys who are reserves. I just thought those guys pushing
that pocket back up, they didn't have stats.

Speaker 2 (36:37):
Benton did. The other guys didn't have stats, but I
thought they were very noticeable.

Speaker 5 (36:41):
Yeah, and I think you know all the diversity we're
talking about on defense, if you can do that when
you're holding the middle or or winning the middle, if
you're getting blown off the ball in the middle, then
you can't get real exotic. It doesn't matter they're killing you.
Harmon has played like a number one pick since you
got here throughout training. I see no reason why that
should not continue to be the case. And then you know,

(37:03):
maybe Kenu Benton's better if Harmon's getting the double team
and that's one guy. Yeah, oh gee, this just did.
If he's not getting doubled off the ball, five bets
right now, he can beat a guy and get some
interior disruption. A couple of nitpicks with the defense, and
again full props to the to the way they stared

(37:23):
down the great O'Connell and lived to tell about it.
Although not using Ramsey on Justin Jefferson, they got away
with it.

Speaker 4 (37:33):
Okay, I think they have some regrets on that one.

Speaker 5 (37:35):
Maybe Justin Jefferson had ten catches on eleven targets for
one hundred and twenty six yards, which was the coincidentally
exact same number that DK Metcalf had. There was a
second and three from the Steelers forty two late in
the first half where they hit him on a deep
crosser and he slipped. He was going to score on
that if he doesn't slip, so I think they got

(37:55):
away from that. The other nitpick I have is I'm
all forgetting more guys than evolved, but maybe give Cole
Holcomb a series instead of putting Peyton Wilson in when
you think it's a pass and co Hulcomb and when
you think it's a run. Maybe you know Chuck Clark
coming out of the game when they think it's a

(38:15):
pass in Thornhill going in when they think it's a pass,
like you know this just then too, the offense doesn't
always cooperate. Sometimes they run it when you think they're
gonna throw, and vice versa. So I'd rather be a
little more okay, these guys can do whatever we need
them to do, centric than trying to get the right
eleven in on just the right play because you think

(38:36):
this is coming. But again, these are minor nitpicks. I
think petty game ball to Terrell Austin because all I
heard all that was how they let floors out of
the building and they they won the game.

Speaker 3 (38:48):
Yeah, and with an aggressive game plan, knowing the weaknesses
of this team, the line, the processing speed of Wentz,
I thought they feasted on that in a great way.

Speaker 5 (38:58):
And I thought Wentz. I thought Wentz played a heroic game.
And that can't be easy when you're down double scores
and you know the rush is coming and you're getting
assaulted and you're getting pounded, and you keep getting up
and keep coming back and competing, and you also wear
he hurt them running the ball, which I didn't think
he'd be able to do. But that's another thing. I

(39:20):
get that they're assaulting the pocket and they're getting sacks
and turnovers because of it, but they're going to play
some running quarterbacks that they got to stop allowing these
guys to get outside and have fifty yards rushing because
that can get you beat at some point.

Speaker 2 (39:34):
For sure.

Speaker 1 (39:36):
One guy I wanted to single out, I want to
go right to the back end, by the way, Mike
Tomlin after the game singled out Brandon Echles with injuries
echoes way more. I mean, again, just another one of
these pickups, which leads me to the guy who I
thought was to pick up last year. And I've said
this many times. I always thought he had a good game.

(39:57):
The more I see to Sean Elliott, the more I
I just think he's a really, really good football player.
I'm not saying he's the only reason that you shut
down the tight ends. You know, those tight ends had
two touchdown catches a week ago in the games that
Deshaun Elliott was out. Three touchdown receptions by tight ends

(40:18):
against the Steelers defense. Hockinson didn't do anything too late.
I don't believe Oliver had a catch. He may have
had won, but regardless, the tight ends are part of
what they do and the steerers shut that down. Elliott
had an interception, he had a sack. I just think
he's a really, really, really good football.

Speaker 3 (40:38):
Player, Yeah, Rob, I mean something Dale and I used
to do all the time on the drive. Not all
the time, but we would build lists of how important
Steelers are, you know, like the guys you can least
afford to lose. And if I were to do my
defensive list now, it would be a lot different than
before the season in terms of where Elliott is at.
And I think his loss was felt so much and

(41:00):
his presence was gained so much. As a communicator, is
really just.

Speaker 4 (41:05):
A missile too.

Speaker 3 (41:07):
I mean when he comes to the line of scrimmage
and his tee's off on people that play where he
gets flipped on his head and hops up and gets
a sack. I mean, like his aggression and downhill ability
and intelligence and the glue guy aspect of it too
is super important. Like if I were to list the
defensive players you least want to lose, he'd be really
high on the list.

Speaker 2 (41:27):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (41:28):
I think because of the communication as much as anything, right,
and he's really absolutely everything you guys said about what
a good player he is. Yeah, that matters, but so
does the communication. By the way, Wentz only had twelve
yards rushing, so never.

Speaker 4 (41:40):
Mind timely though.

Speaker 5 (41:42):
He had to have one run where he got outside
and he made a first down and I didn't think
he'd be able to do that, and I think that
bothered me a little bit.

Speaker 2 (41:48):
It was an eleven yard run.

Speaker 1 (41:50):
But give me a decent runner earlier in his career.

Speaker 5 (41:52):
He's early in his career. I don't think he's that
guy anymore. But the other thing, you know, we talked
about the communication, and again another nitpick. Give up an
eighty one yard pass because you blow the coverage with
four minutes left in the game and you're up double scores.
You just can't have that. Now, I know they had
some nutrition. I don't care who's in the game. They
got to stop getting gashed because they're too good at

(42:14):
defense to get gashed with the regularity that they do.

Speaker 1 (42:18):
And by the way, off of the cap with Peyton Wilson,
who led the team in tackles, and I thought was,
you know, again, he's a sidelined to sideline guy. Right,
He and Queen both Queen probably a little more physical
at this stage of their progressions.

Speaker 5 (42:33):
But.

Speaker 4 (42:35):
Those two cover a lot of ground, a.

Speaker 2 (42:37):
Ton of ground.

Speaker 1 (42:37):
Yeah, and look, I don't know how the game changes
if Wilson does not track Addison down, you know, I
don't know. I don't know how the game would have
finished up, because they would have scored quickly, they would
have had plenty of time still left in the game.
I don't even know whether they would have done an
on side kick there. They may have still, but then

(42:59):
they would have gotten the ball back with a ton
of time left in the game. Of course, we don't
know what the Steelers' reaction to that would have been.
But just a great play there by Peyton Wilson, who,
again I understand he's been criticized by some people. I
think maybe maybe.

Speaker 3 (43:13):
He was dealing with some stuff early in the season.

Speaker 1 (43:15):
Yeah, and I you know, I think he's I think
he's a guy that's developing into a player. Again, as
we talk about, you know, where the team is now.
I've said this on other shows, and I think maybe
on this one. I think the additions to Steelers made
to a ten and seven team have put them as
a better football team than they were a year ago.

(43:37):
Maybe I'm guilty of expecting what I think I'm going
to see in week ten and eleven and twelve in
week one, two and three. They've got a lot of
new guys in there, and Peyton Wilson's one of those
guys who's starting full time. I think he's one of
those guys that probably, like a lot of the other factors,
that just need to fit in and get time and

(43:58):
get experience. And Broderick Jones first time started at left tackle,
Troy Faultano finding his feet at right tackle. These things
are going to develop and take time, And maybe he's
one of those guys, but I think he's acquitted himself
pretty well to this point of the season.

Speaker 5 (44:12):
You have been saying that all along. Kudos to you
for that. Yesterday was the first time I saw it
in action. Yeah, Like it was a little too slappy
for me. I get September football and new guys and
all that. It was a little too slappy for me
the first three weeks, Like I was starting to wonder,
all right, is this gonna work or not? Like did
they just collect football cards or these guys actually going

(44:33):
to become a sure Yeah, I never know. I saw
a team playing yesterday, guys, A three pronged offense, defense,
special teams. I saw a team and I saw that.

Speaker 4 (44:43):
That division starting to come together way. Yeah.

Speaker 5 (44:46):
Well, I think is a very good Minnesota team. Yeah,
and they won the game and they didn't have to. Well,
the defense had to make the stop at the end,
the way it closed out, but uh, really, I thought
that was leaps and bounds ahead of what we had
seen the first three weeks.

Speaker 3 (45:00):
So very encouraging from that, and Rob you mentioned it
more than either one of us on this show, but
I think it needs to be reiterated.

Speaker 4 (45:07):
Really impressed at the front office.

Speaker 2 (45:09):
Oh just I mean when you get a guy like
a Brandon eccles.

Speaker 3 (45:12):
Yeah, the talent evaluation and the vision and the use
of resources is really really good.

Speaker 2 (45:18):
I totally agree.

Speaker 1 (45:19):
In the depth and you still have cap space and
his team is deep.

Speaker 4 (45:23):
How about that future picks?

Speaker 2 (45:27):
You know? Interesting and real quick? You know, look, TJ.

Speaker 1 (45:32):
Watt another outstanding game and Nick Herbig Man, Holy mackerel I.

Speaker 3 (45:40):
It shouldn't have taken us as long to bring up
Nick Herbig and probably because of last week too. I
mean he's one of the best pass rushers in the league.

Speaker 2 (45:47):
Yeah, yeah, he is.

Speaker 4 (45:49):
I mean he really is.

Speaker 3 (45:51):
Not like he's a nice number three guy, He's one
of the best pass rushers in the league.

Speaker 1 (45:55):
Steelers win by this final score of twenty four to
twenty one. They are in first place as we head
into the by so a team that I think is
going to be.

Speaker 4 (46:04):
Better doesn't look Oh.

Speaker 5 (46:08):
My god. I listened to the second half of that
driving back from uh.

Speaker 4 (46:11):
I put on Twitter, is that the worst offense in
the league.

Speaker 5 (46:14):
It might be Mike travel was convoluted, but I ended
up having to come from here to go home, which yeah, yeah,
about fifty minutes. And I listened to the Bengals broadcast
last night in the second half and it.

Speaker 4 (46:23):
Was not pretty. Man. Ravens are a mess right now too.

Speaker 2 (46:25):
Yeah, yeah they are.

Speaker 1 (46:27):
And the Steelers are three and one and in first
place after the twenty four to twenty one win in
the first regular season game ever played in Ireland. For
our producer Justin Miller in our studio, for Mike Persuda,
for Matt Williamson, I'm Rob King. We thank you for
listening to the point after presented our neighborhood, a Ford
Sore and by the Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct

(46:47):
from the team at Shop dot steelers dot com. Here
on the Steelers Audio Network