December 19, 2022 • 25 mins
Stan shares his thoughts on Mitch Trubisky's first start with the Steelers since Week 4 against the Jets and how he was able to lead the offense to three touchdown scoring drives. Stan is then joined by Mike Prisuta to offer his takeaways from the defense completely stifling the Panthers run game.
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
For them to go in there and just stop those
guys from the first play, the first play with Larry
Ever Jovia back for the law and it's just floats
were there and that last uh to be their professor
comporters of the Year. This is Saverean on Steelers. Hello
and welcome to all in Steelers Nation. Welcome to Saverean
on Steelers podcast. I'm your host, Stan Savran. Glad you're
(00:23):
able to find us Steelers dot com easy to download,
where we post up two different podcasts each and every
week full of Steelers content throughout the Steeler season. The
Steelers season probably won't be extended by what they were
able to do Sunday in Charlotte, North Carolina, but it
was an encouraging turn, an encouraging twist, and by that
(00:48):
I mean they seemed to react to what was not
a good performance against the Baltimore Ravens. Yes, I know
the Ravens now in second places that agent, but likely
to make the playoffs and still a very good opportunity
to win the division. They are flawed. They're also playing
with Alamar Jackson, but that made it even more probable
(01:10):
that the Steelers could have won that game. And I
think that they reacted to what happened a number of ways,
and it manifested itself in the play we witnessed against
the Carolina Panthers. Number One. In general, the Steelers won
the game in Carolina because they were dominant along both
(01:34):
the offensive and defensive lines. There's no question that the
defensive line absolutely shoved around Carolina after they had been
shoved around by Baltimore. They had six tackles for last losses.
And I'm not just talking about sacks. I'm talking about
getting penetration in the backfield and making those necessary play,
(02:00):
you know, forcing a team like Carolina to come up
and be behind the sticks and have to look at
a second and twelve instead of a second and six.
Let's say it makes all the difference in the world
to a team like Carolina that has its issues offensively,
and frankly that includes the Steelers. I mean, their offense
hasn't been much better. Second and twelve makes it look
(02:23):
like it's second and thirty, and so I think that
they really learned their lesson. I think they were embarrassed
by the way that they were shoved around, by the
way Baltimore ran on them and on the other side
of the line. For once, we saw the Steeler offensive
line control the line scrimmage. We have not seen a
great deal of that all year long. The offensive line
(02:45):
I thought was getting better, certainly, but not to the
point where they were actually dominating the line of scrimmage.
And I do think we saw a lot of that.
The overall yards per care average wasn't great, but that's
largely because of about three quarterback sneaks. You're talking about
(03:10):
one yard gains. In that circumstance, there's no question that
the Steelers offensive line had their best offensive line performance
of the season. And yes, I know they've rushed for
more yards, but in terms of dominating the line scrimmage,
I thought this was it. Now. That is not to
say that they have arrived at where they want their
(03:33):
offensive line to be. They've been improving, but they're not
yet in a position to say, well, there's no sense
in adding to our offensive line. We found our accommodation.
They're improving, but they still need to add one or
two higher level talented offensive lineman. And if you like
(04:00):
the work of some of the guys they already have, fine,
you keep him around for depth. But because they had
a good game against Carolina does not mean it's still
not a position of need. And that includes a defensive
line too. Cam Hayward at himself a fine game, and
(04:23):
I do think that it was a direct result in
both lines of the side of the Lion scrimmage of
being embarrassed by the way that they played against Baltimore.
They were man handled, they were abused physically. I remember
saying on the Steelers post game show on the Steelers
Radio Network, and the difference of the game was not
(04:45):
just the three interceptions thrown by Mr Robiski. In large effect,
it was a battle of the Lion scrimmage. But they
clearly lost, and they seem to take that at heart.
(05:05):
But they're still gonna need an upgrade on the d line. Now,
maybe they have some young players they can take a
look at who can fill that belt. Maybe, but I
think that outside the occurrent organizations where they have to
look and I realized, I'll have cap room, But this
is not about filling gaps, even on the defensive line.
(05:28):
Cam Hey, where we'll be thirty four and hopefully he's
got more good gears left in him, great years left
in him. But they're gonna need more help. I also
think that what transpired last week in practice session and
the meetings had an effect on Miss Robinsky. Obviously, you
(05:53):
didn't need Vince Lombardi to tell Miss Robinsky that you
can't throw three interceptions, two of them in the red zone.
And I think that was manifested in his play. He
was careful with the football, but not to the point
where he was tentative with the football, particularly when it
(06:19):
came to Deante Johnson. And again, I think there was
conversation throughout the week. The coach is telling me the
offensive line, hey, you got pounded by the Baltimore Ravens
d line, and conversation in the Steelers offensive line room
and defensive line rooms, Hey, you were physically abused. Those
(06:43):
guys make their living on being physical players. And if
you tell them, and if you point out to them
and show them on tape, hey, whatever the schematics were,
whatever the game plan was, you it won't work unless
you are more physical than your opponent. They shamed them,
(07:10):
and I think they responded that way. And again, in
my view, another area where last week's work of practice
came into focus in the game against Carolina was the
combination between Mitch Robinsky and Deonte Johnson. It was well
(07:32):
publicized that there was some sort of a confrontation at
halftime of the Jet game, Deonte Johnson telling Mitch Trobinsky, Hey,
give me the ball and lo and behold, Trabinsky was
benched in favor of Kenny Pickett. Was it because of
that one thing? We may never know. But the first past,
(07:55):
the Trabinsky through was the Deonte Johnson. He targeted the
ante Johnson ten times. He only threw twenty two passes now,
so nearly half of the passes he did throw we're
directed at Deonte Johnson. Maybe as a way of Trabinsky saying, hey,
(08:16):
we need to get on the same page, you and I.
If there was a problem before, let the problem stop
and cease right now. Ten of the twenty passes the
through we're to Deonte Johnson. All of that worked into
the playing of the games Sunday in Carolina. The offensive line,
(08:42):
the defensive line, the play of Trabinsky in general, and
the play of Trabinsky in particular with Deonte Johnson. Ten targets,
ten receptions, five of them for first dounds. Mike Presuta
(09:04):
of the DV Morning Show and the lead host and
the Steelers pregame Network show with Jerry Doolac and Bob Labriola.
He joins us now on the Savereant Steelers podcast. And
I wonder, Mike, if you believe that yesterday's really outstanding
performance on both lines of scrimmage, we're a byproduct of
(09:27):
them getting their rare ends beat last week against Baltimore.
I mean that that would have to sort of ruminate, uh,
in the belly of any competitor, that you not only
got beat but you got beaten up physically. Yeah. I
don't think there's any question about it. And you know,
the initial response from the coaching staff was to conduct
(09:48):
a padded practice on Wednesday. Now, thanks to the Collective
Partaining Agreement, there are not very many opportunities to do that,
particularly late in the season, but they had one or
two left in their hip pocket and they took advantage
of a Wednesday, and that kind of set a tone.
I think they were embarrassed by what happened against the Ravens. Uh.
(10:10):
There was disgusted in the locker room, and there should
have been. After a team that's down. The practice squad
quarterback runs three plays and gainst thirteen yards where if
you get it three and out and you get the
ball back, you have a chance to steal that game.
I know Mr Bisky through three receptions against the Ravens,
but that defensive performance against the run was appalling to me,
(10:30):
and I think it was appalling a lot of people.
Uh T J. Watt talked a little bit afterward about
the energy that was in practice two out last week.
I think you can read into that. Uh at two
and two come up with four in terms of what
was going on out there. They were tired of being
pushed around, and they did to push him for a change,
and I'll tell you what, it was a really impressive performance.
(10:52):
I did not see it coming. I didn't know they
had that in them. Their track record this year, even
though they're ranking against the run, his been relatively good
all year. The teams that run the ball really well
have run the ball on the Steelers with great success
and then beating up on the teams that don't run
the ball very well. So I didn't I didn't put
(11:12):
a lot of stock in that ranking. But I think
that Carolina team over the last month has been a
really good team, particularly running it and for them to
go in there and just stuff those guys from the
first play. The first play was Larry open Jovia tackle
for a loss and it just floats from there, and
that was to me, their best defensive performance of the year.
You know, you can argue Cincinnati with all the turnovers,
(11:33):
the funny things happening. Openers, Um, I thought they got
backed up into a quarter and they came out to swing.
It was good to see. It was good to see.
And the six tackles for a loss. We're not talking
about sacks here. I mean Steelers have always been known
getting a lot of sacks, but frankly doing to other
teams what they have done to them so many times.
(11:55):
You know, at second and twelve, and when you've got
a week offense, you know that seems like second and thirty. Yeah,
And they brought people to the line of scrimmage. They
had bigger people in the game because of the way
Carolina likes to run multiple tight ends and extra offensive
linemen as many times as the Panthers too. They met
force with force and they won the day. And it
(12:18):
was probably just as impressive offensively in terms of the
way the Steelers ran the ball. But I think the
Steeler's offensive line has been progressing, you know, not rapidly,
but but noticeably throughout the course of the year. I
didn't have the questions, really, uh surprised I find myself
staying this stand, But I didn't have the questions about
(12:39):
the offensive line that I had about the defense going
any yesterday, Well, let's talk about the offensive line. I mean, clearly, Um,
I don't think statistically, uh, it was our best game
of the year, but visually, uh, it seemed to be
their best game of the year. Um, they have been progressing.
Last week was a setback for that. It's usually a
(13:00):
pretty staunch defensive front at Baltimore gives you, um, is
this an offensive line is now becoming acceptable decent? But
should that the tract from adding to it in the
off season? You know two good words there, standing acceptable
(13:21):
and decent, not of which are necessarily the goal. But
I think a lot of that is gonna depend on
how they finish and what we've see from the defense.
As impressive as that was yesterday, they have three more
chances to convince me that they're a good run stopping team, which,
let's face it, if you're not a good run stopping team,
you're never going anywhere or accomplishing anything significant. Um, So
(13:45):
I'm really kind of focused in on that, particularly after
that Baltimore game and some of the earlier performances, the
first Cleveland game and Philadelphia and Buffalo teams that just
ran the ball on them, uh, seemingly without any concern
or care. I want to see what they have on
the defensive line. I want to see what they have
an inside linebacker. I think those are your two run
(14:07):
stuff in areas. And even if they do well against
Vegas and the Bottlemore rematch in the Cleveland rematch, I
still think they really need a an outstanding young defensive lineman. Um.
You know, those guys are hard to find in free agency.
We'll see what's available when they end up picking in
(14:28):
the draft. But kind of long winded answer to your question.
Offensive line to me right now and maybe by the
end of the regular season, will be fourth on the
priority list behind d line, inside linebacker, at quarterback. Let's
talk about mitro Bisky. Um. It's pretty obvious that the
(14:53):
three interceptions were not on the back of his mind.
They are on the frontal lobe uh and out of
the coaches as well. But did it appear to you
that even though obviously they talked to him about the
three interceptions, he didn't appear terribly tentative, and he seemed
like he was an attack mode most of the game. Yes, No,
(15:14):
I I still want to see them go down the
field more, particularly that George Dickens that thirty eight yard
cats he had. He was not open. The guy was
running with him, the cornerback was running with him stride
for stride. But he's bigger and stronger than most of
the guys that he's gonna play against. And if you
get single coverage on the outside and there's no safety
(15:35):
on the hash more closest to that receiver, then that's
the throw you can make. And to me, that play
has been there so many times this year at both
of the quarterbacks have passed on it way too many times.
If they want to really get serious about being a
splashy offense and a big play capable offense, it's got
to take advantage of this kid. He's he's special and
(15:57):
he deserves to get to blow more than two or
three times a game. Uh Trabinsky yesterday, I asked him
afterward if there were any throws that he turned down
in his head, you know, thinking Okay, this was a
little too risky, might get picked off. Let's do the
checkdown thing. And he just kept emphasizing, you know, I
was going to protect the ball today. That was the goal.
(16:17):
I wanted to protect the ball, and I did protect
the ball. So better performance from him. I think it
was special to him. I found an interesting waiting to
get in the locker room after the game. I watched
him come off the field and he had a football
tucked under his arm and asked him about that after
the game, and he said, well, somebody just handed it
to me, and I thought it might be special, so
(16:37):
I thought I'd better hang onto it. For whatever reason,
I think that was a big deal for him, because
of the Ravens game, because he was going back to
North Carolina where he played his college ball, because he
got a chance to start again, and because they want Yeah.
I think that's um uh, I think that's absolutely spot on.
Is there any doubt in your mind that if Pickett
is clear to play, that he'll start Saturday night? Or
(17:00):
did Trobinsky earn another start or taking a step further?
Did Trobinsky? Um, I don't want to say earned because
he is under contract next year, But did he restore
confidence in him that the Steelers may not want to
part company with him, at least not for one I
don't think. I don't think the don't want to part
(17:22):
company with him at all. I think they like him
as the backup. So to the first part of the question,
if it's me making the call when Kenny Picket is healthy,
Kenny Pickett goes back in because I want to see
Kenny Pickett get as many reps as he possibly can
this year. You know, this became about developing Kenny Pickett
when he went in, and then when the record got
unmanageable in terms of making a late season run. I
(17:45):
know they're still mathematically a lot, but they're not going anywhere.
I don't think even at nine and eight, uh Troubinsky.
I think they like him as a backup. They'd be
more than happy to keep him as a backup. We'll
see if he wants to beat at or if he
still thinks he can start somewhere. You know, they have
a recent track record of accommodating people who don't want
to be on the team. So I haven't talked with
(18:06):
Robinsky about that. I don't know what he's thinking along
those lines, but he played uh well yesterday as a backup.
That's why you want to have a good backup the
case you need them. You can go in there and
win a game even though your starters out. Uh. The
Steelers would like to continue that business relationship. Will see
how interested m R Bisky is eventually in the classic
(18:30):
example of hindsight being twenty twenty. Ah, if Mr Robinsky
had not been lifted against the Jets, is there much
doubt in your mind that they wouldn't be exactly what
they are now? Six and eight? Tough to say, you know.
The question I'd rather understand is if Mr Robinski had
(18:53):
played the way he's played since he was benched. I
don't even include the Ravens game, so he picks them all. Uh,
he's been much better since he got benched, and he
was starting those games that he started earlier in the
year that was hard to watch. He was so tentative,
so uh, just refusing to to try anything to have
(19:14):
any element of risk attached to it. And maybe he
knew that if he if he put the pedal down,
he was gonna hit a telephone poll. I don't know
maybe he thought if he had a bad game, that
would be it would be out of the lineup and
gather be in it and then not. But you know,
nothing was happening offensively while he was in there. And
you know, people I've heard brought up if Deante Johnson
(19:36):
gets his foot down in that Jets game, he might
not have even got benched. Maybe not, but you know,
Mr Biss, He's not the first guy who had a
receiver not come down with a pass in the end zone.
The other ones still find ways to score points. They
were just completely punchless. Uh. It was, it was unworkable.
It was, it wasn't going anywhere. And now at least
(19:59):
a ghost somewhere they look good against the Raider the Ravens.
They managed to screw up in all three phases and
lose the game, but at least they looked like a
professional offense. I thought they looked much better that game
that they looked at any of those September games. Um,
if they can get capable quarterback player right now, they
can win. And of course the idea is to get
(20:20):
eventually a lot more than capable out of camp picking
Speaking of coming back next year, if Pickett comes back.
We assume that he will and starts and and continues
along that trajectory, you know, getting better learning every week,
and the offense becomes more productive than it's been, which
(20:42):
is insane a lot. But um, does that save Matt
Cannada's job here, Mike. It's an interesting question, isn't it. Uh?
You know, I think he's gonna have an argument if
there is progress, and Uh, I think there's been progress
with Kenny Picket. I think there's been aggress on the offense.
(21:02):
And I think you could argue that we still haven't
really seen what Matt Cannaida is capable of as a
play caller given all the limitations they've had the last
two years. He had Ben Roethlisberger for a year, but
it was not Hall of Fame Ben Roethlisberger. It was
Ben Roethlisberger. At the end of the line, they've had
profound offensive line issues, which they're just in recent weeks
(21:22):
seeming to get that solidified. They you can see in
the last couple of five games how much better the
Steelers look when they're able to run the ball a
little bit. And uh, you know, now you're starting to
develop Uh Pickens wide receiver he's got tat Freyman that
he was playing hurt yesterday. I don't even think he
got targeted. Um, you've got some some skill people in place.
(21:47):
Do you want to see this continue to crew together
or do you want to try to you know, start over. Um,
It's it's an interesting question, but I think all along
the Steelers have had a different opinion of Matt Canada
that the stealer nation. If you will, um to target
the offensive coordinator because you're don't have to, you don't
(22:08):
have to blame one of your favorite players. Uh yeah,
undoubtedly it's Um, it's like blaming the hitting coach. You know,
a team hits all year long, they don't hit in
the playoffs. They wanted the fire to the hitting coach
as soon as the fans learned out exactly what his
name is, because nobody pays attention throughout the course of
the season. Um, there remaining three games? Is this more
(22:34):
about the continuation and development of this team? Uh? You know,
we know who the stars are, but you know, finding
out about you know, the Marvin Leal players like that?
Is that do you think that is? And should that
be the jury the objective of the coaching staff? Um,
and even the media focus I do uh, I mean,
(22:57):
still try to win games. I'm not trying to suggest
they take caval literally, but you know, to doing it
the way they were doing it wasn't exactly leading to
a string of victories one after the other. We saw
a little sprinkling of Mark Robinson yesterday, the inside linebacker.
Now that was because Miles Jack couldn't play. It was
only a handful of snaps. But that's a guy that
(23:19):
you know, kind of got himself noticed in training camp.
That is a position that is substandard on this team.
Leal was kind of fast forwarded by the t J.
Watt injury and he had himself a pretty regular role
until he got hurt. But yeah, they need to find
out exactly what they have because it's gonna be a
(23:41):
critical offseason in terms of talent acquisition. You know, they
get back to where they want to be. They've got
a lot of positions they need to address that. You know,
the more certain of feel they can have at the
end of the year for what they have and what
they do not have, it's gonna be really beneficial going
into free agency and the draft. Of course, all right, Mike,
(24:02):
thanks so much of the time today. UM, enjoy your
time away. We'll look forward to the ball game on
Saturday night. And first and foremost, Merry Christmas. Thanks for
being here. No problems stand anytime. Thank to you, and
uh I know you're still working, but uh I will
enjoy the time off. I don't blame you. I do
(24:24):
not blame you. Mike Pursuit of the DV morning show
and the host on the Steelers network pregame show has
been our guest does an outstanding job as a great
pregame show on the Steelers radio network or a mind.
You can listen to my daily show on ESPN Pittsburgh
seventy a m in the western Pennsylvania area. Or all
(24:45):
you have to do is download the I Heart Media app.
Easily done. It's free. You can listen to me everyday
live from noon until to Eastern Standard time. Glad you
found us on the Steelers savranan Steelers podcast. You can
get that on Steelers dot com. Hope you'll do that
for the remainder of the season. We'll talk to you
(25:05):
again later this week on the podcast. Servan on Steelers
I'm staying Servan, thanks for being here.
For them to go in there and just stop those
guys from the first play, the first play with Larry
Ever Jovia back for the law and it's just floats
were there and that last uh to be their professor
comporters of the Year. This is Saverean on Steelers. Hello
and welcome to all in Steelers Nation. Welcome to Saverean
on Steelers podcast. I'm your host, Stan Savran. Glad you're
(00:23):
able to find us Steelers dot com easy to download,
where we post up two different podcasts each and every
week full of Steelers content throughout the Steeler season. The
Steelers season probably won't be extended by what they were
able to do Sunday in Charlotte, North Carolina, but it
was an encouraging turn, an encouraging twist, and by that
(00:48):
I mean they seemed to react to what was not
a good performance against the Baltimore Ravens. Yes, I know
the Ravens now in second places that agent, but likely
to make the playoffs and still a very good opportunity
to win the division. They are flawed. They're also playing
with Alamar Jackson, but that made it even more probable
(01:10):
that the Steelers could have won that game. And I
think that they reacted to what happened a number of ways,
and it manifested itself in the play we witnessed against
the Carolina Panthers. Number One. In general, the Steelers won
the game in Carolina because they were dominant along both
(01:34):
the offensive and defensive lines. There's no question that the
defensive line absolutely shoved around Carolina after they had been
shoved around by Baltimore. They had six tackles for last losses.
And I'm not just talking about sacks. I'm talking about
getting penetration in the backfield and making those necessary play,
(02:00):
you know, forcing a team like Carolina to come up
and be behind the sticks and have to look at
a second and twelve instead of a second and six.
Let's say it makes all the difference in the world
to a team like Carolina that has its issues offensively,
and frankly that includes the Steelers. I mean, their offense
hasn't been much better. Second and twelve makes it look
(02:23):
like it's second and thirty, and so I think that
they really learned their lesson. I think they were embarrassed
by the way that they were shoved around, by the
way Baltimore ran on them and on the other side
of the line. For once, we saw the Steeler offensive
line control the line scrimmage. We have not seen a
great deal of that all year long. The offensive line
(02:45):
I thought was getting better, certainly, but not to the
point where they were actually dominating the line of scrimmage.
And I do think we saw a lot of that.
The overall yards per care average wasn't great, but that's
largely because of about three quarterback sneaks. You're talking about
(03:10):
one yard gains. In that circumstance, there's no question that
the Steelers offensive line had their best offensive line performance
of the season. And yes, I know they've rushed for
more yards, but in terms of dominating the line scrimmage,
I thought this was it. Now. That is not to
say that they have arrived at where they want their
(03:33):
offensive line to be. They've been improving, but they're not
yet in a position to say, well, there's no sense
in adding to our offensive line. We found our accommodation.
They're improving, but they still need to add one or
two higher level talented offensive lineman. And if you like
(04:00):
the work of some of the guys they already have, fine,
you keep him around for depth. But because they had
a good game against Carolina does not mean it's still
not a position of need. And that includes a defensive
line too. Cam Hayward at himself a fine game, and
(04:23):
I do think that it was a direct result in
both lines of the side of the Lion scrimmage of
being embarrassed by the way that they played against Baltimore.
They were man handled, they were abused physically. I remember
saying on the Steelers post game show on the Steelers
Radio Network, and the difference of the game was not
(04:45):
just the three interceptions thrown by Mr Robiski. In large effect,
it was a battle of the Lion scrimmage. But they
clearly lost, and they seem to take that at heart.
(05:05):
But they're still gonna need an upgrade on the d line. Now,
maybe they have some young players they can take a
look at who can fill that belt. Maybe, but I
think that outside the occurrent organizations where they have to
look and I realized, I'll have cap room, But this
is not about filling gaps, even on the defensive line.
(05:28):
Cam Hey, where we'll be thirty four and hopefully he's
got more good gears left in him, great years left
in him. But they're gonna need more help. I also
think that what transpired last week in practice session and
the meetings had an effect on Miss Robinsky. Obviously, you
(05:53):
didn't need Vince Lombardi to tell Miss Robinsky that you
can't throw three interceptions, two of them in the red zone.
And I think that was manifested in his play. He
was careful with the football, but not to the point
where he was tentative with the football, particularly when it
(06:19):
came to Deante Johnson. And again, I think there was
conversation throughout the week. The coach is telling me the
offensive line, hey, you got pounded by the Baltimore Ravens
d line, and conversation in the Steelers offensive line room
and defensive line rooms, Hey, you were physically abused. Those
(06:43):
guys make their living on being physical players. And if
you tell them, and if you point out to them
and show them on tape, hey, whatever the schematics were,
whatever the game plan was, you it won't work unless
you are more physical than your opponent. They shamed them,
(07:10):
and I think they responded that way. And again, in
my view, another area where last week's work of practice
came into focus in the game against Carolina was the
combination between Mitch Robinsky and Deonte Johnson. It was well
(07:32):
publicized that there was some sort of a confrontation at
halftime of the Jet game, Deonte Johnson telling Mitch Trobinsky, Hey,
give me the ball and lo and behold, Trabinsky was
benched in favor of Kenny Pickett. Was it because of
that one thing? We may never know. But the first past,
(07:55):
the Trabinsky through was the Deonte Johnson. He targeted the
ante Johnson ten times. He only threw twenty two passes now,
so nearly half of the passes he did throw we're
directed at Deonte Johnson. Maybe as a way of Trabinsky saying, hey,
(08:16):
we need to get on the same page, you and I.
If there was a problem before, let the problem stop
and cease right now. Ten of the twenty passes the
through we're to Deonte Johnson. All of that worked into
the playing of the games Sunday in Carolina. The offensive line,
(08:42):
the defensive line, the play of Trabinsky in general, and
the play of Trabinsky in particular with Deonte Johnson. Ten targets,
ten receptions, five of them for first dounds. Mike Presuta
(09:04):
of the DV Morning Show and the lead host and
the Steelers pregame Network show with Jerry Doolac and Bob Labriola.
He joins us now on the Savereant Steelers podcast. And
I wonder, Mike, if you believe that yesterday's really outstanding
performance on both lines of scrimmage, we're a byproduct of
(09:27):
them getting their rare ends beat last week against Baltimore.
I mean that that would have to sort of ruminate, uh,
in the belly of any competitor, that you not only
got beat but you got beaten up physically. Yeah. I
don't think there's any question about it. And you know,
the initial response from the coaching staff was to conduct
(09:48):
a padded practice on Wednesday. Now, thanks to the Collective
Partaining Agreement, there are not very many opportunities to do that,
particularly late in the season, but they had one or
two left in their hip pocket and they took advantage
of a Wednesday, and that kind of set a tone.
I think they were embarrassed by what happened against the Ravens. Uh.
(10:10):
There was disgusted in the locker room, and there should
have been. After a team that's down. The practice squad
quarterback runs three plays and gainst thirteen yards where if
you get it three and out and you get the
ball back, you have a chance to steal that game.
I know Mr Bisky through three receptions against the Ravens,
but that defensive performance against the run was appalling to me,
(10:30):
and I think it was appalling a lot of people.
Uh T J. Watt talked a little bit afterward about
the energy that was in practice two out last week.
I think you can read into that. Uh at two
and two come up with four in terms of what
was going on out there. They were tired of being
pushed around, and they did to push him for a change,
and I'll tell you what, it was a really impressive performance.
(10:52):
I did not see it coming. I didn't know they
had that in them. Their track record this year, even
though they're ranking against the run, his been relatively good
all year. The teams that run the ball really well
have run the ball on the Steelers with great success
and then beating up on the teams that don't run
the ball very well. So I didn't I didn't put
(11:12):
a lot of stock in that ranking. But I think
that Carolina team over the last month has been a
really good team, particularly running it and for them to
go in there and just stuff those guys from the
first play. The first play was Larry open Jovia tackle
for a loss and it just floats from there, and
that was to me, their best defensive performance of the year.
You know, you can argue Cincinnati with all the turnovers,
(11:33):
the funny things happening. Openers, Um, I thought they got
backed up into a quarter and they came out to swing.
It was good to see. It was good to see.
And the six tackles for a loss. We're not talking
about sacks here. I mean Steelers have always been known
getting a lot of sacks, but frankly doing to other
teams what they have done to them so many times.
(11:55):
You know, at second and twelve, and when you've got
a week offense, you know that seems like second and thirty. Yeah,
And they brought people to the line of scrimmage. They
had bigger people in the game because of the way
Carolina likes to run multiple tight ends and extra offensive
linemen as many times as the Panthers too. They met
force with force and they won the day. And it
(12:18):
was probably just as impressive offensively in terms of the
way the Steelers ran the ball. But I think the
Steeler's offensive line has been progressing, you know, not rapidly,
but but noticeably throughout the course of the year. I
didn't have the questions, really, uh surprised I find myself
staying this stand, But I didn't have the questions about
(12:39):
the offensive line that I had about the defense going
any yesterday, Well, let's talk about the offensive line. I mean, clearly, Um,
I don't think statistically, uh, it was our best game
of the year, but visually, uh, it seemed to be
their best game of the year. Um, they have been progressing.
Last week was a setback for that. It's usually a
(13:00):
pretty staunch defensive front at Baltimore gives you, um, is
this an offensive line is now becoming acceptable decent? But
should that the tract from adding to it in the
off season? You know two good words there, standing acceptable
(13:21):
and decent, not of which are necessarily the goal. But
I think a lot of that is gonna depend on
how they finish and what we've see from the defense.
As impressive as that was yesterday, they have three more
chances to convince me that they're a good run stopping team, which,
let's face it, if you're not a good run stopping team,
you're never going anywhere or accomplishing anything significant. Um, So
(13:45):
I'm really kind of focused in on that, particularly after
that Baltimore game and some of the earlier performances, the
first Cleveland game and Philadelphia and Buffalo teams that just
ran the ball on them, uh, seemingly without any concern
or care. I want to see what they have on
the defensive line. I want to see what they have
an inside linebacker. I think those are your two run
(14:07):
stuff in areas. And even if they do well against
Vegas and the Bottlemore rematch in the Cleveland rematch, I
still think they really need a an outstanding young defensive lineman. Um.
You know, those guys are hard to find in free agency.
We'll see what's available when they end up picking in
(14:28):
the draft. But kind of long winded answer to your question.
Offensive line to me right now and maybe by the
end of the regular season, will be fourth on the
priority list behind d line, inside linebacker, at quarterback. Let's
talk about mitro Bisky. Um. It's pretty obvious that the
(14:53):
three interceptions were not on the back of his mind.
They are on the frontal lobe uh and out of
the coaches as well. But did it appear to you
that even though obviously they talked to him about the
three interceptions, he didn't appear terribly tentative, and he seemed
like he was an attack mode most of the game. Yes, No,
(15:14):
I I still want to see them go down the
field more, particularly that George Dickens that thirty eight yard
cats he had. He was not open. The guy was
running with him, the cornerback was running with him stride
for stride. But he's bigger and stronger than most of
the guys that he's gonna play against. And if you
get single coverage on the outside and there's no safety
(15:35):
on the hash more closest to that receiver, then that's
the throw you can make. And to me, that play
has been there so many times this year at both
of the quarterbacks have passed on it way too many times.
If they want to really get serious about being a
splashy offense and a big play capable offense, it's got
to take advantage of this kid. He's he's special and
(15:57):
he deserves to get to blow more than two or
three times a game. Uh Trabinsky yesterday, I asked him
afterward if there were any throws that he turned down
in his head, you know, thinking Okay, this was a
little too risky, might get picked off. Let's do the
checkdown thing. And he just kept emphasizing, you know, I
was going to protect the ball today. That was the goal.
(16:17):
I wanted to protect the ball, and I did protect
the ball. So better performance from him. I think it
was special to him. I found an interesting waiting to
get in the locker room after the game. I watched
him come off the field and he had a football
tucked under his arm and asked him about that after
the game, and he said, well, somebody just handed it
to me, and I thought it might be special, so
(16:37):
I thought I'd better hang onto it. For whatever reason,
I think that was a big deal for him, because
of the Ravens game, because he was going back to
North Carolina where he played his college ball, because he
got a chance to start again, and because they want Yeah.
I think that's um uh, I think that's absolutely spot on.
Is there any doubt in your mind that if Pickett
is clear to play, that he'll start Saturday night? Or
(17:00):
did Trobinsky earn another start or taking a step further?
Did Trobinsky? Um, I don't want to say earned because
he is under contract next year, But did he restore
confidence in him that the Steelers may not want to
part company with him, at least not for one I
don't think. I don't think the don't want to part
(17:22):
company with him at all. I think they like him
as the backup. So to the first part of the question,
if it's me making the call when Kenny Picket is healthy,
Kenny Pickett goes back in because I want to see
Kenny Pickett get as many reps as he possibly can
this year. You know, this became about developing Kenny Pickett
when he went in, and then when the record got
unmanageable in terms of making a late season run. I
(17:45):
know they're still mathematically a lot, but they're not going anywhere.
I don't think even at nine and eight, uh Troubinsky.
I think they like him as a backup. They'd be
more than happy to keep him as a backup. We'll
see if he wants to beat at or if he
still thinks he can start somewhere. You know, they have
a recent track record of accommodating people who don't want
to be on the team. So I haven't talked with
(18:06):
Robinsky about that. I don't know what he's thinking along
those lines, but he played uh well yesterday as a backup.
That's why you want to have a good backup the
case you need them. You can go in there and
win a game even though your starters out. Uh. The
Steelers would like to continue that business relationship. Will see
how interested m R Bisky is eventually in the classic
(18:30):
example of hindsight being twenty twenty. Ah, if Mr Robinsky
had not been lifted against the Jets, is there much
doubt in your mind that they wouldn't be exactly what
they are now? Six and eight? Tough to say, you know.
The question I'd rather understand is if Mr Robinski had
(18:53):
played the way he's played since he was benched. I
don't even include the Ravens game, so he picks them all. Uh,
he's been much better since he got benched, and he
was starting those games that he started earlier in the
year that was hard to watch. He was so tentative,
so uh, just refusing to to try anything to have
(19:14):
any element of risk attached to it. And maybe he
knew that if he if he put the pedal down,
he was gonna hit a telephone poll. I don't know
maybe he thought if he had a bad game, that
would be it would be out of the lineup and
gather be in it and then not. But you know,
nothing was happening offensively while he was in there. And
you know, people I've heard brought up if Deante Johnson
(19:36):
gets his foot down in that Jets game, he might
not have even got benched. Maybe not, but you know,
Mr Biss, He's not the first guy who had a
receiver not come down with a pass in the end zone.
The other ones still find ways to score points. They
were just completely punchless. Uh. It was, it was unworkable.
It was, it wasn't going anywhere. And now at least
(19:59):
a ghost somewhere they look good against the Raider the Ravens.
They managed to screw up in all three phases and
lose the game, but at least they looked like a
professional offense. I thought they looked much better that game
that they looked at any of those September games. Um,
if they can get capable quarterback player right now, they
can win. And of course the idea is to get
(20:20):
eventually a lot more than capable out of camp picking
Speaking of coming back next year, if Pickett comes back.
We assume that he will and starts and and continues
along that trajectory, you know, getting better learning every week,
and the offense becomes more productive than it's been, which
(20:42):
is insane a lot. But um, does that save Matt
Cannada's job here, Mike. It's an interesting question, isn't it. Uh?
You know, I think he's gonna have an argument if
there is progress, and Uh, I think there's been progress
with Kenny Picket. I think there's been aggress on the offense.
(21:02):
And I think you could argue that we still haven't
really seen what Matt Cannaida is capable of as a
play caller given all the limitations they've had the last
two years. He had Ben Roethlisberger for a year, but
it was not Hall of Fame Ben Roethlisberger. It was
Ben Roethlisberger. At the end of the line, they've had
profound offensive line issues, which they're just in recent weeks
(21:22):
seeming to get that solidified. They you can see in
the last couple of five games how much better the
Steelers look when they're able to run the ball a
little bit. And uh, you know, now you're starting to
develop Uh Pickens wide receiver he's got tat Freyman that
he was playing hurt yesterday. I don't even think he
got targeted. Um, you've got some some skill people in place.
(21:47):
Do you want to see this continue to crew together
or do you want to try to you know, start over. Um,
It's it's an interesting question, but I think all along
the Steelers have had a different opinion of Matt Canada
that the stealer nation. If you will, um to target
the offensive coordinator because you're don't have to, you don't
(22:08):
have to blame one of your favorite players. Uh yeah,
undoubtedly it's Um, it's like blaming the hitting coach. You know,
a team hits all year long, they don't hit in
the playoffs. They wanted the fire to the hitting coach
as soon as the fans learned out exactly what his
name is, because nobody pays attention throughout the course of
the season. Um, there remaining three games? Is this more
(22:34):
about the continuation and development of this team? Uh? You know,
we know who the stars are, but you know, finding
out about you know, the Marvin Leal players like that?
Is that do you think that is? And should that
be the jury the objective of the coaching staff? Um,
and even the media focus I do uh, I mean,
(22:57):
still try to win games. I'm not trying to suggest
they take caval literally, but you know, to doing it
the way they were doing it wasn't exactly leading to
a string of victories one after the other. We saw
a little sprinkling of Mark Robinson yesterday, the inside linebacker.
Now that was because Miles Jack couldn't play. It was
only a handful of snaps. But that's a guy that
(23:19):
you know, kind of got himself noticed in training camp.
That is a position that is substandard on this team.
Leal was kind of fast forwarded by the t J.
Watt injury and he had himself a pretty regular role
until he got hurt. But yeah, they need to find
out exactly what they have because it's gonna be a
(23:41):
critical offseason in terms of talent acquisition. You know, they
get back to where they want to be. They've got
a lot of positions they need to address that. You know,
the more certain of feel they can have at the
end of the year for what they have and what
they do not have, it's gonna be really beneficial going
into free agency and the draft. Of course, all right, Mike,
(24:02):
thanks so much of the time today. UM, enjoy your
time away. We'll look forward to the ball game on
Saturday night. And first and foremost, Merry Christmas. Thanks for
being here. No problems stand anytime. Thank to you, and
uh I know you're still working, but uh I will
enjoy the time off. I don't blame you. I do
(24:24):
not blame you. Mike Pursuit of the DV morning show
and the host on the Steelers network pregame show has
been our guest does an outstanding job as a great
pregame show on the Steelers radio network or a mind.
You can listen to my daily show on ESPN Pittsburgh
seventy a m in the western Pennsylvania area. Or all
(24:45):
you have to do is download the I Heart Media app.
Easily done. It's free. You can listen to me everyday
live from noon until to Eastern Standard time. Glad you
found us on the Steelers savranan Steelers podcast. You can
get that on Steelers dot com. Hope you'll do that
for the remainder of the season. We'll talk to you
(25:05):
again later this week on the podcast. Servan on Steelers
I'm staying Servan, thanks for being here.
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