December 27, 2022 • 23 mins
Mike Prisuta and Bob Labriola agree or disagree with a few Steelers topics ahead of their matchup against the Ravens on the podcast with the motto, I’m right, he’s wrong!
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is agreed to disagree with Mike President and Bobola.
Good evening and welcome to another should be award winning
edition of agree to disagree to show with the motto
I'm right, he's Bob Labriola, I'm Mike, pursuit of blated.
Merry Christmas and happy Holidays to everyone, an early happy
(00:24):
New Year to everyone. We are coming to you in
advance of Steelers Ravens the rematch and uh in the
lingering aftermath of Steelers thirteen Raiders ten Labs. It was
a couple of six and eight teams taking the field
at Actresshuer Stadium on Saturday night. I'm not sure what
I was expecting, uh, due to the passing of Steelers
(00:47):
franchise legend Frank co' harris. I'm not sure what I
was feeling, But I'll tell you what I got. A
memorable night, maybe an unforgettable night, Uh, certainly a special night.
Uh with the way that thing ended and with the
way that thing was contested, Uh, Stealers Raiders, the legend
lives on. I guess is uh what I got for
(01:08):
you for starters today? Yeah, and you know when you
were talking about what you were expecting and you were, um,
you know, uh, explaining some of the you know factors involved.
Who left off the one that I thought, um, you
know would be leading with eight degree temperatures uh thirteen, um,
windchills of minus ten you know, windy. Um that it
(01:33):
seemed like there was snow falling. I don't know if
it ever like got to the ground or not, but
you could kind of see it in the stadium lights.
It looked like there was some kind of precipitation there.
God blessed those fans. Seriously. I think I did notice
a little of that from my warm seat in the
press boxes. I was siting an exactly a couple of periodically.
Um yeah the coffee. Did you burn your tongue on
(01:54):
that a little bit? That that's somethings just the first time,
just the first time. And I I learned from these
things when I put my hand on this stove, the
only part at once, uh, But the whole presentation of
the thing, I mean, you know, kudos to the Steelers
team president, Aren't Runey the second you know, for the
whole the whole presentation, I mean, you know, the players coming,
(02:17):
players and coaches showing up wearing the Jerseys Frank o'
harris Jersey's UM cam coming out with the flag. Uh.
And I know you noticed this working as you do
for Steelers flagship W d V E f M. What
did you think of the music during the game. I
thought it was fantastic, but it was current and not
(02:40):
whatever everybody else current. Yeah. Um, it was all seventies music.
And I did learn this um after the game. Steelers
president Aren't Rouoney the second picked those songs personally, made
up the playlist personally and gave it to the person
(03:01):
who is in charge of game day music. As as
as like, I don't know, Mick Jagger makes up the
playlist when the Stones come to concert, come for a concert,
and it was played in that order. You can you
can believe that you know our our nose a little
bit bit more about music that I think most people
(03:22):
would suspect. I've cocked concerts with him. Oh you're a
random moment in a practice or whatever. He is. Uh,
he can, he can handle that task and he handled
it well. Yeah. And um, you know one of the
things I don't know, I had never um been in
the stadium where this happened. You know, you hear the
Sweet Caroline, UH sing alongs at some college stadiums, but
(03:47):
don't Stop Believing, don't stop believing by jet Journey, UH
sing along at Acre Shore, at the mine and during
the minus ten wind chills in the second half. UM.
To me, I've I was impressed by that. As I said,
God bless those fans. They stayed till the end. They
were into it, um, and it was I don't know,
(04:08):
I thought, quite the scene when you considered all of
the things, all of the elements, um, that we're in
play that night. Yeah, I'm glad you got to the
fans because that is definitely Uh, they absolutely deserve profound recognition.
You know. It's one of the things I love about football,
and one of the things I think separates football, hockey,
(04:29):
and basketball or indoor activities. Baseball is, for the vast
majority of it a summer activity. Uh. It might be
a little cold in April or if your team is
lucky enough to make it October. But when you're at
a football game as a fan, and maybe this is
just my warped way of looking at things, but when
it's a special game, and whatever reason you come up
(04:50):
with for making making it a special game, maybe there's
something special at steak. Maybe it's a rivalry, maybe it's
the last look at a certain player, or you know,
whatever reason. Talk yourself into thinking, hey, this is this
is something that's really significant and I'm not gonna miss it.
When you fight through the elements in a game such
as that and it ends the way you wanted to, man,
(05:12):
there's a few things more satisfying because you feel like
you earned the victory. And I think those people that
showed up and hey, they were booing a couple of times,
And if I'd have been out in the seats, I
would have been booing right along women because I'm really
reaching my saturation point with this offense. Uh on you know,
a couple of levels. But uh they were there to
the end, as you said, and they toughed it out
(05:33):
and they earned it and they deserved it. And the
other thing I wanted to mention LABS was the reaction
in the locker room speaking with players who are in
their twenties or their early thirties and the Steelers have
just celebrated a fifty at the anniversary of something, and
how much they get it the guys here, how much
they get the history of it and how much they
(05:56):
embrace it. And you know, a pretty profound thing to
live up to, right, four super Bowls in six years
and then the second Super Bowl era with Bill Cower
and Mike Tomlin, and it's you know, it's hard to
live up to that. And in terms of playoff success,
they haven't lived up to it, uh in a while now,
but they're not running from it. They they accept it
(06:18):
and again they embrace it. Guys who Arthur Milette told
me a great story about how he learned the Steelers tradition.
He got here last year. He's from the New Orleans
and his NFL you know hero or the guy he
looked up to or the guy he wanted to emulate,
is Tyron Matthew who's also from New Orleans. So Arthur
(06:38):
Millette asked the Steelers equipment guys if he could have
number thirty two, and they laughed and then they coached
him up on why he wasn't gonna be where number
thirty two. But that you know, they all learn it
in a different way, but they all learn it and
they all accept it, and they all feel like they
owe it to the organization to to live up to
(06:59):
that standard. And do everything they can to meet that standard.
And uh, the emotion from those guys was really attention
getting the players. Yeah, and that's a lesson. I mean
a lot of people have to learn. Bill Coward had
to learn that. Uh, and his his lesson came uh
in three or four I forget which here was when
(07:22):
the Steelers signed John L. Williams as a unrestricted free
agent to fullback from Seattle. And when John L. Williams
was told that he couldn't have number thirty two, which
is what he wore in Seattle. Uh, he whined to
the coach, and the coach went to see Dan Rooney
about it. How do you think that conversation went, dancer,
(07:46):
Hang on, Bill, I want to hear this song by
the Who, and then I'm gonna tell you why that's
not happening. We got a lot to get to. Uh, sorry,
you got some more. No, No No, no, that's it. That's no.
Let's let's move on. Okay, Yeah, let's look ahead to
the Raiders, the Ravens. Excuse me, another game that well
you know what, it's gonna be significantly the way because
(08:07):
it's the Ravens. But well, we'll get to that in
a minute first and foremost, Uh, the ineffectiveness of the
offense until the final minutes in that Raiders game was
more alarming LABS than the defensive dominance after the first
couple of minutes was encouraging. Agree or disagree? Is there
is there? Is there are more strong position to take
(08:30):
than agree heartily agree something yes, enthusiastically with every five
of my rage, I agree. Um, you know this this, this,
this has to this. There has to be some sort
of um, I don't know, movement in terms of uh,
(08:52):
you know, just calling plays too, something that looks like
an actual plan, you know, I mean, Um, I don't know.
I'm sitting there. And again, it wasn't the weather that
was like freezing my brain or anything, because as you mentioned,
we were in the climate controlled press box. Um, but
(09:13):
you know, the the offense was moving the ball periodically.
But I mean, there was no sense, at least in
my mind anyway, um, that the unit could make any
plays on those important possession downs that either you know,
continue along the way in scoring territory or put you
into scoring territory. You know. Uh, fans were you mentioned
(09:34):
there was some booing and and I was along with it.
Um My Tunnel was taking some criticism then after the
game for punting in the second half on those four downs.
But I'm here to tell you I had no confidence
in the offense being able to do anything on those
four downs. Um, so yeah, punt the ball at your
(09:54):
defense play or you know, have boswell try a field
goal that is a shot in the dark anyway fifties
re yard or as an example. I mean, you know,
and one of the things. And I sit next to
Dale Lolly Steelers dot com um snr all that you
know stuff, uh, in the press box, and he had
(10:14):
this stad He told me this before the game started
about you know, the Raiders defense is vulnerability in covering
passes the running backs. How long do we have to
wait till we started to see any of that? I
mean of over eight and a half yards receiving weighted
an interminable period. But that's but I mean, uh, you know,
(10:41):
and even once they got to it, a lot of
the passes were not thrown in a way where you
get the ball to the running back and then you
can do something with it, you know. I mean, um,
it's just it just didn't There has to be more
than just calling plays to the offense. There has to
be some sort of flow or plan or we're doing
(11:03):
this because they do this, and we're gonna take advantage
of it. I mean, it just it just seems, you know,
to helter skelter or two piecemeal or whatever the word is.
Um And yeah, you know it was. It was extremely frustrating, um, alarming, annoying,
(11:24):
you know, pick your adjective. My answer is yes, yeah,
frustrating and annoying are good ones. Here's the problem. From
where I'm sitting, They're trying to do the wrong thing.
It's clear to me what they are trying to do
first and foremost is protect the football. And I think
at some point they're gonna have to graduate to trying
to score points. I don't think they're doing that as
(11:45):
priority number one right now. And this is why we're
seeing the kind of games that we're seeing. Did you
hear this quote from Kenny Pickett. I'll give it to
you whether you did or you didn't. Quote. I don't
look for anybody. The defense tells me what to do,
and I throw to that guy. This is how you
end up with a slant well behind the chains on
third and long. This is how you end up with
(12:07):
a check down to a running back well behind the
chains on third and long. I get the pickets of
rookie taking his initial steps. I get to George Pickens
as a rookie. I get the friar Moose's second year guy.
They're they're a young skill position set, growing and evolving together.
But next year, at the very latest, they're gonna have
to change their philosophical approach and start putting the pedal down.
(12:31):
When Kenny Pickett escapes pressure, don't just throw it away.
To throw it away, look and see if they can
make a play there. Maybe the defense has broken down.
I think they are to uh, turnover centric, you know,
they're just the first and primary goal. Looks like the
way they're playing anyway is not to turn it over,
and the goal has gotta be to score touchdowns. Uh,
(12:53):
we may not see that the rest of this year
because the way these these games are lining up, I think,
you know, Ravens is probably gonna be low scoring. Brown's
is probably gonna be low scoring, and uh, you know,
you might not have to have a whole lot of points,
so they might want to play that. You know, played safe,
played safe, played safe, played safe, and then just you know,
make a play when you absolutely have to. But uh,
(13:15):
I gotta tell you, I don't want to be watching
this next year. Uh it is not fun to watch.
That's probably the biggest problem with it. And the second
problem is you're you're making it really hard on yourself
to win if you have to pull it out of
the fire at the end every time. I don't. I
don't think there's gonna be a lot of future in
that point. Number two labs agree or disagree. Even if
the Steelers are eliminated prior to kickoff Sunday night, beating
(13:38):
the Ravens is going to have value. Yeah, I agree.
I mean, I'm not someone who necessarily subscribes to the
theory that, you know, what happens in one season automatically
carries over to the next. But you know that whether whoever,
whatever word you want to use about this particular Steelers team,
(13:59):
you know, re building, in development, whatever they are, Okay,
that's what this group is. And you know, it was
a month ago, less a month ago, December eleven, I
think it was, the Steelers played this very same team
and got their butts kicked. I mean physically it was
sixteen fourteen, but they got their butts kicked, and so
(14:21):
I think that you know, you have a young group,
a group but still developing UM and you take that
same group, uh, for a rematch against the team that
did what it did to you less than a month ago,
calendar month ago. Okay, now what do you got for me?
You know, we're gonna come back here and we're gonna um,
(14:43):
you know, uh, I don't know, draw a line in
the sand and say, you know, we're not We're not
gonna get pushed around by you guys anymore. How are
you gonna deal with that? Um? And you know that
to me is more significant, maybe especially if they're a
eliminated from the playoffs. You know that to me is significant,
(15:05):
you know because the second to the playoff thing, if
if Miami wins, that's the ball game. Correct, Yes, yes,
one of the one of the things that has to
happen is Miami has to lose out now that the
Chargers speak to Colts on Monday night, Yes, that is correct.
So if the Dolphins beat the Patriots, so don't look
(15:27):
very capable of winning to me, But I digress, you know, well,
but I mean the Dolphins didn't exactly look great and
the looks. Look at seventy two fish did they know?
They did not? And um, you know I cannot imagine
a realistic scenario where they're starting quarterback plays, um after
going into the concussion protocol again. So but anyway, Um,
(15:52):
you know, the Steelers, Ravens, the a f C North.
The pecking order in the North, I believes, is always
pretty much built around, you know, bullying. Who is the toughest,
who is the you know, don't back down, willing to
trade punches. You know, you don't flinch, you don't blink,
all those you know, clever cliches. And you know, the
(16:15):
Steelers had at their four game winning streak against the
Ravens broken December eleven. The Ravens were quite happy about it, Hey,
as they should be. Um, now, how are you going
to come back? Um? Do you let it doesn't become
a losing streak? Or um? You know, do you do
you come back from a loss with a win. And
(16:35):
you know that's the kind of you know, give and take,
take a punch, throw a punch kind of attitude. I
think that this team needs to develop, and that's why
going to Baltimore beating the Ravens would be in my mind,
valuable for the development of this team. Yeah, I'm gonna
agree wholeheartedly. Uh, let's start with Kenny Picket. He got
(16:56):
knocked out of the last game two series in I
want to see him learn how to play against the Ravens.
I want to see him get an appreciation for what
these games are like, and what these games mean and
and how you have to uh embrace and attack that.
But uh, hey, that's just a detail. Everything you said
made perfect sense there, But that's just details to me.
(17:19):
Maybe I'm I'm still hungover from Steelers Raiders. But Bobby,
it's Steelers Ravens. That's enough. It's it's significant because it's
Steelers Ravens. Uh. I'm oh, I'm all of a sudden
getting very uh historical and romantic and and and emotional
about these games. Yeah, that's a good word, thank you. Uh.
(17:41):
You know, there's not a lot of teams that have
the Steelers standard. There aren't a lot of rivalries that
approach Steelers Ravens. That's enough, man, Whether whether New England, Miami,
no matter how that finishes. Sunday afternoon, we got Steelers
Ravens Sunday night, and then we get Steelers Browns to
finish it off. I'm in so yeah, I agree, uh last,
(18:02):
but certainly not least to beat the Ravens this time, Labs,
it's gonna be more important to score more than fourteen points,
then it will be to allow fewer than two hundred
and fifteen rushing yards against. Degree or disagree, Yeah, I agree,
I'm I'm I think I'm kind of like the last
man standing and looking at that first Ravens game and
believing that the game was lost more by turnovers in
(18:26):
the red zone and getting a makeuple field goal blocked
because you know, nobody on the field thought to pay
any attention to the guy they were told all week
was the most dangerous player on the Ravens field goal
block unit. I mean, you know, the Steelers lost to
Tyler Huntley and then the the replacement squad, practice squad
replacement guy after Huntley was injured. Um, and they lost
(18:49):
to a team like that because they couldn't score enough
points on their own to force that pathetic offense or
one dimension law offense is a more accurate description, because
it was pathetic that one dimensional offense to do anything
but turn around in a handleball to our running back
who ran the ball up the middle. I mean, you know,
score some points, you can. You can stop the Ravens
(19:10):
run that way too, because they once they get the idea, Hey,
look man, we can't. We can't run thirteen plays and
go seventy yards and maybe kick a field goal or
maybe not and still win this game. You know, we
gotta take some chances on offense because we gotta match
them on the scoreboard. Uh. And that's you know, you
can you can take you can, um encourage a team
(19:34):
to stop running the ball every time they look up
at the scoreboard and see you know that the numbers
are not in their favor. Uh. And that to me,
uh is is critical. Uh. You cannot expect your advocated
to score points a radical theory apparently. Yeah. And you
know what else, try to score? Try to score, you know,
(19:58):
um because us you know, just back to that turnover
thing we were talking about in the first statement. Um,
we talked about this on the pregame show. You know,
the the approach that Mike Tomlin took all week with
the team was because of the weather conditions and everything,
we just need to be better protecting the ball than
they are this day. The Ravens or excuse me, the Raiders.
(20:21):
That's that was his message to the team about protecting
the ball Christmas Eve. I don't expect it to be perfect.
We just have to be better at it than them.
And so you know, you start intercepting the ball. We
have three interceptions plus three turnover ratio. So you know
that's that's a significant, uh decisive victory in that in
(20:45):
that category. Um, so yes, try to score uh and actually,
you know, hopefully there is some success there. Make the
Ravens play behind a little bit, make them have to
count on their quarterback to make the kind of plays
that I don't know that they're necessarily all that comfortable, uh,
trying to depend on him to make those kinds of plays.
(21:06):
And then let's see what happens. Then let's see how
many carries J K. Dobbins ends up with. And um,
I think the game could turn out a lot different
as well. Sounds good in theory, but I don't know
where you are. It's kind of gray and nasty where
I am. I don't know that the clouds are gonna
part in this. Sunlight is gonna come down and shine
and and bring the message, Hey, you can score you
can win that way. I think that's a bridge too
(21:29):
far this year for this offense and this team the
way it's constructed. But the reason I'm gonna disagree is
I mentioned a minute ago I was getting enough step
nostalgic and romantic, and it offends me to the core
to give up two fifteen yards rushing labs. It just does.
I don't ever want to see that from any team
(21:49):
that I have any investment in or interest in. And
going back to that game on December eleven, a lot
of stuff happened that could have changed the outcome of it.
To me, the low point not just of that night,
the low point of the season was Baltimore being down to,
as you referenced, its third string practice squad guy quarterback.
(22:11):
And the Ravens have that last series, which just over
two minutes left, and you know all they're gonna do
is turn around and hand the ball off, and they
get a first down anyway, and then they're in victory
formation and they're running out the clock. What a change
in the Raiders game. The Steelers punted away with four
minutes and change left, and the defense gets a three
and out and then they got the ball back and
went down to won the game at the end. That
(22:32):
to me started with stopping the run. UM really impressed
with the way the defense handled a Raiders team that
to me, can beat you a number of ways and
one of the more diverse offenses in the NFL and
skill position guys all over the field that can do
different things and beat you different ways, and they handled
all of it. I think it started with handling the
(22:53):
run and start there. If you're gonna get a different
result on Sunday night at M and T Bank Stadium,
that's gonna do it for us. Labs, A great job.
You rebounded nicely from from Christmas, and you're right back
in the flow here hitting the ground running. So uh,
let's let's finish strong. As a wise man likes to say,
(23:15):
no matter what happens with Miami in New England, sounds
good to me. He is Bob Labriola, I'm Mike. Pursuit
of this has been another should be award winning edition
of Agree to Disagree the show with the Botto. I'm
right he's wrong. Thanks for finding us, however and wherever
you found us, and we'll talk to you again next week.
This is agreed to disagree with Mike President and Bobola.
Good evening and welcome to another should be award winning
edition of agree to disagree to show with the motto
I'm right, he's Bob Labriola, I'm Mike, pursuit of blated.
Merry Christmas and happy Holidays to everyone, an early happy
(00:24):
New Year to everyone. We are coming to you in
advance of Steelers Ravens the rematch and uh in the
lingering aftermath of Steelers thirteen Raiders ten Labs. It was
a couple of six and eight teams taking the field
at Actresshuer Stadium on Saturday night. I'm not sure what
I was expecting, uh, due to the passing of Steelers
(00:47):
franchise legend Frank co' harris. I'm not sure what I
was feeling, But I'll tell you what I got. A
memorable night, maybe an unforgettable night, Uh, certainly a special night.
Uh with the way that thing ended and with the
way that thing was contested, Uh, Stealers Raiders, the legend
lives on. I guess is uh what I got for
(01:08):
you for starters today? Yeah, and you know when you
were talking about what you were expecting and you were, um,
you know, uh, explaining some of the you know factors involved.
Who left off the one that I thought, um, you
know would be leading with eight degree temperatures uh thirteen, um,
windchills of minus ten you know, windy. Um that it
(01:33):
seemed like there was snow falling. I don't know if
it ever like got to the ground or not, but
you could kind of see it in the stadium lights.
It looked like there was some kind of precipitation there.
God blessed those fans. Seriously. I think I did notice
a little of that from my warm seat in the
press boxes. I was siting an exactly a couple of periodically.
Um yeah the coffee. Did you burn your tongue on
(01:54):
that a little bit? That that's somethings just the first time,
just the first time. And I I learned from these
things when I put my hand on this stove, the
only part at once, uh, But the whole presentation of
the thing, I mean, you know, kudos to the Steelers
team president, Aren't Runey the second you know, for the
whole the whole presentation, I mean, you know, the players coming,
(02:17):
players and coaches showing up wearing the Jerseys Frank o'
harris Jersey's UM cam coming out with the flag. Uh.
And I know you noticed this working as you do
for Steelers flagship W d V E f M. What
did you think of the music during the game. I
thought it was fantastic, but it was current and not
(02:40):
whatever everybody else current. Yeah. Um, it was all seventies music.
And I did learn this um after the game. Steelers
president Aren't Rouoney the second picked those songs personally, made
up the playlist personally and gave it to the person
(03:01):
who is in charge of game day music. As as
as like, I don't know, Mick Jagger makes up the
playlist when the Stones come to concert, come for a concert,
and it was played in that order. You can you
can believe that you know our our nose a little
bit bit more about music that I think most people
(03:22):
would suspect. I've cocked concerts with him. Oh you're a
random moment in a practice or whatever. He is. Uh,
he can, he can handle that task and he handled
it well. Yeah. And um, you know one of the
things I don't know, I had never um been in
the stadium where this happened. You know, you hear the
Sweet Caroline, UH sing alongs at some college stadiums, but
(03:47):
don't Stop Believing, don't stop believing by jet Journey, UH
sing along at Acre Shore, at the mine and during
the minus ten wind chills in the second half. UM.
To me, I've I was impressed by that. As I said,
God bless those fans. They stayed till the end. They
were into it, um, and it was I don't know,
(04:08):
I thought, quite the scene when you considered all of
the things, all of the elements, um, that we're in
play that night. Yeah, I'm glad you got to the
fans because that is definitely Uh, they absolutely deserve profound recognition.
You know. It's one of the things I love about football,
and one of the things I think separates football, hockey,
(04:29):
and basketball or indoor activities. Baseball is, for the vast
majority of it a summer activity. Uh. It might be
a little cold in April or if your team is
lucky enough to make it October. But when you're at
a football game as a fan, and maybe this is
just my warped way of looking at things, but when
it's a special game, and whatever reason you come up
(04:50):
with for making making it a special game, maybe there's
something special at steak. Maybe it's a rivalry, maybe it's
the last look at a certain player, or you know,
whatever reason. Talk yourself into thinking, hey, this is this
is something that's really significant and I'm not gonna miss it.
When you fight through the elements in a game such
as that and it ends the way you wanted to, man,
(05:12):
there's a few things more satisfying because you feel like
you earned the victory. And I think those people that
showed up and hey, they were booing a couple of times,
And if I'd have been out in the seats, I
would have been booing right along women because I'm really
reaching my saturation point with this offense. Uh on you know,
a couple of levels. But uh they were there to
the end, as you said, and they toughed it out
(05:33):
and they earned it and they deserved it. And the
other thing I wanted to mention LABS was the reaction
in the locker room speaking with players who are in
their twenties or their early thirties and the Steelers have
just celebrated a fifty at the anniversary of something, and
how much they get it the guys here, how much
they get the history of it and how much they
(05:56):
embrace it. And you know, a pretty profound thing to
live up to, right, four super Bowls in six years
and then the second Super Bowl era with Bill Cower
and Mike Tomlin, and it's you know, it's hard to
live up to that. And in terms of playoff success,
they haven't lived up to it, uh in a while now,
but they're not running from it. They they accept it
(06:18):
and again they embrace it. Guys who Arthur Milette told
me a great story about how he learned the Steelers tradition.
He got here last year. He's from the New Orleans
and his NFL you know hero or the guy he
looked up to or the guy he wanted to emulate,
is Tyron Matthew who's also from New Orleans. So Arthur
(06:38):
Millette asked the Steelers equipment guys if he could have
number thirty two, and they laughed and then they coached
him up on why he wasn't gonna be where number
thirty two. But that you know, they all learn it
in a different way, but they all learn it and
they all accept it, and they all feel like they
owe it to the organization to to live up to
(06:59):
that standard. And do everything they can to meet that standard.
And uh, the emotion from those guys was really attention
getting the players. Yeah, and that's a lesson. I mean
a lot of people have to learn. Bill Coward had
to learn that. Uh, and his his lesson came uh
in three or four I forget which here was when
(07:22):
the Steelers signed John L. Williams as a unrestricted free
agent to fullback from Seattle. And when John L. Williams
was told that he couldn't have number thirty two, which
is what he wore in Seattle. Uh, he whined to
the coach, and the coach went to see Dan Rooney
about it. How do you think that conversation went, dancer,
(07:46):
Hang on, Bill, I want to hear this song by
the Who, and then I'm gonna tell you why that's
not happening. We got a lot to get to. Uh, sorry,
you got some more. No, No No, no, that's it. That's no.
Let's let's move on. Okay, Yeah, let's look ahead to
the Raiders, the Ravens. Excuse me, another game that well
you know what, it's gonna be significantly the way because
(08:07):
it's the Ravens. But well, we'll get to that in
a minute first and foremost, Uh, the ineffectiveness of the
offense until the final minutes in that Raiders game was
more alarming LABS than the defensive dominance after the first
couple of minutes was encouraging. Agree or disagree? Is there
is there? Is there are more strong position to take
(08:30):
than agree heartily agree something yes, enthusiastically with every five
of my rage, I agree. Um, you know this this, this,
this has to this. There has to be some sort
of um, I don't know, movement in terms of uh,
(08:52):
you know, just calling plays too, something that looks like
an actual plan, you know, I mean, Um, I don't know.
I'm sitting there. And again, it wasn't the weather that
was like freezing my brain or anything, because as you mentioned,
we were in the climate controlled press box. Um, but
(09:13):
you know, the the offense was moving the ball periodically.
But I mean, there was no sense, at least in
my mind anyway, um, that the unit could make any
plays on those important possession downs that either you know,
continue along the way in scoring territory or put you
into scoring territory. You know. Uh, fans were you mentioned
(09:34):
there was some booing and and I was along with it.
Um My Tunnel was taking some criticism then after the
game for punting in the second half on those four downs.
But I'm here to tell you I had no confidence
in the offense being able to do anything on those
four downs. Um, so yeah, punt the ball at your
(09:54):
defense play or you know, have boswell try a field
goal that is a shot in the dark anyway fifties
re yard or as an example. I mean, you know,
and one of the things. And I sit next to
Dale Lolly Steelers dot com um snr all that you
know stuff, uh, in the press box, and he had
(10:14):
this stad He told me this before the game started
about you know, the Raiders defense is vulnerability in covering
passes the running backs. How long do we have to
wait till we started to see any of that? I
mean of over eight and a half yards receiving weighted
an interminable period. But that's but I mean, uh, you know,
(10:41):
and even once they got to it, a lot of
the passes were not thrown in a way where you
get the ball to the running back and then you
can do something with it, you know. I mean, um,
it's just it just didn't There has to be more
than just calling plays to the offense. There has to
be some sort of flow or plan or we're doing
(11:03):
this because they do this, and we're gonna take advantage
of it. I mean, it just it just seems, you know,
to helter skelter or two piecemeal or whatever the word is.
Um And yeah, you know it was. It was extremely frustrating, um, alarming, annoying,
(11:24):
you know, pick your adjective. My answer is yes, yeah,
frustrating and annoying are good ones. Here's the problem. From
where I'm sitting, They're trying to do the wrong thing.
It's clear to me what they are trying to do
first and foremost is protect the football. And I think
at some point they're gonna have to graduate to trying
to score points. I don't think they're doing that as
(11:45):
priority number one right now. And this is why we're
seeing the kind of games that we're seeing. Did you
hear this quote from Kenny Pickett. I'll give it to
you whether you did or you didn't. Quote. I don't
look for anybody. The defense tells me what to do,
and I throw to that guy. This is how you
end up with a slant well behind the chains on
third and long. This is how you end up with
(12:07):
a check down to a running back well behind the
chains on third and long. I get the pickets of
rookie taking his initial steps. I get to George Pickens
as a rookie. I get the friar Moose's second year guy.
They're they're a young skill position set, growing and evolving together.
But next year, at the very latest, they're gonna have
to change their philosophical approach and start putting the pedal down.
(12:31):
When Kenny Pickett escapes pressure, don't just throw it away.
To throw it away, look and see if they can
make a play there. Maybe the defense has broken down.
I think they are to uh, turnover centric, you know,
they're just the first and primary goal. Looks like the
way they're playing anyway is not to turn it over,
and the goal has gotta be to score touchdowns. Uh,
(12:53):
we may not see that the rest of this year
because the way these these games are lining up, I think,
you know, Ravens is probably gonna be low scoring. Brown's
is probably gonna be low scoring, and uh, you know,
you might not have to have a whole lot of points,
so they might want to play that. You know, played safe,
played safe, played safe, played safe, and then just you know,
make a play when you absolutely have to. But uh,
(13:15):
I gotta tell you, I don't want to be watching
this next year. Uh it is not fun to watch.
That's probably the biggest problem with it. And the second
problem is you're you're making it really hard on yourself
to win if you have to pull it out of
the fire at the end every time. I don't. I
don't think there's gonna be a lot of future in
that point. Number two labs agree or disagree. Even if
the Steelers are eliminated prior to kickoff Sunday night, beating
(13:38):
the Ravens is going to have value. Yeah, I agree.
I mean, I'm not someone who necessarily subscribes to the
theory that, you know, what happens in one season automatically
carries over to the next. But you know that whether whoever,
whatever word you want to use about this particular Steelers team,
(13:59):
you know, re building, in development, whatever they are, Okay,
that's what this group is. And you know, it was
a month ago, less a month ago, December eleven, I
think it was, the Steelers played this very same team
and got their butts kicked. I mean physically it was
sixteen fourteen, but they got their butts kicked, and so
(14:21):
I think that you know, you have a young group,
a group but still developing UM and you take that
same group, uh, for a rematch against the team that
did what it did to you less than a month ago,
calendar month ago. Okay, now what do you got for me?
You know, we're gonna come back here and we're gonna um,
(14:43):
you know, uh, I don't know, draw a line in
the sand and say, you know, we're not We're not
gonna get pushed around by you guys anymore. How are
you gonna deal with that? Um? And you know that
to me is more significant, maybe especially if they're a
eliminated from the playoffs. You know that to me is significant,
(15:05):
you know because the second to the playoff thing, if
if Miami wins, that's the ball game. Correct, Yes, yes,
one of the one of the things that has to
happen is Miami has to lose out now that the
Chargers speak to Colts on Monday night, Yes, that is correct.
So if the Dolphins beat the Patriots, so don't look
(15:27):
very capable of winning to me, But I digress, you know, well,
but I mean the Dolphins didn't exactly look great and
the looks. Look at seventy two fish did they know?
They did not? And um, you know I cannot imagine
a realistic scenario where they're starting quarterback plays, um after
going into the concussion protocol again. So but anyway, Um,
(15:52):
you know, the Steelers, Ravens, the a f C North.
The pecking order in the North, I believes, is always
pretty much built around, you know, bullying. Who is the toughest,
who is the you know, don't back down, willing to
trade punches. You know, you don't flinch, you don't blink,
all those you know, clever cliches. And you know, the
(16:15):
Steelers had at their four game winning streak against the
Ravens broken December eleven. The Ravens were quite happy about it, Hey,
as they should be. Um, now, how are you going
to come back? Um? Do you let it doesn't become
a losing streak? Or um? You know, do you do
you come back from a loss with a win. And
(16:35):
you know that's the kind of you know, give and take,
take a punch, throw a punch kind of attitude. I
think that this team needs to develop, and that's why
going to Baltimore beating the Ravens would be in my mind,
valuable for the development of this team. Yeah, I'm gonna
agree wholeheartedly. Uh, let's start with Kenny Picket. He got
(16:56):
knocked out of the last game two series in I
want to see him learn how to play against the Ravens.
I want to see him get an appreciation for what
these games are like, and what these games mean and
and how you have to uh embrace and attack that.
But uh, hey, that's just a detail. Everything you said
made perfect sense there, But that's just details to me.
(17:19):
Maybe I'm I'm still hungover from Steelers Raiders. But Bobby,
it's Steelers Ravens. That's enough. It's it's significant because it's
Steelers Ravens. Uh. I'm oh, I'm all of a sudden
getting very uh historical and romantic and and and emotional
about these games. Yeah, that's a good word, thank you. Uh.
(17:41):
You know, there's not a lot of teams that have
the Steelers standard. There aren't a lot of rivalries that
approach Steelers Ravens. That's enough, man, Whether whether New England, Miami,
no matter how that finishes. Sunday afternoon, we got Steelers
Ravens Sunday night, and then we get Steelers Browns to
finish it off. I'm in so yeah, I agree, uh last,
(18:02):
but certainly not least to beat the Ravens this time, Labs,
it's gonna be more important to score more than fourteen points,
then it will be to allow fewer than two hundred
and fifteen rushing yards against. Degree or disagree, Yeah, I agree,
I'm I'm I think I'm kind of like the last
man standing and looking at that first Ravens game and
believing that the game was lost more by turnovers in
(18:26):
the red zone and getting a makeuple field goal blocked
because you know, nobody on the field thought to pay
any attention to the guy they were told all week
was the most dangerous player on the Ravens field goal
block unit. I mean, you know, the Steelers lost to
Tyler Huntley and then the the replacement squad, practice squad
replacement guy after Huntley was injured. Um, and they lost
(18:49):
to a team like that because they couldn't score enough
points on their own to force that pathetic offense or
one dimension law offense is a more accurate description, because
it was pathetic that one dimensional offense to do anything
but turn around in a handleball to our running back
who ran the ball up the middle. I mean, you know,
score some points, you can. You can stop the Ravens
(19:10):
run that way too, because they once they get the idea, Hey,
look man, we can't. We can't run thirteen plays and
go seventy yards and maybe kick a field goal or
maybe not and still win this game. You know, we
gotta take some chances on offense because we gotta match
them on the scoreboard. Uh. And that's you know, you
can you can take you can, um encourage a team
(19:34):
to stop running the ball every time they look up
at the scoreboard and see you know that the numbers
are not in their favor. Uh. And that to me,
uh is is critical. Uh. You cannot expect your advocated
to score points a radical theory apparently. Yeah. And you
know what else, try to score? Try to score, you know,
(19:58):
um because us you know, just back to that turnover
thing we were talking about in the first statement. Um,
we talked about this on the pregame show. You know,
the the approach that Mike Tomlin took all week with
the team was because of the weather conditions and everything,
we just need to be better protecting the ball than
they are this day. The Ravens or excuse me, the Raiders.
(20:21):
That's that was his message to the team about protecting
the ball Christmas Eve. I don't expect it to be perfect.
We just have to be better at it than them.
And so you know, you start intercepting the ball. We
have three interceptions plus three turnover ratio. So you know
that's that's a significant, uh decisive victory in that in
(20:45):
that category. Um, so yes, try to score uh and actually,
you know, hopefully there is some success there. Make the
Ravens play behind a little bit, make them have to
count on their quarterback to make the kind of plays
that I don't know that they're necessarily all that comfortable, uh,
trying to depend on him to make those kinds of plays.
(21:06):
And then let's see what happens. Then let's see how
many carries J K. Dobbins ends up with. And um,
I think the game could turn out a lot different
as well. Sounds good in theory, but I don't know
where you are. It's kind of gray and nasty where
I am. I don't know that the clouds are gonna
part in this. Sunlight is gonna come down and shine
and and bring the message, Hey, you can score you
can win that way. I think that's a bridge too
(21:29):
far this year for this offense and this team the
way it's constructed. But the reason I'm gonna disagree is
I mentioned a minute ago I was getting enough step
nostalgic and romantic, and it offends me to the core
to give up two fifteen yards rushing labs. It just does.
I don't ever want to see that from any team
(21:49):
that I have any investment in or interest in. And
going back to that game on December eleven, a lot
of stuff happened that could have changed the outcome of it.
To me, the low point not just of that night,
the low point of the season was Baltimore being down to,
as you referenced, its third string practice squad guy quarterback.
(22:11):
And the Ravens have that last series, which just over
two minutes left, and you know all they're gonna do
is turn around and hand the ball off, and they
get a first down anyway, and then they're in victory
formation and they're running out the clock. What a change
in the Raiders game. The Steelers punted away with four
minutes and change left, and the defense gets a three
and out and then they got the ball back and
went down to won the game at the end. That
(22:32):
to me started with stopping the run. UM really impressed
with the way the defense handled a Raiders team that
to me, can beat you a number of ways and
one of the more diverse offenses in the NFL and
skill position guys all over the field that can do
different things and beat you different ways, and they handled
all of it. I think it started with handling the
(22:53):
run and start there. If you're gonna get a different
result on Sunday night at M and T Bank Stadium,
that's gonna do it for us. Labs, A great job.
You rebounded nicely from from Christmas, and you're right back
in the flow here hitting the ground running. So uh,
let's let's finish strong. As a wise man likes to say,
(23:15):
no matter what happens with Miami in New England, sounds
good to me. He is Bob Labriola, I'm Mike. Pursuit
of this has been another should be award winning edition
of Agree to Disagree the show with the Botto. I'm
right he's wrong. Thanks for finding us, however and wherever
you found us, and we'll talk to you again next week.
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