HR 1 - Don't Sleep on Stroud, Wes Uhler Joins

Tom and Chris talk about CJ Stroud and how dangerous he could be Monday.  Wes Uhler joins to break down the game and Tom and Chris recap Coach Tomlin's presser

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:08):
I saw a couple of weeks ago when the playoff
picture was starting to take shape, and you know you
do that thing as a fan, right, You're like, I
want this matchup over that matchup, and oh God, please
don't let my team draw this team. And the team
that I kept coming back around to that I didn't
want to face was the Houston Texans. I mean, they
were on fire. Their defense looks great, they were on fire.

(00:29):
They still are on fire. They haven't lost a game
in nine tries. They are the hottest team in the NFL.
But now I'm staring at these Texans in the face,
and I gotta say, very winnable football game coming up
here on Monday night at home for your Pittsburgh Steelers.
And you know when I see Herbert and Alan as

(00:53):
the other two options for wild card quarterbacks that could
be coming into my dojo, Not trying to belittle the
man that will be coming in CJ. Stroud, but I
think I'd rather take CJ. Stroud. So I'm starting to
really come around to this is a good matchup for
your Pittsburgh Steelers because I think these two teams play

(01:13):
in such a similar way they will want a similar
kind of game to unfold on Monday night, and that
similar kind of game comes down to one score, a
field goal, a point, even to see who advances and
who goes home. So confidence is growing and it's only Wednesday.
I can't imagine where I'm gonna be on Monday. I mean,

(01:33):
I'm just gonna kick my feet back and just assume
we're in the divisional round at that point. This is
the Steelers Blitz Tom Offerman and Chris Damski on Steelers
Nation Radio, a part of the Steelers Audio Network. I'm
not trying to make light of Houston. I think this
is the best defense in the tournament. But the same time, Chris,
do you see what I'm saying about how they are

(01:54):
a similar style of team to the Pittsburgh Steelers. They
want their defense to carry the day. They want their
offense to execute when it is appropriate. But main goal
is controlling that ball and not turning it over, not
putting that defense in a tough spot with a short field.
So I see Ryan's and Tomlin heading into this game

(02:17):
and saying, I really don't hate this thing unfolding seventeen
to ten.

Speaker 2 (02:20):
I think Mike Tomlin sort of had a little twinkle
in his eye when he spoke. The first thing he
brought up, He's like, now I'll move my attention to
the Texans. Saw yeah, there was a twinkle and I
saw a little gleaning, you know, the shiny little spot
you're watching a movie. Because he was the first thing
he brought up was it seem really takes care of
the ball and they take away the ball. I mean
that nothing makes Tumblin happier.

Speaker 1 (02:40):
There is probably like a proud dad watching the Texans.
He was like, damn it, this is a team that's
after my heart. This is exactly this is exactly what
I want one of my boys. There we go, and
that's what they do.

Speaker 3 (02:51):
Now.

Speaker 2 (02:52):
The text it's strange because generally speaking, what you described
and it's it's a generalization. It doesn't have to be
this way. But the way you describe the team and
really good defense, control the ball and not turn it over,
you would think they'd have a really strong running game.

Speaker 4 (03:08):
And really great point. That's the Texans weakness. I mean,
there you go. I've heard I was gonna let you
got it. Yeah, so this is a team that's what
fourth worst yards per carry, It's down toward the bottom
in terms of just aggregate rushing, your total rushing yard
things like that. I mean, what he marks, I think

(03:29):
when they do, I think what he marks can be
a good player. But I don't think they even if
they have never envisioned him being a you know, in
every down back, you know, he's more of a if
he's kind of your you know, change of pace guy,
that's great.

Speaker 3 (03:41):
I don't know if he so.

Speaker 1 (03:42):
Is Nick Chubb still alive? Yeah, that's what I just
I mean, do they still even have him?

Speaker 2 (03:48):
Mister Chubb reference was also dropped during the Mike Tomlin
Uh so he's obviously there, so you know, and then like,
when do you talk about the dynamicism or maybe lack
the Although I don't know, it sicks out in my
mind because the last time I watched the Texans was
that Saturday game against the Chargers, and within the first
eight minutes of the game they threw two long bombs
for a touchdown. It was like stretch the field, c

(04:09):
J Stroud bang throwing darts. I'm like, whoa, Okay, Now,
the rest of their season hasn't necessarily been like that.

Speaker 1 (04:15):
But that six in my mind, they went to La
to you know, that's why.

Speaker 3 (04:18):
They're playing this game is out of the Chargers.

Speaker 1 (04:20):
You're spot on about the running game, and that leads
us to c J. Stroud because that's kind of what
their offense is about, is Stroud making the plays when
he has to, but again, they don't want him to
turn it over, and he obliges in that. He fits
into that offense the way that they want him to
fit into that offense. And with how good the Texans
defense is, I feel like that underrates their offense in

(04:43):
a way because their defense is again maybe the best
in football, you could argue that, and it's intimidating on
all three levels. You've got dudes in the secondary, you've
got dudes in the middle of that defense, and you've
got the dudes when it comes to edge rushers in
this league. That is the best duo. Tomlin alluded to
that in his press conference yesterday. Danielle Hunter and Will Anderson.

(05:05):
So that's a mean, nasty defense they are as advertised.
But because of that, I feel like people then just
kind of go into it. Yeah, but the offense is
just man and it's not the case. Yes, you're right
about the running game, but they got weapons in the
passing game. I like their skill position players. Nico Collins
is a legitimate number one wide receiver, and I think CJ.

(05:27):
Stroud is a bit underrated as a quarterback is concerned.
I think that he had an unbelievable rookie season. Right
he explodes onto the scenes. It's all these records. Houston
is set for life the next two decades at the
quarterback position, and then a little bit of a sophomore
slump happens. But the craziest thing is his sophomore slump.

(05:51):
Chris didn't look like Jayden Daniels, where you know, he's
in and out of the lineup all the time, and
they missed the playoffs and they're a terrible football team.
His sophomore slump looked like, I'm gonna still win the
AFC South and I'm gonna win a playoff game. So
that's a hell of a slump if you ask me.
I mean, this guy I think was kind of just
forgotten about because he kind of fell into that kind

(06:12):
of Houston ball control. I'm gonna be ultra protective, ultra conservative,
win on the back of my defense. You know, you
don't see the three hundred plus yard games, the three
plus touchdown games from him as often as you thought
you were going to after that rookie season. And because
of that, I think people have a tendency to sleep
on him a little bit. And that's my mission this week,

(06:32):
Pittsburgh is to get you guys to wake up on
number seven on the other sideline, because this is not
Davis Mills, you know what I mean coming into the stadium.
This isn't TJ. Yates with the Houston Texans all those
years that they would go to the playoffs with JJ
Watt and Brian Cushing in that insanely tough defense, but
they had TJ. Yates playing quarterback for them, or they

(06:53):
had Matt Shab playing quarterback for them. This ain't the case.
This is a legitimate dude. And if you want to
go ahead and kind of wash your hands of him
and say he's just gonna be kind of that Andy
Dalton zone as a quarterback, you're sorely mistaken. He is
better than that right now and that potential is still there.
And to your point, Chris, I am worried sick that

(07:15):
the game plan is going to be similar to what
it was against the Chargers last year in that playoff
game where Okay, all year long, it's been defense, defense,
a lot of short passing from Stroud, a lot of
yards after the catch from our wide receivers. But now
it's time to let Stroud play like he's an elite quarterback.
That happens so much when the playoffs roll around, right,
you throw a counter punch that teams just haven't seen
in a long time, and Stroud's capable of doing that.

Speaker 2 (07:38):
Yeah, we know that Stroud. You saw that as a rookie.
It's really a fascinating sort of study because you're right,
everybody while we've got a.

Speaker 3 (07:45):
Superstar, and it was like there were people.

Speaker 2 (07:47):
Saying, you know, what would be a year and a
half ago or September of when that's the twenty twenty
four season started, this could be who's that We'll always
talk about there's a big four quarterback and there still
kind of is now with injuries and things and you know,
age goes a little bit more. What we'll see if
that big four holds up and tours. I'm talking about Burrow, Mahomes,
Allen and Lamar.

Speaker 1 (08:04):
Jackson three or four who are at home.

Speaker 2 (08:07):
And so yeah, so maybe it's not, but you wonder
who that fifth way, but that was the biggest crowd
going to be that you know, joined that that that club,
get the five timers club, get to get at the
blazer or whatever to put on the jacket to join
the elite quarterback club in the NFL. And and and
there's been this in terms of his numbers and things,
and I thought it was I keep going back to

(08:28):
and we still have Tomlin tidbits and takeaways later on,
so I keep going back to that. But I thought
it was interesting that toomm literally talked more about Davis
Mills than c J. Stroud during his press conference. So
I don't know, I've never heard him talking about the backup.
I know he Stroud or Mills just played the other
day because it was week eighteen and they put him
in and everything. But so it's maybe top of mind
to him, I guess, but I thought it was. I

(08:51):
don't know, it was probably just sort of an oversight.
He's talking for thirty five minutes straight and everything else
talk about but usually hear him talk. I mean, he
talked up Dylan Gabriel at one point this season, right, Okay,
that's what he does. I mean, that's what every coach does,
so I thought it was sort of interesting in that
I don't know if that's a way to kind of
I don't know what that was, but it's probably just
a coincidence or just some sort of quirk out of
the of the press conference. But either way, Stroud, You're right,

(09:13):
this isn't necessarily your face to a team that you
don't have to like, you don't load up and we
talked about the running game. Isn't exactly there anyway, you
wouldn't love it up to say, what's to let this
quarterback beat us? This is a young quarterback. The guy
has two playoff wins already in his career, and I mean, yeah,
that's the.

Speaker 1 (09:30):
Other thing, man, Like, there is no like, well, the
stage is gonna be really big for CJ. Stroud here.
He's to come to come an Acrocher Stadium, and I'm
not belittling what the atmosphere is going to be like
at Acrocer Stadium. It's gonna be insane. It rattled them,
Art rattled the Ravens on Sunday and it's gonna, I think,
be tank and taken to another level on Monday night
with the playoff game. First time US fans can get

(09:51):
into that stadium and affect a playoff game, and almost
ten years time, it was twenty seventeen season, it was
the last time that you were actually allowed in the
stadium to win a playoff game. So I'm not saying
that it's not going to be absolute bedlam in there.
But this is a guy who's been to two playoffs already,
has been on the road already in the playoffs, has
won already in this league in the playoffs, And then

(10:13):
I know that it's a little bit different as far
as the stage is concerned, but not that much different.
Dad was in the playoffs for Ohio State, played on
the biggest stage there, one hundred thousand people at the
Big House against Michigan. You know, he's done this. His
whole life is these hostile environments, these big moments. So
if you're expecting, you know, well, we have the four
time MVP quarterback who's been there, done that, And if

(10:34):
there's gonna be one that blinks, it's certainly not gonna
be our CJ. Stroud's gonna be the one that blinks.
I don't think either quarterback is going to blink in
this game. These are quarterbacks that are built and have
been in these moments before.

Speaker 2 (10:43):
Well, think about it if I you know, I don't
even if I don't include the college playoff games, right,
I mean, Stroud has played in four NFL playoff games
since Rodgers has played in a playoff game right point
two years so, And just his overall demeanor, it seems
like I remember when he was a rookie, even they
talked about that. You know, the story's done that point
when the Texans turn around their whole franchise. Really, I mean,

(11:03):
remember I remember how bad the Texans worked only three
years ago before Stroud showed up, multiply go through a
different coach every year and finishing thirteen fourteen losses every year.
I obviously a lot. They also got Anderson in that
draft too, of course, so that was a big part
of it. He wasn't all of it, but it was
a big, big where you get that franchise quarterback. Things
turn around like that, And the big narrative or the
big talk about him was about his kind of demeanor.

(11:26):
And you see, I mean, he just seems like he's
kind of a you know, he doesn't seem like he
gets routed at all. I think that certainly his personal
al It looks like if he's in a huddle and
things like that, there's as the proverbial ice water in
your veins or however you want to put at whatever
cliche you want to use. And I think that that
probably does rub off and the rest of the offense
for the Texans. And you see, I think he's a

(11:48):
natural in terms of that, in terms of being a
leader and things like that. So yeah, I wouldn't I
don't think that's a I mean, it's still probably you
still would take if you had to say who because
if it's a pretty one year experienced fall back on,
if your Rodgers, I guess you would have picked one
of the two. But it's not like this is major, Oh,
you know that the Steelers have this major advantage a
quarterback or even even necessarily not even physical ability but

(12:09):
just sort of in the in the mind and things
like that. But you'll still take Rogers in that area
at least. But at the same time, it's not like
something that that the Steelers have this huge thing to
fall back on.

Speaker 1 (12:21):
I do think I take Rogers, though, though I think
that you know, as much as I just gassed up CJ. Stroud,
and I'm serious, Steelers Nation, do not sleep on this man. Okay,
don't go into this game on Monday Night and be like,
oh man, he's gonna make the mistakes. He's gonna be
the one that's gonna give us this game. He does
not make mistakes. Okay, he threw two interceptions two weeks ago.

Speaker 3 (12:38):
CJ.

Speaker 1 (12:38):
Stroud did in a game that he also had two
touchdown passes. Other than that, those are his only interceptions
since Week nine. So he's been protecting the football incredibly well.
We talk about, and rightfully so, how Aaron Rodgers has
an unbelievable streak right now of not turning the ball over. Okay,
we'll save those two interceptions. And you can't really save
those two interceptions that Stroud through. Stroud's in the same boat.

(12:59):
I mean, Strout has there's one more interception overall on
the season with eight, and Rodgers does with seven. I mean,
this is someone who absolutely gets what he's supposed to
be doing on this offense. Now nineteen touchdowns. That could
be a lot higher. But if I'm a Texans fan,
I'm encouraged because he has thrown for seven touchdown passes
in the previous four games, so he's starting to at

(13:20):
least heat up a little bit. And he had a
three touchdown pass game in there was against the Cardinals.
But hey, you gotta go out and throw three touchdown
passes against the Cardinals if you're someone like the caliber
of CJ. Stroud, So you don't sleep on the man.
He is a very good quarterback that is capable of
winning in January. But I'd still rather have Aaron Rodgers.
I still think you got the advantage, as weird as

(13:42):
that is with the forty two year old quarterback versus
the up and coming guy that I just gassed up.
Who I would want to be on my team as
a franchise quarterback right now, right now, in this moment, though,
I think Aaron Rodgers is the slight upper hand. And boy,
if this game plays out like I said, I think
it will the open of the show today, Chris, where
it's tight thirteen to ten, rock fight what both of

(14:06):
these defensive coaches want to unravel. I think you got
the guy that's going to make the player too to
decide that game offensively. Again, no disrespect to Stroud, but
I just love what I'm seeing from Rogers after that
Ravens game, and I just said, you know, save the
two interception game for Stroud, but you can't really do that.

(14:27):
We'll save the Cleveland Brown game for Rogers, even though
you can't really do that. He's been unbelievable down the stretch.
He has been rounding into I don't want to say
MVP form, but he's been taping into that form more
and more in these past couple of weeks, except for Cleveland.

Speaker 2 (14:42):
Well, the Baltimore game was that aforementioned rock fight. It
was ten to three at a half time, and then
it turned into a track meet in the second half,
and Rogers made the throws he had to make and
made it some throws that turn back to clock or
some throws that whoever you want to put there in
his prime right now, or Lamars Lamar was there too.
All the Lamars they didn't have to make like these

(15:04):
tight window throws because there's guys running open on their point.
But it was Rogers during that second half in that
type of game turned into a non type of game.
But the fact he was throwing hitting item fee then
without even a window to throw it into, or you know,
making these throws like that and not missing and making
good decisions. So you have that aspect going forward. And
I do think Rogers is a big part of why,

(15:27):
you know, Ben Sherrington said earlier this year something of
the last year, I guess it was now twenty twenty five,
even when the Pirates were in the last place. You
have to squid too hard to see. And I think
there's been seasons here recently with Steelers playoff games where
you probably did have to squint hard to say, okay,
how they're gonna beat Chiefs or going in to Buffalo and.

Speaker 3 (15:42):
Beat them or something like that.

Speaker 2 (15:43):
This time, I really think you can build a legitimate
case here and say that Steewards are playing some of
the areas of their game, and quarterbacks are part of that.
We can go through some one of the other ones too,
where it be a run defense, run offense. There's just
areas where you feel like that there they are kind
of peaking. Now that being said, the Steelers feel like
they're peak. But he was won nine a row, so uh,
there's peaking, and then there's not lost since October peaking too.

Speaker 1 (16:06):
So do you indulge a little bit that whole Well,
Texans are due for a loss, right like, does that
element kind of come into play? I mean, nine straight
ten straight games in the NFL is insane, and I
mean think about what they would have to do.

Speaker 3 (16:19):
They'd have to win.

Speaker 1 (16:19):
Thirteen straight games to finish their season to win the Superman.
That's insane. That's an insane hot streak. We keep saying, oh,
there's not a real juggernaut team in the NFL. If
they finished with thirteen straight wins, what the hell is that?

Speaker 3 (16:31):
Yeah, you said, did Denver win ten this year? They
went nine. I don't know if they got what's the
longest streak in the NFL?

Speaker 1 (16:36):
If it is nine right now, I'm not sure what
Denver reached. Well check that right now, fact check that
for you.

Speaker 3 (16:42):
Go for it.

Speaker 2 (16:43):
They say New England had a long streak of They
probably had nine. I think at some point you're right, though.
I that's what I sit here, and I do kind
of want to sit down. And when you look more
into the texts, like Okay, this team isn't and it's
still wild that the spread isn't.

Speaker 1 (16:58):
Uh one eleven straight straight, but they lost to the Jags,
so now they're only on a two game win streak. Denver,
they reset themselves.

Speaker 2 (17:06):
Yeah, well that's that's your exactly what you're reference right
that they're not no no longer due for the loss.
They got it out of the way. But it is
a you know, you look and it's it is built
on defense. And it's crazy because but I mean afore
mentioned Denver, I rockically know we're talking about. I don't
even know for sure if Houston is the best defense
in the playoffs because usually we're I feel like we

(17:27):
talk about offense at this time of the year.

Speaker 3 (17:28):
But there's some good defenses.

Speaker 1 (17:31):
Philly is Philly the one that comes to mind. Philly
is the one that I think of when I think
of another one that can contend with Houston.

Speaker 3 (17:36):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (17:36):
In the AFC, though, I think it's clearly then.

Speaker 2 (17:39):
Yeah, you're right, because I've probably felt better about Denver
three or four weeks ago about their defense.

Speaker 1 (17:43):
Then it's probably Denver. Then it's probably us. To be
honest with you, I mean, I know that we can
be streaky sometimes, but at our best, our best punch
is as good as Denver was.

Speaker 2 (17:51):
Probably some of the number of New England's not as
good for good as records they have.

Speaker 1 (17:54):
Not as good chargers, not as good as you'd think
they'd be. They're good, though the Chargers will probably be
there as three or four as one of that contender
right there.

Speaker 3 (18:01):
Yeah, in terms of the ANC side.

Speaker 1 (18:02):
Of things, We'll get Wes Euler's thoughts when we come back.
He joins us for West Wednesday next on the Steelers
Blitz on Steelers Nation Radio, a part of the Steelers
Audio Network. It is a West Wednesday. Here on the
Steelers Blitz. We are joined by Wes Euler from the Drive.

(18:23):
He and Matt Williamson host that daily from four to
six on Steelers Nation Radio, a part of the Steelers
Audio Network. Still buzzing West seventy two hours later, after
that win against the Ravens on Sunday night, that has
to rank right up there with you as one of
the best moments at that stadium that you've ever witnessed.

Speaker 5 (18:42):
Right, Oh yeah, absolutely. I mean, you know, I was
in high school when the the Troy Polamalo picked six
in the AFC Championship game against the Ravens happened. You know,
I wasn't working the games or covering the team in
any capacity. I was just a fan. Off the top
of my head. That's probably still the greatest moment in
Akroshuer Stadium history. But man, in terms of a back

(19:06):
and forth game, you know, not just one moment of
pick six, not just Antonio Brown with a goal line
on Christmas, right, in terms of that entire game, particularly
that start and fourth quarter, felt like the Steelers had
won it, then felt like the Ravens had won it,
then felt like the Steelers had won it, then felt
like the Ravens were about to win it. It was
time capsule stuff. I mean that game, you know, five

(19:28):
years from now, ten years from now, twenty years from now,
every time the Steelers in the Ravens play, you know,
in the month of December January, late in the season,
they'll be like, remember that one time in twenty twenty five,
this epic game between the Steelers and Ravens, and they'll
show that, you know, thirty second forty five second highlight
montage was it was truly time capsule stuff. Absolutely Wes.

Speaker 2 (19:52):
When I think of this playoff losing streak right now
it's been nine years. The thing it took out to
me is that these first quarters and what is it now,
it's seventy three to nothing or whatever it is combined
over the six games the Steelers have fallen behind the
first quarter of these games. I know that what happened
in the twenty sixteen AFC Championship means nothing to this
current group of players. It's not the Patriots, its not

(20:13):
Tom Brady, you know whatever. To say you can carry
this common theme throughout and try to fix it is
kind of silly because again, the twenty seventeen game against
the Jaguars, and nobody left from that game except for
Jay the Rams use on the other team. Essentially, I
think Cam Hayward of course, because he plays forever. But
is there something I just think psychologically maybe important to
get off to a good start. Do you think that's
really important is to play the first quarter and you know,

(20:34):
at least play it to a stalemate or have a
lead early on in this game against this team.

Speaker 5 (20:39):
Yeah. See, I've gone back and forth on how much
the recent playoff history and let's be honest, guys, right,
recent playoff failures, recent playoff shortcomings, however you want to
label it to the Steelers, how much that means for
this group for this game on Monday night, Because you know,
there is you hit wat's been around for a long
time in a part of a lot of those. Cam

(21:00):
Hayward has been around for a long time and a
part of all of those. Mike Tomlin obviously has been
the head coach for all of those. But man, there's
been so much turnover in the organization too, right, the
new quarterback, which is obviously massive, new coordinators. You know,
Arthur Smith hasn't aside from last year, hasn't been involved with,

(21:20):
you know, with those failures, aside from these last couple
of years. The same with Terrell Austin, you know, omar Con.
There's been a general manager change in the middle of
this playoff drought here, all kinds of roster turnover on
both sides of the ball. So they obviously have to
be aware of it. They know it, and I hope
it's one of those things. One thing that gives me

(21:42):
gives me some confidence in this regard, I guess is
the best way to put it is. I think we
could argue that that Sunday's game against the Ravens felt
a little more even higher stakes than this wild part
game might feel. And I know that's crazy because it's
playoffs and it's one and done, but that was the
same case on Sunday. But it was against your biggest rivals.

(22:04):
It was in a moment where you knew, whichever head
coach loses, it's going to be ugly, it's going to
be bad, it's going to be visceral. And here we
are and John Harbaugh's been fired. You know, like these
guys just went through a similar type of you know,
all eyes are on this, we better win this or else.
Everyone from from Omar Khan and Mike Tomlin and mister

(22:27):
Rooney and on down to the lap guy on the
roster is going to get criticized and gonna get you know,
crucified by the fan base who wants this draft to
end so bad. That's That's kind of the fence that
I've sat on here the last couple of days, as
we as we turn the page from Baltimore and look
ahead to Houston, those those recent playoff failures are absolutely

(22:48):
part of the story Monday Night, without a doubt. You
can't run from it, you can't escape it. But for
a lot of these guys, they haven't been part of it,
or they've maybe only been part of one or two
of those defeats. So I'm really struggling with that. I
wish I had a more you know, confident radio host
answer for you. But to get back to where you started, Buzz,
I think the start is absolutely important from a psychological standpoint, absolutely,

(23:13):
from an atmosphere standpoint at Afrosure Stadium, certainly you want
that crowd rocking and believing and feeling confident, you know,
all Monday night. But I think particularly what it means
most for is that you don't want to be trailing
this Houston Texans defense early on. That's the That's the
biggest part of all of this. As we talk it
out and play it out, this is perhaps the best
defense in the National Football League they have got, you know,

(23:37):
and Anderson and Hunter, two absolute stud bookend edge rusher,
is probably the best tandem in the league, with all
due respect to TJ. Watt and Alex Highsmith. You do
not want to be playing from behind against Houston for
a lot of reasons, from confidence and optics standpoints, but
the most important one I think is probably going to
be just because that defense is so good. You do

(23:59):
not want to let that pend their ears back and
play with a lead.

Speaker 3 (24:02):
Wes.

Speaker 1 (24:02):
The two old heads, Cam and Rogers were the men
of the match for the Steelers against the Ravens, and
I just I just can't I know you'd love that.
I just can't talk enough about Cam Hayward right now
and how impressed I am with him. Age thirty six,
He's leading all interior defensive linemen in the NFL in
snaps right now. He's gona be a first team All Pro.

(24:23):
I'm going to say that confidently. So if it does
not come to pass, I'm just gonna get mad at
beat Ryder. Sorry Chris and voters who were egregiously wrong
in not giving him that. He's the best defensive lineman
interior lineman in football right now, this guy Hey, between
him and Sydney Crosby West, I don't know where the
fountain of youth is in Pittsburgh, but these two are
drinking from a big time Well.

Speaker 5 (24:43):
It's somewhere in western Pennsylvania, that's sure. And I you know, Tom,
I said this. I said this to a Dansky actually
when he was on the drive with Matt and I yesterday.
But I'll repeat it again because I think it's kind
of missy. There's there's bops line, there's fine wine, there's
whatever's in Mario Lemux's seller then and then there's Camp Bayward.

(25:06):
I mean, this guy is just his top shelf aging
fine wine as much as you could possibly imagine.

Speaker 1 (25:12):
And you're not supposed to age like a fine wine
at that position.

Speaker 5 (25:16):
Exactly right. It's not Aaron Rodgers or Tom Brady or
some of these quarterbacks that are just so smart from
the shoulders up that they can continue to play at
a high level despite their age. It's it's unbelievable, it
really is. And I'm spot on with you. If he's
not a first team All Pro, it's tragic. One more
first team All Pro this season I think should absolutely

(25:37):
be enough to get him into the Pro Football Hall
of Fame. He's kind of right in that conversation now.
But doing what he's doing at his age, the best
in the business. That what he does, I think piggybacking
off his entire career, this should be the icing of
the cherry on top that, you know, the whip cream
cherry that gets him into Canton. One days. It's been

(26:01):
absolutely incredible. He was the best player on the field
Sunday night. You can say that for a large majority
of the games the Steelers have played this season. It
just it never ceases to amaze me at that position
in the trenches, so physical, he's rightfully so gotten a
lot of flowers this week. And you know, I was

(26:21):
laughing with Matt like we were, you know, kind of
chuckling about the reaction. You guys, remember back in July
and August when Cam had those contract disputes at training
camp and everyone was like, shut up, your baby, just
get in there and play, and who cares? And you're
tarnishing your Steelers legacy. Yeah, I don't hear anybody saying
that now. In fact, it's the opposite. He continues to

(26:44):
grow and grow and grow and kind of the pantheon
of Steelers greatness and respect. Yeah. You know, I know
a lot of people say to be an all time
Steeler you have to win a Super Bowl, And I
understand the logic of that when you consider the accomplishments
of this organization. If you don't think Cam Hayward's an
all time Steeler, if you don't think Cam Hayward's the
future Hall of Famer, if you don't think Cam Hayward's

(27:06):
one of the best defensive linemen of his generation, I
don't know what to tell you. This suite has just
continually surprised us and almost somehow Benjamin button this thing
and just continue to get better and better if he
gets closer and closer to age forty. It's insane.

Speaker 2 (27:22):
Wes's got lots of protives there, and you're probably gonna
have more here in the next question, because I think
it kind of gets again. It's amazing how there's so much.
I mean, we talked between the three of us and
and Matt for four hours a day and that's only
a fraction of people talking about the Steelers, writing about
the Steelers on social media about it.

Speaker 1 (27:40):
But that TJ. Watt just missed three games with a.

Speaker 2 (27:44):
Lung injury, a partially collapsed lung, and came out and
played pretty much his regular workload, if not more than
his usual workload. And you know, he wasn't the best
player in the field, like like you said, because Cam
Hayward was, but you could make the case, you know,
he was one of the best players on the views.
He had some I know he got sacked, but he
had the interception. I know it fell in his hands,
but still it was a play. He was sort of

(28:04):
like I thought, it was one of his better games
he's played, maybe the second half of the season, and
as much as his you know, his sack total was
down this year, he's still I feel like every time
he's in a game this season, maybe more even than
the late last season when he was doing with something,
maybe you feel like he's in an impactful moment. That
interception wasn't just a coincidence. And again just TJ coming
back and playing under those circumstances and playing the workload

(28:27):
he did and being part of a win like he was.

Speaker 5 (28:30):
Yeah, it was. It was the kind of proverbial superhero
arriving at the moment where where everybody needed him right.
That had to be a huge boost for those guys,
just having him in the locker room, running out in
the tunnel. What it means for the rest of your
defense in terms of just depth and being able to
bring a guy like herbig off the bench. And then TJ. Man,

(28:52):
he's always been so underrated in the run game, and
I know the Ravens had a lot of success early. Heck,
Derrick Henry had ten carries for seventy nine yards in
the first quarter, but after that the Steelers defense figured
it out. You know, he had what ten carries for
I think it was like thirty some yards the rest
of the way. A big part of that was TJ.

(29:15):
Watt and setting the edge. Alex Hissmith deserves credit to
those guys have always been I think, very underrated in
the run game just because of what they do in
terms of attacking quarterbacks in the pass rush. But I
think you saw that it took them some time to
figure out Derek Henry and what the Ravens were doing.
I think it probably took TJ a little time to,
you know, to kind of get his sea legs back

(29:35):
underneath of them. But once they did, those guys were
shut down. And Yeah, for TJ, now, you know, it
felt a little bit like these last couple of years
he's had to empty the tank to get this team
into the postseason. Maybe now he's like he's you know,
just left sheets or get go and has his full
tank of gas now at the exact time that they

(29:56):
need him to go out there and make life difficult
for CJ. Stroud in the Houston Texans offense. That's one
thing that's one angle of this that I'm very interested
to watch play out on Monday Night too. I think
a fresh TJ. Watt one who's now got a game
back and knocks some of that rust off. He could
get back to being that, you know, that kind of

(30:17):
consistent X factor force that we've seen him be throughout
the majority of his career. That would be a massive
development for the Steelers.

Speaker 1 (30:24):
On Monday Night, we're talking to Wes Seuler here on
the Steelers Blitz West, host of the Drive with Matt
Williams and four to six every day on Steears Nation Radio,
part of the Steeers Audio Network. Wes CJ. Stroud. Do
you think he's a bit underrated as far as you
know quarterback evaluation around the league is concerned. He was
amazing as a rookie. People say he had a sophomore
slump his second year, but he won a playoff game

(30:45):
in the division his second year. That's a hell of
a slump. And now he's just I feel like he's
kind of just that forgotten quarterback, but still very dangerous.

Speaker 5 (30:54):
Still very dangerous. You're right, Tom, He's a tough eval
because his freshman season was so outstanding. Last year, he
didn't really take off and ascend into one of those
flear year one quarterbacks like everybody expected him to. But
I think you're right. I think some people think that
he's not any good. He has lived up to that

(31:16):
that rookie season. He is still very dangerous. You know,
they they've had a weird kind of offensive timeline, if
you will, this season the Houston Txans, they really struggled
out of the gate. They obviously lost their first three games,
really struggled out of the gate, particularly offensively, and then
they started to figure it out and look better and better.

(31:37):
And then CJ. Stroud missed a couple of games, two
games I think it was with a concussion, and it
was like they kind of reset to go to Davis
Mills for two games. Stroud comes back in, he's got
to knock the pob lebs off after being out with
the concussion for two weeks, and it was it was
almost like they had to kind of build back again
as an offense. But I think you've seen them starting

(31:58):
to hit their stride a little. But you know, thirty
eight points last week obviously against the Coults. You know,
Stroud struggled a little bit before that. It was the
Chargers the week before that, if I'm if I'm remembering correctly,
he threw a couple of interceptions, but he's taking care
of the football in large part recently. If you look
over here, as I'm pulling it up now my notes

(32:19):
here over his last five games, guys, you ready for this,
I'm ready, eight to eight touchdowns and just two interceptions,
and both of those interceptions came in that Chargers game.
So eight to two, four to one ratio of touchdowns
and interceptions in his last five games. I think he
is starting to get comfortable, to get confident. I think

(32:41):
that offense is on that upward trajectory once again. They've
been better at running the football. I'm sure you guys
have discussed or will discuss Nico Collins plenty. He's just
an absolute freak monster, one of the best ten wide
receivers in the world. They've got some real playmakers, some
real dynam make options on that offense, and the offensive

(33:02):
line which had been like an albatross, which had been
terrible for the last handful of years. I'm not saying
it's fixed. I'm not saying it's great, but it's it's
not an anchor weighing that offense down anymore either. So
this is a Houston group that, without a doubt, leans
on its defense. The defense is the stronger unit. The
defense is you know the reason why. You know, if

(33:26):
this was Texans Nation Radio and we were confident that
the team was about to go on a run, we'd
be talking mostly about that defense. But I think CJ.
Stroud is dangerous. You know, people aren't talking about him
like they talk about the Drake Mays and the Justin
Herberts of the world, like, hey, you know, watch out.
These guys are young, these guys haven't want a playoff

(33:46):
game yet, but you know that they can burn you.
You know that they can get you. No one's really
saying that about CJ. Stroud, but I think they should.
And it's gonna be a real tough task for this
Steelers defense on Monday night, he can bottled up and
maybe get miss Houston Texans back to some of those
offensive frustrations that they've been feeling at times this season.

Speaker 2 (34:06):
We's the running joke on this show, or one of
the running jokes in this show, is that when Fridays
we say, Okay, this is the game. The Steelers is
going to run the ball and the show just give
the ball to Jalen Ward and kind of game. Well,
it's gonna happen this gag, cause this is the best
matchup for it, and we've seen how good they are
and everything this and it seems to never happened that way,
really now, Houston not as if they're soft against the
runner and he starts the imagination like that. But at

(34:27):
the same time, whenever you see the strengths of their team,
you have an all pro at corner, you have the
best dual of edge rushers pass rushers in the league
off the edge, you would think that you might want
to mitigate that some by running it. And I thought
Jalen Warren ran really hard to gain well, was more
in the receiving game, but that's essentially the facto. Running
plays themselves. If you're using them in that way, not

(34:47):
lining them outside or something. You think this might be
a game where the Steelers maybe again rely or start
to rely a lot more on the running game.

Speaker 5 (34:57):
I hope so, I think so. I mean, you know,
you guys are right with kind of the same thing
that we talk about on the Drive is like we
do our matchup segment every week and we're like, what
are the biggest matchups? Whatever allows the Steelers to run
the football right hat on in the trenches and Warren
and Gang well, and you know, this is a Houston
Texans defense that is top five in terms of rushing

(35:19):
yards allowed per game. They gave up less than one
hundred yards per game on the ground this season, only
gave up thirteen rushing touchdowns on the year, which I
believe is like fifth or sixth in the league when
I was looking at this on Monday afternoon. They are
a defense that is pretty well rounded. I mean, again,
you know, top five against the rush, they are sixth

(35:42):
against the pass, and overall kind of an aggregate. They
are the number one defense, just slightly ahead of the
Broncos in terms of yards per game allowed. Before this
Steelers team, you get dk Metcap back. I think hopefully
that opens things up in the box for your run game, right,
be a lot harder for these d fences to just
stay in single high and drop that second safety down

(36:04):
to help in the run game. And even when that's
been the case, the Steelers have had still had success there.

Speaker 3 (36:09):
I mean, this.

Speaker 5 (36:09):
Offensive line is playing as well for the Steelers as
we've seen an offensive line play, you know, probably since
the Pouncy de Castro Villanueva Ramone Foster days, you know.
I mean they are are really coming into their own
They're really moving bodies. They've been able to run the
ball successfully pretty consistently here, with some exceptions, certainly, but

(36:31):
pretty consistently over the last two months. I think that
has to be a real dedicated part of the game
plan because if you can start to establish a run
against this team who typically doesn't have that happen, I
think that's how you open up real space for DK Metcalf.
That's how you open up real space for guys like
Briar Moose and John new Smith and Calvin Austin, as

(36:52):
well space for Jalen Warren and Kenneth Gainwell in the
past game two, where we know that those guys both
accelerate and can put their hand in the pile and
make a lot of plays catching the ball out of
the backfield. There's no like, oh yeah, put it up
on the grease board. This is how you can attack
the Texan defense because they stink here that doesn't exist.
But I think for the Steelers offense, it doesn't matter

(37:13):
who the opponent is. Running that football, running that football,
running that football. That's why you've invested in the trenches
that's why you have this one two monster at running back.
And when you do that, when you start to do that,
it makes life easy on Aaron Rodgers, DK Metcalf and
all those other pass catchers.

Speaker 1 (37:30):
Wes, thanks as always. I'll see it at the Steelers
playoff party on Saturday at Tequila Cowboy. Buddy, you excited
for that one.

Speaker 5 (37:38):
I am pumped up. Five o'clock Saturday, Boy, your buddy
of Dansky's here.

Speaker 3 (37:46):
I'm sorry, Buzz.

Speaker 1 (37:48):
Chris to get the people fired up.

Speaker 5 (37:52):
We know when we know the NFL All pros by Saturday.
Because if Cam Hayward is an all Pro, we'll let
that journal report order cams. But but if Cam Hayward
is not voting, isn't all pro, we're gonna blame it
on Buzz and we're gonna lock him out on the
North Shore. Five o'clock Tequila Cowboys Saturday. Come hang out

(38:13):
with me, Tom, rob King, Charlie Batch. Steelers alumni will
be having a good time and getting you ready for
those uston Texans.

Speaker 1 (38:22):
Thanks Wes. We'll hear you today at four on the
on the Drive. That's Wes Steeler from the Drive with
Matt Williamson. Four to six every day on Steelers Nation Radio,
Chris and I come back. It's Tomlin tidbits and takeaways
from his Tuesday press conference. That's next on the Steelers
Blitz on Steears Nation Radio. Mike Tomlin delivered his first

(38:51):
of three four yeah, three postseason press conferences. Whatever it's
necessary to get to a super Bowl, that's how many
postseason press conferences he's going to have. I should have
planned that out before I opened my mouth and turned
on these microphones and came back for break. But the
big takeaway that I had from yesterday, Chris, you can
always tell who Mike Tomlin is most worried about, I

(39:12):
think from the other team, because he's talking about them
and he sometimes puts a mister in front of their name,
and I heard mister Anderson. I don't know if you
heard that or not, mister Hunter popping up as well.
It's very obvious who the main worries should be against
this Houston team. And then Mike Tomlin, I think, went
out to that microphone on Tuesday or in his press
conference and confirmed it. Danielle Hunter and Will Anderson are

(39:35):
the best duo of pass rushers you will find in
the NFL this year. It reminds me a lot of
Woodley and Harrison. I gotta be honest with you. Both
of these guys are in the top ten as far
as sacks are concerned. Hunter is third in the league.
These are absolute game wreckers in their own right, and
they're teamed up together like these guys would be lead
ed rushers for most teams in the NFL as themselves.

(39:58):
Now they're both in Houston.

Speaker 2 (40:00):
Book ends like that that. It's definitely it creates a
different dynamic than you know, there's a lot of talk about. Rightfully,
so we set the record stopping Miles Garrett two weeks ago.
It's definitely a different dynamic when you have, and no
disrespect to the other Browns pass rushers, when you have
two guys like that, because it's whatever all the tup

(40:21):
we talked about chipping and things like Miles Garrett. Obviously,
you're probably still going to have that part of your
game plan here when you have guys that are in
that stratosphere of being pass rushers. But then you have
two of them, so you can't really I mean, you're
to vote a whole bunch of personal if you're doubling
two guys or chipping two guys or double one one
chipping the other, or whatever you do the mouth of
a sudden. If you're somehow devoting four players of these

(40:42):
two guys all of a sudden, then you take.

Speaker 3 (40:44):
Away the quarterback. What do you play?

Speaker 2 (40:46):
You're playing nine nine on six, nine on what four?
Whatever it is, whatever it is, you're out numbered. It's
not a good numbers game. So part of it has
to be. When you have two guys like that, you're
gonna have to hope and I mean hope, not the strategy,
but Troy fau Tadu doing Cook. You guys got to
you gotta do your jobs. You gotta step up. It's

(41:06):
not gonna be easy. We can't help both of you
in every single play, really is what it comes down to.
So they're gonna have to man up. And I mean,
you know, we'll get into more and more about Dylan
Cook and whether he's a long term starter or whether
he's shown enough or of what the sample size is
or how you approach next year at some point. But
this is another If he goes to another game, in
a playoff game or playoff game or two or three
or four and starts shutting down the elite edge rushers

(41:29):
or things like that. You know, he's more and more
just just shouting like you can't ignore me. I have
to be part of this, you know, whether I'm the
start next year or not. And he has quite an
opportunity here and obviously at a very big stage to
show that.

Speaker 1 (41:40):
Yeah, he's the one that I'd help though. No, yeah,
I mean right, Troy Futtano is the guy that's got
to step up big time in this game. You gotta
be Island up on Anderson on Hunter. I don't know
if they switch a lot, if they kind of just
go straight on their sides, but whoever you draw, Troy
Futtanu's got to take on one v one. You're the
first round pick, right, You're honestly this year probably my

(42:01):
best offensive lineman. If I had to crown one of them,
I would probably crown Troy fotanou as the best on
this team. He's really rounding into form and what is
technically his rookie season because he missed all of his
true rookie season with an injury. So I think it's
all on Troy Fotano in this game. No pressure, but
it's all on Troy Foutano to be on that island
to go one on one with some of these absolute studs.

Speaker 3 (42:23):
And a.

Speaker 1 (42:24):
Hutchinson had two sacks against the Steelers when they played
the Lions, but for the most part, Fetano was one
on one with him, and I'd say, especially once he
settled into the game, he did a great job against
Hutchinson and Hudginson and Anderson. I look at Chris's the
two up and coming studs as far as ed rushers
are concerned.

Speaker 2 (42:38):
And you know what, you look at these teams or
the two guys they play both sides, there's really not
much of a pattern to it in terms of Anderson
and Hunter that they'll line.

Speaker 1 (42:47):
Up, they'll break the huddle and choose. Yeah, so if
you're trying.

Speaker 2 (42:50):
But I mean the quote unquote good good news about
that is, you know, picking your poison. It's not as
if it'd be different if you had Miles Garrett or
whatever in a total alpha.

Speaker 3 (42:58):
That you want to make sure you had.

Speaker 2 (43:00):
You know, it doesn't matter who it is, right, I mean,
one of the other you could you know, Anderson's probably
a little more dynamic, but I mean Hunter had more
sacks through this season. You know, you're not gonna go
wrong if you're going to try to get help on
one of the side of the other. So, I mean,
you're right, but it is crazy to say that Fontano,
even if you count the one game last season, what's

(43:20):
he at now? This is only what is his nineteenth
career NFL game Right now, he's still essentially rookie and
he's the.

Speaker 3 (43:27):
One you too.

Speaker 2 (43:27):
But yeah, overall, and like I've said, I've said a
couple of times about the.

Speaker 3 (43:31):
Offensive line, I think it's been one.

Speaker 2 (43:32):
Of the brighter spots for the Steeler at least certainly
projecting forward for the Steelers, the twenty twenty five Steelers.
What you have in that line and a big part
of that And you're right, probably the best one, if
I had to say, it would be Fontan and I
and I definitely think going forward over the next five
ten years that Faltono has that probably the highest ceiling
and could be the best play. You know, get the
most belts on his wall for Pro Bowls or All Pros,

(43:54):
whatever you want to call it.

Speaker 1 (43:55):
Mike Tomlin, well, Mike Tomlin also it just got chopped
up about it. Mike Toman also talked about DK Metcalf returning,
and he really downplayed, you know, being like, well, you know,
it's not like all gonna be on him. We're not
going to just expect him to carry us and you know,
feed him and change things drastically because he's back. No,
that's not true. Things are going to change pretty drastically
on the offense, whether you want them to or not,

(44:16):
they just will. His presence out there is going to
be massive for the Steelers. And one last thing I
got to bring up absolute bar dropped by head coach
Mike tom And, as he often does in these press
conferences when asked about the team's recent playoff losing streak. Quote,
it's not about the organization or myself, it's about the collective.
Most of these men don't care about eight years, Ain't

(44:39):
that right. Troy Foton is one of those men. We
just talked about him a lot that don't care about
these eight years. DK Metcalf, he don't care about those
eight years. Rogers just here this year, you know what
I mean? Like, there is definitely something that hangs over
this team as far as the losing streak is concerned,
but that's more in the fans' brain and most of
these guys on this team have not been a part
of that. Only Cam and DJ ever really been a
part of the entire of it.

Speaker 2 (45:00):
Yeah, other than Boswell and see listen, half there's twenty
two starters we're only talking about, not forget all six games,
forget about half the games. For even last year's team.
Half of the twenty two starters from that game are
not starters this week in this playoff game. So don't
even have one. I mean more than half of the
players that will be in uniform this Monday night will

(45:20):
not have been even part of one Steelers playoff loss. Okay,
so you're right about that. There's been a lot of turns.
That speaks of kind of some of the turnover over
the past year. For one thing, it's kind of remarkable
we think about that it's only been a year ago.
You look at the start, I mean, it wasn't less
than a year ago. Now the steewerd that team is
honestly unrecognizable. But it's a whole bunch of different new faces.
And yeah, certainly if you go back even farther, even
half the losing streak, there's only the hand you throw

(45:41):
in James Pierre because James Pierre's like become this like
om the president president set at the Steewers facility, but
with the names you mentioned, and that's pretty much the
only guys that have even even ay majority of these
playoff games in the past decade.

Speaker 1 (45:54):
When we come back major coaching news in the NFL,
we'll get to the shocking dismissal of John Harbaugh from
the Baltimore Ravens next, as the Steelers Blitz marches on
on Steelers Nation Radio, a part of the Steelers Audio Network.