HR 1 - Rodgers Worst Performance, 3rd Down Woes

Tom and Chris break down the Steelers loss to the Chargers, Rodgers worst performance as a Steeler, issues on offense and lack of splash from defense.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:07):
For the third time this season, the Pittsburghs dew is,
we're on primetime football, We're on the national stage, and
for the third time this season they walked away empty handed.
And two out of the three times, Chris, you could
categorize their performance as a dud and that's putting it
a little lightly. And you know what, since the other
performance was against a Joe Flacco led Bengals, it was

(00:30):
a little dudish too. So a team that is usually
so great on that national stage, especially under Mike Tomlin.
I mean, you hang your hat on those Monday night
football records. The Sunday night, the lights are brightest and
the Steelers usually show out, at least that's been the
track record. Well, this year it has not been the case.

(00:50):
You've put, dare I say, some stinkers out there on
the national stage. Last night was no exclusion from that.
The Colts game we thought was going to be a
turning point. Now you start to wonder if that was
a bit of a blip in the radar and the
Steelers kind of fell back to what they are as

(01:12):
a team.

Speaker 2 (01:13):
This is the Steelers Blitz.

Speaker 1 (01:14):
Chris Adamski and Tom Opferman trying to wade through that
wreckage of Steelers ten Chargers twenty five Steelers falling to
five and four against LA and Chris, I mean, there's
no way to know that yet that oh the indie
game was just this weird mirage, and who the Steelers
really are is that since Green Bay and now that

(01:36):
Charger game. We won't know that until we can get
a full season sample size and look back and be like, oh, yeah,
that's actually who they were. But it really did deflate
a lot of the air out of the tires after
the feeling from that Colts game.

Speaker 2 (01:53):
Five and one. When they start at one PM kickoff
this year, every gain that's the problem to ever started
game at one p too much exposure.

Speaker 1 (02:00):
We're too big a brand, Chris, I've always been I've
always been saying this. We need to pull back on
how big of a brand we are.

Speaker 2 (02:05):
I think maybe JJ Watt and Ian Eagles has they've
done every game. I think they're five. They might be
fivecause that wasn't in a Fox game the Seattle that's
the only one PM game they lot. I think that
might I'm gonna go back and look at that. Yeah
it was you know what, Tom, there were a couple
UH co hosts a couple of weeks ago that we were saying,
this is an offensive team and rely on the offense.

(02:25):
That that that we might want to we want to
burn those from the internet, scrub them from UH from
the ether out there, because uh, well.

Speaker 1 (02:33):
That was because in the moment, Chris, the defense couldn't
be relied upon and the offense had to go out
there and win you games.

Speaker 2 (02:40):
And now it's clipped.

Speaker 1 (02:41):
They can't compliment each other. They can't get on the
same page. That's a little unfair because in the Colts game,
despite the statistical performance not being jaw dropping from the offense,
they did finish on the turnovers. They scored twenty four
points on the turnovers in that game. But it wasn't,
you know, a dazzling offensive perform Rmans and they couldn't
run the ball for crap against the Colts.

Speaker 2 (03:03):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (03:03):
And then last night was their worst offensive performance to date.
I mean that was in the running with some of
their bad offensive performances in the picket Trubisky Matt Canada Era.

Speaker 2 (03:15):
Yeah, there wasn't There isn't anything really even to look at.
And you especially you take away that last drive in
garbage time, which the numbers are really really bad.

Speaker 1 (03:23):
Oh, I mean, Rogers was going to have his worst
passer rating for his career until that last drive in
touchdown with.

Speaker 2 (03:30):
I mean, I'm nineteen rating. I don't even know that
was off Like Mitch in the company you just listed
it even had a game as a rating.

Speaker 1 (03:36):
He got it up to fifty. Yeah, because of that drive.

Speaker 2 (03:39):
That drive sixty five yards and that was the passing
yards was under one hundred before that drive and that
drive there there was one drive in the second quarter
that pretty much kind of for all that hundred too,
almost when they got down there, and then that drive
and we'll get into some of the minutia I'm sure
here at some point, but that drive fell apart and
it seemed like a total encapsulation of what was happening

(04:01):
Sunday night in La. Yeah, there's I don't you know.
I know, obviously he's forty one years old, but at
the same time, I don't know what you know, you
have to chalk it up to I don't know what
where what you could tell early on the ball for
whatever reason was high his ball, yes, and it continued
over and over and obviously it started to burn them
more and more as the game went on. You had

(04:24):
a couple of misses early on, and who knows how
that changes the complexion. I don't know, you know, and
I mean I still, I mean whatever. It was a
tough catch, John, who not get that reviewable?

Speaker 1 (04:35):
The ball was high, so you make that catch, Okay
if you're a professional tight end. It was a bad throw. Okay,
bad play from both sides there, Yeah, both parts probably
bad playing with bad throw, But make a catch. Because
you're John Smith and you haven't done anything really this year.
I don't want to be that blunt, but like you
haven't had the impact that you need to have when
you were in that trade with Jalen Ramsey for Mika Fitzpatrick. Look,

(04:58):
I got a lot of notes written down here, you notes.
I see him right now on your computer screen. We've
planned this out. We have things that we want to critique,
especially when it comes to that Steelers offense. But it's
really hard for me to get past just the quarterback
having a terrible game. You know, It's really hard for
me to not oversimplify things a little bit, to not
boil it down to just you know, the basic analysis

(05:18):
of your quarterback sucked, and when your quarterback sucked that bad,
you just never win football games. He turned it over.
Like you said, the passes were high, he was missing layups.
There's just no way that you could ever get into
a rhythm. And it was his worst game as a Steeler,
I think by far. And again, like in those eras

(05:40):
of Pickett and Trubisky, where you had just abysmal quarterback play,
there were other problems with the team in the offense,
but like, it was hard to wrap your head around
him because it was like, yeah, but if the quarterback
could just you know, maybe hit somebody who's wide open
in the flat, you'd be thinking a little bit differently,
And unbelievably, That's where I'm at with my analysis immediately
in the aftermath of this game was yeah, you know,

(06:00):
they weren't getting anything from their wide receivers, the tight
ends abandoned them. That the running game seemed to be okay,
but for whatever reason, the offense decided to abandon that.
I know they were down in this game, but it
wasn't like they were getting boat raced. It was kind
of a slow bleed for the Chargers to get to
twenty five points. You know, there's all that stuff that's

(06:21):
you know, fair to point out and say this is
how they lost. But at the end of the day,
I'm just stuck on Rogers was awful. I mean awful.

Speaker 2 (06:29):
Yeah, they're no witched sugarcoat. Really. It was even taking
the safety seem like just sort of just so I
mean phrase boat headed play because that's kind, but it
just seemed like, I just you know, take the sack
at the one if you have to.

Speaker 1 (06:44):
I don't know who was this quarterback last night like that.
That is such an odd thing for him to do.
He never does it.

Speaker 2 (06:51):
Chris.

Speaker 1 (06:52):
We're talking about a guy who just a couple of
weeks ago had the wherewithal to spike the ball into
the ground real quick as he was getting psyched with
Warren right in front of him. Remember the refs called
it a fumble, and he was like, no, no, this
is the Packers game. He's like, no, no, no, you need
to go back and look at that I threw that ball.
We're talking about somebody who is operating on a cerebral
level that is the highest in the NFL right now.

(07:15):
And he looked like dan Orlowski back there in the
end zone running out of the end zone, like he
looked like a rookie that all the sailed passes, all
the odd stuff that he did in that game might
have been the oddest. How he acted in his own
end zone. Yeah, that was he stepped up to like
get out and then he almost like went back into
the end zone. That's a cardinal sin for quarterbacks.

Speaker 2 (07:37):
Yeah, you know, he did a good job avoiding the
rush the one time that he missed the throw in
the first drive. The first wasn't the first drive, but
it was the first drive. The Steelers are moving the
ball and were in scoring position. They didn't move the ball.
They're given the ball in scoring position. But yeah, I
don't know how you chalk that up. I don't know
what you say. You know, you could say it's fine,

(07:58):
and we rightfully said it. People have said Rodgers has
been probably better or been better than we expected, been
what you can ask for, you know, he didn't really
get much of a chance last night. I don't know. Well,
I think it's definitely fair to say if you got
high level quarterback play, that's that's a winnable game easily.
If you got even just you know, average quarterback play,

(08:19):
certainly what Rogers had given up given the Steelers up
to this point, then you have you have a much
better chance to win. I mean, there's a lot of
little points of the game you can look at and say,
they could have scored here, they could have scored there,
they had you know, this throw, it could acts a
little bit of you know, some of them would have
taken really good throws, but you know some of them Also,

(08:39):
he missthrows that even.

Speaker 1 (08:41):
If the first interception was a sailed ball.

Speaker 2 (08:43):
But it also I don't know, to me it might
have been even the decision caused the saled ball had
the ball had to be high because the coverage was there.

Speaker 1 (08:50):
Henley was k in that, so.

Speaker 2 (08:53):
He probably saw that and said, I'm gonna put this
where the Yeah, I know where you're going with this.

Speaker 1 (08:59):
But like he saw, like if you look at it
from Rogers view in the pocket, from that camera angle,
if Henley is a little step behind DK DK, he
might be a touchdown. Like he has got the middle
of the field wide open. Henley's right in front of him,
and I think Rogers kind of went to throw at anticipating, oh,
I got a wide receiver here. He's gonna you know,
break out and burn this linebacker, and then he kind

(09:19):
of saw like, oh, he covered it perfectly, and like
you're saying that, he almost like came up on it
a little bit because he was just like, I gotta
avoid Henley and crap.

Speaker 2 (09:28):
Split second, might be thinking I'll throw it rolling my
guy can get it. Yeah, right, split second. But then
then again everything, yeah, everything was said, so it's I
don't know which it was. But at the same time
that ball didn't say might have been intercepted by the
defender by Henley. Yeah. Yeah, so uh, you know, you
look at those. I mean, I can go through miss
after missed throw, you know. So there was the rest

(09:49):
of the offense though, I don't know, it's crazy to
say that we pined this, but it's pretty much starts
and ends there. I you know, those plays are to
be made. I don't of you expect them all to
be made. I mean obviously the second interceptions on Colvin
Austin and just things like that.

Speaker 1 (10:06):
I mean, it doesn't matter, that's not a Rogers thing there.

Speaker 2 (10:08):
Yeah, there was a lot of plays. I mean Boswell
missed a field goal, Joey Porter drops the interception. There
are a lot of little plays here, and that's normal
Joey Porter June dropping an interception, but the other two
are wildly weird. Though.

Speaker 1 (10:21):
Yeah, the Rogers is playing Boswell missing and it wasn't
even like a sixty eight yarder, you know what I mean,
It wasn't. Yeah, it's like a four.

Speaker 2 (10:28):
It's crazy because you start, he makes the fifty nine,
you know, say to myself, I'm what the fuck? How
automatic Boswell was from literal literally anywhere they tie him
problem and then he misses the quote unquote chip shot,
which again, even you know, a decade ago, a forty
five yarder was a chip shot by by most.

Speaker 1 (10:44):
God, people would be sweating bullets for a forty five
or just ten years ago.

Speaker 2 (10:48):
Yeah, remember the Joss Scobi era for the Steelers.

Speaker 1 (10:51):
Over the last night, I see Kickers at like Fox
Chapel High School nail and like sixty do you see
that kid by the way, he's freaking torch.

Speaker 2 (10:57):
Yeah, they got the so yeah, all the way around,
there was a lot to look at. But but you're right,
But I mean, I guess don't know if I'm gonna
put words in your mouth, but yeah, it starts to
end with if Rogers had been good, been good, Rogers
been above average, had had one of his better games
this Steeler. I think that's a winnable game in a
little ways. You could pick it apart, look look at
plays made here and there and and say a lot,

(11:20):
because I still felt like them were plays, just a
couple of plays, and it maybe not. I don't know.
They were down what twenty five.

Speaker 1 (11:25):
To three, so that's what it was, a slow bleed
from the.

Speaker 2 (11:28):
Yeah, they were obviously within a couple scores the whole
way until until he got to the fourth quarter. And
just you pick apart at one drive where they drove
into the red zone for what five seconds? That was
the only red zone trip until the fourth quarter. But
you get to the red zone and how did it
all come aparty? You have a nice Caleb Johnson run
at that point, then you got a holding call on
fo Tone that brings it back out, and then you

(11:51):
still get that's the John new the high pass to
john who that he didn't catch and the ball was
high and he was wide open. So you had two
like almost they weren't. I think I were two third, No,
the first was second uncovers. You get the point though,
two plays deeper in the red zone, have a first
down inside the fifteen and they're both taking away twice
from you, and then bald Will misses the field go
on top of that, it's really had insult, the injury,

(12:12):
just flating. And that was the only, like I said,
the only good drivers. But the nineteen yard pass, the
dk A fifteen yard pass, the Darnell a nine yard
run by Jayalen Warren, a nine yard reception by so
that that was their the best the offense looked all
game and then it just that happens in this mistake
after mistake, after three mistakes in a row, on consecutive
snaps that that cost you. Shot at seven points, shot
at seven points and three points.

Speaker 1 (12:34):
Now Rogers was the worst Steeler if you're looking at
an individual player. He knows that he wore it in
his press conference last night. But the worst aspect of
this game offense defense has got to be third downs
for the Steelers. Their third down conversion rate. They were
two for eleven in this game overall, both of those

(12:54):
coming in garbage times over nine to like the three
minute mark of the fourth quarter. Sure, they were just
abysmal on those weightiest of downs, And hey, I think
there's no coincidence your quarterback played crap, and your crap
on third down conversions. That's when you need your quarterback
the most to be the quarterback. Third and five, No worries,

(13:15):
I got this, got a little behind schedule. Here it's
third and nine. Here we go, easy slant to DK.
Let's get back in front of the chains. Let's get
a first down and reset this drive. And Rogers has
been good at that all year. They've been struggling when
it comes to three and outs this year, but you
haven't seen it that bad. I mean that again is

(13:36):
going back to some of those days a couple of
years ago where it was just remarkably bad. The output
the offense was putting out there on the field. Oh
for nine is really what I like to look at
it as. Because that two coming in garbage time, you know,
Chargers soften up their coverage there. They're giving you the
sticks because they're just trying to make sure that there's

(13:57):
nothing deep than Their main goal is to just tackle
everybody bounds. They want completions and to tackle everybody in bounds.
So it's tough to even look at that and be like, well,
you saved yourself a little bit of embarrassment by being
two and eleven. Well, two to eleven is really bad,
and it was really zero for nine.

Speaker 2 (14:11):
Yeah, and that's seven and thirty three the past three games. Now, yeah, thirty.
It was five for thirty one until your aforementioned two
and I don't even know. I guess I could go
back to the Green Bay game. That might be a
third down conversion there in the fourth quarter or is
something when they.

Speaker 1 (14:22):
Write that down seven three.

Speaker 2 (14:25):
The last three games, I remember that would also that
they were run there of five to thirty one up
until those final two third down conversions late in as
garbage time in the in the Chargers game here. So, yeah,
the Steelers down to twenty six in the league and
third nine percent of thirty six percent for the season.
That's after starting out pretty well and having some good games,
or at least in the middle of this stright. There

(14:45):
were seven for ten against the Bengals. It's the Bengals.
Anybody picked up third downs against the Bengals, I feel
like right now, But since then seven and three games
combined seven third down conversions in three games, and like
I said, it should be almost five in terms of
when the defense is really trying to stop you on
third downs. That's telling and your right. I think a
lot of times we get to listen third down conversions.

(15:07):
Mike Tomlin harps in this they can tell the story
of a game and then we kind of harp on
it and I'll, you know, I harp whatever. I'm just
but we look at that. But to use a Mike
Tomlin ware, it's not mystical here when your offense isn't clicking.
It's not as if, oh, first and there's nothing mistal
goal while putting that three up on the on there.
It's just like your offense isn't isn't doing what it
should be doing right, And you can look at it.

(15:29):
Sometimes it is more because you have third and longs
and that's first and second down. That happens a lot probably,
But you know, if you're if you're getting four yards
when you need at different times not getting on third down,
it isn't a isn't a symptom of itself. It's a
symptom of the offense not doing its job overall. So yeah,
I don't know, like, you know, what can you hang
your head on. I was in the second traight game

(15:49):
with Jalen Warring getting five yards of carry. I guess
you could look at that now. This one, unlike the
last one when we thought it was should have been
tailor made for a second half of heavy Jaal Jalen Warren.
This one you're you're, but you're not. You weren't done
by two scores?

Speaker 1 (16:03):
No, Like it was never a point. You should have
never abandoned the run. You should have never And they
just keep getting in too much of a habit with this.
Chris is you look at the box square after the
game and it's like, Jalen Warren's averaging five yards of carry?
Why didn't we just try to do that a little
bit more? And it's not just in the running game.
Why is he not getting the ball more? Why is

(16:25):
it Kenneth Gainwell on that play that Rogers did sail
it on when they're trying to get something going, he
tries to flare one out into the flat. Why is
that Kenneth Gainwell? Why is that not Jalen Warren On
the field, You could argue he's your best weapon on offense.

Speaker 2 (16:40):
It should be.

Speaker 1 (16:41):
DK Metcalf pedigree and talent wise, it di tates it
should be DK Metcalf, but has not been It's been
Jalen Warren. And why are you not leaning into that more?
This team has wanted to be a running football team
for years, so why are they kind of, I don't know,

(17:01):
a bit resistant to it. And I know Mike Tomlin
after the game at his press conference, they asked him
that and he was like, guys, we're oh for nine
on three. He was feisty. Huh, he was, We're oh
for nine. Next, Yeah, a couple next, you know, it's
he was pulling the lane from seinfound suit next. But anyway,

(17:21):
he was saying, hey, you're over nine on third downs.
You know you're not gonna Okay, maybe you aren't oh
for nine on three, and maybe you don't get for
third downs if you're running the ball more successfully, if
you're committing more to the run. And I gotta be
honest with you, I do wonder a little bit of
how much it's the quarterback at the line of scrimmage
checking out of runs thinking he doesn't like it and
going into some quick passing stuff. And it has been working.

(17:45):
But that is clearly the Chargers defense strength. We talked
about that last week. They're one of the best passing
defenses in football. You beat them on the ground, and
you were beating them on the ground when they just
threw the ball too much against an elite pass defense.

Speaker 2 (18:01):
And to your point earlier on there about Warren being
a receiver, remember the first actual snap that counted of
the game was a pass to Warren and we had
one catch then in the fourth quarter, and that was
the only two targets he got all game.

Speaker 1 (18:11):
So even if you are and when you say that's
his best strength is out of the backfield as a
receiving back, I.

Speaker 2 (18:17):
Mean we had that long. Yeah, i'd probably it's definitely.
I don't want to put words in your mouth. It's
it's he's a good runner too, But yeah, I think
you could. That is the way you could hit the
biggest It's the second biggest play of the season for
the Steelers other than DK in Dublin. An eighty yard
reception is a Jalen Warren catch and run. What it

(18:37):
was against Seattle. Right, Uh, So that show's there. Yeah,
he could do that. We've seen that. He's been a
third down back throughout his career until this year, and
whenever he's going to be catching those passes and yeah,
i'd like to see that more too, especially if you
are what's to say, it's gonna the benefit of the
down and your theory. Here they change out check out
of a running play, you still have Warren on the field, right,

(18:59):
he can probably he could still get yeah, go out
gone that way. So I don't know, Yeah, all the
way around, there's there's a there's a lot, a lot
to unpack here. Overall, you could take the simple route.
And I think it's absolutely true that if Rogers had
been if Rodgers was average, they probably still would have
lost the game, but it would have been more competitive
if Rogers was good. I think they still had a

(19:21):
winnable game there in terms of everything that that they
just miss and but there were other plays out there
that the different guys missed at different points. And yeah,
the running game thing, it's crazy because now we were
saying this last week too, and you know, the getting
five yards of carry and you just feel like Warren.
I don't know if that's especially now because now you

(19:41):
put two stinkers out there offensively, Maybe you do kind
of go back in the lab and kind of re
evaluate where you're at and what you want to be
as an offense.

Speaker 1 (19:48):
Well, let's continue unpacking this next and I want to
talk about the defense actually, because they're not entirely off
the hook when it comes to what happened on Sunday
night football against the Chargers. It's Chris Damski, It's Tom
op froman you're listening to the Steelers Blitz on Steelers
Nation Radio, a part of the Steelers Audio Network. You

(20:12):
know what I'm seeing a lot of as I was
laying in bed at three in the morning, not able
to fall asleep after working all damn day and night.

Speaker 2 (20:19):
How longer days? All right? I never put it together.
I heard you like in the I know you do
the postgame show, but or part of you know, but
I know you heard you in the air, and I
was like, wow, Tom's voices be on the air for
like twelve hours straight now.

Speaker 1 (20:29):
And can I be honest with you, Yes, please, I
love every second of it, every.

Speaker 2 (20:34):
The labor of love it. You love what It's twenty
five to three and it's eleven thirty at night, Like
I still got four hours the hour. That's what I
love the most.

Speaker 1 (20:42):
I gotta be honest with you.

Speaker 2 (20:43):
It's so much fun.

Speaker 1 (20:44):
Yes, No, it's terrible when it's like that, but it's
still a blast to do this. Uh, but they are
long days and they're tough to unwind from after you
get home, but working all day, I don't want to
go right to sleep. But a lot of what I
was seeing was man the offense let the defense. And yes,
that is kind of a basic way to look at it,

(21:04):
because the offense was abysmal in this game, but the
defense wasn't perfect. It was abusing Herbert. It banged him up,
looked like he might have to leave the game, got
both of his ankles taped, and they asked him in
the postgame interview on the field how he was feeling,
and he played it super coyous. I'm good, thanks for asking,

(21:26):
and just kind of like smiled right back at the reporter.
She's like, all right, moving on over here to Keenan Allen.
I'm not gonna tell us anything, huh. Justin so, I
think he was in a lot of pain fighting through
that game, and boy, he was getting hit hard. And
I think the Chargers knew obviously to expect that their
offensive line was going to be deficient against this Steelers
pass rush. I think Herbert and Harbaugh just sat back

(21:49):
in the office one day and was Herbert's I'm tough
son him a bit like, I'm I'm able to take
this beating. I have the third most sacks under my
belt in the NFL this year. I'm fine getting hit
a little bit if that means we get to make
some plays. And the Chargers also committed to the run.
They only averaged three point seven yards per carry, but
they ran the ball thirty one times, so they did

(22:10):
that to kind of help combat against that Steelers pass rush.
But the pass rush was really the only thing that
I look at and say, yeah, that was you know,
Steelers defense. That was the sauce. That was the identity.
It didn't lead to the other crucial part of their identity, though,
And that's the takeaway. And so it's tough for me
to completely sit here and be like, well, defense played

(22:33):
a plus football and the offense just completely sold them.
They did sell them, but that is not an a
plus performance because that defense is predicated on the turnover.
We talked all last week about how you need to
take the ball away or else you just don't play
at an elite level as a defense. That is what
you need to do. And a failure to do so,

(22:57):
to not get a single takeaway. It's tough to completely
absolve the defense of any blame because they're so good
at it and they have such a track record of
doing it. And Herbert had eight interceptions entering the game.
The Chargers had twelve giveaways entering the game. This was
a team that was willing to give you the ball

(23:17):
and some of these things and this I'm gonna bring
up some of these numbers. More bigger picture for where
this season is.

Speaker 2 (23:23):
I'm gonna throw away the Browns because still and Gabriel
wins the brown So in the non Browns division of
Steelers games this season, the eight games the Steelers have
played against the not Browns. Okay, the Steelers giving up
three hundred and fourteen yards of the Chargers was their
best their lowest opponent yardage that's outside the Browns. I
want to say the Browns again, but three hund fourteen

(23:43):
yards was their best. One hundred ninety nine net yards
passing was their best performance or the lowest performance of
any opponents so far. Yards per play four point six
their best performance outside of Cleveland. Yards per pass attempt
five point two, best of any opponent so far as
the Steelers' best job and continue o putent so far
the season. So now all those numbers, some of them

(24:07):
are some of them are pretty good, some of them
are just average Matt, like three and fourteen yards. You know,
I always go back. I think I think of that
two thousand and eight Steelers defense way too often.

Speaker 1 (24:16):
You can't do that anymore.

Speaker 2 (24:17):
But it was just like nobody they did not allow
one to put.

Speaker 1 (24:20):
Not because of the Steelers defense. Now it's because of
the way the.

Speaker 2 (24:23):
NFL is in general. But still, wow, to think I
can't hit me that hard anymore. Yeah, that's an excellent point.
You're right a lot. How many penalties would have been
if that god that team played the.

Speaker 1 (24:32):
Day God, would Clark and Harrison have been able to
finish the season?

Speaker 2 (24:36):
How many fights or whatever we wrapped up? Oh God,
that's like you start to get old enough, you become
a time caps and I'm like, man, I feel like
that's not that long ago. But you know, I'm just
I'm getting old now, and eighteen years, seventeen years not
that long ago as it used to be. Whenever seventeen
years I couldn't remember because I was barely alive anyway.
So those are the things. And yeah, so three hundred
and fourteen yards is to bother you right now. You

(24:57):
look at that and like that's great performance. I mean
it's been against Herbert against I get the Chargers against Herbert,
and I know there's you know, and they were pretty
much driving all the way until the fourth. It wasn't
as if they were sitting on the ball in the
second half. Really they still were moving the ballard. I mean,
they they were. What I'm saying is they weren't just
running the ball into the ground sitting there.

Speaker 1 (25:14):
Yeah, exactly in her nest.

Speaker 2 (25:17):
That's quite a quite a visual you get. Yeah, but
you get the five sacks, so that split, you know,
and there was but I still felt like just because
of the tackle situation with the Chargers and there was hits,
there was pressure. I don't know how to like this
is something unquantifiable and maybe I'm wrong, Maybe it's just
me and my view, because you got what was I
think there was nine quarterback hits you with the five sacks,

(25:41):
but and maybe because I had higher hopes or expectations
or I thought they needed more because of the Charger
down to what their fourth and fifth tackles or whatever
it is. And they're two you know, arguably too Herd
or two of their best players in the entire roster,
or their tackles.

Speaker 1 (25:55):
Five sacks though, I mean it's tough to get more.

Speaker 2 (25:57):
Yeah, yeah, so I can't, especially with a mobile quarter. Yeah.
And they and they obviously like everybody does. But the
Chargers clearly had a had a game planned. They weren't
gonna it was on these long seven step drops things
like that, and I'm.

Speaker 1 (26:09):
Goin to put our backup tackles one on one here.

Speaker 2 (26:11):
Yeah, they were doing things like that and gore in
the ball quickly, but you do kind of And now
it's as crazy because like I brought that up early
that we were talking two weeks ago, but it needs
to be an offensive team. Now it's like now we
feel like, well the defense needed to uh, they needed
to make that splash, but they needed to get the turnover.
They need to get the takeaway, and you know, Joey
Porter Junior had one in his hands and there's a
you know, it's a they say it's a fine line.

(26:32):
The squashing grapes and all that stuff, and the Jaylen
Ramsey referenced on Friday afternoon, by the way, which I
thought was so he said what it would coach say
about the uh the lines and grapes or yeah, something
like that. Uh, but it is a you know, you
get a couple of tip passes, they maybe you feel
like you could you get a turnover takeaway. Maybe it's
something different there too, But yeah, especially the way that

(26:52):
game was playing out too, I think, and I think
the defense knew it, and I there's a point where
I see I think tie possession overall is overrated when
you're worrying about it, but there's a point where it's
happening every single game, especially when you have an older
team that I'm willing to say now, there's a correlation

(27:12):
between the Steelers giving up so many fourth quarter points
and second half points in their age and their age
and and being on the field. They're on the field
more than any defense in the league.

Speaker 1 (27:21):
Yes, just such a problem.

Speaker 2 (27:23):
And it's like you know, in a vacuum time, position
doesn't have to be a problem if you're a quick
strike offense and you're scoring points. But that's wasn't the
case last night, So that certainly wasn't it. And I
do think now that there's an attrition factor where this
is what a three to two game or a sixth
whatever it was in the bottom of the yeah, late

(27:43):
in the second quarter, and you're feeling like, okay, the
defense and but you know, at that point then you're
you're probably as the defense. You're thinking as a watching
the game as a Steeler fan or observer, just ad Okay,
the defense has to make a play here, right, I
think at halftime you're think, Okay, the defense, need we
need a pick six, uh, some sort of splash splash
play here to get to yeah, keep it because and

(28:04):
that that's where the penninglum swung all the way back
to that and they never got that. And yeah, I
don't know now is that the rest of me going
for now? You got who knows what the heck the
Bengals game will be again, it's gonna be another maybe
the off the offense will look everything a little fine
because of playing the Bengals defense in six days here.

Speaker 1 (28:19):
Yeah, that's a good deodorant for sure, to mask any
stench that your offenses are putting up there. But when
it comes to the Steelers defense in the splash, you know,
sacks are splashy they are, and there were some big sacks.
There's some third down sacks in that game, but they
didn't debilitate the charges at all. Like I said, it's

(28:42):
almost like Herbert was kind of just sitting back, like,
you know what I'm gonna I'm gonna take six sacks
in this game.

Speaker 2 (28:47):
I'm gonna have that.

Speaker 1 (28:48):
Mindset going into it and not worry about it. And
they didn't worry about it. And he's such a good
quarterback that a sack on second and five to make
it second or third and eleven doesn't face him at all.
I mean, he's just okay, I'll just hit Lad McConkey
for a first down. It's not There are certain quarterbacks
and this is why you're always on the hunt for them.
It's like you get the third and twenty five is

(29:10):
almost where you have to go, where it's like, well,
they probably won't get this one, and even them sometimes
pick that up. So he's one of those dudes that like,
you know, yeah, sacks are splashy, and I love five sacks,
but it's not enough against him. They needed to lead
to turnovers. You needed to strip the ball out of
his hand in one of those sacks. That's the most
important part of their formula, and it wasn't there.

Speaker 2 (29:32):
Yeah, I felt like like I was trying to get
to an articulator. Just five sacks is it's a lot
of sacks, especially when you're you know, trailing the entire game.
Because I'm sure if they got zero sacks, the you know,
excuse or the justification be well, they weren't really passing
the ball.

Speaker 1 (29:48):
But it's this wasn't like the Flacco game where they
got two very arbitrary sacks. Only one was kind of
arbitrary TJ wats sack late in the game.

Speaker 2 (29:56):
Yeah, and I but at the same time, you're right,
I don't know. I didn't feel like they dominated. Does
that makes sense exactly?

Speaker 1 (30:03):
Like exactly, That's why give them that A plus A
great job defense.

Speaker 2 (30:07):
So I don't want to criticize cause I mean, five
sacks is five sacks. And they got some other pressures,
and there were a couple of times when you I
remember one of one of their I think that one
of their field goal drives in the for second quarter,
Herbert was hitting consecutive throws when he's trying to go
to the end zone. So in a way that those pressures,
you know, saved four points there, So it wasn't if
it wasn't obviously wasn't a poor performance by the pass rush.

(30:27):
But maybe, and maybe it's the expectation. Maybe I'm kind
of doing the thing where you know, results base, you know,
if they won this game, Oh what a dominant pat
you know, maybe I'm doing that myself instead of analyzing.
But watching the game, I'm like, I just felt they
were more than meeting the bone or how they could
have dominated. I think, and it probably is I'm thinking
more because the Chargers are down so beat up on
their offensive line and down so far down there down

(30:48):
their list.

Speaker 1 (30:49):
No, I mean I feel the same way. And again
it kind of goes back to what I'm saying about
how it just didn't phase Herbert. It just didn't phase
their offense. They just brought it was just you know, whatever,
brush it off, move on to the next play. Wasn't
like it created this sense of chaos throughout the game.
Herbert started, you know, gripping the ball a little tighter,
started getting a little happy feet in the pocket.

Speaker 2 (31:11):
So yeah, it.

Speaker 1 (31:12):
Wasn't you know, as dominating as a five sack performance
as you'd think it would be just looking at you know,
pulling out the box score and saying, oh wow, they
got five sacks. They hit the quarterback nine times. Herbert
was kind of abused, and he was, but he took
it in stride and it didn't, you know, break the
momentum of that Charger offense. The offense for the Steelers

(31:32):
just desperately needed a short field, and as the game
was wearing on, it was kind of obvious more and
more than they needed a short field. And I'm not
talking like those opening special teams gas by the Chargers,
the kickoff and then the first pun of the game
that set the Steelers up basically at midfield on their
first two possessions.

Speaker 2 (31:51):
I'm talking about like.

Speaker 1 (31:52):
A play that sets you up at like the Chargers thirty,
Like we need like four or five plays here to
get into the end zone. They so desperately needed that.
Aaron Rodgers at the end of the game, you know,
talking about how flat they were, could just never get
that one play. Well, sometimes the defense can birth that
one play. They just did it against the Colts. The
offense for this Dealers looked as bad as it did

(32:16):
for the full game. Basically against the Chargers, in their
first couple of possessions against the Colts.

Speaker 2 (32:20):
Then TJ.

Speaker 1 (32:20):
Watt has the huge play and it's like life is
breathed into the entire team. Breathe breathed. I don't know.
I'm not a scholar, but they sound like got some
momentum from that, and the offense was able to build
off of that, and then they get their big play.
It was so obvious that there was a desperate, desperate

(32:43):
need for that in this game, for the offense to
get a lightning strike from the defense, for the defense
to kind of provide that jolt to kind of wake
up the team. And despite the five sacks and hitting Herbert,
you never got that play. You never got that moment
Chargers did with that Khalil mack sack the safety. You know,
the Chargers got a couple of interceptions. The second one

(33:03):
doesn't really matter, but the first one was big momentum
shifting play. The Steelers splash just abandon them.

Speaker 2 (33:11):
Yeah, and you get that bad punt which is kind
of causy like a turnover, and it's put your in
the balls. Well, scoring reigns right away. They don't do
anything with it. And even things like that where the
offense as mediocre as the offense was against the Colts,
when it did get the short field, it made just
enough plays in those short fields to score points, to

(33:32):
score touchdowns what three times during the over the course
of that And obviously they didn't get that. I mean
they started no possessions. There was only one possession. Wow,
it's crazy. You think all the possessions there was the
opening kickoff when out of bound, start to forty and
then you got a forty five later on. Other than that,
nothing beyond you were twenty one to twenty eight, twenty three,
eight eighteen, all the yard lines where they started the

(33:55):
Pittsburgh said, did their own yard lines, all these and
you get the one there and just get five of
your hearts at forty one and a fifty nine yard
field goal, they're kind of for really the only points
until the final drive of the game. That's kind of
telling there too. So yeah, you hate to you can't
be we know you can't be dependent that on it.
And you would think that getting five sacks that it's

(34:16):
at some point that one of those balls, you know
you're gonna get your hand on a ball or something.
You just think over the course of having five sacks
that you might play the percentage one of them is
going to be a strip sack, or at least one
of them is gonna be a ball on the ground.
Maybe you pick it up or not to where the
other team the quarterback falls on it, or whatever it
might be that didn't happen. But it's it's been what
is it now, four games with no takeaways this season?

(34:38):
And then what three with five or more? Right? Is
that what it's? Yeah, it's like that is two boom
or boes?

Speaker 1 (34:43):
Yeah, I mean, can we please get like two or
three a game and just keep it more consistent? It's
kind of yeah, go because when it's zero again, it's
lived by the three, died by the three duke basketball.
We just lost the lee high, you know what I mean,
because we can't make a three. When you're draining them,
you beat the number one offense in football and make
them look bad. But when you're missing them, there's just

(35:04):
this defense isn't really built. Like TJ what was saying
after the game, we got to be better at getting
off the field. We got to be better at, you know,
stopping them on third downs and and turning that ball over.
You know, he said, we can't live or die by
the takeaway, and he's right. I would prefer them not to,
but you do, so get busy living and get some
takeaways or you're gonna get busy dying.

Speaker 2 (35:25):
Yeah, And I think that he said they were trying,
and I'm sure they are. I know they are, and
that they know their identity. Now at this point, they know,
you know their shortcomings, they know what they are. They
can be better, they can improve on that, and they've
been I guess they've been marginally better these past couple
of games. And of course, you know, we even talked

(35:47):
about if Tugger played every snap again and Ramsey played
every every snap and generally played a free safety or
played back too, so you know, he didn't move up
a little more of this game. I think he did
last week in terms of his versatility and were it
lined up. But all that it seems like window dress.
It's like, you know, you want to roll your sleeves
up and look at someone of the minutia this game
and talk about some of the things, but it's just
just just disheartening, and you got to kind of harp

(36:08):
on the offense and where it's at and the lack
of takeaways certainly doesn't do the offense any fair at best.
It doesn't do the offense any favors at worst. It's
kind of become what the recipe needs to be for
this team. And they've they've beaten the two well, the
two best records in the FC. You're gonna say they're
two best teams the FC. I mean, you could probably
watch the Buffalo this week. It's hard to put them

(36:30):
up there, although it's the best team of four and
five team right now. And we'll get into the rest
of the league here to another segment of Baltimore. I mean,
it's now the two teams are out of the playoffs
right now. That's what the ANC is right now. Arguably
the two best teams are not in the playoff picture
at the moment.

Speaker 1 (36:47):
You know, I'd like to say the Chargers, they're just
too injured on their offense. Yeah, that tackle thing is
going to be a problem that you feel like that's
not sustainable. I'm high on them next year though, when
they're healthy.

Speaker 2 (36:57):
Yeah, it's kind of scary to think what they could
be right now.

Speaker 1 (36:59):
If they managed it well against a good football team.
Steelers last night got a huge win. I mean, if
they lose that game, I was saying, that's a big
thing for the Steelers is to get that win because
you kind of can push them in the direction of
kind of slipping down the slippy slide and being outside
of the playoff picture. But now that they're seven and three,
they look like they're at least going to be a
wild card.

Speaker 2 (37:18):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (37:19):
I really think they got to get three more wins
because I think ten and seven is gonna get you in.

Speaker 2 (37:22):
Yeah, and you kind of although Houston would did win
a big game to kind of keep.

Speaker 1 (37:26):
It, Yeah, but I think they pulled Jacksonville down and
Houston's not gonna Yeah, I get, but just the math, Yeah,
at some point I was wonder who else, Yeah, Jacksonville,
jackson We assume Jacksonville.

Speaker 2 (37:37):
Fall up, but regardless, Yeah, I mean, that's another part
of this whole thing is a missed opportunity for the
Steelers to get a tie breaker if Baltimore. If you
do lose the division to Baltimore, now you've lost the
game to one of the teams you'd probably be fighting
with for a wild card spot.

Speaker 1 (37:49):
We will pay people some money. Teddy will get to
hand out some checks. Maybe not on the offensive side
of the ball, and during the break we'll have to
powwow about that. But defense, I think deserves to get
there their moneymakers for this performance. So we'll hand those
out next as we continue breaking down the Steelers loss,
dropping them to five and four against the Los Angeles

(38:10):
Chargers on Sunday Night, Football's Chris Damskin Tom Opferman on
the Steelers Blitz on Steeers Nation Radio, part of the
Steelers Audio network. Chris I was concerned about what the
ripple effect of Jalen Ramsey moving to safety was gonna
do to the rest of the Steelers secondary, especially the

(38:32):
outside corners. And boy has that concern only grown after
this game against the Chargers. Maybe for the simple reason
if they are just so banged up now. I mean,
Joey Porter Junior gets hurt in that game. You know,
Brandon Eckles goes down at some point in that game.
James Pierre has to get tasked into duty. I mean,

(38:54):
it is razor thin right now.

Speaker 2 (38:56):
How many games they've had multiple DB's the game in game.

Speaker 1 (39:00):
And they're not the deepest room there in the first place,
especially when you take away from a corner and move
them to safety, and it didn't work as well as
it did against the Colts that move, that's for damn sure,
But I still like it, and I think that that
should be the idea moving forward. I worry, though, Chris,
that they are already in a situation though, where this

(39:21):
week against the Bengals they might have to pull him
out of that safety spot just out of pure necessity,
especially if Porter can't go, Like, what else are they
going to do? They need a corner.

Speaker 2 (39:30):
Yeah, it's like there is just a matter of bodies
at this point. Almost, It's like they don't even I
don't I don't think they would go to one of
the practice squad guys necessarily. Yeah, and they've always were
always for these two weeks, maintained, never committed to do
it full time. But I don't know, Like I mean,
Peppers will see if Peppers is able to come back.

(39:51):
I didn't get the impression the injury was that serious.
But also he didn't practice at all, and he didn't
get a limited or anything this past week, So it
makes me wonder where he's at.

Speaker 1 (39:59):
He's part of the illness to right, is any part
of the sickness.

Speaker 2 (40:01):
Well, not officially on the on the report, but maybe
we are trying to connect the dots. He might be
down with the sickness. Ah, please, that's a royalty Uh
is that a royalty violation?

Speaker 1 (40:14):
I didn't know my own I didn't it was my voice.

Speaker 2 (40:18):
That was actually pretty good.

Speaker 1 (40:19):
Thank you.

Speaker 2 (40:20):
That sounds like that was your That was your power rankings.

Speaker 1 (40:22):
Though you have a lot of practice in it. But anyway,
Pepper's hurt, we don't know, Yes, Clark hurt, it's sick.

Speaker 2 (40:28):
I don't know. They're not available though I do know that,
but it's also like, I don't know, with all due
respect to Peppers, do you want to put Peppers back
and say in like move you know, I don't know.
As mediocre as the defense was this this gay on
Sunday against the Chargers, I don't know if I still
think we're okay with Ramsey and Doug Er as your safeties.

(40:48):
I didn't feel like they were at all part of
the problem. I don't know they maybe they weren't dynamic
or whatever. But also there was no lapses. I didn't
feel like really back there at that end. So again,
you gotta gotta piece it together if you're doing doing
something else, well, we'll see where Sleigh is and what
you do. But yeah, the the I don't know if
the Eckles thing might be one of the classic like

(41:11):
overexposed or so, you know that, like you the Eckles
having a good season, but like a little less is more.
Maybe sometimes they're just in that slot role. Yeah specifically, Yeah,
so that that might that was a little discouraging.

Speaker 1 (41:23):
I think although in that slot role he got cook.
You probably lad mconkey on the touchdown, yes, and I.

Speaker 2 (41:29):
Think there's another Maconkee play for the one of the
one of the long ones or one of the first
down whatever.

Speaker 1 (41:33):
He's a real good slot too. I mean, he's a
fantastic slot that's true.

Speaker 2 (41:37):
That's true. And it was only only as as Mike
Tomlin reminded when when I pressed about mconkey said he
had four catches. I mean, I guess they were. They
were generally big kick to a long touchdown, a long game,
the first down. I get it, but it's still only four.
It wasn't like you know, but it wasn't Jamar Chase,
uh big four catches. It was a big four catches.
You're right, it was big, and especially.

Speaker 1 (41:58):
The touchdown one. I mean, that was just very poor coverage.

Speaker 2 (42:01):
He was wid wide open. Yeah, and at that moment,
in that moment of the game whenever, it was almost
like watching that series. The Chargers were unless they were
doing the old ropodope, I guess by that play, but
they were almost content to get the field goal and
what have been. But that had been what eight to
three at half time? That, yeah, I would have been
eight to three a half time, which would have been
a really funny halftime score. Almost as well, five to

(42:23):
three would win even funnier. But they, you know, they
didn't seem like I have an urgency. Looked they were
almost kind of laying up, or at least they weren't
laying up, but it looked they were satisfied and geting
the field goal, and judging by the way that ours
the game went, that wasn't an unwatched strategy. But then yeah,
then Maconkey's right there, and obviously those seven points, Uh,
it just changed the whole tenor of of the second

(42:44):
or the beginning of the second half too.

Speaker 1 (42:46):
I think, well, we decided that we're not going to
be handing out any money to the offensive side of
the ball. I don't even I guess Jalen Warren would
be the only candidate that would come to mind for
me because he did average close to five yards per carry.
In fact, you have five yards per carry right on
the nose. Fourteen carries for seventy yards. It seemed like
he was really the only offensive player that provided some juice.

(43:08):
Maybe Roman Wilson too, because he had a couple of
catches and he scored a touchdown again, but like that
was his touchdowns keep coming in garbage time. I would
love for his touchdown, one of his touchdowns to be
like this big game breaking moment, you know what I mean?

Speaker 2 (43:20):
How many of his catches period are either in.

Speaker 1 (43:23):
The only catch that mattered was the deep ball? Was
it against the Packers on Sunday night that he caught
to kind of get the offense.

Speaker 2 (43:29):
Going yeah that game? Yeah? And then there were yeah
because he has all these catches that won for Mason
Rudolph was his first career catch in the Seattle game
in the fourth course. The catch at the end of
the first half of this game was like, okay, garbage
time touchdowns, Yeah, you almost feel like they're okay, we
gotta get you know her, Roman, get some confidence here.
You go like I think Rogers in that final play

(43:49):
the first half. I'm gonna get Romans. We're gonna get
up glove here, dude. Maybe get them going so on
the defensive side of the ball.

Speaker 1 (43:56):
My money maker today, Chris, I'm gonna go with James Pierre.

Speaker 2 (44:00):
Paid that me and his money.

Speaker 1 (44:02):
I think he stepped up because he had to first
and foremost they were out of bodies. But he had
a few passes defense, he was really sticky in coverage.
I think he actually stepped up and delivered and earned
himself a chance to be that starting outside corner this week.
Maybe he's opposite a Joey Porter Junior. I hope that's

(44:22):
the case, if Joey can get healthy for this game
again since he maybe Ramsey's back to the outside because
he has to be maybe Slay Clear's concussion protocol. I
don't know, but I think if all is healthy, I
wouldn't hate rolling Joey Porter Junior and James Pierre out
there as my tandem.

Speaker 2 (44:38):
Yeah. I've talked a lot about it. He's been with
and they keep bringing him back. They love him on
special teams. He's give him a chance. He's pretty much
started games almost every year for the Steelers. He's two games,
two starts last season, two starts in twenty twenty two,
four start in twenty twenty one. I know there are
a couple of games there in twenty the other two seasons,
he's been, always been there, always been kind of their

(44:58):
their third outside owner. And give him a shot and
see him. Yeah, I mean you're right, because you kind
of forget he was in there, and you would think
normally that would be something that will be exploited by
the Chargers by a good quarterback, and it wasn't right. So, yeah,
James Pierre, maybe he's part of the going forward here,
more part of the defense. I gotta go. I mean,

(45:20):
it's two games a row with multi sacks, right, you're
gonta give Dallex you had to or you has to.
I'm to say I gave it him my figure, you know,
get some recognitions there. Now do you count a multi said?
Let me ask you this time, we had this eternal debate.
Ones is one and a half sacks a multi sack game?
It's two half sacked. That's even weirder. The two half sacks?

(45:41):
Is that a multi sack game? I'd say no for
that one. You don't see one in the stat sheet.
You're gonna go through and parcel these. What do you got?

Speaker 1 (45:47):
So I would probably say yes, but I feel like
Countnton Junior right now. My mind's in such a pretzel.
You you hit the reset button on me. I'm gonna
say half sacks, like a two half sacked game is
not a multi sa game? Yes, but one and a
half one and a half? Oh man, I don't know
the theory.

Speaker 2 (46:06):
That could be three half sacks too.

Speaker 1 (46:08):
If we, in principle say that two halves does not
equal a multi sack game, how can we say that
another a half equals a multi sacking. I'm gonna say no,
I'm gonna say you need too. I'm gonna say you
need two sacks to have a multi sack game.

Speaker 2 (46:21):
Demp late thinking about the game the other the kind
of things I play like half so labeled a multi
sack game or so. Alex Heismith to this point, before
the last two weeks, had ten games where he had
at least one and a half sacks, and he had
six games at least two sacks. Now he had two
consecutive two sack games his career up those numbers eight
and twelve. So congrats to the extra cash handed figuratively

(46:42):
to alex he Smith.

Speaker 1 (46:44):
Can I get a little positive when we come back?
Dare I please? Do I share some positivity one name?
We all need some We need some positivity. There is
one thing I liked when it came to the Steelers defense. Well,
there's a couple of things out like, but one thing
in particular that we'll talk about next Christi Daanski and
Tom Opferman. I'll just it was blitzed on Steewars Nation
Radio