HR 2 - Punch That Ball Out, NFL Picks

Tom and Chris talk about the Steelers defense need to force turnovers in this matchup, look at the rest of the Week 9 NFL schedule, and make their NFL picks and Steelers game picks

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:09):
That's fitting.

Speaker 2 (00:10):
Huh. A little Halloween, a little royalty free. Very important
to get that out there. This is free to use.
I'm looking at it right here. No copyright music right
in front of me here, Halloween royalty free music. It's
got the vibes right though, right.

Speaker 1 (00:24):
I like the little video you got going on the
YouTube thing here.

Speaker 2 (00:26):
That's good to bring up Chris on the audio media.
No one can see that way to go. I like
this though, you know it's spooky enough. It gets the
job done. You excited for Halloween tonight? Chris? Trick or
treating with the old a damn ski offspring thrilled? That
does not sound like you throw your dressed like a pumpkin.
Right now? You got a big old bright orange shirt on.

Speaker 1 (00:45):
Something everything I warn't you could find. Yes, I will
be trick or treating. I'm going to be siphoning away
as many candy bars as I can out of these
dat tack.

Speaker 2 (00:55):
Now, are you an adult that goes as a costume
too with your kids?

Speaker 1 (00:59):
I don't know, just because I'm lazy doing it.

Speaker 2 (01:01):
This year, though, aren't you? I can sense the disdain?

Speaker 1 (01:05):
Told me we are, but I have no details on
on what I mean, I know she told me what
the costume is supposed to be, but she told me
earlier in the week. She was real excited about it.
But I've heard it since I haven't brought it up,
and I wonder if I'm gonna be like, here's what
you're wearing and be it so we'll find out I can.

Speaker 2 (01:20):
It's going to be so bad. The fact that she's
not revealing it to you. It's going to be so bad.
You're going to be dressed like something just so embarrassing.
It's gonna be so funny. What's your best costume as
a kid? Like, what's your favorite one? That's the one
you hang your hat on?

Speaker 1 (01:31):
Man, I don't know, Like I'll tell you what you
can think about it. I'm sorry.

Speaker 2 (01:35):
I think mine is. That's the theme of the show,
isn't it. I should have been more prepared, Like every
time we come in and open these microfrom both of us,
for both of us, it's like, you know, we should
have really thought about what we're going to say. Yeah,
I think I gotta go. I was Austin Powers, like
around eighth grade, and that was a really good costume, man,
Like I had the fake teeth and everything, like full
on like suit. I wish I still had the suit.

(01:56):
I mean, it wouldn't fit me anymore. I'm so fat
compared to what I was back then. That was a
good one. And then it was Homer Simpson one year too.
I didn't like paint the skin yellow though, like some
people do. I had like a Homer mask that you
would like it was giant, larger than life, and then
you put a big old pillow in your stomach to
do the belly. Yeah. Those are two pretty good ones,
are you.

Speaker 1 (02:17):
They still have the rubber band plastic masks that like
you couldn't breathe and it like felt like it was
gonna hurt your ears. Like that was like the cheap
costume we got everywhere like it came. We still have.
They still they still have now, even I feel like
they've evolved now. In the cup mask or more than not.
Would always break like an hour into tri hold a
trick or tree, because you want to show up your
costume and be all. If you're young enough, you could

(02:37):
start crying because your costume fell apart or whatever, and
then you get all sugared up and crying more because
you're all fired up and that's just it's because I'm
going through now. That's why by lack of overall enthusiasm
when you asked me to begin with, is I know
how the night it's gonna be fun something?

Speaker 2 (02:52):
I don't know what you're talking about. And I also
liked to you know, every kid has to go through
that phase where they get that you know, skeleton or
scream map that pumps the blood through it. You know,
talking about like the blood little effects. We have a
little pump in your hand. Yeah, that's a popular one
as well. Did you think of what your favorite one
as a kid?

Speaker 1 (03:09):
It was an eminem? I was a candy corn? Was
that that was my favorite? I did. I was probably
a little older than kid. You're looking probably more for that.
But yeah, you know, just color.

Speaker 2 (03:18):
It's easy, right, Just orange shirt, orange hat, yellow shirt
and white pants.

Speaker 1 (03:22):
That's a hat. Yeah, and you get a little like
sort of yeah, it was what we did.

Speaker 2 (03:25):
Do you like candy corn?

Speaker 1 (03:26):
I like it better than most people do. I'm not
like this like I love candy corn. Some people hate it.
I'm like I'll snack on candy corn.

Speaker 2 (03:32):
It's one of those things where it's like I'll see
a bowl of it, and I'll be like yeah, and
I'll have a few of them and I'm like, oh,
those aren't bad. But then you eat a lot and
it's like this kind of gets old, and I don't
think I would ever buy it, Like, I don't think
I would ever go to the store and buy myself
a bowl of candy corn to have around the house.
But if I see it, like in the office or something,
and then I'm like.

Speaker 1 (03:49):
Yeah, corner, okay, my big thing, and I'll fight you
to death if you're against this made the death. That's
kind of me is that I'm a big black liquorice guy.
Like I love black liquors, good and plenties. God, that's
got See that's what people are like that I would eat.
That's probably my favorite candy to eat. Oh my gosh,
like a good good and plenties or just a black

(04:09):
liquors in general, they were usually not available and uh,
you know, trick or treating.

Speaker 2 (04:14):
I think those are meant for punishments. I think those
are meant to be given out for kids that are bad.

Speaker 1 (04:18):
I love that flavor whatever that flavor some herb or
roots or something like, don't you not really?

Speaker 2 (04:26):
Yeah, it's like brushing your teeth. I'm not yea, give
me the candy.

Speaker 1 (04:29):
I also don't like sweet tarts. I don't like tart things.
I'm like, it's just so sweet, like yeah, sweetart right
the little Yeah. I don't like things that are sour.
I don't.

Speaker 2 (04:39):
I don't understand our patch kids either, nothing like that.
No gummy like that. I'm into those now black. Yeah,
I knew this. I thought this might touch in it
Is that your favorite candy? Like, I feel like like
the top dog.

Speaker 1 (04:53):
For me is but likes is the mess? I feel like,
yes candy. Yes, I feel like I have black lit.
It's easier like snack on black because chocolate, you know,
can belt and things like that. So it's harder to
transfer things, you know, because I have a thing to say.

Speaker 2 (05:05):
Well, I don't want the chocolate, so I'll just go
with the liquorice.

Speaker 1 (05:08):
I like the Clark and butter fingers like, which are
different but the same kind of idea.

Speaker 2 (05:13):
They are really similar.

Speaker 1 (05:14):
Yeah, yeah, they're my probably my favorite candy candy.

Speaker 2 (05:18):
You know, No, that's are fine. Butterfingers are very sneaky.
You forget about them a lot.

Speaker 1 (05:22):
Yeah, I think they're underrated for sure. I mean Snickers
is a is a standby good.

Speaker 2 (05:26):
Niggers is basically a meal. Like you need a lunch,
you reach have a snickers. Yeah. Is Jonathan Taylor more
tradition Michael Myers or more Jason Oh my lord, they're
very similar. Yeah. I think he's more Michael Myers because
he just keeps going and going and going.

Speaker 1 (05:45):
I think the white mask and the white helmet, I
think it kind.

Speaker 2 (05:48):
Of there you go. Although Jason has a white hockey
mask too, but that's a completely different sport that we're talking.

Speaker 1 (05:52):
About now exactly.

Speaker 2 (05:54):
But I just needed to do a monster analogy to
get us back to football. Okay, don't hold me to it.
We're not actually breaking it down. Your Michael Myers this weekend.
He is just unstoppable. You know, you got doctor Lowis.
He's putting like fifteen rounds into Mike Myers. He just
gets right back up. He keeps chasing Lorrie Strode. Jonathan
Taylor just keeps going and going and going and going.

(06:15):
He's the best running back in football. He's going to
be the offensive player of the year. I said yesterday,
do you almost want to employ the strategy where it's
like just let him get his let him go for
one hundred and twenty yards in a touchdown, and try
to limit everybody else on that Colts offense and then
also try to just outscore that Colts offense. Yeah, I
think that that's a sound strategy, as odd as that
might sound to you. But here's another little wrinkle that

(06:37):
I want to throw into things. Get those TJ. Watt
and Peanut Tillman punches going. Every time Jonathan Taylor gets
held up in the pile, punch, punch, punch, punch.

Speaker 1 (06:50):
You gotta get that ball out.

Speaker 2 (06:52):
He had a little bit of a ball control problem,
a ball security problem coming out of Wisconsin. I remember
that the two knocks on Jonathan Taylor and he fell
into the second round. And based on what he's doing,
there's no way this guy should have fallen out of
the top five. But he fell to the second round
because ball security was an issue for him out of Wisconsin,
and he wasn't doing anything out of the backfield in Wisconsin.

(07:12):
Why would Wisconsin throw him the out of the backfield?
All they had to do was halfback dive and he
would take it like fifty yards. So those are two
things that you were kind of like, eh, well, maybe
he won't be as well rounded in those fumble issues.
You can't do that at the NFL level. He's been
fine as far as a fumble issue is concerned in
the NFL. It's not to say that he's never fumbled,
but he's been fine. And now he's a really good
threat out of the backfield too in the passing game.

(07:32):
So he's really shored up his two kind of obvious weaknesses.
But still he has that track record in him. Punch
that damn ball out. I want to see crazy, Like
I'm watching on the TV feed and I'm like, oh
my god, that's an assault, Like I want to see that.
You gotta get the ball out on the turf. That's
the best bet against him, because he's gonna get yards
like this is happening like six seven yards down the

(07:53):
field in my mind. And then you get a safety
kind of slow him up and he's still trying to
fight for extra yards and then punch, punch, punch it out.

Speaker 1 (08:00):
It is very horror movie like a sort of and
I you know, if we're talking about getting the Steelers
defense mojo back, and I use all these words I
hate using, but Mojo like you know the if they need.

Speaker 2 (08:15):
To get you sounded like Austin powers there based on
what we talked about with my costume, the Steelers mojo.

Speaker 1 (08:23):
They need to get it back there. But they're swagger, yes,
and I think that the way the best way they
do that is takeaways. They've been lacking the takeaways that's
supposed to be what they are, the splash play element
of things. Like part of me almost thinks the the
higher odds of working path to take for strategy would

(08:45):
beat almost play more conservative? Is it the defense, especially
in conjunction conlinentary football at the offense? But I don't know,
like almost like I feel like it's almost like go
all in. These guys are playmakers. They're proud, like you
talked about. And whether that be more blitzing, whether it
be going from more sacks, maybe you know, going for
the ball more often, you slapping the ball the quarterback's

(09:06):
hands on the sacks, maybe trying for an interception where
it doesn't work, you give up a big play. I
don't know, but that fits it. What I'm saying is
that fits in what you're talking about into that where
maybe you allow a couple extra yards, you turn a
six yard an eight yard care because you tried. But
you know what, maybe it works one of the one
of the five or six times and you force a
fumble and that's a game change. You play. There's energy

(09:27):
on the defense. The defense feels good about itself again.
It feels this is what we are, this is what
we do. You know what. We gave up three hundred
whatever yards again this game, but we forced three turnovers
and we stayed in the game. We won. Whatever it
might be, I think that might be just having that
kind of mindset, what you're talking about. I think that
is even important. Yeah, to the turning this thing around defensively.

Speaker 2 (09:48):
Even if it's not you know, assaulting Jonathan Taylor with
eighteen million body blows and trying to get that ball out.
Just get the ball from somebody, get a turnover forced.
Because again we talked about it in the first hour,
your identity is sacking the quarterback. Your identity is getting
after the quarterback and making him feel pressure. But on
the heels of that, it's taking the ball away too.

(10:08):
And those are two categories that as far as the team,
you're still towards the top topper, the top half of
the league. When it comes to sacks and when it
comes to taking the ball away, but it's dried up
so epically, So what does that tell you about how
dominant it was for a stretch that you were able
to kind of build that cushion. As far as you're
standing around, the rest of the league is in those categories.

(10:28):
But it needs to change. Both of those aspects need
to change, and I think they both go hand in
hand with each other. The Steelers defense has just had
this even in years past, and you've brought this up before.
They allow teams to get yards. They allow teams to
move the chains and kind of get into dangerous areas
and get into the red zone, and then they force

(10:49):
the splash and they rely on taking the ball away
to kind of cover up from maybe you know, their
yards per game allowed or their run defense isn't exactly
where it should be as far as quote unquote elite
defenses should be. But our points per game looks good
because they can't score because they keep turning the ball over.
The more offense you have to play against us, the
more likely of a chance you're gonna make a mistake.
We're going to get you into a mistake. Well, the

(11:10):
first part of that is still happening. They're letting teams
go up and down the field on them, even more
so than in year's pass especially through the air and
on the ground too, to be quite honest. So it's
just they're just letting teams move the ball. And then
you know, you saw it in the Patriots game. They
bailed themselves out by getting big, weighty turnovers at the
goal line in their own end zone. But when that

(11:31):
dries up, it starts to look like the Colts or
the Bengals game, and it starts to look like the
Packers game, where you weren't able to pick Flacco off
at the yet your own ten yard line, You weren't
able to pick Jordan Love off, like one of those
passes through to Tucker Craft that you took into the
end zone. You weren't able to pop the ball out
of Tucker Craft right there as he was about to score,
and you pick it up and take it to another
fifteen yards back towards your yeah.

Speaker 1 (11:52):
Inside of the field. And as bad as the things looked,
and I interrupt in the second half.

Speaker 2 (11:57):
I'm actually done talking for the next ten minutes.

Speaker 1 (12:00):
I'll take over from here. That all it would have taken.
Maybe is the one one turnover in each of those games.
And it's cliche turnover battle, lah I get all that,
but that's that's true. That certainly in the Cincinnati game,
if you get one stop and then you have to
be a scoop and score or a pick six or whatever.
But you put yourself in a scoring position, especially now
if you have leath in the offense and with the
offense is done. Even in these two losses, the offense

(12:22):
has generally moved the ball, even get the ball at midfield,
or you get the ball when the scoring territory for
the other team, and that very well could have all
would have taken in one one takeaway in each of
those games. And maybe there's a different result because even
in the second half when the Packers were just moving
the ball will it still ended up being a It
was still the Stewards had the lead to start the
fourth quarter. Remember, so you don't know how things can

(12:42):
change from there. And and you know, the Steelers kind
of basic recipe over recent years has been conservative and offense,
don't turn the ball. It's been highly relying on the
turnover ratio because protect the football at all costs offensively,
be aggressive defensively, and I do kind of wonder. Part
of me thinks that it might be again, where if

(13:05):
you're going to be okay, you know what, take the
whatever we're doing, take the reins off the offense, roll
out there, try to try to outscore people. Essentially, they
bring me aggressive that way. I in some ways the
play would be to be more conservative defensively, but no,
I think these guys, they're veterans, They've been played like
when it was working for the Steelers earlier this season. Defensively,

(13:26):
it's a risk. Obviously, things might blow up in your face,
might go be more yards or more points. I get
it if you have that mindset and you know you're
trying to step in front of an interception maybe when
you could have tackled the catch, something like that. But
I also think I just think, even if they end
up losing the game, if the defense can start to
feel better about itself, if we can there's a lot
of been from the outside negativity. People are talking to

(13:47):
the defensive coordinator and the head coach about you know,
you know the media things now, or people are implying
that we don't know, make a change defensive coordinator. And
that's the implication. At some point, get a good game defensively,
make make some splash plays, get some turnover, some sacks.
Just do something like that. I think it would just
do wonders. Even if you lose this game to the team.
Is the best record in football if you do. But
you can feel better about the defense going forward as

(14:08):
you hit to the second half of the season.

Speaker 2 (14:10):
Yeah, I get how you have kind of that thought of, oh,
you maybe want to be a little bit more conservative
on the defensive side of the ball because you're relying
on your like, you know, don't screw things up for
your offense, like try to get them the ball back
as fast as possible. Try to limit the damage as
much as you can. Nah, because even when you're playing
great defense, like we just said, for the past couple
of years, it's never been your kind of style has

(14:31):
never been to get three and outs and you know,
limit them as far as the yardage is concerned. It's
been about getting turnovers. You can help your offensive out
in that aspect. And hey, if you're aggressive and you
blow a coverage or you miss a tackle, or you
fly past the guy and he makes a big play,
that ends up leaving to do a touchdown, or he
scores a touchdown on that very play, So be it.

(14:52):
You know, you took a risk, you got burned. Your
whole idea is to win on offense anyway, right, So
we got to score more points, So go out there
and try to try to make up for our mistake offense.

Speaker 1 (15:02):
Yeah, And I mean you're giving up thirty some points
a game anyway at this point. You give up a
touchdown that, well, you're you're you're not, You're kind of
back to square. You're at the same but you were anyway.
You didn't really lose anything out of it. And these guys,
I mean, it's not a stretch to say that, Like TJ.
Watt is the best in football at forcing fumbles. I
mean that's been over a long year long span, both
in the running game and in the rushing the quarterback

(15:23):
of course, his strip sacks, things like that. Nate or
Nate Herbig. Nick Kurbig has been the best pass rusher
in the NFL so far this year. By right, Cam
Hayward is the best at batting, batting balls down or
tipping passes in the pass rusher in the world over
the past four or five years. Jaydon Ramsey has just
been just been a splash play machine all the way
around in terms of his you know, some of his hits,

(15:44):
you know, it's almost like a force fumble waiting to happen,
and you know, his ability to he had the fumberk
turn that was called back. Just things like that. He
has the athleticism to if he gets the ball and
an interception fumble over it might be to they got
to get a scoring play, get a touchdown six points
that way. You just have this defense for whatever it's
words are right now, and whether they can be fixed

(16:04):
or whatever. They you know, guys in their thirties, whatever
you want to say about it, it is still these guys,
Patrick Queen, these guys are just playing. Peyton Wilson and
he's not for the old category, but he wanted to
College Defensive Player of the Year because he makes plays.
He makes splash plays, and we're probably seeing some mistakes,
but hey, we've seen mistakes last couple weeks anyway, without
the takeaways. That's exactly so if there's gonna be mistakes,
there's gonna be big plays against. Make it make so

(16:26):
you can get into it and just you know, Yeah,
try to get your splash plays yourself and maybe you
get yourself a touchdown or put your offensive position to
scorne easy touchdown, something like that.

Speaker 2 (16:35):
And you know what, offense needs to hunt for the
splash more. The offense is getting splash more so than
the defense has, especially recently, but it needs to hunt
for more splash. He needs to hunt for more downfield stuff.
We talked about that in the first hour. Your offensive
line is playing a lot better now even without the
jumbo package, like they're gaining confidence. They're protecting Rogers and
they're doing well in the run game. Trust them more,

(16:59):
let them you know, all plays that that warn't more protection,
that warn't a longer time of protection. Push the ball downfield.
Try to attack vertically more often. Your quarterback still has
the ability to do so. I think you got some
playmakers that can do so to DK for sure. And
I want to see Calvin Austin down the field use

(17:19):
his speed. Roman Wilson too had the biggest splash play
of the offense you could argue against the Packers. So
push the ball downfield more. This isn't a pass rush
that you can you know, scoff At, you know it's
not like they just are going to be like the
Bengals on that Thursday night game where there was just
no pressure at all. But it's not. Parsons and Gary
and you actually did it. Despite them getting three sacks

(17:40):
between the two of them. You actually did a solid
job against that Packers pass rush. It was a quiet
three sack performance.

Speaker 1 (17:45):
Fight that they dominated this line.

Speaker 2 (17:46):
So you're kind of swinging the bat now without the
doughnut on it, you know, it should be a little
bit of an easier test for you as an offensive line.

Speaker 1 (17:53):
You brought Homer Simpson doing it.

Speaker 2 (17:55):
We're so good at all this and bringing it off
for a circle. But it's all on purpose. I want
everybody to know that's all purpose. Even when you don't
think that we're planning for the future, we are. But yeah,
you know, I just I just feel like, you know,
on the on the offensive side of the ball, everything
is kind of telling you you can trust that line more,

(18:16):
you can push the ball down the field more. So
do it in a game like this, especially.

Speaker 1 (18:20):
Tom, I think overall, I kind of we're talking through
this here and understandably softer the last two games, Like
I said, there's been sort of this negativity, and there's
this sort of you know, there's a fear I guess that,
especially with the Colts coming in that did you three
game losing streak all of a sudden, things might kind
of snowball out of control here. You know, play free.

(18:43):
Maybe there's a freedom in that, especially like on both
sides of the ball, right, the defense kind of gets
its swagger back. The offense is like, you know what,
what's go out there? What's win the game? What's be
the reason why we win? Play aggressive? I don't say
you're playing with house money here. You're the underdog. People
were saying, oh this, like who was it one of
the national people? They could lose eight in a row?

(19:04):
Whatever it is all Pete Prisca like, maybe go out
there and say, you know what, we're still a first
place team, like we might it might, it might crash
and burn. Don't get me wrong. You play aggressively and
it doesn't work. Like you know, the Colts of you
said they score thirty points, If they score forty some points,
maybe it does get ugly. Maybe I regret saying that.
Maybe they were doing it. I don't know, but you

(19:25):
know that's kind of you, don't you don't fear that
as much.

Speaker 2 (19:29):
You can go so mad you're hitting your microphone. You
literally are assaulting the microphone right now, getting fired up.
You're so angry.

Speaker 1 (19:36):
But but yes, let it all hang out there. Go
for it offensively, defensively, make plays. You know it might
not work. I don't know, but you're the underdog anyway,
So I don't know.

Speaker 2 (19:44):
That's a good point. Play like an underdog because you
are an underdog in this game. All right, we come back.
We'll take a look around the rest of the NFL.
Week nine kicked off last night the Ravens obliterated the Dolphins,
and we'll talk about what else is on the schedule
for week nine. He's Christian ms scam tom off form.
It's the Steelers Blitz on Steelers Nation Radio. Week nine

(20:13):
got started last night with the Baltimore Ravens absolutely pounding
the Miami Dolphins in little concerned.

Speaker 1 (20:22):
Was I was, you know, pushing it off?

Speaker 2 (20:24):
You're resisting it?

Speaker 1 (20:26):
No, but you you were, you were on target with this.
You're saying the Ravers were gonna and it looked like
they're underway to the six and six that you've looks.

Speaker 2 (20:33):
Like they might be on their way to the seven
and five. I might have been wrong. I might have
been selling them shorts. It's the Dolphins, though, so let's
not overreact too much.

Speaker 1 (20:40):
And that sort of like the game wasn't as much
of a dominate, Like the Dolphins made bad decisions at
bad times.

Speaker 2 (20:48):
Bad teams do that, Chris, they are bad teams for
a reason. Uh, that coach is so done. I mean,
it just looked like a dead man walking kind of
on that field. Maybe that's a Sunday news dump. Maybe
that's a tough Friday news dump at the end of
the day to day. I don't know. I don't know
if there is a Sunday news dump kind of thing.
I think I just made a mistake.

Speaker 1 (21:05):
There was certainly one out of state college at.

Speaker 2 (21:09):
College they moved to do that. But yeah, McDaniels just
doesn't look good. H But the Ravens, they're three and five. Now,
I risked five picks in our pick them. Remember that
if the Ravens would have lost this game, So I'm
safe there didn't have to fall even more into a
hole behind you. Henry ran for one hundred plus yards.

(21:30):
Lamar Jackson looked good in his return. They don't have
to really break a sweat from now until that Steeler game.
I guess maybe that Bengal game that's in there too,
that'll be a little bit of a sweat broken there
because it's a division game. But like they should roll.
They really should as long as health is you know, permitting,
especially to their quarterback.

Speaker 1 (21:52):
Yeah, this is finally the team everybody believed in. And
you know, I always because remember too, the Dolphins were
rough with this record. They're one of both teams wre
one and five one point and it's like, oh, their
teams will make the playoffs, and well, okay, well you
need a certain you need a good team at some
point to be able to do that. And and now,
just like we touched on as much of it, just
a it just seemed like that defense had no answers

(22:14):
for anything. And I'm like this, we'll stop talking about
the Ravens like they have a good defense all of
a sudden. Now they've played three games. The past three
games they've played, they have a lot of total of
forty points in the three games. So they weren't allowing
forty a game there for a little bit, just over
the first you know.

Speaker 2 (22:30):
But and that was kind of your saving grace always.
This team was bad before La mar got hurt. Play
someone listen to me. Oh, they're starting to figure it out.

Speaker 1 (22:38):
Sixteen points a game allowed over the past three games, now, yeah,
that's uh. And I know the Dolphins whatever, the.

Speaker 2 (22:44):
Dolphins, okay times and the thing the Dolphins just put
up thirty four points against the Falcons, who have a
pretty decent defense in their own right, so Dolphins think.
But it's not like they're completely inept on offense. The Bears,
they're kind of struggling right now. Kayla Williams, I don't
know if he's the guy, but they put up it's
this year and Ben Johnson's an offensive guy shut them down.
But the main one and this isn't a loss, but

(23:05):
the Rams to only score seventeen points, that is one
of the better offenses in football.

Speaker 1 (23:09):
You kind of wonder if they would have gone to
I mean whatever, Cooper Rush. I don't know that just
Cooper Rush was probably.

Speaker 2 (23:15):
If they would have signed Snoop Huntley a little earlier.

Speaker 1 (23:17):
Yeah, yeah, because there's been some bad, bad quarterbacks. Play
it backup court. Oh, think of Jake Browning as what
I'm thinking. I was thinking, like he might have been
as bad as that and that little sample.

Speaker 2 (23:27):
Y you know, Snoop Huntley has such a track record
with the Ravens too. He's like kind of able to
come in and be a Lamar specific backup, And you
wonder if that was tough for the team to adjust
to Cooper Rush, who was not a Lamar specific type
of backup. Like you need a quarterback.

Speaker 1 (23:41):
You remember they went with.

Speaker 2 (23:41):
Trace mcs early for a while because I'm not joking here,
like you need a quarterback that plays kind of with
that run first edge to him.

Speaker 1 (23:48):
Yeah, it was I don't know why, because what happened
to Huntley why they kind of moved on from him
whenever he had done I mean he made the Pro Bowl.
I mean now he's like the backup like he was.

Speaker 2 (23:56):
Cooper Rush was the emergency quarterpack side so.

Speaker 1 (23:59):
That they Yeah, they changed what they but I don't
know why. The meaning of the season he was remember
he was available until midway through training camp when the
Browns the sixth quarter.

Speaker 2 (24:07):
He was just bumming around the Browns practice squad and
the Ravens were like, I guess we'll bring back ye people.

Speaker 1 (24:12):
Yeah, it's kind of kind of what the Bengals did too,
with like Browning is so bad, we're gonna go We're
gonna make a find a guy they both want to
think about. Both AFC and More teams went to the Browns.

Speaker 2 (24:20):
The Bengals had to trade for theirs. The Ravens were
just able to pluck them. But yeah, it's still funny
that the Browns are supplying the quarterbacks to the rest
of the division and.

Speaker 1 (24:26):
They've been better than the guy the Browns started, Let's
face it, but Flacco and Huntley have been objectively easily
better than doing Gabriel's been and they both and the
division rivals got away, so it's kind of got in
so right.

Speaker 2 (24:40):
I mean, that's I think that is happening.

Speaker 1 (24:42):
Is that gonna happen? They came up in Pittsburgh, that's
I guess what could happen to see where's the game?
I suppose. I don't know. If that would I would be.

Speaker 2 (24:48):
You're on the by this week. It's kind of like
that perfect time for that quarterback change to happen. If
you were going to make the quarterback change.

Speaker 1 (24:55):
Yeah, I don't know, because you probably you have to
some way. I could see, Well, we haven't give Gabriel
enough of a little but I mean, what's face, We've
seen enough, right, I mean I don't know that they
can't possibly go in the next year's draft and say, oh,
we're doing Gabriels are a franchise quarterback, right. I mean,
there's no way thing about that. So you got to
have enough of a leash of a sample size to
be able to definitively say there is not it either,

(25:16):
you know what I'm saying, Like, especially because of all.

Speaker 2 (25:20):
The kind of like what the Saints are doing right
now with shock.

Speaker 1 (25:22):
You gotta play shock yeast either and maybe there's it's
probably not. I'm sure they don't think it is either,
but it's like what if, right, Yeah, maybe some guys
are better in the field than a practice field or
whatever and that type of thing, and maybe you catch
lightning there and you do it, but yeah, you just
exhaust that possibility, so you know for sure without having
to worry about it going forward.

Speaker 2 (25:43):
So the Ravens are starting to kind of snowball downhill.
It looks like that they are going to make a
fist of this thing when it comes to the AFC North,
when it comes to the AFC playoff picture so the
best thing the Steelers can do is just go win
football games. You know, the thing about a team that
doug themselves an early hole, they always need help to
get back. Now. I know, technically they don't because if

(26:06):
they just went out, they'll beat you twice and that's
gonna take care of business for themselves. But that is
really really tough to wrap my head around, even with
somebody who thinks the Ravens are gonna bounce back, that
they run the entire freaking table between now and the
end of the season. So you start one and five,
you know, I don't care how much you rally, you
only lose one game from there on out. You're gonna

(26:27):
need some help along the way, and the Steelers have
unfortunately been giving them that help in the past couple
of weeks ended on Sunday. Stop giving them that life preserver.
You know, they're starting to feel like they're getting closer
to the boat. They're starting to look like they're feeling
like they're getting closer to the dry land. Send a
rugue wave their way. Beat the Colts this weekend and
be like, oh, not so fast. We're not just gonna

(26:48):
go down and let you just stroll right into the
AFC North lead.

Speaker 1 (26:51):
It's like this couple of weeks with the Dublin week
and then the Steelers by a week where the entire
division lost, Right is that in aw where the entire
SEE North except for the Steelers lost games. Now it's
it's kind of going the other way where I mean
the Bengals lost of the Jets. I shouldn't say that,
but if the Bengals beat the Bears this week, which
is now the question, and the Steelers do lose all

(27:12):
of a sudden, you have what two teams within a
game of the division all of a sudden bye by
the end of this week before you hit the next week.
And so yeah, it's you know, I keep going back
to the holding onto that Bengals game. You would have
built up so much capital that you could afford to
lose of the Packers and Colts because they're two of
the elite teams right now in each conference, and in

(27:35):
the Steelers to get them back to back, there's not
and they don't want to shame and losing the package
either was just kind of the way that second half
defensively played out. That really is the gut punch that
makes you kind of wonder more so than just losing
to the Packers a tight, competitive game, and especially when
you when that was stacked on top of the Bengals
game then too that that's why there's so much consternation
right now in terms of the secondary and the past

(27:55):
defense and the defense in general in terms of stopping somebody.
So it's kind of like it's the opportunity comes in.
The Cults are here and they're next up, and you
can get things. It would just you know, change though
I don't want to say, I don't want to go
there and say moral victory, just keep it close to
the Colts. To me that where we're at, I don't
want to go to that that part of its covering

(28:17):
against the Colts or something like that. But I do
think there's there's something to that in terms of, you
know what, you need to reassert yourselves here in the division.
You have the chance here by playing the best team
in record wise in football.

Speaker 2 (28:29):
All right, Sunday slate Bears and Bengals at one o'clock.
These are the games that are running parallel to the
Steelers and the Colts. The Bengals, do you give them
any shots to bounce back against the Bears and kind
of still keep themselves alive or is this the kill
shot for real? I mean, they really fumbled so hard
because they saved themselves with that win against the Steelers.

(28:51):
They're supposed to be five hundred at this point, maybe
looking at being five and four after beating the Bears.
Then a loss of the Jets just kind of blows
it all up in your face.

Speaker 1 (28:58):
Big lead against the Jets, the team like the owners,
if we can't throw the foot I know, could come
back and beat you, like.

Speaker 2 (29:05):
And running backs were throwing the football in that game,
ironically enough with Re Saul. But I think this game
is actually won. The Bengals probably win. I think the
Bears just are gonna kind of go through a little
bit of a mid season malays here.

Speaker 1 (29:16):
They may go throw the rest of the season malays escalated.

Speaker 2 (29:20):
But yeah, I remember the Bears started out well last year.
Remember they were in about five hundred team until the
hell mary happened against Jayeon Daniels and the Commanders where
they just lost like every game since.

Speaker 1 (29:29):
Yeah, that's what they what four and two this year
at some point? Ye, look at last year they were
also four and two, both Seeds. They literally lost out
until they played a meaningless game against Green Bay's backups.

Speaker 2 (29:38):
And yeah, and like the first time they beat the
Packers in like years, like it was literally years until
they finally beat the Packers, and they did in that game.

Speaker 1 (29:46):
That's what was funny about that book. Side note the
one year when the Browns are zero to fifteen, the
Steelers didn't play their starters and the Browns, as we know,
has a twenty two game losing streak in hines Field
or after sure, and the Steelers with their backup still
went to overt Darius haber Bain a touchdown. It was
just like they still could the brown still couldn't beat
the Steelers in Pittsburgh except that the playoffs. But we

(30:06):
won't mention it.

Speaker 2 (30:06):
We don't mention that. We don't talk about that. Yeah,
Vikings and Lions. JJ McCarthy getting the start for the
Vikings in this one. That's a tough one.

Speaker 1 (30:16):
Huh, A tough break.

Speaker 2 (30:18):
You're quite literally almost throwing Daniel to the Lions. Then
it was just off on the name there, JJ to
the Lions. Then here it is it's the I don't
think you did it first for you to catch up
to JJ. McCarthy looked so underwhelming in his first opportunities

(30:41):
to start, aside from one quarter against the Bears on
Monday Night Football Week one, where he lit it up
in the fourth quarter and got them a win. There,
you know, you start to wonder, and there's kind of
been rumors and whispers about was this kind of more
of a soft benching as it was opposed to you know,
he's hurt and he's trying to rehab and we don't
want to rush him back. Is this more of a

(31:01):
we're gonna save some face and we're not gonna come
out and say we have to put our first round
pick back on the bench right now for Carson Wentz
because he's not ready yet. But we're gonna conveniently kind
of use this injury that you did truly suffer, that
you didn't suffer, or that you shouldn't have been suffering
for this long. We're gonna kind of use that to
our advantage. We're gonna kind of slow play you again,
and we're gonna just kind of hit the reset button

(31:22):
on the season. And then Carson Wentz gets hurt, and
Carson Wentz looks like he does and it's kind of
just like, all right, it's we gotta throw him out there.
It's now or never. So I wonder if it was
more of like a soft benching. And that's why I'm
wondering if there shouldn't be a worry about, Oh, how's
it going to do coming off that injury. I wonder
if he's been off that injury for a couple of weeks.

Speaker 1 (31:38):
Well, in an alternate world, Danny Dimes was to back
up this going into the season because he even finished
last season with the Vikings.

Speaker 2 (31:46):
Sam Darnold, Danny Dimes, and then Aaron Rodgers were all
in the orbit of the Vikings at one point in
this offseason or the end of last season.

Speaker 1 (31:53):
They all walk.

Speaker 2 (31:54):
All three are having great seasons and they're stuck with
what they have at quarterback.

Speaker 1 (31:58):
They've brought in Carson Wentz is the yeah and only
that believed in the guy. Well they took him tenth overall,
they always had some belief in him. But yeah, you
got it's the macro version we just talked about, where
you got to run a shuck out there and shoulder
and doing Garboe to see what you have. I mean,
they spent a top ten draft they had to play McCarthy.

Speaker 2 (32:15):
At a point like there you have there's like if
you say I don't really care about Shuck or I
don't really care about finding out about should Order Gabriel,
It's like, yeah, it's fucking I mean, their fifth round pick.
Because they don't show you anything in practice. I'm sure
they're not going to show you in the game. Mcarthy though,
I mean, and you wonder now you get fired for
missing quarterbacks? The top ten pack and if they.

Speaker 1 (32:32):
Lose this one, what they fall to three and five?
And it's like it's almost as if like, well, I
don't see you look at three and Five's not look
the next season yet, but we look at that they
got Lions, Ravens, Packers.

Speaker 2 (32:42):
Crust to the NFC is disturbing deep. I mean, there's
just so many threats in the NFC that even right
now at three and four, I'm kind of looking at
the Vikings as like a non threat and that they're
already kind of forgotten about this yet.

Speaker 1 (32:55):
The Lions twice and the Packers. One way it is
they have everything in front of them still. If they
do somehow turn around, they can play there. But it's
like man and then you got the Cowboys offense. It's
it's uh, you got the resurgent Ravens, as we've referenced
the Vikings, and.

Speaker 2 (33:08):
Yeah, that's that's coming up for them, right they host
the Ravens.

Speaker 1 (33:10):
Yeah, after this week Winds and Ravens. So yeah, if
they lose these two, they're staring at three and six,
and at that point then it's just like, well, we'll
play mcarthy because we want to. We want we want
to run it out with him and see where we
have in our first round.

Speaker 2 (33:21):
This is also just what the Vikings are, right, Like
last year they won fourteen games. Now this year they
kind of go back into the pooper a little bit
where it's like they'll probably be like a six and
eleven team or something like that, and then next year
they'll probably be six and eleven again or seven and
ten and be like and then they'll win fourteen games
again and out of nowhere and they'll be they'll win
the North and then they'll lose in the first round
and then they'll be nine and sex. Like they're just

(33:42):
they're not a bottom out team. They're not an extremely
great elite team.

Speaker 1 (33:46):
These like little shots of adrenaline really good. But then
it's just like they yeah, comes.

Speaker 2 (33:50):
Back down, It comes right back down to their Vikings level.
So I think this might be a year where they're
coming down to their Vikings level. Packers host the Panthers.
This is the second largest spread of the weekend. Packers
are thirteen and a half point favorite at home against Carolina.
Carolina only really does one thing well, and that's hand
the ball off the Rico Dwell and run it. Andy Dalton,
you and I were both discussing, how is this a

(34:10):
sneaky upgrade for them last week with him going in
for Bryce Stuck. It was not. Andy Dalton is completely cooked.
He got obliterated by the Bills. I don't have much
faith in the Panthers in this game against the Packers
at Lambeau Packers are returning to Lambeau Field after that
big win against the Steelers. They just beat Aaron Rodgers.
For the entire fan base like, there's gonna be a
lot of juice in that building. You have a tendency

(34:31):
to maybe sleepwalk past the team like the Carolina Panthers
if you're the Green Bay Packers. But I think where
the Packers are right now and coming off of that
Sunday night win, they're gonna be focused and ready to
give the home fans a treat on Sunday afternoon.

Speaker 1 (34:43):
Yeah, I don't know. I mean the Panthers, no matter
who's the quarterback right now, and they have twenty two
points the past two games, the one one of them
because they played the Jets, although unless the Jets are
playing the Bengals, they can't do anything offensively. They won
that game thirteen to six. Yeah, the Panthers, they've played
these games this year, even they won that game thirty
and nothing. As the Falcons lost the Cardinals. They're Panthers.

(35:05):
We's stop, what's stop? No more talking about this game.
The Packers are gonna win. You're done.

Speaker 2 (35:08):
You're done with the Panthers. We're done with the Panthers
and the Panthers. That's a good way to sum it up.
We're done with the Panthers. They are the Panthers.

Speaker 1 (35:13):
For the last half hour the week of show, we're
talking about the Carolina Pants.

Speaker 2 (35:16):
We're done with the Panthers. They're the Panthers. I love that.
Chargers and Titans. You know what, I don't really want
to talk about this game either, because the Chargers are
going to crush them. The Titans are a hopeless football
team right now. Our only Super Bowl rematch of the week.
I like the Patriots and Falcons three. Oh god, you
know that broadcast is going to bring that up. If
you're a Falcons fan. Good luck to you Niners Giants.

(35:38):
What a classic NFC rivalry this is, Like, I feel
like this team's you know, the Tom Coughlin era and
you know the Bill Parcells era. These guys would always
meet in the playoffs and always meet in NFC championship games.
I mean, this is who these teams had to go
through in those eighties.

Speaker 1 (35:53):
Yeah, the West Coast East Coast thing going on there
because the lad have a team period for a long time.

Speaker 2 (35:59):
But now I just think teams are both yah this year.
I mean, you got some excitement with Dart. The Niners
have talent, but they're too injured to really make a difference.
Broncos and Texans is a weird one. Houston's favorite by
one and a half in this game. Houston's defense is
so damn good. That's the thing that's keeping them alive
in my mind and on a lot of people's minds,
is that their defense can just kick ass.

Speaker 1 (36:19):
Yeah, and that's been and if you get good enough
play from from Nickson, the offense and everything, because that
that's supposed to be carrying them.

Speaker 2 (36:26):
And I'm talking about Houston though, the number one scoring defense.

Speaker 1 (36:29):
He's the number one scoring defense. I look at that.
I didn't realize that. I mean, I you know, I
did see that. I didn't even go back and I'm like,
what the schedule here? What is it? I know, Will Anderson,
I don't know.

Speaker 2 (36:41):
I guess they're just good. And Demika Ryans is a
great defensive minded coach. Uh Denver had a little bit
of an easy go against the Cowboys last week. That
was playing against the junior varsity defense. This is the
best defense in football arguably. So it'll be an interesting one.
I think between Houston and Denver. Denver could find level
a little bit there, and he's and could find level
a little bit there at four and four.

Speaker 1 (37:02):
Yeah, and I kind of wonder, you know, Denver. We
don't talk about Denver at all, even New England. New
England's the trendy like up and coming team when you're
talking about the AFC, And of course there's the standard
bearers in Baltimore and Buffalo and Kansas City and and
you know Indianapolis has been the dominant they are you
there'd be more chatter about the Charters. I feel like,
generally speaking, and Denver, they're sitting there six and two,

(37:23):
and would we take them seriously as a AFC contender.
I mean, if they get the seven and two.

Speaker 2 (37:29):
If Joe all healthy, I'll take him seriously because that
seems to be the straw that stirs the Oh you're
talking about the Broncos, though, if they get to seven
and two, you put the Chargers up in Okay.

Speaker 1 (37:42):
To you, Chris, Yeah, well that's a paying attentions though,
you do have.

Speaker 2 (37:46):
To take the Broncos seriously if they get to seven
and two. I kind of thought the Broncos had a
chance to win the division at the beginning of the
season too, like an outside dark ones chance. I know
you're saying, Bonix is always kind of been the guy
that you're like, who is Bonix?

Speaker 1 (37:58):
Yeah, but he.

Speaker 2 (37:59):
Looked good last week.

Speaker 1 (38:00):
He did, he looked good last five. With the last
five quarters, they've scored seventy five fourth quarter So I
don't know what that says for sure, but that came
off of a seven quarter stretch or whatever. They weren't
doing anything the or Dublin whatever London game against the Jets.
They were they weren't very good offensively, and they were
gonna shut out in three quarters to get to two
New York teams. So figure that out.

Speaker 2 (38:20):
Forget about the Rams and the Saints. God, is that
going to be a bloodbath. Forget about the Jags and
the Raiders. No one cares about that game. That might
be the worst game of the week. Just esthetically pleasing
Sunday night football commanders and Seahawks commanders are just so
done right now. So that's kind of a game. But
the crown jewel of the week is the Chiefs at Buffalo,
Kansas City, Buffalo. Every year we get this matchup, it's

(38:43):
kind of that new Manning versus Brady feel to it
right where it's got that Allen versus Mahomes field to it.
And let me just say this, Chris, for as much
as Mahomes dominates Allen and the Bills in the playoffs,
it's the opposite in the regular season. Allen has a
ton of success against Patrick Mahomes. In the regular season.
The Bills beat the Chiefs in the regular season. He's

(39:04):
just quite literally always lost in the playoffs and it's
like five times, and.

Speaker 1 (39:07):
That's what nobody's gonna be in the end. I mean,
this will be a fun game. Everybody will watch it.
I'm excited to well, I'm not gonna be able to
watch it because I'll be working in the press box,
but excited to follow it and see what happens. But yeah,
it would if the Bills win. And the thing is,
there are real world twenty twenty five ramifications for the
Bills to kind of like get right and show that,

(39:28):
you know, assert themselves again because they're I mean, they
blought them again. The Panthers aforementioned that we're supposed to stop.

Speaker 2 (39:34):
Man, that's because they're the Panthers.

Speaker 1 (39:37):
Yes, but that's the only win they had the past
month is Buffalo and the bye weekend there. I get
it lost to the Patriots and Falcons, but it's been
a while and there's kind of this question, So I
guess psychologically in that way, it's big for Buffalo to
get a win. But at the same time, no one's
gonna care if they beat him this time and then
lose again into them.

Speaker 2 (39:53):
It'll be like the same old, same exactly. He's four
and one Josh Allen season against He's zero and four
in the playoffs.

Speaker 1 (40:00):
That's good. That is the most Buffalo thing I've ever
heard my entire life.

Speaker 2 (40:04):
So he's four and five overall against Mahomes. All of
the losses save one has come in the postseason.

Speaker 1 (40:11):
It's like, uh, it's like the Buffalo Bill the four
Super Bowls in a row, Like there's so many good
Like the Bills are like right there in the cusp
as a city, as a franchise. It just that encompulates
Everythingcause Josh Allen dominates matter Mahomes in the regular season.
It just it just tells everything you know you know
about Buffalo.

Speaker 2 (40:27):
All right, Chris and I come back. We'll make our
picks for the week around the NFL and make our
final predictions for Steelers and Colts. Is the Steelers Blitz on
Steewers Nation Radio, part of the Steelers Audio Network. Wrapping
things up here on Friday edition of The Steelers Blitz,

(40:48):
Tom Opferman and Chris Adamski, it is time now for
us to make our NFL picks of the week. I
enter at nine and fifteen after just an epically bad
ozer in three week last week where I lost on
an aggregate of like seventy plus points on my bets.
I mean I could not have picked worse teams. Not
that I lost the bets. I lost them all in epic,

(41:08):
epic fashion. Chris went one into last week, so not
your best week. You're like kind of a two in
one guy. You seem to be falling into a rhythm there,
but you went one and two, so that knocked you
down to exactly five hundred. So you're at twelve and twelve.
I'm at nine and fifteen. I sit exactly three games
behind you, So go oh and three. I'll go three
and oh go and there we are right back.

Speaker 1 (41:28):
To the half way point square.

Speaker 2 (41:30):
So you get to pick first because you had a
another successful week compared to me last week. Golf, the
t box is yours.

Speaker 1 (41:37):
I'm taking the Patriots minus five and a half against
the Fish. I like, I almost feel like something's wrong
with that. I don't know, maybe I'm giving the paint.
There's a lot of buzz around the Patriots. Is anybody
watched the Falcons these past couple of weeks? Come on,
what are we doing?

Speaker 2 (41:50):
I was so all over there.

Speaker 1 (41:52):
So it's my first pick too, so I guess it's
but get that's the scariest part is that me and
you are all over, not just me and you. But
it seems too obvious. It's like the sneaky outline smells
something's wrong there. I don't know. Watch the Falcons come
out and do it. But I mean, come on, I'm
not backing the Falcons right now. What are we doing.
I have full faith in the Patriots to win by
a touchdown.

Speaker 2 (42:12):
Man, you're very It's within my right to pick the
Patriots too, Yeah, certainly, But I want to pivot because
I want to have to I need some time to
figure out the pivot. So I'll go with one of
my other picks. I'm gonna take the Bills plus the
two and a half against the Chiefs. I'm gonna lean
into that Josh Allen streak against Mahomes, a good streak

(42:33):
of games against him in the regular season. They're getting
points at Buffalo. The Chiefs are good, but they need
to kind of have a little bit of a comeback
down to earth moment now after they've just been super
sayan lately, give me the Bills.

Speaker 1 (42:46):
I am going to stick with a mentioned earlier the
Cincinnati Bengals. A. I seeing this right there. They're getting points.

Speaker 2 (42:53):
They are getting points.

Speaker 1 (42:54):
They're getting points like the againnybody watched the Bears, Like,
what are we doing here? I don't know. I mean,
I get the Bengal can't stop anybody. I get they
lost the Jets. I don't know. I just I feel
like the Bengals have another last in getting points at home.
I mean, the Bear should not be a road favorite
against hardly anybody. And yes, I get they lost to
the Jets last week. Okay, I am sure that Kayleb

(43:14):
Williams will look probably the best he's looked because he's
facing the Bengals defense. Maybe something like that. But the
Bengals verbio backs against the wall, Joe Flacco magic. I
believe I'm getting points. I'm gonna take them. It's like
I researched and I still can't. I'm looking at I'm like,
the Bengals really good? Wud that right this down?

Speaker 2 (43:30):
Wrong?

Speaker 1 (43:32):
Boy?

Speaker 2 (43:32):
It's a really tough board this week. There's a lot
of lions that are big, and you don't know if
teams are gonna get blown out or not. I don't
like it. But I'm gonna go Detroit minus nine and
a half against the Vikings and JJ McCarthy. It's in Detroit.
If there's teams that if you want to put, you know,
certain teams in a category of have the capability of
blowing teams out. The Lions certainly fit into that. So

(43:53):
I'll go with the Lions. They can win by more
than ten against Minnesota. I don't like it. It's a
lot of points. It's a division game too. Those tend
to be close. But I don't know Minnesota. Do they
get a jolt from McCarthy playing. I think McCarthy's gonna
play terribly, So I'll go Lions. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (44:08):
It's funny because I've been on record how I take
fourteen and a half no matter what. But I can't.
I just can't. This week. I see that the Saints
getting fourteen and a half with the Rams, Like I am,
I'm not buying into Tyler Shock.

Speaker 2 (44:18):
No, don't do that.

Speaker 1 (44:19):
I'm not doing that. So I'm not doing that. I
like again, like essentially, I'm I'm fading three teams that
I think are kind of dead in the water this
week is kind of what I'm doing. So I'm taking
the Dallas Cowboys minus two and a half against the
Arizona Cardinals. That's in Dallas, right, Yes, it's in Dallas,
so there, so that that implies in a neutral field.
Do they be underdogs at the Cardinals and don't I

(44:41):
don't see that really. After the Carlos haven't won since
September fourteenth, so they're gonna go the entire month of
October without a win. I don't know. I kind of
feel like, and you know, it's not like they've been
They make competitive all these games.

Speaker 2 (44:53):
But aren't terrible, but the record says.

Speaker 1 (44:55):
I still believe in that Cowboys offense is whore enough points.

Speaker 2 (44:58):
And yeah, especially after last week not scoring much, they'll
bounce back at home against Cardinals defense ain't the Denver
Broncos defense that Cowboys had to face last week either,
all right, Chris, So there were two vets that I
absolutely loved this week that I thought, Boy, I think
Vegas is off on this line. The Patriots is one
of them. And I just think that the Patriots are
kind of at a spot now where they're just gonna
blow out teams that aren't that good and still remains

(45:21):
to be seen how good the Patriots are. I think
they play the Buccaneers in a week or two next week.
We'll see then that a good test for them. It's
at Tampa. Yeah, but the Falcons just stink, and I
think the Patriots will take care of business at home
against them. Now, the other one that I really liked
was the Colts minus three and a half against the Steelers.
I was trying to avoid that one because of the

(45:43):
airwaves that were on, desperate trying to catch me, and
you took my pick, my other lock, and again this
the board the rest of the weekly. I don't want
to take anything else, so I'm sorry. I'm gonna take
the Colts minus to three and a half to cover
that spread and beat the Steelers at Akrosser Stadium, which
leads us to our game prediction.

Speaker 1 (46:00):
That'd be saying the Steelers are going to win.

Speaker 2 (46:02):
Yeah. Set a record for not paying attention to what
I said just two seconds ago out of my own mouth.
But I'm gonna take the Colts in this one. I
think the Steelers offense will put up a good fight.
I think that this will kind of be a bit
of a back and forth type of game. I'm not
saying the Steelers defense is going to be just abysmal.
They might play better and it just might not be
enough against this type of offense. So give me the

(46:23):
Colts thirty one to twenty seven.

Speaker 1 (46:26):
I haven't year.

Speaker 2 (46:28):
I did not look it up.

Speaker 1 (46:29):
Yeah, I have it seven mixture.

Speaker 2 (46:32):
You verify that wasn't just so I cover that spread
by half a point and then everybody also afterwards, is like, oh, well,
that's why that spread was so close because.

Speaker 1 (46:38):
It was only a four point there. Yeah, I have
pretty much carbon copy of what you said. We didn't
discuss this, and I'm swear I'm not just being lazy
because they did o what Tom said, Bye, have a
good week and everybody, But that's stop. It is that
it was a three and a half I said. I
think the Colts will cover, but just barely gonna be
a competitive game. I think the Steelers were. And it's
so sad because again, the Steeers our first place team,

(46:59):
and you have all this negativity. But it's all and
I hate to say it, it's like moral victory while
they kept it wet. Yeah, and that's like, it's kind
of a sad commentary that moral victory can even be
uttered by the Pittsburgh Steelers against the Indianapolis Colts.

Speaker 2 (47:14):
But you know what, but feel good about that exactly
and then use it to springboard you la and get away.

Speaker 1 (47:19):
That's the way I can get the charges. Yes, the
defense thirty one points isn't like a great game of
the defense, but it's better than the last two, especially against.

Speaker 2 (47:25):
This you know juggernaut, no doubt. All right, that'll do
it for us today. Enjoy the football all weekends, Steelers
and Colts at one o'clock. Coverage starts locally at nine
am with myself and Matt Williamson for Chris Adamski. I
am Tom Opperman, and we will talk to you on
Monday for another edition of the Steelers Blitz on Steeers
Nation Radio, part of the Steelers Audio Network.