December 16, 2022 • 37 mins
Mike Prisuta and Matt Williamson break down the Steelers and Panthers matchup. The duo is joined by Merril Hoge as always.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is the Steelers Preview show on w d V Pittsburgh,
presented by UNIBT. The only thing better than a Steelers
win is the Steelers win that pays double down on
your team. With UNIVET, proud partner of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Here are your hosts, Mike Pursuita, Matt Williamson, and Meryl Hodge.
Good anything, and welcome to another Thursday night edition of
Steelers Preview right here on your Steelers slag Ship one
(00:23):
or two point five d V and s n R.
Matt Williamson and Mike pursued it with you until eight
o'clock tonight. As we always are on Thursdays, at least
win the games on Sunday. We passed on Thursday. Monday nights.
We have to adjust. Uh, Thursday nights we have to
adjust more specifically. But we've got one coming up Sunday
in Charlotte and Matt. We often start the show with
(00:45):
the what to Expect segment, which is brought to you
by Brian Patton and associates. It's all about the benefits.
I think we gotta lay up tonight. I expect Carolina
to try to run the ball. Yeah, rinse and repeat
from last week and the week before. I mean, I've
used this phrase a lot the last three weeks. Voluminous running.
I mean this volume, volume volume, two yards, five yards.
(01:07):
We're gonna stick with it. Look a word, voluminous, luminous.
It makes me sound intellectual. That does this year, and
it's a trend around the league. I mean it narrows
the playing field when you don't have a great quarterback,
just keep running the football and pound people into the
into the ground. And it's working for Carolina. They're playing
their best ball the year. We're gonna get into that
portion of the Steelers Panthers dynamic and our second segment
(01:31):
with Merril Hodge. But you know, the headline story out
of Pittsburgh this week is the quarterback situation. And I'm
not sure the Steelers suddenly poorous run defense isn't a
bigger story than whoever plays quarterback. But quarterbacks get the headlines.
And Kenny Pickett in the news this week limited for
a second consecutive day today. He's a rookie, he's dealing
(01:52):
with his second concussion. I'm gonna go out on a limb,
Matt and say, Picke, it's not playing. Yeah, it sure
seems that way, and I have no problem with that.
I mean, such as life, You've got these other two
guys that are getting a lot of action. You're in practice,
so I mean it looks like it's likely gonna beat Drabisky.
But maybe you have a better insight than that. The
other h notables from the Steelers practice participation report today, Uh,
(02:15):
Deonte Johnson didn't work. He's got a hip. But you know,
as we've talked about the last couple of weeks, veterans
at this time of the year off and don't work
and they play anyway. Full participant, full participation for Nagy Harris,
he took yesterday off, also dealing with the hip. No
Miles Jack and no Pat Friar with groin for Jack,
(02:36):
foot for Friar, Muth and Larry Ogan job now dealing
with a toe. None of those guys have practiced yet
this week. They are all, uh, well, they all might
play anyway to our our previous point. Uh, nothing real
headline generating on the Carolina side of things. Labiscus chanal,
they're kind of gadget wide receipt Uh. He was limited
(02:59):
for a second consecutive of day with a shoulder. That
might be something significant because he's pretty physical six. He
likes to put that shoulder down and run through. You
don't throw bubble screens to him and around stuff like
that little short pass out of the backfield, that kind
of thing. Uh. And Xavier Woods one of their starting safeties.
He's missed two games in a row with an ankle.
(03:19):
He has been limited for two days in a row.
So Panthers, that seems to be pretty healthy. They have
a lot of defensive backs. They have a lot of
defensive backs. I like their two first round corners. Um.
I like Chin a lot, the big safety. Yeah. They
have six or seven really intriguing defensive players and that
defense is playing quite well right now. Back to the
(03:39):
Steelers quarterback situation. Uh, I don't have any uh, you know,
tremendous insight, just some suspicions on it. And I think
it's gonna be Mitch Robiskie. I think they are getting
Mason Rudolph ready to play in case he has to
her in case they want him to play. Matt Canada
the Steelers offensive coordinator talk today on Coordinator Thursday, and
(04:04):
he mentioned that they lost pick it early in the game,
so they're down to one quarterback. Well, although you never
want to have that happen if that would happen again,
they don't want to be down to a guy in
the event they would start your biscuit and Rudolph would
be the backup. They don't want to have to turn
to a backup who hasn't practiced all year, who's been
number three all year. So they're trying to get him ready.
(04:24):
But is it a little goofy to get the backup
as ready as the starter or are they really trying
to figure out which one is the starter? Do you think? Yeah?
I mean I'm not a practice you are, But my
take on it is kind of like you said, I'm
not sure all the audience understands what Rudolph's role has
been or during the whole regular season. He's not practicing,
(04:47):
you know, taking a snap from Mason Cole and thrown
at the Deyonte Johnson. He hasn't done that for months.
I mean, really, it might have been Latrobe the last
time he's done that, you know. I mean, that's a
big game doing a ton there and he didn't. He
was third there. So I mean, imagine the criticism many
of our listeners would have right now, if Trabinsky gets
hurt on the first series, Rudolph goes in stinks up
(05:09):
the joint. You guys interview him after and he's like, well,
I've been practiced in four months. What do you do
with coaching staff? You know? But I also think to
your point, if it is close to fifty fifty, Mitch
might not have a real long leash either. Yeah. I
think that's that's the crux of it is, Hey, you
get to start again because you moved the ball with
fluidity and there was some good were productive, but three
(05:32):
bad screw ups and can't have that, and it gave
me lose my two points. I mean, there's a lot
of points left on the field. So maybe a short
leash from Mitch Drabinsky. I don't know. My fear we'll
get into this with Meryl a little bit as well.
This is all conjecture, but my fear is that we
will see the tentative Mitch Drabinsky that got himself benched.
In my opinion, and this amazing. I've seen some uh
(05:55):
the thought bandied around that he has not been treated fairly.
Oh I don't uh, And heard out the Rutolph too.
I don't know, he had the starting job. They did
not score points and score points and he wasn't particularly good. Yeah,
so so he got betched and he came in in
the Tampa game when Pickett suffered his first concussion and
(06:15):
played really well and really helped him win that game.
And that was the mitchter Biscuit I thought they would
be getting all along me too. I think the guy
we saw against Baltimore was the guy that the rest
of the league thinks, really is Mitch ter Biscuit. A
guy who will tantaalze you with his athletic ability, but
he's not really the sharpest quarterback tack in the box,
and there are mistakes that result from that. Yeah. I mean,
(06:38):
I thought his three interceptions were bad eyes by a
quarterback locking on not moving safety is not manipulating the defense,
and we've seen that throughout his career. But I also thought, boy,
I mean, he was moving the ball as well as
anyone's moved the ball all year with this team. I mean,
the good was quite good, But I think your points
really interesting in that are we going to see the
(06:59):
really con revative guy like I just don't want to
screw up or are we gonna see the two compared
to aggressive guy that we saw? There? Can we meet
in the middle somewhere in this game? You know that
that came up in the post game. He said, Yeah,
there's a there is middle ground. I gotta find it.
But uh, it was interesting to me listening to Trabinsky
talk about those interceptions, and hey, let me say this
(07:19):
up front. Nobody's more accountable he was. He took the
blame for everything. He explained the plays in detail, but
he kept saying, yeah, I gotta use my eyes better,
I gotta look the guy off. I gotta throw a
better ball. Okay, yeah, do it. Yeah, at least you're
recognizing the problem. He looked like a guy that you know,
(07:40):
if a kid burns his hand onto stove, most of
the time they don't put their hand right back. Right.
He throws a pick to Friarmouth, and then he throws
another almost identical pick. You know, It's like, and we
get the timebacker blind twice in a row, you know, right,
We get to halftime, all right, and George Pickens has
made two huge plays and also drawn a passenger fears
pedaling the end zone. The balls gotten picked off when
(08:03):
he's thrown the friar moooth twice and those linebackers are
playing really well, would covering a lot of ground and
Pickings got targeted one more time the rest of the game. Yeah,
how does that happen? He was beaten And I got
a lot of respect for Marlon Humphrey. Oh, I think
he's the best corner and one of the better corners
in the league. Pickings was beating him like a drum. Yeah,
and they had no fear attacking Humphrey. I thought, Oh,
(08:23):
they'll be after Peters all time, and there's a lot
guys and all that. I'm like, Humphrey, old kid. Many targets. Well,
he didn't, but he should have because he was. They
were beating him like a drum. Do you want both
the guys? Actually? Um. I was also a little shocked,
slightly off topic, but along those lines, three second half
touches for nausey Harris. I mean that that was close
from the start, from the beginning, or from start to finish.
(08:44):
And you're trying to control the clock a little bit,
and your in your quarterbacks throw and picks. How about
you know, feeding your your big back a little bit more? Yeah,
I mean they weren't running well. I kind of wrote
that off to there not running well against the Ravens,
and the passing game was working well enough. It wasn't
they were going three and out. They were moving the ball,
and they kept getting in the red zone and kept
giving it away. Of course, if you hand it off
(09:05):
to Nagy Harris, it's less likely to get intercepting. And
back to your original point, which I agree with, Sims
and Pickings should not be getting the same number of
targets ever, let alone two weeks in a row or
whatever it was. Yeah, I mean one of them was
sort of a flute because it was a scramble and
basically was running around and he just threw it up
for somebody. I think that was a one yard game
that certainly wasn't a design. The George Pickens thing has
(09:26):
head scratching to me because we all saw it in
training camp, right, and then ever since the regular season started,
they've acted as if, well, this guy's a rookies, we
don't have a history. Let's let's let it kind of
happen organically. I would be forced feeding this guy. Man,
what do you got to lose at this point? Right?
(09:47):
I mean we see the traits. The other thing that
makes me a little crazy, though, is how about intermediate
or deep in breaking routes. How many post routes do
you see in the game from the Steelers? Very few?
I mean they're all goes down the sidelines, and Pickens
is tremendous at that, but you're letting the corner have
that sideline as an extra defender. I mean, I want
(10:09):
to see him deep down the middle digs, you know,
deep ends, things like that. There's very few of those,
and he would be great at it. Steel's Preview on
DV is brought to you by Univert. The only thing
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page double down on your team with Univert, proud partner
of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Matt Williamson and Mike pursuit of
(10:29):
just getting warmed up on the preview tonight. When we
come back, we'll be joined by the third member of
our full house backfield, the one and only Meryl Hodge.
We're gonna be here until eight o'clock tonight, right here
on your Steelers Flagship one or two point five d
V and s n R. Back to the Steelers preview
show presented by Univet on d V. Welcome back to
(10:51):
the preview Mike Pursuita and Matt Williamson with you until
eight o'clock tonight as we continue getting you ready for
the Steelers and the Carolina pant on Sunday in Charlotte.
Joining us now the third member of our team. And really, Matt,
I think we're in agreement. R M v P. Right
back the Man, the myth, the legend, Meryl Hodge, Merrill,
(11:13):
welcome back, brother. It's always going to be a part
of the team. Well, I'll tell you, uh, this has
been bothering me since Sunday. And and I used the
term bothered very carefully because you know, I report on
the team. I write about the team, I talked about
the team. I'm not a fan, so I'm not upset
(11:35):
that they lost to Baltimore. But when the Ravens get
the ball back with one left and you have two
time outs in the two minute warning and the practice
squad quarterback is in, I don't know. I'm thinking it's
not unreasonable. You get a three and out there and
you have a chance to steal the game with a
field goal, and instead the Ravens, run, run, run, and
then they start taking knees. What happened on that last series, Well,
(11:58):
let's go back to when they were on the two
yard line. Let's start there. Okay, all right now, I'm
just gonna well, here's what happened. Okay, I talked about
the most important line is the line of scrimmage in football. Okay,
you've got to control it. If you can't control it, hey,
(12:19):
you can't. You can't control your opponent. You can't win games.
It's impossible to do that unless you have some flue
key freaky things that can happen, which do happen all
the time. That being said, Um and I knew that
they were going to run a power oh two. That
is like the that is their staple. They do it
a bunch of general ways, but a power always coming
because they do it so well, and it's coming to
(12:40):
the right side almost kind of you almost felt felt
it just based on their alignment. Um And I don't
think I can tell you is what you saw. I mean,
they literally just got blown off the ball. They just
got dominated at the point of attack. Um And unlike that,
(13:00):
they have played the last you know, three four weeks due,
to be honest with you, they they played much better.
But m I would tell you this. You know, I
don't know if you watched them against the Broncos. The
Broncos did a pretty good job taking the running game
away they you know, and I'm sure that there was
a sense of emphasis that we're going to get our
(13:20):
running game going and and they did obviously, But you know,
I wish I could I mean, it could tell you
there was some great scheme that they ran and it
was something that the Steelers probably are going. What was that?
I never saw that. It's the one player. I'm sure
that they worked on demos. They knew they were gonna
see the most and you're gonna have to deal with
(13:43):
the most. MARYL. Do you agree? I thought the safeties
played really well in the run game. Okay, I mean
they were out there a lot. There was a lot
of one cornerback situations. I didn't think the edge guys
were all that bad Highsmith and what But I thought
most of the blame was second level guy is in
the three pounders? Yeah, no, are the terrier got they
(14:04):
got gutted? That there's there's truth to that. I I
don't know that I have seen. You know, cam is
usually you know, either he wrecks place, you know, and
in listen and there's nobody let's played this game that
doesn't get blocked moves or have bad plays. There ain't nobody. Okay,
everybody's better players had bad players, have been on their
(14:24):
back beat, you name it. It's probably the first game
though I didn't really see him make a difference, you know,
I just you wouldn't have known he was on the field. Um,
that was probably the only thing that you know. And
then to your point, they gutted him. You know, they
they're right in the core and they could not stop
those corps. I mean, Anthony power ow is that that's
(14:46):
what the power is, the powers man drown. It's like,
we're coming at you. Put some bodies in the air
and we're gonna dig you out. Let's see if you
can stop us. You know, that's the attitude they play
with you. That's what keeps them in games. There's not
a greater example of how valuable and important and uh
tempo center and a a controlling environment. Um Phases is
(15:12):
a running game. You know, when you have that, you
can have somebody who probably had zero reps. Ever in
your offense, come out there and manage it enough to
win the game for you. UM so well, looking at
the value in looking ahead to this Sunday, I wanted
to talk to you about Carolina versus Baltimore. How those
(15:34):
two teams run the ball, because I watched Carolina play
at Seattle and run for over two hundred yards and
over a hundred in the fourth quarter on two drives
that just put the game away. Uh. This Panthers team,
to me, looks like it's developing an attitude. They line
up eight bodies across and run an unbalanced line. They'll
(15:55):
put an offensive lineman in the backfield. They play eight
offensive line sets rby package. You heard the army package.
Yet they're not real shy about telling you what they're doing,
and they seem to be doing it pretty well. How
do they compare to the Ravens? And can the Steelers
stop that? Can I piggyback off that too, Marrow? I
mean you got the Falcons before that. I mean Falcons
(16:16):
Ravens Panthers back to back to back is like the
most three dedicated run games in the whole league. Correct
and um and end up all three. I think this
one might be um the one that has a better
chance of being managed. And I say that because I
don't think they are as as efficient a group at
(16:38):
executing their type of bronze And say the Ravens, Okay,
they're not as multi faceted as Atlanta. They're gonna come
at you with some pretty staples there. Now their counter.
You know, I didn't chart all of their their runs.
It just appeared that the counter seems to be a
run that they really like. And they pulled two guys
(16:59):
and now I always love a counter trap. Um. The
key to a counter trap though, is um that you're
depending on how they played defensively. That the second the
second guy see the second blocker that he sees it
like the runner. There's that guy almost has to be
a type of runner. So um if if he can
(17:21):
see it, well, but there's a lot of ways you
just you can attack a defense with the counter. So
they're gonna have to handle that. That that counter run
is probably the most I think flexible run, dangerous run. Um.
If they can't handle that, that will be a problem.
Not keep in mind they had a big run by
Sam Donald. Sam Donald, Shoot, he must have a fifty
(17:42):
yard run, so he contributed to that for him. Yeah,
he just puts throw and he's not He's not gonna
run unless there's absolutely no other option whatsoever. Their longest
running back carry was sixteen yards. I mean, they're all
three yards at right, and I think, yeah, I can
fifth yard round, So then that that can kind of
skew it. But I will tell you this, at the
(18:05):
second half, to your point, I don't know who made it.
The front seven of the Sattle Seahawks were five to
six to seven yards back in their own backfield. I
mean at the end, the Caroline Panthers were smashing them.
I mean literally moving them off the line. Okay, I
(18:36):
lost there for a second. Merrill. Can you reuh revisit
the thought. Last we heard they were getting Seattle's going
backwards five seven yards getting smashed. Yeah, yeah, guys, I'm sorry.
I don't know if that was me. Well what I
what I said, what I said there at the very
end is that you know, at the end of the game,
(18:56):
when they wanted to finish the game, I have not
seen Seattle's from seven ever moved like they were moved
um all year. I mean they literally picked them up
and move them out of the way on the last drive. Um,
but but prior to that, you know, if you can't
handle their camera trap that that's what leads to that
if you're going to see enough of that, that's gonna
happen almost any team towards the end. So how you
(19:19):
deal with that and the Steevens built that early in
the game is going to be really pivotal in the outcome. Now,
we we spoke with Tarrell Auston, the Steelers defensive coordinator today,
and he agreed with you. He said, it wasn't scheme.
We didn't get full We knew what was coming. We
had the right people on the field. They just Baltimore
just played better than Pittsburgh. How do you play better defensively,
(19:41):
individually and collectively? Because you gotta know this is coming again, right,
They're gonna keep hitting you with the hammer until you
do something to make them stop and right right, yeah, right, yeah, listen,
there's I'm to share there in their meetings. What is today?
So they they've they got their game planning Wednesday, so
they've already talked to this story. Yeah, they've showed the
(20:01):
Ravens game, they showed the Atlanta game, they watched those
games that look comparable, and I'm sure they're saying, we
can run on this team, we can run on this team.
I don't think there's any questions in my mind that
they're saying that. And so you know how you know, listen,
sometimes you've got to help your guys. You know. Keep
in mind, you know, the Ravens as good as they
(20:21):
handled the Steelers running attack. You know, they did a
bunch of run blitzes to him, and the Steelers can
pass when they have played their best. They've shifted fronts better,
and they've done some run blitzes in the process. And
I would not be surprised if you wouldn't see some
game plan like that to maybe help the guys out
a little bit. You know, get some get some bounds
where you know, second and long and you get them
(20:43):
in third and long, because if you can get Sam
Donald and third long enough, you're gonna be okay. So
along the Donald line, that's where my question was going. Anyway,
I feel like Carolina is hiding him even more than
these last two opponents. I mean Mary and Huntley. I
mean not Brown but Huntley. I mean they don't want
Donald to do anything. Yell, they Um, you're right. Play
(21:08):
calling and design can need to be a Biden experience.
We're trying to hide our quarterback one of the two
things we're doing, and they do they do you know,
they try to throw run action off of it, you know,
and all the stuff. That's the best way to throw.
I don't care how great your quarterback is, but it
clearly does help a guy who you know is when
I say seasons, I mean just not a good guy
(21:30):
here has not a good quarterback. He mean, he was
sloppy at USC. The biggest problem with Sam Donald when
he came out. If he's just sloppy, he is all
over the pocket. I mean he can come back and
he can go from the left guard to the right
guard and end up over the left tackle and throw
the ball and get get himself in trouble because he's
running right into pressure. You know. He throws the ball like, um,
(21:53):
like he's trying to throw it through a brick wall.
I mean, no matter where it's coming like it's He's
fundamentally not sound and that's what makes him so erratic.
And so they try to control that. And that's what
I'm saying. You know, if you can keep them in
some bad in some situations where they have to throw
the ball a little more and get him uncomfortable. He's
going to give you some shots. But you know, if
(22:15):
you don't, then they control the environment and they'll throw
and they want to throw. And um, even though they
did that against you, what I'm telling you that he
still he still gave them a couple of opportunities they
just blew. You know, they just didn't make the they
didn't make the play on it. I mean, he made
some throws that you're like, what is he doing? And
he still has that in me, So hopefully they can
(22:36):
get him into that and capitalize when he does give
it to him. Mary, let's get off the chalkboard for
a second and talk about the intangibles a little bit.
And uh, you know, if you're a Friday Night Lights
fan mojou watching that Carolina team play, I mean, this
team has been through a lot. The coach has been fired, Uh,
(22:59):
star players have been traded. This is their Donald's the
third quarterback that has started the division. But they're still
in it because they're a bad division and they look
like they got some belief, do they not. I mean
they play hard, they play physical, they keep coming even
when they screw up. They do it a thousand miles
an hour. Well, I'm gonna tell you this, it's the
(23:21):
It's the greatest. I think it's one of the most
powerful words in the English language and it applies in
so many different ways and everybody can relate to it
because they've probably had an experience with it. I watched
that team and you can tell they all have hope.
They play like they have hope. And then the more
(23:43):
the season goes on, and I just can tell you
this because, like you said, everything always comes back the second.
The second but second, we were just we're kind of
like the Carolina fans. We may not lost coaching elements,
but we had once we found hope and all that
(24:04):
we had been through, there was no pressure. Like you know,
I watched him playing. I'm like, day, these guys have hope. Man,
they have hope, and there's no pressure. And there can't
be a more dangerous team to face that has that.
You know, you're gonna laugh. But we were speaking a
couple of us with Mason Rudolph this week and he
(24:25):
told us one of the reasons he stayed ready or
he thinks he has stayed ready. Is that he got
some advice from a guy he called a legendary coach
who said, hey, just keep getting ready, to keep hanging
in there, keep prepping it. You never know when your
chance is gonna come. The coach's name was Tom Moore,
and that was when the Buccaneers came to Pittsburgh this season.
(24:47):
Tom Moore is an old buddy Randy Feakner's as as
Rudolph explained it, and Moore had visited Steelers camp during
Rudolph's rookie year. And where was Tom Moore in He
was coaching for the Pittsburgh Steelers. So does all come
back to the nine? It does? You know what? Let
me do that if he's wise enough to listen to
that council, because that cat has been I don't know
(25:09):
how long he's been to lead, but it has to
be over fifteen years, four years old. He's still consulting
with the Buccaneers. That is absolutely I mean, that is
like miracle stuff. And he is such a good coach too.
He was such a good coach, Bubby and I always
all we we saw all the time she was Tom
Warren left the end of our career. He ruined our
(25:29):
career when he left in Minnesota, we personally hold him
accountable for that. I got two part question for it.
Analyze Trabisky's three interceptions and analyze everything else Trabisky did. Well,
it's good and bad. Do you want more than that?
I mean, that's a short answer, but Mary's not big
(25:50):
on short answers. Well learned that she's unfortunately, this is unfortunately,
um like, this has of his problem when he was
in college. Okay, the problem the well, you're right, they
only get magnified when you get to the NFL. Okay,
so that Ben said, and so what is his problem?
(26:11):
It was his real problem when he when he was
in college. In college, and I never felt he truly
went through a progression. I didn't not really feel like
he ever understood what was going on. And then based
on his throws and the interceptions, it they just even
elevated that thought process, you know. And then when it
really mattered in critical balance scoring territory is when he
(26:32):
played his worst and that has really not changed. You know.
The first interception, now I could argue, you know, Lis
Fryarman's got jammed and he just got everything killed by
the way he got off well that the quarterback get
off him. Going back to Tom Moore, first thing, Tom
Moore would say, he got jammed, get off him. He's
done the pressing man, you got zone over here, makes
(26:55):
something happen here, don't stick on him. And that's what
he did. He just kept waiting, point um so. And
then the second one, they had given a spy look
a couple other times in the game, and they spiedy,
you know they I mean, they did a robber type
look where the the linebacker was just lurking, you know,
and you have to know that, I mean, he had
(27:17):
to see him. Well, let's see your responsibility to know that.
Let's just put it that way, you know. And then
he ends up throwing it right to him. And then
the last one, I'm telling you this, I could I've
watched him so long. When he came out of the
huddle and he dropped back, you could see it in
his body language. He was throwing that to the left side.
When he came out of the huddle. The safety, well,
(27:38):
they they were on that, they were on that hash
that he ends up throwing it too. So they're on
the short side. He throws to the shorts side of
the field as far as the width goes. The safety
was on that hash where he starts to move to
the middle. When he's moving to the middle, you could
see in his body language he's like, no way. You
could see him coming back. He's like, there's no way
he's just gonna throw this, And sure enough he just you.
(28:02):
I don't even know how you pre snap. You're like, oh,
that's safety's on the hash where I want to throw it. Well,
I gotta do something to bring him to the other
hash at least to have a shot. I can't just
stare there and throw there. And but that has been
his m O. Honestly since he was he came out,
(28:23):
that has been And then those things are like, from
an evaluated perspective, they're good to observe because they're like
ten those be changed, ten those beet things. I just
think a lot of those things when you see those
inherited trademarks and how kids playing, especially the more you
see of it, it's gonna be hard to change that
(28:43):
in this at this level, just because of the sophistication.
It will be so hard if a guy doesn't understand
conceptually coverages, reads within those coverages, and how to go
from one to two to three and process that. It's
gonna be hard to come to the NFL and do that.
It is about processing. Let's talk about what that means
(29:05):
for the Carolina game. We have no official word about
the starter, but Matt and I were kicking around in
the first segment. Kenny Pickett limited for a second consecutive
day today, so it's probably not going to be him. Uh.
My theory is that they split the reps this week
because they wanted to get Rudolph ready in case they
want to give Trabisky a quick hook. What what kind
(29:27):
of uh? What's in his headspace if he gets to
start against Carolina? How does he plays? Does he just
does he just turtle and play conservative like he was
in September? Or does he say screw it if I'm
going down, I'm going down swinging and getting picked off.
Um cal You know, it's hard to anticipate what a
(29:49):
guy might feel like I would anticipate, though, you know,
having games where you've turned the ball over a never
fumble three times, Thank the Lord, I don't think. But
I've got fumbled where I lost games for us. So
that's bad enough. Okay, you can be fragile, you know,
until you start to create some confidence back from that
(30:10):
that particular scenario. So, um, it'll be interesting if they
I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't give Mason a
shot at it. You know, listen, Mason, I play where
he played in training camp, where he played precious he
played the best. Actually, you know, it was a true
fair competition. It was about you know, how we practiced.
(30:32):
Now he played. Let me Mason won that He's he's
at least though, isn't he by far? Well? Yeah, but
he's still moving moves. Not listen, if we're if we're
going into the game and we're counting on our quarterback
being mobile to win. Okay, we're already in trouble. I
gonna be honest, we're already in trouble. But to shape shape. Um,
(30:58):
but I wouldn't Mike, I wouldn't argue with your your
thought process either. You know, they want to get both
guys ready and Mitch struggles, then you know, they give
Mason shot, you know, and then maybe that's the the
more reasonable way to approach this and think of it.
But giving giving guys equal reps does mean you're on
the side merrill, great stuff. Is always really appreciating. Got
(31:20):
one more little time, more story before you go. I
think you'll appreciate this. We were talking one time, I
forget what you was was out at St. Vincent at
a slow moment, and the subject was whether or not
academics should ever apply into the thought process when a
guy is trying to pick a college, or should he
just do it solely on football, if you know, if
(31:40):
football is what he intends to be, his life for it.
And Tom Moore said to me he was a Universe
Iowa guy, if I'm remembering right. He said, you go
to the University of Minnesota, go to the library, they
got a book. You go to Iowa, they got the
same book. Okay, that was pretty dang good. More for you, speed.
(32:10):
We'll talk to you next week. Carrel. Thanks all right,
see you guys. Meryl Hodge with us on the preview. Hey,
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(32:34):
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Matt Williamson and Mike pursued it with you until eight
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Flagship one or two point five d V and s
n R. Back to the Steelers Preview Show presented by
(32:54):
UNIBT on DV. Welcome back to the Preview microsued in
Matt insinn't wrapping things up. We're here untill eight tonight
on your Steelers Flagship one or two point five d
V E and s n are. The Greater Pittsburgh Community
Food Back reminds you to sack hunger, get food, volunteer
or donate at Pittsburgh Foodbank dot org. Matt some interesting
(33:15):
stuff for Mayle Hodge, as it always is. He really
uh made a point that resonated with me with that
description of the Panthers playing with hope. Yeah. I would
almost pile on that a little bit and say they're
starting to play with expectation. Yeah. I think Steve Wilkes
has done a tremendous job of finding what can I
get this team to do well, and obviously it's voluminous running,
(33:37):
and I think they got some real playmakers on defense,
and they understand their strengths and weaknesses. Um. I think
everyone everyone wrote this team off. They traded McCaffrey, they
fired their coach. Well, Wilkes has got a plan and
it's nice to be in that awful division too. I
think they gonna end up within the division. Well. By
the way, a pretty good kicker two in Eddie Piniero,
who has hit twenty five at seven this year. He's
(33:59):
got a long of fifty four and he has made
eleven in a row. So if, uh, if it ends
up like a Baltimore type game and the field goal
kickers helped decide it, um, maybe maybe uh advantage Carolina
or at least a stalemate there. Chris Boswell pretty good
when they're not getting blocked by Calais Campbell. Uh. You
(34:20):
mentioned those playmakers a minute ago. I wanted to revisit
that real quick regarding that Carolina defense before we get
out of here. Shaq Thompson outside linebacker and Frankie Luvu
on the other side, number seven and forty nine. Man,
these guys fly around fast or physical. They seem to
be that hybrid type everybody's looking for in that they
(34:41):
can cover, they can blitz, and they can tackle. Luvu
is not a household name, but it's not much different
than Queen and Roquan last week. I mean, they never
leave the field. They don't have discernibal weaknesses. There's any
sideline to sideline, you know, but in name their outside linebackers,
but they play inside because they're in up so much. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
(35:01):
I mean they're not edge players, but they can blitz.
I think Shack Thompson has been one of the better
linebackers for a long time that no one talks about.
I mean they're they're both really athletic there, and you
know they're protected well by Derek Brown in front of them.
I think is a star in the making. They got
some dudes on this defense, and I really like they
also do something interesting. At least they did, uh last Sunday.
(35:22):
When they're up in Seattle. The edge guys stand up. Yes,
whether they're in a four man front or a five
What is the what are they after with that? Do
you think? I just wonder if that's a comfort thing.
I mean, Brian Burns who's a star as well, is
going to give more a lot of problems. Did a
lot of that at Florida State. I just think maybe
it's a comfort thing for him. Um. I don't have
(35:43):
a great answer of schematically what that does for their them.
In particular, they actually ran a snap where everybody was
standing up. Yeah, they do a little bit of that too,
you know. And their corners are good. Jeremy Chin is good.
I think the defense presents a lot of problems. And
of course we've talked a lot about the Carolina running game.
Uh that's all they do. You know. It was particularly
(36:06):
impressive in the fourth quarter. They were up seventeen nothing
on Seattle, and then that game got to twenty to seventeen.
Carolina had a first and goal at the three and
passed at four times. None of them were complete. Mark
Lorett was doing the game on Fox and he said,
and I quote McAdoo lost his mind, referencing Ben McAdoo,
(36:27):
the coordinator on offense. But the next two possessions, ten
placed seventy four yards in a touchdown, eight plays in
sixty eight yards on the ground in that one, and
then after that, uh nine place forty four yards for
a field goal. Eight of those were rushes for thirty
four yards, all of a Sudden's thirty seventeen game over. Yeah,
Ben and I had been mcado an. I g a
(36:48):
together a pit and you never never left the facility.
So I've been rooting for him. But he has found
the formula, that's for sure, and it's just hand theball off,
hand the ball off and keep an eye on it.
Sometimes they bring out eight offensive lineman, which is just unbelievable.
Quarterback of running back, eight offensive lineman and somebody else.
You never see it. All they don't have is the
RB Sauce Steelers preview on DV is brought to you
(37:11):
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That's gonna about do it for us tonight. Man. I
think they're in trouble. I don't think it's a good
matchup for him at all. I really don't. Running the
ball and the way they play defense burns versus more.
I mean all the things quarterback situation best. Yeah, and
(37:34):
a hungry team that smells you know a playoff. I
think it's a bad matchup that's gonna do it for
us tonight. Thanks to you, Jake behind the glass for
keeping us on the air. Thanks to you for finding
us however, and wherever you found is for Matt Williams
and on Mike pursuit of We'll talk to you next
week on Steelers Preview right here on your Steelers flagship
one or two point five d V and S n R.
(37:54):
Good Night, everyone,
This is the Steelers Preview show on w d V Pittsburgh,
presented by UNIBT. The only thing better than a Steelers
win is the Steelers win that pays double down on
your team. With UNIVET, proud partner of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Here are your hosts, Mike Pursuita, Matt Williamson, and Meryl Hodge.
Good anything, and welcome to another Thursday night edition of
Steelers Preview right here on your Steelers slag Ship one
(00:23):
or two point five d V and s n R.
Matt Williamson and Mike pursued it with you until eight
o'clock tonight. As we always are on Thursdays, at least
win the games on Sunday. We passed on Thursday. Monday nights.
We have to adjust. Uh, Thursday nights we have to
adjust more specifically. But we've got one coming up Sunday
in Charlotte and Matt. We often start the show with
(00:45):
the what to Expect segment, which is brought to you
by Brian Patton and associates. It's all about the benefits.
I think we gotta lay up tonight. I expect Carolina
to try to run the ball. Yeah, rinse and repeat
from last week and the week before. I mean, I've
used this phrase a lot the last three weeks. Voluminous running.
I mean this volume, volume volume, two yards, five yards.
(01:07):
We're gonna stick with it. Look a word, voluminous, luminous.
It makes me sound intellectual. That does this year, and
it's a trend around the league. I mean it narrows
the playing field when you don't have a great quarterback,
just keep running the football and pound people into the
into the ground. And it's working for Carolina. They're playing
their best ball the year. We're gonna get into that
portion of the Steelers Panthers dynamic and our second segment
(01:31):
with Merril Hodge. But you know, the headline story out
of Pittsburgh this week is the quarterback situation. And I'm
not sure the Steelers suddenly poorous run defense isn't a
bigger story than whoever plays quarterback. But quarterbacks get the headlines.
And Kenny Pickett in the news this week limited for
a second consecutive day today. He's a rookie, he's dealing
(01:52):
with his second concussion. I'm gonna go out on a limb,
Matt and say, Picke, it's not playing. Yeah, it sure
seems that way, and I have no problem with that.
I mean, such as life, You've got these other two
guys that are getting a lot of action. You're in practice,
so I mean it looks like it's likely gonna beat Drabisky.
But maybe you have a better insight than that. The
other h notables from the Steelers practice participation report today, Uh,
(02:15):
Deonte Johnson didn't work. He's got a hip. But you know,
as we've talked about the last couple of weeks, veterans
at this time of the year off and don't work
and they play anyway. Full participant, full participation for Nagy Harris,
he took yesterday off, also dealing with the hip. No
Miles Jack and no Pat Friar with groin for Jack,
(02:36):
foot for Friar, Muth and Larry Ogan job now dealing
with a toe. None of those guys have practiced yet
this week. They are all, uh, well, they all might
play anyway to our our previous point. Uh, nothing real
headline generating on the Carolina side of things. Labiscus chanal,
they're kind of gadget wide receipt Uh. He was limited
(02:59):
for a second consecutive of day with a shoulder. That
might be something significant because he's pretty physical six. He
likes to put that shoulder down and run through. You
don't throw bubble screens to him and around stuff like
that little short pass out of the backfield, that kind
of thing. Uh. And Xavier Woods one of their starting safeties.
He's missed two games in a row with an ankle.
(03:19):
He has been limited for two days in a row.
So Panthers, that seems to be pretty healthy. They have
a lot of defensive backs. They have a lot of
defensive backs. I like their two first round corners. Um.
I like Chin a lot, the big safety. Yeah. They
have six or seven really intriguing defensive players and that
defense is playing quite well right now. Back to the
(03:39):
Steelers quarterback situation. Uh, I don't have any uh, you know,
tremendous insight, just some suspicions on it. And I think
it's gonna be Mitch Robiskie. I think they are getting
Mason Rudolph ready to play in case he has to
her in case they want him to play. Matt Canada
the Steelers offensive coordinator talk today on Coordinator Thursday, and
(04:04):
he mentioned that they lost pick it early in the game,
so they're down to one quarterback. Well, although you never
want to have that happen if that would happen again,
they don't want to be down to a guy in
the event they would start your biscuit and Rudolph would
be the backup. They don't want to have to turn
to a backup who hasn't practiced all year, who's been
number three all year. So they're trying to get him ready.
(04:24):
But is it a little goofy to get the backup
as ready as the starter or are they really trying
to figure out which one is the starter? Do you think? Yeah?
I mean I'm not a practice you are, But my
take on it is kind of like you said, I'm
not sure all the audience understands what Rudolph's role has
been or during the whole regular season. He's not practicing,
(04:47):
you know, taking a snap from Mason Cole and thrown
at the Deyonte Johnson. He hasn't done that for months.
I mean, really, it might have been Latrobe the last
time he's done that, you know. I mean, that's a
big game doing a ton there and he didn't. He
was third there. So I mean, imagine the criticism many
of our listeners would have right now, if Trabinsky gets
hurt on the first series, Rudolph goes in stinks up
(05:09):
the joint. You guys interview him after and he's like, well,
I've been practiced in four months. What do you do
with coaching staff? You know? But I also think to
your point, if it is close to fifty fifty, Mitch
might not have a real long leash either. Yeah. I
think that's that's the crux of it is, Hey, you
get to start again because you moved the ball with
fluidity and there was some good were productive, but three
(05:32):
bad screw ups and can't have that, and it gave
me lose my two points. I mean, there's a lot
of points left on the field. So maybe a short
leash from Mitch Drabinsky. I don't know. My fear we'll
get into this with Meryl a little bit as well.
This is all conjecture, but my fear is that we
will see the tentative Mitch Drabinsky that got himself benched.
In my opinion, and this amazing. I've seen some uh
(05:55):
the thought bandied around that he has not been treated fairly.
Oh I don't uh, And heard out the Rutolph too.
I don't know, he had the starting job. They did
not score points and score points and he wasn't particularly good. Yeah,
so so he got betched and he came in in
the Tampa game when Pickett suffered his first concussion and
(06:15):
played really well and really helped him win that game.
And that was the mitchter Biscuit I thought they would
be getting all along me too. I think the guy
we saw against Baltimore was the guy that the rest
of the league thinks, really is Mitch ter Biscuit. A
guy who will tantaalze you with his athletic ability, but
he's not really the sharpest quarterback tack in the box,
and there are mistakes that result from that. Yeah. I mean,
(06:38):
I thought his three interceptions were bad eyes by a
quarterback locking on not moving safety is not manipulating the defense,
and we've seen that throughout his career. But I also thought, boy,
I mean, he was moving the ball as well as
anyone's moved the ball all year with this team. I mean,
the good was quite good, But I think your points
really interesting in that are we going to see the
(06:59):
really con revative guy like I just don't want to
screw up or are we gonna see the two compared
to aggressive guy that we saw? There? Can we meet
in the middle somewhere in this game? You know that
that came up in the post game. He said, Yeah,
there's a there is middle ground. I gotta find it.
But uh, it was interesting to me listening to Trabinsky
talk about those interceptions, and hey, let me say this
(07:19):
up front. Nobody's more accountable he was. He took the
blame for everything. He explained the plays in detail, but
he kept saying, yeah, I gotta use my eyes better,
I gotta look the guy off. I gotta throw a
better ball. Okay, yeah, do it. Yeah, at least you're
recognizing the problem. He looked like a guy that you know,
(07:40):
if a kid burns his hand onto stove, most of
the time they don't put their hand right back. Right.
He throws a pick to Friarmouth, and then he throws
another almost identical pick. You know, It's like, and we
get the timebacker blind twice in a row, you know, right,
We get to halftime, all right, and George Pickens has
made two huge plays and also drawn a passenger fears
pedaling the end zone. The balls gotten picked off when
(08:03):
he's thrown the friar moooth twice and those linebackers are
playing really well, would covering a lot of ground and
Pickings got targeted one more time the rest of the game. Yeah,
how does that happen? He was beaten And I got
a lot of respect for Marlon Humphrey. Oh, I think
he's the best corner and one of the better corners
in the league. Pickings was beating him like a drum. Yeah,
and they had no fear attacking Humphrey. I thought, Oh,
(08:23):
they'll be after Peters all time, and there's a lot
guys and all that. I'm like, Humphrey, old kid. Many targets. Well,
he didn't, but he should have because he was. They
were beating him like a drum. Do you want both
the guys? Actually? Um. I was also a little shocked,
slightly off topic, but along those lines, three second half
touches for nausey Harris. I mean that that was close
from the start, from the beginning, or from start to finish.
(08:44):
And you're trying to control the clock a little bit,
and your in your quarterbacks throw and picks. How about
you know, feeding your your big back a little bit more? Yeah,
I mean they weren't running well. I kind of wrote
that off to there not running well against the Ravens,
and the passing game was working well enough. It wasn't
they were going three and out. They were moving the ball,
and they kept getting in the red zone and kept
giving it away. Of course, if you hand it off
(09:05):
to Nagy Harris, it's less likely to get intercepting. And
back to your original point, which I agree with, Sims
and Pickings should not be getting the same number of
targets ever, let alone two weeks in a row or
whatever it was. Yeah, I mean one of them was
sort of a flute because it was a scramble and
basically was running around and he just threw it up
for somebody. I think that was a one yard game
that certainly wasn't a design. The George Pickens thing has
(09:26):
head scratching to me because we all saw it in
training camp, right, and then ever since the regular season started,
they've acted as if, well, this guy's a rookies, we
don't have a history. Let's let's let it kind of
happen organically. I would be forced feeding this guy. Man,
what do you got to lose at this point? Right?
(09:47):
I mean we see the traits. The other thing that
makes me a little crazy, though, is how about intermediate
or deep in breaking routes. How many post routes do
you see in the game from the Steelers? Very few?
I mean they're all goes down the sidelines, and Pickens
is tremendous at that, but you're letting the corner have
that sideline as an extra defender. I mean, I want
(10:09):
to see him deep down the middle digs, you know,
deep ends, things like that. There's very few of those,
and he would be great at it. Steel's Preview on
DV is brought to you by Univert. The only thing
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page double down on your team with Univert, proud partner
of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Matt Williamson and Mike pursuit of
(10:29):
just getting warmed up on the preview tonight. When we
come back, we'll be joined by the third member of
our full house backfield, the one and only Meryl Hodge.
We're gonna be here until eight o'clock tonight, right here
on your Steelers Flagship one or two point five d
V and s n R. Back to the Steelers preview
show presented by Univet on d V. Welcome back to
(10:51):
the preview Mike Pursuita and Matt Williamson with you until
eight o'clock tonight as we continue getting you ready for
the Steelers and the Carolina pant on Sunday in Charlotte.
Joining us now the third member of our team. And really, Matt,
I think we're in agreement. R M v P. Right
back the Man, the myth, the legend, Meryl Hodge, Merrill,
(11:13):
welcome back, brother. It's always going to be a part
of the team. Well, I'll tell you, uh, this has
been bothering me since Sunday. And and I used the
term bothered very carefully because you know, I report on
the team. I write about the team, I talked about
the team. I'm not a fan, so I'm not upset
(11:35):
that they lost to Baltimore. But when the Ravens get
the ball back with one left and you have two
time outs in the two minute warning and the practice
squad quarterback is in, I don't know. I'm thinking it's
not unreasonable. You get a three and out there and
you have a chance to steal the game with a
field goal, and instead the Ravens, run, run, run, and
then they start taking knees. What happened on that last series, Well,
(11:58):
let's go back to when they were on the two
yard line. Let's start there. Okay, all right now, I'm
just gonna well, here's what happened. Okay, I talked about
the most important line is the line of scrimmage in football. Okay,
you've got to control it. If you can't control it, hey,
(12:19):
you can't. You can't control your opponent. You can't win games.
It's impossible to do that unless you have some flue
key freaky things that can happen, which do happen all
the time. That being said, Um and I knew that
they were going to run a power oh two. That
is like the that is their staple. They do it
a bunch of general ways, but a power always coming
because they do it so well, and it's coming to
(12:40):
the right side almost kind of you almost felt felt
it just based on their alignment. Um And I don't
think I can tell you is what you saw. I mean,
they literally just got blown off the ball. They just
got dominated at the point of attack. Um And unlike that,
(13:00):
they have played the last you know, three four weeks due,
to be honest with you, they they played much better.
But m I would tell you this. You know, I
don't know if you watched them against the Broncos. The
Broncos did a pretty good job taking the running game
away they you know, and I'm sure that there was
a sense of emphasis that we're going to get our
(13:20):
running game going and and they did obviously, But you know,
I wish I could I mean, it could tell you
there was some great scheme that they ran and it
was something that the Steelers probably are going. What was that?
I never saw that. It's the one player. I'm sure
that they worked on demos. They knew they were gonna
see the most and you're gonna have to deal with
(13:43):
the most. MARYL. Do you agree? I thought the safeties
played really well in the run game. Okay, I mean
they were out there a lot. There was a lot
of one cornerback situations. I didn't think the edge guys
were all that bad Highsmith and what But I thought
most of the blame was second level guy is in
the three pounders? Yeah, no, are the terrier got they
(14:04):
got gutted? That there's there's truth to that. I I
don't know that I have seen. You know, cam is
usually you know, either he wrecks place, you know, and
in listen and there's nobody let's played this game that
doesn't get blocked moves or have bad plays. There ain't nobody. Okay,
everybody's better players had bad players, have been on their
(14:24):
back beat, you name it. It's probably the first game
though I didn't really see him make a difference, you know,
I just you wouldn't have known he was on the field. Um,
that was probably the only thing that you know. And
then to your point, they gutted him. You know, they
they're right in the core and they could not stop
those corps. I mean, Anthony power ow is that that's
(14:46):
what the power is, the powers man drown. It's like,
we're coming at you. Put some bodies in the air
and we're gonna dig you out. Let's see if you
can stop us. You know, that's the attitude they play
with you. That's what keeps them in games. There's not
a greater example of how valuable and important and uh
tempo center and a a controlling environment. Um Phases is
(15:12):
a running game. You know, when you have that, you
can have somebody who probably had zero reps. Ever in
your offense, come out there and manage it enough to
win the game for you. UM so well, looking at
the value in looking ahead to this Sunday, I wanted
to talk to you about Carolina versus Baltimore. How those
(15:34):
two teams run the ball, because I watched Carolina play
at Seattle and run for over two hundred yards and
over a hundred in the fourth quarter on two drives
that just put the game away. Uh. This Panthers team,
to me, looks like it's developing an attitude. They line
up eight bodies across and run an unbalanced line. They'll
(15:55):
put an offensive lineman in the backfield. They play eight
offensive line sets rby package. You heard the army package.
Yet they're not real shy about telling you what they're doing,
and they seem to be doing it pretty well. How
do they compare to the Ravens? And can the Steelers
stop that? Can I piggyback off that too, Marrow? I
mean you got the Falcons before that. I mean Falcons
(16:16):
Ravens Panthers back to back to back is like the
most three dedicated run games in the whole league. Correct
and um and end up all three. I think this
one might be um the one that has a better
chance of being managed. And I say that because I
don't think they are as as efficient a group at
(16:38):
executing their type of bronze And say the Ravens, Okay,
they're not as multi faceted as Atlanta. They're gonna come
at you with some pretty staples there. Now their counter.
You know, I didn't chart all of their their runs.
It just appeared that the counter seems to be a
run that they really like. And they pulled two guys
(16:59):
and now I always love a counter trap. Um. The
key to a counter trap though, is um that you're
depending on how they played defensively. That the second the
second guy see the second blocker that he sees it
like the runner. There's that guy almost has to be
a type of runner. So um if if he can
(17:21):
see it, well, but there's a lot of ways you
just you can attack a defense with the counter. So
they're gonna have to handle that. That that counter run
is probably the most I think flexible run, dangerous run. Um.
If they can't handle that, that will be a problem.
Not keep in mind they had a big run by
Sam Donald. Sam Donald, Shoot, he must have a fifty
(17:42):
yard run, so he contributed to that for him. Yeah,
he just puts throw and he's not He's not gonna
run unless there's absolutely no other option whatsoever. Their longest
running back carry was sixteen yards. I mean, they're all
three yards at right, and I think, yeah, I can
fifth yard round, So then that that can kind of
skew it. But I will tell you this, at the
(18:05):
second half, to your point, I don't know who made it.
The front seven of the Sattle Seahawks were five to
six to seven yards back in their own backfield. I
mean at the end, the Caroline Panthers were smashing them.
I mean literally moving them off the line. Okay, I
(18:36):
lost there for a second. Merrill. Can you reuh revisit
the thought. Last we heard they were getting Seattle's going
backwards five seven yards getting smashed. Yeah, yeah, guys, I'm sorry.
I don't know if that was me. Well what I
what I said, what I said there at the very
end is that you know, at the end of the game,
(18:56):
when they wanted to finish the game, I have not
seen Seattle's from seven ever moved like they were moved
um all year. I mean they literally picked them up
and move them out of the way on the last drive. Um,
but but prior to that, you know, if you can't
handle their camera trap that that's what leads to that
if you're going to see enough of that, that's gonna
happen almost any team towards the end. So how you
(19:19):
deal with that and the Steevens built that early in
the game is going to be really pivotal in the outcome. Now,
we we spoke with Tarrell Auston, the Steelers defensive coordinator today,
and he agreed with you. He said, it wasn't scheme.
We didn't get full We knew what was coming. We
had the right people on the field. They just Baltimore
just played better than Pittsburgh. How do you play better defensively,
(19:41):
individually and collectively? Because you gotta know this is coming again, right,
They're gonna keep hitting you with the hammer until you
do something to make them stop and right right, yeah, right, yeah, listen,
there's I'm to share there in their meetings. What is today?
So they they've they got their game planning Wednesday, so
they've already talked to this story. Yeah, they've showed the
(20:01):
Ravens game, they showed the Atlanta game, they watched those
games that look comparable, and I'm sure they're saying, we
can run on this team, we can run on this team.
I don't think there's any questions in my mind that
they're saying that. And so you know how you know, listen,
sometimes you've got to help your guys. You know. Keep
in mind, you know, the Ravens as good as they
(20:21):
handled the Steelers running attack. You know, they did a
bunch of run blitzes to him, and the Steelers can
pass when they have played their best. They've shifted fronts better,
and they've done some run blitzes in the process. And
I would not be surprised if you wouldn't see some
game plan like that to maybe help the guys out
a little bit. You know, get some get some bounds
where you know, second and long and you get them
(20:43):
in third and long, because if you can get Sam
Donald and third long enough, you're gonna be okay. So
along the Donald line, that's where my question was going. Anyway,
I feel like Carolina is hiding him even more than
these last two opponents. I mean Mary and Huntley. I
mean not Brown but Huntley. I mean they don't want
Donald to do anything. Yell, they Um, you're right. Play
(21:08):
calling and design can need to be a Biden experience.
We're trying to hide our quarterback one of the two
things we're doing, and they do they do you know,
they try to throw run action off of it, you know,
and all the stuff. That's the best way to throw.
I don't care how great your quarterback is, but it
clearly does help a guy who you know is when
I say seasons, I mean just not a good guy
(21:30):
here has not a good quarterback. He mean, he was
sloppy at USC. The biggest problem with Sam Donald when
he came out. If he's just sloppy, he is all
over the pocket. I mean he can come back and
he can go from the left guard to the right
guard and end up over the left tackle and throw
the ball and get get himself in trouble because he's
running right into pressure. You know. He throws the ball like, um,
(21:53):
like he's trying to throw it through a brick wall.
I mean, no matter where it's coming like it's He's
fundamentally not sound and that's what makes him so erratic.
And so they try to control that. And that's what
I'm saying. You know, if you can keep them in
some bad in some situations where they have to throw
the ball a little more and get him uncomfortable. He's
going to give you some shots. But you know, if
(22:15):
you don't, then they control the environment and they'll throw
and they want to throw. And um, even though they
did that against you, what I'm telling you that he
still he still gave them a couple of opportunities they
just blew. You know, they just didn't make the they
didn't make the play on it. I mean, he made
some throws that you're like, what is he doing? And
he still has that in me, So hopefully they can
(22:36):
get him into that and capitalize when he does give
it to him. Mary, let's get off the chalkboard for
a second and talk about the intangibles a little bit.
And uh, you know, if you're a Friday Night Lights
fan mojou watching that Carolina team play, I mean, this
team has been through a lot. The coach has been fired, Uh,
(22:59):
star players have been traded. This is their Donald's the
third quarterback that has started the division. But they're still
in it because they're a bad division and they look
like they got some belief, do they not. I mean
they play hard, they play physical, they keep coming even
when they screw up. They do it a thousand miles
an hour. Well, I'm gonna tell you this, it's the
(23:21):
It's the greatest. I think it's one of the most
powerful words in the English language and it applies in
so many different ways and everybody can relate to it
because they've probably had an experience with it. I watched
that team and you can tell they all have hope.
They play like they have hope. And then the more
(23:43):
the season goes on, and I just can tell you
this because, like you said, everything always comes back the second.
The second but second, we were just we're kind of
like the Carolina fans. We may not lost coaching elements,
but we had once we found hope and all that
(24:04):
we had been through, there was no pressure. Like you know,
I watched him playing. I'm like, day, these guys have hope. Man,
they have hope, and there's no pressure. And there can't
be a more dangerous team to face that has that.
You know, you're gonna laugh. But we were speaking a
couple of us with Mason Rudolph this week and he
(24:25):
told us one of the reasons he stayed ready or
he thinks he has stayed ready. Is that he got
some advice from a guy he called a legendary coach
who said, hey, just keep getting ready, to keep hanging
in there, keep prepping it. You never know when your
chance is gonna come. The coach's name was Tom Moore,
and that was when the Buccaneers came to Pittsburgh this season.
(24:47):
Tom Moore is an old buddy Randy Feakner's as as
Rudolph explained it, and Moore had visited Steelers camp during
Rudolph's rookie year. And where was Tom Moore in He
was coaching for the Pittsburgh Steelers. So does all come
back to the nine? It does? You know what? Let
me do that if he's wise enough to listen to
that council, because that cat has been I don't know
(25:09):
how long he's been to lead, but it has to
be over fifteen years, four years old. He's still consulting
with the Buccaneers. That is absolutely I mean, that is
like miracle stuff. And he is such a good coach too.
He was such a good coach, Bubby and I always
all we we saw all the time she was Tom
Warren left the end of our career. He ruined our
(25:29):
career when he left in Minnesota, we personally hold him
accountable for that. I got two part question for it.
Analyze Trabisky's three interceptions and analyze everything else Trabisky did. Well,
it's good and bad. Do you want more than that?
I mean, that's a short answer, but Mary's not big
(25:50):
on short answers. Well learned that she's unfortunately, this is unfortunately,
um like, this has of his problem when he was
in college. Okay, the problem the well, you're right, they
only get magnified when you get to the NFL. Okay,
so that Ben said, and so what is his problem?
(26:11):
It was his real problem when he when he was
in college. In college, and I never felt he truly
went through a progression. I didn't not really feel like
he ever understood what was going on. And then based
on his throws and the interceptions, it they just even
elevated that thought process, you know. And then when it
really mattered in critical balance scoring territory is when he
(26:32):
played his worst and that has really not changed. You know.
The first interception, now I could argue, you know, Lis
Fryarman's got jammed and he just got everything killed by
the way he got off well that the quarterback get
off him. Going back to Tom Moore, first thing, Tom
Moore would say, he got jammed, get off him. He's
done the pressing man, you got zone over here, makes
(26:55):
something happen here, don't stick on him. And that's what
he did. He just kept waiting, point um so. And
then the second one, they had given a spy look
a couple other times in the game, and they spiedy,
you know they I mean, they did a robber type
look where the the linebacker was just lurking, you know,
and you have to know that, I mean, he had
(27:17):
to see him. Well, let's see your responsibility to know that.
Let's just put it that way, you know. And then
he ends up throwing it right to him. And then
the last one, I'm telling you this, I could I've
watched him so long. When he came out of the
huddle and he dropped back, you could see it in
his body language. He was throwing that to the left side.
When he came out of the huddle. The safety, well,
(27:38):
they they were on that, they were on that hash
that he ends up throwing it too. So they're on
the short side. He throws to the shorts side of
the field as far as the width goes. The safety
was on that hash where he starts to move to
the middle. When he's moving to the middle, you could
see in his body language he's like, no way. You
could see him coming back. He's like, there's no way
he's just gonna throw this, And sure enough he just you.
(28:02):
I don't even know how you pre snap. You're like, oh,
that's safety's on the hash where I want to throw it. Well,
I gotta do something to bring him to the other
hash at least to have a shot. I can't just
stare there and throw there. And but that has been
his m O. Honestly since he was he came out,
(28:23):
that has been And then those things are like, from
an evaluated perspective, they're good to observe because they're like
ten those be changed, ten those beet things. I just
think a lot of those things when you see those
inherited trademarks and how kids playing, especially the more you
see of it, it's gonna be hard to change that
(28:43):
in this at this level, just because of the sophistication.
It will be so hard if a guy doesn't understand
conceptually coverages, reads within those coverages, and how to go
from one to two to three and process that. It's
gonna be hard to come to the NFL and do that.
It is about processing. Let's talk about what that means
(29:05):
for the Carolina game. We have no official word about
the starter, but Matt and I were kicking around in
the first segment. Kenny Pickett limited for a second consecutive
day today, so it's probably not going to be him. Uh.
My theory is that they split the reps this week
because they wanted to get Rudolph ready in case they
want to give Trabisky a quick hook. What what kind
(29:27):
of uh? What's in his headspace if he gets to
start against Carolina? How does he plays? Does he just
does he just turtle and play conservative like he was
in September? Or does he say screw it if I'm
going down, I'm going down swinging and getting picked off.
Um cal You know, it's hard to anticipate what a
(29:49):
guy might feel like I would anticipate, though, you know,
having games where you've turned the ball over a never
fumble three times, Thank the Lord, I don't think. But
I've got fumbled where I lost games for us. So
that's bad enough. Okay, you can be fragile, you know,
until you start to create some confidence back from that
(30:10):
that particular scenario. So, um, it'll be interesting if they
I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't give Mason a
shot at it. You know, listen, Mason, I play where
he played in training camp, where he played precious he
played the best. Actually, you know, it was a true
fair competition. It was about you know, how we practiced.
(30:32):
Now he played. Let me Mason won that He's he's
at least though, isn't he by far? Well? Yeah, but
he's still moving moves. Not listen, if we're if we're
going into the game and we're counting on our quarterback
being mobile to win. Okay, we're already in trouble. I
gonna be honest, we're already in trouble. But to shape shape. Um,
(30:58):
but I wouldn't Mike, I wouldn't argue with your your
thought process either. You know, they want to get both
guys ready and Mitch struggles, then you know, they give
Mason shot, you know, and then maybe that's the the
more reasonable way to approach this and think of it.
But giving giving guys equal reps does mean you're on
the side merrill, great stuff. Is always really appreciating. Got
(31:20):
one more little time, more story before you go. I
think you'll appreciate this. We were talking one time, I
forget what you was was out at St. Vincent at
a slow moment, and the subject was whether or not
academics should ever apply into the thought process when a
guy is trying to pick a college, or should he
just do it solely on football, if you know, if
(31:40):
football is what he intends to be, his life for it.
And Tom Moore said to me he was a Universe
Iowa guy, if I'm remembering right. He said, you go
to the University of Minnesota, go to the library, they
got a book. You go to Iowa, they got the
same book. Okay, that was pretty dang good. More for you, speed.
(32:10):
We'll talk to you next week. Carrel. Thanks all right,
see you guys. Meryl Hodge with us on the preview. Hey,
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(32:34):
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(32:54):
UNIBT on DV. Welcome back to the Preview microsued in
Matt insinn't wrapping things up. We're here untill eight tonight
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V E and s n are. The Greater Pittsburgh Community
Food Back reminds you to sack hunger, get food, volunteer
or donate at Pittsburgh Foodbank dot org. Matt some interesting
(33:15):
stuff for Mayle Hodge, as it always is. He really
uh made a point that resonated with me with that
description of the Panthers playing with hope. Yeah. I would
almost pile on that a little bit and say they're
starting to play with expectation. Yeah. I think Steve Wilkes
has done a tremendous job of finding what can I
get this team to do well, and obviously it's voluminous running,
(33:37):
and I think they got some real playmakers on defense,
and they understand their strengths and weaknesses. Um. I think
everyone everyone wrote this team off. They traded McCaffrey, they
fired their coach. Well, Wilkes has got a plan and
it's nice to be in that awful division too. I
think they gonna end up within the division. Well. By
the way, a pretty good kicker two in Eddie Piniero,
who has hit twenty five at seven this year. He's
(33:59):
got a long of fifty four and he has made
eleven in a row. So if, uh, if it ends
up like a Baltimore type game and the field goal
kickers helped decide it, um, maybe maybe uh advantage Carolina
or at least a stalemate there. Chris Boswell pretty good
when they're not getting blocked by Calais Campbell. Uh. You
(34:20):
mentioned those playmakers a minute ago. I wanted to revisit
that real quick regarding that Carolina defense before we get
out of here. Shaq Thompson outside linebacker and Frankie Luvu
on the other side, number seven and forty nine. Man,
these guys fly around fast or physical. They seem to
be that hybrid type everybody's looking for in that they
(34:41):
can cover, they can blitz, and they can tackle. Luvu
is not a household name, but it's not much different
than Queen and Roquan last week. I mean, they never
leave the field. They don't have discernibal weaknesses. There's any
sideline to sideline, you know, but in name their outside linebackers,
but they play inside because they're in up so much. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
(35:01):
I mean they're not edge players, but they can blitz.
I think Shack Thompson has been one of the better
linebackers for a long time that no one talks about.
I mean they're they're both really athletic there, and you
know they're protected well by Derek Brown in front of them.
I think is a star in the making. They got
some dudes on this defense, and I really like they
also do something interesting. At least they did, uh last Sunday.
(35:22):
When they're up in Seattle. The edge guys stand up. Yes,
whether they're in a four man front or a five
What is the what are they after with that? Do
you think? I just wonder if that's a comfort thing.
I mean, Brian Burns who's a star as well, is
going to give more a lot of problems. Did a
lot of that at Florida State. I just think maybe
it's a comfort thing for him. Um. I don't have
(35:43):
a great answer of schematically what that does for their them.
In particular, they actually ran a snap where everybody was
standing up. Yeah, they do a little bit of that too,
you know. And their corners are good. Jeremy Chin is good.
I think the defense presents a lot of problems. And
of course we've talked a lot about the Carolina running game.
Uh that's all they do. You know. It was particularly
(36:06):
impressive in the fourth quarter. They were up seventeen nothing
on Seattle, and then that game got to twenty to seventeen.
Carolina had a first and goal at the three and
passed at four times. None of them were complete. Mark
Lorett was doing the game on Fox and he said,
and I quote McAdoo lost his mind, referencing Ben McAdoo,
(36:27):
the coordinator on offense. But the next two possessions, ten
placed seventy four yards in a touchdown, eight plays in
sixty eight yards on the ground in that one, and
then after that, uh nine place forty four yards for
a field goal. Eight of those were rushes for thirty
four yards, all of a Sudden's thirty seventeen game over. Yeah,
Ben and I had been mcado an. I g a
(36:48):
together a pit and you never never left the facility.
So I've been rooting for him. But he has found
the formula, that's for sure, and it's just hand theball off,
hand the ball off and keep an eye on it.
Sometimes they bring out eight offensive lineman, which is just unbelievable.
Quarterback of running back, eight offensive lineman and somebody else.
You never see it. All they don't have is the
RB Sauce Steelers preview on DV is brought to you
(37:11):
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That's gonna about do it for us tonight. Man. I
think they're in trouble. I don't think it's a good
matchup for him at all. I really don't. Running the
ball and the way they play defense burns versus more.
I mean all the things quarterback situation best. Yeah, and
(37:34):
a hungry team that smells you know a playoff. I
think it's a bad matchup that's gonna do it for
us tonight. Thanks to you, Jake behind the glass for
keeping us on the air. Thanks to you for finding
us however, and wherever you found is for Matt Williams
and on Mike pursuit of We'll talk to you next
week on Steelers Preview right here on your Steelers flagship
one or two point five d V and S n R.
(37:54):
Good Night, everyone,
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