Week 3 at Browns

Mike Prisuta and Matt Williamson preview the Steelers first time facing an AFC North opponent when they go to Cleveland to face the Browns.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is the steelers preview show on W D v
e Pittsburgh, presented by UNIBT. The only thing better than
a steelers win is the steelers win that pays double
down on your team with Unibet, proud partner of the
Pittsburgh steelers. Here are your hosts, Mike Persuda, Matt Williamson
and Meryl Hodge. Good evening and welcome to a special

(00:20):
Wednesday night edition of steelers preview as we get you
ready for the steelers at the Cleveland browns tomorrow night,
on Thursday night football. Mike Pursuita and Matt Williamson with
you tonight until eight o'clock. The third member of our team,
Meryl Hodge, is not going to be joining US tonight.
Meryl is hunting with Ben Roethlisberger in some remote location

(00:43):
that does not include access to Wifi, and Meryl sent
along his regrets before he ventured off for that excitement. But, Matt,
I think you and I can get it done. I
stress I think because we heard something from Mitch Drabinsky
this week. It still has me scratching my head. I'm

(01:03):
not sure I've heard anything quite like it uh in
any NFL locker room ever, and I've been going into
NFL locker rooms since the very end of the nineteen
eighties six season. But before we get to that, I
just want to remind everybody it is a Thursday night
game tomorrow and that means uh, the game will be
streamed live on Amazon prime video. Of course it'll be

(01:25):
broadcast over the air in the Pittsburgh market on W
P X I. Fans can visit Amazon Dot com slash
T N F for Info on how they can watch
across their devices on Amazon prime anywhere in the country. Man,
I remember when my device was a television and I
turned it on and there was the game. But I guess.
I guess we've lost change all right. Back to the lead,

(01:49):
which I didn't mean to bury coming in. Mitch Drobinsky
did his UH media briefing on Tuesday, still pretty fresh
from that loss to New England and uh Mat, I
don't know about you, I thought they passed up a
lot of single coverage opportunities down the field. Mike Tomlin
thought that. Matt Canada thought that. The receivers think that.

(02:11):
Even Mitch Drobiskie thinks that. He was asked on Tuesday
why he hasn't been throwing the ball down the field.
Here was the response. Quote why I haven't given the
certain looks, especially early in the game. I can't tell
you exactly why. M Hmm. I mean, he didn't even
make an excuse. I give the guy full marks for
honesty and and I don't know right that. That baffles me.

(02:38):
I mean he should know right. If if he doesn't,
who does? Yeah, that's not what you want to hear.
It doesn't exactly inspire confidence. Um. You know, watching that
game live and then going back and watching the old
twenty two, especially early in the game, the Patriots had
a lot of single high safety, kind of begging the
steelers to to take shots. I know there's people out

(03:00):
there saying, well, the protection is not good enough to
go downfield. I'll dispute that to no end. I think
that's the protection has been quite good. The run blocking
needs some work, but the protection has been good. You've
got a great set of receivers. There was open receivers
far too often, and I'm not even talking about chucking
up fifty yard bomb go routes. I mean just eighteen

(03:21):
yards on the field. I mean he had five throws
between the numbers too. I mean let the ball go
in the congested areas, intermediate, deep. I mean we don't
need go balls and sixty yard ers left and right,
but you've got to attack more field. We we saw
the results of not doing that last year. You become
very easy to play against. And you know, Mike, a

(03:41):
week ago, well, we go Thursday, you and I were
having this conversation a little bit after. The bengals game
going well. You know, they had an early lead. Did
the coaches tell him reel it in, just don't turn
it over. We got the bengals on the ropes. They're rusty,
you know, let's just not screw this thing. And I'm
not defending Mitch, but I've been in those buildings and

(04:03):
the thing none of us know along those lines is
what are the coaches telling him to do? If they're
just telling him to play it close to the vest and,
you know, dump it down and throw it away if
it's not there one read, then he's doing his job.
I hope that changes if it's the case, but I worry.
Is it just not in his DNA to be aggressive

(04:23):
and be the guy you need him to be? Uh,
you know, I'll give some full disclosure, since Mitch did
the other day. I didn't go back and study his
entire bearers career. I know what his I know what
his record was as a starter. I know what his
numbers are. I know he took two teams to the playoffs.
But I also know that after the preseason finale against
the lions, we saw some of that ghost stuff down

(04:45):
the sideline in the preseason. We saw friar muth down
the seam in the preseason, which we also saw in
the Cincinnati game, by the way. Now they did it
under the guys if we have a free play, but
they took a shot there. Uh. Here's what Trabinsky had
to say about one on one after the preseason finale
against Detroit. Quote. We're going to be aggressive. We like

(05:07):
our playmakers inside and out, so when we get matched
up one on ones, we'd like to take advantage of those.
We're gonna keep looking for those mismatches and attacking down
field and hopefully create lighter run boxes for Nasey back
there to be a balanced offense. It all sounded so
good in theory. What happened? Where did it go? Well,

(05:29):
I think him and the coaching staff are the only
ones that can truly answer that. except I'm not sure
he can answer that because you asked him and he
said I don't know, and I tend to believe him
and that's odd. Um, I know that some bears fans
are telling you or talent, you know, saying this is
what we saw in Chicago. You know, situationally isn't his strength.

(05:50):
You know. I mean he leaves plays on the field.
M Merrill has mentioned that the last two weeks as well.
When we bring up Rabinsky, of what he was, and
I mean that that doesn't necessarily mean that's what he is. Um,
you and I saw, you know, all the training camp practices.
They absolutely were not conservative in in those practices, driving

(06:10):
the ball down the middle of the field. Um, you know,
even Claypool in the Middlefield, Friar Muth, you know all
those guys. They have such good weapons. There's one on
one matchups every play. I mean it boggles my mind
that pickings hasn't had more balls thrown his way because
he's getting one on one and winning. Um Deonte seems
to win on every snap. I mean he's playing better

(06:31):
than he ever has and if he doesn't throw him
a ball, he can't catch right, you're gonna have to
try to do that. Yeah, I mean there were too
many throwaways. Um, it worries me a little. What what
Trabisky is as a progression reader. I mean it's starting
to feel like one, one read not. They're not real

(06:53):
sure what to do. And he's not even talking and
running though. You know, like at least use your legs
if you're not seeing the field. Well, that yeah, and
that's a real significant point, which I'm glad you got there. Um,
here's what we've seen so far. Now you mentioned what
we saw in practice in the preseason games. In the
Bengals game, he had pickings one on one down the

(07:14):
sideline and he said it was cover zero and I
just wanted to get rid of it. I threw it
out of bounds. Well, why would you not? Why would
you not give your guy a chance to make a
play there? Why would you tell the defense, okay, if
it's covered zero, we're giving up and and throwing it
into the third row? They may him up again, especially

(07:34):
how many times do we see him and one on one?
I mean he excels in that situation. And the third night,
the second to last possession against New England's second to
last third down of the game. Again he gets cover
zero and Trabisky said we really didn't have a good
option for that and Mike Tomlins backed him up on that.
He said that based on the play design. Uh, they
kind of got schemed on that one. Instead of just

(07:58):
dumping at the Nagy, Harris, when Matthew Judean breaks three
and starts applying pressure, why not elude him and get
out on the wing and see if you can run
for it and if you can't run for it, see
if the defense breaks down and you can hit somebody
in a scramble situation? Because you know, if you tell
put down the Nag you, Harris, it ain't gonna work.
He's not gonna get eight yards on the sideways pass.

(08:19):
Didn't they see that enough last season? Yeah, that's that's
a great point. I mean what he did, you know,
isn't the answer. So anything but that is fine. The
scramble or try to extend the play. UH, turn it
into a broken play, maybe four or five, six seconds
into the into the plays, people break open Um. Use
Your athleticism, you know, be a playmaker, be a football player.

(08:41):
I'm sure there's some people listening, though, that heard the
first part of that quote, saying what do you mean?
He didn't have an answer for it. Folks that that's okay.
I mean sometimes the defense puts the right play call
in and the defensive coordinator smiles and says, I nailed him,
you know. I mean, so that's not you know, don't
go kill Matt Canada for that. I mean sometimes the
defense calls the right play too, but that doesn't mean

(09:03):
the play is over. Yeah, you know, one of the
things that I thought it was attractive about Trubisky's game
was that athleticism. Uh, we saw the Jacksonville game, is
the tremendous escapability back there. He seems determined to just
get it out and you know, you've probably got a
better feel for the protection, and I do. I think

(09:24):
it hasn't been awful. I do think the ball has
been coming out really quick and that's why there haven't
been a lot of pressures. I think that's been by design.
But the occasional guy breaking through, as long as the
thing doesn't collapse, a quarterback with any kind of mobility,
with some wheels, should have options in those situations. Yeah,
I mean, I actually wrote an article yesterday about this
old line as a whole is taking baby steps forward.

(09:47):
Each time I watched them they're a little better. I'm
not saying they're great, but I basically said they went
from garbage to below average. And the run blocking is
still Pade, you know, but if you keep taking baby
steps for maybe averages on the horizon, who knows? I mean,
they're not super talented. They're never gonna be great, Um,
but I think the protection is at least average. The

(10:08):
run blocking is not, but it's getting better. I can't
blame the protection for this. I mean, Um, if sometimes
you just have to be a playmaker, and it worries
me that he's being a little robotic or one read oriented,
and that's not okay with me. What to expect is

(10:29):
brought to you by Brian Patton and associates. It's all
about the benefits. I'm gonna pull a mixed r biscuit here, Matt.
I have no idea what to expect Thursday because I
don't know how they're going to approach it. I think
if they play the offensive game that they have played
to this point, it's gonna look like it has and
it's not gonna be good. Enough. Uh, if they are
making strides and if, as Matt Cannadas says, they are

(10:50):
two or three plays, a hundred or so points, a
hundred or so yards, excuse me, and seven to thirteen
points away from being really good, well that's pretty attainable.
But I'm not sure how they're gonna approach it. I
know this much. We'll we'll break down the browns with
a little bit greater detail later in the show, but
Cleveland is coming off at two games where it has

(11:11):
hemorrhaged long ball catch and run touchdowns that were basically
unopposed at precisely the wrong time. Uh. They got away
with it the first week at Carolina because of a
fifty eight yard field goal at the gun, and it
helped get him beat last week, or Sunday, I should
say last Sunday, when the browns had a thirteen point
lead with a minute fifty five left in regulation. Oh

(11:32):
by the way, no, uh Daveon clowney this week, so
half of Cleveland's edge tandem is not playing. If you
don't attack these guys, I don't know who you're gonna attack.
Exactly exactly. I mean Garrett is a tremendous football player,
but the rest of their d line is very suspect.
So double him on every past protection rep and let
the other guys do battle one on one, and I

(11:54):
think you're okay. The secondary is a lot of talented
players but, like you said, community Asian problems, Miss Cooverages,
things of that nature that maybe get corrected. Who knows?
But you're on a short week and it's certainly been
problematic for Cleveland. Um, I hear you. I mean the
VIBE I get is they're gonna plan to attack more

(12:15):
downfield than they have and I can't imagine why you wouldn't.
I gotta do that just to shut everybody up, don't
they Han in the minimum so we can quit talking
about it, right. Yeah, you know, I'm not expecting the
chiefs offense. Okay, I want to be that. I canna
look like Dan Fouls, you know right. The part about
backing them up to give Nagy Harris a chance, I

(12:36):
think has some merit. I think asking pickings in Claypool
and Johnson to make place for you has some merit,
because you know they're they're capable. UH, and I don't
even mind if it doesn't work. That the last third
down of the game. Uh, the steelers had a third
and two and they tried to hit Najy Harris on

(12:57):
a wheel route and trabisky was out of the pock
a little bit and he tried to lob it over linebacker.
But you had nagy Harris on Matthew Jude on running
you're really good running back, against their really good linebacker.
But that's a matchup you should win. Bisly said he
underthrew it. Okay, say Levy. They plotted the ball physical air.
They were trying to do the right thing. Now that

(13:19):
it's a big difference than just given up to me. Yeah, exactly.
I mean rarely am I gonna be okay with giving up.
I mean it's different if you're brady manning breeze, you know,
one of these pure pocket passers that picks you apart
and you know wins on their mind. Well, Mitch isn't
gonna do that. I'm not saying he's dumb or anything

(13:39):
like that, but he's you know, he's a thoroughbred out there.
He's not super experienced. You need to win with your
Braun as much as your brains, and that means not
necessarily throwing it away. And, like you said, that those
receivers are really dynamic and given them one on one
opportunities is a must. I mean you have a gift
there in terms of your pass catchers, including Friar Muth and,

(14:00):
and I'm not picking on Ben or last year's offense.
We know what that was. But what bothered me about
last year's offense? Well, so much, but one of the things,
in terms of throwing deep and putting that in air
quotes here, is it it felt like Ben knew that
he was throwing it down the right sideline, usually to Claypool,
before the ball was even snapped. I'm just gonna Chuck
this thing up there and hope he makes a play.

(14:21):
He rarely did. Now I want to see, you know,
you mentioned the linebacker level. I want to see crossing
routes and dig routes behind the linebackers. I want to
see the tight ends stretching the scene. I want to
see old school eight, you know, bend a b out
routes like it amazes me how few standard twelve yard

(14:41):
outs or ten yard outs this team, you know, completes.
And you know, one of the other place when I
talk about, you know, lack of execution, to me is
not the end of the world. The interception Robiski through.
He was trying to hit Johnson on a deep slant
and Mac Jones made a diving tip and it ended
up getting intercepted. Mac Jones has never been a guy

(15:04):
famous for making that kind of play. He's always been
a great athlete who was considered to have some motor
issues and things of that nature. Hey, the guy beat you,
he got full extension, he made a play. That's okay,
you live to fight again, but when you just throw
out sideways or or just dump it off to nowhere,

(15:26):
you're defeating yourself and they they cannot do that. Uh.
Wanted to switch gears and talk about the defense a
little bit before you go to break, because I thought
the run defense was very credible in Cincinnati. It was
excellent against Joe Mixon, a guy who really tortured them
a year ago, and I thought that was a real
step in the right direction. Then I thought it was
good enough through most of the New England game, right

(15:48):
up till that last series when they got the ball
shove down their throat. How concerning is it that they
played their worst run defense when they needed to play
their best, and now they have to go play Nick Chubb.
I'm not super concerned about it, to be honest with you.
I'm not saying the run defense is fixed or they're
gonna shut down Chub. He's to me he's the best
ball carrier in the league. I actually wanted to talk

(16:08):
to Merril about that a little bit, I mean, and
we'll get to the browns next segment. But, Um, this
isn't excusing things. I'm not trying to be a steelers homer.
It's just the end of games in the NFL anymore.
Fourth quarter defense is kind of dead. I mean, people
just figure you out, and especially early in the season
against the run, defenses get worn out by the fourth quarter.

(16:31):
And the steelers haven't put people away with the run game,
but teams are able to do it, and I'm not
gonna kill the steelers for doing that. After lining up
for a hundred snaps a week before and then laid
into this game on a hot day. I am sort
of making excuses, I understand that, but you showed me
eight good quarters of run defense and one bad one.

(16:51):
I think I'm gonna lean towards the first eight. That's
that's an interesting take on it. Um, we'll just think
of the schematic tweaks, particularly playing uh so many different
guys uh in Watt's edge position, as opposed to just
putting Malik read in there and said okay, you're the
next man up. It was a lot of to Marvin Leale.
It's a lot, a lot of guys. Yeah, and I

(17:12):
think we may see some more stuff this week based
on what we saw last week and uh, the New
England uh, you know, outside zone toss sweep game, UH, cleveland,
with its pulling and the tremendous athleticism of that offensive line.
I think they may have to dial something up other
than the routine to stop that. But we have the

(17:33):
guys to do it. Yeah, now, I thought it was
a really interesting wrinkle. I'm in favor of it. I
don't think it was a knock on read. I just
think read probably isn't a snap count guy, especially against
run heavy teams. He's not. He's not an edge center. Right, yeah,
I mean he's not. Yeah, right, he's a little bit lighter,
of course. Um, obviously I think the pass rush suffered.

(17:55):
What you knew was gonna happen, minus what. But I
don't think the scheme helped the pass rush. The goal
was to stop the run, and again they did that
for three quarters. I think it's kind of fortuitous for
them that, working on this short week, that system works
well against both these teams, you know, the Patriots and
the browns. The stuff you practice last week still applies

(18:16):
a couple of days later, like if they were playing
the bengals this week. And you know, three wide all
day long. I don't want Cam and Leoo and warmly
and those guys playing outside the tackles, but against the
browns and against the Patriots, I think it works out
quite well. Yeah, it was. It was interesting stuff and Um,
I gotta say your point as well taken about fourth

(18:38):
quarter defense. Uh, it is hard to play that many snaps,
but they do have a short week and uh, this
browns running game, which we're gonna get to, is a
challenge that uh yeah, so much of it. Chump is
a great back, Kareem Hunt is a matchup nightmare, but boy,

(18:58):
cleveland has an offensive line. Uh Let's Uh take a
quick pause here and get to that on the other side.
Before we do that, I want to remind everyone that
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get food, volunteer or donate at Pittsburgh Food Bank Dot Org.
steelers preview on DV is brought to you by a univet.

(19:20):
The only thing better than the steelers win is a
steelers win that pays. Double down on your team with Univet,
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Mike Pursuita, we're gonna be with you tonight until eight o'clock,
breaking down the steelers at the Cleveland browns tomorrow night
in Ohio, right here on your steelers flagship one or

(19:42):
two point five d V. Back to the steelers preview
show presented by Univet on DV. E. Welcome back to
the preview. Mike Student and Matt Williamson With You till
eight o'clock tonight on your steelers flagship one or two
point five D D. normally this is the time we
would turn it over to Mary Hodge, but Meryl is
hunting in a remote location with a certain just retired quarterbacks,

(20:06):
so we get in the night off, Matt Uh, they'll
have tales to regale us with. I have no doubt
next week, I know, but we're letting him off on
Jadeveon Clowney Week. That was always my favorite thing talking
to Meryll last couple of years. Just bring up clowney
and he just goes on and on about how what
you know, what? You know, you get some sacks. You
know what? What happens on the other eighteen? You know

(20:26):
you get two sacks. When I'ms on the other sixty
defensive nest. Some of them does something stupid, some of
them penalty, some of them a mental mistake. It's always
hitting the stomach because he screwed up. No clowney to
worry about this week. Note plenty of other guys to
steelers attention. Before we get there, I want to remind

(20:48):
everybody that tomorrow night's game is gonna be streamed on
Amazon prime video. It will also be broadcast over the
air in Pittsburgh, excuse me, in the Pittsburgh market on
W P X I. Fans can visit Amazon Dot com
slash T N F for Info on how they can
watch across their devices on Amazon prime anywhere in the country.

(21:09):
Brown has had some injury concerns at the outset of
this week, but things are looking up. Other than not
having Jadeveon clowney and not having Jesse James available and
not having Chase Winowich, Thomas Jefferson product. According to Mary
Kay CABOT OF CLEVELAND DOT COM, myles Garrett, Joel Patonio
and Jack Conklin are all set to face the steelers.

(21:32):
CONKLIN will be making his season debut here in week three. Garrett,
one sack shy of breaking claim Matthews Franchise Record of
sixty two for a career, and, of course, Uh Jack Conklin, uh,
the former all pro out of Michigan State. Let's start

(21:54):
with Nick Chub, Matt and the context I want to
talk about with Nick Chubb is this. I'M gonna go
for the real low hanging fruit here. Jim Brown remembered
as a pretty good running back. Correct, correct, actually, uh,
he had an office next to me for a week
before I was let go of the brownies. Career average
five point two yards to carry. Nick Chubb career average

(22:15):
five point three yards to carry. Oh, so he's better
than Jim Brown. That's pretty good statistically. You know, I'm
not gonna say he's better than Jim Brown, but he
might be better. As you mentioned already today, he might
be better than anybody else's playing right now. I think
so is a ball carrier. He's not much of a
force in the passing game. He's not McCaffrey or Kamara

(22:36):
or niven Nazi or levy on bell and those types.
You can dump, Itto Him. He can catch it, but
he's a tremendous ball carrier. He has compact, he is powerful,
he has elite balance, he has the ability to hit
the home run. If you get an increase, you know
that's where that big average comes from. Rarely stopped for losses.
Um He is awfully difficult to tackle. His agility is

(22:59):
top notch. Mean he's a wonderful football player. Yeah, it
reminds me a lot of Derrick Henry in that if
you get to him early you can get him on
the ground, but if he gets to that second level
he's gonna Maybe gonna get to the third and maybe
he's gonna get to the end zone. He cannot let
this guy get ahead of steam going. Yeah, I mean

(23:19):
he's a different type of back than Henry, but you're right.
Once he gets rolling he is a real handful for
defensive backs to get on the ground. He's a quicker
accelerator than Henry Um. But boy, those are the two
best ball carriers to me in the last couple of years.
And the cream hunt dude isn't too bad either. He
might be the best backup in the league. Sounds like

(23:41):
a pretty simple plan. Well, yeah, I just get to
him before he gets cranking before. Yeah, but this offensive line,
I'm just checking my notes. I watched the browns panthers
game after week one and I saw a little bit
of the jets game, Cleveland's most recent game, and I
write down the center, Ethan Pock pulls a lot, left

(24:02):
tackle jedrick wills pulls a lot, left guard Joel pltonio
pulls a lot. These guys pulled the center and and
they have for a long time in Cleveland. But, uh,
it reminds me of Demoni Dawson, the way they used
that guy. You mentioned not having Merrill a minute ago. Uh,
he was telling Uh us, uh, telling me a story. No,

(24:24):
Craig Wolfley was telling me a meryl story before the
Game Sunday. When Meryl went to Chicago at the end
of his career, he asked the bear's powers to be
why they didn't pull their center and and they laughed at.
I don't, nobody does that, and Meryl was like, well,
Demoni Dawson does, and UH, number fifty five for the
browns does too. This guy. You know, they had J
C treader last year and then they were supposed to

(24:46):
have Nick Harris this year. UH, draft pick in and
he suffered a knee injury and ends up on Ir
and Ethan. I don't even know if I'm pronouncing his
name right. Guy Is a football player. He is the
epitome of a move offensive lineman. He's done well this
year and I was a little shocked. I thought center

(25:07):
would be a major weakness for them because really they're
on their third guy, give or take. I mean I
know they let tred or walk Um because post it's
kind of struggled a little bit. He's a taller center.
I think he's like six five. He's not gigantic, but
they use him well, to use it to your point,
getting him before he got to clear and he was
a he was a subtype starter in Seattle, right, you know,

(25:30):
a contributor, a contributor. Yeah, he's fitting right in here
with with Cleveland. Yeah, and when he came in the League,
the knock on him was. Is He a tackle? Is
He a guard? He kind of looks like a tackle.
Is He a center and settled in its center and
is really settling in on this scheme? Um Callaghan is
their offensive court or their their old line coach, I'm
pretty sure, and he's a great one. They have a

(25:52):
great old line coach and they get the most out
of their guys and kind of to your point, the
thing about their old line that's rare is they have
a definitely a rare combination of agility and movement skills
but also power. You know, Wyatt teller is a really
powerful guard, but Tonio's a great combination of both. Wills
was the ninth pick in the draft or whatever out

(26:14):
of Bama. He has all the tools. Your boy Conklin
from Michigan State's a little stiffer, but he's been tried
and true right tackle and you know, maybe, sure, sure,
highly paid. You know I mean. And Uh, you know,
maybe his first game back is a little rusty, but
it's a good line. That's for sure, top five line
without question. So what? What kind of challenges is that

(26:35):
steeler's defense is gonna FACE SPECIFIC TO CLEVELAND? I'M gonna
go out on a limb and say that the Brown's
pull way more than the bengals or the Patriots maybe,
maybe more than anybody the steelers are gonna see this year. Yeah,
and I think that's hard on everybody, of course, but
especially the linebackers. You know, the your gap responsibility changes,

(26:56):
you know. I mean if I have the C gap
and the C gap just became the B gap, and
not actly my specialty, but you get the idea. Um,
that gets Harry. They used to be a real heavy
three tight end offense, like they led the League by
a wide margin in three tight end sets last year.
They're getting away from that. Um, there's skill guys. I'm
sure we'll get to their kind of looking for a

(27:16):
fifth guy. There's four quality ones and then after that
it gets a little Harry. But the run game is
a massive challenge. Yeah, Amari Cooper in Cleveland this year.
His resume pretty much speaks for itself. The other wide receiver, Donovan,
People's Jones where he went to the University of mission okay,

(27:38):
and I gotta be honest with you, I saw him
there and I thought it was a little always a
little bit more hype than Mike when he played in college,
but he has come up with the ability to consistently
make combat catches. I've been really impressed with what I've seen, uh,
the early going this season. And then they've got David
Belch coming out of purdue, WHO's a complimentary player at

(28:01):
the wide receiver positions. I don't think any of us
were in love with David Bell, but the browns like him.
Jacoby Brissette is the UH, you know, fill in quarterback.
I don't think he's gonna kill you passing the ball.
But Matt If, if you let him get the running
game going, then you let him get to play action going,
and if he gets to play action going, then he

(28:21):
can take his shot. Yeah, yeah, Um, I'm with you
on People's Jones and you'll probably like hearing this. There
was a real stretch there that these Michigan guys were better.
testers looked better than they actually played. Rashawn Garryo, all
these guys. And then you've come to the the league. Yeah,
and they they've come to the League and blossom. You know,
he's a heightweight, speed guy, goes up and gets it.

(28:43):
He can get behind the defense, coopers, the route runner, um,
those two in the Joku basically never leave the field
for them. I mean they're almost nine snap type of
guys along with a running back, and then they're looking
for their fifth skill guy. You know, you mentioned bell.
He's a slow slot. That's why they liked him. They
didn't really have a slot. Schwartz is a second year

(29:06):
player that runs like the wind but might be more
of a track guy than a wide receiver. They'll throw
in a second tight end, briant, who's okay, but they're
kind of a skilled guy short. Um, I like Brissette. Well,
I really liked Brissette a couple of years ago, but
I think I've seen enough now to say he's just
a really, really good backup, borderline starter. He's not what, yeah, yeah,

(29:29):
not what I thought he could become, but his teammates
adore him. He is tough, he is competitive, he is
big and physical. Um, he's an okay runner, not a
great runner. He did some running with the colts, but
that's just because they had Philip Rivers, who runs like
me and you, Um. But you get to play action going,
you get the run game going. Brissette is serviceable, if

(29:51):
not better, and I thought he played extremely well last week.
You know, Camp Hayward made an interesting point about Brissette
this week. He said you better tackle the guy. He's
a either when when you're rushing the passer or if
he gets out on the wing and he's carrying the ball.
Heyward compared him to a young Ben Roethlisberger in terms
of how tough it is to bring down a guy

(30:11):
that big. I can see that. I mean he's not
real fleet of foot, he's not real lightfooted, but he
is a big, thick, strong guy that, like I said,
is super competitive and is not just gonna slide and
make it easy on you either. He's hard to bring
to the ground. You know, the other thing that Brown
is still doing. This has been driving me crazy since
that playoff game a couple of years ago. They will

(30:32):
go with a three tight end set and then they
will spread the field in like a five wide look
and they always get a linebacker on a receiver. When
they do that, they got one receiver a field and
a linebacker ends up on him and they get any completion.
You might remember that was the Jarvis Landry play when
Robert speline tried to cover him. Uh. They keep breaking

(30:53):
that out a couple three times a game. I asked
Tarrell Austin, uh, the steelers defensive coordinator, about that this
week and he goes yeah, you're gonna you're gonna get
that once in a while, but I'm not worried about
that beating us. I'm worried about the run game beating us. Agree,
like Marty Cooper had a really good game. Everyone knows
who he is, but I think he's a slightly overrated.

(31:13):
I think the Joku could be a breakout guy, but
oh in all their weapons don't come close to what
Pittsburgh has in terms of pass catchers and as good
as people's Jones is, he'd probably the fourth year. You know.
I mean their run game is the bread and butter.
They run the ball a high percentage of the time.
You know, since the Fansk he's been there. They're phenomenal
at creating explosive plays from the ground game. I mean

(31:36):
that's where the bread is buttered. I mentioned that they
lost to the jets when they had a thirteen point
lead with one fifty five left and regulation. It would
have been a fourteen point lead but they missed the
extra point. Uh, it would have been a seven point
lead if Nick Chubb would have gone down on his
last carry instead of going into the end zone, he

(31:56):
had a first down and if he would have just
fallen down and there take three knees and the game
is over. But then who knew that they were gonna
miss the extra point, give up a home run touchdown,
not recovering a sidekick and then give up another touchdown?
Is that just something that happens and pros shake it off,
or is that, uh, I think that sticks with you.
Is that a gut punch that might have this team

(32:17):
really a little bit? I think that's as hard a
loss as you can have in this league, and I
mean I guess you get that taste out of your
mouth quick by playing on Thursday, but it's still got
to be in the back of your mind. I mean
you mentioned the chain of events. There was like eight
to ten things that had to happen in order for
that loss to be the way it is, and they
all fell the exact wrong way for the browns. And

(32:40):
the craziest stat I heard about that was since two
thousand if, there there's been two hundred and one teams
that had a thirteen point lead with between a minute
and a half and two minutes to play. In the game.
There two hundred and one and zero before that one,
I mean two one games in a row when exactly
that way, and they all ended up in victories, except

(33:01):
for the browns a couple of days ago. Yeah, not
shocking and it was. You almost had to see it
to believe it, and if I watched it on tape
and I still don't believe it. Hey gear up with
the latest sideline apparel, hats or jerseys of your favorite players,
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(33:23):
pro shops. Those are located at aquasure stadium, Grove City
premium outlets or tanger outlets, or visit US online at
shop dot steelers dot com. Mike Pursuita and Matt Williamson
with you until eight o'clock tonight, getting ready for the
steelers and the browns tomorrow night in Cleveland. This is
the steelers preview right here on your steelers flagship one

(33:44):
or two point five d V. Back to the steelers
preview show presented by unibt on DB. Welcome back. Mike
Suda and Matt Williamson with you here on the preview
tonight until eight o'clock. No, Merril Hodge tonight. He is
hunting somewhere obscure and isolated and somewhere where there is

(34:05):
no access to Wifi. So we'll catch up with Meryl
again a week from tomorrow night when we started getting
ready for the steelers and the New York jets. As
for tomorrow night's game in Cleveland, that's gonna be streamed
live on Amazon prime video. It will also be broadcast
in the Pittsburgh market on W P X. I. Fans
Becaus it Amazon Dot com slash t nf for Info

(34:27):
and how they can watch across their devices on Amazon
prime anywhere in the country. Matt, I want to talk
about the browns defense a little bit and then maybe
take a quick jaunt around the NFL. But before we
go there I wanted to make one last observation or
bounce one last point off of you, from steelers Defense
Coordinator Tarrell Austin. He was asked this week about the

(34:48):
success the steelers had against the Brown's vaunted running game
last year. You know, the steelers weren't a very good
run defense team. Cleveland ran it as well as anybody,
but in both of the meetings the browns were held
under one hundred yards as a team, and Austin pretty
much attributed that to a f C North Knowledge and uh,
you know the rivalry aspect of it. Not so much

(35:11):
Pittsburgh Cleveland, but an a F C north game. You know,
we're getting ready for the bengals game, the opener. UH,
Gunneralschowski said that around the league the A F C
north is referred to as the hood and you can
expect you can expect a certain type of game and
I think we're gonna get one of those. You think
that maybe works in the steeler's favor a little bit, that,

(35:32):
uh yeah, the browns might be really good at running
the ball, but maybe not against Pittsburgh. Yeah, I think
there's something to that. I mean I think the steelers
have traditionally played Lamar Jackson tougher than any other defense
out there. There is some familiarity there. The browns have
a unique approach to offense. The Ravens have a very
unique approach to offense and playing them frequently, I think,

(35:53):
is certainly an advantage. Um. That's all a wonderful theory,
but Joe mixon ripped a a new one last year,
so I'm not sure. Well, you know there's success. Let's
talk about that Cleveland Defense before we get out of here.
You mentioned the tackles. The defensive tackles just okay. I

(36:14):
would say worse than that, to be honest. I think
they're real down on that group. Do they make up
for it by having outstanding run and hit linebackers and
Anthony Walker and Jeremiah Owassu Claramoa. Those guys cover a
lot of ground, especially J ok Um. He's about two
or fifteen pounds, though. I mean if you get lineman
on him he struggles. Um Dale Lally, friend of the show,

(36:38):
reference today that teams have been picking on him in
coverage a little bit, which is not uncommon for young linebackers.
See Bush, Devin Um. They don't protect those guys particularly well,
but you're right. They cover a ton of ground on
the second level and their versatile and their athletes. The Secondary,
as you mentioned, has great people, but it's playing all

(37:00):
full uh. In Carolina it was Greg newsome letting a
guy free, letting the receiver run by him. He thought
John Johnson was gonna help him out at safety. Didn't happen.
Home run touchdown against the jets. It was Denzel Ward.
He thought grant delput was gonna help him out. Didn't happen.
Home Run, touchdown, Matt The browns reportedly had a defensive

(37:21):
players only meeting this week, which I find almost as
uh attention getting is the Trobinsky comments we because, my God,
it's week three and you're having a team meeting, players
only meeting. How screwed up are they? Yeah, and who knows?
I mean if it's just communication stuff, which it seems
like it is, maybe that gets corrected. I mean the team,

(37:44):
like Washington last year, had communication issues on the back
end from week one to week seventeen and never got better.
So it's a hard thing for us to comment on.
I mean, if it's a quick fix within the room,
if whoever the communicator is on the back end is
just not doing his his job well enough, I don't know.
Are they just not communicating the changes and the different
things that they're gonna be after? But, like you said

(38:06):
to start the show, Pittsburgh's nuts if they don't at
least try to exploit that and drive the ball down
the field. I mean you gotta Test It. Right I
think the first the first time it happened, I thought
that's a an anomaly, some kind of Communication Misq. They'll
get that cleaned up. I couldn't believe what it happened
again and it was the worst the second time than
it was the first time. They're gonna have to prove

(38:28):
to me they can handle the simple handling of a
receiver and passing off of a receiver from a quarterback
to the safety before I'm going to assume they can
do it. Yeah, I mean, and people should test them
time and time again. Make them, you know, change these guys,
Max protect if you have to, to make them cover longer. Um.
You're right, though. They have a lot of talent back there.

(38:49):
You know, wards are highly paid, early, early pick. I
think newsom has a really bright future. Delpits highly talented.
They've invested heavily in the secondary, but they need to
have you know, and talk a little bit. Yeah, Del
puts a former second und pick. He's had some injury
problems at the outside of his career. John Johnson was
pretty good with the rams and now he's in Cleveland.

(39:11):
So on paper they should be very good. Matt in
about the minute and a half that we have remaining,
do you anticipate in another one of these slug kind
of games that we've seen the last couple of weeks?
And what happens? Absolutely Um. I've really had a hard
time predicting the winner of this one. I hate betting
on road teams in short weeks but, you know, just

(39:33):
throwing the word bad out there, I'm shocked that the
spread is what it is. I thought the same thing
last week, though. I think it's gonna be a slug
fest and whoever gets a bounce or makes a player
two in their way gets to win in the end.
I can't see either team, you know, running away with
this thing. Um, I think it might open up just
a little bit. I think the steelers are going to

(39:54):
try to attack more downfield, just because they can't try
to attack with less frequency. Anything, IT IS gonna be
an improvement and, unlike you, I got some doubts on
that steeler run defense. I didn't like the way the
New England game ended and I'm a little concerned as
to whether or not they can handle these guys. Uh,
we'll see, but I may take the over and then

(40:14):
just sit back and kick myself for taking over. Thirty
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gonna do it for us. Tonight. Next week we'll be
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(40:36):
seven to eight a week from tomorrow night, as we
get you ready for the steelers and the New York jets.
Until then, uh, for Jacob Rett, our man behind the glass,
for Matt Williamson, Um Mike Pursuita. Thanks for finding us, however.
You have found us. Until next time, you've been listening
to steelers preview right here on your steelers flagship one

(40:57):
or two point five D v E. Goodnight, everybody.