October 15, 2025 • 20 mins
Matt and Tom break down the Steelers upcoming opponent the Cincinnati Bengals.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
We got some work to do.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
This is the Advanced Scout with Tom Opferman and Mac Williamsitting.
Speaker 3 (00:07):
Still has come off a very complete performance against the
Cleveland Browns in a twenty three to nine victory.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
They improved to four and one.
Speaker 3 (00:14):
They welcome the two and four Cincinnati Bengals, Well, they
don't welcome. They go to Cincinnati to face off against
them on a short week, hoping to get to five
and one and improve their stranglehold on the AFC North.
It's the Advanced Scout Matt Williamson, Tom Opferman, Matt, if
they get to five and one, which I think you
and I both think they will, no matter how it
(00:35):
looks against Cincinnati can be as ugly as it usually
is on Thursday Night football. Get to five and one,
Ravens are going to be one and five because they're
on a bye. It's really hard to imagine losing a
four game.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
Lead thousand percent, and actually, you know, Cincinnati would still
be in second place.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
But I've already been a half game lead on them.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
Yeah, I've already kind of written off both Ohio teams
for any chance of goingto the playoffs, just from a
Ravens personective. As you mentioned, they go into a bye
and things look much easier on the other half and healthier,
but still they can probably only afford to lose two
more games. I think.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
I think ten and seven probably takes the North and
that's two losses that the Ravens can afford, right, And
you'd have to assume one of those losses cannot be
to the Steelers because you.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
Can't get into a split tiebreaker scenario.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
Can't be splitting with the Steelers then either, you know,
I mean, and not to mention the Steelers only loss
is in NFC game, you know, just for tiebreakers stuff.
You got to start looking at that those type of things.
So yeah, I mean, this looks like a playoff team.
Now we're already taking the Bengals lightly. You know, Thursday
on the road is no I feel that too thing,
you know.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
Yeah, the stats that are kind of haunting everybody.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
This is a pretty bad team, but that doesn't mean
they can't beat you.
Speaker 3 (01:49):
Mike Tomin is two to nine on road Thursday night
football games for his career. Yeah, and he's zero and
six against the AFC North on the road on Thursday
night football games. So those kind of hang over you,
make you feel a little bit queasy, make you feel
a little anxious. Their last road win on Thursday Night
football didn't come. Twenty sixteen against the Indianapolis Colts was
(02:09):
the last time they went on the road and one. Yeah,
so there is a trend that is sorely needing to
be broken here by the Steelers. And although we are
kind of overlooking them a little bit, and this kind
of town has the vibe of you're five and one
and bring on the Packers.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
Right, I do think the trend ends.
Speaker 3 (02:25):
I really have a hard time envisioning the Bengals winning
this game, and Matt people will say, well, what happens
all the time? You go into games and you don't
think the Steelers can lose, and they lose. Yeah, but
they haven't had Aaron Rodgers in those games.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
Did you see Rodgers Thursday Night? I did, Okay, I
didn't know what version I sent you, but I mean,
for everyone feeling queasy about the Tomlin stats, well Rogers
is thirteen and five and Thursday Night football and he's
not a first or second year player. I mean, that's
eighteen games with a forty two to five touchdown to
interception ratio. So what's different from these other ones. Well,
(02:59):
there's this guy.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
That's the part too, that's so impressive.
Speaker 3 (03:01):
It's not just you know, Rogers has a knack to
go in on Thursday night and grind out a win
on a short week and you know, just be a
very game managy type of quarterback.
Speaker 2 (03:10):
He lights it up.
Speaker 3 (03:11):
He's better on Thursday nights the last ye year, right right,
Thursday week is best day of the week. He's better
than Sunday, he's better than Monday. Now, obviously there's a
ton more sample sizes on month Sundays, but.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
Still it's eighteen games at his full season more than
a full season.
Speaker 3 (03:25):
I mean, forty two to five touchdown interception ratio. That's
an MVP season right there.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
Yeah, if you just look at.
Speaker 1 (03:30):
His over four thousand yards too, you know.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
So maybe he is.
Speaker 3 (03:34):
We've been calling him like the kryptonite to all this stuff,
you know in Flores defense. Well you got the kryptonite there,
Schwartz defense. Same thing Rodgers. It's nothing to him.
Speaker 2 (03:41):
Thursday night football.
Speaker 3 (03:42):
Short turnaround team has a history of struggling, especially recently,
enter this guy who has no history.
Speaker 1 (03:47):
Of Yeah, and Wes and I were talking about it
because we went through it all, like did most of
that happen, you know, when he's winning MVPs with Green
Bay and Jordan Nelson involved and not really, And it
kind of just thought ru it was. First off, he's
a great player with a great career, so he's gonna
have success on Sundays, Mondays, Thursdays, whatever through his career.
(04:09):
But we also kind of thought about it too that
he's so cerebral and so good above the neck. Maybe
he needs less prep time than the average quarterback. Or
when the defense has less prep time and can throw
less at you, he's gonna just tear that apart.
Speaker 3 (04:28):
I think both of those make a lot of sense. Yeah,
I think it's a little bit of call him a
and call him B there.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
Together, right, I can't be a fluke.
Speaker 3 (04:35):
Here's a serious history between the Steelers and the Bungles.
This series began in nineteen seventy Pittsburgh leads seventy.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
One to forty. Two of those games.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
Occurred in the postseason in twenty six and twenty sixteen.
The Steelers won both of those contests, and it was
very memorable both of those contests. Pittsburgh was recently on
an eleven game winning streak between December of twenty fifteen
to November of twenty twenty, and the Steelers have won
three of the last four matchups against Cincinnati. Cincinnati has
won just fourteen of the fifty two games between the
divisional rivals that have been played in the two thousands,
(05:04):
and Mike Tomlin is twenty seven and twelve versus Cincinnati,
including a playoff win in twenty sixteen. Mike Tomlin owns
the Ohio teams. There's no secret there. There's trends in
the positive direction when it looks at Steelers versus Bangles,
that can break that negative trend on Thursday Night Football
that Mike Tomlin has.
Speaker 1 (05:22):
So that series history obviously favors the Steelers and goes
back decades. But I found this this morning that in
the last ten meetings, these teams are five and five
against each other, and both teams have scored two hundred
and thirty seven points. So they've been deady any last ten,
you know.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
And that's Joe Burrow, you know what I mean. It's
a different They've gone a very makeover there in Cincinnati.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
Not trading for a quarterback a couple days.
Speaker 3 (05:48):
Ago, let's start on the defensive side of the ball.
For the Bengals, it's the weakest side of their team.
Even without Joe Burrow. I would still label it that
this week last.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
Year, it's week now, it's you know, and they might.
Speaker 3 (05:59):
Not have had the last I heard kind of expecting
to not have him play. It's a short week.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
It's just why they would play him. I think he's
a trade candidate.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
It would be too good points.
Speaker 3 (06:09):
Yeah, yeah, I just think, you know, even if they
were a good team and still in it right now,
short week, injuries to a very viable point usually not
an optimistic thing that he's going to be able to play.
So that makes their defense even weaker. They allow six
They allowed six point eight yards per play last week,
and for the season they sit at five point nine
yards per play.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
That's ahead of only Chicago, Miami in Dallas, and.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
It's really poor.
Speaker 3 (06:32):
They can't stop the run. They can't stop the run, right,
They're abysmal against the run. They're one of the worst
running teams. We said, you know, against Minnesota, they did
the jumbo package the Steelers did, and it's like that's
good against the run. Then last week we were like
that's probably better for pass protection this time and keeping
Miles Garrett off of you. Now it shifts back to
the running aspect of it. It's like, just throw those
seven bodies out there and run it down their throat. Yeah,
(06:54):
and that's a good strategy on Thursday night too.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
I got no problem with that at all. Be the
more physical team, take the fight to them, even if
you don't have immediate success by the third fourth quarter
that you know, the damn should break. Just in terms
of their personnel, They've invested so many early picks on defense,
and instead of blaming the choices they made the front office,
(07:19):
they blame the coordinator who then goes to the Colts
and makes their defense much much better. And they simplified things.
They hired a the Notre Dames defensive coordinator to deal
with younger players, you know, much like the college level,
and has gotten no better now. Turner the corner is
a good player, Dax Hill's a decent player, and frankly,
(07:42):
the front with and without Hendrickson is okay. They don't
get bullied up front, but the linebackers are all over
the place. The tackling's poor. There's no star power outside
of Hendrickson. There's nobody you really really fear. It's a bad.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
Group when you're two inside backers are rookies, and rookies
always second and fourth round picks. It's not a.
Speaker 3 (08:08):
Or a first round pick coming out that was a
can't miss inside linebacker that's going to be the anchor
of your defense for years and years to come.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
Like none of those guys.
Speaker 3 (08:16):
They don't Demetrius Knight, Barrett Carter, they don't fit that mold.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
I mean, at the best, they're like, okay, number two starters.
Speaker 1 (08:24):
As they learn, and they're still learning a great deal.
They do not recognize things well. They don't take on
blockers well, it's a real problem.
Speaker 3 (08:31):
So Rogers is very good at picking up things to
pick on against the defenses that he's playing.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
The middle of the field should be wide open to
pick on them. And that leads me to this.
Speaker 3 (08:39):
Matt Pat Fryarmouth and his usage has been kind of
a question lately. He owns the Cincinnati Bengals. I don't
know what it is. Every single time he plays him,
he dominates them. Maybe Pat, Maybe Pat has a little
bit of a breakout game this year against Cincinnati.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
My worry there though, is.
Speaker 3 (08:56):
In years past, Pat has always been the number one
option as far as we're receiving end is concern. Now
he's not. Johnny Smith is. Honestly, Darnell is kind of
more of a receiving threat than he is now.
Speaker 1 (09:05):
He's certainly on the field a lot more.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
He's the number one tight end.
Speaker 1 (09:08):
Right, He's the number one tight end. Yeah, no, und percent,
And in throwing situation, Smith is the number one tight end.
But overall Washington's the number one tight end. So not
to insult our listeners, but they only let you put
eleven players on the field, and five of them are
going to be offensive, at least.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
Five of them sometimes seven.
Speaker 1 (09:26):
Yeah, yeah, and Rogers that only leaves five. They're gonna
put a back that gets you the six metcalf never
leaves the field, that's seven. And if Washington's basically never
leave in the field, that's eight. Now, if we start
putting Anderson involved or a second receiver John who like
I'm not even sure Friar moves like in the doghouse
or anything. It's just he's down the pecking order because
(09:48):
others have stepped up.
Speaker 3 (09:50):
No, I think that's exactly right, because he hasn't really
done anything wrong.
Speaker 1 (09:53):
He's fine.
Speaker 3 (09:54):
We've noted maybe a blown assignment on that block field
goal against the Vikings, but john who didn't have as
many snaps his pat in that game, So that doesn't
really track like I'm.
Speaker 1 (10:03):
Going to put Washington and Anders out there a lot the.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
Other taking people off the field.
Speaker 1 (10:07):
Yeah, yeah, because you're going to keep a wide receiver
and running back on the field.
Speaker 3 (10:10):
So I think it's really obvious game plan of attack
against the Bengals. You just run the ball, use that
jumbo package, have a big game from Jalen Warren, maybe
some more carries for Caleb Johnson, who has now had
back to back weeks with six carries in a game.
Speaker 2 (10:23):
But the other thing, Matt is you'd.
Speaker 1 (10:24):
Love to get Johnson involved here, you know, especially if
you have a lead. Yes, that'd be great. You don't
want your running backs getting beat up.
Speaker 3 (10:30):
You mentioned DJ Turner, you mentioned Dax Hill. They got
some talent in that secondary, but there's no one to
match up with DK, like, no one. So run the
ball and to stay away from run the ball a ton, yeah,
and then hit your five or six big plays to the DK.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
It should be very easy.
Speaker 1 (10:45):
And I know we'll get to the other side of
the ball, which is potentially better than the Bengals defense.
They do have Jamar Chase and they have Higgins, but
they don't score any points early in games. I mean,
they have not eclipsed three points in the first half
of a game for like a month or something like that.
So even to your point, though, if the running game
(11:05):
is just okay or it's taken a while to get going,
I doubt the Bengals are gonna be up twenty to nothing.
They're not press ye right, right right, I mean, history
just shows that's not who they are right now.
Speaker 3 (11:15):
Now on that offensive side of the ball, they played
Green Bay last week. They were shut out in the
first half against the Packers, but then they scored eighteen
points in the second half.
Speaker 1 (11:22):
Yea, yeah. The fourth quarter has been good.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
Flacco started to get his feet under him a little bit.
Speaker 1 (11:26):
I think.
Speaker 3 (11:27):
So what worries me slightly in this game, Matt It's
not a huge worry because it's again.
Speaker 2 (11:33):
He's just a slight upgrade from what they were dealing
with Flacco Browning, but he's aggressive.
Speaker 3 (11:38):
It's that yeah, and t Higgins and Jamar Chase combined
for twenty targets. Last week he's just spamming the ball five.
Speaker 1 (11:44):
Nothing to lose. He has a Jamis Winston attitude really
for the last two years of his career. If I
throw a pick, I don't care. So if he just
keeps rolling the dice and he keeps getting snake eyes,
you know he can beat you. Like when they traded
for him, I thought, man, he's been horrendous with the Browns. Yeah,
he really doesn't help things. But last week you saw
(12:09):
a jolt with Flacco in there. Instead of the backup
Browning who's can't make the throws, won't make the throws,
Joe at least puts it in the air and it's
gonna let If Higgins is one on one Porter, he's
gonna throw it.
Speaker 3 (12:24):
That's where I was going with this is how do
you think the secondary is deployed against them? In years past,
we've seen Porter follow Higgins. Yeah, I've kind of taken
that tact. So that would leave Slay a lot of times.
Speaker 2 (12:33):
On the size match Chase.
Speaker 3 (12:35):
Yeah, but with a lot of help, I think is
Sligh would probably get Ramsey shading over to him a
lot of the time. He would have safety help a
lot of the time.
Speaker 1 (12:43):
They play so much eleven though, So is gonna need
to play the slot? Yeah, he's gonna play the slot
or is You know, Mike Pursuer and I have talked
about this a ton. You know, he goes back to
camp where this is why you know they they've even
sighted the Bengals. This is why you go get Ramsey
and Slay and you upgrade these you know, get these
Manda Man corners, and we wonder, you know, does Ramsey
(13:08):
just match up on Chase and Porter on Higgins? And
I know that that doesn't leave Slay to be the
slot guy. It's not what you want, but I just
have a hunch Ramsey and Chase are going to do
battle a lot.
Speaker 2 (13:21):
Here's the thing, Matt and Darius.
Speaker 3 (13:24):
Slay wouldn't like to hear this, but what might be
best for this game is what you just laid out
as far as the big threats are concerned. He and Joey,
and then Jamar and Ramsey and then eccles is yours
and maybe Slay takes kind of more of a back
seat in this game than in other matchups, and you
just have to go to them and be like, this
is a matchup specific thing. Yeah, yeah, you know next
week against Green Bay, you're right back out there in
your normal role. But again, Cincy Eckles is more suited
(13:47):
to go in the slot than you are.
Speaker 1 (13:48):
I think that makes all the sense of the world,
especially for snaps that you want Ramsey on Chase, which
I don't think he's gonna revis Island him or follow
him all over the place, but I do think he
was brought in here with Chase in mind. And to
your point, Porter and Higgins pretty good familiar matchup with
similar styles.
Speaker 3 (14:06):
Now, those are the two big threats, especially now with
Joe Flacco throwing them the football when it comes to
this Bengals offense. But Matt it's you know, bomb at
twenty yards down the field and hope they make a play.
If this Steelers pass rush is as effective as it
was against Cleveland, they won't have time to get twenty
yards down the field. There was not gonna be the
you know Joe Flacco sit back there and bomb it. Yeah,
(14:28):
So I think that's a good out for the Steelers
against this Bengals offenses.
Speaker 2 (14:32):
Flacco probably won't have.
Speaker 3 (14:33):
The time to just stand back there and pat the ball.
Frequently and bomb one thirty yards downfield to Chase. They're
gonna need to get it out quick.
Speaker 1 (14:40):
They're gonna need to get it out quick. And now,
obviously that can put your corners in compromise positions against
really good receivers. And it wouldn't shock me one bit
if they have one or two big plays where they.
Speaker 2 (14:53):
Could tackle up.
Speaker 1 (14:54):
Yeah, it's Chase.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
How do you feel that corners have been this year.
I think they've been better at tackling though.
Speaker 1 (14:59):
The first two games, I think I was one of
the worst tackling defenses in the.
Speaker 2 (15:01):
League, but that was the defense as a whole.
Speaker 1 (15:03):
Yeah, drastically's gotten better. I think Porter's gotten better through
his career.
Speaker 3 (15:07):
Ramsey's excellent at it, and I think Elliott is a
glue guy when it comes to that. Especially Elliott. He
led the team in tackles last week. I could see
if it's another short passing week this week, I could
see him having to clean up a lot of tackles too.
Speaker 1 (15:18):
I could too. Now the ancient history now, but Minco
was a phenomenal.
Speaker 2 (15:22):
He always leave the team. He was missed.
Speaker 1 (15:25):
You know for sure that that is not coming back.
But the running game is not good. Steelers have been
blitzing a ton. And not only they've been blitzing a ton,
they're six man pressures. I mean, they're big blitzes.
Speaker 2 (15:38):
So you and they're coming from weird places.
Speaker 1 (15:40):
Oh, they're from everywhere.
Speaker 2 (15:41):
It's great to see Terrell.
Speaker 3 (15:42):
Austin deserves a ton of credit because he has adapted
big time this year.
Speaker 1 (15:46):
I Mean the thing we myself was really critical of
Boston especially last year, was there very static. It looked
the same all the time. They don't blitz much, they
don't move anyone around. It's chaos.
Speaker 3 (15:56):
Now, look at what the chaos does do a rookie
quarterback like Gabriel too. I've been saying a week on
the shows that I've been doing Matt like, there's about
three quarterbacks in the league who could have swam in
those waters and been successful against the Steelers. They pressured
them like thirty three times. Yeah, like thirty three of
the sixty or whatever snaps on offense with pressures.
Speaker 1 (16:13):
They're getting hits left and right. Yes, it's and they're
coming from all angles. It's you know, remember when Hilton
and Vince Williams would combine for like seven sacks. Well,
that could be Ramsey and Queen this year now too.
Let alone the Watt high Smith, her Big you know,
and the D line. They're coming from everywhere.
Speaker 3 (16:33):
Now, what do you make of the Bengals. They have
this Joe Burrow injury happen and then they kind of
just plug Browning in there and they're like, you're Burrow,
We're going to keep the offense the same way. Yeah,
they don't run the ball. They don't try to run
the ball. They have no intention. And you'd think that
they would maybe shift that mindset a little bit when
Burrow got hurt. But even after the Burrough injury, Brown's usage,
Chase Brown is going down week after week after week.
Speaker 1 (16:55):
Yeah, because p Ryan's the receiving back they trust, and
they passed the ball. They passed both the highest percentage
in the league. That's now three different quarterbacks. Flacco had
their most attempts of the year. You know, So this
is not like, oh, we're gonna get conservative. P Ryan's
playing more because he's more suited for third downs in
passing situations. They're always losing though, you know, I mean, like,
(17:18):
like I said, they don't put up any points early
in the game. It's somewhere in there. Actually, I forget
which version I sent you because I've done a lot
of this last night. But they're trust me that when
I say they're at the absolute top of the league
of offensive snaps they take while trailing so they don't
feel like they can run the ball and they're losing
(17:38):
by a ton, And I gotta admit to their offensive
line isn't for me. It's they are not a finish,
you nasty offensive line. I think Orlando Brown, the left
tackles best days are well behind him. Mimso was in
and out of the lineup. It looks like he's gonna play.
That's huge for them. Like linebacker, they drafted two linebackers,
(17:59):
two guards, knowing that those spots were weak. But the
rookies are not really ready yet either and they're not
real physical.
Speaker 3 (18:08):
Now that's a huge advantage again this week for the
Steelers pass rush. That's why I was saying, you know,
they're not gonna have time to get the receivers downfield
and have big play potential in the passing game unless
it comes from that yards after the catch, break, a
tackle up the sideline kind of.
Speaker 1 (18:22):
Is gonna have to play like Rogers you know, yes,
quick process, get.
Speaker 3 (18:24):
It out, you know, and he can process quickly, but
he's not Rogers.
Speaker 1 (18:28):
And his receivers are better. But he wants to vomit.
Speaker 2 (18:32):
He wants to throw.
Speaker 1 (18:33):
Yeah, yeah, I mean he's a drop back, you know,
shotgun and slinging it all over.
Speaker 3 (18:37):
Give me a couple of p I s he's looking for.
All right, Let's look at some key matchups before we
get out of here. Bengals wide receiver Jamar Chase Anti
Higgins versus corners.
Speaker 1 (18:46):
There's not a million of them.
Speaker 3 (18:47):
Yeah, well, especially when we get to the other side
of things, but this is the obvious one.
Speaker 2 (18:52):
You can stop those two. They have nothing that they
can hurt you.
Speaker 1 (18:55):
With pretty much to that point. But that's easier said
and done. And you know, if Laco, he's not gonna
be bashful while throwing it their way to your point.
Speaker 3 (19:04):
Steelers offensive tackles versus Bengals defensive end Trey Hendrickson asterisk
on this. We don't know if Trey Hendrickson is going
to play or not, so their job becomes a lot
easier if he doesn't.
Speaker 2 (19:12):
But he's the only truly good.
Speaker 3 (19:14):
Defensive player that the Bengals have we talked about the
back end Turner Hill. They're fine, this is a star
and they don't have anybody even close to him.
Speaker 1 (19:21):
No, No, he's far and away their best defensive player,
but it is noteworthy whether he plays or not. The
last two first round picks they've used are Shamar Stewart
and Miles Murphy, both defensive ends. So at least you'll
have high pedigree guys against the Steelers tackle.
Speaker 3 (19:37):
They're positioning themselves probably to move on from Hendrickson to
as a franchise.
Speaker 2 (19:41):
I kind of reading the writing on that wall, not.
Speaker 1 (19:43):
To mention the way his contract structured that by the
trade deadline. If they lose this one, it might be enough.
Speaker 2 (19:48):
To be a good team.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
I would think so, because he's set the walk after
the year. They gave him more money, but they did
not extend him.
Speaker 3 (19:55):
Steelers and Bengals Thursday night, eight to fifteen kickoff Matt
and I get it all started on DV at four o'clock,
and then we will be back next week for another
advanced scout previewing the Steelers and the Packers.
Speaker 2 (20:05):
For Matt, I'm Tom. Thanks for giving us a listen.
We got some work to do.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
This is the Advanced Scout with Tom Opferman and Mac Williamsitting.
Speaker 3 (00:07):
Still has come off a very complete performance against the
Cleveland Browns in a twenty three to nine victory.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
They improved to four and one.
Speaker 3 (00:14):
They welcome the two and four Cincinnati Bengals, Well, they
don't welcome. They go to Cincinnati to face off against
them on a short week, hoping to get to five
and one and improve their stranglehold on the AFC North.
It's the Advanced Scout Matt Williamson, Tom Opferman, Matt, if
they get to five and one, which I think you
and I both think they will, no matter how it
(00:35):
looks against Cincinnati can be as ugly as it usually
is on Thursday Night football. Get to five and one,
Ravens are going to be one and five because they're
on a bye. It's really hard to imagine losing a
four game.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
Lead thousand percent, and actually, you know, Cincinnati would still
be in second place.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
But I've already been a half game lead on them.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
Yeah, I've already kind of written off both Ohio teams
for any chance of goingto the playoffs, just from a
Ravens personective. As you mentioned, they go into a bye
and things look much easier on the other half and healthier,
but still they can probably only afford to lose two
more games. I think.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
I think ten and seven probably takes the North and
that's two losses that the Ravens can afford, right, And
you'd have to assume one of those losses cannot be
to the Steelers because you.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
Can't get into a split tiebreaker scenario.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
Can't be splitting with the Steelers then either, you know,
I mean, and not to mention the Steelers only loss
is in NFC game, you know, just for tiebreakers stuff.
You got to start looking at that those type of things.
So yeah, I mean, this looks like a playoff team.
Now we're already taking the Bengals lightly. You know, Thursday
on the road is no I feel that too thing,
you know.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
Yeah, the stats that are kind of haunting everybody.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
This is a pretty bad team, but that doesn't mean
they can't beat you.
Speaker 3 (01:49):
Mike Tomin is two to nine on road Thursday night
football games for his career. Yeah, and he's zero and
six against the AFC North on the road on Thursday
night football games. So those kind of hang over you,
make you feel a little bit queasy, make you feel
a little anxious. Their last road win on Thursday Night
football didn't come. Twenty sixteen against the Indianapolis Colts was
(02:09):
the last time they went on the road and one. Yeah,
so there is a trend that is sorely needing to
be broken here by the Steelers. And although we are
kind of overlooking them a little bit, and this kind
of town has the vibe of you're five and one
and bring on the Packers.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
Right, I do think the trend ends.
Speaker 3 (02:25):
I really have a hard time envisioning the Bengals winning
this game, and Matt people will say, well, what happens
all the time? You go into games and you don't
think the Steelers can lose, and they lose. Yeah, but
they haven't had Aaron Rodgers in those games.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
Did you see Rodgers Thursday Night? I did, Okay, I
didn't know what version I sent you, but I mean,
for everyone feeling queasy about the Tomlin stats, well Rogers
is thirteen and five and Thursday Night football and he's
not a first or second year player. I mean, that's
eighteen games with a forty two to five touchdown to
interception ratio. So what's different from these other ones. Well,
(02:59):
there's this guy.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
That's the part too, that's so impressive.
Speaker 3 (03:01):
It's not just you know, Rogers has a knack to
go in on Thursday night and grind out a win
on a short week and you know, just be a
very game managy type of quarterback.
Speaker 2 (03:10):
He lights it up.
Speaker 3 (03:11):
He's better on Thursday nights the last ye year, right right,
Thursday week is best day of the week. He's better
than Sunday, he's better than Monday. Now, obviously there's a
ton more sample sizes on month Sundays, but.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
Still it's eighteen games at his full season more than
a full season.
Speaker 3 (03:25):
I mean, forty two to five touchdown interception ratio. That's
an MVP season right there.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
Yeah, if you just look at.
Speaker 1 (03:30):
His over four thousand yards too, you know.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
So maybe he is.
Speaker 3 (03:34):
We've been calling him like the kryptonite to all this stuff,
you know in Flores defense. Well you got the kryptonite there,
Schwartz defense. Same thing Rodgers. It's nothing to him.
Speaker 2 (03:41):
Thursday night football.
Speaker 3 (03:42):
Short turnaround team has a history of struggling, especially recently,
enter this guy who has no history.
Speaker 1 (03:47):
Of Yeah, and Wes and I were talking about it
because we went through it all, like did most of
that happen, you know, when he's winning MVPs with Green
Bay and Jordan Nelson involved and not really, And it
kind of just thought ru it was. First off, he's
a great player with a great career, so he's gonna
have success on Sundays, Mondays, Thursdays, whatever through his career.
(04:09):
But we also kind of thought about it too that
he's so cerebral and so good above the neck. Maybe
he needs less prep time than the average quarterback. Or
when the defense has less prep time and can throw
less at you, he's gonna just tear that apart.
Speaker 3 (04:28):
I think both of those make a lot of sense. Yeah,
I think it's a little bit of call him a
and call him B there.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
Together, right, I can't be a fluke.
Speaker 3 (04:35):
Here's a serious history between the Steelers and the Bungles.
This series began in nineteen seventy Pittsburgh leads seventy.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
One to forty. Two of those games.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
Occurred in the postseason in twenty six and twenty sixteen.
The Steelers won both of those contests, and it was
very memorable both of those contests. Pittsburgh was recently on
an eleven game winning streak between December of twenty fifteen
to November of twenty twenty, and the Steelers have won
three of the last four matchups against Cincinnati. Cincinnati has
won just fourteen of the fifty two games between the
divisional rivals that have been played in the two thousands,
(05:04):
and Mike Tomlin is twenty seven and twelve versus Cincinnati,
including a playoff win in twenty sixteen. Mike Tomlin owns
the Ohio teams. There's no secret there. There's trends in
the positive direction when it looks at Steelers versus Bangles,
that can break that negative trend on Thursday Night Football
that Mike Tomlin has.
Speaker 1 (05:22):
So that series history obviously favors the Steelers and goes
back decades. But I found this this morning that in
the last ten meetings, these teams are five and five
against each other, and both teams have scored two hundred
and thirty seven points. So they've been deady any last ten,
you know.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
And that's Joe Burrow, you know what I mean. It's
a different They've gone a very makeover there in Cincinnati.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
Not trading for a quarterback a couple days.
Speaker 3 (05:48):
Ago, let's start on the defensive side of the ball.
For the Bengals, it's the weakest side of their team.
Even without Joe Burrow. I would still label it that
this week last.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
Year, it's week now, it's you know, and they might.
Speaker 3 (05:59):
Not have had the last I heard kind of expecting
to not have him play. It's a short week.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
It's just why they would play him. I think he's
a trade candidate.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
It would be too good points.
Speaker 3 (06:09):
Yeah, yeah, I just think, you know, even if they
were a good team and still in it right now,
short week, injuries to a very viable point usually not
an optimistic thing that he's going to be able to play.
So that makes their defense even weaker. They allow six
They allowed six point eight yards per play last week,
and for the season they sit at five point nine
yards per play.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
That's ahead of only Chicago, Miami in Dallas, and.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
It's really poor.
Speaker 3 (06:32):
They can't stop the run. They can't stop the run, right,
They're abysmal against the run. They're one of the worst
running teams. We said, you know, against Minnesota, they did
the jumbo package the Steelers did, and it's like that's
good against the run. Then last week we were like
that's probably better for pass protection this time and keeping
Miles Garrett off of you. Now it shifts back to
the running aspect of it. It's like, just throw those
seven bodies out there and run it down their throat. Yeah,
(06:54):
and that's a good strategy on Thursday night too.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
I got no problem with that at all. Be the
more physical team, take the fight to them, even if
you don't have immediate success by the third fourth quarter
that you know, the damn should break. Just in terms
of their personnel, They've invested so many early picks on defense,
and instead of blaming the choices they made the front office,
(07:19):
they blame the coordinator who then goes to the Colts
and makes their defense much much better. And they simplified things.
They hired a the Notre Dames defensive coordinator to deal
with younger players, you know, much like the college level,
and has gotten no better now. Turner the corner is
a good player, Dax Hill's a decent player, and frankly,
(07:42):
the front with and without Hendrickson is okay. They don't
get bullied up front, but the linebackers are all over
the place. The tackling's poor. There's no star power outside
of Hendrickson. There's nobody you really really fear. It's a bad.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
Group when you're two inside backers are rookies, and rookies
always second and fourth round picks. It's not a.
Speaker 3 (08:08):
Or a first round pick coming out that was a
can't miss inside linebacker that's going to be the anchor
of your defense for years and years to come.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
Like none of those guys.
Speaker 3 (08:16):
They don't Demetrius Knight, Barrett Carter, they don't fit that mold.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
I mean, at the best, they're like, okay, number two starters.
Speaker 1 (08:24):
As they learn, and they're still learning a great deal.
They do not recognize things well. They don't take on
blockers well, it's a real problem.
Speaker 3 (08:31):
So Rogers is very good at picking up things to
pick on against the defenses that he's playing.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
The middle of the field should be wide open to
pick on them. And that leads me to this.
Speaker 3 (08:39):
Matt Pat Fryarmouth and his usage has been kind of
a question lately. He owns the Cincinnati Bengals. I don't
know what it is. Every single time he plays him,
he dominates them. Maybe Pat, Maybe Pat has a little
bit of a breakout game this year against Cincinnati.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
My worry there though, is.
Speaker 3 (08:56):
In years past, Pat has always been the number one
option as far as we're receiving end is concern. Now
he's not. Johnny Smith is. Honestly, Darnell is kind of
more of a receiving threat than he is now.
Speaker 1 (09:05):
He's certainly on the field a lot more.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
He's the number one tight end.
Speaker 1 (09:08):
Right, He's the number one tight end. Yeah, no, und percent,
And in throwing situation, Smith is the number one tight end.
But overall Washington's the number one tight end. So not
to insult our listeners, but they only let you put
eleven players on the field, and five of them are
going to be offensive, at least.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
Five of them sometimes seven.
Speaker 1 (09:26):
Yeah, yeah, and Rogers that only leaves five. They're gonna
put a back that gets you the six metcalf never
leaves the field, that's seven. And if Washington's basically never
leave in the field, that's eight. Now, if we start
putting Anderson involved or a second receiver John who like
I'm not even sure Friar moves like in the doghouse
or anything. It's just he's down the pecking order because
(09:48):
others have stepped up.
Speaker 3 (09:50):
No, I think that's exactly right, because he hasn't really
done anything wrong.
Speaker 1 (09:53):
He's fine.
Speaker 3 (09:54):
We've noted maybe a blown assignment on that block field
goal against the Vikings, but john who didn't have as
many snaps his pat in that game, So that doesn't
really track like I'm.
Speaker 1 (10:03):
Going to put Washington and Anders out there a lot the.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
Other taking people off the field.
Speaker 1 (10:07):
Yeah, yeah, because you're going to keep a wide receiver
and running back on the field.
Speaker 3 (10:10):
So I think it's really obvious game plan of attack
against the Bengals. You just run the ball, use that
jumbo package, have a big game from Jalen Warren, maybe
some more carries for Caleb Johnson, who has now had
back to back weeks with six carries in a game.
Speaker 2 (10:23):
But the other thing, Matt is you'd.
Speaker 1 (10:24):
Love to get Johnson involved here, you know, especially if
you have a lead. Yes, that'd be great. You don't
want your running backs getting beat up.
Speaker 3 (10:30):
You mentioned DJ Turner, you mentioned Dax Hill. They got
some talent in that secondary, but there's no one to
match up with DK, like, no one. So run the
ball and to stay away from run the ball a ton, yeah,
and then hit your five or six big plays to the DK.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
It should be very easy.
Speaker 1 (10:45):
And I know we'll get to the other side of
the ball, which is potentially better than the Bengals defense.
They do have Jamar Chase and they have Higgins, but
they don't score any points early in games. I mean,
they have not eclipsed three points in the first half
of a game for like a month or something like that.
So even to your point, though, if the running game
(11:05):
is just okay or it's taken a while to get going,
I doubt the Bengals are gonna be up twenty to nothing.
They're not press ye right, right right, I mean, history
just shows that's not who they are right now.
Speaker 3 (11:15):
Now on that offensive side of the ball, they played
Green Bay last week. They were shut out in the
first half against the Packers, but then they scored eighteen
points in the second half.
Speaker 1 (11:22):
Yea, yeah. The fourth quarter has been good.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
Flacco started to get his feet under him a little bit.
Speaker 1 (11:26):
I think.
Speaker 3 (11:27):
So what worries me slightly in this game, Matt It's
not a huge worry because it's again.
Speaker 2 (11:33):
He's just a slight upgrade from what they were dealing
with Flacco Browning, but he's aggressive.
Speaker 3 (11:38):
It's that yeah, and t Higgins and Jamar Chase combined
for twenty targets. Last week he's just spamming the ball five.
Speaker 1 (11:44):
Nothing to lose. He has a Jamis Winston attitude really
for the last two years of his career. If I
throw a pick, I don't care. So if he just
keeps rolling the dice and he keeps getting snake eyes,
you know he can beat you. Like when they traded
for him, I thought, man, he's been horrendous with the Browns. Yeah,
he really doesn't help things. But last week you saw
(12:09):
a jolt with Flacco in there. Instead of the backup
Browning who's can't make the throws, won't make the throws,
Joe at least puts it in the air and it's
gonna let If Higgins is one on one Porter, he's
gonna throw it.
Speaker 3 (12:24):
That's where I was going with this is how do
you think the secondary is deployed against them? In years past,
we've seen Porter follow Higgins. Yeah, I've kind of taken
that tact. So that would leave Slay a lot of times.
Speaker 2 (12:33):
On the size match Chase.
Speaker 3 (12:35):
Yeah, but with a lot of help, I think is
Sligh would probably get Ramsey shading over to him a
lot of the time. He would have safety help a
lot of the time.
Speaker 1 (12:43):
They play so much eleven though, So is gonna need
to play the slot? Yeah, he's gonna play the slot
or is You know, Mike Pursuer and I have talked
about this a ton. You know, he goes back to
camp where this is why you know they they've even
sighted the Bengals. This is why you go get Ramsey
and Slay and you upgrade these you know, get these
Manda Man corners, and we wonder, you know, does Ramsey
(13:08):
just match up on Chase and Porter on Higgins? And
I know that that doesn't leave Slay to be the
slot guy. It's not what you want, but I just
have a hunch Ramsey and Chase are going to do
battle a lot.
Speaker 2 (13:21):
Here's the thing, Matt and Darius.
Speaker 3 (13:24):
Slay wouldn't like to hear this, but what might be
best for this game is what you just laid out
as far as the big threats are concerned. He and Joey,
and then Jamar and Ramsey and then eccles is yours
and maybe Slay takes kind of more of a back
seat in this game than in other matchups, and you
just have to go to them and be like, this
is a matchup specific thing. Yeah, yeah, you know next
week against Green Bay, you're right back out there in
your normal role. But again, Cincy Eckles is more suited
(13:47):
to go in the slot than you are.
Speaker 1 (13:48):
I think that makes all the sense of the world,
especially for snaps that you want Ramsey on Chase, which
I don't think he's gonna revis Island him or follow
him all over the place, but I do think he
was brought in here with Chase in mind. And to
your point, Porter and Higgins pretty good familiar matchup with
similar styles.
Speaker 3 (14:06):
Now, those are the two big threats, especially now with
Joe Flacco throwing them the football when it comes to
this Bengals offense. But Matt it's you know, bomb at
twenty yards down the field and hope they make a play.
If this Steelers pass rush is as effective as it
was against Cleveland, they won't have time to get twenty
yards down the field. There was not gonna be the
you know Joe Flacco sit back there and bomb it. Yeah,
(14:28):
So I think that's a good out for the Steelers
against this Bengals offenses.
Speaker 2 (14:32):
Flacco probably won't have.
Speaker 3 (14:33):
The time to just stand back there and pat the ball.
Frequently and bomb one thirty yards downfield to Chase. They're
gonna need to get it out quick.
Speaker 1 (14:40):
They're gonna need to get it out quick. And now,
obviously that can put your corners in compromise positions against
really good receivers. And it wouldn't shock me one bit
if they have one or two big plays where they.
Speaker 2 (14:53):
Could tackle up.
Speaker 1 (14:54):
Yeah, it's Chase.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
How do you feel that corners have been this year.
I think they've been better at tackling though.
Speaker 1 (14:59):
The first two games, I think I was one of
the worst tackling defenses in the.
Speaker 2 (15:01):
League, but that was the defense as a whole.
Speaker 1 (15:03):
Yeah, drastically's gotten better. I think Porter's gotten better through
his career.
Speaker 3 (15:07):
Ramsey's excellent at it, and I think Elliott is a
glue guy when it comes to that. Especially Elliott. He
led the team in tackles last week. I could see
if it's another short passing week this week, I could
see him having to clean up a lot of tackles too.
Speaker 1 (15:18):
I could too. Now the ancient history now, but Minco
was a phenomenal.
Speaker 2 (15:22):
He always leave the team. He was missed.
Speaker 1 (15:25):
You know for sure that that is not coming back.
But the running game is not good. Steelers have been
blitzing a ton. And not only they've been blitzing a ton,
they're six man pressures. I mean, they're big blitzes.
Speaker 2 (15:38):
So you and they're coming from weird places.
Speaker 1 (15:40):
Oh, they're from everywhere.
Speaker 2 (15:41):
It's great to see Terrell.
Speaker 3 (15:42):
Austin deserves a ton of credit because he has adapted
big time this year.
Speaker 1 (15:46):
I Mean the thing we myself was really critical of
Boston especially last year, was there very static. It looked
the same all the time. They don't blitz much, they
don't move anyone around. It's chaos.
Speaker 3 (15:56):
Now, look at what the chaos does do a rookie
quarterback like Gabriel too. I've been saying a week on
the shows that I've been doing Matt like, there's about
three quarterbacks in the league who could have swam in
those waters and been successful against the Steelers. They pressured
them like thirty three times. Yeah, like thirty three of
the sixty or whatever snaps on offense with pressures.
Speaker 1 (16:13):
They're getting hits left and right. Yes, it's and they're
coming from all angles. It's you know, remember when Hilton
and Vince Williams would combine for like seven sacks. Well,
that could be Ramsey and Queen this year now too.
Let alone the Watt high Smith, her Big you know,
and the D line. They're coming from everywhere.
Speaker 3 (16:33):
Now, what do you make of the Bengals. They have
this Joe Burrow injury happen and then they kind of
just plug Browning in there and they're like, you're Burrow,
We're going to keep the offense the same way. Yeah,
they don't run the ball. They don't try to run
the ball. They have no intention. And you'd think that
they would maybe shift that mindset a little bit when
Burrow got hurt. But even after the Burrough injury, Brown's usage,
Chase Brown is going down week after week after week.
Speaker 1 (16:55):
Yeah, because p Ryan's the receiving back they trust, and
they passed the ball. They passed both the highest percentage
in the league. That's now three different quarterbacks. Flacco had
their most attempts of the year. You know, So this
is not like, oh, we're gonna get conservative. P Ryan's
playing more because he's more suited for third downs in
passing situations. They're always losing though, you know, I mean, like,
(17:18):
like I said, they don't put up any points early
in the game. It's somewhere in there. Actually, I forget
which version I sent you because I've done a lot
of this last night. But they're trust me that when
I say they're at the absolute top of the league
of offensive snaps they take while trailing so they don't
feel like they can run the ball and they're losing
(17:38):
by a ton, And I gotta admit to their offensive
line isn't for me. It's they are not a finish,
you nasty offensive line. I think Orlando Brown, the left
tackles best days are well behind him. Mimso was in
and out of the lineup. It looks like he's gonna play.
That's huge for them. Like linebacker, they drafted two linebackers,
(17:59):
two guards, knowing that those spots were weak. But the
rookies are not really ready yet either and they're not
real physical.
Speaker 3 (18:08):
Now that's a huge advantage again this week for the
Steelers pass rush. That's why I was saying, you know,
they're not gonna have time to get the receivers downfield
and have big play potential in the passing game unless
it comes from that yards after the catch, break, a
tackle up the sideline kind of.
Speaker 1 (18:22):
Is gonna have to play like Rogers you know, yes,
quick process, get.
Speaker 3 (18:24):
It out, you know, and he can process quickly, but
he's not Rogers.
Speaker 1 (18:28):
And his receivers are better. But he wants to vomit.
Speaker 2 (18:32):
He wants to throw.
Speaker 1 (18:33):
Yeah, yeah, I mean he's a drop back, you know,
shotgun and slinging it all over.
Speaker 3 (18:37):
Give me a couple of p I s he's looking for.
All right, Let's look at some key matchups before we
get out of here. Bengals wide receiver Jamar Chase Anti
Higgins versus corners.
Speaker 1 (18:46):
There's not a million of them.
Speaker 3 (18:47):
Yeah, well, especially when we get to the other side
of things, but this is the obvious one.
Speaker 2 (18:52):
You can stop those two. They have nothing that they
can hurt you.
Speaker 1 (18:55):
With pretty much to that point. But that's easier said
and done. And you know, if Laco, he's not gonna
be bashful while throwing it their way to your point.
Speaker 3 (19:04):
Steelers offensive tackles versus Bengals defensive end Trey Hendrickson asterisk
on this. We don't know if Trey Hendrickson is going
to play or not, so their job becomes a lot
easier if he doesn't.
Speaker 2 (19:12):
But he's the only truly good.
Speaker 3 (19:14):
Defensive player that the Bengals have we talked about the
back end Turner Hill. They're fine, this is a star
and they don't have anybody even close to him.
Speaker 1 (19:21):
No, No, he's far and away their best defensive player,
but it is noteworthy whether he plays or not. The
last two first round picks they've used are Shamar Stewart
and Miles Murphy, both defensive ends. So at least you'll
have high pedigree guys against the Steelers tackle.
Speaker 3 (19:37):
They're positioning themselves probably to move on from Hendrickson to
as a franchise.
Speaker 2 (19:41):
I kind of reading the writing on that wall, not.
Speaker 1 (19:43):
To mention the way his contract structured that by the
trade deadline. If they lose this one, it might be enough.
Speaker 2 (19:48):
To be a good team.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
I would think so, because he's set the walk after
the year. They gave him more money, but they did
not extend him.
Speaker 3 (19:55):
Steelers and Bengals Thursday night, eight to fifteen kickoff Matt
and I get it all started on DV at four o'clock,
and then we will be back next week for another
advanced scout previewing the Steelers and the Packers.
Speaker 2 (20:05):
For Matt, I'm Tom. Thanks for giving us a listen.
Popular Podcasts
CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist
It’s 1996 in rural North Carolina, and an oddball crew makes history when they pull off America’s third largest cash heist. But it’s all downhill from there. Join host Johnny Knoxville as he unspools a wild and woolly tale about a group of regular ‘ol folks who risked it all for a chance at a better life. CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist answers the question: what would you do with 17.3 million dollars? The answer includes diamond rings, mansions, velvet Elvis paintings, plus a run for the border, murder-for-hire-plots, and FBI busts.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.