Week 12 @ Colts

Missi Matthews Bill Hillgrove and Dale Lolley break down the Steelers win over the Colts on Monday Night Football.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Point After on w d v E Pittsburgh, brought to
you by Parks Casino. The entire Steelers radio broadcast team
is here to break down the last game. Here's your host,
Missy Matthews. You know, right now, we're we're a four
win team right now. We have to own that and
we gotta we gotta chip away out of it and
get back to to winning. And you know, this definitely
was a start, so that there's things we gotta build

(00:21):
from off this game and take a lot of positives
from it. Um. And then obviously you know there's things
that we'll check the tape. And we got a quick
tenn around here to get back on Sunday and and
go down to Atlanta. So there's things that we got
to clean up and and and get right um in
order to take care of business on Sunday. Everybody, Welcome
to the Point After Missy Matthews with Dale Lolly. We
are talking about the Steelers Monday Night football win over

(00:42):
the Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium to seventeen. The Steelers
now moved to four and seven. There you heard from
quarterback Kenny Pickett talking about the short week as they
prepare to head to Atlanta. We also have Bill hill
Grove with us tonight as well. In our first segment
is brought to you by Brian Patton and associates. It's
all about the benefits Billy. It almost seemed like it

(01:04):
was going to be a tale of two halfs that
we saw similarly the week prior against the Cincinnati Bengals.
But the Steelers were able to get the win and
keep some hopes alive. Our teams allowed to change uniforms
at half time. That's what it appeared to be. It
was amazing, but you know, you do have to play

(01:24):
the whole game, and that's you know why coaches preach
h that. You know, the halftime means nothing. You gotta finish.
And I think what I saw yesterday, uh was very
encouraging from the Steelers. Uh. You can see this young team,
you know, kind of growing up in front of your eyes.
And I know some people don't want to hear that,
but it's the truth. I mean, you got a rookie quarterback,

(01:48):
a second year running back, a second year tight end.
Arguably your first or second best receiver is a rookie,
so you know, you just growing pains is probably at
yes It's funny you mentioned the the kind of the
repeat of of of what happened against the Bengals, because

(02:08):
I asked a couple of guys in the locker room
after the game like it. I'm like, are you guys
having something like, oh no, here we go again? And
you know, I remember Kevin Dotson said, no, we we
didn't feel that way because we knew we could move
the football and these guys we knew we could run
the football. Uh. And you heard Kenny Pickett after the
game talked about, Hey, look those those drives weren't any
those two three and ounce that we had. We just

(02:30):
missed the place I missed the throws on third down
in those situations. Um. Otherwise, I mean they moved the
ball consistently throughout the game, you know, outside of those
two possessions. I also thought, you know, being able to
involve guys that are not always part of the offense.
But Benny Snell, you know, we were able to see
Anthony McFarland, guys that we have not seen either on

(02:51):
the fifty three for a game date or even you know,
taking an offensive snap. And I just thought they were confident.
They had a little pep talk from Naji Harris on
the sideline, but for he had a schedattle and you know,
go ahead into the locker room with the doctors and trainers.
But I think it's just giving them that confidence. And
you know, Kenny knows Benny because he worked with them

(03:11):
a lot throughout the offseason and training camp. So as
Billy said, UM, you know it's a young team and
you want to see improvements. It's yes, it's only a
four win team, as Kenny said, but we are starting
to after it feels like maybe that first half of
the season was very rough. They're starting to put things together. Yeah.
You know, I pointed at this second half after the

(03:31):
you know the post by second half, um, pretty much
over the first the entire first half of the season,
because if you look at the you know who they
played in the first half, Um, you know it was
a murderers row of you know, who's who have Who
are the good teams in the NFL, particularly on defense
is you know I detailed this a couple of weeks ago. Um,

(03:52):
you know, looking at football outsiders in their in their
d v o A, how they judge defenses. Um, I
think they played the number won the number two, the
number four, the number six, the number seven and nine defenses. Yeah. Um.
And and the thing is is that Colts defense, uh
is pretty good as well. It's the best defense that

(04:13):
they'll face the rest of the way here. And they
moved the football consistently again, So I think maybe there
were some learning you know, as Billy said, you know
that the team learned some things about itself here in
the first half. And if you look at what they've
done over the last four games running the football, it's
a hundred and fifty seven yards a game. Um. That travels,

(04:33):
and that's something that you're seeing more and more of
across the league. We're gonna see it this week with
his Falcons team for sure. Uh. Some of these teams
are running the ball much more consistently, uh than we've
seen in a long time in the NFL, since maybe
the early portions of the two thousands, because so many
defense has got smaller and faster to come, you know,

(04:54):
combat all these spread offensive formations and things of that nature.
So now you just run straight at them. And I
think Steelers figured out, hey, we could do that. We
have a two forty pound running back, we've got a
big offensive line, that can move. Let's let's start running
the football. And they've done that, and it's you know,
they haven't won all these games, but they've been consistently
in the last few games here, won a couple of them.

(05:14):
And you know, even at Cincinnati Bengals game was there,
it was all it was winnable. They just didn't get
it done. Billy. We talked about it last week with
the Bengals. It feels like the offense is more balanced,
as Dale said, you know, being able to run the ball.
It helps a rookie quarterback is he gets his feet
under him and gets comfortable, uh, you know, running the
show and the system and working with all these people

(05:35):
and also not turning the ball over. Kenny Pickett's attempted
a hundred passes and has not had an interception. That
goes all the way back to the fourth quarter of
Week eight in Phillies. So it seems like a recipe
for success that we just want to see, you know,
continuing to happen. Yeah, a couple of times yesterday I
remember Wolf saying, hey, the yardage is exactly even rushing

(05:58):
and throwing, and I said, well, that's the kind of
balance that you want, and I think it ended up
pretty close a couple of yards. They were dead even
Bill until he took the need end of game, it
was one seventy four rushing and one seventy four passing. Well,
we can't hold that against you know, the LIGA is
trending now and and you said the ligas trending toward
a record of when I've read of rushing not only

(06:22):
yards per game, but you know, yards uh per attempt. Uh.
And you know, I think one of the reasons is
because you have the emergence of the running quarterback. You know,
pick It had fifty three yards yesterday. That's that's pretty significant.
And I think you're seeing that mobile quarterbacks, you know,
getting involved in the running game. And uh, the one

(06:45):
thing I like about it is that, you know, and
I saw Matt Ryan do it yesterday. You take what
they give you, and if they give you the Red
Sea parted, take it. And uh, you know, I just
think that's trending. In the National Football League. Dale were
continuing to see the Kenny pick at George Pickens relationships
spark whatever you wanna call it, grow. Um. Is it

(07:07):
just a matter of you know, getting these game reps
underneath them knowing how much they've spent time together being
from the same rookie class. Yeah, I think that's part
of it. I think, you know, they have that rapport together. Um,
George is also good. That helps as well. And you
could you know, he's kind of an area code catcher.
You put it in his area code and let him
go get it. Yeah, and I think you know, Kenny

(07:31):
realizes that. Um. You know, I think Billy can attest.
He had a very similar relationship last year with Jordan
Addison at pitt Um that you know, he threw to
him a lot and that you know, that guy was good. Um,
you know, I'd still like to see them, you know.
And they came out with with an idea of getting
Deonte Johnson involved earlier. I think that's important as well.

(07:51):
You can't it can't all be focused on one guy.
I think you have to spread it around. You know,
you use Pat friarm with, you use those other receivers
to your point earlier. I mean, you know, they got
Cody White a catch early. You know Derek what Derek
Watt touched the football. It was you know, it was like, okay,
let's get everybody, everybody who was eligible to touch the
football today is going to touch the football. I think

(08:13):
they may have done that. Actually, Um that every every
player who could have touched the ball touched the ball yesterday,
because you know there were there was there was only
Gentry Hayward would have been the only one who didn't. Well,
he made a nice tackle. He did. He was trying
to but we'll give him an a plus for the tackle. Yeah.

(08:34):
You know, only three guys under the did not play list,
which you know Mark Robinson, he was caught up because
of Spillane, Trent Scott and then Mitch Robinsky of course,
So as you said, it just seemed to be working.
And it was also what they were doing on the
defense as well. James Pierre, you know he caught that interception.
I don't know if it was Max or somebody. When
we were in commercial break, was like, oh, James Pierre's

(08:54):
in there, just because you're not used to seeing him inserted.
Um with the defense so much if it's not for
an injury. But they really did, you know, shuffle guys around. Yeah.
I think they wanted Cam Sutton in the slot on
Paris Campbell. That was a better matchup than having Arthur
Malett in there, say, when they went to the Nickel
and Dime, James Pierre was out there, so uh yeah,

(09:15):
I mean it's it's having read paint and painting the
baron read is is. Mike Tomlin likes to say, you know,
using all your all your guys and they all have
different skill sets. And we're seeing that on offense. We've
seen it on defense all season long. I mean they've
mixed and matched with that group pretty consistently. Uh you know,
but since the Trader Chase Claypool, Um, you know, you

(09:35):
see packages with with General Schefski out there, Miles Boykin
when he's been healthy, Um, we see him watch get
more playing time on their uh you know, Connor Heyward's
got more playing time. So it's it's using everybody, uh
in their and their specific abilities, uh to the best
of their abilities. And I think that's you know, we've
seen the offense kind of work better that way. And

(09:56):
Billy Anthony I was gonna say, Arthur le I thought
had one of his best games yesterday. Uh you know,
he just he seems to be in the right place
at the right time, and he just has an uncanny knack,
uh you know for getting after people. And uh, you know,
I think they take advantage of that. I don't think
his whole game, you know, he's not he's not a

(10:18):
complete player, but he fits him nicely. Um. You know
there's a little bit of Mike Hilton there, don't you agree? Oh? Absolutely,
I think he's very much like Mike Hilton. Um. You know,
just a real tough, feisty nickel corner who's not afraid
to stick his his nose in there in the run game.
He blitz as well, does a lot of those kind

(10:39):
of things that that we saw Mike Hilton do so
well for for so many years. Well and today during
coach Tomlin's press conference, he said, you know that position
is usually little angry people, which I thought summed up nicely,
you know, knowing what Mike Hilton meant to the Steelers
defense when he was here in Pittsburgh, and then Arthur
Mallett coming in and you know, he's one of those

(10:59):
guys you hear because he likes to have his voice heard. Billy,
I was going to ask you about Anthony McFarlane. Dale
was touching on, you know, playing to everyone's strength and
he's somebody that we haven't seen. Um. We knew when
they drafted him what they thought he could be, but
they were able to utilize maybe his specialty at the

(11:20):
running back position where other guys are not like him.
He gives you a look of darting speed, you know
when he hits that hole. Uh, He's he's at full speed. Uh.
And and that's you know, that's a gift. Uh. And
I think he was ready to play yesterday. And the
guy who I think surprised everybody, including the Colts, was

(11:44):
Benny Snell Jr. Hadn't had to carry the whole year,
and he looked like he belonged, you know, like, oh yeah,
I know what to do here, and that's why you know,
pick it apparently told everybody on the sideline on that
third down play, I want to run Snell and he
had a nose for the goal line and touched the

(12:08):
ball meaningful situations. I think he gave a great acount
of himself. Uh, Dale. I don't know if you you
probably didn't have a chance to listen, but we had
Benny Snell on immediately after the game, you know, as
the crowd or the crowd was cheering and you know,
players were saying hello, and you could just hear the
excitement in his voice for a getting the opportunity, but
then you know, taking advantage of it and being able

(12:29):
to contribute and help out the team. It really meant
a lot to him. And he's one of those guys
that has been with the Steelers UM and has kind
of put his head down and maybe didn't think that
he'd be in the position he is where he's a
core special teamer and would be more involved in offense
without injuries. But here we are, and as coach says,
you know, you're one play away from being the backup
or a starter. Yeah, that's one of the you know,

(12:51):
one thing that I always tell kids when I'm I'm
coaching in my coach baseball and stuff. And I always
felt that way when I played sports as well. Um,
you know your role. You don't have to be happy
with your role, but you you do it to the
best of your ability. And that's what Benny Snow has
done this year. He's he's turned himself into a very

(13:11):
valuable special teams guy. UM, and you know, I'm sure
he would love to do more on a weekly basis.
And he got that opportunity yesterday and he made the
most of the same thing with Anton Anthony McFarlane. Um,
you know, you you you may not be happy with
your role on the practice squad. Um. Obviously it's a
much different financial aspect of things. Yeah, but you but

(13:34):
you get that call up and you make the most
of it. And now you know, if you're Mike Tom
and you're going, okay, we might have something. And you know,
I think one of the things that happens a lot
of times too when you bring in a running back
like that who hasn't touched the ball a lot at
this point in the season, fresh legs against the guy
a bunch of guys who have played a lot of
snaps already, and these guys are hopping in there with

(13:54):
with fresh legs and they had that little extra burst
in their step and you saw that. All Right, we
have much more to talk about from the Steelers Monday
night win in Indy. We will do so when the
Point After returns. You're listening to w d V. Back
to the Point After brought to you by Parks Casino.
On d V, E Taylor, the loan setback wing back

(14:16):
left goes in motion as a lead blocker, but ball
is out, but it's fallen on by Matt Ryan. Unbelievable.
All that on. The Steelers say they have it, and
so did the officials who came up with that football.
You gotta be kidding me, Chris Warmly. We think the
six year man from Michigan, former Balltimore Raven pounces on

(14:39):
that loose football on a first and goal at the one.
A lot of excitement at Lucas Oil Stadium. Welcome back
to the point after miss Matthews with Dale Ali and
Bill hill Grove talking about the Steelers to seventeen win
in Dale, Chris Warmly said after the game that if
he did not get that ball from Matt Ryan, he
should be retired. Uh I said, yeah, you probably wouldn't

(15:04):
be able to sit in the meeting room tomorrow and
watch that tape if you let a quarterback wrestle the
ball away from me. So yeah, that wouldn't Yeah, that's
not gonna go uh So, but you know it was.
It was a big play. He said. He just kind
of saw the ball scored out out of the quarter
in the corner of his eign. He just dove in there.
I don't think he initially realized it was Matt Ryan,
that he was wrestling with But it was fortuitous that

(15:26):
was that was Matt Ryan that he was wrestling with
that Uh, that saved the touchdown there, and uh, well
you know, they end up scoring the touchdown on the
next possession. But again it's that time factor that uh,
you know in a game like that that you you
turn them away and and uh you know the Falcons, Falcons. Uh,
it's been a long, long day. Uh the Colts. I'm

(15:49):
thinking Matt Ryan with the Falcons, that's it, you know,
it's uh the Colts. Uh had really had the momentum
at that point, you know. And then and the Steelers
have just had the two penalties. Camp Sutton jumps off
sides to give him the free first down and then
make if his Patrick gets the past interference penaltly raided
the goal line, and you're thinking, well, here we go.
This is you know the tightest turned here, and you know,

(16:11):
just getting that play kind of stem things for a
little bit there, and and uh, you just don't know
how the game turns out. If if they punch that
in there, they may just really start to run away
with it with it at that point. But Warmley fell
on the ball and took it away from Matt Ryan.
Our second segment tonight is brought to you by the
Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank and Don's Appliance. For every

(16:31):
field goal we kick this season, Dahn's Appliance will donate
one thousand dollars to the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank.
That's five thousand meals each time. Thank you to Dawn's Appliance,
and you can donate to by texting goals to five
zero one five five and Billy talking about momentum changes
within this game. Just coming out a halftime, you think, Okay,

(16:54):
the Steelers have a sixteen three lead. Let's let's see
what happens in Boom, there's a kickoff return that just
at you in the face and you start going, oh no, Well,
the Colts did not get a three and out in
the second half until you know, like about five minutes
into the second quarter. Um, and I think that might

(17:14):
have been the biggest play of the game. Although some
people will argue that Kenny Pickett's two third down conversions
of the game winning drive were the biggest players of
the game. Let's kick that around. What do you guys think? Well,
I think that definitely made it a game Bill. You
know that that kick return kind of briefed some life
into a Colts offense that really hadn't done anything in
the first half. Um, you know, it just they didn't

(17:37):
have any yards in the first quarter. Uh you know. Uh,
Ryan was at that point, I believe was uh four
for thirteen or something like that passing. I mean, he
just was off and that that kick returned. After that,
I think he hit six of his next seven passes
and one that wasn't a completion was a drop, So
he kind of got into a little bit of a

(17:58):
rhythm there. They started throwing the ball more to the
tight end over the middle, uh you know, and and
you know, got Pittman involved a little bit. Uh So
it did change the momentum. And you know, if not
for that, uh, you just don't know. And and you know,
I think the Steelers not having Chris bos while kicking
off makes a big difference. I mean, he's he's a
guy that consistently gets good hang time and puts the

(18:18):
ball deep in the in the end zone. And then
you think about some of the other guys that they
were missing on those special teams, Miles Boyck and In
Splaine and Jalm Warren has been a key contributor on
there as well. And you know, it's just a kind
of a uh, you know, the perfect storm for the
special teams. And they came close a couple of times
that they're breaking one in the first half and didn't

(18:39):
do it. And you could tell that's something that they
talked about in the second half because the ball was
in the you know, they kicked it deep and he
was bringing it out no matter what, because they have
been close a couple of times before that. I think
what happens in this day and age is that some
teams are used to seeing that touchback and they kind

(19:00):
of relax for just a moment, thinking that that's what
it's gonna be. And when Flowers brought that ball out,
I think they were kind of surprised. That's no excuse.
You still should be in the lanes, you still should
contain that play. But for whatever reason, several people didn't
do their jobs and as a result, momentum really changed quickly. Well,

(19:22):
as Dale was saying, you know, in the first half,
Matt Ryan five or thirteen thirty six yards, as you said,
nothing in the first quarter, second half seventeen of twenty one,
for a hundred and sixty three yards and you know,
seeing Gelanni Woods, just these people that you were not
expecting to be utilized and taking advantage and it wasn't
all focused around Jonathan Taylor. You start thinking, Okay, are

(19:44):
they getting themselves in trouble here? And I think the
back to back three announced for the Steelers offense after
the first half. Um, yes, there was a number of
things that went wrong, and you know, you can say
a number of reasons why those happened, but it was
just that momentum and you just you felt, at least
for the crowd, I will say it felt like it
was more Steelers fans than Colts fans. But the Colts

(20:05):
fans got into it. You know, that was their first
Monday night football game at home since two thousand fifteen,
so this was like a parade. You know, this is
like a super Bowl for them. Um, it's a big deal.
They had St Elmo's shrimp cocktail in the press box.
You knew it was a big deal. Absolutely, And you know,
to to your point about the crowd, Um, you know
you could hear on the final drive there were people

(20:27):
channing defense. Uh, that had to be a little disheartening
for the Falcon The Falcons they just called for the Colts, right, Uh,
not at all as it were, But uh yeah, look
at this right by the end of the show, I'll
take the same result next week. There you go. Yeah,

(20:48):
Coach Salmon said to sleep fast after that. Um, it
didn't seem like he slept much after Uh, just seeing
him this morning going into his press conference. But you know,
you have an extra week to prepare for Monday Night football,
and under coach Tom and Billy, the Steelers are nineteen
and three. I don't know if it's because you know,
it's the only game on it's primetime, it's the extra

(21:10):
day or what, but there is a reason why. You know,
his teams get ready and they get amped up to
play in these games. Yeah, last week in his weekly
press conference, he waxed eloquently about prime time and especially
Monday Night Football, and uh he continued it with his
opening remarks after the game. You know, it's just a

(21:31):
privilege to play, Uh, in these types of games. The
whole nation is watching, and you know, you can say
what you want about the quality of the opponent. But
I remember when I first took the Steelers job back
at ninety four. I can't remember the kid's name, but
he was a receiver and I said something, Uh, you know,

(21:55):
we should want bigger. He said, Hey, that other side
gets paid too, and I think fans have to keep
that in mind. They get paid the same amount of
money basically, and so you know, to say that there's
a bad team, uh, maybe a team having a bad year,
but I don't think there's such a thing as a
bad team in the National Football League. And uh, I

(22:16):
think especially on the road, it's it's tough to win.
It's really tough to win, period, but tougher on the road. Yeah,
I would agree, Billy. I mean, I think you know
when you look around um at the league and when
you're playing on Monday night football as well, as Missy said,
you know that the Colts hadn't hosted a Monday night
games since two thousand fifteen, so you know we're talking

(22:38):
seven years here. That was a big deal for them.
He saw him. You know, the they obviously they bring
out the big flag and the light show that they
had before the game and at halftime. Yeah, it was
pretty cool. I can remember doing that. I remember the
Steelers playing in Jacksonville for Jacksonville's first Monday night game
in there in team history, and what a big deal
they made about. You know, it's it's still a you know,

(23:01):
the the primetime game, even though the Sunday night game
is you know, kind of superseded that in terms of
the matchups and things of that nature. The Monday night game,
that standalone game on Monday night is still a big
deal to the players because they know everybody else is
watching because all the other all the other teams are done,
nobody's flying anywhere, nobody's traveling or doing any of that stuff.
They're all they're all you know, sitting at home getting treatment.

(23:24):
They're gonna watch that game. And and so, you know,
I think, how whatever Mike Tomlin does, he does it
right because nineteen and three, that's not by accident. Um,
that's that's a pretty remarkable record, Billy. In terms of
the Steelers defense, what did you see from them being able,
you know, the resiliency that we saw t J Wat

(23:44):
talked about just being resilient and being able to you know,
refocus after things don't go their way in the second half.
What are you seeing from that group now that we've
had another game where all the starters are back together.
You know, I think they've done a much better job
of playing well in the moment. Uh. You know, I

(24:04):
like we've always said that I have to you know,
if you get beat on a play, there's always an
ex play and so you know, don't let the previous
play in any way impact you know, the next play.
And I think they did that well. And I think
they rose to the occasion on a couple of big

(24:25):
as Coach Tomas would call them. Uh, you know what
what what? What's the term? The US is not money down? Yeah, yeah,
weighty moments, And I think they did that very well.
And I think on that last drive, you know, okay,
the Colts have a chance, not a not a big chance,
but a chance to come back and at least tie

(24:47):
the game because it's a one score game. But you know,
they made the big play, especially at the end that
fourth down play that passed wasn't that far from a
uh and that wasn't that bad a pass. It was
a pretty good pass. But we had two guys uh
defending it. And I think that's what you have to do. Menca.
You know, he just just an incredible uh. He's a

(25:11):
great player in weighty moments. Yeah, to your point, Billy,
I mean Indianapolis, I got it right that time. I
went three for twelve, three for twelve on third downs
in that game yesterday. Uh, the Steelers seven or fourteen
on third downs, And that to me is you know
one of those hidden stats that uh you know, Yeah,
the Colts also converted converted two out of three fourth downs,

(25:36):
but you still one on on five of those or
they only they only converted five of the twelve. So
you'll take that if you know anything less than like that. Uh,
especially when you're clicking at on that um, you're staying
on the field. They didn't turn the football over. The defense,
you know, stood up pretty well when it had to.
You got to stop, you get to take away when

(25:57):
they were down at the goal line, which was huge. Uh,
you know, they played well and and uh they kept Taylor.
You know, Taylor's one of the better running backs in
the league. You look at his final numbers and I'm like, okay,
they're okay. But they didn't give up any big yards
a big place to him, and that that's that's that
team thrives on the big place that he gets. He's
a big play running back. You know, he'll you'll, you'll

(26:18):
stop him, stop him, stop, and then he breaks off
a forty yard or his long run was thirteen yards
in that game. Not that I get involved in mathematics
sports mathematics, uh you know the fan duel yuh ben
MGM thing. But I was told yesterday and there are

(26:39):
two examples on the Colts that kind of astound me.
The over and under on Jonathan Taylor's performance against the
Steelers in rushing yards was eighties six and a half.
What did he end up with? Six? On pass receiving
yards sixty one and a half he ended up with

(27:02):
sixty one? How do they know? And who are they?
That's what I wonder people that can that they can
figure this out. They're the most objective people in the world.
You know. It is amazing how and you know, now
with you know technology, you can do in game betting

(27:23):
uh odd infinitem. I mean you can you know, bet
every play if you wanted to, and they welcome that action.
But you know, it's it's it's it's amazing. It's just
amazing how close they can be. Of course, the over
and under was not even close, was it? Was? It?
In the forties. I think it was thirty nine and
a half. The Steelers were also getting two and a

(27:43):
half point, so they were They were dead wrong on
both of those. They are normal people too. They like
that ten I'm sorry, goodead No, they like that ten
percent juice that they win even if they lose. All Right,
we're gonna take a quick break here on the point after.
When we return, we'll talk about Alex high Smith in

(28:06):
his season so far. Also clock management for Jeff Saturday.
At the end of the game, we'll get into all
of that and much more. Don't go anywhere. Back to
the Point after brought to you by Parks Casino on
d V. We were just resilient, um, you know, on
on that stop and also on the well wearing cover
with the football. But um, we know we didn't play
to the way we were capable, especially in that second half. Um,

(28:28):
you know, they got a couple of long jobs on us,
a couple of touchdowns. So we just know we gotta
be better. Um, I gotta be better. Well, we all
gotta be better, and so um we came on with
the victory. That what matters most, but we know that
we can be a lot better. That was Alex Highsmith
following the Steelers win over the Colts on Monday Night Football.
Welcome back to the Point after Ms Matthews with Bill
hill Grove and Dale Lolly kind enough to sit in

(28:49):
with us tonight as well. Our final segment is brought
to you by clear View Federal Credit Union. For every
turn over the Black and Gold create in two thousand
and twenty two, clear View Federal out At Union will
donate five dollars to the Light of Life Rescue Mission
clear View helping people to enjoy a better life. Visit
clear View f CU dot org, slash Touchdown and Billy.

(29:12):
This is now double digit, double digit numbers for Alex
high Smith ten sacks and eleven games. That was his
goal at the beginning of the season. In UH in
week twelve, he's already checked that box. And he said
on that turned down play where Jeff Saturday, for whatever

(29:32):
reason didn't call a time out, he sensed by their
formation that it was a run. And apparently, you know,
the Colts got caught in a situation where the receivers
on second down going to third down are in different positions,
and so there was confusion as to where some of
them were supposed to line up, so in the process

(29:52):
they didn't call time out. They were hoping to catch
the Steelers, you know, without a substitution, and uh backfired
on I'm all think about it. Uh, it's Jeff's third game.
The play caller is different than Frank Reik used to
call the plays, and uh, you know they're learning too.
But after the game he stone wallet. But uh this morning, Uh,

(30:14):
he admitted to Jeff Saturday that he should have called
a time out. Yeah, I think on on I think
it was on first down when they got down there,
Billy that uh one of their receivers had run all
the way down into the end zone and the clock
is still ticking. I think it might have been on
the it was on the sack on the first down sack,
he's down in the end zone, and I think he

(30:35):
thought they were going to call a time out after
the sack because he was just kind of half walking
back from the end zone and they had to wait
for him to get into the huddle. It was an
extra ten seconds there. Um. Yeah, so they were just
uh uh didn't seem like they were in a big hurry.
I know, they still had all three time outs left
and and so you know, maybe they felt like, Okay,
we're gonna have those times if we can, we can

(30:57):
use the entire football field, you know, because we have
those in our in our back pocket. But you don't
get money for me. You don't get any extra points
for them if you don't use them. And they didn't
use them. It's not like Chuck E Cheese you get
the tickets or or or and in golf scrambles where
you have Mulligan's and you end up the round not

(31:20):
using two of them, you know, I mean, it's they're valuable.
They're like gold. You have to use them, you have
to spend them, so you know, they again it's it's
a learning situation for for that crew. And and by
the way, this is just tan gentle, but ub it's conservation.

(31:40):
Kevin Cobord always referred to it as the Frank Reich
stat and that at the end of an NFL game
is yards average game per pass play. And if you
look at the finals, the Steelers and the Colts ended
up identical at four point nine ninety eight percent of
the time, the higher uber wins the game, but that

(32:01):
can be skewed by turnovers. Unfortunately, uh the Steelers had
the two turnovers in the game. In terms of Alex
high smith Dale, you know, I feel like coach Tomlan
gets asked about him often, especially with t J. Watt
coming back, and you know, he gives him some credit,
but it's always like the number nineties there. Um. Is
that just a motivation thing for high smith you think?

(32:23):
Or is that just you know, just Tomlin being Tomlin.
I think if some of it is motivational, um, you know,
the kind of poke Alex a little bit and say, hey,
you know, you need to play with this guy. Uh,
you know, and if you look at the numbers and
in the four games that he's played with Wat, he
has uh five six and a half sacks with Yeah,

(32:45):
so it's pretty significant. But he's been making plays all
season long. And I'm sure that you know, some of
that is because of what is not all because of
what though, Uh, you know, I think he's worked hard. Um.
You know, he does the film study as he alluded
to their. Um. You know, he put the work in
in the offseason to to continue to get better, and
he's done that. He's you know, I think he's having

(33:08):
a Pro Bowl type year. Whether he gets that, you know,
recognition or not, we'll see, Um. But he's certainly having
that kind of impact h impactful kind of season. Um.
You know he's Uh, he's turned himself into a really
good football player. Billy, what have you seen from Alex?

(33:30):
I see UM a guy who is he plays a
lot of the game above his neck. And I think
on that third down play him just sensing uh that
run uh kind of tells you about you know, how
he approaches the game. And Uh, you know, I think
he's got a great teacher and t J. Watt because
that guy has a doctorate in football and how to

(33:53):
play defense and how to rush passers, and I think
Alex has learned very well how it's done. It's great
for this team because obviously you're not good, and I
think with both of the men there, this defense has
a chance to be better than what we saw, especially
in the blowouts to Buffalo and Philadelphia. Because it was

(34:17):
a win and because we're all tired. Uh. I just
curious who you guys would give your game ball to. Uh,
you can only give one. I don't care what side
of the ball ITT's on. It can be a coach
to Um just because it is a four and seven team,
but we are starting to see stuff building, as we said, Uh,
and I either of you can go first. Go ahead, Billy, Yeah,

(34:38):
I'm going to go off the wall with this one.
I like it. I give it to George. I give
it to George Pickens. And the reason I do that
because he was showing some frustration during the game, and uh,
Deante Johnson and some of the cooler veteran heads got
ahold of them and said, hey, this game can be
that way. It can be frustrating, but you have to

(35:00):
deal with it. And I thought him having to deal
with it, he made probably two of the biggest plays
in the game, that third down and bright also the
two point version. So I give it to George Pickens. Well,
you know, Billy, the first person it was the third
dumb in completion. Um. He went over to the bench

(35:22):
and was just kind of sitting by himself. He wasn't
with the rest of the wide receiver's head down, and
Kenny Pickett was actually the first guy to come over,
sitting next to him and start talking to him. And
that's when Dionta and a bunch of other guys came over.
And you know, as you said, you you have to
turn quickly and move on, and he was able to
do that. Yeah. I think he just expects to make

(35:42):
every catch like a ridiculous circus catch. Yeah. Oh, you know,
he's very capable of the circus. But you know, I
I give him the game ball, but you know the
obvious choices Kenny Pickett, Well that's where I'm gonna go, Billy.
I'm gonna take a little hanging free. Well. You know,
people asked me when when he was drafted from pitt

(36:04):
what makes him tick? I said, he is a winner.
He knows how to win. And I think we're seeing
glimpses of that now and they're far more frequent than
they were earlier when he took over. Yeah, I I
I kind of look at that game last night in
a similar fashion to the uh to the one Ben

(36:25):
Roethlisberger's first fourth quarter comeback down in Dallas his rookie year. Uh.
You know, that's a tough game. Uh, you know, a
hard fought game. And you know Roethlisberger didn't do a
ton on the game winning drive, but he did make
a couple of big third down throws, much like Pickett
did in this situation, and moved the change in the
in the allowed the running game to kind of get

(36:46):
them down the field and won the football game. All right.
We want to let you know that the Steeler's Pro
Shop is where you can get up with the latest
sideline apparel, hats and jerseys of your favorite players, authentic memorabilia,
custom items, and exclusive as you can find directly from
the team at one of the official Steelers Pro Shop
stores located Acquisher Stadium, Grove City Premium Outlets, or Tanger Outlets,

(37:08):
or you can visit us online at shop dot Steelers
dot com. Dale thanks for being here and hanging with
us as the offensive lineman left us stranded tonight. Billy,
thanks to you as well into producer Tom for helping us.
This is the point after and we'll be back next
Monday night.