Week 4 vs Jets

Missi Matthews, Craig Wolfley, Bill Hillgrove, and Max Starks are breaking down Kenny Pickett’s debut and the Steelers loss to the Jets.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the 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. Everything in tight third and goal.
Pick it second effort, he said, second after cut picking

(00:22):
into the inchhoon for his first career touchdown. The Steelers ahead. Everybody,
Welcome to the point after, Missy Matthews with Bill Hillgrove.
You just heard there on the call from Sunday, Craig
Wolfley and Max Starks joining us as well. A lot
of excitement at Acquisher Stadium on Sunday, and it quickly

(00:43):
fizzled out, the Steelers losing their third straight game, falling
to the New York Jets twenty four to and Billy
not the way you wanted. A storybook potential ending for
Kenny Pickett when he had a chance to take his
first snaps in a regular season game. I heard the
and say, let's break down the Steelers game. It was

(01:03):
already broken down. That was a tough loss, um, you know.
And again I have to be careful what I say
about Kenny Pickett because I can be accused of being
biased having watched him for five years. But you know,
I think he gave him a spark. Uh. He made
rookie mistake, a couple of them. Uh, that interception was

(01:26):
a bad one. You know. Craig and I were kind
of off the air talking about it. If you're gonna
throw the ball away, throw it away, don't don't try
to half complete it. And I think that was the
mistake that he'd like to have back. But um, you know,
he gave him a spark. Um. But where it goes
from here, I it's up to the coaching staff. Uh.
I think the feeling is that he's gonna probably start

(01:48):
in Buffalo, but nobody knows. I would suppose a look,
I don't think there's any going back. You know, you
got the young man comes out and it's one of
those situations where it's sacred swim. I don't believed. I
don't remember him taking one reps with the during the
week and in the ramp up to it. I don't
think there's anybody very little reps, mostly mental and you know,

(02:10):
watching Mitch and what so. I think the thought process
was definitely not one of we gotta get you know
him ready, just in case. I think they have been
looking at Mitch as being what they started off the
off season with, this is our solution to what we're
gonna do, and we're gonna but something had to change.
You could feel it, and it did change, and Kenny
brought some upbeat action for whatever reason, his ability, you know,

(02:33):
in the huddle with the guys, the fans, whatever it was,
you know, all that moderation started rolling and I got
I gotta tell you that the kid was impressive. You know. Yeah,
he made some rookie mistakes. Yeah, he didn't get the
storybook ending that he wanted, but by Gali man, he
brought some life. I got a text from a friend
and said, hey, we have a new running back. Kenny. Uh.

(02:54):
He gives you that dimension, and I think maybe it's necessary. Now.
I really believe that. Okay, the offensive line I think
is getting better, but I'm not sure that nag is
always hitting the correct hole. I mean, he said issues. Yeah,
I mean, but everybody that I'm not trying to cuff

(03:16):
him because you know, he gives you everything he has.
But you know, we just don't have a continuity about
that offense. And maybe Kenny's going to give it to you.
I don't know, but you're right, you can't go back um.
And you know now that begs the question, who's gonna
not dress this coming Sunday? Max. In terms of knowing

(03:38):
coach Tomlin very well, what do you think made him
make that decision, especially at halftime and you know, not
a lot of guys even new until they came out
into the fun to the field. Well, I think that's
just a leadership move. I mean, you can you can
feel the heartbeat of the team. I mean we were
on the sidelines, Missy, and you could feel that it
was just kind of like, oh no, here we go again,

(04:01):
kind of like we're bracing ourselves for something. Um. Even
in the moment of Chris Boswell kicking that fifty nine
yard or and setting a record at Acre Shore Um
on the untimed down before halftime, I don't feel like
that was enough of a jump start, right, That wasn't
That wasn't the jolt you know you needed the car
to get back on. That stalls out on you. And

(04:22):
I think you know coach Tomlin kind of knowing that
you know, and even though he does not play kate
to the mob, I think you know the mob says
it enough, right, you start to think, well, I wonder
what would happen if I was to do something like that.
You know, this young guy has probably been showing us
some stuff in practice that's like okay, and the limited
restle he's done, he makes a splash, so you know,

(04:45):
he makes that ultimate decision to do something, but he
also he knows what the consequences are of that decision.
And I think even though when we when we when
we all listen in for the press conference on Tuesday,
we're gonna we're we're we're going to hear an explanation,
but ultimately we're all gonna know that. You know, how
do you let down a guy who has voted a

(05:06):
captain and your team um for this season, know that
he's not going to be a starter and more more
often than not, probably be in a position where he
might not dress. I mean, I think there's a very
likely scenario because you don't want that reciprocal or concussive
effect to happen where if anything happens to Kenny or

(05:30):
you know he's having a bad day, that you're now
switching and playing a two quarterback system and going back
to Mitch and then coming back with Kenny when he's healthy.
You don't want to start playing that type of game.
So I would be very interested to see if he
even dresses um and or if they or if they
get Mason ready to be the second string guy, and
then you kind of just have Mitch is a healthy scratch.
The one thing I did think, Max was I thought

(05:52):
that when Boz nailed that fifty nine yard or you know,
I thought maybe Mike saw that. This is kind of
like that last spark you're down to. You know, you're
trying to start a fire. You want something, anything, and
if you've got just a little bit of a spark,
you think about, Okay, I get this is as good
as I got it right now, and then all of
a sudden you think, maybe this is the time, Maybe

(06:13):
something can happen if you, you you know, you take a
hail Mary on this thing. And I gotta tell you something.
I was not in favor of Mitch Drobiski being replaced,
and Kenny convinced me that he was definitely up to
the job, that's for sure. Our first segment tonight is
brought to you by Brian Patton and Associates it's all
about the benefits. Max. I think it was inevitable though

(06:35):
we all knew at some point unless something crazy happened,
that we were going to see Kenny Pickett playing in
a regular season game for the Steelers. UM in terms
of being a teammate, being an offensive lineman, what goes
into a change of a quarterback like that, Well, I
think it's already a natural buy in, right. I think

(06:55):
you you've already bought into the fact that you either
one of these guys could be the starter for me
because they've been going back and forth through training camp.
We knew this was an open competition. But I think
you know further than that is as a line to
go out there and make sure that you make the
guy who's the signal caller right, no matter who it
is UM in those situations and you have to have

(07:18):
complicit trust in that individual. I think the offensive line
has complicit trust in both Kenny I watched actually has
to say all three of them. I think I think
all three quarterbacks have the implicit trust of the offensive
line and we and our job is to go make
them right right. I mean, that's that's our job as lineman.
We don't we don't have bias, we don't have favorites. Um,

(07:39):
the only thing that we worry about is nuancing cadence
sounds right, That's about it. How do you sound when
you know when the guy says hut or on his
hard count, is he a hut hut hut or is
he hut hut You're like, you start worrying about how
that is that that's really the only differences. But I
think the biggest thing is is this week, Kenny's gonna
get all those ones reps. So now the line gets

(08:00):
an opportunity to kind of get used to his field,
get used to his style. And also, you know, another
thing I think that's kind of you know, is when
that we don't think about enough where is he add
in the pocket on a given play, Because that's one
of the ones that bugged me for about five years
with Ben. You know, it was Okay, I noticed a
five step drop and he's looking right to left. But

(08:23):
after that five step drop, is he going to be
right behind me? Because he feels leakish from the right.
Is he a guy that likes to drift? Is he
a guy that you know picks a side left or right?
Those are the other things they're gonna have to get
a feel for, and that's gonna come with the growing
um into the position for them because they're gonna have
to know how to block for him and what he
likes if things aren't clean? Does he like to break right?

(08:45):
Is he liked to break left? Naturally? You know what
is he looking for that? How close you get the
pocket before I need to take off and start blocking
guys down field? Like all of those little nuanced things
are things that you pick up over time with experience.
In terms of tomorrow, coach Shellman has his weekly press
conference at noon that you can watch on all the
Steelers digital platforms also in the CW locally here in Pittsburgh.

(09:09):
After the game, he was noncommittal, said, we'll deal with
next week next week, just so we take our vote
heading in, who are you guys starting if you have
the choice, Billy, I don't think you have a choice.
I think it's Kenny Pickett. I just I just think
the era has started, and uh, we're going to have
to watch him grow and hope he grows quickly. If

(09:31):
you look at his numbers, he had the best pass
efficiency rating well not better than Braxton Barrios because he
was one for one for two yard touchdown. But uh
and and look at the three interceptions, hell, mary doesn't count. Okay,
the one throwaway that he didn't execute does count. But
I thought the one that Chase Claypool didn't catch was

(09:52):
the one that probably shouldn't have happened. You look at
his numbers, then he's twelve of thirteen instead of ten
at thirteen. But you know that's the road not taken. Well,
I I'm simply of the mindset. Look, I love the
fact the kid came out on his very first heave
ho in regular season, he goes downtown. I mean it
showed me this. He's not afraid. He's not afraid to

(10:14):
make a mistake, and he's not afraid to overprotect. He's
gonna try to be ball secure and do all that,
but he's not afraid to challenge people down the field.
And I think that's Look, you got the crowd on
riding with you. You got that it's the new era
thing type coming out. The crowd is wanting, you know,
the next Ben Rothelisberger. You got There's a lot of

(10:36):
things that you've got to manage there with your adrenaline
and everything else, and not having a lot of one reps.
And I thought the young man came out and did
a great job of of, you know, taking care of
the ball and like like I said, the only mistake
bad that I thought was that ball to uh Friar
moved because he was fifty percent trying to throw it
away and he was trying to make a play. And

(10:57):
you gotta remember that's a third down, you're in the
face of a rush, you got the lead in the
fourth quarter. There's a lot of mitigating circumstances. And that's
a lot to take in for a young guy. And
as my dad always used to say, you know, it's
it's hard to remember that your first priority is a
drain to swamp when you're up to your button alligators,
you know. And he pulled the trigger on that, and
it was just one of those things, you know. And

(11:19):
during the draft process, people would ask me, you know,
you've watched him for five years, what makes him tick?
And I simply said, he has it, and I'd point
to the solar plexus. He has it. I don't know
what it is, but he has it. He knows how
to win. And you can't teach that. You can't coach it.

(11:39):
It's either there or it isn't. And I still believe that. Max.
I thought it was interesting how you said, you know,
possibly having Mason backing up Kenny if that's the route
they go. Charlie Batch was on the show with Um
of myself and a few other people earlier today and
he said the same thing. Do you feel like Mason's
Voto confidence changes after you know what he went through

(12:00):
this entire offseason and being the healthy scratch these past
four games. I don't think his confidence goes anywhere. I mean,
this is something that Mason's. Mason has been in this
role UM since he's been on the team. You know,
he's been that two three type of guy where it's like,
you know we want him, we don't want him, UM,
just be ready to rocket roll whenever we tell you

(12:20):
to go. And I think he knows how to prepare
in that type of fashion. So I don't think it
would be something where he would, you know, lack confidence.
I mean, heck, we took him cold off the bench
and not having any playtime last season and made him
throw fifty passes. So I think there's a confidence level
with Mason UM to go out there and pass the ball.

(12:41):
Now does the offense change yet it becomes a little more,
a little more two dimensional than I'll say three dimensional,
and I say third dimension meaning the mobile quarterback aspect
of it. It's run or passed with Mason, and he's
not going to be the runner, so he's going to
be more traditional in that aspect. But I think as
far as our talent, being able to hit all the routes,

(13:02):
being able to judge everything that needs to be done
from a from a base standpoint, in knowledge of the defense,
I think he's good in all those areas. So I
think if you do decide to go that route, I
think I think you're just as good with that. You know,
he is in from time time getting the conversation with Mason,
just watching him since all this unfolded in the off season,
you know, where all of a sudden they bring Introbisky,

(13:24):
then it's Kenny. Then it's like they're gonna have an
open competition. But Mason never gets to go of the ones.
He is one of the most locked down, psychologically strong
dudes I've ever met. I mean, this guy, you It's
like you said, Max, look at the day of the
game against Detroit on a rainy day against the worst
run defense in the NFL. Uh, they say, well, you

(13:44):
know what, Ben's sick, You're gonna have to start, and
we're gonna throw fifty passes. And he completes thirty of them.
You know. I mean, yeah, it wasn't It wasn't a win,
but it wasn't a loss. They tied. And the fact
of the matter is he is able psychologically, that's for sure,
to handle whatever you throw at him. I think just
watching this guy from Afar, because the way he conducted
himself through this whole process speaks to the type of

(14:06):
high class individual that he is. I got a lot
of respect for them. Man. I never met the man,
and I saw him play twice against pitt one where
he destroyed them out there at the stillwater and then
he still had a pretty good game in Pittsburgh. But
you introduced me to him as it was we were
in Carolina, and I was impressed. I was impressed, uh,
you know, with his demeanor. And uh so let's see

(14:29):
how it plays out. I don't think Mike Tomlin's gonna
tip his hand tomorrow. I don't think so. At the starter, No,
at at the at the depth chart, got it, we
shall see Max. In terms of coach Tomlin, he seems
to always like to be very upfront, so you don't
have players teammates guessing what's happening. Do you think today

(14:50):
when they had team meetings since they're off tomorrow, they
all found out, Hey, this is the person who's starting.
Here's how we're gonna work this week when we come
back together on Wednesday. Uh No, I don't think so.
I think it's more so today is the corrections from
the game, So you're just gonna get corrections based off
last week, and then the new week starts on Wednesday.

(15:10):
So I don't think there's gonna be any discussion about it.
You know, I'm sure players might talk amongst themselves or
in groups about what it's going to look like, but
you won't hear that from the headband. Anything surprised anybody
that they heard coming out of the locker room yesterday.
I guess the only one that I heard was that
was it Deante? He mentioned the R word. Oh yeah,

(15:33):
I'm not going to say it. Okay, then I'm not
saying alright on a piece of paper, well fill Baltimore, Okay, Alright,
there we go reloading. Maybe that's it right, all right, Well,
we have much more to talk about here on the
point after. We'll discuss what the offense needs to do

(15:55):
to be successful in Buffalo, and also what happened at
the end to the game in terms of the Steelers defense.
Is it becoming a trend. We'll be right back. You're
listening to w d V. Back to the Point after,
brought to you by Parks Casino on DV E fifty
nine yard field goal attempt for Chris Boswell. That would

(16:16):
tie his longest of his career, which he had against Dallas.
He can do it. Cones with a snap, Harvin with
a hole, the Boss with a kick gets on its way.
It's long enough, it's high enough, and it is good.
Fifty nine yard bob from a boss and the Steelers
cut in to that. Jets lead. Everybody, welcome back to

(16:37):
the point after. Ms. Matthews, Bill Hill Grove, Craig Whifflely
and Max starts joining you. Let's give a little shout
out to the Wizard of Boz because our segment right
now is brought to you by the Greater Pittsburgh Community
Food Bank and Don's Appliance for every field goal we
kick this season, Don's Appliance will donate one thousand dollars
to the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank. That's five thousand

(16:57):
meals each time. Thank you to Don's a clients. You
can also do donate too by texting goals to five
zero one five five two from fifty plus the fifty
nine or you heard Billy call there the longest at
Acquisher Stadium and thank goodness for that penalty and then
being able to have a ten six or ten six game, uh,

(17:19):
making it not as bad heading into the halftime. Wolf Well,
it's it's exciting. I mean a guy goes out and
bangs a you know, one through from fifty nine yards
and you're like, okay, we're still in this. We still
that's that spark, that's a little bit of hope. That's
what you want to keep alive. And so for him
to be able to contribute like that, meaning the bosum,
it's fantastic because that was a tough kick. You know,

(17:39):
it wasn't like that was a gimme by any any
means the shape or form. A matter of fact, that
I was maybe a little overconfident when I was said
he can make it. No, I believe in him. I
believe in the Wizard of Oz. That was great. It
was a great job by him, and it certainly contributed
to getting something going when Kenny got in there, I think,

(18:00):
and doing something in the second half. I liked it.
I liked it for sure, and I wish I'd have
said it was a record at the time. I just
said a match to his career high. But I should
have thought about the acre sure record, which was what
he had by three yards. That's that's remarkable. Max always

(18:20):
watches Boss kick. I always watched Max to see what
Max does and then listen to the crowd. That's how
we operate on the sideline exactly. But as soon as
the last wanted to give me a high five, I
was like, all right, there you no, it was one
of those. It was. It was a tremendous kick, and
I mean, like you said, it was a spark. But

(18:41):
was it enough to keep Tomlin down the same path?
I mean, obviously we saw it wasn't we know that?
It was that Ember when you rubbed two sticks together
and he was like, I need a firestarter, you know,
I need that little flint lock thing that you just
hit a little flint on it and create this. Create it,
you know, because the two sticks rubbing together was not
gonna work it. I mean, I've watched enough camping shows

(19:02):
and naked I'm afraid to know that. You know, my
brother Ronnie, he's pretty good at starting fires over the summer.
We got a fire pit. He's he's our fire pit starter. No,
just I don't know, you know, just a guy that
was able to start fires. You know, I don't want
to make that sound bad though, Just quickly on. Bozzi

(19:25):
has made nineteen of his last two field goal attempts
from fifty plus yards, including fourteen of his last sixteen,
and this was just the second game of his career
with multiple field goals fifty yards or longer. Crazy. He
did it against Chicago last year, that crazy game that
also happened at Akershire Stadium. But all right, let's get

(19:46):
back to the offense and let's hypothetically assume Kenny Pickett
is the starter. Max What needs to happen to support
him as best as they can as they prepared a
head to Buffalo to face the Bills. Well, I think
one of the biggest this is is just figuring out
what the best mode of attack is. I mean, now,
this Buffalo team is not as a depth at running

(20:07):
the football. But you have Josh Allen and if you've
watched Zack Wilson, if you've watched everybody else, you're like, okay, Josh,
we're gonna put you on the move and give you
the two way go because we know what this defense is.
The defense now has shown on film. They're they're they're
susceptible to um trick plays as far as like double

(20:31):
end a rounds and things like that. Um, they're not
as disciplined. And Cam Heyward even hinted at that. So
I think, you know, the biggest thing is gonna have
to be disciplined. Um, I imagine this is gonna be
a very tough defensive week because you piste off the
captain of the team, captain Cam and I know he
didn't show his full emotions in that postgame interview, but
you could feel it brewing. Um as far as what

(20:52):
he is, what he's got got got going cooking up
in his brain. And it's gonna be disciplined in those
gaps that when you rush your shoot a gap, that's
the gap you stay in. Don't sit there in fluster
and also trust yourself because I think a lot of
times in that game, as we were watching it, you
would see like high Smith and cam and Leale, like

(21:14):
they would whip the block on the offensive linement, but
then they would stop the rush momentum to look and
see where he was. Even though you know where he's at,
they were trying to pick and choose where they thought
he was going to be, and that led to them
missing a lot of sacks and only getting one sack
in that in that contest was because of that. So
you have to imagine that Josh Allen is looking at
that and saying, Okay, I need to create that same

(21:36):
type of guys if they're gonna slow up, and I
think for them, they just have to completely run through
and continue to do what they're doing as far as
their stock blocking and and making sure that you're you're
you're taking your angles, and then you're retracing back. If
he does beat beat um where where you think he's
going to, Where where he is, I'm sorry, where he
is going to be versus where you think he's going
to be Um and then offensively continue to establish the

(22:00):
run game. I'm sorry, there's a lot of very hard
wind outside. I just saw palm trees blowing, so I
publicly get distracted, but yeah, it's not it's not snowing
and it's not a hurricane. So those are two good
things about living, which saying palm trees that's all, that's all.

(22:22):
I mean, everybody can have a palm tree, just you
won't get a full one. Have one in your house.
I've seen, I've seen. You can go get it at
home depot. I mean you know. But but yeah, no,
it was just wild because it just banged up against
like my window on the outside, and I was like, oh,
what's going on here? It's not my kids, but um,

(22:43):
but no, But getting back to it offensively, what they
have to do continue to establish a run. I think
another thing is the offensive tackles. Um, you've gotta you gotta,
you gotta be more disciplined this week. Um, you kind
of got beat a little bit by Johnson and by
lossing on on on some place. And then for the
interior more do not get the illegal man down field
or ineligible receiver downfield calls. I think I have to

(23:05):
be a little more disciplined on the on the r
PO type stuff and hold for a tick longer because
they realized you got caught. UM. How many times you
could have got You got two times two times, could
could have got caught a third time UM in the game.
But Kenny chose to run. So I think that's where
they have to be more disciplined and stay on their

(23:25):
blocks as well. Did Ken? He choose to run because
he saw that. We will never know, but I should
have probably it is that would have been a great
question to ask at the press conference. Why weren't you
in there? Bill? Just joking. I was trying to find
my way out of the stadium. You lived there too long?

(23:46):
Last this past weekend, I think what I was there
Friday night for the Hall of Fame, So I was
there three days in a row. So you slept there, actually, no,
but I did with the club at their hotel five
minutes away. That is a no brainer rather than commuting
for Murraysville. Well, one of the biggest things, one of

(24:08):
the biggest challenge is going to be how you handle
the wildcats stuff that Josh Allen is capable of doing,
whether it's wildcat or it's just Josh Allen tucking and going.
You know what I mean? Because you've got an extra
blocker when he has some of those designed runs. And
then at the same time, this guy is so capable
of talking it and going at any given time. So
I wouldn't be surprised if there's some you know, thought

(24:30):
to giving a spy and so forth doing those sorts
of things. But you know, it's gonna be the biggest
thing they can do in support of Kenny is to
support Kenny with some offense, and part of that is
going to be the run game, like you said, But
I think you've got to dial up some screens. You've
gotta be able to have some of the draws and
so forth, those sorts of things that which can, you know,

(24:52):
really mess with the defense a little bit. And I
think the fact that there have not been many screens
at the Steelers offensive run, I think that's something that
is is in my mind. I always used to love
the screens. It was always one of those things offensively
that's a real weapon if it's used properly, and if
you've got guys that are appealing, you know, on the
back side kicking out on the front side. And I'll

(25:13):
never forget. I don't know why it's popular in my
mind now. But I was a second guy out behind
Mike Webster one time We're playing Kansas City and Mike
was running in front of me and he caught. He
got caught by the turf Monster and he went down,
and you talk about a face plant, I mean he
just blasted himself and over his shoulder. One of the
chiefs was sitting on his helmet and I just saw

(25:34):
it over the where he landed. Out past the numbers.
You could see this chief sitting on his old and
he saw Webby go down and he fell off his helmet, laughing.
He got up, he was so mad and it was
It was one of those things. But screens, I think
really add something. It's an offensive weapon that's underutilized right now.

(25:57):
Two positives from yesterday PLF Friar careerbus seven catches for
eighty five yards and George Pickens over a hundred yards
six catches for one or two Max. We've been clamoring
yanswers have been asking to see more of them, and
it was throughout the game, not just at the very end. No, absolutely,
I think I think this was something when you're talking
about seeing what the Three Amigos could be moving forward. Right,

(26:22):
And I'm talking about Kenny, George and Pat um. Seeing
how all three of them worked together. I think seeing
a half's worth of work was was something to give
you a little bit of a twinkle in your eye,
knowing that all three of these guys can grow together,
you know, because they're all within a year of each other,
Pat being the elder statesman so to speak, by being

(26:44):
one season ahead, but can you pick it being twenty
four years old. Um. So it's just it's something that
I think, you know, it gives you a little bit
of hope. It gives you a spark button. But that
spark needs to translate into victories and it's gonna be
very tough sledding for the next couple of week weeks
to establish that unless there's just some instant chemistry and
you get more of a catalytic response, which is like

(27:06):
an internal combustion engine, right, you know, the spark that
just drives an engine to roar and just take off,
as opposed to that little Ember four fire and you're
stoking that flame and trying to throw moss and everything
on top of it. You need it, You need a
big response from them, especially considering the opponents and the
caliber of teams you're going up against in consecutive weeks
before the bye. I think what's interesting too is that,

(27:28):
you know, basically we've got a glimpse of the same
offense but executed through the eyes of a different quarterback.
You know, you really saw a difference. Why you know that,
Why all of a sudden his picking has been targeted more,
while all of a sudden, so many targets on the
inside with Pat Friar Muthman. It's just a little more
of an emphasis, a little difference possibly and one quarterback
his preference and throwing the ball over another quarterback's preference

(27:50):
because it's the same offense, you know, and one didn't
even really have too many reps at running that offense.
So I think the expression of Matt Canada's offense is
kind of taken on a different from light with Kenny
running the running the offense. Max, What did you see
in terms of what the Jets did against Deante Johnson?
Targeted four times, only two catches for eleven yards. The

(28:10):
one wasn't a touchdown, was it not? They said it wasn't,
so it didn't count. But were they doing anything to
take him away? Well, I think backtly, they were playing
a lot more zone UM again against the Steelers, so
you know, when you have two eyes situations, UM coverage
was still rolling towards him more often than not. And
then in the single high situations, you know George Pikets

(28:31):
had a more favorable matchup. That's why I think you
looked to him more because safety was still kind of
leaning towards eighteen. Uh and and Chase Claypool never gave
you a reason in that game to be a threat,
only targeted two times. Of course, both times he gets targeted,
nothing comes of it except for good things for the Jets.
So they knew they had already eliminated one of the

(28:52):
three potential receivers um that could come out there and
hurt them in eleven personnel, So focus your energy on
taking away the more dynamic one that's a known commodity
and eighteen and let's see a four teen can actually
be that guy. Well, hello, we know fourteen can be
that guy now, So it'll be interesting moving forward how
teams attack him, because now you have to make a
choice who is the one that we're going to define

(29:14):
as number one on this team. That's it's true Max.
I mean the thing about it is Deante. I forgot
that I heard a percentage because um somebody. I think
Matt Williamson had a nice cut up on. Yes, it
cheats cheat sheets, when you're missing a tooth, you know,

(29:37):
it gets all kinds of problems. But you know, the
fact is I think that Deante has had a preponderance
of the uh targets throughout the first you know, three games.
And it was interesting again the expression of somebody's offense
through the eyes and arm and talent of somebody else,
you know, rather than Matt. It's Kenny. And I think

(29:57):
there's a difference in an ability for one to attack
a certain way and for one to attack another way.
So to me, it's it's interesting watching the dynamic. Alright,
We're going to take one more break here on the
point after. When we return, we'll go over the list
of injuries to keep an eye on this week and
also the Steelers, oh and seven without t J. What
what needs to change this week in Buffalo? Don't go anywhere.

(30:20):
We'll be right back back to the point after. Brought
to you by Parks Casino on DV. A lot of emotions,
but you know, the only thing I'm thinking about is
winning out there. So I was just kind of, you know,
staying in tune with the game and what we needed
to do to come out with and winning, and you
know that didn't happen, So something I definitely need to
learn it from quickly, um and get a fix for
whatever my next opportunity may come. That was Steelers quarterback

(30:43):
Kenny Pickett following the Steelers to twenty lost to the
New York Jets on Sunday at Aquasher Stadium. This is
our third and final segment here on the Point After,
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 Credit Union will
donate five dollars to the Light of Life Rescue Mission

(31:04):
clear View helping people to enjoy a better life. Visit
clear View f CU dot org, slash touchdown Ms Matthews,
Bill Hillgrove, Craig Wiffley and Max Starks. And there you
heard Kenny saying, when my next opportunity, maybe one other
um maybe could have gone better. Things that happened in
the second half yesterday that he also touched on in

(31:25):
his press conference Billy. Was that pitch that didn't go
so well to Jaln Warren. It was low and that
of course put them behind the chains and then the interception.
So but you've got to think about this. You've got
not one but two rookies involved in the play, and uh,
you have to live with rookie mistakes, and that was
one of them, and it certainly wasn't a good one.

(31:45):
To me. It actually looked like a knuckleball, you know
what I mean. It came out flat. There was no
spin to it, or I don't even know if you
have a spin to it, because I've never taken a
pitch in my life, you know. Just yeah, I can
tell you truthfully. Well, there there was that time at
University of Maryland again fat you know, fat guy football,
when I was excellent the day before the game because

(32:06):
you had to play. You gotta be over to seventy
five to play, and you play on twenty yards, you know.
And I threw for three tds and and ran for
two the day before we played Maryland, just to just
to let you know, I'm impressed. Yeah, well, you know,
I mean that was back in college days. You know,
we heard the sad news at Paul Chris got fired
the Wisconsin coach. When he was at Pitt he had

(32:26):
a fat man punt return and it was funny. Oh yeah, yeah.
The big guys went back and got under punts and
it entertained everything. Max. Do you ever do a fat
man relay, you know, anything like that? Oh yeah, no,
we called it the weight man relay relay. Politically, yes,
so I cannot say that I as a fat man.

(32:50):
I was just simply a skilled guy who could throw
things very far. Um but not normally large skilled guy, right,
I mean, is it abnormal? I feel like I was
normal except when I sitting next to other people, you know, um,
but no um. So yeah, no, we we had we
had some drills and and you know, and I think

(33:10):
also you know, for us in college, we also we
had that day where it was it was it was
a Friday practice in the stadium, you know, the day
before the game, and and we would we would go
through receiver drills and you and we would we would
switch positions, so receivers would go and and pretend to
be offensive linement office line would go pretend to be receivers.
Even though I took that job very seriously because that's

(33:33):
what led to me actually becoming, you know, the third
tight end. And we had pass patterns when I was
on the team and the Steelers. I don't know about
when you were there, Wolf, but I'm back at my day. Uh.
But Tom Moore, our offensive coordinator later on in my career,
when I became a short yardage tight end, he said,
how do you feel about, you know, running a route
and getting past thrown to you? I said, do not

(33:55):
tell the quarterbacks, do not throw the ball unless they
can throw it hard enough to wedge into my face,
because otherwise there's not a chance. Buddy. Yeah, well you know.
And and that's the funny thing is that we actually
did it in Friday night lights. We actually ran the
drill and been through it to me. But the problem
was he threw it behind me and the only hand
that had a cast on it because I had had

(34:17):
my hand casting because I sprained my thumb. And so
I'm like, and I'm like, I'm like, really, really, you
couldn't lead me at all, Like I actually have a
normal glove on. You throw to the one that has
the cast on it, where all I have is my
four fingers. Can only just just slightly gripped down. I
was like, man so and Ben said, that was your chance.
I've never thrown to you again. He always likes to

(34:39):
test people, you know he does. Let's quickly go over
the injuries that coached Tomlin mentioned after the game yesterday.
Not great for the Steelers defense. Trell Edmunds we know,
left the game and he is in the concussion protocol.
Cam Sutton is dealing with a hamstring injury, Makeup Fitzpatrick
with a knee, and then Captain Cam Hayward and elbow

(34:59):
in jury that seemed to happen in the first half
and then in the second half. Also an ankle. So
things to keep an eye on this week when coach
Salon updates us tomorrow and also through practice and also
of course a Killo Witherspoon was not available, so we'll
have to see if he's able to come back. But
I should have done my homework a little bit better.
The Steelers have played four games, which means Calvin Austin

(35:20):
the third and Demonte Caz who were placed on I
R when the cuts were made could come back after
this point. I know CAZy was suspended. I think that counts,
though still during that time period, So I don't know
if we'll see any of those guys returned to practice
this week. So just some news and notes in terms
of roster stuff, A little cleanup never hurts. They're gonna

(35:40):
need all the hands they can get, all hands on deck,
coming Red Rover, Red Rover, bring Hazy on over. Doesn't
sound too bad, right, remember, especially with Terrell being out right,
remember that for tomorrow morning, Max, I want to do
Red Red Rover in the morning, and we're assuming that
Ryan Anderson and Josh Jack and we'll go back down

(36:00):
to practice squad. Right they reverted back. Okay, yeah, so
we'll have to find out maybe more about that tomorrow.
All right, we need to talk a little bit more
about the Steelers defense and just the collapse that we're
seeing in the fourth quarter. As we heard Cam Heyward
not happy about giving up two touchdowns in the last
bit of the game. Um, you know, the Jets offensive line,

(36:22):
a lot of offensive tackles they've been shuffling through. Billy,
what are some of your biggest takeaways of what you're seeing.
The drive that bothered me. Okay, they had the winning
drive after the tipped interception, but the drive before that
bothered me. You got him back at the nineteen and uh,
you got a third and seven, they get a thirty
six yard pass to Garrett Wilson. I don't like that

(36:45):
third and thirteen they get seven of it. But on
fourth and six you allow a twenty one yard pass
to Corey Davis. That's a killer. And then the only
other time they got the third down was on the
touchdown Wilson to Corey of us. So you know that
those what what does coach call them money downs or
you know, the down weight downs? And uh, we failed

(37:08):
miserably with the thirty six and twenty one. Uh that's
what fifty seven yards of a uh an eighty one
yard drive. That's too many big plays on weighty downs.
Well you look at I mean, there's no other way
to look at it other than what's trending. And what's
trending is that the defense has really struggled in the
fourth quarter, second half, just the fourth quarter. And you know,

(37:30):
whether it's since you when they scored the two seconds
remained to tie the game, whether it was the Pats
when they went on a six and a half minute
drive in the fourth quarter, when it was the Browns
with you know, fourteen eleven play drives in the second
half and you got the Jets with a ten place
sixty five yard TD drive with three and a half
minutes to go. I mean, it's something that inexplicable, inexplicably

(37:51):
you look at and you go, this has got to stop.
You've got to be able to get off the field
that in those weighty moments is what Mike Donlin calls them.
And uh, that's just been something that they've really struggled
to do. Now. Is it fatigue brought on by the
ineptitude of the offense that is contributing fiercely to this trend? Well,
I think in Cincinnati you could say that was would

(38:14):
be part of it, but I can't see it. And
how many snaps they have yesterday it was acceptable Steelers
actually one time of possession. Yeah, but hey, those victories
where we can get them, Yeah, listen, I listen, guys.
I mean it's it's being not adept. And we talked

(38:40):
about this wolf in the show earlier today. You've got
to be complete. We keep seeing moments of it because
you think about the first two drives at that third quarter,
the defense was still there. So we've seen three quarters
of a game from this defense. We've seen a full game,
but it's just it's never in coordination. Individuals have good moments,

(39:01):
but great defenses have great quarters, great games, you know,
great great months, and so we just haven't gotten those.
We got a great game obviously in Cincinnati, but there
was no follow up after that because, like you said,
the next three consecutive games, you give up game winning
drives and I think the third down conversions where you

(39:24):
have to look at it, it's the hero ball plays right,
and and they have not been the heroes in those moments.
RE told Billy about this, and now he got to
experience it. Yes, he is destroying his little dragon right now,
his poor dragon. I don't know how this thing has

(39:46):
lasted for two years since he's been a puppy. But
it has no ears, it has no wings. It's just
it's just a body in the head that he can't
find a sweak or two. And he's frustrated just like
everybody after that game. But the Steelers get a chance
to do it again on Sunday, heading to Buffalo to
face the Bills. We want to remind you the Steelers
Pro Shop is where you can get gear up for

(40:06):
the latest sideline apparel, hats or jerseys of your favorite players,
custom items, exclusives you can find directly from the team
at one of the official Steelers Pro shops located at
Akersher Stadium, Grove City Premium Outlets, or Tanger Outlets, or
you can shop online at shop dot Steelers dot com
for Bill Hill, Grove, Craig Woffley, Max Starks, and our
producer Tom and Miss Matthews. Thanks for joining us on

(40:28):
the point after. We'll see everyone next Monday.