December 23, 2025 • 27 mins
Labs and Tom talk about the big win over the Lions and then get to this weeks questions.
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
This is asked and answered questions with Tom Upferman and
Steelers Digest editor Bob Labriola.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Steelers twenty nine, Lions twenty four. What a statement victory
in a third straight win for your Pittsburgh Steelers Sunday
into Motown. Continue to keep control of the AFC North
and Labs got a favor done by the New England Patriots,
an unlikely alliance forming on Sunday night. So you have
opened up a two game lead now on the Baltimore Ravens.
(00:33):
We'll get to all the clinching scenarios in just a second,
starting with that Detroit game. What a complete performance, and
you know it's a good thing, Labs. I feel like
we're opening these microphones every week now we're saying, oh,
that was the Steelers' best performance of the year. Oh no, wait,
this was the best performance of the year. Oh now,
this was the best performance of the year. They're ascending.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
Yeah, And I mean the performance of the defense to
me was it was heroic. It really was. I mean,
no t J. Watt, no Nick Herbig, no James James Pierre,
you lose Brandon Echols in the first half of the game.
I mean, you're playing Darryl Porter and you're playing Jeremiah Moon,
(01:17):
and you know, you're playing these kind of guys, and uh,
you know, I get that. You know, Jared Goff, he
had some garbage time yards and and that kind of stuff.
But uh, Jamiir Gibbs seven carries two yards, the Lions
(01:38):
twelve attempts, fifteen yards rushing and you know, flip it
over and what game well? And uh, Jalen Warren did
you know two hundred and whatever it was combined yards
from scrimmage, three touchdowns. Wow. So and then the old
(02:03):
man who's the quarterback, you know, he seems to be
doing okay too. Another game with no turnovers, another game
with at least twenty five or more points. You know,
talked about this a couple of weeks ago, and I
didn't think this game against the Lines was going to
be one where twenty five points and no turnovers was
(02:28):
going to be enough. I thought they needed to get
into the thirties. They almost did. They would have if
that snap on Boswell's thirty seven yard field goal wasn't
low and inside of the strike zone. But you know,
the guy is Rogers is just he's given them outstanding
(02:53):
quarterback play. And the one thing I will say, I
really hope that soon the stealers figure out a way
to communicate so that when Aaron Rodgers sees something and
wants to hustle the offense up to the line of
(03:13):
scrimmage to snap the ball, we're not substituting, which then
forces the officials to give the other team time to match.
And that's what's messing those up, because that that challenge
on the Darnell Washington fumble, that that doesn't happen, that
(03:35):
that doesn't happen right, that next play is snapped done,
and so that because he's a weapon in that respect,
you got to use it. You need everything you can,
every every weapon in your arsenal uh at this time
of the year and into the postseason. And not utilizing
(03:59):
Aaron Rodgers above the neck ability to manipulate snap counts
and pace and catch the other team with too many
guys on the field or whatever it is, beat the
challenge flag. To me, that's just it's a waste. You
can't have that.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
No, I think that's a great point, and we'll get
it to the offense in just a second. One other
thing I wanted to touch on on the defense. You
mentioned it was a heroic effort from them, It really was.
Stopping the run was obviously the headline. Fifteen yards total
for the Detroit Lions. Funny enough, Montgomery had a seventeen
yard run. The team total finished with fifteen yards, So
that tells you how many tackles for losses the Steelers
(04:41):
were getting on that Detroit running game. But another aspect
that I thought was so impressive was the pressure that
they were getting on Jared goff labs but up the
middle because we found out before the game they weren't
going to have their starting center, weren't going to have
their backup center, and that was a vulnerability for the Lions.
Can the Steelers take advantage of getting pressure up the
middle on golf of something he does not like? And
(05:02):
boy did they ever? County Benton did it on like
the second play of the game, just ripped right through there.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
Yeah, you know, Mike Pursuda made the point in the
pregame show about when he was at practice Mike Tomlin
was around the defensive lineman during individual period of screaming
at them. Killed the guards, killed the guards. We've got
to kill their guards. Well, I mean and that's the
that's the kind of stuff. You know, fans don't understand that,
(05:29):
you know, they think that, you know, he's just I
don't know, an observer, but I mean he does. He
does his homework. He knew about that, and it was
something that he talked to those players about every day,
every day. And you know, I saw something recently for
(05:52):
Mike Taylor on social media and he was talking about
the difference between Cower and Mike Tomlin and he said,
you know, if he said the things that The thing
that a lot of players don't realize is if you
listen to what Tomlin tells you all week in the meetings,
(06:12):
he's giving you the answer to the test. And that's
whether they listen to it or actually. Right, there's that.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
And I think.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
One last complaint, Tony Romo. Okay, all right, Tony Romo. Hm.
All he talked about was the poor Lions and their
injuries and the guys that they weren't playing with. Now, okay,
but you're ignoring he ignored No, what no, herbig no.
(06:49):
James Pierre, Yes, well.
Speaker 2 (06:53):
You know he's he's stalking defense.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
Well whatever, I mean, let's let's not expect to be
too prepared. I mean, he does like to play his golf,
but uh, you know it's I just got tired of
hearing it. Oh okay, I'm done complaining.
Speaker 2 (07:13):
And you know what, you led me to this too,
Jack Swear was a beast serving for her big and
TJ Watt. I mean, the stat sheet wasn't anything that
can know eye popping, but I felt like thirty three
was around the ball all the time. Labs.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
Yeah, and he made a nice tackle for loss during
that last sequence you know where. And Joey Porter's play.
I made this point in what I wrote for the
website after the game. Joey Porter's play reminded me, you know,
(07:49):
because he kept he kept Saint Brown out of the
end zone on that last on their last play, he
came up and made the hit and kept him out
of the end zon zone because even if they didn't
call offensive pass interference, that's he wasn't in the end zone.
(08:09):
And so and the other thing is on that play
you can see both Porter and Jalen Ramsey relax. So
don't tell me a whistle didn't blow. I don't want
because if Porter picks him up and plants him in
(08:29):
the ground, then that's a flag for unnecessary roughness. So
you know the NFL, they like to have it all ways.
You know, they want, they don't want all that, they
want all this continuous whatever. But then if you do
something on defense to end it, then it's a flag
so to me. Anyway, back to the Porter thing that
(08:51):
reminded me of Antonio Brown on Christmas Day, I think
it was twenty sixteen against the Ravens when he got
the ball into the end zone with a supreme physical effort.
Joey Porter did that on the defensive side, the comparable
kind of thing in my mind, and saved the game
(09:15):
that maybe saved the Steelers playoffs, the hopes. I mean,
you know we'll see but huge, huge play in a
critical win.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
Well, one last thing before we get to the questions.
The duo at running back for the Steelers, Jalen Warren
and Kenneth Gainwell. I mean they were too much to handle,
both of them for the Detroit Lions defense. Warren, a
career high in rushing yards one hundred and forty three,
had two rushing touchdowns two forty five yard home runs
for him, and Kenneth Gainwell, the leading receiver for the
Steelers as far as receptions was concerned, and he now
(09:49):
on the year Labs as past dkme Metcalf for most
receptions on the team. Those two are some serious weapons
that the offense is starting to kind of orbit around.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
Yeah, and that catch that gain well made, first of
all spectacular athletic play, but then the presence of mind
to continue it, get up, run into the end zone
and then turn around and complain to the official like no,
that was you know, to tell him that's a catch. Yeah,
and they reviewed it because he went into the end zone,
(10:21):
so it didn't need to be a challenge or you know,
any of that kind of stuff. So yeah, it was,
you know, just a really big, big victory. A lot
of contributors, Dylan Cook again, Yes, so yeah.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
But on to Cleveland, onto the Browns, and we'll talk
a little bit about the clinching scenarios when we wrap
up today's podcast. But let's get to today's questions. Our
first one comes from Tom Henson from Martinsville, Indiana. If
the excuse me, if the Ravens lose on Saturday, the
Steelers are division champs with two games remaining on their schedule,
is it even remote? A remote possibility, we could see
(11:01):
coach Tomlin rest players and our rotate backups into those
final two meaningless games. If that happens on Saturday.
Speaker 1 (11:08):
Well, okay, let's start with the Browns game first. I mean,
the Browns game is Sunday at one o'clock. The Ravens
against the Packers is Saturday. Okay, So by the time
that game kicks off, the Saturday game kicks off, the
Steelers will already be in her hotel in Cleveland for
the one o'clock game kickoff. So all week they will
(11:34):
have devised the game plan, practice the game plan, installed
the game plan, all of their preparations are going to
continue as if they need to win that game, because
that's the attitude that you have to have going into
a situation like this. Okay, So now let's say the
(11:55):
game ends it and I don't even know what time
kickoff is in Green Bay, but eight o'clock, nine o'clock
in the evening, the Steelers find out that the Packers
won the Ravens lost, They've clinched a division. I don't
think that the team goes from you know, pedal to
the medal. We've got to win this game to we
(12:18):
don't care anymore, right, So I believe that that they're
playing the Browns game to win, period. And from what
I heard it was coming out of the locker room
at the South Side facility yesterday, that's the message already
from the all the players were saying that we're going
(12:38):
to Cleveland to win this game. You know, that's that's
the approach. Okay, So let's pretend that either the Packers
win or the Steelers win or whatever, and the Ravens
game is meaningless. What I have seen Mike Tomlin, do
I think he would consider is judiciously resting some people
(12:59):
who need rest, veterans walking wounded, you know, that kind
of thing. But I don't know if Tom's question is
leading to, uh, you know, are we gonna put in
a bunch of guys to see what they can do?
And we know who they are?
Speaker 2 (13:20):
Come on his w I L Yes.
Speaker 1 (13:25):
Will Howard. I mean, because if you know you're not
going to play Aaron Rodgers, then you've got to play
Mason Rudolph because he's going to be your number two
quarterback and if you go into a playoff game and
you need him, you don't want to have had him
sitting on the bench because you wanted to see what
Will Howard can do. That's that's absurd, just absurd.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
Rob Bebbot from Springfield, Ohio. Has there been a Steelers
running back duo that accumulated almost two hundred and eighty
yards from scrimmage as Jalen Warren and Kenneth Gainwell did
in Detroit? Thoughts go to Franco and Rocky, But I'm
not so sure.
Speaker 1 (14:04):
Okay, I did some. I dove down a little bit
into this and there are some close but no cigars,
and there is one that surpassed that, but I had
to tweak the parameters a little bit. So without further ado,
here we go. The Steelers beat up Kansas City forty
five nothing November seventh, nineteen seventy six, Harrison Blier combined
(14:29):
for two hundred and nineteen yards on thirty eight attempts.
Staying with the same season, fourteen three went over Miami
November fourteenth, seventy six. Those two combined for two hundred
and twenty yards on forty two attempts, and then in
the twenty one nothing win at Houston on December eleventh
that same series, they had two hundred eleven yards on
(14:50):
forty five attempts. Okay, But if we go to October
ninth or October seventh, nineteen seventy nine, fifty one thirty
five in Cleveland, Franco carried the ball nineteen times for
one hundred and fifty three yards and two touchdowns. Sidney
Thornton ninety eight yards and one touchdown on nineteen carries,
(15:13):
Rocky Blier four carries eighty one yards in a touchdown.
So in that game against the Browns, the Steelers three
running backs and they used them all in that game
rushed for three hundred and thirty two yards and four touchdowns.
Oh and then receiving. Thornton also caught a ten yard
pass for another touchdown. So that was five touchdown passed,
(15:36):
five touchdowns from three running backs in the same game.
And they had Bradshaw, Swan and Stalwart too.
Speaker 2 (15:45):
By the way, just offense, Yeah yeah. Ken Maldon from Clyde,
Texas Pinch me if I'm wrong, But has the signing
of Adam Thielen and Marquez Valdez Scantling changed the whole
attitude of this team? Throwing a Sante Samuel Jr. As well?
How do you sign people off the street this time
of year. Who make such an impact, you.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
Know, I don't. I'm not trying to downplay the addition
of those two receivers, but I think it's kind of
overstating that they changed the whole attitude of the team.
I like what they bring. They were nice signings, but
you know, let's not get too carried away here.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
Don't you think it's more appropriate to say that their
attitude kind of already fit into the attitude already held
by the team, Like it was just seamless for them
to get on the moving train.
Speaker 1 (16:36):
Yes, And you know another thing is I mean they're
both veterans, and you know, guys like that they either
weren't playing or they weren't in football. And so you know,
when you have an opportunity when you get a phone
call from a team, you know that looks like they
might be doing something, Yeah, they're in. You know, guys
(16:58):
are in for that and their hand in the pile
and see what they could do. You know, Ken asked,
how do you get people off the street this time
of year? You got to be lucky, and that's exactly
what the Steelers were with all three of those guys.
Feeling was not happy with his role as a backup
(17:18):
in Minnesota. He had just played, he had only played
one hundred and eighty nine snaps and their eleven games.
He requested his release. You know, the Vikings and Feeling
have had a relationship that was friendly and so they
granted him that. So then the Steelers claimed him the
(17:41):
MVS situation. He was released by Seattle after the preseason.
Then he signed with the forty nine Ers and he
injured his calf and so the forty nine ers put
him on IR and then waived him on a settlement,
so he was out in the street. But again, you know,
this is a guy who was never like a marquee player,
(18:07):
and then it's thirties, young thirties and had an injury,
so you know, there's not a lot of demand for
those kind of guys right at this, so they got
lucky with him. The Assante Samuel Junior situation guy had
spinal fusion surgery in April, Okay, so he was a
(18:28):
street free agent. So the situation with Samuel was the
guy who did the surgery. His surgeon, doctor David aquonco
Is on the Steelers medical staff. He did the surgery
UPMC in Pittsburgh, So you know, when they were checking
him out, having the doctor who did the surgery on
(18:50):
your staff is helpful, you know. I mean he's able
to say, you know, because this is the guy who
save Ryan Shaziers law on the field in Cincinnati. So
when you have a guy like that, with that kind
of reputation, with that kind of skills, you ask him,
(19:10):
you know, what do you think and he can tell
you you know, I think he's okay. Well, then you
have a heightened confidence in that player's ability to return
to professional football, because I'm sure there were a lot
of teams that were thinking, we're not signing some guy
like spinal fusion surgery. I mean, this is this is
(19:31):
a violent sport. So the Steelers got lucky with those
three guys them being available and the circumstances to lead
to their signings and or claimings or whatever you want,
however you want to put it.
Speaker 2 (19:44):
Mike Roby from Tiltonsville, Ohio has our next question. Could
you shed some light on Roman Wilson's situation. We all
understand Mike Tomlin's propensity to play veterans over younger guys,
but Mark Weise Valdez scaling and Adam Thlen. We're not
going to the Super Bowls. So it perplexes me as
to why these clearly over the hill guys start before
a player the team needs to evaluate for next year.
Speaker 1 (20:09):
Oh man, I'm going to try and stay in a
Christmas spirit here.
Speaker 2 (20:12):
I mean, you're winning the Anser, you know, you're about
to win the Ancer North a week early. We're looking at.
Speaker 1 (20:15):
Next year, right, thank you? Because you know what perplexes
me that there are still people who do not understand
that an NFL regular season is not the time to
evaluate a player for next year, you know. I mean,
and what about those two guys that has has been
(20:38):
below the line, right?
Speaker 2 (20:40):
I kind of like the four catches forty nine yards
Stealen gave us in Detroit, the three third down conversions
he gave us in Detroit, and and I.
Speaker 1 (20:48):
Don't want to hear any moaning about Scottie Miller anymore.
Oh yes, uh so, you know one of the things
roma a point that Romo did make that to me
wasn't stupid and obsord was he showed feeling running routes
on one conversion. He saw that it was his own defense,
(21:10):
and so he just found the opening and turned around
and Rogers hit him. Now, I'm not saying that Roman
Wilson isn't someone who can do that eventually, but not yet.
I mean he would run. Wilson would run his route,
and if the route took him farther than that, he
would run the route because that's what you know. Again,
(21:33):
that's you want to see that kind of thing too
in terms of doing what you're supposed to do. But
you have to have some sort of mind meld with
the forty two year old Hall of Fame quarterback because
he sees it and you got to see it too.
And that's what a young player does not have. And
what people don't understand is you cannot fast track experience.
(21:59):
It has to come naturally over the course of time.
And a lot of that development only happens at training
camp the preseason and romand Wilson missed a whole one
of those and he so has only had one. So
(22:20):
again I'm not saying you cut the guy or anything,
but let's be real. Let's be honest and realistic. Right now,
right now, feeling and mvs are better for this team
than an inexperienced second year player. They just are.
Speaker 2 (22:37):
Carter Nielsen from Dennis and Iowa. The Chiefs just had
their eleven year playoff appearance streak snapped. How long was
the Steelers' longest and were we able to win it
all during those years? O? Were we ever?
Speaker 1 (22:51):
Yeah? Yeah? From nineteen seventy two to nineteen seventy nine
through nineteen seventy nine, that was eight seasons. The Steelers
were in the playoffs in all eight of those seasons
and they won four four Super Bowls during that time.
Another streak, the playoff streak, was started when Bill Cower
(23:15):
was hired. It lasted from nineteen ninety two, his first season,
through nineteen ninety seven. That was six straight seasons. The
Steelers were in the playoffs six straight times. They did
not win a Super Bowl during that time, but they
did appear in one that was Super Bowl thirty in
nineteen ninety five.
Speaker 2 (23:35):
And our final question today comes from Cameron James from
mint Hill, North Carolina. When teams do something like the
tush push or use the wildcat formation to have someone
other than the quarterback taking the snap, if he gets
tackled behind the line of scrimmage, is that considered a
sack or a tackle for a loss? That's actually a
good question. I gotta say, well.
Speaker 1 (23:54):
Yeah, it is. And those are the kinds of things
that that kind of that is determined by the on
on sites that's Crewe, and then it's necessary it's reviewed
by the Elia Sportsbewerau, who the company that is serves
as the official statistician for the NFL. But you know,
(24:16):
in situations where it's clearly a running play, I mean
it's there's no attempt to pass wildcat or tush Bush
and so you know, even when it's Jalen Hurts and
it's the quarterback as opposed to like Connor Hayward or
Mark Andrews or you know some of the other guys
(24:38):
we've seen taken a snap that's that's not a it's
obviously not a pass attempt in any way, and so
it would be scored a run, and if he's tackled
behind the line of scrimmage, it would be a tackle
for loss. You know. The only time there are issues
(24:58):
with this is, for example, Lamar Jackson play where he
takes a shotgun snap, he does his zone read maybe
and then he keeps it and runs, and if he's
tackled behind the line of scrimmage. You know, that's up
to the stats crew, but I could see that going
either way. He is a quarterback. He throws the ball
(25:20):
a lot. If he throws it out of that kind
of run action, maybe the stats crew interprets it one way.
But you know he also runs it a lot out
of that situation, and so it could be a tackle
for loss. So that kind of situation might leave the
little gray area that needs to be interpreted and reviewed.
(25:41):
But I'm not push push or wildcat now those are
clearly running place.
Speaker 2 (25:46):
If the Steelers beat the Browns on Sunday, the AFC
North is theirs. If the Packers beat the Ravens on
Saturday night in lambeau Field, then the Steelers win the
North before they even take the field against the Browns.
That is your CLINCHINGOS four week seventeen. That's how you
can make Week eighteen against the Ravens meaninglessen Boy Labs.
Wouldn't it be nice? You know, Steelers might rest some
(26:07):
starters if that does play out in Week eighteen's meaningles.
Wouldn't be nice if we could rest some starters on
the radio network, well, you know.
Speaker 1 (26:13):
We'll be nice for us on the radio network.
Speaker 2 (26:19):
People out there, no idea the stakes you and I
are playing for this weekend.
Speaker 1 (26:24):
One last point to make to all the people who
wrote into me complaining about the defense, the Steelers defense
giving up yards and points in the fourth quarter. The
Ravens gave up a double digit lead in the fourth
quarter again and lost and lost. Quit complaining about giving
(26:48):
up points in the fourth quarter in games that you win.
What's worse is giving up double digit leads in the
fourth quarter and losing.
Speaker 2 (27:02):
Yeah, that's a lot worse. There's a pretty big difference,
and I'm glad that that difference played out the way
that it did on Sunday one o'clock kickoff between the
Steelers and the Browns. That'll do it for us. Thanks
for listening, As always, get your questions into labs and
maybe you'll hear them on the next edition of Asked
and Answered
This is asked and answered questions with Tom Upferman and
Steelers Digest editor Bob Labriola.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Steelers twenty nine, Lions twenty four. What a statement victory
in a third straight win for your Pittsburgh Steelers Sunday
into Motown. Continue to keep control of the AFC North
and Labs got a favor done by the New England Patriots,
an unlikely alliance forming on Sunday night. So you have
opened up a two game lead now on the Baltimore Ravens.
(00:33):
We'll get to all the clinching scenarios in just a second,
starting with that Detroit game. What a complete performance, and
you know it's a good thing, Labs. I feel like
we're opening these microphones every week now we're saying, oh,
that was the Steelers' best performance of the year. Oh no, wait,
this was the best performance of the year. Oh now,
this was the best performance of the year. They're ascending.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
Yeah, And I mean the performance of the defense to
me was it was heroic. It really was. I mean,
no t J. Watt, no Nick Herbig, no James James Pierre,
you lose Brandon Echols in the first half of the game.
I mean, you're playing Darryl Porter and you're playing Jeremiah Moon,
(01:17):
and you know, you're playing these kind of guys, and uh,
you know, I get that. You know, Jared Goff, he
had some garbage time yards and and that kind of stuff.
But uh, Jamiir Gibbs seven carries two yards, the Lions
(01:38):
twelve attempts, fifteen yards rushing and you know, flip it
over and what game well? And uh, Jalen Warren did
you know two hundred and whatever it was combined yards
from scrimmage, three touchdowns. Wow. So and then the old
(02:03):
man who's the quarterback, you know, he seems to be
doing okay too. Another game with no turnovers, another game
with at least twenty five or more points. You know,
talked about this a couple of weeks ago, and I
didn't think this game against the Lines was going to
be one where twenty five points and no turnovers was
(02:28):
going to be enough. I thought they needed to get
into the thirties. They almost did. They would have if
that snap on Boswell's thirty seven yard field goal wasn't
low and inside of the strike zone. But you know,
the guy is Rogers is just he's given them outstanding
(02:53):
quarterback play. And the one thing I will say, I
really hope that soon the stealers figure out a way
to communicate so that when Aaron Rodgers sees something and
wants to hustle the offense up to the line of
(03:13):
scrimmage to snap the ball, we're not substituting, which then
forces the officials to give the other team time to match.
And that's what's messing those up, because that that challenge
on the Darnell Washington fumble, that that doesn't happen, that
(03:35):
that doesn't happen right, that next play is snapped done,
and so that because he's a weapon in that respect,
you got to use it. You need everything you can,
every every weapon in your arsenal uh at this time
of the year and into the postseason. And not utilizing
(03:59):
Aaron Rodgers above the neck ability to manipulate snap counts
and pace and catch the other team with too many
guys on the field or whatever it is, beat the
challenge flag. To me, that's just it's a waste. You
can't have that.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
No, I think that's a great point, and we'll get
it to the offense in just a second. One other
thing I wanted to touch on on the defense. You
mentioned it was a heroic effort from them, It really was.
Stopping the run was obviously the headline. Fifteen yards total
for the Detroit Lions. Funny enough, Montgomery had a seventeen
yard run. The team total finished with fifteen yards, So
that tells you how many tackles for losses the Steelers
(04:41):
were getting on that Detroit running game. But another aspect
that I thought was so impressive was the pressure that
they were getting on Jared goff labs but up the
middle because we found out before the game they weren't
going to have their starting center, weren't going to have
their backup center, and that was a vulnerability for the Lions.
Can the Steelers take advantage of getting pressure up the
middle on golf of something he does not like? And
(05:02):
boy did they ever? County Benton did it on like
the second play of the game, just ripped right through there.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
Yeah, you know, Mike Pursuda made the point in the
pregame show about when he was at practice Mike Tomlin
was around the defensive lineman during individual period of screaming
at them. Killed the guards, killed the guards. We've got
to kill their guards. Well, I mean and that's the
that's the kind of stuff. You know, fans don't understand that,
(05:29):
you know, they think that, you know, he's just I
don't know, an observer, but I mean he does. He
does his homework. He knew about that, and it was
something that he talked to those players about every day,
every day. And you know, I saw something recently for
(05:52):
Mike Taylor on social media and he was talking about
the difference between Cower and Mike Tomlin and he said,
you know, if he said the things that The thing
that a lot of players don't realize is if you
listen to what Tomlin tells you all week in the meetings,
(06:12):
he's giving you the answer to the test. And that's
whether they listen to it or actually. Right, there's that.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
And I think.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
One last complaint, Tony Romo. Okay, all right, Tony Romo. Hm.
All he talked about was the poor Lions and their
injuries and the guys that they weren't playing with. Now, okay,
but you're ignoring he ignored No, what no, herbig no.
(06:49):
James Pierre, Yes, well.
Speaker 2 (06:53):
You know he's he's stalking defense.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
Well whatever, I mean, let's let's not expect to be
too prepared. I mean, he does like to play his golf,
but uh, you know it's I just got tired of
hearing it. Oh okay, I'm done complaining.
Speaker 2 (07:13):
And you know what, you led me to this too,
Jack Swear was a beast serving for her big and
TJ Watt. I mean, the stat sheet wasn't anything that
can know eye popping, but I felt like thirty three
was around the ball all the time. Labs.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
Yeah, and he made a nice tackle for loss during
that last sequence you know where. And Joey Porter's play.
I made this point in what I wrote for the
website after the game. Joey Porter's play reminded me, you know,
(07:49):
because he kept he kept Saint Brown out of the
end zone on that last on their last play, he
came up and made the hit and kept him out
of the end zon zone because even if they didn't
call offensive pass interference, that's he wasn't in the end zone.
(08:09):
And so and the other thing is on that play
you can see both Porter and Jalen Ramsey relax. So
don't tell me a whistle didn't blow. I don't want
because if Porter picks him up and plants him in
(08:29):
the ground, then that's a flag for unnecessary roughness. So
you know the NFL, they like to have it all ways.
You know, they want, they don't want all that, they
want all this continuous whatever. But then if you do
something on defense to end it, then it's a flag
so to me. Anyway, back to the Porter thing that
(08:51):
reminded me of Antonio Brown on Christmas Day, I think
it was twenty sixteen against the Ravens when he got
the ball into the end zone with a supreme physical effort.
Joey Porter did that on the defensive side, the comparable
kind of thing in my mind, and saved the game
(09:15):
that maybe saved the Steelers playoffs, the hopes. I mean,
you know we'll see but huge, huge play in a
critical win.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
Well, one last thing before we get to the questions.
The duo at running back for the Steelers, Jalen Warren
and Kenneth Gainwell. I mean they were too much to handle,
both of them for the Detroit Lions defense. Warren, a
career high in rushing yards one hundred and forty three,
had two rushing touchdowns two forty five yard home runs
for him, and Kenneth Gainwell, the leading receiver for the
Steelers as far as receptions was concerned, and he now
(09:49):
on the year Labs as past dkme Metcalf for most
receptions on the team. Those two are some serious weapons
that the offense is starting to kind of orbit around.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
Yeah, and that catch that gain well made, first of
all spectacular athletic play, but then the presence of mind
to continue it, get up, run into the end zone
and then turn around and complain to the official like no,
that was you know, to tell him that's a catch. Yeah,
and they reviewed it because he went into the end zone,
(10:21):
so it didn't need to be a challenge or you know,
any of that kind of stuff. So yeah, it was,
you know, just a really big, big victory. A lot
of contributors, Dylan Cook again, Yes, so yeah.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
But on to Cleveland, onto the Browns, and we'll talk
a little bit about the clinching scenarios when we wrap
up today's podcast. But let's get to today's questions. Our
first one comes from Tom Henson from Martinsville, Indiana. If
the excuse me, if the Ravens lose on Saturday, the
Steelers are division champs with two games remaining on their schedule,
is it even remote? A remote possibility, we could see
(11:01):
coach Tomlin rest players and our rotate backups into those
final two meaningless games. If that happens on Saturday.
Speaker 1 (11:08):
Well, okay, let's start with the Browns game first. I mean,
the Browns game is Sunday at one o'clock. The Ravens
against the Packers is Saturday. Okay, So by the time
that game kicks off, the Saturday game kicks off, the
Steelers will already be in her hotel in Cleveland for
the one o'clock game kickoff. So all week they will
(11:34):
have devised the game plan, practice the game plan, installed
the game plan, all of their preparations are going to
continue as if they need to win that game, because
that's the attitude that you have to have going into
a situation like this. Okay, So now let's say the
(11:55):
game ends it and I don't even know what time
kickoff is in Green Bay, but eight o'clock, nine o'clock
in the evening, the Steelers find out that the Packers
won the Ravens lost, They've clinched a division. I don't
think that the team goes from you know, pedal to
the medal. We've got to win this game to we
(12:18):
don't care anymore, right, So I believe that that they're
playing the Browns game to win, period. And from what
I heard it was coming out of the locker room
at the South Side facility yesterday, that's the message already
from the all the players were saying that we're going
(12:38):
to Cleveland to win this game. You know, that's that's
the approach. Okay, So let's pretend that either the Packers
win or the Steelers win or whatever, and the Ravens
game is meaningless. What I have seen Mike Tomlin, do
I think he would consider is judiciously resting some people
(12:59):
who need rest, veterans walking wounded, you know, that kind
of thing. But I don't know if Tom's question is
leading to, uh, you know, are we gonna put in
a bunch of guys to see what they can do?
And we know who they are?
Speaker 2 (13:20):
Come on his w I L Yes.
Speaker 1 (13:25):
Will Howard. I mean, because if you know you're not
going to play Aaron Rodgers, then you've got to play
Mason Rudolph because he's going to be your number two
quarterback and if you go into a playoff game and
you need him, you don't want to have had him
sitting on the bench because you wanted to see what
Will Howard can do. That's that's absurd, just absurd.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
Rob Bebbot from Springfield, Ohio. Has there been a Steelers
running back duo that accumulated almost two hundred and eighty
yards from scrimmage as Jalen Warren and Kenneth Gainwell did
in Detroit? Thoughts go to Franco and Rocky, But I'm
not so sure.
Speaker 1 (14:04):
Okay, I did some. I dove down a little bit
into this and there are some close but no cigars,
and there is one that surpassed that, but I had
to tweak the parameters a little bit. So without further ado,
here we go. The Steelers beat up Kansas City forty
five nothing November seventh, nineteen seventy six, Harrison Blier combined
(14:29):
for two hundred and nineteen yards on thirty eight attempts.
Staying with the same season, fourteen three went over Miami
November fourteenth, seventy six. Those two combined for two hundred
and twenty yards on forty two attempts, and then in
the twenty one nothing win at Houston on December eleventh
that same series, they had two hundred eleven yards on
(14:50):
forty five attempts. Okay, But if we go to October
ninth or October seventh, nineteen seventy nine, fifty one thirty
five in Cleveland, Franco carried the ball nineteen times for
one hundred and fifty three yards and two touchdowns. Sidney
Thornton ninety eight yards and one touchdown on nineteen carries,
(15:13):
Rocky Blier four carries eighty one yards in a touchdown.
So in that game against the Browns, the Steelers three
running backs and they used them all in that game
rushed for three hundred and thirty two yards and four touchdowns.
Oh and then receiving. Thornton also caught a ten yard
pass for another touchdown. So that was five touchdown passed,
(15:36):
five touchdowns from three running backs in the same game.
And they had Bradshaw, Swan and Stalwart too.
Speaker 2 (15:45):
By the way, just offense, Yeah yeah. Ken Maldon from Clyde,
Texas Pinch me if I'm wrong, But has the signing
of Adam Thielen and Marquez Valdez Scantling changed the whole
attitude of this team? Throwing a Sante Samuel Jr. As well?
How do you sign people off the street this time
of year. Who make such an impact, you.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
Know, I don't. I'm not trying to downplay the addition
of those two receivers, but I think it's kind of
overstating that they changed the whole attitude of the team.
I like what they bring. They were nice signings, but
you know, let's not get too carried away here.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
Don't you think it's more appropriate to say that their
attitude kind of already fit into the attitude already held
by the team, Like it was just seamless for them
to get on the moving train.
Speaker 1 (16:36):
Yes, And you know another thing is I mean they're
both veterans, and you know, guys like that they either
weren't playing or they weren't in football. And so you know,
when you have an opportunity when you get a phone
call from a team, you know that looks like they
might be doing something, Yeah, they're in. You know, guys
(16:58):
are in for that and their hand in the pile
and see what they could do. You know, Ken asked,
how do you get people off the street this time
of year? You got to be lucky, and that's exactly
what the Steelers were with all three of those guys.
Feeling was not happy with his role as a backup
(17:18):
in Minnesota. He had just played, he had only played
one hundred and eighty nine snaps and their eleven games.
He requested his release. You know, the Vikings and Feeling
have had a relationship that was friendly and so they
granted him that. So then the Steelers claimed him the
(17:41):
MVS situation. He was released by Seattle after the preseason.
Then he signed with the forty nine Ers and he
injured his calf and so the forty nine ers put
him on IR and then waived him on a settlement,
so he was out in the street. But again, you know,
this is a guy who was never like a marquee player,
(18:07):
and then it's thirties, young thirties and had an injury,
so you know, there's not a lot of demand for
those kind of guys right at this, so they got
lucky with him. The Assante Samuel Junior situation guy had
spinal fusion surgery in April, Okay, so he was a
(18:28):
street free agent. So the situation with Samuel was the
guy who did the surgery. His surgeon, doctor David aquonco
Is on the Steelers medical staff. He did the surgery
UPMC in Pittsburgh, So you know, when they were checking
him out, having the doctor who did the surgery on
(18:50):
your staff is helpful, you know. I mean he's able
to say, you know, because this is the guy who
save Ryan Shaziers law on the field in Cincinnati. So
when you have a guy like that, with that kind
of reputation, with that kind of skills, you ask him,
(19:10):
you know, what do you think and he can tell
you you know, I think he's okay. Well, then you
have a heightened confidence in that player's ability to return
to professional football, because I'm sure there were a lot
of teams that were thinking, we're not signing some guy
like spinal fusion surgery. I mean, this is this is
(19:31):
a violent sport. So the Steelers got lucky with those
three guys them being available and the circumstances to lead
to their signings and or claimings or whatever you want,
however you want to put it.
Speaker 2 (19:44):
Mike Roby from Tiltonsville, Ohio has our next question. Could
you shed some light on Roman Wilson's situation. We all
understand Mike Tomlin's propensity to play veterans over younger guys,
but Mark Weise Valdez scaling and Adam Thlen. We're not
going to the Super Bowls. So it perplexes me as
to why these clearly over the hill guys start before
a player the team needs to evaluate for next year.
Speaker 1 (20:09):
Oh man, I'm going to try and stay in a
Christmas spirit here.
Speaker 2 (20:12):
I mean, you're winning the Anser, you know, you're about
to win the Ancer North a week early. We're looking at.
Speaker 1 (20:15):
Next year, right, thank you? Because you know what perplexes
me that there are still people who do not understand
that an NFL regular season is not the time to
evaluate a player for next year, you know. I mean,
and what about those two guys that has has been
(20:38):
below the line, right?
Speaker 2 (20:40):
I kind of like the four catches forty nine yards
Stealen gave us in Detroit, the three third down conversions
he gave us in Detroit, and and I.
Speaker 1 (20:48):
Don't want to hear any moaning about Scottie Miller anymore.
Oh yes, uh so, you know one of the things
roma a point that Romo did make that to me
wasn't stupid and obsord was he showed feeling running routes
on one conversion. He saw that it was his own defense,
(21:10):
and so he just found the opening and turned around
and Rogers hit him. Now, I'm not saying that Roman
Wilson isn't someone who can do that eventually, but not yet.
I mean he would run. Wilson would run his route,
and if the route took him farther than that, he
would run the route because that's what you know. Again,
(21:33):
that's you want to see that kind of thing too
in terms of doing what you're supposed to do. But
you have to have some sort of mind meld with
the forty two year old Hall of Fame quarterback because
he sees it and you got to see it too.
And that's what a young player does not have. And
what people don't understand is you cannot fast track experience.
(21:59):
It has to come naturally over the course of time.
And a lot of that development only happens at training
camp the preseason and romand Wilson missed a whole one
of those and he so has only had one. So
(22:20):
again I'm not saying you cut the guy or anything,
but let's be real. Let's be honest and realistic. Right now,
right now, feeling and mvs are better for this team
than an inexperienced second year player. They just are.
Speaker 2 (22:37):
Carter Nielsen from Dennis and Iowa. The Chiefs just had
their eleven year playoff appearance streak snapped. How long was
the Steelers' longest and were we able to win it
all during those years? O? Were we ever?
Speaker 1 (22:51):
Yeah? Yeah? From nineteen seventy two to nineteen seventy nine
through nineteen seventy nine, that was eight seasons. The Steelers
were in the playoffs in all eight of those seasons
and they won four four Super Bowls during that time.
Another streak, the playoff streak, was started when Bill Cower
(23:15):
was hired. It lasted from nineteen ninety two, his first season,
through nineteen ninety seven. That was six straight seasons. The
Steelers were in the playoffs six straight times. They did
not win a Super Bowl during that time, but they
did appear in one that was Super Bowl thirty in
nineteen ninety five.
Speaker 2 (23:35):
And our final question today comes from Cameron James from
mint Hill, North Carolina. When teams do something like the
tush push or use the wildcat formation to have someone
other than the quarterback taking the snap, if he gets
tackled behind the line of scrimmage, is that considered a
sack or a tackle for a loss? That's actually a
good question. I gotta say, well.
Speaker 1 (23:54):
Yeah, it is. And those are the kinds of things
that that kind of that is determined by the on
on sites that's Crewe, and then it's necessary it's reviewed
by the Elia Sportsbewerau, who the company that is serves
as the official statistician for the NFL. But you know,
(24:16):
in situations where it's clearly a running play, I mean
it's there's no attempt to pass wildcat or tush Bush
and so you know, even when it's Jalen Hurts and
it's the quarterback as opposed to like Connor Hayward or
Mark Andrews or you know some of the other guys
(24:38):
we've seen taken a snap that's that's not a it's
obviously not a pass attempt in any way, and so
it would be scored a run, and if he's tackled
behind the line of scrimmage, it would be a tackle
for loss. You know. The only time there are issues
(24:58):
with this is, for example, Lamar Jackson play where he
takes a shotgun snap, he does his zone read maybe
and then he keeps it and runs, and if he's
tackled behind the line of scrimmage. You know, that's up
to the stats crew, but I could see that going
either way. He is a quarterback. He throws the ball
(25:20):
a lot. If he throws it out of that kind
of run action, maybe the stats crew interprets it one way.
But you know he also runs it a lot out
of that situation, and so it could be a tackle
for loss. So that kind of situation might leave the
little gray area that needs to be interpreted and reviewed.
(25:41):
But I'm not push push or wildcat now those are
clearly running place.
Speaker 2 (25:46):
If the Steelers beat the Browns on Sunday, the AFC
North is theirs. If the Packers beat the Ravens on
Saturday night in lambeau Field, then the Steelers win the
North before they even take the field against the Browns.
That is your CLINCHINGOS four week seventeen. That's how you
can make Week eighteen against the Ravens meaninglessen Boy Labs.
Wouldn't it be nice? You know, Steelers might rest some
(26:07):
starters if that does play out in Week eighteen's meaningles.
Wouldn't be nice if we could rest some starters on
the radio network, well, you know.
Speaker 1 (26:13):
We'll be nice for us on the radio network.
Speaker 2 (26:19):
People out there, no idea the stakes you and I
are playing for this weekend.
Speaker 1 (26:24):
One last point to make to all the people who
wrote into me complaining about the defense, the Steelers defense
giving up yards and points in the fourth quarter. The
Ravens gave up a double digit lead in the fourth
quarter again and lost and lost. Quit complaining about giving
(26:48):
up points in the fourth quarter in games that you win.
What's worse is giving up double digit leads in the
fourth quarter and losing.
Speaker 2 (27:02):
Yeah, that's a lot worse. There's a pretty big difference,
and I'm glad that that difference played out the way
that it did on Sunday one o'clock kickoff between the
Steelers and the Browns. That'll do it for us. Thanks
for listening, As always, get your questions into labs and
maybe you'll hear them on the next edition of Asked
and Answered
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