December 30, 2025 • 23 mins
Labs and Tom break down the loss to Cleveland, set up the showdown with Baltimore, and get to this weeks batch of 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 (00:09):
Well, that isn't exactly how you planned it out.
Speaker 3 (00:12):
To put it lightly, Steelers fall to the Cleveland Browns
thirteen to six in Cleveland, failed to score a touchdown
against the Brownies. And now that sets up a winner,
take all game against the Baltimore Ravens Sunday night at
Akroser Stadium for the AFC North. And we'll get into
that a lot more in just the second labs that
(00:32):
raven showdown. There's no use in really dwelling on the
spoiled milk too much, especially when you got such a
big game coming up. But it is hard to ignore
the offensive struggles that we saw against the Browns. And
to me, the weighty downs three for fifteen on third down,
zero for three on fifteen I think really told a story.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
Yeah, I mean, and that's kind of been the story
all year. You know, when you look at I think
most of the Steelers' losses, I would say, all of
the really disappointing ones, you know, the third down conversions,
possession down kind of thing has been you know, a problem.
And then also against the Browns out for two in
(01:14):
the red zone. You know, the Steelers have been a
pretty good red zone offense throughout this season, but you
know it was it was a grim, ugly day weather
wise in Cleveland. And so often in the history of
this series between these two teams, gray and ugly weather
(01:35):
wise in Cleveland often translates into gray and ugly what
happens on the field.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
Yep, And that's exactly what happened.
Speaker 3 (01:42):
And we said, I think on last week's aston answered
you know, we talked about the Browns a little bit
or heard you talking about it throughout the week on
the pregame show.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
This is a great defense. Still.
Speaker 3 (01:52):
You know, this team might stink overall, but if you
if you give this defense, you know, any glimmer of
hope that they can be in a football game, they'll
they'll play a full sixty minutes and it'll be a
tough task.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
That's exactly what happened to the Steelers.
Speaker 3 (02:05):
I mean, that is not a slouch of a defense,
and Jim Schwartz is not a slouch of a defensive coordinator.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
No, you're absolutely right. I mean, you look at the Browns.
It wouldn't surprise me at all. You know, Miles Garrett,
I think it's pretty much a lock for the defensive
player of the year. They're inside linebacker Carson with his
name radio go Sweah East right, he might be the
defensive rookie of the year. You know, if you're telling me,
(02:35):
I can pick any cornerback in the NFL for my team, Uh,
Denzel Award is definitely on the short list. I might
just pick him because I've seen him a lot. You know,
Tyson Campbell I thought played a really good game. You
know this. You you mentioned you know, Grant Delpit, a safety,
(02:55):
He's another good player. So right, the Browns defense, it's legit.
It's been legit all year. It's one of the top
two or three in the league as a unit. And uh,
you know, Steelers were without a lot of players, you know,
no I see them all or no Calvin Austin, no
(03:18):
DK Metcalf, so you know those those are significant guys. Uh.
And it turned into it turned into a slop fest.
It was really you know, and that Brown's touchdown pass
to me was was it was fluky slash lucky. That
ball was a duck. I don't know if the ball
(03:40):
was slippery and slipped out of your door Sanders hands,
or you know, he just threw up a duck or
but I mean that was hanging up there, and it
just seemed to me that Duger maybe lost Kyle Dugger
maybe lost the ball. You know, this call comes off
as excuses now, but you know, it wasn't like the
Browns were carving up the Steelers defense either. So but
(04:05):
I mean, you know, the bottom line is the bottom line.
The Steelers had a chance to win clintch the division,
maybe risk some players this week against the Ravens, do
you and me a big solid with a one pm
kickoff on Sunday? But none of that happened. And so
it's Sunday night with in a winner take all game
(04:28):
against you know, the most hated rival on the schedule
every year.
Speaker 3 (04:33):
And I'm glad you mentioned the Steelers defense kind of
stymying the Browns offense for the most part after that
flukey touchdown that they scored. They really I know, they
got a field goal at the end of the game,
but they essentially shut them out from that point on.
They were barely getting first downs after that touchdown drive
from the Browns. So the silver lining is your defense
(04:54):
played outstanding. The devil's advocate to that would be the
Browns have a terrible offense. And then I would punch
back at that devil's advocate and say, that's what you're
supposed to do to a terrible offense. What the Steelers
defense did. So you're heading into Baltimore. They got Derek Henry.
We'll get to him in a second, but your defense
appears to be in some very solid form right now
heading into that game.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
You should grab onto that for your hope Steelers Nation.
Speaker 1 (05:19):
Yeah, and here's another thing. Mike Pursuedo made this point,
and you know, give credit where credit is due. Another
thing that the Browns game did was kind of gave
the Steelers a dry run look at life about DK Medcalf. Yes,
so maybe you know now Arthur Smith goes into this
(05:39):
game against the Ravens with a different idea of how
to compensate for him not being in the lineup, and
you know, maybe it works better.
Speaker 2 (05:51):
I think it does offensively.
Speaker 3 (05:53):
Defensively speaking, it really just comes down to stopping Henry. Right,
we take this podcast on Tuesdays. We're not sure about
Lamar Jackson and status if he'll play, if he won't.
It's about a fifty to fifty proposition for what I'm
gathering at this point. Whether he does or doesn't labs,
I just I feel like this is going to be
a healthy dose of King Henry. He got thirty six
carries last week in Green Bay. That was a career
(06:14):
high for him. I wouldn't be surprised if they have
If they have their way, they match that total, if
not exceeded.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
Yeah, that's what I would expect, especially if the game
is a typical Ravens Steelers games game in that it's
you know, a close score throughout and you know that
kind of stuff. I mean, what would be ideal and hey,
I'm just reaching for the stars here, you know, if
the Steelers are able to take advantage of I would
(06:45):
say a below the line defense for the Ravens in
terms of what the Ravens usually put on the field
in terms of a defense, and maybe take Henry out
of the game in terms of the score. You know,
in the time, you can limit an opponent's running game
by you know, getting out to a lead. I don't
(07:08):
necessarily expect that to happen, but I mean that's another way.
But yes, stopping Derrick Henry. You know, stopping Derrick Henry
when you play the Ravens is the same thing as
stopping Miles Garrett when you played the Browns.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
Very good point.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
You know, it just is it just is. You know,
you don't you don't go in saying, well, we don't
want to put too much emphasis on stopping Derrick Henry,
you know, because there's other things you have to stop. Well,
if you don't stop Derrick Henry when you're playing the Ravens,
nothing else matters.
Speaker 3 (07:39):
Yeah, And if Lamar Jackson can't go, I mean I
really don't fear Tyler hunt really in the passing game.
He was good against Green Bay. He was sixteen for twenty,
but he only threw for one hundred and seven yards.
It was a lot of dump offs, a lot of layups,
just kind of passing for the sake of passing, keeping
the packers a little bit honest. The Ravens ended up
running fifty three times. But Huntley can hurt you on
the ground as well. That's probably his greatest strength. But
(08:02):
you know, if it can't be Lamar, I just don't
fear a Ravens passing game. And you should be all
in loading up that box to stop the King, right.
Speaker 1 (08:12):
I mean, and you know, as you mentioned that he
threw against the Packers, but you know he was effective
against the Packers because Henry couldn't be stopped. If you
can't you know, it's the same thing we saw in
the first game against the Bengals, you know, Chase Brown,
(08:35):
If you can't control that, everything every other component of
your defense just kind of falls apart.
Speaker 3 (08:42):
We'll get into the Ravens game maybe a little bit
more to wrap up the podcast, some final thoughts on it,
but let's get to this week's batch of questions.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
Now.
Speaker 3 (08:49):
We start with Nick Moses from Simi Valley, California. Do
you think the Steelers will use a first round pick
on a quarterback before they get a chance to see
what they have in Will Howard?
Speaker 1 (09:01):
You know, I don't know whether the Steelers will use
a first round pick on a quarterback before they get
a chance to see what they have and Will Howard,
but I definitely believe the Steelers will have to decide
whether to use a first round pick on a quarterback
before they get a chance to see what they have
and Will Howard. I mean, that's just because the twenty
(09:21):
twenty six NFL Draft will be in late April, and
training camp in the preseason is three months later, and
that's when you're going to get the first chance to
see what you have in Will Howard. You know, I
what the quarterback pool is going to be in this draft.
I have no idea. There's so you know, it's changed
(09:42):
so much. A lot of guys that you thought when
the color season began we're going to be prospects in
the draft have either decided to go back, you know,
into to play college and with nil money, why wouldn't you,
you know, I mean, if our Banning can make five
six million dollars whatever it is to play another year
(10:02):
at the University of Texas at Austin, why would you not. So,
but the Steelers will have to decide, you know, who
feels comfortable. I'd like to do a little poll right
now and get everybody's name who feels comfortable that Will
(10:23):
Howard is going to be a franchise quarterback in his
NFL career to the degree that the Steelers should not
look at adding to the position in the offseason. Raise
your hand. I want all your names, and so then
when the answer comes, I can either stand up and
give you all a round of applause, or say see.
Speaker 3 (10:48):
It's been a tough couple of forty eight hours for
those people that raise their hands labs too. I mean,
they thought they were going to see Will this weekend,
they really did, you know? They beat the Browns the
clinch DFC. Or if you get Mason Rudolph to start
the first half against the Ravens, splash a little Will
Howard in there.
Speaker 2 (11:02):
So there's so many depress Steelers Nation fans, I'm.
Speaker 1 (11:04):
Sure, yeah, And hey, but even that, you know, half.
Speaker 2 (11:11):
Of a game, it doesn't anything.
Speaker 1 (11:13):
Yeah, right, it doesn't prove anything. And I don't even
know if it's favorite. It's fair to him Will Howard.
Speaker 3 (11:22):
Donnie Brown from Van Buren, Maine has our next question.
Is it me or did the Steelers offense try harder
to not let Miles Garrett get a record breaking sack
instead of playing to.
Speaker 2 (11:33):
Win the game?
Speaker 1 (11:36):
Man? Is this is this a lazy narrative?
Speaker 2 (11:38):
That's the lazes?
Speaker 1 (11:40):
Really?
Speaker 2 (11:40):
Is it kind of exposes yourself when you go there?
Speaker 1 (11:43):
Yeah, I mean well, and there's there's idiots on social
media who were espousing that right away, you know, and
Miles Garrett said after the game, you know, they were
more interested in stopping me than they weren't winning the game.
I mean, you think Miles Garrett is going to say
they took me out of the game. I only had
one tackle. I really wanted to break this, you know,
(12:05):
the record against them. I had gone on record of
saying I wanted to put Aaron Rodgers in the hospital,
and I mean I was barely close enough to him
to you know, touch him. And you know he's not
going to do that. I mean, that's it doesn't make
himself sound very good. So then he turns the narrative
(12:26):
into they pay too much attention to me. But you know,
like we were talking in there earlier, you have to
you have to deal with this guy in history. If
the recent history of the series, you know, proves that
when Miles Garrett is allowed to wreck games, he wrecked them.
In twenty twenty three, a game Garrett had two sacks
(12:49):
against the Steelers, the Browns won. In another game in
twenty twenty three, when he had no sacks against the Steelers,
the Browns lost. In twenty twenty four, when he had
three sex sex sacks against the Steelers, the Browns won.
You know when he didn't have that kind of statistics
the other game they lost in the first meeting of
twenty twenty five back on October twelfth, you mentioned this,
(13:12):
Garrett had no sacks the Browns lost. I mean, do
people don't understand this? I don't know, I don't get it. So, yeah,
I hope that the Steelers put as much emphasis on
stopping Derrick Henry this week as they did on stopping
Miles Garrett last week.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
No question.
Speaker 3 (13:30):
And another thing that I saw on social media a
lot with people saying, boy, Aaron Rodgers is getting that
ball out pretty quick. He really wants to avoid that sack. Yeah,
welcome to Steelers football in twenty twenty five. That's all
that the offense has been. That's all Rogers has done
is get the ball out quick. And by the way,
he was still taking his shots downfield like he usually does.
They just weren't connecting in this game.
Speaker 1 (13:51):
Yeah, and you know, here's a couple other news flashes.
Sam Isaac Samala didn't play. He was a Pro Bowl guy.
And Cooks the third left tackle, you know, and he's
all kudos to Dylan Cook. I'm not you know, ripping
him or making fun of him or anything. He's been
definitely an asset. But I mean, you don't put a
(14:12):
guy like that out there and say, Okay, you're blocking
the defensive player of the year one on one all
day and he and he's in a very in line
to set an NFL record. So you know, good luck
and if you don't do well, we'll just blame you
for the loss. Come on, it's just stupid.
Speaker 3 (14:34):
Dennis Slieger from York, Pennsylvania. With the season winding down,
do we know exactly what draft choices we have?
Speaker 1 (14:41):
We do not. Compensatory draft picks typically are announced by
the NFL in the latter part of March, And just
you know, a little tip to Dennis and everybody else
out there interested in this kind of stuff. You're to
be reading a lot about it. You know, there's gonna
be a lot of analytics telling you that this is
what it's going to be. Maybe they're going to guess right,
(15:04):
maybe they're not, But just understand that their guesses, you know,
that's all it is until the NFL comes up with
the actual list of compensatory picks and where they are.
Speaker 3 (15:17):
Ron Mitchell from Phoenix, Arizona, does Jack Lambert ever participate
in post pro football career honors.
Speaker 1 (15:27):
You know, I don't want to say no never, because
I'm not I don't pay that close attention. But most
of the things that the Steelers have annually Alumni Weekend,
you know, the Hall of Honor induction dinner, the Hall
of Honor announcement. At training camp, you know you'll see
(15:48):
some Steelers veterans at some of those kinds of things.
You and I did a when we were at camp.
Every time we did the training camp report on on
the radio SNR, we always had a Steeler player pretty
much every time. You know, Lambert doesn't do those kinds
(16:09):
of things. So for the most part, I would say
that Jack Lambert chooses to live his post football life
in a private manner that has every bit his right,
and I don't think that he should be criticized for
choosing to do that.
Speaker 3 (16:24):
I'm certainly not going to criticize the man. He can
do whatever the hell he wants. He can still throw
me through this wall in the studio if he wanted to,
even at his age.
Speaker 2 (16:32):
Fritz Sure's from Verona, New York.
Speaker 3 (16:36):
Like all in Steelers Nation, I was disappointed in the
result versus the Browns. My question, is there a stat
for dropped interceptions? I'm asking because it seems like this
year the Steelers had more dropped interceptions than previous years.
Speaker 1 (16:50):
Yeah. No, there's no official NFL statistic for dropped interceptions.
There are some analytics sites like bro Football Focus that
take a show that, but you know, we've talked about
Pro Football Focus. You know that you don't know what
you don't know, but they're trying to give you answers anyway.
(17:13):
You know, I think there's a lot of speculation in
that dropped in an interception? Is that a drop is
you know, did the receiver make a play, you know, whatever.
There's a lot of different variables. I would say though,
in the mood that I was in Sunday, definitely Nick
Herbig would have got a drop one.
Speaker 2 (17:34):
I was going and I.
Speaker 1 (17:36):
Mean, again, good player, seriously, good guy, all of that stuff.
And yesterday during the Monday media briefing, you know, Nick
Herbig stood up and said that into the microphones for
anyone that asked I should have had that. I know
he believes that. I certainly believed that at the time.
(17:58):
And that's the kind of play. You know, if Jack
Sawyer doesn't cut inside on his interception. If Herbie, you know,
secures that catch and goes down the sideline, that's two
pick six is you got your door Sanders not knowing
whether you know whether it's up or down. The fans
are on him, and then I think then that that
(18:20):
kind of just breaks the dam and the rest of
the game maybe unfolds differently, but they didn't make the
plays in the game and the way it did.
Speaker 3 (18:30):
Yeah, it's it's really tough to use hindsight on the
defensive side of the ball and be like, you should
have had a score there because it's the defensive side
of the ball. But man, that Nick herbig play. I
mean it was on a silver platter. I know he's
a linebacker, he's not a dB, but still you gotta
come up with that one.
Speaker 1 (18:47):
Yeah, I And you know, I hate saying, you know
what Jack Sawyer should have done, you know, running the ball.
I mean that's not something that I'm sure right he
gets a lot of practice at that or studying that,
but it sure seemed to me that if he had,
you know, I fifths and butzer candy and nuts, everybody
(19:08):
would have had a merry Christmas. What can I tell you.
Speaker 2 (19:11):
Ron Williams from Astoria, Oregon.
Speaker 3 (19:14):
In the past twenty five NFL drafts, how many times
have the Steelers selected players from the then Pac ten
Conference now Pack twelve conference. How many were selected from
the University of Oregon.
Speaker 1 (19:26):
Okay, twenty five NFL drafts. That takes us from two
thousand and forward. So the Steelers selected sixteen players from
the conference. I believe I'm always bad now with looking
at college name, the names of colleges and figuring out
(19:47):
what conference they're in, since all of them moving around
and stuff. But the way I looked at it is
it's sixteen players from the conference. Three of them played
at the Universe, the of Oregon and then a matter
of fact, number one pick in twenty twenty five, Derek
Harmon from Morgan.
Speaker 3 (20:08):
Mike Palombo from McMurray, Pennsylvania has our last question today.
I've read varying reports about the Steelers' decision not to
avoid the guaranteed money remaining in dk met Cast contract.
What is actually correct? Has the team already decided not
to avoid his money? If the decision hasn't yet been made,
what is the deadline for doing so?
Speaker 1 (20:31):
Okay, you know you've read. Mike says he's read varying reports.
I don't know where those came from. I think that
all that is guessing. Certainly, the Steelers are not commenting
on that kind of stuff. They never comment on contracts ever.
You know, you can look online sometimes different sites and
(20:52):
find out, you know, in terms of base salary and
basic bonuses and stuff, what's in places contracts. But in
terms of you know, team decisions whether or not to
avoid contracts based on the language within those contracts for
you know, suspensions or you know whatever other kind of things.
(21:16):
The Steelers are not commenting on that. They're not going
to comment on this. I don't know what they're gonna do.
There is no deadline for whatever they want to do it.
So you know, I got nothing for you, Mike. And
again let me just point this out let the buyer beware.
You know, what you're reading may be true, might not.
Speaker 3 (21:39):
Sunday Night football Steelers and Ravens. The winner takes the
AFC North goes to the playoffs, the loser goes home.
We'll have to watch wild Card weekend on the couch
like Labs and myself. I mean, this is exactly what
you do it for labs, right, this is why you're
a sports fan. This is why you're a Steelers fan.
I know that these games are your big ball of
nerves all week, but that's what you want. You want
(22:00):
butterflies flapping around. You want these steaks against the team
like that.
Speaker 1 (22:05):
Yeah, and you know Sunday night in early January is
probably not going to be pleasant climbing experience. But I'm
hopeful that the fans are motivated.
Speaker 2 (22:18):
And you know, neither of these two teams care about
that at all. That's not going to affect them one bit.
Speaker 1 (22:23):
What the weather, Yeah, they don't.
Speaker 2 (22:25):
Care about the cold or the rain.
Speaker 3 (22:26):
I mean, it might affect the passing the ball, but
that's not gonna know that the Miami Dolphins where they're
gonna flinch at that.
Speaker 1 (22:31):
Of what I mean though, is I'm hoping that the
fans show up the twelfth Man, Yes, yeah, the twelfth Man, Yeah,
and you know, be there to spew some booing on
the Ravens.
Speaker 2 (22:45):
Eight twenty is the kickoff.
Speaker 3 (22:46):
Matt Williamson and myself get started at four thirty on
DV Bob Labriola takes over with Mike Persuda and Jerry
Doulac about two hours after then listen to us on
game day. Enjoy the build up this week. It's Ravens
week for all all the marbles. It can't get better
than this For Bob Labriola. I'm Tom Opferman and we
will talk to you next week on another edition of
(23:07):
Aston Answered
This is asked and answered questions with Tom Upferman and
Steelers Digest editor Bob Labriola.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Well, that isn't exactly how you planned it out.
Speaker 3 (00:12):
To put it lightly, Steelers fall to the Cleveland Browns
thirteen to six in Cleveland, failed to score a touchdown
against the Brownies. And now that sets up a winner,
take all game against the Baltimore Ravens Sunday night at
Akroser Stadium for the AFC North. And we'll get into
that a lot more in just the second labs that
(00:32):
raven showdown. There's no use in really dwelling on the
spoiled milk too much, especially when you got such a
big game coming up. But it is hard to ignore
the offensive struggles that we saw against the Browns. And
to me, the weighty downs three for fifteen on third down,
zero for three on fifteen I think really told a story.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
Yeah, I mean, and that's kind of been the story
all year. You know, when you look at I think
most of the Steelers' losses, I would say, all of
the really disappointing ones, you know, the third down conversions,
possession down kind of thing has been you know, a problem.
And then also against the Browns out for two in
(01:14):
the red zone. You know, the Steelers have been a
pretty good red zone offense throughout this season, but you
know it was it was a grim, ugly day weather
wise in Cleveland. And so often in the history of
this series between these two teams, gray and ugly weather
(01:35):
wise in Cleveland often translates into gray and ugly what
happens on the field.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
Yep, And that's exactly what happened.
Speaker 3 (01:42):
And we said, I think on last week's aston answered
you know, we talked about the Browns a little bit
or heard you talking about it throughout the week on
the pregame show.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
This is a great defense. Still.
Speaker 3 (01:52):
You know, this team might stink overall, but if you
if you give this defense, you know, any glimmer of
hope that they can be in a football game, they'll
they'll play a full sixty minutes and it'll be a
tough task.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
That's exactly what happened to the Steelers.
Speaker 3 (02:05):
I mean, that is not a slouch of a defense,
and Jim Schwartz is not a slouch of a defensive coordinator.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
No, you're absolutely right. I mean, you look at the Browns.
It wouldn't surprise me at all. You know, Miles Garrett,
I think it's pretty much a lock for the defensive
player of the year. They're inside linebacker Carson with his
name radio go Sweah East right, he might be the
defensive rookie of the year. You know, if you're telling me,
(02:35):
I can pick any cornerback in the NFL for my team, Uh,
Denzel Award is definitely on the short list. I might
just pick him because I've seen him a lot. You know,
Tyson Campbell I thought played a really good game. You
know this. You you mentioned you know, Grant Delpit, a safety,
(02:55):
He's another good player. So right, the Browns defense, it's legit.
It's been legit all year. It's one of the top
two or three in the league as a unit. And uh,
you know, Steelers were without a lot of players, you know,
no I see them all or no Calvin Austin, no
(03:18):
DK Metcalf, so you know those those are significant guys. Uh.
And it turned into it turned into a slop fest.
It was really you know, and that Brown's touchdown pass
to me was was it was fluky slash lucky. That
ball was a duck. I don't know if the ball
(03:40):
was slippery and slipped out of your door Sanders hands,
or you know, he just threw up a duck or
but I mean that was hanging up there, and it
just seemed to me that Duger maybe lost Kyle Dugger
maybe lost the ball. You know, this call comes off
as excuses now, but you know, it wasn't like the
Browns were carving up the Steelers defense either. So but
(04:05):
I mean, you know, the bottom line is the bottom line.
The Steelers had a chance to win clintch the division,
maybe risk some players this week against the Ravens, do
you and me a big solid with a one pm
kickoff on Sunday? But none of that happened. And so
it's Sunday night with in a winner take all game
(04:28):
against you know, the most hated rival on the schedule
every year.
Speaker 3 (04:33):
And I'm glad you mentioned the Steelers defense kind of
stymying the Browns offense for the most part after that
flukey touchdown that they scored. They really I know, they
got a field goal at the end of the game,
but they essentially shut them out from that point on.
They were barely getting first downs after that touchdown drive
from the Browns. So the silver lining is your defense
(04:54):
played outstanding. The devil's advocate to that would be the
Browns have a terrible offense. And then I would punch
back at that devil's advocate and say, that's what you're
supposed to do to a terrible offense. What the Steelers
defense did. So you're heading into Baltimore. They got Derek Henry.
We'll get to him in a second, but your defense
appears to be in some very solid form right now
heading into that game.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
You should grab onto that for your hope Steelers Nation.
Speaker 1 (05:19):
Yeah, and here's another thing. Mike Pursuedo made this point,
and you know, give credit where credit is due. Another
thing that the Browns game did was kind of gave
the Steelers a dry run look at life about DK Medcalf. Yes,
so maybe you know now Arthur Smith goes into this
(05:39):
game against the Ravens with a different idea of how
to compensate for him not being in the lineup, and
you know, maybe it works better.
Speaker 2 (05:51):
I think it does offensively.
Speaker 3 (05:53):
Defensively speaking, it really just comes down to stopping Henry. Right,
we take this podcast on Tuesdays. We're not sure about
Lamar Jackson and status if he'll play, if he won't.
It's about a fifty to fifty proposition for what I'm
gathering at this point. Whether he does or doesn't labs,
I just I feel like this is going to be
a healthy dose of King Henry. He got thirty six
carries last week in Green Bay. That was a career
(06:14):
high for him. I wouldn't be surprised if they have
If they have their way, they match that total, if
not exceeded.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
Yeah, that's what I would expect, especially if the game
is a typical Ravens Steelers games game in that it's
you know, a close score throughout and you know that
kind of stuff. I mean, what would be ideal and hey,
I'm just reaching for the stars here, you know, if
the Steelers are able to take advantage of I would
(06:45):
say a below the line defense for the Ravens in
terms of what the Ravens usually put on the field
in terms of a defense, and maybe take Henry out
of the game in terms of the score. You know,
in the time, you can limit an opponent's running game
by you know, getting out to a lead. I don't
(07:08):
necessarily expect that to happen, but I mean that's another way.
But yes, stopping Derrick Henry. You know, stopping Derrick Henry
when you play the Ravens is the same thing as
stopping Miles Garrett when you played the Browns.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
Very good point.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
You know, it just is it just is. You know,
you don't you don't go in saying, well, we don't
want to put too much emphasis on stopping Derrick Henry,
you know, because there's other things you have to stop. Well,
if you don't stop Derrick Henry when you're playing the Ravens,
nothing else matters.
Speaker 3 (07:39):
Yeah, And if Lamar Jackson can't go, I mean I
really don't fear Tyler hunt really in the passing game.
He was good against Green Bay. He was sixteen for twenty,
but he only threw for one hundred and seven yards.
It was a lot of dump offs, a lot of layups,
just kind of passing for the sake of passing, keeping
the packers a little bit honest. The Ravens ended up
running fifty three times. But Huntley can hurt you on
the ground as well. That's probably his greatest strength. But
(08:02):
you know, if it can't be Lamar, I just don't
fear a Ravens passing game. And you should be all
in loading up that box to stop the King, right.
Speaker 1 (08:12):
I mean, and you know, as you mentioned that he
threw against the Packers, but you know he was effective
against the Packers because Henry couldn't be stopped. If you
can't you know, it's the same thing we saw in
the first game against the Bengals, you know, Chase Brown,
(08:35):
If you can't control that, everything every other component of
your defense just kind of falls apart.
Speaker 3 (08:42):
We'll get into the Ravens game maybe a little bit
more to wrap up the podcast, some final thoughts on it,
but let's get to this week's batch of questions.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
Now.
Speaker 3 (08:49):
We start with Nick Moses from Simi Valley, California. Do
you think the Steelers will use a first round pick
on a quarterback before they get a chance to see
what they have in Will Howard?
Speaker 1 (09:01):
You know, I don't know whether the Steelers will use
a first round pick on a quarterback before they get
a chance to see what they have and Will Howard,
but I definitely believe the Steelers will have to decide
whether to use a first round pick on a quarterback
before they get a chance to see what they have
and Will Howard. I mean, that's just because the twenty
(09:21):
twenty six NFL Draft will be in late April, and
training camp in the preseason is three months later, and
that's when you're going to get the first chance to
see what you have in Will Howard. You know, I
what the quarterback pool is going to be in this draft.
I have no idea. There's so you know, it's changed
(09:42):
so much. A lot of guys that you thought when
the color season began we're going to be prospects in
the draft have either decided to go back, you know,
into to play college and with nil money, why wouldn't you,
you know, I mean, if our Banning can make five
six million dollars whatever it is to play another year
(10:02):
at the University of Texas at Austin, why would you not. So,
but the Steelers will have to decide, you know, who
feels comfortable. I'd like to do a little poll right
now and get everybody's name who feels comfortable that Will
(10:23):
Howard is going to be a franchise quarterback in his
NFL career to the degree that the Steelers should not
look at adding to the position in the offseason. Raise
your hand. I want all your names, and so then
when the answer comes, I can either stand up and
give you all a round of applause, or say see.
Speaker 3 (10:48):
It's been a tough couple of forty eight hours for
those people that raise their hands labs too. I mean,
they thought they were going to see Will this weekend,
they really did, you know? They beat the Browns the
clinch DFC. Or if you get Mason Rudolph to start
the first half against the Ravens, splash a little Will
Howard in there.
Speaker 2 (11:02):
So there's so many depress Steelers Nation fans, I'm.
Speaker 1 (11:04):
Sure, yeah, And hey, but even that, you know, half.
Speaker 2 (11:11):
Of a game, it doesn't anything.
Speaker 1 (11:13):
Yeah, right, it doesn't prove anything. And I don't even
know if it's favorite. It's fair to him Will Howard.
Speaker 3 (11:22):
Donnie Brown from Van Buren, Maine has our next question.
Is it me or did the Steelers offense try harder
to not let Miles Garrett get a record breaking sack
instead of playing to.
Speaker 2 (11:33):
Win the game?
Speaker 1 (11:36):
Man? Is this is this a lazy narrative?
Speaker 2 (11:38):
That's the lazes?
Speaker 1 (11:40):
Really?
Speaker 2 (11:40):
Is it kind of exposes yourself when you go there?
Speaker 1 (11:43):
Yeah, I mean well, and there's there's idiots on social
media who were espousing that right away, you know, and
Miles Garrett said after the game, you know, they were
more interested in stopping me than they weren't winning the game.
I mean, you think Miles Garrett is going to say
they took me out of the game. I only had
one tackle. I really wanted to break this, you know,
(12:05):
the record against them. I had gone on record of
saying I wanted to put Aaron Rodgers in the hospital,
and I mean I was barely close enough to him
to you know, touch him. And you know he's not
going to do that. I mean, that's it doesn't make
himself sound very good. So then he turns the narrative
(12:26):
into they pay too much attention to me. But you know,
like we were talking in there earlier, you have to
you have to deal with this guy in history. If
the recent history of the series, you know, proves that
when Miles Garrett is allowed to wreck games, he wrecked them.
In twenty twenty three, a game Garrett had two sacks
(12:49):
against the Steelers, the Browns won. In another game in
twenty twenty three, when he had no sacks against the Steelers,
the Browns lost. In twenty twenty four, when he had
three sex sex sacks against the Steelers, the Browns won.
You know when he didn't have that kind of statistics
the other game they lost in the first meeting of
twenty twenty five back on October twelfth, you mentioned this,
(13:12):
Garrett had no sacks the Browns lost. I mean, do
people don't understand this? I don't know, I don't get it. So, yeah,
I hope that the Steelers put as much emphasis on
stopping Derrick Henry this week as they did on stopping
Miles Garrett last week.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
No question.
Speaker 3 (13:30):
And another thing that I saw on social media a
lot with people saying, boy, Aaron Rodgers is getting that
ball out pretty quick. He really wants to avoid that sack. Yeah,
welcome to Steelers football in twenty twenty five. That's all
that the offense has been. That's all Rogers has done
is get the ball out quick. And by the way,
he was still taking his shots downfield like he usually does.
They just weren't connecting in this game.
Speaker 1 (13:51):
Yeah, and you know, here's a couple other news flashes.
Sam Isaac Samala didn't play. He was a Pro Bowl guy.
And Cooks the third left tackle, you know, and he's
all kudos to Dylan Cook. I'm not you know, ripping
him or making fun of him or anything. He's been
definitely an asset. But I mean, you don't put a
(14:12):
guy like that out there and say, Okay, you're blocking
the defensive player of the year one on one all
day and he and he's in a very in line
to set an NFL record. So you know, good luck
and if you don't do well, we'll just blame you
for the loss. Come on, it's just stupid.
Speaker 3 (14:34):
Dennis Slieger from York, Pennsylvania. With the season winding down,
do we know exactly what draft choices we have?
Speaker 1 (14:41):
We do not. Compensatory draft picks typically are announced by
the NFL in the latter part of March, And just
you know, a little tip to Dennis and everybody else
out there interested in this kind of stuff. You're to
be reading a lot about it. You know, there's gonna
be a lot of analytics telling you that this is
what it's going to be. Maybe they're going to guess right,
(15:04):
maybe they're not, But just understand that their guesses, you know,
that's all it is until the NFL comes up with
the actual list of compensatory picks and where they are.
Speaker 3 (15:17):
Ron Mitchell from Phoenix, Arizona, does Jack Lambert ever participate
in post pro football career honors.
Speaker 1 (15:27):
You know, I don't want to say no never, because
I'm not I don't pay that close attention. But most
of the things that the Steelers have annually Alumni Weekend,
you know, the Hall of Honor induction dinner, the Hall
of Honor announcement. At training camp, you know you'll see
(15:48):
some Steelers veterans at some of those kinds of things.
You and I did a when we were at camp.
Every time we did the training camp report on on
the radio SNR, we always had a Steeler player pretty
much every time. You know, Lambert doesn't do those kinds
(16:09):
of things. So for the most part, I would say
that Jack Lambert chooses to live his post football life
in a private manner that has every bit his right,
and I don't think that he should be criticized for
choosing to do that.
Speaker 3 (16:24):
I'm certainly not going to criticize the man. He can
do whatever the hell he wants. He can still throw
me through this wall in the studio if he wanted to,
even at his age.
Speaker 2 (16:32):
Fritz Sure's from Verona, New York.
Speaker 3 (16:36):
Like all in Steelers Nation, I was disappointed in the
result versus the Browns. My question, is there a stat
for dropped interceptions? I'm asking because it seems like this
year the Steelers had more dropped interceptions than previous years.
Speaker 1 (16:50):
Yeah. No, there's no official NFL statistic for dropped interceptions.
There are some analytics sites like bro Football Focus that
take a show that, but you know, we've talked about
Pro Football Focus. You know that you don't know what
you don't know, but they're trying to give you answers anyway.
(17:13):
You know, I think there's a lot of speculation in
that dropped in an interception? Is that a drop is
you know, did the receiver make a play, you know, whatever.
There's a lot of different variables. I would say though,
in the mood that I was in Sunday, definitely Nick
Herbig would have got a drop one.
Speaker 2 (17:34):
I was going and I.
Speaker 1 (17:36):
Mean, again, good player, seriously, good guy, all of that stuff.
And yesterday during the Monday media briefing, you know, Nick
Herbig stood up and said that into the microphones for
anyone that asked I should have had that. I know
he believes that. I certainly believed that at the time.
(17:58):
And that's the kind of play. You know, if Jack
Sawyer doesn't cut inside on his interception. If Herbie, you know,
secures that catch and goes down the sideline, that's two
pick six is you got your door Sanders not knowing
whether you know whether it's up or down. The fans
are on him, and then I think then that that
(18:20):
kind of just breaks the dam and the rest of
the game maybe unfolds differently, but they didn't make the
plays in the game and the way it did.
Speaker 3 (18:30):
Yeah, it's it's really tough to use hindsight on the
defensive side of the ball and be like, you should
have had a score there because it's the defensive side
of the ball. But man, that Nick herbig play. I
mean it was on a silver platter. I know he's
a linebacker, he's not a dB, but still you gotta
come up with that one.
Speaker 1 (18:47):
Yeah, I And you know, I hate saying, you know
what Jack Sawyer should have done, you know, running the ball.
I mean that's not something that I'm sure right he
gets a lot of practice at that or studying that,
but it sure seemed to me that if he had,
you know, I fifths and butzer candy and nuts, everybody
(19:08):
would have had a merry Christmas. What can I tell you.
Speaker 2 (19:11):
Ron Williams from Astoria, Oregon.
Speaker 3 (19:14):
In the past twenty five NFL drafts, how many times
have the Steelers selected players from the then Pac ten
Conference now Pack twelve conference. How many were selected from
the University of Oregon.
Speaker 1 (19:26):
Okay, twenty five NFL drafts. That takes us from two
thousand and forward. So the Steelers selected sixteen players from
the conference. I believe I'm always bad now with looking
at college name, the names of colleges and figuring out
(19:47):
what conference they're in, since all of them moving around
and stuff. But the way I looked at it is
it's sixteen players from the conference. Three of them played
at the Universe, the of Oregon and then a matter
of fact, number one pick in twenty twenty five, Derek
Harmon from Morgan.
Speaker 3 (20:08):
Mike Palombo from McMurray, Pennsylvania has our last question today.
I've read varying reports about the Steelers' decision not to
avoid the guaranteed money remaining in dk met Cast contract.
What is actually correct? Has the team already decided not
to avoid his money? If the decision hasn't yet been made,
what is the deadline for doing so?
Speaker 1 (20:31):
Okay, you know you've read. Mike says he's read varying reports.
I don't know where those came from. I think that
all that is guessing. Certainly, the Steelers are not commenting
on that kind of stuff. They never comment on contracts ever.
You know, you can look online sometimes different sites and
(20:52):
find out, you know, in terms of base salary and
basic bonuses and stuff, what's in places contracts. But in
terms of you know, team decisions whether or not to
avoid contracts based on the language within those contracts for
you know, suspensions or you know whatever other kind of things.
(21:16):
The Steelers are not commenting on that. They're not going
to comment on this. I don't know what they're gonna do.
There is no deadline for whatever they want to do it.
So you know, I got nothing for you, Mike. And
again let me just point this out let the buyer beware.
You know, what you're reading may be true, might not.
Speaker 3 (21:39):
Sunday Night football Steelers and Ravens. The winner takes the
AFC North goes to the playoffs, the loser goes home.
We'll have to watch wild Card weekend on the couch
like Labs and myself. I mean, this is exactly what
you do it for labs, right, this is why you're
a sports fan. This is why you're a Steelers fan.
I know that these games are your big ball of
nerves all week, but that's what you want. You want
(22:00):
butterflies flapping around. You want these steaks against the team
like that.
Speaker 1 (22:05):
Yeah, and you know Sunday night in early January is
probably not going to be pleasant climbing experience. But I'm
hopeful that the fans are motivated.
Speaker 2 (22:18):
And you know, neither of these two teams care about
that at all. That's not going to affect them one bit.
Speaker 1 (22:23):
What the weather, Yeah, they don't.
Speaker 2 (22:25):
Care about the cold or the rain.
Speaker 3 (22:26):
I mean, it might affect the passing the ball, but
that's not gonna know that the Miami Dolphins where they're
gonna flinch at that.
Speaker 1 (22:31):
Of what I mean though, is I'm hoping that the
fans show up the twelfth Man, Yes, yeah, the twelfth Man, Yeah,
and you know, be there to spew some booing on
the Ravens.
Speaker 2 (22:45):
Eight twenty is the kickoff.
Speaker 3 (22:46):
Matt Williamson and myself get started at four thirty on
DV Bob Labriola takes over with Mike Persuda and Jerry
Doulac about two hours after then listen to us on
game day. Enjoy the build up this week. It's Ravens
week for all all the marbles. It can't get better
than this For Bob Labriola. I'm Tom Opferman and we
will talk to you next week on another edition of
(23:07):
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