November 22, 2024 • 43 mins
Rob, Matt, and Wolf share their reactions and takeaways from the Steelers' loss in Cleveland on Thursday night.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the Steelers point after show on WDBD Pittsburgh,
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(00:21):
And now here are your hosts. Rob King, Craig Wolfley
and Matt Williamson.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Come in to you following the Steelers twenty four to
nineteen loss in Cleveland on Thursday night, a loss that
drops to Steelers to eight and three in the season,
still in first place in the AFC North, but a
painful loss. Nonetheless, our first reaction is brought to you
by First National Bank. Let's get started, member FDIC wolf
It wasn't too long ago that we were in that
(00:47):
press box in Cleveland, and now, unfortunately, reliving a painful
loss again on Thursday night at Cleveland seems to be
a bad combination for the Steelers as they go down
to defeat twenty four to nineteen.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
And I said that I've just done this for a
long time, having some rough nights. Driving back from you know,
somebody asked me, he said, what was the conversation like
on the bus, the team bus going back? I said,
just wait a minute, that was that was, you know,
and you understand because of the frustration. You take a
(01:21):
look at some of the metrics. Things pointed, a lot
of them pointed all the way back for Pittsburgh, including
time of possession over ten minutes on a game like
that with such poor field conditions, seeing conditions with the
snow and everything. So to me, it really it's amazing
you made. You made a bunch of plays, but you
didn't make d plays that you needed to make when
(01:43):
you needed to make them.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
You know, Matt earlier talking with Wolf in the locker room,
you know, he brought up some statistics and I'll bring
some of those up to you now. Time and possession
Steelers thirty five oh two, Browns twenty four fifty eight
turnover marchin students win that three to one. They hold
the Browns to three point one yards per carry eighty
(02:07):
five yards. They hold Winston with an interception to a
seventy six rating. If you tell me, those are the numbers.
As I'm, you know, getting ready to broadcast the game
last night with Wolf and Max and Missy, I'm and
I'm guessing a score twenty four to three something like that.
Speaker 4 (02:26):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (02:26):
Right, that's that's the recipe. I mean, that's what you're
looking for, right.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (02:31):
So let's get this out of the way, because I
don't know if I've said it on these airwaves, but
I believe to my core that missed field goals and
blown forth down opportunities are turnovers. They absolutely are. And
we can get into deep why, but that's a longer conversation.
We only have an hour. Take my word for it.
Everyone in the NFL sees it that way. If you
(02:52):
miss a field goal, you're handing the ball to the
other team, often in the middle of the field, and
a sixteen yard punt might as well be a turnover too. Really,
isn't much different than fumbling the ball or taking a
sack to play before. So you go to that environment,
turn the ball over four times. Plus that terrible punt,
which was you know, I mean he had one punt
and he blew it.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
Me.
Speaker 4 (03:12):
He's been really good.
Speaker 5 (03:13):
This year might have been the biggest play of the game,
but there was a ton of them. You're not gonna
win that many. And frankly, I feel like I sold
the brown short because if it's almost like when Wilson
took over for Fields, but much much more drastic. I mean,
the Winston led Browns are not one of the worst
teams in the league. The twenty twenty four Browns are
(03:34):
one of the worst teams in the league. But they're
two and two now with Winston, with two division wins
over the best two teams in Division, the Steelers and Ravens.
And I thought their defense played well. They have weapons,
they protected way better than I expected. And the thing
I said all last week Rob was if the Steelers
lose this game, it's gonna be turnovers and those type
(03:56):
of things. And frankly, this is the first game I
can remember they lost in the spec teams portion, Miles
Garrett or Miles Garrett's going to be a dominant player
that you can't deal with, or you get the best
version of Winston that's really hot and hitting all his targets,
and all three of those things happened.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
Yeah, he made he made some incredible throws. He's played
really well, he's got really really good talent. Like if
you looked at these quarterback ratings and you know Russ
is at won sixteen point seven and Winston is at
seventy six, you know, I think Russell Wilson played a
solid game for the Steelers. I thought Winston played a
better game than that rating would suggest. He made some
(04:36):
really good throws. There's a lot of meat on this
bone to talk about. Wolf. When you talk about a
loss for the Steelers, you know, a lot of people
are pointing to, you know, the clock management at the
end of the first half. Could you have called the
time out instead of having forty seconds and a time
(04:57):
out at your disposal at the end of the half,
maybe you have a minute five and no timeouts so
that it made a difference. Would you have been able
to come down and kick a field goal? That might
have proved to be a big difference because at the
end of the game, maybe you're only looking for a
field goal from from Boswell. To not win the game
probably would have been to tie the game at that
point because the Browns probably would have gone for one
and not two at the end of the game. Regardless,
(05:20):
I just looked at this game Wolf and thought, okay, well,
can you question that sure? Can you question the calls
on fourth down? Yes? Can you call can you question
the execution on fourth down?
Speaker 4 (05:32):
Yes?
Speaker 2 (05:33):
Can you talk about some pre snap penalties that put
you in bad positions in a day in which it
was very difficult to overcome those because of the weather conditions? Yes.
Can you point to the lack of sacks by the
team against a team that had given up four point
six sacks per game, the worst in the NFL. Yes,
I just think the bad punt. Yes. There There are
(05:57):
just a number of small things, a number that you know,
if you've taken away maybe one or two of those things,
this Steelers win the game. But just a bunch of
them added up on this game. And to me, to
my way of thinking, that's what cost us Doers a game.
A bunch of little things, not any one thing in
this game.
Speaker 3 (06:16):
No, there's no doubt. It wasn't any one thing other
than the final score.
Speaker 4 (06:21):
Right.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (06:22):
But the fact of the matter is the things that
got you to eight and two are still there and
still very correctible. There's no doubt in my mind you
didn't suddenly just become at eight and two. Now eight
and three, you don't become just a lousy team.
Speaker 4 (06:35):
You know.
Speaker 3 (06:35):
Now, the thing that you got to be careful about
is just as winning begets winning, so losing begets losing,
and you don't want to let that become infectious.
Speaker 4 (06:45):
Like.
Speaker 3 (06:45):
But the fact of the matter is it's very correctable.
And they get right back on the horse here. But
from the jump last night, you know, you know, you
had an idea of what this game was gonna be.
From the very first play, we got three blockers at
the point of attack whift I mean with their men
like I used to whiff in.
Speaker 4 (07:02):
T ball, you know, I mean one two three boom.
Speaker 3 (07:05):
I'm out right all right, one yard minus one yard
on that first play. But the second play, and that
was a Chuck Noles Staple tossed thirty two trap. You
got Isaac Suamalo pulling from the left guard, trapping over
the over the two hole or the a gap on
the front side. What a great job. And you got
what was it, Jaalen just Jalen Warren rips for fifteen
(07:25):
yards on that Yeah, zooks man, I mean that really
tells you a.
Speaker 4 (07:29):
Lot about what went on last night.
Speaker 3 (07:31):
Sometimes this sometimes that, and it wasn't like they could
find a steady rhythm throughout the game, just as the
snowstorm kicked up, just as you know, it relented at times.
So it seemed offensively and defensively we were pulsing, meaning
having bursts of activity positivity, and then it got a
lot of got a bunch of negative things happening.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
Yeah, and it was you know that first one. You know,
we were talking about Shelby Harrison, Dalvin Tomlinson before the game.
We're chatting about what those guys can do in the
middle and to you know, Thomlinson could get some push
and get to the passer, but mostly they're guys that
kind of clogged things up. And here's Shelby Harris. You know,
one guy misses, he jumps over another guy, another guys
(08:12):
first play in the game. You're like, what where did
that come from? Terrific play by Shelby Harris to start
that game, for sure for the Browns. But it felt
a little bit matt to me. And we can get
into some of the specifics, like you know, let's say
you're going to make, you know, a loaf of bread
or something, Well, you need some flour and you need
(08:32):
some sugar. You need some eggs, and you get all
the ingredients and you put them in, and you follow
the directions, and you put him in at three seventy five,
and you come out with a loaf of bread. It
was almost like you got the same ingredients, but when
you pulled it out, it was something that was pulled
it out of the oven. It was something inedible, like
the ingredients were there for a win for the Steelers,
but somehow something you know, got lost in the process
(08:54):
and they wound up losing the game.
Speaker 5 (08:55):
Yeah, and you know, even late in the game, the
Austin and touchdown catch, the interception Winston threw right, I
was starting to gain a lot of confidence that the
more talented team was starting to come to the top.
And I was a little bit astonished actually that that
was the first turnover worthy play Winston had and that
(09:16):
was the last one too, I mean, and then I
thought he was the better playmaker of the two quarterbacks.
And one thing I want to bring up too, is
you mentioned, you know, the last question you asked me.
You named all these Steelers stats, and you know said,
if we knew that before the game, that'd be like
a twenty four to three win, right, And I wanted
to double check it. But what if I told you
before the game that the Steelers would have one tackle
(09:38):
for loss and the Browns would have eleven?
Speaker 2 (09:40):
Yeah, you know, you know for sure, I mean for yeah,
you can't just piggyback the stats. It seldom is again,
seldom is there one reason a team wins or loses.
You know. I even go back and we were talking
about this again with one of the Steelers front office
guys that just chatting before the game. You know about
(10:02):
this Browns team, and it is it's a very very
different team from from the one that has been playing
all season long and and and you know, losing games
and even last week. You know, when you look back
at the loss to the Saints. You know, I was
(10:22):
watching that game yesterday morning, my final preps before I
hopped on the bus and came up to Cleveland, went
up to Cleveland, and I'm watching the game and I
know who won, of course, because the game was played.
And I'm watching the game and I'm like, man, I
think the Browns are going to win this thing. Yeah,
you know what I mean.
Speaker 5 (10:39):
They're putting up yards left and right. Yeah, they figured
out Yeah.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
They're getting momentum going, and it's a fourteen to fourteen game.
Momentum is in favor of the Browns, and the Staints
convert a third and thirteen in the fourth quarter, and
next thing, you know, they score three touchdowns. It was
really I look at that game, it was one play.
That one play turned the entire momentum of the game.
(11:08):
I just felt like last night felt like death by
a thousand cuts. There wasn't one play. There were a bunch,
Matt I thought of little plays that just you know,
at the end of it, you're confounded. You're shaking your
head thinking what just happened?
Speaker 5 (11:25):
Mm, yeah, one hundred percent. And again, I don't think
it's one thing. And you know, to the point of
all of a sudden, do we think the Steelers pass
rush isn't any good?
Speaker 4 (11:36):
No?
Speaker 5 (11:36):
I mean do we think TJ. Watt's not going to
make plays? Of course not. I mean, these guys are
great players. They'll get it back. But you're right, there
were maybe more than paper cuts though. I mean, it
was tackle for loss, it was bad punt, it was
miss field goal, it was failed fourth down conversion. You know,
they were a little bit deeper than paper cuts.
Speaker 2 (11:58):
You know, Yeah, you know, I get your point. I
do it just I guess the point I was making
was I didn't see one absolute turning point in this game.
What I saw was a bunch of things that went wrong.
The other thing that and the point that Wolf made,
Matt that I think is bringing up, you know, is
worth bringing up again. If if we didn't point to
(12:21):
some of the things we're pointing to, the time of possession,
the good defense against the run, the fact that you
forced three turnovers in this game, all those things. You know. Now, Listen,
the Steelers have been on the bad side of that
against good teams in the past couple of years, in
which they won all the battles you're you're kind of
supposed to win as an underdog, and still lost the
(12:42):
game to elite teams. So that you know, I'm not
trying to paint a rosy picture here of oh, everything's fine.
But if if you got into Cleveland and Nick Chubb
had run for one hundred and thirty eight yards and
two touchdowns instead of twenty carries for fifty nine yards
and two touchdowns, If he's running up and down the
field and Winston is throwing for three hundred yards and
(13:04):
you know you're you're getting nothing going offensively, and you're
out gained, you're out time and possession, and you lose
the turnover battle. I might be shaking my head thinking,
uh oh, that's that's very troubling. I just look at
this as you know, sometimes you lose games. It as
far as the way the game was lost, it reminded
(13:25):
me a little bit of the Colts game, in which
you're like, wow, man, there a lot of stuff kind
of didn't go your way for you not to win
the game. Now, I'm not saying you can't make things
go your way. I'm not I'm not excusing what happened.
I'm just saying when you evaluate a game afterwards, it
wasn't like I felt like, man, we just got we
got out played badly by a two to eight football.
Speaker 5 (13:46):
Team, right, And it wasn't like like to your point,
It wasn't like we're getting here like oh, no, Steelers
run defense is horrible and that's gonna be unfixable, you know,
like the escaping whole problem. It was a myriad of
the myriad of things. I never say that word, right,
but like I remember getting together with you guys after
the Colts game, and we were talking about there were
ten or eleven pivot pivotab pivotal plays and them right
(14:10):
now late night, and eight of them went to Colts
away and three went to Steelers. And if it had
been in one more the other way, maybe it's a
different situation. And we've brought up time in possession a
couple times. I just wanted to harp on one thing
that because I think the beginning of the game, all
in all, kind of went the script. It just didn't
get converted that way. If you break the game into
(14:31):
thirds twenty minute sections. The first twenty minutes or so,
the Steelers held the ball for almost seventeen minutes, I
mean that, and this landing body blows with two yard
nausey runs. Thought that was going to pay off.
Speaker 3 (14:44):
At one point, as I understand, it was twenty two
plays to six.
Speaker 5 (14:48):
Yeah they were three and out, three and out, yeah
yeah right.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
But as we said in the air last night, Wolf,
it gave you an ominous feeling that you were so
badly outplaying the Browns, you know, down then you get
you give them great field position three and out you march.
And this is why field position matters, by the way, because.
Speaker 5 (15:06):
And the Browns ended up with much better starting field position.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
Right, So when you're when you have to march eighty yards,
do you tell any defensive quarterator, Okay, we'll take that
because something's gonna go wrong in there, something's gonna happen.
We'll make a play, they'll have a penalty, what have you.
So the Steelers are marching the ball, uh, you know,
up and down the field like Hannibal at Rome, you know,
marching up and down. But they're they're they're not winning
the battle. Sorry about that, obscure.
Speaker 5 (15:35):
Uh Uh, I'll take your word for it.
Speaker 4 (15:37):
That works.
Speaker 2 (15:40):
I don't know where that came from.
Speaker 3 (15:41):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (15:42):
The point is that it had wolf that we talked
about it, it had an ominous feel when you're out playing
the team that badly winning the battle of territory. Uh,
that lopsidedly and it's only three to nothing. That that
just didn't have a.
Speaker 4 (15:56):
Good feel exactly. So.
Speaker 3 (15:58):
And by the way, your thought that it was due
to lack of sleep, I'm sure that's something you know.
The fact of the matter is, yes, I've played in
games like that. I mean, it's it's it's a bad
feeling when you you know, you're dominating the team, but
there's something that's kind of sticking in your craw.
Speaker 4 (16:13):
You know.
Speaker 3 (16:13):
Back in I had a coach back in the day said,
I got I got something in my craw.
Speaker 4 (16:17):
I gotta get out. Well, what's a craw, you know
what I mean?
Speaker 3 (16:20):
And it's like a turkey thing or whatever, you know,
checking something hanging underneath there. You know, I guess, I
guess he's got something there. He's got to get out,
you know. But the fact of the matter is they
did not make the plays when they needed to make
the place. And that's what football basically is. You know,
it's all about winning your one eleventh, but it's not
just winning the one eleventh, it's the timely winning of
(16:42):
the one eleventh too, And that's something that I think,
you know, the Steelers didn't do last night. And like
you said, that that awful feeling, that pervasive feeling that
this is not going the way. There's something unsettling in
the way this is unfolding. But you had in my
mind that was rolling from about the middle the first
quarter orly towards the end of the first quarter on.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
Yeah, yeah, it was unsettling for sure. That's a good
word for it. Uh, you are listening to the point after.
Much more to come on this stee there's audio network.
Speaker 5 (17:13):
Back to the point after on dv E.
Speaker 2 (17:16):
Wilson gets a snap, Browns bringing five men throws over
the middle of the field, Calvin Austin touchdown. Pittsburgh Steelers
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(17:37):
C Matt Williams, and I was right with you when
they scored that touchdown. I thought, man, oh man. And
I brought this up on an earlier show with Wolf.
I thought, Wow, they're gonna win, and we're gonna remember
this game. You know, you let some big moments slip away,
but class showed in the end you were the better team.
You won the game. It was a snow globe out there.
They're shoveling off the field. That's old fashioned snowy foot.
(18:00):
We're gonna remember this win. Unfortunately, hopefully we're not remembering
this loss. But at that point I thought the Steelers
were gonna win the game.
Speaker 5 (18:08):
I really did too. I mean, my process is I'm
sitting there in my lazy boy, and I got a
word document. In every play, I just jot down a
little note or whatever, and pretty much right at that point,
I just where physically and mentally tough football team that
figured out a way when it wasn't their day, you know,
I mean, and I thought that they were starting to
take over and it was trending that way and didn't
(18:29):
end up being right. But it doesn't mean that they
aren't physically and mentally tough either, you know what I mean.
But and along those lines, there were two or three,
including that one where Wilson took a nasty shot after
delivering the football.
Speaker 2 (18:43):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, it was a good throw.
Speaker 3 (18:46):
And again, let me just jump and say this, everything
that the Steels have done to get dating to again
are still there.
Speaker 4 (18:53):
Yeah, yeah, it's these you know.
Speaker 3 (18:54):
I just kind of emphasized that because there's a lot
of people ie in high places maybe you know, don't
We don't want anybody jumping off anywhere. All right, All
we want to do look get back to it. You
got to refocus and reload.
Speaker 2 (19:07):
Right, So Matt, I, you know, obviously we're calling the games,
we're not watching it on TV. And I thought, I
just want to get this out of the way, because
I thought the officials ultimately got all three decisions right.
But twice the near judge along the sideline. Now again
(19:27):
for for anybody who missed the game and you're just
listening to the show, you could not see we were
guessing at what yard line the ball was on. I
was looking up at the stadium clock. They were guessing
where the ball was, you know, first down in the
thirty six, and I looked down in the field. I
look back up now, first down in the thirty one.
I'd looked back. Now, Hang on a second, it's the
thirty eight, you know, I mean it was just the field.
(19:49):
You couldn't tell where the ball was. Sure, So twice,
and I don't know if they said this on TV,
but twice the near judge down along the sidelines sideline
judge was waving for the flat moved the change. And
one of them was the fourth down play, one of
the fourth downs plays I believe in which is Steelers
got stuffed. And then on that play at the end
(20:11):
that took forever, that ultimately wound up in a third
and seven and the completion to Judy that that really
kind of sealed the game for the Browns, or was
the beginning of sealing the game for the Browns. They motioned,
they clearly motioned intentional grounding. I don't know if they
talked about that on the broadcast because I haven't seen it.
I think ultimately they probably got that call right. But
(20:34):
so I think that even though there was some confusion
among the officials, and confusion that may have cost you
some time, may have cost five or six valuable seconds
of you conferring on the sideline and making sure you
got the right personnel on the field. I don't know
if that was a factor, but I do think the
officials ultimately got all three calls correct.
Speaker 5 (20:56):
I do as well, And trust me, that third and seven,
fourth and two whole you know, grounding thing was confusing
for everyone watching and the poor broadcasters as well. But
then they brought in the official guy and I forget
who he was, and he laid it out pretty well,
and they did get it right because it wasn't grounding
(21:17):
because Winston was getting hit, I mean, so it was
illegal touching because he threw it to an offensive lineman
who basically tried to catch the ball. So I thought
they were correct on that it originally looked like grounding
to me, but when explained I totally understood. Now I
am not blaming the officials at all, but I think
officiating sort of became a secondary concern for the officials
(21:41):
when the snow was that heavy, because spotting the ball
was so hard, and just getting you know, the play's
run was so hard. Because I kind of felt like
when it got that crazy and you couldn't see all
of a sudden you could hold left and right or
was that guy in bounds or not? Like the Browns
were a couple out routes where late in the game
(22:02):
and I'm like, was he in bounds or not? We
don't even care anymore, Like.
Speaker 2 (22:07):
Yeah, right, you know, And there's a reason that the
NFL rule book has gone from a pamphlet to something
that looks like a New York City phone book. And
it's because, you know, for a variety of reasons. But
one of the things you're trying to do is legislate out,
you know, opinion and and just try to Okay, we're
(22:30):
observing what we're observing. My opinion is that and if
given truth Sarum, I suspect that jameis Winston would say,
I absolutely just threw that ball. Ah right, My intention
was to intentionally ground the football and try to avoid
a sack. I think that's I understand that. You can't
(22:54):
you know, you can't opine about that if you're if
you're an official. And again, I don't know what the
explanation was because we were on the radio, but you know,
I I think by the letter of the law, they
got the call correct. I think the intention of Jameis
Winston was just to throw it away and hope you
didn't get called for intentional grounding. I didn't see any
(23:14):
receiver in the area. And you can't. You can't. You
can't say, well he was that's you know, you say,
well he wasn't trying to throw it there necessarily. We
don't know, but it wasn't out of the tackle box.
I don't know. I again, I think they got the
call right, but I would have been I'd have loved
to have heard a further explanation on that.
Speaker 5 (23:32):
I think he nailed it. I mean, his intentions were
to intentionally ground the ball, right, There's no doubt about it.
Speaker 2 (23:39):
Right now, that having been said, you know, you had
you had opportunities to make stops and you didn't make
a stop, and Winston made some throws and he needed to.
Speaker 5 (23:50):
Make and that won the judy. I mean, if he
doesn't put just that much more arc over it phenomenal.
It gets tipped, you know, like it was.
Speaker 2 (23:58):
That was the throw of the game.
Speaker 5 (23:58):
Yeah, it really was.
Speaker 2 (23:59):
It was right across his body on the last drive.
That was the degree of difficulty there is extremely high
Jameis Winston has.
Speaker 5 (24:10):
He's never played in the low right, you never played
game yeaheah.
Speaker 4 (24:14):
It's crazy.
Speaker 3 (24:14):
And you're talking about the wind currents too, right, right,
that's ridiculous.
Speaker 2 (24:17):
So when you talk about like if you put Jameis
Winston out there and you know, uh, put a target's
thirty five forty yards down, few of them told him
to throw it on a line. He could throw it
as well as anybody. He's just got a gun. But
on the move has never been you know, his real
strong suit. And so you're talking about a guy moving
(24:40):
to his right having to throw a little bit back
across his body and it's not a lofted ball, which
is you know, requires some touch, and it wasn't a
fired ball. It was that I think that in between beautiful.
It's the hardest throw to make, and it was just
that that was a great throw one iron. I mean,
(25:00):
you can't. You have to give him, you have to
give him credit. That was a heck of a throat.
Speaker 3 (25:04):
Well, there's no doubt about it, you know. I mean,
he came through and delivered the mail when he needed to,
and he did did so in a way in a
fashion that led to positive results and ultimately a victory.
You know, So that that's one of those things that
you you know, is the great heinz Ward would say,
you got to take your cap off and hand it
to him.
Speaker 2 (25:22):
Yeah, you know.
Speaker 5 (25:22):
And his scramble for the touchdown too, I mean that's
not his game.
Speaker 2 (25:25):
Yeah, exactly, exactly right, Yeah, you know, And I will
say this, that was the one that was one time.
There are a couple times that the pocket collapsed on
him and I thought he made you know, he made
some good decisions, he made some good plays. But by
and large, wolf I was surprised that the Steelers did
(25:46):
not get more pressure on Winston, that they weren't able
to sack them. I mean, this is four point six
sacks per game. This is the worst pass protecting team
in the league. This is a quarterback that likes to
hang onto the ball because he's a gun slinger, and
he wants to throw it deep and he wants to
press the ball down the field old school style. I
(26:07):
just thought the Steels pass rusher would get home. And
I think that, you know, we're not pointing at one
thing or one but that if I'm pointing at one
thing that surprised me in this game, it was that
that the Steelers were unable to get pressure on him
and unable to sack them.
Speaker 4 (26:21):
Well, there's no question about it. I mean, think about it. TJ.
Speaker 3 (26:23):
Watt is the most sacks against one team, seventeen sacks.
You've got on the other side, you got Nick Herbig
who's been making some big plays. I was watching tape
of Jermaine and Fetti all week long. The guy that
was going to, you know, wind up there for Dwan
Jones at left tackle and the guy I thought was
made the order for Nick Herbig. I mean, this guy
(26:43):
doesn't punch, he reaches, he doesn't move his feet. After
he reaches, it becomes a statue which gives away the
corner in the edge. And I thought Nick was in
and Nick made some plays, you know, to his cradle.
Speaker 5 (26:54):
Wasn't Nick Yeah, yeah, he was definitely their best PA.
Speaker 4 (26:57):
Yeah, you know, there's no doubt about it.
Speaker 3 (26:59):
But the fact you just didn't get there with what
you normally get there with, and you've got a Browns
line that the Browns line has been strong for a
number of years, Matt, you know this, yeah right, I
mean that's one of the best hat on hat lines
that you know, we've seen in the years past, but it
wasn't this year. No, this is not the same line
that we've seen paving the way for Nick Chubb and
(27:21):
doing all the things you know in pass protection. That
this is a line that had some issues, some problems,
and the Steelers simply did not take advantage of it
or weren't able to take advantage of it.
Speaker 5 (27:32):
And Rob I did the pre pregame show with Tim
Benz and we were talking about sacks and I'm like,
I think a half dozen is in the bag, you know,
like they're gonna get a ton of sacks against these guys.
And obviously the snow was a factor late in the game,
but the fact that they didn't generate a lot of
pass rush was concerning to me. And sometimes in these
(27:53):
during these this season, and this has happened in previous
years too. You can just be like, well, the ball
came out in two point five because they couldn't get
there in time. Well not really last night.
Speaker 2 (28:03):
No, nope, And I agree, And I do wonder, you know, Matt,
going back to something you were talking about earlier. You know,
this is like when I think about statistics, I don't
really worry about them through the first quarter of the season.
A lot of it is who you're playing. You know,
teams start out hot. You know, maybe they've got a
(28:24):
soft schedule early on, so this team leads in rushing,
that team leads in sacks. You get to that midpoint
of the season and I think that there are you know,
the the statistics become more and more valuable, but just
because there's more information and it's leveled out. And if
you had an easy schedule early, you probably ran into
some tougher games in the middle of your schedule. So
for those reasons, I don't normally look at it too much.
(28:45):
And I say that as a preface to what I'm
about to ask you, which is that can we think
about that with the Cleveland Browns? I mean, yeah, some
of the sacks are still happening with Jameis Winston. But
with Winston at quarterback, they're a different team, perhaps and
with Chubb running back than they were with this Shaun
Watson at quarterback. You know, I think that Winston threw
(29:07):
for more yards last night in the snow than Watson
had in any game this year before he got hurt.
I mean, it's not even close.
Speaker 5 (29:14):
It's night and day, it's not. I mean, when Watson
was the quarterback, and he's easy to pick on and
he deserves every bit of it, they were the worst
offense in the league and it wasn't even close. I mean,
getting a first down was a chore for that team,
and a great weight was lifted off that offense when
he got injured. Just to be honest, And Winston is
(29:36):
loved in that locker room, and you can see why.
His style, play, his characters, interviews, all those things, and
he's aggressive and he's got a lot to prove. And
I made the mistake of really not judging that team
from the second he became the starter and thinking that
it was the same group that was for the whole season,
because they're gonna win more games and they're gonna beat
(29:58):
some good teams with Winston.
Speaker 2 (30:00):
Right, and and this is without Zadarius Smith, you know,
so they're they're they're missing the guy opposite of Miles
Garrett that helped relieve.
Speaker 5 (30:08):
Some of the pressure off of Amari Cooper.
Speaker 2 (30:11):
And Amari Cooper right, they just they traded two elite
players or you know, certainly upper echelon players maybe yeah,
high end starters. And they traded two of those guys.
Speaker 4 (30:21):
You don't have a wash either, you know, right, the best.
Speaker 2 (30:25):
Linebacker yep, And he might be back possibly when these
two teams play again. I think you would be eligible.
I don't know the status of his injury. But Wolf,
you know, as you look at the schedule at large,
and you know what we expect and what our expectations
are out of the team, you know, and it's it's
so funny. We we we talk about the schedule game
(30:47):
and then you know, you can take your lofty position
as something, wow, we have to wait till the season unfolds.
But then you get that pencil out, You're like, Okay,
what are they gonna do? Who are they gonna be here?
You know, it's fun, it's part of the fun. Well,
you know, coming out of the box, I noboddy would
have thought the Commanders at the beginning of the season,
No way are they going to be in first place
in the NFC East when you play them, Well guess
(31:08):
what they were. And then you look at the Browns
and you think, okay, two and eight team, Well, I
think we're all agreen. This is a little bit better
than a two and eight team. And now you look
at having to play them again, and the Bengals coming
up in another game, of the Ravens and the Chiefs,
the Eagles, and you know, this is the Steelers after
their work cutout for them. We knew they would after
(31:29):
the bye, but you know, I think that we can
maybe add the Browns to part of that work cutout
for You.
Speaker 3 (31:35):
Think there's no question about them, then they've wratcheted up
their defeatability capability, you know what I mean, those guys
they're much harder out than they were prior to last night.
You know, to me, it's an attitude adjustment time, you know,
so it's time to grind. You've got to forget the
five game win streak and reload.
Speaker 4 (31:54):
You know.
Speaker 3 (31:54):
The thing about it is, and I shared this earlier
on another show. You know, my dad used to tell
this story. He said, you know, there was a farmer
we had a mule. He said he had to, you know,
get out and get that mule going. Well, you know,
the mule was a little bit cranky and stuff. So
he took out a two by four and whacked them
one and I I said to my dad, why would
he do that? You know, he goes he got to
get his attention first. This was an attention get her
(32:17):
If you ask me, this is going to take everybody
on that team and make you sit up and go.
Speaker 4 (32:22):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (32:22):
Now we understand this is not the easier out that
it appeared to be. It's going to be a harder
out in a couple of weeks. But the fact of
the matter is this is the gauntlet coming down upon
you. You gotta get ready, you gotta reload, and you got
to be prepared.
Speaker 4 (32:36):
Rob real quick.
Speaker 5 (32:37):
One thing I like to do after a game, especially
a Steeler's loss, is pretend that the three of us
work for the Browns or the opponent and look through
it through their eyes and you could say, yeah, Nick
Chubb didn't have a lot of yards, but he got
them when we needed him. You know, like right, they
didn't have a lot of weaknesses either. You know, if
you look at this game, you know, we kept saying
(32:57):
it'd be easier to explain it if the Steelers run
the horrible or they couldn't block a soul, or they
didn't you know what, had one gaping hole. I think
the Browns can say that too. They did everything pretty well.
Speaker 2 (33:08):
Right, well, listen, think about it, twenty four if if
we're talking about a twenty four to nineteen Steelers victory
and they lost a turnover battle three to one, we'd
be thinking, well, how many points could they have won
by if they hadn't lost a turnover battle?
Speaker 4 (33:21):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (33:21):
Are they thinking that in Cleveland? Are they walking off
your field? You know, I'm looking at this and saying
the better team lost. But are they saying, hey, what
would we have won by if we hadn't thrown an
interception in the end zone, you know, or or had
turnovers that not in the end zone, I guess, but
turnovers you know, deep in the in Steelers territory. You know,
what would the score have been? Then? So you're right,
(33:42):
that's a good that's a good act.
Speaker 5 (33:43):
By more, what's that we should have won this by
more exactly exactly.
Speaker 2 (33:47):
That's probably what they're thinking in Cleveland. He's got Matt Williamson.
That's Matt Williamson. We have Craig Wilfa ron king and
you're listening to the point after on the Steelers Audio Network.
Speaker 4 (33:59):
Back to the point after on DV play action.
Speaker 2 (34:03):
Tasket from the balls loose and it is pounced upon
by the Steelers. It is Herbing who came up with
a hit from the backside and the Steelers have recovered it. Yeah,
that is the That is a great play by the Steelers.
The Sack Hunger segment is brought to you by the
Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank at food Volunteer donate at
(34:24):
Pittsburgh food Bank dot org. We would have thought there
was gonna be more sacks, but that's a big play
by herbig there and Matt Williamson. As we take a
look at some of the positives here, I think defensively, now,
Dante Jackson has matched his career high going back to
his rookie season in twenty eighteen, with four interceptions. Deshaun
Elliott forced to fumble that Jackson recovered earlier in the game.
(34:50):
You know he continues to be a force defensively for
the students. But I thought both those guys had strong games,
and we're talking about, Hey, you win this game and
we might be looking at one of these guys being
defensive Player of the week.
Speaker 4 (35:04):
Yeah, I thought.
Speaker 5 (35:05):
I definitely think there's positives to take out of this
game and individual performances that are worth noting. Those two
are at the top of the list for me. I
think you're absolutely getting what you paid for out of
Patrick Queen at this point too. I mean that he's
become a stalwart, standout linebacker. It blows me away that
this team seems to bat down multiple passes every week.
(35:28):
I mean, they're so good at it collectively at the
line of scrimmage, getting their hands up disturbing lanes. And
then I really liked what they did with Friarmouth. I'd
like to see more of that. Some of the inbreaking
route stuff I thought was there, you know, from top
to bottom. And Jayalen Warren has been one of my
favorite backs in the league the last couple of years,
and he looks like that guy to me too. So
there were some guys that played really, really well that
(35:49):
you can keep you know, building.
Speaker 2 (35:51):
On Well, let's talk a little bit about Patrick Queen,
because again, sometimes it takes a little bit of time.
Not that Patrick Queen was a liability in the first
couple of weeks, but he wasn't probably fully comfortable with
the team. I think he's become more and more of
a factor as the season is carried on, which I
(36:12):
think is extremely predictable for a player coming to a
new team.
Speaker 5 (36:16):
They put a lot on his plate.
Speaker 2 (36:17):
Yeah they do, and yeah, I thought it was gonna
be really interesting. We were talking about this in the offseason, Well, like,
how are you going to utilize him? Because he does
so many things so well, you know this, Yethers are
very low on blitz percentage. Well, if Patrick Queen was blitzing,
is there anything that would stop him from getting five
sacks a year as a blitzer? I don't think there
would be, because he's he proved with the Ravens and
(36:38):
he can get to the quarterback if they blitz him.
Of course, you know, they always brought the different exotic
blitzer into different other things. But when you can when
you can drop him back and he can play all
three downs, and then he can at an elite level
cover tight ends and running backs, and you can rush
for I don't think there's a defensive coordinator in the
league that wouldn't say we can. You'd rush four and
(37:00):
drop seven and feel comfortable that we're gonna get pressure
and then we're gonna have coverage on the back end.
And you have to have, you know, a unique player
like Patrick Queen to be able to make that happen.
Speaker 3 (37:11):
Well, there's no doubt because he's buts capable, he's run
stopping capable, he's past coverage capable. Those three elements right there,
and the fact that he's the green dot guy brings
leadership a solid respect to the middle of that defense,
something that's been you know, a problem and over the
last couple of years because of injuries. Now you've brought
in a number of guys that what we talked about,
(37:33):
Deshaun Elliott, Pat Queen, you know, you got Action Jackson,
you know, Landon Roberts, all these guys, and you know,
I started off last night the telecast talking about the
fact that you know, there is that saying if you
if you get enough dogs in your locker room, even
the cats start barking.
Speaker 4 (37:52):
Well, the problem was.
Speaker 3 (37:53):
Yeah, you know, the point is you've got to have
those people step up. You know, the leaders are out
there leading and you've got to step up. And the
big guys, well, some of them didn't show to the
best of their abilities last night, and that could be
a function of simply, you know, three days rest and
you're you're beat up a little bit and you just
weren't able to get it going like you normally do.
(38:15):
But that doesn't just because it happened doesn't mean it's
going to be this way again. Everything that got you
to eight and two is still reachable, it's still there,
and it's still correctable. Those things got to be remembered
and you can't get into some full full type of
panic and start changing things all over the place. Change
for the sake of change is no change at all.
(38:38):
And eight and three is not shabby either.
Speaker 2 (38:40):
Nor Andre is all right, you know, I think rightly. So.
People were excited with the signing of Patrick Queen and
the speed he brings to that team. But you know,
I remember, Matt, we were talking about this this summer.
I was really excited about the signing of Deshaun Elliott
because I always thought he was really just a the
(39:00):
good football player he's even you know, seeing him game
in a game out and not just a couple of
times a year playing for the Ravens. Uh, he's even
better than I thought. I just think he's an excellent player.
And then you get Dante Jackson, you know who's now
you know, on the opposite side of Joey Porter Junior
and again excelling at that role, and both those guys
(39:24):
adding speed and you know you talk about, you know,
an attitude that Deshaun Elliott brings. I think he brings
an attitude, you know, Dante Jackson in his own way
with his confidence and his coverage skills. I just think
that you know, all three of those guys, and then
you know you're throwing Peyton Wilson too. But the speed
that those three acquisitions in the offseason, and the attitude
(39:45):
and the nastiness, the positive attributes they bring to that defense,
I just I think they have been tremendous.
Speaker 5 (39:55):
Additions hundred percent. I mean, I think this organization's in
really good hands with his front office, I mean, it
was a clear priority to get faster in the back seven,
and that has absolutely been accomplished. And with all respect
to Levi Wallace and Patrick Peterson and the thousand safeties
and linebackers they played with last year. This group is
(40:15):
just way better testers. I mean even just that, and
way better football players.
Speaker 2 (40:20):
Yep, and real quick wolf. To Matt's point about Jalen Warren,
you know, this is a guy they missed early on
with the health issues, and now we see him contributing
again and again and again. You know, three catches for
nineteen yards, eleven for forty five rushing at four point
one yards per carry. The team average only three and
(40:42):
a half yards per carry, So once again he is
stepping up and becoming a big time factor. You know,
people talked about it the trade deadline, who you're gonna
get and you know, questions about how you're gonna utilize
Mike Williams. Well, getting jail and Warren back up to
one hundred percent is adding a playmaker to this offense.
Speaker 3 (40:59):
There's no question about it. I mean, you look at
that guy and what is great notice he's a mutter.
I mean, he's one of those guys. There are guys
that just seem to be able to operate on a
slippery field better than other guys, and he's just one
of those guys. He seems to understand about acceleration and
deceleration and how to best maintain your your grips out there. Well,
(41:20):
he just simply does it in some some way. I
don't know how those guys, I don't know. I mean
it's do you grow up on a muddy field or what.
But he operates there very very well. And he's also
very capable in the screen games and the checkdowns. Those
things are big plays. When he gets out in the
flat and is able to get one on one with
a lot of room. He's a lot of fun to
(41:41):
watch because he does a lot of damage and he's
one of those guys that you want to emphasize moving forward,
no question about that at all.
Speaker 2 (41:49):
And low square of.
Speaker 5 (41:50):
Gravity and great balance. Yeah, and that play that he
almost got the first down where he was able to
stay up and stay up and stay up.
Speaker 2 (41:58):
Oh right, yeah, that was Yeah. I don't know how
many guys can do that. That's a three yard gain
for most people, and he turned it into a seven
yard gain. That was incredible. Real quick. You know, you
talk about Matt, you know, preparing for a short week.
Now they're preparing for a long week and it's you know,
ten days Thanksgiving in between and a Bengals team. Listen, man,
(42:19):
I've said this in the past. They scare me because
I know that they can score points on anybody. Another
big challenge coming up following the following this Thursday night game.
Not a bye but almost like a almost like a
by ten days now between now and the Bengals.
Speaker 5 (42:34):
Yeah, and the Bengals are on a bye to get
some things you know, ironed out from their end of things.
Burrow's playing at an MVP level, the best he's ever
played when he has chasing Higgins, which you will. They're
unbelievably dangerous and big picture, I think we're all pretty
certain the Steelers are gonna end up in the postseason.
I would love to keep Burrow out of the postseason,
(42:54):
all right.
Speaker 2 (42:55):
So yes, hey, Wolf, you and I gotta call the
high school football tomorrow, my friend.
Speaker 4 (43:02):
Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (43:03):
I just wonder if they have any tacos or burritos
in the cafetery, because you know that's always go down good.
Speaker 2 (43:09):
Just wondering, just nothing like that that ten thirty am
taco to get you ready for you know what, football
player against Fort Cherry, our game, the first of four
starting tomorrow at WPIL Championships, four of those taking place
tomorrow at Akroshuer Stadium. Gear up with the latest game
day necessities at the official Steaders Pro shops. Get the
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(43:33):
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online at shop dot Steelers dot com. For Craig Wolfley
and Matt Williams and I'm Rob King, we thank you
for listening to the point after on the Steelers Audio
Network
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(00:21):
And now here are your hosts. Rob King, Craig Wolfley
and Matt Williamson.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Come in to you following the Steelers twenty four to
nineteen loss in Cleveland on Thursday night, a loss that
drops to Steelers to eight and three in the season,
still in first place in the AFC North, but a
painful loss. Nonetheless, our first reaction is brought to you
by First National Bank. Let's get started, member FDIC wolf
It wasn't too long ago that we were in that
(00:47):
press box in Cleveland, and now, unfortunately, reliving a painful
loss again on Thursday night at Cleveland seems to be
a bad combination for the Steelers as they go down
to defeat twenty four to nineteen.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
And I said that I've just done this for a
long time, having some rough nights. Driving back from you know,
somebody asked me, he said, what was the conversation like
on the bus, the team bus going back? I said,
just wait a minute, that was that was, you know,
and you understand because of the frustration. You take a
(01:21):
look at some of the metrics. Things pointed, a lot
of them pointed all the way back for Pittsburgh, including
time of possession over ten minutes on a game like
that with such poor field conditions, seeing conditions with the
snow and everything. So to me, it really it's amazing
you made. You made a bunch of plays, but you
didn't make d plays that you needed to make when
(01:43):
you needed to make them.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
You know, Matt earlier talking with Wolf in the locker room,
you know, he brought up some statistics and I'll bring
some of those up to you now. Time and possession
Steelers thirty five oh two, Browns twenty four fifty eight
turnover marchin students win that three to one. They hold
the Browns to three point one yards per carry eighty
(02:07):
five yards. They hold Winston with an interception to a
seventy six rating. If you tell me, those are the numbers.
As I'm, you know, getting ready to broadcast the game
last night with Wolf and Max and Missy, I'm and
I'm guessing a score twenty four to three something like that.
Speaker 4 (02:26):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (02:26):
Right, that's that's the recipe. I mean, that's what you're
looking for, right.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (02:31):
So let's get this out of the way, because I
don't know if I've said it on these airwaves, but
I believe to my core that missed field goals and
blown forth down opportunities are turnovers. They absolutely are. And
we can get into deep why, but that's a longer conversation.
We only have an hour. Take my word for it.
Everyone in the NFL sees it that way. If you
(02:52):
miss a field goal, you're handing the ball to the
other team, often in the middle of the field, and
a sixteen yard punt might as well be a turnover too. Really,
isn't much different than fumbling the ball or taking a
sack to play before. So you go to that environment,
turn the ball over four times. Plus that terrible punt,
which was you know, I mean he had one punt
and he blew it.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
Me.
Speaker 4 (03:12):
He's been really good.
Speaker 5 (03:13):
This year might have been the biggest play of the game,
but there was a ton of them. You're not gonna
win that many. And frankly, I feel like I sold
the brown short because if it's almost like when Wilson
took over for Fields, but much much more drastic. I mean,
the Winston led Browns are not one of the worst
teams in the league. The twenty twenty four Browns are
(03:34):
one of the worst teams in the league. But they're
two and two now with Winston, with two division wins
over the best two teams in Division, the Steelers and Ravens.
And I thought their defense played well. They have weapons,
they protected way better than I expected. And the thing
I said all last week Rob was if the Steelers
lose this game, it's gonna be turnovers and those type
(03:56):
of things. And frankly, this is the first game I
can remember they lost in the spec teams portion, Miles
Garrett or Miles Garrett's going to be a dominant player
that you can't deal with, or you get the best
version of Winston that's really hot and hitting all his targets,
and all three of those things happened.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
Yeah, he made he made some incredible throws. He's played
really well, he's got really really good talent. Like if
you looked at these quarterback ratings and you know Russ
is at won sixteen point seven and Winston is at
seventy six, you know, I think Russell Wilson played a
solid game for the Steelers. I thought Winston played a
better game than that rating would suggest. He made some
(04:36):
really good throws. There's a lot of meat on this
bone to talk about. Wolf. When you talk about a
loss for the Steelers, you know, a lot of people
are pointing to, you know, the clock management at the
end of the first half. Could you have called the
time out instead of having forty seconds and a time
(04:57):
out at your disposal at the end of the half,
maybe you have a minute five and no timeouts so
that it made a difference. Would you have been able
to come down and kick a field goal? That might
have proved to be a big difference because at the
end of the game, maybe you're only looking for a
field goal from from Boswell. To not win the game
probably would have been to tie the game at that
point because the Browns probably would have gone for one
and not two at the end of the game. Regardless,
(05:20):
I just looked at this game Wolf and thought, okay, well,
can you question that sure? Can you question the calls
on fourth down? Yes? Can you call can you question
the execution on fourth down?
Speaker 4 (05:32):
Yes?
Speaker 2 (05:33):
Can you talk about some pre snap penalties that put
you in bad positions in a day in which it
was very difficult to overcome those because of the weather conditions? Yes.
Can you point to the lack of sacks by the
team against a team that had given up four point
six sacks per game, the worst in the NFL. Yes,
I just think the bad punt. Yes. There There are
(05:57):
just a number of small things, a number that you know,
if you've taken away maybe one or two of those things,
this Steelers win the game. But just a bunch of
them added up on this game. And to me, to
my way of thinking, that's what cost us Doers a game.
A bunch of little things, not any one thing in
this game.
Speaker 3 (06:16):
No, there's no doubt. It wasn't any one thing other
than the final score.
Speaker 4 (06:21):
Right.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (06:22):
But the fact of the matter is the things that
got you to eight and two are still there and
still very correctible. There's no doubt in my mind you
didn't suddenly just become at eight and two. Now eight
and three, you don't become just a lousy team.
Speaker 4 (06:35):
You know.
Speaker 3 (06:35):
Now, the thing that you got to be careful about
is just as winning begets winning, so losing begets losing,
and you don't want to let that become infectious.
Speaker 4 (06:45):
Like.
Speaker 3 (06:45):
But the fact of the matter is it's very correctable.
And they get right back on the horse here. But
from the jump last night, you know, you know, you
had an idea of what this game was gonna be.
From the very first play, we got three blockers at
the point of attack whift I mean with their men
like I used to whiff in.
Speaker 4 (07:02):
T ball, you know, I mean one two three boom.
Speaker 3 (07:05):
I'm out right all right, one yard minus one yard
on that first play. But the second play, and that
was a Chuck Noles Staple tossed thirty two trap. You
got Isaac Suamalo pulling from the left guard, trapping over
the over the two hole or the a gap on
the front side. What a great job. And you got
what was it, Jaalen just Jalen Warren rips for fifteen
(07:25):
yards on that Yeah, zooks man, I mean that really
tells you a.
Speaker 4 (07:29):
Lot about what went on last night.
Speaker 3 (07:31):
Sometimes this sometimes that, and it wasn't like they could
find a steady rhythm throughout the game, just as the
snowstorm kicked up, just as you know, it relented at times.
So it seemed offensively and defensively we were pulsing, meaning
having bursts of activity positivity, and then it got a
lot of got a bunch of negative things happening.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
Yeah, and it was you know that first one. You know,
we were talking about Shelby Harrison, Dalvin Tomlinson before the game.
We're chatting about what those guys can do in the
middle and to you know, Thomlinson could get some push
and get to the passer, but mostly they're guys that
kind of clogged things up. And here's Shelby Harris. You know,
one guy misses, he jumps over another guy, another guys
(08:12):
first play in the game. You're like, what where did
that come from? Terrific play by Shelby Harris to start
that game, for sure for the Browns. But it felt
a little bit matt to me. And we can get
into some of the specifics, like you know, let's say
you're going to make, you know, a loaf of bread
or something, Well, you need some flour and you need
(08:32):
some sugar. You need some eggs, and you get all
the ingredients and you put them in, and you follow
the directions, and you put him in at three seventy five,
and you come out with a loaf of bread. It
was almost like you got the same ingredients, but when
you pulled it out, it was something that was pulled
it out of the oven. It was something inedible, like
the ingredients were there for a win for the Steelers,
but somehow something you know, got lost in the process
(08:54):
and they wound up losing the game.
Speaker 5 (08:55):
Yeah, and you know, even late in the game, the
Austin and touchdown catch, the interception Winston threw right, I
was starting to gain a lot of confidence that the
more talented team was starting to come to the top.
And I was a little bit astonished actually that that
was the first turnover worthy play Winston had and that
(09:16):
was the last one too, I mean, and then I
thought he was the better playmaker of the two quarterbacks.
And one thing I want to bring up too, is
you mentioned, you know, the last question you asked me.
You named all these Steelers stats, and you know said,
if we knew that before the game, that'd be like
a twenty four to three win, right, And I wanted
to double check it. But what if I told you
before the game that the Steelers would have one tackle
(09:38):
for loss and the Browns would have eleven?
Speaker 2 (09:40):
Yeah, you know, you know for sure, I mean for yeah,
you can't just piggyback the stats. It seldom is again,
seldom is there one reason a team wins or loses.
You know. I even go back and we were talking
about this again with one of the Steelers front office
guys that just chatting before the game. You know about
(10:02):
this Browns team, and it is it's a very very
different team from from the one that has been playing
all season long and and and you know, losing games
and even last week. You know, when you look back
at the loss to the Saints. You know, I was
(10:22):
watching that game yesterday morning, my final preps before I
hopped on the bus and came up to Cleveland, went
up to Cleveland, and I'm watching the game and I
know who won, of course, because the game was played.
And I'm watching the game and I'm like, man, I
think the Browns are going to win this thing. Yeah,
you know what I mean.
Speaker 5 (10:39):
They're putting up yards left and right. Yeah, they figured
out Yeah.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
They're getting momentum going, and it's a fourteen to fourteen game.
Momentum is in favor of the Browns, and the Staints
convert a third and thirteen in the fourth quarter, and
next thing, you know, they score three touchdowns. It was
really I look at that game, it was one play.
That one play turned the entire momentum of the game.
(11:08):
I just felt like last night felt like death by
a thousand cuts. There wasn't one play. There were a bunch,
Matt I thought of little plays that just you know,
at the end of it, you're confounded. You're shaking your
head thinking what just happened?
Speaker 5 (11:25):
Mm, yeah, one hundred percent. And again, I don't think
it's one thing. And you know, to the point of
all of a sudden, do we think the Steelers pass
rush isn't any good?
Speaker 4 (11:36):
No?
Speaker 5 (11:36):
I mean do we think TJ. Watt's not going to
make plays? Of course not. I mean, these guys are
great players. They'll get it back. But you're right, there
were maybe more than paper cuts though. I mean, it
was tackle for loss, it was bad punt, it was
miss field goal, it was failed fourth down conversion. You know,
they were a little bit deeper than paper cuts.
Speaker 2 (11:58):
You know, Yeah, you know, I get your point. I
do it just I guess the point I was making
was I didn't see one absolute turning point in this game.
What I saw was a bunch of things that went wrong.
The other thing that and the point that Wolf made,
Matt that I think is bringing up, you know, is
worth bringing up again. If if we didn't point to
(12:21):
some of the things we're pointing to, the time of possession,
the good defense against the run, the fact that you
forced three turnovers in this game, all those things. You know. Now, Listen,
the Steelers have been on the bad side of that
against good teams in the past couple of years, in
which they won all the battles you're you're kind of
supposed to win as an underdog, and still lost the
(12:42):
game to elite teams. So that you know, I'm not
trying to paint a rosy picture here of oh, everything's fine.
But if if you got into Cleveland and Nick Chubb
had run for one hundred and thirty eight yards and
two touchdowns instead of twenty carries for fifty nine yards
and two touchdowns, If he's running up and down the
field and Winston is throwing for three hundred yards and
(13:04):
you know you're you're getting nothing going offensively, and you're
out gained, you're out time and possession, and you lose
the turnover battle. I might be shaking my head thinking,
uh oh, that's that's very troubling. I just look at
this as you know, sometimes you lose games. It as
far as the way the game was lost, it reminded
(13:25):
me a little bit of the Colts game, in which
you're like, wow, man, there a lot of stuff kind
of didn't go your way for you not to win
the game. Now, I'm not saying you can't make things
go your way. I'm not I'm not excusing what happened.
I'm just saying when you evaluate a game afterwards, it
wasn't like I felt like, man, we just got we
got out played badly by a two to eight football.
Speaker 5 (13:46):
Team, right, And it wasn't like like to your point,
It wasn't like we're getting here like oh, no, Steelers
run defense is horrible and that's gonna be unfixable, you know,
like the escaping whole problem. It was a myriad of
the myriad of things. I never say that word, right,
but like I remember getting together with you guys after
the Colts game, and we were talking about there were
ten or eleven pivot pivotab pivotal plays and them right
(14:10):
now late night, and eight of them went to Colts
away and three went to Steelers. And if it had
been in one more the other way, maybe it's a
different situation. And we've brought up time in possession a
couple times. I just wanted to harp on one thing
that because I think the beginning of the game, all
in all, kind of went the script. It just didn't
get converted that way. If you break the game into
(14:31):
thirds twenty minute sections. The first twenty minutes or so,
the Steelers held the ball for almost seventeen minutes, I
mean that, and this landing body blows with two yard
nausey runs. Thought that was going to pay off.
Speaker 3 (14:44):
At one point, as I understand, it was twenty two
plays to six.
Speaker 5 (14:48):
Yeah they were three and out, three and out, yeah
yeah right.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
But as we said in the air last night, Wolf,
it gave you an ominous feeling that you were so
badly outplaying the Browns, you know, down then you get
you give them great field position three and out you march.
And this is why field position matters, by the way, because.
Speaker 5 (15:06):
And the Browns ended up with much better starting field position.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
Right, So when you're when you have to march eighty yards,
do you tell any defensive quarterator, Okay, we'll take that
because something's gonna go wrong in there, something's gonna happen.
We'll make a play, they'll have a penalty, what have you.
So the Steelers are marching the ball, uh, you know,
up and down the field like Hannibal at Rome, you know,
marching up and down. But they're they're they're not winning
the battle. Sorry about that, obscure.
Speaker 5 (15:35):
Uh Uh, I'll take your word for it.
Speaker 4 (15:37):
That works.
Speaker 2 (15:40):
I don't know where that came from.
Speaker 3 (15:41):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (15:42):
The point is that it had wolf that we talked
about it, it had an ominous feel when you're out playing
the team that badly winning the battle of territory. Uh,
that lopsidedly and it's only three to nothing. That that
just didn't have a.
Speaker 4 (15:56):
Good feel exactly. So.
Speaker 3 (15:58):
And by the way, your thought that it was due
to lack of sleep, I'm sure that's something you know.
The fact of the matter is, yes, I've played in
games like that. I mean, it's it's it's a bad
feeling when you you know, you're dominating the team, but
there's something that's kind of sticking in your craw.
Speaker 4 (16:13):
You know.
Speaker 3 (16:13):
Back in I had a coach back in the day said,
I got I got something in my craw.
Speaker 4 (16:17):
I gotta get out. Well, what's a craw, you know
what I mean?
Speaker 3 (16:20):
And it's like a turkey thing or whatever, you know,
checking something hanging underneath there. You know, I guess, I
guess he's got something there. He's got to get out,
you know. But the fact of the matter is they
did not make the plays when they needed to make
the place. And that's what football basically is. You know,
it's all about winning your one eleventh, but it's not
just winning the one eleventh, it's the timely winning of
(16:42):
the one eleventh too, And that's something that I think,
you know, the Steelers didn't do last night. And like
you said, that that awful feeling, that pervasive feeling that
this is not going the way. There's something unsettling in
the way this is unfolding. But you had in my
mind that was rolling from about the middle the first
quarter orly towards the end of the first quarter on.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
Yeah, yeah, it was unsettling for sure. That's a good
word for it. Uh, you are listening to the point after.
Much more to come on this stee there's audio network.
Speaker 5 (17:13):
Back to the point after on dv E.
Speaker 2 (17:16):
Wilson gets a snap, Browns bringing five men throws over
the middle of the field, Calvin Austin touchdown. Pittsburgh Steelers
to play. The game is brought to you by S
and T Bank, proudly serving our community since nineteen oh two.
stBank dot com S and T Bank member fd I
(17:37):
C Matt Williams, and I was right with you when
they scored that touchdown. I thought, man, oh man. And
I brought this up on an earlier show with Wolf.
I thought, Wow, they're gonna win, and we're gonna remember
this game. You know, you let some big moments slip away,
but class showed in the end you were the better team.
You won the game. It was a snow globe out there.
They're shoveling off the field. That's old fashioned snowy foot.
(18:00):
We're gonna remember this win. Unfortunately, hopefully we're not remembering
this loss. But at that point I thought the Steelers
were gonna win the game.
Speaker 5 (18:08):
I really did too. I mean, my process is I'm
sitting there in my lazy boy, and I got a
word document. In every play, I just jot down a
little note or whatever, and pretty much right at that point,
I just where physically and mentally tough football team that
figured out a way when it wasn't their day, you know,
I mean, and I thought that they were starting to
take over and it was trending that way and didn't
(18:29):
end up being right. But it doesn't mean that they
aren't physically and mentally tough either, you know what I mean.
But and along those lines, there were two or three,
including that one where Wilson took a nasty shot after
delivering the football.
Speaker 2 (18:43):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, it was a good throw.
Speaker 3 (18:46):
And again, let me just jump and say this, everything
that the Steels have done to get dating to again
are still there.
Speaker 4 (18:53):
Yeah, yeah, it's these you know.
Speaker 3 (18:54):
I just kind of emphasized that because there's a lot
of people ie in high places maybe you know, don't
We don't want anybody jumping off anywhere. All right, All
we want to do look get back to it. You
got to refocus and reload.
Speaker 2 (19:07):
Right, So Matt, I, you know, obviously we're calling the games,
we're not watching it on TV. And I thought, I
just want to get this out of the way, because
I thought the officials ultimately got all three decisions right.
But twice the near judge along the sideline. Now again
(19:27):
for for anybody who missed the game and you're just
listening to the show, you could not see we were
guessing at what yard line the ball was on. I
was looking up at the stadium clock. They were guessing
where the ball was, you know, first down in the
thirty six, and I looked down in the field. I
look back up now, first down in the thirty one.
I'd looked back. Now, Hang on a second, it's the
thirty eight, you know, I mean it was just the field.
(19:49):
You couldn't tell where the ball was. Sure, So twice,
and I don't know if they said this on TV,
but twice the near judge down along the sidelines sideline
judge was waving for the flat moved the change. And
one of them was the fourth down play, one of
the fourth downs plays I believe in which is Steelers
got stuffed. And then on that play at the end
(20:11):
that took forever, that ultimately wound up in a third
and seven and the completion to Judy that that really
kind of sealed the game for the Browns, or was
the beginning of sealing the game for the Browns. They motioned,
they clearly motioned intentional grounding. I don't know if they
talked about that on the broadcast because I haven't seen it.
I think ultimately they probably got that call right. But
(20:34):
so I think that even though there was some confusion
among the officials, and confusion that may have cost you
some time, may have cost five or six valuable seconds
of you conferring on the sideline and making sure you
got the right personnel on the field. I don't know
if that was a factor, but I do think the
officials ultimately got all three calls correct.
Speaker 5 (20:56):
I do as well, And trust me, that third and seven,
fourth and two whole you know, grounding thing was confusing
for everyone watching and the poor broadcasters as well. But
then they brought in the official guy and I forget
who he was, and he laid it out pretty well,
and they did get it right because it wasn't grounding
(21:17):
because Winston was getting hit, I mean, so it was
illegal touching because he threw it to an offensive lineman
who basically tried to catch the ball. So I thought
they were correct on that it originally looked like grounding
to me, but when explained I totally understood. Now I
am not blaming the officials at all, but I think
officiating sort of became a secondary concern for the officials
(21:41):
when the snow was that heavy, because spotting the ball
was so hard, and just getting you know, the play's
run was so hard. Because I kind of felt like
when it got that crazy and you couldn't see all
of a sudden you could hold left and right or
was that guy in bounds or not? Like the Browns
were a couple out routes where late in the game
(22:02):
and I'm like, was he in bounds or not? We
don't even care anymore, Like.
Speaker 2 (22:07):
Yeah, right, you know, And there's a reason that the
NFL rule book has gone from a pamphlet to something
that looks like a New York City phone book. And
it's because, you know, for a variety of reasons. But
one of the things you're trying to do is legislate out,
you know, opinion and and just try to Okay, we're
(22:30):
observing what we're observing. My opinion is that and if
given truth Sarum, I suspect that jameis Winston would say,
I absolutely just threw that ball. Ah right, My intention
was to intentionally ground the football and try to avoid
a sack. I think that's I understand that. You can't
(22:54):
you know, you can't opine about that if you're if
you're an official. And again, I don't know what the
explanation was because we were on the radio, but you know,
I I think by the letter of the law, they
got the call correct. I think the intention of Jameis
Winston was just to throw it away and hope you
didn't get called for intentional grounding. I didn't see any
(23:14):
receiver in the area. And you can't. You can't. You
can't say, well he was that's you know, you say,
well he wasn't trying to throw it there necessarily. We
don't know, but it wasn't out of the tackle box.
I don't know. I again, I think they got the
call right, but I would have been I'd have loved
to have heard a further explanation on that.
Speaker 5 (23:32):
I think he nailed it. I mean, his intentions were
to intentionally ground the ball, right, There's no doubt about it.
Speaker 2 (23:39):
Right now, that having been said, you know, you had
you had opportunities to make stops and you didn't make
a stop, and Winston made some throws and he needed to.
Speaker 5 (23:50):
Make and that won the judy. I mean, if he
doesn't put just that much more arc over it phenomenal.
It gets tipped, you know, like it was.
Speaker 2 (23:58):
That was the throw of the game.
Speaker 5 (23:58):
Yeah, it really was.
Speaker 2 (23:59):
It was right across his body on the last drive.
That was the degree of difficulty there is extremely high
Jameis Winston has.
Speaker 5 (24:10):
He's never played in the low right, you never played
game yeaheah.
Speaker 4 (24:14):
It's crazy.
Speaker 3 (24:14):
And you're talking about the wind currents too, right, right,
that's ridiculous.
Speaker 2 (24:17):
So when you talk about like if you put Jameis
Winston out there and you know, uh, put a target's
thirty five forty yards down, few of them told him
to throw it on a line. He could throw it
as well as anybody. He's just got a gun. But
on the move has never been you know, his real
strong suit. And so you're talking about a guy moving
(24:40):
to his right having to throw a little bit back
across his body and it's not a lofted ball, which
is you know, requires some touch, and it wasn't a
fired ball. It was that I think that in between beautiful.
It's the hardest throw to make, and it was just
that that was a great throw one iron. I mean,
(25:00):
you can't. You have to give him, you have to
give him credit. That was a heck of a throat.
Speaker 3 (25:04):
Well, there's no doubt about it, you know. I mean,
he came through and delivered the mail when he needed to,
and he did did so in a way in a
fashion that led to positive results and ultimately a victory.
You know, So that that's one of those things that
you you know, is the great heinz Ward would say,
you got to take your cap off and hand it
to him.
Speaker 2 (25:22):
Yeah, you know.
Speaker 5 (25:22):
And his scramble for the touchdown too, I mean that's
not his game.
Speaker 2 (25:25):
Yeah, exactly, exactly right, Yeah, you know, And I will
say this, that was the one that was one time.
There are a couple times that the pocket collapsed on
him and I thought he made you know, he made
some good decisions, he made some good plays. But by
and large, wolf I was surprised that the Steelers did
(25:46):
not get more pressure on Winston, that they weren't able
to sack them. I mean, this is four point six
sacks per game. This is the worst pass protecting team
in the league. This is a quarterback that likes to
hang onto the ball because he's a gun slinger, and
he wants to throw it deep and he wants to
press the ball down the field old school style. I
(26:07):
just thought the Steels pass rusher would get home. And
I think that, you know, we're not pointing at one
thing or one but that if I'm pointing at one
thing that surprised me in this game, it was that
that the Steelers were unable to get pressure on him
and unable to sack them.
Speaker 4 (26:21):
Well, there's no question about it. I mean, think about it. TJ.
Speaker 3 (26:23):
Watt is the most sacks against one team, seventeen sacks.
You've got on the other side, you got Nick Herbig
who's been making some big plays. I was watching tape
of Jermaine and Fetti all week long. The guy that
was going to, you know, wind up there for Dwan
Jones at left tackle and the guy I thought was
made the order for Nick Herbig. I mean, this guy
(26:43):
doesn't punch, he reaches, he doesn't move his feet. After
he reaches, it becomes a statue which gives away the
corner in the edge. And I thought Nick was in
and Nick made some plays, you know, to his cradle.
Speaker 5 (26:54):
Wasn't Nick Yeah, yeah, he was definitely their best PA.
Speaker 4 (26:57):
Yeah, you know, there's no doubt about it.
Speaker 3 (26:59):
But the fact you just didn't get there with what
you normally get there with, and you've got a Browns
line that the Browns line has been strong for a
number of years, Matt, you know this, yeah right, I
mean that's one of the best hat on hat lines
that you know, we've seen in the years past, but it
wasn't this year. No, this is not the same line
that we've seen paving the way for Nick Chubb and
(27:21):
doing all the things you know in pass protection. That
this is a line that had some issues, some problems,
and the Steelers simply did not take advantage of it
or weren't able to take advantage of it.
Speaker 5 (27:32):
And Rob I did the pre pregame show with Tim
Benz and we were talking about sacks and I'm like,
I think a half dozen is in the bag, you know,
like they're gonna get a ton of sacks against these guys.
And obviously the snow was a factor late in the game,
but the fact that they didn't generate a lot of
pass rush was concerning to me. And sometimes in these
(27:53):
during these this season, and this has happened in previous
years too. You can just be like, well, the ball
came out in two point five because they couldn't get
there in time. Well not really last night.
Speaker 2 (28:03):
No, nope, And I agree, And I do wonder, you know, Matt,
going back to something you were talking about earlier. You know,
this is like when I think about statistics, I don't
really worry about them through the first quarter of the season.
A lot of it is who you're playing. You know,
teams start out hot. You know, maybe they've got a
(28:24):
soft schedule early on, so this team leads in rushing,
that team leads in sacks. You get to that midpoint
of the season and I think that there are you know,
the the statistics become more and more valuable, but just
because there's more information and it's leveled out. And if
you had an easy schedule early, you probably ran into
some tougher games in the middle of your schedule. So
for those reasons, I don't normally look at it too much.
(28:45):
And I say that as a preface to what I'm
about to ask you, which is that can we think
about that with the Cleveland Browns? I mean, yeah, some
of the sacks are still happening with Jameis Winston. But
with Winston at quarterback, they're a different team, perhaps and
with Chubb running back than they were with this Shaun
Watson at quarterback. You know, I think that Winston threw
(29:07):
for more yards last night in the snow than Watson
had in any game this year before he got hurt.
I mean, it's not even close.
Speaker 5 (29:14):
It's night and day, it's not. I mean, when Watson
was the quarterback, and he's easy to pick on and
he deserves every bit of it, they were the worst
offense in the league and it wasn't even close. I mean,
getting a first down was a chore for that team,
and a great weight was lifted off that offense when
he got injured. Just to be honest, And Winston is
(29:36):
loved in that locker room, and you can see why.
His style, play, his characters, interviews, all those things, and
he's aggressive and he's got a lot to prove. And
I made the mistake of really not judging that team
from the second he became the starter and thinking that
it was the same group that was for the whole season,
because they're gonna win more games and they're gonna beat
(29:58):
some good teams with Winston.
Speaker 2 (30:00):
Right, and and this is without Zadarius Smith, you know,
so they're they're they're missing the guy opposite of Miles
Garrett that helped relieve.
Speaker 5 (30:08):
Some of the pressure off of Amari Cooper.
Speaker 2 (30:11):
And Amari Cooper right, they just they traded two elite
players or you know, certainly upper echelon players maybe yeah,
high end starters. And they traded two of those guys.
Speaker 4 (30:21):
You don't have a wash either, you know, right, the best.
Speaker 2 (30:25):
Linebacker yep, And he might be back possibly when these
two teams play again. I think you would be eligible.
I don't know the status of his injury. But Wolf,
you know, as you look at the schedule at large,
and you know what we expect and what our expectations
are out of the team, you know, and it's it's
so funny. We we we talk about the schedule game
(30:47):
and then you know, you can take your lofty position
as something, wow, we have to wait till the season unfolds.
But then you get that pencil out, You're like, Okay,
what are they gonna do? Who are they gonna be here?
You know, it's fun, it's part of the fun. Well,
you know, coming out of the box, I noboddy would
have thought the Commanders at the beginning of the season,
No way are they going to be in first place
in the NFC East when you play them, Well guess
(31:08):
what they were. And then you look at the Browns
and you think, okay, two and eight team, Well, I
think we're all agreen. This is a little bit better
than a two and eight team. And now you look
at having to play them again, and the Bengals coming
up in another game, of the Ravens and the Chiefs,
the Eagles, and you know, this is the Steelers after
their work cutout for them. We knew they would after
(31:29):
the bye, but you know, I think that we can
maybe add the Browns to part of that work cutout
for You.
Speaker 3 (31:35):
Think there's no question about them, then they've wratcheted up
their defeatability capability, you know what I mean, those guys
they're much harder out than they were prior to last night.
You know, to me, it's an attitude adjustment time, you know,
so it's time to grind. You've got to forget the
five game win streak and reload.
Speaker 4 (31:54):
You know.
Speaker 3 (31:54):
The thing about it is, and I shared this earlier
on another show. You know, my dad used to tell
this story. He said, you know, there was a farmer
we had a mule. He said he had to, you know,
get out and get that mule going. Well, you know,
the mule was a little bit cranky and stuff. So
he took out a two by four and whacked them
one and I I said to my dad, why would
he do that? You know, he goes he got to
get his attention first. This was an attention get her
(32:17):
If you ask me, this is going to take everybody
on that team and make you sit up and go.
Speaker 4 (32:22):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (32:22):
Now we understand this is not the easier out that
it appeared to be. It's going to be a harder
out in a couple of weeks. But the fact of
the matter is this is the gauntlet coming down upon
you. You gotta get ready, you gotta reload, and you got
to be prepared.
Speaker 4 (32:36):
Rob real quick.
Speaker 5 (32:37):
One thing I like to do after a game, especially
a Steeler's loss, is pretend that the three of us
work for the Browns or the opponent and look through
it through their eyes and you could say, yeah, Nick
Chubb didn't have a lot of yards, but he got
them when we needed him. You know, like right, they
didn't have a lot of weaknesses either. You know, if
you look at this game, you know, we kept saying
(32:57):
it'd be easier to explain it if the Steelers run
the horrible or they couldn't block a soul, or they
didn't you know what, had one gaping hole. I think
the Browns can say that too. They did everything pretty well.
Speaker 2 (33:08):
Right, well, listen, think about it, twenty four if if
we're talking about a twenty four to nineteen Steelers victory
and they lost a turnover battle three to one, we'd
be thinking, well, how many points could they have won
by if they hadn't lost a turnover battle?
Speaker 4 (33:21):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (33:21):
Are they thinking that in Cleveland? Are they walking off
your field? You know, I'm looking at this and saying
the better team lost. But are they saying, hey, what
would we have won by if we hadn't thrown an
interception in the end zone, you know, or or had
turnovers that not in the end zone, I guess, but
turnovers you know, deep in the in Steelers territory. You know,
what would the score have been? Then? So you're right,
(33:42):
that's a good that's a good act.
Speaker 5 (33:43):
By more, what's that we should have won this by
more exactly exactly.
Speaker 2 (33:47):
That's probably what they're thinking in Cleveland. He's got Matt Williamson.
That's Matt Williamson. We have Craig Wilfa ron king and
you're listening to the point after on the Steelers Audio Network.
Speaker 4 (33:59):
Back to the point after on DV play action.
Speaker 2 (34:03):
Tasket from the balls loose and it is pounced upon
by the Steelers. It is Herbing who came up with
a hit from the backside and the Steelers have recovered it. Yeah,
that is the That is a great play by the Steelers.
The Sack Hunger segment is brought to you by the
Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank at food Volunteer donate at
(34:24):
Pittsburgh food Bank dot org. We would have thought there
was gonna be more sacks, but that's a big play
by herbig there and Matt Williamson. As we take a
look at some of the positives here, I think defensively, now,
Dante Jackson has matched his career high going back to
his rookie season in twenty eighteen, with four interceptions. Deshaun
Elliott forced to fumble that Jackson recovered earlier in the game.
(34:50):
You know he continues to be a force defensively for
the students. But I thought both those guys had strong games,
and we're talking about, Hey, you win this game and
we might be looking at one of these guys being
defensive Player of the week.
Speaker 4 (35:04):
Yeah, I thought.
Speaker 5 (35:05):
I definitely think there's positives to take out of this
game and individual performances that are worth noting. Those two
are at the top of the list for me. I
think you're absolutely getting what you paid for out of
Patrick Queen at this point too. I mean that he's
become a stalwart, standout linebacker. It blows me away that
this team seems to bat down multiple passes every week.
(35:28):
I mean, they're so good at it collectively at the
line of scrimmage, getting their hands up disturbing lanes. And
then I really liked what they did with Friarmouth. I'd
like to see more of that. Some of the inbreaking
route stuff I thought was there, you know, from top
to bottom. And Jayalen Warren has been one of my
favorite backs in the league the last couple of years,
and he looks like that guy to me too. So
there were some guys that played really, really well that
(35:49):
you can keep you know, building.
Speaker 2 (35:51):
On Well, let's talk a little bit about Patrick Queen,
because again, sometimes it takes a little bit of time.
Not that Patrick Queen was a liability in the first
couple of weeks, but he wasn't probably fully comfortable with
the team. I think he's become more and more of
a factor as the season is carried on, which I
(36:12):
think is extremely predictable for a player coming to a
new team.
Speaker 5 (36:16):
They put a lot on his plate.
Speaker 2 (36:17):
Yeah they do, and yeah, I thought it was gonna
be really interesting. We were talking about this in the offseason, Well, like,
how are you going to utilize him? Because he does
so many things so well, you know this, Yethers are
very low on blitz percentage. Well, if Patrick Queen was blitzing,
is there anything that would stop him from getting five
sacks a year as a blitzer? I don't think there
would be, because he's he proved with the Ravens and
(36:38):
he can get to the quarterback if they blitz him.
Of course, you know, they always brought the different exotic
blitzer into different other things. But when you can when
you can drop him back and he can play all
three downs, and then he can at an elite level
cover tight ends and running backs, and you can rush
for I don't think there's a defensive coordinator in the
league that wouldn't say we can. You'd rush four and
(37:00):
drop seven and feel comfortable that we're gonna get pressure
and then we're gonna have coverage on the back end.
And you have to have, you know, a unique player
like Patrick Queen to be able to make that happen.
Speaker 3 (37:11):
Well, there's no doubt because he's buts capable, he's run
stopping capable, he's past coverage capable. Those three elements right there,
and the fact that he's the green dot guy brings
leadership a solid respect to the middle of that defense,
something that's been you know, a problem and over the
last couple of years because of injuries. Now you've brought
in a number of guys that what we talked about,
(37:33):
Deshaun Elliott, Pat Queen, you know, you got Action Jackson,
you know, Landon Roberts, all these guys, and you know,
I started off last night the telecast talking about the
fact that you know, there is that saying if you
if you get enough dogs in your locker room, even
the cats start barking.
Speaker 4 (37:52):
Well, the problem was.
Speaker 3 (37:53):
Yeah, you know, the point is you've got to have
those people step up. You know, the leaders are out
there leading and you've got to step up. And the
big guys, well, some of them didn't show to the
best of their abilities last night, and that could be
a function of simply, you know, three days rest and
you're you're beat up a little bit and you just
weren't able to get it going like you normally do.
(38:15):
But that doesn't just because it happened doesn't mean it's
going to be this way again. Everything that got you
to eight and two is still reachable, it's still there,
and it's still correctable. Those things got to be remembered
and you can't get into some full full type of
panic and start changing things all over the place. Change
for the sake of change is no change at all.
(38:38):
And eight and three is not shabby either.
Speaker 2 (38:40):
Nor Andre is all right, you know, I think rightly. So.
People were excited with the signing of Patrick Queen and
the speed he brings to that team. But you know,
I remember, Matt, we were talking about this this summer.
I was really excited about the signing of Deshaun Elliott
because I always thought he was really just a the
(39:00):
good football player he's even you know, seeing him game
in a game out and not just a couple of
times a year playing for the Ravens. Uh, he's even
better than I thought. I just think he's an excellent player.
And then you get Dante Jackson, you know who's now
you know, on the opposite side of Joey Porter Junior
and again excelling at that role, and both those guys
(39:24):
adding speed and you know you talk about, you know,
an attitude that Deshaun Elliott brings. I think he brings
an attitude, you know, Dante Jackson in his own way
with his confidence and his coverage skills. I just think
that you know, all three of those guys, and then
you know you're throwing Peyton Wilson too. But the speed
that those three acquisitions in the offseason, and the attitude
(39:45):
and the nastiness, the positive attributes they bring to that defense,
I just I think they have been tremendous.
Speaker 5 (39:55):
Additions hundred percent. I mean, I think this organization's in
really good hands with his front office, I mean, it
was a clear priority to get faster in the back seven,
and that has absolutely been accomplished. And with all respect
to Levi Wallace and Patrick Peterson and the thousand safeties
and linebackers they played with last year. This group is
(40:15):
just way better testers. I mean even just that, and
way better football players.
Speaker 2 (40:20):
Yep, and real quick wolf. To Matt's point about Jalen Warren,
you know, this is a guy they missed early on
with the health issues, and now we see him contributing
again and again and again. You know, three catches for
nineteen yards, eleven for forty five rushing at four point
one yards per carry. The team average only three and
(40:42):
a half yards per carry, So once again he is
stepping up and becoming a big time factor. You know,
people talked about it the trade deadline, who you're gonna
get and you know, questions about how you're gonna utilize
Mike Williams. Well, getting jail and Warren back up to
one hundred percent is adding a playmaker to this offense.
Speaker 3 (40:59):
There's no question about it. I mean, you look at
that guy and what is great notice he's a mutter.
I mean, he's one of those guys. There are guys
that just seem to be able to operate on a
slippery field better than other guys, and he's just one
of those guys. He seems to understand about acceleration and
deceleration and how to best maintain your your grips out there. Well,
(41:20):
he just simply does it in some some way. I
don't know how those guys, I don't know. I mean
it's do you grow up on a muddy field or what.
But he operates there very very well. And he's also
very capable in the screen games and the checkdowns. Those
things are big plays. When he gets out in the
flat and is able to get one on one with
a lot of room. He's a lot of fun to
(41:41):
watch because he does a lot of damage and he's
one of those guys that you want to emphasize moving forward,
no question about that at all.
Speaker 2 (41:49):
And low square of.
Speaker 5 (41:50):
Gravity and great balance. Yeah, and that play that he
almost got the first down where he was able to
stay up and stay up and stay up.
Speaker 2 (41:58):
Oh right, yeah, that was Yeah. I don't know how
many guys can do that. That's a three yard gain
for most people, and he turned it into a seven
yard gain. That was incredible. Real quick. You know, you
talk about Matt, you know, preparing for a short week.
Now they're preparing for a long week and it's you know,
ten days Thanksgiving in between and a Bengals team. Listen, man,
(42:19):
I've said this in the past. They scare me because
I know that they can score points on anybody. Another
big challenge coming up following the following this Thursday night game.
Not a bye but almost like a almost like a
by ten days now between now and the Bengals.
Speaker 5 (42:34):
Yeah, and the Bengals are on a bye to get
some things you know, ironed out from their end of things.
Burrow's playing at an MVP level, the best he's ever
played when he has chasing Higgins, which you will. They're
unbelievably dangerous and big picture, I think we're all pretty
certain the Steelers are gonna end up in the postseason.
I would love to keep Burrow out of the postseason,
(42:54):
all right.
Speaker 2 (42:55):
So yes, hey, Wolf, you and I gotta call the
high school football tomorrow, my friend.
Speaker 4 (43:02):
Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (43:03):
I just wonder if they have any tacos or burritos
in the cafetery, because you know that's always go down good.
Speaker 2 (43:09):
Just wondering, just nothing like that that ten thirty am
taco to get you ready for you know what, football
player against Fort Cherry, our game, the first of four
starting tomorrow at WPIL Championships, four of those taking place
tomorrow at Akroshuer Stadium. Gear up with the latest game
day necessities at the official Steaders Pro shops. Get the
latest sideline apparel, jerseys, Terrible Towns, Ofthenic memorabilia, and custom
(43:33):
exclusives you can only find directly from the team. Visit
one of the officials Studers Pro shops located at Akroscher Stadium,
Grove City Premium Outlets or Tanger Outlets, or gear up
online at shop dot Steelers dot com. For Craig Wolfley
and Matt Williams and I'm Rob King, we thank you
for listening to the point after on the Steelers Audio
Network
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