December 16, 2024 • 43 mins
Rob, Wolf, and Matt recap the Steelers' loss in Philadelphia Sunday and look forward to the Ravens this upcoming Saturday as the team is officially playoff bound even with the recent loss.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the Steelers Point After show on wdb E Pittsburgh,
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(00:22):
And now here are your hosts, Rob King, Craig Wolfley,
and Matt Williamson.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Well, thank you very much for being with us for
the first time in a while. We don't have a
joyous game to talk about, the Steelers losing to the
Philadelphia Eagles by the final score of twenty seven to
thirteen in a game that the Eagles dominated, at least statistically.
But we're going to get to a lot of things
about this game, you know, obviously some negative, but hopefully
some positive as well. Our first reaction is brought to
(00:49):
you by First National Bank. Let's get started, Member FDI
C wolf what is your first reaction to yesterday's loss?
Speaker 3 (00:56):
Oh, the fact that I couldn't get a donut on
victory donut Monday. Oh, that was very discouraged because we've
been on a roll and the fact is you've been
on this role and you know you enjoy watching is
guys are building throughout the season, and this just wasn't
a step forward that you wanted to see. You know,
there was a lot of good things that the Steelers
were able to accomplish, but not enough to be able
(01:18):
to turn the tide and get this game and end
that losing streak from nineteen sixty five. So yeah, that
is definitely the first thing that was on my gourd.
Speaker 4 (01:29):
What was your first reaction, Matt that the Eagles are really.
Speaker 5 (01:32):
Really good and might win the Super Bowl this year?
And to be honest, I mean I semi expected a
similar result, but not to this extreme. I mean, the
second half dominance didn't sit well with me at all.
I mean, just the ability inability to get off the field,
the time of possession stuff, the number of plays run
(01:54):
in the second half. You know, even early you cause
those two fumbles or those two turnovers, both in their
own end, one in the red zone, and you only
got three points out of them. But all that being said,
I mean, to be very honest, I mean, anyone that
was listening to the pregame show that I did with
Tim Ben's in the first hour, he asked me, you know,
what's your big picture thinking on this game, you know,
(02:15):
leading into the Eagles game, And I said, beat the
Ravens because that's really all that matters. Yeah, I mean,
this game doesn't hurt you that bad, and I don't.
And I very much understand that football players don't look
at it that way. And I'm not implying they should
have punted yesterday. But the most important stuff is ahead.
Speaker 4 (02:35):
It is, and I agree with that.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
And so I've been going back and forth on this
because I do agree with that assessment.
Speaker 4 (02:42):
Matt Wolf.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
You know, I looked at this game and I thought, Okay,
there were moments in which, you know, the Steelers, for
as poorly as they played early on, could have gotten
back into it. And I applaud the fact that they
had opportunities to do that. I understand that a lot
of their issues were self inflicted. I understand that the
Eagles are very good. But to me, even between that
(03:08):
gap of the Eagles being very good and the Student's
shooting themselves in the foot the way the Eagles performed
against the students. That's a little wider gap than I
really would have liked to have seen.
Speaker 3 (03:19):
Well, it all depends on how you look at I mean,
aside from the fumble, there was an opportunity there to
close the gap, do the things that they needed to do,
tie the game. And now it's you know, and you
expected that you're going into a place like the link, right,
You're going in there and you know all the Eagles
fans are there. You've got to quell that that early
emotion type thing you face in a lot of hostility
(03:41):
and so forth, and you knew what was laying ahead
for you there, but you know, not being able to
come back and tie it and get yourself in that position,
to me, that was a bummer obviously. But the fact
is there was still some good things there that they
can take and move forward with. But look, you've got
the first not defeat yourself. And that's something that I
(04:02):
think you know is it's an obvious thing week in
and week out, is not beating yourself. But when you
have self inflicted penalties, when you have an ability by
with you got a couple of takeaways and you're only
able to muster three points out of them. You're not
going to play winning football like that when you go
into play someone like the Eagles in their home bark.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
So, Matt, I agree with and understand everything Wolf just said.
I would have felt more comfortable, Not that this is
about my comfort, but I would have felt better had
the Steelers, you know, somewhere in that you know that
last twenty play drive, you know, stop them and gotten
the ball back one more time, you know, just you know,
(04:43):
not let it continue to roll downhill when you think
about what did to see this run five plays in
the second half, something crazy low thirteen play drive, thirteen
play drive, twenty play drive, still at the ball when
the game was finished.
Speaker 4 (04:58):
Did the Eagles? So that was the part I understand.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
Look, I think they got and Wolf and I talked
about this on an earlier show today. I think they
got some bad calls, which I don't get to see
what I'm calling the game. They've been brought to my
attention subsequently. I've seen the one on Darnell Washington. That's
a bad call in my opinion. I don't understand how
that can't be at the very least, at the very
worst for this year, there's offsetting penalties and the change
(05:25):
of possession thing which was very garbled on the punt
and then the ball winds up going back to the
Eagles and the fumble and all that. But and I
understand that when you continue to take body blow after
your body blow, you're exhausted out there defensively, it's hard
to stem the tide. I'd like to have seen him
stem the tide. I would like to see him make
one more stop and get the ball back.
Speaker 5 (05:45):
Yeah, And I think you're right. You know, the the
Washington incident, which I adored him driving him into the stands, Yes,
that was pretty awesome, But that the garbled change of possession,
as you mentioned, Both those I thought were bad calls.
Nause's uncharacteristic dropping slash fumble dropping of the toss was
(06:07):
at a crucial time when it could have been a
changing moment, could have been you know, I mean, we
don't think we can assume they're just gonna drive down
and tie it and all of a sudden they're gonna
be in this thing. But a couple of minutes ago
you mentioned you wish the gap was smaller, and that's
a good way of putting it.
Speaker 4 (06:22):
There.
Speaker 5 (06:23):
Still was a gap. I mean, this wasn't like the
Colts game when we get together on Monday and be like,
there were some bounces that didn't go their way. They
probably win like they lost. I mean, they were the
inferior team yesterday, and I don't think that's disputable. We
can break down a play here and there, but I
still think they end up with an owl when it's over.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
Yeah, Matt, that's a good point. I think that's kind
of what I was getting at. And the Cults are
a perfect example because I think I walked out of
that booth and Lucas Oil shaking my head, like thinking
to myself, well, the better team didn't win that game.
Speaker 5 (06:53):
Yeah, let one get away, you know, you know, yeah,
that was.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
But this one wasn't about letting one get away. This
one felt to me like what the students have done
to other teams, which is you take advantage of the
mistakes and you outclass the other team. And that's okay
when you're doing it to the other team. It doesn't
feel good when the other team's doing it to your team.
Speaker 5 (07:16):
And I thought they had a good game plan on defense,
and they they did do some good things in terms
of limiting the best back in the league. And I
went into that game saying, hey, if Hurts can beat
you Nickel and Diamond, you, you know, against single coverage
or whatever, so be it. And they did. And you know,
if you're the Eagles, I mean, I always like on
Monday to look at the game through the opponent's eyes,
(07:39):
you know, like some of my questions as an Eagles
supporter would have got answered because I thought a thing
holding them back might be their drop back passing game,
their quarterbacks ability to throw with consistency. And they passed
those tests against a pretty good defense and then they
buried a pretty good defense.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
Well and okay, so we'llf I get back to you
in a minute, because but I want to follow up
on what you just said there at about the Eagles
answering some questions. It looked it felt to me more.
And yes, they did hit some big plays on third down.
I don't want to I don't want to take that
away from him, and I do think they maybe quelled
(08:15):
some doubts. But I thought they had a really good
game plan. They came out throwing the ball when we
all expected them to come out running the ball. That's
a little different to me than Hey, it's seventeen thirteen
games on the line, there's a minute twenty left, and
now you got to throw the ball down the field.
Speaker 4 (08:32):
You know what I mean. You have to throw it
as opposed to win. You I felt like they threw.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
It a large time when they wanted to, not when
when they had to.
Speaker 5 (08:41):
That's a great point. And again I'm sure this isn't
an Eagle show, but they're gonna at some point between
now and if they hoist a Lombardi Trophy, they're gonna
have to ask Hurts to throw when he has to throw,
and I'm still not sold them that he can. But
it was a step in the right direction, and the
Steelers tackling helped matters as well.
Speaker 4 (09:00):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
You know, well, if I think this is this is
a little bit difficult sometimes to break down. When you're
not in the locker room, and you're in the locker
room and you're looking at the tape, you think to yourself,
I should have made that tackle, I should have made
that block. I think that there's you know, so so
when you're watching, when you're watching it now from the
(09:20):
other perspective, you're thinking, hey, I got to get off
that block, and you know, I got to make that guy.
Speaker 4 (09:26):
Miss, right, So you can't have it both ways.
Speaker 2 (09:29):
You can't should have made that guy miss and well,
I guess you can. But you know, the reality is
that they have some very good players. Some of those
things defensively, some of those mistackles are gonna happen because
those guys are really good. But probably just a few
too many of those things happened, that's my take on it.
A few of those things, A few too many of
(09:50):
those things happen for you to feel you're never gonna
feel comfortable with any of them.
Speaker 4 (09:54):
But I think you have to live with some of them.
But there were just too many to live with.
Speaker 3 (09:58):
Yes, no, this if there's nothing magical about what happened,
yesterd Hey, it's all fundamental.
Speaker 6 (10:03):
No, I'm serious.
Speaker 3 (10:04):
It wasn't like that you had this unbelievable schematics advantage
over the Steelers or anything. And this is what happens
when you don't execute, when guys take turns losing their
one to eleventh matchup, when they don't take advantage of takeaways,
and they bloody themselves with penalties.
Speaker 6 (10:20):
You know what I mean.
Speaker 3 (10:21):
You got run throughs at the point of attacking, you
turn the ball over. I mean these things here, that's
just fundamental football. And when you don't execute on a
high priority basis week in and week out, you get this,
You get a loss like that, and the other team
takes it to you. You already know that there's some
distinct advantages. You got Jurassic parking pads in the offensive line. Okay,
(10:43):
that's a huge group of dudes, all right. So if
you're not on your p's and q's dot in the
eyes and crossing the t's defensively in the trenches there,
you're in for a real wake up with these monsters
of the midway, right, I mean, that's what you got there.
So if you've got mistackles, if you've got poor execution,
if you are not able to lock out on a
on a zone play and get your head out of
(11:04):
the chest of one of those six ' eight monsters,
you know what, Guys run by you, you know what
I mean, that's just that just happens. So the fact is,
I look at this, you know again, nothing mystical, nothing mysterious.
You just got outplayed. And to me, that's the key
to the game.
Speaker 2 (11:20):
Yeah, I don't want to Wolf, you know, uh, you know,
run ahead on the show because we still have a
lot to talk about. But if you're watching tape on
this show, in this game, hopefully you're not watching tape
of this show because there's nothing. So if you're, if
you're watching this as a player, you know, guessing probably
(11:44):
that everybody's a little bit different. Some people don't need
to be told that they made a mistake. They understand it,
they own it. Some people maybe do need a little Hey,
wait a minute, man, your head hasn't been in it
the last couple of weeks.
Speaker 4 (11:57):
This is what happens when that happens. What have you?
Speaker 2 (12:00):
I'm sure that you know you put fifty three different
individuals in a room, you're going to get different reactions
and different things that a player needs to get out
of a film session. But is this largely just look, man,
this happened, We understand, this happened. This can't happen. Focus
on the small details and let's have a good week
(12:20):
in practice. Or does it go deeper than that? For
a team self evaluating after a loss like this.
Speaker 3 (12:25):
Well, I think you know it's it dependent upon the
player individually. Sure you know, I mean you've got some
guys that are in position, didn't make the play when
the play was run to them. You got some people
like Naji. When when was the last time Naji fumbled?
Speaker 6 (12:38):
Right?
Speaker 4 (12:38):
You know what I mean?
Speaker 3 (12:38):
He doesn't fumble, you know, And so it's unfortunate that's
something that happens. I don't expect to go into Baltimore
and see that same thing happen again. So you know,
in my mind, these are just circumstances that arose. Guys
did not. They were not able to how do I
put it, It's it's it's Yoda do or do not.
There is no trying. You either get the job done
(13:01):
or you don't. And you know, there was a couple
of situations where some of the schematics were kind of interesting.
Speaker 6 (13:06):
You know.
Speaker 3 (13:06):
They ran that one with I think it was Devonte
and a crossing route with it was really an interesting
group of you know, the route trees that they ran
in and around him, and I thought that was that
was interesting. I'd not seen that before. And then all
of a sudden, you know, it's just simply this guy
got blocked, you know, I mean, Chuck Nole, why did
you remove that guy?
Speaker 6 (13:26):
Well, he was being blocked, you know.
Speaker 3 (13:28):
I mean that was Chuck Knowles's answer to some of
the personnel moves he'd made. To me, again, it's just
about you either win your job that one eleventh or
you don't. And watching it, there wasn't enough one eleventh
to win in.
Speaker 5 (13:42):
And Rob real quick.
Speaker 6 (13:43):
I'm with Wolf.
Speaker 5 (13:44):
I mean, obviously there's nothing mystical about it, you know.
I mean, it's pretty obvious why you lost this game,
and I would never dispute that, and especially at the
lines of scrimmage. But I think I always look at
think from a front office perspective, it is harder I
mean blocking and tackling. I mean it's it is harder
to block Jalen Carter, It is harder to tackle a
(14:06):
J Brown Saquon Barkley. And I think no one ever
publicly admit it, but you'll look at that game and say,
are we one of the big dogs? Can we hang
with the big dogs? We know they're a big dog,
and we didn't play like a big dog collectively, you know.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
You know, and and again going back to and you know,
I think fans want, you know, some fans they want
the coach to rip out his headset and throw it
on the field. They're dream and yell and cuss, and
you know, you have to be true to yourself. Uh well,
I wouldn't even bring up the fumble, the nagy. I mean,
I don't even I don't want him thinking about it,
(14:42):
you know what I mean, sure never fumbles, he has
sure hands. I wouldn't even bring it up. He knows
what he did. He doesn't mean to be reminded of that.
Speaker 3 (14:51):
No, And then they're gonna go out and practice is weak,
and he's gonna go through the myriad drills of ball
security that they do each and every day, you know,
as part of the warm up period. That's a function
of every day preparing for it. And at one critical moment,
for some reason, something happened where it didn't you know,
the fumble occurred. But that's not a normal thing. That's
(15:12):
something so far out of bounds. But it kind of
leads to you also to understand how some things can
get away from you, you know, in a game like that,
for instance, when you've got two takeaways, Yeah, zoukes.
Speaker 6 (15:23):
Man, you gotta do more than put three points on
the board. You know.
Speaker 3 (15:27):
I can't understand how the officials can look at a
Darius slagh swinging at a Darnell Washington and not see it,
but yeah, everybody else in the stadium saw it, and
they went to the replay for it. Hey, look, okay,
you know again that's neither here nor there. It's just
one of those stupid things. It's unfortunate, but you know,
it does lead you to just kind of go. It
(15:49):
just was one of those games where things just got
going out of hand and they were not able.
Speaker 6 (15:54):
To turn the tide in the second half. That was
the big thing.
Speaker 2 (15:58):
Before we get out of hand. We got to take
a break. We have lots more to talk about. This
is the point after on this stud there's audio network back.
Speaker 6 (16:06):
To the point after on DVD.
Speaker 2 (16:09):
Wilson gets a snap back to pass looking gonna loft.
Speaker 4 (16:13):
And for the end zone it is hauled in.
Speaker 2 (16:15):
It is Hey, pittferg Steelers touchdown Pat Fryarmouth in the
end zone.
Speaker 4 (16:22):
Yeah, that was a tougher play than it may.
Speaker 2 (16:26):
I don't know what it looked like on TV, because
of course I was calling it on radio. The Play
of the Game is brought to you by S and
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the ball was just a little bit behind Friarmuth, and
that allowed the defender to come up and really challenge
Pat for the ball when he high pointed it.
Speaker 4 (16:47):
One of those.
Speaker 2 (16:48):
Plays that you know you'd like to see a guy
come down with it. But that doesn't mean it was easy.
Well if I thought that was a you know, difficult
contested catch and three straight now for Friarmuth.
Speaker 3 (16:58):
No question about it. I thought Pat Fryerman Ruther quitted
himself very well there. I thought he was going to
be maybe an even bigger part of the offense. I
know that he had six targets, he had three receptions there,
but that one catch was just terrific because it took
strong hands for him to be able to rest that
ball away and tuck it in. But I think even
more so when you know George Pickens is down, I
(17:18):
think there could be more there. But again, you've got
to be able to possess the ball in the second
half to be able to do some things, and that
was just one of the areas that you know, it
didn't happen. Look, when a team goes ten to seventeen
on third down conversions. Yeah, oh my heavens. I mean,
you know, that's that's that's pretty darn tough to beat
odds like that when they're winning so many possession.
Speaker 2 (17:38):
Downs, especially when you go five straight three and outs
to begin the game.
Speaker 5 (17:43):
Matt, absolutely, I mean, it was a very slow start,
and the Eagles have a great history of wearing teams down,
you know, doing damage later and later in the game.
They're a very physical team. Even though they didn't run
the ball as much as they usually do, they control
the line of scrimmage, well, they go to hurry up,
they they wear you down. I mean, so a slow
(18:06):
start in that environment on the road against a team
as talented and as hot as they are was kind
of dooming obviously, real quick back to Friarmouth though, I mean,
there are some positiveness game, there's no question. And I
think he and the relationship between him and the offensive
coordinator and quarterbacks seems to be improving on a weekly basis.
(18:27):
That's really important to me. And I thought Calvin Austin
stepped up again. Yeah, I mean he's a legit guy.
Speaker 2 (18:34):
Well, I think you know, Matt, when you look at
this and you look at the sort of the George
Pickens trickle down effect. Let's just I don't know whether
the Eagles travel their defensive backs. They've got two good ones,
Quon Mitchell Quinnon. Mitchell's a first round pick. Well, Cooper
Dejane's pretty good too. In the slot. He's a second
round pick this year. Probably if Redone would go in
(18:56):
the first round. Now the people have had to look
at him. And you have Slay, a six time Pro
Bowl on the other side, So somebody is going to
be tasked with with covering George Pickens. However, I still
like that matchup. I don't care who Pickens is going against.
I still think he's gonna get a number of targets
and a number of shares. And then I think the
Steelers are built in such a way that, Okay, if
(19:18):
you have a second good corner, maybe that nullifies your
next outside guy in Jefferson. Are you gonna have a
third guy that can nullify Calvin Austin?
Speaker 4 (19:29):
Okay?
Speaker 2 (19:30):
Are you then gonna have a safety good enough to
go with Pat Fryermouth? Are you then gonna have another
linebacker who can or another safety who can deal with
Darnell Washington getting two or three targets a game. I
just think that, you know, when you take Pickens out
of there, and without having the sort of prototypical one too,
(19:52):
you know, there aren't a lot of teams that have that.
Minnesota probably has it, Cincinnati has it. Not a lot
of teams. Yeah, yes, yeah, we just saw a team.
How quickly we forget or I forget, But it's just
I think it underscores a little bit what the absence
of Pickens means. But also just because you don't have that,
(20:13):
maybe that prototypical one two punch doesn't mean that week
by week there aren't matchups that you can exploit. I
just I kind of went down the list with the
idea that you know, a team's maybe not gonna have
another great outside corner. That means you're outside receiver is
gonna have a big game. Maybe the slot guy isn't
up to snuff. Now, Calvin Austin's gonna have a big game.
I like the way it's set up, but you need
(20:34):
that guy at the top.
Speaker 5 (20:35):
I think in Pickens one hundred, I mean there's definitely
a ripple effect of him not being on the field.
I mean, coverages don't roll as direction. You know, good
coverage can also result in touchdowns and long games, even
if the corner plays it perfect with a guy like him.
And by no means am I implying this season's over.
They can't hang with the big dogs, you know, cash
(20:56):
it in. But you can see an offseason away from
all those things you said really falling into place extremely nicely,
you know what I mean.
Speaker 4 (21:06):
Right, Yes?
Speaker 2 (21:08):
And Wolf, you know, a big question was when Russell Wilson,
you know, takes over at the quarterback position, who might
benefit the most? And I think we're seeing that a
lot of people benefit, you know, Pickings benefits, friarmooth benefits.
Speaker 4 (21:26):
I really like.
Speaker 2 (21:28):
And I think we sought up at camp. You know,
it just seemed like after practice there's a lot of
work that you know, I don't know whether Calvin Austin
was sticking around or Russell Wilson asked him to stick around,
but it just it felt like those two were on
the same page back in camp. Didn't have a lot
of time to work together because of Russ's calf injury.
Speaker 4 (21:46):
But that's a nice looking combination those two, well, it
really is.
Speaker 3 (21:50):
Look at you've got blazing speed. You can't coach speed.
Speed can kill. I mean, and you know, we've seen
instances of Calvin doing those very same things that we're
talking about in past games. And certainly for a guy
like Russ Wilson, he's no stranger to developing young guys
like a Golden Tait and so forth, those sorts of guys.
So to me, you know, this is just the process
(22:12):
of being a leader, knowing your personnel, knowing your your
wide receivers, and he's going to distribute the ball to
a bunch of guys to keep keep them all involved.
In the same time, no one's wearing a yoke that
is too heavy for him, and you've just you're just
multiplying your opportunities to increase your offensive output. And I
think that's what it is. And then now we're seeing
(22:32):
Russ take off and run a little bit. Yeah, yeah,
doing some of the things that he's capable of doing
that you know, we we haven't seen a lot lately
just because of the fact, you know, he was coming
off that calf, and I think there's.
Speaker 6 (22:45):
Always that problem. You go, well, you had a little
bit of problem there that you don't want to chance that.
Speaker 3 (22:50):
But he know, he looks to be in great shape
and he's doing the things that you know has been
a signatory things of him in the past doing up
in Seattle. So I just look for him to do
more of the same and keep increasing that relationship with
a Calvin Austin, with the George Pickens, with a Van Jefferson,
with a Pat fryarn with any of those guys, because
(23:11):
I think it's just going to keep expanding the role
in what he's capable of doing.
Speaker 2 (23:15):
Yeah, and I have no inside knowledge, but I get
the sense that he might be around for a while
as the quarterback of the Steelers.
Speaker 4 (23:21):
Russell will certainly get that. Yeah, sounds like a good idea.
Speaker 6 (23:25):
Personally, I disagree.
Speaker 5 (23:27):
And this has definitely been a successful season for Austin.
Speaker 4 (23:30):
Yes, yes, for sure.
Speaker 2 (23:32):
And I think that you know, two guys who've had
successful seasons are you know, at the opposite ends of
the size spectrum for the Steelers, and that would be
Darnell Washington, who's proven he can be a larger part
of the offense, and Calvin Austen, who's the smallest of
the wide receivers and he's proving that he can be
(23:54):
a part of the offense. And I think that's significant.
Matt because I think it felt like when Darn Washington
was in there last year, they were going to run
the ball. Yeah, And if Calvin Austin was going to
be in there, there was a one out of three
chance there's going to be a jet sweep or a
trick play or something to try to utilize them. And
they're out there now quite a bit. And it doesn't
(24:14):
mean it's a trick play, and it doesn't mean it's
a running play.
Speaker 5 (24:17):
Right, And they are extremely different. And I do think
the Arthur Smith offense as a whole wants all shapes
and sizes to contribute, you know. I mean, I try
to get everyone in their best position. But it works
a lot better to your point, when Austin and Washington
are more close to or you know, almost every down players,
you know, where it's not an alert for the defense, like,
(24:38):
oh there's something strange going on here, you know. I mean,
so you get used to seeing them out there, and
they can do more than just one trick.
Speaker 4 (24:47):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (24:47):
And you know the old expression wolf, it's not the
size of the dog in the fight, it's the size
of the fight and the dog and two guys who
were locked up in camp, we saw them all camp
going at it. Beanie Bishop and cal Austin have become
two guys that I just I admire the way they play.
I admire their heart, I admire their toughness. I admire
(25:08):
their ability to stick their nose in there on a
field in which less face it. Most men out there
are you know, a size or two up from from
those guys. You know, they're they're they're they're shopping in
a different part of the store when they go to
get their clothes, and and those guys are just there
is just no back off in either one of those guys.
Speaker 4 (25:28):
I know that about it.
Speaker 6 (25:29):
No, there isn't. And that's the way it should be,
you know.
Speaker 3 (25:31):
I mean they didn't get here by being you know,
easily run over or you know, having too many feelings
and emotions. I mean, this is about ball and you
know you're bawling out, and those guys would do a
great job of representing themselves. And despite their stature which
might be limited. Listen, I know about the Mutt and Jeff.
I can remember first time lining up with John Matuzak,
(25:51):
who was six foot ten, for crying out loud. You know,
you want to talk about a philistine, I mean that
guy was over. He had long black.
Speaker 6 (25:58):
Hair and everything coming out and you know what I mean,
the air growing up his back and everything. They gad zooks.
Speaker 3 (26:03):
Man, it was like wrestling with a bear, you know.
But there's a difference between the size and you know,
that's the nature of the beast. You've got to understand
in relationship to who you're you know, whoever you're competing against,
how you have to handle yourself to compete successfully. And
that's just something like like with Beanie, you know, I
love his his tenacity. I love his desire to get
(26:25):
to the ball, his desire to compete. You know, it's
just good to watch. Same thing with Calvin, you know,
I mean, he's another guy that competes so hard. And
let me tell you something. When you get a look
at some of those guys on the field with some
of the dinosaurs that were out there yesterday, you know,
I mean a Jordan Davis at six seven and three
hundred and sixty five pounds three hundred and sixty kal Lee,
(26:48):
you know, I mean I know that one time and
this is really bad visual, but I wrestled the guy
in sumo who was four hundred and nine pounds. Okay, yeah,
but you know it was you know, it was really bad,
you know, because the equipment you're wearing, but that's a
lot of meat on the hoof, you know, and so
to see it out there in action like that that
it does kind of make you go hm huhs.
Speaker 6 (27:09):
Myron would say.
Speaker 2 (27:10):
Well, we don't we don't want we know, Wolf's not
going to bring this up, Matt, but you know he
drove that guy to the ring.
Speaker 3 (27:16):
No, he did nice, Yes, sir, leverage, Well we crashed
out of bounds. I remember he at first, he said
him saying, I didn't think he could do that. I said, brother,
that's a lot of beef.
Speaker 4 (27:28):
Well it was, that is a lot of it. I was.
Speaker 2 (27:30):
I was talking to one of the guys, you know,
and obviously you know you're hoping that if you're more
diminutive sized, that you're gonna be able to use some
quickness to your advantage, right like that that's the one
advantage you might have.
Speaker 4 (27:40):
But I can't remember.
Speaker 2 (27:41):
Which one I was talking to, because I talked to
him both up at camp because I just loved watching
him battle. They were going against each other all camp.
I can't remember which one of them said, you know,
I've always been small, right, I wake up small, So
I've had to learn how to do this my whole
life against bigger men, and both guys have done that.
So off of the cap to both those guys, but
I wanted to mention Calvin Austin because he led the
(28:03):
team in receiving and continues to put up a solid season.
Along with some other guys and hopefully Matt Williamson, we
can get some healthy bodies for Baltimore, although I have
my doubts.
Speaker 5 (28:16):
Yeah that I can't really comment on. Who knows. I mean,
we're recording this on Monday. Obviously, the Watt injuries looming.
You know what, the three starters you missed, Elliott, Ogunjoby
and of course Pickens. Are they gonna be ready or not?
That would be very, very useful because this is the
most important game of the year. But even though it
was not your finest performance on Sunday, you are now
(28:39):
a playoff team and they can't take that away from
you real quick. Just to the Beanie Bishop Calvin Austin conversation.
And I like both those players a lot, and I
like Mike Hilton a lot and Russell Wilson's an undersized quarterback,
and he's probably one of the guys that said, I
don't know what it's like to be a six or
five quarterback. I've been this size my whole life, you know.
I mean there's something to that. But I'll take dinosaurs too.
Speaker 4 (29:00):
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 5 (29:03):
Yeah, I'll throw bronosaurus or two in the max. Yeah right, yeah,
no physical game, right.
Speaker 2 (29:08):
But if I was closing on somebody and it was
a diminutive wide receiver, it was Darnell Washington, right, yes, uh,
I would mind Darnell at me with a with a
full head of team. Okay, so we have more still
to come. We're getting you ready. While we're finishing up
the Eagles talking, gonna uh, you know, glance forward a
(29:28):
little bit towards the Ravens.
Speaker 4 (29:29):
This is the point after this year, there's audio network back.
Speaker 6 (29:33):
To the point after on dv E.
Speaker 2 (29:36):
Snap back to past steps, up, trouble and down he
goes and high Smith is gonna get credit with a
sack back at the twenty seven yard line. The Sack
Hunger segment is brought to you by the Greater Pittsburgh
Community Food Bank Get Food Volunteer or donate at Pittsburgh Foodbank.
Speaker 4 (29:53):
Dot org Man.
Speaker 2 (29:54):
Oh Man, we're talking about guys out of the lineup,
and Wolf we can talk a little bit more about
those guys coming up, because we don't know whether the
gonna be playing on Saturday in Baltimore when the division
lead at least maybe not the division itself with the
division lead is very much up for grabs. High Smith,
such a good player, made an immediate impact in his
return last week against Cleveland and made another continues to
(30:17):
make an impact in just as a big part of
his Steelers defense.
Speaker 6 (30:20):
Oh he is.
Speaker 3 (30:21):
And you know, he's got such a great feel for
pass rushing when you're the opposite bookend. You got the
twin masters of disasters with TJ and him, and they
really compliment each other, you know. And I gotta also
say you you can't believe how hard it is to
beat Lane Johnson for a sack, all right, for two sacks.
(30:41):
That's even I don't even know, I mean between yeah,
I mean yeah. The fact is, this guy, Lane Johnson
has gone at season or two without giving up any sacks,
you know, and yet you've got a you know, a
phenomenal rusher like TJ. They went at it. I mean
that you talk about apex predators going at it with
each other last night. That's one of the things that
(31:03):
I really was enjoying watching because it was a real battle.
And Alex Highsmith is the same thing. Jordan Malatta, the
guy is almost three hundred and seventy pounds in past dinosaurs.
Speaker 6 (31:13):
Yeah, exactly, you know, Matt what I'm talking about. I mean,
like I said, he's six ' eight three sixty five.
Speaker 3 (31:18):
That's a that's a five dollars camp fair just around
him if he stood there, you know. So anyhow, Yes,
those are two very accomplished, excellent defensive ends, those bookend
rushers and edge setters, because they're both equally adept at
stopping the run as they are in rushing the passer.
Speaker 5 (31:37):
And that's as good a battle in that regard as
you're everything to see. Yeah, I mean, like Johnson and
Water are going to the Hall of Fame, and I
said this going into there, I firmly believe that's the
best set of tackles in the league.
Speaker 2 (31:47):
Yeah, and I loved you know, Lane Johnson was effusive
in his praise, said he was exhausted after being out
on an island with TJ.
Speaker 4 (31:57):
Watt.
Speaker 2 (31:58):
You had the sack and then uh you know that,
then the penalty when Johnson left early, and then the sack.
So very very complimentary. What a true pro he is,
great player, really really complimentary of how difficult it is
to go against Watt, who he said is probably the
best edge player in football.
Speaker 3 (32:19):
You know, it's a terrible feeling years and years ago
when I got bumped out to left tackle on account
I was the tallest guard and all the left tackles
were hurt. You know, I was the tallest guard by
a half inch. You know, right, I'm stuck out the
exactly I'm out there with Clay Matthews and it's just
one on one mono imano. I mean they're running games
(32:39):
to the inside and they're just with Clay. I'm chased
talking about all afternoon. WHOA, No, I didn't give up
a side. There were a few close calls though, all
that runway he had way too much, way too much,
you know.
Speaker 2 (32:54):
So we talk about guys who are back my previous Adams.
Good to see him back, adding some depth along the
defensive line. Of course, Oguin Jobi, as you mentioned, Matt
was out. One guy that I think probably has been,
you know, one of my favorite players to watch all
years to Shaun Elliott and of course him being out,
(33:15):
and I really think Matt that that made a difference.
It's hard for me to believe that it wasn't a
driver to a third down or two where maybe he
doesn't come up as your second leading tackler, make a tackle,
stop a drive, get the ball back, and who knows
if something like that could be a different to the game.
I don't want to get overblown about that, but he's
(33:35):
a really good player, and I think he was missed
and you know, very quiet on it sounds like a
hamstring if I'm not mistaken. You know no idea what
that means, and you have to hope that you know,
like the other guys we talked about TJ. Watt and
Pickens and some other guys, Dante Jackson, that if he's
not able to go against the Ravens, the students find
(33:56):
a way to win the division and get those guys
healthy for the playoffs.
Speaker 5 (34:00):
Yeah, that's absolutely huge. And I don't know the answer
to this, but if that was a Super Bowl, what
all those guys played, if it was the Ravens game
this week, what all those guys played. Is it kind
of looking ahead and you know, being smart by the
staff to say again, I don't buy any means proclaim
that they punted away this Eagles game, but this upcoming
game is more important. The playoffs are more important. I
(34:22):
wonder it was great to see Minka do some different
things in this game too, but Elliott would have complimented
him even better. And he's one of those guys too
that the numbers are great, you know, the tackles as
you mentioned, but he's such a glue guy and doesn't
have discernible weaknesses that he fills a lot of gaps
for you. And I think it'd be incredibly important against
(34:43):
his old team the Ravens here too, I mean with
the diversity that they play offense.
Speaker 2 (34:48):
Yeah, Wolf definitely missed and again I you know this,
the Steelers have been.
Speaker 6 (34:54):
And let me you know what, let me just say
this too.
Speaker 3 (34:56):
It's it's not just Matt's perfectly correct what he's saying
and how important it was, but it's also the way
he did it too. I mean, you got to understand.
I didn't call him deceleration trauma for nothing. I mean
the way he can come up and tackle and do
so in a way that drives backs backwards that they
hit them so that you know they're looking for him
(35:16):
the next time around. His ability to play in the box,
to play gap run fits up close with those dinosaurs.
Speaker 4 (35:25):
You know.
Speaker 3 (35:25):
I just got a lot of admiration for the way
he conducts his business in and around the trenches, because that's.
Speaker 6 (35:30):
No place for a smaller guy.
Speaker 3 (35:32):
And when you've got some the literal dinosaurs that the
Eagles had, you know, that's a difficult area to play
and certainly would have been useful if we'd been able
to have Deshaun, because he is a very a high
quality tackler and player.
Speaker 2 (35:47):
Yeah, I don't know what they list him at. I
suspect he's under I suspect you somewhere between two hundred
and ten. And he's not a huge guy wolf like
you said, but his desire appears to be to hit
you very very hard.
Speaker 6 (36:02):
I would say that's a safe assessment.
Speaker 2 (36:04):
There, so you know, and I will also say this, well,
you know, Mike Tomlins says all the time, if you're
ready and you can play, you will play. So now again,
I suppose there, you know, I don't know if there
are variances to that.
Speaker 4 (36:20):
I don't know if that means, hey, if you can.
Speaker 2 (36:21):
Tape it up and get out there and play, or
because you know, as fans we always want to say, well,
let's rest them until you know, none of us will
really matter until Kansas City or Cincinnati or whatever the
case may be, or the playoffs. Who cares if you're
going on the road. Blah blah blah blah blah. I
don't know what the answer is. I don't know when
they'll be healthy. I don't know whether TJ. Wat can go.
Speaker 4 (36:43):
None of us do at the stage of the game.
Speaker 2 (36:46):
But it does feel like, you know, if you can
get those guys one hundred percent that again, I'm not
you know, obviously I'm not suggesting what they do or
how they do it, but getting them one hundred percent
would seem to be be a high priority issue.
Speaker 3 (37:02):
There's no question about it. And look, here's the biggest
difference between my era and and today. You know, back
in my day, we told as players, we're like, can't
go or I can go? You know, I mean, that's
just the onus was on the player. Well, now with
all the testing protocol and procedures that they have they
can get a real good grasp of how bad the
(37:23):
injuries are, what's the probabilities of something happening. So it's
the coaches and the train staff and say no, you
can't play. You know, they were setting you down. And
they do that with a lot of metrics and whatever
things that they the testing stuff at their disposal, you know,
And so that's that's part of it, you know, because
it's a real difference from my era.
Speaker 2 (37:44):
I wonder if George Pickens, you know, maybe he was
lobbying to play. I mean, you know, there was sort
of like this this Pickings conspiracy thing. Oh you know,
you know, they they're they're they're teaching him a lesson
or they're they're sitting him later or whatever, and he
was questionable and then they they do an MRI, they're like, whoa,
this is worse than we thought it was. So yes,
there is there is more testing and those sort of
(38:06):
things involved now, Matt, because I think buying large of
you ask players their opinion, most of them would say
I'm playing.
Speaker 5 (38:13):
Yeah. And the Pickens one was odd because most of
us thought he was going to play a week ago,
but he got injured late in the practice week. And
that's always puts a wrench in things. Now, who knows.
I mean, the Steelers aren't the only team to have injuries,
you know. I mean, And it's one of the things
I like the least about the game of football is
it's a war of attrition and you can say next
(38:35):
man up all you want, but there's a reason that
that guy's number two and not number one on the
death chart, etc.
Speaker 6 (38:40):
Etc.
Speaker 5 (38:41):
I mean, heck, I mean on Christmas, they may not
have my homes. He's weak to week. He got injured yesterday.
I mean you talk about a major injury. There was
a lot of them in the league yesterday. If they
can avoid tragedy with Watt and get Pickings back soon,
there's bigger fish to fry than winning in Philadelphia. It
is what I keep coming back to. I mean, if
the goal here is to win playoff games and maybe
even get to the super Bowl, I think you have
(39:03):
to be smart with how you use these guys, and
using them in Philadelphia might not have been the smartest move, right,
and they didn't, you know.
Speaker 2 (39:11):
And right and you know again, Wolf, I think as
we kind of wrap this one up with the Eagles,
I just think that as a player. As a team, yes,
you have to correct your mistakes. The coaching staff will
point out the mistakes. It should be pointed out, and
then they're gonna turn their attention to Baltimore. I don't
(39:33):
believe that this one needs a whole lot of attention.
Speaker 4 (39:37):
I just think that when you when.
Speaker 5 (39:39):
Your mess, they're time to move on.
Speaker 6 (39:42):
Man.
Speaker 2 (39:42):
Yeah, listen with our jobs, right, I've told people listen,
you know, if you hear see something, agree, just let
me know. If you want to point out that I
made a mistake, chances are I already know you.
Speaker 4 (39:53):
Know what I mean.
Speaker 2 (39:54):
I don't need you to point it out to me.
I already know I made a mistake. But if I'm
getting into bad habits, if I'm.
Speaker 4 (40:00):
Doing you find yourself, tell you find that you can
tell me, then then let me know, you know. So,
I just think let this one go. Uh.
Speaker 2 (40:07):
There were there were chances, there were opportunities to get
off the matt get back in this game.
Speaker 4 (40:11):
It didn't happen.
Speaker 2 (40:14):
You know, let it go because I think that if
you got everybody healthy and you corrected some of those
mistakes and you played again, I think if you're the Steelers,
you'd say let's let's do it again.
Speaker 6 (40:24):
Man.
Speaker 3 (40:25):
Well that's exactly what I tell my wife all the time. Hey,
hont let it go. You know, I made a mistake.
I've made a number of mistakes and in the twenty
seven years that we've been married or twenty eight, the
whole point is just let it go, baby, you know.
And the fact is you've got a situation here, this
this Eagles game. It's again a telling lesson. It's something
(40:45):
that you you look at and you you know, it
kind of gives you a little marker where you're at.
I know, the offensive lineman. You sit there and you
want to match horns with the likes of a Jalen Carter,
Jordan Davis and those guys, and you want to be
able to make sure that you're you're capable of playing
your role. I thought Isaac Suemalel by the way, had
some really good blocks there, did a nice job for
(41:06):
the other For all the guys. It can be a
little bit more of like, look, you learn something from it,
you move on. And that's what the life in the
NFL is. It's it's a circle of life. I mean,
you cannot spend a whole lot of time mourning the
loss or enjoying the victory, as it is about turning
the page and looking forward to what's next. And what's
(41:26):
next is coming up real quick because it's one day
less and people can't imagine how hard it is even
clipping one day off from your preparatory period and getting
ready to play.
Speaker 5 (41:39):
And Rob, I mean, progress isn't linear. You're not going
to keep taking steps forward, step forward. I mean, this
is definitely a step back against a really quality opponent.
And my hunch, you know, we've all been around that
organization quite a bit. They're a proud group and I
don't think it's good. Not that they need extra motivation
for Ravens Week, but they were a little embarrassed, you know,
kind of like that Thursday night Inland. They came back storming.
Speaker 2 (42:01):
Never hurts, right, and a little bit of edge never hurts.
And speaking of the circle of life, someone's going to
be mufasa after the game on Saturday. On Saturday, Yeah,
quick turnaround, quick turnaround for both teams. You know, I
don't I don't much care that one team was home
and another team's got to travel. And you know, one
(42:24):
team played at one, one team played at four I
don't know as any of that matters. Wolf go down
to Baltimore, play and try to win the division.
Speaker 3 (42:31):
Absolutely. Look, all focus is on that, all your energy
is on that. This is the I know we talk
about the Gauntlet. This is the cheese greater Gauntlet. I mean,
this is about you're gonna lose some flesh. They've already
lost some flesh going through this right now. Hopefully it's
gonna be battle hardening the troops rather than taking off
too much skin.
Speaker 2 (42:51):
You know, I was a little down starting this show
because of the loss. But Matt here it is an
hour later. Man, It's Raven's week. Let's how exciting is that?
Speaker 4 (43:00):
You're right?
Speaker 5 (43:00):
I mean, you're a playoff team battling for the division.
I would have taken that three or four months ago
in a heartbeat.
Speaker 6 (43:07):
Yeah, Lock and load, baby.
Speaker 4 (43:08):
Ye can't wait.
Speaker 2 (43:09):
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(43:29):
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Justin Miller, I'm Rob King.
Speaker 4 (43:38):
Thanks for listening to the point after on the Steelers
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(00:22):
And now here are your hosts, Rob King, Craig Wolfley,
and Matt Williamson.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Well, thank you very much for being with us for
the first time in a while. We don't have a
joyous game to talk about, the Steelers losing to the
Philadelphia Eagles by the final score of twenty seven to
thirteen in a game that the Eagles dominated, at least statistically.
But we're going to get to a lot of things
about this game, you know, obviously some negative, but hopefully
some positive as well. Our first reaction is brought to
(00:49):
you by First National Bank. Let's get started, Member FDI
C wolf what is your first reaction to yesterday's loss?
Speaker 3 (00:56):
Oh, the fact that I couldn't get a donut on
victory donut Monday. Oh, that was very discouraged because we've
been on a roll and the fact is you've been
on this role and you know you enjoy watching is
guys are building throughout the season, and this just wasn't
a step forward that you wanted to see. You know,
there was a lot of good things that the Steelers
were able to accomplish, but not enough to be able
(01:18):
to turn the tide and get this game and end
that losing streak from nineteen sixty five. So yeah, that
is definitely the first thing that was on my gourd.
Speaker 4 (01:29):
What was your first reaction, Matt that the Eagles are really.
Speaker 5 (01:32):
Really good and might win the Super Bowl this year?
And to be honest, I mean I semi expected a
similar result, but not to this extreme. I mean, the
second half dominance didn't sit well with me at all.
I mean, just the ability inability to get off the field,
the time of possession stuff, the number of plays run
(01:54):
in the second half. You know, even early you cause
those two fumbles or those two turnovers, both in their
own end, one in the red zone, and you only
got three points out of them. But all that being said,
I mean, to be very honest, I mean, anyone that
was listening to the pregame show that I did with
Tim Ben's in the first hour, he asked me, you know,
what's your big picture thinking on this game, you know,
(02:15):
leading into the Eagles game, And I said, beat the
Ravens because that's really all that matters. Yeah, I mean,
this game doesn't hurt you that bad, and I don't.
And I very much understand that football players don't look
at it that way. And I'm not implying they should
have punted yesterday. But the most important stuff is ahead.
Speaker 4 (02:35):
It is, and I agree with that.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
And so I've been going back and forth on this
because I do agree with that assessment.
Speaker 4 (02:42):
Matt Wolf.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
You know, I looked at this game and I thought, Okay,
there were moments in which, you know, the Steelers, for
as poorly as they played early on, could have gotten
back into it. And I applaud the fact that they
had opportunities to do that. I understand that a lot
of their issues were self inflicted. I understand that the
Eagles are very good. But to me, even between that
(03:08):
gap of the Eagles being very good and the Student's
shooting themselves in the foot the way the Eagles performed
against the students. That's a little wider gap than I
really would have liked to have seen.
Speaker 3 (03:19):
Well, it all depends on how you look at I mean,
aside from the fumble, there was an opportunity there to
close the gap, do the things that they needed to do,
tie the game. And now it's you know, and you
expected that you're going into a place like the link, right,
You're going in there and you know all the Eagles
fans are there. You've got to quell that that early
emotion type thing you face in a lot of hostility
(03:41):
and so forth, and you knew what was laying ahead
for you there, but you know, not being able to
come back and tie it and get yourself in that position,
to me, that was a bummer obviously. But the fact
is there was still some good things there that they
can take and move forward with. But look, you've got
the first not defeat yourself. And that's something that I
(04:02):
think you know is it's an obvious thing week in
and week out, is not beating yourself. But when you
have self inflicted penalties, when you have an ability by
with you got a couple of takeaways and you're only
able to muster three points out of them. You're not
going to play winning football like that when you go
into play someone like the Eagles in their home bark.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
So, Matt, I agree with and understand everything Wolf just said.
I would have felt more comfortable, Not that this is
about my comfort, but I would have felt better had
the Steelers, you know, somewhere in that you know that
last twenty play drive, you know, stop them and gotten
the ball back one more time, you know, just you know,
(04:43):
not let it continue to roll downhill when you think
about what did to see this run five plays in
the second half, something crazy low thirteen play drive, thirteen
play drive, twenty play drive, still at the ball when
the game was finished.
Speaker 4 (04:58):
Did the Eagles? So that was the part I understand.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
Look, I think they got and Wolf and I talked
about this on an earlier show today. I think they
got some bad calls, which I don't get to see
what I'm calling the game. They've been brought to my
attention subsequently. I've seen the one on Darnell Washington. That's
a bad call in my opinion. I don't understand how
that can't be at the very least, at the very
worst for this year, there's offsetting penalties and the change
(05:25):
of possession thing which was very garbled on the punt
and then the ball winds up going back to the
Eagles and the fumble and all that. But and I
understand that when you continue to take body blow after
your body blow, you're exhausted out there defensively, it's hard
to stem the tide. I'd like to have seen him
stem the tide. I would like to see him make
one more stop and get the ball back.
Speaker 5 (05:45):
Yeah, And I think you're right. You know, the the
Washington incident, which I adored him driving him into the stands, Yes,
that was pretty awesome, But that the garbled change of possession,
as you mentioned, Both those I thought were bad calls.
Nause's uncharacteristic dropping slash fumble dropping of the toss was
(06:07):
at a crucial time when it could have been a
changing moment, could have been you know, I mean, we
don't think we can assume they're just gonna drive down
and tie it and all of a sudden they're gonna
be in this thing. But a couple of minutes ago
you mentioned you wish the gap was smaller, and that's
a good way of putting it.
Speaker 4 (06:22):
There.
Speaker 5 (06:23):
Still was a gap. I mean, this wasn't like the
Colts game when we get together on Monday and be like,
there were some bounces that didn't go their way. They
probably win like they lost. I mean, they were the
inferior team yesterday, and I don't think that's disputable. We
can break down a play here and there, but I
still think they end up with an owl when it's over.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
Yeah, Matt, that's a good point. I think that's kind
of what I was getting at. And the Cults are
a perfect example because I think I walked out of
that booth and Lucas Oil shaking my head, like thinking
to myself, well, the better team didn't win that game.
Speaker 5 (06:53):
Yeah, let one get away, you know, you know, yeah,
that was.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
But this one wasn't about letting one get away. This
one felt to me like what the students have done
to other teams, which is you take advantage of the
mistakes and you outclass the other team. And that's okay
when you're doing it to the other team. It doesn't
feel good when the other team's doing it to your team.
Speaker 5 (07:16):
And I thought they had a good game plan on defense,
and they they did do some good things in terms
of limiting the best back in the league. And I
went into that game saying, hey, if Hurts can beat
you Nickel and Diamond, you, you know, against single coverage
or whatever, so be it. And they did. And you know,
if you're the Eagles, I mean, I always like on
Monday to look at the game through the opponent's eyes,
(07:39):
you know, like some of my questions as an Eagles
supporter would have got answered because I thought a thing
holding them back might be their drop back passing game,
their quarterbacks ability to throw with consistency. And they passed
those tests against a pretty good defense and then they
buried a pretty good defense.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
Well and okay, so we'llf I get back to you
in a minute, because but I want to follow up
on what you just said there at about the Eagles
answering some questions. It looked it felt to me more.
And yes, they did hit some big plays on third down.
I don't want to I don't want to take that
away from him, and I do think they maybe quelled
(08:15):
some doubts. But I thought they had a really good
game plan. They came out throwing the ball when we
all expected them to come out running the ball. That's
a little different to me than Hey, it's seventeen thirteen
games on the line, there's a minute twenty left, and
now you got to throw the ball down the field.
Speaker 4 (08:32):
You know what I mean. You have to throw it
as opposed to win. You I felt like they threw.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
It a large time when they wanted to, not when
when they had to.
Speaker 5 (08:41):
That's a great point. And again I'm sure this isn't
an Eagle show, but they're gonna at some point between
now and if they hoist a Lombardi Trophy, they're gonna
have to ask Hurts to throw when he has to throw,
and I'm still not sold them that he can. But
it was a step in the right direction, and the
Steelers tackling helped matters as well.
Speaker 4 (09:00):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
You know, well, if I think this is this is
a little bit difficult sometimes to break down. When you're
not in the locker room, and you're in the locker
room and you're looking at the tape, you think to yourself,
I should have made that tackle, I should have made
that block. I think that there's you know, so so
when you're watching, when you're watching it now from the
(09:20):
other perspective, you're thinking, hey, I got to get off
that block, and you know, I got to make that guy.
Speaker 4 (09:26):
Miss, right, So you can't have it both ways.
Speaker 2 (09:29):
You can't should have made that guy miss and well,
I guess you can. But you know, the reality is
that they have some very good players. Some of those
things defensively, some of those mistackles are gonna happen because
those guys are really good. But probably just a few
too many of those things happened, that's my take on it.
A few of those things, A few too many of
(09:50):
those things happen for you to feel you're never gonna
feel comfortable with any of them.
Speaker 4 (09:54):
But I think you have to live with some of them.
But there were just too many to live with.
Speaker 3 (09:58):
Yes, no, this if there's nothing magical about what happened,
yesterd Hey, it's all fundamental.
Speaker 6 (10:03):
No, I'm serious.
Speaker 3 (10:04):
It wasn't like that you had this unbelievable schematics advantage
over the Steelers or anything. And this is what happens
when you don't execute, when guys take turns losing their
one to eleventh matchup, when they don't take advantage of takeaways,
and they bloody themselves with penalties.
Speaker 6 (10:20):
You know what I mean.
Speaker 3 (10:21):
You got run throughs at the point of attacking, you
turn the ball over. I mean these things here, that's
just fundamental football. And when you don't execute on a
high priority basis week in and week out, you get this,
You get a loss like that, and the other team
takes it to you. You already know that there's some
distinct advantages. You got Jurassic parking pads in the offensive line. Okay,
(10:43):
that's a huge group of dudes, all right. So if
you're not on your p's and q's dot in the
eyes and crossing the t's defensively in the trenches there,
you're in for a real wake up with these monsters
of the midway, right, I mean, that's what you got there.
So if you've got mistackles, if you've got poor execution,
if you are not able to lock out on a
on a zone play and get your head out of
(11:04):
the chest of one of those six ' eight monsters,
you know what, Guys run by you, you know what
I mean, that's just that just happens. So the fact is,
I look at this, you know again, nothing mystical, nothing mysterious.
You just got outplayed. And to me, that's the key
to the game.
Speaker 2 (11:20):
Yeah, I don't want to Wolf, you know, uh, you know,
run ahead on the show because we still have a
lot to talk about. But if you're watching tape on
this show, in this game, hopefully you're not watching tape
of this show because there's nothing. So if you're, if
you're watching this as a player, you know, guessing probably
(11:44):
that everybody's a little bit different. Some people don't need
to be told that they made a mistake. They understand it,
they own it. Some people maybe do need a little Hey,
wait a minute, man, your head hasn't been in it
the last couple of weeks.
Speaker 4 (11:57):
This is what happens when that happens. What have you?
Speaker 2 (12:00):
I'm sure that you know you put fifty three different
individuals in a room, you're going to get different reactions
and different things that a player needs to get out
of a film session. But is this largely just look, man,
this happened, We understand, this happened. This can't happen. Focus
on the small details and let's have a good week
(12:20):
in practice. Or does it go deeper than that? For
a team self evaluating after a loss like this.
Speaker 3 (12:25):
Well, I think you know it's it dependent upon the
player individually. Sure you know, I mean you've got some
guys that are in position, didn't make the play when
the play was run to them. You got some people
like Naji. When when was the last time Naji fumbled?
Speaker 6 (12:38):
Right?
Speaker 4 (12:38):
You know what I mean?
Speaker 3 (12:38):
He doesn't fumble, you know, And so it's unfortunate that's
something that happens. I don't expect to go into Baltimore
and see that same thing happen again. So you know,
in my mind, these are just circumstances that arose. Guys
did not. They were not able to how do I
put it, It's it's it's Yoda do or do not.
There is no trying. You either get the job done
(13:01):
or you don't. And you know, there was a couple
of situations where some of the schematics were kind of interesting.
Speaker 6 (13:06):
You know.
Speaker 3 (13:06):
They ran that one with I think it was Devonte
and a crossing route with it was really an interesting
group of you know, the route trees that they ran
in and around him, and I thought that was that
was interesting. I'd not seen that before. And then all
of a sudden, you know, it's just simply this guy
got blocked, you know, I mean, Chuck Nole, why did
you remove that guy?
Speaker 6 (13:26):
Well, he was being blocked, you know.
Speaker 3 (13:28):
I mean that was Chuck Knowles's answer to some of
the personnel moves he'd made. To me, again, it's just
about you either win your job that one eleventh or
you don't. And watching it, there wasn't enough one eleventh
to win in.
Speaker 5 (13:42):
And Rob real quick.
Speaker 6 (13:43):
I'm with Wolf.
Speaker 5 (13:44):
I mean, obviously there's nothing mystical about it, you know.
I mean, it's pretty obvious why you lost this game,
and I would never dispute that, and especially at the
lines of scrimmage. But I think I always look at
think from a front office perspective, it is harder I
mean blocking and tackling. I mean it's it is harder
to block Jalen Carter, It is harder to tackle a
(14:06):
J Brown Saquon Barkley. And I think no one ever
publicly admit it, but you'll look at that game and say,
are we one of the big dogs? Can we hang
with the big dogs? We know they're a big dog,
and we didn't play like a big dog collectively, you know.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
You know, and and again going back to and you know,
I think fans want, you know, some fans they want
the coach to rip out his headset and throw it
on the field. They're dream and yell and cuss, and
you know, you have to be true to yourself. Uh well,
I wouldn't even bring up the fumble, the nagy. I mean,
I don't even I don't want him thinking about it,
(14:42):
you know what I mean, sure never fumbles, he has
sure hands. I wouldn't even bring it up. He knows
what he did. He doesn't mean to be reminded of that.
Speaker 3 (14:51):
No, And then they're gonna go out and practice is weak,
and he's gonna go through the myriad drills of ball
security that they do each and every day, you know,
as part of the warm up period. That's a function
of every day preparing for it. And at one critical moment,
for some reason, something happened where it didn't you know,
the fumble occurred. But that's not a normal thing. That's
(15:12):
something so far out of bounds. But it kind of
leads to you also to understand how some things can
get away from you, you know, in a game like that,
for instance, when you've got two takeaways, Yeah, zoukes.
Speaker 6 (15:23):
Man, you gotta do more than put three points on
the board. You know.
Speaker 3 (15:27):
I can't understand how the officials can look at a
Darius slagh swinging at a Darnell Washington and not see it,
but yeah, everybody else in the stadium saw it, and
they went to the replay for it. Hey, look, okay,
you know again that's neither here nor there. It's just
one of those stupid things. It's unfortunate, but you know,
it does lead you to just kind of go. It
(15:49):
just was one of those games where things just got
going out of hand and they were not able.
Speaker 6 (15:54):
To turn the tide in the second half. That was
the big thing.
Speaker 2 (15:58):
Before we get out of hand. We got to take
a break. We have lots more to talk about. This
is the point after on this stud there's audio network back.
Speaker 6 (16:06):
To the point after on DVD.
Speaker 2 (16:09):
Wilson gets a snap back to pass looking gonna loft.
Speaker 4 (16:13):
And for the end zone it is hauled in.
Speaker 2 (16:15):
It is Hey, pittferg Steelers touchdown Pat Fryarmouth in the
end zone.
Speaker 4 (16:22):
Yeah, that was a tougher play than it may.
Speaker 2 (16:26):
I don't know what it looked like on TV, because
of course I was calling it on radio. The Play
of the Game is brought to you by S and
T Bank, proudly serving our communities since nineteen oh two.
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the ball was just a little bit behind Friarmuth, and
that allowed the defender to come up and really challenge
Pat for the ball when he high pointed it.
Speaker 4 (16:47):
One of those.
Speaker 2 (16:48):
Plays that you know you'd like to see a guy
come down with it. But that doesn't mean it was easy.
Well if I thought that was a you know, difficult
contested catch and three straight now for Friarmuth.
Speaker 3 (16:58):
No question about it. I thought Pat Fryerman Ruther quitted
himself very well there. I thought he was going to
be maybe an even bigger part of the offense. I
know that he had six targets, he had three receptions there,
but that one catch was just terrific because it took
strong hands for him to be able to rest that
ball away and tuck it in. But I think even
more so when you know George Pickens is down, I
(17:18):
think there could be more there. But again, you've got
to be able to possess the ball in the second
half to be able to do some things, and that
was just one of the areas that you know, it
didn't happen. Look, when a team goes ten to seventeen
on third down conversions. Yeah, oh my heavens. I mean,
you know, that's that's that's pretty darn tough to beat
odds like that when they're winning so many possession.
Speaker 2 (17:38):
Downs, especially when you go five straight three and outs
to begin the game.
Speaker 5 (17:43):
Matt, absolutely, I mean, it was a very slow start,
and the Eagles have a great history of wearing teams down,
you know, doing damage later and later in the game.
They're a very physical team. Even though they didn't run
the ball as much as they usually do, they control
the line of scrimmage, well, they go to hurry up,
they they wear you down. I mean, so a slow
(18:06):
start in that environment on the road against a team
as talented and as hot as they are was kind
of dooming obviously, real quick back to Friarmouth though, I mean,
there are some positiveness game, there's no question. And I
think he and the relationship between him and the offensive
coordinator and quarterbacks seems to be improving on a weekly basis.
(18:27):
That's really important to me. And I thought Calvin Austin
stepped up again. Yeah, I mean he's a legit guy.
Speaker 2 (18:34):
Well, I think you know, Matt, when you look at
this and you look at the sort of the George
Pickens trickle down effect. Let's just I don't know whether
the Eagles travel their defensive backs. They've got two good ones,
Quon Mitchell Quinnon. Mitchell's a first round pick. Well, Cooper
Dejane's pretty good too. In the slot. He's a second
round pick this year. Probably if Redone would go in
(18:56):
the first round. Now the people have had to look
at him. And you have Slay, a six time Pro
Bowl on the other side, So somebody is going to
be tasked with with covering George Pickens. However, I still
like that matchup. I don't care who Pickens is going against.
I still think he's gonna get a number of targets
and a number of shares. And then I think the
Steelers are built in such a way that, Okay, if
(19:18):
you have a second good corner, maybe that nullifies your
next outside guy in Jefferson. Are you gonna have a
third guy that can nullify Calvin Austin?
Speaker 4 (19:29):
Okay?
Speaker 2 (19:30):
Are you then gonna have a safety good enough to
go with Pat Fryermouth? Are you then gonna have another
linebacker who can or another safety who can deal with
Darnell Washington getting two or three targets a game. I
just think that, you know, when you take Pickens out
of there, and without having the sort of prototypical one too,
(19:52):
you know, there aren't a lot of teams that have that.
Minnesota probably has it, Cincinnati has it. Not a lot
of teams. Yeah, yes, yeah, we just saw a team.
How quickly we forget or I forget, But it's just
I think it underscores a little bit what the absence
of Pickens means. But also just because you don't have that,
(20:13):
maybe that prototypical one two punch doesn't mean that week
by week there aren't matchups that you can exploit. I
just I kind of went down the list with the
idea that you know, a team's maybe not gonna have
another great outside corner. That means you're outside receiver is
gonna have a big game. Maybe the slot guy isn't
up to snuff. Now, Calvin Austin's gonna have a big game.
I like the way it's set up, but you need
(20:34):
that guy at the top.
Speaker 5 (20:35):
I think in Pickens one hundred, I mean there's definitely
a ripple effect of him not being on the field.
I mean, coverages don't roll as direction. You know, good
coverage can also result in touchdowns and long games, even
if the corner plays it perfect with a guy like him.
And by no means am I implying this season's over.
They can't hang with the big dogs, you know, cash
(20:56):
it in. But you can see an offseason away from
all those things you said really falling into place extremely nicely,
you know what I mean.
Speaker 4 (21:06):
Right, Yes?
Speaker 2 (21:08):
And Wolf, you know, a big question was when Russell Wilson,
you know, takes over at the quarterback position, who might
benefit the most? And I think we're seeing that a
lot of people benefit, you know, Pickings benefits, friarmooth benefits.
Speaker 4 (21:26):
I really like.
Speaker 2 (21:28):
And I think we sought up at camp. You know,
it just seemed like after practice there's a lot of
work that you know, I don't know whether Calvin Austin
was sticking around or Russell Wilson asked him to stick around,
but it just it felt like those two were on
the same page back in camp. Didn't have a lot
of time to work together because of Russ's calf injury.
Speaker 4 (21:46):
But that's a nice looking combination those two, well, it
really is.
Speaker 3 (21:50):
Look at you've got blazing speed. You can't coach speed.
Speed can kill. I mean, and you know, we've seen
instances of Calvin doing those very same things that we're
talking about in past games. And certainly for a guy
like Russ Wilson, he's no stranger to developing young guys
like a Golden Tait and so forth, those sorts of guys.
So to me, you know, this is just the process
(22:12):
of being a leader, knowing your personnel, knowing your your
wide receivers, and he's going to distribute the ball to
a bunch of guys to keep keep them all involved.
In the same time, no one's wearing a yoke that
is too heavy for him, and you've just you're just
multiplying your opportunities to increase your offensive output. And I
think that's what it is. And then now we're seeing
(22:32):
Russ take off and run a little bit. Yeah, yeah,
doing some of the things that he's capable of doing
that you know, we we haven't seen a lot lately
just because of the fact, you know, he was coming
off that calf, and I think there's.
Speaker 6 (22:45):
Always that problem. You go, well, you had a little
bit of problem there that you don't want to chance that.
Speaker 3 (22:50):
But he know, he looks to be in great shape
and he's doing the things that you know has been
a signatory things of him in the past doing up
in Seattle. So I just look for him to do
more of the same and keep increasing that relationship with
a Calvin Austin, with the George Pickens, with a Van Jefferson,
with a Pat fryarn with any of those guys, because
(23:11):
I think it's just going to keep expanding the role
in what he's capable of doing.
Speaker 2 (23:15):
Yeah, and I have no inside knowledge, but I get
the sense that he might be around for a while
as the quarterback of the Steelers.
Speaker 4 (23:21):
Russell will certainly get that. Yeah, sounds like a good idea.
Speaker 6 (23:25):
Personally, I disagree.
Speaker 5 (23:27):
And this has definitely been a successful season for Austin.
Speaker 4 (23:30):
Yes, yes, for sure.
Speaker 2 (23:32):
And I think that you know, two guys who've had
successful seasons are you know, at the opposite ends of
the size spectrum for the Steelers, and that would be
Darnell Washington, who's proven he can be a larger part
of the offense, and Calvin Austen, who's the smallest of
the wide receivers and he's proving that he can be
(23:54):
a part of the offense. And I think that's significant.
Matt because I think it felt like when Darn Washington
was in there last year, they were going to run
the ball. Yeah, And if Calvin Austin was going to
be in there, there was a one out of three
chance there's going to be a jet sweep or a
trick play or something to try to utilize them. And
they're out there now quite a bit. And it doesn't
(24:14):
mean it's a trick play, and it doesn't mean it's
a running play.
Speaker 5 (24:17):
Right, And they are extremely different. And I do think
the Arthur Smith offense as a whole wants all shapes
and sizes to contribute, you know. I mean, I try
to get everyone in their best position. But it works
a lot better to your point, when Austin and Washington
are more close to or you know, almost every down players,
you know, where it's not an alert for the defense, like,
(24:38):
oh there's something strange going on here, you know. I mean,
so you get used to seeing them out there, and
they can do more than just one trick.
Speaker 4 (24:47):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (24:47):
And you know the old expression wolf, it's not the
size of the dog in the fight, it's the size
of the fight and the dog and two guys who
were locked up in camp, we saw them all camp
going at it. Beanie Bishop and cal Austin have become
two guys that I just I admire the way they play.
I admire their heart, I admire their toughness. I admire
(25:08):
their ability to stick their nose in there on a
field in which less face it. Most men out there
are you know, a size or two up from from
those guys. You know, they're they're they're they're shopping in
a different part of the store when they go to
get their clothes, and and those guys are just there
is just no back off in either one of those guys.
Speaker 4 (25:28):
I know that about it.
Speaker 6 (25:29):
No, there isn't. And that's the way it should be,
you know.
Speaker 3 (25:31):
I mean they didn't get here by being you know,
easily run over or you know, having too many feelings
and emotions. I mean, this is about ball and you
know you're bawling out, and those guys would do a
great job of representing themselves. And despite their stature which
might be limited. Listen, I know about the Mutt and Jeff.
I can remember first time lining up with John Matuzak,
(25:51):
who was six foot ten, for crying out loud. You know,
you want to talk about a philistine, I mean that
guy was over. He had long black.
Speaker 6 (25:58):
Hair and everything coming out and you know what I mean,
the air growing up his back and everything. They gad zooks.
Speaker 3 (26:03):
Man, it was like wrestling with a bear, you know.
But there's a difference between the size and you know,
that's the nature of the beast. You've got to understand
in relationship to who you're you know, whoever you're competing against,
how you have to handle yourself to compete successfully. And
that's just something like like with Beanie, you know, I
love his his tenacity. I love his desire to get
(26:25):
to the ball, his desire to compete. You know, it's
just good to watch. Same thing with Calvin, you know,
I mean, he's another guy that competes so hard. And
let me tell you something. When you get a look
at some of those guys on the field with some
of the dinosaurs that were out there yesterday, you know,
I mean a Jordan Davis at six seven and three
hundred and sixty five pounds three hundred and sixty kal Lee,
(26:48):
you know, I mean I know that one time and
this is really bad visual, but I wrestled the guy
in sumo who was four hundred and nine pounds. Okay, yeah,
but you know it was you know, it was really bad,
you know, because the equipment you're wearing, but that's a
lot of meat on the hoof, you know, and so
to see it out there in action like that that
it does kind of make you go hm huhs.
Speaker 6 (27:09):
Myron would say.
Speaker 2 (27:10):
Well, we don't we don't want we know, Wolf's not
going to bring this up, Matt, but you know he
drove that guy to the ring.
Speaker 3 (27:16):
No, he did nice, Yes, sir, leverage, Well we crashed
out of bounds. I remember he at first, he said
him saying, I didn't think he could do that. I said, brother,
that's a lot of beef.
Speaker 4 (27:28):
Well it was, that is a lot of it. I was.
Speaker 2 (27:30):
I was talking to one of the guys, you know,
and obviously you know you're hoping that if you're more
diminutive sized, that you're gonna be able to use some
quickness to your advantage, right like that that's the one
advantage you might have.
Speaker 4 (27:40):
But I can't remember.
Speaker 2 (27:41):
Which one I was talking to, because I talked to
him both up at camp because I just loved watching
him battle. They were going against each other all camp.
I can't remember which one of them said, you know,
I've always been small, right, I wake up small, So
I've had to learn how to do this my whole
life against bigger men, and both guys have done that.
So off of the cap to both those guys, but
I wanted to mention Calvin Austin because he led the
(28:03):
team in receiving and continues to put up a solid season.
Along with some other guys and hopefully Matt Williamson, we
can get some healthy bodies for Baltimore, although I have
my doubts.
Speaker 5 (28:16):
Yeah that I can't really comment on. Who knows. I mean,
we're recording this on Monday. Obviously, the Watt injuries looming.
You know what, the three starters you missed, Elliott, Ogunjoby
and of course Pickens. Are they gonna be ready or not?
That would be very, very useful because this is the
most important game of the year. But even though it
was not your finest performance on Sunday, you are now
(28:39):
a playoff team and they can't take that away from
you real quick. Just to the Beanie Bishop Calvin Austin conversation.
And I like both those players a lot, and I
like Mike Hilton a lot and Russell Wilson's an undersized quarterback,
and he's probably one of the guys that said, I
don't know what it's like to be a six or
five quarterback. I've been this size my whole life, you know.
I mean there's something to that. But I'll take dinosaurs too.
Speaker 4 (29:00):
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 5 (29:03):
Yeah, I'll throw bronosaurus or two in the max. Yeah right, yeah,
no physical game, right.
Speaker 2 (29:08):
But if I was closing on somebody and it was
a diminutive wide receiver, it was Darnell Washington, right, yes, uh,
I would mind Darnell at me with a with a
full head of team. Okay, so we have more still
to come. We're getting you ready. While we're finishing up
the Eagles talking, gonna uh, you know, glance forward a
(29:28):
little bit towards the Ravens.
Speaker 4 (29:29):
This is the point after this year, there's audio network back.
Speaker 6 (29:33):
To the point after on dv E.
Speaker 2 (29:36):
Snap back to past steps, up, trouble and down he
goes and high Smith is gonna get credit with a
sack back at the twenty seven yard line. The Sack
Hunger segment is brought to you by the Greater Pittsburgh
Community Food Bank Get Food Volunteer or donate at Pittsburgh Foodbank.
Speaker 4 (29:53):
Dot org Man.
Speaker 2 (29:54):
Oh Man, we're talking about guys out of the lineup,
and Wolf we can talk a little bit more about
those guys coming up, because we don't know whether the
gonna be playing on Saturday in Baltimore when the division
lead at least maybe not the division itself with the
division lead is very much up for grabs. High Smith,
such a good player, made an immediate impact in his
return last week against Cleveland and made another continues to
(30:17):
make an impact in just as a big part of
his Steelers defense.
Speaker 6 (30:20):
Oh he is.
Speaker 3 (30:21):
And you know, he's got such a great feel for
pass rushing when you're the opposite bookend. You got the
twin masters of disasters with TJ and him, and they
really compliment each other, you know. And I gotta also
say you you can't believe how hard it is to
beat Lane Johnson for a sack, all right, for two sacks.
(30:41):
That's even I don't even know, I mean between yeah,
I mean yeah. The fact is, this guy, Lane Johnson
has gone at season or two without giving up any sacks,
you know, and yet you've got a you know, a
phenomenal rusher like TJ. They went at it. I mean
that you talk about apex predators going at it with
each other last night. That's one of the things that
(31:03):
I really was enjoying watching because it was a real battle.
And Alex Highsmith is the same thing. Jordan Malatta, the
guy is almost three hundred and seventy pounds in past dinosaurs.
Speaker 6 (31:13):
Yeah, exactly, you know, Matt what I'm talking about. I mean,
like I said, he's six ' eight three sixty five.
Speaker 3 (31:18):
That's a that's a five dollars camp fair just around
him if he stood there, you know. So anyhow, Yes,
those are two very accomplished, excellent defensive ends, those bookend
rushers and edge setters, because they're both equally adept at
stopping the run as they are in rushing the passer.
Speaker 5 (31:37):
And that's as good a battle in that regard as
you're everything to see. Yeah, I mean, like Johnson and
Water are going to the Hall of Fame, and I
said this going into there, I firmly believe that's the
best set of tackles in the league.
Speaker 2 (31:47):
Yeah, and I loved you know, Lane Johnson was effusive
in his praise, said he was exhausted after being out
on an island with TJ.
Speaker 4 (31:57):
Watt.
Speaker 2 (31:58):
You had the sack and then uh you know that,
then the penalty when Johnson left early, and then the sack.
So very very complimentary. What a true pro he is,
great player, really really complimentary of how difficult it is
to go against Watt, who he said is probably the
best edge player in football.
Speaker 3 (32:19):
You know, it's a terrible feeling years and years ago
when I got bumped out to left tackle on account
I was the tallest guard and all the left tackles
were hurt. You know, I was the tallest guard by
a half inch. You know, right, I'm stuck out the
exactly I'm out there with Clay Matthews and it's just
one on one mono imano. I mean they're running games
(32:39):
to the inside and they're just with Clay. I'm chased
talking about all afternoon. WHOA, No, I didn't give up
a side. There were a few close calls though, all
that runway he had way too much, way too much,
you know.
Speaker 2 (32:54):
So we talk about guys who are back my previous Adams.
Good to see him back, adding some depth along the
defensive line. Of course, Oguin Jobi, as you mentioned, Matt
was out. One guy that I think probably has been,
you know, one of my favorite players to watch all
years to Shaun Elliott and of course him being out,
(33:15):
and I really think Matt that that made a difference.
It's hard for me to believe that it wasn't a
driver to a third down or two where maybe he
doesn't come up as your second leading tackler, make a tackle,
stop a drive, get the ball back, and who knows
if something like that could be a different to the game.
I don't want to get overblown about that, but he's
(33:35):
a really good player, and I think he was missed
and you know, very quiet on it sounds like a
hamstring if I'm not mistaken. You know no idea what
that means, and you have to hope that you know,
like the other guys we talked about TJ. Watt and
Pickens and some other guys, Dante Jackson, that if he's
not able to go against the Ravens, the students find
(33:56):
a way to win the division and get those guys
healthy for the playoffs.
Speaker 5 (34:00):
Yeah, that's absolutely huge. And I don't know the answer
to this, but if that was a Super Bowl, what
all those guys played, if it was the Ravens game
this week, what all those guys played. Is it kind
of looking ahead and you know, being smart by the
staff to say again, I don't buy any means proclaim
that they punted away this Eagles game, but this upcoming
game is more important. The playoffs are more important. I
(34:22):
wonder it was great to see Minka do some different
things in this game too, but Elliott would have complimented
him even better. And he's one of those guys too
that the numbers are great, you know, the tackles as
you mentioned, but he's such a glue guy and doesn't
have discernible weaknesses that he fills a lot of gaps
for you. And I think it'd be incredibly important against
(34:43):
his old team the Ravens here too, I mean with
the diversity that they play offense.
Speaker 2 (34:48):
Yeah, Wolf definitely missed and again I you know this,
the Steelers have been.
Speaker 6 (34:54):
And let me you know what, let me just say
this too.
Speaker 3 (34:56):
It's it's not just Matt's perfectly correct what he's saying
and how important it was, but it's also the way
he did it too. I mean, you got to understand.
I didn't call him deceleration trauma for nothing. I mean
the way he can come up and tackle and do
so in a way that drives backs backwards that they
hit them so that you know they're looking for him
(35:16):
the next time around. His ability to play in the box,
to play gap run fits up close with those dinosaurs.
Speaker 4 (35:25):
You know.
Speaker 3 (35:25):
I just got a lot of admiration for the way
he conducts his business in and around the trenches, because that's.
Speaker 6 (35:30):
No place for a smaller guy.
Speaker 3 (35:32):
And when you've got some the literal dinosaurs that the
Eagles had, you know, that's a difficult area to play
and certainly would have been useful if we'd been able
to have Deshaun, because he is a very a high
quality tackler and player.
Speaker 2 (35:47):
Yeah, I don't know what they list him at. I
suspect he's under I suspect you somewhere between two hundred
and ten. And he's not a huge guy wolf like
you said, but his desire appears to be to hit
you very very hard.
Speaker 6 (36:02):
I would say that's a safe assessment.
Speaker 2 (36:04):
There, so you know, and I will also say this, well,
you know, Mike Tomlins says all the time, if you're
ready and you can play, you will play. So now again,
I suppose there, you know, I don't know if there
are variances to that.
Speaker 4 (36:20):
I don't know if that means, hey, if you can.
Speaker 2 (36:21):
Tape it up and get out there and play, or
because you know, as fans we always want to say, well,
let's rest them until you know, none of us will
really matter until Kansas City or Cincinnati or whatever the
case may be, or the playoffs. Who cares if you're
going on the road. Blah blah blah blah blah. I
don't know what the answer is. I don't know when
they'll be healthy. I don't know whether TJ. Wat can go.
Speaker 4 (36:43):
None of us do at the stage of the game.
Speaker 2 (36:46):
But it does feel like, you know, if you can
get those guys one hundred percent that again, I'm not
you know, obviously I'm not suggesting what they do or
how they do it, but getting them one hundred percent
would seem to be be a high priority issue.
Speaker 3 (37:02):
There's no question about it. And look, here's the biggest
difference between my era and and today. You know, back
in my day, we told as players, we're like, can't
go or I can go? You know, I mean, that's
just the onus was on the player. Well, now with
all the testing protocol and procedures that they have they
can get a real good grasp of how bad the
(37:23):
injuries are, what's the probabilities of something happening. So it's
the coaches and the train staff and say no, you
can't play. You know, they were setting you down. And
they do that with a lot of metrics and whatever
things that they the testing stuff at their disposal, you know,
And so that's that's part of it, you know, because
it's a real difference from my era.
Speaker 2 (37:44):
I wonder if George Pickens, you know, maybe he was
lobbying to play. I mean, you know, there was sort
of like this this Pickings conspiracy thing. Oh you know,
you know, they they're they're they're teaching him a lesson
or they're they're sitting him later or whatever, and he
was questionable and then they they do an MRI, they're like, whoa,
this is worse than we thought it was. So yes,
there is there is more testing and those sort of
(38:06):
things involved now, Matt, because I think buying large of
you ask players their opinion, most of them would say
I'm playing.
Speaker 5 (38:13):
Yeah. And the Pickens one was odd because most of
us thought he was going to play a week ago,
but he got injured late in the practice week. And
that's always puts a wrench in things. Now, who knows.
I mean, the Steelers aren't the only team to have injuries,
you know. I mean, And it's one of the things
I like the least about the game of football is
it's a war of attrition and you can say next
(38:35):
man up all you want, but there's a reason that
that guy's number two and not number one on the
death chart, etc.
Speaker 6 (38:40):
Etc.
Speaker 5 (38:41):
I mean, heck, I mean on Christmas, they may not
have my homes. He's weak to week. He got injured yesterday.
I mean you talk about a major injury. There was
a lot of them in the league yesterday. If they
can avoid tragedy with Watt and get Pickings back soon,
there's bigger fish to fry than winning in Philadelphia. It
is what I keep coming back to. I mean, if
the goal here is to win playoff games and maybe
even get to the super Bowl, I think you have
(39:03):
to be smart with how you use these guys, and
using them in Philadelphia might not have been the smartest move, right,
and they didn't, you know.
Speaker 2 (39:11):
And right and you know again, Wolf, I think as
we kind of wrap this one up with the Eagles,
I just think that as a player. As a team, yes,
you have to correct your mistakes. The coaching staff will
point out the mistakes. It should be pointed out, and
then they're gonna turn their attention to Baltimore. I don't
(39:33):
believe that this one needs a whole lot of attention.
Speaker 4 (39:37):
I just think that when you when.
Speaker 5 (39:39):
Your mess, they're time to move on.
Speaker 6 (39:42):
Man.
Speaker 2 (39:42):
Yeah, listen with our jobs, right, I've told people listen,
you know, if you hear see something, agree, just let
me know. If you want to point out that I
made a mistake, chances are I already know you.
Speaker 4 (39:53):
Know what I mean.
Speaker 2 (39:54):
I don't need you to point it out to me.
I already know I made a mistake. But if I'm
getting into bad habits, if I'm.
Speaker 4 (40:00):
Doing you find yourself, tell you find that you can
tell me, then then let me know, you know. So,
I just think let this one go. Uh.
Speaker 2 (40:07):
There were there were chances, there were opportunities to get
off the matt get back in this game.
Speaker 4 (40:11):
It didn't happen.
Speaker 2 (40:14):
You know, let it go because I think that if
you got everybody healthy and you corrected some of those
mistakes and you played again, I think if you're the Steelers,
you'd say let's let's do it again.
Speaker 6 (40:24):
Man.
Speaker 3 (40:25):
Well that's exactly what I tell my wife all the time. Hey,
hont let it go. You know, I made a mistake.
I've made a number of mistakes and in the twenty
seven years that we've been married or twenty eight, the
whole point is just let it go, baby, you know.
And the fact is you've got a situation here, this
this Eagles game. It's again a telling lesson. It's something
(40:45):
that you you look at and you you know, it
kind of gives you a little marker where you're at.
I know, the offensive lineman. You sit there and you
want to match horns with the likes of a Jalen Carter,
Jordan Davis and those guys, and you want to be
able to make sure that you're you're capable of playing
your role. I thought Isaac Suemalel by the way, had
some really good blocks there, did a nice job for
(41:06):
the other For all the guys. It can be a
little bit more of like, look, you learn something from it,
you move on. And that's what the life in the
NFL is. It's it's a circle of life. I mean,
you cannot spend a whole lot of time mourning the
loss or enjoying the victory, as it is about turning
the page and looking forward to what's next. And what's
(41:26):
next is coming up real quick because it's one day
less and people can't imagine how hard it is even
clipping one day off from your preparatory period and getting
ready to play.
Speaker 5 (41:39):
And Rob, I mean, progress isn't linear. You're not going
to keep taking steps forward, step forward. I mean, this
is definitely a step back against a really quality opponent.
And my hunch, you know, we've all been around that
organization quite a bit. They're a proud group and I
don't think it's good. Not that they need extra motivation
for Ravens Week, but they were a little embarrassed, you know,
kind of like that Thursday night Inland. They came back storming.
Speaker 2 (42:01):
Never hurts, right, and a little bit of edge never hurts.
And speaking of the circle of life, someone's going to
be mufasa after the game on Saturday. On Saturday, Yeah,
quick turnaround, quick turnaround for both teams. You know, I
don't I don't much care that one team was home
and another team's got to travel. And you know, one
(42:24):
team played at one, one team played at four I
don't know as any of that matters. Wolf go down
to Baltimore, play and try to win the division.
Speaker 3 (42:31):
Absolutely. Look, all focus is on that, all your energy
is on that. This is the I know we talk
about the Gauntlet. This is the cheese greater Gauntlet. I mean,
this is about you're gonna lose some flesh. They've already
lost some flesh going through this right now. Hopefully it's
gonna be battle hardening the troops rather than taking off
too much skin.
Speaker 2 (42:51):
You know, I was a little down starting this show
because of the loss. But Matt here it is an
hour later. Man, It's Raven's week. Let's how exciting is that?
Speaker 4 (43:00):
You're right?
Speaker 5 (43:00):
I mean, you're a playoff team battling for the division.
I would have taken that three or four months ago
in a heartbeat.
Speaker 6 (43:07):
Yeah, Lock and load, baby.
Speaker 4 (43:08):
Ye can't wait.
Speaker 2 (43:09):
Gear up with the latest game day necessities at the
official Steeler Pro Shops. Get the latest Sideline apparel, Jersey's
Terrible towles, authentic Memorabilian custom exclusives you can only find
directly from the team. Visit one of the Official Steelers
Pro shops located at Akroscher Stadium, Grove City premium outlets
or tanging routelet's or gear up online at shop dot
(43:29):
Steelers dot com for Matt Williamson four, Craig Wolfley four,
Justin Miller, I'm Rob King.
Speaker 4 (43:38):
Thanks for listening to the point after on the Steelers
Audio Network
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