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Chiefs Recap, Bengals Preview · Steelers Country Weekly

0:00
Speaker 1: Today on Steelers Country Weekly, we break down the Steelers'
0:03
Speaker 1: loss on Christmas Day to the Kansas City Chiefs, look
0:07
Speaker 1: ahead to their regular season finale at home against the
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Speaker 1: Cincinnati Bengals, and then we're going to issue our New
0:13
Speaker 1: Year's resolutions for the team while looking ahead at the playoffs.
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Speaker 1: I'm Nick de Tulale and as always been joined by
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Speaker 1: the world famous accountants Eric Vamnchowden. Eric, how's it going tonight?
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Speaker 2: I'm doing a lot better than the Steelers, So you know,
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Speaker 2: I guess in that regards, I can't complain.
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Speaker 1: So yes, but that bar is pretty low, to be
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Speaker 1: honest with you. Oh my goodness. No. Yeah, the Steelers
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Speaker 1: played a game on Christmas Day. I think we both
0:43
Speaker 1: predicted they were going to lose, but I don't know.
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Speaker 1: I was hoping that there might be some Christmas magic
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Speaker 1: there in Pittsburgh and there was not at all. It
0:54
Speaker 1: was a rough game. Let's just get into it and
0:56
Speaker 1: not beat around the bush here, because we've got a
0:58
Speaker 1: lot of other things to talk about. Tonight. Steelers hosted
1:02
Speaker 1: the Chiefs on Christmas Day, one of the new Netflix
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Speaker 1: streaming games, and the score is a little deceiving for
1:12
Speaker 1: a couple reasons, because the game was relatively close for
1:18
Speaker 1: a good chunk of the game. But there were times,
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Speaker 1: and I don't know if you felt this way too,
1:24
Speaker 1: you just kind of felt like, no matter what the
1:26
Speaker 1: Steelers did, they just shot themselves in the foot. And
1:29
Speaker 1: even though, for example, going into this first quarter or sorry,
1:32
Speaker 1: the fourth quarter, it was only a six point game,
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Speaker 1: it just always felt like a really big uphill climb
1:40
Speaker 1: for the team.
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Speaker 3: Yeah, So.
1:44
Speaker 1: Getting to the specifics a little bit here, Russell Wilson
1:47
Speaker 1: went twenty three or thirty two hundred five yards, a
1:50
Speaker 1: pretty big interception as well, very timely interception for his team.
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Speaker 1: Najie Harris thirteen carries seventy four yards. Friarmouth had a
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Speaker 1: big day by receiving standards for the team anyway, he
2:04
Speaker 1: had seven receptions for sixty yards. We can get into
2:11
Speaker 1: the x's and o's here too, and I'll obviously ask
2:13
Speaker 1: you for the your takeaways from this game. But as
2:17
Speaker 1: I look back at this three game stretch that the
2:20
Speaker 1: Steelers had, it just kind of sucks because each game
2:26
Speaker 1: felt very similar in the sense that there was bad turnovers,
2:31
Speaker 1: the defense dropped the ball a lot, didn't do what
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Speaker 1: they needed to when they needed to do it, I
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Speaker 1: should say. And it's almost like they didn't learn anything
2:43
Speaker 1: week over week because we saw a lot of the
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Speaker 1: same mistakes. Maybe a few bright spots, and when I
2:49
Speaker 1: say bright spots, I mean like a play here or there.
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Speaker 1: It was good to see George Pickens back, but he
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Speaker 1: wasn't as involved as he probably should have been. And frankly,
3:01
Speaker 1: this was just one of those games where you're watching
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Speaker 1: it and you're like, well, if they don't care, why
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Speaker 1: should I spend my time watching this game? So yeah,
3:08
Speaker 1: all right, Eric, what are some of your takeaways from
3:10
Speaker 1: this Christmas Day slugfest in Pittsburgh.
3:15
Speaker 3: Uh?
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Speaker 2: Yeah, I just I guess one word to describe it
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Speaker 2: is just pathetic. That's just how they've been playing.
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Speaker 3: It's just not even watchable anymore. You know. The whole
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Speaker 3: team is just off.
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Speaker 2: I mean, no matter how you look at it.
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Speaker 3: It's just.
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Speaker 2: Kind of hard to watch. Maybe the only silver lining
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Speaker 2: was we ran the ball well, but maybe that's because
3:48
Speaker 2: like that was just they can't say game plan. We
3:52
Speaker 2: still look at our offensive stats score ten points, so
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Speaker 2: but really the worst part of the whole entire game
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Speaker 2: is just so Patrick Mahomes he's just having a very
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Speaker 2: weird year in which he has not been very successful.
4:10
Speaker 2: He's been having a very pedestrian year by his standards.
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Speaker 2: But he looked like old Patrick Mahomes in a way.
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Speaker 2: He was slipping around in the pocket. Three hundred plus yards,
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Speaker 2: three touchdowns, no picks. I don't think he took a
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Speaker 2: sack either, and just I had, you know, is unfortunate
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Speaker 2: to you know, click on some of the articles that
4:40
Speaker 2: former Steelers players have shared and some of them just
4:45
Speaker 2: being from the secondary and they're just calling out how
4:48
Speaker 2: many blown coverages there are just undisciplined football. I know
4:52
Speaker 2: you got Joey Porters out. Remind me did he go
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Speaker 2: out in this game? Where did the last game with
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Speaker 2: his hamstring?
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Speaker 1: I think it was the last game.
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Speaker 3: Yeah, understand that that's and we mentioned this on the show.
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Speaker 2: I just don't think that, like injuries are crutch an
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Speaker 2: excuse you can make. You just gotta fill in, and
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Speaker 2: but these backups just don't seem prepped at all. I mean,
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Speaker 2: it's just I don't get and if I don't know,
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Speaker 2: if it's they back to ten and three that they
5:30
Speaker 2: clinched a playoff spot one or two weeks ago, and
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Speaker 2: they just believe that they can coast.
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Speaker 3: But the level of pride is just not there.
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Speaker 2: I mean, they can say whatever they want, they can
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Speaker 2: say whatever lip service, Mike Tomlin can go out with
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Speaker 2: this new tominism.
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Speaker 3: These guys just don't care. They just don't care at all.
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Speaker 2: This is easily a team that's gonna be a one,
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Speaker 2: like one and out playoff team. And there's no thing
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Speaker 2: that next week can shed any kind of light on,
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Speaker 2: because the last three weeks have been that pathetic.
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Speaker 1: Yeah, and the injuries are a good point too, And
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Speaker 1: I know we've talked about it a lot here, but
6:15
Speaker 1: it bears repeating. Yes, we all acknowledge that the team
6:20
Speaker 1: has had injuries and key players go down and miss games,
6:24
Speaker 1: but you can't use that as an excuse when every
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Speaker 1: other team is going through the same thing, just like
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Speaker 1: on this three games in eleven days. Yeah it was
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Speaker 1: a gauntlet, but you know who else went through that,
6:39
Speaker 1: The same teams that the Steelers played in those eleven days.
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Speaker 1: They went through the same challenges, and the Steelers lost
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Speaker 1: all three games. Meanwhile, the Ravens are out there outscoring
6:51
Speaker 1: their opponents by like seventy points cumulative. So there's other
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Speaker 1: teams that are taking these shots and then they're staying
7:00
Speaker 1: on their feet, right. So the one thing that jumped
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Speaker 1: out at me after the game was there was a
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Speaker 1: lot of different Steelers talking about and I'm paraphrasing here,
7:12
Speaker 1: but they all basically said that it's tough to play
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Speaker 1: defense when one guy's not doing his job. And may maybe,
7:21
Speaker 1: if you want to be really positive, they were talking
7:24
Speaker 1: about just on any given play, if one person doesn't
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Speaker 1: do their job, then your sol But it sure as
7:30
Speaker 1: hell sounded to me like they were talking about one
7:33
Speaker 1: person in particular.
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Speaker 3: Yeah, that came from Cam Hayward.
7:37
Speaker 1: It came from Cam Hayward. It came from Deshaun Elliott.
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Speaker 1: I think there was a couple of other people as well.
7:44
Speaker 1: I'd like to know who they're talking about. I understand
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Speaker 1: why they're not going to drop names, but at the
7:49
Speaker 1: same time, why are you throwing that out there at
7:51
Speaker 1: all if you're not going to drop a name either.
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Speaker 3: Yeah, and on that point too, like.
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Speaker 2: I think it was Ryan Clark who basically said, like,
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Speaker 2: this is a good example of how this isn't the
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Speaker 2: normal homegrown Steelers.
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Speaker 3: This is and I know it's coming from Cam Hayward,
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Speaker 3: he is him grown. But the level of like.
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Speaker 2: The standard is the standard that Tomlin always says.
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Speaker 3: It might be gone it through.
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Speaker 2: You know, the Steelers typically mind their own business, make
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Speaker 2: the adjustments and come through.
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Speaker 3: We've been collapsing as a late because and by late
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Speaker 3: I mean if you look at since we've.
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Speaker 2: Won our last playoff, we have not We've had late
8:44
Speaker 2: season collapses and there's no amount of accountability of just
8:48
Speaker 2: shut up, go to work if you if you are
8:52
Speaker 2: pissed off at that guy, get in their face at
8:55
Speaker 2: practice and don't er your stuff. This is Antonio Brown's
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Speaker 2: type stuff, and it's just pathetic that they have this attitude.
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Speaker 1: Yeah, it was concerning to me as well to see that,
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Speaker 1: just because especially for a guy like Cam Hayward, that's
9:13
Speaker 1: very out of character, at least from what I've seen.
9:16
Speaker 1: I would have never he would have been the last
9:17
Speaker 1: person I would have expected to say something like that.
9:22
Speaker 1: So on one hand, I guess it must be severe
9:25
Speaker 1: if that's the case. But on the other hand, I'm like,
9:26
Speaker 1: come on, man, I feel like, again, if there's anyone
9:31
Speaker 1: who should know better than doing that, it's him. But
9:36
Speaker 1: it is what it is. They can be wrapped up
9:38
Speaker 1: in their feelings, and that's all well and good as
9:41
Speaker 1: long as at some point they actually put it together
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Speaker 1: on the field, right, And that's what I've been saying
9:47
Speaker 1: the last three weeks, like I'll take this loss as
9:49
Speaker 1: long as you learn from the mistakes and don't repeat them.
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Speaker 1: But that's three games in a row now where they
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Speaker 1: haven't and we're sitting here at ten and six playing
10:00
Speaker 1: a team on Saturday that's one on fire two has
10:07
Speaker 1: to win just to get in the playoffs. It's this
10:11
Speaker 1: is just not a recipe for success. And right now
10:14
Speaker 1: the Steelers are looking at the bar down the barrel
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Speaker 1: of finishing the season on a five game losing streak,
10:20
Speaker 1: including the postseason, just not a good time. And I
10:27
Speaker 1: know we kind of got away from the Chiefs game
10:29
Speaker 1: a little bit here, but it all, This Chiefs game
10:33
Speaker 1: has just kind of been the exclamation point on a
10:35
Speaker 1: lot of negative feelings over the past three weeks now
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Speaker 1: in Pittsburgh. And because the Chiefs are the Chiefs, they're
10:46
Speaker 1: fifteen to one, they're arguably the best team in the league,
10:49
Speaker 1: even with all their flaws. One thing that you in
10:53
Speaker 1: particular have been hitting on kind of hard over the
10:56
Speaker 1: last couple of weeks is, Yes, this is a tough
10:58
Speaker 1: stretch of games, but who do you think you're going
11:00
Speaker 1: to play in the postseason? Right? The Chiefs exploited all
11:05
Speaker 1: of the Steelers' flaws, and while we know we're not
11:09
Speaker 1: playing them in the first round, you're probably going to
11:12
Speaker 1: have to go through them at some point if you
11:15
Speaker 1: have any realistic dreams of winning the Super Bowl. So,
11:22
Speaker 1: I don't know. Maybe it was one person's fault on
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Speaker 1: defense and that would help, but it doesn't change the
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Speaker 1: way that the offense performed, which they moved the ball
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Speaker 1: down field a fair amount, but same, Yeah, pardon the pun.
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Speaker 1: The standard is the standard. You turn the ball over
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Speaker 1: when you're not supposed to, you don't convert in the
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Speaker 1: red zone. You're definitely not going to beat a team
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Speaker 1: like the Chiefs.
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Speaker 3: Yep, for sure.
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Speaker 1: Well, is there anything else you want to mention about
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Speaker 1: on the Christmas Day game? In particular?
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Speaker 2: I just I sent you a couple like stats to
12:01
Speaker 2: kind of show e penmize how bad the stretch has
12:06
Speaker 2: been and how it's not uncharacteristic.
12:08
Speaker 3: We have now had seven straight.
12:11
Speaker 2: Seasons of three losses in a row, dating back to
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Speaker 2: twenty eighteen. It happened twice in twenty nineteen, and if
12:26
Speaker 2: you look at when it's occurred, the slide has started
12:32
Speaker 2: in week twelve, five of those occurrences. So we are
12:41
Speaker 2: really bad about being a good team and being a
12:44
Speaker 2: good I think you mentioned last week, you know, getting
12:48
Speaker 2: hot at the right time.
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Speaker 3: This team is just not.
12:54
Speaker 2: Built this way, and I think that, like there's a
12:57
Speaker 2: lot to be said of like why we can't get
13:00
Speaker 2: it together and we haven't won a playoff game since
13:04
Speaker 2: twenty sixteen. And I belabor that point because I think
13:07
Speaker 2: outside the Jets we have the longest AFC playoff drought,
13:14
Speaker 2: and I think that's kind of a pat side considering
13:17
Speaker 2: how much of a train wreck the Jets are.
13:19
Speaker 3: That we are in the same breath as that franchise.
13:23
Speaker 2: So I hate to, you know, the dog shit on
13:31
Speaker 2: the carpet and I'm making them smell it.
13:33
Speaker 3: But look, you gotta do it.
13:35
Speaker 2: I mean, they got to come up and not do
13:38
Speaker 2: this lip service. Then they aby to actually do things
13:41
Speaker 2: and stop pointing the finger and just get better.
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Speaker 1: Yeah, at the end of the day, it's put up
13:49
Speaker 1: or shut up, right, right.
13:52
Speaker 3: You get paid for results in the NFL.
13:55
Speaker 1: You get paid for results and I can't say it
13:57
Speaker 1: enough because I feel like a lot of times fans
14:00
Speaker 1: get wrapped up in their own teams and you kind
14:04
Speaker 1: of lose sight of the big picture. But again, every
14:06
Speaker 1: team has this kind of stuff going on where injuries
14:10
Speaker 1: are some drama off the field, and the good teams
14:17
Speaker 1: respond and move forward and the bad teams don't. And
14:23
Speaker 1: there is still time for the Steelers to salvage this.
14:26
Speaker 1: But again, we're we're very close to looking at a
14:31
Speaker 1: five game losing streak here, and when you talk about
14:35
Speaker 1: how the season started, that would be ending with like
14:41
Speaker 1: with like the saddest of whimpers that in Steelers, I
14:47
Speaker 1: guess in recent memory, I can't think of a season
14:50
Speaker 1: that's ended quite that way, even the COVID year where
14:55
Speaker 1: they started eleven and oh or twelve and oh or
14:57
Speaker 1: whatever it was. We all it was great while it lasted,
15:02
Speaker 1: but we all kind of saw the weak links along
15:06
Speaker 1: the way. Right this is a team that we had
15:10
Speaker 1: high expectations for that could at least get through that
15:13
Speaker 1: first round and maybe make some noise in the playoffs.
15:16
Speaker 1: But they're right on the ad right now, and we
15:19
Speaker 1: can just leave it at that. Could go either way. Yeah,
15:24
Speaker 1: all right, Well, that is a good segue into the
15:29
Speaker 1: next game, which is a matchup in the AFC North
15:33
Speaker 1: against the Bengals. So with the NFL's new well new
15:39
Speaker 1: where it's been around for a few years now, flex scheduling,
15:42
Speaker 1: they didn't release the actual game times or dates of
15:46
Speaker 1: the games until last night. So the Steelers and the
15:51
Speaker 1: Bengals will play at eight o'clock on Saturday night. The
15:56
Speaker 1: Browns and the Ravens will play immediately before for them.
16:01
Speaker 1: So what this means for the Steelers is if the
16:06
Speaker 1: Browns beat the Ravens, which they have done once already,
16:11
Speaker 1: then the Steelers will take the three seed as long
16:15
Speaker 1: as they still beat the Bengals. If the Ravens take
16:19
Speaker 1: care of business against the Browns in the early game,
16:23
Speaker 1: that means that the best the Steelers can do is
16:25
Speaker 1: a five seed, which means that they would go to
16:28
Speaker 1: Houston to play the Texans. There is a scenario where
16:34
Speaker 1: they could end up with the sixth seed. I tried
16:36
Speaker 1: to play around. I couldn't quite figure it out, to
16:38
Speaker 1: be honest with you. So the good news for the
16:42
Speaker 1: Steelers is they are not traveling to Buffalo no matter
16:45
Speaker 1: what happens on Saturday against the Bengals. The bad news
16:49
Speaker 1: is you could end up turning around and going right
16:53
Speaker 1: back to Baltimore as well. So there's definitely gonna be
16:57
Speaker 1: a lot on the line. And like we said earlier,
16:59
Speaker 1: the Bengals do you have to win to get in.
17:02
Speaker 1: They are coming off of a big win against the
17:05
Speaker 1: Broncos with Joe Burrow putting the team on his back,
17:10
Speaker 1: and again they're playing well right now. They've got one
17:15
Speaker 1: of the best quarterbacks in the league in basically a
17:18
Speaker 1: playoff game themselves. They're peaking at the right time, while
17:22
Speaker 1: the Steelers are kind of floundering at the right time.
17:24
Speaker 1: So a lot of different things going on here. That
17:27
Speaker 1: being said, the Bengals do still have a pretty terrible
17:30
Speaker 1: defense that the Steelers are gonna need to exploit if
17:33
Speaker 1: they want to come away with a win here and
17:36
Speaker 1: win the division or at least go into the playoffs
17:38
Speaker 1: with some semblance of momentum after the skid that We've
17:41
Speaker 1: spent a good chunk of our time tonight talking about
17:45
Speaker 1: looking ahead at this game, Eric, what are some of
17:48
Speaker 1: your keys for the Steelers to walk away with a win.
17:54
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, it's a scary matchup for us.
17:57
Speaker 2: Because I think that lately are defense has really been
18:03
Speaker 2: a liability, especially especially in the secondary. So going against
18:07
Speaker 2: Joe Burrow, who I saw something that he has.
18:13
Speaker 3: Eight games in.
18:15
Speaker 2: A row of two hundred and fifty yards plus three
18:18
Speaker 2: touchdowns and the next person that's ever done is six.
18:24
Speaker 2: So I think that he's going to extend that streak.
18:31
Speaker 2: And the only way that we win this game is
18:33
Speaker 2: if he doesn't, and so.
18:36
Speaker 3: He's been on fire.
18:38
Speaker 2: I don't think that a foot race like we saw
18:40
Speaker 2: in the first game is plausible, and.
18:47
Speaker 3: I just because part of.
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Speaker 2: That is not because I don't think our defense can
18:51
Speaker 2: give up thirty eight points.
18:52
Speaker 3: Again, I think they definitely can't.
18:54
Speaker 2: I think it's more that I don't think our offense
18:57
Speaker 2: has the cohesion to actually go out and compete right now.
19:02
Speaker 2: You know, when we played the Bengals the first time around,
19:05
Speaker 2: I think that we had a lot more momentum on
19:09
Speaker 2: our on our team. I think that things were kind
19:13
Speaker 2: of going right at that point.
19:15
Speaker 3: That was our ninth win.
19:16
Speaker 2: We were nine and three, you know it, we just
19:24
Speaker 2: last to the Browns, Yes, but we also beat those
19:27
Speaker 2: Steelers and the Commanders coming out.
19:29
Speaker 3: Of the by So, you know, I think that at that.
19:33
Speaker 2: Point, the team was a little bit head, a little
19:36
Speaker 2: bit more pride, and we're playing with that confidence.
19:39
Speaker 3: I just I just don't see it.
19:43
Speaker 2: Confidence is not something that I think comes overnight, and
19:48
Speaker 2: so it's lost right now, and it's lost on me.
19:51
Speaker 2: So the cage of the success has changed my mind.
19:57
Speaker 1: Well, you know, look at at the team. I think
20:02
Speaker 1: that being the home well being the regular season finale,
20:07
Speaker 1: but as well as being the home finale for this team,
20:11
Speaker 1: possibly for the regular season, possibly for the entire season,
20:14
Speaker 1: depending on what happens in the early game, I think
20:18
Speaker 1: that's gonna motivate them. As I sit here as a
20:23
Speaker 1: logical person, I'm looking at this and I'm like, well,
20:28
Speaker 1: there's no way they can't not be motivated, right because
20:32
Speaker 1: they know what's at stake, they know what's going on.
20:34
Speaker 1: But at the same time, I'm like, well, they should
20:37
Speaker 1: have been motivated the three weeks before. So I don't know.
20:43
Speaker 1: I'm just kind of on the edge of do I
20:45
Speaker 1: look at this from the lens of an optimist or
20:48
Speaker 1: the lens of a pessimist. I think I'm gonna choose
20:53
Speaker 1: to be optimistic, if nothing else, just to be the
20:55
Speaker 1: Indie year Yang. Here, you know looking ahead, I'm gonna
20:59
Speaker 1: trust that the team knows what's at stake. I know
21:01
Speaker 1: that Tomlin knows what's at stake here. I know that
21:06
Speaker 1: when they're they're gonna know going into the game what
21:10
Speaker 1: they have to play for, and if nothing else, they
21:13
Speaker 1: can end the Bengals season and kick them out of
21:16
Speaker 1: the playoffs, which would be I don't want to say enough,
21:20
Speaker 1: but when you've got a chance to bury one of
21:23
Speaker 1: your divisional rivals, you should take that. Looking specifically at
21:27
Speaker 1: the x's and o's, I think that the defense is
21:32
Speaker 1: gonna have their work cutout for him. You already mentioned
21:34
Speaker 1: the fact that they gave up thirty eight points the
21:36
Speaker 1: last time they played. Joe Burrow's playing better now than
21:40
Speaker 1: he was then, so there's definitely a good chance that
21:43
Speaker 1: they could do that again, even or especially if the
21:47
Speaker 1: Steelers have some phantom player on their defense who's just
21:50
Speaker 1: not doing his job that's causing everyone else to blow up.
21:55
Speaker 1: But if that one guy gets in his spot, I
21:57
Speaker 1: guess everything will be solved if you listen to the defense.
22:00
Speaker 1: So what I mean to say is the offense is
22:06
Speaker 1: the most important key to this game. The Bengals have
22:08
Speaker 1: a terrible defense. We cannot have any costly turnovers where
22:15
Speaker 1: we're in the red zone, or we're we just got
22:19
Speaker 1: the ball back after forcing the other team to punt
22:22
Speaker 1: or what have you, which we've seen the last couple
22:24
Speaker 1: of games. Right, you can't leave any points out there.
22:30
Speaker 1: You got to convert as often as you can. We
22:33
Speaker 1: were surprised the last time that the Steelers beat the
22:35
Speaker 1: Bengals because it was the highest scoring game of the
22:37
Speaker 1: season and we did not expect our offense to do it.
22:41
Speaker 1: I think there's a chance they're gonna have to do
22:42
Speaker 1: it again just because of the way that things have
22:45
Speaker 1: gone with both teams here. I would like to think
22:48
Speaker 1: that the defense is going to step up and make
22:49
Speaker 1: some things happen. But TJ. Watt was kept pretty quiet
22:53
Speaker 1: the last time he was in this game. We needed
22:56
Speaker 1: guys like Alex Highsmith to step up and make plays,
22:59
Speaker 1: forcing fun and whatnot. So I don't know, man, I
23:07
Speaker 1: just said, I wanted to look at this through the
23:09
Speaker 1: lens of an optimist, But as I just look at
23:13
Speaker 1: as I look at what's at stake here, I'm just
23:17
Speaker 1: kind of with you, like, if you haven't figured it out, now,
23:23
Speaker 1: what's gonna change this week, right, I don't know. This
23:31
Speaker 1: one's tough, just because we know how important this game is,
23:37
Speaker 1: and i'd like to think the team does and is
23:39
Speaker 1: going to make the appropriate adjustments. But I just haven't
23:43
Speaker 1: seen it in a while. So I think I'll join
23:49
Speaker 1: you in the camp of misery and I'll pick the
23:53
Speaker 1: Bengals to win. Let's see, it was twenty nine to ten.
23:57
Speaker 1: I'm gonna say this one's thirty one to seventeen. I
23:59
Speaker 1: think the are going to walk away with a win,
24:02
Speaker 1: and you and I are going to be really pissed
24:04
Speaker 1: off the next time we talk. Leading into our potentially
24:07
Speaker 1: our second to last episode of the season.
24:13
Speaker 2: Yeah, we've lost the last three games by two touchdowns,
24:20
Speaker 2: So what makes me think it's gonna change? Yeah, I
24:28
Speaker 2: think more of the same, Bengals.
24:33
Speaker 3: Let's see Bengals thirty seven and we get thirteen.
24:44
Speaker 1: All right, Well, there you have it, Eric and I
24:48
Speaker 1: are together in the pit of misery, uh, predicting the
24:52
Speaker 1: Bengals will walk out of Pittsburgh with a win. I
24:55
Speaker 1: hope we're wrong. I hope the Steelers can turn things around.
24:58
Speaker 1: It would be really nice to have some momentum going
25:01
Speaker 1: into the postseason. Regardless of whether or not they end
25:04
Speaker 1: up being the division winners or not. I think getting
25:07
Speaker 1: a win would do wonders for team morale walking into
25:11
Speaker 1: the postseason. So fingers crossed, right?
25:16
Speaker 3: Yeah?
25:17
Speaker 1: All right? Well today is December thirtieth, twenty twenty four,
25:21
Speaker 1: one day off of New Year's Eve, and for a
25:24
Speaker 1: fun topic this week, we thought we'd mentioned some New
25:27
Speaker 1: Year's resolutions, but they're not ours because we know that
25:31
Speaker 1: I need to lose weight. We know that all that
25:33
Speaker 1: other stuff needs to happen in our personal lives. So
25:35
Speaker 1: let's talk about the Steelers because we know that we
25:39
Speaker 1: can fix the Steelers with our New Year's resolutions. So Eric,
25:43
Speaker 1: I'll let you go first. If you are the Pittsburgh Steelers,
25:46
Speaker 1: what is your number one New Year's resolution?
25:54
Speaker 3: I think I think we've been missing our explosive place,
26:00
Speaker 3: you know. I think that we look over the stretch.
26:05
Speaker 2: The Steelers have now scored ten, seventeen, and thirteen over
26:10
Speaker 2: this losing streak, So it's not a one sided affair
26:14
Speaker 2: that secondary is bad and defense is bad, but we're
26:19
Speaker 2: keeping foot pace.
26:20
Speaker 3: I mean, not breaking twenty is not going to win
26:23
Speaker 3: many football games.
26:24
Speaker 2: So you can throw out the injuries out there pickings
26:29
Speaker 2: and that, But actually I was really surprised to see
26:32
Speaker 2: the Steelers are I think top five and rushing attempts,
26:36
Speaker 2: but then bottom five in the.
26:38
Speaker 3: Longest run of the year.
26:40
Speaker 2: So I think our longest run is thirty five yards.
26:46
Speaker 2: So you know, I've mentioned on the show before, I
26:50
Speaker 2: don't think that Naje Harris is a top I could
26:54
Speaker 2: die also, I could say he's not starting running back
26:57
Speaker 2: in this league, just less pay.
27:00
Speaker 3: Him like a top ten back.
27:03
Speaker 2: I think it's evident that he's had plenty of carries
27:05
Speaker 2: and he just doesn't get it done.
27:07
Speaker 3: I think Jalen Warren is more explosive.
27:10
Speaker 2: So my new Year's resolution is, let's find a way
27:15
Speaker 2: to flip the script.
27:16
Speaker 3: Put it to Jalen Warren these last two games of
27:19
Speaker 3: the season.
27:20
Speaker 2: I said last two because we will lose the playoff
27:22
Speaker 2: game in the first round, to show that what we
27:27
Speaker 2: got in Jalen Warren and build the running game around
27:29
Speaker 2: him and who whoever Najia Harris's replacement.
27:32
Speaker 1: Is all right. Once again, I see you're still being
27:37
Speaker 1: pessimistic even with your resolution. No, you're fine. I think
27:47
Speaker 1: my New Year's resolution for the Steelers is kind of
27:51
Speaker 1: similar to yours, but maybe a different, different takeaway, and
27:56
Speaker 1: it's not just for this season, it's for looking into
27:59
Speaker 1: next season too, because it's never too early to look ahead, right.
28:04
Speaker 1: I think the Steelers need to address the wide receiver
28:07
Speaker 1: position on the team because you have George Pickens, who
28:12
Speaker 1: can be a number one wide out when he's on
28:14
Speaker 1: the field. He's obviously volatile. I understand to appoint some
28:21
Speaker 1: of his frustrations, but the way he takes it out
28:24
Speaker 1: causes penalties. It's probably going to lead to suspensions at
28:27
Speaker 1: some point if it continues. It's not good and we've
28:30
Speaker 1: seen what happens when he's not there. Again, his injury
28:38
Speaker 1: timeline lined up perfectly with these last three to four games.
28:43
Speaker 1: Again not an excuse, but that certainly didn't help things either.
28:48
Speaker 1: They drafted Rome and Wilson this past year, whoeveryone is
28:51
Speaker 1: pretty high on, but he hasn't seen the field just
28:55
Speaker 1: due to injuries in training camp, and at that point
28:57
Speaker 1: it's tough to get him on the field, so that's fine.
29:01
Speaker 1: They traded for Mike Williams in the middle of the year,
29:07
Speaker 1: which again it maybe not the wide receiver that we
29:13
Speaker 1: wanted at the beginning of the year. When we were
29:14
Speaker 1: talking about DeVante Adams and Brandon Ayuk. But again, it
29:19
Speaker 1: was a good sign that they were making moves right.
29:21
Speaker 1: But he's been He had the game winning catch against
29:24
Speaker 1: the Commanders his first week with the team, but since
29:28
Speaker 1: then he's maybe had a handful of catches even with
29:32
Speaker 1: Pickens being out of the lineup. I say this because
29:38
Speaker 1: I think, barring some sort of like catastrophic implosion, and
29:43
Speaker 1: I'm not talking about just losing games, I'm talking like
29:47
Speaker 1: five interceptions in each loss, I feel like the Steelers
29:51
Speaker 1: are probably going to re sign Russell Wilson, So I
29:54
Speaker 1: think we probably just need to make peace with that,
29:56
Speaker 1: for better or worse. In assuming they do that, we've
30:03
Speaker 1: got to give him something else to work with other
30:05
Speaker 1: than George Pickens. Do I think that that one thing
30:11
Speaker 1: is the difference between where they're at right now in
30:13
Speaker 1: a Super Bowl? Probably not. I think there's other things
30:15
Speaker 1: they need to address. But if I'm looking at this
30:19
Speaker 1: team right now and where they're at and what I
30:22
Speaker 1: think would be the biggest difference, you mentioned big plays.
30:25
Speaker 1: They've only got one big play threat right now, and
30:29
Speaker 1: that's Pickens. When he's there, I think you got to
30:32
Speaker 1: get him some help. And I don't know if that's
30:34
Speaker 1: taken a receiver in the first round, depending on who's available,
30:37
Speaker 1: or making a free agency splash, signing or another trade.
30:41
Speaker 1: But if I'm the Steelers and I'm Omar Khan and
30:46
Speaker 1: I expect to have the same core of guys back
30:50
Speaker 1: next year, it's got to be a wide receiver for me.
30:55
Speaker 1: Fixing it any way, shape or form, any way I can.
30:59
Speaker 3: Yeah, you can't get it?
31:01
Speaker 1: There you go? All right, Well, now that we've had
31:05
Speaker 1: the happy talk of this three game losing streak, four game,
31:09
Speaker 1: five game losing streak potentially, as well as our New
31:13
Speaker 1: Year's resolutions for the team, was there anything else you
31:15
Speaker 1: wanted to mention before we sign off for the night.
31:19
Speaker 1: H Nothing for me, all right, Well, happy New Year everyone.
31:24
Speaker 1: We hope that next week we're back talking about a
31:27
Speaker 1: big Steelers win, ideally as division champs. But let's not
31:30
Speaker 1: put the cart before the horse, I guess. But otherwise,
31:34
Speaker 1: we'll be back for at least two more weeks to
31:37
Speaker 1: talk about the recap from the Bengals game and look
31:39
Speaker 1: ahead to the playoff game, and then whenever the last
31:43
Speaker 1: game of the year is, we'll be back one more time.
31:46
Speaker 1: After that, that'll do it for us for this week.
31:49
Speaker 1: For the world Famous account's Eric Vammon shotin. I'm Nick
31:53
Speaker 1: Detulio and this has been another episode of the GameHouse
31:56
Speaker 1: dot COM's Steelers Country Weekly