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ISP Jan 2 26.mp3 · The Irish Steelers Podcast

0:06
Speaker 1: Everybody. You're very welcome into this week's edition of the
0:08
Speaker 1: Irish Theaters Podcast, presented as always by our lingus Michael mccaid.
0:12
Speaker 1: Here as we roll in the weekly team of the season,
0:16
Speaker 1: you'll just generally, first off, can you believe we have
0:19
Speaker 1: reached the final weekend in the regular NFL season? It
0:24
Speaker 1: is hard to believe that for something that you want
0:27
Speaker 1: to happen all year round, you look forward to it
0:29
Speaker 1: every weekend, and finally the autumn comes, we get the
0:32
Speaker 1: September and it rules in. We're at the end and
0:35
Speaker 1: hopefully we have a few more weeks to go with
0:36
Speaker 1: the Steelers not something that will definitely talk about on
0:40
Speaker 1: this week's podcast out of er Lingus. Steelers really, you know,
0:45
Speaker 1: changing their aspects, changing their outlooks each week, and you know,
0:49
Speaker 1: due the last week was all the loss of the Browns.
0:52
Speaker 1: We now look at a situation because of the Ravens
0:55
Speaker 1: victory against the Green met Packers on Saturday night last
0:59
Speaker 1: where the Steelers now must beat the Browns on a
1:04
Speaker 1: home game, but in primetime Game two hundred and seventy two,
1:09
Speaker 1: the final game of the NFL regular season for twenty
1:13
Speaker 1: twenty five, one of the most unpredictable historic seasons for
1:17
Speaker 1: Irish fans will end. For every fan watching a game
1:22
Speaker 1: from Akrosher Stadium between the Pittsburgh Steters and Baltimore Ravens,
1:26
Speaker 1: a team that we have beaten a mere weeks ago
1:29
Speaker 1: in this league this season, that can be done. And
1:32
Speaker 1: my guest today we'll talk to us all about that.
1:34
Speaker 1: We'll also hear from coach Tomlin as well. I guess
1:38
Speaker 1: from a personal aspect, first and foremost, there is no
1:41
Speaker 1: point in dancing around the score line in Week seventeen.
1:44
Speaker 1: It was disappointing, especially when you had two different aspects
1:48
Speaker 1: of the game. Firstly, Miles Garth obviously going for the
1:51
Speaker 1: record that sacks didn't happen, But at the same time
1:55
Speaker 1: I probably would have took him getting the Socker record
1:57
Speaker 1: if it meant that the Stedelers will have won the
1:59
Speaker 1: game team six. It ended up, and really it's just
2:02
Speaker 1: a very topsy turvy, quiet game focus, not a lot
2:07
Speaker 1: going on throughout, very very rugged. In terms of the
2:11
Speaker 1: Steelers Arn Rodgers twenty one to thirty nine, twenty one
2:14
Speaker 1: to thirty nine for one hundred and sixty eight yards,
2:16
Speaker 1: two sacks on him that time during the game. No interceptions,
2:22
Speaker 1: zero tds and hard game. You know, there's there's no
2:27
Speaker 1: real way of putting it otherwise. Run game. We've seen
2:30
Speaker 1: Gillem Moore and get a bit Kenny game well at
2:32
Speaker 1: twenty odd yards, but we need more. There was a
2:35
Speaker 1: big opportunity at the end of the game, towards the
2:38
Speaker 1: last two minutes, Steelers were getting down the field, pot
2:41
Speaker 1: Fryar move made a big catch, a big play in
2:44
Speaker 1: a big moment, but it went all away the fourth
2:47
Speaker 1: down and it wasn't to be looked like. It looked
2:51
Speaker 1: a little bit like MVS might have had some sort
2:54
Speaker 1: of contact, but it was judge that there was no contact.
2:57
Speaker 1: But the reality is, you know, you need to be
2:59
Speaker 1: scoring more more than six points throughout the game, and
3:01
Speaker 1: that's what the Steaders are going to have to take
3:03
Speaker 1: up and really look at going forward. Over the next
3:05
Speaker 1: few games. Cale Duggar had a game. He had an
3:08
Speaker 1: interception on the day along with rookie Jack Sawyer, and
3:12
Speaker 1: there was some positives, but in terms of negatives, there
3:15
Speaker 1: was negatives. You lose the game, things aren't going well.
3:18
Speaker 1: But this is AFC nor football. We know for a
3:21
Speaker 1: team like the Browns, for any team that welcomes the
3:25
Speaker 1: Pittsburgh Steelers into their home stadium. It's gonna be rugged,
3:28
Speaker 1: it's gonna be loud, it's going to be frankly on
3:31
Speaker 1: that trick of the atmosphere, and it's it's almost to
3:33
Speaker 1: really find a way to do that. Disappointing to see
3:35
Speaker 1: Boss miss a kick two out of three on the game,
3:38
Speaker 1: something that we'll look forward to in terms of Week eighteen.
3:41
Speaker 1: You need to see improvements there. I think there's improvements
3:44
Speaker 1: all round really needed. But it is what it is.
3:47
Speaker 1: A loss is a loss, and we now are in
3:50
Speaker 1: a situation where at one point on Sunday where this
3:53
Speaker 1: team we're on fourth down going for potentially a touchdown
3:58
Speaker 1: to level the game. You almost ask yourself, you know, God,
4:02
Speaker 1: would mister coach Tomlin have went for two when he
4:05
Speaker 1: have took it to overtime if it had to happen.
4:07
Speaker 1: But Steels were close to it in that game, it
4:10
Speaker 1: just didn't happen. And the wait for a long waited
4:14
Speaker 1: AFC North title continues, and it continues this week. As
4:18
Speaker 1: I said, Baltimore Ravens coming into town. Lamar Jackson at
4:21
Speaker 1: the time at the time of recording, and this is
4:23
Speaker 1: something folks with any NFL podcast this week, a lot
4:26
Speaker 1: of question marks around different teams with different expectations and
4:30
Speaker 1: different scenarios in the playoff push. Certainly for the ravens
4:35
Speaker 1: Lamar Jackson expected you know TBD leader on this week,
4:39
Speaker 1: Snoop Huntly in a QB impressed it look impressed me
4:44
Speaker 1: against the Packers, and that's something we'll talk about towards
4:46
Speaker 1: the end here. But the impressed performance. He got the
4:49
Speaker 1: job done, Derek Henry got the job done, and that's
4:52
Speaker 1: something I'm going to talk a lot to my guests
4:54
Speaker 1: about this week, looking ahead of this game, getting some
4:57
Speaker 1: insight into what is now the biggest game this season,
5:00
Speaker 1: but a huge, huge geame with such big consequence. If
5:05
Speaker 1: you don't, when you are out, you're done for the year.
5:09
Speaker 1: It's gonna be a nervous week. And we're delighted to
5:11
Speaker 1: welcome Matt Williamson from Steeters Nation Radio in to this
5:16
Speaker 1: week's edition of the Irish Theaters Podcast presented by Erlingus.
5:19
Speaker 1: It's always great to have a little voice on from
5:22
Speaker 1: s n R. Here's Matt Rolling on week a team
5:29
Speaker 1: Irish Theaters Podcast presented by Erlingus. Sn r's Matt Williamson
5:32
Speaker 1: joins us. Matt, you're You're very welcome to thin Gus
5:34
Speaker 1: is your second or third time this season coming on here.
5:37
Speaker 1: Thank you for taking your time.
5:38
Speaker 2: How you I'm great.
5:39
Speaker 3: It's good seeing you in person a little bit, you know,
5:41
Speaker 3: over the last year or so, whether it's in the
5:44
Speaker 3: States or on the other side of the thing on
5:46
Speaker 3: your set neck of the woods. But I love going
5:48
Speaker 3: doing these shows. You guys have a different perspective on it.
5:51
Speaker 3: You're super knowledgeable. It's a blast.
5:53
Speaker 1: We were joking there just before we started hitting the
5:56
Speaker 1: record button. I will watch Stears football any time I'm
6:00
Speaker 1: there and I but yeah, one twenty am when I
6:03
Speaker 1: seen the notification, I was delighted. Do you know what,
6:06
Speaker 1: Everyone's gonna watch this game on Sunday night slash Monday morning.
6:09
Speaker 1: So it's great, Thanks very much.
6:12
Speaker 4: It's been.
6:12
Speaker 1: It's been really really good man. I would have flew
6:14
Speaker 1: over if it was Saturday. I would have done it,
6:16
Speaker 1: like if looking. I actually fought for like half of
6:19
Speaker 1: Sunday Night in week seventeen. And I don't know if
6:22
Speaker 1: you thought to see him, but I really thought they
6:23
Speaker 1: were going to put that game on the Saturday night.
6:25
Speaker 1: When I sort of thought the Niners might have been
6:27
Speaker 1: the just that game at the very very end game
6:30
Speaker 1: two seventy two. But this is Steelers, So it's gonna
6:32
Speaker 1: be electric Mount, isn't it?
6:34
Speaker 2: Oh? It is.
6:34
Speaker 3: I mean it's the playoffs start now. We all wish
6:38
Speaker 3: that that wasn't the case. I would have loved the
6:40
Speaker 3: Steelers to figure out a way to win in Cleveland.
6:43
Speaker 3: That's a tough game to swallow. That just happened, you know,
6:46
Speaker 3: basically twenty four hours ago. But you know, I was
6:48
Speaker 3: really looking forward to sitting Rogers Cam Watt et cetera,
6:52
Speaker 3: et cetera, coming to the postseason fresh with the home game,
6:57
Speaker 3: even playing guys like Will Howard and Kaylee Johnson and
7:00
Speaker 3: Week eighteen would have been tremendous for their development. That's
7:04
Speaker 3: not what's going to be. I mean, the playoffs start now.
7:07
Speaker 3: I've done a ton of shows today, as you can imagine,
7:10
Speaker 3: and a lot of people are just like, what could
7:12
Speaker 3: be better? I mean, Steelers Ravens Week eighteen, last game
7:16
Speaker 3: of season.
7:16
Speaker 2: Every eye in the world on it. That's what we're
7:18
Speaker 2: here for, isn't it.
7:19
Speaker 1: You know, it is once twenty am Monday morning. For
7:23
Speaker 1: everyone listening to this we are pre recording this because
7:25
Speaker 1: it's it's a busy week for busy week for a
7:28
Speaker 1: lot of people in the NFL. Yeah, mentioned not Bron's game.
7:31
Speaker 1: If we look back on it here very quickly, you know,
7:34
Speaker 1: is there any positivity that you can give the seed
7:36
Speaker 1: responds listening, not just nar but in Europe here a month.
7:39
Speaker 1: Some good interceptions, some good play about the defense. Still
7:43
Speaker 1: some decent points to take from this game, although obviously
7:45
Speaker 1: the final score doesn't reflect that too much.
7:47
Speaker 2: Yeah.
7:48
Speaker 3: Absolutely, I mean, first off, you have to score touchdowns.
7:50
Speaker 3: You're not going to beat anybody without scoring touchdowns, you know,
7:53
Speaker 3: I mean, just battling for field goals. But I mean
7:56
Speaker 3: there was This wasn't like nearly as bad to me
7:59
Speaker 3: as the Bills loss. I mean, they were not getting
8:01
Speaker 3: pushed around, they were not getting bullied. Now, the lack
8:05
Speaker 3: of receiver situation was very, very hurtful. But I thought
8:09
Speaker 3: they both lines of scrimmage played well. I thought the
8:12
Speaker 3: defense played exceptionally well after the first series or two.
8:17
Speaker 3: And the Browns have a history of coming out and
8:19
Speaker 3: scheming things up early with Stefanski, who's really good at that.
8:23
Speaker 3: But situational football is what really killed them. I mean,
8:27
Speaker 3: you go over on fourth thounds, and you're really really
8:31
Speaker 3: bad on third downs, you uncharacteristically miss a field goal,
8:35
Speaker 3: which I count as a turnover as well. Yeah, you know,
8:38
Speaker 3: those kind of things are hard to win, you know,
8:40
Speaker 3: and for whatever reason, they've been struggling in Cleveland, which
8:43
Speaker 3: I don't like the sound of that lately.
8:46
Speaker 1: A bit of a weird weekend in the NFL week seventeen,
8:49
Speaker 1: number of different kickers missing kicks. Say, we know balls
8:53
Speaker 1: will come back from that as well. Obviously wishing the
8:55
Speaker 1: best this weekend. If you peel an orange mott, then
8:59
Speaker 1: how to ten different pieces. There's so many things to
9:01
Speaker 1: break down here. And you know early December the Staeders,
9:05
Speaker 1: you know, done a number of things right against Baltimore
9:08
Speaker 1: to get a wines that give you hope going into this.
9:10
Speaker 2: Week, oh for sure.
9:11
Speaker 3: And now one of the big things in that game
9:14
Speaker 3: was Metcalf. You know, Metcalf was very important in that game.
9:18
Speaker 3: We know he won't be in the equation and I
9:21
Speaker 3: do think well, I mean, again, we're recording this on Monday.
9:26
Speaker 3: There's a we got quite a stretch between now and kickoff.
9:30
Speaker 3: But I think you know exactly what the Ravens are
9:32
Speaker 3: gonna do. I don't think there's a lot of unpredictability
9:35
Speaker 3: of this game. Is they're gonna play man coverage. They're
9:38
Speaker 3: gonna play a single high safety just like the Browns did,
9:41
Speaker 3: because you're gonna have the same wide receiver situation. It
9:44
Speaker 3: struggled to beat man coverage. But the difference is the
9:48
Speaker 3: Ravens just aren't as good at it as the Browns are.
9:51
Speaker 3: I mean, that's what the Browns do. They're one of
9:52
Speaker 3: the best defenses in the league. The Ravens will play
9:56
Speaker 3: single high with man coverage, but they're not as good
9:58
Speaker 3: at it, and a lot of it because they don't
10:01
Speaker 3: have the pass rushers. They have to generate pass rush
10:03
Speaker 3: through blitz, where the Browns, led by Miles Garrett, don't
10:07
Speaker 3: have to do that. And so I think you'll you
10:11
Speaker 3: know what's coming, you can prepare for it. The coaches
10:14
Speaker 3: kind of had a test run in Cleveland of life
10:17
Speaker 3: without Metcalf and hopefully can make some adjustments. Accordingly, I
10:21
Speaker 3: expect Rogers to be a little sharper, and then on
10:24
Speaker 3: the other side of the ball, Dereck Henry's gonna get
10:26
Speaker 3: the ball over and over and over and over you know,
10:28
Speaker 3: and if you can stop it, great. I like the Steelers'
10:32
Speaker 3: chances a lot better than the Packers' chances.
10:35
Speaker 2: I mean, I thought Green Bay played.
10:37
Speaker 3: A very very poor game on defense, kind of an
10:39
Speaker 3: embarrassing game.
10:41
Speaker 1: It's funny like sort of talking about the fact that, yes,
10:44
Speaker 1: we're recording this early in the week, a number of
10:46
Speaker 1: different factors there. You heard coach Harbor talking earlier this
10:50
Speaker 1: evening that they pretty much like it's sort of screaming
10:54
Speaker 1: out at the minute that we expect me to be snoop.
10:56
Speaker 1: I hope need to be playing here I on someday
10:59
Speaker 1: at Football Dot Pokers game for see all these European
11:02
Speaker 1: ons we've had like seven at Knights in the rule
11:04
Speaker 1: here like that was that was hard to watch just
11:07
Speaker 1: in terms of high Pokers team defended against him, and
11:09
Speaker 1: you're buying all In terms of Derrick Henry, you'd like
11:13
Speaker 1: to think as well, you know, the run game that
11:15
Speaker 1: we have can really go up against them, especially when
11:18
Speaker 1: you got that double option there. What was your thoughts
11:20
Speaker 1: on Hotly against the Pokers though, I.
11:22
Speaker 3: Thought he played very well. I think he's an ideal
11:24
Speaker 3: backup for Lamar. You don't have to change things up
11:27
Speaker 3: too much. You know, they use his legs. Well, they
11:30
Speaker 3: didn't ask a ton of them, but a couple of
11:33
Speaker 3: Ravens notes not exactly what you asked. But as bad
11:37
Speaker 3: as their run defense was against Henry, I still think
11:41
Speaker 3: if Malik Willis plays that whole game, they may still
11:44
Speaker 3: have beat the Ravens. You know, I mean, the Ravens
11:46
Speaker 3: defense was not impressive in that game to me, and
11:50
Speaker 3: I'll be honest. I mean, I know some Steeler folks
11:52
Speaker 3: got mad at me in the preseason, but I picked
11:54
Speaker 3: the Ravens to win the Super Bowl in the preseason
11:56
Speaker 3: and it's not. The reason they're not to that level
11:59
Speaker 3: is only Lamar's injury. I mean, both of their lines
12:03
Speaker 3: of scrimmage have been problems all year. Then the Mattabuquet
12:07
Speaker 3: injury in the preseason. And so I don't fear this
12:11
Speaker 3: Ravens team like, oh, all of a sudden, they got
12:13
Speaker 3: it right. They're just gonna steamroll the AFC.
12:17
Speaker 1: It's funny because you give people saying about you tell
12:20
Speaker 1: me the Ravens. I've heard guys talk about they were
12:22
Speaker 1: very high on Tampa bag went into this year, and
12:24
Speaker 1: it has just sort of transition for this lost eighteen
12:27
Speaker 1: weeks and we're not in this situation and a couple
12:29
Speaker 1: of months to finish off here, man, if you don't mind,
12:31
Speaker 1: Kyle Dugger obviously had a really impressive game in terms
12:34
Speaker 1: of his interception in the early in the fourth quarter.
12:36
Speaker 1: How impressive you've been with him so far this season?
12:38
Speaker 1: And also Sawyer as well.
12:40
Speaker 3: Yeah, I'll be honest, Sawyer was my least favorite draft pick.
12:45
Speaker 3: You know, a lot of people talked about him like
12:46
Speaker 3: he was a top fifty pick. I never saw that
12:49
Speaker 3: kind of athleticism, and I didn't understand the pick when
12:52
Speaker 3: they made it, but I think it became.
12:55
Speaker 2: Pretty clear after I thought it through.
12:58
Speaker 3: It was kind of a reflection of the Press Smith trade,
13:01
Speaker 3: you know, when they drafted Sawyer at that point, I
13:04
Speaker 3: don't think they were really comfortable playing her big. You know,
13:07
Speaker 3: all the snaps if high Smith or Watt were to
13:10
Speaker 3: go down that they wanted a big, tough edge setter
13:15
Speaker 3: at outside linebacker, and that's exactly what Sawyer is, and
13:18
Speaker 3: he's exceeded at my expectations. I have no problem being
13:22
Speaker 3: him being out there now for meaningful snaps. So I
13:25
Speaker 3: think that's been a successful pick, as has the addition
13:28
Speaker 3: of Duggar, who again you got for free. It was
13:32
Speaker 3: so obvious early in the year when Elliott was out
13:35
Speaker 3: the ramifications of the defense, and we haven't seen that,
13:39
Speaker 3: you know, since Dugger's been inserted at the strong safety
13:42
Speaker 3: spot and Ramsey's really solidified the free safety spot. But
13:46
Speaker 3: one other nugget is I do think the injury to
13:49
Speaker 3: Echols this past week showed up in that now Ramsey
13:55
Speaker 3: has to play some slot and all of a sudden,
13:58
Speaker 3: Clark's out there instead of Ramsey and Eccles, and you
14:01
Speaker 3: just lose foot speed and playmaking ability. But Ravens, I
14:06
Speaker 3: don't know if ecklesill be back or not. Again we're
14:07
Speaker 3: recording this early. Ravens don't put three receivers on the
14:10
Speaker 3: field hardly at all. So I think Ramsey can be
14:13
Speaker 3: a safety rather than a slot, and he's good at both.
14:15
Speaker 3: But the problem is Eccles is a lot better slot
14:18
Speaker 3: than Clark is a safe.
14:21
Speaker 1: If you had to give a game pick for this game,
14:23
Speaker 1: will you do? Will you do that? Like just once
14:25
Speaker 1: your general thoughts.
14:27
Speaker 3: I know that Everymark seems it is because I would
14:31
Speaker 3: like to know more about Lamar, to be very honest,
14:33
Speaker 3: and I don't even know that that's a determining factor
14:35
Speaker 3: if I picked the Ravens or the Steelers, because what
14:37
Speaker 3: version of Lamar.
14:38
Speaker 2: Are you going to get?
14:40
Speaker 3: I think the Steelers sneak one out, though, I mean
14:42
Speaker 3: they've had a lot of success against the Ravens lately.
14:45
Speaker 3: They always respond well when they're embarrassed, so to speak,
14:49
Speaker 3: in a game that they should have won at home
14:53
Speaker 3: Sunday night. It's kind of a Tomlin you know, strength
14:58
Speaker 3: again it's Monday night. But I'm leaning for the Steelers
15:00
Speaker 3: get in the playoffs and we're we're hosting another game
15:04
Speaker 3: a week from now.
15:05
Speaker 1: Your music to every irishman and woman's ears this podcast.
15:10
Speaker 1: I'll tell you that no that do you know what?
15:12
Speaker 1: If anybody can do it? Aaron Rodgers has certainly got
15:14
Speaker 1: experience at the very very edge of week seventeen week
15:17
Speaker 1: team throughout his career. Let's hope and see what happens
15:20
Speaker 1: mat look first off, thank you forever in the season,
15:23
Speaker 1: and just.
15:25
Speaker 3: I don't think Rogers is going to be real happy
15:26
Speaker 3: with the way he played either, and I expect him
15:28
Speaker 3: to respond accordingly, Toady, more from Rogers this week than last.
15:34
Speaker 1: I'm expecting this Rogers this week. That's probably too high
15:37
Speaker 1: of a seen it for me, but I hope, I
15:38
Speaker 1: really really hope. So I know a lot of people
15:40
Speaker 1: do as well. I was just going to say there,
15:42
Speaker 1: thanks very much for ever in the season, but I
15:44
Speaker 1: know you guys have a really big offseason coming up,
15:47
Speaker 1: hopefully going to get out to the draft and hopefully
15:48
Speaker 1: say hello, but just enjoy that whole experience. And we're
15:51
Speaker 1: not there yet, hopefully got a few playoff weeks to
15:53
Speaker 1: go here. But Matt, thank you very very much for
15:55
Speaker 1: your time.
15:56
Speaker 2: I appreciate it anytime. This was a blast.
15:58
Speaker 1: As always, Let's hear and coach Salmon on the Iris
16:01
Speaker 1: Theaters podcast presented by Erlingis.
16:05
Speaker 4: I like the way we moved the ball in hurry
16:07
Speaker 4: situations on offense in two minutes. We're able to negotiate
16:11
Speaker 4: the ball down the field in the two minute drive
16:13
Speaker 4: and kick a field goal before halftime. And certainly we
16:17
Speaker 4: gave ourselves a chance to win going you know, sixty
16:22
Speaker 4: so yards in the waning moments of the game to
16:25
Speaker 4: have you know, second and goal from the seven and
16:28
Speaker 4: have three shots to do it. And so I appreciate
16:30
Speaker 4: that component of it, but certainly we need to look
16:34
Speaker 4: at this with sober eyes, man, as we formulate our
16:37
Speaker 4: plan for this week, and not only in terms of
16:39
Speaker 4: what happened to us in that game, but also the
16:42
Speaker 4: depths of this relationship that we have with Baltimore. We
16:45
Speaker 4: played them a short period of time of go, but
16:48
Speaker 4: beyond that, there's just real intimacy in these divisional matchups.
16:52
Speaker 4: And so man, we're working with an edge. This is
16:55
Speaker 4: chestnut checkers as you as you strategize and at the
16:59
Speaker 4: early portions of the week, not only fort cast and
17:02
Speaker 4: who's available to us potentially, but also who's available unavailable
17:06
Speaker 4: for them, uh and what and what that might do
17:09
Speaker 4: to to strategy, And so you know, it's a big
17:13
Speaker 4: part of the week for us. Before I get into
17:16
Speaker 4: Baltimore specifically, I'll talk about some injury updates and give
17:20
Speaker 4: you some updates to where we are from a personnel standpoint.
17:24
Speaker 4: Darnelle Washington is out. He had surgery on his broken
17:28
Speaker 4: arm this morning and so he won't be available to us. Thankfully.
17:33
Speaker 4: All other guys I'm about to mention have some level
17:37
Speaker 4: of optimism in terms of their availability. Calvin Austin and
17:41
Speaker 4: missed the last game with a hamstring definitively has a chance.
17:44
Speaker 4: Brandon Eccles, same thing with his growing James Pierre, same
17:48
Speaker 4: thing with his calf Isaac c Omalu, same thing with
17:52
Speaker 4: his tricep injury. Malik Harrison's got a bone bruise that
17:56
Speaker 4: that was sustained in game. It may limit him at
17:59
Speaker 4: the early portions of the week. But optimistic certainly about
18:02
Speaker 4: his inclusion. And although I hadn't seen TJ today, optimistic
18:07
Speaker 4: about his potential inclusion in this game. Will work him
18:11
Speaker 4: up throughout the course of the week, and let the
18:15
Speaker 4: amount of participation in the quality of participation be our
18:18
Speaker 4: guide in terms of whether or not he's a participant.
18:21
Speaker 4: But certainly and more optimistic this week than I have
18:24
Speaker 4: been in previous weeks. As I stand here today now
18:28
Speaker 4: on the Baltimore, it's obvious that you know the rubbers
18:33
Speaker 4: meeting the road not only for us but for others,
18:36
Speaker 4: and we have intimate knowledge of opponents the way that
18:39
Speaker 4: we do Baltimore. You really see, you know some of
18:41
Speaker 4: their go tos when things get thick. Just looking at
18:45
Speaker 4: the Green Bay game, for example, it's obvious, man, when
18:48
Speaker 4: things get thick, man, they play behind your big runner
18:52
Speaker 4: and the people that that go with him. On offense
18:56
Speaker 4: forty two, the big lead back in eighty eight the
18:59
Speaker 4: base tight end. Uh. Those those three are often working
19:02
Speaker 4: tandem as they work to win the line of scrimmage
19:05
Speaker 4: and run a variety of run schemes at your leads,
19:08
Speaker 4: gap scheme stuff, zone scheme stuff. They're doing an awesome
19:12
Speaker 4: job of mixing it up. But the reality is is
19:14
Speaker 4: that it's a two back attack when things get really thick.
19:18
Speaker 4: It certainly was a two back attack in Green Bay
19:21
Speaker 4: last weekend, and and they played behind that. Certainly, they
19:25
Speaker 4: have awesome corresponding misdirection and play action passes off of
19:31
Speaker 4: some of that work that really allows them to get
19:35
Speaker 4: get yards and chunks in the passing game with guys
19:37
Speaker 4: like Zay Flowers and Mark Andrews and others. So none
19:41
Speaker 4: of that's new, but certainly their new commitment to to
19:46
Speaker 4: that style of play it's not surprising, uh, but but daunting. Nonetheless,
19:53
Speaker 4: as we analyze that video and lean in on prep
19:56
Speaker 4: from a defensive perspective, it looks like they're minimizing some
19:59
Speaker 4: of their man the man since the last time we
20:01
Speaker 4: played them we had some big plays in one on
20:04
Speaker 4: one circumstances. It looks like they've pivoted a little bit
20:07
Speaker 4: and work to minimize some of that. Schematically, they're more
20:10
Speaker 4: zone defenses than they were the last time, less isolation
20:16
Speaker 4: one on one moments to produce one on one big
20:19
Speaker 4: plays and flip the field or produce scoring drives, and
20:22
Speaker 4: so it looks like they're doing some quintessential Baltimore things
20:25
Speaker 4: when things get thick on both sides of the ball,
20:29
Speaker 4: and an effort to better engineer victory. Certainly, their special
20:32
Speaker 4: teams group is always a formative one, formidable one and
20:35
Speaker 4: when we get in these matchups, man oftentimes significant plays
20:40
Speaker 4: occur in that phase. And so certainly there's a three
20:43
Speaker 4: phase approach to preparation and planning. Really optimistic about the
20:48
Speaker 4: inclusion of some of our guys, as I mentioned earlier,
20:51
Speaker 4: and certainly it's the time for that in the AFC
20:55
Speaker 4: North Championship game, and I'm sure Baltimore is up the
20:58
Speaker 4: same mindset we played these guys most recently. I'm sure
21:03
Speaker 4: we'll have a wrinkle of two. I'm sure they'll have
21:05
Speaker 4: a wrinkle of two. But I'm sure at the end
21:07
Speaker 4: of the day, wrinkles won't determine the outcome of this game.
21:11
Speaker 4: Quality play making, particularly in time and moments and timely
21:15
Speaker 4: moments will and so it's important that that we formulated
21:19
Speaker 4: a good plan, that we divide the labor up appropriately,
21:21
Speaker 4: and we put our guys in position to do so,
21:23
Speaker 4: make those plays and prevent those plays on the other side.
21:26
Speaker 4: And I'm sure Baltimore has a similar sentiment as they
21:30
Speaker 4: push forward throughout their week It is an honor man
21:33
Speaker 4: to be in these games, to be in these hotly
21:36
Speaker 4: contested matchups. It seems like Baltimore is always a dance partner.
21:42
Speaker 4: I certainly am respectful and appreciative of that relationship and
21:47
Speaker 4: some of the historic things we've been able to do
21:50
Speaker 4: when these two teams have come together. This appears to
21:53
Speaker 4: be one of those weekends. It's humbling in the honor
21:56
Speaker 4: to be a component of it, but to be a
21:58
Speaker 4: component of it is just that, you know, our job
22:02
Speaker 4: is to win.
22:05
Speaker 1: A big thanks to Matt for joining us, and you
22:07
Speaker 1: heard him. There are a number of keys this game
22:10
Speaker 1: finding ways to make it work for the Staders this weekend,
22:14
Speaker 1: but it needs to embed itself early. And my key
22:18
Speaker 1: to the game is we don't just have the entire
22:21
Speaker 1: country of the US watching this. The entire world is
22:24
Speaker 1: going to be watching this after Saturday's Niner Seahawks game,
22:29
Speaker 1: where the NFC number one seed will be cemented. The
22:32
Speaker 1: eyes of the NFL world will be on this game
22:34
Speaker 1: for so many different reasons. You know, we expect, we
22:37
Speaker 1: don't know how long Aaron Rodgers got left in the NFL.
22:39
Speaker 1: You know, staters, fans, myself, everybody. We want him to
22:43
Speaker 1: keep going. We want a home playoff game. That's certainly
22:46
Speaker 1: what I want, and I know a lot of people
22:48
Speaker 1: listening to this will want that as well. Let's find
22:51
Speaker 1: a way to make it happen. Get out, stop Derek
22:55
Speaker 1: Henry early. Now, look there, let me be realistic here.
22:58
Speaker 1: It is difficult to stop a player like Derrick Henry continually.
23:02
Speaker 1: That's nigh on impossible. I completely agree and completely understand that.
23:07
Speaker 1: That being said, though, find a way to get out
23:11
Speaker 1: and limited runs instead of him getting five or six yards,
23:15
Speaker 1: try to live in a two or three yards. Put
23:17
Speaker 1: hunting under pressure for this hunting inside of Jackson. Find
23:20
Speaker 1: ways to stop the core that the Ravens offense has
23:24
Speaker 1: and on our side of the ball where we've got
23:26
Speaker 1: this offense. I want to see more from Galen. I
23:29
Speaker 1: want to see more from Kenny, and I'm going under
23:31
Speaker 1: the presumption, as I mentioned the Matt there, we might
23:33
Speaker 1: not see tj ont this weekend again on our TBD decision,
23:37
Speaker 1: I want to see more guys step up on this defense.
23:39
Speaker 1: This is a home game, the crowd, the atmosphere. We
23:43
Speaker 1: need everybody behind from the get go to the final
23:49
Speaker 1: part of this game. This game is not over. Those
23:52
Speaker 1: over no matter if the Steelers go out into a
23:53
Speaker 1: later vice versa, there will be opportunities for both teams.
23:56
Speaker 1: And you just know that both teams and their rivalry
24:00
Speaker 1: and both coaches will want to get out on top
24:03
Speaker 1: because this means more. It's playoff football. I'm going to
24:07
Speaker 1: take the Steelers. And the reason I'm going to take
24:09
Speaker 1: the Steelers win this game. I think back in the
24:11
Speaker 1: mid twenty tens when Aaron Rodgers was the quarterback for
24:14
Speaker 1: the Rete Packers and there was an incredibly iconic Week
24:18
Speaker 1: seventeen moment. It feels weird say in Week seventeen now
24:20
Speaker 1: for the final week back in the day fourth and seven,
24:23
Speaker 1: I think it was for the Packers against the Bears
24:25
Speaker 1: and Rogers clutch to Randall Cobb under serious pressure touchdown, Packers,
24:31
Speaker 1: Packers get to the playoffs against the Bears. Put the
24:35
Speaker 1: Bears out. Rogers has been here, he has done it.
24:39
Speaker 1: He has more than worn the T shirt. If Aaron
24:42
Speaker 1: Rodgers is the guy to lead this team to a
24:45
Speaker 1: deep playoff journey and a playoff birth this year, alongside
24:49
Speaker 1: obviously an AFC North title, it's up to him. In
24:52
Speaker 1: my opinion, It's up for him to stand up, be counted,
24:55
Speaker 1: to find a way to make it work against a
24:58
Speaker 1: stout Ravens team and to find a way to elevate
25:02
Speaker 1: his performance. There were definitely signs over the last couple
25:06
Speaker 1: of weeks off of god, this is really really good
25:07
Speaker 1: in certain elements. But could this be a moment where
25:11
Speaker 1: Rogers takes it upon himself to remind the NFL world
25:16
Speaker 1: I'm still here and I think the Staters have win
25:18
Speaker 1: this game twenty seven twenty four in typically styled Neil
25:24
Speaker 1: Biding fashion. But my god, if what happens, could you
25:27
Speaker 1: imagine it this game? Because of the nature of it
25:29
Speaker 1: one twenty am Monday morning, which means one thing, it's
25:34
Speaker 1: on Sky Sports NFL across the island of Ireland. It's
25:36
Speaker 1: also an NFL game. Pass on the zone and if
25:39
Speaker 1: you're somehow in the car at one am and Monday morning.
25:43
Speaker 1: Fair platya folks. You can listen on the OTB Sports
25:46
Speaker 1: radio app and as well if you haven't got the
25:48
Speaker 1: option to watch a TV at home as well. Folks,
25:51
Speaker 1: big game, we need your support. You can check out
25:53
Speaker 1: the staters social channels all week at Steeters Ireland hashtag
25:57
Speaker 1: here we go, hashtag Steeters Ireland, Get involved, get behind
26:01
Speaker 1: this team. Yes, last week was disappointing, but we go
26:04
Speaker 1: a game because right now it's playoff football. It might
26:06
Speaker 1: as well be Oh no, let's get that win. Folks,
26:09
Speaker 1: have a great weekend, enjoy the game and hopefully we're
26:12
Speaker 1: looking ahead to a wild card game in week nineteen
26:15
Speaker 1: of the season. Thanks, folks, have a good weekend.