Latest / Steelers Country Weekly / Ravens Recap, Texans Preview

Transcript

Ravens Recap, Texans Preview · Steelers Country Weekly

0:01
Speaker 1: Today on Steelers Country Weekly, we recap the Steelers big
0:05
Speaker 1: prime time win from this past Sunday, securing the AFC North.
0:10
Speaker 1: We're gonna look ahead to the Monday night playoff matchup
0:13
Speaker 1: at home against the Houston Texans, and then we're gonna
0:16
Speaker 1: talk about the NFL head coaching jobs, which ones are
0:20
Speaker 1: available in what we think the best and worst openings are.
0:24
Speaker 1: I'm Nick de Tulio, and as always I'm joined by
0:26
Speaker 1: the world famous account Eric van Benschoten. Eric, how's it
0:30
Speaker 1: going tonight?
0:31
Speaker 2: I'm doing pretty good, man, Just still living off the
0:36
Speaker 2: excitement making the playoffs and then the dread of what
0:41
Speaker 2: we do in the playoffs, but you know, just savoring
0:46
Speaker 2: it for the moment.
0:48
Speaker 1: Yeah. And we were talking about it a little bit
0:51
Speaker 1: before we hopped on, and I know that every Steelers
0:54
Speaker 1: and Ravens fan and even casual fans who stayed up
0:57
Speaker 1: to watch the game stand that everyone went through all
1:03
Speaker 1: of the emotions this Sunday night, the type of game,
1:07
Speaker 1: how it played out, what was on the line, and
1:09
Speaker 1: the aftermath that happened after just a few hours before
1:12
Speaker 1: we hit record today on this Tuesday. It was a
1:16
Speaker 1: big deal and for the NFL. We mentioned it a
1:21
Speaker 1: few weeks ago that we felt like everything was just
1:23
Speaker 1: kind of on a collision course to a Sunday night
1:27
Speaker 1: primetime game that decided all the NFL got the best
1:31
Speaker 1: possible scenario for that primetime game, so you had Lamar
1:39
Speaker 1: Jackson and the Ravens coming to town in Pittsburgh to
1:42
Speaker 1: play the Steelers. Again, this game got flexed to Sunday night.
1:48
Speaker 1: This was the only game that had a win and
1:51
Speaker 1: in scenario for both teams. We talked a little bit
1:54
Speaker 1: last week about the Buccaneers and the Panthers, which was
1:59
Speaker 1: were just are wrong on our stat or facts there,
2:02
Speaker 1: but it was almost more interesting because and I don't
2:06
Speaker 1: want to get too off topic about the Bucks and
2:08
Speaker 1: the Panthers, but I just thought this was funny because
2:12
Speaker 1: the Bucks beat the Panthers on Saturday. On Sunday, that
2:17
Speaker 1: meant the the NFC South Championship was decided was technically
2:22
Speaker 1: the Falcons and the Saints, but neither of those teams
2:26
Speaker 1: would be going to the playoffs. If I don't know
2:29
Speaker 1: what the deal was, but if one team won, the
2:31
Speaker 1: Bucks would go, and if the other team won, the
2:33
Speaker 1: Panthers would go. So it just kind of funny to
2:35
Speaker 1: think about.
2:35
Speaker 2: Really, I saw too that the Falcons tied for first
2:41
Speaker 2: place but fired their coach.
2:45
Speaker 3: First teams to ever do that.
2:48
Speaker 1: Yeah, interesting, And if things had played out a little
2:52
Speaker 1: bit differently in the Pittsburgh game, who knows, right, Yeah, well, anyway,
2:58
Speaker 1: I just wanted to mention that, and we'll go back
3:00
Speaker 1: to the head coaching openings. I just thought that was
3:01
Speaker 1: a really unique situation. Due to the NFL starting to
3:05
Speaker 1: play these games on Saturdays, once the college football machine
3:09
Speaker 1: dies down a little bit, you basically had a championship
3:13
Speaker 1: between two teams that couldn't compete in the championship, if
3:16
Speaker 1: that makes sense.
3:17
Speaker 3: So oh yeah.
3:18
Speaker 1: However, on Sunday night, like we said, the Ravens came
3:22
Speaker 1: to town and this was a winner take all game.
3:28
Speaker 1: Before the game, I predicted the Steelers would lose. I
3:33
Speaker 1: just said, without DK, with losing Darnell Washington, I didn't
3:38
Speaker 1: see a scenario where the Steelers would get it together.
3:44
Speaker 1: Eric said that Tomlin is going to find a way
3:48
Speaker 1: because he just does in these kind of games, that's
3:51
Speaker 1: what he does. And this was probably the height of that.
3:58
Speaker 1: This game. We'll get through it all here. In the
4:02
Speaker 1: first half, we saw kind of what we've seen in
4:07
Speaker 1: several games this year, which was the Steelers' offense was
4:11
Speaker 1: just slow to get going. The Ravens jumped out to
4:15
Speaker 1: a ten oh lead, the offense really couldn't get anything moving.
4:19
Speaker 1: They did end up getting a Boswell I think it
4:22
Speaker 1: was like a fifty seven yard field goal, so a
4:25
Speaker 1: huge kick from him. And one thing that did happen
4:31
Speaker 1: at the end of the half was the Steelers were driving.
4:33
Speaker 1: They took up a lot of time. They got down
4:36
Speaker 1: to the one yard line after a pass interference calling
4:39
Speaker 1: the end zone, but they chose a weird not a
4:44
Speaker 1: weird I guess I should say they just chose a
4:45
Speaker 1: really bad play to go for it on fourth and one.
4:48
Speaker 1: It's a little too far out to do the tush push,
4:50
Speaker 1: which they tried in a few occasions and got stuffed
4:52
Speaker 1: on fourth down on one. But they did a pitch
4:56
Speaker 1: play and they asked a blocking blocking tight end to
5:01
Speaker 1: make a block and gain what would have had to
5:02
Speaker 1: beat the safety on the edge. Just if you're going
5:06
Speaker 1: to go for it, which I think we both agree
5:07
Speaker 1: with the decision to go for it in that situation,
5:10
Speaker 1: it just didn't seem like the best call so I'll
5:14
Speaker 1: kick it over to you see what you think.
5:16
Speaker 3: Even Collinsworth kind of was like, what the heck was that?
5:21
Speaker 1: Right? So not much to really say about that other
5:27
Speaker 1: than it was a bad call and they probably could
5:29
Speaker 1: have done a litany of other plays before that one.
5:33
Speaker 1: Not really sure how that was what they came up with,
5:36
Speaker 1: but I digress. Moving on into the second half, it
5:43
Speaker 1: was interesting because the Steelers got the ball to start
5:48
Speaker 1: the second half and they really held on to the
5:53
Speaker 1: ball for quite a long time, almost half the quarter.
5:58
Speaker 1: It was over eight minute drive. And the thing that
6:03
Speaker 1: that did for the Steelers was it kept the Ravens
6:06
Speaker 1: off the field. So the Ravens went almost an hour
6:09
Speaker 1: of actual clock time before they came back on offense.
6:14
Speaker 1: And when they did come back, they went through a
6:16
Speaker 1: three and out which resulted in another Steelers field goal
6:20
Speaker 1: after that to give them the lead. So we go
6:24
Speaker 1: into the fourth quarter and this is where things get crazy.
6:30
Speaker 1: Lamar Jackson made three really big plays in this game.
6:35
Speaker 1: Two of them were touchdown passes where it was almost
6:39
Speaker 1: the exact same play and he just had Zay Flowers
6:43
Speaker 1: beating them deep for touchdowns and it was kind of
6:48
Speaker 1: you're sitting there wondering how can they let the first
6:50
Speaker 1: of all again, a lot of emotions, a lot of thoughts,
6:54
Speaker 1: but it's the first time it happens, You're like, Okay,
6:57
Speaker 1: that stinks, but we've given up big plays before. The
6:59
Speaker 1: second time happens, you're like, it's literally the exact same play. Guys, like,
7:02
Speaker 1: what are we doing? And then the third one we'll
7:06
Speaker 1: get to in a minute. That was a little different,
7:08
Speaker 1: but yeah, big plays. And then the Steelers respond though,
7:13
Speaker 1: so they drive again, they get to the end zone,
7:16
Speaker 1: and one thing I will say is I was a
7:19
Speaker 1: little unhappy that they didn't have any timeouts. And part
7:22
Speaker 1: of the reason that Aaron Rodgers had to burn one,
7:25
Speaker 1: and I agree with his decision making to do it,
7:28
Speaker 1: was because the helmet communication wasn't working. And it was
7:33
Speaker 1: kind of interesting because Collinsworth brought up a good point.
7:36
Speaker 1: He said, you know, I've been talking up here saying
7:38
Speaker 1: I think Aaron's calling the show, So if the helmet
7:41
Speaker 1: communication isn't working, I just go up and call something.
7:44
Speaker 1: So kind of kind of interesting to point out. But
7:49
Speaker 1: in his postgame Rogers said, you know, look, I just
7:52
Speaker 1: said we're here. We don't want to settle for a
7:54
Speaker 1: field goal because we're down by four with I think
7:58
Speaker 1: it was about four minutes left, so we got to
8:01
Speaker 1: use the timeout to come up with something. And unlike
8:04
Speaker 1: the two point conversion, they did get the ball to
8:07
Speaker 1: gain well and they got him a hole on a
8:09
Speaker 1: running play on the outside to the right side to
8:11
Speaker 1: get the touchdown, which was huge. Ye. But again I'm
8:16
Speaker 1: just like the pessimist in me while this is going
8:22
Speaker 1: on before the touchdown is like, you've got to be
8:25
Speaker 1: kidding me. The same organization that punctured our star players
8:29
Speaker 1: along now can't get a functioning helmet into the star quarterback.
8:34
Speaker 1: And this is how the season ends because we burn
8:36
Speaker 1: our timeouts and anyway from there it goes back and forth.
8:43
Speaker 1: The Ravens again have a huge touchdown pass to Zay
8:47
Speaker 1: Flowers again the same play that they ran before, which
8:52
Speaker 1: means the Steelers get the ball back they drive down
8:55
Speaker 1: the field themselves. Rogers had a few really good throws
8:59
Speaker 1: earlier in the game. He hit was on the money
9:01
Speaker 1: to Thielin on the previous drive. He had hit Friarmouth
9:05
Speaker 1: over the middle for a big play. On this drive,
9:08
Speaker 1: they managed to get up to the twenty six yard
9:10
Speaker 1: line on third and ten, Calvin Austin runs a hitch
9:14
Speaker 1: and go on the left hand side and the Steeler
9:17
Speaker 1: or the Ravens defender slips Rogers hits him wide open.
9:21
Speaker 1: They score with fifty five seconds left. Again we're going
9:25
Speaker 1: through the emotions here, and then Boswell, our favorite mister reliable,
9:31
Speaker 1: misses a pat and I don't it just seemed odd
9:36
Speaker 1: to me watching the pat because it looked like he
9:38
Speaker 1: hit it dead on and then just it took a
9:41
Speaker 1: really sharp curve out of nowhere. Just a very odd kick.
9:45
Speaker 1: But I'm I'm not a not an engineer, not a
9:50
Speaker 1: nuclear physicist, so I'm not going to get into the
9:52
Speaker 1: aerodynamics of it.
9:53
Speaker 2: I just so you know how the circling win is
9:57
Speaker 2: in Pittsburgh, So I mean, for sure, definitely possible.
10:02
Speaker 1: But well, all that to say that sets us up
10:08
Speaker 1: with a twenty six to twenty four score. As we know,
10:15
Speaker 1: that makes it a whole different ballgame than even being
10:17
Speaker 1: up three because the Ravens just have to get into
10:19
Speaker 1: field goal range to score or to take the win.
10:23
Speaker 1: I should say they take the kick return I think
10:28
Speaker 1: out to like the forty or the forty five. It
10:30
Speaker 1: was a bad coverage by the Steelers. The defense manages
10:34
Speaker 1: to hold them to a fourth and seven, and Lamar
10:38
Speaker 1: Jackson just does what he does and manages to get
10:43
Speaker 1: the ball off just before TJ. Watt can get to
10:45
Speaker 1: him and hits Isaiah likely down at the field, getting
10:51
Speaker 1: them well into field goal range for the kicker. And
10:54
Speaker 1: then what probably ended up being the most impactful play
11:00
Speaker 1: the game. On the next play, they took a two
11:02
Speaker 1: yard loss to try to position the ball where the
11:05
Speaker 1: kicker would prefer it. And then we've all seen it
11:07
Speaker 1: by now if you're listening to this, Ravens kicker Tyler
11:10
Speaker 1: misses it wide right, So the Steelers end up winning. So,
11:15
Speaker 1: now that I have given the complete breakdown, Eric, I'm
11:18
Speaker 1: going to turn it over to you. Just looking back
11:20
Speaker 1: on everything that happened, what are your biggest takeaways from
11:25
Speaker 1: this game?
11:27
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean I think that the veteran leadership of
11:30
Speaker 2: Rogers definitely prevailed. You know, like, as you mentioned it,
11:36
Speaker 2: he had the leadership, he knew when to take the
11:39
Speaker 2: time outs. He you know, almost three hundred yards passing,
11:44
Speaker 2: but he didn't play hero ball, you know, he was able.
11:47
Speaker 3: To kind of take check downs. Game well, had.
11:52
Speaker 2: The lion's share of the receptions on the game, but
11:56
Speaker 2: was still able to kind of hit the big enough
11:59
Speaker 2: passes to kind of keep the chains moving. I mean
12:02
Speaker 2: we were nine of sixteen on third down efficiency whenever
12:06
Speaker 2: you go over fifty. That kind of leads to, as
12:10
Speaker 2: you mentioned.
12:11
Speaker 3: The.
12:13
Speaker 2: Keeping the Ravens off the field, keeping them cold. We
12:16
Speaker 2: won time of possession thirty four to twenty six on
12:21
Speaker 2: that end of it, so, you know, I think that
12:25
Speaker 2: was the main thing. I mean, the Ravens had their
12:28
Speaker 2: explosive plays, as you mentioned. You know, Derrick Henry was
12:34
Speaker 2: looking like a manchild in the first half, and.
12:39
Speaker 3: You know, I was thinking, oh, man, here.
12:42
Speaker 2: Comes the the Packers game all over again.
12:45
Speaker 3: But I think they held him to like twenty or
12:49
Speaker 3: twenty five yards in the second half.
12:51
Speaker 2: So and look, I my heart goes out to loop.
13:00
Speaker 3: Look.
13:00
Speaker 2: I mean, Boswell's, if not the best kicker in the league,
13:04
Speaker 2: one of the best kickers in the league, and it's
13:08
Speaker 2: really hard to kick at heinsfield.
13:11
Speaker 3: Forty four yards is not a.
13:12
Speaker 2: GIMMI and I saw the stat you know, basically it's historic.
13:18
Speaker 2: No one's ever missed a game winning field goal in
13:23
Speaker 2: the last game of the year. As time expired, sixty
13:29
Speaker 2: thousand kicks. He's the first one to do it, but
13:32
Speaker 2: he's a rookie and very tough situation, so you know,
13:38
Speaker 2: I feel horrible for him, especially now that his coach
13:44
Speaker 2: got fired for it. But you know, I think this
13:51
Speaker 2: is just like the typical, This is exactly what the
13:56
Speaker 2: Steelers are this year, just enough for you to pull
14:00
Speaker 2: your hair out. I think it's over the roller coast
14:04
Speaker 2: of emotions. Yet we're a ten to seven team going
14:08
Speaker 2: to the playoffs.
14:09
Speaker 3: So yeah, there was a.
14:14
Speaker 2: Funny post of like, you know, like a comic book
14:18
Speaker 2: strip of every single day the Steelers fan what they're
14:21
Speaker 2: going through, the turmoil of yes, we're gonna go to
14:25
Speaker 2: the super Bowl by the end of the week, but
14:28
Speaker 2: we come crashing down on Monday. We could live like
14:34
Speaker 2: that each week, but for this week we're going to
14:38
Speaker 2: the super Bowl.
14:40
Speaker 1: We lived like that in this game itself, going back
14:44
Speaker 1: and forth. One thing I didn't mention that I should
14:48
Speaker 1: is that I think the game really changed when Kyle
14:51
Speaker 1: Hamilton went down for the Ravens and didn't come back,
14:54
Speaker 1: not saying that that was the only reason the Steelers won,
14:58
Speaker 1: because they did move the ball at the end of
14:59
Speaker 1: the first half, when he was still there, but that
15:04
Speaker 1: was just another layer. You don't ever want to see
15:08
Speaker 1: an injury be the cause of any of that, so
15:13
Speaker 1: definitely stinks and is unfortunate for him the Steelers. It
15:19
Speaker 1: all just kind of coalescedon was the perfect storm in
15:21
Speaker 1: the end, I think for the Steelers, and that was
15:23
Speaker 1: some brilliant foreshadowing by yous to the aftermath of what
15:26
Speaker 1: happens after this game with John Harbob. But yeah, I
15:32
Speaker 1: mean the Steelers at the end of the day, they
15:37
Speaker 1: did just enough. And while you and I and every
15:41
Speaker 1: other Steelers fan wishes that we'd get a full, complete
15:45
Speaker 1: game out of these guys, it hasn't happened yet. Honestly,
15:49
Speaker 1: at this point it's probably not going to happen, right,
15:52
Speaker 1: But it is comforting in one sense to know that
15:58
Speaker 1: when you have your best wide receiver out, when you
16:00
Speaker 1: have your number two target out, and a whole litany
16:03
Speaker 1: of other things going on, it's nice to know that
16:06
Speaker 1: when you're down, you're not necessarily out. And in the playoffs,
16:11
Speaker 1: that could very well be a great trait to have.
16:16
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, for sure, And yeah, we'll have to see
16:20
Speaker 2: kind of you know, the saying better lucky than good.
16:25
Speaker 2: I mean, that's kind of how I feel about us.
16:27
Speaker 2: But yeah, you know it's true.
16:30
Speaker 3: I mean.
16:32
Speaker 2: It might not be pretty, it might not always feel reassuring,
16:36
Speaker 2: but it always feels good to win.
16:39
Speaker 1: So yeah, and when the alternative is the season being over,
16:46
Speaker 1: winning is obviously much better. Yes, all right, Well, very
16:53
Speaker 1: have that the Steelers beat the Ravens twenty six, twenty four,
16:56
Speaker 1: they win the AFC North, they get to go to
16:59
Speaker 1: the playoffs, get to host a game, they have DK
17:02
Speaker 1: Metcalf coming back, and other than having to play the Texans,
17:08
Speaker 1: things are looking pretty good for the Steelers. But let's
17:14
Speaker 1: jump ahead and talk to this game, or talk about
17:17
Speaker 1: this game rather. The Steelers are going to be hosting
17:20
Speaker 1: the Texans on Monday Night at home. This is the
17:24
Speaker 1: classic case of immovable force meets an unstoppable force meets
17:30
Speaker 1: an immovable object. You have the Steelers playing in the
17:34
Speaker 1: playoffs where they can't or haven't won in several years,
17:39
Speaker 1: contending with the fact that the Steelers have not lost
17:41
Speaker 1: at home on Monday Night since nineteen ninety one. So
17:46
Speaker 1: there's the universal powers going at each other there. We'll
17:49
Speaker 1: have to see what happens. But in all seriousness, the
17:52
Speaker 1: Texans defensively have been playing very good. They've ended the
17:56
Speaker 1: year on a four game winning streak. Their record stands
17:58
Speaker 1: at twelve and five. They have a young quarterback in CJ.
18:02
Speaker 1: Stroud who's been here once already in his third season,
18:07
Speaker 1: and long story short, I think the Steelers just have
18:11
Speaker 1: their work cut out for them. The Texans also have
18:15
Speaker 1: really flown under the radar this year because in the
18:19
Speaker 1: AFC South, you had the Colts starting off the year
18:23
Speaker 1: at what was it eight and one or seven to
18:25
Speaker 1: one before the Steelers played them before the Daniel Jones injury,
18:30
Speaker 1: and then they fell off the wagon despite their efforts
18:33
Speaker 1: with Philip Rivers, and then you had the Jaguars kind
18:36
Speaker 1: of ascending at the right time too. So the Texans are, again,
18:40
Speaker 1: to my point, are just They are a twelve and
18:42
Speaker 1: five team that I don't think many people are really
18:47
Speaker 1: aware of or know much about. So they are the
18:51
Speaker 1: favorites coming into this game, and it's going to be
18:55
Speaker 1: interesting to see which Steelers team shows up and really
18:59
Speaker 1: what kind of impact DK metcalf is going to have
19:02
Speaker 1: back on the field, because while it was very impressive
19:06
Speaker 1: that Aaron Rodgers was able to help lead the team
19:10
Speaker 1: to victory against the Ravens with the cast that he had,
19:16
Speaker 1: I'm not sure that he's going to be able to
19:17
Speaker 1: repeat that against the Texans. So he's definitely going to
19:21
Speaker 1: need all the help he can get. Yeah, that'll being said, Eric,
19:24
Speaker 1: I'm gonna kick it over to you when we look
19:27
Speaker 1: ahead to this matchup on Monday night featuring the Texans
19:30
Speaker 1: and the Steelers. What are some of your keys for
19:32
Speaker 1: a Steelers victory?
19:35
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean they the Texans been playing lights out,
19:40
Speaker 2: so they are forget the exact stat but like going
19:46
Speaker 2: back for basically the Sewer.
19:48
Speaker 3: Bowl era, there's only been like one other team that.
19:52
Speaker 2: Has gone oh to three and made the playoffs, and
19:55
Speaker 2: that's the twenty eighteen Texans.
19:57
Speaker 3: So they're hot.
20:00
Speaker 2: I mean they're extremely hot. They have gone twelve and
20:03
Speaker 2: two to close out the year. They have one of
20:07
Speaker 2: the best defensive players.
20:09
Speaker 3: In all of the league. And Will Anderson.
20:13
Speaker 2: You know that that trade up that they had to
20:16
Speaker 2: go get him. I remember being shocked when they did it,
20:19
Speaker 2: But man, is that paying off for him?
20:24
Speaker 3: You know?
20:24
Speaker 2: And in their offense is if you look at their stats,
20:27
Speaker 2: they're they're not particularly the most explosive offense in the Land.
20:33
Speaker 2: They they win a lot of games by getting to twenty.
20:39
Speaker 2: So for me, you know, there's been a couple of
20:43
Speaker 2: games where we've been aggressive offensively, and you know, I
20:48
Speaker 2: think if we're trying to like do a grounded, grind
20:51
Speaker 2: it out running game, let your defenses play, We're gonna
20:58
Speaker 2: lose this game because I do think that the Texans
21:03
Speaker 2: probably have the better defense even from a talent perspective,
21:07
Speaker 2: and they've been playing a lot more consistent than we have.
21:11
Speaker 2: So the key for me would be, I think that
21:14
Speaker 2: we need to be aggressive. I think that with t
21:17
Speaker 2: K coming back, you know, not the first play, but
21:22
Speaker 2: I'd say we do got to take the shot down
21:25
Speaker 2: the field.
21:28
Speaker 3: You know.
21:28
Speaker 2: I I think that we win most of our games
21:32
Speaker 2: by doing the grind it out, but I just don't
21:35
Speaker 2: think that this is gonna be the.
21:36
Speaker 3: Best match up in order to do so. So for me,
21:41
Speaker 3: it's gonna.
21:42
Speaker 2: Be that Rogers is definitely gonna have to to will
21:46
Speaker 2: us to victory, and you know, we're gonna have to
21:49
Speaker 2: be lucky with getting you know, a turnover to to
21:53
Speaker 2: kind of swing the momentum back our way.
21:55
Speaker 1: Yeah, and I think that's all definitely possible. I think
22:00
Speaker 1: at home is also going to be a huge help
22:02
Speaker 1: because the home field advantage is big. Of course, not
22:05
Speaker 1: having to travels big, and it's just a nice change
22:09
Speaker 1: of pace because again these last several years where we're
22:12
Speaker 1: talking about how we haven't won a playoff game since
22:16
Speaker 1: twenty seventeen or twenty eighteen, whatever it is, with the
22:19
Speaker 1: exception of the Cleveland Browns game, which was not in
22:25
Speaker 1: front of fans, they haven't played any of these games
22:29
Speaker 1: at home because they keep getting the number seven seed.
22:32
Speaker 1: So winning the division was nice, even though the Texans
22:35
Speaker 1: probably deserved the home field game more than the Steelers.
22:37
Speaker 3: Two.
22:40
Speaker 1: We won't get into the NFL playoff structure, though, we'll
22:43
Speaker 1: leave the playoff debates to the college level. To your point,
22:48
Speaker 1: I do think it's all possible. I think that again,
22:53
Speaker 1: if not the very first play. Like you said early on,
22:55
Speaker 1: they need to try to go deep to DK just
22:59
Speaker 1: to make sure that the Texans are allowing the Steelers
23:03
Speaker 1: room and they're not packing the box. Let the run
23:06
Speaker 1: game get going. I would love to see more Jalen
23:09
Speaker 1: Warren and Kenneth Gainwell. I'll be the first. I think
23:14
Speaker 1: I've said it last week. I'll be the first to
23:16
Speaker 1: admit I'm sorry when I said he shouldn't be touching
23:19
Speaker 1: the ball as much. He has been doing a great
23:22
Speaker 1: job really out of the backfield catching passes I'd say
23:25
Speaker 1: more so than running, But him and Jalen Warren have
23:30
Speaker 1: been a good one two punch And yeah, I think
23:35
Speaker 1: defensively we do need the defense to step up and
23:41
Speaker 1: make the big plays, and we did see that in
23:43
Speaker 1: a lot of points, particular with TJ. Watts interception and
23:48
Speaker 1: Cam Hayward playing out of his mind this past week
23:51
Speaker 1: against the Ravens. But we just cannot give up as
23:56
Speaker 1: many big plays as we did. And I'm not even
23:58
Speaker 1: saying we can't give up any big plays. I'm just
24:01
Speaker 1: saying we can't give up three big plays to the
24:04
Speaker 1: nature that we did against the Ravens, the two touchdown
24:07
Speaker 1: bombs and then the fourth down conversion at the end
24:10
Speaker 1: of the game to set up the field goal attempt.
24:15
Speaker 1: And frankly, if those big plays don't happen in this
24:17
Speaker 1: past game against the Ravens, then that game may not
24:20
Speaker 1: have been as close as it ended up being, even
24:23
Speaker 1: with the offensive performance in the first half. So I
24:29
Speaker 1: think a lot of that was Ramsey being aggressive and
24:33
Speaker 1: on some plays he just mistimed it. Other plays, not
24:37
Speaker 1: really sure what happened, but I think that really it's
24:42
Speaker 1: going to be a matter of pressuring the quarterback defensively.
24:47
Speaker 1: If Ramsey is going to be aggressive, which at this
24:50
Speaker 1: point in his career, I assume he's not going to change.
24:55
Speaker 1: We just have to make sure that our past rush
24:57
Speaker 1: is getting to c J. Stroud. Again, we got to
25:01
Speaker 1: themar a couple times. There was a couple of times
25:03
Speaker 1: where he broke out of tackles, and then a few times,
25:06
Speaker 1: notably on that fourth down conversion where we were just
25:11
Speaker 1: a fraction of a second too late. So if the
25:14
Speaker 1: pass rush can get the CJ. Stroud, I think that
25:16
Speaker 1: with the game being at home, that'll be a big
25:18
Speaker 1: boon for the Steelers. But yeah, with the Texans being
25:23
Speaker 1: one of the hotter teams right now, it just seems
25:27
Speaker 1: like the margin for error is much much slimmer than
25:32
Speaker 1: even this last game against the Ravens. Can't really be
25:36
Speaker 1: having any extra missed points, can't be missing wide open throws,
25:41
Speaker 1: can't be having boneheaded penalties, can't be going after fans
25:45
Speaker 1: in the stands. Things really need to be buttoned up.
25:51
Speaker 1: So which concerns me because with the exception of this
25:55
Speaker 1: past Sunday, which they almost gave away. When things have
25:59
Speaker 1: mated the most this season, where the Steelers have had
26:02
Speaker 1: chances to either solidify their division lead or secure the
26:07
Speaker 1: division championship, they've they've stuttered. And there's no more room
26:15
Speaker 1: for stuttering. We're in the playoffs now. So yeah, all right,
26:20
Speaker 1: I am all that being said. I I just I'm
26:25
Speaker 1: not going to pick the Steelers to win this game.
26:27
Speaker 1: I think that I'm happy with the progress that it
26:31
Speaker 1: seems like we've made. I do wish things had been
26:34
Speaker 1: a little different. Maybe we could have gotten some better seating.
26:39
Speaker 1: I just I don't know. I'm just not seeing it
26:44
Speaker 1: right now. And maybe maybe it's just the pessimist in me.
26:49
Speaker 1: Maybe I don't want to jinx the Steelers by picking
26:51
Speaker 1: them to win, which shows you my journalistic integrity right there, now,
26:59
Speaker 1: you know what. I'm just I think that the magic
27:02
Speaker 1: is going to run out, and I think next week
27:05
Speaker 1: you and I I hope I'm wrong, but I think
27:07
Speaker 1: next week you and I are going to be talking
27:09
Speaker 1: about the future and what that holds for the Steelers
27:12
Speaker 1: and where they go from here. I don't think we'll
27:15
Speaker 1: be talking about a divisional round matchup, So I will
27:22
Speaker 1: I'll give the Steelers a loss at home. I do
27:26
Speaker 1: think it's going to be close, though. Let's say it
27:34
Speaker 1: was twenty six twenty four this past week. Let's say
27:38
Speaker 1: it's twenty one to seventeen Houston.
27:43
Speaker 2: Okay, Yeah, I say it's about Brady. Until I see it,
27:51
Speaker 2: I can't bet against them, and until the Steelers win
27:57
Speaker 2: in the playoffs, I can't go for them. So yeah,
28:02
Speaker 2: I'm also gonna predict a loss. Yeah, just because the
28:07
Speaker 2: Texans don't have an explosive offense. They have had at
28:11
Speaker 2: times some spurts, but they've been against lesser opponents. I
28:18
Speaker 2: think this will be close. I'm gonna go with let's
28:27
Speaker 2: go twenty seven twenty four.
28:33
Speaker 1: All right, So there you go. We both have the
28:37
Speaker 1: Steelers season ending, right, Yeah, unfortunate. I know we're not
28:42
Speaker 1: gonna be cheering for that outcome. We're both gonna be
28:46
Speaker 1: cheering for the win, assuming we're both awake for this game.
28:52
Speaker 1: But yeah, I think that's just like you said, at
28:56
Speaker 1: this point, you just have to see it to believe it, right,
29:00
Speaker 1: So yeah, don't want to get our hopes up. This
29:04
Speaker 1: is a wide open playoff field, more so on the
29:08
Speaker 1: AFC side than the NFC side, But you never know
29:13
Speaker 1: what can happen. So fingers crossed that we're wrong.
29:16
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'd love I'd love to get Tomland get another
29:23
Speaker 2: press conference, Jim. Did you hear his his press conference
29:29
Speaker 2: saying after the win?
29:32
Speaker 1: Yes? And I laughed. And I'm a little confused because
29:36
Speaker 1: I'm not really sure how that relates to the question
29:39
Speaker 1: that was asked. But yeah, so I get it, but
29:45
Speaker 1: you'll have to explain it to me when I'm older,
29:47
Speaker 1: I guess. But the so the question was basically, hey,
29:51
Speaker 1: can you describe that feeling of the fine line where
29:55
Speaker 1: on that last kick you know that if he makes it,
29:58
Speaker 1: your season is over and you're going home. And if
30:00
Speaker 1: he misses it, you win, and your season goes on
30:03
Speaker 1: and you go to the playoffs. And he said, if
30:06
Speaker 1: my aunt had male parts, she'd be my uncle.
30:13
Speaker 3: Man.
30:15
Speaker 4: I will say a lot of things about Tomlin.
30:17
Speaker 2: The most genuine thing I'll say is, once that guy
30:21
Speaker 2: writes a book, I'm gonna be first in line.
30:24
Speaker 1: I absolutely will too. And if let's not get ahead
30:28
Speaker 1: of ourselves, if he ever does leave the Steelers in
30:32
Speaker 1: one way, shape or form, and he goes on, you know,
30:35
Speaker 1: takes a media job or launches his own podcast. I'll
30:40
Speaker 1: be listening to that. I will be a devoted fan
30:42
Speaker 1: of that, because that would be good entertainment. Oh yeah,
30:46
Speaker 1: all right, there you go. Hopefully we're wrong. Hopefully we
30:50
Speaker 1: are back next week talking about a division matchup. If not,
30:54
Speaker 1: next week will be our last weekly installment of the year.
30:58
Speaker 1: But we'll cross that bridge when we get to it,
31:02
Speaker 1: all right. Hopping over to the rest of the league,
31:06
Speaker 1: The first Monday after the season is typically called Black
31:09
Speaker 1: Monday because that's when teams will make their firings or
31:12
Speaker 1: make their head coaching changes. And as of right now,
31:16
Speaker 1: we have seven openings. We have the Falcons, the Raiders,
31:21
Speaker 1: the Browns, the Giants, the Titans, the Ravens, and we've
31:29
Speaker 1: got one more in there. I think, well, we'll take
31:34
Speaker 1: a look at it. So all that being said, I
31:38
Speaker 1: thought it might be kind of interesting to talk about
31:40
Speaker 1: what our top job and what our least preferable job
31:47
Speaker 1: would be if we were a head coaching candidate. So
31:52
Speaker 1: I guess there's a lot of different ways we could
31:55
Speaker 1: go here. It's important to know what the drafting order
31:58
Speaker 1: is as well, and what needs what. So let me
32:03
Speaker 1: reiterate these teams for you, Eric, and then I'll kick
32:05
Speaker 1: it over to you. Yeah, we have the Ravens, the Giants,
32:10
Speaker 1: the Browns, the Falcons, the Cardinals, the Titans, and the Raiders.
32:18
Speaker 1: So let's let's start with our most preferred destination. So,
32:22
Speaker 1: if you were a head coach and you had your
32:25
Speaker 1: pick of any one of these jobs, which one would
32:27
Speaker 1: you take?
32:27
Speaker 3: In Why?
32:29
Speaker 2: I mean, I think that we need to take one
32:31
Speaker 2: team off of the table. Easily got the best prospect
32:36
Speaker 2: because you have a quarterback in his prime and organization
32:42
Speaker 2: that gave stability to that coach. So I think the
32:46
Speaker 2: Ravens is the obvious answer for me.
32:53
Speaker 5: Okay, you disagree, did you? I?
33:07
Speaker 1: If I have confirmation that Lamar is for sure staying,
33:11
Speaker 1: then yes, I would agree with you. I don't know.
33:19
Speaker 3: He's got a contract, well I.
33:21
Speaker 1: Know, but there's rumblings that they might be looking to
33:24
Speaker 1: move off of him. And yeah, I think I would
33:28
Speaker 1: agree with you that that's the best for all the
33:31
Speaker 1: reasons that you mentioned. You've got Lamar in his prime,
33:35
Speaker 1: You've got an organization that seems to be run pretty well.
33:39
Speaker 1: They did just miss the playoffs. They were a missed
33:41
Speaker 1: field goal away from going to the playoffs. They still
33:44
Speaker 1: have a lot of pieces intact there. They're very similar
33:47
Speaker 1: to what we think about the Steelers in a sense
33:49
Speaker 1: where they're always right there, maybe just a few missing pieces.
33:53
Speaker 1: So I would give you that. That wasn't who I
33:57
Speaker 1: was going to go with, though I was.
34:00
Speaker 3: Really I'm curious.
34:03
Speaker 1: Yeah, so looking at the list again, I'll reiterate. The
34:08
Speaker 1: Giants is interesting to me because you've got Jackson, Dart
34:11
Speaker 1: and Scataboo, so that'd be interesting, especially with who they
34:17
Speaker 1: could pick. I'm not going to Cleveland. Sorry, I'm already
34:24
Speaker 1: in Atlanta. So I'm already in Atlanta, so I wouldn't
34:27
Speaker 1: have to relocate. That's pretty convenient. I would definitely not
34:31
Speaker 1: go to Arizona. I probably would not go to the Titans,
34:35
Speaker 1: just because the job security is not good there. They're
34:38
Speaker 1: kind of becoming the Browns with how they handle their coaches.
34:42
Speaker 1: I was leaning towards Las Vegas. Actually, wow.
34:46
Speaker 3: Really.
34:47
Speaker 1: Yeah. First of all, I think it's a little unfair
34:50
Speaker 1: that they let Pete Carroll go after one year. I'm
34:54
Speaker 1: not really sure what they expected him to do with
34:56
Speaker 1: the roster he had. But the Raiders have the number
35:04
Speaker 1: one overall pick. So I'm looking at it like, Okay,
35:08
Speaker 1: I can pick literally whoever I want, or can at
35:11
Speaker 1: least advise the GM, and we together will pick whoever
35:15
Speaker 1: we want, which at this point is probably Fernando Mendoza.
35:20
Speaker 1: So I'm gonna get my quarterback. I'm gonna be I'm
35:25
Speaker 1: gonna have Tom Brady in my wing. On the ownership
35:29
Speaker 1: side of things as well. I just to me, they
35:34
Speaker 1: might not be the best team, but the job itself
35:37
Speaker 1: was the most appealing for those reasons. Just kind of
35:43
Speaker 1: interesting thought I would take it, see what would happen.
35:49
Speaker 1: The only downside I would not the only downside, The
35:52
Speaker 1: major downside, I would say, is the division therein, which
35:55
Speaker 1: is right now one of the tougher ones. But I
35:58
Speaker 1: don't know. I just thought that was the most interesting
36:01
Speaker 1: one to me.
36:03
Speaker 3: See, I just think like it's a super valadle situation.
36:09
Speaker 3: With Mark Davis, he's just he never seems.
36:13
Speaker 4: To kind of get it right.
36:16
Speaker 3: He's kind of like a less confident in Jerry Jones.
36:20
Speaker 2: For as much flack as Jerry Jones gets, Like we
36:24
Speaker 2: talk about lack of playoff success, whereas with Mark Davis,
36:29
Speaker 2: it's lack of success.
36:34
Speaker 1: I don't disagree with any of that. I'm just hey,
36:37
Speaker 1: I'm just telling you, I think that's the most interesting one.
36:41
Speaker 1: I can do whatever I want with that pick. I
36:44
Speaker 1: can take Mendoza, I can trade down and try to
36:48
Speaker 1: establish or start accruing picks, assuming the team will let
36:54
Speaker 1: me stay past one year. That's where I'm coming from.
37:00
Speaker 2: Do you think, because you mentioned it, do you think
37:04
Speaker 2: Mendoza or any of these quarterbacks are worthy of the topic.
37:13
Speaker 1: For the Raiders. Yeah, I think I would probably take
37:18
Speaker 1: Mendoza number one overall. Whether or not they develop him
37:23
Speaker 1: correctly is another story, but I yeah, I think Mendoza
37:29
Speaker 1: in particular, I think I would take him. He's been
37:34
Speaker 1: very good all year. One criticism I saw was that
37:39
Speaker 1: most of his touchdowns came against like the worst possible teams,
37:43
Speaker 1: But then he came out and helped obliterate Alabama in
37:46
Speaker 1: the Rose Bowl. So yeah, if you're a team that
37:51
Speaker 1: needs a quarterback and you are the Raiders, or let's
37:55
Speaker 1: say the Raiders do pass on him, I would take him.
37:58
Speaker 1: Not sure after him, whether that's the case or not.
38:02
Speaker 1: Once he's off the board and you want to go
38:03
Speaker 1: down to I guess number two is either Dante Moore
38:08
Speaker 1: or Ty Sipson. Right, yeah, I think there's a pretty
38:13
Speaker 1: steep drop off after that. So yeah, now I don't
38:18
Speaker 1: want to get too far ahead of ourselves. But if
38:20
Speaker 1: you're the Pittsburgh Steelers and you are drafting in the
38:25
Speaker 1: late first round and a Tie Simpson or a Dante
38:30
Speaker 1: More is there, and you've got Aaron Rodgers maybe coming
38:35
Speaker 1: back for one year, that might be interesting. Do you
38:38
Speaker 1: consider it and let that guy sit because he's not
38:41
Speaker 1: polished yet, just putting seeds out there for our off
38:46
Speaker 1: season specials.
38:48
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, definitely some fun tidbit. I mean, there's
38:52
Speaker 3: a lot of the thing about these boards now is
38:56
Speaker 3: a lot of things change.
38:57
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, so.
39:01
Speaker 3: You know seeing if like well does you know probably
39:07
Speaker 3: like a Mendoza.
39:08
Speaker 2: Dante Moore probably won't be that far off from the projections.
39:13
Speaker 3: But there's always some guy that like shoots up the board.
39:16
Speaker 1: Yeah.
39:17
Speaker 3: So yeah, it'll be nice.
39:19
Speaker 4: To see kind of like what happens there, who who it's.
39:23
Speaker 2: Gonna be how it shakes out. But it's always so
39:27
Speaker 2: hard to like tell his.
39:29
Speaker 1: Current All right, I think I am well not going
39:37
Speaker 1: to make any assumptions. What's the worst job opening in
39:41
Speaker 1: your opinion.
39:43
Speaker 2: Uh, well, I think that the Browns are kind of
39:48
Speaker 2: a mess. They they're still kind of I don't know
39:54
Speaker 2: how long they have until they finally are out from
39:57
Speaker 2: the Deshaun Watson.
39:59
Speaker 3: But they draft did like three quarterbacks last.
40:01
Speaker 2: Year in which none of them came like the guy
40:07
Speaker 2: people point to shoulder had like a He finished the
40:12
Speaker 2: year at like, you know, three and four.
40:16
Speaker 3: It's pretty easy to do that when your defense.
40:20
Speaker 2: Uh even in the case of the Bengals scored two
40:24
Speaker 2: touchdowns and he won.
40:26
Speaker 4: Twenty to eighteen. So yeah, you know, kind of see
40:35
Speaker 4: what happens.
40:35
Speaker 3: But I mean.
40:38
Speaker 2: The Browns turnout quarterbacks that turn out coaches.
40:44
Speaker 3: You know.
40:44
Speaker 2: You you look at some of the other openings, and
40:49
Speaker 2: you know, with Tennessee, I see camp Ward. When I
40:52
Speaker 2: see the Giants, I see dark Yeah, I see dart Arizona.
41:00
Speaker 2: You know, they have Kyler Murray. I don't believe in them,
41:03
Speaker 2: but there could be someone that does. And the Falcons
41:09
Speaker 2: are probably, besides the Ravens, the best team position to.
41:17
Speaker 3: Move forward, I think. But you have to kind of
41:22
Speaker 3: deal with that, you know, do you believe in Penix
41:25
Speaker 3: or not?
41:25
Speaker 2: And I don't, But you know, they're also making sweeping changes,
41:32
Speaker 2: so they might also be able to.
41:34
Speaker 3: Just cut bait on on Penix also, So now we'll
41:41
Speaker 3: see what happens. But yeah, I.
41:45
Speaker 2: Don't know how anyone really takes the Browns job. I mean, like,
41:52
Speaker 2: I go back to the Baker thing. Baker was I
41:57
Speaker 2: think rookie of the year, right, Yes, so he gets
42:02
Speaker 2: Rookie of the year.
42:04
Speaker 3: He injures his shoulder and.
42:06
Speaker 2: He's less effective, which sophomore slump is common, but he
42:13
Speaker 2: wasn't terrible.
42:14
Speaker 3: Nope, and they got rid of him for a bag
42:19
Speaker 3: of ruffles chips.
42:21
Speaker 2: And I don't know, you know, Baker has maybe he's
42:28
Speaker 2: not lived up till number one overall pick, but that's
42:31
Speaker 2: a starting quarterback in this league. And they chewed him
42:35
Speaker 2: out because and turned him out because.
42:39
Speaker 3: They have absolutely no patience.
42:41
Speaker 2: So I'm surprised the Fansky laughed at six years to
42:45
Speaker 2: be honest.
42:47
Speaker 1: Well, and that's a good segue. I was also going
42:48
Speaker 1: to vote for the Browns being the worst opening. And
42:52
Speaker 1: also going back to Baker, we all know that they
42:56
Speaker 1: got rid of him because they brought into Seawan Watson.
43:00
Speaker 1: And not only did they trade for Deshaun Watson, they
43:02
Speaker 1: traded away so many picks, gave him so much guaranteed
43:06
Speaker 1: money that really just handicapped the franchise for the last
43:11
Speaker 1: several years. So to your point, Stefanski kept them relatively
43:15
Speaker 1: competitive all things considering. So on top of all that,
43:21
Speaker 1: the GM that made that trade is still employed. He
43:25
Speaker 1: should have been the one to go, not Stefanski. So
43:31
Speaker 1: that's the part that I just that's the part that
43:35
Speaker 1: always makes me scratch my head. And that's the same
43:37
Speaker 1: thing I mentioned with Pete Carroll, Like you do all
43:40
Speaker 1: this and the quarterback does not pan out through no
43:44
Speaker 1: fault of Stefanski. It's not like it was a development issue.
43:47
Speaker 1: It's not like he did something through poor coaching that
43:49
Speaker 1: led to Deshaun Watson's poor play. It was Deshaun Watson's
43:54
Speaker 1: own self that led to that and off the field issues.
43:59
Speaker 1: So basically, get rid of a competent quarterback, remove all
44:03
Speaker 1: these first round picks, and limit your ability to sign
44:08
Speaker 1: other players, and then the coach is the one that
44:11
Speaker 1: is held accountable and not the guy who made all
44:13
Speaker 1: these bad moves. I don't know, So, yeah, that would
44:17
Speaker 1: not instill any confidence in me if I was a
44:21
Speaker 1: coach who got to pick which job I wanted to take.
44:25
Speaker 3: Yeah.
44:26
Speaker 2: Plus, I mean, at least what I could say about
44:30
Speaker 2: our division is, look, Burr doesn't look like he's so
44:36
Speaker 2: thrilled with the Bengals. The Steelers don't have a quarterback
44:40
Speaker 2: of the future, and talk about changing. You know, we've
44:44
Speaker 2: talked about changing over before in the Ravens.
44:48
Speaker 3: You mentioned, Yeah, they.
44:50
Speaker 2: Got rid of Harball, but they also could be looking
44:52
Speaker 2: to get rid of Lamar because you know, he can't
44:55
Speaker 2: stay healthy. So at least from a competitive standpoint, maybe
45:01
Speaker 2: it is a good fit for an upburn and comer.
45:05
Speaker 3: But we'll see how it plays out.
45:08
Speaker 1: Yeah, well, looking at the list two again, I mean,
45:17
Speaker 1: the Cardinals are probably it would have been the Cardinals
45:21
Speaker 1: or the Titans might be my second least preferable place.
45:26
Speaker 1: Like I said, the Titans, they're moving on from coaches
45:29
Speaker 1: way too fast, I think. And then the Cardinals, I
45:34
Speaker 1: just they don't know what's gonna happen with their quarterback.
45:39
Speaker 1: Don't know what they're gonna do with the quarterback, I
45:40
Speaker 1: should say. Just always seems like we're talking about the
45:44
Speaker 1: Cardinals every couple of years in that situation too. So yeah,
45:49
Speaker 1: all right, was there anything, Well, let's do this I'm
45:54
Speaker 1: gonna pull up. I'm not even gonna pull anything up.
45:58
Speaker 1: Normally we give our predictions after the after the Steelers lose.
46:05
Speaker 1: But let's just get it on the books now and
46:08
Speaker 1: we will will break We'll break it down later whenever
46:11
Speaker 1: we have the last Steelers game to talk about. But
46:15
Speaker 1: give me your pick, your prediction. Who's gonna win it?
46:18
Speaker 2: All?
46:18
Speaker 1: This year?
46:20
Speaker 2: Are going just like, do you want to get to
46:24
Speaker 2: the AFC and NFC Championship.
46:26
Speaker 1: And then just let's just pick the winner. You can
46:30
Speaker 1: give an honorable mention for who you think is gonna
46:32
Speaker 1: come in second if you really want to.
46:33
Speaker 2: But yeah, for me, you know, I think I just
46:38
Speaker 2: trust the Rams to get it done. They're a five seed,
46:44
Speaker 2: but they're incredibly strong. Stafford is potentially the m v P.
46:52
Speaker 2: I saw either him or Drake may or probably the
46:55
Speaker 2: favorable people.
46:56
Speaker 3: To win it. You have a.
47:01
Speaker 2: You know, I'm not sure if Sean McVay is a
47:03
Speaker 2: hall of fame coach. I think he's building it up
47:06
Speaker 2: to be a hall of fame coach. You have an
47:10
Speaker 2: explosive offense, you have enough young talent on defense.
47:14
Speaker 3: I just think.
47:17
Speaker 2: And you know, you look at the NFC and it's
47:20
Speaker 2: pretty Yeah. I like, I know the Seahawks won the.
47:26
Speaker 3: First overall seed.
47:30
Speaker 2: Well, I just don't know if I trust Darnold yet.
47:34
Speaker 3: The Rams just gotta go through the Panthers first.
47:37
Speaker 2: Round, and then Eagles look horrible. They're like the worst
47:42
Speaker 2: three seed I've seen in years. And Bears. Yeah, I
47:49
Speaker 2: just don't trust them either. I think that they've kind
47:52
Speaker 2: of had a few good bounces go their way.
47:55
Speaker 3: I think their luck's gonna draw out, So I think
47:59
Speaker 3: the easier passes that way.
48:00
Speaker 2: I think the AFC is a lot more unpredictable at
48:05
Speaker 2: this point.
48:07
Speaker 1: You said something that made me kind of laugh, and
48:09
Speaker 1: I you said, I don't I don't trust you said
48:13
Speaker 1: to a couple teams, I don't trust them. That's kind
48:15
Speaker 1: of the theme of everything is who do you actually
48:18
Speaker 1: trust the most in this playoff bracket? And there's not
48:22
Speaker 1: many choices. I'm looking at the bracket right now and
48:27
Speaker 1: I know that they receed, so it's not you can
48:29
Speaker 1: just say, Okay, if the Steelers win, they're going to
48:31
Speaker 1: play the Broncos. I heard Bill Coward today talking positively
48:38
Speaker 1: about the Eagles, which just directly conflicts with what you
48:43
Speaker 1: just said about them. So I was. I was thinking
48:46
Speaker 1: about going with Bill and picking them, but out of
48:48
Speaker 1: respect for you, I will I'll go. Now. The logic
48:53
Speaker 1: that Bill Cower said was he said, you know, they
48:56
Speaker 1: had a couple, they had a rough stretch there, but
48:57
Speaker 1: sometimes that can really help you learn a lot about
48:59
Speaker 1: your self. And this last game, they willingly sat their
49:02
Speaker 1: starters because they valued health so uh and they are
49:06
Speaker 1: the defending champions, so they've been there. Speaking on trust though, yeah,
49:12
Speaker 1: I just the number one seeds. I don't necessarily trust
49:15
Speaker 1: any of them. I think the Rams are a solid pick,
49:22
Speaker 1: but they've gone through a rough patch themselves too. Part
49:27
Speaker 1: of me wants to pick the Bills, but I mean
49:31
Speaker 1: they're a six.
49:31
Speaker 3: Seed, so.
49:34
Speaker 1: You know, I'll just I'll do it. I'll say it
49:38
Speaker 1: right here. You heard it first. The Bills are going
49:41
Speaker 1: to win. If they win, I'm gonna go to Anchor
49:44
Speaker 1: Bar and enjoy some more wings and beef on weck
49:46
Speaker 1: like we did when you were down here. I think
49:50
Speaker 1: I just let me say this, and I know we've
49:53
Speaker 1: talked about it before, but if the if Josh Allen
49:57
Speaker 1: does what he needs to does what he needs to do,
50:00
Speaker 1: I mean this has to be the year there's no
50:06
Speaker 1: on his side of the bracket alone. You've got no Lamar,
50:12
Speaker 1: no Mahomes, no Burrow, there's no excuses. I'm sorry. I
50:17
Speaker 1: know you didn't win the division. I know you got
50:19
Speaker 1: to go down to Jacksonville. It's just there you go
50:26
Speaker 1: the Bills.
50:28
Speaker 2: Yeah, no, I agree, And I think there is a
50:32
Speaker 2: lot on his legacy to go do this. So and
50:38
Speaker 2: you know, I think he's an extraordinary.
50:42
Speaker 3: Player. So I just love the Bills. I have a
50:45
Speaker 3: soft spot for the Bills.
50:47
Speaker 1: So I do too, kind of in the same way
50:51
Speaker 1: that we have. I at least have a soft spot
50:54
Speaker 1: for the Colts, just because our experience is traveling up
50:58
Speaker 1: there really not having any negative experiences except for one
51:01
Speaker 1: bad fan interaction which was fleeting. So yeah, if if
51:08
Speaker 1: the Steelers can't win it, and I'm looking at this bracket,
51:11
Speaker 1: holy holistically, I would probably be pulling, not probably, I
51:17
Speaker 1: would be pulling for the Bills. Yeah. So there you
51:22
Speaker 1: have it, Bills on one hand and the Rams on
51:25
Speaker 1: the other. I think they're both fair picks. But again,
51:29
Speaker 1: I'll say it once more, just who do you trust?
51:33
Speaker 1: And it's like a truck when you shake someone's hand,
51:38
Speaker 1: but you have your fingers crossed, right. Yeah, all right, Well,
51:44
Speaker 1: I think we've been through a lot tonight. We're definitely
51:47
Speaker 1: still wearing off on that stress from Sunday night. But
51:50
Speaker 1: was there anything else you wanted to talk about before
51:52
Speaker 1: we signed off for the night.
51:54
Speaker 3: I think they's do it.
51:57
Speaker 1: I agree. I hope that we are coming back for
52:00
Speaker 1: several more weeks to talk. But I'm glad we at
52:03
Speaker 1: least get one more week out of the season's podcast
52:07
Speaker 1: for our tenth anniversary Extravaganza season, so that will do
52:13
Speaker 1: it for us. For the world famous accountants Eric Vanminschottin,
52:17
Speaker 1: I am Nick Detulio and this has been another episode
52:20
Speaker 1: of the GameHouse dot COM's Steelers Country Weekly