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Raiders Recap, Jets Preview · Steelers Country Weekly

0:00
Speaker 1: Today on Steelers Country Weekly, we talk all about the
0:03
Speaker 1: Steelers big win in Las Vegas, look ahead to the
0:07
Speaker 1: Sunday night matchup against the New York Jets, and then
0:11
Speaker 1: we'll talk about my hometown hosting the Super Bowl in
0:16
Speaker 1: twenty twenty eight. I'm Nick Detulia, and as always I'm
0:19
Speaker 1: joined by the world famous accountants Eric Vamnchoten.
0:22
Speaker 2: Eric. How are you tonight?
0:24
Speaker 3: Oh, not too shabby, just.
0:28
Speaker 4: Yeah, hanging out a little bit chill coming through the neighborhood.
0:34
Speaker 4: It's like forty five degrees, so bundled up and just
0:40
Speaker 4: ready to warm up to being wrong in my last
0:45
Speaker 4: week's production.
0:47
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, you will have to eat some crow, but
0:51
Speaker 1: we can delay that for a minute here. Yeah, it's
0:53
Speaker 1: gotten a little bit chillier. I woke up today and
0:57
Speaker 1: I went to leave for work this morning. I usually
1:00
Speaker 1: leave around six thirty or so, and I was like, oh, shoot,
1:04
Speaker 1: I should have put on a coat, but I didn't
1:06
Speaker 1: want to go back upstairs because I keep all my
1:08
Speaker 1: coats in my upstairs bedroom closet. So my laziness got
1:12
Speaker 1: the better of me. But yes, you were right, it
1:14
Speaker 1: was cold, and hey, I'm all for it. I'm a
1:17
Speaker 1: fall guy.
1:18
Speaker 2: Anyway.
1:19
Speaker 1: So don't know about you what your personal preferences are,
1:24
Speaker 1: but I like it when it starts.
1:25
Speaker 2: Get a little bit colder.
1:27
Speaker 3: Be a little bit colder. Not too bad, I'll take it,
1:30
Speaker 3: all right.
1:32
Speaker 1: And you alluded to the fact that you were going
1:34
Speaker 1: to have to own up to being wrong, and I
1:38
Speaker 1: think the good news is though you were hoping you
1:40
Speaker 1: were wrong, that's the outcome you wanted. And yeah, and
1:45
Speaker 1: we can just get right into it. The Steelers go
1:47
Speaker 1: into Las Vegas and they end up winning thirty two
1:50
Speaker 1: to thirteen. I personally think that score is a little misleading.
1:54
Speaker 1: It felt like it was a lot closer for most
1:56
Speaker 1: of the game, and frankly it was. I wouldn't call
2:02
Speaker 1: this a dominating performance by the Steelers in really any aspect,
2:08
Speaker 1: except for probably the defense after that first drive that
2:12
Speaker 1: the Raiders had. And looking at some of the stats
2:16
Speaker 1: from the game, we'll obviously talk about the quarterback play
2:20
Speaker 1: in a huge and just kind of the big picture
2:23
Speaker 1: with all the news coming out today as well, but
2:26
Speaker 1: Naji Harris had his best game of the year so
2:28
Speaker 1: far one hundred and six yards a couple big plays
2:32
Speaker 1: as well, and we see this usually towards the end
2:36
Speaker 1: of the season every year, but there will be a
2:38
Speaker 1: couple of nasty runs from Nause where he's just very
2:41
Speaker 1: difficult to take down, very reminiscent of his Alabama days.
2:44
Speaker 1: We saw that on Sunday, and you know, it was
2:51
Speaker 1: just good to again. Outside of that first drive where
2:58
Speaker 1: the Raiders managed to march down the field and gave
3:02
Speaker 1: me some heart palpitations because I was like, oh lord,
3:04
Speaker 1: this is just gonna be a repeat of the last
3:06
Speaker 1: two weeks. The defense buckled up their chin straps and
3:11
Speaker 1: played pretty well the rest of the game, and we
3:13
Speaker 1: had some special teams play as well that was pretty good,
3:16
Speaker 1: including a blocked punt. So now that I've given us
3:21
Speaker 1: a little bit of an overview, Eric, do you want
3:23
Speaker 1: to take us through anything that stood out to you
3:25
Speaker 1: in this in this week six win.
3:30
Speaker 4: You know, I think that it will be indicative of
3:34
Speaker 4: what our conversation will be forecasting for the next game.
3:38
Speaker 3: But we just didn't push the ball down the field.
3:41
Speaker 4: So obviously we relied a lot on the running game
3:45
Speaker 4: and Naji.
3:48
Speaker 3: Had his best game of the season. But yeah, I
3:54
Speaker 3: mean again, just it's a very reliant on the steel is.
4:00
Speaker 3: Like you said that they they had a slow start,
4:04
Speaker 3: but overall.
4:06
Speaker 4: Kind of got the the W and that's what that's
4:09
Speaker 4: all that matters really. So it was good to see
4:13
Speaker 4: Patrick Queen had thirteen tackles.
4:16
Speaker 2: Yep.
4:18
Speaker 3: So there was kind of talk at the beginning of.
4:22
Speaker 4: The season as he's sluggish, getting used to the defense,
4:28
Speaker 4: understand trying to understand was he worth the investment and
4:32
Speaker 4: you know, if we're gonna win by the defense kind
4:36
Speaker 4: of taken over.
4:40
Speaker 3: Obviously want him to play extremely well, and he.
4:43
Speaker 4: Was the highest you know, tackler on the team by
4:47
Speaker 4: more than double so, all over the all over the field.
4:51
Speaker 1: On Sunday, Yeah, I wanted to highlight a couple other
4:54
Speaker 1: standouts as well and then talk about some of the
4:57
Speaker 1: not so positive aspects of this game, which you'll probably
5:00
Speaker 1: lead us into discussion pertaining to this next matchup two.
5:05
Speaker 2: TJ.
5:05
Speaker 1: Watt didn't have any sacks. He did have two tackles
5:09
Speaker 1: for loss, and he had two peanut punch forced fumbles
5:13
Speaker 1: that the Steelers recovered as well, So those were definitely punched.
5:18
Speaker 2: Huh.
5:20
Speaker 5: Peanut punched, that's what it was, right.
5:25
Speaker 2: That's the uh, that's what they call it.
5:27
Speaker 1: Because the guys who originated that was nicknamed peanut I think,
5:30
Speaker 1: don't I know, I love history, but don't quote me
5:33
Speaker 1: on that. But he in either case, he punched the
5:35
Speaker 1: ball out. It was two forced fumbles, very big plays.
5:38
Speaker 1: One of them was in the red zone so that
5:41
Speaker 1: it stopped a what I assume would be a a
5:45
Speaker 1: I can't even talk a Las Vegas touchdown, so very
5:50
Speaker 1: timely as well, not just the fact that they were turnovers.
5:52
Speaker 1: Dante Jackson had yet another interception, so he is certainly
5:57
Speaker 1: holding up his end of the bargain of the uh
6:00
Speaker 1: Deontay Johnson trade. So it's good to see you mentioned
6:04
Speaker 1: Patrick Queen him being a free agent signing obviously coming
6:07
Speaker 1: through a trade is not a free agent. But the
6:09
Speaker 1: fact that another offseason acquisition is making the plays where
6:12
Speaker 1: he needs to is definitely good. And that's got to
6:15
Speaker 1: make Omar Khan feel good as well, because he did
6:19
Speaker 1: take some heat for that Deontay Johnson trade. Granted, our
6:23
Speaker 1: receiver room is kind of thin, but Dante Jackson performing
6:27
Speaker 1: well is a very good thing, especially on that defense,
6:31
Speaker 1: and it speaks volumes, I think when you're able to
6:33
Speaker 1: stand out on that defense. Cam Hayward had another big
6:38
Speaker 1: day as well. Good to see him getting the reps
6:41
Speaker 1: in there. And then also on defense, we are special teams. Rather,
6:46
Speaker 1: we had the blocked punt which set our offense up
6:50
Speaker 1: in just prime real estate on the following possession. So defense, again,
6:57
Speaker 1: outside of that first drive, did did very well. Not
7:06
Speaker 1: not much you can say to knock them.
7:07
Speaker 2: They did have. They did give up some long drives.
7:10
Speaker 1: Like last week we mentioned them doing more of the
7:13
Speaker 1: bend not break, and it seemed like at times they
7:16
Speaker 1: might fall back into that, but again that's when something
7:18
Speaker 1: like TJ. Watt stepped up and forced a fumble. So
7:23
Speaker 1: certainly very good for them, and I was happy to
7:27
Speaker 1: see them kind of bounce back after the performances that
7:30
Speaker 1: we saw the last two weeks, more so two weeks
7:34
Speaker 1: ago in Indianapolis. I wanted to talk about the offense too,
7:39
Speaker 1: because I think the blocked punt is a good segue
7:42
Speaker 1: to get this conversation going.
7:45
Speaker 2: The blocked punt put the Steelers I.
7:48
Speaker 1: Don't even know what yard line it was, maybe like
7:52
Speaker 1: they were certainly within the red zone after the blocked punt,
7:56
Speaker 1: and the offense just moved backwards and they had to
7:59
Speaker 1: settle for a field goal. It would have been really
8:02
Speaker 1: nice to get a touchdown there to you know, pour
8:05
Speaker 1: gas on the fire and get things going. And as
8:10
Speaker 1: someone who had been more optimistic about the offense's performance
8:14
Speaker 1: last week, our listeners will recall I was more optimistic
8:18
Speaker 1: about the offense, and you were more optimistic about the defense.
8:21
Speaker 1: It was especially disappointing to me to see some of
8:24
Speaker 1: those situations. Furthermore, I was I was not really impressed
8:34
Speaker 1: with Justin Fields this last week. He did have some
8:38
Speaker 1: good runs, he did have some another two rushing touchdowns
8:45
Speaker 1: I think I'm not mistaken, but he also had a
8:52
Speaker 1: pretty bad interception that he got bailed out on by
8:55
Speaker 1: roughing the passer call. I'm not gonna say whether or
8:58
Speaker 1: not it was a good call by the refs or not,
9:01
Speaker 1: but the point that I'm making is he had already
9:04
Speaker 1: made the throw, so he threw the interception. It's just
9:07
Speaker 1: the Raiders gifted it back to him, if my logic
9:10
Speaker 1: makes sense. There, And there was a couple other instances
9:15
Speaker 1: where due to at least one more roughing the passer
9:20
Speaker 1: where a drive that probably should have ended earlier than
9:22
Speaker 1: it did got extended. So I guess the point that
9:27
Speaker 1: I would make is it wasn't so much that the
9:28
Speaker 1: Steelers offense was humming. It was more so the Raiders
9:32
Speaker 1: defense kind of shot themselves in the foot. And trust me,
9:36
Speaker 1: we've been in that situation before, so we know what
9:39
Speaker 1: that's like. And if you look at field statline, it
9:44
Speaker 1: was a very it was something that we would have
9:49
Speaker 1: seen last year. I'd say out of a Steelers quarterback,
9:51
Speaker 1: no turnovers, but fourteen of twenty four for one hundred
9:55
Speaker 1: and forty five yards. So looking at the passing game,
10:01
Speaker 1: obviously with stats like that, you're not going to see
10:04
Speaker 1: the receivers lighten it up. George Pickens went three receptions
10:07
Speaker 1: for fifty three yards.
10:11
Speaker 2: He was the leading.
10:12
Speaker 1: Receiver, as expected, but just overall, the passing game wasn't
10:18
Speaker 1: It wasn't really there. And that's what I alluded to
10:23
Speaker 1: this when we started off. When I said that thirty
10:25
Speaker 1: two to thirteen score, you would think that they would
10:29
Speaker 1: have just been lightening things up, and that's not exactly
10:32
Speaker 1: what happened.
10:36
Speaker 4: No, No, And I mean I just thought, again there
10:40
Speaker 4: was some just I think it looks like very inefficient
10:47
Speaker 4: passing game, and I think it just showed it. And we've
10:52
Speaker 4: been bowied a little bit lately by great play from
10:56
Speaker 4: the second or the special teams. I mean, so this
11:01
Speaker 4: isn't our first block punt and we have another one
11:04
Speaker 4: just a week or two ago, I think so, and
11:11
Speaker 4: defense playing lights out, So you know, aside from the
11:15
Speaker 4: cold scheme, the Steelers defense have been playing.
11:19
Speaker 3: I what I agreed it.
11:22
Speaker 4: I think you were a little disappointed with the Cowboys
11:26
Speaker 4: performance last week, but I think they've been kind of
11:29
Speaker 4: holding us together so against more the same, I guess
11:34
Speaker 4: from what I've seen. But yeah, and I think you
11:41
Speaker 4: know a lot of that is Fields. I hate to
11:47
Speaker 4: pin it on one guy, but I think that you
11:52
Speaker 4: someone said that, like the Fields performance has been Kenny
11:57
Speaker 4: Pickett esque, and I just feel maybe it's a hyperbole.
12:04
Speaker 3: But is it extremely out of order? I wouldn't say so.
12:12
Speaker 1: So it's it is so funny that you just said that,
12:16
Speaker 1: because a few moments ago, when I said that's what
12:19
Speaker 1: we would have expected from a stat line from a
12:22
Speaker 1: quarterback last year, I stopped myself because I did not
12:26
Speaker 1: want to say that's what we would have expected from
12:28
Speaker 1: Kenny Pickett, but that was exactly.
12:30
Speaker 2: What was on my mind.
12:33
Speaker 1: All right, Well, since you just came out and said it, yeah,
12:35
Speaker 1: that if you take away his mobility. Then, yeah, that
12:39
Speaker 1: was it's exactly like Kenny Pickett. Yeah, I think that.
12:45
Speaker 1: I still think he's a better quarterback than Kenny Pickett.
12:48
Speaker 1: So I'm not sure. I'm not sure where the disconnect is.
12:52
Speaker 1: Because on one hand, you could just be bad at
12:56
Speaker 1: picking quarterbacks, whether it's through the draft or through trade
13:00
Speaker 1: or you know whatever. If you're the Steelers, you could
13:02
Speaker 1: just be bad at that, just like you can be
13:04
Speaker 1: good at picking certain positions such as wide receiver. But
13:10
Speaker 1: it also could be something that you're doing that just
13:13
Speaker 1: is not meshing.
13:14
Speaker 2: With the quarterbacks.
13:17
Speaker 1: And I think it's important to remember that the Steelers
13:21
Speaker 1: were probably able to be pretty hands off with their
13:24
Speaker 1: quarterback for almost twenty years coming up to two years ago, right,
13:29
Speaker 1: So this wasn't something that as an organization they really
13:32
Speaker 1: had to address or spend time developing or concerning themselves with.
13:38
Speaker 1: So we're seeing the growing pains of that now. But yeah,
13:45
Speaker 1: this the reason that this is so interesting though, is
13:49
Speaker 1: again I don't think he necessarily played bad. There were
13:52
Speaker 1: certainly things that could have been much better, some of
13:54
Speaker 1: the accuracy again, decision making, but there were some positives well.
14:01
Speaker 2: And just.
14:04
Speaker 1: Given where we're at in this season and how we
14:07
Speaker 1: haven't seen any sort of meltdown or poor performance from
14:11
Speaker 1: Fields himself. The news today is that Mike Tomlin said
14:21
Speaker 1: Russell Wilson will be getting first team reps with the
14:23
Speaker 1: chance to start on Sunday. This past week was the
14:27
Speaker 1: first week that he was completely healthy and he was
14:29
Speaker 1: actually the number two quarterback on the depth chart. He
14:32
Speaker 1: was not the emergency third stringer. He actually I mean,
14:37
Speaker 1: he's been suited up every week, but this week he
14:39
Speaker 1: had his helmet on at all times. He looked like
14:41
Speaker 1: he was ready to go in. I don't think there
14:45
Speaker 1: was any point in the game where it was in
14:48
Speaker 1: doubt that Justin Fields was going to stay on the
14:50
Speaker 1: field though. But it's just interesting that the door has
14:55
Speaker 1: kind of been opened by Mike Tomlin now, so we
15:00
Speaker 1: can end the Raiders discussion there thirty two to thirteen,
15:04
Speaker 1: and I think that's a good segue into the New
15:07
Speaker 1: York Jets matchup, which will be Sunday night. Because a
15:10
Speaker 1: lot of things happened as a result of what happened
15:13
Speaker 1: this past Sunday that's going to impact what happens in
15:16
Speaker 1: this next game. Again, Russell Wilson may be the starter.
15:21
Speaker 1: He may not. I don't know when we'll know for
15:23
Speaker 1: sure who's going to be the starter. And then the
15:28
Speaker 1: other big news that relates to the Steelers is they
15:31
Speaker 1: did not get DeVante Adams in any trade. The rumors
15:34
Speaker 1: were that they were interested and they were engaged, but
15:38
Speaker 1: he ended up going to the New York Jets for
15:40
Speaker 1: a third round pick conditional second rounder. I guess it
15:45
Speaker 1: depends on, if I recall correctly, if the Jets get
15:48
Speaker 1: to the AFC Championship game, it becomes a second rounder.
15:53
Speaker 1: So definitely a lot to unpack outside of the games itself.
16:03
Speaker 1: But but yeah, let's uh, let's talk about Russell Wilson first,
16:09
Speaker 1: because I know we touched on it a lot last
16:11
Speaker 1: week and you were correct me if I'm wrong. More
16:15
Speaker 1: in the camp of hey, if he's the better guy
16:17
Speaker 1: right now and he gives you the better chance to win,
16:20
Speaker 1: you've got to play him. And I I agreed with
16:25
Speaker 1: your logic. I just didn't think that the Steelers were
16:29
Speaker 1: gonna be able. We're gonna be pulling the plug on
16:31
Speaker 1: Justin Fields barring a meltdown in week seven. We're almost
16:35
Speaker 1: at the halfway point, so I guess I'll just ask
16:38
Speaker 1: you straight up. What are what are your initial thoughts
16:42
Speaker 1: hearing this news today?
16:45
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean I think you went stale, I really did.
16:48
Speaker 4: I think that Justin Fields might not have he might
16:54
Speaker 4: not have melt down, but he's not providing the what
17:00
Speaker 4: I think is gonna push us over the hunt. Let's
17:04
Speaker 4: remember this conversation that we talked about in the offseason.
17:08
Speaker 4: We talked about last offseason, we talked about probther the
17:12
Speaker 4: previous offseason. This is an organization that's tired of going
17:16
Speaker 4: nine to eight and bounced in the first round of
17:19
Speaker 4: the playoffs. To be fair, I just don't think Justin
17:25
Speaker 4: Field's at this point.
17:26
Speaker 3: If you line him.
17:27
Speaker 4: Up next week against the Ravens, would he win? Could
17:33
Speaker 4: he have enough fire and power to bring us back
17:36
Speaker 4: against if the defense gives up twenty four points to
17:41
Speaker 4: Lamar Jackson. I know we just scored thirty two, but
17:45
Speaker 4: I think that a lot of it had to do with,
17:48
Speaker 4: you know, fortunate field position provided by the special teams
17:52
Speaker 4: and defense.
17:53
Speaker 3: So look at two weeks in a row of throwing
18:00
Speaker 3: for six yards or under per attempt. It's just not
18:03
Speaker 3: gonna cut it for me.
18:05
Speaker 4: I think that if you're a fourth year pro quarterback,
18:12
Speaker 4: and like you mentioned, he's started every single game so far,
18:16
Speaker 4: so six games under his belt, and he's regressing. I
18:21
Speaker 4: think it's the right call, and I'm glad that they
18:24
Speaker 4: finally had the ability to not just you know, keep
18:31
Speaker 4: the standard for the sake of being standard or whatever
18:33
Speaker 4: Tomlin's nyms they do just to keep consists you know, basically,
18:39
Speaker 4: it's just keeping consistency stake. I'm glad that they actually
18:44
Speaker 4: made a change because it could be a catalyst, it
18:48
Speaker 4: could blow up in our face. But hey, I'd much
18:52
Speaker 4: rather take a home run swing right now.
18:55
Speaker 3: You know.
18:55
Speaker 1: I think that's a fair point, because, like I said,
19:00
Speaker 1: we're at the halfway point. Almost bye week will be
19:03
Speaker 1: here in a few weeks. That'll give you excuse me,
19:07
Speaker 1: let's just say that Russ is the starter for the
19:10
Speaker 1: next what is.
19:11
Speaker 2: It, two or three weeks?
19:13
Speaker 1: I want to say week nine is when they have
19:15
Speaker 1: their bye.
19:18
Speaker 2: Yeah, that sounds about right.
19:20
Speaker 1: So they've got games against the Jets than the Giants
19:24
Speaker 1: and then a bye before going into a buzz saw
19:29
Speaker 1: the gauntlet of games. That'll at least give you a
19:33
Speaker 1: little bit of a sample size going into the bye
19:35
Speaker 1: week to know, Okay, who who is the guy that
19:37
Speaker 1: will definitely give us the best chance for the rest.
19:40
Speaker 3: Of the season.
19:44
Speaker 1: Ir I do like your thoughts on the fact that, well,
19:48
Speaker 1: maybe he didn't even melt down, but really he hasn't
19:50
Speaker 1: gotten any better, so why not try why not try
19:54
Speaker 1: Russell Wilson and see. So I'm I'm I'm fine with
20:00
Speaker 1: your logic. I do still just kind of find it
20:04
Speaker 1: surprising and out of character for the Steelers, especially just
20:08
Speaker 1: at this point in the season. But hey, you're right,
20:16
Speaker 1: maybe this.
20:17
Speaker 2: Is just a different mindset that they have this year.
20:21
Speaker 1: Like you said, everyone's tired of the nine and eights,
20:23
Speaker 1: the ten and sevens, and the and the first round exits,
20:27
Speaker 1: and we can sit here and bitch and moan about
20:30
Speaker 1: the injuries and everything. Lord know this, we got a
20:32
Speaker 1: lot of them, but so does most every other team,
20:35
Speaker 1: and a lot of them find ways to manage to.
20:40
Speaker 2: The chief Not to pull the.
20:41
Speaker 1: Chiefs card, but the Chiefs were definitely not supposed to
20:44
Speaker 1: win the Super Bowl last year. They were very thin
20:47
Speaker 1: at wide receiver, They had a lot going against them,
20:49
Speaker 1: and they found a way. And you could even say
20:54
Speaker 1: the same thing this year. They're they're sitting at five
20:56
Speaker 1: or six and zero, and they've still got their own problem.
21:00
Speaker 1: They're not a perfect team, and and yet that's just
21:03
Speaker 1: what they do. So so yeah, it's interesting again, just
21:10
Speaker 1: kind of surprised. I guess I'm a creature of habit
21:12
Speaker 1: or I just it's what I'm used to seeing out
21:14
Speaker 1: of Pittsburgh. But the other thing to remember, too, is
21:19
Speaker 1: he didn't come tom On, didn't come out and say
21:21
Speaker 1: that Russ was going to be the starter. It was
21:24
Speaker 1: I mean, I don't know why you would say that,
21:26
Speaker 1: unless why you would even open the door if that
21:30
Speaker 1: wasn't going to happen. So if I had to bet,
21:32
Speaker 1: I'd say he probably will be the starter this week.
21:36
Speaker 1: But just just crazy times. So I don't know about you,
21:41
Speaker 1: but I'm going to go into this analysis here as
21:46
Speaker 1: if Russ is going to be the starter. I know
21:50
Speaker 1: we're going to be playing the Jets, and the Jets
21:53
Speaker 1: just acquired Davante Adams. Don't know if he's going to
21:55
Speaker 1: be on the field or not. He's been injured the
21:59
Speaker 1: past two weeks and with a trade being finalized today
22:05
Speaker 1: on Tuesday, just kind of tough to get that turned
22:10
Speaker 1: around and get him on the field.
22:11
Speaker 2: But who knows.
22:12
Speaker 1: He's obviously familiar with his new quarterback, Aaron Rodgers, so
22:16
Speaker 1: we'll see if he's on the field. But the Jets
22:20
Speaker 1: are certainly a team that's had an interesting year so far.
22:24
Speaker 1: They just lost to the Bills in a close one
22:26
Speaker 1: on Monday night. We've got to see a vintage Aaron
22:28
Speaker 1: Rodgers hail Mary before halftime as well. But the Jets
22:31
Speaker 1: were the first team to fire their head coach as well.
22:35
Speaker 1: They let go of Robert Sala because the Jets have
22:39
Speaker 1: put a lot of their hopes and dreams into the
22:41
Speaker 1: Aaron Rodgers experiment, which as we know, didn't happen last
22:46
Speaker 1: year due to injury. So a lot is riding on
22:48
Speaker 1: this season and they just have not been that dominant
22:52
Speaker 1: team that they had hoped to be. Steelers again, we'll
22:57
Speaker 1: be playing at home on primetime, which is normally about
23:00
Speaker 1: for them. They're coming off a win, but they did
23:03
Speaker 1: have some pretty bad losses the two weeks before that.
23:07
Speaker 1: And of course the big thing will be let's assume
23:10
Speaker 1: that Russell Wilson is going to be the starter. So
23:12
Speaker 1: that's going to be a big change from justin fields,
23:14
Speaker 1: primarily because you lose that mobility at quarterback. So looking
23:20
Speaker 1: at this game, Eric, what are some of your keys
23:22
Speaker 1: for the victory path for the Steelers.
23:27
Speaker 4: Well, you know, I think that the Jets are a
23:33
Speaker 4: team that's kind of reeling.
23:35
Speaker 3: I think.
23:37
Speaker 5: They I have not been the team like on the
23:45
Speaker 5: team Aaron Rodgers bandwagon.
23:50
Speaker 3: You know, I think.
23:54
Speaker 4: He's always kind of been a persona to me that
23:56
Speaker 4: he doesn't really take a lot of accountability. And I
24:00
Speaker 4: think that he's a guy that when things are not
24:04
Speaker 4: going well and you can start seeing the fractures of
24:07
Speaker 4: the team.
24:07
Speaker 3: So he's also been turning the ball over a lot.
24:12
Speaker 3: I think that you know, he threw Mike.
24:16
Speaker 4: Williams under the bus pass game against the Bills for
24:22
Speaker 4: in the wrong round, and maybe he did, But Aaron
24:27
Speaker 4: Rodgers has also been throwing a lot more interceptions than
24:31
Speaker 4: we're accustomed to.
24:33
Speaker 3: You know, he's got.
24:35
Speaker 4: Five on the year, which might not sound that bad,
24:39
Speaker 4: but he did kind of implode. I think it was
24:44
Speaker 4: the Vikings game where he had three picks. So so
24:51
Speaker 4: it's just been kind of lately. He hasn't been playing
24:55
Speaker 4: very well and a lot of it's because pressure. So
25:00
Speaker 4: the key to the game really is, you know, I
25:03
Speaker 4: don't know what to expect from our offense, especially if
25:06
Speaker 4: we do make a quarterback change.
25:08
Speaker 3: Quarterback changes can either be a good.
25:11
Speaker 4: Thing or a bad thing, you know, Tomlin said, Russell's
25:15
Speaker 4: got to kick the rest off, but sometimes someone can
25:18
Speaker 4: come out invigorated.
25:20
Speaker 3: Want to play well. So you can see it going
25:23
Speaker 3: one of two ways.
25:25
Speaker 4: So really, I do think it just comes down to
25:28
Speaker 4: let's keep it clean those on the offense and let
25:32
Speaker 4: defense do their work.
25:37
Speaker 1: Yeah, you know you mentioned the quarterback change. A good
25:42
Speaker 1: example would be what happened to the Steelers last year.
25:46
Speaker 1: Mason Rudolph comes in and it was almost like the
25:49
Speaker 1: entire attitude around the team changed because the attitude of
25:52
Speaker 1: their quarterback changed and they were just more positive overall.
25:58
Speaker 1: I don't think Justin Field has been negative at all,
26:01
Speaker 1: So that's certainly not what I'm implying, but just highlighting
26:04
Speaker 1: one of the ways that the change can be good.
26:09
Speaker 1: I think that if Russell Wilson is going to be playing,
26:12
Speaker 1: I feel like the emphasis on the passing game has
26:14
Speaker 1: got to be there more because he does not have
26:17
Speaker 1: the flexibility that Justin Fields has to run the ball.
26:22
Speaker 2: He just doesn't.
26:24
Speaker 1: I would say that's been the biggest aspect of Justin
26:29
Speaker 1: Fields's game and what he brings to the Steelers.
26:33
Speaker 2: It's been a while.
26:33
Speaker 1: It's been a while since we've had a quarterback who
26:37
Speaker 1: can stand in the pocket and then see that nothing's
26:39
Speaker 1: opening up and just run. So that is kind of
26:44
Speaker 1: nice to have. You do lose that with Russ. You know,
26:50
Speaker 1: you mentioned pressure on Aaron Rodgers. I think that the defense,
26:58
Speaker 1: especially in a game when you're changing quarter where you
27:00
Speaker 1: do expect there to be some rust that you and
27:02
Speaker 1: Mike Tomlin mentioned, the defense has just got to be
27:06
Speaker 1: on point. Aaron Rodgers is not the Aaron Rodgers of
27:09
Speaker 1: even five years ago, but he is still Aaron Rodgers.
27:12
Speaker 1: He may have one of his best weapons of all
27:15
Speaker 1: time with him, he may not, but there's still something
27:19
Speaker 1: to be said about that. And I think that the
27:23
Speaker 1: defense is just gonna have to make it known and
27:25
Speaker 1: apply the pressure that this is not gonna fly today,
27:29
Speaker 1: and they're gonna have to give Russ that grace because
27:32
Speaker 1: he very well could need it. The way I see it,
27:37
Speaker 1: this might be this could be reminiscent of Week one
27:40
Speaker 1: what we saw in Atlanta, where it was six field
27:44
Speaker 1: goals and the defense holding off and doing just enough
27:48
Speaker 1: to get the win. That's just kind of what happens
27:53
Speaker 1: when you get new blood in there. So I think
27:58
Speaker 1: if the steal can play some solid defense, and if
28:05
Speaker 1: the offense under Russell Wilson can more or less follow
28:11
Speaker 1: the formula that justin fields and really last year Kenny
28:14
Speaker 1: Pickett even said, which is just hey, you don't have
28:17
Speaker 1: to have the best game in.
28:18
Speaker 2: The world, just do not turn the ball over.
28:23
Speaker 1: I think they'll be okay, given all the drama around
28:27
Speaker 1: the Jets, given that, I don't think they're gonna I'm
28:32
Speaker 1: gonna assume they're not gonna put Davonte Adams on the
28:34
Speaker 1: field yet.
28:35
Speaker 2: I don't know.
28:35
Speaker 1: Maybe they will because they're they're kind of at a
28:37
Speaker 1: point where they need to start getting their wins. I
28:42
Speaker 1: just don't know what kind of impact he's gonna have
28:44
Speaker 1: even if he is on the field. I will say
28:47
Speaker 1: the Steelers, I think we'll get the win.
28:50
Speaker 2: I what do I say.
28:54
Speaker 1: I'm gonna give him a twenty to seventeen win. I
28:57
Speaker 1: think it's gonna be close, though.
29:01
Speaker 4: Twenty seventeen Okay, yeah, I mean I think that's probably fair.
29:11
Speaker 4: The Jets have been playing one touchdown last game, so.
29:19
Speaker 3: Let's see.
29:20
Speaker 4: I think defense is gonna show up, but I don't
29:23
Speaker 4: love the Jets. Probably two weeks in a row given
29:27
Speaker 4: up thirteen points, so how much.
29:36
Speaker 3: Let's go nineteen thirteen.
29:39
Speaker 1: All right, So we're not too far off of each
29:41
Speaker 1: other there. I think that's fair. We will see what
29:47
Speaker 1: happens and how this plays out for the rest of
29:49
Speaker 1: the season, because this game could have lasting consequences, not
29:55
Speaker 1: just for this year, but even beyond. Remember both of
29:57
Speaker 1: these quarterbacks are only under contract for this year, and
30:03
Speaker 1: who knows what the trajectory is going to be after this.
30:07
Speaker 1: So definitely going to be interesting, and I'm glad we
30:10
Speaker 1: get to watch it on Sunday night without any other distractions.
30:13
Speaker 3: So there you go.
30:15
Speaker 1: Eric and I both have the Steelers in the wind
30:17
Speaker 1: and column again, we're both back on the same page.
30:19
Speaker 1: Welcome back to the Ford brother Good to have you here.
30:24
Speaker 1: It was kind of interesting today too, because they also
30:26
Speaker 1: announced that Atlanta will be hosting the Super Bowl in
30:29
Speaker 1: twenty twenty eight. That's where I live. I would assume
30:33
Speaker 1: I will still be here in twenty twenty eight, so
30:36
Speaker 1: I looked at, oh, well, you know, maybe I'll see
30:37
Speaker 1: about getting a ticket, just you know, because the Steelers
30:40
Speaker 1: are obviously going to be going to the super Bowl
30:42
Speaker 1: this year and every year between now and the end
30:44
Speaker 1: of time. And the deposit was twenty five hundred dollars,
30:51
Speaker 1: so not sure what the final cost would be, but
30:55
Speaker 1: you know, I just figured, hey, I'll take a look
30:57
Speaker 1: just to see what happens. Don't know that I can
31:00
Speaker 1: be dropping twenty five hundred on just the deposit for
31:03
Speaker 1: one ticket, I should say too. So now we thought
31:07
Speaker 1: it was interesting just because, again being originally from Cincinnati,
31:10
Speaker 1: they are not going to host a super Bowl with
31:13
Speaker 1: their current setup. So this was the only time that
31:16
Speaker 1: either of us have really had the opportunity to even
31:19
Speaker 1: think about going to the super Bowl. I would say,
31:22
Speaker 1: And yeah, I guess just kind of be interesting to
31:26
Speaker 1: talk about.
31:27
Speaker 2: Eric, what are let's say that the super Bowl was
31:32
Speaker 2: coming to your town.
31:33
Speaker 1: We'll get the logistics of the fact that you don't
31:36
Speaker 1: have an NFL team.
31:36
Speaker 2: In Austin right now.
31:37
Speaker 1: Anyway, aside, I guess what would it take to get
31:44
Speaker 1: you to attend a super Bowl if it was coming
31:48
Speaker 1: to your town.
31:49
Speaker 2: Let's start there.
31:53
Speaker 3: I mean, so is money and an object.
31:58
Speaker 1: Let's say that you will have to spend some money,
32:01
Speaker 1: but we're going to assume that you can find a
32:04
Speaker 1: ticket that's somewhat reasonably priced, it's still going to be
32:10
Speaker 1: far more expensive than your standard football game.
32:12
Speaker 3: Though.
32:14
Speaker 2: I hope I'm giving you enough parameters here.
32:21
Speaker 3: Let's see, so.
32:25
Speaker 4: I think it would take at least so I put
32:32
Speaker 4: a criteria out there of like it has to be
32:38
Speaker 4: maybe let's see one of three things. So Steelers going
32:47
Speaker 4: to the super Bowl. I think that's a pretty easy
32:52
Speaker 4: one to note.
32:53
Speaker 2: Yep.
32:56
Speaker 4: To me, it's got to have like if that's an
33:00
Speaker 4: it happen, and it's gotta be like one of the the.
33:04
Speaker 3: Best quarterback in the league.
33:05
Speaker 4: So for twenty years up until two years ago, that
33:11
Speaker 4: was Tom Brady. So if Tom Brady was in Super Bowl,
33:15
Speaker 4: you know, I think that that's well worth the ticket,
33:19
Speaker 4: just because just seeing him, all of.
33:23
Speaker 3: His super Bowls were always so instant classics.
33:26
Speaker 4: I mean just I'm having a hard time coming to
33:29
Speaker 4: mind of like anything that wasn't even like a one
33:33
Speaker 4: touchdown type of game, so.
33:39
Speaker 3: That happening, or like trying to think of who this
33:46
Speaker 3: would even be.
33:49
Speaker 4: Like I'm trying to think of like how the bus
33:52
Speaker 4: went to the super Bowl in his last year and
33:55
Speaker 4: it was just a.
33:58
Speaker 3: Even if you weren't a Steelers.
33:59
Speaker 4: Fan, they were people that light that player, and he's
34:05
Speaker 4: a hometown hero and you want to kind of root
34:08
Speaker 4: for him.
34:09
Speaker 3: I think that that's kind of something I would kind
34:13
Speaker 3: of consider too.
34:14
Speaker 4: So I don't have a player exactly in mind, you know,
34:21
Speaker 4: but over of course, in my lifetime, I'm sure that
34:24
Speaker 4: there might be like maybe a former bear Cat that
34:28
Speaker 4: I I love and just.
34:32
Speaker 3: Cheering for and want to go see.
34:37
Speaker 1: Yeah, honestly that the Chiefs here in the next few
34:41
Speaker 1: years sound like it might tick off a few of
34:43
Speaker 1: your boxes for you're there with the Mahomes and Kelsey.
34:48
Speaker 3: Don't have a Chiefs Steelers Super Bowl.
34:51
Speaker 2: Though, No, you cannot.
34:53
Speaker 1: Unfortunately, maybe you'll get to go to the AFC Championship
34:58
Speaker 1: Game or something, you know. I was thinking about this too,
35:03
Speaker 1: and I feel that it would have to be the
35:12
Speaker 1: Steelers going in, and I don't know, I don't know
35:17
Speaker 1: how feasible that would be since I put the parameters
35:20
Speaker 1: around money on it. Obviously, if money is not an object,
35:23
Speaker 1: then I'd go every year regardless of who's in. But
35:27
Speaker 1: I'd say for the fact that it's coming to my city.
35:32
Speaker 1: If the Steelers were in, it knowing that it's a
35:37
Speaker 1: once in a lifetime opportunity, probably where the stars are
35:43
Speaker 1: lining up like that, I feel like I would have
35:47
Speaker 1: to at least consider it, even if it was just
35:50
Speaker 1: a single ticket.
35:52
Speaker 4: Like on.
35:56
Speaker 1: Single ticket, Look, who am I taking to the game
36:00
Speaker 1: with me? Okay you, I guess I should have thought
36:04
Speaker 1: about you. But anyway, well, I mean.
36:08
Speaker 4: That takes some coordinations planning definitely. But yeah, I mean
36:12
Speaker 4: it's so interesting that, I mean, I get it, but
36:17
Speaker 4: you know, some people don't like going to a movie
36:20
Speaker 4: by themselves that's cost like fifteen bucks.
36:24
Speaker 1: One thing, one thing I learned from you, though, is
36:27
Speaker 1: that you can make friends with anybody at a football game.
36:32
Speaker 1: So we made friends with those Colts fans in the
36:35
Speaker 1: parking lot, just walking around looking for people to tailgate with.
36:40
Speaker 1: I think at a super Bowl that the Steelers are in,
36:44
Speaker 1: if I show up in a Steelers shirt with a
36:46
Speaker 1: terrible towel, I'm sure I will find a few friends
36:49
Speaker 1: at the game. The other thing, too, is I don't
36:53
Speaker 1: I mean, that's four years from now, so I guess
36:56
Speaker 1: if I could swing it, I would want to bring
36:59
Speaker 1: I probably want to bring either my wife or one
37:04
Speaker 1: of my kids, whichever one is more into football. My
37:08
Speaker 1: daughter is actually the bigger Steeler fan, but she's actually
37:10
Speaker 1: really big Kenny Pickett.
37:11
Speaker 2: Fan, so who knows how she's going to turn out.
37:15
Speaker 2: So yeah, I all that.
37:17
Speaker 1: Notwithstanding, if the Steelers do make the Super Bowl in
37:21
Speaker 1: twenty twenty eight and I am able to find a ticket,
37:25
Speaker 1: I would strongly consider it, even if it's just the
37:29
Speaker 1: cheapest seed at the top row. I don't know right
37:35
Speaker 1: now how much I would pay for that, so I
37:38
Speaker 1: would say that I can't reiterate that enough. If the
37:42
Speaker 1: stars line up that way, I would have to seriously
37:44
Speaker 1: think about that.
37:47
Speaker 2: It's just too good of an opportunity to pass up. Now.
37:52
Speaker 1: Looking at some other possibilities where I would entertain the
37:57
Speaker 1: idea if there was an opportunity there, I would say
38:02
Speaker 1: if there was a chance for like a franchise to
38:07
Speaker 1: get that first win, just because I feel like that
38:09
Speaker 1: would be pretty magical. The two franchises that came to
38:14
Speaker 1: mind that I would probably be interested in going to
38:16
Speaker 1: see them get their first Super Bowl win would be
38:20
Speaker 1: either Detroit or Buffalo. Cincinnati obviously would be one that
38:27
Speaker 1: I'm sure a lot of our friends and family are
38:29
Speaker 1: screaming at me.
38:30
Speaker 2: For not mentioning right now, but.
38:34
Speaker 1: I would be happier for them than I would be
38:36
Speaker 1: for the Bengals, if that makes sense. So I've gotten no,
38:39
Speaker 1: I've got no interest in seeing that one for myself.
38:45
Speaker 1: But we know the history about both of these franchises, right.
38:48
Speaker 1: Detroit has really struggled for almost their entire existence until
38:54
Speaker 1: really this past season when they got two playoff wins,
38:58
Speaker 1: which was more than they've had in like thirty years,
39:05
Speaker 1: so that would be big. And then Buffalo, of course
39:07
Speaker 1: the four straight Super Bowls that they lost, and then
39:12
Speaker 1: rebuilding the team, and then really kind of this year too.
39:16
Speaker 1: People thought the window might have closed, but but they're
39:20
Speaker 1: still here and they're I think they've only got one
39:22
Speaker 1: loss so far, So it would be kind of nuts
39:27
Speaker 1: to be involved with Bill's Mafia when they get their
39:30
Speaker 1: first Super Bowl, when I'd have to say, plus, yeah,
39:34
Speaker 1: it's so those are the ones that I would say,
39:37
Speaker 1: I'm just kind of looking at the list of teams now.
39:42
Speaker 1: The only other thing that I might consider. We talked
39:44
Speaker 1: a lot about it being in our hometown. I mean,
39:48
Speaker 1: I wouldn't mind. I wouldn't mind traveling for the sake
39:53
Speaker 1: of travel, but I.
39:55
Speaker 2: Keeping some sense of realism here.
39:57
Speaker 1: I don't know that I can afford the ticket and
39:59
Speaker 1: the travel or I could justify the ticket and the
40:02
Speaker 1: travel uh for one of these games too though. Yeah,
40:08
Speaker 1: but all right, well there you go.
40:12
Speaker 2: So talked about the Raiders game. We talked about.
40:15
Speaker 1: All the off not offseason, all of the mid season
40:19
Speaker 1: changes with Davonte Adams, Justin Fields, Russell Wilson, talked about
40:23
Speaker 1: the Jets game, and we penciled in that the Steelers
40:26
Speaker 1: are going to the Super Bowl in Atlanta in twenty
40:28
Speaker 1: twenty eight. Was there anything else you wanted to discuss
40:31
Speaker 1: before we signed off for the night?
40:35
Speaker 2: I think so, yeah.
40:38
Speaker 1: I think we pretty much covered everything and we're both.
40:41
Speaker 2: Back in the wind column, so we're good there.
40:44
Speaker 1: I think that'll do it for us for this week.
40:46
Speaker 1: So for the world famous accountants Eric van Benschoten, I'm
40:50
Speaker 1: Nick Detulio and this has been another episode of the
40:52
Speaker 1: GameHouse dot COM's Steelers Country Weekly.