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Ravens Recap, Browns Preview · Steelers Country Weekly

0:00
Speaker 1: Today I'm Steelers Country Weekly. We break down the steelers
0:04
Speaker 1: big win at home against the Ravens, look ahead to
0:07
Speaker 1: their Thursday night matchup in Cleveland against the Browns, and
0:11
Speaker 1: then we'll talk about some highlight real defensive plays from
0:14
Speaker 1: the stars of our defense. I'm Nick Detulo and as
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Speaker 1: always I'm joined by the world famous accountant Derek Vanmashawden. Eric,
0:21
Speaker 1: how are you tonight?
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Speaker 2: I'm doing pretty good, man. I have my family over
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Speaker 2: to watch the game.
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Speaker 3: I don't know how much I could say that they're
0:33
Speaker 3: all rooting for the Steelers because a bunch of them
0:35
Speaker 3: are Bengals fans, but they were over all pretty cordial
0:39
Speaker 3: and happy that I was happy.
0:42
Speaker 1: So yeah, that's always good when the house guests at
0:47
Speaker 1: least let you enjoy your happiness. I think we've talked
0:52
Speaker 1: about it on the show before, but I've had multiple
0:55
Speaker 1: times where I've had friends and family over to watch
0:58
Speaker 1: the game and they do not care that I like
1:01
Speaker 1: the Steelers, and they do not care about me being
1:03
Speaker 1: happy in my own home. They want the Steelers to
1:05
Speaker 1: lose and dog gone it. That's all that matters. Well,
1:12
Speaker 1: there was a lot to be happy about with this game.
1:15
Speaker 1: There's some things we need to talk about too. But
1:18
Speaker 1: in the most important game of the Steelers season so far, overall,
1:22
Speaker 1: the teams stepped up big and they walked away with
1:25
Speaker 1: a win eighteen to sixteen. This was another Chris Boswell
1:29
Speaker 1: game where he scored all the points, kicking six field goals.
1:35
Speaker 1: The Ravens, on the other hand, Justin Tucker went one
1:37
Speaker 1: for three from field goal or from deep range I
1:41
Speaker 1: should say, field goals, and the defense really did a
1:45
Speaker 1: good job of making Lamar in that very potent Baltimore
1:49
Speaker 1: Ravens offense look like regular human beings.
1:55
Speaker 4: We had.
1:57
Speaker 1: Got to witness three turn there was a Derek Henry
2:01
Speaker 1: fumble in Isaiah Likely fumble and a Lamar Jackson interception
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Speaker 1: on an insane play from rookie Peyton Wilson on the
2:11
Speaker 1: offensive side of the ball. Yeah, I mean, we saw
2:17
Speaker 1: some good things, but this again was very reminiscent of
2:21
Speaker 1: a game from the first half of the season where well,
2:24
Speaker 1: for example, like you mentioned when we were texting during
2:27
Speaker 1: the game, kind of like Week one against the Falcons,
2:30
Speaker 1: where the offense had some good moments, they had some
2:32
Speaker 1: decent drives, they just could not punch the ball into
2:35
Speaker 1: the end zone. So I'll ask you to start us
2:40
Speaker 1: off here, what are some of your big takeaways from
2:42
Speaker 1: this game?
2:44
Speaker 2: Actually looking at the stats, highlight surprise that we got
2:49
Speaker 2: out gained in this game.
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Speaker 3: To be honest, I thought we'd moved the ball incredibly well,
2:56
Speaker 3: but maybe that's just because the turnovers to flip the
3:00
Speaker 3: field for us, So.
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Speaker 2: You know, that was a huge part of it.
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Speaker 3: Also very surprising because if we had six obviously scoring drives,
3:12
Speaker 3: but we were only four of sixteen from fourth down.
3:15
Speaker 3: On third down conversion I think late in the game
3:19
Speaker 3: even it was even worse. It was like one of
3:22
Speaker 3: ten or two of twelve, so a few of those
3:27
Speaker 3: conversions came at in the end of the game.
3:29
Speaker 2: So.
3:31
Speaker 3: You know, I think what stood out to me was
3:35
Speaker 3: how elite our defense was. I mean, this is the
3:40
Speaker 3: number one offense in the league, scoring averaging over thirty
3:45
Speaker 3: points a game. They had a running game that for
3:52
Speaker 3: the most part, I think that we kind of took
3:56
Speaker 3: it out of the equation because not because like they
4:00
Speaker 3: didn't rush well they ran nineteen times one hundred and
4:04
Speaker 3: twenty four yards, but because we played the game to
4:08
Speaker 3: our script.
4:10
Speaker 2: We had to make sure.
4:11
Speaker 3: That Lamar threw the ball to you know, kind of
4:15
Speaker 3: play catch up because we were pretty much ahead the
4:18
Speaker 3: whole game for the most part. So you know, I
4:23
Speaker 3: think that that's really what kind of stood out to me,
4:25
Speaker 3: and just it's great to kind of see from the
4:29
Speaker 3: defensive side of the ball, Like it's not just TJ. Watts,
4:33
Speaker 3: not just Cam Hayward, it's not just Manka, it's actually
4:38
Speaker 3: guys that you know, are pretty new to the Steelers.
4:42
Speaker 3: Patrick Patrick Queen playing his former team, led the team
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Speaker 3: in tackles, played a heck of a game, her big
4:51
Speaker 3: coming back from injury, had a forced fumble, and then
4:54
Speaker 3: as you mentioned, Peyton Wilson with the interception, which I
4:59
Speaker 3: mean that wasn't even Lamar's fault. That was an unreal throw,
5:05
Speaker 3: would have been unreal catch. And that was Lamar's first
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Speaker 3: interception in one hundred and sixty one attempts. So we
5:15
Speaker 3: held the MVP, you know, because I think Lamar is
5:19
Speaker 3: still the MVP of the league right now. You look
5:22
Speaker 3: at it through eleven games, and we held them pretty
5:27
Speaker 3: much and tight. I mean, Lamar through under fifty percent
5:32
Speaker 3: completion percentage to you know, he had the sack or interception,
5:38
Speaker 3: but we said it wasn't really his fault. A couple
5:40
Speaker 3: of sacks, I mean actually sacking. This guy is incredible,
5:46
Speaker 3: the plays that he makes. He's always fun to watch.
5:51
Speaker 3: And you know, the one thing I'll say is as
5:55
Speaker 3: good as a game and as happy as I am
5:58
Speaker 3: because anytime we beat a division rival, much less the Ravens,
6:04
Speaker 3: and whoever won this game was in first place of
6:06
Speaker 3: the division. We could have won this game, put this
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Speaker 3: away even more obviously, we converted any of our field
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Speaker 3: goals into touchdowns.
6:17
Speaker 2: This could have been a blowout.
6:20
Speaker 3: And you know, we also had just moments where Russell
6:25
Speaker 3: Wilson through an interception in the red zone.
6:27
Speaker 2: When we could have kicked a field goal put it
6:30
Speaker 2: into an eight point game.
6:32
Speaker 3: So there were also times where we were a little sloppy,
6:37
Speaker 3: and the fact that we came out with a win
6:40
Speaker 3: while playing a little sloppy, you know, it allows for
6:45
Speaker 3: the potential of this team. But I mean to end
6:50
Speaker 3: that on a we can be better, but we're still
6:53
Speaker 3: doing pretty darn good.
6:55
Speaker 4: Yeah, I'm with you there.
6:57
Speaker 1: This was hands down the best game the defense has had,
7:01
Speaker 1: certainly this year and probably maybe in the last three years,
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Speaker 1: if not more. When you consider that the again the
7:10
Speaker 1: Ravens have the best offense in the league. They've got
7:14
Speaker 1: the defending MVP and probably the favorite, like you said,
7:18
Speaker 1: to win it this year if it was awarded today
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Speaker 1: in Lamar Jackson. They've done nothing but add tools to
7:26
Speaker 1: that team as well, Derek Henry signing this offseason. They
7:31
Speaker 1: went ahead and got our old friend Deontay Johnson as
7:35
Speaker 1: well before the trade deadline.
7:37
Speaker 4: They made.
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Speaker 1: Some other additions too on the defensive side of the ball.
7:42
Speaker 1: This is a team that was already very good and
7:44
Speaker 1: is not shy about making moves when they think that
7:48
Speaker 1: they've got an opportunity to advance in the postseason, and
7:54
Speaker 1: the defense really answered the call. I mean, three turnovers
7:58
Speaker 1: is huge. The turnover against well, the fumble from Derrick
8:04
Speaker 1: Henry was on the opening drive of the game. So
8:08
Speaker 1: to your point about capitalizing on the opportunities right away,
8:13
Speaker 1: if the Steelers had been able to get a touchdown
8:15
Speaker 1: on the very first on their very first drive after that,
8:20
Speaker 1: I think it would have really just opened the game
8:23
Speaker 1: up even more than it was.
8:25
Speaker 4: But instead.
8:27
Speaker 1: Kind of well, really you could say that about any
8:30
Speaker 1: of the turnovers they had. They weren't able to put
8:33
Speaker 1: it in. They weren't able to capitalize at least in
8:37
Speaker 1: all of their possessions except for the one that ended
8:40
Speaker 1: with the Russell Wilson interception. They were able to put
8:44
Speaker 1: some sort of points on the board, be it a
8:45
Speaker 1: Bodswell field goal which kept them alive, kept them going.
8:52
Speaker 1: It just would have been nice to get at least
8:54
Speaker 1: one out of all that. I think it's a little extreme.
8:58
Speaker 1: I saw a lot of people online suggesting, well, you
9:01
Speaker 1: should all, let's just make Russ the primary quarterback and
9:05
Speaker 1: put Justin Fields in when you're in the red zone.
9:07
Speaker 1: I'm like that, just no, that does not work. I'm sorry,
9:11
Speaker 1: you cannot just keep swapping out quarterbacks like that. I'm
9:15
Speaker 1: fine with them putting in Justin Fields and the situations
9:18
Speaker 1: they did, but to say that he's got to be
9:21
Speaker 1: the red zone quarterback is just ridiculous.
9:26
Speaker 4: I do think.
9:27
Speaker 1: Russell Wilson's interception in the end zone was really egregious.
9:31
Speaker 1: I wish that Darnell Washington had at least made some
9:35
Speaker 1: sort of effort on it. I don't know that would
9:36
Speaker 1: have mattered, but it would have made me feel a
9:38
Speaker 1: little bit better about it. But yeah, I would, and
9:44
Speaker 1: maybe he answered the question in the press conference. I
9:46
Speaker 1: don't know, but I would really love to know what
9:49
Speaker 1: was going through his mind when he threw that ball,
9:51
Speaker 1: because that's one that unless someone's wide open, you either
9:56
Speaker 1: try to run at yourself or you just throw it
9:58
Speaker 1: out of the back of the end zone.
10:00
Speaker 2: Yeah, he said that you're trying to op it.
10:02
Speaker 3: But yeah, again, like he's been the league long enough
10:06
Speaker 3: that like, and we didn't want to kick. Okay, you
10:11
Speaker 3: don't want to like kick your six field goal for
10:13
Speaker 3: the day.
10:14
Speaker 2: You know you're you're trying to really get one.
10:16
Speaker 3: But at the same time, a five point lead and
10:20
Speaker 3: eight point lead, I mean, you got it, and your
10:24
Speaker 3: kicker's been automatic all day long, unlike Justin Tucker who
10:28
Speaker 3: was miss two in this game, which you know, kicking
10:34
Speaker 3: decided this game for us. YEA, trust your kicker, as
10:39
Speaker 3: you call him the best player on our team this year.
10:41
Speaker 1: Yeah, And I doubt the analytics were going through Russell
10:45
Speaker 1: Wilson's mind in that moment. I know that sometimes analytics
10:49
Speaker 1: will tell you go for it instead of kicking the
10:51
Speaker 1: field goal. But and I've I've just always been a
10:54
Speaker 1: proponent of if you have the opportunity to take points,
10:56
Speaker 1: take them. But what happened, He just took the opportunity
11:02
Speaker 1: off the board. They got bailed out because of that
11:05
Speaker 1: interception that Lamar Jackson threw to Peyton Wilson on the
11:08
Speaker 1: ensuing drive that you mentioned again wasn't wasn't Lamar Jackson's fault.
11:13
Speaker 1: It was a crazy play from Peyton Wilson. But and
11:18
Speaker 1: that ultimately set up the field goal and all. But
11:24
Speaker 1: but you know, this all goes back to the point
11:26
Speaker 1: of you got to capitalize on the opportunities when you
11:30
Speaker 1: have them, because, frankly, if the Steelers and the Ravens
11:34
Speaker 1: play again and the game starts to unroll this same
11:37
Speaker 1: way the next time, I'm not sure that the Ravens
11:40
Speaker 1: are going to make as many mistakes as they did
11:42
Speaker 1: this time. Yeah, So the ending of the game we
11:47
Speaker 1: didn't really talk about too much involved. The Ravens did
11:52
Speaker 1: score to make it eighteen to sixteen. They were going
11:55
Speaker 1: to go for two. Toman called a timeout, so they
11:59
Speaker 1: lined back up and then Joey Porter was able to
12:02
Speaker 1: get to Lamar Jackson and stop the two point conversion.
12:06
Speaker 1: The Steelers were then able to run the clock out.
12:09
Speaker 1: It's worth noting that there was a little added drama
12:13
Speaker 1: to the end of the game because Justin Fields came
12:15
Speaker 1: in to get a to run the ball and get
12:18
Speaker 1: a first down. He slid what maybe a yard or
12:21
Speaker 1: two before he got to the marker. So that's a
12:26
Speaker 1: boneheaded mistake for sure. But again, like I mentioned before,
12:32
Speaker 1: I'm still okay with them putting him in those situations.
12:35
Speaker 4: It gives him a little bit more flexibility.
12:37
Speaker 1: But that was another one where it set us up
12:40
Speaker 1: on well that ended up being a third and one,
12:43
Speaker 1: and it's just never a guarantee that you're going to
12:46
Speaker 1: get that one yard.
12:48
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, very much in the play because if they
12:53
Speaker 3: stop us on that third down. I think the Ravens
12:56
Speaker 3: had a minute left at that point, right, And again
13:02
Speaker 3: it's a two point game. Justin Ticker had missed two
13:06
Speaker 3: field goals, but he's still one of the better kickers
13:10
Speaker 3: in the league. He's kicked a sixty seven yard field
13:14
Speaker 3: goal before. So you know, all they do is game
13:19
Speaker 3: twenty yards and all of a sudden they have a
13:21
Speaker 3: shot to win the game.
13:22
Speaker 2: So man, I was actually what I was watching with
13:26
Speaker 2: my family.
13:28
Speaker 3: I was pretty calm the whole game except for that point,
13:31
Speaker 3: and I just was like, what.
13:34
Speaker 2: Are you doing? That's why you're a backup quarterback. And
13:38
Speaker 2: then yeah, so.
13:41
Speaker 3: I'm sure my family was surprised because I was just
13:44
Speaker 3: hanging out watching it the whole time. And then that
13:47
Speaker 3: really kind of upset me.
13:51
Speaker 1: Yeah, and that one was I mean, you go through
13:54
Speaker 1: the whole range of emotions on the play too, because
13:56
Speaker 1: you see him go in, you know what's probably gonna happen.
14:00
Speaker 1: Right the play unfolds, you see he's got the hole,
14:03
Speaker 1: so you're excited, and then he starts to slide and
14:06
Speaker 1: you're like mother, all right, and then the cherry on
14:12
Speaker 1: top as he got up and did the first down
14:14
Speaker 1: sign to thinking you got it, and I'm like, no, no,
14:16
Speaker 1: you didn't. But but hey, like we said, this was
14:23
Speaker 1: the best game that the defense has played in quite
14:26
Speaker 1: some time. The offense did do enough to get in
14:31
Speaker 1: position to make the plays and to win. There were flashes.
14:36
Speaker 1: Who knows, if they play this again, maybe they'll convert
14:39
Speaker 1: some of those trips to touchdowns. And the Steelers now
14:43
Speaker 1: move to well, they were in sole possession. They retain
14:46
Speaker 1: sole possession and get an extra game lead on the
14:49
Speaker 1: Ravens in the division race one and a half games up.
14:54
Speaker 1: As Russell Wilson said, round it up. That means too,
14:57
Speaker 1: So that's good. Steelers now go to play Cleveland on
15:03
Speaker 1: a short week as they begin their gauntlet of AFC
15:07
Speaker 1: North opponents here in the second half of their schedule.
15:12
Speaker 1: The Browns are coming off of the loss to the Saints,
15:16
Speaker 1: who seem to have gotten a little bit of a
15:18
Speaker 1: second win since they let go of their coach. But
15:22
Speaker 1: the Browns overall this season have really just fallen off
15:26
Speaker 1: the wagon from their expectations. They have a lot of
15:29
Speaker 1: the same pieces there that they've had. Deshaun Watson got hurt.
15:33
Speaker 1: He's out for the year, so Jameis Winston is the
15:35
Speaker 1: starting quarterback. But there's still some familiar faces there, like
15:38
Speaker 1: Miles Garrett for example. And there, of course, there's the
15:43
Speaker 1: fact that both teams are coming off a short week.
15:45
Speaker 1: The Steelers playing a tough game against the Ravens might
15:48
Speaker 1: be some cause for concern. So I'll ask you, as
15:52
Speaker 1: I always do, Eric, what are some of the keys
15:55
Speaker 1: that you're looking for in this short week matchup in Cleveland.
16:00
Speaker 2: Yeah.
16:00
Speaker 3: Well, before I do that, I want to say I
16:04
Speaker 3: thought were pretty cool about the Steelers Ravens. First time
16:07
Speaker 3: in Steelers Ravens history that a winning team did not
16:10
Speaker 3: score a touchdown with all those defensive performances, I thought
16:15
Speaker 3: that was actually pretty interesting. Yeah, we won eight out
16:20
Speaker 3: of the last night against the Ravens. And then lastly,
16:24
Speaker 3: Justin Tucker said that the hinsfield was not ideal, which
16:28
Speaker 3: only points to how great.
16:30
Speaker 2: Boswell is because he never complains about the field.
16:34
Speaker 3: He's actually leading the He is second in the league
16:37
Speaker 3: in field goal percentage, with the most attempts in the
16:40
Speaker 3: whole entire league, playing one possibly the hardest field in football.
16:45
Speaker 1: So with a different holder than he spent all off
16:48
Speaker 1: season working with too.
16:50
Speaker 3: Yeah, so I gotta show him some of love. Okay,
16:55
Speaker 3: So back to the Browns game. You know, to be honest,
17:02
Speaker 3: I think that it sounds bad this Shawn Watson. We
17:09
Speaker 3: would have it would have been easier game that Shawn
17:12
Speaker 3: was playing.
17:13
Speaker 2: That guy's just been horrendous.
17:17
Speaker 3: And he's gonna make the Browns and albatross for the
17:21
Speaker 3: next two years. That's a long term vision. The short
17:26
Speaker 3: term vision. This team is hard to peg down. I mean,
17:31
Speaker 3: they beat the Ravens three weeks ago whilst scoring twenty
17:37
Speaker 3: nine points and Jameis Winston threw I think three or
17:41
Speaker 3: four touchdowns and then since then they've lost by seventeen
17:47
Speaker 3: and twenty one to Chargers, which are their playoff team,
17:52
Speaker 3: but then the Saints. I mean so, but you know, also,
18:01
Speaker 3: like ESPN analytics, they're they're pegging it just how I
18:04
Speaker 3: would probably peg it. Right now, it's of the Steelers
18:09
Speaker 3: winning the game. Is only a fifty four. And the
18:12
Speaker 3: reason why it is just, you know, division games are
18:16
Speaker 3: always a wild card.
18:18
Speaker 2: It's at Cleveland.
18:20
Speaker 3: To them, this is going to be their super Bowl,
18:23
Speaker 3: right in front of the home crowd, their biggest rival.
18:29
Speaker 3: They want to stick it to us, especially since we're
18:31
Speaker 3: leading the division. So you know, I expect the Browns
18:37
Speaker 3: to bring their a game, and if they do that,
18:41
Speaker 3: I think we're just going to see a healthy dose
18:43
Speaker 3: in Nick Chubb.
18:47
Speaker 2: I don't know if it was last.
18:48
Speaker 3: Year or the year before, maybe it's been the collection
18:51
Speaker 3: of both years. More years than that when the Browns
18:55
Speaker 3: have beat us, it's because Nick Chubb's at his best
18:58
Speaker 3: and he's the MVP of the game.
19:00
Speaker 2: And so.
19:03
Speaker 3: I really just expect them to try to run it
19:05
Speaker 3: down our throat and you know, for them secure victory
19:11
Speaker 3: because I think that's the cleanest way for them to
19:13
Speaker 3: play the game too. You know, we just saw that
19:17
Speaker 3: we've got the win against the Ravens because we want
19:20
Speaker 3: to turnover battle.
19:21
Speaker 2: We won the time of possession battle. So for me,
19:25
Speaker 2: I think that's the key.
19:26
Speaker 3: I think that, you know, you got to find a
19:28
Speaker 3: different way to like, you know, challenge them to not
19:34
Speaker 3: just run it. Whether it is being effective and stopping
19:37
Speaker 3: the run, getting a fumble or crowd in the box,
19:42
Speaker 3: I mean, those are the ways to do it. So Dona,
19:47
Speaker 3: I'll keep it short and sweet there.
19:50
Speaker 1: Not too entirely disagree with you. I agree that Nick
19:55
Speaker 1: Chubb usually has been the lynchpin for the Browns against
20:00
Speaker 1: the Steelers, I agree with that, but I will say
20:03
Speaker 1: that Winston did throw almost four hundred yards against the Saints,
20:09
Speaker 1: so there certainly is the opportunity for him there to
20:14
Speaker 1: light the Steelers up if he's feeling it. Again, this
20:18
Speaker 1: is a thirty for thirty quarterback, so some games is
20:20
Speaker 1: gonna get really hot. Some games he's going to be
20:24
Speaker 1: not at all. So I think that with the way
20:31
Speaker 1: DeShawn Watson was playing this year, Jamis Winston might be
20:34
Speaker 1: the better quarterback right now anyway, So I think that
20:36
Speaker 1: that might be better for the Browns but but yeah,
20:40
Speaker 1: I think that because they have Jamis Winston under center,
20:44
Speaker 1: I think they're more likely to throw the ball a
20:46
Speaker 1: little more than you were giving them credit for. And
20:49
Speaker 1: that's that could just be how the game unfolded with
20:53
Speaker 1: the Saints, although it looks like it was pretty close
20:56
Speaker 1: until the fourth quarter. Actually it was tied to going
21:00
Speaker 1: into the fourth quarter, and then the Saints scored three times.
21:04
Speaker 1: So I'm with you. I think that the defense should
21:09
Speaker 1: be fine. I'm not too concerned about this offense, although again,
21:13
Speaker 1: the last time I felt like that, we played the
21:15
Speaker 1: Colts and we.
21:16
Speaker 4: Know what happened there.
21:19
Speaker 1: One thing that does concern me, though, is with the
21:22
Speaker 1: performance we saw on offense this past week. I'm interested
21:28
Speaker 1: to see how they adjust to playing the game in
21:31
Speaker 1: Cleveland because the Ravens have a good rushing defense, but
21:36
Speaker 1: their passing defense is one of the worst in the leagues.
21:39
Speaker 1: And with that being said, like we talked about ad nauseum,
21:43
Speaker 1: they were just were not able to get the ball
21:45
Speaker 1: into the end zone, and the passing yard or the
21:48
Speaker 1: passing stats kind of reflect that too. The Browns are
21:54
Speaker 1: a better defense, at least passing wise, than the Ravens
21:57
Speaker 1: have right now. So you, I mean, logic would dictate
22:02
Speaker 1: that we're gonna have to kick another six field goals
22:05
Speaker 1: to win this game, where Najie Harris is going to
22:07
Speaker 1: have to play out of his mind. I don't think
22:11
Speaker 1: it's going to come to that. I do think the
22:13
Speaker 1: offense is going to correct course here, just because you
22:16
Speaker 1: can look at the stats, you can look at the paper.
22:19
Speaker 1: At the end of the day, it's still a division
22:21
Speaker 1: rivalry between the Steelers and the Ravens, and the same
22:23
Speaker 1: thing here with the Steelers and the Browns too. I
22:28
Speaker 1: think ultimately in this game, so long as the offense
22:35
Speaker 1: does not turn the ball over, I think.
22:37
Speaker 4: Will be okay.
22:40
Speaker 1: This does have the makings of a trap game in
22:42
Speaker 1: my mind when you look at the schedule and who
22:45
Speaker 1: the Steelers just played, how they won short week, and
22:49
Speaker 1: then they go to Cincinnati, who, while struggling, is still
22:54
Speaker 1: more competitive than the Browns. I would hope that at
22:59
Speaker 1: this point the Steelers don't fall victims to trap games,
23:03
Speaker 1: particularly from their division opponents who hate their guts.
23:08
Speaker 4: But we've seen it before.
23:09
Speaker 1: So I think that so long as we maintain the
23:13
Speaker 1: ball and the defense, I don't think they have to
23:17
Speaker 1: play otherworldly like they did this past Sunday. But as
23:20
Speaker 1: long as they play competently, I think we'll be okay here.
23:26
Speaker 1: But yeah, we've gotten burned on the run game before
23:31
Speaker 1: against New York, for example, that was not a team
23:33
Speaker 1: that should have run the ball over us. And frankly,
23:35
Speaker 1: I think Nick Chubb or our boyderome Ford are better
23:38
Speaker 1: running backs than anyone that the Giants have. That being said,
23:43
Speaker 1: I will give the Steelers the win here. Something's telling
23:48
Speaker 1: me not to do it, but I'm gonna avoid that
23:51
Speaker 1: gut feeling and just ignore it. I'll give the Steelers
23:54
Speaker 1: the win, and I say they will do it twenty
23:58
Speaker 1: four to fourteen.
24:01
Speaker 3: Okay, you know, I think that the Steelers have been
24:08
Speaker 3: playing great, uh and I think that he'll just continue
24:12
Speaker 3: to reflect and I think they played a tough one,
24:16
Speaker 3: but I kind of expect them to have their most
24:20
Speaker 3: dominant performance. So I'm gonna go thirty one tenth.
24:26
Speaker 4: I hope you're correct there. Thirty one to ten. That
24:30
Speaker 4: would be great.
24:32
Speaker 1: I assume that means I assume that means we're gonna
24:35
Speaker 1: get at least one touchdown.
24:40
Speaker 3: Was just gonna keep on kicking field goals and somehow
24:44
Speaker 3: we're gonna get an.
24:45
Speaker 2: Extra point in there.
24:46
Speaker 4: I love Tomlin's answer.
24:48
Speaker 1: Someone basically asked him his thoughts on Boswell's performance, and
24:51
Speaker 1: he said, I love Boss, but I'm tired of him
24:53
Speaker 1: winning Player of the week. Yeah, all right, well, there
24:58
Speaker 1: you go. We both have this Steelers back in the
25:00
Speaker 1: win column. Hopefully they get this.
25:03
Speaker 4: I will not be well.
25:04
Speaker 1: I will be watching the game, but I will be
25:06
Speaker 1: in attendance at the Georgia Tech North Carolina State football game.
25:10
Speaker 1: I'll just have to watch the Steelers game on my
25:12
Speaker 1: phone while at this game in downtown Atlanta.
25:15
Speaker 4: So that'll be fun.
25:18
Speaker 1: But that'll teach me not to make plans before knowing
25:20
Speaker 1: the Steelers schedule, right.
25:24
Speaker 4: Yeah, all right.
25:25
Speaker 1: Well, with the highlight reel play that we saw from
25:29
Speaker 1: Peyton Wilson in the interception against Lamar Jackson, we thought
25:35
Speaker 1: that might be kind of fun just to talk about
25:37
Speaker 1: some highlight reel defensive plays that come to our mind.
25:40
Speaker 1: When it could be about the Steelers, could be about
25:42
Speaker 1: any other team we've got in mind, and frankly, we're
25:45
Speaker 1: just running out of fresh ideas here. But when you've
25:49
Speaker 1: been doing the show for nine and a half years
25:51
Speaker 1: like we have, that's bound to happen. So I'll let
25:55
Speaker 1: you take the lead on this one, Eric, What are
25:57
Speaker 1: some of your highlight reel plays that come to your
25:59
Speaker 1: mind when you think of those defensive plays that we're
26:02
Speaker 1: so used to seeing for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
26:05
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, a little researching into it, it was
26:09
Speaker 3: kind of cool to see NFL ranked the top one
26:14
Speaker 3: hundred moments in history and Steelers had four of the
26:18
Speaker 3: top twelve. So the history is rich with this. You know,
26:26
Speaker 3: when I think of just like miraculous plays that I've seen,
26:32
Speaker 3: I mean, it's a collection of ones from Palamlo, but
26:39
Speaker 3: you know, the one that always kind of stands out
26:40
Speaker 3: to me is him jumping over the line and making
26:43
Speaker 3: the sack. It was just amazing. I don't think I've
26:50
Speaker 3: ever seen it. I don't think we'll ever see it.
26:52
Speaker 3: It's just to get that timed up perfectly in the
26:57
Speaker 3: stats behind it.
26:58
Speaker 2: So it was we two.
27:01
Speaker 3: Twenty ten season, Steelers are about nineteen to three, but
27:08
Speaker 3: the Titans were on the goal line and so they're
27:12
Speaker 3: about to score touchdown.
27:14
Speaker 2: He does that play.
27:15
Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm not sure if they ended up scoring, but
27:19
Speaker 3: you know, it was pretty amazing just to kind of
27:22
Speaker 3: see that. You get a jolt of excitement there, and
27:27
Speaker 3: then you know, just coming off of the Ravens win.
27:29
Speaker 2: I mean, I remember when.
27:31
Speaker 3: I was in college, probably at the same year, twenty ten,
27:36
Speaker 3: we played the Ravens, Paula Mallo came around the edge
27:39
Speaker 3: and did a strip sack of Joe Flacco to seal
27:43
Speaker 3: the game. And I remember I wasn't gonna watch that
27:47
Speaker 3: game because I had an accounting five final and one
27:51
Speaker 3: of my buddies is a Browns fan, said I was
27:54
Speaker 3: not a true Stealers fan in that accounting classes don't
27:59
Speaker 3: matter Dealers games due.
28:01
Speaker 4: So I'd agree with that.
28:04
Speaker 3: I still got a decent grade on that test, probably
28:08
Speaker 3: not as good as I should have, But you know what, what,
28:10
Speaker 3: will I remember what my grade was on that test
28:13
Speaker 3: or watching the Steelers game.
28:15
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm sure glad I didn't miss it.
28:18
Speaker 1: Uh yeah, there's well I can tell you right now,
28:22
Speaker 1: I didn't take a single accounting class in college. And
28:28
Speaker 1: look where we are now now. Paul Moll is basically
28:32
Speaker 1: a highlight reel career. When you look at his entire career,
28:39
Speaker 1: the body of work, his ability to basically just have
28:44
Speaker 1: free reign, to look at the offense and go and
28:48
Speaker 1: do whatever he felt he needed to do. I would
28:53
Speaker 1: be interested from people who know more about the entire
28:57
Speaker 1: history of the league to know if there's any other
29:00
Speaker 1: players that had a similar career to him where they
29:03
Speaker 1: had that freedom and they just basically roamed the entire
29:06
Speaker 1: backfield and based on their gut feeling. Yeah, you mentioned
29:13
Speaker 1: a lot of his highlight reel plays his ability to
29:16
Speaker 1: time the snap count and jump over the line, because
29:19
Speaker 1: he did it more than once too, But you mentioned
29:22
Speaker 1: the game against the Titans and the Ravens as well.
29:26
Speaker 1: I think he did it several more times. The other
29:30
Speaker 1: guy that I think you have to mention when it
29:31
Speaker 1: comes to highlight reels on the defensive side is James Harrison.
29:35
Speaker 1: We have that one game against Baltimore where he had
29:38
Speaker 1: just had the most insane stats.
29:40
Speaker 4: I should have pulled it up.
29:42
Speaker 1: But he single handedly had like two forced fumbles and interception,
29:48
Speaker 1: multiple sacks.
29:49
Speaker 4: In one game against the Ravens and lit him up, and.
29:53
Speaker 1: He had the ultimate defensive highlight reel, defensive highlight play
29:59
Speaker 1: arguably all time in the history of the NFL. This
30:02
Speaker 1: might have been one of the top four moments that
30:04
Speaker 1: you mentioned earlier. I would assume so it was probably
30:07
Speaker 1: number one overall, or at least the highest of the
30:09
Speaker 1: Steelers ones.
30:11
Speaker 3: Yeah, the highest defensive play actually behind Malcolm Butler's goal
30:16
Speaker 3: line interception.
30:20
Speaker 1: I disagree with Malcolm Butler's interception being higher. I get
30:24
Speaker 1: that it sealed the game, but our boy Rush threw
30:27
Speaker 1: it right to him.
30:28
Speaker 2: So yeah.
30:29
Speaker 1: Anyway, the play I'm talking about is, of course, Harrison's
30:33
Speaker 1: one hundred yard pick six for a touchdown against Kurt
30:37
Speaker 1: Warner and the Cardinals super Bowl forty three that totally
30:41
Speaker 1: changed the entire dynamic of the game. The Cardinals were
30:45
Speaker 1: absolutely set up to at least get a field goal
30:47
Speaker 1: on that drive, more likely a touchdown really, which would
30:52
Speaker 1: have given them the lead going into half. It was
30:54
Speaker 1: a huge swing, huge momentum. Didn't quite think he was
30:59
Speaker 1: going to make it.
31:00
Speaker 4: There that whole time.
31:00
Speaker 1: I thought he was for sure going to get caught,
31:02
Speaker 1: and then he got tackled, but landed on a Cardinal player.
31:06
Speaker 1: I think it was Larry Fitzgerald who finally caught up
31:08
Speaker 1: to him. Another good example of a solid athlete who
31:14
Speaker 1: everyone seemed to likes and seems to like and never
31:17
Speaker 1: gave up on that.
31:17
Speaker 4: Play either, because he was probably on the opposite side
31:19
Speaker 4: of the field.
31:21
Speaker 3: I think that there was a crazy stat about this
31:25
Speaker 3: this Gerald that he had more tackles than he did
31:28
Speaker 3: drafts in his career.
31:31
Speaker 1: That sounds familiar, so we should put him on the
31:33
Speaker 1: defensive highlight reel.
31:36
Speaker 2: And you know he was.
31:37
Speaker 3: He played at pitt so you know it's.
31:41
Speaker 4: Yeah, oh yeah.
31:43
Speaker 1: They point being though with James Harrison, and that play
31:49
Speaker 1: was on the biggest stage in front of millions and
31:52
Speaker 1: millions and millions of people. Single handedly saved the game,
31:59
Speaker 1: and that, to me is the definition of a highlight play. Yeah,
32:05
Speaker 1: so I gotta give him, got to give him the
32:07
Speaker 1: credit for that. Since the Steelers just played the Ravens too,
32:10
Speaker 1: I'll give Robert Spallane a quick shout out to for
32:13
Speaker 1: that goal line stand against Derreck Henry a few years
32:15
Speaker 1: ago in Tennessee. I think they talked about it when
32:20
Speaker 1: the Steelers played the Raiders, because he's on the Raiders now.
32:23
Speaker 1: They said that that one play basically made a name
32:26
Speaker 1: for him, and I would agree with that. It's not
32:28
Speaker 1: often you get to stand up someone like that at
32:33
Speaker 1: the goal line. I'm pretty sure he got hurt on
32:36
Speaker 1: that play too, But and know I wanted to give
32:40
Speaker 1: him a quick shout out. Were there any other plays
32:43
Speaker 1: that come to your mind and you think of defensive
32:44
Speaker 1: highlight reels?
32:51
Speaker 2: I think those are.
32:52
Speaker 3: Pretty much though the ones I thought about, so obviously
32:59
Speaker 3: rich history of Steelers football.
33:01
Speaker 2: I mean, there's.
33:02
Speaker 3: Probably more than we'll come to think about, but we'll
33:06
Speaker 3: we'll let the fans powder on that.
33:08
Speaker 4: There you go.
33:10
Speaker 1: All right, Well, we talked about the Ravens game, previewed
33:14
Speaker 1: the Browns matchup, and some of our highlight plays. Was
33:17
Speaker 1: there anything else we needed to hit on before we
33:19
Speaker 1: sign off for the week.
33:22
Speaker 2: I'm good, me too.
33:25
Speaker 4: All right, folks, Well that'll do it for us.
33:28
Speaker 1: This has been another episode of the GameHouse dot COM's
33:31
Speaker 1: Steelers Country Weekly