
SNR Drive (Pittsburgh Steelers)
Drive10.13.26PowerRankings: Week 6 Power Rankings
Dienstag, 13. Oktober 2026 · 49 min
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The guys go over Week 6 power rankings across the NFL.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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You're tuned to The Drive on your 24-7 home of the black and gold. Steelers Nation Radio.
Good evening, Steeler Nation. How we doing? Well, that's good. Us too. Hour number two of The Drive here on your 24-7 home of the black and the gold. And Matt, I want to start this hour number two with a little fantasy football focus, if that's all right with you. Yeah, yeah, yeah. There's some interesting names that I want to... I feel like every week I've said, eventually we're going to evolve this conversation, and I promise it's not just going to be wave or wire conversation every single week.
Yeah, but it's not worthy.
But there's also... This week was the week that I thought that I was going to do that. But there's a couple intriguing names that I just need your thoughts on from a fantasy football perspective.
All right, cool.
Two of them are guys who we haven't seen yet this season, who have been injured, who are now practicing again and could be back soon. Okay? Let's start with the local name, James Conner.
Oh.
James Conner. Now, there is a log jam of running backs in Arizona.
Right. Right.
But is James Conner one of those guys that if you're really struggling for running back help, that might be you could pick him up a week early and maybe someone from Arizona ends up getting traded. Maybe something happens and you find that you find yourself having a productive James Conner kind of in the back half of the season.
So he was, I think, was healthy at this point. But the second they drafted Love. I thought he was maybe the most likely running back in the league to get traded. Yeah.
And maybe he could still be.
And maybe that's, I mean, Arizona's dumping Harrison. Why? I mean, Connor's kind of a legend there. I mean, there's some pit in Pittsburgh to the West in Arizona and has been forever. Our buddy, Max Starks lives there and, you know, blah, blah, blah, Larry, et cetera. But he's beloved in that town and by that organization and was really good for them. I mean, I don't know what he has left, but, He's not the worst pickup in the world, and I never would have thought of it, because if I'm Green Bay... Cool. Yeah, I mean, like, I'll give you a six-round pick.
James Conner or Caleb Johnson.
Right, exactly. I mean, there's probably two other teams. Seattle. I mean, well, they wouldn't probably trade him in the division, but I mean, running backs get hurt all the time, or somebody to back up. Yeah, back up Javante Williams.
Here's a sixth-round pick.
Yeah, exactly. I mean, he's still a good player. Like, if Rico was out for the year.
I'd be a six-round pick for James Conner.
Exactly, exactly, right. To be a strong two. So he may end up somewhere backing up Kenneth Walker or something. You know what I mean? Whatever. I'm just making stuff up.
I saw the news.
Keep an eye on him.
I saw the news that he was reportedly potentially returning to practice this week, if not this week, soon. And so that just kind of stood out to me a little bit because he's had some real value there when he has been healthy.
Maybe that day has passed officially, but he's always been fantasy relevant since the day the Steelers drafted him. Yes.
Yes.
Matt, the other one, and he doesn't seem as close as Jordan, or as, I almost gave it away there. He doesn't seem as close as James Connor, pardon me, but he's also now owned in less than 50% of fantasy football leagues. Jordan Tyson.
Ooh, I would grab him too. Like my main league. We probably have one or two too many roster spots. You know, the draft kind of drags. Sure. Everybody wants to go back to the fire or whatever at the end. But my buddy has held on to him every step of the way, and I keep thinking maybe he'll get let go. But, like, I bet he's out there in most leagues. They could use him. Saints are kind of falling apart, but a lot of it's like their protection stuff, no running game. I still think they'll throw the ball a ton.
Oh, without a doubt.
I would grab him. I would say for sure. I mean, even if it's not until week eight or nine. which I think is kind of his timeline.
They said he's probably still about a week away from returning to practice, but hey, if you've got space on your bench, he's one who, by the time you get into the playoff stretch, could really pay off.
Yeah, he might be startable. It's tough sometimes now, as everybody knows who plays fantasy. Like, bye weeks are sitting in. You might have a short-term injury. You might just not have the roster space to pull it off. But if you're one of those teams that can, I would be interested.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
Absolutely.
Absolutely. Couple other names to run past you here. How about Woody Marks, the running back of the Houston Texans?
Absolutely.
Owned in just 53% of leagues. I think they're.
Going to run the ball less and less. The Harrison trade tells me that, that they're just going to trust Stroud. We're going to play defense. Stroud, we're going to give you weapons. You handle your side of the ball. I'll handle my side of the ball. But Marks is better than Montgomery right now. And Montgomery's hurt. Montgomery's been A.
Little bit of a disappointment.
Yeah, he might be hitting that wall. Yeah, I mean, he's ran hard for years.
Detroit might have let him walk at the right time.
Yeah, they might have been thrilled to get what they got out of him. But no, Mark should be in every league, and I would say he's a flex, especially while Montgomery's down. I think Bernard, I mentioned earlier, I think Bernard is somebody that's not in a deeper league.
He's on a lot of these lists.
Yeah.
He's on a lot of these lists.
Might be a little early, but, I mean, him catching five, six passes a week isn't crazy.
Hey, sometimes, too, you know, with these type of guys, it's better to get them a week early than to try a week late.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
I mean, again, if you have the spots, or what if Metcalf goes down? Or, you know, I mean, I think he's going to be in the field full time.
What about Dontavion Wicks of the Philadelphia Eagles? He's kind of been their pseudo number one. And this is a short-term thing, I think, but if Devonta Smith misses another week, Yeah. They don't have a lot of other places to go with the football in that offense.
And I think they keep thinking that Lemon's going to pass him and do more, but I don't know what is stunting that growth. The whole offense is stunted. I think Wicks is a fine bi-week replacement. You know, like I think the Lions are on a buy right now. If you have St. Brown or Jameson Williams or whatever, and it's like, I can get by with Wicks for a week or so. He's not going to win you a league.
No, he's certainly not. How about Khalil Shakur, Matt? He's owned in just about 60% of leagues right now.
I was thinking about him last night because he was catching a lot of passes. He's always been a Josh Allen favorite. Keon Coleman's a guy I actually picked up a week ago. Cheap. I mean, if he doesn't work out, who cares? Got him. And they were feeding him. It just wasn't working out. He drew a defensive pass interference.
I think he had an offensive pass interference. Ended up with a couple catches. But Shakir was the featured player, and he's been Josh Allen's whoopee for a long time. Again, not a league winner, but... And TJ Moore will come back. Yeah, it's a great offense to hook a wagon to, you know?
It absolutely is. Absolutely is. Matt, the last one here that I want to run past you for this conversation, our very own Aaron Rodgers. Is he becoming fantasy football relevant? He's owned in less than 30% of leagues.
The inability to run is... horrible for fantasy i mean that's just how fantasy football is scored you throw three touchdowns a week three weeks in a row how do you ignore that you know i mean.
I'm maybe not to take them and start them the rest of the season but if you need someone for a week or two or.
I mean there's if if you start only 12 quarterbacks in a 12 team league in a one quarterback league i don't think he'll ever be ranked in the top 12 there's so many others.
But if you got a bye week but you got a bye.
Week or injuries or whatever yeah i mean he's probably in the top 18 right now.
I think so.
You know, in terms of who I'd want to start this week. Yes.
Yeah.
Yes. I mean, the running hurts.
It does.
It does. He's never going to score a rushing touchdown. No, but if he's.
Throwing for 250 and a couple of touchdowns a game, you can certainly do worse.
That's not so bad, right?
You could certainly do worse. So some Steelers starting to become more fantasy football relevant here.
Another Steeler. Kind of funny. Like we've had a lot of the sites that I subscribe to and trust are thinking he might be a, A true top 12 starting tight end going forward. And this is a compliment, but we didn't talk about him much yesterday. On a different podcast, I mentioned, I just think Friar Muth's going to do this every week now. You know, like it's not noteworthy that, oh, he had a good game. Like the last couple of years, different coaching staff, oh, this was a good Friar Muth week or where Friar Muth been for a month. I just think he's going to be a constant every week here.
You know, four plus catches go from there. Touchdowns here and there.
This I don't think should surprise anybody, but you know who leads the NFL in red zone touchdown receptions right now?
Is it him?
Jackson Smith and Jigba. Oh, okay. And it shouldn't surprise anybody.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
But Friermuth would have surprised people.
You know who's number two in red zone touchdown receptions?
Well, I know he's got four touchdowns already this year.
And they're all in the red zone. Our very own Pat Friermuth. Only JSN has more red zone touchdown receptions this season.
Not surprising. Well, it is surprising, but that's.
That's how we've been begging for him to be used.
Here for a couple years. Yeah, you're right. That should be happening. He should be in that area. And he's on the field a lot. And the Pittman injury and now the Wilson injury almost assures he's going to be on the field even more.
And get more of a target share.
Yeah, absolutely. No, he should not be a free agent in any league. Maybe a starter.
Maybe a starter.
I mean, I'm not starting him over Bowers. But he might be in my top 12 this week. He might be. Yeah, yeah.
He really might be. And it's a real testament to him. in the start of the season that he has had there at that wide receiver position.
Over the last couple of years, there's been a lot of fantasy conversations that get uncomfortable when you start talking about the Steelers. Oh, no doubt. It's like, I don't really want to start anybody from this game you know and now it's like metcalf's a starter maybe fryer moves bernard's on the maybe roger warren's like.
The best he's probably the the fantasy football pick right now that if you looked at all the guys and where they were drafted and who's really over performing their draft position yes he's probably number.
One like espn does this at the end of the year like they say who is the guy that won the most fantasy championships who was on that roster. And it's not the first pick in the draft. It's the guy you found in the sixth round that plays like a first rounder. That's how you win your fantasy league. And I don't think he'll keep it up. Like if I owned him, I might consider selling them right now.
You know, I think he'll still be highly relevant for fantasy every week now, or before he was a flex. Now he's a starter for sure. But selling high on him might not be the worst idea because Rico has to eat in. He's not going to 90% target share or route or snap shares going forward. But I was putting together Matt's stats last night. Yards per carry? Only Kenneth Walker's ahead of him. He's at 5.9 yards per carry.
He surpassed James Cook last night.
And we talked about it yesterday. He's third in scrimmage yards behind only Bijon and Jameer Giddens.
He's on pace for like 2,000.
Hasn't been a fluke, certainly.
No, he's... Great player.
Yes, he is.
Yes, he is. It's fun that Steelers are fantasy relevant.
It sure is.
Yeah.
You ain't lying. That's our fantasy football for this week. Fantasy football focus, pardon me, for this week six. When we return, week six power rankings. Where did the Steelers move? Who's at the front? Who's bringing up the caboose? We'll get into all that when we return. Wes Shuler, Matt Williamson.
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Bruh. You're tuned to The Drive on your 24-7 home of the black and gold. Steelers Nation Radio.
It's a Tuesday here on the drive, and that means a few things around these parts. Namely, it's Power Rankings Tuesday. You know what we should do? At some point, if we could pull it off, TV might have to help us with this. You think we could get Mike McCarthy just for three seconds into a microphone to say Power Rankings Tuesday?
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
In his Greenfield accent, and then we could just hit the drop here like we do the Troy Polamalu Five Star Friday.
Exactly.
Well, just every Tuesday, we'll have Mike McCarthy go, Power Rankings Tuesday.
Cired, Coach, Cired.
According to intrepid video producer, Mr. Television, Mr. TV, Tyler V. Pat Fryermuth, who we were just talking about, was on the Pat McAfee show today and said that he did not expect Mike McCarthy's accent to be as thick as it is.
I didn't either. I mean, I've heard him speak before, Green Bay, Dallas, et cetera, but maybe he's laying into it a little more since he got home. I wonder how much of it is when he's in Green Bay.
It's the... It's the person from New York that gets hired for a job in Dallas. And they're like, I can't. Do you know who Linda Cohn is?
Yeah.
The longtime SportsCenter anchor. She's absolutely phenomenal. She's New York City, I think Manhattan, born and raised. And for years when she was on SportsCenter, would do a pretty good job of hiding it. But then when she kind of left and started doing her own media stuff, now when she talks, it's like, oh my gosh.
I know where she's from.
She was hiding that the whole time. I wonder if there was some of that with McCarthy when he was in Green Bay and when he was in Dallas. He tried to kind of mask it a little bit, and now he's just, safety's off, who cares?
I dig it.
I do too. It's like our buddy Mick McQuaid.
Yes.
When he does interviews here. You can obviously tell he's Irish.
Of course.
But when you listen to him do his stuff over there.
When you're a guest on his podcast. Wait, repeat that? What did you just say?
Slow down a little bit for us.
Yeah, you know Mick better than I do, but I've been on his podcast a few times. I'm like, I better listen very closely here. Yeah.
Watch the crack. He hides it a little bit.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Matt, Power Rankings Tuesday here on the program.
And to.
A little surprise here, the Tennessee Titans check in at No.
32.
There's really nothing going well, and it's time to worry and top down.
Especially about the quarterback.
Yeah. Are you ruining the quarterback, or is he just not flat out good enough? Or what are we hanging our hat on here other than Jeffrey Simmons and a couple other players?
One thing, if you only win three games this year, but you feel good about Cam Ward and now he's billed.
I mean, is his coaching staff safe? I mean, this is not a patient organization for better or mostly worse.
Number 31, the Arizona Cardinals. They started out with a win. They have since lost four straight.
I think they're really crumbling. And some of these teams that start okay, once you have to dip into your depth is when it all falls apart. Like, Paris Johnson's a very good left tackle. He's not the greatest. But they lost him two weeks ago. He's a plus starter. They can't lose Paris Johnson. And that's how fragile they are.
No doubt. Number 30, 0-5, perhaps the most disappointing team in the NFL this year, the L.A.
Chargers. Can you do me a quick favor? Because I did this on our six-pack podcast. It is alarming. Can you look at the Chargers' offensive snap counts from this past week?
I sure can. You mean the entire team or just overall?
Just who played offensive snaps this week. I did it on Pro Football Focus. You could just click on the game. That's usually how I do it for the Steelers, too. And Herbert's been terrible. They've been terrible on both sides of the ball. But when you look at who they played on offense this past week, not for the season, I don't know if I told you that, but just in this specific game with injuries, it's people that shouldn't be in the league are out there every snap. I mean, what's around Herbert right now is unbelievably bad. I mean, some of the guys that are out are Alt, Slater, mcconkie nojoku i mean like every name you know on offense isn't available right now and i am still a herbert apologist if by chance they end up with a
first or second pick in the draft and want to shop herbert call me up we can talk but he has no chance of success playing with the guys he's playing with right now if you can't find it don't i got it here It's nuts.
Charlie Kohler, Marquez Valdez, Scantling, formerly of this parish.
Yeah.
Theo Weiss Jr., whoever the heck that is.
I don't even know who he is. He played a ton of snaps.
Gadsden, of course, the tight end. Trey Harris. Come on, Evie Dahl. People know who he is. Oof.
That's just the skill guys.
Keaton Mitchell.
I don't know why Marion Hampton's only playing 20 snaps.
His snap count has gone down week by week by week.
You're talking about a fantasy boss.
And I thought he was like one of the fantasy sleepers coming into this. Darius Davis at wide receiver.
I mean, Valdez Scantling is like their top snap guy of the skill dudes.
Matt, he was there. Other than Charlie Kohler, he was number two of their skill position players.
That's where they're at. And what's not listed there, which I found on Pro Football Focus, is their offensive lineman. The Slaughter, the second-round pick.
Yep.
Burke, the third-round pick, are both out there.
100% of the snaps, yep.
Cole Strange is playing, who is a total bust.
100% of the snaps.
And then the other two guys I'd never heard of.
Alec Harky?
I don't know who he is. Played every snap. I think a tackle.
He did, yep.
Yep.
And those linemen I'm... Okay.
Him and Strange.
Oh, wait, no, sorry.
I think you're right.
And then Logan Taylor.
Logan Taylor.
Another guy I hardly know anything about. Yep. Like, that line is ridiculously bad. I mean, the names I mentioned, two of them are rookies, and maybe they'll turn into good players, but they're not yet. Strange is bad.
You lost Joe Walt. You lost Rashawn Slater.
It was Herbert, and backups are kind, is who he played with this week. They're terrible.
But other than that, Mrs.
Lincoln, how was the play? And the defense is horrible.
Terrible.
Yeah.
Terrible.
I was blown away with the snap counts this week.
It's wild to look at.
They're terrible.
It's wild to look at, especially Omari and Hampton, dude. I knew he had been kind of phased out a little bit. I think he's just in the doghouse. He played 30% of the snaps.
Yeah.
For an offense that has guys that no one's ever heard of.
No one's ever heard of. I mean, Mitchell and Vidal are fine, but like the one guy you thought you could kind of count on, he doesn't even play. Woof.
If you would have told me that at any point this season, Marquez Valdez Scantling was leading the Steelers skill position guys and snaps in a game, I would have needed, I would have needed medical treatment.
They're like, oh, they got one win.
Right yeah and he's doing just that right now yeah with the chargers.
My co-host had actually kind of a funny thing about valdez scantling he called it like the mendoza line like if you're the team that's calling valdez scantling you're in trouble you're in big trouble right.
Been there seen that 29 matt the miami dolphins i think this is about right i know they're oh and.
Five yeah they shouldn't be 32 but they.
Play harder and they've been in a lot more games yeah than a lot of these teams and i know there's no such thing as moral victories in the nfl but.
With all their young guys, there kind of is.
They've had some blowouts. They went to San Francisco and got their butts handed to them, but they also have played a lot of one-score games.
I want to ask you this around campus, and nobody has the answer, but do you think... I'm just killing the drill here. The Ohio State wide receiver.
Jeremiah Smith.
Is he so good that a team like Miami would pass on a franchise quarterback for? I think he might be in the conversation.
That's a good question.
The Raiders were torn between Jamarcus Russell and Calvin Johnson. It's easy to say because Calvin was that good of a prospect. No one thought Jamarcus Russell was a terrible pick at the time. He was an obvious first overall pick. But is Smith that good that you would bypass a quarterback? I don't know if I ever said that about a prospect.
I think perhaps. I think it would be if you were in the sense.
Of Maybe Willis just needs another year. That's why I bring up Miami.
Or just if you're not sold on any of these quarterbacks, if your scouts aren't pounding the table for this is the next Hall of Fame 18-year guy, this is a very easy layup.
Take him. Right, yeah, yeah, yeah. Give Willis another year, we'll figure it out.
Exactly right and uh perhaps and then you could also do like hey if we have to go back to the quarterback well we we drop them into an offense that has the best young receiver of a generation or it's a.
Deep quarterback class we'll take one at the top of the second round or we'll be the team that does the jackson dart thing come back to 22.
Take from 33 right and that's gonna be impossible because the steelers right.
Jump the Steelers at 20 and get our second pick be the quarterback.
This might be one of those years, Matt, because there's a couple of those guys.
Yeah.
The corner from Notre Dame.
Yeah.
The tackle from Texas.
Right. Like, if we're not loving the quarterback, we just like him a whole lot. We just take Jeremiah or Smith or Moore.
Or like you said, I could take this guy at one or two.
Mm-hmm.
And then I could trade back into the draft at 26 and still get a quarterback.
Especially if there are as many as we think.
Yes.
Maybe there's not as three superstars, but there's eight that could go in the top, that will go in the top 50.
Yeah.
If I hitch my wagon to one of them and they don't work out, I'll get one next year.
Yep.
But give me Smith to start, and my quarterback that I do take will be really happy he's on the team. No doubt.
No doubt.
Or just like roll with Willis for another year.
I will say, though, I've enjoyed seeing the emergence of Ollie Gordon there in that offense.
Yeah, yeah. And their line's not bad.
I thought he was unbelievable his second to last year at Oklahoma State.
He was.
I told you he had that game in Morgantown. I was there, and he ran for like 210 yards. In the fourth quarter. Yeah, I know.
He was on all the preseason lists going into his last year.
Unbelievable. And then he came into his last season, and I think Oklahoma State won their first game and then lost 11 straight. They had a horrible year, and everything fell apart around them, and he ended up going late in the draft. But I really enjoyed watching him in college and thought he was going to be a very good pro.
Before his final year at Oklahoma State, the conversations that summer was genty or... Gordon.
Yeah.
Who's going to be the first back. They're both first rounders locks, you.
Know, 28, Matt and fresh off a tie, the Washington commanders, the wash comms.
They're better than all these teams, but they're going, seem to be going nowhere quick. No, it looks like a coaching change maybe.
Too, but there, there could be light at the end of the tunnel. If Jaden Daniels gets.
Back, he was playing great until that last play.
I thought he played very well.
Yeah.
Stay healthy.
So if you get to the end of the year and you have a top 10 pick, but you're like, you know what? Daniels is the guy. There could be some light at the end of that tunnel.
Or it's Jeremiah Smith or the Texas receiver. Exactly.
Or you trade down seven picks and still get a stud.
The O-line can be fine with Tunsell. You might have Stiles hits.
Matt, number 27, the New Orleans Saints.
They're really falling quick.
Yeah.
I don't like where they're at at the moment. And it's not Shuck's fault, but he's taking some heat.
He sure is. He sure is. Didn't look very good this past Sunday against that Brian Flores defense.
They didn't block anybody, though.
26, Matt. I have to imagine this is the lowest they've been on one of these power rankings lists since probably before I was an employee there. It's the Philadelphia Eagles.
Oh, I don't think they're that bad.
I don't think they're the 26th in the NFL, but their two losses the last two weeks are brutal.
They probably should have beat the Jags. I'm not big on you should have won this game. If you didn't, you didn't.
They also, though, don't forget the week before, they were at home against the Rams with a 10-point lead at the six-minute mark or eight-minute mark left in the game, and they were in the red zone.
How often do you lose?
That's almost worse than the London one.
Are there terrible losses?
You're up 10 in the final minutes of the game, you have the ball in the opponent's red zone, and you're at home and you still find a way to lose.
I think we're saying the same thing, but for the 26-ranked team in a power rank, those are positives. You know, like you just hung with two of the best teams in the league.
Like Miami. Ah, you lost to the Bengals by a touchdown.
Right, right, right.
I mean, so the Jags and Rams could play in the Super Bowl. And you conceivably should have beat them both.
True. True.
I guess it all depends on how you slice it, right? They're terrible losses.
Bad, bad losses. They're like fireable losses, but you know.
25, Matt, the Houston Texans.
I would have them way higher too. We did a deep dive on them today just because based off the Harrison trade and all that. epa dvoa they're like 13th or 14th i know the record's not great but they're middle of the road and everything except for run offense but like their offense is 15th their defense is 15th i think they're about the 15th best team.
They um started real slow last year and still found themselves in the postseason and tell you what though oh and four i think last year i'm pretty sure they started oh and three and then won seven of their next eight or something like that. 0-4 is a different hole.
I think they're favored over the next five or six teams we probably mentioned.
I was going to say, if they go on another one of those, if they're in a stretch here and they win five of six games or something like that, they'll be back.
Yeah, we talk about them like, oh, they're 5-4 now. Then they're in the hunt those last couple weeks.
Exactly right. 24, Matt, the team that we just saw on Sunday, the Indianapolis Colts.
I'd have them behind the Eagles and Houston.
I think I would.
I don't think they're bad.
They're very distinctly average. They'll beat some teams that we don't see coming. They'll lose to some teams that we don't see coming. I think that's going to be the rest of the year for Indy.
Are the Giants and Browns better than these teams?
No.
I feel like we should have brought them up already.
I got some bad news for you. You're going to be waiting a little bit.
Okay.
Number 23, the upcoming opponent, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Sears were playing with the wrong time, because I actually thought they played pretty well.
And now they get the rest advantage.
And they get the rest advantage. A week ago, I'd be like, they should be lower. They had a miserable first month.
They were 30th last week, so they jumped up seven spots. A nice jump for them after getting their first win of the year. 23, Matt, your Pittsburgh Steelers.
I don't agree with that. I think they've been too low every week we do this.
I mean, they got the Jets two spots ahead of them. I don't know. I don't know about that.
I know they lost to the Browns. I think the Sears are better than the Browns. I think Sears is better than the Giants.
The Browns check in at 21. Okay. The Jets at 20. The Raiders at 19. I think that's still okay, but the shine might be coming off. We might see Mendoza eventually.
I think sooner than later. And the big thing with that Patriot-Raiders game, May had forever to throw, even with Max Crosby on the field. They don't have a lot of good players.
And they got the Bills and the Rams up next. If they're three and four all of a sudden.
Yeah. I'm betting they're like 26th in the power rank after those two games.
Could be Mendoza time sooner rather than later.
Yeah.
Notice, Matt, we still have not said the New York Giants. At number 18, it's the Dallas Cowboys.
Okay. I look at the Lions and Cowboys. This is a Bengals thing forever. It's just going to be a race to 40 every week. You know, the defenses are bad. The offenses are great. Where do you rank that type of team? I always find that tough. It's a tough way to live in this league. Burrow's been frustrated forever. Hey, I put 38 up and we lost. I just think that's who Dallas is probably going to be. Maybe Porter helps a little.
He better.
I mean, they've gotten a half out of him, like half a game out of him, and he's been there two weeks.
Number 17, Matt, the New York Giants.
That's way too high.
Way too high. Now, if they would have won that, if they would have found a way to win that game after being down, you know, two touchdowns in the fourth quarter.
Well, let's say Washington doesn't screw it up and they lose.
But then they're in the 20s.
And they didn't do anything great to make that play happen. They would be deep in the 20s.
I think they're just another one. And this happens every year that people have crowned a little early and decided that this team's legit. And they finally got the head coach and all these things. And I think they're still a year away.
Yeah, yeah. And Winston's not good. I mean, it's okay.
We can win you some games.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, compared to these other quarterbacks, they're ranking them, right?
Correct. Into the top half of the league here, Matt. Another one of the biggest risers of the week. No. 16, the Green Bay Packers.
You've got to push them up. I mean, that's a really impressive win.
Is Jordan Love now in the thick of MVP conversation? I would think so. If they can continue to stay above.
500.
I'm going to say the record has more to do with it than his performance. He's playing bad as well as any quarterback. golf's like that too.
A lot of people still think he stinks. Like a lot of people still tweet us and YouTube comments and think he stinks.
I just, I'd love to have that guy.
I don't, I don't know if there's anybody who's doing more with less right now.
I know I'm a big believer.
Like that. I think it's kind of what we would have probably expected Herbert to be doing in LA.
It's kind of what he did last year.
Last year in LA.
Yeah.
Number 15, Matt, this might be a little rich for my blood, but it's the Atlanta Falcons.
Yeah. I mean, they were playing really well. I'm not saying, oh, that's cute, but they were probably out kicking their coverage for a week or two there.
No doubt.
Penix looks like he's day-to-day. Probably he's going to play again this week.
I just think that quarterback situation is going to hamper them the entire year.
Would you put the Steelers ahead of the Falcons?
Probably.
I think I would.
Probably.
I mean, Steelers' offense is playing as well as their offense is.
I would have the Steelers a few spots higher. I might have them slotted right by Green Bay.
I'd have them in this neighborhood.
16 or 17, right by the Packers.
Me too.
Number 14, Matt, the Carolina Panthers.
I was about to ask, would you have Atlanta or Carolina as the best team in that division?
Carolina. Now, that's probably easy for me to say because that was a brutal loss for the Falcons on Sunday night. Yeah. And Carolina was coming off a bye.
They were on a bye, yeah.
They really didn't do anything. But I also, I just... They're close. I... I think I would give the nod to Carolina with the way that Bryce Young's playing. I think that'll be the difference over the course of the season. They at least have a quarterback that's been a positive.
You trust him more.
You trust him more than anyone on the Falcons.
Yeah, I think that's fair.
13, Matt, down a few spots, but still close to the top 10. It's da Bears.
Brutal loss. I think you kind of washed that away of We've been riding this backup quarterback train for a while. Things got away from us early, and we can't count on Bajent and those guys to bring us back. I think they'll be fine.
I think, I think analysts and fans and stuff say this too much, but that might be one of those true burn the tape games.
Yeah. The one off of the 17.
Yeah.
We went on the road to our biggest rival. We laid an egg. They took advantage. That's not excusing it, but it does happen from time to time. Burn the tape. We'll move forward. We'll be better with Caleb back in the fold.
You hope that's the Steelers in Cleveland. When you look back at 17 games, like probably one that, We played way better than we really are. You could burn that tape. And there's probably one that's like, it just wasn't our day. And then the other 15 are more who we were.
Again, it doesn't excuse it or anything.
No, no, it still happened.
It does happen in this league. Number 12, the LA Rams.
I still think they can hang with anyone.
We haven't even mentioned that game last week. I know. That was wild.
They could meet in the Super Bowl.
Can I just say, though, can these Sunday and Monday night games stop going into overtime?
All right. I bet it's, I'm a night owl.
So I don't care. It's already a little, a little late for me. I mean, come on guys. Can you not think about that?
And they're going deep into overtime.
Deep into overtime.
Yeah.
That was a fun game though, but the Rams.
I'd still have the Rams high.
They're, they're chasing it. I would too, but they're chasing it in that division all of a sudden.
Yeah. The Niners beat the Rams and the Seahawks. I mean, that is huge.
I think a lot of people picked the Niners to go to the playoffs, but I don't think many picked them to win that division.
They could be one on this list. They probably would be one for me.
I think they probably are. We'll see here soon. Matt, I don't know about this one because their offense is great, but the other side of the ball is a real problem, but the Lions check in at No. 11.
Yeah, I still think the Rams are better than the Lions because they're more well-rounded.
Another huge riser this week, Matt, and back up into the top 10 at No. 10, it's the New England Patriots.
I'm not quite there, but that's a massive win.
They've had two impressive wins back and back.
Absolutely. May looks great, which I never really doubted him, but I still think, and A.J. Brown's coming back, and they're back in the thick of things.
Matt, up next are two good teams, but I think that are kind of still, it's.
Like the AP. The Bengals haven't been brought up yet.
It's like the AP college football poll.
Yeah.
Some of these teams just live off their preseason ranking, especially these SEC teams, when they're clearly still not that good. The Bengals are at nine. The Broncos are at eight. I think that's a little high for both of those teams.
I think they're way high. I think the Bengals would be 14 or something like that. I was a big Broncos believer. They would have been really high in my preseason poll. But we just talked about what the Chargers rolled out on offense. Denver did not have an easy time beating that Chargers.
No, they didn't.
With backups galore.
And Denver, I think, kind of like Houston, I think they're far from the finished product at this point, but I wouldn't have him eighth, that's for sure.
I don't know if Nix is good enough. Big picture.
The league might have started to figure him out, and you can't really scheme around him like you did last year.
Yeah.
Matt, number seven, 5-0, the Minnesota Vikings.
Yeah. I mean, you have to have them near the top. Kyler did some better stuff. Defense isn't going away. Probably... angry Viking fans with that ranking.
And I, listen, I, I think it might be a little too high, but I also, again, that's, that's the nature of power ranking.
Yeah.
Yeah.
You gotta, you gotta get some credit for the form that you're in. And, and Minnesota is five and O and their defense has been crazy impressive.
Like they wouldn't be favored against the bills or, you know, Niners, you know, teams we haven't mentioned yet.
Correct. Number six, Matt suffered their first loss of the season, but bounced back last night, the Buffalo bills.
Big win. Patriots are nipping on their heels. Ran the ball like crazy. Stopped the run. But that was a very losable game, too. I mean, I felt like if Ramsville's played 100 times, it's 50-50. Yeah, yeah. Maybe 51-49. Yeah, yeah.
No doubt.
I got no problem with them being near the top.
There's a lot of Buffalo Bills fans in that SoFi stadium last night.
Absolutely true.
Into the top five here. Number five, Matt, I think a team that you and I were on a couple weeks before everybody else. It's the Jacks Jags.
Yeah, stumbled a little overseas. O-line had some problems.
That's my only worry for them now. If you ask me, is Jacksonville a true Super Bowl contender? I would say maybe. And the reason I wouldn't say yes, just quite yet is I think their offensive line might be, it's definitely bottom half of the league. It might be bottom third of the league.
I think it is. And Robinson who hasn't played great, but he's a starting left tackle. He's out for the next couple of weeks too. He got hurt in that game.
Number four, the Baltimore Ravens who somehow some way are four and one.
That's a bonus prize winning there. That went in that game without Lamar Lamar's playing an MVP level. They're definitely the top five.
If the Ravens end up winning 12 games and that one's the difference between me winning my over under 11 and a half bet.
I'm not going to be thrilled.
I'll never forgive the Atlanta Falcons. Number three, Matt is the Seattle Seahawks. I don't know. I think maybe they should have dropped a couple of spots.
Yeah.
They had a lot of turnovers and.
Donald hasn't looked great.
Hasn't looked great.
Other than Smith and Jigba, the offense is okay at best.
I think the defense is still good. Maybe even great.
Yeah.
Not quite as great as they were last year. And the offense isn't quite as dangerous as it was last year.
Turned the ball over a lot. I think I'd have the Bills ahead of them.
Yeah, and I'm not saying I'd have Seattle at 14.
No, no.
I think three might be a little rich. Off the early bye week, Matt, and still sticking at number two, it's the Kansas City Chiefs.
Yeah, nothing to really report. I guess that's fine.
And, of course, No. 1, 5-0, and looking impressive doing it and beating a lot of good teams. It's the San Francisco 49ers.
Yeah, both sides of the ball.
They are your quarter-season Super Bowl champions right now. Yeah.
I mean, they're tough to play against, well-coached, all that good stuff. Yeah, Mike Evans playing great.
Their offense is just so multiple.
Yeah.
They've got dudes at every level of that defense. I mean, Fred Werner is just a treat to watch. He really is.
Yeah, they rush the passer well. This past week?
Yeah.
They're a really good shot.
I've got no problem with them being number one right now.
No, they'd be my one right now.
So there are your week six NFL power rankings. One more segment to go. We'll get to your questions, comments, concerns, and reactions to close this thing down when we return. Euler, Williamson, it's The Drive, Steelers Nation Radio on the Steelers Audio Network.
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Down the homestretch here of The Drive. Final segment on this Tuesday. Let's get to some of your questions, comments, concerns, and reactions before we get out of here. Hunter says, if the Chargers continue to still suck by the trade deadline, what would it cost to get Derwin James? Would you guys be interested, or is he too boxy for the Steelers?
I don't think he's too boxy, but I think he's too Ramsey-ish. He would be the big slot. Now, he'd be a longer-term investment. Ramsey's contract implies he probably won't be back after this year, or he'll get cut because he's got a big bump.
Sure.
At his age, although Ramsey's playing quite well. I'm a big Derwin fan, but I don't think I'm using the draft capital it would cost, which is probably pricier than Porter, Juergens, Harrison, all those guys that got traded for second-round picks. I think Derwin's worth more than all those dudes. Thus, he's not for me. He'd be a great player to add to any team, no question. And I can see them moving him.
But if you're going to go shopping in that department, you could find a better fit.
Yeah, yeah. Really good player, though.
Oh, no doubt.
Mr.
Steel City says, I know it's easy to say after a good performance, but I really hope Pat Frymuth is a one-helmet guy. Just feels like he can be one of those leaders for the next wave of young guys. I know he won't be a Hall of Famer, but he's just a really good player and one that guys can look up to.
Yeah, I think we said that, was it two weeks ago? We played a short interview with him, and we were talking about how he could be a long-term.
It was after the Mike McCarthy, everyone ran with the clean our house comments.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
And Pat was like, the locker room's fine. We're fine. We're 2-2. We've got some things to work on.
He's a veteran presence here. You've been around him. You said he's a great dude. Can he be your Heath Miller for a long time? Maybe be a Hall of Honor guy. Maybe. I think a one-helmet guy would be perfect for him. Penn State product. No doubt.
No doubt. Let's see here. Troy says... Hey guys, do you think more of the same game plan this weekend for the Tampa Bay Kniggets? Ooh, that's a good Monty Python. Kniggets! Stop Irving and keep an eye on Abuka. Do you guys, would you guys think the Steelers should be trying to bring in another receiver? So kind of two questions there.
I think you got to kick tires on other receivers.
I think so too.
Yeah. Yeah.
I mean, just considering the health situation. I don't know what Pittman's ever going to give you.
You can find productive, valuable guys that aren't going to cost you a day one or day two pick.
They always are on the move.
They're always on the move.
I mean, I'm not sure about practice squads and free agents to call, but I'm talking who's available in trade that's fifth-round pick, you know, that's a legit NFL player. I'll be honest. I mean, tonight is when I really dig into the opponents. That's a Tuesday night thing. I know Tampa has more than had their problems, and Bucky Irving went off, so that's going to be a key.
I do think their offensive line is still quite good, and those guys have played every snap together. So I'm assuming, no matter who the quarterback is, I don't think Baker's due back, but I'm just not on top of the Bucs yet on Tuesday afternoon. But I would think goal number one is to stop Bucky first, but probably not to the degree of the Colts with Taylor. I mean, they haven't been a great running team all year. The book is fine. The receivers are fine. Defense is still pretty good. Actually, it's better than the Colts. That's for sure.
I think it's to be a stiffer test than the Colts. As for game plans, I'm not real sure yet.
T-Mac says, would you guys be interested in one Brian Thomas Jr. or one Buda Baker right now? And what would you give?
Buda Baker is one of the most underrated and best players of this generation.
There's some Mike Evans like we were talking about yesterday with Buda Baker.
An all-time great cardinal.
If they played in Chicago or Dallas or Pittsburgh or Green Bay and had more success, a lot of people would be talking about them.
I would have to see how well he's still playing, but as of last year, he was still one of the best safeties in the league and super versatile and ties the room together because he can do a little bit of everything. I hadn't thought of that name. I'm interested. The negative are, do you want another older, expensive defensive player?
You know, like in your big picture build, is that the type of guy you want to give up a young player, which is a pick? I mean, Arizona's not going to, they're going to want to pick back, obviously.
Of course.
Is it a third? Is it a fourth? I assume he's making decent money. He's probably 31, guessing something like that. I love him though.
He is 30 years old, turns 31 in January. Ah, January 10th, same birthday as my wife and Max Starks.
Huh, okay.
So he's 30 now and will turn 31 kind of right when the playoffs start.
He'd be useful.
If the price was right, I'd be very interested in either of those guys.
I don't know why Jackson would move a receiver. He doesn't fit what they're doing at all. They don't need Brian Thomas Jr. He's been rumored to be on the trade block forever. But if you're in a Super Bowl window... what good's a third round pick do me as opposed to a deep threat? That's really valuable, you know, or that's really talented. I'd love that. Brian Thomas Jr. Oh, yeah. Yeah.
I mean, he's floundering a little bit there. I just think he's not going to be cheap. And there's Jacksonville.
They're not going to be in a hurry to get rid of a couple more that we'll run through here. Matt quickly, Vegas, TJ. Ooh, what's up? Vegas, TJ. Love me some Vegas. Already got a trip planned out there next summer with the Misses.
Oh, you're psyched, yeah.
Vegas TJ says, I am 73, and let me tell you, Wes, at 35, you are at the beginning of the middle of your life while Matt and I are staring at the fourth quarter.
This dude's 20 years older than me. We're not in the same quarter.
Yeah, hold on, Matt. Don't throw Matt in. I think Matt's just teeing off on the second nine, all right?
Yeah, I just had a dog at the turn, I'm hoping. I mean, the guy's 20 years older than me.
Just had a dog at the turn.
And a cold one.
Also, a couple people, Slesstack and Jammy saying, someone please tell Wes, hey, Euler, you don't run the gambit, you run the gamut.
I've been wondering that. You say that a lot.
Yeah, this is another one of those chomping at the bit. No, they're right. It is gamut. Gamut is a noun that means the entire range, scope, or complete series of something.
Is there a B in that word?
G-A-M-U-T. Gamut.
Okay.
As opposed to gambit. I appreciate that, guys. That's like champing at the bit.
Champion's a real word yes yeah yeah yes okay you said that a bunch and every time you do i'm like i don't know if he's right or not but next time tell me i'm an idiot all right i wasn't sure i would definitely tell you if you're an idiot if i knew you're an idiot i was uncertain if you were an idiot but you were an idiot.
I mean come on you guys can make a wvu joke in there you know.
Oh yeah I'm sure I have those things too, but you know.
I'm way cooler than all of you and I'll drink you under the table having gone to WVU, but you know.
I'll take the Pepsi challenge on that.
I graduated high school with honors, baby.
All right.
I'm wicked smart.
No, I don't.
Listen, I will be the first one to put my hand up and say I'm a dink.
All right.
So you guys can always correct me on those things. DJ Hogue says my Steelers Mount Rushmore. Mean Joe Green, Wes, Matt, and Tyler V.
I don't. Sounds about right.
I don't know about that, but I'll take it. Maybe we should sub out Tyler for Franco or for Ben or for Troy.
Mean Joe's lucky to be in that company.
Last one comes from Clamps, who says, I still think we need more completions over 10 air yards. Rodgers averaged 4.1 yards in the air per attempt. Right now we're living off catch and runs. Need more of a downhill threat and need to give him a little more time in the pocket to throw it longer in the air.
Agreed. I think that was also part of the game plan for this specific week. I mentioned this yesterday. The Steelers are leading the league in yards after the catch by a mile. I mean, they're way ahead of everybody else. It's a tough way to live, but I also think they're kind of built that way, too. And I do think the protection will allow them to go downfield.
I think so, too.
I don't know that Rodgers is a great deep passer anymore.
It's tough.
He misses a lot, to be honest with you. That doesn't mean he won't try them. Metcalf one-on-one on go balls is still going to be a thing. There's no doubt in my mind about that. If they do add a receiver, I bet he can run. I don't think he'll be a lumber or big guy. Not that he'll be a tiny dude, but I would think that's somebody that can go. But his deep numbers aren't great, and we've seen him miss some deep balls.
Yeah, we sure have. We sure have. I certainly think if you want this offense to continue to level up, that would be That'd be great.
One more thing to add, right. Get people out of the box, et cetera.
That you're going to unlock, no doubt. Matt, that'll do it for the show today. That was a lot of fun today. I think we covered a lot of different ground. Always like a Tuesday show. A big shout-out to Mr. TV for producing on the video side of things. For Matt Williamson, I'm Wes Shuler. Take care, everybody, and we will talk to you soon. As always, you know where to find us. That's tomorrow on your 24-7 Home of the Black and Gold. Steelers Nation Radio on the Steelers Audio Network.