Drive10.29.26Hr1: Matt's Stats

0:04 You're tuned to The Drive on your 24-7 home of the black and gold.

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0:34 Good afternoon, Steeler Nation. It's The Drive on the Steelers. Audio Network, Wes Shuler and Matt Williamson with you here for the next two hours on this Thursday as we will fully begin to turn the page to this upcoming tilt. Suddenly, very exciting against the Cleveland Browns on Sunday. Matt, the war of words continues with some of the media stuff.

0:55 I've ignored that as I always do, but I was curious what that's all about. I just saw a headline.

0:59 Jared Verst was talking on Monday, and he was talking again today.

1:03 Okay. He's an intense physical dude. He is, no doubt.

1:07 But he's also a dude without a sack or the TFL, I think, all season.

1:11 I know, I know.

1:11 I mean, come on, Jared Verse. Why don't you let your play do it? Be like Zach Frazier and let your play do your talking. No, don't be like Zach Frazier because then you'd be the best in the world at what you do, and I don't want you to be that good. See what I did there?

1:23 Didn't Cam say something back to him or something?

1:25 Yeah, basically. There's been some back and forth. And, hey, you know what? It's divisional football. This is the way I like it.

1:31 No, there's nothing wrong with that at all.

1:32 Right, right, right.

1:32 I don't want them to be friends.

1:34 And it's very nice. It's very nice of Cleveland to, to kind of fully be carrying their weight in this rivalry where for so long they have lacked in that department, you know, styles make fights and two, two fighters that have been standing in the ring with their hand raised much more often than not. And the Steelers and the Browns, both five and two, this is a, this is a, usually we know how the NFL does it. They like to stack those divisional games. And I think pointing to this fact, Andrew Siciliano, who, of course, I think most people probably know from the NFL Network, but he's also the Browns play-by-play guy. He's the Rob King of the Browns.

2:12 He was on this afternoon in the locker.

2:15 Room with Rob and Max. He does great work, yeah.

2:17 He does, with Rob and Max. Obviously, they know each other from league stuff, and he knows Max. That whole kind of six degrees of separation of everyone who's within the NFL orbit.

2:27 We should grab him next combine.

2:28 We should do that. That'd be a lot of fun. He was basically, he told them that this will be the first, this is the first inter-division matchup that is already playing its second game. I know I didn't say that.

2:40 Oh, is it?

2:40 Okay. This is probably the first rematch of the year.

2:42 It's the first rematch of any divisional matchups. The Steelers and the Browns will be the first two division foes in the league. to have their two games against each other in the books.

2:52 Yeah, okay. I didn't realize that. I guess it is pretty early for that.

2:54 And it is pretty early for that. And normally I think we'd look at that and be a little surprised. And, you know, you save those for later in the year and all that stuff. But, Matt, I don't think this one could be coming at a better time.

3:04 No, I love it. I don't love that it's such an important game and the Steelers are returning from overseas and the Browns aren't.

3:11 It's not the rest.

3:11 It's disadvantage that we often talk about. But I did see some notes that everyone that has done what the Steelers are about to do overseas has lost against the spread. And it's like 0-8 or 0-10 or something like that too. You're not as good as Vegas thinks you are going into the game probably because of that. But in small detail.

3:35 I am psyched about it too. You mentioned Rob. I think Rob mentioned this when he was on with us, but he mentioned it today when we were chatting, doing our video with Missy, that I threw out there, Only the Dolphins have played more rookie snaps than the Browns this year. And last year, I think the Browns might've been even first, but they were at the top of league too. I mean, you got to think about all Mason Graham and all that, you know, that whole draft class fan on and on and on. Yeah. I mean, I guess played a lot for them too, but he made a good point. I think he said it on the drive. That crew is 2-1 against the Steelers. They don't know who the big brother is. They think they're supposed to beat the Steelers. They're not generations of Joe Thomas,

4:15 who's a great player, just getting beat twice a year by the Steelers. You've got to put them back in their place.

4:20 It's like this new generation of Tennessee volunteers that doesn't know that they had to bow down to Alabama for 15 years with Nick Saban there, and all of.

4:28 A sudden things.

4:29 Things change.

4:29 I wasn't around back then.

4:30 Things change very rapidly. And I'm glad you mentioned that, Matt. I actually saw a, uh, a number here from this actually, uh, from Mark Kabaly, who of course I think most people know, but you know, covers, uh, well, I guess technically he covers the Steelers for the Pat McAfee show, right? Uh, Kabaly, uh, tweeted this the other day since 2020. So that's a pretty sizable sample there. Last five years plus this season so far, the Steelers record against the AFC North opponents is including post-season 10 and three against the Baltimore Ravens.

5:03 That I think was, wow. That was the most surprising one.

5:06 I know they've been the most successful team in the league against the Ravens, but I would not have guessed 10 and three.

5:10 The Steelers are also just seven and seven against the Cleveland Browns.

5:13 I would say, are they about 500 against the Browns?

5:15 Uh, seven and seven against Cleveland seven and six against Cincinnati.

5:20 Yeah. Okay. I mean, that's the burrowed Lamar era. You look at that for Baltimore.

5:24 You look at 10-3 against Baltimore and you go, hell yeah.

5:27 Right, right, right, right.

5:28 You look at Cincinnati and you go, for this era, 7-6, we'll take it.

5:32 Yes.

5:33 Cleveland, you're like, 7-7, that should be a little bit better.

5:37 Especially considering their record and they've not been a winning organization over that stretch. Now, I think we know, and this isn't an excuse, most of the wins have been here. Yes. Most of the losses have been there. Yes. All the losses have been there, I guess, come to think of it.

5:51 Correct. Correct. The Browns have not won in Pittsburgh in the regular season.

5:55 In 100 years.

5:56 Since the first year of Heinz Field, now Accresure Stadium.

5:59 Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's the last time the Browns won.

6:02 And I was listening to Pursuit on the morning show this morning. Since the NFL merger, the Browns have won seven times in Pittsburgh.

6:09 That's bonkers.

6:10 That's like 50 years. Yeah, yeah, yeah. They've won seven times in Pittsburgh.

6:14 Since the NFL merger. I can't stress this enough. Ben had more than seven wins in Cleveland.

6:18 Yeah, a lot more.

6:19 A lot more.

6:20 A lot more.

6:21 So where was I going with that? Oh, but I will say I'm sure at least three of those losses in the Browns matchup since 2020 are Thursday night at their place.

6:34 Yes.

6:35 Which, as we just saw a couple weeks ago, is a terrible disadvantage. Doesn't mean you shouldn't have won some of.

6:40 Those games, though. Hey, maybe you make them play Thursday night at our place every once in a while and return the favor.

6:45 Right.

6:46 Or we could just scrap Thursday night football altogether. Different conversation for a different time, one that Matt and I are very lockstep in on together. Matt, so that's kind of our preamble here as we turn the page to Cleveland, and we're going to dig into Matt's stats as we roll along here in the first hour to really start kind of scouting the Browns and setting the scene.

7:06 And real quick in there on Matt's stats, I forget the year, and it's not super important. It's been a million years, but they have not swept the Steelers. In like 20 years.

7:17 I think it's been longer than that.

7:18 I think it's been longer than that.

7:19 I think it was Pursuita said that this morning, too. He might have gotten it from your staff packet.

7:24 He pretends not to look at it, but he lies. The Steelers have swept them 13 times since the Browns swept the Steelers. Just in those two games, not talking about postseason or anything.

7:36 And again, all this stuff makes you feel good as a Steelers fan about the situation you've got on Sunday. But as Matt rightfully said, this is a new ground team.

7:42 But if you lose, all of a sudden it's a new, right, right, right.

7:45 We don't care what those guys in the past did. This is us now.

7:48 Ben who? They didn't play against Roethlisberger.

7:51 Exactly right. Mike Tomlin who?

7:52 Right, exactly. Half of them didn't, right. This is a young team that's feeling themselves. And they're a dangerous team.

7:57 They certainly are. And it would be very good if the Steelers could remind them of the pecking order in the AFC North on Sunday. We'll get to that.

8:04 The Ravens didn't do a good job of it either.

8:06 They did not. They certainly did not. We'll get to all that. We'll dig deeper into that as we roll along here, Matt. But I did. We have to start today with a big NFL news of the day. Kind of the lead story across the league. We talked about it yesterday, how it had already been. You can't really call it a busy trade deadline because that's not until last week. But how the market had already started to heat up on the trade front in the NFL. Some big names like Quentin Nelson and DeForest Buckner had been on the move. Well, a huge name, one that we even speculated briefly on yesterday. Tennessee Titans all-pro defensive tackle Jeffrey Simmons. The Buffalo Bears have made their move. We've speculated about this a lot, too. Could the Bears be

8:47 a team that was going after a Max Crosby or a Sauce Garner or one of these defensive guys that's available? Well, the Bears made their move, a pretty seismic one. Matt Williamson acquiring that all-pro defensive tackle Jeffrey Simmons from the Tennessee Titans. They get in return, the Tennessee Titans, This year and next year's first-round pick of the Chicago Bears.

9:10 2027-2028 first-round picks, plus a 2027 fourth-round pick. The Titans sending back, obviously, Jeffrey Simmons and a 2028 fifth-round pick. So, Matt, the cost of a 27-year-old all-pro defensive line.

9:24 I think he's 29. He turns 30 this summer.

9:27 Okay. Now, he is locked up for a few years. That's important to know.

9:30 You didn't have to pay the signing bonus. That's a nice part of it. You didn't have to pay the.

9:32 Signing bonus, and you're not going to have to re-sign him anytime soon.

9:35 Right. So, so many of these deals are picks, and I got to re-sign him. Yes. Yes. That's a lot.

9:40 But two first-round picks and a day three pick swap, essentially, for the Bears to acquire the talents of Jeffrey Simmons.

9:49 First off, the player. I think he's the best defensive tackle on the planet right now. Okay. And I don't think that's controversial. I'm not sure who number two is. I think he's pretty clearly one. And if he didn't play in like the least seen market of all time on a really nondescript team as NFL goes other than Arizona, I think the world would know that. I mean, he is super impactful run pass in his prime years. And I don't know that Tennessee had to move him. But I thought he was younger than he was. When it popped up today that he's turned 30 over the summer, I was like, oh, I thought he was like 27, 28.

10:23 At that point, did he have to go?

10:27 No.

10:29 But by the time he's– I mean, this sounds crazy considering the city we're in. Maybe he has a Cam Hayward eight more years in him. But that's unlikely. That's not common, folks. probably by the time they're good, he won't be anymore. So it reminds me a lot of the miles Garrett trade, which I think is definitely benefited the Browns. You know what I mean? Like he was the defense player of the year last year. You got basically the same return verse was in the deal. It wasn't exactly the same, but I do think this is an overpay by the bears a little, because I think Tennessee said, you got to blow our doors off for us to do this. And I think the Browns were similar with Garrett. Like, If you want a special player,

11:13 the best player in his position, these guys never hit free agency, you've got to blow our doors off. So they said we'll overpay.

11:21 And I guess real quick, when you think about it that way, Miles Garrett, multiple first-round picks and some other stuff.

11:27 Yeah, yeah.

11:27 Even though they ended up going back on their agreement, Max Crosby, multiple first-round picks.

11:35 That's almost the exact same deal, the Max deal. Originally, I thought maybe it resembled the Quinn and Williams deal. That was a one and a two because Williams is a little younger, but he's a slightly lesser player too. So I'm sure that's what they started with, and then Titans are like, I need more than the Quinn and Williams deal. Cause he's better and we don't really want to trade him. And the bears said, all right, as for the bears, if what I said on a podcast earlier was like, if you asked me three days ago, who I would pick to win the North, I would reluctantly say the bears, but they were my pick. And I think their defense is lacking, but their defensive coordinator, Dennis Allen is superb. And is making a pretty good

12:20 meal out of not great ingredients. And I think the offenses really find themselves with Caleb back. For sure. Now, I'm not saying, I think they're now a Super Bowl caliber team. I'm not saying they're the best team in the league. But I think they have every bit as strong a case as the Niners, Seattle, anybody to win the whole thing. So, you're hoping both these picks are late first rounders.

12:45 Sure.

12:45 But that's easy to say. I mean, the Colts thought they would have late first rounders for sauce too. You know what I mean? All your guys can get hurt next year and it's a fifth pick in the draft. You know, it's still a huge risk.

12:56 It is.

12:57 So Peacock and I on our show went through all the recent trades. Garrett didn't qualify. Quinnen didn't qualify. Neither did Crosby because it didn't go through, but we went through all the sauce did of all the guys that actually got two first round picks in return for them. And, basically nine out of ten you'd rather have the picks okay you know what i mean like it's just it's a lot of eggs in one basket.

13:20 And it feels like it feels like you don't win a super bowl or right go to one.

13:25 Like one of them was matthew stafford and we're like that was a win totally a win yeah yeah one was russell wilson from the not from denver you know i mean like sean watson.

13:35 Sauce doesn't look like a win right now no it looks terrible it's still way too early to say but it's not like miles garrett and there was injury stuff in there too right it's not like he's been blowing the doors off with the rams like.

13:46 I was very much one of them was michael parsons like i'm that one's very similar too and when it happened i'm like good move green bay but he was 25 i mean he's negotiating his first contract he's definitely younger And so far, they haven't gotten enough out of them. No, they haven't. But that's the injury factor. Both my first-round picks aren't going to get injured today. Any player can get hurt tomorrow. That's part of the risk.

14:10 Absolutely.

14:11 But as it stands, I condone it for both teams.

14:15 Oh, I think for Tennessee. Tennessee had to do it.

14:18 It's like the Jets. If you're going to give me all this stuff for Sauce Gardner and Quinn and Williams, and I'm going to have three first-round picks a couple years in a row, that doesn't matter. You can't just keep cashing guys in for picks. Eventually, they were talking about, should we trade Garrett Wilson? So many future picks. Eventually, you've got to win.

14:35 Eventually, you've got to push some chips into the table.

14:37 It's got to turn into guys that are your foundational players.

14:40 No doubt. It is wild, too. I'm sure we will talk about this plenty when we get to combine season and draft season and all that. But it's wild how many teams now have multiple first-round picks across the NFL. The Jets have three.

14:51 In a year that nobody wanted to get rid of them.

14:53 Browns have multiple.

14:54 Titans have multiple now. Brownies.

14:57 Yeah, Browns, Titans, Jets. I forget who the other one is. Was it Falcons?

15:05 Who would they have dealt? There's definitely another one, though.

15:07 The Ty Simpson pick. Wasn't that Atlanta?

15:10 No, that already happened. Yeah, yeah, yeah. The Rams had two. That already happened.

15:14 You're right.

15:15 There's three. TV said there's three that have multiple.

15:17 Yeah, so there's three right now. Cleveland, Tennessee, and the Jets.

15:20 Yes.

15:21 Have seven picks between those three teams in the first round. Wow.

15:25 That's a lot, man. That's a lot. That is a lot. There was one other thing I was going to say, but I don't know. It'll come to me. No big deal.

15:31 It'll come to you when we go to break here. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Let's take our first break of the day, but we're going to continue scouting the Cleveland Browns, beginning to talk about this matchup on Sunday. We're going to dig into Matt's stats as we roll along here in the first hour, a Thursday tradition unlike any other. Wes Shuler, Matt Williamson, just getting started. It's The Drive, Steelers Nation Radio on the Steelers Audio Network.

15:58 And now a word from our sponsor, Bud Light. There's nothing better than the clean, crisp... There's nothing better than the clean, crisp. Uh, what if we just got out of here and grabbed some Bud Lights? But man, we're on air for four more hours.

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16:26 Louis, Missouri.

16:28 I used to have cable internet, but I'm a 100% kind of fan, so I switched to Verizon Fios. It's 100% fiber internet that's super reliable. So I streamed 100% of the NFL draft live with ultra low lag. And after what went down in the first round, still getting video calls from my best friend, rubbing it in that he called all the picks.

16:44 I told you they were building their own line. I win the bet.

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16:55 Get that hot dog costume ready.

16:57 Bruh.

17:01 You're tuned to The Drive on your 24-7 home of the black and gold.

17:05 Steelers Nation Radio.

17:47 Rolling along here on The Drive. It is a beautiful day in western Pennsylvania, Matt. Beautiful week here so far.

17:53 The weather's nuts.

17:54 It's 70-some degrees and sunny. We were just joking. Our buddy Dan Quinlan, Steelers producer and one of the employees here in iHeart and our iHeart family was poking in here, and we were laughing about how the Brewers, of course, won the World Series, and we were like, Could you imagine if there was a World Series parade today or tomorrow on the North Shore in this weather?

18:15 Yeah, yeah, yeah. Pittsburghers have been waiting.

18:17 For so long for the Pirates to be good.

18:19 Right.

18:20 Not only that, but the weather. I mean, you'd be at a World Series parade in shorts in Pittsburgh. Maybe one day, Matt Williamson. I hope I get to see it one day. I would love to. I've been very spoiled as a football fan and a hockey fan in this town. It would be nice if the baseball team would be fantastic.

18:34 It would certainly be good for the city.

18:38 Maybe one day.

18:39 Congrats to the Brewers, by the way. I don't ever watch baseball, but I've watched a couple World Series games. I had the whole one on last night while I was doing football stuff. Matt's that stuff. Yeah. And I was rooting for him. I'm like, that town deserves one. Yeah, right.

18:51 Yeah. Quick aside. And then we're going to jump into Matt's stats here because you just made me think of something. I... I felt obligated to have the World Series games on. I wasn't sitting there locked into it.

19:02 I know.

19:02 I feel like I'm a bad human being if I don't put on the World Series.

19:05 Baseball is a good background noise sport because when something happens, you can turn and, oh, what's going on?

19:10 Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, there's a home run.

19:12 Oh, it's the eighth inning in a tie game and two outs and there's a guy on first and second.

19:15 I should watch this situationally.

19:18 But I also felt compelled to just have the games on because– I think we've talked about this before. The whole, oh, it's Tampa Bay and Milwaukee. It's two small markets. No one's going to watch. It's not the Dodgers and the Yankees. It's not the Red Sox and the San Francisco Giants.

19:34 Yeah, Dodgers.

19:35 Bleep off with all that. I hate it when people do that stuff. Oh, football's better when the Cowboys are good. Oh, you know, baseball's better when the Yankees are good. No, it's not. It's better for the national media and it's better for jabronis who normally don't care about it.

19:50 It's not better for the game. It might get more eyeballs on it.

19:53 Which is not better for the game.

19:55 The networks don't want those two teams.

19:57 It's better for the suits that sell the games. I don't give a rip about the suits who sell the games.

20:03 Fox or NBC or whatever wants Dodgers, Yankees.

20:05 College football is better when Notre Dame is good.

20:08 No, it's not.

20:09 It's better for the networks. That doesn't mean anything for us. Your pocketbooks aren't getting fatter if Notre Dame is good or if Alabama is good or Texas is good or the Yankees or... The Dodgers aren't in the World Series. No one's going to watch. Who cares?

20:23 And we've heard about the Raiders forever, too. And they've been terrible for three decades, and I think the league's been just fine, and I've enjoyed the league just as much.

20:30 The Cowboys, there hasn't been another team in the NFC that has as long of an NFC championship game drought as the Cowboys.

20:37 The Cowboys, right.

20:37 Cowboys haven't been to an NFC championship game since I was just getting out of diapers, Matt Williamson. Wow. I think the NFL's doing just fine without them.

20:44 I think they're excelling, yeah.

20:46 Spare me with that it's not better for the game it's better for the networks that sell the game and need the eyeballs and the revenue on it sure but that doesn't affect me or you and stop pocket watching for the suits that it does all right i'll get off my soapbox i'll open up my stat booklet here into matt's stats as we get ready for a big matchup between the steelers and the browns haven't been able to say that many times without it being tongue-in-cheek but it is certainly true on Sunday. And Matt, I think this one, people are really going to like, I know you tweeted this out earlier. The Browns have had four defensive backs on the field for five.

21:21 This is one I really want to harp on.

21:22 Yeah. Okay, perfect. Let's do it. The Browns have had four defensive backs on the field for 5.2, just 5.2% of their snaps. Not only is that lowest in the league, but it is by a comfortable margin. The next closest is Seattle at about 12%.

21:36 Yeah.

21:37 So there are teams that, Seattle's perfect. I mean, the Bills have been this way. And we've prefaced some games where this team wants to live in nickel. They live in nickel. That's 80%, though. I mean, you're still goal line situations. There's still times where you have to get big in general. And one of the big reasons that particularly McVay really instituted that 13 personnel that was sweeping the, but all of a sudden it's calmed down. is let's get people into heavier personnel. Let's get them into things that they don't want to be. Let's draw people into the box. Well, the Browns have taken it to a new level. I mean, they always have five defensive backs on the field. Like I said, they face as many

22:20 third and ones and goal line situations probably as anybody else. It's just how they choose to play. And some of it, like at all teams though, they drafted McNeil Warren, the safety out of Toledo in the second round, who's a big bodied, but There's Derwin Jameses and Hamiltons out there, too. They're not the only team with a safety. Eamon Warrie's another one. That's why that helps you be a nickel that much because you have a big-bodied safety. Be your fifth guy. It's not Mike Hilton. But we know how the Steelers want to play. And they've really embraced bully ball.

22:55 And with the wide receiver injuries, we're seeing rightfully so, and I praise them for it.

23:00 We talked about this with Rob King yesterday.

23:01 Exactly. Less 11 to begin with. It just so happens, which is probably a coincidence, that as you prep for Browns, you're coming off the game that you instituted a sixth offensive lineman. You know, like, if I'm the Steelers, I might do one receiver at times, two. Like, I rarely want to have three receivers on the field. Now, that's easy to say. I mean, if you get down 14 late in the game and it's pass, pass, pass, I mean, everything's out the window, of course. Side note, just kind of dawned on me. It's in there. The Browns are ridiculously slow starters this year. I think them and the Titans have not had a first quarter lead. It's in the first group of bullet points in there. I found that late. I can't remember what it is, but they're

23:51 really slow starters.

23:53 The Browns have been tied or behind in the fourth quarter of every game they've played this season. You can only say that about the Browns and oddly enough, their last opponent, the Tennessee Titans.

24:02 Yeah. I think there's something also about starting slow in the first quarter to the first quarter. Slow.

24:07 The Browns have been outscored 58 to 13 in the first quarter. That's the worst first quarter differential in the league. And then Matt, which is nuts.

24:14 They've been five and two. They're getting killed in the first quarter and they've, barely have had a lead in the fourth quarter and they're five and two this.

24:22 Is wild they've held the lead for just 20.5 percent of their offensive plays.

24:28 Very low yeah.

24:29 Less than a fourth of the time they've snapped the ball on offense have they had a lead with a lead but they're five and.

24:33 Two but they're five and if we they're on the razor's edge.

24:36 Said that about the cardinals or the titans it wouldn't surprise it like oh that adds up but a five and two team that's crazy there's.

24:41 A lot of stuff like that like all their wins are by three points you know and like When they lose, they lose bad. They're really on the razor's edge. And your record's your record. But just in terms of strategy, that kind of just popped up in my brain last night is, wow, they're a nickel all the time. Again, a distant first in that regard. And the Steelers are big.

25:07 I wouldn't be trotting a Roman Wilson out there if he was available even for this game. And they're not. So I'm going to be in 12th. I'd be in sixth offensive line. I want them to either say, we don't want to, but we have to put our base package on the field, or we're going to try to live in nickel and just try to push them around.

25:29 Absolutely. I knew you'd want to get into that one, and that one makes a lot of sense. And don't play into the Browns' strengths. Make them play left-handed a little bit. Make them get bigger on defense.

25:42 That means they're taking somebody off the field they don't want to.

25:44 Exactly right. And it's probably where the Steelers are having their most success now. So play your strength to their weakness.

25:50 And it was also really successful when Anderson was on the field, particularly in the run game. I think they ran like 10 out of his 12 snaps and averaged like seven yards a carry or something.

25:58 That's pretty good.

25:59 And these guys are better than the Saints, don't get me wrong. But why not stick with it? You already implemented it.

26:04 I'll take seven yards per carry.

26:06 Yeah.

26:06 All day. Matt, I did want to follow up before we move on. it was 1988. The last time the Browns swept the Steelers in a regular season.

26:14 Yeah.

26:15 Okay.

26:16 1988. I was minus three years old. Aaron Rogers was four years old. The last time the Browns swept the Steelers in a season.

26:24 It's funny. Cause on there, we don't ever talk about it much, but there's a series history. So I always go to like Steelers Browns history and you look at it all. And I'm like, I wonder how, when the last time they swept them, I just kept counting. I'm like, not that year, not that year, not that year. And then I counted back up. I'm like, I think there was 13 times the Steelers swept them since the Browns swept the Steelers. That's only two games.

26:47 That's only two games, man. I mean, you'd think they would have.

26:49 Just— You couldn't have won two of them over that since 88?

26:51 It is pretty wild. It is pretty wild.

26:54 I just got my driver's license.

27:01 Yes, it is certainly— some of those numbers are very, very surprising. Matt, the Steelers, minus four sack differential on the year. That's something we've talked about. We need to get moving in the right direction.

27:13 Yes, bothers me.

27:15 Good news, though, Browns are minus five, so they've struggled in that regard. Deshaun Watson's been sacked 25 times. Aaron Rodgers has been sacked 22 times. That's one and two overall in the national football league.

27:26 The two most sacked quarterbacks in the league. And Watson's a pretty distant first. He loves taking sacks. You see the new Caleb Williams in that regard. He is. He really is. And I don't think their line's terrible. I definitely don't think the Steelers' line's terrible. I think these are more quarterback stats, especially in Cleveland, than they are, you know, they can't block anybody.

27:47 At least Aaron Rodgers is 42 and has a 40-year-old's decline in mobility.

27:52 Yeah, I mean, the mobility is really well. And they are moving him around on purpose. But he holds the ball. He doesn't feel it. A lot of his quarterback-y stuff looks better on paper than it does watching the game. I mean, like, Again, he's living on the razor's edge, too. He's still an effective playmaker as a runner. He gets like 20 yards a game, which is way more than nothing.

28:14 I mean, that influences the game a lot. It's a couple extra first downs. They'll design runs for him. And for whatever reason, I give him credit, when the clock hits a two-minute warning in the first half or at the end of games, he has the best numbers in the league. From two minutes till the end of the half is through the roof. He has all these comebacks everybody's heard about. But for whatever reason, maybe it's just hurry up, his friend. I don't know what it is.

28:39 Is he unusually clutch all of a sudden? Chances are he's lucky. I mean, to be honest, chances are it's just probably a fluke. When the season's over and you've got 17 games to evaluate, he'll probably be the 12th best in that weird metric. But that struck me. I'm like, how are they doing this? But the end of the halves, he's been on fire. But the rest of the game, you know. Interesting.

29:02 Interesting.

29:03 He misses a lot of throws. He's not on time a lot.

29:07 You've got to make life a little more difficult for him than you did that Thursday night in Cleveland. Not that Deshaun Watson had it easy that Thursday night in Cleveland, but a couple early sacks, and I think that would go a long way. But that is interesting that he's had that success, not just at one period in the final two minutes or not a middle eight there or anything like that, but the last two minutes of each half.

29:31 Of each half. He's been the best quarterback in the league.

29:33 Plenty more that I want to dig into in the stats packet here, namely one of the things that Matt and I harped on plenty this offseason that we've got now some some real data to uh to sink our teeth into i'll tell you what that is when we return on the other side euler and williamson it is the drive steelers nation radio on the steelers audio network.

29:57 And now a word from our sponsor bud light There's nothing better than the clean, crisp... There's nothing better than the clean, crisp. Uh, what if we just got out of here and grabbed some Bud Lights? But man, we're on air for four more hours.

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30:27 I used to have cable internet, but I'm a 100% kind of fan, so I switched to Verizon Fios. It's 100% fiber internet that's super reliable. So I streamed 100% of the NFL draft live with ultra low lag. And after what went down in the first round, still getting video calls from my best friend, rubbing it in that he called all the picks.

30:43 I told you they were building their own line. I win the bet.

30:47 Get 100% fiber internet with Verizon Fios, because when it comes to your team, it's 100% or nothing. Call 1-833-VERIZON to switch today.

30:54 Get that hot dog costume ready.

30:56 Bruh.

30:59 You're tuned to The Drive on your 24-7 home of the black and gold.

31:03 Steelers Nation Radio.

31:48 Rolling along here with Matt's stats. Matt, two pieces of housekeeping before we jump back into the stats packet here, okay? The first, we have a longtime loyal listener not only of this program but of Steelers Nation Radio in general, our buddy James DeSantis, who we've met a few times out at training camp. Today is his 19th birthday.

32:08 Cool.

32:08 So I wanted to give a big happy birthday to James. And, hey.

32:12 You'll have to introduce me next camp.

32:13 I do need to introduce you next camp. Last year as a teenager, make it count.

32:18 All right.

32:18 Oh, these are best years of your life, dude.

32:20 Last year as a teenager. Make it count. And hopefully the Steelers get a big win on Sunday to put a bow on a great birthday weekend for James. So a big shout out, a big happy 19th birthday to our buddy James. The second thing is we just for two minutes referenced the World Series in our previous segment.

32:37 Did you know that Bryce Wilson, Peyton Wilson's older brother, just won the World Series with the Milwaukee Brewers?

32:44 No.

32:45 I did not know that either.

32:46 No, I didn't. I didn't know he had a brother.

32:49 Jared on Twitter pointed that out. Milwaukee Brewers relief pitcher Bryce Wilson.

32:56 Wow.

32:58 Is the, I'm trying, let's see here, older brother.

33:00 I say, is he older?

33:01 Older brother of Peyton Wilson.

33:03 Okay. He may have even... Betting games that I never would have known, right?

33:06 Yeah, that's wild.

33:07 I'm surprised we don't know that.

33:10 Same here. That's the first time I've ever heard this. And I'm surprised. I figured that would be one of those things that when Peyton Wilson was drafted.

33:16 Right, right, right. Brothers in the league.

33:18 His brother plays professional baseball.

33:20 I mean, I even knew, like, Smith the Jigba's brother was a Pirate.

33:22 I was going to say, he played for the Pirates. Yeah, actually, Bryce Wilson did play for the Pirates for one year back in 2021, it looks like.

33:31 So Peyton wouldn't have been here yet.

33:32 So he wouldn't have been here yet. He would have still been in college.

33:34 But the Wilsons are familiar with the Bergs.

33:36 I think the Wilsons are familiar with the Berg, certainly, and they're certainly familiar with raising some professional athletes. Some families just get all the time.

33:42 I know. It's unbelievable.

33:43 I tell you. But that's pretty cool. Congrats to Peyton Wilson's older brother.

33:47 That's cool.

33:49 For winning a World Series with the Brewers. And I'm sure those two will celebrate accordingly at some point whenever Peyton has the opportunity.

33:57 Heck, yeah.

33:58 Matt, let's jump back into your stats packet here. I kind of teased it at the end of last segment, but one of the things that we spend a bunch of time harping on this offseason, we do that every offseason, we talk about the things where we want to see, where we need to see the Steelers improve.

34:13 You mentioned sack differential needs to get better.

34:15 Sack differential is something we always talk about, explosive play differential, yards per carry, average yards per rush.

34:22 That was two summers ago we were really harping on that.

34:24 Two summers ago we were really harping on that.

34:25 This year it finally got corrected.

34:27 And it sure did this year. So far, so good. One of the other things that we discussed plenty this offseason was the Steelers, by a pretty wide margin, had the worst fourth quarter defense in the NFL.

34:38 I feel like I couldn't bring it up enough, and I felt like I brought it up every day.

34:41 Talked about it a ton. The Steelers, after having the league's worst fourth quarter defense by a wide margin in 2025... The Steelers have not allowed a second-half touchdown now for four straight games, and only the Vikings have allowed fewer points in the second half of games than the Pittsburgh Steelers.

34:59 How about that?

35:00 That might shock people.

35:00 That's turning a weakness into a strength.

35:03 You're like the best in the league now.

35:04 That's not just improving and getting back to league average. That is turning a weakness into a strength.

35:08 Not that they were listening to us, but I guarantee the McCarthy group took the job Maybe probably took a little more analytical approach. What have been issues here? Because their offseason moves really implied they understood that the fourth quarter defense was a big problem. And obviously Omar and Andy and those guys were here and had to recognize it too. I don't know if they recognized that it was all-time bad, but they had to realize this isn't going so well in the fourth quarter. Time of possession is way better. I think that's a huge key to it.

35:42 And I think it also ties in with McCarthy trying to keep people fresh. I mean, he's trying to do it for the course of the season, but also for the course of the game. You know, guys like Cam and TJ are playing fewer snaps and at more opportune times. I mean, I know some people get ticked off, you know, that Travion Henderson run. Why is Sawyer out there? Okay, that's one play, you know. you can't just play Watt and Hayward every snap. And when something bad goes wrong, you can't just blame them. Well, why weren't they out there?

36:14 I mean, it's stark difference. I mean, just reading that is stark difference.

36:19 That was very encouraging to me. There's always some stuff in this packet that's encouraging. There's always some stuff in this packet that's like, ooh, that's not great.

36:25 Doesn't sting. Yeah, it stings a little bit.

36:26 That to me is, you like to see that. You love to see that. And that has become not just something the Steelers have improved upon, but it's become a real strength.

36:34 Yeah. And you hope it keeps up and all that good stuff, too. It also implies that Graham changes as the game goes on, which he's been known to do, that the teams have a less bead on what you're doing schematically, which I definitely think is true. Totally.

36:51 Matt, also with that Steelers defense, the Steelers now have 11 takeaways. That is fifth most in the National Football League to this point. Steelers plus four in turnover differential. Browns are dead even.

37:04 So.

37:05 Let's hope that the Steelers can notch another victory in that department. So sack differential, turnover differential, and a strong fourth quarter defense to kind of set the scene here. I also found this very interesting, Matt. Yeah, I got one too. Not only are these two defenses doing well in second halves, Brown's defense, most tackles for loss in the league with 46.

37:33 Yeah.

37:35 Stealers second with 43.

37:37 Which really isn't much different than a sack so i mean you're putting the offense backwards while eating up and down yes you know exactly right yeah that was the one i wanted to mention um so think about this they're pretty good at stealer defense pretty good at taking the ball away yes yeah not the.

37:54 Best but pretty good 11 and seven games.

37:56 Yeah pretty good at sacks not the best but pretty good but you're the Second best in tackles for loss. And there's where I was going to go before. You're number one yet again at batted passes at the line of scrimmage. And you're number one in PBUs, pass breakups. So think about how much the Steelers, just with the batted passes and PBUs, you don't take the ball away, but you touch the football.

38:26 Sure.

38:26 More than any other defense by far in the league.

38:28 Sure.

38:28 I mean, if you're number one in pass breakups and batted passes, well, there's nobody catching you when you combine those things. It's a lot of negative plays that not everyone picks up on in the box score. Like, oh, you only had two sacks, you only had one takeaway. Yeah, but we had six PBUs and we batted two more passes down, too.

38:48 Yep, and we got off the field on a fourth down where they were going for it.

38:52 Yeah, and if you're... Who knows what will happen? I don't have a crystal ball. But if I'm getting– if defenders on this defense are consistently and better than any defense in the league touching the football, that probably is going to turn into turnover.

39:05 Yes.

39:05 Cam's going to bat one up. It's going to be straight up in the air. Queen's going to pick it off. That hasn't happened yet. But tips and overthrows, that's usually how interceptions happen.

39:13 Matt, I meant to tell you this.

39:15 People don't look at this defense in that light yet.

39:16 They don't.

39:17 It's like they don't let up fourth– and no one's doing anything in the second half. Other than that, defense is terrible. Overpaid.

39:26 Catching the ball with nobody around.

39:27 Right.

39:28 Almost overpaid defensively.

39:30 Jeez.

39:31 Pay attention.

39:34 I meant to tell you this yesterday, and I forgot. Quick aside. You'll be proud of me. We do our WVU show on Tuesday nights, and WVU won in TCU on Saturday. Went down to Fort Worth and beat TCU. 24-20, and we were outgained by the Horned Frogs by almost 200 yards.

39:53 Wow.

39:53 And so there was a lot of conversation.

39:54 So there had to be other stuff.

39:55 How do you win a game, a close game, when you're almost outgained?

39:58 Go to ESPN.com and you look at the box score, like, how did I ever win this game?

40:02 Each team had one turnover, so it's not like there was something crazy there.

40:04 It wasn't minus four or anything.

40:06 But I was like, guys, TCU had 42 more penalty yards than WVU. WVU had like 36 more return yards in the game. And WVU forced a twice TCU went for fourth downs and didn't go for four. So I'm like, that's how you win a game when you're out gained by almost 200 yards.

40:23 You wouldn't shock me if TCU missed a kick too, or, you know, whatever.

40:26 You get, you get, you get yards back in the penalty margins, you get yards back in special teams margins, and you have a couple of fourth down plays that go your way.

40:33 Yards a yard on the field. I don't care how I do it. I don't care if Derek Henry runs over your linebacker and gets two extra yards or I get two extra yards because of a return. Yep. Yeah.

40:43 It's all the same. It's all the same in the end.

40:46 The goals get closer to the goal line.

40:48 You mentioned this earlier. Just wanted to follow up on it with you with the exact numbers. The Browns rookies have played 1,689 snaps already.

40:58 Yes.

40:58 That is second most in the NFL, only behind the Miami Dolphins.

41:02 Dolphins shouldn't shock anybody.

41:03 Shouldn't shock anybody.

41:05 Well, they're both by design, but yes.

41:07 Steelers rookies have played just a shade under 1,000 snaps, 989. That's 10th most.

41:13 See, I didn't see that one coming. You know, like on draft day, I would have been like, they're not going to be top 10 in rookie stats.

41:18 I would say it's probably important to note that neither of these teams have had their bye week yet. Some teams have, but... I.

41:23 Always try to be conscious of that through Matt. As soon as the bye weeks start, just a lot of things I won't be like, well, they scored more touchdowns than anyone else. Well, yeah, you've had your bye. So especially offense, defense stuff, I'll start breaking it down this time of year by game or by drive, not by...

41:41 cumulative stats because it's a big deal if you played six games and i paid seven i mean a ton but the rookie snap stuff i think holds up you know i'm like maybe the browns will be third when it's all said and done but they're at the top of the league in rookie snaps and i'm almost certain and this 100 adds up i think they were first last year judkins fan and especially graham schwessinger on and on and on Sanders. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

42:07 And didn't Dylan Gabriel play a game or two?

42:10 Yeah, yeah, yeah. These two classes are the foundation of the team. And it's actually going pretty well for them.

42:17 Two more things that I wanted to.

42:19 Side note, Tennessee should look at it and be like, we need to do what the Browns did. Now they both need or have to find or they don't have Elway or Josh Allen either. We've got to see what their quarterback situation is, but We traded Miles Garrett. We did all these picks. We're winning the division. Why can't we trade Simmons and do the same thing? And maybe we already have a quarterback.

42:43 And we take those 60 snaps a game that Jeffrey Simmons is playing and we give 20 more to this guy and 15 more to that guy and we start to see what we have.

42:51 Yeah, yeah, yeah. But string two or three good draft classes together with all your picks. Like the Jets are trying to do.

42:57 Goes an absolutely long way. Matt, two more things that I wanted to touch on with you here. uh, in this stat packet exercise, the Browns allow the fourth fewest receiving yards per game to running backs.

43:09 Yeah.

43:10 So that's good. That's one of those, you know, this might not be the week. Listen, Jalen Warren's still going to make plays out of the backfield. That's what he does, but this might not be the week to lean on that as much as you have in the past.

43:21 And Rico made was a big deal in the receiving care category. It was almost 50% of the Steelers catches against the saints were those two. which isn't ideal. You'd rather be driving the ball down the field, of course. But my matchup today when the Steelers had the ball was Warren and Rico against their two linebackers. And the easy low-hanging fruit is, well, you know, Steelers need to run the ball and it's the linebacker's job. The four linebackers in this game are four of the fastest linebackers in the league and cover a ton of ground. Schlesinger's a star. But dealing with the backs in the receiving game, I think, is a big deal for both teams. Not that it favors one or the others, but as you mentioned,

44:03 the Browns are really good at it.

44:04 Yes, they are. Last one, Matt, and I don't like this. I want to see it change. Pat Friermuth has just four catches over his last two games.

44:13 I almost didn't put that in there because I don't think he was 100% last week.

44:18 Now that is a fair point.

44:19 Yeah, you know, and he may have gotten dinged up in the two games before that.

44:22 Popped up on the injury report.

44:24 Yeah, I couldn't quite remember what his injury timeline is, but there's something there. But still, it's a pretty low number.

44:33 It's a pretty low number.

44:33 Yeah, yeah.

44:34 And there's always rhyme and reason, but I would like to see him involved this week as a big part of the game plan.

44:40 Some of it's because Darnell's.

44:41 And some of it is also, too.

44:42 They kind of infatuate with him, too, which is a good problem.

44:45 Aren't we all, baby? Just remember, in Pittsburgh, he's Mount Washington. But in Paris, he's the Eiffel Tower. Hour in the books. Another hour to go.

44:53 I've got to call you out. Okay. I was getting coffee a minute ago.

44:56 Okay. Uh-oh.

44:57 I was looking at Twitter.

44:58 Oh, no.

44:59 And somebody that seemed pretty knowledgeable said, Hey man, tell WVU that it's not Notre Dame. It's Notre Dame.

45:08 I know.

45:08 Okay.

45:10 Somebody tweeted me yesterday and said, you kept calling old miss old miss. Listen, two things. One, I'm not, I'm not a scholar. Okay.

45:20 I know we talk for a living, but that doesn't mean we're wordsmiths or a thesaurus over here. If we were wordsmiths, we'd be.

45:28 Writing books and dissertations and theses.

45:33 That works for me. Something like that.

45:35 We just make up words. We do it as we go here. Yeah, Notre Dame.

45:41 Norton. Nor am I a geography major or an architecture major.

45:45 Someone also.

45:45 But you were just in the building.

45:47 I wasn't.

45:49 Literally.

45:50 To be fair.

45:50 Literally and figuratively, to be fair. I also have a buddy from college that works for Ole Miss that would not be happy for me calling them Old Miss.

45:59 I'm actually shocked you made that mistake. I mean, you're a college football guy. I am.

46:02 You're saying a thousand words a minute.

46:05 Right.

46:05 You know, and it's, listen. All right, no excuses. Play like a champion. Cut your eyelids off. We'll get better.

46:09 Heck yeah.

46:10 Remember, someone came at me earlier in the season for calling the Jaguars the Jaguars.

46:16 Oh, I do that all the time.

46:17 That's a stealer.

46:17 That's a Pittsburgh thing.

46:18 That's also, too. That's just a dialect thing. A lot of it is.

46:21 Don't be a Jag.

46:22 Listen, but you know what? Even though I'm a product of my environment, I want my environment to be a product of me. Hour in the books, another hour to go. We love it. We love the feedback, as always. It's always good, because that's how you know people are listening.

46:36 Yeah, right.

46:36 If no one was telling you that you were a dingus.

46:39 We're all dingus from time to time.

46:40 That means no one's listening. It's The Drive, Steelers Nation Radio on the Steelers Audio Network.

46:50 And now a word from our sponsor, Bud Light. There's nothing better than the clean crisp. There's nothing better than the clean crisp. Uh, what if we just got out of here and grabbed some Bud Lights? But man, we're on air for four more hours.

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47:18 Louis, Missouri.

47:19 I used to have cable internet, but I'm a 100% kind of fan, so I switched to Verizon Fios. It's 100% fiber internet that's super reliable. So I streamed 100% of the NFL draft live with ultra low lag. And after what went down in the first round, still getting video calls from my best friend, rubbing it in that he called all the picks.

47:36 I told you they were building their own line. I win the bet.

47:39 Get 100% fiber internet with Verizon Fios, because when it comes to your team, it's 100% or nothing. Call 1-833-VERIZON to switch today.

47:46 Get that hot dog costume ready.

47:48 Bruh.