Drive10.9.26Hr1: Previewing the Colts

0:03 You're tuned to The Drive on your 24-7 home of the black and gold.

0:07 Steelers Nation Radio.

0:23 Good afternoon, Steelers Nation. It's The Drive on the Steelers Audio Network here on a Friday. Wes Shuler, Matt Williamson fired up for a big one. on Sunday as we approach the end of the week.

0:35 It's been a beautiful week here in Pittsburgh.

0:38 The weather report for Sunday doesn't quite echo that sentiment.

0:41 Supposed to be kind of nasty, right?

0:43 Like cats and dogs.

0:44 Really?

0:44 Okay.

0:45 The good news, and Matt, I should probably find some wood to knock on as I say this. I was going to say, if I was Craig Wolfley, I would have just tapped my head. It's not supposed to be like thunder and lightning bad. good like delay the.

0:57 Game nobody i mean no you you folks need to like close it down at least it's not a road game.

1:02 At least it's not a road game but it's still not fun um but i think it's supposed to be like torrential downpour so all the best to our guy tv who's going to be on the sideline he'll be fine all the best to missy matthews who we're going to talk to here in like 10 15 minutes because they'll be down in it um but it is who do we think that favors That's a good question.

1:21 See, the thing people don't think about that I always think about first with sloppy tracks is get off for pass rushers.

1:27 Sure.

1:27 It really slows down pass rushers. I mean, you just don't dig your cleats in the same way.

1:31 Which would hamper the Steelers.

1:32 Which would definitely hamper the Steelers. In that regard. I mean, there's even numbers. The Steelers... edge guys have, like, the best get-off in the league.

1:39 Yeah, yeah, yeah.

1:40 And that's definitely something they've always.

1:41 Kind of limits your advantage in that regard.

1:43 Yeah, and I always think about who are the Jerome Bettis, Mudder, running back type, too.

1:47 Yeah, Jonathan Taylor's kind of one of those guys.

1:49 And I think Warren's probably fine, too. He's built low to the ground, and you know what I mean? I'm sure Rodgers has done it a lot. I mean, he had to have played... I mean, he obviously played a lot of bad weather in Lambeau, but, I mean, he has had a lot of rain games.

2:00 Yeah, and obviously guys like T.J.

2:01 Watt and Cam Hayward and Alex Highsmith that have been in the division for a long time, they've played in some nasty elements.

2:07 Oh, yeah.

2:07 But you're right. But if it's pouring, pouring. If it's pouring, watch out. And the weather's supposed to be okay on Saturday, but Pitt has a home game on Saturday as well. So keep that in mind. Bill Belichick coming to town this weekend, albeit not to play on Sunday, but to play on Saturday. Bill's going to be on the sideline ripping holes in the dirt. He's going to be telling all his guys to clog the bathrooms.

2:30 The field probably would have been bad to begin with, and then it pours on top of it.

2:35 It's not a.

2:36 I don't think it'll be bad, but it's going to be affected by the pit game.

2:39 I don't envy the grounds crew and the job that they.

2:42 Have at them this weekend.

2:43 No, but it's just going to influence the game more than I maybe give it credit for.

2:46 No doubt, no doubt.

2:47 And so hopefully, like I said, the good news is I don't think it's going to have anything that could affect... weather delays or stoppages to the game but it could uh certainly have a massive effect elsewhere it's it's uh it's been a while since we've had one of those games uh to that extent a couple years ago against the Arizona Cardinals I remember there was a delay in that game that one was speaking of Wolf that one was funny it's maybe the only time we've uh had a I don't know, an easier time filling during a delay because what we did was we went over to the Arizona Cardinals booth and grabbed Ron Wolfley out of there.

3:18 Oh, I do remember this story.

3:19 Right.

3:19 It just happened. Brother Wolf was next door.

3:22 Everyone kind of has their different radio networks and how they do things and setups. And, you know, you're kind of there's parameters, I think, of what you're allowed to do and things like that. But you can you can do your pregame show from the stadium. You can do it from the studio, you know, stuff like that. The way that Arizona does it, basically, is I think they have people in studio all time, so if there's a delay, instead of staying in the booth, they throw it back to the studio.

3:46 Oh, so Ron didn't have to do anything.

3:48 So Ron Wolfley didn't have to do anything, but you don't break, Matt, because think about this.

3:53 You've got dozens of- There's no commercials?

3:56 No commercials. You've got dozens of radio affiliates that are all running off of automation in their systems and their radio stations.

4:03 Okay, you're talking a little over my head, but okay.

4:04 A little over your head.

4:05 Right.

4:05 But- The stations in Elwood city that carry the Steelers broadcast, like not 102.5 DVE, but all the other dozens around Western Pennsylvania.

4:13 Yeah. Yeah.

4:13 Okay. I'm following you.

4:14 They're all automated. So they've got all their breaks. Say there's 20 breaks in the course of a broadcast.

4:20 And they're going to happen at X time, no matter what.

4:22 Well, they've got it built in. So they have those 20 breaks in automation. So they, so we can't just add radio breaks because it screws up all the affiliates and all the timing and everything.

4:32 I'm still not quite following, but okay.

4:34 It's kind of, you know, back end dork stuff.

4:36 Yeah.

4:37 Basically during that.

4:38 But the sponsors still get their ads in when the game comes back on.

4:46 When everyone's listening.

4:47 Okay.

4:47 Not during a lightning delay when everyone's.

4:50 Doing something else.

4:51 I'm going to walk away for a while.

4:52 That's the real kind of, those commercials were sold to play in certain spots.

4:56 Okay. I want it at this time when everyone's doing kick, an opening kickoff when everyone's listening.

5:01 So the way that we did it was basically we gave Billy Hillgrove a break because you don't want him on air that long.

5:07 I wouldn't think.

5:08 So Pursuita came in with Wolf and we pulled Max up from the booth, from the sideline. So those, so Pursuita.

5:15 And Wolf and Max, Because you knew it was going to be a long one.

5:17 For 70 minutes, have to sit there and talk and kill time.

5:19 And figure something out.

5:20 And so we figured out maybe 15, 20 minutes into it.

5:23 Being baseball would be the worst.

5:24 The worst.

5:24 Because they get them all the time.

5:25 All the time.

5:26 They get them all the time.

5:27 There's a million games, right?

5:28 And especially where their schedule is, like a lot of stuff early in the spring when the weather's still volatile. A lot of stuff in the fall when the weather gets volatile for baseball.

5:35 Yeah, yeah.

5:36 But what we realized, you know, maybe, I.

5:37 Don't know, 10, 15, 20 minutes into the broadcast was that Arizona's booth, they had thrown it back to their studio. So they were good.

5:43 They were just sitting there just with their feet up doing nothing.

5:45 So Dan Quinlan and I went in and we were like, Ron, would you please come on with the guys? And he's like, you know, he's just like Craig. He's, you know, they're both chip off the old block. He's like, oh, no problem, brother.

5:54 Let's do it.

5:55 He went in for like a half an hour and they told old stories.

5:57 It was just the two of them like Thanksgiving dinner. I think Pursuit and Max probably didn't say anything for like 20 minutes. Yeah.

6:04 That's a perfect team to be in.

6:06 So that was kind of a cool moment. And I think especially in hindsight now, it's a it's a cool memory.

6:11 That is a cool.

6:12 But let's hope that we don't have to worry about filling any time on Sunday.

6:14 No doubt.

6:15 OK. I would also think a dome team wouldn't love that. Particularly the kicker.

6:20 That's another good point by you.

6:21 Yeah, yeah, yeah.

6:21 Absolutely.

6:22 Kicking comes into effect hugely.

6:23 Immediately, yeah.

6:24 You think everything in kind of the pass game and the pass rush certainly affected. And if both of these teams have to lean on their run game, Matt, I think they could do worse. I think both of these teams are certainly capable in that regard.

6:36 It might force this... Sometimes great inventions come from necessity.

6:41 The mother of necessity, right?

6:42 That's where I was kind of thinking with the Steelers standpoint.

6:44 You can't throw, so let's just keep running and running and running. And boy, this works. Let's stick with it.

6:48 Instead of throwing 66%, 67%, 68% of the time, now maybe you're going to have to run it that much.

6:54 Yeah.

6:55 And maybe that ends up working, and maybe that's a big benefit for your young offensive line.

6:59 Maybe you want to be under center more because the ball snapping and, hey, under center has been good. Let's stick with it.

7:04 Yep.

7:04 So, again.

7:07 Sometimes these setbacks can be a blessing in disguise.

7:10 Yeah, yeah.

7:11 And I think especially for this Steelers run game, maybe that's the silver lining of all this potential weather that we're looking at on Sunday.

7:19 I knew it was that bad. I knew it was supposed to rain.

7:21 I didn't realize it was like poor. I think it's supposed to pour.

7:24 Tomorrow's supposed to be nice. I'm supposed to mow the lawn.

7:27 Tomorrow's supposed to be pretty good. I think a little overcast, but still pretty good here. So we'll keep an eye on it Sunday, 82% chance of rain, uh, throughout the afternoon there.

7:40 And so, uh, I mean, geez, it's coming and coming.

7:45 They're, they're talking, you know, potential like inches of rain and some wind that's going to come with it as well too. So that is obviously something that is going to affect game time unless that changes. Uh, but we will, You know, kind of continue to monitor that, obviously, as we get closer to game time. But it is a big one, Matt, for the Pittsburgh Steelers here. Week five, you are two and two right now. Needless to say, there is a huge difference, I think, just perception wise and in reality between three and two and two and three.

8:15 Yeah, I think so.

8:16 Especially considering all three of those losses would be AFC conference losses.

8:19 Yeah, I was just about to say the same thing. Like, you know, one of your wins is against the Falcons, which is great, but it doesn't carry nearly as much weight. I don't know if the Colts will be battling the Steelers for wildcard spots or not. You know, we thought that maybe with New England and that seems to probably still be true. But yeah, you're right. I mean, I'm not a big believer this time of year. This is a must win. Although last night's game was kind of a must win for both those teams. You know what I mean? Like, but neither one of these teams is in that dire of straight, you know? But yeah, I mean, subject to change, but this, these next couple of games look pretty favorable for the Steelers where they really need

8:58 to put some money in the bank.

8:59 I think that's well said. The schedule gets much tougher after the bye week. Not that it's easy now. As Matt and I always say, there's no Ohio State versus Akron in the.

9:08 National football league. No, Tampa Bay is starting to play better now.

9:11 Exactly right. There's upsets you don't see coming, results you don't see coming every single week. But I think these next few weeks, and particularly some of the injuries that the opposition are dealing with, set up favorably for the Steelers to make some hay here.

9:25 Before their bye week.

9:26 You almost have to.

9:26 Four weeks from now.

9:27 You better win two of these three, I would say.

9:29 I think so. I think so. Let's get to our first break of the day here, and when we return, we'll go to the lady who's going to be tasked with fighting these elements down on the sideline, Missy Matthews. She's obviously been on the sideline for a lot of these questionable weather games, too. We'll ask her about some of the differences in that, what she expects from a familiar foe that is heading to Accresure Stadium in the Indianapolis Colts here tonight. in a little less than 48 hours.

9:54 We'll talk to Missy on the other side. Just getting started here on a Friday. Wes Shuler, Matt Williamson. It's The Drive. Steelers. Nation Radio on the Steelers Audio Network.

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11:02 Get that hot dog costume ready.

11:04 Bruh.

11:11 You're tuned to The Drive on your 24-7 home of the black and gold. Steelers Nation Radio.

11:33 You hear the bounce on a Friday. You know what that means. It's time to get the view from the sideline, from the queen of the sideline, of course, the great Missy Matthews. Missy, thank you for taking the time, as always. Busy weekend ahead in a lot of regards here in Pittsburgh, football-related, events-related.

11:50 And we have got the annual Steelers fashion show tonight. It's Stage AE that I think you've been involved with for a while. Peel back the curtain for us a little bit, what it kind of– the rehearsals and everything going on tonight?

12:02 What's it look like? What's your role? And what's kind of, you know, the whole cause behind it?

12:07 Yeah, it benefits three great charities. The UPMC Concussion Program, Cancer Bridges, and the Chuck Hull Foundation. It has raised over a million dollars. And it is super fun. So many players come, their families come. You know, some of them are just very like, we'll do the Jersey scene and walk out and, you know, throw towels and t-shirts into the audience. And then other guys are like, sign me up. I'll wear a tux. Like I'll, you know, I'll do another scene and show off my style. So it's cool to see, you know, last year, Deshaun Watson or Deshaun, Deshaun, I'm still in Cleveland, Deshaun Elliott and DK Metcalf were the captain. And those two guys can dress and they were pretty competitive about it this year.

12:52 What do you mean the captains? Are there teams?

12:56 The captain for the night.

12:58 Okay, okay, okay.

12:59 Yeah.

13:00 I thought it was like a competition.

13:01 That's a good question, Matt. I shouldn't assume that you two know.

13:04 No, I have no clue.

13:06 That's fair.

13:07 Yeah.

13:08 So they're like the captains for the fashion show. They kind of like help with things. And you're a little more involved, put it that way.

13:14 I got you.

13:16 They were great.

13:17 I thought they were like picking teams at recess.

13:19 Oh, no.

13:20 That was great, actually.

13:22 That would take way too long and probably be inappropriate for the public.

13:25 Probably.

13:26 Yeah.

13:27 This year there's three, Nick Herbig and Keanu Benton and Chris Boswell. So that is quite the mixture of personalities.

13:37 Oh, it absolutely is.

13:38 They all got new contracts this summer too.

13:40 That's right.

13:41 How about that?

13:41 I said, well, I think that maybe that was written in. I don't know.

13:44 We'll give you the contract. To seal the deal on Friday, you need to, okay.

13:50 But the good news is you're going to get a little pay bump here and you'll be able to afford some lovely new clothes.

13:54 And you'll get some cool clothes. That's right.

13:56 Missy, I should probably know this, but if anyone's listening to this and they decide that they wanted to try and go this evening, are tickets still available or no?

14:05 I believe there's a few, and if you go to feelers.com, you'll be able to find them there. Awesome.

14:11 Excellent. Love it.

14:12 We'll be looking forward to seeing all the highlights of that tonight.

14:14 Always a very cool evening for a very great cause down there at Stage AE on the North Shore. Of course, Missy, Sunday, 1 o'clock, against the Indianapolis Colts is the is the Steelers show this weekend. And it's a big one for a lot of different reasons. Of course, Matt and I kind of in the opening of our show today discussed potential weather elements that could play into this with some rain on the radar and what that would mean for both teams, pass rushes and pass games and, you know, ability to control the ball on the ground, all those different things. You've obviously been a part of a lot of these different weather games from extreme heat to rain to snow and everything in your years on the sideline,

14:53 how big of a factor, um, do you think that that rain could be on Sunday afternoon?

14:58 I mean, I hate to say that. I think it can be a factor. I just, I don't like to rush too much into panic mode. I was actually being optimistic today, which I think through Robin Max and Willie off when I was on with them, um, because I'm like, guys, it's like two beautiful days of sunshine and then probably some rain. But, um, Yeah, you know, it can change quickly.

15:17 And sometimes even we have had games where you go on the road, there's no rain in the forecast. And then all of a sudden I'm jumping into an Uber to go buy something, um, because I didn't bring it and I try to bring as much as possible, but you can only take so much. Sometimes I just, I do think, um, I think it would be in the sealers advantage. Um, you know, if you had to say who would have, you know, thumbs up in terms of the rain. I think both teams are going to try to run the ball. So that kind of goes with that.

15:47 I just, I feel like, excuse me. It doesn't seem like it's going to be horrible rain, but I'm probably jinxing it. It's going to be like a torrential downpour going sideways. And that, that impacts everybody. That's where, you know, equipment guys are running in and out of the locker room, bringing different cleats and stuff to try to help everybody, you know, perform to their highest stability.

16:08 Yeah, not to argue with you, but just last segment, Wes was saying it could be kind of torrential. I mean, it sounds like it could be pretty harsh.

16:15 Perfect.

16:16 I assume that changes your job.

16:17 We'll keep talking about that, and then it'll end up being just a light rain.

16:20 Yeah, who knows? I mean, it's a couple days away. But I assume that changes your job a great deal, though. Like you said, you're probably paying attention to equipment guys, and he just changed cleats and all those type of things.

16:30 Yes, and I like— I mean, this week for sure, because I'm not going to chance it. I usually laminate like my notes or a flip card so that I don't have them. You know, I've had credentials like disintegrate on me before back when they weren't, you know, the hard plastic. So definitely try to do whatever it takes to get ready. But yeah, there's usually a lot to see. And, you know, there's just different players do different things when there is the right. Some guys want to go out in it and warm up, do more stuff. Some guys are like, I'm only going out there when I have to.

17:03 So it's definitely a preference thing.

17:06 Missy, extra long week for the Steelers to prepare. You know, we heard a lot about cleaning house and a lot about, you know, doing some self-scouting and cleaning things up at the kind of quarter pole of the season. Obviously, it's not exactly that point anymore with the 17th game, but I think a lot of coaching staffs still treat it that way. A lot to do about, you know, some of the communication frustrations on the sideline Thursday in Cleveland.

17:28 Do you think this extra long time to prepare, you know, kind of the mini bye week that everyone likes to call it? And I guess especially considering the Steelers are what, still five weeks away from their actual bye week. Do you think this this extra few days to prepare, to rest, to reset, to self-evaluate came at the right time for the Steelers?

17:47 I don't want to say yes, because I think it's worse when you lose on Thursday night and have to wait longer to like, you know, really move past and play someone else, but rest for sure. I just feel like they're dealing with, you know, a handful of injuries that are not a great position guys going on. I are possibly going on. I are, you know, Deshaun Elliott's able to come back at some point. You know, his practice window has opened. There's 21 days for that. I just, I think in the manner in which they lost, it was almost worse that there was too much time from a player standpoint. I think for the coaches, maybe they needed that to do the self-scouting like Mike McCarthy was talking about and to regroup as a staff. Hey, are

18:29 we using these players the correct way? Do we like what this play looks like? That kind of thing. So, you know, there's pros and cons to everything, and I don't think you can answer one way only, if that makes sense.

18:42 I actually think the timing of it's good because about a quarter of the seasons in the books, you can really spend that extra time self-scouting that you can't normal weeks. And then about the halfway point, you get to do it again with the bi-week and then hopefully you have a real good feel for everybody for that final stretch, which is going to be very, very difficult probably.

19:00 Yeah.

19:01 It's almost like having two bi-weeks the way it's set up. And because there are more games following this before the actual bi-week. So yeah, we'll have to, you know, wait and see how it plays out. I just, I think, you know, some of the injuries are, you know, not ideal, but there's really not much you can do about it.

19:18 And that's why, you know, you try to build the best staff, have the best depth. It's not possible to have it at every single position in a perfect world with 53 guys. So there's only so much you can do.

19:30 Missy Matthews with us here on the drive, helping us get ready for this clash with the Colts on Sunday. Missy, Matt and I are going to do our matchup segment that we always do on Fridays in hour number two. But I have to imagine one that everybody has circled and you'll be keeping an eye on is two potential gold jacket guys in Cam Hayward of the Steelers, of course, and Quincy. Nelson, the just insanely talented guy. guard for the Indianapolis Colts. These two have had some great battles over the years. It feels like Cam Hayward has, you know, Matt and I talked about this earlier in the week.

20:01 Sometimes there's just certain athletes that just have another guy's number and you can't explain it. That seems to be the case with Cam Hayward against Quentin Nelson. He's gotten the better of him throughout most of the matchups of their career, especially with the potential for weather and both of these teams having to lean on their run game.

20:19 Is that a matchup in the trenches that you're going to be keeping an eye on?

20:22 Oh, yeah.

20:23 I mean, it didn't matter what the weather forecast was. That's always when you keep an eye on. And I just feel like Cam has that, like, you know, veteran high football IQ edge. And I am sure, you know, I've heard J.J. Watt talk about different guys he's gone against, you know, notoriously during his career. You know, those matchups are there and you can't not think about it, especially if you know that you were able to really get the better of them, you know, the time before or something like that. But I do agree that is one for the ages, and I'm glad that both guys are still playing and we get to witness it.

21:00 So we kind of referenced the Browns game here just a little bit ago, and I don't need every trade secret, but how tense were the sidelines? What was the attitude of the team as the game was going on?

21:15 I mean, there was clearly frustration. Amazon was kind enough to, you know, really show everybody that I'm being facetious there, but you know, I don't think it's really anything different. I think the problem is that, you know, Patrick Graham is up in the coach's booth and that is not how the Steelers operated under previous defensive coordinators. So they could have been sitting next to each other and you don't really see it if they're kind of, you know, going back and forth. I think it was, it was the, the action of, you know, TJ Watt and different things like that. But I have also seen like, I've seen Cam Hayward and Mika Fitzpatrick, you know, have words and they quickly move on. Um, you know, emotions run high, especially,

22:00 you know, when you're not on top of things in terms of like the score and what you think your side of the ball should be doing. I just think that they truly, every competitor has that in them. Um, I, I mean, I feel like I'm competitive with my husband over stupid things and vice versa. You know, these are professional athletes.

22:20 People that haven't been around teams at this level just don't understand that that's not uncommon.

22:25 Yeah, I guess that's probably a fair way to put it. And, you know, not that they should have to know, but I just, I mean, even my boys, when they're playing their youth sports, I'm like, guys, it's just a game, you know? But meanwhile, if you said that to me, I'd be like, it's not just a game.

22:40 So, yeah.

22:42 I just think that's just the competitor in everybody. And obviously these guys are doing it at a very high level with a lot of things on the line.

22:52 Missy, before we let you go, I obviously know you are a Pitt grad. You have a lot of close ties to the Pitt football program. I don't know if many people know this, honestly, but your dad actually played at Pitt and won a national championship there.

23:07 I didn't know that.

23:09 Mike Ditka was before your dad's time. But of course, I know just a absolute legend in this city. Al Equipa zone, of course, played and had a ton of success at Pitt. He I mean, it's unbelievable as a player. He won a Super Bowl as an assistant coach. He won a Super Bowl and as a head coach, he won a Super Bowl. changed the tight end position forever and on top of all of how great he was as a coach and a player was also just an iconic personality you know it was in movies like kicking and screaming with will ferrell and a real pop culture icon and still has a great steakhouse here in pittsburgh just wanted to get your thoughts on his uh his sad passing away today at the age of 86.

23:50 I know, you know, there's a ton of guys. My dad had said they were smoking cigars and doing things yesterday and the day before. I think with a lot of people in town, everyone's going to be sad about that. It doesn't matter if you played with Mike Dick or not. I think it's what he meant to so many people.

24:07 And just seeing, you know, I was actually on the phone with my dad when the Twitter alert came up, of course, you know, and I'm like, oh, that stinks. So I'm sure, you know, something will be planned. um, accordingly, but you know, you couldn't take the ends out of them. Um, was, you know, all the old clips that are popping up of him fighting with a fan on the radio show.

24:26 It was calling it Washington street. Um, just love it. Absolutely love it.

24:33 Great stuff. As always Missy, enjoy the, uh, the big weekend. Thank you for taking the time as always. And we will see you on Sunday.

24:40 You got it. Thanks guys.

24:41 There she goes. The queen of the sideline, Missy Matthews.

24:44 Yeah, you did.

24:45 Did you not know that about her dad?

24:46 No, I didn't.

24:47 I mean, I knew she was very involved with Pitt.

24:49 He was on that Tony Dorsett.

24:51 Oh, okay.

24:51 I think it was the 75 season, but the 76 Sugar Bowl, the team that beat Georgia and won the national championship.

24:57 No, I did not know that.

24:57 Her dad was on that team. Okay.

24:59 Offense, don't quote me on this part, but I think he was an offensive lineman.

25:02 Really?

25:02 But yeah, so.

25:03 I mean, it was hard to get on the field and trade in that era.

25:05 Sure was.

25:05 Offensive line.

25:06 Sure was. So obviously Mike Ditka was there in kind of the late fifties into the early sixties, I believe at Pitt. So that was before her dad's time.

25:13 Oh yeah.

25:13 Yeah.

25:14 Again, you kind of, everyone knows how that works.

25:16 Maybe not as much now in the NIL era where everyone's just merchants for Transfer Portal and whoever pay them the most. But, you know, that real kind of family alumni that, you know, when you play for a program and the people that come through it and leave their impact there.

25:31 Oh, I think that's really missing now.

25:32 I think it is one of the things of the fabric of college sports that unfortunately has gone by the wayside, not for the guys in those previous generations, though. And so I'm sure at the Pitt game Saturday, there'll be a nice moment of silence for Mike Ditka and all that. And, and just wanted to get Missy's perspective on that is, you know, again, the family ties to the program and all that stuff.

25:50 Yeah.

25:51 And while I was there, he came back and talked to the team once. And then afterwards I got hired by ESPN while he was an ESPN employee. So there was, I did some dinners with them. I did a couple of shows at Ditka's Steakhouse over the years with Mike Ditka and they always fed us really good. That was awesome.

26:08 So I've been around them a few times and obviously in my lifetime too, like the 85 bears, I was a 12 year old, you know, learning the game and loving the game. Like that was an iconic type of team too. I mean, for that age, it was perfect.

26:24 I just, it's funny for me too. Like I can't picture Mike Ditka without thinking of kicking and screaming. Have you ever seen that movie with Will Ferrell?

26:31 I know he's in it, but I haven't seen it.

26:32 It's dude. It is so funny. Will Ferrell basically is this, you know, this kid whose dad, Mike Ditko, was like a football legend and could never live up to his dad's reputation. And then they end up coaching soccer teams against each other in the same youth league.

26:48 And it's a hysterical comedy.

26:51 One of, you know, gets lost in the like Anchorman and Talladega Nights and Step Brothers and all those real iconic Will Ferrell movies. But Kicking and Screaming is worth your time if you want a good laugh.

27:02 I mean, the Saturday Night Live Ditka skits are awesome, too. Incredible.

27:05 Just so good.

27:06 Just an icon of the NFL, an icon here in Western Pennsylvania, and all the best to his friends and family.

27:12 Unless you're up in age, you forget how good a player he was, too.

27:15 He revolutionized the tight end position. I mean, he was a five-time All-Pro, five-time Pro Bowler. Like I said, won a Super Bowl as a player, an assistant coach, and then a head coach. I mean, just.

27:25 Pitt's only retired like eight numbers, something like that. He's one of them, obviously.

27:29 He's one of them.

27:30 I'm curious if he was first, because he had to be very close to it.

27:34 That's a good question.

27:34 Yeah, yeah, yeah.

27:35 You consider the timeline of everything.

27:36 There was one other that's his era, but most of them are the 70s, Dorsett, Marino, you know.

27:44 Very sad news, but certainly a life well-lived and fully lived for Mike Dick as he passed away. earlier today at the age of 86. All the best to his family, his friends, his former teammates, in what I'm sure will be a tough couple of days here. Matt and I will get back to talking Steelers Colts when we return on the other side. As we roll along here on this Friday preview show, it is The Drive, Steelers Nation Radio on the Steelers Audio Network.

28:17 You're tuned to The Drive on your 24-7 home of the black and gold.

28:21 Steelers Nation Radio.

28:31 Matt, shame on me for six weeks. I was slightly off about kicking and screaming.

28:36 Oh, okay.

28:37 So Ditka is not Will Ferrell's dad, who they have this rivalry together because he could never live up to the athlete that he was. That's actually Robert Duvall who plays his dad that coaches the other soccer team. Ditka is their neighbor who can't stand Will Ferrell's dad and helps Will Ferrell.

28:54 Oh, he's on like Will Ferrell's team.

28:55 Okay.

28:55 Correct. So he's kind of a neutral party who doesn't like Robert Duvall who's Will Ferrell's dad. And he goes, hey, I know a thing or two about sports. I'm going to help you coach this team so we can kick your dad's butt.

29:05 Okay.

29:06 So I was slightly off there.

29:07 But it's good, huh?

29:08 Oh, it's hysterical.

29:09 Tyler's telling me between segments, too. He's like, oh, it's worth your time.

29:12 Just imagine a sports movie with Will Ferrell, Robert Duvall, and Mike Ditka.

29:15 Yeah, we could go two wrong.

29:16 It's great. It's hilarious. It's lighthearted. It's an easy watch. All that good stuff. But just wanted to correct myself on that one.

29:23 Matt, we have the.

29:23 I'm sure somebody would have via Twitter.

29:25 Oh, they probably did. I haven't looked, but they probably did during the break. And that's okay.

29:29 That's why we like you people. You keep us on our toes.

29:32 But I also do the self-scouting thing and go, wait a second, was I wrong on that? Let me double check the IMDB page. Matt, we have the injury report for this. steelers for sunday.

29:42 And it's i'm not real optimistic about great.

29:45 News jamel dean ruled out that was pretty obvious.

29:49 Deshaun elliott will not will not i can't start be active michael pitman jr ruled out i think as we all assumed to rico dowdle listed as questionable jalen ramsey listed as questionable.

30:03 I'd be shocked if ramsey doesn't go i mean it's easy for me to say i'm not the one with the broken wrist but he played with it i assume it didn't get worse at least i got no reports that it would dowdle to me is like the only one that's a true 50 50 yes my hunch my educated guess you know.

30:19 I i think i feel like they could use them though they absolutely could especially if this is going to have to be a ground and pound game.

30:24 Yeah i've had a lot of people being like well you know no reason to rush dowdle back warren's been unbelievable and yeah warren's been unbelievable but just some of it's just by default they don't trust the other guys to get the ball.

30:37 At all did everybody watch the falcons on monday night football right right yeah not only was bijan robinson carving them up the saints defense but so was.

30:45 Brian robinson brian robinson right so.

30:47 Even if you have the best running back in the world a quality number two still really helps.

30:51 Yeah and you're just putting a lot on his plate and if it's you know muddy and slow track and all that type of thing i definitely went down on this game And now I do hope that they come to the conclusion that Warren deserves more touches and more time than Doudle. And I'd be shocked if they don't after these last two fantastic performances. But boy, he's needed right now. You can't just put him out there 90% of snaps three games in a row.

31:15 No, you can't.

31:16 Yeah, what are we doing? You're right.

31:17 If he was Jerome Bettis, you wouldn't want to have him out there that much. It's just the nature of the position and the grind of the season. And it's still relatively early. Like, we're still in the front half of the season.

31:28 Yeah, yeah. You don't want to beat him up too much.

31:29 You don't want to beat him up too bad. And, again, you add the weather element in there, too. And this would certainly, certainly be a good week to get Rico Dowdle back in the mix. So that's what we know now from the Steelers' standpoint, kind of finalized, heading into. No real shockers. No real shockers.

31:45 I mean, if Ramsey wouldn't go, I'd be a little shocked, you know.

31:48 Other than that, though, I mean, I was hoping for maybe some better news on Jamel Dean, but I wasn't expecting it. And so that's the hand that the Steelers have been dealt and will have to play with on Sunday.

31:58 And, of course, Harmon's not in the mix either.

32:00 No Harmon, no Elliott. It's certainly not the defense that we thought we'd be looking at week five here when we were back in Latrobe.

32:09 So real quick, I actually retweeted it. I'm not going to dig it up, but Warren Sharp put out, Steelers snaps against the run even this year without Harmon. not so great. I mean, we know last year, those splits were really noticeable.

32:22 This is a week.

32:23 You'd really like to have him with the potential for weather and Jonathan Taylor and ground game.

32:28 And this was a week one, Matt stats thing. So I don't exactly remember the exact numbers, but basically last year, the games Elliot missed were when the Steelers had their biggest rushing yards allowed, you know? So those two might not be TJ Watt and Cam Hayward, but in terms of stopping the run and this matchup would have been really useful. And lastly, I also think Elliot's brain and leadership on the back end would be really good with all these new corners and all the change to just a stabilizing force back there. So it'd be nice to have one or both of those guys.

33:04 Here's the tweet you referenced from Warren Sharpe.

33:06 Since losing Derek Harmon, the Steelers have faced 52 runs against a running back, 5.1 yards per carry, 10-plus yard runs on 15% of those, so explosive runs on 15% of the carries. That would be the highest explosive run rate in the NFL if translated over a full season. And, of course, up next is Jonathan Taylor.

33:28 Right, who explosive runs are a specialty. He ain't B.

33:30 John Robinson or Jameer Gibbs, but he's probably in that next tier.

33:34 Yeah, he might be third.

33:36 He certainly might be. So, Matt, that's kind of the challenge, or part of the challenge, facing the Steelers Sunday afternoon. Our buddy Chris Halleck did a really good write-up on three.

33:46 Oh, I'm glad you did that. Yeah.

33:48 I wanted to get to this yesterday, but honestly, I think we just had too much going on. It's always weird, Matt, when you have those weeks like we had last week. Steelers didn't play on Sunday, so we're like, we've got more content to fill this week because we're not going to spend all Monday reacting to the game like we typically do. We did that Friday, yeah. With that sometimes, it's like you save so much for we're going to need this, we're going to need this, we're going to need this, that you end up You end up having.

34:15 More stuff than you thought you would.

34:16 So I wanted to make sure to get into this because Halleck basically, and I tried to get him on the show this week. We just couldn't make it work timing wise, but hopefully we can get him on next week.

34:26 I'm actually doing a podcast with him at 6 o'clock today.

34:28 Nice.

34:29 Tell him I said hello.

34:30 Yes.

34:31 Three things that he basically highlighted and unearthed some numbers behind of areas that he thinks the Steelers can kind of, some of them improve and have a lot of success doing so, and some things that they're doing well right now that they just need to hang their hat on and make more of a calling card.

34:48 I've had these conversations with him a few times. Not like I'm taking credit for it or anything, but he nailed it. He did a really good job. He also sent me an article I haven't read yet about he did a real deep dive on the Porter situation. And Chris and I do, every Friday, we do a quick podcast, a half hour, stop by if you want. And he really laid it out in that podcast better than anyone I've heard. I mean, there's some things that he mentioned that I didn't know. Like, Porter basically had two different agents, which really complicated some of the conversations. So some of the beat reporter stuff Chris does that I'm not going to unearth is... really valuable, you know?

35:24 Absolutely. He's one of the people that we referenced the real boots on the ground, journalists around the team. The, one of the things that he highlighted that kind of piggybacked off of what we were just talking about with Jalen Warren and Rico Dowdle is to do more of what's working. The easy answer to that is to feed Jalen Warren as much as possible for games into the season.

35:42 That's certainly one thing that works.

35:44 Yeah.

35:45 Uh, Brian Angelico said this.

35:47 I mean, I think you can make a very strong argument. He's your best skill guy. And I've actually thought that since he's been here.

35:53 For a long time, Brian Angelico said this week, you've got to find time to get him. So you keep him for, or you've got to find a time, the times, you know, kind of to use him. So you could keep him fresh. It's a long season. We know that, but he's a tough guy and he wants to be in there. So, you know, beyond kind of turning him into the bell cow that we've seen, uh, Another area that they could continue to utilize him is playing more from under center and playing with more heavy tight end sets.

36:19 We all know, we've discussed, Chris kind of lines out how successful the Steelers have been when under center. Under center.

36:26 One best in the league.

36:26 Second best EPA rate in the entire National Football League. And of course, the success when doing that and running play action. uh, having some of the.

36:35 Best, um, passing numbers, passing numbers in.

36:38 In the league. Um, and so that's something that we've discussed is, you know, Jalen Warren success, um, maybe upping those numbers in that, in that target share a little bit in the process.

36:49 Yeah.

36:49 And I don't have a whole lot to add to it. That's something that he's just, you know, he's reiterating things that we've brought up all week that you hope on a long week that not only they recognize, see, this is kind of a funny thing too. Like, You can recognize it, but then you've got to implement it on game day, too. I mean, the heat of the battle, and it's third and eighth, and like, well, let's go shotgun. Well, we're not.

37:13 It's easy to have the plan, but sticking with it is not always the same, too. I'm all for feeding Warren. I'm all for running the ball more. I'm all for going under center and using more play action, especially out from under center. Let's see if it happens, because I think it's... It's... Last note, not to disrupt anything that he said or that we've said all along, it's still kind of small sample size. You know, like, you can't just be like, well, that'll fix everything. We'll average eight yards of play if we just go under center. Like, well, that's not going to fix everything.

37:43 Because then eventually teams will adjust to you. Yeah, exactly.

37:46 They haven't done a lot of it, but that doesn't mean you're going to be the second best offensive league if you just go under center, folks.

37:51 No doubt.

37:52 It's a bigger fix than that.

37:53 It's a balancing act.

37:55 Maybe if you do this a little bit more often, it'll help opening up things for you in these other avenues.

37:59 Yeah, it's like playing poker and playing probabilities, you know, like I'm going to up my chances of, you know.

38:05 And just because you have Steph Curry doesn't mean that you don't attack the basket for layups and easier looks.

38:11 Right, right.

38:11 You still let Steph Curry shoot more than those guys, but you still got to work the ball inside and get some easier looks.

38:16 Yeah, or if you've Shaq, you don't ever shoot a three-pointer, you know, right.

38:19 Right. Matt, the other two things that he outlines are areas where the Steelers must get better. Both I don't think will surprise our listeners, but there's some good numbers behind it. The first is to beat the man across from you. The Steelers wide receivers have not been great at winning against man coverage. The Steelers best receiver against man coverage has been Roman Wilson, winning 27.5% of his routes.

38:41 That ranks 25th amongst the 72 receivers that have run enough routes to qualify for these rankings overall.

38:47 That's just first man, folks. Yes.

38:49 DK Metcalf, 25% win rate. That puts him at 32nd in the league. Jeremy Bernard, 12.2%, which puts him 66th in the league. You just need a little bit more from those guys.

39:02 I don't know if he mentions Pittman.

39:03 He mentions Pittman, who's 64th in the league. I bet he's pretty low. So pretty low.

39:06 I mean, that certainly has not been his specialty. No, you do, because you're just going to get more and more and more man. And the Colts want to play a lot of man. I mean, even teams that don't are going to play man heavily against you. I think the Steelers are facing the number one percentage of man coverage, and it probably is only going to go up until you can beat it.

39:24 Yes. Yes.

39:25 And then the last one, Matt, is to just make some tackles on defense.

39:30 Yeah it's become a problem the steelers are credited with 17 missed tackles um just against the browns alone i think we talked about this on monday or tuesday but credited with 17 missed tackles against cleveland for a total of 108 yards.

39:44 That's done that's a massive yes of You're not going to make every tackle, of course.

39:49 But when you factor in some of the special teams that we talked about, that could be close to 200 yards. I don't want to say you're just giving away, but that you could certainly tighten up.

40:00 You could definitely tighten up. That's a good way of putting it. You're not going to make every tackle, but that number's never going to be zero.

40:06 Overall, next-gen stats have the Steelers' defense accounting for 39 missed tackles on the season. That's fourth most in the National Football League. On those plays... The Steelers' opposition gains an average of 11.3 yards per play. When the Steelers don't miss tackles, that number drops to just 4.7 yards per play.

40:26 Right.

40:27 Again, that's a correctable problem.

40:29 A very correctable problem. And that's not just a correctable problem that would have a minor and incremental gain for you. It's a correctable problem that would make a ton of difference.

40:40 Yeah, absolutely. I mean, think about it. If you're missing a tackle in the second or third level, that's a lot of steps that ball carrier's taken before the next guy gets to him.

40:50 And getting back to Matt, another thing that we just kind of referenced, a guy like Deshaun Elliott was really sure-handed in that regard. And I think you can draw a direct parallel to some of those numbers and the fact that he hasn't been out there.

41:04 And I'm not killing Brisker, but in terms of reliability tackling, Elliott and Brisker are on the other sides of the spectrum too. Queen's been constant all along. It's never going to be his specialty. Wilson misses share of tackles. Samuel's not known as a tackler. You know, I mean, he's a certain type of corner, but it's not a big physical take on ball carrier type of corner, you know?

41:27 So there are some culprits.

41:29 There certainly are. There certainly are. So I just wanted to highlight that because I thought that was laid out well by Halleck. It is. And he's a friend of the program here, certainly, that everybody knows. Matt, just across the timeline here, too, we have the injury report now for the Indianapolis Colts as well.

41:43 Mm-hmm.

41:43 Okay.

41:44 Out of Sunday's contest in Pittsburgh, wide receiver Austin Doolin has been ruled out. Linebacker Jalen, I believe it's Carlisle, is that how he pronounces his last name? I think so. Has been ruled out. Tight end Will Mallory has been ruled out. And defensive end Arden Key has been ruled out.

42:02 Okay, Key's the one that plays the most of that group. Yeah, he's kind of a bigger base end. But they have a decent rotation at that position. All in all, that's not too bad.

42:11 Not too bad. Now, three guys listed as questionable, though, for the Colts. Darius Slayton, Keenan Allen, and Travarius Ward.

42:19 Okay, Ward's a starting corner off the sauce. He's a good player.

42:22 So it's more so they've got some issues with their wide receiver depth in three of those guys being out or questionable.

42:29 And Pierce is on IR, too. Pierce is on IR.

42:31 He's their top guy. I mean, they're hurt at the wide receiver position.

42:33 Outside of downs.

42:34 That's why they signed Allen, because they were really thin there.

42:37 Man, yeah. If you want to talk about things not going your way, if this turns into a muck and grind, fight in a phone booth type game, the wide receiver absences for the Colts wouldn't loom quite as large.

42:48 Yeah, it might not hurt him as bad. The weaknesses might not be as weak.

42:51 Yes, correct. DeForest Buckner was added today, but that is apparently just for rest purposes. That would be a different story. No, that would be a very, very different story. But some real hits there to the Indianapolis Colts wide receiver room. Obviously, some big hits for the Steelers, namely on the defensive side of the football. That is all the latest on the injury front for both of these teams as we look ahead to Sunday. Hour in the books, Matt. Another hour to go. You know what that means when we return on the other side. It'll be time for a little five-star Friday. We'll take a look at some individual matchups that are going to be key in Sunday's contest between the Steelers and the Colts. All that and more

43:30 in hour number two when we return. Wes Shuler, Matt Williamson, it's The Drive. Steelers Nation Radio on the Steelers Audio Network.

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