The Porch Is Live and The Steelers Are In Turmoil
What a victory against Tom Brady and the Buccaneers? But was it really a GREAT win? Is there a QB issue in Pittsburgh with Mitch Trubisky…
Oct. 18, 2022
The Porch Is Live and The Steelers Are In Turmoil
What a victory against Tom Brady and the Buccaneers? But was it really a GREAT win? Is there a QB issue in Pittsburgh with Mitch Trubisky and Kenny Pickett? Will the defense step up again? Did Matt Canada get any vindication? And is the Steeler's...
What a victory against Tom Brady and the Buccaneers? But was it really a GREAT win? Is there a QB issue in Pittsburgh with Mitch Trubisky and Kenny Pickett? Will the defense step up again? Did Matt Canada get any vindication? And is the Steeler's locker room in turmoil? We answer all these questions and make our week 7 predictions on the porch.
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Transcript
Welcome to the Sports Live We got a lot to talk about tonight. Let me tell you. We got a lot to talk about but first, I want to thank you. If you're listening on American Buster iHeartRadio, iHeartRadio, million registered 2000 devices, 250 platforms. I say that so many times and I always screw it up. Anyway, and you can catch the Sports Sports on Spotify, Podcast, and you see that down below.
It's The Porches Live. com. The Porches com. The Porch es com. Visit our website. Leave a review for please. This guy over here is Mark. That guy down there is Steve. We are actually on the same porch and we are ready to rock. Now, whoo. Now, big win. Yeah. Let's go. I am actually surprised that Steve made it to the broadcast tonight because let's just say that he was enjoying himself immensely in the luxury box at the Tampa Bay game.
The adult beverages. The adult beverages were flowing. I drink enough for both Chris and myself. And I don't drink. So that was, that was very the adult beverages win. Very well done. Are you? Oh no. I won. Are you all muted? I just want to make sure a little production thing. Muted. Wi-Fi off. Muted. Wi-Fi off. Yep. Okay. So, first of all, we we had a we had a fantastic time at the field formerly known as Heinz which is now Ackershire Stadium.
You guys were back at the act. We were back at the act and I I gotta tell you watching that game, did not for one second think that we were going to come out on the winning end.
Is matter of fact, last week, all three of us picked the Steelers to lose as does did probably of the country. Although, no, no, when we got, no, no, when we were there, that the pregame, Steve decided. I did. I changed my mode once I got to the.
you now held it. He he was about experience. Four, five adult in. But it ended up being right. Maybe six or 7. But it was, but it was, it was the feel of the game. Oh, the crowd. You know, when you get to a game and alive and it feels maybe different year of thinking. Mm hmm. The crowd seemed alive. Like, I don't know if it was because it was Pickett's first start.
I just, it just felt like it it it would have a difference but and you actually nailed it too because you said, I think the first, I think the first series is going to make a difference. Like, we went, we came out, we stopped them, and then we went down the field and we just scored on our first on our first series and that really made a big difference in it got the ground in it.
Yes. You know, at that point was probably eight beers into it so. At least. So. At least. Uh and and and it just made people want to continue to be loud. I'm going to I'm going to give my my analysis of the crowd at a Steelers game in a in a little bit. I want to get some welcome comments into the show. First before we get started. Scott Walters is in the house.
Thank you.
pleasure yesterday was. More important though are the anniversaries of the last two Pirate World Series clinching I don't know about that, Scott. Um. That's like past history. But thank you for your comments. Really old stuff. Yo Kerry. Yo I'm mad as hell. How that guy jump and land on Kenny well after the play no rough the pass or some foul. Now we can talk about that if you want in a little bit. Michael is in from Thank you Michael for being here.
says it looks chilly on the porch tonight. It's a little colder but out. I got the on. I got the heater right on. So we are we are chilled. And one more time. Uh yeah, we saw this.
good dog. Yeah, the good dog from from Boswell. So, right in front of us, yo. The one thing I would, yeah, right in front of us in our, yeah, we were in the Pittsburgh side. Um here's my take on a on a crowd at a Steelers game and it's probably applies in any game, okay? Now, for those of you who don't know, I'm going to tell you right now, we're going to get this out of the way. I am a sober person. I don't drink ever, okay? Um that's not to say I have.
Starting at one point in time. Yeah, right.
It's not the their own stories because there are stories and they're damn good ones. But I don't drink, alright? So, I I think this is coming from a sober person unless you count the sugar high I was on from. Uber, what? From the three general, three ginger ales. Yeah. Yeah, I think one of four people at the game somewhere.
so you're going through the whole game. You get into the fourth quarter right at the beginning of the fourth quarter, what I I what I noticed is, oh my god, there are six thousand completely hammered people in one place. Yep. And it really made for a good time. Yeah. So I want to I want to thank the Pittsburgh Steelers for that victory. I want to thank the fans for all the drinking they did. Uh I want to thank Steve for all the drinking he did. Uh I want to thank I want to thank especially Ron and for setting up that experience.
Kyle was there. We had a wonderful time and and next show I'm going to bring out the clip. Uh it's going to be a clip of a drunk person watching an almost kick off run back for a touchdown. I I I almost had it out there. So that being said, it was it was a great game. Uh and a lot has happened since then. Um you know, we're just going to kind of go down our list. Jump in. Uh I mean and and I've got I've got an opinion on this.
I I like the fact that Schwaber brought this up.
Was this a really? Was this a great win or not? What this a great now it was a great win because they were supposed to lose. Was this a great win or not? Meaning what? Meaning is Tampa Bay really trash? No, no.
From a Steelers perspective for this franchise right now, considering everything that went on before and is now going on and coming out. Was this a great win or not? Well, it's not. It's definitely not a great win. But it was good. It was good. I I mean here the thing. Here's the bottom line. Yes. Fiji. Yes. You you go one and five. The season's over. Now you're now you're two and four with the first place teams.
Three and three. You're one bat. So the a lot. So that's that's a good win. You know Now, granted, Tom Brady does not look like Tom Brady this year but you know what? I think a lot of people would have thought, well, hey, against that banged up secondary, he's going to start this week. Well, he didn't. You know, so that's big. Right. Right. Right. And you know, give the sewers a lot of credit.
I mean, look, this is kind of the way the on any given Sunday, any team can win. Um but you know, everything has to go right for you to win and the Steelers did that. You know, like they they got the special team's edge. You know, they got the bounce that went in on the field goal. They got the kickback return. The kickoff return. Mm hmm. You know, they so they won the special teams battle.
Mm hmm. You know, they really they they had an excellent defensive game plan. They really did. They they were very strong on the ball. really really stopped the run. I mean, Leonard Fournette do a heck of a lot. Maybe sort of towards the end of the game and got rolling a little bit but he was pretty much held in check. Uh Mike did nothing. Did nothing in the game.
that's very true. Hopkin had a pretty good game but the best receiver was really. Six targets, one ri for Evans. What's really Elder Jackson? Uh and I thought the defensive line was excellent without TJ Watt in there and that was first time that's really happened. So and and offensively let's face it. Um you had, you know, you had a nice start from Pickett going down from the opening touchdown. It's a shame he got hurt.
Yup. But you also have to say and and you know, you'll agree or with me. I don't think they would have won the game if Kenny Picket remained in the game. I think they actually won this game because of a number of the plays that Mitch Trubisky made. Well, yeah. He did. And and so, you know, that's good depth at the quarterback position. You know, who you thought? Coupathon. You know, and you know, and I was impressed with, I was impressed with Trubisky, you know, showing some I don't know, just showing some guts out, some spunk.
Yeah, I mean, like there there was a play like I think it was like a third and fifteen or something and he threw a sixteen-yard out pass and I'm like, thinking the minute he threw it, I'm thinking like, oh, this going to get picked off. Uh I mean, that's a tough throw to make and he he nailed it. Yup. Um you know, also some of those runs at the end were very nice. I mean, overall, it was a really good win.
It was a great feeling. Uh I just don't call it great because I'm I'm not going to say that like, you know, like, like, it's a still a two and 14. Right. Right. Alright. So, I I just before before we let Steve go, I want to let everyone, getting a ton of comments in here right now. I will get your comments on the show but going to let Steve tell me. Steve, great, great win.
Not, no, I think you understand. My intonation. Was this a great win? It was a great win and here's why I'm going to. He doesn't really remember much of it though. Here's here's why I'm going to say it was a great win. Like, there are great wins in the which are greater than any great win you can have in a regular season. Sure. But in a regular season, there are moments where the team either step up or forget about it.
over and this was one of games. Not only because they were playing at home, they were playing decimated. The NFL basically said, look, the the line was eight points and it went to ten and a half at one point. So, clearly, none of the money was coming in on the Steelers. So, everybody really just thinks that the Steelers team before this game is pretty much trash and I have to admit that I wasn't I wasn't ready to use the word trash but I think I used.
We talked about this yesterday. I use words disarray last week? Yeah. I'm not feeling that anymore. I actually think that Tomlin, whether you like him or not, can take backup position players and turn them into NFL players and that's what he did with the defense yesterday and you know, why they did it? Because they just dumbed everything down. They didn't try and make fancy defensive plays against Brady.
They just played the base defense and they said, you know what? This time, Spillane, you know what this time, Bush? Gotta go out and make goddamn play. And they did. Yeah. And they and they kept it simple. And I think that's that's that's why I say it's a great win. Not only that but you're beating Brady which is great. On top of that.
And you you add the controversy aspect of going to Kraft's wedding on Friday. Not showing up on Saturday. So now you're just taking that whole team and you're throwing it into turmoil. Now granted it's an team. So so so You're not really helping yourself necessarily but I think they did a really good job of of turning their season around by taking something they could have easily had just just fell on their sword of and be like, look, we never win and and they won finally for the first time without Watt.
They've never done that before. Mm hmm. Right. So, I just. That's a good point. I I I just think those three things make it a great game. The fact that they were underdogs, the fact that they beat the called goat, whatever that means. And the fact that they won without TJ Watt, I think makes it makes it a great win for for this team.
Well, I would say this though, you gotta pump the brakes on the great. Because. Oh, I don't, I'm not thinking that it's going to turn into a great season. Cuz that's the thing. See, I, I, I would agree with you. I might call it great at a later date.
But, I think for now, we just say good, because if next week, they're two and five, then. But within one within one. Yeah. Within the the context of one game, you're basically saying, look, Trubisky actually wasn't that bad. Um maybe Devin Bush can be an and guess what? can catch the ball when you throw it to him across the middle. Like, those three things you never would have said before this game and you know what, the defense might be better without some of their highly-paid players you know, in the So, so so it actually gives you some more ammunition for that defense to to to step up and it it just gives me a little bit more hope.
Yeah, more. In one game, only because it's against Tampa and that Tampa defense is very good. Oh, yeah. So, the fact that Trubisky could do that against Tampa means something and the fact that that Pickett did it against the good defense also means something. Although, he was actually after the first. I mean, I'll I'll. Pedestrian. I will I will. Yeah. Yeah. Take a little pump the brakes on the fact that I think the offense is back.
I don't. I have no faith in Canada but we'll talk about that. Okay, let's let's get, we got it, we do. We have a ton of viewers' comments. We love the comments when you're listening or watching to our show. Put some up. I want to get some of em up here. Um of course, Yo Carey, we get a lot of his comments in but at this point, gotta get this one.
Wow. He actually gives props to Turd Biscuit. Whoo. Uh Emmy Ann says, whatever combo they set up needs to continue. Uh DG wants to know was in from Atlanta. Yes, he was. Yeah, Kyle was here. He made an was on the halftime show. Uh great fail by Brady again. Love that play on words. Now, here's something. Uh M Anne Marie says, the running game still sucks.
Oh. Come on.
There were some. Not as bad. It wasn't as terrible. There were some there there were some there were some very needed runs that were let's just say this, excuse me. Without a few of those runs by Naje, this game has a different look to it. So, you know, it's getting there. Uh Claypool's getting more confidence is a good thing. Absolutely Absolutely Yes, it is. Uh DG says, I thought that it was a great win because the Steelers didn't fold. Uh Claypool actually played like he wanted to own the ball for a change.
I agree. I agree. My only downside on Claypool is this is the problem with him is he's Right. Now, if we see it the next week and the next week and the next week, then good. Build on. Well, I think I think the Claypool thing is he has a better connection with Mitch than he does with Kenny and I think. So far, Kenny has a better better chemistry with Pickens. Yeah. So it's just about who's in the lineup and of course, you know, Firemuth didn't play.
So, he was playing a different position. They might want to think about putting him in the middle of the field playing like that tight end position. And I have to give props to Schwaber because last week, he said Pickens needed to start and Pickens was in the starting lineup. There you go. Uh let's. Let me in. Let's see Watch on the sidelines. My old buddy from York, Jeff, chimes in. G and I the Steelers for the win.
It's the NFL and not College folks.
That's funny. And Jeff chimes in on this. Something Steve was talking about after the game that he may or may not remember. No no.
Uh Malat is is a big asset. Yes. He had a he had a great game. Yeah, he he was he was awesome. We had a lot of fun with the pigeons yesterday. I think the pigeons brought us luck. Uh yes. So, even I the pigeons on the field. Oh, we had a good time with the and Rob Hemingway was very surprised. So, we've got all caught up now. So, here's my take. Here's my take. Was it a great win? Um as far as as a football game. Yes, it was a great win, okay? You had a team that was coming in with playoff aspirations, a possible Super Bowl the greatest of all time.
Obviously, higher skill level right now than the Steelers. Oh, wait.
Greatest quarterback of all time. The goat. That's what the goat is. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, you know what actually annoys the **** out of me about the goat? Sorry to interrupt you. Yeah, go for it. Go for it. You know, back in our day, you were the goat if you blew a game. You guys remember that? Oh yeah. Yeah. You know you and then they just.
Well now it's an acronym. Noel.
Sorry. Go back there. Porsche or Porsche. Go back there. So so was it a great game? What as when it comes to the and O's on the field and the players for the It was a great game. Okay? They started out pretty good with a touchdown from Kenny to Najee. That was fantastic. I did say that was the key to the game. They gotta score on this It can't be a field goal.
A touchdown will keep them in this game. But but with the defense and all the backup players, you know, who knows what's going to happen. The defense stepped up. They kept Brady. The the one thing that didn't happen, the big play from Brady, the big play. You know, that that thirty-yard pass down the field. Yeah. Forty-yard pass down the field. Big play. Even though he had Godwin, yes.
So, that's Those were guys that were playing like they wanted a job. Mm hmm. And That's a good thing, okay? Um one of the greatest things I've ever seen in a stadium was the dunk field goal. One of the most exciting moments ever is like, I I was telling my wife, she was at the game. I was telling her, now look honey, back in the day, a fifty-yard field goal was considered like kicking in a mile.
Nowadays, it's still long but they try them on a routine basis, right? Yes. But look how far this guy's going to have to kick that ball. 55 is really long. She was like, oh my god and then bang. He it. She's like, oh my god. And then it bonks off.
Off the cross it is. Incredible. One of the best. Did you know it was in right away or did you have to wait to see the hands coming? Well, you you we saw the angle. We knew. Yeah. We knew it. You could tell the it was going to go away. We knew it was true. Yeah. But we didn't know it was going to bonk, don't.
I didn't know it was going to. Until it dunked. Yeah. Yeah. Like it's all the way down and you're thinking because you can't really see the end. You're thinking like, maybe, maybe, maybe, maybe, maybe, And then it goes through. So, you're right. The donkey was the, was the shocker. Yeah. Think about just how odd the double dike is. Yeah Yes. Seriously. Seriously. So so, okay, getting back to my point, getting back to my point.
Great football game Great game for the season. No. I don't think the Steelers are at now. Like look yes. Two and four. One game back. Uh Baltimore losing to the Giants yesterday. I told you the Giants are for real. Well well that's the thing. The the question there. We're not going to answer this right now. But the question there is are the Giants really that good or is Baltimore really not that good? Right.
You know we don't know that yet. Okay? And and and it looks to me right now like the Giants are that good. You know like Daniel Jones has probably come into his own and learned how to play within himself. So anyway. Not a great. For for the for the season and for the team. This to me is still and this this may or may not be the popular opinion and I don't really give a tip.
Yeah. But this this me may still be the result. This is still a transition. Cuz look what you got going on now. Alright now. Granted. I don't know what the news was today about Kenny and his But he was at practice today and so he didn't have to be like away from the team or anything. Yeah. But he wasn't cleared play. No, but he probably will be though.
Okay. But will they play? Yes. Because of the Tua episode, maybe not. Okay and and so that, that, that, that is a great out for Mm hmm. To start Exactly. Because if if Pickett wasn't, let's say they said Pickett has no issues. Okay, we held him out because now, with the Tua thing and all that, they're going to be super conservative, which I kind of agree with, but let's say he comes back and says, he's totally cleared, he's fine, he has no you know, he just kind of got his clock cleaned.
Do you start him again next week or do you start Trubisky? No, I don't think he's going to be clear this week just because it seems like this is the way the NFL is going with quarterbacks. But but they really don't want to put the quarterback in a position where even though they might not be having symptoms to make to let them play again the next week.
I think they're always going to. But that's not, that's not my question. My question is, it's more alarming lines of, do we have a potential quarterback controversy. Well, no. If you only have one quarterback that can play, you don't. I think the the issue would be. But then let's take it further. If Trubisky plays well against Miami. What if Trubisky then what do you do? Yeah.
I personally think that Tomlin made the decision whether he made it out of haste we can talk about the the comments in the locker room that Jerry Dulack was was but no matter how that decision was made, you have to stick with it. You can't put on a yo-yo and be like, you're in, you're out, you're in, you're out. If he's healthy, he should be in.
My point is, is they're going to say he's not healthy this week, even if he maybe cleared the play. And I, I with you. I I think. I think that Trubisky is going to start against Miami. Um, I think that you know, we could talk about what we think is going to happen in that game, but what I, what I want to do is, I want to move on here, because I have a comment here that moves right to our neck Canada's plays are still too predictable.
Picket or Trubisky should be airing it out with the receivers we have. I still think the candidate is not good. Now I'm a lot of that is an understatement. Yeah. I'm going to chime in on this. Great football game. Good win.
All game long. Okay. When when when you have the ability to sit above the field and watch the game and you kind of know what you're looking for. Mm hmm. There was one thing that I was saying consistently and Steve was too. We were both agreeing on this. Yep.
The middle of the field. That cushion between the the defensive line and the linebackers.
In the middle of the field, that entire game was wide open. All field. Wide open. Everything. And the entire game.
Every call. Actually until Pickett went down. They did not try that. I remember. And if and if I'm wrong about this it it it's probably once. Not a single pass over the middle. Not one. Well but was it also wide open because nobody was running a pattern through the middle. That's right.
Right. That's exactly. But but here's the thing. That's exactly. What they were doing is they were stacking three receivers all here close together. Nobody in the slot. Right. And then and Bay they didn't I I don't even know what kind of defense they were playing. They they had the they had the the out of bounds lines totally covered every single time. And even though they did that when you have a three a stack of three receivers here and all three of them run out patterns.
What the hell are you doing? To the same side of the. To the same side. And and and within two yards of each other. Yeah. Okay? And that happened even, you know, that that pass that Trubisky through to Claypool. Yeah. To get the first down near the end of the game. I'm telling you right now, that, look, all, all props to Claypool for catching it. Mm hmm. But the the majority of the game, that pass wasn't even anywhere close and they were always covered.
As soon as they started throwing that ball over the middle, they started gaining yards. And that, that, that's my point. I don't care about the fact that they won this game. That does nothing for Canada. In the beginning of the game, the first and second quarter all you heard was booing. At the end of the half, oh yeah. They had all the time in the world and they're they're they're running the ball.
Terrible. It was horrible And the one of the things Steve said was when it looked like the game was going to get out of hand because of the play calling. He said you know and and this could be wrong but we were, he's like, well, the one good thing is if they get crushed and we keep calling the game like this is Canada probably won't have a job tomorrow and then at the end of the game, what he said was, well, now, unfortunately, Canada's going to get to keep his job.
Now, we don't think he would have been fired. Yeah, he's not going to be You know, he's going to make it through the year. Right. I don't know. I don't think he is. I think he is. I don't think he is. And this is why. Because their offense is just so not creative.
And terrible. And if they want to have, if they want to have, if they want to play, if they want to play he needs to start seeing some more dynamic plays. He needs to be able to pass the ball all over the field, not just to the sidelines. Yes. Not just dumping at the nausea. You know, and you know who bring that Steve Smith bring that. I'm I'm sorry.
Uh. Chris, Chris Sims. No. No. No. Mike Sullivan. Mark Sullivan I'll be here talking about the coach. Here's the thing though. Here here's something on Canada though that I think we're really overlooking or underlooking here. The fact that he's not qualified. No, here's the bottom line. Well, so what so what the hell is Mike Tomlin's job? his job just to delegate? Uh huh. You know, I say no.
I mean, I think that what a good coach does is when he sees that a unit is struggling You get involved. You get in those fire him. I agree. We agree, Mark. No, but you should get involved and he should be like, go away. Listen. Suck. Listen. Go. You know what? Here's here's kind of the way I look at it, right? You know, like, let let's say your your defense is, you know, play and prevent defense the whole game.
You don't want to give up the big play, right? And you're losing and it's because you never blitzing. You know, it's up to the head coach to say the defense Hey, let's mix in some blitzes. Let's do this. Let's do that. I mean, if Tomlin doesn't do anything of that sort, then why is he the head coach? So, so, you know, you can't just put it all on candy, right? Yeah, No, I can.
And here's why.
Tomlin is tasked Canada with the plays for the offense.
Is the plays for the offense involves two sweeps in one series and your biggest run play? Then, he's doing something wrong with the running game. If there's and I've heard this said before that there's some kind of tell sign that some position they always line up in when they run the ball. The defenses know what it is. And he hasn't fixed it yet. And that's why the running game is terrible. Shouldn't be. Because he Change it. Shouldn't say to Canada? Yes. Hey. Enough wide receiver jet sweeps.
I would rather you just say to Canada it's time for you to pack your bags and leave. This guy is we're going to use his now Yeah. We don't need your three jet suites. But here but here's the thing. Here's the thing. I I think you know what I like about Mike Tomlin is that he's a CEO type of head coach. So he lets the offensive guy call the plays. He lets the defensive guy call the But you gotta have a level of You can't just delegate everything.
And I think it to say that the that that's not partially fault I think, is wrong.
So, I'm going to going to throw in a few more comments. I'd I'd love the interaction we get on these shows. Uh DG says, well, I think played with less pressure as a backup. I'm not sure that Pickett could have made some plays to rally. Well, we will never know and that's not what happened. Uh Cromley says, my question how long until we see Watt back, we can address that later. Um Jeff from York, PA, says Canada, Laugh Out Loud, should be coaching in college.
You guys are right but he's timeless guy from Maryland. Um DG says, yeah, I already got that one in there. I'm sorry. Um he says, I agree the offense is not creative. Game plan never seems to exploit the weaknesses. I talked about that last week Jeff, one more time, agree, jet need to go. Ask Juju how that worked out. Last year, going to get these wide receivers hurt. Um now, Amy May is agreeing with Mark.
needs to tell Canada enough receivers in the for a short run. Steve doesn't get it.
Yeah, the head coach is allowed to say Knicks those plays. Well. When he doesn't have any other place to call, what is he going to do? Sit there with his thumb up his **** That's my point. My point is, he have anything left to call when he mixes the plays that working. Well, that's a problem from the top up. From the top down. That's right. Which is why the offensive has to go. Tim Eggard says the defense bailed out the offense again.
So, let's move on from Canada and and and.
Let's talk about this though. Um because I think this is a question.
You know, we don't know who's going to start whether it's going to be picket or Trubisky. We think Trubisky but we don't know. We don't know if Trubisky starts. We don't know if he's going to win or not. But what we do know is you have to basically make a decision at some point.
Do you play to try to win games now? Or do you stick with the development of Kenny Pickett? So where do you guys stand on there. I definitely think that Tomlin made the decision to go to pick it and I think you gotta put him back in when he's healthy. It's that simple. I'm with Steve. You have to stick with the development. But I don't I don't think I don't think that Trubisky is a is a terrible quarterback.
And I think if they actually if if Pickett does get healthy the worst thing they can do now if if Trubisky shows that he's a good quarterback is trading to like the commander. No no he they need to keep him. No I'm going to going to say something a little bring up the commanders. Always when you say Trubisky, they always say, well, the commanders want them like they know.
Yeah.
going to say something a little Please do. Okay, please do. I think you gotta play Kenny I think you gotta play Kenny Pickett because we don't know if Kenny Pickett's any good the bottom line is, if if he isn't any good, then you're going to get a top ten pick next year and you could draft a franchise So, you to play Kenny Pickett to see what he has. Yeah, I I agree with you there. We in in Kenny Pickett's statistics are average. They're even below average.
Well, we don't have a big enough sample size.
don't. Right. Right. We don't. So, but I think that's why you have to play See if you have to play. He's an average quarterback or if he's going to get better if he's as Tom Lang states, his is up. Yes. Yes. So, so now, moving on, let's we have a lot of other things we want to talk about. But I love it when people say Tomlinson instead of Tomlinson. Yeah. Tomlinson. Yeah That's right. I I may have actually said that a couple times in my life.
Let's bring our mascot Sassy up here. Sass, you want to she wants to go inside. So, the next the next thing that I want to talk about here. Wait, are we going to talk about the the dysfunction though? Not yet. Not yet. Okay, not yet. Well, we have we have dysfunction. We're still we're still on the game. Let's talk about dysfunction. We're still on the game. Uh let what I want to do is I want to talk about, I want to talk about that defense.
Okay. I want to talk about, I want to talk about how we wrote that defense off. I think all three of us sat here and said that defense sucks and I'm pretty sure they must have been listening to the podcast. Because they stepped up and they played a game yesterday. Well that defense has been good two times and bad four times. I mean, you know, what do you want to say? I mean, the bottom line is they still suck.
Unless they can prove that these improvements are going to continue. Yeah. Now, I did see some really positive signs. I can never remember the guy's name but OB Okenjobi? Yeah. He was awesome. Yes. Yeah. He was a beast. Yes.
And I love the fact that he was playing so hard without having to get it help from a double team. Mm hmm. You know, for TJ Watt, he was incredible.
Um and look, I I don't know enough about these guys but I do know that these guys off the practice squad played some pretty good defensive back yesterday against Tom Brady. Mm hmm. And I gotta think, are some of these guys better than the guys who are starting? Right. Maybe they are, maybe they aren't. I don't know. Mm hmm. I'm not watching practice day. But I am interested to see and find out.
Yeah. And I think if we're talking about the defense, the fact that they didn't give up any big plays me was the big difference between this defense and the defense that we've seen the last four or five weeks. No big plays. Because once you take that away and and once you once Brady can't figure out where to throw the ball. Which is kind of inexplicable to me. Like the fact that he couldn't get the ball into the end zone yesterday.
I don't know what they did differently but I thought that was really just still a question mark in my mind. Now, I'm not going to go back and watch the the game again but the fact that Brady couldn't get touchdowns and he we had to give up field goals was the reason we won that game. Absolutely. And and the fact they couldn't get that two point. Yeah. That two point conversion. That's true. Two point conversion was big. But I mean I saw linebackers making plays against Titans that I hadn't seen all year.
Yep. Bush made some great plays. Bushes.
Lane. I mean he's got. Malik Reed had a huge sack.
Arthur Rollette was in there taking it to to Fournette. Yeah. And I like it when a guy you know calls out the team and then he backs it up with his play. Yep. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. It's a good one. Well and that's and I put that I put that on Tomlin. I think Tomlin did a good job of getting these guys like basically saying, look, this is your chance.
You may not get another chance. All these guys might be healthy next week. Go out there and show us what you can do. Make us not want to take you off the field. Yeah. I know and that's a big deal. That's a big deal. I think the better coaches in this league you know, bring along players that might fail elsewhere and they can at least fit into a system.
Right. You know, in your defense. Well, then. Justice Jackson that was playing the the corner position and shut down Mike Evans. Yeah. Like, he was a pick from from Green Bay. So, he has the ability. Talent. Yeah. But he, for some reason, just not motivated to do it there he had a chance yesterday. He really showed that he could do it. So, who knows? mean, but I give all the credit to Tomlin on that one.
Tomlinson on that one.
Yeah. So, let's let's talk a little dysfunction. Let's talk locker room. Okay. Let's talk locker room. So, take it away. Two interesting things happened in the locker room. One this week. One a couple weeks back. So for those of you who don't know, couple weeks back when miss Trubisky was pulled at in favor of Kenny Pickett. Apparently, there was a very match between Deontay Johnson and Mitch Trubisky were basically Johnson was saying that miss was a trash quarterback and he needs to throw him the ball more and Trubitsky kind of came back at him and said, every time I throw you the ball, it goes right through your hand.
So, shut up and the bottom line is is that Tomlin was there when this happened and apparently, like, right after Mitch kind of went back after Keonte Johnson, that's when he said, number eight's going in. So, now, I we don't know what prompted Tomlin to put in Pickett. I'm I tend to not think that it was just this one episode. Yeah, that that that's kind of a quick decision. But, but it's, it's interesting that it happened.
Right. It's interesting that it happened and you know, it just kind of more Deontay Johnson just being a total, he just doesn't get it. Let's face it. He doesn't get it. Fans fall, you know, Mister grab, but then he can't hit it right in in his, in his, you know, hands.
He's just, you know, he's he's unreliable. I mean, is he good? Yeah, he's good. Mm hmm. But he's unreliable. Right. You know, so, I don't know. So, what do you guys think? Do you do you guys think that that had anything to do with you know, maybe part of his thinking process was, hey, these guys want to rally around Kenny Pickett.
tired of Mick. Remember, Mitch wasn't playing very good ball at all. No, he wasn't. He wasn't. It's true. So, I I I think that it it sounds to me like that was a conversation or an exchange that happened in the heat of the moment as soon as they got a locker room and and Tomlin probably rather than intervene let it play out and it already made his decision.
That's what I think. I agree with that. That's probably right. Yeah, it probably affirmed what he was thinking. Like, did this locker room has some dysfunction? Let's try something different because the dysfunction can eat itself to the point where this team could just totally fall apart. Yeah. And and making a decision at that point. It's not necessarily a bad thing. I mean, I I it's nobody know what happens in locker rooms.
Right. Ever. Except. Whether it's in the half. Although this was whether it happened at halftime or after the game. Even if people see an episode. They don't know what's behind that. Right. So, I mean, you know, to to to say we absolutely know, we can speculate a little bit but I'm okay with the decision being made at that point. Look, I didn't agree with the decision to put Pickett in period.
I think it was way too soon to put him in but I can understand that I've been talking to a lot of people who have a different opinion. I'm starting to come around to thinking maybe it is right. I'm everybody we're going to be playing picket at some point Why not just let it play out? And now that he's injured, it actually shows that you do have a a veteran quarterback that you can put in there.
Mm hmm. Sorry what's his name? Mason Further back up. Mason. Oh yeah. Mason Rudolph. I I continue to I continue to feel really bad. Sorry But I mean so. Better than both. Yeah he can't he can't do anything to crack the lineup. The the reality is you know, hopefully Pickett doesn't get another concussion but if he does, you know, he could sit out even a little bit longer.
Yeah. And we might have to see Mason at some point. Um so, so yeah, I don't I don't think that's a big deal one way or the other but it is it is interesting that it came out this week. Yeah. Okay. So, so feeding into feeding into the locker room drama Um also, I guess there were some comments.
Apparently, Boswell made. Yes. Towards Canada. That happened after this most recent game. So after this game, there was a report, it was on 937. Uh, the guys kind of during my you know, afternoon drive. And their report was that Canada. Uh obviously thrilled with the win and Terrell Austin, defensive coordinator, also thrilled with the win. In the locker room, gave each other like a big embrace and you know, we're kind of like patting each other on the back like great win today, that kind of thing for whatever reason, Chris was right by this and apparently looked Matt Canada in the eye and just said, like you had anything to do with it.
That's a book. The the funny thing is, is that first of all, he's a kicker. What does he have to do with the offense? How much time is he even spending with Matt Canada? So, if Chris Boswell Canada sucks. Right. Then, the whole offense thinks he Right. Right? Right. Right? And and they were also saying like, what did Canada do to get the kicker irritated with him and they were basically saying, he's just rubbed a lot of people the wrong way. You know, he's just like not a guy's guy or whatever.
Yeah. Yeah. So, I I thought that that was very interesting any on it from you guys. I I I think it's just if it's true, I I think a reflection of the frustration that the players have with the play calling which. Right. I I think if there's one. Makes sense. If there's one recurrent theme for the last couple years is that the offensive is not very good. Right. And I think after a couple years. Now, there's a lot of coaches that come in. They have an idea.
They have a scheme. It doesn't work. They adjust.
There's where the frustration is. Mm Why are we not And I saw that first hand. Yeah. When I was at that game yesterday. Like, I've never been a football coach in my life, okay? And if I'm up there watching the game, you know, and I'm seeing the whole field and all I see is Is a 30 yard, a thirty-yard by twenty-yard hole in the middle of a defense and you're an offensive coordinator and you like it was like he was refusing.
Right. To throw the ball over the middle. It's the adjustments. I think the locker room is super frustrated and this win is probably creating more friction than a wind should. Because that comment alone tells me that their their probably in the locker room saying it wasn't you. It is Mitch. It was Mitch. Mitch. Mitch. Yeah. Mitch. Mitch came in and played and Claypool finally caught the ball in spite of your dumb play calling.
Right. I mean and and if you think about it like look, you know, like we're we're not football coaches, right? Steve's the only one who played football in high school. Yup. Yup. But the bottom line is, if you watch a lot of football, it doesn't take a genius to know. The probably the best play to run offensively is a crossing pattern. Why? Yes.
Because the fenders run into each other. Yeah, I know. I know. I know. It's that simple. And you give players across the middle. Right. Right. It's not that hard. Yup. Right? And you have time to run away from somebody but you're not a hundred yards down field. You're right. That's exactly right. That's exactly right. Quickly. Yeah and and if the QB leads you properly, you can catch the ball and run with it.
Right. Yeah. Exactly. Yeah, absolutely. Alright. So, I think we've gotten all that out of our system for now and this week, we are going to we're going to forego the head lines that matter and what we're watching. We'll probably bring it back next week. But you guys let's move on to our predictions and what's going on. So, let let's first to talk about next week real quick.
Uh Steelers. Well, well, first. You want to recap? Well, I want to talk about Steelers mindset. No, we don't want to talk. We want to talk about this week. Okay. We don't want to talk about last week. No, he doesn't want to talk about last week because he's oh and three but we're going to talk about last week. No, no. Going down going down. We'll try to keep this one brief.
Going to Steelers are going to Miami. Let's assume Trubisky's going to start. Uh is Tua going to be back? I don't think he has. Yeah, they already announced he's going to be back. Okay, Tua's going to be back. Okay, one quick question. What's what's the word on on Watt? We had somebody ask a question about. He's still like 4 weeks away, right? Yeah. Well, you know, the fact that he got that little surgery done on his knee makes me think it's not going to be till after the bite.
Yeah. And and then you can start talking about him coming about that. Okay. That doesn't mean he'll be back for the body. Also, hoping he will be but I would say he guaranteed out the next two games. And we're not going to have any Penguins news this broadcast but they're currently up one to nothing. Damn. Radio Silence. Come on brother. I'm wondering if Steve's going to go home and fast forward through the game and give us his nightly update.
Oh yeah. Yeah. You'll see. You'll you'll see an update. Okay. Alright. So we'll get into that at the end of the show because we have some exciting news. The only time during the year that I can say it. Fires tied for first place. There you go. Awesome.
Alright. So, last week, this wouldn't be the sports sports without the Hurricane logo from Yo Carrick. Go Kings. Alright. So, last week, what we had was we had the Commanders at the Bears and all three of us got it wrong. We all picked the Bears. We did and boy did the Bears suck. Yeah, they really suck And we had the Cowboys at the Eagles, Steve picked the Cowboys, Chris and Mark picked the Eagles. Steve lost that one too. Six. Wow. And we had the Bills as the Chiefs. Mark had the Bills. Steve and I had the Chiefs. So, last week, Mark was two in one.
I was one and two.
Steve was a dismal. Man, two times this year, oh and three. So, I'm putting up the records this year so far. As of now, Mark's in the lead. Chris is nine and nine. I always say Chris. I am nine and nine. Mark is now the the resident genius at eleven and seven. And Steve is six and twelve. So, this week, moving on to our picks, I'm going to go the opposite what I'm thinking. Thursday night game. I'm going to start with Mark to give you a chance to go the opposite way. Thursday night game. Saints at Cardinals.
What do you say Saints Cardinals. Cardinals are limping lately.
Hopkins is back this week. Oh is he back this week? Okay.
By the way man. And they Robbie Anderson. Yeah and Marquis but Marquis Brown is out for. But they signed Robbie Anderson.
He's not Alright let's get to a prediction. Let's get to a prediction. Okay. James still out.
Cardinals win. Alright, Mark says Cardinals. Yeah, going with the Cardinals. DeAndre Hopkins, four touchdowns.
There you go. Steve says, Cardinals.
Who's quarterback in the Saints now? It might be Jameis this week. Jameis, I think it's bad. But if it's not Jameis, it's Andy Dalton. Yeah. I'm going with the Cardinals. The combo tight end with what's his face? Alright. Uh Saints and Cardinals, Saints and Cardinals Thursday night. All three of us have the Cardinals. Uh Sunday Colts. Now, we're not the Sunday night game because that's Steelers.
Steelers. Uh Sunday, Colts at Titans. This is an important game. Cuz the Colts all of a sudden, but for everybody that that wasn't here early, the Colts were were pick to win the Super Bowl. They aren't anymore.
I don't know. They have. They're three, two, and one. They're coming back.
three, two, and one.
No, they're terrible. Yeah. Alright. So, they're not. Colt Bears. Colts have been playing. Right. Colts the Titans. Titans.
Mark has the Well, I was going to go with the Titans but now I'm going with the Colts. Steve is going with the Colts. You have to. I'm actually going with the Titans. Uh and. That's a pick em game though really. It is a pick em game. I mean, the Titans you gotta figure have an advantage if you're playing at home a little bit. The Colts are one of those teams that they kind of they kind of stink but they will actually be in every game to the left.
They have the tools. Right. They have the tools. Uh next game, Chiefs at Excuse me That's an interesting one because the the are coming off. It's very disappointing. Two touchdown loss to the Falcons. Which is a surprise Uh with their defense. And the Chiefs yeah look I mean are are they the best team in the AFC? Second best team up and down. I mean you gotta give it to the Bills at this point. But still I was a little disappointed with Mahomes.
Uh with the on. You're going with the Chiefs. Yeah that was the Chiefs. Um you know what? I'm not. I'm going to go. I'm going to go forty-niners at home. The defense back on track. He's giving me a free one here. Kansas City. No problem. There's no way they lose back-to-back games. Alright and I'm going with Kansas City as well. So, that is Man, the wind is really on the porch. I think For next. Ready for a tornado or something.
Uh before we tease a couple things coming up here, I want to get comments day. He says, you called the Colts a bold pick. You did. You did. I wasn't in my right mind. And Tim Pomato from Palmetto is in the house Pens up 2 to nothing. Let's go. You might have an easy one tonight. Alright, one of the things that I wanted to to tease everybody on. I'm undefeated. I'm calling it. Alright. Go for it.
Um the porch the porch is live.
The porch is live. com. I'm going to say it a third time. Easy to remember. The Porch Is Live.
That is our website. We're going to continue to add content. There will be more content coming. Um another thing that's really exciting is that Steve who is admitted to watching almost every single Penguins game. Every single one.
Is doing a post-game analysis on the podcast. Not live on Facebook or YouTube or anywhere. But every night after the Penns game he's going to do somewhere between a two and five minute analysis. Dropping it on the podcast. So if you want to listen to his analysis after the Pens Games every night. Tune in to the Sports Sports Podcast on iHeartRadio app or anywhere else. You get your apps. We drop it every after every time.
Steve question for you. Is it going to be fluff. Or we're going to have an article. Something like will there be another great regular season and a fourth straight first round loss? Malkin with two goals. He's already done two. He's already done two and he's done pretty well. He's done pretty well. Obviously jagging him a little bit. Um if you knew what it was like to make the playoffs 16 years in a row.
There you go Flyers. You might you might have it. I I don't.
That's my weakness. And DG are pretty bad. DG has a question for you there. And you can answer that later. Yeah. No. Well I can answer it now.
Smith's playing tonight because I think Jarry got banged up. I think. Okay. It's it's a concern. If you've been listening to my podcast, you know I've been high on Jarry this this season. And I I I think that's a big problem. I mean I know Dismiss is going to play some games but for Jerry to already be injured after coming off of an injury. Remember he didn't play in the too much last year except for that one game he did play hurt.
That's the problem. So we'll see. I mean if he looks hey it's two nothing. So it's working. Two nothing Malkin has two goals. Malkin has two goals. Montreal is a tough place to play. I mean, the Pens don't traditionally do well there. As a Flyers fan, I don't think we'll make the playoffs this year but I'm praying for the eight seed and give me the There you go, baby.
There you go. Alright, guys. I bet. Dude, if I was a Flyers fan, I would too. Listen, I I I want to take this opportunity to thank everybody for listening. By the way, I'm not Flyers fan. Of course, you're not. To thank to thank Everybody for listening to us on American Busker iHeartRadio. Hundred and 50 million registered users. 2000 devices. 250 platforms. Also if you follow our podcast the Sports Porch on the iHeartRadio app or Apple Podcast or Spotify or Google Podcast.
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