DK’s Daily Shot of Steelers: Wilson’s playbook?



DK’s Daily Shot of Steelers: Wilson’s playbook?

[Music] it’s common knowledge that Shawn pton has the national football league’s thickest Playbook it’s common knowledge that Payton and Russell Wilson didn’t see eye to eye on a lot of things in Denver this past season it should become common knowledge in Pittsburgh that that won’t happen good morning to you good Monday morning I’m Dan kovachevich of DK Pittsburgh sports and this is daily shot of Steelers it comes your way bright and early every weekday if you’re into hockey Andor baseball I also offer daily shots of penguins and pirates in the same place that you found this OTAs begin tomorrow at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex on the south side I’ll be over there covering that for DK Pittsburg Sports and one of the most important observations to be made will be how does this look even if it’s just random drills and walkthroughs and dudes in shorts how does this look this Arthur Smith offense that we know nothing about and to my mind specifically on this quarterback Monday how much does it look like a Russell Wilson offense and of course I’m referring to His Glory Days in Seattle how much does it look like he’s rolling out roaming around throwing against his body doing that all that unpredictable not in the Playbook stuff that made him legitimately special at his position in the league because and I’m going to keep saying this between now and the opener in Atlanta nothing nothing nothing matters more than how this quarterback adjusts to this coordinator adjusts to this offense adjusts to this head coach adjusts to this City’s expectations for this offense all of that yes including our city comes into play because we’re not gonna just take it lying down if this offense stinks too we’re just not and that begins if you ask me with Wilson and Smith not just being on the same page but with Smith understanding that it’s his responsibility his burden to cast his offense in the Wilson Mold not the other way around any good coach of any sport will tell you that you coach the talent that you have not the talent that you wish you had and that at least in learning about it from afar was what went wrong in Denver you had a coach who wished he still had Drew Brees as his quarterback and who wished he could still call 140 different plays in only 80 snaps so what you’d have is a guy on the sideline just silently stewing over there telling everybody including publicly that you’re streamlining The Playbook that’s the word that gets used by the way when what you want to say is simplifying or we’re tearing out some pages because we think our quarterback is dumb or something when in fact that doesn’t have to happen I’m sure there are dumb quarterbacks out there I’m also sure that Wilson isn’t one of them and I’m further sure that if Payton had just said listen this is who I have this is the guy right here in front of me this guy is wearing a ring I’m going to find out from him how’d you get that ring who’d you throw to who’ you trust how did it work having this player or that player around you how did you feed off of the talent the Rhythm that you had the confidence what was it that you felt best in do you really think any of those conversations happened in Denver I don’t know I I don’t cover the Broncos but I know that they have to happen here and I know that for all we talk about with Smith and the Atlanta offense and everything’s going to be you know like 1965 looking and you’re going to run the ball 50 times a game between Naji and Jaylen going like Franco and Rocky you’re going to have uh not three tight ends we’re going to have like seven tight ends out there it just this is 2024 and you have Russell Wilson in your backfield so no matter what principal identity you want to put forth no matter what kind of picture you want to paint the way Andy whle did about feeling good about our team by looking at who’s sitting with us on the bus you’re still going to have to maximize all avenues for your offense to be effective this is not an offense that is built on a single player a single Superstar there’s no Antonio Brown and for that matter there’s no Ben rothberger it’s a group that’s going to have to succeed on the strengths of its individual Parts working together and if that sounds excessively cliche so be it Russ has to be part of that Russ might have to be the main part of that and as such sit down with him listen to him go look at video from his days with the Seahawks put on the Super Bowl tape ask him what was going through your head there what made you feel good about that play how do you think that one might look if we ran it with say George Pickins how do you think that’ go put him into the process make the commitment go all the way keep your tough guys identity and all that other stuff but understand that for this offense to go where you want it to go it’s it’s got to come out of his hand when we come back j1q Luxenberg garbett Kelly and George lgkg is a personal injury law firm in Western Pennsylvania that represents people hurt in car accidents or who need help with workers comp or medical malpractice when the attorneys at lgkg make you a promise they keep it they’ve been keeping promises in our region for over 80 years LG kg’s been AV rated the highest rating a law firm can receive and they’ve been designated Super Lawyers that’s actually a thing for over 15 years it’s a rare combination lgkg has offices in Cranberry Newcastle Beaver Falls Butler and lwood City learn more about them by visiting LG kg.cm [Music] 4 LG [Music] kg today’s j1q is really a revisit of last Friday’s j1q which a lot of you thought I didn’t answer particularly well or really answer at all and in listening to it again to see what everyone was so upset about I I kind of get it because the question that was asked was related to the Steeler second half of the schedule and how that could conceivably dovetail with the NFL claiming that it prioritizes player safety and the way that I answered it instead was why I felt it didn’t matter all that much toward the Steelers winning or losing so to that end mark asks DK the question wasn’t about the record the question was about player safety exclamation points but you went on and on about what their record could be I find it ironic because you’re preaching player safety when it comes to other issues but you seem fine when physical divisional battles are scheduled on short weeks I think it’s ridiculous to schedule a road game in Cleveland in 4 days after a physical battle with the Ravens so yeah the Steelers might have a good record heading into that final month of the season but they might not have enough healthy players left to even compete if they do make the playoffs all right Mark I get it everybody else who said something I get it I apologize to you I apologize to the individual who asked the question and what I have for you is I of course they don’t prioritize player safety when did they ever start doing that what kind of subject is that to even discuss on this program I can’t think of anything more obvious this is a league that even after doing stuff like this is openly casting about for an 18th game to the regular season while also insisting that they’re not going to expand rosters they’re not going to expand practice squads but hey we will come up with some goofy new kickoff for you that nobody will understand including the participants and maybe that’ll lead to even more injuries you I’m not sure what other stand I could take here that I haven’t taken over the years when it comes to player safety and Roger Goodell and this league as a whole but here again to to get back to the actual schedule the reason that I’m not overreacting to what’s seen there is well a couple of things one I don’t believe that the league should take into consideration that the Steelers and Ravens like to rough each other up two teams is two teams they can’t be thinking about stuff like that because there’d be no way to cater to that sort of sentiment in the future another is that the situations are equal for all of the teams in these scenarios that we’re discussing and I went and checked myself I looked at the brown schedule I looked at the Chief’s schedule they’re operating on exactly the same number of days of rest the same amount of travel the same everything whereas if you gave one team you know those extra couple of days of rest they could really do damage to you and vice versa in other words the Browns are playing four days before the same game that the Steelers are playing the Browns on in 4 days the Chiefs are doing the same thing on Christmas they play on Saturday before that the Steelers play on a Saturday before that it’s not ideal but it is fair and I’m going to throw out something else and you’re not going to hear this from a lot of different places this is stuff that I hear in the locker room and players aren’t all that wild about putting it out there because it’s so much more I don’t know comfortable or common to just say well Thursday game stink you know what I’ve been hearing a lot of and I heard it quite a bit this past season the one good thing about a Thursday game is you get yourself basically the feel equivalent of a bye after that because Mike Tomlin will give them several consecutive days off that part is at the head coach’s discretion and Tomlin just basically gives them the entire weekend to recover and recuperate they’ll do something light on Monday they’ll be off on Tuesday and then from there it’s a regular practice week from Wednesday through the following Sunday now I’m going to ask you this when you look at the very end of the schedule what we’re talking about here with that Chiefs game on Christmas the final game of the season the week 18 game is against the Bengals the Steelers will be entering that game against the Bengals on an exceptionally long week of rest whereas the Bengals won’t and this is a divisional matchup for all we know it could be a critical divisional matchup if Joe burrow were to bring back the Bengals to where they were a couple of years ago and let’s just say that I don’t know Pittsburgh and Cincinnati are duking it out for the top spot and the Steelers have the unfair advantage of the you see what I’m saying you could do this all day I know the NFL doesn’t value player safety I also know that this schedule stuff is being badly overblown I appreciate the question I appreciate the complaints I appreciate everybody who listens to daily shot of Steelers and we will do another one of these tomorrow

Tell me why this wouldn’t be a Russell Wilson playbook.

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25 comments
  1. As for the schedule, no way they care about player safety when they put 3 games in 10 days, especially at the later half of the season.

  2. DK, don’t apologize. Since 2011 the league has had it out for the Steelers. Being the only team that voted “no” on the new CBA and no to the commissioners power increase. This what you have seen for 13 years.

  3. Morning DK , nation . Had this very Payton/Breeze, Belicheck/Brady conversation this weekend. It's pretty easy to be thought of as an elite coach when you have an elite QB . Look at Reid right now compared to before Mahomes, McNabb. Yinz can miss me with the Tomlin/Ben , he's done better than most when losing "the guy" . Thanks DK

  4. WOW DK, you have been doing some serious Russ butt kissing! “ Look, Russ went to a hockey game, he’s such a good teammate, he’s trying!” Or “ Sean Peyton wasn’t nice to poor Russ!”! What about Pete Carroll? How about his teammates in Seattle? What this was is Tomlin bringing in 2 running QBs like he’s wanted. Mason should be the QB but mediocre Mikey would never let the QB he screwed so bad, come in and make him look bad by not giving him the job sooner! What we will have is the defense keeping us in games and Russ pissing off his teammates by week 4. Buckle up, it’s going to be a long season!

  5. After last year with "all cylinders firing" up until the opener against SF. Im going to wait to get overly excited about anything.

  6. Make no mistake. Wilson's demise was Denver realizing they owed Russell a boat load of money, and without a team around him, not even Superman could make them better. So they wanted out of their contract with him and told Payton to figure out how to get them out from under it. He didn't mind being the bad guy to try to crush Russell's spirit and get him out.

  7. Just listened to Matt’s Scout eye episode and it appears the Ravens have quite the rest advantage compared to the rest of the league. It is what it is though. Cut off your eyelids and play.

  8. To me there are a few key unanswered questions about this upcoming season that we will be thinking about until Atlanta in Week One: 1. How does the O-Line jell, ? 2. How does the D-line progress after a season of injuries? 3. how will Justin Fields be used? 4. How does the two quarterback relationship look like on the field and in games? 5. How does Minkah bounce back? 6. How does Najee do in a contract year if he is not renegotiated? 7. Will he be renegotiated? 8. Does not picking up the 5th year option affect the performance of Najee? 9. Who is Russ 2024? But the biggest question for me is 10. Will Roman Wilson line up on the outside and will Roman Wilson on the outside be enough?

  9. I am not saying Wilson or Fields for that matter are going to be good here, but am I the only one that is tired of all the articles out of the national media/Denver/both complaining about how bad Wilson was. Maybe the problem in Denver was the coach. Last I checked the coach and QB each had 1 ring. QB could of had 2. either way NOT OUR PROBLEM. Everyone shut up. Let 2024 play out

  10. DK, i truly believe that Smith is going to be way more balanced than what his past offenses were, like you said its 2024, opponents are going to expect us ground and pound in which play action will result in big play opportunities, then in the 4Q we play smash mouth! Throw in some wrinkles with Fields and we have an actual legit offense!

  11. Listen If Wilson threw 26 TDs last season and He is Washed Up then What does that make Mahomes who threw 27 TDs.. Let Be Real Peyton Got Brees when Brees already been to a Playoff with Shottenheimer. Peyton HASN'T PROVED AT ALL, That he can be THAT COACH with ANY Other QB that isn't Brees. Just like Reid didn't Win without a Mahomes. Peyton Will be Fired after this season if not the following. If 26 TDs isn't Enough for a Coach Then Maybe You just Not a Good Coach. 1 Superbowl after Katrina when the League NEEDED the Country to Care about Louisanna.. Nothing Since. Like Gruden They Will Get Exposed.. Wilson already showed in his Stats. Peyton Hasn't..

  12. As a rule we triamph under adversity while usually floundering to teams we should beat…so there is always that…GO STEELERS…PS4L

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