Steelers OVERREACTION MONDAY After Week 2: Mike Tomlin On The Hot Seat? + Cut Kaleb Johnson?

Steelers OVERREACTION MONDAY After Week 2: Mike Tomlin On The Hot Seat? + Cut Kaleb Johnson?

[Music] It’s overreaction Monday here on Steelers Talk after the Pittsburgh Steelers took the L to the Seattle Seahawks yesterday at home by a final score of 31-7. A lot to react to today, a lot to talk about here on the show. Um, so make sure you let me know down there in the comments section, guys. Have you lost faith in this year’s Steelers football team already? Give me a yes or a no down there in the comment section. It certainly hasn’t looked terrific or perfect or Super Bowl caliber uh through the first two weeks here, guys. But let me know if you’ve completely lost faith here after just two weeks. So, the first claim here on Overreaction Monday that the first two weeks show how bad the defense is going to be this year and it will not improve. And for me guys, this is uh pretty much an overreaction here throughout the first uh f first two weeks. You know, teams are still trying to figure out who they are. Um you know, there’s going to be adjustments made as the season goes on. But obviously, you know, first two weeks it has not been good enough. So, I’m not going to say it’s a pure overreaction. I’m going to say it’s a slight overreaction because things can still change, but things definitely need to change if the Steelers are going to turn it around on defense. All right. Um the run defense has been absolutely abysmal. They’ve given up on a 100 plus yard rusher uh each of the last two weeks. Um you know the Ko Benson at nose is just not getting it done. He’s getting pushed backwards which is affecting the linebacker play. And then speaking of those linebackers, they’re not in the correct run fits very uh often. They’re not taking good pursuit angles. And you know if you can’t stop the run, it’s going to affect everything that you do on defense. And that’s just the foundation of your defense. and it’s completely uh squishy, soft, and just incomplete uh throughout the first two weeks and it needs to be fixed. But there is just too much talent on this Steelers defense. You know, you have TJ Watt, you have Cam Hayward, you have Alex Heismith whenever he comes back from his high ankle spray. Nick Herbig looked really good yesterday. Um Patrick Queen is a former allpro. Deshawn Elliot will be back here soon. Juan Thornnehill’s looked pretty decent through the first couple weeks. Jaylen Ramsey’s legit. um like there’s just too much talent here for me to completely give up on this Steelers defense. But it’s very clear that something needs to change, especially up front um and the way that they use their strategy on the defensive line um in order for this thing to be turned around. And that kind of brings us into our second claim here on this overreaction Monday, which is that Mike Tomlin should be fired if this defense doesn’t turn it around this season. And I think that this is perfectly reasonable. All right. I still think that there is time and there is talent here to be able to turn things around in time and make this a good defense before we get to January. I mean, last year, I mean, if we learned anything from last year, guys, is that you are not the same team in January as you were in September. All right? So, as long as the Steelers continue to grow and by season’s end, we’re in a position where this defense is playing good football. Um, then obviously, you know, that’s better than having a good September like the Steelers had last year on defense and then you’re completely crumbling by the time you get to January. But yes, if you don’t turn it around here, if you’re Mike Tomlin, a defensive head coach that has had the most, you know, expensive defense in the league for multiple seasons on end here, um, you have to, you have to, you know, get better. All right? Like plain and simply, this is not something that is going to be an acceptable result for a 17g game NFL schedule when you have the league’s most expensive defense. All right? You can’t be giving up 300 plus yards of defense like you have in your last 10 football games on defense. If you’re the Pittsburgh Steelers, you can’t give up 27.5 yards per game or not yards per game, points per game. Uh if you are the Pittsburgh Steelers with this kind of money being spent on defense, that is just a plain and simple fact, guys, that you know, the last 10 games for the Pittsburgh Steelers on defense have just been absolutely atrocious. All right, like you’re giving up yards, you’re siphoning them off left and right. The run game uh for your opponents is doing whatever they want against you and then they’re able to score a lot of points on you. And it’s just hard to win football games when you’re giving up 28 points per game. And not that long ago, guys, this was a defense that was known and was leading the league in games where you were giving up 20 or less points per game. I mean, remember, man, like when Kenny Picket was having his struggles, when this offense was really struggling um and you know, even last year at the beginning of last season, the offense wasn’t scoring a lot of points, but they were winning football games because this defense wasn’t giving up more than 20 points. This used to be an awesome defense, right? And it wasn’t that long ago, but you know, there was a little bit of a switch midway through last year where this team all of a sudden started to give up a ton of yards. They give a ton of points and that is leaked here into 2025 and it needs to be fixed here by Mike Tomlin and this defensive coaching staff and he still does have time to do that, you know, and he still has talent to do that here in Pittsburgh. All right? like you still have Jaylen Ramsey and TJ Watt and Cam Award and you know there’s still a lot of really uh high-end talent here in Pittsburgh. So, um if Mike Tomlin and Terrell Austin and these guys can uh switch something up if they can um you know get things turned around, you know, they can absolutely save their jobs. You know, it’s certainly not a done deal that the Steelers are going to be trading or not trading firing Mike Tomlin at the end of the season here. But time is definitely running out for Coach T because he’s a defensive head coach. This has been one of the worst defenses in the National Football League over those last 10 game stretch despite having some really high-end talents on this roster. Um, and if uh he can’t turn it around, I think the Steelers need to find somebody uh that will. So, what say you guys? Let me know down there in the comments section. How many games do the Steelers need to lose this year for them to fire Mike Tomlin? Let me know what you guys think down there in the comments section. Um, this will be the pinned comment on today’s show. So, YouTube’s going to throw you an ad break here in just a couple of seconds. And I’m going to tell you about our sponsor today at prize picks. While I’m talking about prize picks today, let me know how many games the Steelers need to lose this season in order for the Steelers to realistically fire Mike Tomlin. And with that, let’s have a word from our sponsor today at Prize Picks. And you and I, we both make decisions every single day. But on Prize Picks, being right can actually get you paid. Don’t miss any of the excitement this season on Prize Picks, where it’s good to be right. Football season is finally here and you better believe I’m going to be getting my Prize Pix lineups in all season long. Price Pix is simple to play. Just pick more than or less than on two to six player stat projections and if you get your picks right, you could cash in. 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That’s code CLNS to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup on the Prize Pick app today. Prize Pick, it’s good to be right. Sticking with the defense here with our third claim on this overreaction Monday, which is that TJ Watt is officially washed and it was a mistake to pay him this off season. Now for me, guys, this is an overreaction for now. All right. I think TJ has actually looked pretty decent on film. He’s affecting the quarterback. He is uh definitely impacting the run game. Teams are running away from him because he is still an elite run defender. Uh but playing simply, guys, if the rest of the unit isn’t doing their jobs, it’s not TJ Watt can only make so much of an impact. um when the middle of the defensive line is giving up as much ground as they’re giving up, when the linebackers are out of position, you know, there’s only so much TJ Watt can do when teams can run away from him and get away with it. Um and even though he doesn’t have a sack through these two games, he is getting pressure on quarterbacks. He is looking pretty explosive uh in terms of his first step. Uh so I do think that the production is eventually going to get there. But plain simply, guys, zero sacks in his last six games. And I understand that he finished last season injured. But, you know, zero sacks in the last six games for, you know, one of the highest paid uh non-quarterbacks in the NFL u you know, over the next several seasons, not just this year, but over the next several seasons. It’s just unacceptable, man. And, you know, you take a look um at what he was able to do yesterday here. Two QB hits, four tackles, uh but no TFLs yesterday um and obviously no sacks. So, um, you know, he just needs to make a little bit more of an impact in the stat sheet. You know, I do see it on film where, you know, he’s still, you know, looking like TJ Watt out there. It’s just that teams are making a very conscientious effort to stay away from him, getting the ball out quickly. Of course, the secondary not holding up in the back end, allowing quarterbacks to get rid of the football quickly is contributing to that. And, you know, because of that, the Steelers just haven’t had a lot of sack production, even though they are blitzing a lot. Quarterbacks are getting the ball out fast versus the Steelers because they can. this secondary has not been able to hold up in past coverage. Um, and if they do in future weeks, I think that TJ Watt will have a chance uh to make things happen and and and fill up that stat sheet a little bit more. U, so I will say that’s an overreaction for now, but there’s no doubt about it. Your 40 plus million per season edge rusher needs to fill out the stat sheet more in the weeks to come. Uh, claim number four here, guys, is that the Steelers offensive line is once again not good enough and will hold this team back once again. And you know, unfortunately, right now, this looks like it is the case. All right, it certainly looks like uh that this offensive line is once again holding up uh this Steelers offense. They’re not able to protect the quarterback. So, I’m going to say it’s somewhat reasonable because there’s still time to turn it around and for this group to mesh like we talked about with the defense. Uh you’re a different football team in January and December than you are in September. And you know, this team is going to grow and evolve and do all these different things throughout the season. Um, and hopefully this young group uh continues to mesh, build that chemistry, get that experience, and they uh improve as the season goes on. And if that happens, there’s a legitimate chance that this offense could be pretty darn good in my opinion. Aaron Rogers had some pretty nice throws yesterday on the film. Um, despite the offense, you know, and the offensive line not protecting him all that well yet again. But plain simply, guys, Pittsburgh is screwed this season in terms of their Super Bowl hopes if the offensive line doesn’t play better. I talked about it in my postgame show yesterday. The two things that you got to do uh to, you know, give kind of bring back those Super Bowl kind of hopes here in Pittsburgh is you got to look better up front on defense and you got to look better up front on offense. Right now, the Steelers have lost the trench battle uh on both sides of the ball on each of the first two weeks. That’s unacceptable and that’s not going to be uh something that breeds good results if that continues for the rest of this season. So, there’s still time to turn it around. this is there’s still a lot of talent on this offensive line and on this defensive line. So, theoretically, they could still turn it around. It’s just been a very slow start, and that’s very concerning. Uh claim number five here is that the Steelers need to add another wide receiver and should give up on Roman Wilson after two games uh in the National Football League here pretty much. And, you know, um I’ve been somebody that’s been a champion for Roman saying, you know, it’s okay to give him a shot, all this different stuff. But, this is somewhat reasonable. completely understand why people want to move on from Roman Wilson, especially if we’re talking about this season in particular. You know, this team wants to win now and Roman Wilson just doesn’t look like somebody that’s uh ready to contribute to this football team at this moment. And you know, in two games, he only has one catch. He only has two targets and that one catch came in garbage time when when the defense was playing soft. So like Roman Wilson doesn’t have like a legit completion yet through two weeks. And you know, I think that, you know, we’re at the point where you might have to think about playing Ben Scoranic more than you play Roman Wilson. Uh just because, you know, at least Scoranic gives you a little bit of an edge as a blocker. Uh whereas Roman Wilson isn’t really giving you all that much as a player out there u in your 11 personnel packages. So, the clock is certainly ticking for Roman. Um I I certainly think that if he doesn’t turn things around, if he doesn’t uh get more production uh from that wide receiver three spot as the season goes on, the Steelers are going to be looking for some outside wide receiver help at the trade deadline. So uh clock is certainly ticking for Roman, at least in terms of this season, and it has not been a very fruitful start for the former third round pick out of Michigan. Then we get to claim number six here, which is the Steelers should cut Caleb Johnson after his slow start and botched kick return yesterday. Now listen guys, that botched kick return was one of the stupidest plays I’ve ever seen um ever. Okay, like that is one of the stupidest things I have ever seen. And how do you not coach up your kick returner to not know the freaking rules there, right? So um I’m gonna say this is an overreaction though, guys, because uh obviously he’s young. He’s a third round pick. he does have a lot of ability. Um, and you know, I don’t think you cut a player for that one mistake. All right? Like I think that, you know, you know, these kinds of things, unfortunately, they do happen sometimes. They are unacceptable. And if it continues to be the case where he’s making these dumb mistakes as the kickoff return man. Um, and he’s continuing to just not be a factor in the run game, maybe you think about it down the road, but he is still so young. You did just recently invest a third round pick in him. So to just give up on him at this point, I think would just be a huge overreaction from this football team. It’s not going to happen. They’re not going to cut Caleb Johnson. He will be a part of this football team, at least for the for the rest of this season. Uh but then, you know, uh you know, another Caleb Johnson claim here that I think is perfectly reasonable is that the Steelers should maybe consider taking him off of kick return. This is not something that he did back in college. All right? Like he he he he did it, but it was very scarce in the moments that he was used as a kickoff return man. this is not his bread and butter and you can tell that um with his production so far like he has not been a very productive uh kickoff return man to this point through the first two weeks and he just doesn’t look like a natural fit there. So I don’t know what the what the right answer to that spot is. I don’t know if it’s Kenneth Gainwell. I don’t know if it’s Scotty Miller. I don’t know if it’s somebody else. Maybe even Jabril Peppers who’s who’s played that role before. But like I I can tell you this right now man. Um, you know, if you’re expecting to get to the 30 yardd line consistently, the Steelers special teams and kickoff unit has not been able to do that with Caleb Johnson to this point. So, if the Steelers want to take him off of kickoff return, I think that’s perfectly reasonable. But in terms of cutting him at this point, I don’t think that’s something that’s going to happen. Then the final claim on this overreaction Monday today, guys, is that the Steelers’s season is effectively over already and this team officially sucks. I think that this is an overreaction here, folks. Um, I’m not blind to the problems of this football team, guys. They got to get a lot better in the trenches. Um, you know, they got to get they got to do a better job getting open for Aaron Rogers. I’m talking about the weapons right there, especially this past week. It was just not good enough. Uh, the pass defense needs to be better as well. Uh, when they blitz, they have to get home better. All these different things, man. It’s not been a perfect first two weeks. All right. But like I’ve been saying throughout this show, guys, usually your team is a lot different in December and January than you are in September. All right. If the Steelers were the same team in September than they were in January last year, they would have had the best defense in the league heading into the playoffs. We know that wasn’t the case, right? So, there’s still a lot of opportunity for Mike Tomlin and this coaching staff and these players to turn things around, not just on one side of the ball, but on both sides of the football. Um, and I’m going to be interested to see if this coaching staff is able to make the proper adjustments here because I firmly believe there is enough talent here in Pittsburgh. We’ve seen Aaron Rogers make some really crazy throws these first two weeks. We’ve seen Jaylen Warren play some good football. We’ve seen some great flashes from some of the weapons here in Pittsburgh. We’ve seen some great flashes even on defense. Um, but you know, we need to see more of them and we need to see more consistency out of this group in all three phases if this team legitimately wants to compete for a Super Bowl this year, which is their desired goal on their express goal for this season. So, let me know what you guys think down there in the comments section. How many wins will the Steelers have this year? Predict it for me down there in the comments section and let me know, will they win a playoff game? I’ll say this right now, if they play the way that that they have these first two weeks, they will not be willing. They will not be winning a playoff game this year. That’s pretty uh plain and simple. Um but there’s still time to turn it around. I firmly believe that. All right, so make sure you guys get down there in the comments section to finish up today’s show uh by typing real one down there in the comments section. If you ride or die with this football team, if you’re not going to give up on this team no matter what, make sure you guys type those real ones down there in the comments section so we know who made it to the end of today’s video. Later today, Ponzi and I will be going live here on Steelers Talk at 5:00 PM Eastern time to talk about the issues with this football team to talk about what I’m seeing from the film from week two versus the Seattle Seahawks. What can be improved um and just uh you know talk about the issues that this team is going through right now and preview this upcoming matchup versus the New England Patriots here in week three. So, make sure you guys click that subscribe button. Join us later this evening at 5:00 p. p.m. Eastern to talk some Steelers football. Until next time, guys. Here we go. Steelers. [Music]

Steelers Talk by Chat Sports on Monday, September 15th, has another edition of ‘Overreaction Monday’ for you after the Steelers lost 31-17 vs. the Seattle Seahawks in their home opener yesterday afternoon. Visit https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/CLNS and use code CLNS and get $50 in lineups when you play your first $5 lineup!

On today’s show, host Jack Sperry goes over popular Steelers narratives being pushed by Steelers fans today, including that Mike Tomlin should be on the hot seat after the defense’s slow start to the year and that the Steelers should cut 3rd round pick Kaleb Johnson after muffing a kickoff in yesterday’s loss.

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