Steelers’ Aaron Rodgers Good to Play? Or Mason Rudolph Time? | James Pierre, Kyle Dugger Great Fits?

Steelers’ Aaron Rodgers Good to Play? Or Mason Rudolph Time? | James Pierre, Kyle Dugger Great Fits?

The Steelers aren’t being too specific with Aaron Rogers injury just yet, but there is a sense that he’s going to miss some time and not a lot. We’re going to talk about what Mason Rudolph did Sunday that was well and what the Steelers do need at quarterback moving forward if they want to be a team that not only makes the playoff but maybe even wins the division. We do that and Stars and Skulls today here on the Lockdown Steelers podcast. Chris Carter here with Alan Saunders. Let’s get into it. You are Locked On Steelers, your daily Pittsburgh Steelers podcast. Part of the Locked On podcast network, your team every day. Hello, welcome to the Locked On Steelers podcast. I’m your host, Chris Carter, bringing you your daily dose of all things on the Pittsburgh Steelers. As always, you can find the show on your favorite podcasting apps and on YouTube. Like this video if you enjoy it. Subscribe to this YouTube channel to get all of our daily Monday through Friday episodes as well as our bonus content. We thank you for making us your first listen every day because we’re your team every day and today’s to uh and today we also want to remind you that we are part of the lockdown podcast network which is now the number one sports podcast network. So get in get all the locked on shows that you want across all sports everywhere and and today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel Sportsbook the number one sports book in America right now. New customers can bet just $5 and if you bet wins you get $300 in bonus bets to use across the app. We’ll talk more about them later. As before, we’re joined by the man himself, Alan Saunders. He’s back on this show uh from Steelers Now.com. Allan, no real update on Aaron Rogers. This team was going to, you know, Mike Tomman said the team was going to, you know, do some tests and stuff on Monday to see what’s going on. Um, do you get the sense that there’s a bigger problem at bay that maybe that’s why we’re not getting more details or do you get the sense that this is just a they’re trying to see exactly what it is and he’ll he’ll probably miss a few a couple games but be back maybe like sometime in December. I don’t know that he’s going to miss any. You think he’s going to be good this week? From what I’ve heard, he wants to play. He’s going to push to play. I don’t know what’s going to end up happening, but u and we’ll hear from Mike Tomlin later today, but I I mean there’s no reason a quarterback can’t play with a brace on their left wrist. Uh, as long as he can field a shotgun snap, as long as, and I think here’s the big thing, as long as he’s not going to do more damage to it if he takes a hit, if he takes a sack, something like that where then it would become a longer term injury that would hold him back from something. But, I mean, yeah, I don’t know. We’ll see. But, I don’t I don’t get the sense that this is anything that’s going to cause him to miss a lot of playing time. Yeah, that’s the sense that I got. I But like I think along the lines of your precaution, that’s where I thought this was coming from. Like you supposedly he wanted to come back in this game and the Steelers were like, “No, rest.” Much like they did to Jaylen Warren. I think what they’re trying to say is like, “Look, we need you guys for the long haul.” You know, Jaylen Warren right now is the best player on the offense and Aaron Rogers is supposed to be the best player on the offense at quarterback. Um, and they need these guys to be healthy. And listen, I am one who acknowledges, you know, I I years ago when uh or two years ago when he when Mason Roth came in and lit up the Bengals and gave him an inspirational run, I thought he deserved all the commendations uh for for for how he’s filled in. He has been tough. He has he has been he has bounced back. He’s been resilient to so many things happening to his career from, you know, getting his bell completely rung and knocked off by Earl Thomas and Miles Garrett assaulting him and then accusing him of using a racial slur to and then getting his collarbone broken all within the same season. And to come back from that and and to still be a hard fighting dude in a quarterback room where you were not liked by the franchise quarterback guy, like I have a lot of respect for how Mason Rudolph carries himself. So when he comes out and like honestly like I felt the I felt the atmosphere of being like yeah we we can ride with Mason as as the crowd was pretty loud cheer him on and they did and the thing is that that I think is interesting Allan is that the Steelers just had two drives in the second half. They they had two drives and they took up almost an entire quarter with those drives. The Steelers had five drives uh in the first half and they only took up about three more minutes and it was prim Mason Ral didn’t do anything spectacular though his throw to DK Metaf that was waved off for OPI was a great throw but a lot of the throws that did did count were very standard checkdown throws but they’re what this offense is designed to give you and and I think that’s the thing where the Steelers should feel comfortable to say hey Aaron take a chill pill we need you healthy buddy you may feel ready to go but let’s make sure everything all tees are crossed all our eyes are dotted and you are 100% healthy going out there getting ready to play Mason can get us through a game or two I think they have a lot of confidence in Mason Rudolph and they should I thought he played very well against the Bengals um I did think it was mostly checkdowns and underneath stuff I mean the two third and longs he completed third and 17 to Darnell Washington I think it was third and 20 to Kenneth Gainwell it was a long way I don’t remember how far But like he threw the ball about a combined eight yards on those, you know, it was just guys running forever and ever and ever. Um, it’s interesting because Rogers has been turning a bunch of those down lately. It seems like he’s like trying to extend the play and find a deeper target and I don’t think this offense can go into a playoff caliber environment without being able to do those things. You can’t just take the checkdowns to beat the Buffalo Bills, the Baltimore Ravens, the the You’re not just going to be able to take the Bengals defense. Carter, I think me and you could have broken some tackles out there. Fourth quarter of that game, they didn’t want to tackle anymore. They were like, get just just just let us look like we’re trying here. Uh they were completely demoralized. So, it worked, but that’s not like they need a more dynamic passing offense than that. and that’s why they got Aaron Rodgers. And I I think they need to find a way to get back there. But I I did think it was interesting that that that was working against the Bengals. And and I I think probably there needs to be a little bit of balance there. I think Aaron is I I thought it was really telling when you had Aaron and Flaco on the field at the same time, two really old guys. And like Flaco would just throw the ball at any sign of danger. She was just thrown just didn’t matter. just throw guys open not open whatever thrown and and you I think you still saw Rogers trying to be that guy they used to be you know what I mean extend plays and find that and I think there’s probably a little bit of a balance there that that Rogers needs to find and and be able to strike between yeah sometimes you can just take those checkowns especially against the Bengals and sometimes you do have to take the risk to find a bigger play but I think that’s where Aaron Rogers main skill that you brought in needs to come into play, his decision-m, his his football IQ, his understanding of when to take the shot. And that’s the balance that I think that the Steelers really could play with because there’s going to be games where, like you said, where they’re going to they’re going to say, “Hey, please take please throw it deep on us. We’re going to take away those underneath things. We’re not we’re not going to let Jaylen Warren and Kenneth Gainwell get, you know, 80 yards of yak on us in in in this game. We’re going to force you.” But, you know, at the same time recognizing when they are leaving that there for you because there will be times when that that’s available. The Chargers did a few times and the Steelers weren’t able to capitalize on it. And those are the things that I think this offense must have to work right now. And we’re going to get to the offensive line and our stars and skulls grades in a bit because I I thought despite, you know, the the overall tenor of the day being good, I thought this was a dip on the on the roller coaster that they’ve been on uh uh this year with some of the things that we saw. Uh, and and a dip does not mean that they’re doomed to be there. It’s a roller coaster. They’re probably going to be coming back up real soon. Uh, but I I think that that’s the thing is this offense when the offensive line isn’t clicking, when they’re in their they’re having a game where it’s obvious, hey, they’re young and they’re figuring it out, they need a quarterback who’s going to be levelheaded, who’s going to take what’s there, but also recognize the the take what’s there sometimes isn’t the checkown, it is the deeper shot. And you know, there was one pass uh that Mason Ruff did throw that was impressive, but it was a third and it was a third and 11 where he hit Roman Wilson over the middle. And like that was the that was the thing that was like they need those. It was perfectly thrown, perfectly timed. Um and there were times where I felt Aaron Rogers wasn’t seeing those opportunities both against the Chargers and in the first half. Uh there was one time where I thought he went to DK Metaf in a spot that I was like that just that’s just the the defender was kind of all over it. Uh, but he had Darnell Washington breaking over to the middle of the field with nobody in front of him. And I was just like, man, like that’s a big opportunity miss. And listen, Aaron Rogers has it knows a lot more about football than me. I’m not saying that he’s he’s dumb and he’s missing it, but I I but I think that there are some things that he has not taken the past couple of weeks that if he had maybe they beat the Chargers and maybe this is a blowout from the door uh with with with the with the against the Bengals. Yeah, there was a play in the first half. I remember he was rolling to his right and I thought he had Metaf in between then he had Wilson deep. He also all the way across his body, but Fri there was nobody even remotely close to Friouth. And then he ends up throwing kind of like a a tough throw back across his body to a not very open Johnny Smith. It was like the least open of his receivers. I just didn’t think he was seeing uh he didn’t look comfortable uh for the second game in a row. I didn’t think he was seeing the defense very well. Um but, you know, I mean, I think we’ve also seen a lot of really good from Aaron Rogers over the course of the season, too. And so, uh, you know, I’m not concerned about him going forward after, you know, whatever the health thing comes first, uh, figure that out. We’ll see if he’s able to get back in there this week. I I think he’s going to really want to. I mean, you It’s his nemesis. Well, I mean, not his nemesis. It’s the It’s the team he enjoys beating down because it’s not really You gota You got to actually win to be a nemesis. Yeah. Yeah. He’s their nemesis. Yeah. They hate him. I It’s funny. I’ve seen the Bears fans being like, “Oh no, it’s Aaron Rogers week.” And it’s like, “We thought we escaped.” You know, but um but yeah. No, but to your point, if he plays this week, that’ll be really interesting to to to see. Uh but who knows? The Steelers have not given a designation. And maybe it’s because he’s fighting to come back that they haven’t given a designation just yet. So maybe we do see Aaron Rodgers this week. We’ll talk, we’ll keep an eye on that as the week continues. And who knows, maybe Mike Tomlin makes it clearer for us later today on Tuesday. But we’ll make it clear to you who got the Stars and Skulls grades this week after this upcoming break here on the Locked On Steelers podcast. Chris Carter, Alan Saunders. Stick with us. We’ll be right back. But first, remind you this show is brought to you by FanDuel. The NBA is back and there’s no better place to get in on all the action than FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. Even if you missed the start of the game or just want to ride the hot hand, FanDuel has live bets on everything for from who will score next to who has a fourth quarter comeback. Plus, you can even combine your live bets into a same game parlay for a shot at a bigger payout. It keeps every game exciting, especially when your team is making that late push. Right now, FanDuel is giving new customers $300 in bonus bets when you hit on your first bet of $5 or more. So head to fanduel.com to sign up and play your game with FanDuel, official sports betting partner of the NBA. We’re back here in the Locked On Steelers podcast. Chris Carter here with Alan Saunders of Steelers.com. Um, Allan, I call it a graveyard when we have a lot of skulls. Should I call it like a starry night when we have a lot of stars? A constellation. Yeah. Yeah. So, it’s a constellation out here, baby. When you win by 22 and the way the Steelers did, there’s a lot of those. So, we’re going to get a lot of stars here. For those who are new to the show, uh, this is just our way of doing grades. Instead of just ABC, CD, uh, we’re doing stars and skulls. Uh, one to one to three stars is good to great to elite. uh one to three skulls is a bad play or a bad game or an all-time terrible game. And then there’s of course the dreaded bus ticket grade. Uh which there is a bus ticket to hand out this week and uh that’s we’re going to talk about that in the in the ne in the next segment. But this segment whenever the Steelers win, we got to lead with the good and that’s the Stars. We got a lot of one-star grades here, Allan. So I’m going to run through them real quick. I want your thoughts on on some of these onestar grades for the week 11. Mason Rudolph, Payton Wilson, Patrick Queen, Keanu Bettton, Jaylen Ramsay, YA Black, Zack Frasier, TJ Watt, DK Metave, Isaac Seamalu, Chris Boswell, and Corless Weightman. Now, I will say there are m there are several two stars and several three stars. So, if you don’t see someone here that you think deserves a star, they might be on the list somewhere else. But Allan, your thoughts on some of these names on this list? Uh, Rudolph, we talked about a lot. Payton Wilson. I think Patrick Queen had a You talk about guys who played significantly better the second time around against the Bengals. Yes, that’s one of them. Didn’t necessarily do He had the the the stop on the two-point conversion, but but I think other than that, he didn’t necessarily have like a lot of flashy plays, right? No plays. Yeah. But I thought he was really, really, really good in this game. Uh Keanu Benton, man, he I thought I’ll give him two. I thought I’ll give him two. He he was he’s the thing about him is he just like I think he he he needs he needs a like a like a the last three weeks achievement award too. You know what I’m saying? Like he’s been continually really good over the last couple weeks and it just feels like he keeps stacking them on top of one another. That’s really good to see for a young guy who kind of struggled at the start of the year uh and has been really good the last couple weeks. Jaylen Ramsay fantastic. Well, he was in the game. Uh, why Black also helped out on that big stop on the two-point conversion. Frasier was good. Samalo was good. Samalo I show, you know, his list is questionable. I show up and I’m looking down with my binoculars at the field and he’s uh in his uniform already like an hour before the game doing planks on the field. I’m like, well, I guess his I guess his pec’s fine. Yeah, he looked good out there. He he did look good out there. But all across the board, I thought all these guys had an impact on things. Real quick on on the defensive front before we go to the next slide here for the two stars. I normally when I see a stat and I think, oh, that’s not a good stat, I look to see who’s responsible for that stat, uh, when I’m going back through it. And the one stat that wasn’t good for the defense was that Chase Brown ran 18 times for 99 yards, five and a half yards per carry. And so I thought, “Oh, I’m probably gonna ding up, you know, uh, Keanu Benton or Pat Patrick Queen or Payton Wilson.” And I couldn’t I really couldn’t get any of those guys. There were two runs that they that they busted. One, a 35 yard off the right tackle and a 15er off the left guard. And those together got 50 yards. That was half of his yards in two in two runs. The rest of it was 16 runs for 49 yards. And so, and that’s not to excuse it and say, “Oh, it’s it’s it’s fine.” But everyone who I thought was responsible for one of those two runs made up for it by making other plays. So, that’s if you’re wondering why there aren’t more SC aren’t why a lot of these guys are are on the star side of things, it’s because they did so many other things right in this game. Yeah. And I think um it’s a good list. There’s there’s lot got to be lots more because there there’s a lot too many bad performances here. There there weren’t um let’s go to the two star grades here. I got four two starers. We got Joey Porter Jr. didn’t allow a single reception, broke up a pass to Jamar Chase. I thought about giving him a three star because I mean literally the Bengals have been his kryptonite for years and he shut him down every time they went his way. I just I didn’t because he didn’t have the pick in in this game the way he’s had in the past. Uh um you know, he had a couple weeks ago with the Colts, but still really great game from him. Nick Herbig uh had led the team with five pressures, got a sack. Um both him and TJ Watt were coming in to collide on Joe Flacco on his pick six and I think they influenced that throw uh quite a bit. So, uh he gets the extra star for his sack while TJ Watt also had three in this game. I thought he was still pretty good. Um and then he also batted down two passes. The other reason why he got a star, but then Brandon Eckles getting two starts, they could not pick on him either. I thought he had a really good bounceback week to target him six times. Did allow four receptions, but with those four receptions, just 30 yards. That’s that’s what you want to do is like, hey, you may catch the ball, but you’re not going anywhere uh with it. So, I thought that was good. And then Jaylen Warren probably would have had three stars if he didn’t get hurt. But I gave him two um in the game. He, you know, at 10 carries, 62 yards, and just that that 135 yarder that he broke was just so impressive. Um but but kudos to him for as always for fighting hard. Yeah, I thought Eckles had a nice bounce back. Missed a tackle on the one third down. It’s really the only kind of I mean, even some of the catches he gave up, you kind of look at him like, “Yeah, it was pretty good coverage.” Like, you know, I I thought he was really good. Uh Herbig was excellent. Uh the one sack where he gets a clean win off the edge coming from behind on Flacco, he and Watt were right there on the on the dugger play. um quarter. Man, I’m really glad you highlighted him because I thought he was outstanding in this game and it was one of those the ball never went there and again and like sometimes you just say well maybe they weren’t, you know, target and whatever like against those guys the ball never went there is a phenomenal day like that that’s that’s that’s a really really strong performance from Porter and so uh good call there Jaylen Warren man I I I think we need to I think we need to have our 11 Washingtons versus 11 discussion. I I the Washingtons are definitely they’re they’re hard to contain when they get the ball. We saw that. I I think the low man can win though. Give me Give me the shiftiness. Plus, like I think he could just he just get down there and harass him around the ankles where he can’t do much to him, you know? That’s that’s what’s that’s what I like about Warren. He’s low to the ground. You’re a you’re a Dan Campbell guy. You want the kneecap biters. Yeah. I think and I think Jaylen Warren would bite a kneecap. He would definitely bite. He’s got that mindset. He’s got that mindset. I So for those who are are unaware, Allan for for a long time has been saying, “Give me an a full team of 11 Jaylen Warren. I will take that all day and go to work with it.” And so uh Sunday with Darnell Washington just was bowling over everyone in his way. I was like, “What about a team of 11 Darnell Washingtons? Who would win that?” And he said, “It’s still going to be Jaylen War. I don’t know, man. That’s a lot of big dudes to be coming at Jaylen Warren. Uh but in all serious, it was a it was a fun funs ain’t catching the Jaylen Warren. Yeah, that’s true. But they might not have to cuz they you just not your line doesn’t go nowhere. You get you got no gaps. But uh uh but in all it’s one of the fun games here. But all right, we did the two stars here. So knowing we have all those one stars, we had these four uh two star players. Allan, I have four three star players that I’ve listed for this game. Who are they? Duggar, correct. Pierre, correct? Kenny Gainwell, correct. And Darnell Washington, all four are correct, sir. You look Look at you back on it, man. It’s like two weeks in a row you’ve been exactly right with my three stars. You messed up that one week, though. But anyways, Kenneth Gaywell, I mean, listen, Allan, this was for me, I agree that Jaylen Warren needs needs to be on the field for sometimes for third downs, but I don’t think that him being off the field for third down is some death sentence when you got this guy back there making the plays that he did. I think if Aaron Rogers just hits Kenneth Gainwell and some of those third down plays, uh, you know, two weeks ago against the Chargers, they stand a better chance because he was getting open on those. And in this game, you saw what happened. He didn’t even run the ball that well. He had one 12- yard run, but he had nine carries for 24 yards total. But in the passing game, he had two one-handed snags, seven receptions on eight targets for 81 yards, and two receiving touchdowns. He showed why he is that guy and why, in fact, you kind of want him to be a third down back for this offense to keep Jaylen Warren healthy. And again, I think Jaylen Warren’s doing phenomenally. And and like I said, build a plane out of Jaylen Warren, but this dude is dangerous, too. He deserves his kudos. And I think these two as a duo are extremely dangerous because either one of them can break it and hurt you really quickly. He’s very good. And uh he’s been very good both times Warren has been injured. In fact, those have been his two best games. Yeah. I actually think it’s more about the substitution pattern than the players. I think they would better be better be better off just giving game well a drive. You’re saying alternate drives instead of moving one in for third down because I feel like Warren is out there and he’s going and he’s going and he’s going and then he comes out in the drive stalls every time in the first half of this game well when when Warren was healthy. Six carries for 18 yards. It’s like if he’s only out there on third downs, why has he got six carries in the first half of the game? Like I I just I feel like it’s not the split of the reps so much as it is the the timing of the changes in the pattern that just feels like it’s sapping some energy out of this offense and a two-minute drill at the end of the first half. I’m sorry. I gota have Jaylen Warren on the field in two minutes. Like he is their best offensive player. Period. Wasn’t that you cannot run a two-minute drill without your best offense. He’s standing up with his coat on like he’s like I know I’m not coming in. That was a that was a really peculiar situation. Was that after his injury or was that before? He got hurt in the second half. It was the second half. Okay. Cuz there was a one point where like after he was injured, he came on the field and the like get off. No, he he came back and then they end up calling timeout and then then they and then what happened is the the defense scores a touchdown. They kick the field goal, defense scores a touchdown, then they’re like, “All right, the game’s over. Don’t put him back out there.” Right. So, he was he was okay to come back in. But that end of the first half, the two-minute drill, they I mean the whole drive is I was baffled by game was like eight, nine plays in a row. I’m like, what are you? He’s the best player on the team. You cannot have him off the field for the two-minute drill. That’s just can’t happen. I I didn’t I didn’t understand it. Um and they came up short on that drive. Uh granted, they basically moved that whole drive because of either Darnell Washington destroying people or uh penalties because the Bengals just couldn’t get out of their own way at at some point in time. Uh but uh but yeah, but back to the three stars, Kenneth Gable deserves it. Kyle Duggar and James Pierre. I mean, first of all, Kyle Duggar, the pick six. He almost had another pick six. The other one that he that he that he lined up the much easier one to that is the funny part. Like it was the easier one. He could have had two in this game. Uh but playing playing so well. He’s coming up. He’s filling in against the run. Um he he’s playing and and the the it’s funny, the first one that he jumped was a cover two where he’s playing the deep like uh if you’re if you’re looking from the quarterback perspective, the deep right safety and he sees both receivers from the right side of the field break on crossing routes over the middle and instead of staying back in his deep half zone, he jumps it. He jumps right in front of it and he says, “I’m going to cut this off.” And he jumps in front of T. Higgins, I think it was. Um and uh he was he was he basically just read everything that was happening there. That was such good instincts on his part. And this was something that Patrick Queen said to me after the game. He said, “Guys are understanding when and where they need to be and how to respond in certain situations based off of the tendencies that we study of opponents.” And that to me is noticing, hey, when I see this route concept in front of me, I don’t have to do this anymore. I don’t have to sit back and guard grass that’s that’s not being attacked. I’m going to get involved on this play. And I think that’s something that Kyle Duggar’s doing well. I think it’s something Jaylen Ramsey’s doing well. I think it’s something that the whole defense is starting to come together on. But Kyle Duggar was a personification of it. Um, and I can’t say enough about James Pierre. I gave him stars last week. I gave him all the stars this week. I mean, that that break up on the deep ball, he is Mr. Lockdown corner. Uh, he that guy you do do not take him off the field. I don’t care how healthy Darius Slay says he is. that my that my starting fives on the on the floor uh w with with James Pierre’s out there right now. Yeah, I think the big thing with Duggar and Ramsay is that those safeties are now so solid that they’re really able to do some different schematic things. We saw them run a lot more cover two, a lot more cover two invert where those safeties have a really difficult assignment to come all the way from that back safety responsibility to come up. You saw it a couple of times. That’s the the Duggar pick is is he’s in like a robber mode that that the the one where he makes the play on Higgins I think is invert. You saw another one where uh the play James Pierre makes down the sideline. Pierre is deeper than Ramsay and and and someone asked me like did he not have help? No, he had help. Ramsey was the underneath. Pierre had to go long, but you still got the double coverage. And it’s the the instincts, the speed, the ability of those guys to play short from depth really brought something different to this defense ever since they made those moves. I give Mike Tumblin a lot of credit. It’s not it was not a about the scheme, but it was about looking at the personnel and saying Juan Thornhill is the wrong guy for this. Get him out of here. Ramsey needs to play at safety. Let’s go get Kyle Duggar and figuring out how they could make this work. And they really have found a way to make it work. And the last last but not least here, Darnell Washington getting a three star grade. I mean, demolishing people in the run game with his ability to block, but this game just seeing just how just bulldozing and how commanding he is when the ball is in his hands. I mean, Allan I Gino Stone looked as as interested in tackling Darnell Washington as I am eating a salad for lunch each every day because he was like, “Nah, I don’t really want to. I’m going to look like I do. I’m like I’m gonna just try and then I’ll I’ll obviously fail because he saw what h what happened to his teammate when he got stiff armed into the dirt and then Cam Taylor Britt gets Oh, no. DJ Turner, excuse me, gets just completely bulldozed as he’s trying to make a tackle on the sideline.” Um, Darnell Washington’s figuring it out, man. And, uh, there was a part of me that was like, it was only 67 yards. He didn’t have a touchdown. And so, maybe I should just give him a two star grade, but then I thought about confronting Darnell Washington. And if he asked me, why did I get a three star grade? I was like, no, he he’s getting a three star grade because I don’t want him to ever ask me that question in the locker room. I think the biggest thing with Darnell is he’s really finally looking like the athlete we saw in college. and he’s he’s running better routes and he’s really just finding ways to let that athleticism play at a level that we haven’t really seen. Um it looks really good. The broken tackles um the route running is so much better. He’s always had good hands. It’s made for really really strong combination. It it it has. Um and he outnapped the other two tight ends in this game and I think rightfully so when you make those type of plays. I think he should be the number one tight end in snaps every game. It seems like it. He blocks, he catches, he does everything you want from him. And I I know Pat Fou has a lot of passcatching talent, but man, this guy really puts it together. He’s dangerous. We’re going to take a quick break. We come back. We got some skulls to hand out and we got a bus ticket to hand out. I want to see if y’all can guess who the bus ticket is uh for. Uh but we’ll get to that next here on the Locked On Steelers podcast. Chris Carter, Alan Saunders. Stick with us. We’ll be right back. Today’s show is brought to you by our friends over there at Pelaton. Look folks, it’s time to break through the busiest time of the year with a brand new Pelaton cross trainining tread plus that’s powered by Pelaton IQ. 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Explore the new Pelaton Crossraining Tread Plus at onepliton.com. back here on the Locked On Steelers podcast. Chris Carter, Alan Saunders of Steelers Now.com. Um Allan, let’s get to some skull grades here. Um not a whole lot to hand out. In fact, I have no two skulls and no three skulls. I have a lot of one skulls. Uh not a lot. A lot decent amount here. U one skulls. We got Brick Jones, Mason McCormack, John Smith, Spencer Anderson, Malik Harrison, uh, and, uh, Troy Falanu. Particularly on the offensive line here because I felt Brick missed some key run blocks that could have really sprung some other plays open. Um, and and I didn’t dig him too much because there were other times he threw great run blocks. There was one pulling block that he threw that was perfect and it sprung helped spring Jaylen Warren and it was uh, on that 35 yard run. He was a big part of it. Helped seal seal that crack. But there were other times he just missed. Uh Mason McCormack gave about four pressures in this game and the only sack that was attributed to an offensive lineman in the game. Uh Spencer Anderson, it just seems like every he’s not really set to be a pass protector just yet. Uh he’s more in that run that run prefers role. And I thought Troy Falano also wasn’t that great in this game. And you know, I the two guys that really held up the offensive line uh this week were uh Zack Frasier and Isaac Seamalo. I thought they were the the two good guys. Malik Harris and I just thought he didn’t make as much of an impact as he could have. I thought about giving Jack Sawyer a skull because I thought there were a couple times he got beat, but he also made a couple really good plays. So, I balanced that out to be neutral. Um, same thing for Aaron Rogers. He’s a neutral grade this week. Uh, not a skull. Uh, because he did throw a touchdown, but I thought he missed a lot there. And then Johnny Smith, I just thought he could have made a couple more plays out out there. um what are your thoughts going to be rough for John and and that that’s that’s really why he’s why he’s not not that’s really why he’s on this list um this time around but Allan what are your thoughts on the on the offensive line and just what you’ve been seeing of late inconsistent and I think it’s what everybody expected I didn’t I didn’t expect them to be bad I just they’re not always going to be good sometimes they’re not always good at the same time I thought I thought it was a really gutsy performance by Jones he wasn’t good, but I I really felt like he fought and he battled and he found a way to be mostly effective in this game. Even though like he was it just it it wasn’t pretty, you know, there’s there certainly a lot to look at the tape and say he’s got to be better than this, but also there wasn’t anybody screaming free off the edge, you know. It was it was it was bad a lot. I’m not dinging him too much, right? last week. Um, I thought McCormack was okay. He made a couple nice downfield blocks. The one sprung the Gainwell screen pass, headed in for the second touchdown. I thought he was better, but the tackles are definitely very inconsistent. Um, and that’s what you’re going to get when you have a young offensive line. I don’t think it’s a a cause for too much concern. Um, who else do we have on here? Oh, Malik Harrison. I thought the 4-3 defense was interesting. I want to go back. I haven’t had a ch I I did look at the tape and I was very specifically looking at the secondary when I was watching the defense because I was trying to figure out what they did differently and and things like that. I want to kind of go back over those four replays a little bit more. I might have given TJ Wat a skull in this game. Uh I didn’t think he was very good. Gave up a big long third down completion. He lost Chase Brown coming out of the back field in coverage. Had a missed tackle which is very just un very rare unlike him. But he did. I mean, he had one pressure where he caused a throwaway in a big spot in in the second half. And that dugger interception mostly is because Wad is about to crush. So, I mean, I get it. But for me, like, okay, for any other player, I would be definitely fine with a neutral, but for TJ Watt, I I expect a little bit more out of him. No, I feel you. And I struggle with it because I was like, yeah, like I like that Chase Brown pass that was his responsibility. Um, and then there was uh um and just in general like I thought like the the one run that was that broke loose was was uh was for 35 was on his side. I thought that was bad. But then when I went back and I looked like that pick six might not happen without TJ Watts pressure and that’s a that’s a huge play that he’s part of. Um and then there were two other passes that he batted down. He had a tackle for loss in the pass game. And so I was like I, you know, the the curved grading scale may be there, but at the same time, like I I I’m not going to ding him for that there. Uh, but certainly, you know, you you need to see him better. Um, it certainly doesn’t look good for Steelers fans that uh that hope that they that he can retire as a better player all time than Miles Garrett when Miles Garrett has like eight 10 sacks in the last three games. Uh, and TJ Watt, I think, is stuck at six right now. So, um, that’s, uh, that that there’s a lot going on on there in Cleveland. And yes, yes, that’s still a terrible team and Miles Garrett plays for a terrible team, but my goodness, that dude is wrecking everything. Yep. Yep. For sure. I mean, I think to this coming into this year, you could very comfortably say that Tiger Watt had been the better player basically every season their entire careers except for the one that Walt was hurt. I I don’t I don’t think you’re going to be able to say that this year. Not Not that Not this year. Right. Unless unless TJ Watt has a crazy turnaround and Miles Garrett doesn’t about face himself. Uh but right now Miles Garrett’s on pace to even break the sack record. So we’ll see how how that goes. But all right, I gave you all my one skulls there on this list. I’ll let you review them one more time because we don’t have a two skull. We don’t have a three skull, but we do have a bus ticket to hand out. Allan Saunders, can you guess who the bus ticket is? You can also guess if you’re watching or listening to at home. Can’t be a player. We named all the players that were even a little bit bad. Um, so I I I don’t I don’t know. I don’t know what you got here. It is a player. It is a player. It’s Jamar Chase. It’s Jamar Chase getting a bus ticket because he’s suspended for a week for spitting on on Jaylen Ramsay. I just I’m throwing this in there because frankly also like this dude looked like a punk because it is it’s one thing it’s one thing to lose your cool in the game and it’s but then when you don’t own up to him just be like yeah I hate that guy. You know what to lie about it when there’s millions of cameras that’s eventually going to catch it and put it put it out there. Um I I thought he just he looked super weak sauce in in this game. Uh, and it kind of made Jaylen Ramsay and the Steelers look a little bit t even even tougher after the fact. Uh, but, you know, I think it’s it’s fitting for the NFL to go and and and find him and and uh suspend him for a game. Granted, it kind of doesn’t work in the Steelers favor because now they’ve played them both times and I if this Bengals were going to pull off an upset, granted I think the Ravens would be the more important team to beat. They’re playing the Patriots next week. Uh, the Steelers wouldn’t have minded if the Bengals did pull off an upset over New England. I I would think that they should let him I think they should let him play and and make him play for free. I think that’s more punishment than giving him the week off. Keep the fine and make him play for nothing. I think that’s worse for a three and seven team. You know, the punishment doesn’t need to be blanket. It can fit the specific situation here. I think making them go out there and not earning any money is worse than letting him have the week off. Personally, that would that would actually be a really funny test to be like, hey, you don’t have you can play this week, but you’re not getting paid for it. What would you do in that situation, Jamar Chase? Uh but uh but but yeah, again, just the bus ticket there, I think just from this game and the way things played out um is inexcusable in that moment. Uh, but I thought I think it showed just how much they got under his skin. And and I think that’s also a testament not just to Jaylen Ramsay, but to the whole secondary because there there were times like on that deep ball they tried to him when Joey Porter just blanketed him and it it was an incomplete pass. You could see Joey walking with him like, “Oh yeah, it’s different today.” Like like just the way he was talking to him and afterwards he was talking about, “Hey, we we locked him up, strapped him up, whatever you want to say, it’s done.” And it’s just like I thought they the collective effort to limit him but also the consistent talking to get under his head it worked and then event and then after the game late in the game he snaps. If the officials catch what he does live he’s out the game there and that’s perfect for for the Steelers. But uh him getting suspended after the fact I think just is kind of another note of how much they they kind of owned him in this game. I think that’s why they had to suspend him is that if they hadn’t thrown Ramsay out. Yeah. Then maybe you could live with just a fine. But it all they need to and I’ll give you a I don’t I don’t think a bus ticket, but I’ll give you another skull. You know, how do how do you have a game where this this game was so over officiated, you had a million flags and that play goes goes unpenalized. Like Yeah, I agree. Like I mean the the two OPI’s on DK Mad. I mean we’re talking we’re calling we’re calling it we’re calling it as tickytacky as you want to call it and then a dude gets spit on and you miss that on only call the retaliation. 16 accepted penalties in this game. H you need a skull for missing that one. No. Yeah. The referee certainly could have gotten a skull. And listen, there were calls both ways. I didn’t think that Connor Hayward got the first down in that fourth quart. I didn’t think he got that one there. So, like the Bengals got screwed, too. But like when you look at the OPI called on both OPI’s called on DK Metaf and especially when it’s against the Bengals who are the most notorious we’re going to push you off, run rub route type of offense like it never gets called when they play the Steelers. I thought that was a bit rich. But to your point, this this officiating crew was was pretty terrible. Uh but still um you know, we we gave out our bus ticket. Jamar Chase. He gets our second bus ticket of the year. Who was our first bus? Is it Darius Slay? I think Darius Slay was our No, we gave out Darius Slay and uh the field. The uniforms and the field. That’s right. That bus ticket. Yeah. So, so we we we’ve given out those uniforms are coming back next year. The field actually look pretty good this Yeah, the field actually looked good. Again, I don’t think it’s that pit was there. I think that the problem was that they didn’t understand how dry it had been and they miss and they did not apply the right whatever you apply on fields when it’s really dry uh back then because Pit played Notre Dame and got destroyed on Saturday pretty much 24 less than 24 hours before the game and the field looked great. So there that’s certainly not the problem. Whoop boys going to tear it up on uh this week and then uh we’ll we’ll see what we probably get a new new field for the Buffalo Bills. Pro probably will. Shout out to them boys at Ammani Christian. They’re taking on Avanorth in the 2A class. But there’s the Whipfield champions will be huge. I’ll be covering that with Jenna Hner uh and Shelby Cassessi uh for Skylights this weekend on channel 11. But he’s Allan Saunders. Allan, thanks so much for joining us here on the Lockdown Steelers podcast. Let people can find you, follow you, and get more of your work. Hey Saunders_p on social media. steelersow.com. It’s where you find my written work and my podcast, Steelers Morning Russian Steelers Afternoon Drive on the Steelers Now YouTube page or anywhere you find your podcasts. Absolutely. He’s Alan Saunders. I’m Chris Carter. Thank you for tuning in to the Locked On Steelers podcast. You can find me on social media at Carter Critiques. Whether you’re on Twitter, Instagram, Tik Tok, Blue Sky, wherever you’re at, Carter Critiques is my handle. Um, you can also read my work in the Pittsburgh Postgazette going to post-gazette.com, including these stars and skulls grades and my updated look on the college quarterback uh, NFL draft field for this upcoming season. Uh, we’ll have we’ll have all that there and then we’ll also have my Carter Critiques film study coming out Wednesday morning uh, there. So, get that all at the Pittsburgh Post Gazette. But, as always, catch us here on the Lockdown Steelers podcast on your favorite podcasting app and on YouTube. Like this video if you enjoy it. Subscribe to this channel to get all of our daily Monday to Friday episodes. Back here tomorrow seeing what Tom said and maybe we got new news on Aaron Rogers, Mason Rudolph. Get it here on the Locked on Steelers podcast.

The Pittsburgh Steelers sawe Aaron Rodgers get injured against the Cincinnati Bengals and Mason Rudolph filled in well for him. But could Rodgers be back in time to face the Chicago Bears this week? Christopher Carter and Alan Saunders discuss the possibility of Rodgers’ quick return, or if it would make sense to let Rudolph play so Rodgers can fully return. Is Rodgers’ long term health a key to the Steelers’ plans down the stretch this season?

Also, it’s time for Stars and Skulls grades, which James Pierre and Kyle Dugger are right at the top of for the defense. Chris and Alan discuss why they’re great fits, and the depth pieces of the Steelers’ offense like Darnell Washington and Kenneth Gainwell who can make the unit a lot more dangerous when properly used.

Steelers’ Aaron Rodgers Good to Play? Or Mason Rudolph Time? | James Pierre, Kyle Dugger Great Fits?https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7JorgD8nGLtvvMy1ogFetg

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