LAST-MINUTE Steelers Week 13 News: Asante Samuel Jr. Elevated + The Bills Have A BIG WEAKNESS

LAST-MINUTE Steelers Week 13 News: Asante Samuel Jr. Elevated + The Bills Have A BIG WEAKNESS

Welcome in to Steelers Talk. I’m your host, Jack Spar. Recording this about 24 hours before the Steelers take on the Buffalo Bills here in week 13. We got some last minute news updates for you guys here on Steelers Talk. So, if you guys want daily and informative Steelers content here on the channel for free, make sure you click that subscribe button. Also, tomorrow um about an hour before kickoff, Ponzi and I will be going live on this channel for our Steelers Talk watch party. going to be getting on a flight here home uh within the next couple of hours and uh we’ll be back in studio tomorrow. So, make sure you guys click that subscribe button if you haven’t already. Big game tomorrow. Great opportunity for the Pittsburgh Steelers to um you know extend their lead here in the AFC North Divisional race. Um so, hopefully they can pull out a win and I can’t wait to experience that game with you guys tomorrow. So, make sure you guys click that subscribe button. Now, let’s get into the news updates of the day here. Starting uh with the Steelers injury report which was released yesterday. Good news uh for the most part throughout that injury report. Aaron Rogers, DK Metaf, Alex Heismith, Joey Porter Jr., Ben Scaranic, all the guys that we were kind of worried about this week that were kind of in limbo. Are they going to play? Are they not going to play? All of them will be playing tomorrow afternoon. Uh so obviously a lot of those players are really important to the winning effort potentially tomorrow. Aaron Rogers, we saw what Mason Rudolph looked like last week. couldn’t complete a pass more than 10 air yards down the field. So, getting it at Rogers back with his arm talent, with his quick feet in the pocket, with his quick release, with his but with it with his football IQ, certainly uh you know, Rogers is the better quarterback between him and Mason Rudolph. So, I think he does give the Steelers a better shot to win. He was able to practice in full these last two days on Thursday and Friday. Mike Tomlin, the head coach, even said he was able to take some snaps from under center. Now, just how much under center is the game plan going to look like uh tomorrow against the Bills? Who knows? I think uh what I’ll say is that I would like to see a lot of underenter because uh the Bills have really struggled against the under uh run game this year. So, if Rogers is comfortable and he he can kind of handle that workload under center tomorrow, I’d love to see him do that. But obviously with that wrist, he’s wearing a cast on it right now. You know, it’s just kind of a it might be a little bit uncomfortable or painful for him to do that. So, it’ll be interesting to see how much shotgun versus how much under center work we’ll see from the Steelers offense tomorrow. But obviously having DK Metaf, your number one receiver available to you is very important. Alex Heismith getting back in the lineup. Um, you know, certainly helps things out. Heismith is a really good player. And then Joey Porter Jr. number one corner who’s really played like a true number one corner over the last month or so. Not having him out there would have been a bummer. and him being able to play should help things out for the Pittsburgh Steelers on defense. And then Skeronic is obviously a big-time blocker. We saw him quite a bit last week against Chicago. I think we’re going to see him quite a bit again this week with how poorly the Buffalo Bills defend the run. And I think that that has got to be a big part of the offensive game plan for the Pittsburgh Steelers here in this ball game. Um, but the only players that are out this week are the guys that we already knew were going to be out this week, and that’s Brick Jones and Derek Harmon. Now, Harmon might be able to return next week. He’s dealing with a with a knee injury, a different knee injury than the one that he suffered in the preseason, but then Jones is actually going to be out for at least the next month. He was placed on IR today. Um, which means Andrew Pete, at least for the time being, will be the starting left tackle for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Now, if Pete doesn’t play well, they still have Calvin Anderson, who this team actually signed to a pretty decent contract to be this team’s swing tackle this off season. But I think the reason why they’re playing Pete instead of Anderson, at least this week, is because the run game should play a very big factor in the Steelers offensive game plan. And Pete is bigger. Um, you know, he’s the better run blocker. So, uh, I think that that is probably the main reason why he’s getting the nod this week over Calvin Anderson. Um, but with that extra roster spot that the Steelers have now with Brick Jones heading to IR, the Steelers have elevated Asante Samuel Jr. off of the practice squad. So, I’ve been kind of worried about this guys because Asante’s kind of just been hanging out there on the practice squad and the Steelers have. You know, obviously Joey Porter Jr., James Pierre has been playing pretty good football uh ever since over the last month or so. And then Brandon Eckles has been their slot corner. So, you know, there’s not really a whole lot of wiggle room there in the starting lineup, especially because you still have Darius Slay as the first line of defense in that cornerback room. But then elevating Asante Samuel Jr. this week tells me that they do have some sort of plan for Asante and now no team can just you know lure him away like the Eagles for example if they want to bring in Asante and you know Asante doesn’t have a choice in the matter anymore. He is a Pittsburgh Steeler. He’s on the active roster. Now my question is how much will Asante play if at all in the starting lineup tomorrow? You know you got Joey Porter Jr. James Pierre and Brandon Eckles has been your starting quarterback trio over the last month. And honestly, it’s worked out pretty well. Um, and Asante is still pretty darn new. So, I would expect to see Asante um on special teams units tomorrow. Maybe he gets in a little bit, but honestly, and some people have been speculating he might play in the slot. Uh, I’m not sure if I see any of those options happening. If he does play tomorrow on defense, I would guess it’s going to be at the number two starting outside cornerback spot, but honestly, I think James Pierre has played well enough where I’m not sure if Asante is going to be getting the starting nod over Pierre. So, just keep your eye on that. See if Asante gets any actual playing time tomorrow. I know he’s been working really, really hard to get into full, you know, in season game shape and learning the defense. Um, and apparently it’s gotten to the point here where at least the Steelers feel comfortable enough giving him a helmet on game day. So, that’s really exciting to see somebody that the Steelers brought in here. Bigname player, big- time acquisition in the middle of the season, uh, finally getting a helmet tomorrow. So, we probably going to be in a backup capacity. I wouldn’t like expect to see Asante Samuel Jr. on the field um, much in a defensive ca capacity tomorrow, but it’s just nice that he’s getting in the mix here. And if James Pierre starts not playing very well, if Darius Slay gets injured again, if Brandon Meckles gets injured, god forbid, if any of those things happen, you do have a guy in Asante Samuel Jr. here who’s a former starting player in the National Football League who’s been with the team now for a few weeks um that can come in if need be. So, that’s really good news. But then, um onto the Buffalo Bills injury report here where they’re going to be without both of their starting offensive tackles tomorrow. both Deion Dawkins, um, big-time left tackle for them, has been, you know, really good player for them for a long time, and then Spencer Brown, their starting right tackle. Both of them are out for tomorrow’s game, which obviously should give the Steelers an advantage along the defensive trenches. You got TJ Watt, you got Alex Heismith, who’s coming back from that injury this week. You have Nick Herbick. There’s no excuse for that pass rush tomorrow to not absolutely eat. Especially because last week Josh Allen, the Bills quarterback, got sacked eight times versus a very good Houston Texans pass rush. Steelers have also a very good pass rush. So, as long as the Steelers secondary and the Steelers coaching staff can do a good enough job uh getting Josh Halen to hold the ball for a little bit longer um and not allow Josh to get the ball out of his hands very quickly like Caleb Williams was able to last week, then I think that this should be a very good defensive performance from the Pittsburgh Steelers tomorrow afternoon. We’ve seen in their last two home games against the Colts and against the Bengals, we’ve seen excellent defensive performances from the Pittsburgh Steelers. Um, and you know, I I have a feeling we’re going to have a very similar type of game tomorrow from this Steelers defense. So, obviously, you can’t count your chickens before they hatch. You have to go out there and you have to execute. But, I like this matchup for the Pittsburgh Steelers defense. Even with a guy as good as Josh Allen, an MVP caliber quarterback going up against you. Obviously, that’s the type of X-factor that can, you know, put the game on, you know, his shoulders for the Buffalo Bills and and get a win on the road against the Steelers tomorrow. But, you know, with the with the way that the Steelers team is constructed, I kind of like uh their matchup versus this Buffalo Bills offense, which has been struggling as of late, probably over the last three games or so. Um, so I really do think that the Pittsburgh Steelers tomorrow, guys, have a chance to, you know, bounce back. We’ve seen this team, you know, have an embarrassing loss and then come back and have a really good uh game. We’ve seen that kind of flip-flop uh pretty consistently over the last month. you know, they lose to the Bengals and Packers on on prime time football. Then they come out and beat the number one seed in the Indianapolis Colts, then they lose to the Chargers on the road, then they then they completely dominate the Cincinnati Bengals. Then last week, you know, you have your backup quarterback in um you know, there are some very bad defensive schematic mistakes by the Steu’s coaching staff on the defensive side of the ball. You give up 31 points to Caleb Williams and the Bears. Um, and then you know you have two opportunities for your offense to drive down the field and at least tie if not win the football game and they can’t execute because Mason Rudolph and the passing offense just couldn’t throw the ball vertically down the field. Um, and that ended up killing uh the football team last week. But, you know, I’ve been seeing a lot of overreactions on Steelers Twitter this week. There’s a lot of people catastrophizing and saying, “Oh, this season’s over. This team’s absolutely terrible.” All this different stuff. We can’t beat anybody. Well, that’s just, you know, not the case in my opinion. We’ve beaten the New England Patriots, the current number one seed in the AFC on the road. All right, they might be one of the tougher teams that the Steelers would have to play in the AFC playoff picture if they’ve beaten and really they kind of dominated the Indianapolis Colts. They were up three scores midway through the fourth quarter against the Indianapolis Colts, a current division winner in the AFC. All right, we’ve seen this team uh in the Pittsburgh Steelers play good football on both sides of the football this year in spurts, right? they’ve really haven’t been able to put it all together. And that’s going to be on the coaching staff and that’s going to be on the players to really tighten things up on both sides of the ball, offense and defense, because we’ve seen what this team is capable of. We’ve seen uh what Aaron Rogers is capable of. We’ve seen what the run game is capable of. We’ve seen what DK Metaf is capable of. We’ve seen what this defense and especially this pass rush is capable of. They can turn the football over. This team is a very, you know, good football team, but they’re not a great football team yet. And I’m hoping here over the next month and a half here they can start to try and make that final transition into a great football team. Uh kind of the opposite from what we saw from this team last year where they were a really good football team, you know, arguably great football team for that first half of the season. They get that 10 and3 start. They beat the Ravens. They beat the Commanders. They beat some really good football teams in that stretch. And then after that 10 and3 start, you know, obviously you lose the rest of the games that you play for the rest of the season and you go from, you know, a pretty darn good football team to a bad football team down the stretch. And, you know, hopefully it’s kind of the reverse of that this season for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Still think they got everything left in front of them, guys. I think that tomorrow is a very winnable ball game at home versus a kind of struggling Bills team at this point. Then you got the Ravens, and we saw what the Ravens look like against the Bengals defense. Um, you know, just a couple nights ago on Thanksgiving, they only scored what, 14 points against the Bengals defense. They had five turnovers against that defense. Just imagine what it’s going to look like when they play Pittsburgh, a team that Lamar Jackson has traditionally struggled against, right? I think that the Steelers can very realistically at least win one game against Baltimore. Um, it might might even be next week. And if you can win these next two games, guys, if you can beat the Bills and Ravens and you’re sitting there, um, you know, with a really good 8 and5 record, uh, especially with the current state of the AFC North, if you can win these next two games, you all but have the division locked up. And, you know, really the only way that you lose the division at that point is you completely crap the bed. So, I still think everything is in is in front of this Pittsburgh Steelers team. I think they’ve got the talent to get it done. I think that, you know, they still have the opportunity to do something that no Steelers team um over the last pretty much eight years has done, which is win a playoff game. I still think that this team is the best equipped for playoff success um probably since the 2017 season. It’s just about putting everything and putting all the puzzle pieces together at the right time. Um and I think that there’s a reasonable expectation that they could potentially do that. So, really excited to break down this game with you guys tomorrow. Again, Ponzi and I will be live here on Steelers Talk uh tomorrow starting at 3:30 p.m. Eastern time, an hour before kickoff. Got some pregame coverage for you guys, followed by live playbyplay and analysis and then extensive postgame coverage as well. We’re going to have a really cool raffle item for you guys tomorrow that you’re not going to want to miss as well. Uh it’s going to be a big game. Can’t wait to share with you guys. Make sure you click that subscribe button if you haven’t already. Until tomorrow, guys.

Steelers Talk by Chat Sports covers last minute Pittsburgh Steelers news before their matchup vs. the Buffalo Bills. QB Aaron Rodgers is a go for tomorrow’s game as well as WR DK Metcalf and LB Alex Highsmith. Can the Steelers’ take advantage of the Buffalo Bill’s weakness? Jack Sperry breaks down these last minute NFL Week 13 news and more on today’s video.

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Steelers injury report IN’s:
– QB Aaron Rodgers
– WR DK Metcalf
– LB Alex Highsmith
– CB Joey Porter Jr.
– WR Ben Skowronek

Steelers injury report OUT’s:
– DT Derrick Harmon
– OT Broderick Jones

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Bills’ injury report:
– OUT: Dion Dawkins (LT), Spencer Brown (RT), Terrell Bernard (LB), Curtis Samuel (WR)
– QUESTIONABLE: Dalton Kincaid (TE), Joshua Palmer (WR)

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– Pittsburgh Steelers Rumors: Hire Jon Gruden Or Marcus Freeman To Replace Mike Tomlin Next Season? – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ugg5T-7U4-o
– 5 Things The Steelers NEED TO FIX Before The Playoffs + 5 Reasons Fans Should Still Have Hope – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6McKPtIfHU
– The Pittsburgh Steelers Got A TRIPLE DOSE Of GOOD NEWS On Thanksgiving Day! – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-AUdrjVcPA

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