Steelers vs. Dolphins Preview | Steelers Live The Match Up | Pittsburgh Steelers

Steelers vs. Dolphins Preview | Steelers Live The Match Up | Pittsburgh Steelers

The Steelers are back in first place by themselves in the AFC North heading into action this weekend. and have an opportunity to maintain that lead or perhaps add to it on Monday night against the Miami Dolphins. We thank you for being with us for the matchup presented by Shell Polymers alongside Missy Matthews and Matt Williamson. I’m Rob King. Steelers have the nice benefit of being able to watch the games on Sunday. I’m sure we’re all going to be watching that Cincinnati Bengals Ravens matchup, but the victory over the Ravens gives you that opportunity to listen, you win out, you win the AFC North. Yeah, we didn’t want to call it a must-win, but it was as must-win playoff like as you could get. Uh especially when it’s against the Ravens and you saw what they were able to do coming back. So, the Steelers are above 500, but the Dolphins are coming in on a four-game winning streak, too. So, another tall task for them, but one day rest, which I like. Yeah. And and just a win over the Ravens. Matt, you don’t know because we’ve seen all these pieces of the Steelers, some that have been very very good, some that statistically aren’t that good. Maybe this is the kind of game that catapults you to more good and getting on a little bit of a roll here. Yeah, I mean anytime you win in Baltimore late in the season, oh by the way, to take control of the division, I’ll take it. But quarterback really started to get back on track, too. I mean, to me, that was the most encouraging thing on the field that happened is Rogers played really, really well. So, taking on a Dolphins team that has a familiar face on the back end, that’s Minka Fitzpatrick, who of course was traded from the Dolphins to the Steelers, went to four Pro Bowls here, then traded back for Jaylen Ramsay. Going to be interesting to see Minka suiting up against the Steelers. Yeah, and I wasn’t surprised. I was looking at the Dolphins website and Ma spoke, I believe, yesterday or the day before and was asked, you know, returning there as a visitor and said, uh, yeah, you know, it’s just another game. Nothing nothing too crazy. Uh, because that’s, you know, the the approach that Minka would have for this. Um, but he did mean a lot to this team and to this defense. And even defensive coordinator Carol Austin today just saying that, you know, Ma was one of those top players in his career. he had a chance to coach not just as a player but as a person. So they’re using him a little differently uh than he was used here in Pittsburgh. More nickel uh just because they have more depth at the safety position than the cornerback. But you know Miko’s kind of one of those jackof all trades type guys. It is something of an oddity Matt in that you traded a safety for a corner and now the corner is playing safety and the safety’s playing corner. Right. Exactly. Right. It is unusual. It’s very unusual, but that’s one of the beauties of both those players, even coming out of college, was their versatility, their smarts, their football IQ, toughness. You know, they can play all over the line of scrimmage or all over the the defense, which both these teams are using. So, let’s get to our key matchups for this game. Beginning when the Steelers have the ball on offense and Missy, another surprising key for us. Run the ball, Missy. It’s going to be cold out. You want to play keep away from the Dolphins. Let’s see if they can run it this Monday night. Yeah, let’s run it and win the game. Um it’s very bizarre when you look at the statistics for the Steelers averaging less than 100 rushing yards per game. Only the Steelers and the 49ers uh have a winning record when doing that poorly in terms of running the ball. And we’ve seen it in flashes just as you know you and Matt were talking about uh what was you know encouraging about the win in the the Ravens game over uh in Baltimore. But it’s something they have to get to. You want them to be balanced. You let everybody you reminded everybody in the league, hey, we can still throw the ball deep to DK and to other guys. We have Calvin Austin. Who knows how much more Adam Theland will take on this week, but running the ball has to be something that um these guys get done and especially because the weather will be a factor. And if you’re going to run the ball, Matt, that leads to your key if you know, look, he Jordan Brooks is a guy that factors in both the passing game and the running game. He’s the NFL’s leading tackler. He led the league in solo tackles years ago for Seattle. This guy’s always been a tackling machine. You got to block him if you’re going to be able to run the ball a thousand%. And I’m a big Jordan Brooks fan, but I just want to rewind real quick because there’s been two games in the NFL this year where the team has won, but they have not got 40 yards on the ground, both by the Steelers, right? Which tough way to live. Yeah, including last week. Tough way to live. But Brooks is an excellent player. He’s a do-it-all linebacker. He’s never going to leave the field. tackling machine as you mentioned, really one of the underrated second level players in the whole league. So, he’s definitely a guy, but he’s also a factor in my key, which is uh beware the blitz. First of all, this is a heavy blitzing team. Number one in the NFL, if I’m not mistaken, the Dolphins in blitzing. And they’ll bring Jordan Brooks. He’s got two and a half sacks. They’ll bring Tyrell Dodson, who’s next to him. He’s got four sacks. Minka has sacks. All the secondary guys have sacks. So, look, uh, thanks to Missy, we’ve run the ball. Thanks to you, we’ve blocked Jordan Brooks and and gotten into these third and shorts. But the Dolphins will bring a lot of uh different pressures. Now, the Sers have done a good job blocking for Aaron Rogers. He mitigates some of that pressure by getting rid of the ball quickly, but you want him to have the capability of throwing the ball down the field like he did last week. Um beginning the game right out of the shoot to DK Medaf. If this blitz gets home, he’s not going to be able to do that. No. And I am curious, you know, what’s going to happen at uh the left tackle position. Obviously, Dylan Cook was moved up to the active roster. Um, Andreas Pete in the concussion protocol. It’s it is definitely it’s late in the season, so you like the extra day of rest. Uh, but you also like it due to the the laundry list of guys that will be watching um on both sides of the ball. One other thing to throw in there, Matt, is that over the last four weeks during this four-game winning streak, the Dolphins are plus seven. They’re the best in the NFL. 10 takeaways during that time. So, you know, it’s not a defense you think of as a a snarling defense that’s going to take the ball away from you, but they have the last four weeks in part because this blitz has gotten home. Yeah. And partially just because of the pass rush in general. They had six sacks last week and that’s after trading Jaylen Phillips who I thought was their best pass rusher, but they still have Chub and they still have Chop Robinson who are strong edge, you know, presences as well. Yeah. Chop Robinson two and a half sacks over the last two games. Zack Seer two and a half sacks uh the last game against the Jets. Well, it’s time now for our immaculate prediction and we are asking you this question. Aaron Rogers, will his passing yardage be over or under 170 and a half? The first place prize is a Ben Rothllessberger autograph jersey. Second prize, a $50 Steelers Pro Shop gift card. Third place, a classic Terrible towel. Up next, what can the Steelers do to slow down Deon Achan and the Dolphins explosive running attack? We’ll let you know when the matchup presented by Shell Polymers resumes. Our fans are here. Give us something to cheer about today. The crowd at Acure is so loud. There’s nothing like game day in Pittsburgh. Oh my TJ, this defense is swarming. It is kicked off. Wow, what a catch. Get two. Touchdown Pittsburgh Steelers. We’ll see you at Acer Stadium. Here we go. The Dolphins have won four games in a row. They bring that winning streak to Acraser Stadium on Monday night. In each of those four games, they’ve had a 100red-yard rusher. So, you know how they’ve been winning games offensively by running the football. Thanks for being with us for the matchup presented by Shell Polymers. And Missy, one good bit of news for the Steelers. Well, a couple bits of good news. Monday Night Football has been very, very good to the Steelers at home under Mike Tomlin. Just in general, Monday Night Football home games have been a big edge for the Steelers. Yeah, crazy to say, but 22 consecutive home game wins on Monday night. Uh, you have to go back to the ‘9s to the last time that they lost. They played the Giants at home here in Pittsburgh. Monday night last year, got that win. They were also wearing their color rush jerseys. Steelers are eight and three in them. And then under coach Tomlin, he has the fourth most out of all coaches since 1970 uh wins on Monday night with 21. So the stats in terms of Monday night are in the Steelers favor. The temperature also is going to be in the Steelers favor because Miami two at Tanga Lova had not won a single game in which the kickoff was under 46°. Well, you can check until they beat the Jets last week. You can chop about 30° off that number from Monday night at Aerture Stadium. Yeah. And real quick on the Monday night thing, the schedule makers don’t put bad teams on Monday night either. So it’s not like he’s got 22 pushovers in a row, you know, right? But I I think it is noteworthy. Miami in general really have struggled in the cold over the years. Tua grew up in Hawaii, went to Alabama, played in Miami. Not a lot of experience in the cold and not a lot of success. Yeah. So, as we are bringing you this show, there is some concern about the health of TJ Watt. The Steelers earlier on Thursday releasing a statement about the health of TJ Watt in which he was taken to a local hospital and he’s having his lung examined. Obviously, when you hear that, it it sends some panic ripples through you. No idea what this means for TJ Watt. We don’t have any more further information than that other than that they have announced that his status for Monday night is in question. Yeah. And you know what TJ Watt brings to this defense. Um but just as a human, you know, when you hear being evaluated for something involving your lungs, you worry about him as the person, not the football player first. So, no TJ Watt maybe in this game Monday night. Again, we don’t know right now what his status is going to be. And we hope first of all his health is okay and then worry about the status of that afterwards. But uh regardless of who’s out there, Devon Achan is your guy to stop and rightly so. I mean he leads the league in yards per carries third in yardage and he has been on a tear for the Dolphins. Yeah. So he left the Jets game last week early in the in the game, but they were up like 24 to nothing at the time and I think he could have returned if it was a playoff game. So we don’t know exactly his status either. or at least I haven’t seen it when we recorded it, but I’m assuming he’s going to play. And boy, do they do a good job of just funneling the offense through this explosive playmaker, whether it’s a receiver, as a ball carrier. Their rushing numbers are really, really good. He’s undersized, but he doesn’t play that way. He’s super dangerous. And anyone’s watched Steelers the last two weeks has seen how their run defense has been, and it’s not good enough. And just to follow up on that, by the way, Jaylen Wright came in after the game. He ran for 100 yards, too. Yes. Uh, so it’s not like they they slowed down much, but I say slow down. This is one of the fastest players in the NFL. And when he gets to the edge, he can cause headaches. And their explosive run rate um is phenomenal. Yeah. It’s number one in the NFL if I’m not mistaken. Right. Yes. So you he’s he’s a guy that has to be limited. So when you talk about explosive, you know, running, that takes me into my key, which is to watch Wadd. They they don’t have Tyreek Hill, but Jaylen Wadd was taken sixth overall. Um he was a teammates with Tua back in college. He’s a really explosive player. The first year Tyreek Hill was there. He led the league in yards per reception. And he’s the kind of guy that no, they aren’t throwing the ball very much or not as much as they used to. He’s not um leading the league in receptions, but he can take a short crossing pattern and go the distance. He also like Achan is one of the fastest players in the league. Missy, look, they will try to run the ball, run the ball, run the ball, but you can’t let Achan or Wadd rip off a big one. both these guys are extremely capable of doing. Yeah. Unless you have somebody really fast prepared uh you know to hunt him down so that they don’t find the end zone. And I think it is just remarkable the way that the Dolphin season has gone in terms of turning it around in the second half. Um so agree those are two players that you have to know where they are at all times and make sure that you’re you know stopping the run first. Obviously tall task for the Steelers defense but can’t let Waddle get loose either. It is like the tale as old as time, right? Like if you run the ball and play good defense, Matt, you success can follow. You absolutely can. But these two guys we brought up, I think, are really noteworthy because Wadd’s been a little overshadowed by Tyreek Hill. I mean, who has been tremendous in a Dolphins uniform. He’s out because of injury. Wadd stepped up huge. And this offense does a great job of getting the ball to those two playmakers in space. Yeah. And it can happen quickly, too. just a quick pitch or a quick cross like we just saw against the Falcons where he takes it into the end zone. So Missy, that leads us to your key which is turn two over. Now the last four games during this four game winning streak, we mentioned the plus 10 in the turnover margin. Only three turnover plus seven. Only three turnovers committed by the Dolphins. All two interceptions, but you know when he doesn’t turn the ball over, they win games. Yeah, it’s kind of one of those unfortunate statistics if it’s the opposing team, but if it’s your team, you like it when you take care of the football. But he has 14 interceptions this season tied for the most with Gino Smith who has lost his job. Um, but it it makes sense. Tua is one of those guys. He’s mobile. He knows what to do and as you said, he can rely on a very heavy run game that has success and two and six for Tua with the Dolphins if he has one or more interception, four- one when he has no interception. So, you know, the math is the math and it makes sense. Um, so it’s something for the Steelers defense that’s still second in takeaways uh behind Chicago. Hopefully, they can do some of that takeaway magic on Monday night. Sounds good. So, we’ve we’ve got it all laid out for you, right? Nothing to it. Uh, the Steelers will be hosting the Dolphins. Of course, a big game coming up Monday night at Acer. Monday Night Football kickoff is scheduled for 8:15 against the Dolphins. for Missy Matthews, for Matt Williams, for entire Steelers production crew. I’m Rob King. Thanks for watching this edition of The Matchup presented by Shell Polymers.

Rob King, Missi Matthews, and Matt Williamson break down the Monday night clash with the Dolphins

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