Steelers vs Vikings Week 4 Preview | Steelers Live The Match Up | Pittsburgh Steelers

Steelers vs Vikings Week 4 Preview | Steelers Live The Match Up | Pittsburgh Steelers

[Music] The Steelers will travel 3,428 miles to play a home game on Sunday at Croak Park in Dublin. And you can bet they will get a pretty rousing welcome from the crowd there. Steeler Nation in Dublin figures to be strong as the 2-1 Steelers get set to host the 2-1 Vikings in Dublin. Thanks for being with us for the matchup presented by Shell Palibers alongside Missy Matthews and Matt Williamson. I’m Rob King. Missy, the Steelers are two- one because after five sacks and five turnovers, they hung on to beat the New England Patriots 21 to4. Yeah, and I think the defense really stepped up. Uh they heard the outside noise. It was a point of contention, I think, for them as they got ready to go to New England that we need to step up and help this offense and they certainly delivered in New England. It maybe wasn’t the prettiest game all the way around. Maybe some good elements that came out of this game, Matt, but you know, people talk about September football and just simply winning and the Steelers are two and one. Yeah, I’m becoming more and more a believer that all 32 of these teams are working things out in September. They’re just no one’s playing a ton of snaps in the preseason. training camp’s not what it used to be. So there’s kinks all across the league right now. And if you can get a win, wonderful. So the Steelers scored on their first two drives. Then they had basically five consecutive three and outs. And they scored on their last drive. So let’s get to our keys to the matchup against the Vikings team that figures to be uh you know again one of the top teams in the NFL. What is your key here for the Steelers offense going against the Vikings defense? I think it’s DK Metaf. Not that he’s not involved in the offense. He’s playing a large number of the snaps, but it’s getting him the ball, getting those yak yards that we saw a little bit earlier in the season. And even the tight ends, we talked so much. It’s an Arthur Smith offense. Arthur Smith loves to use tight ends. Um, we just have not really seen that from him. Pat Frymouth, John Smith, even Darnell Washington, uh, the two-point conversion, you see what he can do. And, you know, Shaq, he’s big. Uh, not a lot of guys can guard him. uh he did get the you know the DPI in the game against the Patriots, but I think for Medaf, 10 catches for 135 yards, two touchdowns, that’s for the first three games. Normally that would sound like a game for him perhaps. Um fewest receptions since his rookie season in 2019. I just think it’s a matter of uh obviously we talk every week about getting the run going, but then also opening up the passing attack even downfield for a guy like him. and only four catches between those tight ends last week in New England, right? But between four of them, four receptions. Yeah. Don’t love that. So, Matt, uh, yours is more of the sort of a chess matcher if I’m if I get this. Very much so. I have great respect for their defensive coordinator who was a linebacker coach here, Coach Flores. He’s a mad scientist. I mean, he just does things way different than just about any other defensive designer or play caller does. Heavy blitz. They’re playing a lot of zone this year, but they almost play positionless football where guys that start up the line of scrimmage can be in too deep. I mean, they’re highly, highly unorthodox. Now, I don’t think that’ll confuse Rogers. Rogers to me is a microprocessor. He is an elite mind for the position and obviously has great wisdom and experience, but that doesn’t mean the other 10 guys around Rogers are going to do the right thing, you know. Yeah, it is interesting for sure. And you wonder, Flores has seen Arthur Smith’s offense up close, Matt. He’s seen it. And look, I I think there there’s a obviously a book on Brian Flores. This isn’t his first time as a defensive coordinator, but interesting that he was harder to read than others because it’s really unpredictable. Yeah. Well, that’s going to be fascinating for me. Uh Missy talked about this again. I I look the run game, we saw it getting going early against New England. want to see it going for uh more in this game. But this front seven against the Vikings, it’s a very very tough front seven. They added Hargrave who was banged up a little bit. Looks like he’s going to be able to go. Uh so he is really anchored the middle of that defense. Both guys on the outside went to the Pro Bowl last year. Yes, a lot of that is based on pass rushing which by the way is another element for this offensive line dealing with that defensive line. But we saw you know Jaylen Warren get 18 carries productive early, not productive later on. I’d like to see him find that balance. Um, you know, look, we just saw in Monday Night Football, Detroit running, running, running, and then in the second half, they just pounded at Baltimore. But to do that, you have to have success. You have to get first downs. You have to be moving the football. It all kind of comes together. It did feel like it when it was working, you’re like, “Okay, let’s just keep doing that. Let’s get this game over. Uh, keep the score up.” Uh but then I think the Patriots to their credit made changes uh that really were stifling the Steelers offense and what they were able to do. But agree also curious what will happen with Caleb Johnson. Uh didn’t play last week. We know what happened the week before. Um but is it just going to be Jaylen Warren and Kenny Gainwell? How are they going to make this work? So we’ll be interesting to see once we head over. I think that it’s it feels to me a little bit like a chicken and egg, Matt. like we want to get the tight ends more involved and we want to get Caleb Johnson to the series and but if you only run 18 plays between your series and your last series there’s not a lot of time to get everybody involved. Yeah, the pie has shrunk, you know, and you want to give everybody a big piece of pie and it it’s there’s not enough to go around. And I think a huge problem right now that’s starting to worry me that can have long-term effects through the course of the season is time of possession. And there’s no better way to get your time possession up than to start running the ball more effectively. I mean, two or three yards a carry isn’t going to cut it anymore, right? So, a lot to work on against a very talented Vikings defense coming off a big win. Uh, first of all, before we get onto the other side of the ball, we want to ask you, are you ready to put your knowledge to the test and win? Play to win. The weekly challenges are back and bigger than ever. All season long, we’re putting your Steelers knowledge to the ultimate test. Our weekly immaculate prediction challenge is live for week three. answer predictive game questions for your chance to win big. This week’s prediction, TJ Watt, will he have over or under.7 sacks. So, I’m still working on the math on this one. So, basically over half a sack or under half sack, but he can’t push, right? He’s got to be over that. That’s why we’re going 7 just to make sure you know he’s got to be over that. Over the half a sack. We’re giving away TJ Watt autographed jersey, a $50 Steelers Pro Shop gift card, and a classic terrible towel to the winner. Up next, a look at the key matchups when the Steelers are on defense when the matchup presented by Shell Polymers resumes. [Music] [Music] Get all your Steelers gear direct from the team. Shop the Steelers Pro Shop in store or online for all things black and gold. You can get jerseys, hats, authentic memorabilia, custom gear, and exclusives you can’t find anywhere else. And of course, get the ultimate Steelers game day accessory, the terrible towel. Steelers Nation shops here. Get your gear in store or online at shop.steelers.com. [Music] On Sunday in Foxboro, the Steelers scored touchdowns on their first two possessions of the game and they scored a touchdown on their final possession of the game. Two great pieces of sandwich bread. It was kind of what was in between that sandwich that was lacking a little bit. Uh, welcome back to the matchup presented by Shell Polymer. So, yes, we’d like to see the Steelers offense score more points. We’d like to see the Steelers offense help the defense defend less, win the time of possession battle. Let’s look at our matchups for when the Steelers are on defense and trying to hold off a Vikings team that can be very explosive. And yours is a little bit more of Derek Harmon. I How great was it to see him back out on the field? We saw so much I feel like through OTAA’s mini camp, training camp, the preseason, we got that taste, the scare with the injury, uh missed the first two games, but to see him out there, he was on a snap count. Uh Terrell Austin kind of led into that before the game that that was their plan just to make sure he was up to the conditioning. um but making an impact. He is the first, you know, defensive guy since TJ Watt in their first game to get a sack. And he did so to the point where even Rob, you know, where you and Max were at one point, you thought it was Cam, that tackle right there that we just saw. And for rightfully so, he is built like him. He plays like him. I just thought the energy that he brought, um, I think having him consistently in there and hopefully we’ll see what that ramping up looks like for his second professional game, I think it can only do good things. Even the outside guys talking about, hey man, when he can get those double teams in the middle, that lets us, you know, pin our ears back a little bit. So, it it’s good for rush coverage, everything. And I just think, you know, he’s quantifying why that draft pick made sense. Yeah. And and to elaborate on what Missy said, when I see this the first time we’ve seen him really in a in a game action, when I see somebody that big and I just see a nine on the jersey moving that fast swallowing a guy up, you think it’s Cam. And look, I know it’s only one play, but just that the fact that that image would be in my mind makes me salivate to see more. Yeah, more and more of that’s great. And Missy mentioned the uh the snap, you know, was on the snap count and I thought it was going to be 12 plays, 15 plays, and he far exceeded that. He does bring a lot of energy and he’s very active. Yeah, I think it was 35. So that was that was great to see. So for me, this is the matchup I’ve been waiting to see and that is the Steelers cornerbacks against top flight receivers. You go to the Jets, what do they want to do? They want to run the ball. Seattle has Jackson Smith and Jiggler. He’s a terrific receiver obviously. Um but and and the and the Patriots aren’t, you know, their their receivers aren’t tremendous huge threats. And you have to deal with running quarterbacks and all kinds of thing. You got Cartson Wentz. I don’t think he’s going to throw it a whole or run it a whole bunch. Not that he’s completely immobile. He can get out of the pocket a little bit, but this is why you have these corners for matchups like this. Addison is back for the Vikings. You have Jefferson, you have Addison, you have Thielen. Now, we don’t know if Joey Porter Jr. is going to be back. We don’t know um if Deshawn Elliott’s going to be back because, by the way, the tight ends have killed the Steelers, too. Three touchdowns in the last two weeks. But to me, um, that is a a huge secondary concern for me. But just I just cannot wait to see these corners if they can get Ramsay on Jefferson and get some of these matchups. Um, what this is going to look like cuz this is why you’ve got these guys for games like this. Yeah. And they have a lot of options now. You know, it used to be maybe Porter would be on Jefferson, but now you got Slay, you got Eckles, you got Ramsay, a variety of safeties, too. I mean, um, you mentioned how tight ends would give him a hard time. Hawinson kind of had a breakout game last week and I don’t know that we’re giving Jefferson enough kudos. I mean, he averages the most receiving yards per game in NFL history and no one’s even close. I mean, he’s a phenomenal player. He’s absolutely incredible and for sure if Jaylen Ramsey gets him, it it’s a huge challenge. It’s a huge challenge for anybody. He is an incredible player. But Mike Tomlin has talked a lot about wanting to play man-to-man defense. Well, I think this might be the week we finally get to see that. It doesn’t make much sense to play a ton of man against a running quarterback. You have your back to the quarterback, he gets out of the pocket, he runs for 30 yards. Um, I think all the elements are here this week to play the kind of defense that this group, the coaching staff and the front office envisions them playing. I think even if they can get Deshawn Elliott back or just Joey Porter, just one of those guys, we’ll see more of what we have been hearing about and seeing in bits and pieces, but as you said, we haven’t seen the full picture yet due to these injuries. So hopefully at least one guy makes it back. Um, but if not, I feel good, you know, with the by-week coming up after this game in Dublin that they would both hopefully, knock on wood, be back, too. And Brandon Eckles, by the way, maybe has, you know, he he’s coming off a tremendous game, so maybe he mitigates that if if one of the guys can’t play. So, let’s get to your key. And it was nice to see the Steelers get five sacks last week. Yeah, you mentioned earlier in the show, you know, five sacks. The Steeler pass rush to me has potential to be the best in the league. Um, even with Highmith out, I thought Herbig was phenomenal. And your stars Watt and Hayward were fantastic. We’ve already mentioned Harmon. And the Vikings offensive line’s really interesting. They got a really good pair of tackles and they have for a while, but they rebuilt the entire interior. And Wentz doesn’t handle pressure great. There’s a reason he’s been on 16s in six years. Well, those guys are really good, those tackles. And and they get they get the center back, right? Um he he had a concussion, I think it was last week. He missed the game. Um you know, we saw him in Indianapolis and Fry is the right guard in Indianapolis. They do have some talent in that interior even though it’s rebuilt. Although they’re going to do it now. Yeah. the rookie the rookie first round pick Donovan Jackson won’t be playing and he looks really good to now. So that could be Cam’s neck of the woods too, you know. Yeah. And and it is interesting I think Missy that yes, we’ve always talked about the edge, the edge, the edge, but now you’ve got somebody with Cam in the interior and Dererick Harmon hopefully and I love the fact that when they drafted him, Omar Khan said, “We think he’s the best pass rusher among these interior defensive linemen that were flying off the board in the first round.” So, a little push there. A little guys on the edge. So, manto man on the outside to give those guys more. We got it. We got the match. There’s nothing to it. Yeah, just tell them we’re ready to go. We We can coach the game. Can’t wait to see it. Uh the two-1 Steelers and 2-1 Vikings will be playing at Croak Park in Dublin. Kickoff is scheduled for 9:30 here in Pittsburgh, 2:30 in Ireland. For Missy Matthews, for Matt Williamson, for our entire Steelers production crew, I’m Rob King. Thanks for watching this edition of The Matchup presented by Shell Polymers. [Music]

Rob King, Missi Matthews, and Matt Williamson detail their keys to the game in Ireland against the Vikings

#HereWeGo #Steelers #NFL