The Porch Is Live in Pittsburgh - Are you ready for some football?

00:00 Marc checks the last time. But that doesn't matter.

00:04 Chris Cause it's time to start the show!

00:10 Chris You're listening to the Sports Porch.

00:12 Marc Let's bring it back to the Steelers. Alright, we'll bring it back to the Steelers. The Pirate has retired. Thank you for listening to the Sports Porch. By the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or anywhere you get your friggin' podcasts, we are live, live, live. all over the world on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Twitch, and anything else that matters. And as a matter of fact, one thing I forgot to do is I forgot to put us live on radio.pgh. And I'm going to do that right now because I am your technical director and I am in charge. All right. Thanks for being here, guys. God help us all. God help us all. I want to remind you that we do drop the podcast right after the show on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, anywhere you get your freaking podcast. Anywhere. I want to say one quick thing about the Buccos report. I'm bringing it back for a big season ending spectacular. They're 70 and 80 right now. There's a lot of things I want to talk about, but I'll be honest with you guys. Ryan Hayes for MVP. Complete transparency here. It's for me right now, not worth it doing the Buccos report because I want to see a winner. We'll try it again next year, but I got an end of the season show. Now, we do have something very, very special tonight.

01:32 Chris We certainly do. We have somebody live.

01:35 Marc That is right. On scene. Live. Live. Down at the Ac. Down at the Ac. Steelers-Browns, Monday night, Hockey Jesus is on the scene. We're going to bring him in. Hockey Jesus, can you hear us?

01:48 Steve What up, boys? What up, boys? What's going on?

01:53 Marc I love it. I love it. Not much, man, but hey, look, what's the vibe down there outside of Akershaw right now? What's the vibe? Are there more Steelers fans or more Browns fans?

02:05 Steve I'm telling you, I said it was like 6 to 7% Browns fans. I actually think it's dwindled down to about 3 to 4% Browns fans down here at the Akershire Stadium. And fans are excited, man. I mean, they're really just streaming in. You can tell, like, everybody's expecting a win. Everybody's actually got smiles on their face. I don't see a lot of people who are, like, concerned about this game at all. And I think it's good optimism. I don't think it's, you know, optimism where it's, like, foolish. I think people understand that we beat the Browns. You know, we've won 20 straight Monday night games with the Browns haven't beat us. The Browns haven't beat us since 2003. Come on, let's go. Do you really think the Browns are going to beat us at home on a Monday night?

02:58 Chris Are these the same Browns?

03:01 Marc No way.

03:06 Chris I think if it's close, It's closer than it's been in 20 games.

03:11 Steve Yeah, I think you're right. I think you're right. I think it'll be closer towards the end. I'm looking at Kenny Pickett throwing two touchdowns tonight, boys. Tonight's the night. I think tonight's the night where he actually gets over that one touchdown hump. And I just feel really good about this game. If the Steelers are really going to contend, this is a game they have to win. You've got to beat a divisional rival at home. And the Browns are off of a high right now, beating the Bengals. So honestly, they don't even really have to win this game to stay relevant, so they're not going to. It's really that simple. I don't think they're that good of a team that they're going to be the team that takes down the Steelers and the Bengals in back-to-back weeks. I just don't think they're that good.

03:59 Marc I don't, I have, honestly, after that first, after the first game, okay, against the 49ers, who are a remarkably better team than the Cleveland Browns. A little bit. And it is not a division rivalry. And, and, and… That's what I'm saying. And I… I am just, you know what, I'm kind of on pins and needles about this one. And because Mark and I were talking in the studio here before the show, if the Steelers, and again, guys, look, Monday night game, we want to be positive. We want the Steelers to win. We want to see Kenny Pickett throw a bunch of touchdowns. We want the offense to get back on track. We want the defense to do well. What I'm saying is, if the Steelers lose this game, This is the season. Is this the season? Is it the end?

04:58 Steve No, it's not the end, but it definitely signals that they're not going to be competitive enough to win the division for sure, which means now they gotta hope to get a wild card. And you know what happens when you're fighting for the wild card.

05:10 Marc Still talking playoffs.

05:13 Steve The wild card means nothing. The chances of you winning a wild card game against a Kansas City or pick any of the teams that will be at the top. I mean, you know, even who knows, maybe it's the Ravens this year. I mean, they're 2-0. I mean, you don't even really know who's going to be at the top right now because the NFC is still kind of a little upside down. But the bottom line is, you really want to win your division. And if you don't win this game, you really have no chance at winning the division, in my opinion. Because the Browns are the team you beat at home when you win the division. The Browns are not the team you lose at home when you win the division. There's just no way. Even if the Bengals turn out to be garbage.

05:58 Marc And d dg is in the house as always. Thank you dg He did text me earlier and tell me that he did receive the pittsburgh property diva. Oh, uh, 2023 steeler's season schedule calendar. Excellent If anybody would like one, please let me know i'm happy to send you one because as usual we over buy them and we have 10 000 and I think we only send out 500 anyway Uh, so DG says it depends on if Garrett keeps his helmet on or not. Um, I, I mean, I agree with you. I I'm just saying I'm on pins and needles because I, from what I saw last week, what I saw last week was a team completely out of sync.

06:35 Steve Well, here's two things for you to help your pins and needles. One, Chubb has never rushed for more than 100 yards in Pittsburgh in his whole career. And two, if the Steelers are winning at halftime, the Browns have lost 85% of their games that they're losing at halftime. So really, the key is for the Steelers to get out to a good start. to score first and just basically keep the lead. I don't care if it's a 3-0 lead. I don't care if it's a 7-3 lead at halftime. To me, that's good enough. That means everything's working out right because the worst thing that can happen is the Browns get the ball and Chubb runs for an 80-yard touchdown the first time they touch the ball. That would be bad. That would not be something that would make me feel good about the rest of the game.

07:26 Marc If at halftime the score is three to three, Steve, is that good enough for you to stay?

07:32 Steve Oh, dude, I'm staying till the end. I am not one of these fans who picks up and leaves.

07:39 Chris Well, what about the early morning for a manufacturing plant manager? Yeah.

07:48 Steve Well, you know, you can always just go to work after the game.

07:52 Chris Go on fumes. Oh, you mean?

07:57 Steve Hey, if you're out late enough, I say just pick up and go into the office. Why not? Yeah, it's been done before. That's never sober. Which I plan on being sober at 2am at 2am.

08:13 Marc Yeah, but in between you can't speak for in between, right?

08:16 Steve Well, you know, hopefully there'll be a good enough signal. I'll give you a I'll give you a halftime preview of how I'm feeling and you'll know that. How about that?

08:26 Marc I'm pretty sure we will know that. Yep, absolutely. So what are the keys to this game, Steve? Since you're down there in Akershaw, we're going to give you the floor.

08:35 Chris I heard that Amari Cooper is active tonight.

08:39 Steve Yeah, Amari Cooper's playing. I guess Miles Garrett's playing hurt. You know, honestly, the keys to the game is Kenny Pickett being able to find his receivers. He's kind of at a disadvantage not having Deontay out there, but I think that'll actually make him sharper.

08:58 Chris Yeah, I agree with you. Steve, could that be a blessing in disguise, not having Deontay out there? Because that's going to force more targets to Pickens. Yes.

09:10 Steve Yeah. Well, I mean, and remember, Pickens is kind of banged up too, you know? Pickens has got a, uh, got a hammy. So, um, so that's not good from that standpoint, but, uh, he's a real man. Yeah, but he'll play, he'll play, he'll be out there. I just hope that he doesn't try to just force feed him. I think, I think the key is actually tonight is hitting Friar Muth over the middle. I think you'll see that a lot. I think you'll see Friar Muth. catching a ball right behind the linebackers, their linebackers, their middle, their middle of their field is really a lot weaker than San Francisco. And I think that'll be the strength for Pickett hitting prior moves. I think he likes him throwing prior moves across the middle too. So to me, that's going to be the key. Once they open that up, then I think that'll open up the running game. And then once you can open up the running game, I think you'll see Najee and whoever else they decide to give the ball in the backfield, some holes, and I think it'll, I think they'll be fine. But they have to come out and hit those balls across the middle early. If they can't go three and out twice or three times in a row, I think that would be a bad sign. So the key to winning would be getting out and scoring, whether it's first as a field goal or a touchdown, I don't really care. I prefer a touchdown, of course, but I think just getting on the board first will be the key.

10:29 Marc And as Steve said, I agree completely. When it comes to early in the game, hitting balls, that's where it's at.

10:38 Steve You gotta hit your balls over the middle.

10:41 Marc You gotta hit the balls early to win the game long.

10:43 Chris Meanwhile, Amy Bollinger says, can we stop the run up the middle? I'm guessing that she's saying with Hayward out. Chubb for 200 yards. Now Amy, are you a Cleveland fan here?

10:58 Marc Amy's a Steelers fan.

10:59 Chris I'm sure about that.

11:02 Marc I think she's worried. She's worried. She's concerned. You know what? Given given what's going on with the Steelers defense. Well, first of all, I would I would be surprised if 200 yards. Yeah, I'm Steve. I'm with you, Steve.

11:17 Steve But they do, but they do have to stop. They have to stop. They have to stop the run early because if they continue to go to the run, Chubb will open up something eventually. Yes, so so they gotta. They gotta trick the Browns into thinking. they gotta score quickly, and then that puts the ball into Sean Watson's hands, and that plays right into the Steelers' defense. Oh, by the way, the one thing I'm really looking forward to is when T.J. Watt gets his sack. That'll make him the all-time sack leader for the Steelers. So, to see that live is gonna be incredible. It's gonna be awesome.

11:51 Marc Yeah, it will be. It will be. I wonder if Harrison's at the game. So, D.G. says it may just force… Screw you, Garrett! Yeah, so…

12:01 Steve So, uh, yeah. Yeah.

12:07 Marc Why would he be belligerent to you? I mean, you, you're just, you're obviously incredibly intimidating figures.

12:13 Chris I like your feistiness just ready to mix it up.

12:16 Steve Yeah. I'm ready. Let's go. Yeah. I got my, I got, I got my fighting clothes on.

12:22 Marc Yeah. Yep. Yep. Well, you got to hit those balls early. Oh yeah. That's why. You're taking on the persona of palomalu. That's what's going on and that I don't have that.

12:33 Steve I don't have quite there.

12:34 Chris He had that No, not many people do.

12:37 Marc Yeah, that's true. Well, it's all because they had the shoulders. Thank you very much You're right. Um, so I am not I I like I said i'm on pins and needles this to me um is not just the division This is the season. And the reason I say that, and I'll let you chime in here, Mark. Now, hold on. The reason I say that is if the Steelers look like they looked in the first game, then we got a lot more problems. And I think that it will force the hand and Canada will be gone. Because I am still, it's a broken record. Canada, Canada, Canada, Canada. The play calling is horrible.

13:21 Chris our home and faithful land.

13:24 Marc Yeah, that's not the right words, but I'm sure it's not. Yeah, but it sounds good. And we did lose the video from Steve, but there we go.

13:32 Steve Sorry, I'm just checking in with my peeps. They're on their way.

13:37 Chris I had to move back. We apologize to the viewers and the audience at home for the technical difficulties, but we've got it all sorted out now. Steve on the street is back in studio.

13:48 Marc Yes. So, I think the keys to the game are Pickett has to come out sharp, but I think a bigger key here is that Najee Harris has to show up. He's got to show up. He's got to be in this game. And Amy May says she's with me, which is rare, but I appreciate that, Amy May. And she hates Canada, and I do too. And you guys know how I feel about Najee Harris, not the answer. But he's the guy they gotta play.

14:17 Chris So you're saying he's the anti-Allen Iverson, not the answer.

14:21 Steve He is the anti. All right, there are my peeps. Craig, my man.

14:25 Marc There we go. Let's go, baby. Let's go. Now we're part of the thing. All right, well listen, Steve on the street.

14:35 Chris Steve on the street, we'll let you go into the act.

14:37 Steve All right, I'm heading in, boys. I'll catch you later. We'll see you at halftime, brother.

14:42 Marc You take it easy. Be safe. All right, don't get beat up. All right. Steve on the street, hockey Jesus. Uh, okay. Listen guys, if you have something you want to say, or you want to make a prediction of the Steelers game tonight, please give us a call. You'll be on the show. Not your face, just your voice. 4 1 2 8 0 5 7 2 3 6. It's a number at the bottom of the screen. Would love to hear some predictions, uh, for tonight's game. Obviously, uh, we're rooting for the Steelers. Um, but you know, Mark and I, we did talk and now that we have, now that we have the consummate fan who always thinks that Joe Burrow is going to stink even though he drafts him for his fantasy team right and is constantly on the Steelers bandwagon and isn't it funny that he actually has them during the season when he might stink yeah I know it's great well and and he's hurt hey And once again, it was a good non-pick that I forced on you. I forced that on you. So if the Steelers lose, I think it's the end of their season. I don't even think it depends on how bad they lose.

15:50 Chris Well, here's the thing. you know, look, if they lose, you know, is the season over technically? No. Well, of course, I mean, look, they can, they can still run off a bunch of wins against, you know, mediocre teams and, you know, do the classic Tomlin no losing seasons, you know, finish up at like eight, eight and one or nine and eight or something. Maybe. Right. But I think that the, the reality is, is that if you lose, If you lose this game, any hope of, let's say, winning a game in the playoffs is gone.

16:31 Marc I think if you lose this game, I think there's going to be a lot of things brought into question. Dare I say it, if Kenny Pickett performs as poorly as he performed in the last game, and look, I have to say this a lot because I don't think that people necessarily buy into it, but I am a Steelers fan. And anybody who has watched the show and listened to the podcast knows that I was on the Kenny Pickett bandwagon well before they dropped.

17:03 Chris You were in love with him.

17:05 Marc I know. head of hair. Absolutely. He is a good looking young man. And actually, I think at this point, I think he pretty much has his head screwed on straight. Yeah, you couldn't get enough of him. That's true. But so if there's anybody out here who wants to see him succeed, it is definitely I am in the top tier there. I want this guy to succeed. I am not convinced that that's going to happen. I am convinced that, again, the Canada offense is, I think he is right now, right now, is the victim of a very, very poor offensive-minded coach. Sure. And we've seen this in the NFL before where you have had players who have had a lot of talent and definitely were held back by the coaching or the situation. And then some that weren't. But if the Steelers lose this game in the same sort of fashion that they lost the last game, and I'm not saying that the Browns are gonna come out and put up 20 on them before they score. What I mean is the Browns could score almost nothing.

18:16 Chris Just like interception.

18:17 Marc But the Steelers look bad and Kenny Pickett looks bad. I think that locker room is not going to be a very fun place. And I'm also thinking that there's going to be some changes because… Not what Tom will know.

18:33 Chris He won't. And that's his problem.

18:37 Marc That's his problem. I know.

18:38 Chris We talk about this all the time. You could almost bet. I mean, look, if they, if they miss the playoffs again this year, I don't think Canada will be back, but right. You could have said the same thing last year. Should have said the same. Right, right. So to think that he would be fired in season is pretty

19:00 Marc I know it's unrealistic, but it's needed. I would rather than bring a new guy in here and start a playbook over and be willing to put up with the trials and tribulations of learning that, than watch another friggin' jet sweep poorly planned game that has absolutely no direction. While a quarterback who I really think is, I don't think he's going to be a hall of fame guy who knows, but I think he can run an offense and definitely wants to win. Um, well, you know, he's Matt Canada is wasting this guy. He's wasting him. And then for that, and for that matter, honestly, you know, I I'm, I'm down on nausea. But how much of the Canada offense is he a victim of, too? I mean, I don't think he has the burst. I don't think he has the vision. But he has the heart. And sometimes when it comes to running backs, when they have power in their legs the way he does, heart is what puts them over the edge. And I don't think he's put in a position to win either. And did I see something this week where Broderick Jones had been moved to right tackle?

20:03 Chris I didn't see that.

20:04 Marc I did. If you saw that call in 412-805-7236 or drop a comment here. We do have another comment coming in. Not sure what it D.G. D.G. says the Steelers were beaten horribly off the ball last week, both offensive defense. If it's the same tonight, neither pick it or nausea can help that. You know what? That is absolutely right, DG, and I hate to go down this road, but if they lose tonight, I'm telling you right now, it is not going to be a winning season. It's just not. I do not see that happening. This game, to me, is a must-win game in order for the Steelers to even think about being relevant. And think about the irony right here. The Bengals look horrible. They look horrible. And Burrow may be hurt again.

20:52 Chris Right. Right. And he's he's probably even playing her. Oh, yeah, you know, he is playing her. Yeah. And and now he re-aggravated his hamstring. Mm hmm. So, you know, there's a there's a chance that this could be the sort of exception season, like they'll probably bounce back next season. But maybe this is a season where they go six and ten or I don't know. I mean, it could be. It could be. But on the flip side, the Ravens look very good. They do. You know, so so this could be, you know, your Ravens run away with the division. And then there's just kind of like some muck in the middle. Yeah, which, you know, yeah, yeah.

21:32 Marc And the muck happens to be the Steelers. And I would tell you right now, the Steelers are the worst team in this division. I don't care what anybody says. I'd agree with that.

21:40 Chris The facts are the facts. I'd agree with that. I mean, if you look, I mean, if you look at Cleveland.

21:47 Marc Nobody watching likes me right now. They all hate me.

21:49 Chris No, it's okay. No, but I mean, in all, in all honesty, like, look, the way you have to sort of look at it is, um, Now take, uh, take aside the fact that we all hate the Sean Watson, right?

22:03 Marc He's a jerk off. Right. Right.

22:06 Chris But if you're just, if you're going just based off talent and you had to pick a roster, I would pick Cleveland's roster over the, over the, uh, Steelers. Um, think about it. Okay. Who, who's, who's just exceptional, right? TJ what? Well, you know, miles Garrett's probably like the next best guy in the league, you know, The quarterback, I mean, Deshaun Watson so far in his career is better than Kenny Pickett. The running back, Chubb, is better. Their best receiver, Amari Cooper, is better. You know, their tight end in Joku, it's probably better at this point than Muth. You know, cornerbacks, they've got, what, Denzel Ward, he's better than any cornerback on the Steelers. Minka Fitzpatrick is better than any safety on Cleveland. I mean, I pretty much have gone over it and it's mostly Cleveland. I think that Cleveland honestly doesn't win because they're kind of a mess as an organization. Right. You know what I mean? Right. But as far as just talent on the field, I think they do actually have more talent than the Steelers.

23:21 Marc Yes, I think they do. I, like I said, this worries me. I don't know where, what's going to happen. I don't think that them I don't think they're going to win this game. Honest to God, I have no faith right now in that offense coming together. And you made this point to Steve. You said, do you think Deontay Johnson being out could be a silver lining, a blessing in disguise? I actually do, which is not a good thing. No, it's not a good thing. No, it's not. I'm not sure. I'm really not sure.

24:08 Chris Here's the thing, and I think this is what it comes down to. The reason why you and I don't have any confidence in the Steelers is because they've done nothing to give us confidence. You know, like when you're a Steelers fan, and like Steve is a Steelers fan, right? You know, he's been their fan his entire life, right? So for him, you know, like winning 20 consecutive Monday nights, that means something to him. Whereas you and I are just looking at tonight's game. Who's the better team? You know, they may win and win 21 in a row, but that doesn't really mean anything. It doesn't mean anything right now that the Steelers have been one of the better teams in the NFL for the past 20 some years. you know, it doesn't really matter right now. No, no.

25:02 Marc And I think, I think all too often we get caught up in that. Uh, we, we also here in Pittsburgh get caught up in the whole non losing season thing. Right. Um, and as I've said in the past, the fan base, we, we've been spoiled here. Right. You know, uh, you look at a team like, well, look at a team like Cleveland, you know, the, the, the, they're cursed man. Right. Look at a team like the Commanders, how bad they've been, you know, back when they were the Redskins. 23-91, the last time they won a Super Bowl, and honestly, they haven't played well for 20 years. You know, with the exception of an okay season here and there, maybe I think they have one playoff win. But I mean, that's the NFL. Right.

25:43 Chris Um, and it's, it's hard to put long runs together. It is. And, and the reality is, I mean, what we're looking at right now, I mean, if you, you know, if you think about what Ben Roethlisberger was, you know, Ben Roethlisberger was the 11th pick in the draft, which means he's pretty darn high. Right. Okay. And to be honest, he was only number 11 because there were two other hall of fame quarterback selected before him. You know, in Rivers and Manning, if one or two of them weren't there, he would have been selected in the top five. So that's a huge difference than, you know, a quarterback being selected at like number 20, you know? Now, at the same time, look, we all know, you know, your Tom Brady, you know, he's a, you know, he's a sixth rounder and, you know, Brock Purdy's a seventh rounder and Jalen Hurts and Drew Brees are second rounders. Yeah, there's always going to be people like that, but the reality is most of the guys who are great are usually picked in the top 10. And that's what the Steelers had been dealing with, you know, for the longest time. And when that's gone, right now, it's all about the quarterback. You can win games and be decent and average if you have average quarterback play, but usually you're not getting very far in the playoffs.

27:15 Marc No, no, I agree. I agree. Well, this is definitely going to be the game that I think defines at least the first half of this season. If the Steelers come back out, if Kenny Pickett is sharp, if the line protects him, if they have a game plan, what I would do is I would look to run this ball and establish a line of scrimmage. You got a young offensive line. that we thought was improving. You got Broderick Jones in there. You need to get Darnell Washington into the mix here. You absolutely have to. Just like Steve said last week, between Joey Porter Jr., Darnell Washington, Broderick Jones, George Pickens in his second year. Can he pick it out there? This is the future of your franchise. These are the best players on the team right now. They need to be on the field. They need to be on the field. and getting Darnell Washington into the blocking scheme in the running game. And then good Lord, he can just plant himself in the center of the field and you can throw a ball that's normally a jump ball and he doesn't even have to jump to get it. And oh, by the way, he weighs almost 300 pounds anyway. I mean, why is this guy not in you know, and yeah, we're on the second game, but they got to get him in here I think he has the potential to be a game changer now I'm not talking about Rob Gronkowski All right as a tight end or Travis Kelsey by game changer what I mean is his mere presence on the field and his size and ability to move and to block and to get in the way of Coupled with the fact that he can probably catch the ball and if the guy catches the ball and gets a head of steam On I'm not sure anybody's gonna tackle him. He just changes the landscape Even though he's not a superstar. They have to account for him and That is something that the Canada offense obviously does not do they do not Scheme the way other offensive scheme. It's basically to me. It always looks like there's one option

29:14 Chris Yeah, it's kind of and that's it. That's that's when players on other teams last year were saying it was like a high school offense, right?

29:20 Marc Right. It's there's one option And if and if that option and if that option doesn't look good when you come to the line of scrimmage You're not allowed to change it, right? You know, so what or what do you change it to? Right, you know, so I right so I'm looking for the Steelers to come out and establish a running game and to use the tight ends and to bring those safeties up. And then I want to see George Pickett go long, George Pickens go long. I want to see him go long. I don't want an out pattern that he has to make an OBJ catch. Right. I mean, who the hell cares? Those half of those catches don't count anyway because he's out of bounds.

29:56 Chris Well, the other thing, too, is, you know, if you if you think back to, you know, when Ben Roethlisberger started, right? Yeah. His first year. where they won almost every game. Now, granted, part of that was because they had an excellent team. Good defense, good running game, good receivers. Yeah, but he was the key.

30:17 Marc Well, if they didn't have Roethlisberger, they probably would not have won what they won.

30:21 Chris Yeah, it would have been a, you know, like a 9-7, 8-8 if Tommy Maddox was the quarterback. Maybe, yeah. But here's the thing. What a lot of people forget, people are so used to the fact that Ben Roethlisberger put up all these yards and all these touchdowns over the years, right? The first year or two even that they were with Ben, They would be a grinded out running team. He'd only throw about 20 passes a game and So what you do when you do that is number one you take pressure off of the quarterback Okay, so like let's look at like tonight's game if you if you if you position it like that What do you do right away? If you run the ball you take Myles Garrett out of the game and You run it right at him, right? And he's blowing by, right? Right. You keep Kenny Pickett clean and healthy, right? you, you orchestrate some short passes so that, um, you know, he has the ball out of his hands quickly and you neutralize the pass rush. Right. And then after you're running it, then you do a play action fake and you go up top to pickens. You know, that's what they did with Ben the first two years. A lot. That's true. And that's, and it's also, it's just a good way to keep your quarterback upright and confident because let's face it, no matter what, I mean, look, it's great when guys come back in right after a interception and, you know, and, you know, show that they're not afraid and, you know, they've got good poise and all that kind of stuff, but I don't care who you are. You throw an interception and you're rattled.

32:06 Marc That's exactly right. Especially when you're sitting where Kenny Pickett is sitting. DG says he's a fan and he's nervous too. He recalls the Browns game when they came into Pittsburgh in January 21. Spanked the Steelers in the wildcard with 48 points when Ben and crew had 12 wins that season. Absolutely. It's a division game and you never know what's going to happen. And this team, to me, they are not striking fear into the hearts of the rest of the NFL. And until I see some real progression, I am going to continue to be critical. of the offense and the way it runs. Look, the defense is, you know, hey listen, T.J. Watt is an incredible defensive player. The rest of the defense is mediocre. And it has been for a couple years.

32:57 Chris Minka's good.

32:58 Marc But I do agree. I disagree. I think Minka has moments.

33:03 Chris Yeah, I think he has moments. He's a big play guy, so he makes big plays, but he also does give up some. Yes, yes.

33:10 Marc Minka has moments, but at the same time, if the rest of the defense was a little better, Minka may actually have more of those moments.

33:18 Chris Yeah, I mean like their corners are weak, their linebackers are weak, you know. Now they do have Highsmith. Highsmith is good on the line.

33:27 Marc He's an edge rusher. Right.

33:28 Chris It seems like their line is decent. Their line is good.

33:31 Marc I think Leal is decent, you know. It's really hard. I am predicting a Steelers loss. I hate to say it. I don't know if Steve is listening or watching still, probably not. He's probably seven Iron Cities in, but I think the Steelers are going to lose this game. I think they're actually going to lose this game. I hate to say this, DG, don't hate me for this. Actually, DG might be with me on this. I think they're gonna lose. I think that I think the Browns are gonna score a lot III think they're gonna lose this game 35 to 17. Really? Yeah, I think it's gonna be a bad bad loss. Yeah, I feel bad about this game That's why and I feel bad saying this.

34:12 Chris Yeah, I mean to me that the whole problem is is like I don't even know what to think and I mean, I don't like there's been nothing that's established with this team to tell you that they're going to be able to perform one way or another. I mean, I feel I feel like the team has been like basically 500 for three years. It has, you know, so it's like that to me. That means win one, lose one, win one, lose one. I don't know what this one's going to be. Right, right.

34:41 Marc Well, in that in that pattern, it should be win one. It should be.

34:45 Chris So why don't you pick them to win, Schwab? It should be, but I don't know. Yeah. You know what I mean? That's the thing. I mean, like, like, you just have no idea. Like, you know, you could have, like, a Kenny Pickett coming out party tonight, and that would be awesome. It would be. You know, or you could have a, at the end of the night, we're like, yeah, Kenny Pickett's not the answer.

35:05 Marc That, and that's where I'm afraid we're headed.

35:07 Chris It's such a swing. Yes. It's such a swing. Yes. You know what I mean? Like, we have no idea. And if you think about it, like, I guess, I guess sort of more on a negative end of things is that, you know, it's year two game two. And the fact that we don't know that he's the guy is kind of a problem.

35:29 Marc That's that's exactly right. You know, that's, you know, that's where this organization is headed right now. Right. And I am afraid that, you know, in today's NFL, You really don't need a great big sample size to see if the quarterback that you want is going to be the quarterback of the future. Think about it. You know, Joe Burrow, he got injured early in his first year. but in his second year pretty much good from the beginning by game three you knew he was the man right same thing with my homes right now i'm not saying everybody's going to get him homes but let's take an older guy let's take kirk cousins okay back in back in the beginning of his career when i was still a redskins fan pretty much when he came in he was good i was watching rg3 get injured and every time he got injured cousins would come in and win the game And all I could think about at that point was, this is the guy that's going to be the quarterback. You can just tell. And I can't say that with Pickett. I could say that with Pickett at the end of his college season, but that's a whole other ballgame. Okay. Listen, we're going to make this show a little short tonight because the game I think starts at eight 15. So we're going to get onto our NFL predictions right now. Steve dialed his predictions in already. So last week, last week, Minnesota at Philly, Steve had Minnesota, Mark and Chris had the Eagles. Steve had Miami over the pats. Mark and Chris had the pats. Uh, and, uh, Indy at Houston, uh, the barn burner, uh, me and Steve took Indy and Mark took Houston. So on the season right now, Steve and Chris, we are two and one. Mark is one and two. We're going to pick the games this week.

37:19 Chris Really sad moment. I don't think I've spent one day out of first place in our in our history with this.

37:28 Marc Okay, well, we don't have any stat records to back that up, so you can, you know. I'm pretty sure it's true. Yeah, okay.

37:34 Chris I think I led from beginning to end last year. Yeah, it's possible.

37:38 Marc Yeah. I don't know. It did happen. Okay, well, you're proud of yourself. Okay, so this week, Thursday night's game, Giants at the 49ers. Steve has the Niners. Schwaber?

37:48 Chris That's pretty damn easy, the Niners.

37:52 Marc I'm going to take the Giants. Oh no. Yep. You gotta be kidding. I'm taking the Giants cause I'm always trying to one up you guys are. Yep. Do I think the Giants are going to win? I have to, because. I picked them Sunday night Steelers again at the, why are they playing so much prime time? Well, it's because it's the Pittsburgh Steelers. Who doesn't love the Steelers? Exactly. Steelers at the Raiders. Steve has, uh, did he pick the Raiders? Yeah, he did. He picked the Raiders.

38:21 Chris Yeah. I'm, uh, I'm going to go with the Raiders as well.

38:25 Marc Yeah. Uh, and, um, Jimmy G. I know. All he does is win. I know. I'm going with the Raiders, too. Dang nabbit. All right. The 0-2 bowl. Chargers-Vikings, our two fantasy quarterbacks. Yes.

38:41 Chris We've got a problem. No, we don't, actually. Because losing in fantasy is good, because then you get to throw for 350 yards every second half.

38:50 Marc So who's throwing for 350 yards and losing this game? Chargers or Vikings?

38:54 Chris I think they're both throwing for 350 yards.

38:57 Marc You're probably right. Steve has the Vikings.

38:59 Chris I'm going to go Chargers in this one. I just believe that the Chargers are a better team than an 0-3 team.

39:06 Marc Yeah, and I'm going with the Vikings because it's a must-win and Cousins, he's got something to prove. I think this is the last year of his contract. You like that? I do like that. I do like that. You like that. You like that. Alrighty. Okay. So, um, Hey, listen guys, I'm to say sayonara. I think it's time to wrap it up because it is time for the Steelers and the Browns on Monday night. Let's get ready to rumble. Steelers. All right. I want to thank you for watching the sports porch, Pittsburgh on the end. Where are we? Oh, yeah. We're live on social media, on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube X, which is Twitter coming right from our studios in Monroeville Bunker. And we drop the podcast right after the show on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast, Spotify or

40:01 Chris anywhere you get your friggin pirate pirate there he is there he is mighty and you can always catch us live on the porch is live.com the porch is live.com the porch is live.com there you go and radio pgh what a horrible ending to a great show that was pretty good i thought i actually surprised myself i know pretty good with a uh

40:26 Marc with a little pirate pirate's accent and we will catch you possibly if Steve is still upright at halftime.