The Porch is LIVE in Pittsburgh - The Steeler's O takes off!

Chris: The shoe. And there you have it the show is off to a roaring start this is the sports porch Pittsburgh you are watching us and currently live on Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube X, all over the world. And you can also listen live on our sister radio station. It's called radio PGH. And I'm going to put that link right there in the comments for you should be popping up radio pgh.com. Listen live. If you don't want to watch in the car and yes, we're going to drop the podcast right after the show on the Apple podcast, Spotify, or anywhere you get your frigging podcasts. And you can find us online at theporcheslive.com. Theporcheslive.com. Theporcheslive.com. You got it. You got it. Now, listen, guys, we do have one line open, as always. Schwaber likes to remind us. You can call us at 4-1-8-0-5-7-2-3-6 if you're watching. If you're listening to the podcast, sorry about that. Maybe listen and watch the live show and you can get in. But man, listen here. Let's jump right in. Canada is gone. We already knew that. Steelers Nation rejoices. We already knew that. I actually meant to change this and I didn't hit the save button. What I'm going to put up here right now is 420 yards, only 16 points. What changed what changed So i'm gonna let you guys take the lead on this. Um, of course this was all over, you know, talk radio today It was all over all of the nfl stuff on, you know, the nfl network on espn like All of a sudden for the first time in 58 games the pittsburgh steelers finally put up over 400 yards of offense Canada's gone faulkner's is scheming. He's doing the game plan sullivan's calling the plays They were throwing over the middle to fryer mooth. They were taking shots downfield the running game looked good You know, but god They put up 16 points So do we see anything wrong with this picture Go ahead, Schwab. He always wants to go last. He always wants to.
Marc: Sure, sure. Well, I mean, OK, let's go with the positives first. The positives are they looked a lot better offensively than they've looked in a long time, probably prior to Matt Canada. being with the team. Although in fairness, they did have a game a couple weeks back where they scored like on their first three possessions. So in fairness, but the key was, is that they weren't afraid to throw the ball down the middle of the field. They did a great job getting Friar Mooth involved in the offense. And he went over a hundred yards, I think had nine catches. So that was big. They utilized all their playmakers on offense very well. Pickens, you know, did some damage on his end, even though he didn't get, you know, a lot of yards or a touchdown, he made important catches. Uh, I would say that, you know, obviously Deontay Johnson's probably a sidebar chat for later in the program. Um, he's always fun. Um, but you know, I mean, look, so the first part of it is look, no matter who you're playing now, look, did they play a bad team yesterday? Yes, they did. They played a bad team. They played a bad. Uh, defense and a bad offense. Um, but. I'm sure that somewhere in those 44 games of which they did not have 400 yards of offense prior, they probably played some pretty bad teams, too. So, you know, you play who you play. And so it was a positive sign. You know, to me, it made it seem like Can he pick it? You know, look, I'm not ready to say that he's going to be really good or anything, and he still only has six touchdowns, I think, in 11 games. But he looked more serviceable yesterday than he did really at any other point in the season, I'd say. Those were the positives. I think just the only negatives were just not putting up more points. And the fact that it wasn't really against great competition. But overall, I mean, I think you have to be pleased with, with the win. And it's, it's nothing new. They're winning these close games against teams that they are better than.

Chris: I think that overall it, it, it was definitely like a weight was lifted. The, the cloud of Matt Canada and that situation, um, definitely affected the morale on the field and the offense and the way it played. I think that it, it was also an indictment as to his, as if we needed another indictment as to his play calling ability. Because what I saw yesterday was I saw an offense that looked Structurally, very similar to the Matt Canada offense. And we all knew it's, it's not like they were going to institute a new playbook, but what they did do and DG is in the house. What's up DG. He said, you know, we've been talking about this the whole time, hitting Friar Muth up the seam. Who could have thunk it now? Yeah. Friar Muth has been out for a couple of weeks, but they weren't doing that before. And I think what we saw is they kind of took the reins off of Kenny and they said, okay, listen, You know, we're gonna call some plays. We're gonna work with you on on how to locate your receivers We're gonna work with you on timing. The offensive line is definitely playing better And we're gonna throw the ball downfield and I'll tell you if you throw that if they can throw the ball downfield and here's the kicker and score then this team is a much more, it's a much more dangerous team. So I'm with you, Steve, and you can go next after this sentence. I'm with you on the thought process that at seven and four, given what I saw yesterday, that there is a chance that this team could be a lot better than they've looked overall. The problem is, for me, is that I think over the last two years, you know, the Trubisky picket debacle into this year, I actually think that these guys don't know how to score touchdowns. And what I mean by that is, of course, they're professional football players. They know what they're supposed to do is score a touchdown. But I think the play calling and the offensive scheming has been so dink and dunk and conservative That they've never really gone for the score they've never gone for the jugular they've never gone into a series. a possession with the intent of scoring. I think we went into possessions with the intent of not making mistakes. So that's the bad thing I saw about this game against Cincinnati. In my opinion, you break out for 420 yards, you're putting up more than one touchdown on offense. You have to do that. Now, I'm willing to say that this was the game where they kind of exhaled. And it was a good game to exhale because you knew that the Bengals quarterback was going to amount to nothing. Thank God. They didn't lose that game because that would be a classic Steelers loss, but they didn't. They won. So I see some good things, but the jury is now the jury is back to instead of saying, you know, pick, it's got to go. Canada's got to go. I was going to say the jury for me is back to all right, now we're going to get a reboot. So the next game, The next game, Cardinals, Cardinals. Yep. One o'clock here. You know, got to score points. One comment before you go, Steve, Marvin Hamilton chimes in. Thanks for being here, Marvin. There's a lot of QBs coming out this year. If Kenny Pickett doesn't get better, he's gone and they will draft someone new. I doubt that. Um, he says they're going to destroy the Cardinals. Let's hope you're right about that. So take it away. Hockey Jesus. Tell us how you feel.

SPEAKER_03: Well, Marvin, you might want to close your ears for this one. Cause you're not going to like what I'm about to say. The, the, the great thing about the Pittsburgh Steelers offense is they can find a way to score enough points just to beat the team they're playing against. Right? So when they play against teams like the Cardinals and the Patriots who are coming up the next two games, guess what? It's going to be the same old shit and it'll drive Steelers fans crazy. Why can't we score 24 points? Why can't we score 35 points against these shitty teams? Well, guess what? They're not geared to do that. That's not who the Steelers are. That's not their identity. I know I've been pushing this for a few weeks now because I figured it out about week four. And where the Steelers are only going to do what is necessary to win the game. They're not going to look at stats. They're not going to run up the score. They're not going to try and step on the gas pedal to go up 21 nothing. They just want to meander through the game and whatever way the game's playing out so that they have a chance to win the game in the fourth quarter, whether that's through a defensive stand or an offensive touchdown or field goal, that's who these Steelers are. And I know that's going to upset some people, but that's really their identity when it comes down to it. The difference between this team and the team that played last week is, you're right, Matt Canada is gone. So they are utilizing the center part of the field. They had their best first down yardage. Uh, it was something like a six or seven yards on first down in like three years. So they're trying to get that first down yardage so that it's big enough so that they can do different things. And here's what I'll have to say about 400 yards and scoring 16 points. You're absolutely right, Chris. That's. That does seem like an abomination, but they have finally been doing some things, which I like to see. They've got Washington out there now blocking. He was the lead blocker on that nausea touchdown, right? Yes. What, what they're going to do is they're going to be setting that up for a play action pass where they're going to be thrown at the ball, the Washington now, or maybe fire move, or maybe it'll be Deontay on the outside or, or Pickens on a fade route. But these stealers are so slow at getting these things together. It's, it's sickening. It really is sickening, but I totally have faith that this team has now that Canada is gone, has, like you said, excelled a little bit and now is ready to take on the garbage, which is the next two games. And I think that was probably by design because you look at that Cincinnati team, clearly that Cincinnati team is garbage without Joe Burrow.

Steve: I mean,

SPEAKER_03: I mean, the other thing you have to look at, too, is they're getting Minka back, right? That's a really positive thing. And on top of that, Joey Porter Jr. actually looks like he might be a shut down cornerback. I know that, you know, Jamar Chase was had a jabroni thrown in the ball. But four catches for 80 yards and two of those were off a dinks or dunks or deflections that could have easily gone as a interception and it did go for 40 yards either way. I, I think, I think they got something good going on with Joey Porter. Is he the shutdown corner in the NFL? Absolutely not, but he doesn't have to be because they don't play against great wide receivers until they make it to the playoffs.

Chris: Yeah, I, the jury's out on Joey Porter, but he's not looking too bad.

SPEAKER_03: Look, I mean, before the Steelers were always, if you didn't get to the quarterback, the defensive backs were toast. They would get toasted. It's not that way anymore. I mean, TJ's, I think maybe third or fourth in the league in sacks, right? So he's not even, he's not even up there.

Chris: I think he's actually second now, but, but.

SPEAKER_03: Either way, he's not the dominant – he's not the dominant guy he was the last couple years. And yes, he still wreaks havoc in his position. Don't get me wrong. He's still a changemaker. But he's not somebody you have to rely on week after week. And yes, Marvin, I do think they will stick with Kenny Pickett. No matter what happens, the Steelers are stuck with Kenny Pickett for the next two years.

Marc: So I did a little research here, and I want to get your opinion on this, Steve.

Chris: Hold on. Let me get these comments in real quick. Marvin says 28 to seven Steelers. Mike Lawrence wonder why Tom didn't challenge the no touchdown. Yeah, that was dumb. He gave a dumb excuse for it at his press conference, by the way.

Marc: You know what? Can I make a mention about that? No touchdown. Yeah. Yeah. Here's the thing, guys. I swear to God, like I know on the I know on the call on the game. that, you know, the rules guy is saying you get a third, you get a third foot down and you don't have to survive the ground. Is it just me or is that the first time I've ever heard that? Like you always have to survive the ground. I totally, I totally understand why Mike Tomlin thought there was no shot. Well, I didn't get it at all. Like I've never heard. I've never heard. You get a third thing down, you don't survive the ground.

Chris: Basically what what thomas said in his news conference was that he didn't really see that replay So he he wasn't sure but I honestly don't that's his own damn fault I know but I I don't even think I don't think it was a touchdown anyway To be honest with you, I, I don't think there was enough to overturn it. I think that that official was wrong. I think it was the right call, not challenging it because you didn't at that point in the game, you didn't want to lose a challenge. Marvin also says, do you think they will really stick with Kenny Pickett if he continues to miss receivers this year? Definitely. Uh, DG Steelers don't want to be the team that scores 30 points game. They want to be a run first, excuse me, ball control offense. Yeah, you know what, DG, we've talked about this all year. And so Steve, yes, they do want to be that. But I guess the point I'm making is that if you're putting up 400 yards, You're scoring and you're an average offense. You're scoring more than one touchdown and three field goals. It's just going to be natural. So all right, Schwaber, what are those?

SPEAKER_03: Hey, Mark, by the way, I did look that up. It is true. It is true. A third step, two feet down in another body part. And oh, by the way, I'm sure Steeler fans will remember this. The reason that got put in was because of that Patriots game. where, you know, Gentry scored a touchdown and they called it back because they said he fumbled it as he went over the goal line, which was ridiculous.

Marc: So if anyway, sorry, I just if so, if you do get a third body part down, you don't have to you don't have to survive the round.

SPEAKER_03: If you get if you get a third foot, if you get if you get a third foot in or if you like get another if your butt's down, you're down.

Steve: Yeah.

SPEAKER_03: Then you're two feet, two, two feet and an ass or three feet. Well, I've learned something.

Marc: Yeah. All right. So I was looking this up because, you know, here's the thing, like, you know, I've still been scratching my head all all year about are the Steelers a good defense or are they not a good defense? And well, one thing for sure, they're number one in turnovers. So that does mark a category off of being a good defense. Now, you know, you've also got the bend, don't break where they give up a ton of yards. And, you know, that's one of those things where you wonder, you know, are they going to be able to sustain the turnovers, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. So I decided to look a little bit

Chris: 25th and yards allowed.

Marc: That's what, uh, so I decided, I decided to look a little deeper into it and I think I've actually found the issue. Hey, Kyle.

Chris: Kyle's in the house. What's up, Kyle? Go ahead, Schwab.

Marc: What's the issue? The issue is, and it's just really quite simple, is that the defense has been able to get away with bend, don't break and making turnovers because the quarterback play they've played against has been really, really bad. And what I looked at was I looked at, you know, at least for me, I mean, other people might have different opinions. I think the probably the best statistic to determine a good quarterback play is like what your QBR is. And so in their three losses. Well, they have four losses total. You know, the DTR loss is just a bad loss, so just throw that one out, OK? But in their three other losses, They lost the top 10 quarterbacks. So it was Purdy, number one QBR, Stroud, number eight QBR, Lawrence, number nine QBR. The best QBR they've beaten is Lamar Jackson, who's number 12. And then it's Stafford, number 15, Love, number 19, Watson, number 24. You had three guys who aren't ranked either because they haven't played enough games or it was like their first start, okay? So it was like Browning, Levis, and Garoppolo. But here's the good news. The good news on this is that. In the remaining six games, the best quarterback they will play will be Lamar Jackson, Lamar, which is which is number 12 now. Now, this, I think, is maybe an anomaly, but somehow Gardner Minshew was number 13 on the list. OK. But, uh, you know, Mack Jones was number 28 and then they're going to go Browning. Mary Mary's not ranked because he doesn't have enough games. And then DTR Walker or Flacco who are also unranked. So the good news is schedule lines up nicely for them to continue to be able to sustain this kind of defensive effort. Bad news I think is, is when you get to the first playoff game, you're probably going to play. a top 12 quarterback. And that's where I think they can run into trouble. Because I think those quarterbacks are going to score touchdowns. Whereas, you know, the ones that are further back just don't, you know, because either because a Steelers defense that's pretty good is better, or they just aren't good enough quarterbacks to really get you over the goal line.

Chris: All right, let's get some comments. And DG says 400 yards would have been more points with Deontay Smith's touchdown and Warren hadn't fumbled. They were able to move the ball. That's a good point. They probably should have scored. They would have scored more. Kyle, let's go black and gold. Marvin Hamilton, do you think they will bring in Byron Leftwich? Anne-Marie, they should have had points.

SPEAKER_03: They'll look at him at the end of the season, Marvin. I think they'll probably, I think they'll definitely give him a look. He fits the bill for who the Steelers hire. People who are once Steelers, people who have already had experience and have won Super Bowls doing it, and three is they like it.

Chris: Yeah. I think the jury, and you hear it all over talk radio, all over the internet, everywhere. Um, you know what happens if their offense really takes off and like It's 350 plus yards a game and they start scoring points and they win a game in the playoffs You know, does that mean faulkner is the oc? Uh, that's entirely possible.

SPEAKER_03: Oh, yeah, if they win the super bowl with them, they're not going to go out I'm talking about like

Chris: What if he does remarkably better than you know what if it looks like the and can he is gonna have some say in this to be super comfortable with sully and and falconer. You know why do you wanna mess up his mess up his jam if that's what if they're doing well.

SPEAKER_03: Nah, I don't think Kenny will have a say, so he's just too young. He doesn't know what he needs to be honest with you.

Chris: Yeah, you could be right, but I think the real takeaway from this is that there's no way that we're going to know exactly what they do. We know what they've done based on history, so we can make a pretty good assumption on that.

Marc: So nobody has a comment on all that research on QBR that I did? No, I do.

SPEAKER_03: I think it's actually spot on because- I think you wasted your time. Shut off shut off your own mic while you're at it. All right, i'm doing There, that's much better. No, actually, I think you're right. I think the way to beat the Steelers defense is with a smart quarterback. And that doesn't necessarily mean throwing the ball all the time, but taking what's given to you and being able to get the ball into the end zone. And see, that's what the 49ers did against the Steelers in week one. And I know week one was a long time ago, but I think that's a really good recipe for beating the Steelers. One, you got to be able to run the ball on us. Two, you have to be able to take what's given. And three, you have to score when you get down into the 20 because you're going to get down in the 20 like three or four times on this defense because that's exactly how they play. So unless the defense can get a takeaway, whether it's a scoop and score or just an interception or just a fumble to save themselves, then they get in trouble because this offense doesn't know how to play from behind. They just can't do it. I mean, they're just not capable of doing it. So that's how you beat the Steelers. You go up by 14-0, you go up by 17-3, and you just basically run the ball from that point on because the Steelers' defense will get tired and they won't be able to make those big splash plays that have kept them in games all the time. And I wouldn't discount them losing one of these next two games just because of the way their defense played. And unless their defense can somehow make Kyler Murray you know, fumble the ball two or three times, which is possible. The guy is pretty turnover happy. Um, he will, he will definitely get some splash plays against the Steelers. Unless of course my theory about Joey Porter Jr is correct. And, um, they do now have a shutdown corner who they can put on, the guy who turns out being the guy. And I think that's Rondell Moore for them, but they have a couple guys who can catch the ball. And let's face it, James Connors is going to come in with a chip on his shoulder. He's going to want to run over some Steelers.

Chris: He's a turnover machine too.

Marc: he is. That's your, your four division leaders at this point, you got Baltimore, Kansas city, Jacksonville, Miami. Would you say those four teams are in barring something crazy like an injury, major injury? Most likely, most likely, right? Yeah. Yeah, yeah, I would say that. OK, so now what you got is you got the fifth seed and the sixth seed. Pittsburgh and Cleveland are seven and four. You've got Indy and Houston and Denver are six and five. And you've got Buffalo is six and six. So I'd say it's three teams. Three teams are going to make it out of those six playoff contenders. And what I, what I looked at was win percentage, actually Denver of all teams, believe it or not, has the easiest win percentage left, which is, which is 43.3, you know, opponents win percentage, right? Steelers are second at 44. Cleveland and Houston tied for third, 47% Indianapolis, 47.8% and Buffalo with a really hard schedule, 54.5%. Yeah. So the question is, you know, with, with all these teams separate now, you know, two in the loss column and stuff like that, but just in terms of wins, these six teams are all separated by one game. Do you think I think this is, this is my feeling. You could get in with 10 wins. I think you get in with 11 wins, no matter what. I think that's a pretty safe bet. Um, so basically the Steelers would have to go four and two to finish, uh, 11 and six. Okay. So with that being said, Do you think that the next two games against the two in Cardinals and the two win, um, who was the other one? They're playing Patriots, the Patriots. Do you think that those in a sense are almost like must wins?

Chris: Yes. Um, I think both the Cardinals and Patriots are must wins. If you're looking at the playoffs here, the culture, the culture playing well, Doesn't matter what you think about their quarterback their coach or anything like that. They're playing well And they're playing in indianapolis Now the bangles are coming back into town Um, who knows what kind of team's going to show up there? But once again, it's an afc north matchup Hey We played against browning and we had to win 16 to 10. Okay, um, then you got the seahawks we're going on the west coast and you finish up with the ravens and Which if the ravens collapse That could be a game for the division But it's not going to happen. So yes, I I do think the cardinals and the patriots the next two games Um, they are must wins now marvin hamilton. I almost said marvin harrison marvin harrison Uh hall of fame receiver, uh says cleveland will drop out. I think we all agree there mike lawrence.

SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I agree with you marvin

Chris: Is it time for this? Deontay first reception, he runs backwards. That was classic. He knew where he was on the team. Then he stands with his thumb up his ass on the Warren fumble. Will the Steelers bench or find him? They're not going to do either. That's, that's what I, that's what I gather.

Marc: But anyway, let's, let's get back to Deontay in a minute, but I definitely think, look, I think, you know, you've got new England, Arizona, Cincinnati. I think you should win those games that gets you to 10 wins. And then you just have to win one game out of Colts, Seahawks, Ravens and Seahawks. And I think Colts and Seahawks are certainly there for the taking. Right. You could even argue Baltimore, you know, because it's a division game. They always play close. Lamar doesn't play well, but that's the last game anyway. You know, so well, and I think they might.

Chris: That might be a soft game too.

Marc: I think if you win four of those five, putting aside the Baltimore game, I think you're in, no doubt about it. I think even if you win three of six, you might get it. Because I do think that Cleveland is going to fall apart. Oh yeah. They've got no quarterback now, although there was good news on miles Garrett that he didn't actually injure himself. He said he heard a pop, said everybody thought he was going to be done for the year, but apparently he was fine today with his, his results. Um, and you know, I mean, look, Buffalo's got too hard to schedule probably. Um, you know, Denver, I mean, I mean, what, they won five in a row. Are they, are they going to keep that up? I don't know. I actually like Houston to make it. I, if I had to choose the three teams that are going to make it, assuming, let's say I I'm going to say Baltimore wins the division, although it could, it could be close. Uh, I'm going to say I like Houston, Indianapolis and Pittsburgh to, to make the playoffs out of those six.

Chris: I'm just going to go with what you said.

SPEAKER_03: I don't know. I'm torn because I don't feel comfortable with the Cardinals and the Patriots. But likewise, I don't think they're going to do terrible at the Colts and at the Seahawks. And they got the Bengals at home. So I don't look at these two games as must wins because the rest of their schedule is so crappy. You know, I think if if the Steelers actually got really good all of a sudden and scored 24 points, I think they could run. I think they could run this run the season. And I've never said that before, by the way. But if somehow this offense can score 24 points, they could easily beat all of those teams because those teams aren't maybe the Colts might score more than 24 points. But the Cardinals aren't going to. The Patriots aren't going to. The Bengals aren't going to. at home. Seahawks might score that at home against the Steelers, maybe. But if the Steelers are on a four, what's that a five game win streak going into there? I mean, they could just they in the Seahawks have really been kind of decimated with injuries. They can make a run at it, honestly. I mean, I know, I know, I know that that sounds crazy and it sounds like a Steeler fan, but the teams they're playing aren't very good. They're not good at all.

Marc: The schedule is in their favor for sure.

Chris: And Schwaber, you don't have to keep your door closed anymore. Amy knows what you do with your time now.

Marc: Let's let's. But it's interesting, though, because, you know, here's the thing now. See, I was listening to this on the fan and I thought it was a little crazy, but I can understand how you can make a point that it's not totally absurd. But they were talking, you know, this morning that like, you know, Steelers are only one game out of the win column or no, no one game out of the loss column. Right. Yeah. In terms of actually being the number one seed. Yep. Um, and I think that's kind of crazy because I look at this team and I just think, how can a team that like barely beats all these bad teams, how could they possibly be a one seed or how could they possibly be Baltimore to win the division? But it's not completely, you know, it's not completely absurd. Just with the fact that the way the schedule plays, right.

Chris: And the NFL is all about the dubs. Doesn't matter how you get there, just win baby. And that's the truth. So, you know, I, I think that goes to Steve's point about being all in on the Steelers right now, because, you know, um, an ugly super bowl win is still a super bowl win. Uh, and it's really easy to look at the team and break it down the way we do constantly and say that they don't match up this way and they don't match up that way. And this player is better than that player. And this coach is better than that coach. And all of that is true, but the bottom line is it is the NFL and any team at any time has it's been demonstrated. Over, uh, time and time again, any team on any given Sunday or now Monday or Thursday or Friday, or soon to be Saturday, most likely Tuesdays as well. Um, I'm looking forward to the days where I don't have to wait a day to watch football. Cause you know, it's common boys. Um, but so it's not out of the question. It's just, it's not out of the question. Wins are, that's how you get, that's how you get to the promise lane. You win. So can this team win? The answer is yes. That is and has been the perplexing situation that we as Steelers fans and Steelers Nation has been in for the last couple of years. Because in spite of the fact that when you watch the product they put on the field, as far as offense goes, it looks like dirt, somehow they managed to get a winning record. And so how do you not root for that? You don't. You have to root for it. um canada being gone uh definitely a good thing now for me personally now I want to see a little bit more scoring because the way I feel is yeah dubs matter they matter no doubt that's that's all that matters is that you have one more point than the other guy that's it but you're not going to be able to sustain a 16 point average and win through the rest of this season. That is just highly improbable. So they're going to have to take that offense and the confidence that they gained, and they're going to have to start putting up two touchdowns in a game, you know, maybe a couple field goals, get a turnover, you know, get me to 21 points a game. And I'm feeling much better about your prospects going into, first of all, possibly the playoffs this year, and second of all, next year with Kenny Pickett. Because to answer everybody's question, and we get this question every week, yes, Kenny Pickett is the guy until the Steelers decide he's not the guy. I don't think there's any question about that right now. So I don't think that, um, we need to even think about another quarterback, uh, until the end of next year. And he's a total bust. Um, Marvin says, who do you got? And then we're going to go to the Deontay question. Cause we got to get to our picks here. Uh, Marvin says, who do you guys like as a starter, Warren or Harris? I want to take this one, Steve, because I agree with Steve, you know, my answer it's yes. I know your answer. Both of them. Um, I agree with Steve from this standpoint I think warren is clearly the better more talented back he can make more things happen he's always you know he's always in the hunt for more yardage he can create something out of nothing. Najee is the guy who demonstrated yesterday with that great run when he had like seven defenders hanging on him and he ran through like it looked like a tunnel. He's a great change of pace guy. He's a great guy whose legs never stop moving. He did rush for 99 yards yesterday. I like the one-two punch now and that all falls around a couple things. First of all, the line is playing Much much better now that Broderick Jones is in there and they're using Washington as a blocking tight end I'd like to see him be a receiver a little bit more Because he's huge. He's just huge. You can't bring him down. He's gonna catch the ball But I like the one-two punch I like them featuring Warren But he is not a three down back. He's just too small. He's just too small. You know, he's he's not going to be able to take the beating that Najee can. So that's my answer to that. I think you guys agree with me if you don't, you know, chime in. But if you do, I'm going to move on to Deontay. Deontay Johnson, I think, is a punk. Um, he's, he's a punk. Okay. He's a punk. Um, now he may, I don't know him personally, so I could be totally wrong about this guy, but I, I, I just don't like his attitude, but what are they going to do to him? Nothing. They're not going to do anything. Okay.

Marc: He said he's, he's got talent, but he is just a losing player.

Chris: Yeah. Well, yeah. And he claims he claims he didn't see the fumble. And when you watch the replay, I I wonder how he didn't see it because he was looking right at it But he was looking in the direction, but the ball was on the ground So maybe he didn't see it plus yet a couple other feelers guys broderick jones was standing there. He wasn't doing anything I think it was one of those bang bang plays where it was kind of like everything happened and before you knew it you were standing there So I I I don't necessarily agree with all of the uh vitriol across the internet and on on twitter, uh about that But but what I don't like is when I hear that he that that it's one thing to be vocal and passionate It's another thing when sources are saying that that you actually become confrontational um and and He still runs the wrong way You know what the thing is with deontay

Marc: Here's the thing with Deontay that sums it up. It's always him.

SPEAKER_03: Yeah. Yes. Yeah. He's not a team player. He's a good talent. He would he would he would do better if he had a Belichick type boss who said, just get out there and play the damn game and shut up or you're going to get benched. But Tomlin will never do that with him. So this is what happens in a Tomlin system where Tomlin lets players be who they are. Right. Fortunately, he's a victim of Mike Tomlin's coaching. That's really what it comes down to it. How many times have we seen it since A.B.? Maybe even before that, but certainly A.B. is the poster child.

Chris: Well, he let Juju get away with it. And that was horrible.

SPEAKER_03: I mean, it's just that's his coaching style. He lets players be players. And it's hard to get to be a team when you let players do that. At some point, you have to say, hey, reel it in. But like your team now this week you're getting three catches and that's it. Next week you might, we might need you to catch eight. So get ready for the game where you have to catch eight.

Chris: Okay. So, uh, in our predictions and our, our beginning of the year predictions, we all took, uh, the Steelers to win to beat Arizona. So we'll just stick with that. Um, we're going to move on to our picks now, um, our picks for this week's game. Uh, last week, Mark and Steve were three and oh, so Mark is now 24 and nine. Steve is 19 and 14. And I, um, I was two and one, but I still lost ground 13 and 20. Uh, it's going to take a miracle for me to come back 13 and 200.

Marc: Yeah, that's true.

Chris: It's whatever, whatever it was last week. Uh, okay. This week's game Thursday night, Seahawks and Cowboys Schwab or who you got?

Marc: I'll take the Cowboys. It looks like the Seahawks are, uh, losing some flap of their wings.

Chris: Yeah. And the Cowboys are playing at home. So I'm just going to chime in and say, I'm taking the Cowboys.

SPEAKER_03: Make it three boys. Make it three. Okay. By the way, the Steelers play next Thursday night, so we'll have to pick another game.

Chris: Uh, oh, you meet in the following Thursday. Okay. Uh, Sunday night's game chiefs at the Packers.

Marc: I think the chiefs will handle the Packers.

SPEAKER_03: Well, I'll tell you what though Jordan love he looks good Do the chiefs play a man-to-man defense? I guess he's he's like he's like the whisperer of touchdown passes when he plays against man-to-man defense Yeah, like he's got the best QBR against against man-to-man defenses. I I still got to go with the cheese I think that's gonna be an ugly game. It's not gonna be Yeah, I'm going with the Chiefs new

Chris: All right, in our pick'em game, this is actually a good game now that the Broncos and the Texans are back in the playoff hunt. Broncos or Texans?

Marc: I will go Houston Texans. I believe in C.J. Stroud.

SPEAKER_03: That's a tough call. I really want to go with C.J. Stroud, too, but I think that doink off the field goal that went short, I think that's a heart crusher. I think they really thought they were going to have a chance at the division. Now they don't.

Marc: I'm going to go with it. They cut him today, by the way. The kicker.

Chris: Well, they should have.

SPEAKER_03: Yeah, they should have. I mean, come on. It was a 56 yard field goal or something ridiculous.

Chris: And he don't. He basically made it. It just bounced the wrong way.

SPEAKER_03: Well, and they couldn't get a sink. And I was watching that game. They couldn't get a single yard in three plays. Yeah, it's ridiculous.

Chris: What I did it hard on him. I'd like to submit to the rules committee that if you don't get off the crossbar, not the sides, that it gives you a half point.

SPEAKER_03: That's ridiculous.

Chris: If you see that, that would destroy Vegas.

SPEAKER_03: That may be the dumbest thing you've ever said. It's really up there.

Chris: It's definitely not the dumbest thing I've ever said.

SPEAKER_03: No, I'm telling you, it's that dumb.

Chris: That is really dumb. I'm going with Denver.

SPEAKER_03: I'm going with Denver.

Chris: Steve, I'm going with Denver too, because I like what Russell Wilson is doing there and Sean Payton. Okay. Listen guys, thanks for watching on Facebook, live on LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitter, all over the world. And of course, You can always catch us live on radiopgh.com. If you can't watch this in your car, which I would suggest you not do, I would suggest you listen to radio PGH. Uh, and we do drop the podcast right after the show on the I heart radio app, apple podcast, Spotify, or anywhere you get your podcasts, subscribe, leave a review, catch up with us. Now we're going to move on to something that we just absolutely love. And that's a guy named hockey Jesus. He is. And Hockey Jesus preaches on the Sports Porch podcast on the iHeartRadio app or anywhere you podcast after every single Penguins game. So Hockey Jesus is going to preach right now. You were at the Rangers game. They lost one to nothing. If you have anything to say about the Penguins, we do have a line open 412-805-7236 if you're watching us live. So take it away, Your Highness.

SPEAKER_03: Well, according to everybody, the Pittsburgh Penguins are playing much better than their record says it is. I actually don't think that. I believe that they are exactly who they are, a 10 and 10 team. I mean, they've had, they had a really good streak there on the West Coast where they, you know, had five games in a row where they scored points. But in their last six games, they've only gotten four points, two against Vegas, which was a great win. And then The two against Toronto the other night was probably their best win of the season. And I say that because they only scored three goals. In three goal games where the Penguins scored three goals, they're only two and two. So they actually only have three total wins when they score three goals or less. So they need to win more three goal games. And the way they did that was by getting the goal just before the period ended and actually played a really smart third period, which the game before, when they lost a Buffalo, they had a two nothing lead going into the third and lost three to two. Um, so that's what they have to continue to work at, uh, is getting that third, third period lead going into the third period and holding it. Um, it doesn't sound hard, but for the Pittsburgh Penguins, who just want to skate up and down the ice and like to get caught up in that action. It becomes a problem for them in the third period, especially a team that's as old as these penguins. They just run out of juice and that's it. The thing that's got me completely worried, and I don't even know where to go with this, is their power play. It is God awful. I think it's the worst. I think I think it's the worst in the league. I mean, I don't care what the stats say. I look at it. They don't get any shots. They have no system. They have a hard time getting into the zone. And it is absolutely horrible. It's terrible. They got to either break up some of that talent or they got to do something else or fire the guy who's who's writing the plays for that power play because it's terrible. They got to they got to put guys this moving around bullshit. It's got to end. They say, you go here, you go here, you go here, we go tic-tac-toe, and we try and score. And then if it doesn't work, we get the puck and we try it again. That's what best power plays do. They have a trigger man who shoots it and is really good at shooting it. Unfortunately, I think Geno has been the trigger man on the power play, and his shot isn't what it used to be. He only has one goal in the last six games. Seven games so that's terrible for Gino and actually I was reading our interview on. Uh, shoot, I forget where I was reading it from. Anyway, he, um, he was basically saying, I love this team. I just hate me right now because he's not been playing very well. And I agree with that. I think he does definitely need to pick up his game. One of the things they cited, and I keep forgetting this about, you know, he's such a, he needs his family so much. Like when his family's not around, he'll go into this shell of just being miserable. And you can't get him out of it. So I guess his wife and his kid, Nikita, I think is his son's name. I think they're up for a little bit. But the problem is they live down in Florida. So the good thing is they're actually going to be in Florida next week. So maybe he'll get some sun, get to see his family, and maybe he'll have a hat trick game down in Tampa and maybe kick start something good for that second line. Because between him and him and Riley Smith, they haven't scored much in the past eight games. And I think that's been a cause of concern. Although they've been playing okay, they definitely need those guys to score. The line that's really made the best effort in the last three games has been the fourth line. Noel Achari, he actually has scored two goals in the last four. And his goal against Toronto was one of the best goals I've seen by a fourth line guy, pretty much any guy, honestly, this year. He had the patience to wait until Nieto came across the goalie and he slammed it, roofed it right up in. It was a really nice goal. So if the fourth line can go, that's great. When the fourth line scores, they're 3-0. So fourth line magic, man. There's nothing like it. This week, the Penguins play Nashville on Tuesday. And then on Thursday, they're down. It's a little bit of a road trip. Then they're heading down to Florida and then back up the Philly on Saturday and Monday Philly at home. So it's a home at home against those Philadelphia flyers and the flyers are kind of hanging.

Marc: They're hanging around. They're not. They're not completely falling apart, at least not yet.

SPEAKER_03: No, they haven't. And I told you that I think the Flyers are a sneaky team, especially with Carter Hart, although I see he hasn't been playing too well lately. But I was surprised by how well when I think I watched the Flyers play against the Rangers and I was like, actually, this team isn't terrible. Oh, no, it was against Carolina. They were playing against Carolina and they had either they played really well that time or they're not, they're not a terrible team like, like, uh, San Jose or, or somebody like that, you know? So I think, yeah, I think that, I think it'll be a good, I think it'll be a good test for both teams to play a home and home. Maybe we can get some of that rivalry going. Sidney Grosby gets a hat trick in Philadelphia and they start throwing batteries at him and shit. That'd be great.

Marc: Well, I hope we don't hit him. I don't want anybody to get hurt.

SPEAKER_03: But yeah, that's that's the penguins. I mean, they're exactly where I thought they would be. They got 18 points at the at the quarter mark. Uh, 20 games in, you know, it's an 80 game season, 82 game season. So you can count the next game as the quarter mark. If you want, I count the, I count the 20th and then I'll count the 41st game is the half mark. So I'll get that extra game in, uh, in, in the next, in the next set of 20 games. So, um, it should be interesting. They got a lot of games coming up in the, in the 20 games I was looking at. I was, I was setting my schedule up like I do for everything. I got my notes here. And, um, I was, uh, I was setting up the next 20 games and I was looking at the schedule and it's brutal. It's brutal. The next 20 games, it's, it's a lot more difficult than these first 20 games. So we'll see what happens with the penguins, but I expect them to get the power play together somehow. I don't know how they're going to do it, but when I figure it out, you'll be the first to know. And don't forget to stop by on Tuesday night. It's an eight o'clock game. So probably won't be on the air till about 11 or 1130. So. It's going to be a little bit of a late night for the hockey jesus.

Chris: So say a little prayer for me We always we we always do hockey jesus we always do and we are Spirit in the sky very nice mark. Okay. I'm sitting here like what is going what is it?

SPEAKER_03: It's my entry music, I guess.

Chris: What in the heck is going on? That's great. I love it. I love it. Yeah, so listen, guys, remember that Hockey Jesus Preaches on the podcast after every Penguins game. You can find it, the Sports Porch podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or anywhere you get your regular podcasts. Please subscribe. Please leave a review. We would love that. Hockey Jesus segments are some of our most listened to segments. Lots of our fans love them. And what's not to love about Hockey Jesus? Seriously.

SPEAKER_03: I mean, especially when I'm inebriated at the game. I mean, those had to be fun.

Chris: I could tell when hockey Jesus is actually at the games, he does intermission reports. And as the intermission reports went on, his word selection became more and more limited.

SPEAKER_03: It felt that way. It felt that way. Let's just put it that way.

Chris: All right, one closing statement here. I want everybody to watch Bye Bye Barry, which is the new Barry Sanders documentary. Oh, yeah. Got to watch it. It's excellent. Where is it on? I can't remember. Amazon. I believe it's Amazon. Bye Bye Barry. For those of you who always wondered why Barry Sanders walked away at the height of his career, they actually interview him and he talks about why. He talks about what he did. But the coolest thing about it is.

SPEAKER_03: He doesn't actually tell you, by the way, so don't be surprised.

Chris: He doesn't really tell you.

SPEAKER_03: You'll know why at the end, but he doesn't tell you.

Chris: Yeah, but here's the interesting thing. Mark and I have always had this discussion about Barry Sanders when we talk about the greatest running backs of all time. Um, and for the record, I think he was the greatest running back I ever watched. But Mark's Mark's whole thing and correct me if I'm wrong, but he's always like, yeah, Barry Sanders. Like it was like two yard run, negative one yard run, three yard run, seven yard run, 68 yard touchdown. Not true at all. When you watch this documentary, the, the number of incredible, like incredible runs he had. It is endless. They never show the same highlight twice. It is ridiculous. This guy ran the ball and he was at the top of his career and only about 1500 yards shy of Walter Payton and he hung it up. He hung it up. He would have without question. He would have blasted through that record. So anyway, no emmett smith if uh He had no offensive line, dude. Uh, okay, so we had all those negative runs Yeah, and dg says because he was tired of losing with the lions. So anyway, that's part of it He's a quitter. Yeah, he's a He is definitely not a quitter. Listen, thank you for watching the sports porch live on the internet, live streaming on Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube X, and all over the world. And of course we dropped this podcast right after the show, we dropped the podcast on the I heart radio app, Apple podcast, Spotify, or anywhere you get your frigging podcasts. And you can always review us, give us a review and subscribe to the podcast to catch up. And you can visit us online at the porch is live.com. The porch is live.com. The porch is live.com. Thanks, mike lawrence good show. Thank you. All right guys.

Marc: We'll catch you next week next week And that's it. All right, very nice