00:00:05
Speaker 1: 20-3 was your final score in Foxborough this past Sunday. The Steelers failing their first road test of the season and dropping their record to 1-1 on the year at the hands of the New England Patriots. Labs, there's no real way to sugarcoat what happened in that game against New England. Defense played great as far as the Steelers are concerned. The offense, not so much. In particular, I keep coming back to in the 48 hours since that defeat, the offensive line and their lackluster performance in protecting Aaron Rogers and really allowing anything of flow to be established for the offense.
00:00:40
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:00:42
Speaker 3: You know, and let me just temper your opening a little bit. The defense was good enough to win with. I wouldn't say it was great.
00:00:51
Speaker 1: Too many explosives, huh?
00:00:53
Speaker 3: Well, I mean, first of all, and again, I'm just, you cannot have a guy who, run 39 yards up through the middle of your defense for a touchdown. I mean, it's the NFL. Uh, that's, that to me is, I mean, if that, that touchdown run could have been 89 yards, right?
00:01:16
Speaker 2: Because once you get through there, you know, it's just, right. It's, it's, yeah, it's, unless he, unless he trips and falls.
00:01:24
Speaker 3: Um, so, uh, you know, there was that, uh, and, You know, New England was able to do some other things.
00:01:34
Speaker 2: Okay.
00:01:35
Speaker 3: But so the defense, again, was good enough to win with. Someone said after the game, I forget who it was, I think it might have been Rodgers, when they only give up 13 points, we've got to win that game.
00:01:48
Speaker 2: We've got to win a game, which is absolutely true.
00:01:51
Speaker 3: It was 13 points. The other seven was a defensive touchdown. So, okay, that's out of the way. Yes, the offensive line was.
00:02:00
Speaker 3: I mean, I'm no offensive line expert. I was watching it on TV. It looked awful. It looked awful to me. And I don't think there's anyone who played, you can say, played well on the offensive line. And, you know, whether there are going to be changes or not, I think that that's something for, you know, Mike McCarthy and the coaching staff to figure out. I know we have a question. coming up when we get into the question segment of this podcast here in a couple of minutes about the offensive line. And so I'll get into it a little bit more there. But, you know, I don't know what the answers are. And I don't have Max Starks on speed dial either to tell me what I was watching. Like I was able to do a lot of times at training camp. He was just in the next section of the press box over. So, um, yeah, it's, there's been a lot of investment in the offensive line and so far it is not produced and it is not performing, uh, up to standards or above the line or however you want to describe it.
00:03:15
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:03:16
Speaker 1: A lot of investment, no doubt put into that O line, but not a lot of experience, uh, between those guys, especially playing as a unit. You know, I thought our colleague and your co-host on the network pregame, Mike Prezuda, he, he, looked like Nostradamus when he predicted that the Patriots were going to blitz a lot just because the Falcons didn't. And this is a young, raw offensive line. How are they going to handle blitz? Well, they did not handle it at all. And you know, the Bengals, they're watching that film and probably licking their chops this week. So it's, it's not as if like, you know, you're going to get a break week to week until you can prove to the other teams that you can handle blitz.
00:03:49
Speaker 3: And more props to the people on the pregame part of the show on the, Steelers audio network, Matt Williamson. He's on with you early, but then they bring him back for scouts on a report in the network part of it. And one of the things that he mentioned was he said, one of the things that concerns him a little bit is the strength of the interior, the Patriots defensive line. And those guys were a handful. I mean, I saw Zach Frazier get pushed into the back more than once. So, yeah, there were some areas where the Patriots pressed some advantages that they either determined they had beforehand in the lead-up to the game or figured out as the game was unfolding in terms of how to exploit the, the offensive line, the Steelers offensive line, and they did it and it worked for them.
00:04:59
Speaker 1: Let's get to this week's batch of questions. Try to flush that bad taste in our mouth out after the loss to the new England Patriots. I have to make a quick note though. I've noticed a little bit of a trend as far as the top question is concerned, a changing trend. We usually like to lead things off with a quarterback question or two, but I'm looking at a lot of Joey Porter jr. Related questions lately, labs, the, the, the attention span has been turned to something else in Steelers Nation.
00:05:26
Speaker 3: Yeah, well, nothing attracts attention to Steelers fans, the attention of Steelers fans, than a holdout or whatever you want to call this Joey Porter Jr.
00:05:39
Speaker 2: Situation.
00:05:40
Speaker 3: So, yeah, I noticed that we do start off with a couple of those.
00:05:45
Speaker 1: And that first one comes from Grant Spellerberg from Cutler Bay, Florida. If the Joey Porter Jr. situation persists for an extended period with no deal in sight, how long do the Steelers have to try and work a trade with another team?
00:05:59
Speaker 3: Well, the NFL trading deadline for 2026 is 4 p.m. on Tuesday, November 10th. So between now and then, that's the deadline. And please don't ask me if I think a trade's going to be made because I have no idea.
00:06:16
Speaker 2: I really don't.
00:06:18
Speaker 1: We'll scratch off my next question. All right, Sam Wiley from Middletown, Pennsylvania. We know the Steelers don't negotiate during the season. However, does putting the franchise tag on Joey Porter Jr. fall inside or outside of this policy?
00:06:34
Speaker 3: The period for teams to designate players under the franchise tag or the transition tag comes after the season. The specific dates, the specific date. it's February 17th, 2027. So if it gets to that point, starting February 17th, 2027, the.
00:06:57
Speaker 2: Steelers will make a decision.
00:06:58
Speaker 3: And I believe it's until March 10th is the end of that, of the period. So they have, you know, kind of a month, three weeks, you know, February is a short month, but to figure out what they want to do in terms of tagging, you know, Joey Porter Jr. or any of the other players who might, impending free agents in 2027.
00:07:22
Speaker 1: Bruce Lang from Lake Arrowhead, California. We've invested a lot in our offensive line. Some moves have worked out while others have not. Will we stay with the current lineup to allow them to gel? Or will we see our 2026 No.
00:07:36
Speaker 2: 1 and No.
00:07:37
Speaker 1: 3 draft picks sooner rather than later?
00:07:41
Speaker 3: Sooner rather than later is kind of vague, but hey, for what after But after what happened against New England, as I referenced earlier, I think Sooner has to be a real consideration. Now, on Monday, we're doing this podcast on Tuesday, September 22nd. On Monday, September 21st, the day after the game, Mike McCarthy has his normal weekly news conference. And at that, he said that one of the issues with the offensive line, in his opinion, has been a lack of continuity. he traces that back to training camp when the coaches were trying different combinations and looking to develop as much position flexibility as possible.
00:08:27
Speaker 2: Okay.
00:08:27
Speaker 3: So trying to answer this question, if continuity is part of the problem, does adding more changes after the start of regular season help things or not? Um, but my guess at this point is that it's time to get Maxi Honature into the lineup at right tackle. Um, He was number one pick. He was drafted in the first round to play that position. And the Steelers, frankly, have not been getting above the line play at that position.
00:08:57
Speaker 2: They have just not.
00:08:59
Speaker 3: The other trouble spot I think that maybe you might want to target is right guard. But I'm not in favor of throwing Jennings Dunker in there because then you have two rookies in the lineup together. early in the regular season. And they're not only together in the lineup, but they're next to each other. So to me, that's kind of, you know, throwing up a red flag in front of a bull and saying, here we are, here we are, here we are. So maybe, um, another thing to consider right guard would be Brock Hoffman. He's a veteran played for McCarthy in Dallas. Um, And not that it matters a lot that he's listed number two on the depth chart at right guard, but he is. So maybe that's kind of what the feeling is for him, Hoffman, um, in terms of a position. So, you know, we'll have to see, um, but it's gotta get better. I don't, I don't know. It's gotta get better now. Uh, this is not something, well, we'll fix it in three weeks because, um, that, that, that could be too late.
00:10:15
Speaker 1: I'm with you as far as the strategy is concerned. Uh, Definitely don't want to have two rookies together on that right side of the ball. And furthermore, you know, Jennings Dunker has never really had the same kind of conversation driven about him that Ihanachor had throughout training camp. With Ihanachor, it was a lot of, wow, this guy is blowing everybody away. Looks like he's ahead of schedule. We might be able to start him week one. Ah, then an injury happened and it set his timetable back. Jennings Dunker never really had those kind of moments where everybody was like, wow, he looks NFL ready. To him, this was always kind of more of a polish year. And I think Brock Hoffman allows you the flexibility to do that. There's no urgency when you have a guy like Hoffman in the wings waiting.
00:10:56
Speaker 2: Right.
00:10:56
Speaker 3: And you may need to do both because, you know, maybe Ihan Achor could benefit from having a veteran.
00:11:05
Speaker 2: Next to him.
00:11:07
Speaker 1: Chris Welburn from Glastonbury, Connecticut. Did Mike Tomlin give the game injury recap at the start of each of his post-game news conference as his choice? I did not hear one from Coach Mike McCarthy last Sunday. Obviously, Tomlin's was unofficial, but I suspect many appreciated it. Does it appear we'll need to wait for the official announcements each week?
00:11:28
Speaker 3: Yeah, it was Mike Tomlin's personal choice to give an injury report following every game, and he would do it without being asked. And he even did it after every training camp practice without being asked. He would have a little index card, and he would talk to the trainers beforehand and get some sort of idea. Now, a lot of times, I don't want to misconstrue this, no coaches are really forthcoming with detailed injury reports before they have to give detailed injury reports. So, you know, one of the ways Mike Tomlin would get around this sometimes is he would lump guys in, you know, name a few guys that say, um, they sustained bumps and bruises associated with play. Um, unless, you know, in the, in the, in the situation of after a game, um, you have to, um, a lot of times players are who are injured in the game. You report that and announce that, and you have to say what the injury was. Like for example, last night in the Monday night game, Jackson Dart, the Giants quarterback. Now, at the stadium, in the press box situation, or those in that area, the Giants would have had to announce Jackson Dart, knee, all you need to do is list the body part. You don't have to say exactly what happened to it. Knee, his return is questionable, doubtful, or you list him out. And so then in those cases, you do have a little bit more specific information if it happened in the game. But then the other thing is with NFL injury reports, teams are required to submit practice reports to the NFL three times a week during the regular season. Okay, so if you play Sunday, those practice reports, those three days have to be submitted on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. And then included in the Friday report is also the status of all the players who have been listed on any of those individual days practice reports that week. You know, so you have to say whether he's out doubtful or questionable on Friday. Now you can update that if players either improve or, um, or get worse as the Steelers did last week when they listed Michael Pittman as questionable on Friday, then they downgraded him to out on Saturday.
00:14:11
Speaker 2: You're a lot of that. That's also okay by the rules. So that's how.
00:14:18
Speaker 3: Those are the rules for reporting injuries in the NFL and it's best to not to run afoul of those rules because it can get expensive.
00:14:26
Speaker 1: Oh, very expensive. And you'll lose draft picks too. Big ones, first rounders. So you don't want to mess with that. Kim Owens from Frederick, Maryland on game day, do all 53 players get a full paycheck, whether they are active or not?
00:14:40
Speaker 2: Yes.
00:14:41
Speaker 3: I mean, it's not, if you're on the 53 million roster and I think it's even, if you're on a 53 million roster, the Tuesday before the game, which would be a Sunday or, you know, Monday or whatever it is, you qualify for a game check. So that's all 53 guys on the active roster get paid. Everybody on IR gets paid. Anybody on physically unable to perform gets paid. It's not, you don't have to play to get paid in the NFL.
00:15:14
Speaker 1: Neil Glasser.
00:15:15
Speaker 2: And then practice squad, let me just.
00:15:17
Speaker 3: Practice squad players also get paid every week, but those are different contracts.
00:15:24
Speaker 2: But yes, they get paid every week.
00:15:27
Speaker 1: Neil Glasser from Manalapan, New Jersey. Why do the Steelers choose to wear their black jerseys at home early in the season? Seems like white might be more comfortable when it's 80 degrees.
00:15:39
Speaker 3: You know, there was a time in the NFL in the past, and the Steelers were a part of this, NFL teams were white at home. And they did that because In Major League Baseball, which was the number one professional sport in America at the time, you know, 40s, 50s, even into the 60s, Major League Baseball teams wore white at home. Okay, so NFL teams wore white at home. Steelers even wore some white for their home games at Pitt Stadium when Chuck Knoll was hired in 1969. If you ever see any photographs of Knoll's first game, With the Steelers, it was the opening game of the 1969 season against Detroit.
00:16:22
Speaker 2: The Steelers wore white.
00:16:24
Speaker 3: But then when Three River Stadium opened in 1970, Dan Rooney decided that the team looked better in black.
00:16:33
Speaker 2: And so the Steelers have worn.
00:16:34
Speaker 3: Black at home in every game, home game, since 1970. And I cannot imagine a realistic scenario where the Steelers switch to white jerseys for a home game because it's hot outside.
00:16:49
Speaker 2: I mean, it's just not there. It's not in their DNA.
00:16:53
Speaker 1: Yeah, well, the Steelers' black jerseys at home have become such an iconic look.
00:16:58
Speaker 2: Right.
00:16:58
Speaker 1: It's, what are we talking about here, one game a year where you might have to deal with some swell-thrilling heat? It's not like we're in Tampa, Florida. It's not like we have that climate. You know, yeah, that first game in September can get up into the 80s, but, I mean, I don't know what the, not, I know you've retired as a weatherman for this year labs too, after the training camp report. So I'm not going to put you on the spot, but like I'm looking right now, Saturday high is like 68. Like it's totally fine. It's it's Pittsburgh that they can serve. They can survive in the black uniforms. Paul Burek from Gainesville, Georgia. Do NFL officials get fined or reprimanded for blown calls during a game? I'm thinking about the offensive pass interference calls on DK Metcalf during the Falcons game.
00:17:36
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:17:36
Speaker 3: I mean, um, what, what the league does is they grade every official's performance in every game over the course of an entire season.
00:17:47
Speaker 2: Okay.
00:17:47
Speaker 3: And then those grades are all compiled and they're used to assign playoff games. You know, those are kind of like a bonus for the, the better officials and they're paid more. So, you know, that's, that's a part two, but outside of that, I mean, there's no, Um, you know, I think fans are looking for some public flogging.
00:18:13
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:18:13
Speaker 1: They want their pound of flesh with these refs.
00:18:15
Speaker 2: Yes. Yes.
00:18:17
Speaker 3: They want, um, you know, they want the league to make an announcement. This guy messed up this call at this time. Well, that's not going to happen. It's that that's not the way the league works.
00:18:28
Speaker 2: Uh, and so it's not going to happen.
00:18:29
Speaker 3: They're not, um, you know, in the whole admitting, we made a mistake thing. Um, I don't know if that still goes on or not, you know, where the, sometimes the league will send teams a letter.
00:18:43
Speaker 2: Right.
00:18:44
Speaker 3: This, this part of this game was screwed up, but then those started becoming public. And that that's, they're not, the league's not interested in that either. So I don't know if they still send those letters, but what I've noticed is teams don't talk. Coaches don't talk about them. So yeah, but yes, there, there is some grading, but you're never going to know how they do on all the tests.
00:19:12
Speaker 1: I mean, not only are they never going to public publicly bash the refs, they do everything they can to protect them at every turn. I mean, if you want to go to the podium as a player or a coach and say something about the stripes, you better be willing to hand over a lot of money out of your bank account afterwards. Cause that fine is coming fast Monday morning.
00:19:30
Speaker 3: Unless sometimes you can get away with very generalized kinds of things.
00:19:34
Speaker 1: Right.
00:19:36
Speaker 3: Um, I don't know that Rodgers got fined for after the Falcons game when he talked about there were a couple of DPIs. That's how he referred to it, I think. I don't know if he got fined or not. Usually those kinds of things do make it into the public. I didn't hear anything about it. So sometimes maybe you can get away with a vague generalized, I didn't disagree, I didn't agree with this. But yeah, getting specific and complaining about calls, specific calls.
00:20:13
Speaker 2: Yeah, you're right. Have your checkbook.
00:20:15
Speaker 3: Well, no, actually you don't need your checkbook because they just deduct the garnish check. Yes.
00:20:22
Speaker 2: Right. The garnish.
00:20:23
Speaker 1: Terry Wabel from Daytona beach, Florida has our last question today. We've got a large contingent of Steelers fans watching at a designated watering hole. That's beach side here in Daytona. It sounds incredible. But the broadcasts never show Renegade. Who cares? You're at the beach. It's just commercials. Did they play Renegade just before TJ Watts picked six?
00:20:47
Speaker 2: No. The answer to that is no. And let me explain why.
00:20:51
Speaker 3: Okay, Renegade is 99% of the time played in the fourth quarter. And it's always done at the start of an opponent's offensive possession.
00:21:03
Speaker 2: So, T.J.
00:21:05
Speaker 3: Watt's pick six against the Falcons did happen in the fourth quarter, but that Atlanta offensive possession began late in the third quarter. So, you know, you don't play Renegade in the middle of a possession. So the answer, as I said, the answer to that is no, it did not happen before his pick six. And let me just mention this again, you know, for fans who think that there's some mystical power to that song. It's part of the game day entertainment experience. It really has no value in terms of affecting what happens.
00:21:44
Speaker 2: On the field.
00:21:47
Speaker 1: I will say this, Terry, too. I'm sure that local watering hole that you go to has a nice little speaker system. Just pop some sticks onto the ox and play Renegade yourself when you need a big defensive stop. Maybe even do it a couple times throughout the game and you guys can get the vibes up there. at Daytona Beach. Labs, this week brings the Cincinnati Bengals to town for the Steelers. It's the AFC North opener, Mike McCarthy's first foray into the kitchen, as Mike Tomlin used to term it. AFC North football, Cincinnati's 2-0. It's a little early to start record-watching, but not really when you've got one team going 3-0, potentially, and you'd be 1-2 in the division.
00:22:24
Speaker 3: Yeah, and I've watched that Jamar Chase catch a.
00:22:28
Speaker 2: Couple of times.
00:22:30
Speaker 1: He's pretty good.
00:22:31
Speaker 2: Exactly. Yeah.
00:22:34
Speaker 3: So, yeah, that's going to be a full-day assignment. I don't know what the Steelers have planned for him. But, yeah, that's not easy.
00:22:50
Speaker 2: He can play. And that quarterback's not bad either.
00:22:53
Speaker 1: No, and he's got a good partner, too, in that T. Higgins fella. So they play some offense, do the Cincinnati Bengals.
00:22:58
Speaker 2: A little bit.
00:22:59
Speaker 1: Good news is the Steelers so far, if they've been doing one thing well, it's been playing defense. So we'll see which side gets the better on Sunday. One o'clock is your kickoff. It all starts with myself and Matt Williamson at 9 a.m. on DVE, and the network kicks in at 11 with Labs, joined by Jerry Dulac and Mike Brazuta, Rob King, Max Starks, and Missy Matthews, as always, on your game day call. That's going to do it for us on this podcast. If you'd like a question answered next week, get them into Labs now. Maybe you will be one of the lucky few That gets chosen and answered. But until then, he's Bob Labriola. I'm Tom Opferman. Thanks for giving us a listen to Asked and Answered on the Steelers Audio Network.
Speaker 1: 20-3 was your final score in Foxborough this past Sunday. The Steelers failing their first road test of the season and dropping their record to 1-1 on the year at the hands of the New England Patriots. Labs, there's no real way to sugarcoat what happened in that game against New England. Defense played great as far as the Steelers are concerned. The offense, not so much. In particular, I keep coming back to in the 48 hours since that defeat, the offensive line and their lackluster performance in protecting Aaron Rogers and really allowing anything of flow to be established for the offense.
00:00:40
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:00:42
Speaker 3: You know, and let me just temper your opening a little bit. The defense was good enough to win with. I wouldn't say it was great.
00:00:51
Speaker 1: Too many explosives, huh?
00:00:53
Speaker 3: Well, I mean, first of all, and again, I'm just, you cannot have a guy who, run 39 yards up through the middle of your defense for a touchdown. I mean, it's the NFL. Uh, that's, that to me is, I mean, if that, that touchdown run could have been 89 yards, right?
00:01:16
Speaker 2: Because once you get through there, you know, it's just, right. It's, it's, yeah, it's, unless he, unless he trips and falls.
00:01:24
Speaker 3: Um, so, uh, you know, there was that, uh, and, You know, New England was able to do some other things.
00:01:34
Speaker 2: Okay.
00:01:35
Speaker 3: But so the defense, again, was good enough to win with. Someone said after the game, I forget who it was, I think it might have been Rodgers, when they only give up 13 points, we've got to win that game.
00:01:48
Speaker 2: We've got to win a game, which is absolutely true.
00:01:51
Speaker 3: It was 13 points. The other seven was a defensive touchdown. So, okay, that's out of the way. Yes, the offensive line was.
00:02:00
Speaker 3: I mean, I'm no offensive line expert. I was watching it on TV. It looked awful. It looked awful to me. And I don't think there's anyone who played, you can say, played well on the offensive line. And, you know, whether there are going to be changes or not, I think that that's something for, you know, Mike McCarthy and the coaching staff to figure out. I know we have a question. coming up when we get into the question segment of this podcast here in a couple of minutes about the offensive line. And so I'll get into it a little bit more there. But, you know, I don't know what the answers are. And I don't have Max Starks on speed dial either to tell me what I was watching. Like I was able to do a lot of times at training camp. He was just in the next section of the press box over. So, um, yeah, it's, there's been a lot of investment in the offensive line and so far it is not produced and it is not performing, uh, up to standards or above the line or however you want to describe it.
00:03:15
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:03:16
Speaker 1: A lot of investment, no doubt put into that O line, but not a lot of experience, uh, between those guys, especially playing as a unit. You know, I thought our colleague and your co-host on the network pregame, Mike Prezuda, he, he, looked like Nostradamus when he predicted that the Patriots were going to blitz a lot just because the Falcons didn't. And this is a young, raw offensive line. How are they going to handle blitz? Well, they did not handle it at all. And you know, the Bengals, they're watching that film and probably licking their chops this week. So it's, it's not as if like, you know, you're going to get a break week to week until you can prove to the other teams that you can handle blitz.
00:03:49
Speaker 3: And more props to the people on the pregame part of the show on the, Steelers audio network, Matt Williamson. He's on with you early, but then they bring him back for scouts on a report in the network part of it. And one of the things that he mentioned was he said, one of the things that concerns him a little bit is the strength of the interior, the Patriots defensive line. And those guys were a handful. I mean, I saw Zach Frazier get pushed into the back more than once. So, yeah, there were some areas where the Patriots pressed some advantages that they either determined they had beforehand in the lead-up to the game or figured out as the game was unfolding in terms of how to exploit the, the offensive line, the Steelers offensive line, and they did it and it worked for them.
00:04:59
Speaker 1: Let's get to this week's batch of questions. Try to flush that bad taste in our mouth out after the loss to the new England Patriots. I have to make a quick note though. I've noticed a little bit of a trend as far as the top question is concerned, a changing trend. We usually like to lead things off with a quarterback question or two, but I'm looking at a lot of Joey Porter jr. Related questions lately, labs, the, the, the attention span has been turned to something else in Steelers Nation.
00:05:26
Speaker 3: Yeah, well, nothing attracts attention to Steelers fans, the attention of Steelers fans, than a holdout or whatever you want to call this Joey Porter Jr.
00:05:39
Speaker 2: Situation.
00:05:40
Speaker 3: So, yeah, I noticed that we do start off with a couple of those.
00:05:45
Speaker 1: And that first one comes from Grant Spellerberg from Cutler Bay, Florida. If the Joey Porter Jr. situation persists for an extended period with no deal in sight, how long do the Steelers have to try and work a trade with another team?
00:05:59
Speaker 3: Well, the NFL trading deadline for 2026 is 4 p.m. on Tuesday, November 10th. So between now and then, that's the deadline. And please don't ask me if I think a trade's going to be made because I have no idea.
00:06:16
Speaker 2: I really don't.
00:06:18
Speaker 1: We'll scratch off my next question. All right, Sam Wiley from Middletown, Pennsylvania. We know the Steelers don't negotiate during the season. However, does putting the franchise tag on Joey Porter Jr. fall inside or outside of this policy?
00:06:34
Speaker 3: The period for teams to designate players under the franchise tag or the transition tag comes after the season. The specific dates, the specific date. it's February 17th, 2027. So if it gets to that point, starting February 17th, 2027, the.
00:06:57
Speaker 2: Steelers will make a decision.
00:06:58
Speaker 3: And I believe it's until March 10th is the end of that, of the period. So they have, you know, kind of a month, three weeks, you know, February is a short month, but to figure out what they want to do in terms of tagging, you know, Joey Porter Jr. or any of the other players who might, impending free agents in 2027.
00:07:22
Speaker 1: Bruce Lang from Lake Arrowhead, California. We've invested a lot in our offensive line. Some moves have worked out while others have not. Will we stay with the current lineup to allow them to gel? Or will we see our 2026 No.
00:07:36
Speaker 2: 1 and No.
00:07:37
Speaker 1: 3 draft picks sooner rather than later?
00:07:41
Speaker 3: Sooner rather than later is kind of vague, but hey, for what after But after what happened against New England, as I referenced earlier, I think Sooner has to be a real consideration. Now, on Monday, we're doing this podcast on Tuesday, September 22nd. On Monday, September 21st, the day after the game, Mike McCarthy has his normal weekly news conference. And at that, he said that one of the issues with the offensive line, in his opinion, has been a lack of continuity. he traces that back to training camp when the coaches were trying different combinations and looking to develop as much position flexibility as possible.
00:08:27
Speaker 2: Okay.
00:08:27
Speaker 3: So trying to answer this question, if continuity is part of the problem, does adding more changes after the start of regular season help things or not? Um, but my guess at this point is that it's time to get Maxi Honature into the lineup at right tackle. Um, He was number one pick. He was drafted in the first round to play that position. And the Steelers, frankly, have not been getting above the line play at that position.
00:08:57
Speaker 2: They have just not.
00:08:59
Speaker 3: The other trouble spot I think that maybe you might want to target is right guard. But I'm not in favor of throwing Jennings Dunker in there because then you have two rookies in the lineup together. early in the regular season. And they're not only together in the lineup, but they're next to each other. So to me, that's kind of, you know, throwing up a red flag in front of a bull and saying, here we are, here we are, here we are. So maybe, um, another thing to consider right guard would be Brock Hoffman. He's a veteran played for McCarthy in Dallas. Um, And not that it matters a lot that he's listed number two on the depth chart at right guard, but he is. So maybe that's kind of what the feeling is for him, Hoffman, um, in terms of a position. So, you know, we'll have to see, um, but it's gotta get better. I don't, I don't know. It's gotta get better now. Uh, this is not something, well, we'll fix it in three weeks because, um, that, that, that could be too late.
00:10:15
Speaker 1: I'm with you as far as the strategy is concerned. Uh, Definitely don't want to have two rookies together on that right side of the ball. And furthermore, you know, Jennings Dunker has never really had the same kind of conversation driven about him that Ihanachor had throughout training camp. With Ihanachor, it was a lot of, wow, this guy is blowing everybody away. Looks like he's ahead of schedule. We might be able to start him week one. Ah, then an injury happened and it set his timetable back. Jennings Dunker never really had those kind of moments where everybody was like, wow, he looks NFL ready. To him, this was always kind of more of a polish year. And I think Brock Hoffman allows you the flexibility to do that. There's no urgency when you have a guy like Hoffman in the wings waiting.
00:10:56
Speaker 2: Right.
00:10:56
Speaker 3: And you may need to do both because, you know, maybe Ihan Achor could benefit from having a veteran.
00:11:05
Speaker 2: Next to him.
00:11:07
Speaker 1: Chris Welburn from Glastonbury, Connecticut. Did Mike Tomlin give the game injury recap at the start of each of his post-game news conference as his choice? I did not hear one from Coach Mike McCarthy last Sunday. Obviously, Tomlin's was unofficial, but I suspect many appreciated it. Does it appear we'll need to wait for the official announcements each week?
00:11:28
Speaker 3: Yeah, it was Mike Tomlin's personal choice to give an injury report following every game, and he would do it without being asked. And he even did it after every training camp practice without being asked. He would have a little index card, and he would talk to the trainers beforehand and get some sort of idea. Now, a lot of times, I don't want to misconstrue this, no coaches are really forthcoming with detailed injury reports before they have to give detailed injury reports. So, you know, one of the ways Mike Tomlin would get around this sometimes is he would lump guys in, you know, name a few guys that say, um, they sustained bumps and bruises associated with play. Um, unless, you know, in the, in the, in the situation of after a game, um, you have to, um, a lot of times players are who are injured in the game. You report that and announce that, and you have to say what the injury was. Like for example, last night in the Monday night game, Jackson Dart, the Giants quarterback. Now, at the stadium, in the press box situation, or those in that area, the Giants would have had to announce Jackson Dart, knee, all you need to do is list the body part. You don't have to say exactly what happened to it. Knee, his return is questionable, doubtful, or you list him out. And so then in those cases, you do have a little bit more specific information if it happened in the game. But then the other thing is with NFL injury reports, teams are required to submit practice reports to the NFL three times a week during the regular season. Okay, so if you play Sunday, those practice reports, those three days have to be submitted on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. And then included in the Friday report is also the status of all the players who have been listed on any of those individual days practice reports that week. You know, so you have to say whether he's out doubtful or questionable on Friday. Now you can update that if players either improve or, um, or get worse as the Steelers did last week when they listed Michael Pittman as questionable on Friday, then they downgraded him to out on Saturday.
00:14:11
Speaker 2: You're a lot of that. That's also okay by the rules. So that's how.
00:14:18
Speaker 3: Those are the rules for reporting injuries in the NFL and it's best to not to run afoul of those rules because it can get expensive.
00:14:26
Speaker 1: Oh, very expensive. And you'll lose draft picks too. Big ones, first rounders. So you don't want to mess with that. Kim Owens from Frederick, Maryland on game day, do all 53 players get a full paycheck, whether they are active or not?
00:14:40
Speaker 2: Yes.
00:14:41
Speaker 3: I mean, it's not, if you're on the 53 million roster and I think it's even, if you're on a 53 million roster, the Tuesday before the game, which would be a Sunday or, you know, Monday or whatever it is, you qualify for a game check. So that's all 53 guys on the active roster get paid. Everybody on IR gets paid. Anybody on physically unable to perform gets paid. It's not, you don't have to play to get paid in the NFL.
00:15:14
Speaker 1: Neil Glasser.
00:15:15
Speaker 2: And then practice squad, let me just.
00:15:17
Speaker 3: Practice squad players also get paid every week, but those are different contracts.
00:15:24
Speaker 2: But yes, they get paid every week.
00:15:27
Speaker 1: Neil Glasser from Manalapan, New Jersey. Why do the Steelers choose to wear their black jerseys at home early in the season? Seems like white might be more comfortable when it's 80 degrees.
00:15:39
Speaker 3: You know, there was a time in the NFL in the past, and the Steelers were a part of this, NFL teams were white at home. And they did that because In Major League Baseball, which was the number one professional sport in America at the time, you know, 40s, 50s, even into the 60s, Major League Baseball teams wore white at home. Okay, so NFL teams wore white at home. Steelers even wore some white for their home games at Pitt Stadium when Chuck Knoll was hired in 1969. If you ever see any photographs of Knoll's first game, With the Steelers, it was the opening game of the 1969 season against Detroit.
00:16:22
Speaker 2: The Steelers wore white.
00:16:24
Speaker 3: But then when Three River Stadium opened in 1970, Dan Rooney decided that the team looked better in black.
00:16:33
Speaker 2: And so the Steelers have worn.
00:16:34
Speaker 3: Black at home in every game, home game, since 1970. And I cannot imagine a realistic scenario where the Steelers switch to white jerseys for a home game because it's hot outside.
00:16:49
Speaker 2: I mean, it's just not there. It's not in their DNA.
00:16:53
Speaker 1: Yeah, well, the Steelers' black jerseys at home have become such an iconic look.
00:16:58
Speaker 2: Right.
00:16:58
Speaker 1: It's, what are we talking about here, one game a year where you might have to deal with some swell-thrilling heat? It's not like we're in Tampa, Florida. It's not like we have that climate. You know, yeah, that first game in September can get up into the 80s, but, I mean, I don't know what the, not, I know you've retired as a weatherman for this year labs too, after the training camp report. So I'm not going to put you on the spot, but like I'm looking right now, Saturday high is like 68. Like it's totally fine. It's it's Pittsburgh that they can serve. They can survive in the black uniforms. Paul Burek from Gainesville, Georgia. Do NFL officials get fined or reprimanded for blown calls during a game? I'm thinking about the offensive pass interference calls on DK Metcalf during the Falcons game.
00:17:36
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:17:36
Speaker 3: I mean, um, what, what the league does is they grade every official's performance in every game over the course of an entire season.
00:17:47
Speaker 2: Okay.
00:17:47
Speaker 3: And then those grades are all compiled and they're used to assign playoff games. You know, those are kind of like a bonus for the, the better officials and they're paid more. So, you know, that's, that's a part two, but outside of that, I mean, there's no, Um, you know, I think fans are looking for some public flogging.
00:18:13
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:18:13
Speaker 1: They want their pound of flesh with these refs.
00:18:15
Speaker 2: Yes. Yes.
00:18:17
Speaker 3: They want, um, you know, they want the league to make an announcement. This guy messed up this call at this time. Well, that's not going to happen. It's that that's not the way the league works.
00:18:28
Speaker 2: Uh, and so it's not going to happen.
00:18:29
Speaker 3: They're not, um, you know, in the whole admitting, we made a mistake thing. Um, I don't know if that still goes on or not, you know, where the, sometimes the league will send teams a letter.
00:18:43
Speaker 2: Right.
00:18:44
Speaker 3: This, this part of this game was screwed up, but then those started becoming public. And that that's, they're not, the league's not interested in that either. So I don't know if they still send those letters, but what I've noticed is teams don't talk. Coaches don't talk about them. So yeah, but yes, there, there is some grading, but you're never going to know how they do on all the tests.
00:19:12
Speaker 1: I mean, not only are they never going to public publicly bash the refs, they do everything they can to protect them at every turn. I mean, if you want to go to the podium as a player or a coach and say something about the stripes, you better be willing to hand over a lot of money out of your bank account afterwards. Cause that fine is coming fast Monday morning.
00:19:30
Speaker 3: Unless sometimes you can get away with very generalized kinds of things.
00:19:34
Speaker 1: Right.
00:19:36
Speaker 3: Um, I don't know that Rodgers got fined for after the Falcons game when he talked about there were a couple of DPIs. That's how he referred to it, I think. I don't know if he got fined or not. Usually those kinds of things do make it into the public. I didn't hear anything about it. So sometimes maybe you can get away with a vague generalized, I didn't disagree, I didn't agree with this. But yeah, getting specific and complaining about calls, specific calls.
00:20:13
Speaker 2: Yeah, you're right. Have your checkbook.
00:20:15
Speaker 3: Well, no, actually you don't need your checkbook because they just deduct the garnish check. Yes.
00:20:22
Speaker 2: Right. The garnish.
00:20:23
Speaker 1: Terry Wabel from Daytona beach, Florida has our last question today. We've got a large contingent of Steelers fans watching at a designated watering hole. That's beach side here in Daytona. It sounds incredible. But the broadcasts never show Renegade. Who cares? You're at the beach. It's just commercials. Did they play Renegade just before TJ Watts picked six?
00:20:47
Speaker 2: No. The answer to that is no. And let me explain why.
00:20:51
Speaker 3: Okay, Renegade is 99% of the time played in the fourth quarter. And it's always done at the start of an opponent's offensive possession.
00:21:03
Speaker 2: So, T.J.
00:21:05
Speaker 3: Watt's pick six against the Falcons did happen in the fourth quarter, but that Atlanta offensive possession began late in the third quarter. So, you know, you don't play Renegade in the middle of a possession. So the answer, as I said, the answer to that is no, it did not happen before his pick six. And let me just mention this again, you know, for fans who think that there's some mystical power to that song. It's part of the game day entertainment experience. It really has no value in terms of affecting what happens.
00:21:44
Speaker 2: On the field.
00:21:47
Speaker 1: I will say this, Terry, too. I'm sure that local watering hole that you go to has a nice little speaker system. Just pop some sticks onto the ox and play Renegade yourself when you need a big defensive stop. Maybe even do it a couple times throughout the game and you guys can get the vibes up there. at Daytona Beach. Labs, this week brings the Cincinnati Bengals to town for the Steelers. It's the AFC North opener, Mike McCarthy's first foray into the kitchen, as Mike Tomlin used to term it. AFC North football, Cincinnati's 2-0. It's a little early to start record-watching, but not really when you've got one team going 3-0, potentially, and you'd be 1-2 in the division.
00:22:24
Speaker 3: Yeah, and I've watched that Jamar Chase catch a.
00:22:28
Speaker 2: Couple of times.
00:22:30
Speaker 1: He's pretty good.
00:22:31
Speaker 2: Exactly. Yeah.
00:22:34
Speaker 3: So, yeah, that's going to be a full-day assignment. I don't know what the Steelers have planned for him. But, yeah, that's not easy.
00:22:50
Speaker 2: He can play. And that quarterback's not bad either.
00:22:53
Speaker 1: No, and he's got a good partner, too, in that T. Higgins fella. So they play some offense, do the Cincinnati Bengals.
00:22:58
Speaker 2: A little bit.
00:22:59
Speaker 1: Good news is the Steelers so far, if they've been doing one thing well, it's been playing defense. So we'll see which side gets the better on Sunday. One o'clock is your kickoff. It all starts with myself and Matt Williamson at 9 a.m. on DVE, and the network kicks in at 11 with Labs, joined by Jerry Dulac and Mike Brazuta, Rob King, Max Starks, and Missy Matthews, as always, on your game day call. That's going to do it for us on this podcast. If you'd like a question answered next week, get them into Labs now. Maybe you will be one of the lucky few That gets chosen and answered. But until then, he's Bob Labriola. I'm Tom Opferman. Thanks for giving us a listen to Asked and Answered on the Steelers Audio Network.
