Drive10.9.26Hr1: Previewing the Colts

0:00So, who's up for dessert? Ah, tempting, but I should check my balance first. Don't worry, I got it. No, I'll good. Desserts on me. Ever hesitate before making a purchase? What if you could always know? You can with S&T's mobile banking. Check your balance, pay friends on the spot, track your spending any time, anywhere, all from your phone. Visit STbank.com to learn more and download our mobile app today. S&T Bank, member FDIC. You're tuned to the drive on your 24-7 home of the Black & Gold Steelers Nation radio. There. Thank you. Steeler, it's the drivetailer. I'll go to the address. Let me know if you would like to borrow my list of screenshots from us Bjk Sent Mundel.

1:02Episode 19 Mr.Web Lap american Des iç respite here in Pittsburgh, the, uh, the weather report for Sunday doesn't quite echo that sentiment. I'm supposed to get kind of nasty, right? Cats and dogs. Really? Okay. The good news and Matt, I should probably find some wood to knock on as I say this. If I was, I was going to say if I was Craig Wolfley out, I'd just tap my head. Um, it's not supposed to be like thunder and lightning bad. Good. Like delay the game. Nobody. I mean, you know, you folks, I need to like close it down. I'm at least it's not a road game. It least is not a road game, but it's still not fun. But I think it's supposed to be like, churrential downpour. So all the best to our guy TV who's going to be on the sideline. Oh, we find all the best of Missy Matthews. So we're going to talk to you here in like 1015 minutes. Cause don't be down in it. But it is. Who do we think that favors? That's a good question. The thing people don't think about that I always think about first, sloppy tracks is get off for past rushers. Sure. It really slows down past rushers. I mean, you don't dig your cleats in the same way, which would hamper the Steelers,

2:03which would definitely hamper the Steelers. Cause I mean, there's even numbers. The Steelers, edge guys have like the best get off in the league. Yeah. Yeah. And it's definitely something they've always kind of limits your advantage in that. Yeah. And I always think about who are the Jerome Betis mudder running back to. Yeah. I think Taylor's kind of one of those guys. Although, you're probably fine too. You don't load the grounds. And you know what I mean, I'm sure Rodgers has done it a lot. I mean, he had to have played. I mean, obviously played a lot of bad weather in Lambo, but I mean, it has had a lot of rain games. Yeah. And obviously guys like TJ Watton, Kim Hayward and Alex Highsmith that have been in the division for a long time. They've played in some nasty elements. Oh, yeah. But you're right. But if it's porn porn, if it's porn, who watch out? Yeah. And the weather's supposed to be okay on Saturday, but Pitt has a home game on Saturday as well. So keep that in mind. Bill Bellachet coming to town this weekend, albeit not to play on Sunday, but to play on Saturdays. But to play on Saturdays, Bill's going to be on the sideline. Ripon holes in the dirt. He's going to be telling all those guys to clog the bathroom. So I feel probably would have been bad to begin with. And then it pours on top of it.

3:05It's not a, uh, I don't think it'd be bad, but it's going to be affected by the pick. I don't envy the grounds crew and the job. No. They don't have them this weekend. No, but it's going to influence the game more than I maybe give it credit for. No doubt, no doubt. And so hopefully, like I said, the good news is I don't think it's going to have anything that could affect weather delays or stoppages to game, but it could certainly have a massive effect elsewhere. It's been a while since we've had one of those games. To that extent, a couple of years ago, against the Arizona Cardinals, I remember there was a delay in that game. That one was speaking of wolf. That one was funny. It's maybe the only time we've, uh, had a, I don't know, an easier time filling during a delay. Because what we did was we went over to the Arizona Cardinals booth and grabbed Ron Wolfley out of there. No, I do remember this story. Right. It just happened. Brother Wolf was next door. Everyone kind of has their different radio networks and how they do things, and set ups and you're kind of, there's parameters, I think of what you're allowed to do and things like that. But you can, you can do your pregame show from the stadium. You can do it from the studio, you know,

4:05like all the stuff like that. The way that Arizona does it basically is I think they have people in studio all time. So if there's a delay, instead of staying in the booth, they throw it back to the studio. Oh, so Ron didn't have to do anything. So Ron Wolfley didn't have to do anything, but you don't break Matt. Because think about this, you're, you've got dozens of commercials. No commercials. You've got dozens of radio affiliates that are all running off of automation in their systems. And we're talking a little over my head, but okay. All over your head. Right. But the stations in Lwood City that carry the Steelers broadcast, like not 102.5 DVE, but all the other dozens around Western. Yeah, yeah, okay. I'm following you. They're all automated. So they've got all their breaks. Say there's 20 breaks in the course of a broadcast. And they're going to happen at X time, no matter what. They've got it built in. So they have those 20 breaks in automation. So they, so we can't just add radio breaks because it screws up all the affiliates and all the timing and everything. I'm still not quite following, but okay. It's kind of, you know, back end dork stuff.

5:06Yeah. Basically during that, but the sponsors still get their ads in when the game comes on. Okay, the sponsors, the sponsors paid for this to happen in the middle of the third quarter. When everyone's listening, okay, not during a lightning delay when everyone's doing something else. A walk away for a while. That's the real kind of, those commercials were sold to play in certain spots. Okay. I want it at this time. Exactly right. Kick it, opening kick off with everyone's listening. So the way that we did it was basically, we gave Billy Hill Grove a break because you don't want him on air that long. I wouldn't think. So prosoota came in with Wolf. And we pulled Max up from the boot from the sideline. So those are prosoota and wolf and Max. Because you knew we'd be a long one. For 70 minutes, have to sit there and talk and kill time. And so we figured out maybe 15, 20 minutes. The base ball would be the worst. The worst. They get more time. They have it all the time. There's a million games, right? And especially where their schedule is, like a lot of stuff early in the spring when the weather still volatile. A lot of stuff in the fall when the weather gets volatile for baseball. Yeah, yeah. But what we realized, you know, maybe I don't know,

6:0810, 15, 20 minutes into the broadcast was that Arizona's booth, they had thrown it back to their studio. So they were good. They were just sitting there just with their feet up doing that. So Dan Quinlan and I went in and we were like, Ron, would you please come on with the guys? And he's like, he's just like Craig. He's, you know, they're chip off the old block. He's like, oh, no problem brother. Let's do it. He went in for like a half an hour and they told old stories. There's just a two of them like, yeah, thanks. You've even did a program. I think Pursuit and Max probably didn't say anything for like 20 minutes. That's a perfect team to be in that. So that was kind of a cool moment. And I think especially in hindsight now, it's a it's a cool memory. That is a cool one. But let's hope that we don't have to worry about filling any time on Sunday. No doubt. Okay. I would also think a dome team wouldn't love that. Particularly the kicker. That's another good point. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Absolute kicking comes into effect. Humility. Immediately. Yeah. You think everything in kind of the past game and the past rush certainly affected. And if both of these teams have to lean on their run game, Matt, I think they could do worse. I think both of the teams are certainly capable in that regard. It might force this, you know,

7:08sometimes great inventions come from the necessity. Other necessity, right? Like, hey, I was kind of thinking with the similar standpoint. You can't throw. So let's just keep running, running, running, and boy, this works. Let's stick with it instead of throwing 66, 67, 68 percent of the time. Now maybe you're going to have to run it that much. Yeah. You're right. And maybe that ends up working. And maybe that's a big benefit for you on the offensive line. Maybe you want to be under center more because the ball snapping and hey, under center has been good. Let's stick with it. Yep. So again, sometimes these setbacks can be a blessing in disguise. Yeah, yeah. And I think especially for this Steelers Run game, maybe that's the silver lining of all this potential weather that we're looking at on Sunday. Okay. I knew it was that bad. I knew it was supposed to rain. I didn't realize it was like, I think it's supposed to, it's supposed to pour. Okay. Mara's supposed to be nice. I'm supposed to go on tomorrow. Tomorrow's supposed to be pretty good. I think I look, I think a little overcast, but still, still pretty good here. So we'll keep an eye on it. Sunday, 82 percent chance of rain

8:08throughout the afternoon there. And so, I mean, geez, that sounds like it's coming. It's coming, it's coming. They're talking, you know, potential like inches of rain and some wind that's going to come with it as well too. So that is obviously something that is going to affect the game time unless that changes. But we will, you know, kind of continue to monitor that. Obviously as we get closer to game time, but it is a big one mat for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Yeah. Week five, you are two and two right now. Needless to say, there is a huge difference. I think just perception wise and in reality between three and two and two and three. Yeah. I think so. Especially considering all three of those losses would be a FC conference losses. Yeah, I was just about to say the same thing. Like, you know, one of your wins is against the Falcons, which is great, but it doesn't carry nearly as much weight. I don't know if the Colts will be battling the Steelers for wild card spots or not. You know, we thought that maybe with New England and that seems to probably still be true. But yeah, you're right. I mean, I'm not a big believer this time of year.

9:10This is a must win. Although last late's game was kind of a must win for both those teams, you know what I mean? But neither one of these teams is in that dire straits. You know, um, but yeah, I mean, subject to change, but these next couple games look pretty favorable for the Steelers where they really need to put some money in the bank. I think that's well said. Yeah. The schedule gets much tougher after the by week. Not that it's easy now. This mat and I always say there's no Ohio State versus Akron in the uh, no, Tampa Bay started to play better now. You know, right? Exactly right. There's there's a long week there too. Upset you don't see common results. You don't see coming every single week. But I think these next few weeks and particularly some of the injuries that the opposition are dealing with, um, set up favorably for the Steelers to make some hey here, uh, before they're by week. You almost have to four weeks. Yeah, I mean, you better win two of these three, I would say. I think so. I think so. Let's get to our first break of the day here. And when we return, we'll go to the lady who's going to be tasked with fighting these elements down on the sideline. Missy Matthews.

10:10She's obviously been on the sideline for a lot of these questionable weather games too. We'll ask her about some of the differences in that. What she expects from a familiar foe that is heading to Acresure Stadium in the Indianapolis Colts here, uh, and a little less than 48 hours. We'll talk to Missy on the other side. Just getting started here on a Friday, West Mueller, Matt Williamson. It's the drive Steelers Nation Radio on the Steelers Audio Network. And now a word from our sponsor, Bud Light. There's nothing better than the clean crisp. There's nothing better than the clean crisp. What if we just got out of here and grab some Bud lights? But man, we're on air for four more hours. I'll figure it out. Sounds good to me. Anything for the clean crisp taste of Bud Light. Stock up now. Bud Light. Easy to drink, easy to enjoy. Enjoy responsibly. Copyright 2026 and Heiser Bush, Bud Light beer St. Louis, Missouri. I used to have cable in it, but I'm a 100% kind of fan. So I switched to Verizon Fios. It's 100% fiber internet that's super reliable.

11:12So I streamed 100% at the NFL Draft Live with ultra low lag. And after what went down in the first round, still getting video calls from my best friend, rubbing it in that he called all the pics. I told you they were building their own line. I win the bet. Get 100% fiber internet with Verizon Fios. Because when it comes to your team, it's 100% or nothing. Call 1-E-3-3 Verizon to switch today. Get that hotdog costume ready. Bra. You're tuned to the drive on your 24-7 home of the Black and Gold Steelers Nation Radio. You hear the bounce on a Friday. You know what that means. It's time to get the view from the sideline, from the queen of the sideline. Of course, the great, missy Matthews. Missy thank you for taking the time as always.

12:14Busy weekend ahead and a lot of regards here in Pittsburgh. Football related, events related. And we have got the annual Steelers fashion show tonight. It's Stay J.E. That I think you've been involved with for a while. Peel back the curtain for us a little bit. What kind of the rehearsals and everything going on tonight. What's it look like? What's your role? And what's kind of the whole cause behind it? Yeah, it benefits three great charities. The UPMC Concussion Program, Cancer, Bridges, and the Trucking Hole Foundation. It has raised over a million dollars. Wow. And it is super fun. So many players come, their families come. You know, some of them are just very like, we'll do the Jersey scene and walk out and, you know, throw towels and t-shirts into the audience. And then other guys are like, sign me up, I'll wear a tux. Like, I'll, you know, I'll do another scene and show off my style. So it's cool to see, you know, last year, Dishon Watson or Dishon, Dishon, I'm so unclear. Like Dishon Elliott and DK Mecca for the Captain.

13:18And those two guys can dress and they are pretty competitive about it. This year, they're... What do you mean the captains? Are there teams? They're like the captain for the night. Okay, okay, okay. Yeah, I thought it was like a competition. I think a question that I shouldn't assume that you two know. No, I don't know. That's fair. Yeah. So they're the captains for the fashion show. They kind of like help with things. And you're a little more involved. Put it that way. I got you. They were great. I thought they were like picking teams at recess. Oh no. That would take way too long and probably be an appropriate public. Probably. Okay. They this year, there's three, Mick Herbig and Keanu Benton and Chris Buzlal. So that is quite the mixture of personalities. Oh, it absolutely is. They all got new contracts this summer too. That's right. How about that? Yo, I said, well, I think that maybe that was written in. You don't know. I don't know. All right. Well, give me the solid deal.

14:18Friday, you need to do this. Okay. But the good news is you're going to get a little pay bump here and you'll be able to afford some lovely new clothes. And you'll get some cool clothes. That's right. Yeah. Missy, I should probably know this. But if anyone's listening to this and they decide that they wanted to try and go this evening, are tickets still available or no? I believe there's a few. And if you go to dealers.com, you'll be able to find them there. Awesome. Excellent. Love it. We'll be looking forward to seeing all the highlights of that tonight. Always a very cool evening for a very great cause down there at stage AE on the North Shore. Of course, Missy Sunday, one o'clock against the Indianapolis. Colts is the is the Steelers show this weekend. And it's a big one for a lot of different reasons. Of course, Matt and I kind of in the opening of our show today, discussed potential weather elements that could play into this with some rain on the radar. And what that would mean for both teams past rushes and past games and ability to control the ball on the ground, all those different things. You've obviously been a part of a lot of these different weather games from extreme heat to

15:19rain to snow and everything in your years on the sideline. How big of a factor. Do you think that that rain could be on Sunday afternoon? I mean, I hate to say that I think it can be a factor. I just I don't like to rush too much into panic mode. I was actually being optimistic today, which I think through Robin Maxx and Willie off when I was on with him. Because I'm like, guys, it's been like two beautiful days of sunshine and then probably some rain. But yeah, you know, it can change quickly and sometimes even we have had games where you go on the road, there's no rain in the forecast and then all of a sudden I'm jumping into an Uber to go buy something because I didn't bring it. And I try to bring as much as possible, but you can only take so much sometimes. I just I do think I think it would be in the sealers advantage. You know, if you had to say who would have, you know, thumbs up in terms of the rain, I think both teams are going to try to run the ball. So that kind of goes with that. I just I feel like excuse me.

16:21Um, it doesn't seem like it's going to be horrible rain, but I'm probably jingcing it. It's going to be like a trench or downpour going sideways and that that impacts everybody. That's where, you know, equipment guys are running in and out of the locker room, bringing different cleats and stuff to try to help everybody, you know, perform to their highest ability. Yeah, not to argue with you, but just last segment, West was saying it could be kind of torrential. I mean, it sounds like it could be pretty harsh. Perfect. I assume that changes your job. You keep talking about that and then I don't end up being just a light rain. Yeah, who knows? I mean, it's a couple days away, but I assume that changes your job a great deal, though. Like you said, you're probably paying attention to equipment guys and you just changed cleats and all those type of things. Yes. And I like, if I mean, this week for sure, because I'm not going to chance it, I usually laminate like my notes or a flip card so that I don't have them, you know, I've had credentials like disintegrate on me before. Back when they weren't, you know, the hard plastic. So definitely try to do whatever it takes to get ready. But yeah, there's usually a lot to see.

17:22And you know, there's just different players do different things when there is the right. Some guys want to go out in it and warm up, do more stuff. Some guys are like, I'm only going out there when I have to. So it's definitely a preference thing. Missy extra long week for the Steelers to prepare. You know, we heard a lot about cleaning house and a lot about, you know, doing some self scouting and cleaning things up at the kind of quarter pole of the season. Obviously, it's not exactly that point anymore with the 17th game, but I think a lot of coaching staffs still treat it that way. A lot to do about, you know, some of the communication frustrations on the sideline Thursday and Cleveland. Do you think this extra long time to prepare, you know, kind of the many buy week that everyone likes to call it? And I guess especially considering the Steelers or what, still five weeks away from their actual buy week, do you think this, this extra few days to prepare to rest, to reset, to self evaluate, came at the right time for the Steelers? I don't want to say yes because I think it's worse when you lose on Thursday. And I have to wait longer to like, you know, really move past and play someone else,

18:26but rest for sure. I just feel like they're dealing with, you know, a handful of injuries that are not at great positions. Guys going on IR, possibly going on IR, you know, to Sean L.A. is able to come back at some point, you know, his practice window has opened. There's 21 days for that. I just, I think in the manner in which they lost, it was almost worse that there was too much time from a player standpoint. I think for the coaches, maybe they needed that to do the self scouting like Mike McCarthy was talking about and to regroup as a staff. Hey, are we using these players the correct way? Do we like what this play looks like? That kind of thing. So, you know, there's pros and cons to everything and I don't think you can answer one way only, just that makes sense. I actually think the timing of it's good because about a quarter of the seasons and the books, you can really spend that extra time self scouting that you can't learn normal weeks and then about the halfway point you get to do it again with the biweek and then hopefully you have a real good feel for everybody for that final stretch,

19:27which is going to be very very difficult probably. Yeah, it's almost like having Q biweeks to wait set up and because there are more games following this before the actual biweek. So, we'll have to, you know, wait and see how it plays out. I just, I think, you know, some of the injuries are, you know, not ideal, but there's really not much to can do about it and that's why, you know, you try to build the best staff have the best depth. It's not possible to have it at every single position in a perfect world with 53 guys. So there's only so much you can do. Missy Matthews with us here on the drive helping us get ready for this clash with the Colts on Sunday. Missy, Matt and I are going to, to do our matchup segment that we always do on Fridays and hour number two. But I'll have to imagine one that that everybody has circled and you'll be keeping an eye on is two potential gold jacket guys in Cam Hayward of the Steelers, of course, and Quentin Nelson, the just insanely talented guard for the Indianapolis Colts. These two have had some great battles over the years. It feels like Cam Hayward, his, you know,

20:30Matt and I talked about this earlier in the week. Sometimes there's just certain athletes that just have another guy's number and you can't explain it. And that seems to be the case with Cam Hayward against Quentin Nelson. He's gotten the better of him throughout most of the matchups of their career, especially with the potential for weather and both of these teams having to lean on their run game is, is that a matchup in the trenches that you're going to be keeping an eye on? Oh, yeah. I mean, it didn't matter what the weather forecast was. That's always when you keep an eye on it. I just feel like Cam has that like, you know, veteran high football IQ edge. And I, I am sure, you know, I've heard JJ walk talk about different guys. He's gone against, you know, notoriously during his career. You know those matchups are there and you can't not think about it. Especially if you know that you were able to really get the better of them, you know, the time before something like that. But I do agree that is that is one for the ages. And I'm glad that both guys are still playing and we get to witness it. So we kind of referenced, you know,

21:32the the the Browns game here just a little bit ago. And I don't need every trade secret. But how, how tense were the sidelines? How, you know, what was the attitude of the team as the game is going on? I mean, there was clearly frustration. Yeah, yeah. Amazon was kind enough to, you know, really show everybody that I'm being facetious there. But, you know, I don't think it's really anything different. I think the problem is that, you know, Patrick Graham is up in the coaches booth. And that is not how the sealers operated under previous defensive coordinators. So they could have been sitting next to each other and you don't really see it. Yeah, yeah. If they're kind of, you know, going back and forth, I think it was it was the the action of, you know, TJ Y in different things like that. But I have also seen like I've seen Cam Hayward and makeup its Patrick, you know, have words and they quickly move on. You know, emotions run high, especially, you know, when you're not

22:32on top of things in terms of like the score and what you think your side of the ball should be doing. I just think that they truly every competitor has that is. I mean, I feel like I'm competitive with my husband over stupid things and vice versa. You know, these are professional athletes. People that haven't been around teams at this level just don't understand that that's not uncommon. Yeah, I guess that's probably a fair way to put it in, you know, not that they should have to know. But I just, I mean, even my boys when they're playing their youth sports, I'm like, guys, it's just a game, you know, I'm sure, but meanwhile, if you said that's me, I'd be like, it's not just a game. So I just think, you know, that's just the competitor and everybody. And obviously these guys are doing it at a very high level with a lot of things on, you know, on the line. Missy, before we let you go, I obviously know you are a you are a pit grad. You have a lot of close ties to the pit football program. I don't know if many people know this,

23:33honestly, but your dad actually played at pit and won a national championship there. I didn't know. Um, Mike Dicke was before your dad's time. But of course, I know just a absolute legend in this city, Al equipazone, of course, played and had a ton of success at pit. He, I mean, it's unbelievable. As a player, he won a Super Bowl as an assistant coach, he won a Super Bowl, and as a head coach, he won a Super Bowl, change the tight end position forever. And on top of all of how great he was as a coach and a player was also just an iconic personality. Sure. It was in movies like kicking and screaming with Will, with Will Farrell and a real pop culture icon and still has a great stayhouse here in Pittsburgh. Just wanted to get your thoughts on his, his sad passing away today at the age of 86. I know, you know, there's a ton of guys. Um, my dad had said they were smoking cigars and doing things yesterday and the day before. I think with a lot of people's town, everyone's going to be sad about that. It doesn't matter if you played with Mike Dicke or not. I think it's what he meant to so many people. Um, and just seeing, you know,

24:38I was actually on the phone with my dad when the Twitter alert came off, of course, you know, and I'm like, that's think. So I'm sure, you know, something will be planned, um, accordingly, but, you know, you couldn't take the ender out of them. Um, was, you know, all the old clips that are popping up, I've been fighting with a fan on the radio show. It was calling it Washington Street. Love it. Absolutely love it. Great stuff is always missy. Enjoy the other big weekend. Thank you for taking the time as always and we will see you on Sunday. You got it. Thanks guys. There she goes. The queen of the sideline. Missy Matthews. Yeah, you did. Did you not know that about her dad? No, I didn't. He was on the, she was very involved with pit. He was on that Tony Dorset. Oh, okay. I think it was the 75 season, but the 76 sugar bowl, the team that beat Georgia, and won the national championship. No, I did not know her dad was on that team. Okay. Offense. Don't quote me on this part, but I think he was an offensive lineman. Really? But yeah, so, I mean, it was hard to go on the field and it cheated that year. Sure was. Sure was. Yeah. Um, so obviously, Mike Dicca was there in kind of the late 50s into the early 60s. I believe it

25:42pit. So that was before her dad's time. Oh, yeah, yeah. Again, you kind of, everyone knows how that works. Maybe not as much now in the NIL era where everyone's just merchants for a transfer portal and whoever pay them the most, but you know, that real kind of family alumni, um, that, you know, when you play for a program and the people that come through it and leave their impact there. Oh, I think that's really missing though. I think it is one of the things of the fabric of college sports that unfortunately has gone by the wayside, not for the guys in those previous generations, though. And so I'm sure at the pit game Saturday, there'll be a nice moment of silence for Mike Dicca and all that. And, uh, and just wanted to get me, miss his perspective on that is, you know, again, the family ties to the program and all that stuff. Yeah. And while I was there, he came back and talked to the team once and then afterwards, um, I got hired by ESPN while he was an ESPN employee. So there was, I did some dinners with him. Um, I did a couple of shows at Ditka's stayhouse, uh, over the years with Mike Dicca and they always fed us really good. That was awesome. So I've been around them a few times and obviously in my life time too,

26:42like the 85 bears, I was a 12 year old, you know, learning the game and loving the game. Like that was an iconic type of team too. I mean, for that age, it was perfect. I just, it's funny for me too. Like I can't picture Mike Dicca without thinking of kicking and screaming. Have you ever seen that movie with Will Farrell? I know he's in it, but I haven't seen it. It's dude, it is so funny. Will Farrell basically is this, you know, this kid whose dad, Mike Dicca was like a football legend. And could never live up to his dad's reputation. And then they end up coaching soccer teams against each other in the same youth league. And it's a, it's a hysterical comedy. Uh, one of, you know, gets lost in the anchor man and Taladeg and I, yeah, yeah, step brothers and all those real iconic Will Farrell movies. But kicking and screaming is worth your time if you want. Okay. If you want a good life, I mean, the Saturday live Ditka's Gits are all incredible. Yeah. Yeah. Well, just so good. Uh, just an icon of the NFL and icon here in Western Pennsylvania and all the best to his, uh, his friends and family. Unless you're up in age, you forget how good a player he was

27:45to. He revolutionized the tight end position. I mean, he was a five time all pro, five time pro baller. Like I said, one a Super Bowl as a player and assistant coach and then a head coach. I mean, just fits only retired like eight numbers, something like that. You see one of them. I'm curious if he was first because he had to be very close to it. That's a good question. Yeah. Yeah. You consider the timeline. Right. There was one other that's his era, but most of them are the 70s. The Sarsat marino. Yeah. Very, uh, very sad news, uh, but certainly a life, uh, well-lived and fully-lived for Mike Ditka's. He passed away earlier today at the age of 86, all the best to his family, his friends, his former teammates, uh, and what I'm sure will be a tough couple of days here. Matt and I will get back to talking Steelers Colts when we return on the other side. As we roll along here on this Friday preview show, it is the drive Steelers Nation Radio on the Steelers Audio Network.

28:47You're tuned to the drive on your 24-7 home of the Black & Gold Steelers Nation Radio. Matt, shame on me for six weeks. I was, uh, slightly off about kicking and screaming. Oh, okay. So Ditka is not Will Ferrell's dad who they have this rivalry together because he could never live up to the athlete that he was. That's actually Robert DuVal, who plays his dad that coaches the other soccer team. Ditka is their neighbor who can't stand Will Ferrell's dad and helps Will Ferrell. He's on like Will Ferrell's. The, okay. Correct. So he's kind of a neutral party who doesn't like Robert DuVal, who's Will Ferrell's dad, and he goes, hey, I know a thing or two about sports. I'm going to help you coach this team so we can kick your dad's butt. Okay. So I was, I was slightly off there. It's good. Oh, it's hysterical. Towers tell me between, you know, segment stew. He's like, oh, it's worth your time. I mean, just imagine a sports movie with Will Ferrell, Robert DuVal, and Mike Ditka. Yeah, look at go too wrong. That's great. It's hilarious. It's lighthearted. It's an easy watch,

29:49all that good stuff. But just wanted to correct myself on that one. Matt, we have the, I'm sure somebody would have be a Twitter ad. Oh, they probably did. I haven't looked what they probably did during the break. And that's okay. That's why we like you people. You keep us on our toes. But I also do the self scouting thing and go, wait a second. Was I wrong on that? Let me double check the IMDB page. Matt, we have the injury report for the Steelers for Sunday. And it's I'm not real optimistic about the great news. Jamel Dean ruled out. Yeah, it was pretty obvious. The Sean Elliott will not will not start. Okay. Be active. Michael Pittman Jr. ruled out, I think, as we all assumed to Rico Dowdow listed as questionable. Jalen Ramsey listed as questionable. I'd be shocked if Ramsey doesn't go. I mean, it's easy for me to say I'm not the one with a broken wrist, but he played with it. I assume it didn't get worse. At least I got no reports that it would. Dowdow to me is like the only one that's a true 5050. Yes, my hunch, my educating guess, you know, I think I feel like they could use them though. They absolutely could, especially if this is

30:52going to have to be a ground and pound game. Yeah, I've had a lot of people being like, wow, you know, no reason to rush with Dowdow back. Warren's been unbelievable. Yeah, Warren's been unbelievable. But just some of it's just my default. They don't trust the other guys to get the ball at all. Did everybody watch the Falcons on Monday night football? Right. Right. Yeah, not only was B. John Robinson carving them up, the Saints defense, but so was Brian Robinson. Brian Robinson, right. So even if you have the best running back in the world, a quality number two still really helps. Yeah, Andrew is putting a lot on his plate. And if it's, you know, muddy and slow track and all that type of thing, I definitely went out on this game. And now I do hope that they come the conclusion that Warren deserves more touches and more time than the out all. Yes. And I'd be shocked if they don't after these last two fantastic performances. But boy, he's needed right now. You can't just put him out there 90% of the snaps three games in a row. No, you can't. Yeah, what we doing? Yeah, all right. If he was Jerome Betis, you wouldn't know, right? I'm out there that much. Just the nature of the position and the grind of the season. And it's still relatively early.

31:56Like we're still in the front half of the season. Yeah, yeah, you don't want to beat him up to you don't want to beat him up too bad. And again, you add the add the weather element in there too. This would certainly certainly be a good week to get Rico Dattled back in the mix. So that's what we know now from the Steelers standpoint kind of finalized heading into no real shockers. No shockers. I mean, if Ramsey wouldn't go, I'd be a little shocked, you know, other than that though. I mean, I was hoping for maybe some better news on Jamel Dean, but I wasn't expecting it. And so that's the hand that the Steelers have been dealt and we'll have to play with on Sunday. And of course, Harmon's not in the mix either. That's no harm in no Elliott. Yeah, it's it's certainly not the defense that we thought we'd be looking at week five here when we were back in Latrobe. So real quick, I actually retweeted it. I'm not going to dig it up, but Warren Sharp put out Steelers snaps against the run even this year without Harmon. That's a great. I mean, we know last year those splits were really noticeable. This is a week you'd really like to have him with the potential for weather and Jonathan Taylor

32:57and ground game. And this was a week one Matt stats thing. So I don't exactly remember the exact numbers, but basically last year the games Elliott missed were when the Steelers had their biggest rushing yards allowed, you know, so those two might not be TJ Wattenham Hayward, but in terms of stopping the run and this matchup would have been really useful. And lastly, I also think Elliott's brain and leadership on the back end would be really good with all these new corners and all the change to just a stabilizing force back there. So been nice to have one or both of those guys. Here's the tweet you referenced from Warren Sharp. Yeah, yeah, losing Derek Harmon, the Steelers have faced 52 runs against a running back 5.1 yards per carry 10 plus yard runs on 15% of the so explosive runs of 15% of the carries that would be the highest explosive run rate in the NFL if translated over a full season. And of course, up next is Jonathan Taylor, right?

33:58To explosive runs or specialty. He ain't be John Robinson or Jamir Gibbs, but he might be third. Probably in that next year. Yeah, he might be third. He certainly certainly might be. So Matt, that's kind of the challenge a part of the challenge facing the Steelers Sunday afternoon. Our buddy Chris Hallock did a really good write up on three. I'm glad you did that. Yeah, I wanted to get to this yesterday, but honestly, I think we just we just had too much going on. It's always weird, Matt, when you have those weeks, like we had last week Steelers didn't play on Sunday. So we're like, we've got more content to fill this week because we're not going to spend all Monday reacting to, yeah, yeah, right. We did that Friday. Yeah. With that sometimes, it's like you you save so much for we're going to need this. We're going to need this. We're going to need this that you end up having never using it. He end up having more stuff than you thought you would. So I wanted to make sure to get into this because Hallock basically and I try to get him on the show this week. We just couldn't make it work timing wise, but hopefully we can get him on next week. I'm actually doing a podcast with him at six o'clock today. Nice. Yeah, yeah. Tell him I said hello. Yes. Three things that he basically highlighted in

35:03unearthed some numbers behind of areas that he thinks the Steelers can kind of some of them improve and have a lot of success doing so and some things that they're doing well right now that they just need to hang their hat on and make more of a calling card. I've had these conversations with him a few times. Not like I'm like taking credit for it or anything, but he nailed it. He did a really good job. He also sent me an article I haven't read yet about. He did a real deep dive on the Porter situation. And Chris and I do every Friday, we do a quick podcast, a half hour stop by if you want. And he really laid it out in that podcast better than anyone I've heard. I mean, there's some things that he mentioned that I didn't know like Porter basically had two different agents, which really complicated some of the conversations. You know, so some of the beat reporter stuff, Chris does that I'm not going on earth is really valuable, you know, absolutely. He's one of the people that we referenced the real boots on the ground journalists around the team. The one of the things that he highlighted that kind of piggybacked off of what we were just talking about with Jalen Warren and Rico Dotto is to do more of what's

36:07working. The easy answer to that is the feed Jalen Warren as much as possible four games into the season. That's certainly one thing that works. Yeah. Brian Angelico said this. I mean, I think you can make a very strong argument. He's your best skill guy. And I've actually thought that since he's been here all of us. You've been in front for a long time. Brian Angelico said this week, you've got to find time to get him. So you keep him for you've got to find time the times, you know, kind of to use him so you could keep him fresh. It's a long season. We know that, but he's a tough guy and he wants to be in there. So, you know, beyond kind of turning him into the bell cow that we've seen another area that they could, you know, continue to utilize him is playing more from under center and playing with more heavy tight end sets. We all know we've discussed Chris kind of, you know, lines out how successful the Steelers have been went under center. Second, second best EPA rate in the entire National Football League. And of course, the success when doing that and running play action, having some of the best passing numbers in the league. And so that's something that we've

37:11discussed is, you know, Jalen Warren's success, maybe upping those numbers in that target share a little bit in the process. Yeah. And I don't have a whole lot to add to it. That's something that he's just, you know, he's reiterating things that we've brought up all week that you hope on a long week that not only they recognize, see this is kind of a funny thing too. Like you can recognize it, but then you got to implement it on game day two. I mean, the heat of the battle and it's certain eight and like, well, let's go to shotgun. Well, we're not, yeah, it's easy to have the plan. It's sticking with it is not always the same too. I don't want for feeding Warren. I'm all for running the ball more. I'm all for going under center and using more play action, especially out from under center. Let's see if it happens because I think it's, it's, it's last note, not to disrupt anything that he said or that we've said all along, it's still kind of small sample size. You know, like, you can't just be like, well, that'll fix everything. Well, average eight yards of play if we just go under center. Well, that's not going to fix everything. Yeah, exactly. They

38:16haven't done a lot of it, but that doesn't mean you're going to be the best in the second best offence of league if you just go under center. No doubt. It's a bigger fix than that. It's a, it's a bouncing act. Maybe if you do this a little bit more often, it'll help opening up things for you in these other avenues. Yeah, it's like playing poker and playing probabilities, you know, like I'm going to up my chances of, you know, and just because you have Steph Curry, doesn't mean that you don't attack the basket for layups and easier looks. Right, right. You still like the down. Curry shoot more than those guys, but you still got to work the ball inside and get some easier looks. Yeah, or if you've shackied, you've done over three shoot a three pointer, you know, right. Yeah. The Matt, the other two things that he outlines or areas where the Steelers must get better. Both I don't think we'll surprise our listeners, but there's some some good numbers behind it. The first is to beat the man across from you. The Steelers wide receivers have not been great at winning against man coverage. The Steelers best receiver against man coverage has been Roman Wilson winning 27 and a half percent of his routes. That ranks 25th amongst the 72 receivers that have run enough routes to qualify for these rankings. That's just first man folks. Yes. DK Metcalf 25% win rate.

39:21That puts him at 32nd in the league. Jeremy Bernard 12 and 12.2% which puts him 66th in the league. You just need a little bit more from those guys. Yeah. I don't know if he mentions pitman. He mentions pitman. I bet he's 64th in the world. So it's a pretty low. I mean, that certainly has not been especially. No, you do because you're just going to get more and more and more man and the Colts want to play a lot of man. I mean, even teams that don't are going to play man heavily against you. I think the Steelers are facing the number one percentage of man coverage and it probably is only going to go up until you can beat it. Yes. Yes. And then the last one, Matt is to just make some tackles on defense. Yes, become a problem. The Steelers are credited with 17 missed tackles just against the browns alone. I think we talked about this on Monday or Tuesday, but credited with 17 missed tackles against Cleveland for a total of 108 yards. That's done. That's a massive. Yes. And then when you're not going to make every tackle, of course, but you know, when you factor in some of the special teams

40:21that we talked about too. I mean, that's close. That could be close to 200 yards. I don't want to say you're just giving away. Right. But that you could certainly tighten up. You could definitely tighten up. Right. That's a good way of putting it. Yes. You're not going to make every tackle. You know, but you know, that that numbers that were going to be zero. Overall, next gen stats have the Steelers defense accounting for 39 missed tackles on the season. That's fourth most in the National Football League. On those plays, the Steelers opposition gains an average of 11.3 yards per play when the Steelers don't miss tackles that number drops to just 4.7 yards per play. Right. Again, that's a correctable problem. A very correctable problem. And that's not just a correctable problem that would have a a a minor and incremental gain for you. It's a correctable problem that would make a ton of difference. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, especially, I mean, think about if you're missing a tackle on the second or third level, that's a lot of steps that ball carrier has taken before the next guy gets to and getting back to Matt. Another thing

41:23that we just kind of referenced, a guy like the Sean Elliott was really sure handed in that regard. And I think I think you can draw a draw a direct parallel to some of those numbers in the fact that he hasn't been out there. And I'm not killing Briskler, but in terms of reliability tackling Elliott and Briskler on the other sides of the spectrum too. Queen's been a constant all along. It's never going to be his specialty. Wilson misses share tackles. Samuel's not known as a tackler. You know, I mean, he's a certain type of corner, but it's not a big physical take on ball carrier type of corner. You know, so there are some culprits. There certainly are. There certainly are. So I just wanted to highlight that because I thought that was laid out well by Halleckin. It is. And he's a he's a friend of the program here. Certainly that everybody knows Matt just across the timeline here too. We have the injury report now for the Indianapolis cults as well. Okay. Out of Sunday's contest in Pittsburgh, wide receiver Austin Doolan has been ruled out linebacker. Jaylin, I believe it's Carlisles. Is that how he pronounces his last name? I think so.

42:25Has been ruled out tight end will Mallory has been ruled out and defensive end Arden Kee has been ruled out those. Okay. Keys are one that plays the most of that group. Yeah. He's kind of a bigger base end, but they have a decent rotation at that position. Oh, no, that's not too bad. Not too bad. Yeah. Three guys listed as questionable though for the cults. Darius Slayton, Keenan Allen, and Chavarius Ward. Okay. Ward is starting corner off the sauce. Yeah. It's a good player. So it's it's more so they've got some issues with their wide receiver depth in some of those and three of those guys being out or question and pierces on IR. Tiers is on IR. They're they're hurt outside is down. That's why they signed Allen because they were and really thin there. Man, if you want to talk about things not going your way, if this turns into a muck and grind fight in a phone booth type game, wide receiver absences for the cults wouldn't loom quite as long. Man, I might not hurt him. It's bad. The weaknesses might not be as weak. Yes. Correct. The forest Buckner was added today,

43:25but that is apparently just for rest rest. That was a different story. No, that would be a very, very different story, but some real some real hits there to the Indianapolis cults wide receiver room. Obviously some some big hits for the Steelers, namely on the defensive side of the football. That is all the latest on the injury front for both of these teams as we look ahead to Sunday hour in the books, Matt, another hour to go. You know what that means when we return on the other side, it'll be time for a little five star Friday. We'll take a look at some individual matchups that are going to be key in Sunday's contest between the Steelers and the cults all that more an hour number two when we return. West Euler Matt Williamson. It's the drive Steelers Nation Radio on the Steelers Audio Network. And now a word from our sponsor Bud Light. There's nothing better than the clean crisp. There's nothing better than the clean crisp. What if we just got out of here

44:26and grab some Bud lights? The man we're on air for four more hours. They'll figure it out. Sounds good to me. Anything for the clean crisp taste of Bud Light. Stock up now. Bud Light. Easy to drink, easy to enjoy. Enjoy responsibly, copyright 2026 and has a bush Bud Light beer St. Louis Misery. I used to have cable internet but I'm a 100% kind of fan. So I switched to Verizon files. It's 100% fiber internet that's super reliable. So I streamed 100% at the NFL draft live with ultra low lag. And after what went down in the first round, still getting video calls from my best friend rubbing it in that he called all the pics. I told you they were building their old line. I went to bed. Get 100% fiber internet with Verizon files because when it comes to your team it's 100% or nothing. Call 1-3-3 Verizon to switch today. Get that hot dog, I'm ready. So who's up for dessert? Ah, tempting but I should check my balance first. Don't worry, I got it. No, I'll good. Desserts on me. Ever hesitate before making a purchase? What if you could always know?

45:27You can with S&T's mobile banking. Check your balance, pay friends on the spot, track your spending anytime, anywhere, all from your phone. Visit STBank.com to learn more and download our mobile app today. S&T Bank, member of FTIC.