Drive9.24.26Hr1: Matt's Stats Hour

0:00So we heard Amanda is off to school? Yeah, big step. More independent. She's not going to call every week asking for more money for books, is she? With smart start banking from S&T Bank, she gets budgeting tools, scholarship opportunities, and can send money using Zell. Wow. I guess college is about getting smarter, right? Give them financial independence and yourself peace of mind. Stop by your local branch. Call 835-2265 or visit STbank.com to send money with Zell. Both parties must have an eligible checking or savings account, terms and conditions apply. S&T Bank, member FDIC. Good afternoon, Steeler Nation.

1:06It's the drive on the Steelers Audio Network, West fueler Matt Williamson with you here for the next two hours on this Thursday. As today is the day, we turn the page, we burn the boats, New England is behind us, and we are fully focused on a big one Sunday, one o'clock, first AFC North game against the high flying Cincinnati bungles. What was that famous Bella Check press conference on the Cincinnati or on the Cincinnati or on the Cincinnati? I think he made that that was always kind of the thing, wasn't it? I think so. Because it was the Bengals, I think, too. It was like we're on the Cincinnati, we're on the Cincinnati. I think that was the one. And then he started making it a normal thing. Yeah. He'd be like, whoever the next opponent was on the Pittsburgh, we're on the New York, we're on the Miami. And you have to have that mindset. I mean, it got to be kind of like a meme with him or whatever, but you have to have that mindset. I mean, kind of a move on. Sometimes the best kind of cliches are the most obvious ones, you know? Oh, yeah. Kind of stereotypical stuff sometimes is just quite simply. That's the message that you need to get through to your team. We're on the Cincinnati. And we are certainly on to Cincinnati.

2:07Matt, we've got a bunch of stats to get into today. It's week three. They're not going to make you feel a lot warm and fuzzy about this game. All right. I'm just telling you, since he stats are a lot better than Steelers right now. Well, since Steelers, these are pretty good. Really good. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So, I really are. The Steelers have their issues through two games so far, but all it takes is 60 minutes on Sunday to get that moving in a different direction. Matt, I'll start with one that jumped out to me. Matt stats. I do believe it's up on Steelers.com. It is. I say that every week like I can't just go to Steelers.com real quick and check. It's right in front of me. I send it. I always send it to Brian Batco. It like eight or nine at night on Wednesdays. It's due. And I always wake up the next morning and there's a little tweet saying, here's Matt stats from Brian Batco. So, it's all, if you were looking for Thursday morning, you'll find it. Steelers.com. If you want it for your own, Matt always just sends me kind of the, uh, on a bridge version. Yeah. On a bridge, raw Microsoft Word document.

3:09And there's always, there's always a lot to chew on and ponder in there. And Matt, as you mentioned, there's some good with the Steelers. There's some bad with the Steelers. There's a lot of good for the Bengals through their first two games. Yeah. Here's one though that I think this is the jumping off point. This is the starting point for today. The Bengals give up the most receiving yards per game and the most receptions per game so far in this 2026 season of any team, any defense to the tight end position. I think this is very relevant. You know, like I, I knew that they were in that department when we started this conversation Monday, Tuesday, but I remember you brought it up and you beat me to it. You know, like I want to see more. Firemuth has five targets in each game. Washington has two targets in each game. It doesn't sound bad, but the receiver stuff's not going great. Let's focus to these two a little more. I mean, I think there's, I don't actually only think there's an argument against it. At right now, I think the tight end room is the strongest one on offense.

4:14I mean, as currently constructed, maybe one day that'll be the quarterback room. The way Metcalf played lately, I don't think you could say that. Get them all your best players. So the Bengals, their defensive front is exceptional now, mostly almost all from the guys that weren't there last year. Last year. Lies taking a weakness and turning into a strength. Last year's linebackers were both rookies and I thought they were the worst linebackers in the league. Really poor tacklers. As is often the case with rookie linebackers easy to manipulate. I mean, it's a really hard position to play early in your career. You and I have talked about that, but the game brain stuff for a year for an off. You're a quarterback in the defense. You're sort of putting conflict all the time, emotion. I think one step up and play action that got me. I mean, like it's a really hard. You know, all these grown men quarterback. No, these grown men offensive coordinators who are just throwing a million things at you every 30 seconds. Crossing route in front of me and behind me, which one or a go and happens in two seconds. Everything happens quick and tackling Bajon and Henry is an easy either.

5:16And then a guard comes up and smacks me in the face who's three or 10 pounds with four kids at home and 20 million in the bank. You know, God, here's Brock Bowers. I got to run with this guy. Right, right. Or man, now I got slot responsibilities against this vertical guy that I got to run with. It's really hard. It's actually one of the most difficult positions to transition from college to pro. It is on defense to me for sure. But anyway, they were really bad. Like I thought they were the worst set of linebackers in the league. I think they've played a little better through two games and having big decks in front of them keeps people off them. And he has such a ripple effect and such a gravitational pull for the whole defense that is extremely important. But they still can be had because last year. And I think years before, but definitely last year, the Bengals were by far the worst team league against Titans. So this just didn't pop up because oh, two game sample size. And that's. Yeah. I wanted to mention that too, actually, when I kind of started this and I forgot you reminded me.

6:17Stats is you and I laid out for the first two weeks. The beginning of the season, the month of September, it's always a little, it's not a little. It's very grain of salt. Yes. Because sometimes you're going off the previous year, like the Steelers this year. And there's been wholesale changes to the staff and heavily to the roster. Yeah. If not, you're going off of one or two games and it's still a relatively small sample size. But I think you can pull more from Cincinnati here because question this department. They're the most, they're the most static team in the division in terms of coaching staff. And what they did last year will still continue to look somewhat like. Same coordinators, same linebackers, same. Yes. They did sign a state. But still it's still the spine of the defense on the second and third levels. And it's not just like all the sudden Cincinnati struggled with tight ends through two games. And but something. And they played against the two best tight ends. I'll leave you or something. You know, right. This goes back to last couple of years that they've struggled against tight ends. Heck, we've seen Pat Fryer move. If you were to list the best games of his career, I bet you're most of them are against the Cincinnati Bengals. They are.

7:17Right. So this is, this is, but he's not unique in abusing the Bengals. This is a long time trend, not just two week trend. Absolutely. So I told you this when we started the season, Matt Stats is tricky for me to try to paint the correct pictures early in the season. Because frankly, nobody cares about last year anymore. They do a week one. Yeah. And after that, I mean, rarely do I bring up anything from last year. And like, there's a stat out there that I almost put in, but didn't. And not because I didn't want the Steelers to look bad, but there's a metric of the Steelers through two games have given up quite a bit of yardage to receivers aligned outside the numbers. That have been really good against slots. Okay. Okay. Fine. But it's all because the dogs play. I mean, it's just what I mean, we were 69 yarder to dogs who was outside. And it's like, that's really one play. And at this point, one play, excuse me. So much. Right. And like the Steelers are particularly, quote, bad against receiving backs. Well, because B. John was a madman in LA.

8:19I mean, like 80 some yards. Right. If we're B. John friggin' rather. Right. If we're eight games in and this is a huge trend, I'm going to put it at the top of the list. You know, that's the matters. But yeah, B. John does it to everybody. So some of it you do have to take with the grain of salt, but this you don't. The sniff test, not only that, the Bengals missed the most tackles in the league last year. That's a linebacker and say that to you know, I mean, that's just what it is. But the middle of the field is by far, to me, the weakest part of their entire roster. And by no means. So I think it's fixed. That to me is where the Steelers offense has to make its bones on Sunday afternoon. They've been very wide receiver centric. Somewhere in the stat I mentioned, you know, where the targets have gone. And they've gone to wide receivers. I mean, running backs and tight ends account for X percentage, but it's not super high. Most of the targets in this offense, which is a lot different than last year. Running backs got a lot of targets last year. Merle will catch his gain well ahead.

9:20Yeah. Yeah. Right or wrong, but it's not working. You know, you have a high percentage of stuff going towards the receivers. It's not working all that well through two games. And you see the weakness that the Bengals provide for you are the opportunity. And you know, Friar, Moose and Washington are good players. Let's give them a ball. All right. This to me feels like, and again, you can pull from the past because we've seen it just last year. Moose had a outstanding showing against the Bengals. Yeah. The year before that, he had an outstanding showing against the Bengals. Those are with different quarterbacks. Right. And he was still able to do that against these guys. And you're right. I know you tweeted that last night. You tweeted, I'd like to see a real emphasis. On getting Mooth, Washington and Warren, the ball versus Cincinnati. I think that's not a huge knock on the receivers, but a little bit, you know, it's one of those things. Though it's like a, it's like a play it as it lies. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. If you were going up against a team that has really good linebackers and really good defensive front, but their corners stink, we'd be like, it's time to get DK moving.

10:21Yeah. And this is the game. Yeah. You're right. Right. Right. But this is, and I think Warren's been their best skill guy thus far this year. And it looks like Dowdler was banged up. And you know, so that's why I included him. You do a good job of laying this out from time to time, but how Jaylen Warren continues to feel even in weeks where he gets like 20 touches continues to feel under utilized year after year. Yeah. Kind of underappreciated and undervalued year after year. He does a lot on his own. I, and this again, it's very easy. It's very easy to be like, how you want to get this offense going? You got to hit some big plays with DK. You got to get Michael Pittman back out there. You know what I mean, Aaron Rogers needs to, needs to stand firm and deliver. But I tell you what, man, I think move. Let's baby step it here. Let's baby step it here. I think move. I get 50 orders of DK all day long. Like, wow, good luck doing that. I mean, you're O for nine on deep balls already, you know, and sometimes when it's like tight, we're going to, we're going to lean on our tight and we're going to lean on our running back. You get that kind of notion in the back of your mind of, okay, well, what are we going to have to dink and dunk in 11 and 12 play drives to score touchdowns?

11:24I don't think it has to be that. Like we've seen, we've seen a lot of big hands. To move down the seam against this team. We talk about explosives out the wazoo and coach McCarthy's brought up a lot. We don't want to be a dink and dunk offense. And there was too much of that last year. Don't get me wrong. But at this point, when you can't put the ball in the hoop, give me any layup I can get. I'll take a layup. Yeah. Right. Right. I don't need to hit the three from half court. Like I'm Stefan Curry or a wembee, you know, high degree of difficulty or Jordan Duncan from the foul line. Just get the ball in the hoop. Anyway, you can't. I need an Alexander Ovechkin 100 mile an hour slap shot at the top corner. Just sometimes I know I'm a greasy rebound. Muck it up. You know, right. Yeah, you get on the rebound and some big guy hits off his skate and goes in. Cool. Let's get something going. Right. Yeah. Yeah. You get an error to get on first base. Fine. I got on first base. You know, it doesn't have to be gorgeous at this point. So this is going to a good. Have you seen the movie Moneyball? Oh, yeah. Many times where I like and by the, I think it's one of the great sports movies.

12:25And so on and that covers, but the scene where like Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill, they're trying to convince all the scouts. This is how we're going to be analytically driven. This is how we're going to do. We're not selling jeans here. Yeah. And the Brad Pitt's like, we want Matt Williamson, this first basement. And they're like, yeah, well, he's old and he doesn't feel any bad. And he only hit to him runs last year and he's got no power left in his game. Why do you want this guy? Brad Pitt points to Jonah Hill and Jonah Hill goes, because he gets on base. That's the only answer. Just trying to get on base. Right. I can afford dudes to get on base. I can't afford Gianbi. Yeah. Yeah. And the Steelers aren't that bad off. We're not talking about the worst franchise in the league. It doesn't have any money. But the offense is about the worst in the league right now. Let's just get on base anyway you possibly can. If that's a screen pass to Warren and he gets you six on first sound, great. And this is the team. This is the defense to do it against it is. Yes. I mean, those linebackers guarding Warren. That's the advantage to Warren. I'm driving fire. Moody. Even if it's just a little sit route on first and 10 for five yards over the middle to

13:27door now and then he drags the guy for two more yards. Yep. All the stars second and three. That's a win. I'm not being critical of their play calling, but so many of their series this year have started have gone exactly like this. Right now they're 27th in first down yards per play. Okay. So most times it's second and long. What have they been doing on second and long? They've been running the ball, which analytically doesn't make a ton of sense, but it gets them to third and manageable often. So everyone knows their third down offense has been very poor. Five of 25 on third down on third down. See your last or missing the bottom couple. Well, obviously, but it's not because it's there in third and long. They get the I mean, I think there's only nine teams that have a shorter distance to go on third down. So they've been ahead of the sticks or at least on schedule. Yes, but you get down to one chance at it.

14:28So first downs have been bad. They make up for it for digging out of that hole by running on second and long. Thus you get to like third and five, which is better than most distances people have. But what they've been doing on third downs is throwing really deep, which is also not a high percentage play. So too often that has been the sequence. So everything needs to be evaluated with this offense, including all the above. Now not every one to three downs go that way. But if you wrote the most typical first, second, third down, that's how it goes. They throw a deep all that's, you know, a low percentage play and they haven't caught any of them, you know, and some have been dropped. Some have been, you know, there's other reasons behind it. But you might have to change that way of thinking, you know, just get me six yards on first down. However, I can get it. You know what I mean? And that kind of gets back to Matt yesterday when we did that, that best of the West reasons for optimism.

15:28I got, I got to think Mike McCarthy is going to put that stuff to wear that stuff. Yes. Yes. You know, through week one at times to maybe that's what Rogers was implying about. I need to tell him better. You know, it sounded kind of cocky the way he said it. But maybe that's a good way of just saying we need to communicate better of where we can, you know, not to the plays are wrong. It's just we're doing the same kind of thing over and over. You know what I mean? I didn't describe that the way I wanted it. But you know, I, I, you know, too often in, in, you know, against Atlanta, maybe two plus two was five. Mm-hmm. And then against the Patriots, two plus two was three. Yeah, yeah. Where are we really? Pretty soon, it's, they're going to find four, you know, and I just, I think there's too much between McCarthy and Aaron Rogers. There's way too much offensive knowledge and acumen for it to, and I'm, I said this yesterday. That doesn't mean that I suddenly think they're going to be a top ten or a top 12 offense in the NFL. Right. But there's too much pedigree there. There's too much knowledge. There's too much history for it to not improve. And those two men will forget more football than I'll ever know.

16:30No doubt. They're, I mean, they're phenomenal. But I also wonder they've both been setting their ways. They both been doing it a long time is, and we'll never know the answer to this is Rogers coming to the line on second and long and seeing a lighter box. So the sea hands it off. And the defensive coordinator might be like, thanks. Thanks. Yeah, okay. You kind of, I'd rather you threw, I'd rather you did that than throw an outrout that maybe three or four yards here. Yeah, burn it down. Yeah, 22 yard pass and we'll tackle the run. Yeah. And then on third and short, is he saying, you know, they pepper in him saying, oh, we'll give you the over the top shot. But your protection hasn't been that good. You're not so great at buying time. You just want to run. Your number one receiver's going against Gonzalez. Yeah. We want you to throw it over the top because I don't like your chances of converting on it. You know, I mean, sometimes these guys that they're been doing it so well so long, they have their rules in their head. I come to line. I get light box. So I'm going to run, you know, like, but sometimes you got a zag.

17:31Sometimes you got a zig. Sometimes you got a Zach. Yeah. Matt, the exact number, Steelers average distance to go on third down, six point seven yards. That sounds like a time, but it's a lot. It's 10th best in the league. Yeah. Yeah. Only nine offences are better. So that's great. That's great. I'll take 10th best in the league for everything on offense across the board. I think we've had this conversation, but I haven't brought up on the air in a while. And I'm sure we have thousands of new followers. One of the things I always check in the box score at the half or during the game or after the game isn't always third down percentage. It's the denominator. Okay. You got the third down too often. Did things happen on third down? Sure. Teams lead the league in third down conversion rate with like 50%. That's not good enough. Now it's changing a little because more people are going for them fourth. So a lot of teams, the lions will look at third and fourth and be like third and fourth and be like, we're going to run it here because I know I'm going for it after this. And if we get three yards and it's fourth and inches, great. Move that's what we wanted. Yeah. You know, right. That's a very manageable situation.

18:32But a lot of times I'll look at like any box score and be like, man, they snapped the ball on third downs, 22 times. That's not good. That's when all the exotic blitzes happen. That's when TJ Watts catching, you know, swatten balls and bad thing. You know, Dickelbo wants you in third down. You know what I mean? Like don't do what the defensive coordinators want. You can really down success. You move the sticks on second down. You're allowed. Yeah. You're allowed early down success rate is a direct component to winning football game. Don't get the third down. You're only going to get what 10 or 11 drives a game. Yeah. Getting the third downs, a losing proposition. More often than not, you don't convert. If you, it per dry, that's when quarterbacks get hit. That's when bad things happen. Per drive. If you're getting to a third down more than once, you're probably not going to have a great chance to put up points. That's just a wonder and it probably wouldn't be that hard to figure it out. What percentage of sacs, negative plays, interceptions happen on first down, second down, third

19:33down. I guarantee you over 50% of them on third down. Absolutely. They're good things for the defense. Absolutely. That's well said. That's very well said. All right. We found it. Folks, that's the game plan for Sunday. Mooth, Matt Warsh, Jaylin Warren, stay on the change. Stay ahead of the change. Not as many third downs as we've seen through the first two weeks. We have got plenty more to get to from Matt's stats packet here on this Thursday as we kind of begin our early scout. Although, as I say that out loud, that's kind of, is it really an early scout if it's Thursday? No, no. We're just scouting out. We are on to Cincinnati. Absolutely. We'll continue to get into some of these numbers, some of the things that are going to determine the outcome of Steelers and Bengals at Acresure Stadium this weekend. Just getting started on this Thursday, West Jouler, 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 Chris.

20:35What if we just got out of here and grab some Bud Lights? 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 Heiser Bush, Bud Light, beer, St. Louis, Missouri. I used to have cable in the net, but I'm a 100% kind of fan. So I switched to Verizon Files. It's 100% fiber in the net 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 pigs. I told you they were building their own line. I win the bet. Get 100% fiber internet with Verizon Files 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.

21:58I know I say this from time to time, man, but I think that's my favorite return bet that we have there. Yeah, you turned it up. A little bluesy, jazzy, guitar reminds me of some Stevie Ray Vaughan action down there. I definitely miss having real songs. I do too. But that's a good one. That's not too bad. Yeah, it's not bad. There would be some good, I'm sure we could have found some good music to tee up Matt Stats every single week. We'd have to go with like rush, like some nerdy math room. Yeah, yeah. Rolling along here on the drive. It is Thursday. You know what that means? It means we're scouting the bangles. We're scouting the Steelers. We take a look at our neighbors landscaping. We assess our own situation. We blend those things in conversation together. Matt Stats, of course, also always available at Steelers.com.

22:59Matt, this kind of piggybacks off of what we were just talking about and staying ahead of the sticks and keeping drives going and even avoiding third downs as much as possible. The Steelers, I know you love this, this metric. The Steelers turn a set of downs into a new set of downs or points, 57% of the time. That's second lowest, second lowest in the NFL. The good news is the Steelers defense is best in the league. The Steelers defense is the number one defense in terms of not allowing teams to get a new set of downs or put points on the board. Yeah. And I don't think that surprises us from what we've seen from that. You know through the first two games. But offense 31st, defense number one, Matt, this all again works in concert together. It's all the ecosystem of football that we talk about all the time, but staying ahead of these downs, more success on first down, more success on second down. It's just, it's going to make life so much easier on this offense if they can start doing that on Sunday.

24:00It is. And all the things we talked about in the first segment, which was a beefy one and this one, that's easy. You know, like again, I always talk about like someone comes to the doctor and says, I got these symptoms. Well, the doctor needs to figure out how to do it. And that's not our department. You know, like we're kind of just evaluating strengths, weaknesses. This is going wrong. Let's consider changing it. But they, in the walls have to be like, we run outside zone better than any of our runs. We need to run that 50% of the time more. You know what I mean? Those are the things we don't know. We're telling them the things that's wrong. We're not telling them how to fix it. Okay. You know what I mean? You're right. We're saying you got to runny nose, you're throat scratch. Right. You're going to head ache. There needs to be the diagnosis of here's the sinus infection. Yeah. Oh, you don't have a common cold. You have something much worse. Right. Oh, no. Right. Yeah. And maybe part of that then Matt, let's piggyback off here.

25:00And this was something I think you and I touched on last week, I want to say, I think it was Bill Barnwell from ESPN who wrote a kind of very informative dossier on how the league has, we all know this too about football. It's cyclical. Mm-hmm. Oh, yeah. And then we have a formation to spread everybody out to back into the power of what we just spread. Everybody, everything rotates and defenses react and then offense is change and then defenses react. But one of the things we talked about briefly last week was a trend around the NFL of so much more under center usage where it used to weigh more like a week one was like 50% more than last year's week one, let alone 10 years. Rastic uptick to start this season and some of the reasons why more things that you can do in terms of pre snap motion, more things that you can do in the play action game. The Steelers have been under center 24th most in the league. So it's low. So it's low. When the Steelers are under center, they're averaging nearly 4.8 yards per play though. That's really good.

26:01So they're not doing a ton of it, but they are having success when they do it. Mm-hmm. Now, vice versa, other side of the equation, the Steelers are in shotgun. As you can imagine, if they're one of the lowest in under center, they're one of the highest in shotgun. Yeah. The highest shotgun rate in the league so far this year, they average just 3.2 yards, almost 3.3 if I'm going to round up from shotgun. So you're doing a lot of shotgun. It's a yard and a half different. You're getting every snap every every time you're lining up in shotgun on average, every snap is a yard and a half less than when you're under center. Maybe that's the doctor saying, Hey, you know, we're going to do to get you right. We're going to line up under center. Yeah. Now we have two games. So like these trends are easy to talk about on Thursday after the second game. That doesn't mean the third quarter of game two. You're like, I know these things already. You know, we got to do here is we got to go under center because then we're going to start getting because our percentages are going to have four yards. Just because it worked better against the Falcon doesn't mean it's always going to work better and a couple things like and this probably goes without saying, but I do like to mention when we start getting heavy in the stats, like for example, play action is better

27:06in the passing game than not play action across the league for years. But that doesn't mean you should do it 100% of the time. Yeah. I just run play action for every time I throw the ball. That doesn't mean it's going to work that way. You know what I mean? But this doesn't mean now that the Steelers should just exclusively operate under center. And that we're taking other shock and snap. That's my point. And they'll just average yard and a half more for them now until eternity. And they'll say, they're the sticks and they'll score a lot more points. So we can apply this to Rogers, but this trend crossing the league of going more under center is a little easier said than done. And actually the Bengals are the best example ever because burrow doesn't want to and they've tried it and that's all if we've since that reporter who's like all we've talked about a lot of things going under center and they did do more of it in the first couple weeks and it's clunky and I think burrows like let's just do what we've done. He's a shot guy. It's worked pretty well guys. Can we just stick with it? Yes. Like it wouldn't shock me if they scrapped that in like two weeks since an ad because their offense has been great without it.

28:07But anyway. So some of the hurdles of the league going under center more, you watch college football, not least quarterbacks of everything about it. I mean, very few are absolutely right. And there's an art to it. I'd love to know how often turned that shameless is lining up under. Right. And it's not as easy as it looks. We're going third and inches and that's about it. Taking the snaps not hard. They can do that part. But the timing of your footwork, the three step journey, your back defense, that's the key is the reason these guys started in the shotgun so much is, well, it's a little longer for someone to come get us defensive linemen, better and offensive linemen. But I never take my eyes off the defense. Believe it or not, folks, when you turn to play those 11 guys on defense that are all trying to take your head off. They're not in the same spot. You remember that was something Ben talked about one time. Yeah. Yeah. Was like he was asked in a, I don't know if it was an interview or, you know, like a player show type thing, but he had literally had a comment that was like, you know, like,

29:08yeah, we can use more play action. But when I turn my back and when it's, when it's, when it's, when it's, it's there and then I turn my back and he's over there. Yeah. That's a challenge. Yeah. It's a challenge, right? And you have to get good at that. If you don't pick it up as well, then when I see Matt scared here and then a second and a half later, he's there. Yeah. So this also applies to Rogers at his age. Like Peyton Manning, Layton Life just doesn't get from point A, the snap under center to an outside zone handoff, fast enough. I mean, think this league happened so fast. You wouldn't think it would hurt your running game being under center, but he was so slow. And if he was sitting there, I think you'd tell you, he's like, I couldn't get the snap and get to that long handoff fast enough for Edger and James who's flying over here. Sure. I don't need him to bounce it outside. I can't get his reads. I can't be stopping my feet as a running back waiting on my old man quarterback. You know, you have to have some springiness coming out of center. Boom, boom, boom, boom.

30:09You know, like Montana wasn't the best athlete ever, but he was a ballerina. You know, in three-step drop boom, gone. Great. You know, everything was quick and sharp. So if Rogers no longer can do that, well, that's not great, but you got to paint the bar and red. You know what I mean? You know, like I think definitely Rogers can handle, of course, flipping his head around and recognizing the defense. But what I don't know is, is he comfortable and nimble and explosive enough to get back in his drop far enough, you know, so you're not, you know, screwing up your past protection or screwing up your run game. But the big reason everybody's doing it is because you're getting so many too high safeties and so many takeaway explosive defensive looks. Lighter boxes. Yeah. So they're playing with lighter boxes, but we still need to throw. And there's, and it comes back to manipulating linebackers too. If I can run, play action just works way better under center than it does. No doubt. And that is that's undeniable at this point. It's just you're going to bite more. And if I can get that linebacker just to stop his feet or take one step forward, I'm

31:13thrilled where he used to be. Just give him some bit of water for an extra, for an extra militant. Yes. So collectively, run games have been better under center. I think most running backs would prefer the angles you get with basically an eye type formation as opposed to I have to be to the left or right to the quarterback. It's a little easier for them, you know, linebackers to read where your whole intention, the intention of your whole is you're trying to go, but it definitely helps the passing game. So collectively, under center is working better than shotgun nowadays. But you can't ask your quarterback to something you can't either. And again, that doesn't mean you should never use shotgun either. It doesn't mean over 100% behind center team, but the league is going that way quickly. This is the the marrying of you and I talked about a lot this off season and bringing in a new coaching staff for the first time in basically 20 years, 19 years. Yeah. What do you want to do as an offense? What does your quarterback and your offense of personnel do the best and where do they

32:15struggle? And how do you kind of blend those philosophies to be at your best? And I think that was a huge thing you said yesterday is like, okay, now McCarthy and his staff, and I'm just thinking offense, has two games to really reference this stuff. I'm like, all right, I had this chapter of the playbook that I was kind of excited about. I don't think that's for us, but I'm going to write a little bit more. Or, you know, because this stuff could be really promising or example, this is a really athletic offensive line, especially if they make changes to the right side, then it becomes a very athletic offensive line, offends a much better athlete than Anderson, let alone max. Let's start weaponizing them a little bit more. Maybe we'll get them out on the move a little bit more, pulling these guys, Falton who come in space is a nightmare to deal with it. Okay, now I know those things. I'm going to do a little bit more of it. You know, so everybody's collecting data here, you know, especially when you're a new coaching staff. Yeah. And we talked about that yesterday. Game day is way different than a preseason game or practice. You've got you get a ton of, I mean, not a ton, not as many as they used to get, but

33:18you get a lot of hours on the football field in May and June, many camp OTAs in helmets and shorts and training and all the film work, preseason games and all the film work. And that stuff's important and that stuff gives you a baseline. But nothing teaches you about guys like getting in stadium. Seven against starters, 70,000 people screaming and yelling in your 30 seconds to get a play call in and everything's happening fast and against another team's million really smart defensive coordinator. Who's been studying you to know into and trying to make you do things you don't like to do, you know, in an offensive coordinator who's trying to confuse the crap out of you and be guessing and keep you sub in personnel. And yeah, it's, it's, it's starting to get to that point though where I'm hoping that the, the Steelers are picking those things up and learning about themselves and figuring out how they're going to address their shortcomings. If you get to game five and you're seeing the same errors made over and over and you're just bashing your head against the wall, then it's time to be critical, you know, but like if, if no one's changing or leaning away from the things that aren't working, well,

34:19then that's a problem. Yes. But I mean, now you're kind of learning what works and what doesn't. And unfortunately, more hasn't worked on offense than has. We're going to keep chugging along here, I guess is the term I'm looking for on some of these Matt stats, a few more things that I want to highlight and key kind of notables for the Steelers. And as it relates to the Cincinnati Bengals, Matt, we've also got some, some Joey Porter junior updates as he thought so as he spoke today. So we do obviously need to talk with you, saying, yeah, get into all the latest with JPJ as well. So plenty more ground to cover here when we return for the first hour and for the rest of this show, it is the drive, West Shuler, Matt Williamson, Steelers Nation Radio on the Steelers Audio Network. Now a word from our sponsor, Bud Light. There's nothing better than the clean crisp. There's nothing better than the clean crisp.

35:20What if we just got out of here and 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 Missouri. 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 Robin Gideon 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 Files because when it comes to your team, it's 100% or nothing. Call 1-E3-3 Verizon to switch today. Get that hot dog costume ready. Get it up. Get it up. Get it up. Get it up. Get it up. Get it. Get it up. Get it up. You are tuned to the drive on your 24-7 home of the Black and Gold Steeler's Nation Radio.

36:22Matt, I do want to jump back into your stats because there's a few more really good nuggets and notables and numbers in there. Now gets notables and numbers. Huh. That's some branding. Yeah, yeah. To be a segment. I do want to get back into some of, and I should even say final because we'll probably continue to reference a lot of that stuff tomorrow. But I do want to have some more Matt stats conversation, but we've got some fresh joy porter junior information. Yeah, it's important. And some fresh joy porter junior audio as well too. So not just necessarily speak. This is only the second time. Okay, I could remember knowing. Yeah, because he spoke at the, it was before the Falcons game. So that week, the week of the, because he didn't speak at all during training camp was on the public list. Spoke when he came off the public list and then spoke again this afternoon. So this is only the second time that he is, he has done media availability this season, you know, since the opening of training.

37:22Pretty notable. And obviously today, you know, talking about his back, his health, where he stands, kind of what he obviously expects for this week and this weekend. Here's what Joey Porter, Jr. We're not going to play the entire thing, but here's about, here's about 90 seconds of what Joey, Jr. had to say earlier this afternoon. Your injury step on the report has said back at some points at other points conditioning. Yesterday I was listed as conditioning. How do you, how does your back feel and kind of is it just conditioning right now that's that's keeping you from being on the Falcons and this. Well, both, you know, my back time is moments where I play rough in there. And you know, we still just trying to get my conditioning down and just need being out there as much as possible. So it's really just both. You feel like what you have enough conditioning at this point play Sunday? I don't know. We still got two more days to practice. So I mean, we could figure that out sooner and then in a week. I just know I did everything today and it went smooth. So we're going to keep working. Can we support the team out there? You were seeking a second opinion.

38:24Did you get that second opinion and what was the result of that? I don't know where that came from. Did you, you're crossing the trade? No, I didn't. Did somebody say that? I'm just asking. I think I would hit the media. I did that. Joey's been for the last time we talked to you at the deadline. For negotiating contracts, he's kind of coming. Gone. What was your emotion as that kind of came through and the extension didn't get done? It didn't get done. It didn't happen. That's that's really just old news for me now. It's mainly just focus on what I got ahead of me and it's really just getting back to 100% doing. Do you feel like you're playing? Do you still playing at some point? Yeah, definitely. Do you feel like your relationship with the team has been strange? Do you feel this problem? No, I mean, I love all my guys and my guys love me too. I love you, Joey. My guy. I was trying to look to see who that was in the background there. I'm not 100% positive given a, given Joey some love there at the, at the very end, one of his teammates walking by. But there, let's start there real quick because I'm not in the locker room.

39:26I want there every day, but I definitely get the feeling that his teammates understand his situation and are not against him. You know, I mean, like he didn't become unpopular. I can't remember a time it's happened in Steelers history, but often the dude started looking around, especially after a loss. Like we need you on the field left belt. Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly like I, I remember that was that was we should be buds and teammates and now I need you out there. You know, right? That was my first year in this role, man. And I remember all throughout training camp in the preseason, everyone was all the entire locker rooms on left. That's awesome. Best running back in the league. And then right about this point, about week three, week four, it turned real quick into like, dude, we need you out there. We need you out there. Not to mention they hate. They always taught me this. Like the last thing Kim Hayward wants to talk about is Joey Porter's contract or back. No, no, like get that. I don't ask me that. Yes, go ask him. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. So Matt, a lot, um, notable there in a lot, a lot notable there in that conversation.

40:30I think obviously number one on that list is asked if he'll play this week. He said, and I quote, I don't know. We've still got two more days to practice. I just know I did everything today and it went smooth. So we're going to just keep working. I liked there was a couple of little clips in there that the way he phrased it stood out to me. I did everything today like to hear that good. Okay. That was something I didn't know. Yep. So he was by the way yesterday was listed as limited on the practice report. Okay. So we'll see how, how or if that changes throughout the week. So he said he did everything today. So we can cut. Yes. I think the rules are if somebody says they did it, if you weren't in practice, you're allowed to say, correct. You know what I mean? Correct. Because they acknowledge it. Yeah. Yes. Like if, if you and I were at practice in a non public portion of viewing, and to make a turn, I mean, yeah, I'm going to, I'm going to even go with someone from the past because I don't want to put a hex or a jinx. No, right. Max starts goes down. If no one says anything about it and any of the players post practice, you and I wouldn't

41:34be allowed to talk about it. But if you're in the locker room and you say, Hey, Max, what happened there? And he goes, Oh, you know, I just had a little tweak to my ankle. I'm fine. I just got to ice it up. It's nothing to worry about. Then you can talk. Yes. I also know there's reporter tricks where you can go over to Ramon Foster and be like, Max, okay. And he'd be like, Oh, he went down pretty hard. Well, now it's out there. Yeah. You know what I mean? Right. I'm just savvy enough to be like, I didn't see it. I don't know what you're talking about. Right. Right. But if somebody acknowledged it, I guess you're allowed to discuss it. And Porter said he did everything today. That's one thing I got out of that clip. Yes. Denied the report that he was seeking a second opinion on his back. Also, it seemed generally surprised about that stuff. Yes. Yeah. It was very matter of fact. No. No, no. And then Mike Prasuda asking him about requesting a trade and he was like, you know, absolutely not. No, right, right. That doesn't, players don't have to request a trade to get trade is. Sure. I mean, they both might look at each other like this isn't going to work out. I'm in a germ. I think he's right. And kind of what Joey joked there. If he had requested a trade, I feel like that would have, Adam Schaeffler would have

42:37tweeted it out three minutes later. I've ever told you that, Arthur Moat's story before. He found out one of his years that he was with the Steelers. He had, I can't remember if it was like a meniscus or a shoulder or something injury. He found out he was going to have to have like a small, I think kind of similar to like a, like a Brock Bauer's type thing. Like he's going to have to have a small procedure and he was going to miss a couple weeks. He was like, I didn't even have time to get from the trainer's room back out to my car in the parking lot to call my wife and family. Wow. Before I got to the car, my wife calls me and she goes, she after just tweeted, you're going to miss a couple weeks. What the heck's going on? To most is like, I haven't even gotten to the car yet. I found out 34 seconds ago. Yeah. So those, those guys have, those guys have sources everywhere. Those guys have eyes and ears everywhere. So if that's something Joey had requested, I feel like it would be, it'd be front and center news. And you're always tuned into this too. Like if X player requests a trade, who does it most benefit? That's usually who leaks at the chapter or whoever, too.

43:39You know, how much it can also be the player's agent. Exactly. You know, it's not, in fact, it's probably more so. Oh, most of the stuff is agent trade as opposed to people on the team side of things. Yeah. And I don't even know if he has requested a trade, what benefit would it do? I mean, if the Steelers are in negotiations to trade them, why do we need to know? Or why would, you know, we're questing a trade? I always think that's kind of a gray ground, you know? And maybe if it was still in, it was still in training camp time frame, and they're in the middle of contract negotiations. And sometimes you see that stuff as like, Hey, we saw Miles Garrett request a trade. Yeah. And then signed to be the, you know, the highest paid defensive football player ever in Cleveland. Now we eventually got traded a year later. But we see that a lot where guys request trades, they get the contract or whatever they want. And then, and then life goes on. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So interesting there. And again, Matt, I continue to operate under the mindset of, I'm not going, we're not going to have a final answer until close to kick off on Sunday.

44:40Unless it is certainly possible that on Friday or Saturday, Mike McCarthy or somebody comes out and says, Joey's going to play. That is possible. Yeah. Imagine I continue to operate along the lines of I just were going to have to wait and see. But I will say him speaking today and him saying again that key line of, uh, I did everything today, and it went smooth. Yeah, yeah. That's true. I'm, I'm certainly more optimistic now than I was at any point this week. I would also. either hope or assume that he will be on the practice field tomorrow and probably at least try to do everything. And if he can, great. Now, that doesn't mean he's actually going to be on the field garden, tomorrow chasing the Higgins. Now that's a completely different, exactly right. Exactly. Completely different conversation. And in fact, I would kind of like it if we got news, definitive, you know, before the show tomorrow or during

45:40the, and then we can have that conversation of what exactly does Joey's usage look like against this behemoth? I also look at it with a couple perspectives. Obviously, this is the toughest challenge you'll have for the corner back room as a whole twice every year. I mean, maybe Dallas comes a town or whatever once in a while, or maybe some comps, but it's not going to ever any harder than gardening these two dudes. This is when you need your best corners the most. Do you need them against, you know, Cooper Rush and, you know, Mac Hollins and those, yeah, the last two opponents, even the Cleveland Browns, like with their rookie wide receivers, he doesn't move the needle as much. You know, he always moves into his great player, but his presence isn't as important in those games. If you, if you, before the season could have said of these 17 Steelers games, you can pick two or three where Joey Porter, Jr. is the best corner in the league on that giveaway. His best day. You'd be like, well, Cincinnati, Cincinnati, and then whoever else is out there, right, right. Yeah. You also is out there. Absolutely. So it does become a little bit more important than ever, in my

46:43opinion, but I'm also sitting here thinking, and maybe inside the walls, they know this answer. I mean, maybe the entire coaching staff's like, Joey's not playing, or he'll be out there. But if you're Patrick Graham, why why do the Bengals need to know on this Thursday? Right. But if I'm Patrick Graham, my game plan is drastically different with or without him. Yeah, a percentage of man, my following chase, you know, am I going to double chase and have Joey just alone on T the whole time. You know, like all this stuff that I put time in prepping for would be nice to know. That's a, that's a very good point by you, Matt. Yeah. Very good. You almost need to think especially with the, you know, Jamal Deans, but on the injury report with an ankle as well. He reportedly was back today. So we'll get the official stuff. But yeah. Good. So that is kind of all the latest on JPJ. I would say that that's an encouraging update. Yeah. Nothing is nothing is, uh, is chiseled in stone yet. But I would say that is encouraging here on a Thursday. Like many people, some of whom coach the theme, I'd love to not talk about it ever again.

47:47Me too. But you have to. I'd love to come in here on Monday and talk about Joey playing in a Steelers victory and full speed ahead. Asking you shall receive. That's what I've been told before. Matt Williamson hour in the books. Another hour to go. We're halfway home here on this Thursday. Some final numbers from Matt stats that I want to dig into as we continue our Thursday scouting of those Cincinnati bungles. You'll are in 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? The 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. Stop up now. Bud Light. Is it a drink? Easy to enjoy. Enjoy responsibly. Copyright 2026 and has a bush Bud Light beer St. Louis Missouri.

48:50I used to have cable internet but I'm a 100% kind of fan. So I switched to Verizon Fios. It's 100% fiber internet that's super reliable. So I streamed 100% at the NFL draft live with ultra low lag. And after woke me 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 hot dog awesome ready. Bra. So we heard Amanda is off to school? Yeah, big step. More independent. She's not going to call every week asking for more money for books, is she? With smart start banking from S&T Bank, she gets budgeting tools, scholarship opportunities, and can send money using Zell. Wow. I guess college is about getting smarter, right? Give them financial independence and yourself peace of mind. Stop by your local branch. Call 800-325-2265 or visit STBank.com to send money with Zell. Both parties must have an eligible checking or savings account, terms and conditions apply. S&T Bank, member FDIC.