Steelers Podcast - The Terrible Podcast

10/18/19Season 10, Episode 31 of The Terrible Podcast is now in the can and in this Friday show, Alex Kozora and I get right to discussing the Pittsburgh Steelers bye week injury updates provided by head coach Mike Tomlin on Wednesday. We go over who on that long list of injured players might be able to play after the bye week against the Miami Dolphins.Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph has now exited concussion protocol and he'll be back starting again after the bye. We discuss why that is the right decision.The Steelers defense has given us some optimism concerning the team's chances of making the playoffs this season following a 1-4 start. We look at the ANY/A stat of the Steelers 2019 defense through six games and compare it to previous teams coached by Tomlin. We also look at where that stat should be after 12 games played.We also look at the Steelers offensive ANY/A stat through six games as well as the team's deep passing stats and explosive play numbers. We explain why it's imperative for both of those to improve moving forward into the final 10 games.Will and should Steelers defensive coordinator Keith Butler lose his job regardless if this year's team makes the postseason? We discuss that topic and our outlook for the 2019 Steelers the remainder of the season with the bye week now upon us.Steelers kicker Chris Boswell has had a great 2019 season to date so we tip our caps to him during this show and discuss how he might be called upon to win a game or two in the next six weeks.While there is no Steelers game to pick this weekend, Alex and I still go through the full slate of other Week 7 NFL games and make our picks against the spreads provided by MyBookie.ag.Alex and I finally close out this show like we close out most episodes and that's by answering several email questions we received from listeners.As always, several other smaller talking points are mixed in throughout the show that are not highlighted here in this post.Thanks for listening and don't forget to call or email with questions or comments and please pass us along to your friends!

10/16/19Season 10, Episode 30 of The Terrible Podcast is now in the can and in this Wednesday show, Alex Kozora and I get right to discussing the Pittsburgh Steelers losing defensive end Stephon Tuitt for the remainder of the season due to a pectoral injury. We talk about his loss, the signing of defensive end L.T. Walton and if rookie defensive end Isaiah Buggs will start dressing moving forward.Steelers defensive coordinator Keith Butler talked to the media on Tuesday so Alex and I go over what all he had to say about the loss of Tuitt, the play of cornerback Artie Burns and more.Now that we have had some time to go over the all-22 tape from the Steelers game against the Los Angeles Chargers, Alex and talk about a few things that stuck out to us on both sides of the football. We talk about coverage gaffs in the fourth quarter and Alex talks a bit about the Steelers dime defense. We also talk about the play of running back Benny Snell Jr., inside linebacker Vince Williams and several others against the Chargers.The Cincinnati Bengals claimed former Steelers guard Fred Johnson off waivers on Monday so Alex and I cover that topic and related roster decisions. We also discuss quarterback Mason Rudolph still being in concussion protocol and what all head coach Mike Tomlin had to say about the quarterback position and injuries when he talked to the media briefly on Wednesday.Alex and I finally close out this show like we close out most episodes and that’s by answering several email questions we received from listeners.As always, several other smaller talking points are mixed in throughout the show that are not highlighted here in this post.Thanks for listening and don’t forget to call or email with questions or comments and please pass us along to your friends!

10/14/19Season 10, Episode 29 of The Terrible Podcast is now in the can and in this Monday show, Alex Kozora and I get right to recapping the Pittsburgh Steelers Sunday night road win over the Los Angeles Chargers.We kick this show off by recapping the new injuries that happened during the Steelers Sunday night win and speculate as to which one might be the most serious. We also go over the six players that missed the Sunday night game due to injuries.We move forward to discuss the play of the Steelers offense Sunday night to start with and that means talking a lot about the first career start of rookie quarterback Devlin Hodges and the success the unit had running the football throughout the contest. We talk about running back James Conner breaking tackles all night, the offense converting a lot of third downs via the ground and much more. We even discuss the average intended air target distance of Hodges from Sunday night.We finally shift over to the play of the Steelers defense Sunday night against the Chargers. We discuss the play of inside linebacker Devin Bush, outside linebacker T.J. Watt, cornerback Cameron Sutton and defensive end Tyson Alualu just to name a few players. We also discuss total turnovers for the season and more.Can the Steelers still get back in the hunt for a playoff spot with a 2-4 record and an easier post-bye week schedule? Alex and I discuss where the optimism level should likely be at currently for Steelers fans on this Monday.Alex and I finally close out this show like we close out most episodes and that’s by answering several email questions we received from listeners.As always, several other smaller talking points are mixed in throughout the show that are not highlighted here in this post.Thanks for listening and don’t forget to call or email with questions or comments and please pass us along to your friends!

10/11/19Season 10, Episode 28 of The Terrible Podcast is now in the can and in this Friday show, Alex Kozora and I get right to recapping the Pittsburgh Steelers Thursday injury report and what we think might happen on Sunday when it comes to that inactive list.We discuss if its wise for quarterback Mason Rudolph to be the backup on Sunday if he clears concussion protocol. We also discuss what the key thing to look for on Saturday will be..The Steelers coordinators, Randy Fichtner and Keith Butler, both talked to the media on Thursday so Alex and I recap a lot of what both had to say. Included in this is a lot of discussion about rookie quarterback Devlin Hodges, who might make his first career start Sunday night against the Los Angeles Chargers.With the Chargers next up for the Steelers we welcome Eric D. Williams of espn.com back to the podcast. Williams covers the Chargers daily so we get his insight into what is going on with that team and what he expects to see on both sides of the football Sunday night against the Steelers. We talk injuries, offensive line shuffling and more with Williams for roughly 25 minutes. Finally, Williams closes things out with his prediction for the Sunday night game.If not already doing so, please follow Eric on Twitter at @eric_d_williams and read his work about the Chargers online here.After having Williams on, Alex and I move forward with our preview of the Steelers Sunday night game against the Chargers after doing quite a bit of film study since Wednesday. We let you know what we expect to see out of the Chargers on both sides of the football Sunday night.As usual, Alex and I start winding the Friday show down with our weekly picks and that includes us giving our final score predictions for the Steelers Sunday night game against the Chargers.Alex and I finally close out this show like we close out most episodes and that’s by answering several email questions we received from listeners.As always, several other smaller talking points are mixed in throughout the show that are not highlighted here in this post.Thanks for listening and don’t forget to call or email with questions or comments and please pass us along to your friends!

10/9/19Season 10, Episode 28 of The Terrible Podcast is now in the can and in this Wednesday show, Alex Kozora and I get right to recapping what all Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin had to say during his Tuesday press conference.Alex and I recap the Steelers injury report heading into Week 6 and the moves that might be made by Saturday evening. We go over the other main talking points from Tomlin’s presser and that includes his response to him being mentioned as a candidate to become the next head coach of the Washington Redskins.With it now looking like Steelers rookie quarterback Devlin Hodges might make his first career NFL start Sunday night against the Los Angles Chargers, Alex I recap all that we have learned about the undrafted Samford product from the time he was signed to the 90-man roster until now. We then proceed to go over all 12 of the throws that Hodges made in the second half of the Steelers Sunday home loss to the Baltimore Ravens after he replaced injured starting quarterback Mason Rudolph. We talk about what the game plan should be with Hodges should he indeed start Sunday night.Alex recently broke down the Steelers kick return problems, so we discuss his findings in addition to one faux pas that defensive coordinator Keith Butler seemingly had against the Ravens later in the second half of that game. We move on to give our all-22 findings from the Steelers loss to the Ravens.Alex and I finally close out this show like we close out most episodes and that’s by answering several email questions we received from listeners.As always, several other smaller talking points are mixed in throughout the show that are not highlighted here in this post.Thanks for listening and don’t forget to call or email with questions or comments and please pass us along to your friends!

10/7/19Season 10, Episode 27 of The Terrible Podcast is now in the can and in this Monday show, Alex Kozora and I get right to recapping the Pittsburgh Steelers Sunday home loss to the Baltimore Ravens and that starts with us recapping the injuries that happened during the contest.Alex and I discuss the scary hit on Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph by Ravens safety Earl Thomas and if it warranted an ejection. We also discuss the play of both Rudolph and the backup quarterback Devlin Hodges against Baltimore. We go over what we think might happen at the quarterback position this coming week and on Sunday against the Los Angeles Chargers.We move on to talk about the play of the Steelers defense against the Ravens on Sunday and how that unit played well again as a whole. We then move on to discuss the play of the Steelers offense against the Ravens and how using the Wildcat on two particular plays wound up being bad decisions. We address the fumble in overtime by wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster and the inability of the Steelers offense to capitalize on all turnovers on the Ravens side of the field.Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin decided to kick off in overtime and thus put his defense on the field first. We go over Tomlin’s comments on the Steelers return team and what needs to be done in that phase.Steelers outside linebacker Olasunkanmi Adeniyi was flagged for roughing the passer late in the fourth quarter of the the loss to the Ravens so Alex and I discuss that questionable call.What about the the Monday morning report that the Washington Redskins might be interested in Tomlin as their next head coach after firing Jay Gruden? We discuss that topic briefly.Is there any optimism left in us that the Steelers can turn their 2019 season around and ultimately make the playoffs? We discuss.Alex and I finally close out this show like we close out most episodes and that’s by answering several email questions we received from listeners.As always, several other smaller talking points are mixed in throughout the show that are not highlighted here in this post.Thanks for listening and don’t forget to call or email with questions or comments and please pass us along to your friends!

10/4/19Season 10, Episode 26 of The Terrible Podcast is now in the can and in this Friday show, Alex Kozora and I get right to recapping the Pittsburgh Steelers latest injury report entering Friday and speculate which players on it will play Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens.The Steelers coordinators talked on Thursday so Alex and I recap the main talking points to come out of their media sessions. We spend a little extra time talking about offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner saying that he’s not a fan of quarterback sneaks.Sunday will be a big game for Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph and we tell you why. We also take a look back at the 2004 rookie season of quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and how he pushed the football down the field quite a bit in his first few career starts.Alex and I talk about how it’s too early to draw any hard conclusions on Rudolph after 10 quarters of play and why regardless of how he plays Sunday against the Ravens we’ll still need to see more from him before making any long-term projections.With the Ravens now on tap for the Steelers, Alex and I fully preview the Sunday game at Heinz Field. We talk about the Ravens offense and defense and we expect to see out of both units Sunday against the Steelers.Alex and I start winding down this Friday episode by giving our Week 5 picks against the spread for all of the NFL games and that includes our final score predictions for the Steelers Sunday home game against the Ravens.Alex and I finally close out this show like we close out most episodes and that’s by answering several email questions we received from listeners.As always, several other smaller talking points are mixed in throughout the show that are not highlighted here in this post.Thanks for listening and don’t forget to call or email with questions or comments and please pass us along to your friends!

10/2/19Season 10, Episode 25 of The Terrible Podcast is now in the can and in this Wednesday show, Alex Kozora and I get right to recapping the Pittsburgh Steelers latest transaction that took place Wednesday morning. Additionally, Alex and I go over the Steelers initial injury report heading into Week 5 and ahead of the team’s Wednesday practice.Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin had his weekly press conference on Tuesday so Alex and start by going over what all he had to say about the use of the Wildcat Monday night against the Cincinnati Bengals and how the team formulated a game plan to limit the exposure of quarterback Mason Rudolph to the opposing defense. We talk about Rudolph’s play Monday night against the Bengals and how there were possibly a few throws down the field he chose not to make.Rudolph did several things well Monday night, so Alex and I recap that and how our hope now is to see him start pushing the ball down the field a little more starting Sunday at home against the Baltimore Ravens. We also discuss a few more things that stuck out Monday night regarding the Steelers offense.Alex and I are then joined on the podcast once again by John Eisenberg, who cover the Ravens for the team’s official website. As usual, we get John’s thoughts on the Ravens as they enter their road game against the Steelers with a 2-2 record. We talk offense and defense with John and close out our interview with him by getting his prediction for the Sunday game in Pittsburgh.If not already doing so, please follow John on Twitter at @BMoreEisenberg and make sure to read his work online here. John has also published several books to date that we highly encourage you to check out and you can do just that on Amazon at this link https://amzn.to/2pnwOtgAfter talking some with John about the Ravens, Alex and I move on to give our final thoughts on other things that Tomlin said on Tuesday. We then discuss some of our final thoughts on the Steelers Monday night win over the Bengals and that includes discussing the great play of the team’s defense.Alex and I finally close out this show like we close out most episodes and that’s by answering several email questions we received from listeners.As always, several other smaller talking points are mixed in throughout the show that are not highlighted here in this post.Thanks for listening and don’t forget to call or email with questions or comments and please pass us along to your friends!

10/1/19Season 10, Episode 24 of The Terrible Podcast is now in the can and in this Tuesday show, Alex Kozora and I get right to recapping the Pittsburgh Steelers Monday Night Football home game win against the Cincinnati Bengals.Alex and I quickly start with the injuries suffered during the Monday night and who all was inactive before diving deeper into our game analysis.The Steelers out-schemed the Bengals on both sides of the football Monday night so Alex and I start with our thoughts on the play of the offense and specifically how the wildcat was used against the Bengals defense and why it worked. We also talk about how quarterback Mason Rudolph is still not pushing the football down the field regularly. We go over his passing distances from Monday night and talk about a few of the wide receivers.Alex and I discuss the snaps played and not played Monday night by wide receivers Donte Moncrief and Ryan Switzer. Part of that conversation revolves around the Steelers losing some crucial compensatory draft pick value for 2020 this past week and how they can make up fort that by cutting Moncrief before Week 10.After spending a lot of time on the Steelers offense, Alex and I switch over to giving our early thoughts on the play of the Pittsburgh defense Monday night against the Bengals. There were eight sacks and a few turnovers to discuss so Alex and I do just that.Alex and I move forward to take a quick look ahead at the Steelers Week 5 home game against the Baltimore Ravens and the importance of that. We also tell you where our heads are at right now following the Steelers first win of 2019.Alex and I finally close out this long show by answering several email questions we received from listeners.As always, several other smaller talking points are mixed in throughout the show that are not highlighted here in this post.Thanks for listening and don’t forget to call or email with questions or comments and please pass us along to your friends!

9/27/19Season 10, Episode 23 of The Terrible Podcast is now in the can and in this Friday show, Alex Kozora and I get right to recapping the Pittsburgh Steelers Monday Night Football home game history ahead of their Week 4 game against the Cincinnati Bengals.Alex and I move on to talk about the Steelers Thursday injury report and who we think might not play Monday night against the Bengals. We also go over the Bengals latest injury report.Is the Steelers trade for tight end Nick Vannett this week essentially just a swap for quarterback Joshua Dobbs. Will the Steelers sign Vannett to an extension prior to him reaching free agency next offseason? Alex and I go over the latest on Vannett since he arrived in Pittsburgh and attempt to answer those two questions as we revisit the acquisition of the Ohio State product. We also talk about how much Vannett might be used Monday night.Alex and I move on to take a deep dive into Steelers offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner and his playcalling and scheme. We go over a few changes we would like to see made and what we would like to see him do more of and less of starting Monday night against the Bengals.Alex and then take an ultra deep dive into previewing the Bengals on offense and defense. We discuss how we expect the Steelers to attack the Bengals defense and what we believe the Bengals offense will attempt to do Monday night. A few specific plays, matchups and Xs and Os are discussed in this preview of the Steelers Week 4 opponent.With it being Friday, Alex and I give you all of our picks for the Week 4 NFL games against the spread and that includes us predicting the outcome and final score of the Steelers Monday night game against the Bengals.Alex and I finally close out this long show by answering several email questions we received from listeners.As always, several other smaller talking points are mixed in throughout the show that are not highlighted here in this post.Thanks for listening and don’t forget to call or email with questions or comments and please pass us along to your friends!

9/25/19Season 10, Episode 22 of The Terrible Podcast is now in the can and in this Wednesday show, Alex Kozora and I get right to recapping the Pittsburgh Steelers injury situation based on what head coach Mike Tomlin said during his Wednesday press conference. We talk about the health of the Steelers tight ends and more to open the show.The Steelers traded for tight end Nick Vannett Tuesday night so Alex and I give our thoughts on that deal. We discuss the trade compensation, our scouting reports on Vannett and how he’s likely to be used by the Steelers moving forward. Alex and I also recap the other Steelers transactions that have taken place since Sunday.As usual, Alex and recap all of the significant talking points that came out of the weekly Tomlin press conference. We discuss the Steelers run defense woes, the play of quarterback Mason Rudolph on Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers and much more.Midway through this show we are joined once again by Paul Dehner Jr., who covers the Cincinnati Bengals for The Athletic. As usual, Paul brings Alex and I up to speed on everything related to the Bengals in addition to helping us knock out an early preview of the Monday night game in Pittsburgh against the Steelers. We spend a solid 30 minutes with Paul. If not already doing so, please follow Paul on Twitter at @pauldehnerjr and make sure to read his Bengals coverage online here https://theathletic.com/author/paul-dehner-jr/.Alex and I move on to talk more about what we both saw in the Steelers Week 3 loss to 49ers after closely examining the all-22 tape and there’s quite a bit to go over.Alex and I finally close out this long show by answering several email questions we received from listeners.As always, several other smaller talking points are mixed in throughout the show that are not highlighted here in this post.Thanks for listening and don’t forget to call or email with questions or comments and please pass us along to your friends!

9/23/19Season 10, Episode 21 of The Terrible Podcast is now in the can and in this Monday show, Alex Kozora and I get right to recapping the Pittsburgh Steelers Sunday afternoon road loss to the San Francisco 49ers.There’s a lot to get to in this show and we start with the injuries suffered during the Sunday game and the seven inactive players announced before it got underway.Alex and I then get into our long breakdown of the Steelers loss to the 49ers. We go over the turnovers, the poor third down production and much, much more. We take a long look at the play of Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph in his first career NFL start, the huge difference in plays run by the two teams on Sunday and more.What’s the deal with the Steelers running game and should running back James Conner face any repercussions for his late fumble on Sunday? Do the Steelers really miss fullback Roosevelt Nix on offense as much as many seem to think Monday morning? We go over those topics and more.Steelers safety Minkah Fitzpatrick had a nice debut on Sunday so we discuss that some in addition to the poor play by inside linebacker Mark Barron. We go over snap counts in this show and quite a few other stats from Sunday’s game.Alex and I go over what all happened in the AFC North on Sunday before finally closing out this show by answering several email questions we received from listeners.As always, several other smaller talking points are mixed in throughout the show that are not highlighted here in this post.Thanks for listening and don’t forget to call or email with questions or comments and please pass us along to your friends!

9/20/19Season 10, Episode 20 of The Terrible Podcast is now in the can and in this Friday show, Alex Kozora and I get right to recapping the most recent injury reports of the Pittsburgh Steelers and San Francisco 49ers ahead of the Sunday game between the two teams. We go over the players we think will sit out Sunday and more.Will the Steelers line outside linebacker T.J. Watt on the right side Sunday to take advantage of a 49ers rookie tackle making his first career start? Alex and I ponder that topic briefly.Steelers second-year quarterback Mason Rudolph will make his first career NFL start Sunday against the 49ers so Alex and I talk about his Thursday press conference and more. We go over the old quarterback checklist from Hall of Fame head coach Bill Parcells and how Rudolph checks every one of those boxes.Alex and I recap a few things said Thursday by Steelers coordinators Randy Fichtner and Keith Butler during this show and attempt to come up with a perfect offensive game plan for the young quarterback.The 49ers will be a tough opponent for the Steelers on Sunday and Alex and I discuss what they have offensively and defensively this season based on our tape study from this week. We go over a lot from both units in this breakdown as we were unfortunately unable to get a 49ers beat writer on the show this week.As usual, Alex and I start winding this Friday show down by giving our picks of all the NFL games on tap this weekend that includes us both picking the Steelers game against the 49ers as well as the final score.We have a lot more emails from listeners to read and answer so Alex and I close out this very long show doing that task.As always, several other smaller talking points are mixed in throughout the show that are not highlighted here in this post.Thanks for listening and don’t forget to call or email with questions or comments and please pass us along to your friends!

9/18/19Season 10, Episode 19 of The Terrible Podcast is now in the can and in this Wednesday show, Alex Kozora and I get right to recapping the Pittsburgh Steelers latest injury updates following the Tuesday press conference from head coach Mike Tomlin. We go over safety Sean Davis and quarterback Ben Roethlisberger both getting place on the team's Reserve/Injured list and discuss which players might sit out the Sunday game against the San Francisco 49ers.The Steelers traded for defensive back Minkah Fitzpatrick Monday night so Alex and thoroughly discuss that shocking move made by general manager Kevin Colbert. We go over why we think Colbert and the Steelers traded for Fitzpatrick, if we think it was the right move and if we think the team gave up too much to acquire him.We look at the Steelers trading for Fitzpatrick from several different angles. We then move forward to look at Fitzpatrick the player. Alex and I have both spent quite a bit of time breaking down Fitzpatrick s play to date with the Miami Dolphins and that means we're both comfortable discussing what we believe are his strengths and weaknesses and how we see him best fitting in on defense.We go over the expectations for the Steelers defense the remainder of this season with Fitzpatrick now joining a defense that already had a lot of draft pedigree on it.With Roethlisbeger now out for the remainder of the 2019 season the Steelers will have Mason Rudolph taking over at quarterback just as he did in the second half of the team's Sunday home loss to the Seattle Seahawks. Alex and I have both gone through Rudolph's tape from Sunday and give our thoughts on his overall play both good and bad. We also talk some about how the Steelers might move forward with him against the 49ers from an offensive game plan standpoint.After breaking down Rudolph, Alex and I give some updated thoughts on the Steelers loss to the Seahawks. We talk a lot about what went wrong defensively in the second half and much more.We have a lot more emails from listeners to read and answer so Alex and I close out this very long show doing that task.As always, several other smaller talking points are mixed in throughout the show that are not highlighted here in this post.Thanks for listening and don't forget to call or email with questions or comments and please pass us along to your friends!

9/16/19Season 10, Episode 18 of The Terrible Podcast is now in the can and in this Monday show, Alex Kozora and I get right to recapping the injuries suffered by the Pittsburgh Steelers in their Sunday home loss to the Seattle Seahawks.Most of this show was recorded before we found out that quarterback Ben Roethlisberger would indeed be lost for the rest of the season so keep that mind while listening to it. We do address the Roethlisberger news late in the show and right as it breaks, however.The Steelers Sunday loss to the Seahawks has multiple layers to it so Alex and I dive in and go over all of the key turning points and big points in the game. We talk about the play of backup quarterback Mason Rudolph after he relieved the injured Roethlisberger and what the Steelers need to do at the wide receiver position moving forward.After playing reasonably well in the first half, the Steelers defense couldn’t get key stops in the second half against the Seahawks. We go over a few things related to that poor play, the key defensive pass interference penalty that came as a result of a challenge and much more.As previously mentioned, the Steelers suffered several injuries on Sunday so that will surely result in a few roster moves. Alex and I also address the current status of defensive coordinator Keith Butler and more. We also break the news about Roethlisberger late in the show and close things out by reading several emails from listeners.As always, several other smaller talking points are mixed in throughout the show that are not highlighted here in this post.Thanks for listening and don’t forget to call or email with questions or comments and please pass us along to your friends!