Steelers Podcast - The Terrible Podcast

Season 9, Episode 61 of The Terrible Podcast is now up and in this Friday show, Alex Kozora and I get right to talking some about the Thursday night game between the Los Angeles Chargers and Kansas City Chiefs and which team we’d want to face the least during the playoffs.The Pittsburgh Steelers will host the New England Patriots on Sunday at Heinz Field and it sounds like we might see a few changes defensively for the team when it comes to personnel used in that contest. Alex and I talk extensively about what the Steelers might do defensively on Sunday against the Patriots to attempt to slow down quarterback Tom Brady and company.The Steelers also brought in a defensive coach this week to help them scheme some against the Patriots, so Alex and I go over his resume and more.The Steelers look like they are sticking with kicker Chris Boswell at least one more week so Alex and I go over that decision in addition to discussing if bringing in former kicker Shaun Suisham to help him coach will make a difference.We go over the Steelers injury report heading into Friday in addition to addressing several things the team’s coordinators said on Thursday during their press conferences.Do run/pass splits matter when it comes to the Steelers offense? We discuss that topic again.Alex and I discuss what the Patriots like to do defensively and how the Steelers offense should attack that unit on Sunday. We discuss what the Steelers will need to do to win that contest.As usual, we close out this Friday show with our picks of all the NFL games this weekend against the spread and that includes us giving our final score prediction for the Steelers game against the Patriots.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!

Season 9, Episode 60 of The Terrible Podcast is now up and in this Wednesday show, Alex Kozora and I get right to recapping some of what Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin had to say on Thursday during his press conference.Will the Steelers workout any kickers and sign a new one prior to the start of Wednesday’s practice? We discuss what all has transpired in that department early in the show.We also go over the Steelers injury situation as they start preparations to play the New England Patriots this coming Sunday at Heinz Field.In the second part of this show we are joined once again by Dr. Melanie Friedlander, a California-based surgeon and Steelers fan who has contributed information about NFL injuries for Steelers Depot for the last several years. Melanie helps Alex and I break down the Sunday rib injury suffered by Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and what all transpired after he returned to the field from the locker after receiving x-rays and pain medicine.We also go over how Tomlin handled the Roethlisberger situation after he returned to the field along with parsing several of his quotes from his Tuesday press conference. Melanie also gives us some of her expert opinions on Steelers running back James Conner, who is currently attempting to battle back from an ankle injury.If not already doing so, please make sure you are following Dr. Friedlander on Twitter at @GirlSurgeon.After mopping up some between interview talking points, Alex and I are then joined on the show once again by Ben Volin, who covers the Patriots for the Boston Globe. Ben helps us preview the Steelers week 15 game between the Steelers and Patriots on both sides of the football in addition to telling us how this year’s New England team ranks against previous ones. Ben gives us his prediction for Sundays game to close out the interview.If not already doing so, please make sure you are following Ben on Twitter at @BenVolin and please read his work online here:We close out the show with another reader emailAs 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!

Season 9, Episode 59 of The Terrible Podcast is now up and in this Monday show, Alex Kozora and I get right to recapping the Pittsburgh Steelers disgusting Sunday road loss to the Oakland Raiders.We go over the field conditions in the Black Hole on Sunday and talk a little about the cleat issues the Steelers had during the game at the beginning of this episode before getting to the black and gold elephants in the room.Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin made quite a few dubious decisions in the second half of the team’s loss to the Raiders and we make sure to review them all. We start with Tomlin’s decision to not put quarterback Ben Roethlisberger back into the game midway through the third quarter after he finally returned from the locker room. We review his and Roethlisberger’s quotes from after the game.Tomlin also utilized horrible clock management late in Sunday’s loss to the Raiders as well, so we cover his failure to burn a timeout immediately after the deep pass completion from Raiders quarterback Derek Carr to wide receiver Seth Roberts. We cover Tomlin’s postgame comments on that topic.Was Sunday the last game that kicker Chris Boswell will play with the Steelers? We address that possibility.The Steelers defense really had no answers for the Raiders offense on Sunday and they were lucky that Oakland committed so many penalties on that side of the football. We discuss the severe lack of playmakers on the defensive side of the football for the Steelers and go over all the needs that unit has with three games remaining.Alex and I bang on the Steelers offense some in the second half of this show and go over the play of Roethlisberger as well as several other players.The Steelers blew a golden opportunity on Sunday in Oakland and after resetting all that took place in the meaningful AFC games on Sunday, we look ahead at the team’s playoff prospects with three games remaining.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!

Season 9, Episode 58 of The Terrible Podcast is now up and in this Friday show, Alex Kozora and I get right to talking quickly about the Tennessee Titans Thursday night win over the Jacksonville Jaguars to kickoff week 14 of the 2018 regular season.The Pittsburgh Steelers Thursday injury report had as few new developments, so we review the health of the team heading into Friday.Steelers coordinators Randy Fichtner and Keith Butler both talked to the media on Thursday, so Alex and I review a few main talking points from both of their press conferences.Steelers linebacker Ryan Shazier updated his rehab on Thursday, so Alex quickly pass along that positive news.The Steelers will play the Oakland Raiders on the road this weekend, so Alex and I spend the middle of the show previewing that game. We talk about the Raiders do on both sides of the football as part of our scouting segment for Sunday’s game.As usual, we close out this Friday show by picking all the Week 14 games against the spread and that includes us predicting the outcome of the Steelers game against the Raiders.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!The new message hotline is (814) 429-YINZ

Season 9, Episode 57 of The Terrible Podcast is now up and in this Wednesday show, Alex Kozora and I get right to recapping the Tuesday morning transactions made by the Pittsburgh Steelers and what they all might mean for Week 14.We move on to talk about the injury rundown that Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin gave on Tuesday that included him ruling out running back James Conner for Sunday’s road game against the Oakland Raiders.With Conner now sidelined with an ankle injury, Alex and I discuss if we’re as worried about the Steelers running back position and depth as others seem to be that cover the team.Tomlin had a few things to say about the defensive scheme used in the team’s Sunday night loss to the Los Angeles Chargers that really set off Alex. While Alex lets off a little steam, I try to play the devils advocate role as we mainly focus in again on the catches that Chargers wide receiver Keenan Allen had in the game.We cover a few other talking points from Tomlin's Tuesday press conference before finally welcoming Michael Gehlken back to the show. Michael, who covers the Raiders for the Las Vegas Review-Journal, spent almost 30 minutes with us Wednesday morning talking about the Raiders from top to bottom. This includes some offensive and defensive talk in addition to overall thoughts on the organization as the 2018 regular season winds down.We also discuss wide receiver Martavis Bryant quite a bit and go over a few recent injuries and signings the Raiders have had. Michael then ends his interview with a prediction for Sunday’s game in Oakland. Please make sure you follow Michael on Twitter at @GehlkenNFL and read his work online here: https://www.reviewjournal.com/sports/raiders-nfl/Alex and I then proceed to close out this Wednesday show by talking about our new sponsor Action Heat in addition to giving some final thoughts on the Steelers Week 13 loss to the Chargers.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!The new message hotline is (814) 429-YINZ

Season 9, Episode 56 of The Terrible Podcast is now up and in this Monday show, Alex Kozora and I get right to recapping the Pittsburgh Steelers Sunday night home loss to the Los Angeles Chargers.After the opening of the show Alex and I dedicate a lot of time to the Steelers defense and how defensive coordinator Keith Butler decided it would be wise to let linebackers cover Chargers wide receiver Keenan Allen when he lined up in the slot. We go over a few coverage numbers related to that topic in addition to going over what should have been done in those instances as far as an adjustment.The Steelers defense played reasonably well in the first half but had a reversal of that in that second half. We go over the failure to create a turnover once again in addition to covering some performance grades of a few players on that side of the football.Obviously, Alex and I discuss the bad officiating in this episode and the role it played in the Steelers Sunday night loss. From there, we move to talk about the play of Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and the rest of the offense and play call balance.Steelers kicker Chris Boswell missed another extra point Sunday night and we read an email from a listener that did the math related to how it affected the game from that point forward.Special teams had to be discussed during this show as well as the Steelers blocked a punt and one of their own returned for a touchdownWe close out this Monday show by going over the Steelers injury report as well as discussing the team’s remaining schedule and potential playoff seed outlook.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!The new message hotline is (814) 429-YINZ

Season 9, Episode 55 of The Terrible Podcast is now up and in this Friday show, Alex Kozora and I get right to talking a little about the Thursday night game between the New Orleans Saints and Dallas Cowboys that the latter won 13-10. we discuss how the saints loss all but guarantees that there week 16 home game against the Pittsburgh Steelers will be meaningful for both teams.The Steelers Thursday injury report is discussed in the first half of this show and Alex and I talk about if outside linebacker Bud Dupree will play Sunday night and if rookie outside linebacker Olasunkanmi Adeniyi will indeed find his way on the 53-man roster come Saturday evening. We discuss the play of rookie tackle Chukwuma Okorafor against the Denver Broncos last Sunday and if we expect Matt Feiler to resume starting Sunday night against the Los Angeles Chargers.After talking a little about how good the Chargers are on first down this season, Alex and I welcome Eric D. Williams back to show. Eric, who covers the Chargers for ESPN.com, helps us preview the upcoming Sunday night game against the Steelers. We discuss the Chargers injury situation as well as the team's offense, defense and special teams units. Eric kindly gives us his prediction for the Sunday night game before we let him go. If not already doing so, please make sure to follow Eric on Twitter at @Eric_D_Williams and make sure to read his coverage of the Chargers online here: http://www.espn.com/blog/los-angeles-chargersAlex and I then close out this Friday show with our picks of all the Week 13 games in the NFL against the spread and that includes us giving our final thoughts on the upcoming game between the Steelers and Chargers in addition to our final score predictions.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!The new message hotline is (814) 429-YINZ

Season 9, Episode 54 of The Terrible Podcast is now up and in this Wednesday show, Alex Kozora and I get right to giving our final thoughts on the Pittsburgh Steelers Sunday road loss to the Denver Broncos.We discuss turnover differentials moving forward and then tackle what Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin had to see Tuesday about reemphasizing ball-awareness in an attempt to help the defense get more turnovers moving forward.Tomlin gave the Tuesday health update so Alex and I examine which players might be back Sunday night. We discuss what the role of tackle Marcus Gilbert should be if he's healthy enough to return to the field this week and if rookie outside linebacker Olasunkanmi Adeniyi will or should be activated to the 53-man roster by Saturday night.We wrap up some other Tomlin Tuesday talking points before moving on to recap all that quarterback Ben Roethlisberger had to say on Tuesday during his weekly radio show. We go over his critical comments about rookie wide receiver James Washington and more.There's been a lot of talk about the Steelers red zone play calling the last few weeks so we tackle that topic in addition to discussing the narrative currently floating around that the Steelers haven't run enough this season and especially in their last two games.We close this episode out by welcoming our ActionHeat.com as a new sponsor before finally talking about what else happened in the NFL this past weekend and how some of it impacted the Steelers. Additionally, we let you know what to expect in our Friday show before closing things out on this Wednesday.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!The new message hotline is (814) 429-YINZ

Season 9, Episode 53 of The Terrible Podcast is now up and in this Monday show, Alex Kozora and I get right to recapping the Pittsburgh Steelers Sunday road loss to the Denver Broncos.Alex and I open with our initial overviews of Sunday’s Steelers loss before recapping the injuries the team suffered during the game that head coach Mike Tomlin recapped during his post-game press conference.We move forward by analyzing the Steelers final three plays that were all goal-to-goal and that includes the final interception by quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.After revisiting the end of the game, Alex then start at the beginning of the contest and go back through it as part of our Monday recap. We take time out to discuss several big plays that happened during the game for both teams.We spend a little time discussing Steelers rookie wide receiver James Washington failing to capitalize on what could have been his season’s watershed moment. We also discuss how the Steelers might go about handling the slot position moving forward with wide receiver Ryan Switzer playing well.We take a small peak ahead at the Steelers week 13 Sunday night home game against the Los Angeles Chargers to close out this episode.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!The new message hotline is (814) 429-YINZ

Season 9, Episode 52 of The Terrible Podcast is now up and in this Friday show, Alex Kozora and I get right to quickly glossing over the Thanksgiving Thursday games that took place.The Steelers Thursday injury report is covered and that includes us discussing what might happen should tackle Matt Feiler ultimately be unable to play Sunday against the Denver Broncos.Does Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin deserve serious consideration for the annual NFL Coach of the Year at this point of the regular season? Alex and I hammer that topic pretty hard in addition to talking some about why quarterback Ben Roethlisberger isn't likely getting any strong consideration for the annual NFL MVP award this season.Pro Football Focus wrote about Steelers outside linebackers T.J. Watt and Bud Dupree this past week and why they think the sack and pressure numbers of both are a bit of mirage to date. Alex and I dive headfirst into that topic during the middle of this episode.The Steelers will play the Broncos Sunday in Denver so Alex and I put together our final preview of that upcoming contest as we discuss what we expect to see on both sides of the football from both teams.As usual, we close out this Friday show with our picks of all the remaining Week 12 games that will be played between on Sunday and Monday that includes us giving our score predictions for Sunday's game between the Steelers and Broncos.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!The new message hotline is (814) 429-YINZ

Season 9, Episode 51 of The Terrible Podcast is now up 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.We discuss a few transactions the Steelers have recently made in this show in addition to discussing the team’s injury report entering Wednesday’s practice.Steelers safety Sean Davis and defensive tackle Javon Hargrave are discussed by us quite a bit during the first part of this show as well.Now that Alex and I have fully digested the all-22 tape from the Steelers win over the Jacksonville Jaguars we give you our final thoughts on that game. We discuss a few other items such as something new that Steelers defensive coordinator Keith Butler showed us Sunday.During the second half of this show Alex and I are joined by Ryan O'Halloran, who covers the Denver Broncos for the Denver Post. Ryan, who previously covered the Jaguars beat, helps Alex and I preview the Steelers Sunday road game against the Broncos. We discuss the ownership battle going on with the team, offensive and defensive play to date and a whole lot more. Ryan also gives us his prediction for Sunday’s game and a preview of what the Broncos Wednesday injury report might look like.If you are not already doing so, plead make sure you are following Ryan on Twitter at @ryanohalloran and read his updates on the Broncos here: https://www.denverpost.com/author/ryan-ohalloran/Alex and I close out this Wednesday show by talking about the Monday night game between the Los Angeles Rams and Kansas City Chiefs in addition to discussing two former Steelers players who are now semifinalists for the 2019 Pro Football Hall of Fame class.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!The new message hotline is (814) 429-YINZ

Season 9, Episode 50 of The Terrible Podcast is now up and in this Monday show, Alex Kozora and I get right to recapping the Pittsburgh Steelers Sunday come-from-behind win against the Jacksonville Jaguars.As you can probably imagine there's a lot to cover when it comes to the Steelers win over the Jaguars and thus Alex and I spend quite a bit of time talking about what went right and wrong on both sides of the football. We go through the entire game start to finish and spend extra time talking about the final scoring play by quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. We also discuss the play of the Steelers defense by half and what few adjustments it looked like they made during the final 30 minutes of play even though head coach Mike Tomlin said there weren't really any. Backup safety Jordan Dangerfield was on the field some during Sunday's game and we discuss how he was used.On the surface, outside linebacker Anthony Chickillo was the only Steelers player to suffer a notable injury during Sunday's game so Alex and I discuss what might happen should he miss considerable time moving forward.Tomlin had a few curious game management decisions during Sunday's contest so we make sure to discuss those during this show.We close this show out by taking a quick look at what else happened around the NFL on Sunday and take a small look ahead at the Steelers Week 12 opponent, the Denver Broncos.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!The new message hotline is (814) 429-YINZ

Season 9, Episode 49 of The Terrible Podcast is now up and in this Friday show, Alex Kozora and I open by talking about the Pittsburgh Steelers latest injury report that was released Thursday afternoon. We go over the current situation with injured tackle Marcus Gilbert and if there’s a good chance he could be released during the offseason.With it looking like defensive end Stephon Tuitt might also miss Sunday’s game against the Jacksonville because of injury, Alex and I talk some about defensive end Tyson Alualu and how he’s played so far this season. We also briefly discuss if he might be back in 2019.With Steelers running back James Conner coming off a concision, Alex and I have a look at his workload so far through nine games played and if the team is handling him correctly. We also compare it to that of running back Le’Veon Bell last season.We move forward in the show with a quick look at some yards per play stats for the Steelers ahead of Sunday’s game.After a little stat talk Alex and I get heavily into breaking down Sunday’s game between the Steelers and the Jaguars. We look at both sides of the football for both teams as part of our pregame preview.As usual, we close out this Friday show with our picks against the spread of all the Week 11 games in the NFL and that includes us giving our final score predictions for the Steelers game against the Jaguars.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!The new message hotline is (814) 429-YINZ

Season 9, Episode 48 of The Terrible Podcast is now up and in this Wednesday show, Alex Kozora and I open by talking about the Tuesday reporting deadline for Pittsburgh Steelers running back Le'Veon Bell passing without any action on his part.Alex and I review the decisions Bell made this offseason and if his plan all along were to sit out the entire season. We also discuss if we think he made the right decision and go over some salary figures of his regarding how much he'll need to get from a team next offseason to get himself back even with what the Steelers were prepared to give him in July of 2017.Has the Steelers situation with Bell and fellow running back James Conner given us a new lesson on just how fungible the position both play can be? We discuss that and go over the rest of the Steelers running back depth and if an outsider should be signed.Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin undated the health of his team on Tuesday so we discuss the players to watch for on this week's injury report. We also talk about Tomlin's responses to the numerous questions about Bell he got on Tuesday.In the second half of the show Alex and I are joined by John Reid, who covers the Jacksonville Jaguars for the Florida Times-Union. We spend about 25 minutes with John as he helps us get ready for the Sunday game between the Jaguars and Steelers in Jacksonville. We discuss the Jaguars organization, quarterback Blake Bortles, the team's defensive play to date this season, injured players and much more.If not already doing so, please make sure you are following John on Twitter at @JohnReid64 and read his work online here: https://www.jacksonville.com/sports/pro/jaguarsAlex and I wrap up this Wednesday show with more talk about the Jaguars, Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger being named the AFC Offensive Player of Week 10 and more.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!The new message hotline is (814) 429-YINZ

Season 9, Episode 47 of The Terrible Podcast is now up and in this Monday show, I open with some news about the podcast.Alex Kozora and I then move on to discuss what happened on Sunday around the NFL in Week 10 and especially when it comes to the two other AFC North teams that played. We go over the Cincinnati Bengals Sunday home loss to the New Orleans Saints and the subsequent Monday firing of their defensive coordinator Teryl Austin.Will the AFC North have three new head coaches in 2019? Alex and I discuss the possibility of that being the case.We also discuss the rest of the AFC in the first half of this show and that includes talk about who the best team is exiting Week 10 of the regular season.The Pittsburgh Steelers will next play the Jacksonville Jaguars, so we talk a little about how their next opponent may have lost a few offensive linemen to injuries in their Sunday loss to the Indianapolis Colts.In the middle of this show, Alex and I give our final thoughts on the Steelers Thursday night home win over the Carolina Panthers. We also discuss the collective play of the Steelers pass defense over the course of the last five weeks and if the jury should still be out on that unit until the month of December. We go over some ANY/A stats related to the play of the Steelers defense.Alex and I slowly go through the entire Thursday night game in this show and we take time out to detail several big plays that happened on both side of the football in addition to talking about a few individual performances.We wrap up this Monday show by talking some about the state of the Steelers offense, the status of running back Le’Veon Bell with Tuesday’s deadline now a little more than 24 hours away, and a few other smaller talking points.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!The new message hotline is (814) 429-YINZ