The biggest fear going into this game is that Seattle pass rush.

Spoiler alert, I'm worried about Aaron Rodgers protection in this game.

I think everybody's worried about Aaron Rodgers protection in this game.

I'm Tom Aferman.

He is Chris Damski, and this is the Steelers Blitz Friday addition, headed into the weekend, Steelers Seahawks Acrossure Stadium getting opened at one o'clock this Sunday, and Chris, I got a real simple solution to make sure I can sleep at night, to make sure that my fears don't be realized on Sunday afternoon.

And that's just run the football.

It's really boring.

I wish I could open up these mics for the Blitz today and give you this great analysis of how you're going to beat the Seahawks and how it's going to be one of the most creative things you've ever seen in the history of the sport of football.

But I think it's real easy.

Just run the ball.

You can't rush the passer if you never really pass the football.

Can they succeed rushing the football though, Well, that's the question that you and I are going to try to answer over these next couple hours.

My friend, keep it simple, keep it simple, stupid or am I wrong?

I mean, you would like to certainly, any team would like to have an effective running game.

The Steelers more so, Yes, Arthur Smith, more so.

You just gave a running back a decent sized contract to do that.

You've invested your second highest draft pick in a running back, and you know that's maybe more for the future.

That's fine.

You've invest a lot in this offensive line.

I guess that doesn't necessarily you paid them to pass block too, But yeah, I think all the way around with your whatever, Aaron Rodgers is again one of the greatest arms to play.

He's forty one years old.

Even in a quarterback in your prime, it's to his advantage to have a running game.

So that if you make a list of check marks to what you want to do from week one to week two, improving the running game is high up on that list.

In a matchup specifically too, I just look, I think we talked a lot about Rodrick Jones on yesterday's show, and I think we both came to the conclusion that there's still something there that's worthwhile to keep, you know, giving him a chance here, and they don't really have another choice other than to get keep giving him a chance.

But I don't know this this matchup.

It really just worries me a lot because it's not just you know, one guy for the Seattle defense that creates a lot of pressures.

It's not like they've got a TJ.

Watt you can devote resources.

Yeah, and it's like, well, he maybe he'll bounce around, maybe he won't always be over Jones, maybe Feltana will get a crack at him.

You can always just have Darnell help out on him, like Chip with Warren game plan around one guy.

As I mentioned yesterday, this is one of only three teams that returned four players who had forty plush pressures each from the previous season.

So you're getting it from Leonard Williams, you're getting it from Boye Mafe like, you're getting it from all over the place on this team.

And you know, Broderick Jones got a lot of will McDonald.

But I think sometimes when you're a tackle and you're facing that same guy over and over again, maybe you can start to pick up on his tendencies and as the game goes along, you can get a little bit better.

That didn't really happen against McDonald, but I tend to believe it can.

I think Seattle's just gonna throw a ton of different stuff at him and Chris.

You even saw the Jets as the game played out on Sunday noticing, wow, that's a week link right there, starting to cheat Quinn Williams over towards Broderick Jones' inside shoulder as well.

So I think that there's gonna be a lot of attack patterns on seventy seven in this game.

And we saw a Jets defense create a lot of havoc for Aaron Rodgers.

I mean we scored points, don't get me wrong.

He had four touchdown passes, he was sacked four times.

He was hit more than that.

He was constantly having to get the ball out quickly because there was just no time.

And I think the Jets are a good defense.

I think Seattle's a great defense, and I think Seattle's pass rush is in improvement, is a step up from what you saw out of the Jets last week.

Yeah, and you wonder there's a lot of questions about the injury or even if the one hundred percent the secondary of the Seahawks, and you would think just by common sense or intuitively that that would maybe limit their they're blitzing things like that, sending extra people, but the Seahawks don't really need to get yeah, and that's something that you would so if they don't need to bring extra people.

Obviously, if the Seahawks get to the second quarter and they haven't even cutten within an arm's length of Rogers, they're going to try to do something different, I'm sure at that point.

But if they're seeing they're getting home to some degree regardless, then they don't need to do that, and that works to the advantage of depending And we'll see how that all plays out still here.

The injury report will come out later Friday afternoon of the Seahawks status report, things like that, and even if they do play, whether they're you know what percent they're at or to that level.

But it is that it seems like the Seahawks that they're not like a high blitz team necessarily in terms of getting their pressures.

Yeah, they don't need to, and you know, it might be even more prescient for them to win their matchups if they do have those injuries in the secondary.

If Devin Witherspoon can't go.

I mean, that's a huge break for the Steelers.

It is if Witherspoon is If he's out, it's a huge break.

Even if he's playing, you have to imagine, Chris, he's going to be somewhat limited having not practiced both days this week leading up until today.

We'll see what Seattle does today at their practice.

But that, to me was one of the guys that you circled as Okay, there's not a superstar on this defense.

But if I had to answer the question who's the best player who do things kind of flow through, Devin Wetherspoon would definitely be on the short list of names that would come up.

And you know, he does a lot of Mike Hilton things.

He's gonna blitz a lot.

He's part of the pressures that they get on the quarterback.

But he's also a lot better than Mike Hilton too in coverage.

She can do that as well.

So this is a very talentmented player.

Seeing him pop up on the injury report is a little stroke of luck for the Steelers, But hey, Steelers, they got their problems in the secondary too, Chris.

I mean, now that we're kind of going down this road, we might as well just say it now.

You know, Joey Porter Junior again yesterday not practicing.

Mike Tomlin was very optimistic, it seemed in his press conference, more so for Nick Carber optimistic, but yes, more so for Nick Carberg than he did participate fully yesterday.

So it does look like Nick is going to be okay, but optimistic about Joey too.

And now this is too stray practices without him participating at all.

Practice will be get underway right about now.

We'll see what Joey Porter Junior status is once the practice report comes out, and what the game status will be.

He'll obviously be questionable at the very best.

You just hope you don't see that doubtful.

You hope you don't see that out next to his name.

So both teams dealing with some blows in the secondary with their young cornerbacks.

Yeah, when you get in week two and you're not practicing Thursday, that's a larnt.

You know, I don't know the Seahawks.

I'm not going to pretend I remember know they're even Mike McDonalds a head coach.

They're patters.

A lot of these coaches have rhythms, and you kind of know what the Steelers, you see somebody the veterans and obviously the guys like Walten, Hey, we'd take days off every week, but somebody's dealing with something.

I guess if you're a and this will all be well resolved to a point less he's questionable, I guess it won't be resolved then for another forty eight hours here in a few hours after the injury report comes out.

But with Porter, maybe the way Tom went even described it after the game, he didn't seem that concerned about it.

He's like, we just want to keep him off his feet, like he said something to that effect about Porter, sort of precautionary and when you do on the soft tissue in week one, maybe you do that and maybe that's it.

Kind of keep him off is you know, you don't want to anything tightening up and give it every last he's been you know, it's third year corner now kind of knows his role necessary.

You know, it's not like he's moving around as much as the other guys in the secondary.

So maybe that's it and you roll him out there Friday and everything's good, then he's fine.

So not ever yet but it cuts both ways.

If the Seahawks have what do you have?

The four member three members of the second didn't practice at all on their Thursday practice report, so you know it affects.

But but they's it's life in the NFL, right, somebody's going to be hurt no matter what.

Happens right away too, you don't get you know, the first four weeks free or something like that.

So yeah, team's gonna have to adjust.

Steelers and Seattle both dealing with adjustments having to be made in their secondary.

We can get more into that a little bit later.

Back to running the football, and I just have Sandra Bullock's voice in my head from the blind Side, Run the ball, Bart, Run the dang ball.

Bart.

Do you think we could get a cell phone feed to Mike Commlin at the game and like call down to him, did they run the ball?

Mike?

Would it be your voice or the actual cut from Sandra.

I'll do the voice the impression, Yeah, run the ball, Mike.

It just again, it's so easy to me, it's it's slapping me in the face.

But maybe it's not that easy because the Steelers are very unsuccessful at running the football.

In Week one, like if they went for one hundred plus yards as a team and we're averaging close to four yards of carry last week, then I think I'd be like, this is a slam dunk, not worried about this game at all.

Seattle's offense doesn't really put any fear in me.

And as you can keep that defense kind of on its heels trying to stop the run most of the game, Rogers will get some time on a certain plays to you know, go for the jugular, have those one or two drives as you like to mention that you were kind of signing up for with him, just win you in the football game when you need to.

And I would really feel good about this game for the Steelers.

I still feel pretty good, like I think that they're gonna win ultimately, but I think it's going to be another sweated out type of performance.

And if you can't generate anything on the ground.

I'm not saying he gets hurt in this game, and he still might be able to, you know, do what he did against the Jets here in Week two, but it's going to be a long day for Number eight.

And again, I just think it's going to be a little bit more stressful than it needs to be to try to get your first home win of the season.

It'll probably catch up to you eventually, not one of these.

You're kind of playing with it to right.

Yeah, whether it happens this week or week four or whatever it might be, especially Chris when you have it early by.

I know that they did that because of the Ireland game, and that was strategic in that sense.

But the forty one year old quarterback that after that point is going to have to play what thirteen straight games, yeahteen weeks in a row.

Yeah, and you know what's faced if there is like I don't subscribe necessarily to this, Like there is a school of thought that Naji Harris, for whatever his faults or warts were, was, is the guy that can take the pounding, you know, first second down and get those twenty some carries per se.

I don't know if it's that simple to say that Warrant can't do that, but I will say it's never happens.

It never been asked.

I haven't seen it, yes, So it is an unknown to that level.

We haven't seen.

Broderick Jones maybe that week six back in his rookie year when he did start left tack with that one game.

I don't I'm not gonna subscribe to remember exactly how he performed that.

Dad.

Was that the Houston game they played that?

Don't try to remember, Chris, See you're trying to remember right now, don't do that.

I hope it wasn't the Houston game because they often that was the game with the Steelers on a whole night that year or two years ago.

But regardless, we haven't seen Broderick Jones put together above the line game but left tackle yet.

I mean, von Tonams only two games, so there are enough question marks that if you look at it from that perspective that that you know this running game.

My tendency is to say, I think the running game will be fine.

I don't think it's it's this.

I don't know if it'd be the best in the league anything like that, but I think it'll be adequate enough, or it can be adequate enough on a week to week basis.

But we are at this point now where we haven't seen it yet with this group necessarily so, but everything could fit together a lot better.

You're right.

I just think when you have raught a quarterback at this stage of his career, back to the unsustain Unsustainable is the work of the word of week two leading into Week two, that's right, Yeah, yeah, I don't know if necessarily.

I mean, what's what this way?

The Jets even what he was third in the league in past attempts last year or whatever he was, and they did not run the ball.

I think that was a huge disservice that they did to him, is that they just made him, you know, throw the ball all the time.

They were losing in a lot of games too, so they had to chase.

But the team looked like it was built to run last year.

Shoot, the running back that torched the Steelers was there last year.

I mean, I'm sure he was pretty good last year too, and he shouldn't use him enough.

And I thought that was a huge disservice to the forty year old quarterback.

Then now you have the forty one going on forty two year old quarterback here and the Steelers did not do him.

But they tried to run the ball in Week one.

It wasn't like they were just like, forget it, ignore it, run it two times for you know, token runs and that's it.

They wanted to do it.

They just they really couldn't and I don't think it's a chicken or the egg thing.

I think it's a both thing.

I think that's the line not being able to get enough push and not being able to execute what they need to do.

And I don't think the running backs are executing very well either.

Look, Caleb Johnson is not ready, Okay.

I think that's probably the back that fits the mold of what Arthur Smith wants most out of that group.

He just can't play yet.

That would be a liability on the field right now.

So Warren and gain One need to step up in the time being to fill I don't want to say fill that void like Kayler Johnson's gonna come in and be God's gift, but at least until he gets to a point where it's like you can play more than two snaps, you know you need to step up big time.

And Warren got a lot of faith paid to him literally because of the contract that they gave him, and can't write him off after one game that wasn't extremely explosive.

But you need to see some of those runs you saw last year from him when nause he was kind of spinning the tires in mud a little bit, and he would come in and there was the explosion that you needed.

There was that ten plus yard run that you needed, and you didn't get a taste of it in game one.

Got to have at least a few explosives in game two.

I'm not saying, Chris, you have to go out there and run for one hundred and ninety nine yards like you're the Baltimore Ravens, but you have to hit a few explosives.

You have to go for ten plus yards a couple of times, make the defense respect it, or else that pass rush is going to have a hell of a day for Seattle, and you're playing into the defense's hands with allowing them to get after the quarterback.

You if you got to an early lead, if it would let's say, whatever, if the Steelers can get a ten point lead in the first quarter or the first half or whatever.

Because we score on the first drives.

Now, I don't know if you know it's a trend.

It is it's so far in twenty twenty five.

So even if that happens, though, you still got you got to get through the rest of the game.

And if you're not running the ball, that's going to create problems and again exposing your quarterback like gain Well is always a player I liked watching and the Steelers do like him a lot, or the Smith likes on a lot.

And you could see, I mean to made a splash plan special teams in week one, but you don't want him playing.

He's not your feature back.

I'm just dude, that's this reality of it.

You don't want him playing that much.

And so does it fall on more and then I don't know.

I mean, you know, you're right.

It's not a chicken or the egg thing.

It's not just the running backs.

It's not like Warrens wasn't productive today, he was terrible or whatever it is.

It's not like Nausey's you know, rookie year where it was like he leads the league and broken tackles and he gains a yard because he's just literally dodging everybody back there.

Yeah, it's a bit of both.

I mean it's both.

I think are less then and they need to step up big time in this game.

And you know, if you're the offensive line, you know in those meeting rooms, you're Pat Meyer.

You just gotta like it's about being nasty, right, Like it's really that simple when it comes to run in the football Like, yeah, you have different zone schemes and you got to execute certain blocking assignments to run the exact run play that you want.

But like, at the end of the day, that's just getting the guy off of his spot across from you and being a better football player than him.

And you know, that's kind of the thing that you usually lean on to get some confidence going with your boys up front.

It's like, hey, my boys need to start feeling it a little bit more in this game.

Let's have him push somebody around a little bit.

That'll make him kind of settle in nicely.

And I just think that that's something that they should really harp on this week.

And again, I just don't know what else to do.

Like the injuries in the secondary, it's tempting right to kind of have Rogers go back there and kind of sling it a little bit, but that just might get him killed.

And furthermore, even if you try to use him to attack downfield, how far downfield are you going to be able to do that with a pass rush like this.

You saw that he wasn't able to push the ball downfield very much against the Jets last week.

The quickest time to throw in the NFL in Week one, so they have like four air yards per completion.

Yeah, so that wasn't either.

I wasn't there.

I guess you could say they didn't need it.

I mean, you have a bunch of playmakers a receiver.

But he executed it well for sure.

Yeah, NFA Tadhu probably at this point he is viewed as having the highest ceiling of anybody on the old line.

And you know, he is the reason they liked him so much in the draft.

And see what he can do is he's perfect for that the zone running thing.

Get them out there and get them in the outside and just have them just bowl people over.

There's some of that tape from him at Washington College.

That's what kind of makes your eyes bulg if you're a scout, or if you're the Steelers, or if you want to see your running game, especially the running game.

But the Steelers the style that they want to run.

So that was that kind of fit should be handing glove And it was one game, and you know, maybe that's an area you go and see, you know, rely on what you've have in faton and what you've seen with your own eyes on the practice field.

What you drafted them for and maybe you know, after a first game, maybe that's something that that can be that can be done.

I don't know.

Obviously, then you're you're going away from from Jones then too, and maybe get him some confidence in terms of you know, in terms of the past protection.

And you know, there's it's only been one game with this, it's a whole new it's not a whole new line.

But you got a new left tackle, a new right tackle essentially from what you got last year.

You have a new featured running back, a new quarterback for that matter.

So there's a lot of pieces there, and you're, yeah, Caleb Johnson isn't ready at this point.

You know, I'm sure in an ideal world, but I don't know.

It was maybe a hope, but it wasn't an expectation necessarily.

He was he could be, you know, a belcow early on in his career.

I mean, maybe you come in and just blew everybody away and during camp and during preseason or whatever, and said, you know, stomped his way in there and said they just should they couldn't ignore it and he had to be the features back.

But I never and remember they gave war in the second round tender, which is more than they probably had to necessarily.

You know, they probably could it a little bit.

I don't I don't think, you know, you don't see much restricted free agency.

Move that's a good point.

Like they gave him a vote of confidence there, yeah, and then past again, Yeah, with another big vote of confidence.

Yeah.

So it was even before the draft came before I guess free agency at that point.

I mean, the writing wasn't the wall probably regardless, probably since last May, whenever the fifty year options have picked up on.

Yeah, he wasn't gonna be bad.

You would have to have had like a fifteen hundred yard season to make him really think about it.

So that was breading one of the wall.

But that that commitment they showed, it's sort of it wasn't It's not a in the modern NFL five point three five million is now, and it's really the cheapest position too.

Yeah, but it was more than, like I said, they probably had to do to do.

You know, it wasn't as if I don't think, like I said, you very rarely see restricted free agents change teams and they put a late round tender on them.

Whatever it was, I don't know if that would have they were risk of losing him.

So I thought that was a show right there before the draft.

And I'm sure they planned on drafting or running back at some point anyway, and they liked Caleb Johnson, and Caleb Johnson still might be at some point.

But yeah, for for week two here in twenty early in the season twenty twenty five, he's not gonna be that.

It's gonna be the Jalen Warren and game Ball show.

But Gainwell again, there's a lot of things you can do with them, but I don't know if it's uh, you know that what is the four minute offense there?

You get two touchdown lead in the second half.

I don't think they're.

Gonna turn around and handle ball any over and over again.

I don't think so either.

And Gainwell out snapped Jalen Warren in Week one had more usage than Jalen Warren did that game and Game one was one of the players of the game.

Maybe not so much for anything he did particularly on offense, more of the special teams play that he brought to the table with that amazing strip on the kickoff, But you know, they know that.

I think Warren should be the one as of right now, But I don't know how much confidence they truly have in that, because I mean, it just played out with the way Arthur Smith deployed them.

You know.

I also think there is a little bit too Arthur Smith likes Kenneth Gainwell as one of his toys, you know what I mean.

I think you brought that up on an earlier show, Like he just has certain toys that he likes, and he tried it with Cordell Patterson last year until he realized, my toy is washed up.

Right now, I can't I can't keep going to my toy.

Well, this toy's not.

Gainwell is still in his I don't want to say he's in his prime in his NFL career, but he's still a good, very healthy contributor to a team.

And you know, I just think that he likes it, Like I just think that he likes the versatility that he brings to the table.

Yeah, he likes guys like that for sure.

And I think maybe I would say the fear but the twenty two one, so I'll go back to that.

That was Ben's last year.

He was thirty nine, and there wasn't a faith in the offensive line and to by extension in the running game per se.

And you saw that ben through the bubble screen, and we saw elements of that.

You know, got a shovel pass, we had to DK just cut a bubble screen a couple of times.

You know the dump offs the game, Well I don't.

And hey, they score thirty four points.

Okay, so if it works, it works, I can go back to sustainability.

I don't know if it's working over a seventeen game season per se.

And I think that kind of telegraphs or could telegraph where and the time to throw me in so low, what the level of faith is and the fact that and you're behind the running game thing, I don't know, the game game situation might have been why there wasn't a kind of a wild game.

Yeah, they were behind most of it or a lot of it, or at least you knew you had to keep scoring even when they did have the lead for you know, certain points of that game.

But so we'll see.

But yeah, that's what I kind of like, is this going to turn into that kind of offense?

And that team made the playoffs, but you know, you hope there's a higher ceiling here than.

That, I will say this, it is a much better offensive coordinator heading the ship right now than it was back then.

Yes, quarterback quarterback comparable of course, both Hall of Famers and the other part of that equation.

Much bigger upgrade right now with the Steelers working with Arthur Smith.

When Chris and I come back, it's not just the chicken or the egg thing when it comes to running the football offensively.

It's that same chicken or egg quandary when you figure out why they couldn't stop the run against the Jets.

He's Chris Adanski, I'm Tom op Forman.

It's the Steelers Blitz on the Steelers Audio networkinghouse band.

We got here.

It is cool that they shell out for that.

It's nice.

You got Kevin, we got Chuck.

Steve play eight seconds at a time too.

It seems like.

They're really good at like getting really soft too.

I don't fade that down.

It's just like the quietly plays instrumentals here.

Great stuff, guys.

Thanks, We'll talk to him about another what twenty minutes or so, sweet, Go get a drink.

All right, So we talked about running the ball on offense.

Here's our next part of our super insightful Einstein level analysis on beating the Seahawks.

Not only do you have to run the ball, Chris, you have to stop the running this game too.

Have you ever heard that?

Have you ever heard that wisdom before?

Stop the run and run the football keys to victory?

So simple, It seems so simple.

But I just don't really see how it's not.

Because there's one threat in the passing game when it comes to the Seahawks.

We'll get to him in a second.

We talked about him a little bit yesterday as well.

But they can run the ball.

They should want to run the ball.

Kenneth Walker, I think is a very good back.

I think they have got a good compliment in sharbon Ay.

Although Walker was the compliment in Sharbonay last week based on the stap snap distribution.

They didn't have much success last week running the football.

They're watching film though, this week.

I mean, I don't think that you know, they're just going through the motions at the Seahawks facility.

It's Friday, Rolds.

Run.

Should we put on some of that Steelers film?

You think?

So they know what happened last week?

Run in the football.

The entire world knows what happened last week running the football against this Pittsburgh Steelers defense, that's got to be their plan of attack.

So early and often, Chris, you need to see Steymy's at the line of scrimmage.

You need to see some tackles for loss, maybe a one or two yard gain.

Get some swagger, get some confidence back in that run defense, because if they have success early like the Jets did, I mean Brice Sall ran for eighteen yards on the first play from scrimmage, Like, what more do you need to see to be like we can run the damn ball?

Huh?

So you got to at least early, I think in this game, make a statement.

And I'm not saying that you have to hold them to a yard per carry all game long, and there's not going to be a big run from Kenneth Walker at some point.

Charber Day's not gonna go for nine or ten yards at some point, but early on, make that statement, establish a strong run defense, and as the game works out, or as you work your way through the game, limit those big time runs, limit the damage that the running game does, and they'll eventually shy away from it, and then hopefully your offense gives your team a lead and they'll have to shy away from it.

But I think that's just such a big deal for this game.

And I said, you know, it's not chickening our egg.

When it comes to running the football on offense, it's both outline and it's the running backs.

Same thing with the defense.

To me, it's not just the defensive line.

Linebackers have got to play better too.

I think high Smith and Waltt were fine.

I'm talking about the inside linebackers in particular.

I mean Peyton Wilson, Patrick Queen have got to be better at stopping the run.

Chris I said this on the Wednesday Show.

There's some positions where if you don't see them at all, or you don't recognize that they're out there for the game, that's a good thing, right, Like a corner, a left tackle like did Jayalie Ramsey even play?

He played every snap?

Holy crap.

He must have been amazing out there.

Opposite, when it comes to inside linebackers, those are guys I want to see every play, right.

I want to see them all around the pile.

I want to see them wreaking havoc.

I want to see speed, like I need to notice my inside linebackers.

I didn't notice those two barely enough in that game against the Jets, so I need to see them make a big statement in this game.

You know.

I saw a video clip of Fred Warner, funny enough, playing against Seattle and the way he hunted the run Chris.

I mean, he saw motion from the full back and took a couple steps with him and he just knew.

The caption of the tweet of the video was someone's been watching film or something like that.

He just knew where to go, and he shot right into that backfield and got to Kenneth Walker.

And I'm like, yeah, you know what, you need your defensive tackles and your defensive line to stuff to run as well.

But boy, stopping the run has always inherently come from that just middle linebacker hunting like a shark, right, getting that Jaws music going.

Yeah, the juxtaposition of the one having six carries by the Jets of at least twelve yards and not getting any carries from the Steelers of more than nine yards and one carry at nine yard carry, that was it.

It's almost you know, if you said that alone, it's almost like, wow, it's stuck.

The Steeers won the game.

It's it's telling on both sides of that.

And it's like we talked about, the most quote unquote explosive or the biggest gaining, the most matriculated running play the Steelers had all day was a two yard loss by Caleb Johnson where he took a latehit out of bounds and got fifteen yard attacked onto it.

So it became a you know, a thirteen yard game in the end, But it was more had nothing to do with what the Sewers run offense did and the run defense.

When you have those carries of eighteen seventeen, sixteen, fifteen, fifteen, twelve by the Jets, that probably is more often than not an indictment on the inside linebackers.

That's one thing.

If there's a hole there on the on the d line, if they're you're not getting tackles for loss, if you're not doing that making splash plays in the running game.

But if if the inside linebackers are there cleaning things up and limiting things to three four five yards at least, but not you know, a explosive quote unquote run where you get a first down on first and ten, you're and you're running for eighteen in the very first play of the game.

And that's something that I mean with all the both the big names and the I mean the contracts that have been handed out and all the acquisitions of the past year and a half, now people forget or it's almost like people forget I forget almost.

I mean Patrick Queed was signed to the biggest free agent contract in Steelers history from an external free agent, and he was supposed to be that guy.

He's played every snap and he hasn't been poor by an imagination, it's almost like he gets over He can kind of live in that almost anonymity almost where there's all the other guys have come since him and he's not asked to be, you know, the captain or the alpha of the defense, which is fine.

That's great that they've assembled this defense that has so many and that's where people have talked about how it could be a you know, historic deal go through down down road again.

But it can be a great defense, but can't on the field.

Yes, so you don't have to be, you know, the best player on that defense.

But yeah, if those lines almost any defense, let's face it, the the interior off ball linebackers should be leading tacklers every game.

Yes, I can't see these defensive backs keep leading.

And we saw that so much with Menka Chris and the same story this week, and it was defensive I saw Elliott was hurt, he was still leading the team and tackles, like what is going on?

And then Chuck Clark don't only play half the game stood stop somebody in the box for god.

So we had a lot of safeties making tackles, which I think reflects him.

You got runs eighteen seventy sixty to fifty.

Yeah, you know those type of runs the Jets are having, and that's reflected in that.

So that is you know, the D line is I guess the lines where any run defense starts.

But yeah, if they're there and then they're making plays.

And think I've talked about Peyton Wilson is of all the players on the roster, if you're listed them, you know, I don't know the importance that this, but I think the widest range of outcomes.

Right, It's like if we got to the end of the season and he was in the Pro Bowl and really emerging kind of a star, a playmaker like he was in college.

I wouldn't have been shocked if he was or if he was, you know, exposed, I wouldn't be shocked.

And and you know, you want to see you know week one, you will you'd rather see it more to the former than the latter and that and you weren't seeing the play making out of him and it was his first star and we'll see.

But yeah, yes, I think that it kind of gets up because we talk so much about d line because there was a first round pick, and there's Cam Hayward ad a thing and exactly and you know, TJ's your star and Alex Highsmith had had a pretty good Alex Heidman we kind of forgot out him had a pretty head the sack and I feel like he was disruptive throughout that game, the secondary and all the moving pieces had some major talk about that.

We don't talk about the end.

We don't talk about Patrick Queen that much, and you know, and he's a guy.

It's kind of and the steward need him to be good.

And again, as you illustrated there from the aspect of we don't talk about Patrick Queen that much because you know, t J wats a superstar, souperstar, a superstar.

Jayalen Ramsey's a superstar.

Cam Heyward is a superstar.

Like You've got so many other guys that come to mind first when it comes to that defense.

And that's fine, But my thing again is when you're on the field in the game, like he needs to splash maybe more than anybody, and it doesn't have to be you know, sacks, but it has to be again, stopping the running back after three yards, Like I just have to see him be a heat seeking missile out there.

And it's not just Queen, I'm putting it on Peyton Wilson too, like that he doesn't get a pass from this.

It's not like it's all Queen.

Like I think Queen played better than Peyton Wilson did significantly.

So in Week one, I'm not worried about Patrick Queen being a very good pro.

He is.

I don't voted in the NFL Top one hundred.

He was an All Pro second team All Pro just two years ago.

So like he's established.

Wilson is not Like we're very optimistic about what he can be.

He's got a lot of confidence, we know that for sure, but he's not an established NFL player yet.

This is his first real step into potentially becoming that, and he didn't fail Week one by any stretch of the imagination.

But again, you need more from both of those inside backers now.

Not to be disingenuous here with my chicken or egg stuff here, maybe I should have gotten a sound effect for that, like a But it's not just the linebackers.

The defensive line needs to be a lot better too.

And I'm not even just talking about you know, Cam Heyward doing that old man's strength and pushing a guard off of him and then grabbing a guy in the B gap and slamming him down for no gain.

But in a lot of ways, defensive linemen can be offensive lineman.

And what I mean by that is they stop the offensive lineman from getting to that second level.

They kind of put force that stalemate at the line of scrimmage with them, and then your hunters, your linebackers can do what they do best.

They're free to figure out where the hole is, track where the running back's going, and hunt.

And I think there is a lot of examples when you watch back that Jets game of not only offensive lineman being able to get into that second level and get bodies on Queen and Wilson.

And let's be honest, that's a weakness for those guys, right, Chris.

They can't get off blocks very well.

They're just not as big as some other inside linebackers, especially Peyton Wilson.

So not only was that happening though, but sometimes you just see Keanu Benton go for a ride right three or four yards off the ball.

WHOA, I'm pushed back all of a sudden into my inside backers.

Cannot have that happen.

On paper, Yeah, and it still can't play out.

And it's not that you have Queen Wilson can be in terms of sideline to sideline, covering the field, in terms of where they can go.

They you talk to heat seeking missile.

You have two guys there that if you had one of those guys that you'd be happy, right, you would be excited about what they can do.

You have two guys that can do that on paper in terms of their skill set, their resume, and so that's kind of what it's built upon.

They stopping the run and as long as you again, but if you're getting pushed into the backfield, it's like go back to Benton, man, It's like Benton is not like Roderick Jones.

You're like, it's there, come on, come on, keanun you can do it.

It's like you want to like root for him, and you know that Pat like like why why aren't Why isn't the production of the results.

It's not production per se.

It's weird and you know you're not asking them to rock up tackles and you want to get them some sacks.

Of course that production has to be.

I love that comparison, Chris, and it's what they were the same draft clash, right, So I love it.

I mean, so I don't think the stakes are as high for Keanu Benton.

They're high, I don't get me wrong, but at least there's options there.

They drafted Harmon, they got black Cam's still around, louder Milks, the nature of the position you can rotate there.

And it's just a very good point too.

But you're so right, like this is just another guy that it's like you have to break through.

The team needs you to break through.

Everybody sees the talent and sees it there and sees it in practice a lot of times.

And funny enough, just like Proderick your rookie year, you were good, like you had all this tape that you put out there that we were like, ceiling is really high, Proderick's a really good run blocker, but ke Ony benn is really good.

Like we went to have the air to cam like that was what the talking points was heading into the second year for those gentlemen.

It was only fourteen months ago or whatever it was camp last year.

Only fourteen months Yeah, and it's and it's still there and it's not especially over time.

Talking men here that they were not not saying he's you know, give up on him or whatever he is a bust or no good or anything like that.

I mean, he's obviously established as a starting NFL defensive lineman and he always will be.

But it's like you just feel like that next level can be there with him and he can be disruptive both, you know, like you said, not just being stout, stouter.

The stouter that's the word Mike Toman used, which I don't think is a word, but that's all right, we'll go with it.

It's a word now.

It's souder in the run game and give you you know that the push and the pass rush too.

He can do both of those things.

And it's like it's right there.

It's like and you almost expect to see it, and then it's like, why aren't we seeing that yet right now?

And it's and again it's not bad, it's just it's just it's just really take that.

And we've talked to he has quite incentive because, I mean, if he does show that this year, man the the open up, pay me the money or you know, we'll do that later on the day.

His agent would just be because the next offseason, Teddy KGB's off today, Chris, you know, just come in until Monday.

I want to give out the money for the game.

He expect the budget on the on the house band here and we don't on.

You know, the band's on retainer of course, and Teddy KGB is too, but he's off.

I mean, it's Friday.

What am I supposed to call him in when he only works Mondays fair enough, he's eating oreos, Okay, let him be, But you're right, he needs money.

K on keuny Ben does.

It's time to start making that big time NFL money and and he.

That's there and if he has any any sort of dynamic time of year and it shows the things he can do.

We'll be getting it next next, next summer.

I have a take related to Keany Benton when it comes to this game on Sunday, so I'm gonna give it to you next.

It's Chris Adamski, It's Tom Offerman, It's the Steeler splits on the Steelers Audio network man Friday's during football season.

Just they just hit so different.

I feel the energy that I used to as a kid again during Fridays, like when school's done and I can f off from all this stuff for a while.

You got your high school football tonight, and in these parts it's bigger than in other parts around this country.

And that's snare drum, Chris.

It just hits when you go to those high school stadiums.

I don't know what it is about it.

You got college next week or tomorrow, and of course NFL Sunday.

We'll talk a bit of college football and the college slate in a little bit.

But I promised everybody a Keanu Benton take first, and I will deliver on my promises.

Chris, you tease, you deliver.

I think Keanu Benton, as you said in the last segment, has established himself as a pro and as someone that is a rotational piece and even a starter, if you will, on a defensive line, not just for the Steelers, but across the league.

I'm comfortable saying majority of teams would welcome aboard Keanue Benton.

All that being said, I would cut his snapcounts down this week, and I would throw I would throw Yia Black out there more.

I think Black should play more snaps.

I think that it has It's a good point.

I think we all agree Black should play more.

I do.

Somebody has to be at the expense there.

Yeah, good point.

Maybe it's louder Milk, but what you saw in the game was Hayward, Benton, louder Milk when they were in base and they had three defensive linemen out there.

I don't know if.

Benton can play nose.

I don't just don't know if that's in the cards for him.

I think why a Black can definitely play some nose.

I also think why you Black can play on the outside a little bit on the defensive line too.

He's very athletic.

But I would maybe shift some things around.

Maybe louder Milk's the actual odd man out Chris and it's Black and Benton kind of bumps out to you know, the tackles inside shoulder of the guards outside shoulder, kind of in the BC gap, and that's how you go about it.

And then when you go in base and it's only Hayward and another guy out there on the D line, I think I would lean towards Black more than I would Benton.

You know, at some point you have to say to yourself, Benton's fine, but Black showed a lot of potential in the preseason.

What if he's better than Benton's let's I think he's deserved more snaps, like you said, and it has to be at the expense of someone.

But I also think that Benton hasn't really done anything to make you nervous that, oh, Black's going to come in and just be so much worse than what we've seen out of Benton I think.

I mean, Black was a fifth round pick.

There's a lot of different on picks don't make the team or maybe make the practice squad, whatever it is.

So he's already way exceeded expectations.

Whatever you think about easy quote unquote eating somebody.

And there is an element too of we have not nextual we talked about earlier, but you know whatever it is.

Jaydan Mooreen is a future back.

There's things that we think we know, but we just haven't seen it yet on tape or on the field during the game.

I think there is Remember Joey Porter Junior was dime back for the first four or five games of his rookie season.

Yes, and whatever you want to say about he's in a rookie And I think there especially on the dean line, Like we talked about the nature of that position.

Is it just you're you're going to rotate bodies in And I think as the game when Ontara Austin talked about it too to a point he thinks, well, he even kind of openly acknowledged he wants to see more and they steer you probably will see more.

People watching the game will see more.

Ya blast.

Yeah, in week two, I knew it.

That's what did you do?

The Sandra Bullock voice when you when you contact.

But and then it's like he also got to do is interesting?

You know we're still in which I get, you know, the Casey Hampton nose tackle, and that was I want to say, it's a rolic.

You're not gonna play every snap with the big bowling ball body right now, ya, Black is the biggest defensive lineman on the Steeler.

Now does that mean he is the nose tackle?

There's obviously that makes sense to a degree, But even the Steelers over the past several seasons now they would it's not even a base defense where this guy plays and only nose tackle and then he's done there or then he but it's it's like it's almost as if everybody's everything.

It's not exactly true.

But Black played some you know as the as the four tech way outside, he played some nose.

He played more of the you know, the nickel tackles.

You know, we saw him play all.

But that's almost everybody on the Steelers D line.

It's not these defined roles.

Like I thought, it was really crazy and intuitively whenever the second team D line during camp a lot of times was Logan Lee was in the nose and Black was on the outside, which just didn't make you look at their body types and like this doesn't make any sense whatsoever.

But.

If you kind of have to get yourself and Tera Austin talked about this yesterday, out of that mold to think and we want to nose tackle that just three hundred and sixty pounds and just big old stands there and as a brick wall.

And there's there's still use for that.

I mean they kept damn the colors around for what seven years too long?

Yeah, there's actually just be that in the middle.

But they're so varied now on the D line and it's not it's not exactly this where it's like the three guys roll out there and where do you want to play or two guys whatever it is at a certain tact.

But so in other words, this is a long way of begetting to I think Black, even though he is their biggest D line and I think also is in terms of can play you know, however you want to call it, and it tackled nickel, tagle, you know, whatever position'll tag you want to apply to it.

But I mean Black, I think we all see has a high, much higher ceiling than a fifth round pick usually has as a rookie, and he'll naturally get there.

Loudermilk, we've talked about he is.

They're they're there, They're what do we use?

We're comfortable with him.

They're they're there, He's there, He's going to be here if he's your fifth or sixth d lineman.

That's fine, that's great.

He knows what he's doing.

He's not going to screw up.

He's been around, he knows everything that that's fine.

But you know, for week one, you see why they're not going to necessarily start the rookie until we get them a little more assimilate.

He's not playing against Carolina Panthers third stringers or whatever.

True, He's getting out there against an NFL offensive line.

So I do think we'll see more and more Black increasing throughout to see.

I don't know at the expense of venting, but like I said, the snatch up to come from somewhere, and you know, Cam Heyward's gonna stay on the field as much as you can, at least for thirty six year old.

I assume they'll be a little attrition there, maybe two and and we're forgetting about the fact that the first round pick will be back here at some point.

And then all of a sudden, it's like the proverbial good problem now and maybe at that point then yeah, Benton does start getting squeeze off.

The two rookies are are are are performing at a high level.

All of a sudden.

But we're getting way down the road here, and we go to see Harmon in the field against legitimate NFL offensive line before we go there, and I think he'll be good too.

But yeah, it's uh, I mean black certainly relatives who expectation heading into his where he was on the depth chart, where he was as a fifth round pick, the biggest most pleasant surprise of Camp.

I don't think anybody would, you know, it's hard to kind of deny that.

I think it's time now for the college Couch.

This is a feature on every Friday's edition of The Blitz where Chris and I will take a look around the college football landscape and see what's going on in the college football world that week.

We're also going to do it from this literal couch that we have though from college.

It's very gross, disgusting.

Yes, so let's move over.

Let's sit on this couch here to talk some college ball.

And oh, okay, that's the disgusting.

Who left it?

Who's spilled beer there?

I hope it's beer.

That's disgusting.

Oh, I can feel it.

It's My shorts are wet now too, that's gross.

How is it wet?

It's been out of commission for years.

How is it still like a fresh wet I don't know.

We're not going to talk about it be burned here.

Well, that's a great transition, Chris.

That's exactly where I was going.

It's appropriate for us to be on couches today because that's the marque.

Local game is Pitt in West Virginia the backyard Brawl this weekend.

Uh.

I don't think West Virginians are going to be burning many couches, maybe out of protests to the program that they root for.

But look, I don't like to be over confident as a rabid PIT fan like I am, especially in a game like this, And it's usually games like this, Chris, where the team that has everything to lose is the one that does lose, and the team that is just kind of like, you know what, it'd be great if we beat them, but if we lose, we were already embarrassed last week.

That's the team that wins the game.

So I'm nervous.

But boy, everything says that Pit should just smoke them out of the building.

I mean, they're seven and a half point road favorite, Chris.

That's a huge line.

I know that that's the thing is game, a robbery game on the road giving more.

That's like, that's like a trap if I ever saw one in terms of if if you're into that thing, into putting because that that violates.

Like somebody you were talking about trapped, Like everybody be like, well, I'm taking West Virginia and then all of a sudden it's like Pit one.

It's like yeah, it's like it's like, I don't know what that extra hook.

But either way, it's like I don't I don't want to get involved in that if I'm on the road.

But that shows I think it opened up.

It's two if I'm not mistaken, two and a half.

And it's grown that much over the injury news this week for West Virginia.

So but it again, it's not this is nothing.

It's just like you seem like everything is just falling Pit's way and turning.

West Virginia is coming off a loss to a MAC team.

It's like, it's hard to really logically put yourself behind WU.

Man, that really took some win out of the sales of this one.

Yeah, you've liked them to be undefeated, I mean, would whatever it is who have the team's beating their schedule.

That's fine, but at least that that does kind of like, you know, suck some life out of everything here.

But at the same time, it's like, logically, it's really hard to say that West Virginia would be able to win this game.

But that's why rovaly games are usually defiologic in a lot of sense.

And not the only rivalry game here.

The other in state rivalry game this week Penn State ticking on the Villanova Wildcats.

State.

Yes, of course, what a soft non conference schedule that Penn State played, but hey, they're gonna get tested big time when it comes to the conference schedule.

They got Oregon, they got Ohio State.

And speaking of Oregon, Chris, they won sixty nine to three against Oklahoma State last week.

Pitt.

This was before my time, but I remember they played Ohio State.

Mark madd brings up all the time because he bet on Ohio State in this game and won big because he knew they were going to just slaughter Pit.

Pitt lost like seventy seven to seven or something like that at the Horseshoe.

That reminded me of this, like a power five, power four program playing another powerful program and just getting beat like you're in the FCS.

Well, now, Oregon Chris goes to Northwestern to play the Northwestern Wildcats, big noon, this is this a crime is going to be committed on this field.

I think Oregon needs to maybe be arrested and calmed down a little bit with what they're doing to team.

Some of the other games that are are weighty on the schedule, game days at Rocky Top for Georgia versus Tennessee.

How about South Florida the surprise at the start of the college football season, the number eighteen in the country.

They go to Miami, Chris.

If they beat Miami, they will have beaten ranked Boise State, they will have beaten ranked Florida on the road, and they will have beaten top five Miami on the road.

I mean, South Florida should be like the number five team in the country if they pull that.

Off, and they're already what eighteenth right now.

And that way, they're in the driver's seats for a playoffs.

I mean, how many teams that even play three ranked teams the first three games in the season in college football history.

And and yeah, even if they lose this game, if they're.

Still think they're alive for the playoff.

Yeah, yeah, I mean somebody.

I mean, they're by far the leader in that because one of the group of five.

Yeah, so they're by far the leader in that already.

So if you lose a game, if your only loss is at Miami in competitive game, yeah then so no matter what.

But yeah, they can really make a statement that they could actually be, you know, a factor in seeding higher than i mean the top ten team if they pull this off.

Yeah right, sure, I mean yeah, but we'll see everybody that first that Thursday night, my takeaway was all Boise State's no good without gent but maybe maybe Florida really yeah, yeah, I mean they take from it because they blew them out that day in Tampa.

So there's a lot of sneaky games too, like like the what Clemson Georgia.

Tech, Well watch out for the Ramlin Red.

Yeah, with the Paul you know, Pit'll hopefully be in that conversation if you're a Pit fan and I you know, we'll see you.

Florida State, of course, off sent Miami has something to say.

Florida State all of a sudden looks like the class maybe the eight.

But I mean Geordia Tech wins this game.

I mean, they got a path to get to the a SEC title game and they're kind of a sneak and they'll be ranked out if they do.

They get them in home and you know, I think they got a shock to winner.

I think a lot of people picked them to finish fourth in the a SEC this year.

So the Wreck, the Wreck have a stake to do this playing for sure.

And then finally you got Notre Dame in Texas A and M as your night game on NBC number eight versus number sixteen, Notre Dame one after losing the opener to Miami.

So this is a big one for how about that opener bye week last week?

Now they play Texas A and m And.

That wasn't even like I know, because North Carolina had a buye.

They played Monday night a little more than than doing.

North Carolina did not have a bye though.

They played Charlotte and the barely okay whatever, Yeah, I was sitting in the collach couch.

We gotta get off this couch.

Okay, Notre Dame.

I forgot about it for a second and then the smell waft it up.

Notre Dame.

If they go in two, this could be a big problem for them as far as their playoff is concerned.

So now remember last year they lost what week two to Northern Illinois, but then ran the table.

The rest of the season'll be as bad as that, But you can't start and two.

All right, let's get the hell off this couch and Chris and I come back.

We will award our big ballers for the game against Seattle.

It's the Steelers Blitz on the Steelers Audio Network.