Christopher Carter's Steelers and Pitt chat: 09.21.26
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Christopher Carter
1:01
Welcome to the Monday live chat! Taking all Steelers an Pitt questions here! Let's get into it.
Jeff M.
1:01
Hi Chris, why has the PG  eliminated most videos? I liked listening to them while working.
Christopher Carter
1:02
Hi Jeff! Unfortunately it wasn't my call, but with less staff I think it's been harder to fill those duties while taking care of everything else. I've been very proud of the video work we've done here and hope we get to put more towards that again sometime soon.
Scott via Louisville
1:03
Has the moving people around constantly the last few years prevented any type of cohesion from happening on our offensive line?  Also, if Washington is the best blocker ever for a TE, why isn’t the results better?  I was amazed Rogers got back up after that one hit. You know the one!!
Christopher Carter
1:05
It certainly didn't prevent cohesion last year. They were playing pretty well from the middle of the season on and were a big reason for both their wins against the Ravens and their win against the Lions.

Also, we all know the one you're talking about. It caught me off-guard how after the game Rodgers said they only got him once when we can all clearly remember the big hit that led to 4th and 43 and the other one that led to a touchdown.

I think they made progress last season and now it seems like they've completely reset. Basic mistakes that didn't happen last year have happened a lot through two games.
Meanwhile, Pat Meyer's offensive line in Buffalo looks like it's doing OK.
Jeff M.
1:05
Will you be doing any weekly draft coverage like you did with the QBs last year? This the QB class seems like it might live up to expectations.
Christopher Carter
1:07
Unfortunately, I won't. I really like this prospective class a lot better than last year's class and that would be fun. But with the draft not in Pittsburgh, and with me back covering Pitt, it's going to be difficult to put the time in it took to keep that consistent all season and fulfill all my other duties to Steelers, Pitt football, and Pitt basketball when that starts back up.

Which reminds me, happy first official day of Pitt basketball practice!
HOF City
1:07
Hi Chris- any sane Steelers fan can see this team is 7-8 win team at best. New coaching staff, new players… same result. OL is a mess. Whend
Christopher Carter
1:08
Hello!

Certainly looked that way Sunday. I do think they can correct several mistakes and clean things up to get better results. But when so many layer on top of each other like they did Sunday, it's harder to see a light at the end of a tunnel.
Scott via Louisville
1:08
Ed Bouchette taught me one thing, good players make good coaches. With that being said, why isn’t Washington, Friermuth, and Warren not more a part of the offense.  Those three pretty consistently make things happen. Metcalf and Wilson have proven over and over to be unreliable. The rookie looked good but we are going to lose a lot of games with him playing a lot of minutes until he isn’t doing rookie things.
Christopher Carter
1:11
Ed was wise with those words. I remember a clip from when Chuck Noll was asked after one of his Super Bowl wins about what he did to coach them to victory (I want to say it was after 13 or 14) and Noll said it was on the players, and that players determined the outcomes of games, not coaches.

I've often believed that philsophy in that coaches help get the players chances to win, and that's it up to the players to come through. Coaching is what you hope gets them into a position where they can compete, but the players have to do the winning.

As for your personnel question, I also think Freiermuth and Washington especially need to be more involved early and often. They're too highly paid to not be.
Ryan
1:11
Who is missing Tomlin now?  We lost a great coach and no one cared.  We would be 2 & 0 now, if Tomlin was here.
Christopher Carter
1:13
They were last year, and against similar levels of competition with a (better) backup QB team in week one, and pretty much the same Patriots team on the road in week 2 -- and they were 2-0.

But I'd say to give McCarthy time to figure some things out this year. Every coach will have their bumps in the road. I reserve my judgment for when we see how they handle those bumps to get to the end of the season.
Greg
1:13
how much of this mess is the GMs fault?
Christopher Carter
1:16
I think the most alarming part of all of this is that the offensive line looks like it's regressed. They looked like they were trending upwards last year with the way Frazier, McCormick and Fautanu played, and even Jones was looking good up until his injury.

But now, that group has been bad for two straight weeks. I don't think they were bad picks, because I've seen them play well. But I do wonder if the flipping of them around hasn't helped their progress.
DJ
1:16
Hey Chris.  Thanks for you chats.  Will you be providing a ranking of the 2027 QB draft class as the CFB season unfolds like you did last year ?
Christopher Carter
1:17
Hello and thanks for being here!

As I noted above, I'd like to do that, as this QB class has been a lot of fun to watch and I'm often evaluating them as being an AP voter for the top 25 this year. But we didn't prioritize that as a focus as I'm back to covering Pitt football and Pitt basketball and Steelers this year, and the draft isn't in Pittsburgh. But I'm here to answer any questions on the QBs you've got!
Steel curtain
1:17
So when it comes to mop up duty WHY put in Rudolph?   We know what he can do and he isn’t going to change at this point and alter a game with more reps.   But Howard needs the game speed of a real NFL game for development
Christopher Carter
1:19
I think part of it was because Howard was the emergency QB and not the regular available backup.

According to the NFL rules, the emergency backup QB is not necessarily an *active* player until the other quarterbacks on the active roster are unavailable due to injury or official removal of the game. So, even if Rudolph got hurt, Howard wouldn't have been available because Rodgers wasn't injured.
SPIKE
1:19
Should the Steelers have left the right side of the offense alone and not switched two players ?
Christopher Carter
1:24
Maybe. I still think Fautanu and McCormick CAN work on the left, they just haven't so far. But this move was going to add to their growing pains. I asked McCarthy after the Jets preseason game if he wanted to get more looks with the offensive line as a whole, especially in the run game. But he noted that he was trying to get a better look at his two young quarterbacks.

Personally, I think this line needed a lot more work to get its rhythm, timing and chemistry together. And still does.
Ryan
1:24
Why are people blaming DK Metcalf for the crummy offense?  If they can do better, let them try.
Christopher Carter
1:25
Well, I mean, he has objectively played terrible. Back to back weeks he's dropped a pass put right in his chest on a huge play while he was open. Last week they overcame it, this week they didn't.

He's not the biggest problem right now, but he's certainly in the running.
DJ
1:30
Do you anticipate the Steelers being favored in any of our remaining games?  Even the Browns are looking better.
Christopher Carter
1:36
They're not favored this week, and I don't think they should be. And you're right about the Browns. I thought they'd get stomped by Baker Mayfield and the Buccaneers, but Deshaun Watson looked ... good?

The Steelers haven't won in Cleveland since 2021, and they've never won a Thursday game in Cleveland. Would be a tough turnaround with the way the team has looked to expect that to change.

And for the rest of the season? They'd need to change things around. But the only games they might be favored at this point to beat would be the Browns at home later down the line or maybe the Titans.

But again, it's early and it's a small sample size. A lot of things can change.
62 Stack Monster
1:36
Good Afternoon, With 11 rookies making the team, ought not they be dressed and rolled out there to show their stuff? With the OL flailing, where was Dunker? While Treyveon was running 20+ yard TD runs, where was our new run stopping DL Rubio?  Good to see Bernard out there.  Except for his volleyball pass to NE defender for an interception, his performance was solid.  Will Bernard be dressed if Pittman returns, or will he sit because we are paying Rodgers' good buddy, DK 30M+ to drop passes?  Yeah, that was a snipe at DK.  Overall football is a young man's game, and if you have 11 good enough to make the team, put them out there.
Christopher Carter
1:45
Good afternoon!

I do think there are some legitimate questions about the rookies, but maybe some of the different ones.

Gennings Dunker looked terrible in preseason as a pass protector and probably would be a lot worse than Spencer  Anderson. But I do think Max Iheanachor's time might be coming soon with the way Dylan Cook has played. If you're looking for a Spencer Anderson replacement, I'd argue that's a Brock Hoffman job.

Germie Bernard was dressed for week one, just didn't get any targets. But I would argue he should get more with the way he played.

As for the run defense, I thought the biggest problems up front was that Sebastian Joseph-Day got pushed out of the hole on the 39-yard TD run. There was another big Rhamondre Stevenson run for 24 yards. But other than those two plays, the run defense was solid. I'm not too bothered by a defense that allowed 13 points and created two turnovers in a game when the offense gave them nothing.
DJ
1:45
I know the O line is a work in progress, but it seems like AR is immediately leaving the pocket, always rolls right, and in some cases moves directly into the rush.
Christopher Carter
1:46
There were definitely plays where Rodgers ran himself into the sack. The one in the red zone when he ran outside of Fautanu was an example of that. I still haven't had time to do my full all-22 rewatch yet, but I do wonder if going back to a purely quick passing attack might be the best plan while they work these things out.
Northrrn Ky Steelers fan
1:46
When did the Steelers philosophy change from trying to win a Super Bowl to trying to win a playoff game? It’s obvious what their plan is it’s not working.
Christopher Carter
1:48
Well, when you don't have a franchise quarterback and you're in the middle of a rebuild, expectations are going to be lower. It does seem like the offensive line rebuild they've been working on just got shoved to the side as that group didn't get much time to work on being a physical, run blocking unit during training camp. And they were getting better at that last year.
Keith from Atlanta
1:48
Was it a mistake to move Troy Fanatua to left tackle where he is clearly struggling.  Keep reading he is undersized for a left tackle and he was played better at right in 2024. Max has the size for a left tackle why not give him a try at left.
Christopher Carter
1:49
I thought he was solid at right tackle last year and made steady progress. The move to left tackle -- at least I thought  -- was to make way for Max Iheanachor to be the team's next right tackle. Maybe they wanted to give him time to sit and learn behind Dylan Cook, but that experiment has gone terribly the last two weeks.
Wiscoken
1:49
Hi CC, at what point is it fair to question Khan and Weidl's role in where we are with this Oline.  Every one gets that it takes time to gel, and that improvements are necessarily linear... but even knowing this, shouldn't this group simply be better?  It's performing at the lower end of the entire league, you would think that the draft talent alone would add up to something better than what we are seeing at this point.
Christopher Carter
1:51
I do think this is a year where they're supposed to show substantial growth. That hasn't happened through two games, but I've also seen offensive lines get stronger throughout a season and maybe that's just what this unit needs. Moving things around completely from last year when they were making that progress was going to have its natural growing pains -- and here they are.
Y-Town Steeler
1:51
Hey CC, how do you think Brock Hoffman did and is it time for him and Mac to see what they can do on the right side of the line. It’s been really hard to watch the 9-like as a while but Anderson and Cook have been really bad.
Christopher Carter
1:53
I agree that there might need to be a double change on that side very soon. Both Spencer Anderson and Dylan Cook have looked rough and I don't know how that gets fixed soon.
Ryan
1:53
Why do much criticism on the players? We have great talent.  This is what happens when you get over the hill coaches.  Poor coaching.  I miss Tomlin already.
Christopher Carter
1:54
I will say, I don't think the talent is "great." I think this team could at best win 11 games and maybe a playoff game -- similar to what I thought last year, with maybe some added expectations because the offensive line is supposed to be better and the added WR talent.

But I do think they are playing way below the standard you'd expect, especially on offense. They should be so much better.
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