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Ray Fittipaldo's Steelers chat: 09.26.23
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Ray Fittipaldo
1:55
Welcome to this week's chat. Let's get it going.
Tom
1:56
Minkah is a dirty player. Any doubt about that now?
Ray Fittipaldo
1:56
Umm, yes. What are you talking about?
Arnold Slick
1:56
Do you recall the last time the Steelers were betting underdogs in their first three games (two being at home)? Nice to see they are favorites this week, right?
Ray Fittipaldo
1:57
And don't look now, but they're -115 to make the playoffs!
Arnold Slick
1:57
Other than Gunner's lame attemp, have you seen any fair catch a kickoff? Why not?
Ray Fittipaldo
1:58
From what I've seen this year place kickers are being asked to boot the ball out of the end zone. When a special teams coach asks his place kicker to execute a sky kick -- like the one to Gunner Olszewski -- that's when you'll see more fair catches.
Arnold Slick
1:58
The Browns easily handled their other two opponents so far and the 49'ers are dominant. Maybe the rough start wasn't just the Steelers playing poorly. Canada still sucks, but maybe the players will improve as the season progesses?
Ray Fittipaldo
1:59
That's basically what Tomlin spent a good portion of his opening statement on today in his news conference. Not about Canada sucking but the part about growth early in the season.
Ken
1:59
The Texan's QB has NOT had one interception thrown so far in 3 games.  Do you think it is possible that we can get at least one?  And, if so, what do they need to do to get it?
Ray Fittipaldo
2:00
Same thing as last game against the Raiders. Pressure Stroud and force him to make bad decisions. He's obviously being coached well. They're not a prolific offense, but they don't make a lot of mistakes. It's a good approach with a young QB.
Ken
2:00
With all of the safety protocols in place in the NFL, how could Garoppolo have played in the game with a concussion?  How is that possible not diagnosing it during the game?
Ray Fittipaldo
2:01
No to protect the NFL, but players sometimes self-report symptoms after games. And some players hide symptoms in-game. And sometimes concussion symptoms don't come about until the next day. Diagnosing brain injuries is difficult on occasion, but what the league can do is have credible medical personnel watching games and mandating players be removed when they show symptoms on the field.
Ken
2:01
Harvin is listed on the injured list.   If he can't play, who punts Sunday?  If he does play and further injures himself, who is the back up punter?
Ray Fittipaldo
2:02
Tomlin doesn't think it will prevent him from punting against the Ravens. If it does, they'll sign another punter for the game.
Ken
2:02
There was some talk before Sunday's game that Canada had gotten a "promotion" in his working with Pickett.  Do you think that the change helped out some?
Ray Fittipaldo
2:04
There wasn't much to that "report." And there definitely wasn't a promotion of Canada or a demotion of QBs coach Mike Sullivan, who is tight with Pickett. By the way, any promotion from OC is either head coach or assistant head coach. As a consumer of the NFL you have to realize there are national reporters who are paid to break stories or come up with reports. Many times, these "reports" are full of stuff not worth reporting.
Retire21
2:05
Lost unless we had lost Sunday was the penalty on Pickens that. cost the Pickett TD scramble. They did get a FG out of it. Dumb penalty for Pickens or just a dumb penalty to call?
Ray Fittipaldo
2:06
First off, it wasn't a touchdown. He was tackled inside the 5. And yes, receivers have to make sure they don't prematurely move or get called for penalties like that. Everyone on the offense has to do that.
Retire21
2:06
Our punter leads the NFL in punting. Well, in total punts anyway. Still in lower third AVG. He booms them but does h need to improve on placement?
Ray Fittipaldo
2:07
Overall, yes. But he did have three punts inside the 20-yard line on Sunday night. That's what they need out of him. That last punt was a beauty.
obxandy
2:07
When will Jones and Porter get into starting limeup? Thanks. I enjoy your chats
Ray Fittipaldo
2:08
Porter is starting to see more snaps although it's likely more a case of the Steelers getting to their dime more frequently. As for Jones, they have yet to use him as an extra tackle the way they have with other backups in recent years. I asked Matt Canada last week if that was a possibility. He said it was, but through three games they haven't felt the urge to do it.
mrbig
2:09
thanks for the chats! Was this KP's best game yet?
Ray Fittipaldo
2:09
I'd say one of his best, but plenty of areas for improvement. They had two bad drives in the fourth quarter before he finally got that much-needed first down that helped seal the win.
Boo City Bob
2:10
Does it seem to you the handoffs from Pickett to Warren are much quicker than they are to Harris?  On one play Harris kind a froze for a second before he ran.
Ray Fittipaldo
2:11
Harris is stuttering-stepping too much. Too much dancing in the hole. He had the same issues last season. For as big as he is you would think he has a natural inclination for contact, but he does not. Warren is much better at seeing and hitting the hole hard. But here we are, and Harris is still getting more touches than Warren -- and last week by a significant margin (at least with carries).
Jim_Bow_Dean
2:11
When NFL owners are guaranteeing $200M+ contracts I get they want to protect QBs at all costs, but they are turning defenses into the Washington Generals. Will it ever stop?
Ray Fittipaldo
2:12
It's the owners who can make it stop, but they're the ones with the hundreds of millions invested in QBs. So, short answer is, it will never stop. But if I didn't cover the game for a living I might stop watching. It's brutal for anyone who grew up loving NFL football. They are ruining what used to be a great game.
Tom in Dallas
2:13
What were the two biggest factors on O that changed the scoring on Sunday: taking some shots down the field and Kenny using his legs when needed?
Ray Fittipaldo
2:13
Commitment to the running game, play-action passing and using Pickett's mobility as a runner and thrower on the run.
#17
2:14
Davante Adams was the only real threat on the Raiders, yet I didn’t notice any double teams. In fact, he was wide open the whole game. Wouldn’t a rookie coach even know the game plan should be to eliminate/minimize their greatest threat? Even after he lit us in the first half, did you see any second half adjustments or double teams?
Ray Fittipaldo
2:17
Sometimes coaches have to pick their poison. It was obvious the Steelers wanted to stuff the run. And they did. Josh Jacobs only had 62 rushing yards. When you commit to stopping one player, however, sometimes other players are left alone more. It's part of the calculus for coaches in devising game plans. And let's be honest, if the referee doesn't make one of the worst roughing the passer calls in the history of the NFL no one is talking about Davante Adams and the number of catches or yards he had. It's being mentioned because the game was unnecessarily close due to a horrendous officiating mistake.
Boo City Bob
2:17
Does it seem to you the handoffs from Pickett to Warren are quicker than to Harris? On at least one play Harris hesitated a full second before rushing.
Ray Fittipaldo
2:17
It's more and more noticeable every week. Harris got off to a terrible start last year too. I thought he was better against the Raiders but he's still not playing well.
Ken
2:18
So did your commercial flight make it back to Pittsburgh before the Steelers' charter flight yesterday? Of course, had the Steelers lost I can only imagine the "someone painted an end zone at the airport jokes" or the first time in awhile the Steelers left Kansas City with a victory  memes.
Ray Fittipaldo
2:21
The Steelers got a taste of what regular folks endure with air travel in 2023. Just to give you an idea of what we do every week. Monday morning 4 a.m. wake-up call, leave for airport at 4:30. Flight for Chicago was supposed to leave at 7 a.m. but was delayed for 90 minutes due to a mechanical issue. By miracle, after running through O'Hare Airport, we make out flight to Pittsburgh, but it's delayed by an hour because they held up the plane for us. Land after 5, wait for baggage and then get home after 6. A 14-hour travel day. I saw the Steelers players tweeting from the plane and had to laugh. Regular folks encounter this stuff every time we purchase a plane ticket.
Nailbiter
2:21
The Steelers haven’t been capable of blowing out a team in a long time. Even with big leads, we always let the other team back in the game. Is this more of an indication of the players not being able to finish a game or is it more an indication of flaws in the coaching and schemes once we take a big lead?
Ray Fittipaldo
2:22
In Sunday's case, it was the result of an offense that's still not where it needs to be. Quite frankly, with the defense scoring two touchdowns against the Browns, that game should have been a blowout, too. They're just not to the point with their offense that blowouts are possible.
Coach Cliché
2:22
Everybody knows that Tomlin is a master of BS, but he just admitted it in his press conference. It has been obvious for a decade that he is the king of “if you can’t dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with BS”. That same train of thought applies to his game plans. Good coaches see right through them. Is this just ego? Does he think he’s just smarter than everyone in the room?
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