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Ray Fittipaldo's Steelers chat: 11.14.23
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Ray Fittipaldo
1:55
Welcome and let's get started.
Stairway to seventh seed
1:55
Ray:  Realistically, the Steelers will be underdogs in all 4 remaining division games.  At Seattle has never been an easy game even for good Steeler teams.  At Indy is also a sneaky tough game.  They just barely beat two very weak teams at home.  Isn't 8-9 more likely than 10-7 at this point?
Ray Fittipaldo
1:57
9-8 might be most realistic, but I'm a bit more optimistic than you. I think they'll beat the Cardinals, Patriots and Colts. You say the Colts game is "sneaky tough" but Gardner Minshew is their starting QB. That's a game the Steelers have to win if they fancy themselves contenders. So those three games gets them to 9 wins. Then all they'd have to do is win one of five against the Seahawks, Bengals (twice), Browns and Ravens to get to 10 and likely secure a wild card berth.
NC steeler
1:58
Hey Ray appreciate the chats, with as well as the Steelers have ran the ball the last two games, what do you think is the reason for the lack of under center play action passes? Looks to me like they could make some really good plays off of it. Thoughts?
Ray Fittipaldo
1:59
I think they're having more success spreading people out and running out of shotgun to be honest. I seems like that's been the better option for them in terms of their running game.
artie bridge
1:59
Ray, please clarify a game clock issue.  Does a team scoring a td with 0:00 time on the clock get to try an extra point?  And, a corollary:  does the game clock run during an extra point try throughout the game?
Ray Fittipaldo
2:01
The game clock does not run on PATs. And when a touchdown is score at 0:00 the PAT is not attempted in those situations.
Guest
2:01
Hi Ray, thank you for the chats. Have the Steelers been playing against weak defenses the last several weeks, or has the offense line and the run game actually made meaningful progress?  Thanks again.
Ray Fittipaldo
2:01
A little of both. But we should find out if the running game is for real on Sunday. The Browns have one of the better defenses in the league.
Poni
2:01
Ray, will we shock the Browns and actually use the middle of the field?? This offense would be so much better if we did.
Ray Fittipaldo
2:02
That's also where a lot of turnovers take place. I think that's a big part of the reason it's not targeted.
Ralph
2:03
Hi Ray - Based on history isn't the chance pretty much zero that KP is the next franchise QB? There aren't many examples where one franchise QB was replaced immediately by another one: Montana-to-Young and Farve-to-Rodgers. Isn't it much more likely that the Steelers will have to cycle through a lot of guys like Mark Malone and Kenny Pickett to get to the next long-term answer?
Ray Fittipaldo
2:04
That's what history says, but it would be a whole heck of a lot easier if Pickett was the guy. We all know what the '80s and a big portion of the '90s looked like.
Boiler G Dog
2:04
The Steelers ownership and management need to steal an idea from the Bills. You CAN fire an offensive coordinator in mid-season. Hire someone that helps you win and get rid of the guy that you win in spite of.
Ray Fittipaldo
2:05
Let's see how the Bills respond to this before we take credit for it being a good idea.
MrCJJr
2:05
Hello Ray. Thanks for the chats, great work as usual. My question: Are you surprised that the Steelers have not pursued any outside candidates at ILB (as Tomlin indicated in the Press Conference today)? Thanks
Ray Fittipaldo
2:06
The trade deadline passed at Halloween. Anyone they get off the street now is on the street for a reason. And as Tomlin noted today, they have ILBs on their practice squad with some pedigree. Mychal Walker, for example, had 107 tackles for the Falcons last season. Walker isn't on the practice squad to develop. He's there waiting for an opportunity, and it appears his opportunity is coming this week.
MrCJJr
2:07
Question #2. Are you surprised that the 5-5 Bills fired their OC? Thanks
Ray Fittipaldo
2:07
A little yeah. But the Bills haven't looked right since the preseason.
Tampa Too
2:08
Ray do you understand or can you explain what the aversion is to using the middle of the field on the passing game? It seems like most of the routes are sideline routes or check down routes. Tomlin speaks about not living in our fears, but it seems they are afraid to throw the ball down the middle of the field, I see other teams running crossing routes and post routes. Is this Tomlin’s fault,Canada’s fault or is Picket not seeing open receivers. Thanks!
Ray Fittipaldo
2:09
It's a dangerous place for a young QB. Tipped passes can lead to INTs. Overthrows can lead to INTs. It's much safer to target the outside portions of the field if you don't have a QB you can trust.
Tampa Too
2:09
Ray. What do you think of Joshua Dobbs success in Minnesota? I think it’s a great story.
Ray Fittipaldo
2:10
Terrific story. I don't know what's going to happen, but I do know his career at NASA can be on hold for another decade or so. He is making himself a lot of $$$ even if it's just as a backup.
the real guest
2:11
Ray, When you were interviewing players regarding Pickens behavior were you surprised when Kenny said the plays should be designed to get him away from the perimeter?Kind of like saying MC is using him wrong.
Ray Fittipaldo
2:11
He can be motioned and still targeted on the perimeter. They just need to move him around more so he's not a "sitting duck" to use Pickett's words.
Rocco
2:12
The Steelers give up a lot of yards through the air and on the ground yet they are 12th in points allowed. Is this sustainable? It seems to be a byproduct of timely turnovers and playing mostly bad QBs to this point.
Ray Fittipaldo
2:12
They work at forcing turnovers. They're good at it so I think that's just as important as being stout against the run or really good against the pass. It might be more important because turnovers can flip field position and set up the offense in advantageous situations.
Jim_Bow_Dean
2:13
Why has it taken to week 9 of the last two seasons to get the running game going? After the way they finished last year, it shouldn’t have taken this long.
Ray Fittipaldo
2:13
I agree, but it's going pretty strong now. It had better stay that way too because the passing game has been regressing.
Jim_Bow_Dean
2:13
Have you seen the passing chart from Packers game? How will they ever know if Kenny is the guy if they don’t let him play the position.
Ray Fittipaldo
2:14
Maybe they have a plan to unleash him at some point in the second half of the season. Tomlin admitted today they need more out of him. I think Pickett has to prove to the coaches he is capable of handling some things before they give him more freedom.
Josh
2:14
Tomlin has been reluctant to start Jones, even after he played well against the Ravens. He finally did start him but only based on a punishment to Okorafor. It then seemed that Tomlin still wasn’t all in on Jones but gave him another start due to the continued punishment. Does Tomlin and co. finally realize at this point what we all already knew that Jones is truly providing a “spark” and it is time to start him permanently?
Ray Fittipaldo
2:15
Jones is starting and will stay in the lineup. Not even a question now.
Justin
2:15
Hi Ray. Long overdue to get Broderick in the starting lineup but at the expense of Chuks over Moore is odd. It seems like an easy out of the contract at end of year unless his comments were completely unforgivable. What is your thought?
Ray Fittipaldo
2:16
I think Moore's inability to play right tackle factors in too. Which is something the Steelers will grapple with in the offseason. If Moore can't play the right side they probably need to draft a right tackle fairly high in the draft.
574 Fan
2:16
Follow up on Pickett: is he not asked to do much pre-snap reading in MC’s offense? Cuz it doesn’t seem like he’s doing much of it.
Ray Fittipaldo
2:17
I don't think he's far along in that department pre-snap or post-snap. That's unfortunate for the Steelers. The hope by Year 2 is a QB is much more proficient in that area.
Brian in NC
2:18
Steelers O ranks 28th in YPG, while the D ranks… 28th.  The D does better in PPG, but still isn’t in the top 10.  Lots of talk this year about the shortcomings on O, but given they have the highest paid D in the NFL, isn’t it performing worse relative to its cost?? (Spending on O is below avg at 18th)
Ray Fittipaldo
2:18
Not an excuse, but injuries have certainly played a role in that. They lost Cam Heyward in Week 1. He's crucial to the run defense. They've lost their starting two ILBs. Their best defensive back has missed the past two games.
574 Fan
2:19
Is this the best weekend of afc north football in since the division has been aligned as it is?
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