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Brian Batko's Steelers chat: 11.20.23
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Brian Batko
2:00
Hi everyone. Expecting a lively chat today in the aftermath of Browns 13, Steelers 10. That was not pretty. Let's talk about it.
stlslash
2:02
How long will it be before we get a new punter ?
Brian Batko
2:03
Pressley Harvin III is first up for the firing squad. I mean yeah, just a very rough game for him, and his inconsistency is maddening. He told me afterward the 20-yard punt was a "[crappy] rep" and he just needs to be better. Maybe we home in on punting too much in a low-scoring, field-position game, but it does feel like he's been saying that for the past two and a half seasons.
Ken
2:03
Hey Brian, can you do me a favor? At tomorrow's press conference, can you ask Tomlin if he is going to bench Harris for criticizing the offense like he did the offensive guard?  BTW, Harris is the 3rd player to criticize the offense this year.
Brian Batko
2:05
I will not be there, as Tuesdays are my day off in-season, but you make a fine point. Your only miscue is that Chuks Okorafor is an offensive tackle, not a guard. And I don't know the updated count of who's criticized the offense, but I wouldn't say Kenny Pickett shied away from making his point yesterday. "We have to adjust better," he said. Isn't that the coaches' jobs?
Stairway to seventh seed
2:06
Brian:  Will a coaching staff that has spent 2.5 years trying and failing to justify drafting a punter in the 7th round ever admit that they obviously were wrong in the evaluation of a 1st round QB even though the guy spent 5 college seasons right next door?
Brian Batko
2:08
They've showed the willingness to move on from mistakes, even bad ones in the draft. Most recent, Devin Bush didn't get his 5th-year option. We'll see this spring if Najee Harris gets his. But I think we also know they will be exceedingly patient in doing so, making a very thorough examination before cutting their loss, so to speak. Which to me means new OC next year and see if that helps.
Tom
2:09
Contrary to what people say, the Steelers model of keeping it close to win was sustainable and one of the most successful in the entire NFL over the past year. Now the cat is out of the bag and national media talks about it. Has the script changed to now teams know the Steelers wont try to win and just play not to mess up? If you play conservatively, can score 15 points and not turn it over you will beat the Steelers.
Brian Batko
2:10
Possibly, and if that's the case, the Steelers need to find a way to punch back and counter that counter. Are they capable? That's the big concern. Haven't seen much to indicate that they are.
Boiler G Dog
2:11
Brian: Do you, Ray, Paul and other PG sportswriters worry about burning bridges with Tomlin and his staff when you have to be critical or ask the tough questions. CMT seems like a guy that would hold a grudge and make doing your job difficult. I know there were some harsh things written in the last 24 hours.
Brian Batko
2:12
No, we all have a job to do. Fair criticism is part of it. I'm fairly certain Mike Tomlin understands that, as do most of the assistants and players.
CDKPE
2:13
It seems like KP's throwing downfield less after the rib injury. Not that he did a whole lot before, but we used to see at least 1or 2 throws per game.  Is it possible that the coaching staff is trying to hide a lingering injury, or the extent of that injury by call this increasingly conservative approach on offense the last few games? The recent issues with the Bengals and Burrow come to mind with how it appears they may have covered that up.
Brian Batko
2:14
I'm sure he's not 100%, but no one is this time of year. And no, I don't think the Steelers are trying to hide anything there. That would make no sense.
Steve
2:15
Hi Bats, I've been a KP defender but something is clearly wrong and I really can't defend him anymore.  My question is do we know if he is this inaccurate in practice?  I would think the Steelers D is capable of giving him a good look.  Is he just caving in the games?  Please help it make sense!
Brian Batko
2:17
It's surprising in a way because I've never been too concerned about Pickett's accuracy in practice. He's a gamer. But lately he looks like someone who actually shrinks in the moment rather than rising to it. We have short memories, I get that, because just a few weeks ago he did help beat the Titans late.
artie bridge
2:17
So Brian, what's your answer to the P-g's podcast question:  Has Tomlin lost the Steeler locker room?  Najee's remarks were clearly out of character and sound like a serious warning.
Brian Batko
2:20
I don't think so. I think there's still a lot of respect for Tomlin from players in that locker room. But frustration is mounting and Najee Harris couldn't help himself yesterday. Probably more likely that the offensive coordinator is losing his guys or maybe even the QB, which would be the ultimate red flag.
Matt Mexico
2:21
Do you think Kenny has the overall talent to succeed? When you look at a lot of top starting QBs, the ball comes out effortlessly with zip. See CJ Stroud, Justin Herbert, etc. Pickett doesn't look like he has the arm to make a lot of NFL throws. He seems that he has to put a lot into it to make throws that more talented QBs can make more easily.
Brian Batko
2:22
That was the big question with him coming out of the draft. Good player, good leader, hard worker who made strides over the course of his college career and finished with one of the best seasons in the country. But does he have enough talent to be in the upper stratosphere of NFL QBs? No matter how hard he works, he still might fall short of that class.
Dlongley44
2:23
Can we sit KP for a couple games?  I think he needs a breather, and I'm not giving up on him, with this OC calling plays and developing him.  I'd like to see Mason get a shot, i know he will throw the ball down field, and we have better WR then we did when he played!!
Brian Batko
2:25
Benching him would call into question one of the last bastions of hope for Pickett: That he's a still-developing quarterback in the NFL who will get better the more reps he gets. I'm not predicting that, but merely presenting the opposing view to sitting him down, even if you have the stated intention of going back to him before long.
KJ
2:27
Let me get this straight: the Steelers, with just 2 seconds to play in the game and starting from their own 25, call a 6-yard hitch to George Pickens, capped by a lateral to Diontae Johnson for an additional 7 yards? Is that correct?  Why in the world wouldn't they have Pickett throw the ball as far as he can to Pickens (even if it may only be 35 yards) and perhaps get a very likely defensive pass interference call and, perhaps, give Chris Boswell a chance to tie it up? Why didn't they do that?
Brian Batko
2:29
Not a lot of options when you have one last play from your own 25. I think they did the same thing as a lot of other teams do it in that circumstance. Maybe in a video game you can chuck it down there as far as possible and hit a deep shot or draw a penalty, as you said.
Jana
2:31
Do you guys get to still watch practice?  If you do, is there work being done on Kenny connecting with these receivers and if so is it better than what we see in games ???
Brian Batko
2:32
Yeah, of course stuff works in practice. It's not like they're just ignoring each other or practicing 3-yard check-downs all day.
Sam
2:33
Watching that game yesterday nailed home to me that defending the Steelers is like defending 1st and Goal from around the 5 or 6 yard line: there's not threat beyond 15 yards from the line and you can just dedicate bodies to cramming a small area.  Plus not having the basic understanding that with 1:40 left and a timeout and needing only to move the ball 35 yards for a game winning FG that running the ball is very much an option.  Someone needs to explain how firing Canada now is somehow going to make things worse.
Brian Batko
2:35
It's a mess right now, no doubt about it. Probably starts with Kenny Pickett holding them back, but I'm not even sure Mike Tomlin wants them to truly open things up, because his vision for this team is so ingrained in everything they do.
Silly in Philly
2:36
It’s a terrible offense lead by a terrible QB with terrible game plan.  And I hate to burst fan’s bubbles but this notion that KP got moxy and is a gamer come crunch time is misguided-  he is terrible until crunch time and only then becomes below average. Newsflash: that doesn’t make you a gamer.  It makes you terrible and only slightly better comparatively speaking come crunch time? Agree w any of the above?
Brian Batko
2:37
I think your best point is that moxie is not really a great trait.
Joe
2:38
Kenny isn't bad he's horrible. He obviously isn't the long term QB. Why not start Mitch? He can't be any worse.
Brian Batko
2:39
Mitch Trubisky's overall play as a Steeler has been worse than Pickett's overall play as a Steeler, in my humble opinion.
GPT
2:40
All this talk of Pickett, Canada, the diva WRs, but does it really matter if Tomlin is still the coach? Even if Canada gets fired, it isn't like Tomlin is going to hire some hotshot, innovative young coordinator and let Pickett (or whoever the QB is) operate a halfway dynamic offense.
Brian Batko
2:42
Do we think a hotshot, innovative young coordinator is the move? Maybe it would just be good to have a proven commodity who has a solid track record of being an NFL play-caller, which Matt Canada did not have before taking this job. I could go either way on that. What's undeniable is that it'll be a huge hire for Tomlin, or at least it should be.
schnail
2:42
Suppose the Steelers back their way into the playoffs and have to face a team like the Chiefs.  You're not going to beat them 12-11, so given all this team's glaring limitations, how do you even game-plan for something like that?  What is even doable differently for this offense?  Do you just have the defense take chances on every play?
Brian Batko
2:43
Try to run the ball effectively, shorten the game for yourself and yes, obviously, hope your defense stands on its head and makes some humongous splash plays.
Cosmo K
2:44
It's been said that the backup QB is the most popular guy in town. Based on article comments, Rudolph seemingly has surpassed Trubisky for that title. Is that justified or is it that we're approaching the reindeer holiday season?
Brian Batko
2:45
The backup has had to play too often and struggled too often to be the most popular, so naturally, you move on to the third-stringer.
Yates
2:45
Brian.  I will let others pile on with questions about our pathetic offense. My question is why have Watt and Highsmith not taken advantage of several of the opposing team’s OL challenges?  They keep coming up small against inferior competition.
Brian Batko
2:47
TJ Watt was asked about that yesterday postgame and said they need to figure out how to fix it when opposing offenses scheme them out of games. You're right that it's happened twice now in their past three losses. The Texans beat them with a depleted OL, a couple of whom have since been cut, one of whom ended up with the Browns - and beat the Steelers as part of a depleted OL.
mrbig
2:48
If you could, which of these 4 would you release today...
Tomlin
Canada
Picket
Harvin
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