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Christopher Carter's Steelers chat: 01.02.26
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Christopher Carter
11:03
Right now? No. He's in the Will Howard range. 6th round.
RC
11:03
Hello Chris - do you know  if TJ and Lamar will play this week?
Christopher Carter
11:05
Hello RC!

Lamar Jackson says he's 100% going to play, so I'd say that's a safe bet. TJ Watt has been a limited practice participant all week, and we've heard that Tomlin would want him to be a full participant for him to play.

But knowing Tomlin, this might be some gamesmanship on his part. When he said Darius Slay would return to the CB role he had before and I asked him why would he go over James Pierre, it caused a bit of a stir with our back and forth, considering Pierre was playing very well and Slay wasn't.

But that week, Pierre got the start and Slay was released soon after. Sometimes, Tomlin wants to keep people guessing, namely, his opponents.
mike
11:06
hey chris. what do you think of my plan to get back to the super bowl. lose to ravens, tomlin moves on to another role elsewhere, hire klint kubiak as HC, sign malik willis as free agent, draft a WR in round 1, win super bowl next year.
Christopher Carter
11:10
I don't think that team wins a Super Bowl. If the Steelers win a Super Bowl anytime soon, they'll be dominant in the trenches because they kept this team together and the OL/DL mature, they'll have some playmakers they're able to pay big money to and they'll be able to pay them because they'll have a stud QB on a rookie deal.

That's the sweet spot for me, roster construction-wise.

As for Tomlin/Kubiak, I'd be interested in Kubiak, but I'm not sold on him as a HC candidate just yet. If Curt Cignetti were about 10 years younger, I'd be all over him or Marcus Freeman. The franchise could move on from Tomlin, but again, they're not firing him and they can't trade him unless he wants to be traded.

Getting rid of him won't be the automatic boost some think it will be unless they knock that coaching search out of the park.
The Dude
11:10
If the Pirates happen to field a playoff team this season, will     
AR2 finally be embarrassed by what he has let the Steelers sink to- a franchise worse than the Buccos?
Christopher Carter
11:16
If the Pirates make the playoffs for the first time since 2015, will the Steelers be embarrassed after making the playoffs 7 times since then (and advancing 3 times?)???

No. I don't think they would be.
RC
11:16
Why do you think the Steelers seem to do so well against Lamar?
Christopher Carter
11:20
Partially because they play the Ravens so much and they've built their team around stopping them.

I don't think it's a concidence they've loaded up at OLB and are trying to get better again on the DL. Look at how they responded from a personnel-standpoint, to losing to the Ravens last year; Harmon, Black, getting Malik Harrison, they wanted to be more stout against the run -- particularly the Ravens' run.
mike
11:20
Do you think tj watt is still worth a 1st round pick? Maybe the Steelers could package tj, 2026 1st round pick, and 2027 1st round for the first overall pick this year?
Christopher Carter
11:25
I think he would need an explosive end to this season to warrant that. People are going to see the time he missed and wonder about his health/production.

He'll also be 32 this time next year. I don't know if someone trades a first for him right now unless he goes off in this finale and then has an amazing playoff run.

I do think there's a chance that if you paired him with 3 first round picks you could move up to first overall this year. Simply because he'd be a weapon for whoever has that top pick, and they'd have 3 first round picks to be aggressive with.

But I also wonder if the Steelers don't need those first round picks themselves. They still need to keep building a younger group with new strengths in the defense and offense. I think finding a second DL to eventually replace Heyward and a top WR are going to be a priority.
Henry Hill
11:25
Greetings Chris; is CAIII healthy enough to be a significant factor in the passing game on Sunday?
Christopher Carter
11:26
Greetings!

Can't say what we see in practice but I think Austin can at least be the speedster that stretches the field. That's something the Steelers should at least take shots with a few times.
Silent Bob
11:26
Hello Christopher - Have you noticed how when Washington gets the ball and starts to run, he goes very, very low. Is that meant to be a way to protect his knees? Seems like he almost falls into the defenders. Wonder if this technique was a factor for his broken arm?
Christopher Carter
11:27
I think that's exactly what happened. He's protecting his knees because defenders are just throwing their bodies fully at his legs as a way to stop him. Knees going out is a way to end a career, which is why he's prioritizing protecting them. He had bad lock on the broken arm.
mike
11:27
what is your overall take on arthur smith as the OC? obviously hes been a huge upgrade over matt canada (so would my dog) but it seems like theres too many games like last week where we couldve kept running the ball and won easily.
Christopher Carter
11:30
OK, you got a legit chuckle out of me about your dog. Is his name Matt America?

I think Arthur Smith deserves credit for helping the offense be better. But I also think he still has a roundabout way of using his best weapons and that's gotten in the way.

Like, why hasn't this offense used Pat Freiermuth more? Why are there so many plays to Jonnu Smith? Why are there so many personnel switches when a group is playing hot?

I think these are things he ran up against in Atlanta and they are things that hold back this unit at times. I get switching personnel groupings also keeps defenses guessing, but sometimes it can be a detriment to your own plans when you get too complicated.
Gina
11:30
Hi Chris, have you made any resolutions for 2026?  The only one I always make is not to make resolutions!  Happy New Year!!
Christopher Carter
11:33
Hi Gina, Happy New Year!

One resolution I've made is to not feed into online content nearly as much as I have. This means Twitter comments, YouTube comments, TikTok videos, all that. In my years of doing this, I've tried to be a person who puts himself out there a lot on social media as a way of building connections with readers/viewers/fans, etc.

And I've enjoyed that. But I've also felt it eat away at the time I could be spending doing more important things, like spending time with family, working on my craft and getting better at other things as well, including my own personal health.

There's not a hard line I've set yet for what that will be, but I've already felt myself feeling better as I'm not taking in as much of the negativity that you just naturally get exposed to by being online as much. That doesn't mean I'll be doing less of these chats or less of my work, I'll just be spending less time arguing with people who don't matter.
Lou
11:34
Chris, what is your top reason the Steelers can or will win on Sunday?
Christopher Carter
11:40
This run defense has to prove it's taken the real steps to being much better than last year.

They've done that at times. Heck, they've gone from being the 21st ranked defense against the run to 12th right now. Over the last 3 weeks they've allowed the fewest rushing yards, rushing yards per carry, and are the only NFL team to now allow a rushing TD during that time.

Now's the chance to prove all of that is real and you can do it against the team that you set out to improve against when this project was started in the offseason.
CT Steel
11:40
Does anyone know what is going on with Roman Wilson ?  It’s getting ridiculous why are they punishing or protecting this kid ?    It’s embarrassing to the GM
Christopher Carter
11:41
I think it's a sign that Roman Wilson might now know enough of what he's supposed to do and when. Aaron Rodgers prioritizes not only knowing the playbook but knowing when and how to react to things the defense does on certain plays. They haven't been on the same page in that department, and I think that's why he's so far down on the totem pole.
Lisa S.
11:42
Happy Friday!  There’s no doubt Coach Tomlin has been a good coach.  What would you say is his biggest flaw as a coach?  Thank you.
Christopher Carter
11:46
Happy Friday!

I think Tomlin's biggest weakness is his stubbornness. He often will hold onto a philosophy, belief or concept that might not be working because he believes in the end it will. Sometimes, that's a strength as he'll be proven right.

But like earlier this year, I think he really believed the CB trio of Ramsey-Porter-Slay would dominate and it took being shredded by the Bengals and Packers in back-to-back weeks to get past that and find something new.

He deserves credit for realizing the error and moving on from it. But had they realized it say after the Jets ripped that apart and they barely escaped and then the Seahawks beat them too? Maybe the Steelers have 1-2 more wins on their resume right now and they're resting players this week because they've already clinched the division.

On the other hand, many criticized their faith in Kenneth Gainwell, and that faith was criticized as being stubborn at times. Had they lost that faith, they might be out of the playoff picture altogether.
Ryan
11:47
Chris what do you think about the play of Alex highsmith he has looked good these past few Games i saw your grade on his Go Steelers Happy new year
Christopher Carter
11:49
Happy New Year!

Highsmith has 7 sacks in his last 7 games. He's played very well both against the run and the pass and I think he's truly stepped into the best football of his career. If he can be healthy for a whole season, I think he can put up some serious sack numbers. He's certainly proven to be a star defender this year.
bill
11:49
isn't it an indictment of the front office that we STILL don't have a # 2 WR? been crying for it for 2 years now!
Christopher Carter
11:56
Here's the thing: you can't prioritize fixing everything all at once. You have to focus on it at a step-by-step basis.

They've taken shots at helping at WR2 with a pick like Roman Wilson, but obviously that's not working out at the moment. But they needed to take other shots at positions of priority over the past few years, like fixing the OL, fixing the DL, addressing OLB depth, etc.

I fully expect WR to be a priority this offseason, especially because I think Metcalf fits the role of a WR1 that they'll want to keep around and this is a very good WR draft class.
TXSteeler
11:57
More of a comment than anything. You are awesome and a ma of the people - thank you. That said please stop complaining about having to work a few nights a year. Many of us work tirelessly in bad conditions. Trying to save up the thousands to take our family to a game, let alone one of this magnitude, is extreamly difficult. It’s very off putting when reporters insult people like me by complaining about being inside, in controlled elements, with free food, watching a game for free. Just my two cents
Christopher Carter
12:01
Thanks for the compiment, but I think you miss the point.

I'm not complaining about being inside with free food watching a game for free. I'm worried about all the things that come after it.

While you get to go home after a game, I'm immediately in the locker room, at the press conferences, and after those, I have to transcribe what we got from those opportunities, as well as upload those videos so we can use them in our production of content.

Then I have to film Ray and Gerry doing their standup video from the stadium, and upload so it can be content for you all.

By that time it's usually 2AMish and I'm still at the stadium. But I still need to write, collect film, and I usually have a podcast after all of that is done as well.

That means I'm usually up until 5AM after a night game. Sometimes this year I've literally pulled an all-nighter.

And that's even harder because Mondays are my busiest days of the week with how much film I need to review, my grades articles and the stuff I set up for the week.
12:06
I also do usually 2 shows on Mondays, as well. So I'm not getting much of a break to recover from either getting like 2 hours of sleep or having no sleep at all and still churning out all the content I normally would.

The problem isn't just being at a night game, it's all the things that come with it. Because if I don't have my episodes done and my grades done, it's a problem.

Often times I don't even finish my full grades until like 1AM going into Tuesday. Which means now I've been up extremely late on back-to-back days and I still have to do more shows, more articles and everything else. And that leads to me being exhausted all week.

It comes withe the job, and I do love this job. But when I have a chance to be at a 1PM game where I'm home and done working at a reasonable hour, I much prefer that to having to do all that work and have it completely wreck my sleep schedule and health for a week. Excuse me for lamenting at that this week and for wishing for a 1PM kickoff.
12:07
And with that, I've got to bundle up so I can go outside and not freeze at practice so I can get more quotes for a story I'm working on for this weekend.

Thanks for everyone being here. Happy New Year, and stay tuned for more work from us!
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