(00:00) Looking ahead to Week 2
(11:07) Mike Tomlin on Russell Wilson status
(18:33) Steelers success with Mike Tomlin
(35:09) Jets defense vs 49ers on MNF recap
PFT Live with Mike Florio
Steelers QB situation + Jets defense run over by 49ers on MNF
With the $5 meal deal at McDonald's, you pick a McDouble or a McChicken, then get a small fry, a small drink, and a four-piece McNuggets. That's a lot of McDonald's for not a lot of money. Price and participation may vary for a limited time only. Hey Applebee's, congrats on becoming the official grilling bar sponsor of the NFL. How does it feel? I'm glad we'll be able to bring some extra heat. Any plans to celebrate? Yeah, we got to serve up America's favorite bowling swings for just 50 cents each to get off the season. Limited time, price participation in this election may vary, tax number two would be excluded. This episode is brought to you by Progressive. Most of you aren't just listening right now, you're multitasking, but what if you could also be saving money by switching to Progressive? Drivers, you save by switching, save nearly $750 on average, and auto customers qualify for an average of seven discounts. So, multitask right now. Get your quote now at progressive.com. Progressive Casually Insurance Company and affiliates' national average 12-month savings of $744 by new customers surveyed who saved with Progressive between June 2022 and May 2023. Potential savings will vary. Discounts not available in all states and situations. Alright, open it, just open it, open it, get your read the signs in it. What's in it Josh? I don't know what it's so small. Why I got heroes, you got heroin? Where's your f***ing family? You want some of them? Come on. 15 sizzling. I don't know what you're talking about. I figured out what the big bucks is right here. You're coming hard. I wish I'm inside this part. Okay, okay. Uh, to quote the late great Brad Pitt, what's in the box? What's in the box? What is in the box? Pandora's box, box full of Pandora. Is Pandora in the box? As Sims would say, she's in there. I don't really get that bit, and it was multiple boxes, and I still don't know what was in any of the boxes. Good morning, Miles Simmons. Do you know what was in the boxes? I don't, I don't have a clue what was in those boxes. I'm really confused. I, it seemed like there was a dead mouse in the first box. At least that's what I was kind of assuming, but like why would you put a dead mouse in the box and then ask the players to open it up? He's not in a hair on it, and it stinks a little. It's like, okay, well, is that a dead mouse? Like, I don't, I don't, I don't really understand. I don't really get the bit. Like, I feel like I have now aged out of stuff like this, and is this just what happens when you get older Mike? Can you give me some advice here? Because I, I, I just, I don't understand what the hell we just saw. Does a mouse count as a pet? And if so, well, the pet, I've known some, I've known some people who the answer would be yes for, and I didn't really necessarily like those people very much, at least that's how it ended up. So I mean, the answer should be no, but I've known some people for whom the answer was yes. Is a mouse an edible pet? Never mind. Never mind that. No, well, because they're eating pets in some corners of the, oh, well, allegedly, apparently. Yeah, yeah, apparently. Yeah. I don't think that was on the concept of a plan that we have here for, uh, you know, the, the show today. All I can say is, all I can say is poor Santa's little helper and snowball. Hopefully they are squirreled away under Bart's bed in Springfield and are, and are safe from, from maybe it was a squirrel that was in the box. What was in the box? What, I, I still don't know, and I don't care. Someone from the bills tell us what the hell was in that box. Now I know why. We need it. No, I, I, Mike, I am calling for a complete and total shutdown of this show until we figure out what the hell was in the box. Yeah. Well, join the club of the folks calling for a complete and total shutdown of the show. But now I understand why Gary said to me as we were getting ready to come on there. And I asked him if we have an open. He said, yes, and you'll probably hate it. And I thought I'd just been typecast already because he hasn't been working with us for all that long. But I, I hate it so much. I love it. Let's just say that because I just want to know, as Brad Pitt did, a movie reference that Miles did not get, even though it was not a movie from the eighties, what's in the box? I, uh, lot in the show today. It's that weird day that it's not quite week one. It's not quite week two. There's still some fumes from week one, but we're feeling the anticipation of week two by tomorrow. It's full bore into week two bills at the dolphins. First truth Thursday night football game of the year because the week one Thursday night football is not Thursday night football because it's not on Amazon. It's on NBC. It's kind of like Sunday night football and extension thereof. So we'll be progressing toward that. And there may be some stuff we get to today that is looking ahead to week two, but they were still, you know, and I think this happens every year. We go through the months where you really have to go looking for content. And then all of a sudden it's falling out of the sky. And it's all you can do to not miss a potentially significant story. Right. Well, that's what happened when there's 16 games, right? You know, we had every team in action across the weekend. I mean, it was fun to be able to separate a couple of games from the pack and that extra game that we obviously had on peacock with the Packers and the Eagles. And so at least you got to see some more football than you would have had at one o'clock Eastern on Sunday when it just start, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop. And it's everywhere. And you're like, ah, ah, ah, and you watch red zone and you're thinking to yourself, oh my gosh, I've missed this so much. But this is like the equivalent of, I don't know, football just total overload, total synapse firing everywhere. So yeah, that's why we get to Wednesday and it's like, wait a minute. That was still something I kind of missed over the weekend. I can't believe it. But that's what happens. And we got to get ourselves right and adjust ourselves. The fact that the football calendar happens like this now every single week. I love it. I'm so happy we're back. And I think the NFL will continue gradually, systematically and inevitably to smooth out the game so they're in more windows. They discovered finally the Friday night, first Friday in September exception where they can televise a game after 6 p.m. Eastern and not run a foul of the sports broadcasting acts quid pro quo that in order to have an antitrust exemption for broadcast purposes, you can't have games on Friday night or Saturdays to protect high school and college football. Doesn't apply the first Friday in September. So boom, there's limited years where you can tuck that game into Friday night, but they did. They could also have done a Saturday game if they wanted to this past weekend. Sorry college football, but you may need to clear out the 8 o'clock to 11 o'clock Eastern window on one of these upcoming years. And one of the things this weekend that emerged, and I can't remember if the commissioner said it to Kaylee Hartung on the Friday night pregame from Brazil or if he said it somewhere else, how it came out. Because again, so much is falling from the sky. The 16 international games. And I think he said it to Kaylee. When there's 16 international games, any of the games played in Europe are going to start at 930 a.m. So on Sunday. So there's another place. I mean, it's all these different places where you can cram pizza cheese into the pie. Where else can we put it? And it's better than having all the cheese dumped on top of the pizza. Because that's what happens at one o'clock Eastern on the first Sunday of the year. You have, as I say from time to time, and I might have said it to you last week, I can't remember because it's somebody different every day now and it's driving me a little kooky. But it's like all your Christmas presents opening spontaneously at one o'clock Eastern on that first Sunday of the year. You did say that too. What do I do? Which one do I play with? What do I like? Where where do I go with all this? I've been waiting and waiting and waiting and it's here and it's all at once. So I think that's what the future will be where it will be easier to focus on one game at a time because they will break it down and spread it out. I think I hadn't dreamed the other night. And this is an example of how your day to day life influences your dreams that Tuesday night football was a regular thing. And I'm surprised it hasn't become a regular thing. They showed during the pandemic, they can play on Tuesdays and Wednesdays if they want to. I just feel like that's the push because every time you create a window, you can sell a window and you can make a shitload of money. Sorry, London off of that window. Well, I mean, but that's something that's more radical, I think. And it's something that would take teams. You'd have to convince teams a lot more than you would have to just for Thursday night football, you know, things that we've had in our repertoire for a longer amount of time. And it is because where do you put a Tuesday game, right? Is it the end of a week? I mean, it has to be, but then if you have a Wednesday game, that's the beginning of a week, which is what we're going to see on Christmas Day. So that's where there would be, I think, significant pushback if, you know, all of a sudden you want to start putting in Tuesday Wednesday games on a regular basis, right? But is it something that could come eventually as the league continues to show that it's one of the only things that we as a society in America at least will put down things and watch, right? What the hell else do we watch more than we watch football in the Olympics? Great. And that happens, you know, every four years and you got winter Olympics, summer Olympics, whatever. But there's nothing else that drives an audience like NFL football. And you know, so because of that, you know, that's why you can make the point of, well, eventually with Tuesday night football become a thing. I mean, it's not incredibly far fetched to me because like I said, it's one of the only things that Americans will sit down and actually watch on millions and millions and tens of millions of people basis. Well, there might have been something last night that also might have caused some people to go to Google to search for some potential recipes. I don't know. But yeah, football is the one thing. Live pro football will cause an audience to congregate like nothing else. And there's value in that. There's money in that. And the question is for the NFL. How many of those games that you can take and create a window here, a window there, a window there and sell this one to YouTube and this one to Netflix and this one to that streaming company and this one to that network. You break them out. You give them exclusivity of time. It's the only game on at the time. That's where the big money comes from. And I think they understand that and I think it's going to move in that direction. So, and I'm already thinking of the guy we're going to hear from in a second because if and when they had this screwy schedule where you play Sunday, then you play Thursday, then you play Tuesday, then you play Monday, he would say we seek no comfort in the schedule. We do not care when we are expected to play. We want volunteers, not hostages. It's the Mike Tomlin pull string. I think that's most of them. Let's see if he tucked any of them into what he said yesterday about the status of his QB one who did not play in week one due to a calf injury, Russell Wilson. He feels better today than he did over the weekend. And so, what that means, I don't know as we sit here today, I know that we're going to take the same approach that we take with a lot of people in terms of injury. We'll first start with his participation and his level of participation, his quality of participation. Over the course of the week, we'll be analyzing whether he's capable of protecting himself, whether he's capable of being productive. When we get to those points, that's when we'll ponder his inclusion or not. And when that happens, we'll probably be a component of that equation. But as I sit here today, we're preparing as if Justin is going to be our quarterback. I think that's the appropriate way to do it. Speculation is a waste of time. Russell's heard. He's not available to us. And so, as you guys know, as a general practice, man, I focus by energy on those that are available and their readiness. That was kind of a full string at the end, kind of. And he had a little bit of a tell when he was talking about Russell's status, he told Scratch the beard. Like he, I think he knows, he knows, but he knows. Well, I think he knows. Is it really a, what does that mean? Is it a tell when he's actually saying the thing that it's like, hey, we don't really think he's going to be available, so we're preparing Justin Fields to start? Is that really a tell when he's saying it's a stress, it's a stress reaction to the words that are coming out of your mouth. And sometimes it's a tell that you're not telling the truth or sometimes it's just an indication that you're not really all that thrilled with the situations. Like, damn, I wish this wasn't the case. But, but Mike Tomlin usually doesn't do that. Usually don't see a lot of the, the Scratch of the beard or any of that stuff. It's just straight delivery of the periodic pull string message. But it, it underscores, and maybe this is why he did this because one of the, our biggest story at PFT yesterday from a traffic standpoint was the Jordan Mason letting the cat out of the bag that he knew on Friday that he was going to play on Monday, that he was going to start on Monday, which made the 49ers injury report as of Saturday a load of crap if Jordan Mason's telling the truth and why wouldn't he tell the truth when you say something that goes against the interest of your team? It's more likely it's the truth because why the hell would you say it? If it wasn't the truth, if it goes against the interest of your team, maybe Tomlin is concerned at some level when they put the questionable tag on Russell Wilson. He really, he really was a question by said Friday night on the pregame. It was more like doubtful. They don't use doubtful nearly enough. They use questionable as a strategic and they being every team, not just the Steelers. Questionable is the little area where you can kind of hide your uncertain player and we'll call him questionable and it will keep the other side guessing. The problem is it keeps everyone else guessing and the first clue for a road game and it becomes fairly definitive. They leave the guy home. He doesn't travel, but Russ traveled, Russ traveled, you know, high knees on the plane or calf raises or whatever. And then we found out on Sunday morning it wasn't going to play, but they knew he wasn't going to play. They knew what was Justin Fields because it seems like they know now and it'll be interesting to see how they list him this week as they get ready for week two. How will they designate Russell Wilson at the appropriate time because he probably should have been doubtful last week? And if they do him doubtful this week, I think it just underscores. He probably should have been doubtful last week because he hasn't aggravated it since last week. Well, right. And so we'll see if he's able to participate in any way over the course of the week, but I think and Tom and basically said this, when you have a quarterback who is available and can take the reps and can get everything that you need to in practice in terms of the game planning and all of that and making sure that, you know, every single play that you can rep it so that you can then be out there on Sunday and be comfortable with it. I think it's pretty clear that, you know, not only do they say they're planning to start Justin Fields, but he is probably going to start. So, you know, as Tom likes to say another pull string quote, you know, we will let participation be our guide. All right. So it doesn't sound like that Russell Wilson's going to participate in any way today being Wednesday. Tomorrow we'll see if that level increases or not. And then Friday, if he's able to do something, we'll see. So I think when Tom says, you know, there's no sense in, you know, hypotheticals or whatnot that they're planning to start Justin Fields, then I think he means it. So we'll see what happens. But I do believe that there was at least a time last year, maybe it was two years ago, I can't remember where they kind of said something similar about, oh, we're planning to start a quarterback, but then be quarterback ends up starting because they were healthy enough. I don't remember if it was Kenny Pickett or somebody else that they had, but I believe that that's happened before. So again, you got to, if Russell Wilson all of a sudden is, you know, limited Thursday and he's a full participant Friday, then that does make it more likely that he's going to start. But based on Tomless comments yesterday, I don't see that happening. Well, and the thing about the soft tissue injury, calf injury, hamstring injury, you just have to give it time. And yes, the problem is you have to give it more time than you think you have to give it because you think you're fine because you're walking around normally, you can jog, you can run, then you hit that moment where you open it up and it grabs and it's set back and it takes more time to get back to where it was. And usually when that happens, that's the point where the person who tried to will himself beyond the normal recovery will be forced to take even more time to really let it heal this time. And it's a shame because week two Steelers at the Denver Broncos, Russell Wilson's opportunity for a little bit of revenge on the team that is paying him $36.8 million this year and the Steelers are paying $1.2 and all the stuff that happened last year, it's a shame that we won't see Russell Wilson. And it was odd that we saw him in uniform on the sideline. That was one of the things that stood out from the cluster of games at one o'clock Eastern and it came out multiple times in the viewing room at NBC. Why is Russell Wilson in uniform? And you know, if you can be in uniform, why aren't you playing? But the emergency third quarterback from the 53 man roster, it probably makes him feel better to be in uniform. That's just the way Russ is. He's all in. He doesn't want to be in street clothes. He doesn't want to send any bad messages that he's not ready to go, even though he wasn't ready to go. So he'll probably be in uniform on Sunday in Denver, even if he isn't playing. But this week, I think it's different, more likely to be doubtful, more likely to not travel. That would be odd if he doesn't travel and go back to Denver. But we'll see how it plays out. And Justin Fields got the win, although it wasn't like you threw for 300 yards, but they got the win. The bottom line is they got the win and we'll see if and when Russell Wilson goes back to being QB one once he's healthy. Last year, when Kenny Pickett got healthy, he did not go back to being QB one. And that was one of the reasons why the relationship ultimately fell apart. So Mike Tomlin is facing a rookie quarterback miles this weekend in Bowniks. And Bowniks did not look great against the Seahawks defense on Sunday. Mike Tomlin is 24 and six all time against rookie quarterbacks. I would say most coaches probably have more wins than losses against rookie quarterbacks. But that's a pretty damn good record. 24 and six lifetime. And what a shock. They've had a great defense ever since Mike Tomlin has been there. And the better the defense, the easier it is to stymie a rookie quarterback. Yeah. Well, that's of course the truth, right? I mean, you used to talk about Bill Belichick's record against rookie quarterbacks like that as well. I mean, I think that got worse over the last couple of years before he ultimately was no longer the new England paid New England Patriots head coach, easy for me to say. But I think, you know, like you said, I mean, the Steelers have historically had very good defenses with Mike Tomlin. And when you can do things with coverages and disguises, and you also have edge rushers like a TJ Watt, you know, who can really disrupt things. And often, when you look at rookie quarterbacks, they don't have the best offensive lines. And so because of those kinds of things that makes you more as a rookie quarterback, it makes you more susceptible to being dominated, if you will, by a Steelers defense. And they do that to a lot of different teams. So yeah, the record is not a surprise to me, especially given the longevity that Tomlin's had as the head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Okay, this is a fun little trivia exercise that I did not anticipate because I didn't look at the outline very carefully last night. And by the way, Tomlin did beat Justin Fields as a rookie with the Bears in 2021. The six quarterbacks to whom Mike Tomlin has lost when those guys were rookies. And the first two were 2023. We're going to start more recently and work backward. I remember last year, I remember last year because I'm accused of the Steelers being my second favorite team. They lost two. Do you want to make a guess before I tell you that who they are? No, go ahead. Any idea? I don't because I'm going to, I honestly goodness, like my brain's not there yet. So I just I have no idea. I can't remember who the rookie quarterbacks were from last year, which is really embarrassing because they were. Yeah, that is pretty bad. You're not nearly you're not nearly old enough to be forgetting such an obvious fact. They got man handled by the Texans and CJ Stroud, like October ish because I thought they were going to win and they were out physical. The Texans got, you know, lower and pushed the Steelers around and just really embarrassed the Steelers. So CJ Stroud has won. And I remember the Thursday night game last year, George Pickens had a little bit of a meltdown. Deontay Johnson finally caught a touchdown pass. Wait, no, no, they beat will love us. They beat will love us. So they were a loss. No, Richardson. I was going to go with a second one is Dorian Thompson Robinson. Oh, see, oh, you don't remember the rookies last from last year. Well, because you triggered me on George Pickens. Yes, because it was one of the it was one of the few games that Thompson Robinson actually came in and he did what he needed to do. And then they replaced him with Joe Flacco. Um, I remember that Thursday night game, but I was thinking the Titans won, but they got down close to the goal line to either force overtime or win outright. And I think Levis either misfired or threw it in the reception. So yeah, they, they beat will love us last year. 2016 2016 is a little screwy because he got two losses then to rookies and it can't be both golf and wents. It can't be golf and wents because they wouldn't have played both teams that year because they're from different divisions in the NFC. So one of them's got to be Rams then. One of them's got to be Wentz. The Rams played the Steelers in 2015 in St. Louis. And it sounded like, frankly, Atlanta did that day, Atlanta did on Sunday other than that day in 2015 when the Steelers won that game. So it must be Carson Wentz and it has been revealed here that it is Carson Wentz. So yeah, that's one. Well, who the house else would it have been? It could have been Christian Hackenberg. Could it? Do you have any thoughts on who it might be? Another rookie quarterback? The other quarterbacks were in 16. And I don't know, I can't remember. But let's see it. Jacobi Brissett. I bet it was Jacobi Brissett. Was it Jacobi Brissett? No, it was deck press guy of the Dallas Cowboys. There we go. I mean, deck Prescott has been around so long. I would have thought he was a rookie before 2016, but that's a good one. 2012. 2012. I remember Washington came to town that year, but they beat RG three because they knew the right way to deal with RG three, hit him early, hit him, often hit him hard. They made the mistake of sending him out on a past pattern. And he got blown up, sir, by the Pittsburgh Steelers. I'm fairly confident Pittsburgh won that game, although Washington did go 10 and six and make it to the playoffs that year. I'll just throw a dart and say it was Andrew Luck and the Colts. That's what I would say. In 2012. Are we right or are we wrong, Gary? Let's see. So I was probably hungover. I mean, I don't know. I was like 21 years old. What do you expect from me, man? Yeah. I mean, I hung over on Sunday morning in college. Yes. The answer is yes. I look at it. I look at it this way. As a Browns fan, there are so few points of pride that you could have. How could you forget? How is it not tattooed on your arm that the Browns rookie quarterbacks to rookie quarterbacks took down Mike Tom. And I'm going to go ahead and complete the trifecta because 2007 there weren't many rookie quarterbacks that stand out. I doubt you Marcus Russell beat the Steelers in 2000. Let's go ahead and put Brady Quinn in there too. Brady Quinn Brady Quinn pulled it off in 2007. Survey says, was it Brady Quinn in 2007? That was the first rookie. Oh, Troy Smith of the Baltimore Ravens who started for one year. Heisman Trophy went at Ohio State and was going to start year two. They did not want Joe Flacco to be thrown into the fray as a rookie. They didn't think their offensive line was good enough. But Troy Smith got tonsilitis in the preseason. Joe Flacco played well enough that the Ravens decided to help with it. We'll just go with Joe Flacco as a rookie. So Troy Smith, one of his few moments of glory beating. Well, it is the Browns. What am I talking about? It is the Browns. The Browns are three and oh against Mike Tomman because the Ravens are the Browns. The original Cleveland Browns. I'm not trying to. I know it's going to be successful. The Browns is the Browns and the Browns is in Baltimore. I'm channeling somebody else who probably wanted to drop an MF when she said this and then stop yourself and then because that's her favorite curse word. But I'll just move on. But before we do that, I'll say this, Brandon Weem was probably older than me when he was a rookie. So like that's also why I don't remember it. You know, if you're older than Bo Nix, right? As a rookie. He's older than me when he was a rookie. I think that's what I was already me when he was a rookie. Talking about he was on AARP when he came into the league. So yeah, that's probably why I also don't remember him being a rookie quarterback and beating the Steelers. You know, I'm 59 and I've never gotten anything from AARP. Maybe they just don't want me. I've never gotten anything from AARP. I was like, the day I turned 50, I got an AARP thing. I've never gotten a damn thing from AARP. Hey, AARP. What? We got to live in a real town in order to get stuff from AARP. I live in Springfield. But anyway, the more amazing, yeah, I'm insulted. I'm insulted. Oh, we had a lot of fun last night. Oh, we had a lot of fun. And usually, it's funny because like it rarely happens that my wife and I, especially when we're in the same room watching the same show, will text each other tweets and pictures and gifts. Like, that's usually what I do with my friends or you know, the PFT chain. Also, I hope you're my friends. But yeah, I do have friends. But my wife and I usually don't like it. It's usually pictures of the dog which was fitting for last night. But there were so many funny things flying around last night. Like, we're sitting there. I'm on one couch. She's on the other and we're texting each other all these gifts and different things that were very funny. Last night was last night was just a good laugh. Like, I needed a good laugh. And I got a great laugh at the expense of someone who did not intend to be saying something funny, which made it even better. And when you watch the clip in question again, it's actually funnier than it was when it happened live. Okay, let's get back on track. Factor fiction. Factor fiction. They're eating dogs. Factor fiction. Steelers. I just hope you just got to say screw it. Everybody knows. Everybody's going to be talking about it all day. Wherever you fall on the spectrum, like, how can anyone be? How dare you? How dare you? Of course they are. Yes, they are. Yes, they are. Steelers are better with Justin Fields at quarterback factor fiction. Incomplete? I mean, I don't know. I don't know what Russell Wilson is with Arthur Smith. I would expect that it's fiction just based on the fact that Russell Wilson has more experience, you know, and we've seen Russell Wilson be a viable good quarterback. Now, not necessarily in the last couple of years, right? I mean, there were some things that he did last year where you were kind of like, oh, you know, he's got a little bit of something, you know, with Russell Wilson, and we can still see that there is something there. And I think his experience, like I said, the veteran presence, the fact that he's seen more coverages can diagnose things. And look, when he's on, he can still throw a really pretty deep ball, but I don't know his level of chemistry with George Pickens. I don't know his level of chemistry with Pat Fryer-Muth yet. And it probably isn't where it could be because of the cap injury. So I want to say fiction, and I guess I will say fiction, but really it's an incomplete grade. Well, and I'll do a little twist on incomplete. It's kind of like based on a true story. When you see that start of the movie on TV show, what that means is some of the stuff you're about to see actually happen. Most of it is just pulled out of thin air and or someone's butt, and you won't know what's true and what's not true. Just sit back and enjoy it because you can take some solace in the notion that some of the stuff you're about to see, we're not telling you what actually did happen. So I feel like that's what it is between factor fiction. We just don't know because we saw the one moment pre-season Ford Field Detroit Lions fans acting like it was a regular season game, loud and proud. Third and long Russell Wilson fired the dart on the left sideline to George Pickens, and that's what I think won him, the QB1 job, because Justin Fields was a little all over the place in the pre-season. It was exciting, but it was also kind of like exciting in a way that, yeah, and yeah, it's exactly. And there's a point where you enjoy it, but it's also exhausting. And I think that that could happen with Justin Fields and the Steelers. And yes, we are talking about the Steelers here, not anything else that would be both chaotic and eventually after about what eight years, totally and completely exhausting, but I think that it's not known yet. And long term, and I've said this from the get go, and I've since heard some things that back up what I believe, they are better off with Justin Fields long term. He's a dozen years younger than Russell Wilson. And he fits with what that offense is trying to do. They just have to refine some things. He has to improve in some areas. When there's a receiver, as Bruce Arians would say, wide ass open, heading into the end zone, you've got to get the ball into his hands. You can't throw it 10 feet over his head. So I think for now, yeah, they're clearly better off with Justin Fields at 100% than Russell Wilson at whatever percent he's at. And that's the key. They got to keep Justin Fields healthy, because next it's Kyle Allen, if both guys are injured. But I think for now, they're better off with Justin Fields. And this will make them better down the road and in the future with Justin Fields, because I think he's the guy they want to eventually step up and earn the job beyond this season. Certainly. I mean, that because of all the things you said, I mean, he's a younger quarterback. The ceiling is a little bit higher than it would be with Russell Wilson, who is, you know, let's call on the back five of his career, rather than just simply saying it's the back nine. So yeah, I think long term, obviously, the Steelers would want to see Justin Fields take the mantle and run with it. But I mean, you didn't score touchdown in week one, right? You had opportunities and Boswell ends up having to make all those damn field goals, which is good that he did it, you know, credit to him and credit to him for getting that pun off after Johnson got hurt. But at the same time, when you have a guy who is open like Pickens was down the field in the clip, we just showed, like, he's got to be able to give him that ball in stride so that he can take it and then get his ass into the end zone, right? That when you have to get off track and track the ball, and then you catch it and then you fall and then you get touched down and then you end up kicking a field goal when you had an op to get into the end zone for six at that point, that's where it's like, okay, let's refine this. That's better than throwing it over his head, but it's not as good as hitting him in stride and allowing him to do what he can do after the catch. I think the Steelers are in good hands with either guy and it also gives them a chance to let fields play. And it feels isn't good enough at this point. If he has a rough outing, that the defense can't overcome, then you just go with Russell Wilson and say he's QB1 and he always was and he's not losing his job because he wasn't healthy. You didn't bench Justin Fields. I feel like they made the strategic decision. It's better to start the season with Wilson. When you look at the schedule, I made that point. We talked about it last week or the week before. I can't remember, but they play three teams from the AFC West in the first six games. The way the schedule falls, you got three primetime games, Cowboys, Jets, Giants at the end of the first half of the season. Then the buy comes week nine. They could switch to Justin Fields. Then now they can always go back to Russell Wilson. This is a great situation for them to be in. They won last week. It wasn't pretty, but it was Steelers football, great defense, grinded out six field goals, key plays and key moments, rattled Kirk Cousins, got the win in Atlanta and now they go to Denver and try to go to, by the way, to close the loop on how we started the show. When we asked whether or not a mouse can be a pet, I've been reminded of the movie Ben, which was a sequel to the movie Willard, which was based upon a rat that was a pet and the theme song of Ben was sung by. Do you know this, Miles? Do you know? Michael Jackson, 70s music ring. Oh my gosh, sure. Because you don't know the movies, but you know, the songs. I mean, Michael Jackson trivia, well, it is amateur hour. Come on, man. It is a weird song. I mean, you know, I used to say I and me now it's us, now it's we. You're talking about a rat? Really? I don't know. But yes, of course, it's Michael Jackson. Yeah. And and they're my mom would be if I if I didn't know that. Oh my goodness, my mom might call me up during the commercial break if I didn't get that right. Holy crap, man. Oh my gosh. That song should be embarrassing. That song. That song at one point made its way into a Simpsons episode that I think is no longer available to be seen unless you bought the DVDs when they came out where there's a a version of of Ben that has, I think, Homer. Homer, I think, is is inserted for Ben in that version of Ben. Okay. The five dollar meal deal at McDonald's means you get to pick between them a double or a chicken. Then get a small fry, a small drink, and a four piece McNuggets. That's a lot of McDonald's for not a lot of money. Get the five dollar meal deal today. Prices and participation may vary for a limited time only. First of all, congratulations on becoming the official grill and bar sponsor of the national football league. How does it feel to serve up the NFL? Man, it's a real dream come true. I'm glad we'll be able to serve up some extra heat this season. Do you have any plans to celebrate? Absolutely. We're going to serve up America's favorite bonus wings for just 50 cents each to kick off the season. Any of our sources, whether it's in restaurant or to go, it don't matter. It's all 50 cents all the time. Are you worried at all about any competition this season? What competition? Limited time price participation in selection may vary tax and gratuity excluded. When it comes to hiring, the best way to search for a candidate isn't to search at all. With Indeed, don't search, match. Indeed, is your matching and hiring platform with over 350 million global monthly visitors according to Indeed data and a matching engine that helps you find quality candidates fast. If you need to hire, you need Indeed. You can even use Indeed for scheduling, screening, and messaging to connect with candidates faster. 93% of employers agree that Indeed delivers the highest quality matches compared to other job sites, according to a recent Indeed survey. And since Indeed's matching engine is constantly learning from your preferences, the more you use Indeed, the better it gets. Join over 3.5 million businesses worldwide that use Indeed to hire great talent fast. Plus listeners get a $75 sponsor job credit to get your jobs more visibility at Indeed.com/NBCSports. Just go to Indeed.com/NBCSports right now and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast. Terms and conditions apply. Need to hire? You need Indeed. Let's talk about a team that did not win with a great defense on Monday night because the defense was not great. The New York Jets completely and totally dismantled by the San Francisco 49ers rushing attack. 70 plays, 180 rushing yards. The 49ers had the ball, nearly 39 minutes. It really was when you consider the things we didn't expect for week one, the strength of the Jets, the front seven, the defense entirely, we did not expect them to get gashed, especially if we would have had time to ponder the unavailability of Christian McCaffrey. It would have been even less expected that the 49ers without McCaffrey would have embarrassed the Jets defense miles the way they did. I guess on the one hand, yeah, that's true, but on the other, Kyle Shanahan had Robert Sallen in his building for years. If anybody understands what the Robert Sallen defense is, it would be Kyle Shanahan. I think we know that when you have a play designer and a play caller who understands things as Kyle Shanahan does, you give him the amount of time that he had to prepare for the Jets. Those are the kinds of results you're going to get. I don't know Mike. I was in my group chat with my friends on Monday night, and we're going back and forth like, how many yards rushing do you think you could get with Kyle Shanahan game planning for you and call on the plays? I said I could get at least 10 of our buddies just tore his ACL. So he said he's got to recover first. But the rest of it, we could get at least 10 yards based on the way he's doing things. I mean, the way that Kyle Shanahan finds running backs and accentuates what they do well and understands what their skill sets are and utilizes a guy like Trent Williams out there who basically just came in off the street. I mean, this is just what he does. So is it surprising in some ways? Yes. In other ways, no, based on Kyle Shanahan's history. That's what makes the decision to trade for and give so much money to Christian McCaffrey even more ironic. If I'm using the word properly and I never know whether I am, you don't need to pay Christian McCaffrey. You don't need Jordan Mason is making $985,000 this year. You really, I mean, it's almost, it crosses over into when you've got so many high price players on your team, that's the area where you can save money because you have confidence in the fact you can draft someone who can come in and you can plug him into the offense behind that rushing attack and get it done. Let me flip your point around though. For as well as Kyle Shanahan knows Robert did a lot though. Go ahead. Go ahead. Go ahead. Go ahead. I'll give you a minute to respond. Thank you very much. But because I would say that when you have somebody like a Christian McCaffrey, right, that's an elite guy. So he's a separator. All right. So it's not like Mason is going out and doing this in the playoffs where you have a season's worth of film, right? Christian McCaffrey is an elite player. So when you have an elite guy who's proven to be an elite guy and Christian McCaffrey led the league in touchdowns last year, right? I mean, he led the league in all purpose there, excuse me, yards from scrimmage. So this is different, you know, when it's week one and you're basically premiering a guy versus a guy who's done it and done it and done it at an elite level for years and years and years. That's where I think that they understand how you can utilize Christian McCaffrey in a way that accentuates him and it makes him have the best season that he's had. And he's a separator. So I just, I get it. Like, yeah, you know, you can insert a guy in there for a game and have them have a spot start. But I think if you're talking about over the course of the 17 week season and then also 17 game season, then you get into the playoffs and you want to go to the Super Bowl and try to win the Super Bowl, that's where McCaffrey does make a difference because he gives you an edge because he's elite, right? Mason, you know, got a great game, but I don't know that he's elite. Time is up. Time is up. You exhausted your minute. I still say dollar for dollar, it's a conversation to have dollar for dollar, those money. That's a conversation. That money, those monies, those monies, many monies, those monies can be allocated elsewhere because you can get somebody, you can have a whole like they used to do. They had three guys and you never knew who it was going to be in San Francisco. So the point that you made earlier that that caused something to flash in my brain. Yes, Kyle Shanahan knows Robert Salah very well, but Salah knows Shanahan very well. That was one of the arguments that, hey, maybe this is going to line up great for the Jets. Maybe the best guy for Aaron Rodgers to finally beat the 49ers with is a guy who was in the house in San Francisco and knows the Shanahan offense and can do enough defensively to augment what Aaron Rodgers can do offensively. And he just, it didn't work. Shanahan got the edge there and Shanahan hung a loss on Robert Salah that might grease the skids towards Salah returning to the 49ers as soon as next year. I mean, that's the popular thought. There was this whole who do you hire is defensive coordinator and they want a branded Staley, but they didn't want to get away from their defense. So Nick Sorensen becomes the coordinator, but Staley is there. Stop asking. And, and now it could be Salah by next year if Salah is available and he's on one now. He needs to win more games. And it's just one week, but if he doesn't make the playoffs, he's going to be available and he may be with the 49ers this time next year. Yeah, he certainly could. I mean, I certainly had that thought during the game as well. So, I mean, yeah, but I just, I think based on history, right, Robert Salah doesn't necessarily know how to implement the Kyle Shanahan offense because we did and he had Michael floor running that thing. Then maybe we wouldn't be in the situation where you have the thing you'll hack it calling the offense, right? So that's, you know, I think part of the difference too. There's a clip and I don't know how misleading it is because it's not very long, but it's Hackett sitting next to Aaron Rodgers on the bench on Monday night and Hackett's trying to show him the Microsoft Surface tablet, get it right. Not that they sponsor us, but still it's not an iPad. It's a tablet and Rogers is just ignoring him just not. And now, who knows? Maybe he was talking to somebody else, but it's just, it's a weird look. It's like, Hackett's like, hey, look, hey, look, look. Rogers is looking the other way. True, but, but that's Roger's guy. Hackett is Roger's guy. That's what makes it odd that Hackett and Rogers wouldn't be on the same page. So yeah, and they make no bones about it. They tried to hire somebody who would oversee the offense ahead of and instead of the offensive coordinator, which is just odd. The defensive performance, though, was the most odd thing for the Jets. Here's Robert Sala from yesterday. He doesn't seem to be very worried about the strength of his roster. It wasn't for a lack of effort as much as it was for guys just trying to do too much. When you play a team like San Francisco, they've been together eight years. They're very precise in what they do. It's as simple as just do your job, do your job, and we would have been in much better shape. Like I said, in the second half, I felt like we got to it. We played better in the run game. They had the one explosive, but, but it's going to get fixed. It's definitely going to get fixed. I'm not discouraged in any way. Obviously, they executed a hell of a lot better than we did and we'll be better forward. Factor fiction. I sense a, I sense a trend. Factor fiction. There's no need to worry about the New York Jets defense. I would say fact, you know, if it looks like this after four games, you know, the first, you know, quote unquote, quarter of the season, because of course, now that you can't put the season into quarters because there's 17 games, we're still annoys me. But I think if it looks like this further down the line, then yes, but it's not like they were playing, sorry, the Carolina Panthers on Sunday or Monday night, right? They were playing the San Francisco 49ers and we know that there are elite players on that offense. And yeah, Mason's not one of them, you know, that we would consider, but it's an elite run game, it's an elite pass game. And so I, I'm not worried about the Jets fundamentally as a defense quite yet. Are you? No, I, and I agree with you. And you know, one of the things that I'll say every year in the aftermath of week one, you never know how bad that team might have been that you beat. You never know how good that team is that beat you. This isn't like college where it's an alarm if Northern Illinois comes in and beat you. And it's a point of pride. Oh, I'm going to fame catching trees. Oh, well, I mean, it's true. But that's the one that happened most recently where if you have one of those big spot kickoff games and you beat a powerhouse, you know, you secured a significant win. At the NFL level, we don't know and won't know who's really good and who isn't. But we can come to a somewhat reasonable conclusion that as the Jets schedule goes, even though it's very nutty in its configuration of games, three games between the ninth and the 19th, they've got another Sunday to Thursday turnaround before they're by a lot of movement, but not a lot of teams that we would look at and say, oh, they're going to have their hands full. And the Jets are the one I thought they would, the 49ers, excuse me, I thought they would lose the 49ers, but they would play well enough that it would propel them into this. Go home, regroup, go to Tennessee, play the Titans, come home on a short week and play the Patriots, and maybe get to two and one. I'm a little less optimistic they're going to get to two and one, especially because the Patriots look like maybe they got something, but yeah, I didn't expect them to win and this is probably the toughest opponent they're going to face in the first half of their schedule. Yeah, it probably is. I mean, I think that this could be the kind of thing that you get right with going to Tennessee, right? I mean, based on Will Levis' performance, he was all right in the first half, but he really peed down his leg in the second half. And I think that the Jets are the kind of unit that can make a young quarterback do that. So Will Levis is a lot of work to do over the course of this week to make sure he stays playing within himself and doesn't try to do crazy things. Because if he does, then the Jets are going to do to him what the Bears defense did to him. And I think that the Jets defense probably wants to do that, you know, as after the performance that they put out on the field on Monday night. So this could be a good get right game for them. And I think that the, you know, the Titans defense is going to be a solid unit. I like what Danar Wilson is doing over there. I think he's a really good coach. So that's part of the equation as well. But from a defensive standpoint, I think the Jets should look more like we expect them to look going against the young quarterback and Levis this week. This first 11 game stretch for the Jets. And I'm reminded of when the schedule came out in May, Mike North, the guy who's basically the scheduling guru now for the NFL made the somewhat joking. But in every joke, there's at least a kernel of truth. The Jets owe us one from last year, like the Jets selfishly sarcasm when he said selfishly, selfishly, the Jets tore the Achilles tendon of Aaron Rodgers to suit their own nefarious purposes. So now the Jets owe us one like they wanted the outcome. But right when you look at this, it bears repeating because it's been a while after they go to Tennessee, Thursday night against New England, then they have the Broncos, then they go to London to play the Vikings, then they come back and play the bills on a Monday night at the Steelers on a Sunday night, short week, two prime time games in a row, then they have the Patriots short week again, short week again, we gate to week nine, they go home from New England to face the Texans, then they're at the Cardinals who didn't look awful in week one, and then they wrap up their pre-buy schedule with a Sunday night game against the Colts. They should win at least of the next 10 games. I think they should win at least six. They should be six and five minimum going into their buy. And if they're anything worse than six and five going into their buy, I think they got a problem at the end of the season, and there's going to be a lot of change. Yeah. Yes. Yeah. Look, I mean, it's, we know it's going to be competitive in the AFC. I mean, I think it would be a real shock if it's not based on the quarterbacks that play in that conference. And honestly, the defenses that are also in that conference, some of them are very, very good and maybe a little bit underrated. So yeah, it's not going to be an easy task for the Jets to become a great team. But if you get the Aaron Rodgers, as he looked on that touchdown drive, you know, where he's in control, you know, he's firing passes, you get guys like Eric Wilson making really good catches. That's where the Jets can have something. I don't know if they can do that consistently yet, but I don't think it's out of the realm of possibility. One more factor fiction before we put a bow on the box that is segment one, there's no need to worry about the Jets offense factor fiction. I mean, I'd call that fiction. And that's if for no other reason, based on what we were talking about a bit ago, the fact that Daniel Hackett is the offensive coordinator and they tried to hire above Nathaniel Hackett in the off season. So that's the Jets telling us that there's reason to worry about the offense, you know, don't necessarily go by what people say. What do they do? And we know what they tried to do. So that to me gives me concern about the offensive unit as a whole. I was watching the Manning cast yesterday, what I usually do, and I got away from it. I just did get away from it. I used to when it first came out, watch the game in the regular broadcast Monday night because the Manning cast disrupts the enjoyment of watching the game. It just does. And I would put the Manning cast on the next morning is kind of like a podcast, rewatch curiosity. And I got to a point where I was no longer curious. I feel like it's the same thing all the time. I apologize. I don't need to hear from actors and comedians and others who aren't in football about the game because it becomes about something other than the game. But when Bill Belichick was on the one thing he said over and over again, keep throwing the ball to Garrett Wilson. And that was when the Jets were in their best offensive rhythm when they were getting the ball when Rogers was getting the ball to Garrett Wilson on a regular basis. They had, you know, that one really good drive that was that moment where, you know, and you have the feeling that comes and goes and it changes throughout the game. But that was the only time on Monday night where I thought, Hey, maybe the Jets can win this game. And that that went away fairly quickly. But and one one fairly low tech observation, which I think is relevant to this friend of mine was over. And yes, I do have friends watching the second game with me. And he said, and he said, he said, Aaron Rodgers looks old. And, you know, I don't know whether he looked rusty or whether he looked old, but we are getting to the point where the clock's going to strike midnight on Aaron Rodgers career. And, you know, you're even if you can still play at some point, the guy you see on TV isn't the guy we're used to seeing. It happened to Brady. It's going to happen to any of these guys. If you make it past 40, it happened to Drew Brees, not that he had a cannon of an arm. But by the time he got to the end of his career, it wasn't there. It wasn't there. And so there's going to be stuff from Rogers. It's the same human being. There's going to be stuff that isn't there that he can't do like he used to do. Yeah, Andy's coming off a tour to kill us, right? You know, it's the age plus the injury that he just had. And, you know, we can talk about how you could have been cleared or whatever last year, whatever. But I mean, this is somebody who did have a major, major leg injury. And so the mobility, the things that we have been used to seeing from Aaron Rodgers for years and years and years, it's not going to be the same. And that doesn't mean that he can't get it done from the pocket. I mean, if anybody could do what I bet he can. But at the same time, like father time comes for everybody, right? There are two things in life that are undefeated and one of them is father time. So that's where I look at it. And I'm like, yeah, Aaron Rodgers can still get things done. But it's not necessarily going to be the same as it used to be. And that's might be an adjustment that he has to make. And we're going to be able to see that in real time. Father time does indeed come for everyone. Father time comes for all creatures on the planet, all animals on the planet. Sometimes father time comes with a knife and a fork. Let's go ahead and take a break. Jerry Jones opened his checkbook for Dak Prescott recently. But all that money has raised the expectations that a man who wears number four in Dallas. More PFT live after this. Hey Applebee's congrats on becoming the official girl and bar sponsor of the NFL. How does it feel? I'm glad we'll be able to bring some extra heat. Any plans to celebrate? Yeah, we got to serve up America's favorite boneless wings for just 50 cents each to kick off the season. Limited time price participation in selection may vary tax number two to be excluded. When it comes to hiring, the best way to search for a candidate isn't to search at all. With Indeed, don't search, match. Indeed is your matching and hiring platform with over 350 million global monthly visitors according to Indeed data and a matching engine that helps you find quality candidates fast. If you need to hire, you need Indeed. You can even use Indeed for scheduling, screening and messaging to connect with candidates faster. 93% of employers agree that Indeed delivers the highest quality matches compared to other job sites according to a recent Indeed survey. And since Indeed's matching engine is constantly learning from your preferences, the more you use Indeed, the better it gets. Join over 3.5 million businesses worldwide that use Indeed to hire great talent fast. Plus listeners get a $75 sponsor job credit to get your jobs more visibility at Indeed.com/NBC Sports. Just go to Indeed.com/NBC Sports right now and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast. Terms and conditions apply. Need to hire? You need indeed. [BLANK_AUDIO]