BREAKING NEWS: The Penguins are retiring 68 for Jaromir Jagr – Chris said it is very long overdue. 

HOCKEY TALK! The Penguins swept a west coast trip for the first time since the 1996-1997 season. Chris made Donny play a little quiz game. 

The guys ran through a history of Steelers-Packers matchups, including the several HOF QBs to lead the teams, and why we won’t see that on Sunday. 

-PM Team week 10 picks.

Rashard Mendenhall spoke out against Ben Roethlisberger, referencing the Super Bowl loss to the Packers. Mendenhall said Ben never takes the blame for big losses. Who deserves the blame for that loss?

The guys agreed that the loss to the Packers in Super Bowl 45 stings a lot more now than then because the last decade plus for the Steelers have not been memorable. 

Matt Canada said George Pickens is in a good place and continues to feed into the fact that they aren’t worried about his behavior following last week’s win. Will the Steelers get him the ball more on Sunday? How will he respond going forward if he has another lackluster game? Are you worried Pickens will push for a trade if he has bad numbers at the end of this season? 

Is the George Pickens situation much ado about nothing? Poni doesn’t think so. He said he’d be lying if he felt like it was truly not a big deal. He thinks it could become something in the not-too-distant future if his numbers don’t get better as the season goes on. Callers gave their thoughts on what is happening with the young Steelers receiver. Should there be a better effort to get Pickens involved?  

KDKA TV legend Bob Pompeani joined the show. Bob thinks the Chuks Okorafor story is the best secret around town right now and he himself doesn’t know what he said. Bob believes it has a lot to do with Broderick Jones being the player in waiting and Chuks not being a superstar. Pomp doesn’t agree with what Merril Hoge said about George Pickens not being a player you can win with. He thinks Pickens should have gone about things in a different way, but isn’t overly worried yet that it will become a huge deal…yet. Pomp said don’t get worried about a trade request from Pickens after the season – saying he’d be shocked if that happened. Are the Steelers bound to make the playoffs and get blown out of the water once they get there? Bob didn’t reveal how picks are looking among KDKA TV personalities on Sunday, but said he does not like the Packers right now. 

Canada’s Calls – The guys broke down what Matt Canada said to the media earlier today. 

Who deserves the most blame for where the offense is at right now – Matt Canada or Kenny Pickett? Poni is surprised by the number of fans who have seemed to come around on the offensive coordinator. Canada doesn’t seem to be happy on the sideline, but it seems like it worked at least a little bit on Thursday night. Callers seemed to think Canada is still more to blame than the QB. 

Steve Palazzolo from Pro Football Focus joined the show. Steve likes what he has seen from Joey Porter Jr. to this point in the season. Steve said George Pickens is a little bit blow his expectations coming into the season, but it isn’t at a drastic level. He thinks Pickens may even be underrated in certain areas of his game and can understand his frustration. Steve said there has to be a purpose to getting Pickens involved in the offense. Steve thinks Kenny Pickett has been better these last few weeks than he was early in the season, but he describes some of the plays as “empty calories” because nothing has really come easy. Steve thinks Pickett is still firmly in the bottom third of the league among QBs. Steve gives Pickett the nod over Jordan Love when it comes to the QB matchup on Sunday. 

Donny Football Debrief – Can we safely say tonight is the worst Thursday Night Football game of the season?

Poni is close to labeling this game on Sunday as a must-win against the Packers because the Steelers will need to be 6-3 heading into a tough stretch of the schedule. The injury report is out and there are some worrisome names on the Steelers defense. We got back into what Mike Florio said yesterday – that the Steelers could make the playoffs, but will get destroyed when they do. Poni listed some teams that the Steelers could realistically face in the first round of the playoffs and if they would have any chance of winning. Do listeners think the Steelers would get dominated in the playoffs?

Steelers insider Ray Fittipaldo from the PG joined the show. Ray told us if we should be worried by the Steelers injury report and doesn’t think it’s likely that Minkah Fitzpatrick will play. Ray said it would be a bad setback for Cam Heyward if he is unable to go on Sunday. Ray commented on the state of the inside linebacker position with Cole Holcomb being out for the season. Ray said Sunday is a bigger game than people are realizing given what the Steelers will face down the stretch. Ray credited a few of the veteran offensive players for chatting with George Pickens following last Thursday’s game. Ray doesn’t think the offense will force the football to Pickens because the Steelers still find a lot of importance in the lack of turnovers from Kenny Pickett. Ray gave his thoughts on the Chuks Okorafor situation. 

Power Rankings.

Steelers insider Ray Fittipaldo from the PG joined the show. Ray told us if we should be worried by the Steelers injury report and doesn’t think it’s likely that Minkah Fitzpatrick will play. Ray said it would be a bad setback for Cam Heyward if he is unable to go on Sunday. Ray commented on the state of the inside linebacker position with Cole Holcomb being out for the season. Ray said Sunday is a bigger game than people are realizing given what the Steelers will face down the stretch. Ray credited a few of the veteran offensive players for chatting with George Pickens following last Thursday’s game. Ray doesn’t think the offense will force the football to Pickens because the Steelers still find a lot of importance in the lack of turnovers from Kenny Pickett. Ray gave his thoughts on the Chuks Okorafor situation. 

Poni is close to labeling this game on Sunday as a must-win against the Packers because the Steelers will need to be 6-3 heading into a tough stretch of the schedule. The injury report is out and there are some worrisome names on the Steelers defense. We got back into what Mike Florio said yesterday – that the Steelers could make the playoffs, but will get destroyed when they do. Poni listed some teams that the Steelers could realistically face in the first round of the playoffs and if they would have any chance of winning.