Steelers Auction House – Round 6. 

We heard an impassioned rant from former Steeler Ryan Clark heading into Sunday’s matchup. Ryan said the Steelers don’t even have that ONE thing that gets you excited about this game. The guys debated if he’s correct. They said the rivalry has lost its luster and it’s the Steelers fault that has happened. 

Black & Gold Bets.

Does it really feel like Steelers-Ravens week? The guys don’t think so. They said this is the least hyped they have felt about this matchup in a very long time, if ever. 

Hour 1: Matt Canada claimed the words from Spero Dedes on the CBS broadcast from Sunday were inaccurate and incorrect. The guys aren’t buying it. There was also a debate of who is at fault for why we see the offensive struggles – the GM/head coach or the head coach and his assistants? 

Poni referenced the Steelers hurry-up offense and how that is a perfect picture of the Steelers being able to play from behind with both Kenny Pickett and Ben Roethlisberger. Chris thinks Pickett is worse at his job than Matt Canada. 

93.7 The Fan contributor Chris Mack joined the show. Chris talked about the latest episode of the “Oh Momma!” podcast with Chris Hoke. He also gave his thoughts on who he would start at QB this week. 

Do you believe Matt Canada is telling the truth about the Steelers having the ability to come back in games? Do the Steelers need to get with the times and have an offensive head coach. 

Poni gave Donny and Chris a homework assignment and they found that the Steelers are horrific at running the football early in games. 

KDKA TV legend Bob Pompeani joined the show. Pomp thinks the biggest fault is still on Matt Canada, but isn’t holding back blame from the players. He said it’s an indictment on the system as a whole that they lead the league in 3 & outs and can’t keep the offense on the field. Bob talked about the need for Kenny Pickett to begin stepping up in the pocket and how he has taken himself out of plays. 

Power Rankings.

After an oddly high mark for Kenny Pickett in Poni’s power rankings, Chris shared his worry that Pickett hasn’t shown signs of a franchise QB. 

It looks like the Steelers will continue to not play Joey Porter Jr. on Sunday. Why? The reasoning sounds inexcusable from Teryl Austin, who is said to specialize in the defensive backfield. The guys are stunned, given who Porter’s dad is, how he hasn’t gotten on the field more. We went back and found audio from draft night when the Steelers said Porter would make an immediate impact.  

Steve Palazzolo from Pro Football Focus joined the show. Steve said Kenny Pickett has been pretty bad and the Steelers offense as a whole has been ugly. Steve talked about some of the issues Kenny has had and how he can fix those, referencing a few other players in history. He said there are certainly issues with the play calling and the offensive line, but Pickett hasn’t made some of the easy plays. Steve laid out some numbers for George Pickens and how a certain run play works out for the Steelers.

Donny Football Debrief – Travis Kelce turned 34 today and is now the same age as Rob Gronkowski. Who is the better player when it’s all over? 

The guys reacted to the injury report for the day, with Alex Highsmith popping up with a groin injury. Kenny Pickett had a full practice today and it looks like all system’s go into Sunday. Does Pickett’s availability for Sunday’s game make you feel any better about it? Donny and Chris don’t. Poni said he’s only worried about the win and not the stat line. 

Kenny Pickett said he wants to be consistently good. The guys debated what kind of game they want to see out of Pickett against the Ravens. 

Steelers insider Ray Fittipaldo from the PG joined the show. Ray gave his current thoughts on Kenny Pickett as a player and added that he has a 90% chance to play Sunday against the Ravens, without limitations. Ray got into the fault of coordinator versus the players and he said it’s more of mixing up play calling as the games go on in the flow of things and not necessarily just bad plays on the surface. Ray said the game won’t necessarily be a rock fight on Sunday, but those games often end up that way. He said he’s not sure how much longer things can go this poorly offensively before it becomes a true distraction with Matt Canada. The guys asked Ray why Joey Porter Jr. hasn’t gotten a starting slot yet. 

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

Steelers insider Ray Fittipaldo from the PG joined the show. Ray gave his current thoughts on Kenny Pickett as a player and added that he has a 90% chance to play Sunday against the Ravens, without limitations. Ray got into the fault of coordinator versus the players and he said it’s more of mixing up play calling as the games go on in the flow of things and not necessarily just bad plays on the surface. Ray said the game won’t necessarily be a rock fight on Sunday, but those games often end up that way. He said he’s not sure how much longer things can go this poorly offensively before it becomes a true distraction with Matt Canada. The guys asked Ray why Joey Porter Jr. hasn’t gotten a starting slot yet. 

Kenny Pickett said he wants to be consistently good. The guys debated what kind of game they want to see out of Pickett against the Ravens.