Las Vegas Raiders Insider Podcast Game Day Final Thoughts
In the latest Las Vegas Raiders Insider Podcast episode, we discuss our final thoughts on gameday as the Silver and Black prepare to face the Pittsburgh Steelers tonight.
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00:00 Hi everybody this is Hondo Carpenter from Sports Illustrated's Fan Nation Las Vegas
00:06 Raiders Insider Podcast part of the Fans First Sports Network.
00:09 Very excited to have you with us today.
00:11 It's game day and thank God it's a game day because that means we got all day to watch
00:17 football then tonight Sunday night football at Allegiant Stadium.
00:22 Two teams that man go back to the glory days of the NFL.
00:31 Steel men of Pittsburgh coming in here one and one led by a guy I have so much respect
00:38 for the great Mike Tomlin coming into a one and one Steelers I mean a Raider team got
00:44 a big win in week one in the AFC West against a division rival a much improved Bronco team
00:51 and then go and lose in Buffalo which there's no shame in that but how they lost was embarrassing.
00:57 This is their home opener there's going to be a ton of Steelers in town but the Raiders
01:03 have something to prove and to talk about this game I bring in my really good buddy
01:08 Jeff Hartman.
01:09 He runs the Fans First Sports Network and does him and Brian Davis do such a great job
01:14 leading that network but he also has his own podcast super highly successful and probably
01:20 the most successful Steeler podcast that there is the Steel Curtain Network always great
01:25 to have him in Jeff how are you bud.
01:28 I'm doing great Honda thanks for having me I appreciate you inviting me this is great.
01:32 Yeah no problem we love having you part of the SI FANNATION get that people see and get
01:36 to know about you and your podcast.
01:39 So Jeff let's dig a little bit.
01:42 I think the Steelers I predicted them to make a playoff to go to the playoffs.
01:49 This is a team that I'm a big believer in Mike Tomlin I am not a believer in Matt Canada
01:55 that made no sense to me his hiring but I trust Mike I don't trust Canada.
02:01 So let me ask you what is the state of the Steelmen.
02:05 Oh geez.
02:08 It's kind of like the tale of two cities sort of you know you have this defense that's coming
02:12 off of a rousing victory against the Cleveland Browns.
02:15 They led by TJ Watt and Alex Highsmith they basically put the team on their back and they
02:19 equate to 14 total points and that's great.
02:24 And then you have the opposite side of the coin which is the offense which just looks
02:27 like an absolute dumpster fire right now.
02:29 And you mentioned Matt Canada and I can honestly tell you I've been I've been covering the
02:33 Steelers as a fan for a long time.
02:35 I cannot remember the last time there was so much vitriol and angst and a outward showing
02:43 of wanting a coach to be gone than what we're seeing right now with fire Matt Canada.
02:49 I mean the chant that happened at Akershaw Stadium in week two was it was loud.
02:55 It was loud enough that people in the boxes heard it.
02:59 Any player that says they didn't hear it is lying through their teeth.
03:02 There's no way they didn't hear it.
03:03 The fans are not happy with the offense and I think a lot of it is based off of the the
03:08 expectation that was set in the preseason at 3 and 0 in the preseason.
03:12 The starting offense goes five for five five drives five touchdowns and it looks pristine.
03:17 And then all of a sudden you get into the regular season and it just completely falls
03:21 apart.
03:22 I mean the wheels fall off.
03:23 They have no answer for anything the defense is doing.
03:26 It's a problem.
03:27 It's a big problem.
03:28 And I'm going to go back to something my brother used to always tell me.
03:30 Well you can't fire all the players.
03:32 So sometimes you got to ask the coach.
03:34 And for the first time I could actually see them making a change at some point this season
03:38 with the play calling.
03:39 But as of now we're stuck with Canada.
03:41 So it's a tale of two cities with the Steelers.
03:43 They love the defense and they're coming along and offensively it is it's bad.
03:48 We'll put it that way.
03:50 Let's talk about that defense because to me you know and I had a bird's eye view.
03:56 I got to see it with my own eyes.
03:59 Tremendous relentless.
04:02 But to the Steelers credit they invest draft picks in that defense.
04:10 They are you know this every year the Steelmen we're going to be good on defense.
04:15 That is our DNA.
04:16 We may not always be the best on offense but we're always going to be good on defense.
04:22 That is you just know that if you were to do a DNA sample of the Steelmen good defensive
04:27 team every year.
04:28 It doesn't matter.
04:29 And granted there's not very many coaching changes but even when the coaching changes
04:33 come whether it's Noel to Cowher to Tomlin it is just simply that is who we are.
04:40 I love that.
04:41 I to me I I think every other team would be better served to have that mentality.
04:47 I like it.
04:48 Talk about the defense of the Steelmen.
04:51 The defense is it's very it's well paid.
04:54 We'll put it that way.
04:55 I mean when you talk about Alex Highsmith got his big contract extension this past offseason
04:59 the year prior to that was Minka Fitzpatrick getting his extension.
05:03 Prior to that was TJ Watt.
05:04 They pay the superstars on their defense and like you said they also draft well.
05:10 You look at someone like Nick Herbig in this past 2023 NFL draft out of Wisconsin.
05:15 Everyone kind of just thought well it's a fourth round pick.
05:18 He's probably not going to do much.
05:20 He's done a lot and he's seeing significant snaps in both the first two games at least
05:25 for him considering who he's playing behind significant is is a relative term.
05:29 I think that the the new the new regime in the front office has done a really good job
05:35 of taking a hard look at the defense and saying what do we need to do.
05:39 So when you lose your inside linebackers like Robert Spillane who's now out in Vegas they
05:44 completely revamped the inside linebacker room signing Cole Holcomb bringing in a Landon
05:48 Roberts and then signing Quan Alexander right before the preseason started.
05:53 You look at the secondary you lose Kim Sutton to Detroit but you bring in Patrick Peterson
05:57 you draft Joey Porter Junior.
05:59 They really love Corey Trice who tours ACL or he had a major knee injury.
06:04 I don't know if we ever actually heard it was an ACL we assume so and he's going to
06:07 miss this year but that this group is is different.
06:11 I'll put it that way and there have been some growing pains this year in the first two weeks
06:16 communication issues.
06:18 Levi Wallace has not played very well for the Steelers in the first two weeks.
06:22 A lot of people are waiting for Joey Porter Junior to really get his shot but the defense
06:26 is also still like you said it's their calling card.
06:29 It's what they hang their hat on.
06:31 It's their bread and butter whatever.
06:34 However you want to put it the Steelers defense is getting better.
06:37 I think that week two that was a tough game.
06:41 Nick Chubb leaves that helps the defense a lot but ultimately I think that this defense
06:45 is going to have to continue to carry this team if they want to win games and make the
06:48 playoffs this year.
06:51 Let's turn to the offense the Matt Canada led clown car.
06:56 There is talent on that offense.
07:02 It's not a side of the ball that's void of talent.
07:04 I don't think you can pretend that that's not true.
07:07 Just terrible coaching.
07:09 There are decisions that Matt Canada will make and you literally think to yourself at
07:14 least I do was he trying to say okay they won't think that I'm this stupid and can
07:20 will make this mistake so let's try it.
07:22 Yeah I think to me that offense is significantly better than they're being coached and I'm
07:31 going to tell you something you know I love Tom.
07:33 I don't like yeah I love him.
07:36 So to me the second part of the DNA of the Steelers first is defense but second as you
07:42 expect well coaching at every level.
07:45 This is why I'm stunned because there are other teams that you expect bad coaching not
07:51 from a coordinator of the Steelman.
07:54 It doesn't make sense.
07:55 It doesn't really make sense.
07:57 The hiring itself didn't make a lot of sense to me when they made that decision.
08:01 I understood as a quarterback coach back when Randy Feetner was still the offensive coordinator
08:06 OK this guy's you know whatever.
08:09 It just didn't make sense.
08:10 And I said this on my podcast right after Ben Roethlisberger retired.
08:15 I said if the Steelers want to part ways with Canada now's the time.
08:19 Just cut ties start fresh you're going to get a new quarterback.
08:21 It turned out to be Mr. Biscayne Kenny Pickett but you want to get someone new because if
08:25 they go down that road sometimes that's a road you can't come back from.
08:29 And I feel like they're kind of that they're feeling that right now.
08:33 Like they've gone so far down this road.
08:34 I look give me an example leading up to this game.
08:38 You talk about Pat Fryer Meath who's a great young talent at tight end and they have Darnell
08:42 Washington who's like the antithesis of Fryer Meath.
08:44 Fryer Meath you want more in the slot.
08:46 You don't want him to be your in line guy.
08:48 That's Darnell Washington.
08:49 So you're thinking you're going to have Pat Fryer Meath in the slot more being more of
08:52 a Travis Kelsey type tight end.
08:55 One target tight ends in general got one target in week two and that was on a tight end screen.
09:01 I just don't understand it.
09:03 No one understands it.
09:05 All the metrics all the analytics point to the Steelers offense from play calling execution
09:10 coaching to be one of if not the worst offenses in the National Football League.
09:16 And you just have to wonder how long until Art Rooney says I've seen enough and maybe
09:21 he won't ever say that maybe he's just going to leave that up to Tomlin.
09:24 But you have to wonder at what point is Mike Tomlin going to say I've seen enough and then
09:28 try to move on.
09:29 And it's just a bad situation.
09:32 You know I'm going to ask you a question because I'm a Kenny Pickett guy.
09:37 I know Kenny.
09:38 I met him through Pat Narduzzi.
09:40 Not claiming he's a friend but I know him and I like him.
09:43 I like everything about him.
09:45 I thought this was a great draft pick.
09:48 But there's got to be concerns with a young quarterback being ruined by terrible offensive
09:56 coordinator.
09:57 I mean that has to be a concern in the Steel City is it not.
10:01 The concern is absolutely real and it's real for one reason and one reason only.
10:07 We have seen Kenny Pickett perform at a much higher level than this.
10:11 Go back to his last season.
10:12 I'm not talking preseason because everyone will say it's vanilla defense playing against
10:16 backups yada yada yada.
10:17 That's fine.
10:18 Last season when he was injected into the under the offense in week two or week four
10:22 I'm sorry against the New York Jets at halftime.
10:25 You saw Kenny Pickett play better and you saw him even early on.
10:30 You talk about the turnovers against the Jets Sunday night football in Miami turnovers there.
10:35 You never saw him look this befuddled and this rattled before and he played behind some
10:42 bad offensive lines last year too.
10:45 He ended up rallying the troops.
10:46 The Steelers go seven and two down the stretch.
10:48 They win their final four games.
10:50 He has those moments against Baltimore against the Raiders at high at Akershaw Stadium on
10:55 Christmas Eve last year.
10:56 We have seen it with our own two eyes that Kenny Pickett is better than what we're seeing.
11:02 So where's the disconnect?
11:04 Where's the issues?
11:06 Is it the offensive line?
11:07 I can't say it's gotten worse.
11:08 They added Isaac say Amala who maybe not is not gelling yet, but he's he's not he's not
11:14 worse than Kevin Dotson who they traded to the Rams.
11:18 Is it the skill position players?
11:19 No George Pickens is in year two.
11:21 He looks phenomenal.
11:22 I already mentioned Pat Fryer, me Darnell Washington, the running game with Jalen Warren
11:26 and Najee Harris.
11:28 Where's where's the disconnect to me?
11:31 It's it's the scheme.
11:32 It's the coaching and it's really starting to be concerning for a lot of the fan base
11:37 that maybe like you said, Kenny Pickett is hate to use the word ruined.
11:41 I'm going to use the word rattled by the current situation and you hope it's not something
11:45 that's going to be the detriment of his career.
11:47 Yeah, listen, I don't think he's ruined either.
11:50 I agree with your term rattled, but the concern is how long do they allow him to go with Canada?
11:58 Before you that that does become.
11:59 I mean, I've seen that with young quarterbacks.
12:02 One of the best young quarterbacks ever saw in my life.
12:04 I won't name I'm not trying to embarrass him.
12:07 He had such bad coaching that it intrinsically changed how he played the game.
12:14 And then when they tried to salvage him, it was too late because he had changed everything.
12:19 It's just a concern I had.
12:20 Jeff, let's do this.
12:21 It's game day.
12:22 We're just a few hours away from kickoff.
12:24 By the way, haha, I'm going to.
12:25 I'm with Brian today.
12:27 We're going to go eat here in a minute, but I want your prediction on this game.
12:32 I say 2717 Raiders.
12:35 Their home opener.
12:37 I again, I don't think there's bad as they looked against Buffalo.
12:42 I think they're improved.
12:43 I don't think they're a Super Bowl team by any stretch, but I've got the Raiders 2717.
12:49 What do you got, Jeff?
12:51 This is a tough game.
12:52 You know, the Steelers have been underdogs the first two weeks.
12:54 They're underdogs again here in week three.
12:57 The over under man, the books got it right on the spot with 43.
13:02 I think the Steelers defense is again going to be the deciding factor.
13:06 They're the group that is going to accelerate ahead of the offense and they're going to
13:10 be able to make plays.
13:11 And I have seen some things and it was it was very minute in the last game that gives
13:16 me a little bit of hope that the Steelers offense is going to be able to slowly start
13:20 to turn the corner, slowly start to look like an actual NFL offense.
13:24 I'm going to say this is going to be a lower scoring game.
13:27 I'm going to go, believe it or not, with the Steelers 20, the Raiders 17.
13:36 All right, Jeff, listen, I really appreciate you taking time.
13:39 I love doing stuff with the fans first, so I appreciate you, my friend.
13:44 Thank you for your time.
13:45 No problem.
13:46 Thanks for having me, Honda.
13:47 I appreciate it.
13:48 No problem.
13:49 All right.
13:50 I'm a Honda carpenter from Sports Illustrated's Fan Nation, Las Vegas Raiders Insider podcast,
13:54 part of the fans for Sports Network.
13:56 Join my my good buddy, Jeff, from the fans for Sports Network and the Steel Curtain podcast.
14:03 Don't miss it, everybody.