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Chapter 1: What common trait do all AFC playoff teams share?
Coming up on the 15-minute mark on the fan, brought to you by South Hills Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram Route 19 in Peters Township. Austin Beck told with you. Logan, our blaster producing behind the glass. I've moved from behind the glass to in front of the camera that you can watch us on on our YouTube channel. Doing great numbers there. And also, you can check us out on Twitter.
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Here is Matt and Erie to chime in. What's going on, Matt? Hey, how we doing? Happy New Year. You too. So I'm looking at it at a macro level. I don't even care about these two games or one game because I know how it's going to finish. We know the end of the show. Look, no coaching tree. It's a shelf life. He's been there too long. Omar and Andy, I think, have done a great job.
We have a ninth most tapped space. We have freaking 12 picks coming up in next year's draft. I think we built depth a little bit on the defensive lines, on the offensive lines, a little bit of safety with some of the acquisitions during the season. Yeah, I'd agree.
So all of this in place, I think we built some ā but the thing is, I don't understand in today's 2025 NFL that the Steelers front office and coaching staff don't understand. I get it. You have a stopgap with Aaron Rodgers. I think Aaron's great in one aspect. He shows you a little glimpse behind the curtain of what a field general looks like that can play and lead a football team.
Now you need a guy that can do it for 10, 12 years. You need a franchise quarterback. We're talking about nothing until you get a franchise quarterback. He'll never win anything without somebody behind center, whether it's Willis as a free agent, maybe a wing and a prayer. I feel like Willis isn't a franchise quarterback, though, Matt.
I don't care what Pony said about him because he's been kind of banging that drum a little bit for Malik Willis. No shot I take a risk on Malik Willis. It would basically be repeating the same cycle again like you did with Justin Fields. I don't disagree, but my point is that we need to find a guy. Whether it's moving draft capital, whether it's moving a player, I don't know.
But we can't keep going on year and year and year and just going with some stopgap like you said with Fields or Wilson or Aaron Rodgers. I mean... This is what the end game is, and I don't understand how the Steelers think it could be 1995 and they could run the ball and play good defense and win Super Bowls. It's not going to happen. I'm looking at Matt Stafford. I'm looking at Patrick Mahomes.
I'm looking at Josh Allen. I'm looking at C.J. Stroud. I mean, it goes without saying, I'm being redundant, but it just doesn't make sense as an organization that they try to build up this all-expensive defense, by the way, that isn't all that great. And they don't invest in skilled guys and quarterbacks that actually can make you, you know, why draft Will Howard? What's the point?
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Chapter 2: How important is having a franchise quarterback in the playoffs?
I know. It's just mind-boggling. But your point is correct, though, Matt, and I appreciate the call because I want to dive into what the playoff picture currently looks like because Matt's point is correct, and it's one that I've pointed to a lot where look at the way the NFL has shifted.
Now, sure, the Eagles won the Super Bowl last year based off of playing great defense and running the football. They also have a... Very legendary running back in Saquon Barkley that ran for 2,000 yards and almost broke the rushing record. If he would have played in Week 18 last year, he would have. Two very good wide receivers, Pro Bowl wide receivers.
One that won a Heisman Trophy on the outside in A.J. Brown and Devontae Smith. A serviceable tight end in Dallas Goddard. And a very good defense with an offensive-minded head coach. Look at the playoff teams right now. They all have one thing in common.
they either, the ones that have clinched, they either have a franchise quarterback that you can consistently depend on, or they have a quarterback that there might be some questions with, or they're younger, but they have a veteran offensive head coach. Denver, some people are up and down on Bo Nix. They have Sean Payton, great offensive mind.
The Patriots, Vrabel, good coach, defensive coach, but has Drake May, who I think is a franchise quarterback. Jaguars, Trevor Lawrence, high predigree, former number one pick. Look at William Cohen and what he's done. He left Tampa Bay working with Baker, and now he's made Trevor Lawrence into a very good quarterback. C.J. Stroud, young.
I have questions about them, but D'Amico Ryan's a very good defensive coach. I do have some concerns. Chargers, Jim Harbaugh, offensive coach. With Justin Herbert, elite quarterback. Buffalo, Sean McDermott, defensive coach. But Josh Allen, best quarterback in the NFL, elite. Look at the NFC. Seattle. Sam Darnold, very good quarterback, defensive coach, yes.
That might be the one exception to the rule here. Chicago. Caleb Williams, young quarterback, but Ben Johnson, he leaves the Lions. Jared Goff falls apart. The Lions don't make the playoffs. Ben Johnson was the straw that stirred the drink. He's elevating Caleb Williams. Caleb Williams is also playing a lot better, but it's young quarterback, very good offensive coach. Philadelphia.
Jalen Hurts has his limitations. Sirianni, offensive coach. Things around him, they've elevated it. Same thing with the Rams. Stafford, older quarterback, but an MVP candidate. Sean McVay, maybe the best offensive minor in all of football. San Francisco, Brock Purdy, you get what I'm saying here, has his limitations. But Kyle Shanahan has brought so much out of him.
Jordan Love, good quarterback, has LeFleur, offensive coach. Look at the entire NFC. Outside of Seattle, every team that will make the playoffs in the NFC has an offensive-minded head coach.
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Chapter 3: What role does coaching play in the success of playoff teams?
I mean, injuries have been a big part of it. And look at Tampa Bay. Does anyone trust Bryce Young? I like him. Canales has done a great job. A lot of questions remain. Tampa Bay. Ball apart when you lose your offensive coordinator. Defensive head coach can't figure out that side of the ball. And that... is a huge reason why I think Aaron Rodgers has helped mask some of the problem.
But Arthur Smith is not a great offensive mind. He's had games. He's had some moments. But when it's all put together, I don't think our opinion of Arthur Smith has really changed that much and thinking, wow, he's really schemed this up well. Arthur Smith really knows what he's doing. The entire playoff picture, that's the common denominator. Those are the teams that have clinched.
Those are the teams that pretty much know where they're going to be if they're winning their division. And the teams that don't, the Panthers and Bucks, the Steelers and Ravens, have a lot of the same problems. Questions at coach, questions at quarterback, or questions everywhere. That's the common denominator. That's the common denominator. Here is Ron in Monongahela. What's up, Ron?
I've been waiting all weekend to talk to you guys because I'm losing my head on how people can really praise Mike Tomlin when he's lost four straight Cleveland home games. Yeah, I think that was a pretty damning argument against Mike Tomlin there, Ron. Against Cleveland? Yeah. We're talking about a team that the media, you guys, all my friends go, they stink.
They think, well, we've lost four straight times in Cleveland. And if you look at the numbers between him and Tower, Tower had a 631 winning percentage without Ben. Guess what Mike Collins is? It's like right around 500. 554. Yeah. Okay, with Ben, Tower was at 708. Collins at 668. So answer this. How does people think that this guy's a shoe-in for the Hall of Fame? Well, because of what he did.
Okay, let me ask you this then, Ron. Look what Bill Belichick did with Tom Brady after all those years and then what happened when Tom Brady left. Should you throw a bunch of shade at Bill Belichick and think he should not be in the Hall of Fame because he had Tom Brady, he had the luxury of that, and he got the best out of Tom Brady? Like how Mike Tomlin got the best out of Ben in some moments?
Do you really think that's a fair argument with Belichick winning six Super Bowls? It's not the same argument, but I think it works, and I appreciate the call. In a lot of the same retrospect, here is our guy Robin West Mifflin. We're up against it before we get to the Tomlin Press Conference, but what's going on, Rob? Rob, I know you're a big Tomlin defender. It ain't about defending Tomlin.
It's about the AFC is wide open, man. You named all these dudes who have done nothing, man. Well, I agree with that, though, Rob. The AFC is wide open, but that doesn't take away from the argument. That doesn't make the argument untrue. You know New England had the weakest schedule, man. You know when you finish in the bottom of the year. You know New England had the weakest schedule this year?
Denver's schedule was very weak, too.
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Chapter 4: How do injuries impact team performance during playoffs?
This was the year where they played a bad Kansas City team and they beat up on the Raiders. You're supposed to win when you've got two-week schedules, man. My whole thing is, this playoffs is a crapshoot. I've never seen a football year like this year. Never. With these wins and all this. Never. It's a crapshoot. Anybody get in, it's one game and you're done. Right, but I agree with that, Rob.
But right now, if I was to power rank all the teams that are going to make the playoffs in the AFC, where would the Steelers rank for you? Because for me, they're like 6th or 7th. Guess what? You can put them last. But if they get in the dance, you got a chance, man. I don't know if you remember years ago, Danny Manning and the Kansas City Jayhawks got in at the 15 and 19.
They won their conference championship in basketball. Don't you know they won a national championship? Yeah, but Rob, this isn't basketball. I know, but what I'm saying is all you got to do is get in. All you got to do is get in. Right. We're naming all these teams. None of these teams is going to blow you out the water. Yeah. I appreciate it, Rob. We got to get to the press.
We got to get to the press. They're always good talking to you. Fan weather is brought to you by Myers Law Group, Pittsburgh's choice for affordable legal solutions. Be careful out there. It feels like temperatures are right around five and it's snowing.
But look, I don't think that this is the Steelers of yesteryear being a wild card team and going all the way to the playoffs and pulling off stunning victories. They're not going to have to play like a Peyton Manning. They're not going to have to have that type of road. But Right now, after what we saw and what some of that evidence is, does it make me feel confident? All right.
Mike Tomlin Press Conference is up next. Austin Mechtold in for Pump and Joe. We'll hear what the coach has to say in a moment.
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