Chris Hoke predicts a close Steelers win against Miami
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What community event is discussed at the beginning of the episode?
Join the Pomp and Joe show on a football Friday with Donnie Football tomorrow at the Baseball Card Castle in Cranberry. Bring non-perishable items to be donated to the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank. And say hello to the guys. It'll be myself, Donnie, and Austin. If you can't make it... You can still support by going to pittsburghfoodbank.org slash need or text need to 50155. Details at 937thefan.com. I just got a text from General Patton over there, Jeff Patton at the Baseball Card Castle. He said donations starting to arrive. The lines are busy already. That's great news, and we'll see you tomorrow, General. Super Bowl champion Chris Hoke is on the fan hotline. Did you just get attacked by a dog, Hokey?
Yeah, two of them. But you should see them now. I've subdued both of them and tied them to a tree. I'm ready to go. Bob, I'm frightened. I can just imagine what he's going to do to me one day in the studio when he doesn't like what I see. He's going to tie me to a camera. Fan Hotline presented by Sullivan Super Service, providing trusted plumbing and HVAC service for over 50 years. All right, Hokie, on the defensive side of the ball, Alex Highsmith has been a high-impact player when he's been healthy. How do you look at his season? And if you had to make a choice next year between him and Herbig, would that be a tough one? No, I think that you want to try to keep all three of them, but if it's going to come into a bidding war, I try to keep Highsmith.
The struggle with Highsmith only is that he struggles to stay healthy. He has that groin injury that just keeps coming and creeping back into his game. But the guy, I watched him closely in this film, and since he's come back over the last month, the guy's playing with a high motor. He always has, but just making plays, playing tough in the run game. And he's relentless, Starkey. You watch him play. The guy plays with a high motor. He's not going to be stopped. Even when he's not making plays, he's impacting the way the angles of the runs. He's impacting the pocket. I like the way Alex is playing. I just wish that he wouldn't hurt so much. I think he's a good player and a good person. Yeah, he is, and that's the thing.
I still want to see times, especially if the injuries to the defensive line continue. I hope Harmon can play this week because he's a big upgrade there and they need him. But the backup guys are all out with injury. Mostly all year it's been that way. But how about the Nick Herbig moving around as sort of just a wild card, a hybrid kind of guy in there with all three of those guys on the field at the same time? We've seen a little bit of that. Should we see more? We have. We have. Listen, to go back to Heisman and Herbig, I mean, if there was any thought that they would take this like Herbig over Heisman, you'd see Herbig eating up some of his snaps, wouldn't you, Paul? Yes. And you're not seeing that.
And you're seeing Heisman still taking the bulk of the snaps. So that tells me that they don't feel the way that maybe some of the media feels, that they really like Heisman and his role as the main guy. No, but I want to put them both on the field at the same time, along with T.J. Watt. No question. So here's my issue with that, Bob, is do it in third and obvious passing downs. I've seen too many times where they've done that and put them over the center or put them over the guard and they run the football. And they just get munched. They get eaten up. And then there's a big gash in the defense. And these guys, they can rush the passer. They can wiggle and they can shake and they can spin and beat a guard on a pass rush.
But when you put them in there and it's not an obvious passing down, it's a liability to your defense. So you've got to be very selective of when you do that. But I do like it in those situations. Other than that, it's a liability to what the Steelers are going to try to do and stop. Especially right now when they're struggling to stop the run, Paul. You can't put yourself in that position. What about the Ravens, Hokey?
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
What community event is discussed at the beginning of the episode?
0:02–4:11
2
How does Chris Hoke evaluate Alex Highsmith's performance this season?
4:11–7:50
3
What are the implications of injuries on the Steelers' defensive line?
7:50–12:52
4
How does Chris Hoke view the Ravens' current team dynamics?
12:52–14:47
5
What are the key factors that affect the Steelers' run defense?
14:47–17:07
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