Texans-Steelers Wild Card Recap: The End for Aaron Rodgers and Mike Tomlin in Pittsburgh?

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25:35They just don't have a weak spot and you thought maybe Reed gets hurt and like is the other safety going to get picked on enough? Toto, I think had a really good game like in coverage. Like that is where you would think you would be able to get some of these linebackers. But Aaron Rodgers' eyes very often were going to the place where the linebackers were, and he had to hold the ball like an extra half a beat. And I thought they all were just swarming, to use that word, in terms of their tackling. It was just a magnificent performance. I mentioned those five first downs in the first eight plays.

26:08They only had six more the rest of the day. The Steelers had a 21 % success rate, which is just absolutely brutal, throwing the ball. And then here's my favorite just stat I'm pulling. This is from NextGen. They had a 45 % pressure rate, which is sky high. You know how many times they blitzed tonight?

26:28Jourdan Rodrigue:Zero. Three times. Oh, wow. That's even more than I thought. But three is nuts. That's crazy. They just don't have to send any extra rushers. And yeah, Anderson and Hunter are going to be keeping Mike Braybill up at night and Will Campbell and Morgan Moses, because I think that's the biggest weakness of the Patriots, potentially, and they can get after Drake. Maybe they had 15 pressures combined tonight. Let's talk about the offense. And I guess we got to start kind of with the bat. What was happening with CJ here? To give you just like a quick overview. Yeah. I need to double check this, but he ended up with five turnovers on, I mean, five fumbles on the night, right?

27:14Because he, reminiscent to that crazy Jalen Hurts, Herbert game in play that happened in the game I went to on Monday Night Football where there was multiple turnovers on one play. Twice tonight, C.J. Stroud had two fumbles on one play. So he had four total fumbles, I mean, on two combined plays. And in each one of those plays, he wasn't paying attention and fumbled the shotgun snap and then eventually fumbled because he held the ball too long on that plate and lost both of those fumbles and then had another one later on and then also had a red zone interception. It was really a crazy combination of him getting so in his head on a night when if you just took those plays away, it was a great offensive performance by the Texans and a good one by CJ Stroud.

28:11If you took those plays away.

28:13Jourdan Rodrigue:Yes. Big caveat there. That's a big if. I just mean the other 50 plays, which are a lot of plays. Totally. I thought it was one of the more balanced games that I've seen from this Texans offense in huge part because the run game was great. Now, it's been a work in progress all season, and they've chipped away at it and really want to give credit to Nick Kaley, the offensive coordinator here, who has been through his fair share of battles here on the season, but didn't run away from it. Kept going even when the turnovers would happen. Kept trying to find ways to balance and settle this offense down.

28:48Jourdan Rodrigue:Woody Marks goes over 100 yards and has a touchdown at the end of the game. And it's like they just kept chipping at it. They were at or over nearly a 50 % success rate between Woody Marks, who had the lion's share of carries, left the game at one point, came back in. And Nick Chubb as well, who had three consecutive really solid runs in the first half that started getting this run game going, settled the offensive line down. When they got into the third quarter, they really started moving the offensive line. They really started controlling the line of scrimmage more so, especially half over half.

29:22Jourdan Rodrigue:This third quarter was when they really started, you know, settling and digging into that trench work. And I thought it was it was great because you had a combination of Nick Chubb with a lot of that middle zone or gap running. And then you would get Woody Marks, who can also do that, but then would hit you with like some explosive speed around the edge, too. And the Steelers were just not quite sure whether they were going to be stretched physically or stretched wide. And that was just really special to me because that's the kind of balance within the run game that you also need to have in order to really challenge these defenses in the postseason.

29:56Jourdan Rodrigue:And this was the best, to me, the best game that Nick Kaley has called because there was chaos, Greg. You mentioned it. CJ Stroud, I mean, dude, take the sack. Take the four-yard scramble. Don't try to force the play. He just was so in his head, Greg, through this game. And there was clear issues with the center, Jake Andrews, too, and issues in the shotgun. But they just kept steady and they got a monster performance out of their defense. And that's like, I hope that's not the formula because we know CJ Stroud can be better than this. And maybe I remembered it incorrectly that he was credited for two fumbles on two separate plays because he also, of course, had the fumble on what I thought was Kaylee's.

30:40I mean, it's hard to say it's his worst call of the night, but they didn't execute it perfectly. The flea flicker.

30:46Jourdan Rodrigue:What is happening with these flea flickers? What's happening to the play that I love? They're playing on bad grass. This is the worst field maybe in the league. Green Bay is certainly up there. And Woody Marks just like slightly slipped, I think, on the flea flicker. Very similar to that Carolina game in week 18. And he still got the ball back to CJ Stroud, but the timing was just messed up just a little bit. and then C.J. Stroud gets his arm hit. Now, it appeared there was a wide open receiver down the field. So if they had time to do it, he would have gotten it deep. But instead, Jack Sawyer comes up with the first of a few really big plays in this game.

31:25But I'm glad you brought up, you know, the running game and how great it was. And look, they they ended up putting up what? 164 yards on the ground. And the crazy thing is tonight, they didn't have a ton of drives. There's only nine drives in this game. If it wasn't for the turnovers, they actually played pretty good complementary football. And they do deserve some credit, I think, because you see the final score and you're like, this is a joke. In the fourth quarter, they go on a pretty long field goal drive to actually get it up to 10-6 at the very least. And then they do capitalize with a touchdown drive after the Texans get their fun and get the turnover on Rodgers.

32:04And it was just a waterfall. So like there's no rule that says they were going to have to go and score a touchdown there in the fourth quarter to completely put the game away on offense. And they did it. And so they deserve credit for that. And they also deserve credit for that second quarter drive, which was 14 plays, 92 yards. They start with the ball on the eight yard line and they go mostly running, but some nice throws by CJ Stroud. Let's actually listen to how that drive was capped off the first touchdown of the game. And three at the six. Stroud takes the snap. Takes the toss behind him.

32:39Throws right side. Christian Kirk to the end zone. Touchdown, Houston. Six-yard touchdown pass from CJ Stroud to Christian Kirk. And the Texans go in front. Stroud did have some nice throws. Like his first down of the game was a dime down the field to Christian Kirk. There also was a 46-yard reception late in the third quarter to Christian Kirk, which came on third and 15. This is with about 40 seconds left in the fourth quarter, right after C.J. Stroud had had his fifth fumble on a ball that he was very lucky to get back. He wasn't looking before the ball was snapped. And it's third and 15. And you're thinking, they really might blow this game.

33:28It's 7-6. and he gets protected really well. And I think the offensive line actually had a sneaky good game in front of CJ Stroud, even pass protecting. And he hits a dime down the field to Christian Kirk. So there were moments. So I do want to pat him on the back, but there's something weird about Stroud. When he gets in his head, like he kind of stays there sometimes.

33:47Jourdan Rodrigue:He's kind of like a, he wears his heart on his sleeve as a quarterback where you can tell exactly when he's overthinking things. And I think it's a product of being young. I think it's a product of all the hits he took last year and all the chaos at offensive line. I think some of it's a product of changing systems and still trying to figure out what his rhythm is. Nico Collins was in and out of the game. Hope he's OK. He left on a cart to the locker room in the concussion protocol. But and so trying to figure out, you know, different guys, different timing and those types of things. Christian Kirk really stepped up for CJ Stroud, gave him wide open targets.

34:22Jourdan Rodrigue:There were a couple of times where I worried about some of the other receivers because CJ was throwing them into some danger, too. And this is not the thing is we know what his potential is and we know what his ability is. And you saw it in a lot of the pass plays and a lot of the decision making this game. I love that Christian Kirk touchdown because it was a fake toss to one direction and then he throws a touchdown to the other direction. calm and steady as could be a lot of misdirection cadence timing has to happen on that type of play selling the fake flowing in one direction hitting the other side like you see it right it's there and then you know he throws a high sort of hospitaly ball to to Jaden Higgins and and Jaden Higgins somehow hangs on and he overthrows a couple too and and you know it just is one of those things where they're gonna need more consistency out of CJ Stroud they don't need him to be a superhero anymore at this point or ever because he has this defense that's going to be the hero of this team and he's got a great even keel special teams unit just needs some consistency and that's why I love that the run game was there if this run game wasn't there Greg they don't recover like this yeah I totally agree and I was watching this game with with you know of my family and, and Emeka, my wife is just like, what, why is every pass so hard?

35:47And I was like, it's a great point. Cause the first half of this game, every completion was contested. And for the most part, CJ was on point and some were broken up and some weren't. And so I don't know if the receivers just weren't open or he's just trying to fit it into tight windows, but they were like very difficult throws. I actually think the Steelers defense overall, you know, played a pretty good game. Their offense just sold them out. Maybe not good. You give up 400 yards to the Texans in nine drives. That's not good. And you also allow Christian Kirk, who's been quiet all year, to be the guy who makes me say that it is time for delivery and results presented by Uber Eats.

36:24When football makes you hungry, order Uber Eats. And yes, Christian Kirk goes eight catches, 144 yards and a touchdown. A couple times gets them out of bad field position. A couple times sets up a big score. And these playoff games are funny because Christian Kirk has not been a productive trade chip for what they expected. For a good chunk of this season, he's hurt. And then the rookies end up kind of passing him in terms of importance on the team. He plays 13 games and he somehow only ends up with 239 yards. Like he almost matched that tonight. But I'll tell you what, like that front office is so happy they made that move.

37:10Now it's like the Brandon Cooks move in Buffalo. Like it's all worth it if they come up in a big spot like this. And he's obviously a really talented, experienced receiver. And he gave them something tonight that they absolutely needed. And if Nico Collins is out next week, he went into the concussion protocol tonight, then Christian Kirk's importance is even going to be bigger next week.

37:31Jourdan Rodrigue:A little birdie told me that Christian Kirk was set to be a huge factor tonight, in part because of the way with a healthy Nico Collins, in part because of the way that they thought the Steelers were going to defend them, which I think is a fair, fair assumption to make. unfortunately nico collins who had a couple of great catches himself including a really tough one over the middle for a big conversion um you know that's he just took so much contact uh to to his head and hopefully he's going to be okay and we'll hear more about that obviously in the in the coming um in the coming days yeah and they are on a short week which i i think is unfair for these teams that that have to do it the monday night game is sort of inherently unfair teams have won coming out of it.

38:17Themes of loss coming out of it. It hasn't been decisive or anything. The Rams won the Super Bowl coming out of it, as you know. But yeah, shout out to Christian Kirk getting it done. And it's a free agency year for him. So it reminds everyone how good he can be. That was delivering results presented by Uber Eats. When football makes you hungry, get game day deals on Uber Eats, the official on-demand delivery partner of the NFL. Order now. I am frustrated by the Nico concussion. because I just thought it seemed kind of obvious on TV when he took a hit on that very, I think it was the first target he had of the game, that he was shaken up, and he just goes over to the sideline, and I didn't see them examine him for a potential concussion, but he got up very slowly after that first play, and I do feel like it's becoming a little bit of a trend lately that they are not taking care of the players as much as they were, let's say, five to ten years ago.

39:14There's just not as much attention on it. And you know, you can have a rudimentary understanding of science and concussions and everything that when you suffer maybe a more minor one, uh, both before suffering a bigger one, like in the same game, it, it makes it worse. And he did, you know, as Troy Aikman pointed out, like he was walking the wrong way after the second one. You just, you just hate to see that. And you just hope that like they did everything that they were supposed to do before that because I was a little surprised how quickly he returned to that game if you remember I think he sat out basically like five or six plays on the first drive and then came in for the final third down I was like wow that that was quick for him to come back in there so you just you just hope he's going to be okay and he's really important that almost goes without saying

40:02Jourdan Rodrigue:for this team I'll just say too Greg to your point um which is a great one that it's not for lack of technological tools to help the spotters see what they should be pointing out. They have every tool available to them up in the booth to literally spot, to spot these things and to, to, to raise the alarm. So that's, that's what I'll say on that. Yeah. And, uh, it's crazy. I'm checking the stats while we're talking in terms of Kirk. Cause I was like 239 yards. That's even less than I expected. He was not wide receiver too, for this team, as everyone expected, Jordan. He was, that was Jaden Higgins.

40:38in the end. He was not wide receiver three for this team in the end. That was Xavier Hutchinson. And if we're just going off yards, he was not wide receiver four for this team. That was Jalen Noel. He was wide receiver five on the season and he steps up on a big night and yeah, helps CJ Stroud out. It's why, you know, it's a team game. And we talk about quarterback wins and everything. The rest of his team picked up CJ Stroud and, you know, he's a much more accurate quarterback than he was tonight. I think he'll play better next week. But you want to know who my comp is for him just in a little way right now in terms of the streakiness that he has within games?

41:22The emotions on his sleeve you mentioned really hammered at home for me.

41:25Jourdan Rodrigue:You mean CJ Stroud? CJ Stroud's comp that popped in my mind right now in terms of how he's playing sometimes. Maybe not style. One of my least favorite quarterbacks, as you know, in terms of frustrating to watch, Baker Mayfield. Because it's just like, he doesn't play as the worst. Never miss an opportunity, Greg. Never miss an opportunity. It's like, it's just that he, because of the emotions, you can almost see it, like you said. When he's pushing too hard. Drive to drive, like quarter to quarter. He can just get so hot. And they obviously are different in different sorts of ways. I think, you know, CJ can be a great pocket quarterback at his best.

42:02We'll wrap up with Tomlin because we do have some quotes. Shout out to Chris Bibona, who's been doing great on these live shows all season long. We have one more next or this Saturday night after the divisional round. Mike Tomlin was asked about the status of him with the team. He said, it's not time for talk. We agreed we'll meet tomorrow and go from there. When you're in this single elimination tournament, there's not a whole lot to talk about. You win or go home. And then when asked for a message to the fans, he just said, when you don't get it done, words are cheap. there's too much talking in our business fair just another manic monday i uh i want you to promise we can you know count on you singing at the end of all these shows uh what a night for the houston texans 30 to 6 you know they've won a game

42:52Jourdan Rodrigue:smiling i shouldn't be smiling this big no i think that i love this team so much The Steelers fans are going to take offense, but for everyone who's like, I want, you know, the Texans are kind of what you would want the Steelers to be, right? Like this, they are the closest thing we have right now to the steel curtain. If you want some 1970s, maybe even 1980s ass looking football, like this is it right here. It's crazy. I love it. It's true. It's true. And I, you know, if this is what, Mike Tomlin steps away after it. It is there's, you know, we've had some crazy poetry in football. It's John Harbaugh who, uh, parts ways quote unquote with the, with the Ravens after a game that is going to most be remembered for some special teams errors, including a missed field goal, um, as the special teams expert, who is one of the few special teams coaches ever hired to be a head coach and then Mike Tomlin the defensive mastermind getting beat in his own house by the best one of the best defenses we've seen in modern football that's playing like a total throwback run and hit somebody defense it is there's there's poetry in there I think and it's true the Steelers are if not the most expensive defense in the league they're like second or third and when this losing streak in the playoffs started a lot of the criticism with Tomlin and this happens in the regular season two from his fans are like, well, they're just so static and they're just the same defense year after year.

44:29And I think D 'Amico Ryans is showing like, you know, you can, you can be all about fundamentals and hitting and playing fast and old school. Um, but you just got to have the right players and the right coaching and the right system. And they, they are the new, so we will, we will be tracking obviously everything, uh, with Mike Tomlin and the Steelers throughout the week. we'll be talking about this Texans and Patriots game. We might get Seth Payne on the show, I think, for the preview show. Yes, who's a big Houston Texans follower, so I can't wait for that. Let's hit the music here. Chris Babona.

45:06I told Walker, my son, earlier today, not many teams make the playoffs every year. Like, how many teams have made the playoffs three straight years like the Texans? You can't take this for granted. How many teams have won a playoff game now three straight years? You can't take them for granted. We find out next week, Drake May versus CJ Stroud. Can the Texans win too?

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