Can New York Giants Snap Losing Streak Against Pittsburgh Steelers?

Can New York Giants Snap Losing Streak Against Pittsburgh Steelers?

the New York Giants have lost four out of their last five contests against Pittsburgh Steelers can the Gman snap a three-game losing streak against a Russell Wilson Le Steelers team we discussed that and more in our continued look at the Giants 2024 regular season opponents coming your way next on the lockdown Giants podcast [Music] today’s episode of the lock on Giants podcast is brought to you by FanDuel make every moment more as playoffs wind down the Sports Stop sporting like we want them to but this summer FanDuel is hooking up all customers with a boost or a bonus daily that’s right there’s something for everyone every day all summer long visit fanduel.com locked on to get started hello New York Giant fans and welcome to another edition of the locked on Giants podcast part of the lock on podcast family your team every day I’m your host Patricia trainer credential member of the New York Giants media for locked on as well as for Giants on SI you can find my written work at si.com NFL SL giiants and a welcome on into my every dayers my blue crew Community my newcomers and everybody in between thank you for spending part of your day with us here on the laon Giants podcast and on today’s podcast we’re continuing our look at the New York Giants 2024 regular season opponents and we’re venturing over to the AFC teams that we don’t really see except for once every four years and on today’s show we’re gonna to look at the Pittsburgh Steelers and we have with us Christopher Carter he is the host of lockdown Steelers Chris thanks so much for joining me thanks for having me Patricia good to see you we don’t see each other enough yeah you’re you’re very much right about that unless it’s uh one of our teams acquire the other’s practice squad guy or the occasional thing there but it’s always good to see you know NFC folk now and then yes yes definitely so all right Chris we got a lot to talk about with the Steelers and I think one of the big storylines and you can correct me if I’m wrong here Mike Tomlin just got a three-year extension which I think maybe surprised a few people uh given how the Steelers have kind of gone the last several years I mean were you surprised with that decision not in the least um if if you if you know what the Steelers have been through you understand and even appreciate what Mike Tomlin has done in those years yes the Steelers haven’t won a playoff game since the 2016 2017 season and a lot of people look point at that and say he hasn’t done enough but I think if you realistically look at most of the teams that the Steelers have had during that stint it it’s not because the coaching it’s because hey they threw all they went all in on the on the mid-2010s um they had some shots but they were never healthy you know the Steelers when when they had Ben rothberger Le’Veon Bell Antonio Brown and Ryan chayer healthy they were two and0 in the playoffs the problem is they only played two games with all their Stars healthy uh available and most of those games they had multiple of those Stars missing um and so once you know uh Antonio Brown became crazy Antonio Brown Le’Veon Bell you know wanted more money took a year off and then never got back to where he was Ryan shavy was paralyzed and Ben rothberger you know tore his elbow and then you know never got back to where he was because that completely deconstructed the core that they had there and but a lot of people I think looking at it you know were expecting the Steelers to fall off a cliff but Mike Tomlin never let that happen he found a way to bring them back to being a top five defense multiple times over that over that time span um added pieces like TJ watt make of Fitzpatrick kept pieces like cam Hayward um and uh throughout all of that they have uh made the playoffs three to the last four years they still have not had a losing record in fact they’ve had a winning record in four out of the last five years they’ve only gone eight and eight once um so uh this is a team where I I think that everyone who’s been around this organization respects and understands that Mike Tomlin is the reason the Steelers have not fallen off and gotten a top five or a natural top 10 pick um and now they’re here and certainly they’ve had bumps in the road Kenny pick it didn’t work out and they’re doing things there but I think the it’s another sign that the roonies the the the owning family of the Steelers and the organization itself they understand that Mike tommen is very much the captain that you want leading your ship and of course Mike hasn’t been afraid to make coaching changes I know there was that time when he shook things up at the offensive coordinator position you know bringing in guys and not afraid to pick up the guys by the bootstraps if they need to absolutely uh you know the Steelers let go of Matt Canada who basically the whole country was you know chanting on the Pat McAfee show for uh for the Steelers to let go last year but they brought in Arthur Smith uh who you know recently was let go from the Falcons for being a head coach and some people say well he didn’t use bejan Robinson that well or Drake Drake London that well or Kai pittz that well but the Steelers aren’t concerned what he did with as a head coach they look at what he’s done at an offensive coordinator and if you look at Derrick Henry’s two most productive years in the NFL they were when Arthur Smith was his offensive coordinator he designed an offense that was suitable for the Run game that worked with him that worked with uh Ryan tenah Hill and made the the Titans serious contenders because their offense was that good and I think that if this with the Steelers when you see what they have and maybe the best one-w running punch at at running back in NFL and nji Harris and Jaylen Warren they’ve invested a lot into their offensive line you see even without uh switching to an Arthur Smith offense yet in the last 10 games of the season when brck Jones their first round pick from last year became a starter at offensive tackle in those last 10 games of the season they had the second most rushing yards per game in the NFL only behind the Ravens in in that time span they were able to run the ball last year I think they’ll be able to run the ball a lot more efficiently this year especially with the reinvestments they’ve made getting Troy falanu at tackle adding to br Jones as well as Zack Frasier the offensive line will be better the offense will be constructed better and I think you’ll have better quarterback play with Russell Wilson or Justin Fields but most likely Russell Wilson over a Kenny pick at Mitch trabis Mason Rudolph medley I want to get to Russell Wilson in just a minute but I want to ask you what have you noticed in Arthur Smith’s offense that is noticeably different than what they ran before and Does It Better fit the Personnel that the Steelers have uh first it absolutely does better fit the Steelers Personnel I can tell Patricia when I was in the Steelers locker room last year and it was November and we were asking what’s the identity of the Steelers offense and they’d be like we don’t know like it’s honestly we’re getting by man we’re trying to make it happen there’s going to be there’s not only going to be there is an identity right now the Steelers offense is we’re going to be more physical than you we’re going to run it down your throats we’re goingon to throw it we’re gonna have you know we’re gonna outsmart you here and there but the the big bread and butter of this offense is going to be that it’s going to be physical it’s going to be athletic it’s going to run the ball and then call play action and and play off of that and they’re very excited to play that way it’s what Naji Harris has wanted it’s what Jaylen Warren’s wanted it’s what the offensive lines wanted um and I think it’s kind of what the what the defenses wanted too because a big part of the Steelers have had some really great defenses over the years but they’ve these are defenses that had to be on the field time and time again because those offenses were going three and out three and out three and out you know if you go excuse me if you go back and look at that point of the period I was talking about the first eight games of the Season uh where the first seven games of the season they were dead last in time of possession but when they started running the ball consistently they worked their way up to being like in the middle of the pack in the in the NFL and um that to me that is another sign of like they want to be a top time of possession team that runs the ball throws the ball efficiently and possesses the ball and that still leans on its defense to be the best part of the team but that gets the job done so I think that you’re going to see a team that that loves to run the football that loves to be physical and Mike Tom I think this this fits the bill of what he when he came into the league he adopted a team that didn’t have a dominant Run game but an okay offense and a great defense I think the Steelers defense has the potential to be great and I think the offense has the potential to be even better than okay maybe even as good as I’d say solid like middle of just like slightly above the middle of the pack in the NFL you know the Steelers brought in Russell Wilson uh to be their quarterback Russell Wilson you know had having his struggles out and Denver didn’t really work out why did why do you think the Steelers felt that Russell Wilson gives them the best chance of to win well I think they saw that he was willing to take a vet minimum contract for for being a nine-time pro and they said that works for us you know I think that was the main thing it was really like this literally can’t hurt um now the interesting thing was is when they signed Russell Wilson the Steelers legitimately believe that Kenny picket would stand back and respect Russell Wilson’s you know tenure ship in tenure in the NFL and be a willing backup again and Kenny pick obviously didn’t want to have to go through that again and and to be fair Kenny picket paid his dues like he he was a backup you know throughout his first training camp he earned the starting spot uh had several game-winning drives and there was always flashes of potential but never even a complete game to really look at for Kenny picket to say oh man if he puts it all together that’s what it could look like in the NFL and I think that’s what the Steelers wanted to do they wanted a complete reset on offense um and they also they didn’t have a Bonafide face or leader of the offense you know Naji Harris sometimes was that sometimes it was Kenny picket sometimes was Pat fman sometimes it was you know whoever was just the guy the hot guy that day this time around it will be Russell Wilson who will be like the guy like hey guys follow me we’ll get the job done and we’ll get it there and I think that’s something that they wanted too Kenny picket didn’t want any part of that so now he’s gone but that’s why they got Russell Wilson I think that Russell Wilson can can be a guy who’ll be smart he’ll not make it all about himself he will be part of a system he’ll play to the system he was non-expensive and he can help reset the culture that they want on on offense I talked to Ryan shayer one of the you know former linebackers for the team uh back when they were playing really well when he before he got injured and one thing we talked about was how from you go back to as far as like 2000 there has been an alpha a series of Alphas a series of leaders on the defensive side of the ball from the Steelers from Casey Hampton to James frier to trit paalo to James Harrison to Lawrence Timmons uh to briyan shayer to cam Hayward and then today with TJ Watton make it Fitzpatrick it’s been a constant stream of there’s somebody on this team that’s an elite player that play has the respect of everyone else on defense and for a while they had that on offense they had Ben rothberger they had mares pouncy they had David dcastro they Le they had Heath Miller they had all sorts of guys that were just respected but when the way that I talked about how like you know bell bell disappeared Brown disappeared even pouncy and dcastro both retired early before they were supposed because of injuries and then Ben rothes Berger’s career ended the ended the way it did there was no passing of the torch to any leadership that could develop for the Steelers and I think that’s something that Russell Wilson can help cultivate and the Steelers are going to lean on him for that but yet the Steelers also acquired Justin Fields what went into that process I think it’s clearly because Justin Fields they like they’ve always liked Justin Fields as a prospect but they know that he needs to clean some things up so here’s what’s going to happen he’s on the last year of his rookie deal that’s not going to cost the team a whole lot they didn’t they didn’t give him the fifth year extension so what they’re going to do is they’re going to say okay let’s see how he does uh Russell Wilson has been you know granted the quote-unquote pole position by Mike Tomlin to be the number one quarterback that’s absolutely means he’s probably going to be the starter unless he is terrible in training camp but gives Justin Fields a year and then this way at the end of this next season if Russell Wilson’s the guy and he wants to sign a team-friendly contract uh and you think that he can stick around for two three more years and you’ll be a Super Bowl Contender great go with that but if any one of those factors play in either a he’s not that good or B he is that good now he wants more money or C it’s just not working out as far as the chemistry or D Justin Fields is developing really well and you like what you’ve seen then you have another option you can say hey Justin here’s a one-year Pro it deal next year love to keep you around we found some success this year let’s build off it with you next year so I I think it’s just giving them another future option on the board because if they had just acquired Russell Wilson after Kenny picket left and didn’t add a Young quarterback there would be no hope for a future quarterback on this roster right now and I think that Justin Fields gives you that all right giant fans we are talking with Chris Carter host of locked on Steelers as we get you ready for the Giants 2024 season we’re taking a look at all of their opponents when we come back we’re going to talk some more about the offense we’re going to cover the defense and how these two teams potentially match up don’t go anywhere hey giant fans I love sports I love them so much that I never want them to stop but as the playoffs wind down we get fewer games and the sports aren’t sporting like I want them to be but FanDuel lets me keep the sports going whenever I want all I have to do is open up the app and dream up bets anytime I’m in the and this summer FanDuel is hooking up all customers with a boost or bonus daily that’s right there’s something for everyone every day all summer long so go on and head over to fanduel.com loock onay and start making the most out of your summer FanDuel official sports betting partner of Major League Baseball all right giant fans welcome back to the lock on Giants podcast I’m your host Patricia Trina with special guest Christopher Carter he is the host of locked on Steelers somebody we don’t get to see very often once every four years but it’s still a treat nonetheless and Chris let’s talk more about the offense of the Steelers you know um where are they strongest do you feel right now and where do you still feel a little queasy with regards to you know how they potentially match up with this Giants defense I I think that the players that they have that they’re most confident about I think they’re really excited about this offensive line it’s young in a lot of ways but it’s it has a lot of potential and a lot of athleticism I think brck Jones played very well last year I think Isaac sealo and James Daniels were a really good uh one-w punch at guard I think they’re hoping Zack Frasier the second round pick out of West Virginia can be a a just a better starting center what they had last year Mason Cole objectively was one of the worst centers in the NFL last year and if Troy falanu can morph into the left tackle that they’re hoping for um then he can become another piece of that puzzle but if not they still have three-year starter who will be a fourthe starter uh more Jor to at least be a role player on the offensive line I think that’s going to be a big strong suit of this team but I also think that they’re going to lean on the primary Playmakers in this offense and that’s of course Naji Harris at running back uh Jaylen Warren is his number two option both have been on the field multiple times last season and uh when either of them on the field they present a a present threat to the defense to have to respect either in the Run game or the pass game then there’s Pat fouth the number one tight end for the team I think he’s going to be more involved this year in play action and how they use him I think they’re use him in smarter ways and then of course there’s George Pickins who might have the highest potential of anyone on the offense when you look at George Pickins and the traits that he possessed the ability he has to go up and get the football to separate you know once once he has the football to make moves in space and to win there he has the potential to be a top 10 maybe even top five receiver someday uh but he has to keep his head on straight and that’s something that didn’t happen for a lot of times last year you know there were people that looked at him and said oh he didn’t block enough in the Colts game and he missed this block here he clearly gave up here and then after that he started he made sure he blocked everybody in in his path and so he’s taken steps forward but I think if if you’re leaning on anyone in this offense it’s the the Run game as a combination because what they were able to do towards the in the second half of last season was truly remarkable with how they were able to you know find a run game in the midst of an offensive line that again had a had a not good Center um Dan Moore was struggling La last year brck Jones was a rookie um and there was no pass game to really make opponents fear anything else like when they were running the ball often times they were running into the teeth that the defense because the defense knew that they were trying to run the ball but this year I think with Russell Wilson he’ll balance it out a little bit better and that group will be able to I think eat a lot better when they’re when they’re on the field I know it’s still early but have the Steelers identified who their wide receiver one wide receiver two and three are going to be or is that still kind of up in the air I’d say it’s still up in the air because I do think the Steelers are serious trade Partners uh for someone out there in the NFL in fact that’s something we’ve talked about a lot on lock on Steelers podcast all throughout this offseason period George Pickins looks like a potential number one but a definite number two like he’s a guy that if if if if they went and got say Brandon IU that’s the name that everyone’s throwing out all the time because of you know he’s on viral video Tik toks and everything like that uh complaining about the Niners but if the Steelers went and got a Brandon iuk I be auk would be one Pickins would be two that’s that but as things stand right now George Pickins is the number one wide receiver I think the number two right now it it would fluctuate between Calvin Austin who was a fourth round pick from the same years as George pickings um didn’t play his rookie year because he got injured last year I think he saw we saw glimpses of him he’s he’s a Speedster a smaller guy who can get open who can make people miss and when if he makes you miss and there’s not a person in front of him he can score very quickly uh the Steelers even saw that a bit last year with a couple plays that he made um but then there’s also guys that they’ve added like van Jeffers van Jefferson who you know has played in Arthur Smith’s offenses before they added Cordo Patterson I think what the Steelers are looking at is they’re going to see how things look in training camp they’re going to see who’s playing the best in practices and then if they feel like and there’s also Roman Wilson by the way the receiver out of Michigan they drafted in the third round who I think has a high potential but certainly has a learning curve to to to fight through right there but if they look at those three especially Wilson Austin and Pickins and they feel like there’s not a onew in there there’s more like a one in blank or a two and blank they’ll make a trade based off of that and I think that they might go get a guy like maybe like a courland Sutton someone that won’t cost them too much in D trade Capital like a Brandon iuk would um to bring them in for a short term and then figure out what happens after that but to answer your question right now as of as of today George Pickins is the team’s number one wide receiver they’re working on him to see that he actually plays like a number one receiver and acts like a number one wide receiver but everything else up to that up after that I think is still up way up in the air yeah I asked that because for the Giants right now their defense is secondary kind of a question mark you know they they’ve got Deontay Banks who’s quarterback one Cordell flat penlon as quarterback two uh um got to see more from that group and they of course they lost Xavier mckinn so potentially you know hey don’t be dissing my man Jason pinck like thaty still out there I he didn’t let me finish you know but it’s still a question mark that defensive secondary still a question mark um you know so obviously whenever you’ve got a rece a good receiver group going against that it’s like okay how are they gonna fa the good news is they got Jerome Henderson who was it was like the best kep secret I think in the NFL there defensive backs coach so all right speaking of Defense what’s going on with Cam Hayward ah cam Hayward I think cam hayward’s looking for one last deal he said he wants to be a stealer for life and there’s been questions on Twitter and oh my gosh and cam Hayward might leave cam Hayward is Mr Steeler like this is a guy born and raised in Pittsburgh I literally played literally baseball with with this guy like like he he is a pittsburgher for Life his dad played for the University of Pittsburgh he was drafted by the Steelers he’s been a captain on the Steelers for a very long time when Franco Harris the catch the the guy who caught the Immaculate Reception when he passed away just days before they were going to retire his jersey uh the other season um cam Hayward was the guy that led the team out of the tun tunnel carrying the flag that said number 32 for Franco Harris so like I don’t think they’re gonna let that guy slip away I think it’s about meeting somewhere in the middle I think cam Hayward he’s a $22 million cap hit this year he’s a 35 year old defensive tackle um last year he was hurt for pretty much the entire season he was able to play through it for the second half of the season but that’s a big question the Steelers have is can a 35y old defensive tackle get back to playing where he was because the two year each of the two years before that he had 10 plus sacks in in those years as an interior defensive lineman cam Hayward thinks he can get back to that the Steelers are like ah got gotta see it before you pay for it I think the Steelers are going to assess how things go in the in this season or not in this season in this training camp and if they feel like cam hayward’s healthy I think they will be a resolution found where they keep him uh here for uh for the remainder of his career uh or at least for another year or two added on to what he already has and then if he wants to keep playing then they revisit that later where’s the Steelers defense most vulnerable right now oh that’s a good question um I think at the second quarterback spot I think uh Joey Porter Jr is going to be a very good number one corner I think Dante Jackson has the potential to be a good number two corner but we need to see it in the Steelers defense but honestly this Steelers defense shored up a lot of the things that I thought would be weaknesses on this team through free agency and through the draft for example linebacker has been a weakness for the Steelers for years just off ball linebackers they’ve been dealing with middling players now they’ve got Patrick Queen one of the guys from the Ravens one of the better linebackers in the NFL they also drafted pton Wilson they have Landon Roberts who was very good for the team last year um last year they I think they had a good core of linebackers the problem is that you know three fours three fourths of them were injured by uh by midseason and so they were down to just a Landon Roberts but now you got Roberts Co hul if he comes back from an injury and and is fine you’d have a slew of four guys I think you’re very confident about at the linebacker position so you’re fine there defensive line cam hayward’s back Laren jobie solid Keanu beton really took a step up last year I’m hearing good things about the Marvin Leal so I think they’re solid there Edge rushers they got the best Ed rushing do in the NFL TJ wat Alex heith find somebody else uh that that gets more sacks and them oh wait you can’t so they’re fine there safety-wise adding tohaa Elliott I think is actually a big addition for the Steelers because they didn’t have a true strong safety last year and that forced Minka Fitzpatrick to play slot play strong safety play dime play dime Lineback are playing the box now with Patrick Queen and Desa Ellie and all these guys they’ve added they don’t have to do that anymore M Patrick can go back to playing the ranging free safety when I asked him about that he called that hey that’s Minka ball and that’s what we want to play and Terell Austin the defensive coordinator said yeah we tried to overcompensate for our weaknesses and that cost Minka last year and we’re going to put him in a position where he’s going to lead the NFL in interceptions again like he did two seasons ago when he had six so when I say all that what I Look to I I looked at Dante Jackson I don’t know what we’re gonna see with Dante Jackson I think that he he had some good years with the Panthers but then last year was really rough and just like was last year was really rough for Cameron Sutton who they also resigned um and I don’t think that there’s a ready number two guy who has who has proven on the roster guys that people hope to develop like Cory Trice and Darius Rush uh guys who are in their second years in the NFL um and were late round draft picks but they’re not solid things so if I’m a team and I’m looking to pick on something with the Steelers it’s the number two quarterback spot and of course one of the strengths I saw is you guys finally got yourself a nickel back um your Nickelback is uh C is it cam Sutton cam Sutton yes y that was a big question mark I think coming in but he’s kind of established himself in that regard now um when you look at the you know what based on what you know about the Giants offense I mean where do you see the Marquee matchup between these two teams offense versus the Steeler defense oh that’s a good question I I think that I think that Daniel Jones’s ability to to use his legs is always dangerous um I I think that that’s certainly something that’s there I I honestly I’m very curious about how the giants look with you know the Waller situation and how that how that’s played out um when it comes to defense versus offense I think that if Daniel Jones can use his his uh um his athleticism to kind of create plays there that could end up being a problem but the Steelers are also very good at defending that because they defend Lamar Jackson every year and Lamar Jackson has not beaten the Steelers as a starter since 2019 uh so uh and that was against a third string undrafted rookie quarterback uh who they still took to over took him to overtime with so if I’m looking on defense I’m not as concerned there I’m more so looking at the Giants defense and I’d be concerned about Brian Burns Dexter Lawrence the guys up front can they get after the quarterback can they make you know fibo can they can they can they make problems for Russell Wilson in the backfield can you know and if if you see the Giants able to get pressure and kind of ruin things that could I think slow things down there if you know guys like okar and Michel mcfaden if they can you know help stuff the run I think those are all serious things that could get in the Steelers way and slow up what they’re trying to do on off on offense so if I was pick anything I would say the potential for the front of the Giants to be disruptive and to stop the Steelers from playing the bully ball that they want to play with this with this younger offense all right we’re talking with C uh Christopher Carter of locked on Steelers as we break down the Steelers whom the Giants will face in that week three to week week eight murders row when we come back we’re going to find out a little bit about some of the Steelers newcomers and how they might factor into the equation so don’t go anywhere this episode is sponsored by better help do you ever find yourself comparing your life to those you see on social media comparison is the thief of joy and it’s so easy to Envy other people’s lives it might even look like they have it all together on their social media channels but in reality they probably don’t therapy 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for just $4.99 a month and right now for a limited time only you can get your first month at a 50% discount when you used a promo code blue crew at signup for more information or to register visit join sub tex.com loock onny Giants and be sure to enter that promo code blue crew at the top of the page to take advantage of our one month 50% discount on your first month all right everybody welcome back to the lockon Giants podcast I’m your host Patricia trainer with Christopher Carter he is the host of lockon Steelers and we’re breaking down the Pittsburgh Steelers and how they potentially match up against the Giants and Chris let’s talk about some of the newcomers to the Steelers not you know we talked about Russell Wilson obviously but I’m talking about draft picks maybe key free agents we haven’t discussed undrafted free agents who are some of the names that we should be watching for you know as they go through summer training camp well certainly Patrick queen as I said before is a big piece here for the linebacker group the Steelers have had I think last year you finally saw them have decent linebacker play before that it always been adequate to below average and that had been that in the best of Ste the best Steelers teams that have ever existed there’s always great linebacker play and they just haven’t had that since Ryan Shir was was you know paralyzed in 2017 and they’ve been trying they drafted Devon Bush he was promising for about a year and a half then he got injured and then never got back to where where he was headed to when uh before that injury um and since then they’ve tried guys like miles Jack Avery Williams and they just all these guys just haven’t worked out but last year they found something with an Landon Roberts I think Cole hul was playing well before he got injured injured um then they went and signed Patrick Queen which I think is a huge addition for them he’ll help against the pass he’ll help against the Run he’ll help as a leader um and then they also drafted pton Wilson who for my money was the best linebacker pure pure talent wise in this NFL draft class the only reason he was drafted as late as the as the third round was because of his injury history and that is something that they’ll be concerned about but if I’m looking at something there I’m looking at this linebacker group I’m seeing like hey the new additions there between Queen and Wilson can make a huge difference there at at linebacker DeShaun Elliott I think also is going to be huge simply because um like the strong safety role won’t be something that that uh make Fitzpatrick has to work about and similarly cam Sutton doing taking the slot roll which is something else that M Fitzpatrick had to do and took him away from his free safety duties and cam Sutton also knows this defense people forget cam Sutton was with the Steelers six years before he signed with the Detroit Lions then he had the domestic violence accusations we saw how that played out uh the the charges have been reduced to misdemeanors and now they’re but they’re most likely to be dropped or dismissed at the end of his pre-trial diversion program which is why the Steelers I think were like okay we saw that this didn’t result in a conviction or some sort of settlement so and they had a great track record for cam Sutton so they brought him back into the fold and so I think that you look at that what the Steelers have done is they have now added pieces all along their defense to say hey Minka you don’t have to be the guy that that lines up everywhere anymore you can play your position of free safety you could go chase down turnovers which again which is where he was at his strength and when Fitzpatrick is doing that it makes everyone else around him that much better and that’s what I think the Steelers want to get back to um and I think that’s going to be a strength of of their newcomers that everyone needs to kind of really pay attention to what do you think the X Factor is going to be in in particular for this Giant Steelers matchup I mean whether it be an advantage the Giants have or vice versa um I think an X Factor is going to be the guy that is best defensive player in the NFL and that is TJ Watt and if you can if you can slow down TJ watt you got a chance but if you allow that man to start to get going against against an offensive line uh and you got Evan Neil and Andrew Thomas there he’ll most likely line up against Evan Neil I I think that that if Evan Neil can neutralize TJ watt that does a lot of things for for your for your team you still have a lot of other facets of the Steelers defense to beat but you do that it stops TJ watt from Wrecking games and we’ve seen him wreck so many games I think he’s led the NFL in sacks four years now and is what seven years in the league and that’s I think that’s more times than anyone else has ever led the NFL in sacks in NFL history um and he’s still GNA be that guy I think that if uh if the Giants can neutralize him that changes a a big factor there and that’s kind of you know the Steelers Mo but I also want to say you know as far as another xfactor I think it could be about again who establishes whose defensive line beats up the opponent’s offensive line worse because if the Giants are able to tame the Steelers offensive line make them make things hard on them and keep them from from running that’s going to slow down the Steelers offense that’s going to slow down the pace that this whole team was built around but vice versa if the Steelers beat up the Giants offensive line you’re gonna have a quarterback in Daniel Jones running for his life you’re gonna have a run game that doesn’t have saquon Barkley to you know to kind of do amazing things anymore yes you have Deon single single ter but I I think it’s going to be about whose defensive front is nastier and meaner at the point of attack comparatively to the offensive line they’re facing that margin of victory at at the line of scrimmage I think that will determine the victor of this game yeah I gotta admit that EV that potential Evan Neil TJ watt matchup scares me Evan Neil has struggled he’s coming off with an ankle injury um The Hope is that new offensive line coach Carmen Brillo can get him fixed but you know we’ve got to see it because if they can’t get him right then you know they’ll go with Germaine alumor who should be able to handle him but you know TJ watt is a hand if I’m not mistaken didn’t he tie Michael str’s single sack record a couple couple years back when he won defensive play of the Year 22 and a half sacks and there were some that said that he got robbed about of another whole sack in that process but yeah that was him that’s what he did there so uh I do think it’s going to be really interesting to see how how that plays out uh this year to see you know how he how he does it does he lead the NFL in Sachs again uh you know but I think that’s oftentimes the Steelers go as TJ watt goes in the one year where uh where he missed half the season that’s the only year in the last four seasons uh that the Steelers have missed the playoffs it’s interesting usually you would think it would be an offensive player but defensive player shows you how much that they rely on him Chris great stuff I appreciate you coming on breaking down everything Steelers we will see you when we do the crossover later in the year he is Christopher Carter host of lock on Steelers please everybody check out his show as well as all the shows we have we have college major league baseball hockey basketball you name it we’ve got it and the hosts do such a great job so give them a little love if you have time and uh speaking of which thank you for spending some time with us here on lock on Giants for Christopher Carter I’m Patricia train and giant fans we’ll see you again tomorrow [Music]

The New York Giants will face the AFC North teams this year, and one team that has given them problems is the Pittsburgh Steelers. On today’s Locked On Giants podcast, Chris Carter of Locked On Steelers offers a look at what’s new with the Steelers and how the two teams could match up.

Can New York Giants Snap Losing Streak Against Pittsburgh Steelers?
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