The Pittsburgh Steelers lost for the second week in a row at home to a two-win team. Last night it was the New England Patriots, 21-18. Jim Wexell writes for 247sports.com and has been a Steelers beat writer since 1995. And he joins us right now. Jim, before we get into the football stuff, I got to ask you, Styx sang the national anthem last night at Acrisure Stadium.
Did that just totally set your little classic rock heart on fire?
Jim Wexell: Oh, Jeremy, I'm so sorry. Guys asked me about Styx last night. I've never liked Styx.
Scott: No, that's a fair response. But I know you're a rock 'n' roll guy and a classic rock guy. That's why I asked you about it.
Wexell: Yeah. I mean, I love classic, but it doesn't mean I love all of it. Or the stuff that's replayed or the high pitched stuff. Not Styx. You know, when when they started playing "Renegade," I was the one guy who opposed it. And I was just incredulous that it caught on. But so here we are.
Scott: You wouldn't know this unless you were in the stadium. So I'm not trying to alienate any listeners here, but for those who weren't at the game or haven't been to a game yet this year, the Steelers do "Renegade" whenever there is a big defensive possession coming up at the top of the fourth quarter. And then one of the most recent things that they've been doing, Jim, and I don't know if you've noticed this, but when the offense gets the ball after the "Renegade" defensive possession, they play "Don't Stop Believin'" by Journey. Have you noticed that?
Wexell: I did notice that last night, and the crowd loves it. Please don't ask me about Journey. I've gotten in trouble with girlfriends over Journey, so yeah, let's not go there.
Scott: Yeah, we won't go there. But do you see that catching on?
Wexell: I do. Yeah, sure. I mean, everybody loves Journey and Styx except me. And that's a "[Sweet] Caroline"-type singalong. I can see it catching on. Yeah, absolutely.
Scott: All right, let's get into the football stuff. It would be low hanging fruit for us to sit here and rail on the team and talk about firing this person or moving the team to Des Moines, IA, or whatever. But I actually want to ask you about any positives that you took away from last night.
Wexell: I think the positive is just the pain it's brought. The obstacle is the path. You know that Greek stoic philosophy that when when something real bad happens, it means major changes are about to happen. So, I mean, that's about it. That was my column today, that this will signify major changes because, look, this team is still 7-6. Sure doesn't look like a 7-6 team. So if they were to wait until the end of the season and say, you know, 'the one loss record isn't that bad,' then maybe the major changes that are needed wouldn't take place. These two games, you can see it happening once, especially with Arizona using their quarterback. They're 2-2 with their starting quarterback. They were 2-10. They're 3-10 now. But they've been without their starting quarterback and we know how important that position is. But when you can't get back up off the deck and play a team whose top skill players are washed up, that's [wide receiver] Juju Smith-Schuster and [running back] Ezekiel Elliott, you know that's all they had to deal with and they couldn't deal with it. So you have problems and major changes are necessary, the least of which is offensive coordinator. And you know, we're all starting to bark about head coach, too.
Scott: Right? Yeah. And that's what I want to know. That's what I want to hear from you. You're talking about big changes that could be coming. What kinds of changes are you predicting?
Wexell: I'm one of the last guys on this, but there are still guys out there who think it's preposterous that Mike Tomlin's on the hot seat. He's never had a losing season and he's going to go into the Hall of Fame and he has a Super Bowl ring and he is very energetic still. I believe he still provides good messaging. I believe the players love him, but the results are not there. And he has to be on the hot seat at least. There has to be talk. There has to be ownership telling him, 'you need a real offensive coordinator, as well as we like guys like Eddie Faulkner. I want you to bring in somebody, a real boss, a really expensive offensive coordinator, and I'll pay for it.' That's what [Art] Rooney has to do. That's his part of this. Now you're going to have to pay to get a top guy to take over that offense and totally revamp it because there's some talent there.
And also some of that talent needs to be shipped, too. Look at some of the major changes, too. Guys like Diontae Johnson. I'm not sure I want him around anymore. I don't know if he has a problem or if that's just him as a sulker, a moody guy. But he seems to be a problem now. And I don't know that I get rid of [George] Pickens, but he's not showing much more. So those are some major problems, and I believe that. That with 10 days to stew. They will begin processing some of this and what they want to change, because even if this team does somehow make the playoffs, we can see they're just not very good.
Scott One of the oft-discussed storylines of the offseason was the fact that there are two years left on Mike Tomlin's contract. I mean, that was heading into this year. So as of next year, he'll be on the last year of his deal. Do you think that these last two games have pretty much set in stone that he will not get that extension that so many people were expecting him to get?
Wexell I don't know that it would be that big of a deal to him. I think he's still a valued commodity around the league. So, he probably understands. He probably understands better now why that can't or shouldn't happen or probably won't happen. But as you know, Art Rooney could always re-sign him at the end of the year, or not. So, you know, give him a year, prove it contract. And you know, I don't see Mike holding them ransom. I don't know that he needs all that much more money. I do believe he loves Pittsburgh and probably loves the way the Rooneys allow him power. So I don't know that he'd want to leave if he did come back next year and have a great year in the final year of a contract.
Scott And looking ahead, they've got the Indianapolis Colts next week. Do you think that there's any chance whatsoever that quarterback Kenny Pickett can come back a little earlier than expected?
Wexell No, I've heard minimum recovery on that type of surgery is 20 days. So it's going to be three to five weeks. And it sounds like they want to get them back for that finale and then potentially the playoffs. But, you know, it looks like it's [Mitch] Trubisky. And the fans are even chanting for Mason Rudolph, if you can believe that. So, yeah. I think it's Mitch next time.
Scott All right. So they have, like you said, 10 days to stew in their own juices over this whole thing. And then they come back next Saturday against the Indianapolis Colts to try and wash some of that stank off. What sorts of changes could be implemented between now and then? We've talked about long term changes, but just where do they go from here in terms of the next eight days now?
Wexell Well, the one change I've been promulgating is Nick Herbig to inside linebacker. I think he would have done a great job last night, and give him a couple, three weeks of training once the injury started. But now they it's obvious they want Nick as the number three outside linebacker which is a pretty valuable spot. But you know, Chad Brown made that change as a rookie and became a great inside linebacker and moved back to outside linebacker, was a great outside linebacker, became a rich man because of it. I think Herbig is the same guy, Nick Herbig, and he would have done a much better job on Hunter Henry and Ezekiel Elliott last night than Mykal Walker did. Any other changes? You know, Nate Herbig had a good game last week. He was one of the highest rated players by Pro Football Focus in the NFL. And so that got me wondering about replacing Mason Cole. So that has been on my mind for a while at center. Any other changes? I can't see any, really. I mean, I'd like to see Jaylen Warren get the ball more than Najee Harris, but that seems to be, as Bill Cowher used to say, a "mute" point.
