Mike DeCourcy Joins to Break Down the Latest in Sports

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00:00Mike Dicorsi, the esteemed columnist at the Sporting News.

00:08And of course, you see him on Fox Sports and Big Ten Network with College Rack.

00:12I saw him on Sunday at the place the Steelers play, and I have to tell you, it was disturbing.

00:19I was, you know, I mean, just minding my own business.

00:23And then I look over and went, is that Mike Dicorsi?

00:28And he had a snake of about 15 beers in his hand, and he was cheering.

00:33He had on a Steeler hat, he had a terrible towel, porous behavior.

00:38I was trying to maintain a professional decor and decorum the entire time I was there.

00:44But wait a minute, maybe it was me with 15 drinks stacked and a hat on and a terrible

00:50towel.

00:51I don't remember much from Sunday, although I do remember the final score, Mike, 18-16

00:56Steelers.

00:57That's what, 9-1 in the last 10 against the Ravens, or is it 8-9?

01:03I mean, I can't keep track of all the ass whoopings that they've given the overrated

01:07Baltimore Ravens.

01:08I believe it's 8-9, but you're doing a pretty good job of keeping track.

01:13You're in the ballpark.

01:15They did an amazing job on Lamar Jackson, and it's not anything new for them.

01:21And one of the compelling things to me about the Steelers' success against Lamar Jackson,

01:28it's a fairly small sample size.

01:30It's only, they've won four games out of five against him.

01:34So it's a fairly small sample size, but it is four out of five, and that's 80% success

01:40rate when no one else in the league, save for Kansas City, which has done the same four

01:44out of five, and Oakland, which has done two out of three.

01:47No one else has a winning record against him.

01:50And it's amazing to me that no one else seems to be able to copy what the Steelers have done.

01:57Because it's not just the Steelers have gone out and put up 40 and Lamar scored 38.

02:02It's not like that.

02:03The Steelers have not scored in those games by and large.

02:08Like you said, Sunday was only 18 points.

02:11The Steelers put up six field goals, and it was still a winning score.

02:15Last year, the winning score at Akershore was 17 points, and the Ravens only got 10.

02:21And it's not just that they are more familiar with Lamar Jackson than the rest of the world.

02:25They are, but that's not the whole ingredient because Cincinnati has played him a dozen

02:31times, Scott, and they've only won twice.

02:35So it's not just that they see him more often.

02:38Cleveland has done a good job on occasion with teams that haven't been great.

02:41They think they're around three and six or something like that.

02:45But it's a Steeler formula that's been successful, and no one else seems to be able to replicate

02:51it because he gets in against everybody else, and he's passing for 300-plus and rushing

02:55for close to 100.

02:57So you were doing your column, and did you go to the press box to cover the game, or

03:03did you go as a fan?

03:05No, I went with a friend.

03:08I sat in one of the 500 sections on the 48-yard line and enjoyed the day.

03:14The weather was spectacular.

03:15It's what NFL football should be, that tremendous autumn weather.

03:21And I was really impressed by what the Steelers were able to do in that circumstance.

03:26Even though they allowed the Ravens to come back and nearly tie them, they did a phenomenal

03:32job as well, very strategically calling the timeout just as Baltimore was getting ready

03:37to snap the ball.

03:39I will say, Scott, that I have advocated for years for no defensive team being allowed

03:46to call a timeout within the final five seconds of a play clock.

03:50I've always advocated for that because I think it's kind of nonsense that the guy goes through

03:54the kicking motion because it's called when the ball is snapped.

03:59But if you're not going to change the rule, the Steelers did a great job of taking advantage

04:03of that because the Ravens turned the page from their original play call to their secondary

04:08play call, and the Steelers defended that mercilessly is the best way to put it.

04:14Because Nate Herbig went in and blew up two blockers, and then you had Cam Hayward surging

04:20into the backfield and Joey Porter coming up to make the tackle.

04:24What's your thought on the scene in Pittsburgh with sports?

04:29I went to PPG Saturday night, and the Penguins won a shootout.

04:32They're awful, but they won the game against the Sharks.

04:34They blew a lead.

04:35But the one thing I noticed was they're still selling out every game at PPG, and the team's

04:40not even worth, really, they're not worth watching.

04:43They're a bad team like they were in the 80s.

04:46But the fans go to every game.

04:48It's a scene down there, and the Steelers' atmosphere around that stadium, those tailgates,

04:55and the throng of people walking into that stadium is like nothing I've ever seen.

05:00It is an unbelievable fan experience and fan base in Pittsburgh.

05:04Would you agree with all that?

05:06I do.

05:07I think that you throw in the Pirates, too, for as bad as they've been over the last three

05:10decades and still to get decent crowds at PNC Park.

05:14It's a great place to watch a game for anybody who's ever been there.

05:17It's the perfect place for visiting fans to come for a great weekend, to see their team

05:22in the best ballpark in the Majors, and enjoy the downtown Pittsburgh life.

05:28And I think that's contributed to the attendance, but a lot.

05:31It's mostly Pirates fans, and they still do it.

05:34One thing I came away from over the last 10 days or so, Scott, regards to the Penguins

05:40situation is this idea that they missed their opportunity to tear it down and build it back

05:44up.

05:45That's all nonsense.

05:46And all you have to do, you don't have to look any further than the top of the division

05:50in the Capitals.

05:51The Capitals still have all their old guys, Carlson, they still have Ovi, they've got

05:57Tom Wilson, they've even got players that are older that are on injured reserve and

06:03not contributing.

06:05They didn't get younger in Washington.

06:08They just didn't bring in a lot of bad players.

06:11It's really that simple.

06:12You don't have to strip it to the bolts in order to continue rebuilding on the fly.

06:17The Penguins just did a horrible job of it.

06:20And it's not just the previous general manager, it's the one who's currently in place, who

06:24signed Carlson, who extended a failing goaltender.

06:29They've made a lot of mistakes, and it's not about the fact that they're paying Sidney

06:34Crosby and Evgeny Malkin below market rates to stay.

06:38It's about what they've done around those guys.

06:40And what they've done around those guys, Scott, is fail.

06:44They have no talent at all, none whatsoever.

06:47They have Carlson, Malkin, Crosby, and Letang, and Letang wasn't playing on Saturday.

06:55And I was watching, and I sat there, and I said to the people around me, I said, they

07:00literally have no one.

07:01I mean, they have no one with any talent whatsoever on the team.

07:04I mean, I guess I'll give you Rust, and Connor looks like he has potential to be a player,

07:11but he hasn't been around long enough to get that credit from me.

07:14I just think they look terrible.

07:17They blew a lead, as I mentioned, and they somehow found a way to win, but they don't

07:21win that often.

07:22They're an easy pushover.

07:23In fact, Friday night, I said they would lose by three goals in Columbus.

07:27Sure enough, they lost by four.

07:29I mean, they're just not a good team.

07:31Yeah, that's what I'm talking about.

07:33I mean, bringing Carlson, paying him $11.5 million, and then seeing the efforts he puts

07:38out there.

07:39Is he skilled?

07:40We know he's skilled.

07:41You don't score as many points in the NHL as he has without being super skilled.

07:47But he's a turnstile on defense, and you saw that in multiple games this season where he

07:54just did not put in the appropriate effort defensively, and every now and then he'll

07:59contribute offensively, but he's not contributing at the rate he once did, and so you don't

08:04make up for the goals that you're giving up if you're contributing offensively at a much

08:11lower rate than you used to.

08:13They've made a series of terrible decisions, and the decision to keep LaTang, Malkin, and

08:19Crosby was not one of the terrible decisions.

08:22It was everything they did around it.

08:24My wife would say it started with letting Marc-Andre Fleury go.

08:27She loves Marc-Andre, but I think it's really escalated probably since 2020 or 2021.

08:36Once Rutherford left the GM job, that's been an absolute mess.

08:40I saw Mario at the airport, and I talked to him for like 10 minutes.

08:45I hadn't seen him in 20 years.

08:47I bumped into him at the baggage claim area where he was getting mobbed by people for

08:52pictures, but I've known him since he was drafted, and I was always friends with him

08:58when I covered the Penguins on a daily basis.

09:02It was fun to see him.

09:03He was with his wife, and we were both a lot older and fatter, and it made my day to see

09:10him, I got to tell you.

09:12He went home telling stories about how he saw Scott Farrell, and he was being mobbed

09:18by people.

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