Pushing the Pile: A CBS Sports NFL Podcast with Kyle Long & Mike Renner

I’m not sure why the ratings are so low for this show. This is my favorite football podcast easily. Question for Kyle: If you could have a podcast with 3 other O linemen talking about your time in the game, who would they be? I would want to hear from Joe Thomas and Orlando Pace.

Was a loyal listener of the PicK Six Podcast for years. When It went radio silent, then was rebranded and showed up with new hosts I tried to this podcast the benefit of the doubt with an open mind. Unfortunately, this podcast is nowhere near as enjoyable as the pick six podcast. It’s way to dry and after half of the season of giving them a chance, I have to give up on it. It’s just not enjoyable. Perhaps my biggest frustration is not with the Pushing the Pile Podcast, but with CBS. Firstly this feels like bait and switch and fake marketing. CBS tried to take the ratings, reviews, and reputations of the old podcast and funnel it directly into this podcast. It’s complete B.S. Who knows what happened to Branson, Breech, and the others, but not addressing that something happened with your loyal listeners is kinda crappy. HEY CBS, All you had to do was say you were going in a different direction with the pod, but instead you pulled the old nothing-to-see-here switcheroo. Disappointing at best. THIS IS NOT A NEW VERSION OF PICK SIX PODCAST. ITS A NEW PODCAST, UNDER A NEW NAME, WITH NEW HOSTS. MAKE A NEW PODCAST FOR IT. I’ve been personally struggling to find a replacement for the Pick Six podcast, so for those of you in the same position, the Football podcasts I still enjoy are Chris Simms Unbuttoned and the PFT family of Podcasts with Mike Florio. So far, NBC has been better to its listeners then CBS.

My question is about TJ and JJ Watt. I know that at his peak, JJ is probably a top 2-3 dlineman of all time, but how close are we to acknowledging that TJ might end up with the better overall career. Tj has a dpoy, has won the sack title in 3 separate seasons, and tied Strahans record in less than 16 full games played. Since Big Bens elbow exploded in 2019, we only win when TJ literally gifts our offense the ball in enemy territory. TJ leads the league in forced fumbles by a mile since coming into the NFL and is only 24 away from the all time record which isn’t that far fetched when he gets 5-7 a season. Obviously JJ has 3 dpoy, but I would argue that TJ should have at least one more (he has finished in 2nd twice and 3rd another time), but I think JJ winning 3 has actually hurt him bc of voter fatigue. What do you guys say? When we look back who will the better Watt be?

I would love to leave a good review of Pushing the Pile, as I’ve been a devoted fan of CBS Sports for years, podcasts and all. (I think they’re clearly better than ESPN.) However, this podcast just is sorely lacking when compared to something like the CBS Cover-3 college football one. It’s not easy to put my finger on it, but perhaps not enough humor, or too much of a monotone sound. It’s literally like watching paint dry the hosts systematically talking through each game in a mundane manner. I think they’re both knowledgeable, and some of the technical aspects of the game that Long knows by playing it are interesting. However, the Pete Prisco visit on Tuesday is the best thing they do all week. That is because, whether you agree with his opinion or not, he relays emotion and incurs passionate responses. I don’t hear that much in the hosts, especially Mike. Perhaps a third host would help. Either way, in my opinion, CBS can and ought to do better for something as great as the NFL.