Best of The Ben Maller Show

Best-of Ben Maller rolls in on a winter night with an island game vibe. Steelers handled the Dolphins on Monday, pulled away by the third, and kept their grip on the AFC North while Miami froze up in the cold.

What really stood out about Tua and Miami in that one?

Cold weather short-circuits him; under forty degrees he’s a different quarterback, and this fit the pattern. Pittsburgh’s defense looked like a throwback highlight reel, Miami’s tackling disappeared, and that’s more than scheme—it’s an underlying issue you can’t fix with a new coach or sage.

We came out of halftime flat, the third quarter flipped the momentum, and we missed chances while they made theirs.

That presser was all filler and ums—marble-mouth stuff from the face of the franchise. He’s not giving answers, he’s buying time, and unless Miami’s okay with that, he’ll be back to coordinating somewhere else.

After that win, are you back on the Steelers with Aaron Rodgers?

Pump the brakes. They looked shiny for a night, but that’s a heater, not a heat wave, and January asks different questions; bring in Mr. Freeze for playoff magic or you’ll find Rodgers chatting on a podcast instead of prepping for the Super Bowl.

Dak said he’s surprised, hurt, pissed, and frustrated by where Dallas is. How can that be?

It isn’t; it’s theater. Vegas had them around eight and a half wins and they’re tracking that, while Dak stays polished and platitude-ready, piling stats but shrinking when the room heats up—his two playoff wins came against a fading Brady and a bland Seattle game.

Why are the Colts sticking with Philip Rivers?

Because the other options are raw or unreliable. Rivers is the high-mileage Buick who starts every morning and keeps them in the lane until they’re mathematically done.

Does Pete Carroll deserve to be back with the Raiders?

No shot—Philly was a white-flag game and this season is fifty shades of puke. Tom Brady’s shadow moves have backfired, and a two-for-one sendoff with Geno makes more sense than pretending this is a rebuild fit for a coach in his mid-seventies.

The Bills’ path is wide open this year with the usual heavyweights out; they need to cash it in now.

Who’s scarier in January, Steelers or Ravens?

I’d rather face Baltimore; their defense isn’t special and Lamar’s playoff tape isn’t either, while Pittsburgh’s got some punch at the moment.

Cavs got booed after a flat loss—stumble or something deeper?

That’s regular-season fog after a big year, not a crisis.

Then it’s Maller’s Mountain of Money chaos. Jed who fled and Mike jump in, the categories are quirky, and the wheels wobble before we even hit the timer.

Rapid-fire clues fly: Jed tears through the drug-problem list, while Mike stalls on Vegas arrests and the unretired crew—he gets Philip Rivers but fumbles names like the obvious stars.

It’s messy, it’s late-night, and it’s exactly the kind of beautiful train wreck we live for.