On his weekly Chipped Ham & Football podcast, presented by FanDuel, Post-Gazette Steelers insider Brian Batko welcomes Ray Fittipaldo to look ahead at the rest of the season and into next year.

Are the Steelers finding potential puzzle pieces for next season in guys on one-year deals like Kenneth Gainwell and Asante Samuel Jr.? Is Dylan Cook carving out a real, meaningful role for himself in Broderick Jones' absence? Will Andrus Peat and James Pierre still have their jobs when they return from injury? And how does all this affect Omar Khan's draft strategy? Would he have drafted Kaleb Johnson if he had known Gainwell would be this effective?

Brian and Ray then move on to talk about Sunday's matchup with the Detroit Lions. How will the edge rusher depth be tested, with T.J. Watt and Nick Herbig's availability in question? How will they be able to stop names like Jared Goff, Jahmyr Gibbs, David Montgomery and Amon-Ra St. Brown? Will Derrick Harmon help in that capacity? And how might Mike Tomlin handle a potentially meaningless Week 17 game vs. Cleveland with the really important matchup vs. Baltimore on the horizon? Our duo tackles those topics and more.

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