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We’re onto Cincinnati · The Irish Steelers Podcast

0:00
Speaker 1: As an official airline partner of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Aer
0:03
Speaker 1: Lingus is flying Steelers Nation even closer to the action.
0:06
Speaker 1: The Irish airline Aer Lingus has launched a brand new
0:09
Speaker 1: non-stop route between Dublin and Pittsburgh. So whether you're heading
0:13
Speaker 1: to Steel City for game day or crossing the Atlantic
0:15
Speaker 1: for that Irish adventure you've always dreamed about, flying there
0:18
Speaker 1: has never been easier. Book now at aerlingus.com. Here we
0:22
Speaker 1: go Steelers!
0:30
Speaker 2: Hello everybody, welcome into the Irish Students Podcast presented by
0:33
Speaker 2: Aer Lingus. We are back for week three of the
0:35
Speaker 2: NFL season for the Pittsburgh Steelers looking ahead to the
0:38
Speaker 2: big game this weekend at Oxford Stadium against the Cincinnati Bengals,
0:41
Speaker 2: a game which is on Sky Sports and The Zone.
0:45
Speaker 2: And if you're out and about anywhere on the island
0:47
Speaker 2: of Ireland, you can listen to the game audio coverage
0:51
Speaker 2: on the OTB Sports app or get yourself down to
0:55
Speaker 2: the Steelers station at Kennedy's to watch it for free
0:58
Speaker 2: and we'll be there in a few weeks as well
1:00
Speaker 2: for the watch party. Tickets are available in the link
1:02
Speaker 2: in the bio. Mark McGrath, they welcomed you back for
1:06
Speaker 2: another week, my friend. You, you, you made the cut.
1:08
Speaker 3: You made the cut. Surprisingly enough, uh, and invited back
1:12
Speaker 3: for another week. So we'll, we'll see how it goes.
1:16
Speaker 2: Don't be saying surprisingly enough, man. Come on. I, I
1:18
Speaker 2: really enjoyed last week and it was really cool to see.
1:22
Speaker 2: And thanks to so many people that sent the text
1:24
Speaker 2: through just sort of saying Mark was great or good
1:26
Speaker 2: to have a different voice on. Um, Obviously appreciate anybody
1:30
Speaker 2: that's come on over the last few years, of course.
1:33
Speaker 2: Good to have you on last week, Mark, and obviously
1:35
Speaker 2: appreciate you jumping on and talking some Steelers football. Before
1:38
Speaker 2: we talk about the Steelers ahead in terms of week three,
1:40
Speaker 2: but also, Mark, in terms of week two as well,
1:45
Speaker 2: probably one of the things that we have in a
1:48
Speaker 2: good way for us at the minute is there's not
1:50
Speaker 2: a lot of Steelers games which are outside the early window.
1:53
Speaker 2: There's a few primetime.
1:53
Speaker 3: Games for us. Six o'clock games. Please, please, please. The.
1:58
Speaker 2: The Paris game is earlier in the day as well.
2:00
Speaker 2: I think it's like half two Irish time. Might be
2:03
Speaker 2: half one. I'll re-check that and put it in the
2:05
Speaker 2: bio for people. What I'm trying to say is, Mark,
2:09
Speaker 2: two-part question here. As just a general NFL scope, it's
2:13
Speaker 2: nice having this early situation for the Steelers watching it.
2:17
Speaker 2: And on the flip side, as an NFL fan generally,
2:19
Speaker 2: how are you finding? Have you any advice for all
2:22
Speaker 2: the late nights? Because I've done the entire weekend.
2:26
Speaker 3: And I am....
2:29
Speaker 2: I've been better Mark is what I'm trying to.
2:31
Speaker 3: Say I gotta be honest that the only super late
2:34
Speaker 3: night ones I'm watching is if the guys are playing
2:37
Speaker 3: the late night game I'll do the 6 o'clock half
2:40
Speaker 3: 9 and then I'm all catching up on the zone
2:42
Speaker 3: during the week so I can't even say I'm doing
2:46
Speaker 3: the die hard hours till 3, 4, 5 in the morning.
2:50
Speaker 2: If it's a Steelers game you're up late is what
2:51
Speaker 2: you're saying then basically.
2:53
Speaker 3: Try to be, try to be although sometimes it can
2:55
Speaker 3: be tough once you break that 3 o'clock barrier.
2:59
Speaker 2: Coffee, coffee, coffee is the.
3:01
Speaker 3: Coffee for the win.
3:02
Speaker 2: No, but you're right. There is something about that three
3:04
Speaker 2: o'clock barrier. It's like the second half, third quarter where
3:08
Speaker 2: it starts to hit you a wee bit and you're like, oh, so.
3:10
Speaker 3: It's... The halftime comes in and you have that little
3:14
Speaker 3: window where there isn't the football happening and it's just
3:17
Speaker 3: the right time.
3:20
Speaker 2: And you're drinking coffee as we speak, so that's definitely
3:24
Speaker 2: a good sign.
3:25
Speaker 3: I have a question for you off, off last week.
3:27
Speaker 3: Obviously we finished chatting about, um, recipes and bits and pieces.
3:31
Speaker 3: We actually, I see had someone contact me with some
3:33
Speaker 3: like a little food advice. I'm wondering, did you get
3:35
Speaker 3: anything or what did you have for, for dinner on
3:38
Speaker 3: the Sunday? Alignment by trade. It's always food first.
3:43
Speaker 2: It's, uh, it's a weird one. Like the week for
3:45
Speaker 2: me is very busy. And then I usually eat out
3:49
Speaker 2: at like the weekend, but on a Sunday I make
3:51
Speaker 2: sure that we have like, uh, I'm going to sound
3:54
Speaker 2: really cultured here, Mark, for anybody listening. I have a
3:56
Speaker 2: roast dinner at 5 o'clock on an NFL Sunday just
4:01
Speaker 2: to have something ready to go because I'll be sitting
4:05
Speaker 2: on a laptop from 5 p.m. to maybe 5 a.m.,
4:09
Speaker 2: so it's busy. But especially when you're doing something like
4:13
Speaker 2: this here and you have to watch every play. Obviously,
4:15
Speaker 2: you want to watch every play, but you have to
4:16
Speaker 2: watch every play. You're in and you're looking at every
4:19
Speaker 2: play like a hawk. almost from like an NFL pro
4:23
Speaker 2: sort of viewpoint. You have to be well-fueled. Electrolytes for
4:27
Speaker 2: me are the snack of choice right now. If you
4:32
Speaker 2: ask me next week, I'll have a better answer for you.
4:34
Speaker 2: But here, before we talk about week three, we have
4:39
Speaker 2: to talk about week two.
4:41
Speaker 3: Yeah.
4:42
Speaker 2: You are 0-1 so far, Mark, on this podcast, my friend.
4:47
Speaker 3: Yeah, what I had predicted did not come to pass.
4:53
Speaker 3: That blue-collar, ground-and-pound, beat-em-up Steelers team I was hoping to
4:58
Speaker 3: see and unfortunately didn't quite show. We're one-on-one. I wouldn't
5:05
Speaker 3: say it's panic stations or anything yet. There's still some
5:08
Speaker 3: good things to take out of that and some very
5:09
Speaker 3: fixable problems that they kind of work on, which obviously
5:13
Speaker 3: we can chat about later when we build into the
5:15
Speaker 3: Cincinnati prep.
5:17
Speaker 2: I think you've hit the nail on the head we're
5:19
Speaker 2: we're coming into week three here and we're not going
5:23
Speaker 2: to talk about these teams but certainly for any nfl
5:25
Speaker 2: fan or steelers fan listening to this there are so
5:28
Speaker 2: many teams mark in the league at the moment that
5:30
Speaker 2: are you know oh and two one and one or
5:34
Speaker 2: two and oh and i would argue that there's teams
5:36
Speaker 2: that are two and oh in the league right now
5:38
Speaker 2: that have all these different things to fix this is
5:40
Speaker 2: not uh get things right week zero, week one, and
5:44
Speaker 2: then just play for 18 to 22 weeks and win
5:46
Speaker 2: the Super Bowl. The best teams will find ways of,
5:49
Speaker 2: you know, they're going to be down sometimes, they're going
5:51
Speaker 2: to be up sometimes. I guess the biggest thing is,
5:54
Speaker 2: and we heard actually former head coach, Coach Tomlin, talk
5:57
Speaker 2: about trying to improve on Sunday night, like a few
6:00
Speaker 2: days ago. Just really the best teams will look at
6:04
Speaker 2: what went wrong, how do we fix it, and how
6:06
Speaker 2: do we fix it quickly? And, you know, Probably the
6:11
Speaker 2: biggest thing for me is.
6:12
Speaker 3: What went wrong? How do you fix it? I suppose
6:15
Speaker 3: it's how much... Obviously, the defense was still on point.
6:20
Speaker 3: They still produced... They let in 13 points against the
6:26
Speaker 3: Patriots Super Bowl team that are there. Two turnovers, 13 points.
6:32
Speaker 3: If your defense is going to give you that every week,
6:34
Speaker 3: you're kind of hoping you're coming away with a W. So...
6:38
Speaker 3: They're still performing at the high level. They're not going
6:40
Speaker 3: to be able to perform that way every week because
6:42
Speaker 3: no defense or offense can perform here every week. I
6:46
Speaker 3: suppose what we're hoping to see, as I spoke last
6:49
Speaker 3: week about offensive taking a bit more time to gel,
6:52
Speaker 3: what I was hoping to see was a bit more
6:54
Speaker 3: of that ground game maybe taking some pressure off Rodgers.
6:59
Speaker 3: I don't think we want to be seeing him throw
7:01
Speaker 3: in 40, 45 times a game. I want to see
7:04
Speaker 3: Warren And that offensive line, the guys they've drafted in,
7:07
Speaker 3: I want to see them running over some people so
7:11
Speaker 3: that the play-action passes can start taking effect. Those guys
7:14
Speaker 3: are just sitting waiting off the back of those play-action
7:17
Speaker 3: things because they're not respecting the run at the minute.
7:20
Speaker 3: So I think the big easy fix, and easy is
7:24
Speaker 3: the wrong word, but I would imagine that the offensive
7:26
Speaker 3: line are going to be in there doing... A lot
7:29
Speaker 3: of notes on the film stuff. I would say come
7:31
Speaker 3: Wednesday's practice, I'd be very surprised if they're not in
7:34
Speaker 3: pads and hitting on Wednesday to make sure they're ready
7:38
Speaker 3: to come out firing into this next game.
7:42
Speaker 2: I think probably one of the biggest aspects for me,
7:46
Speaker 2: and we aren't going to gel too much and focus
7:48
Speaker 2: too much on the game that was in regards to
7:50
Speaker 2: the 20-3 loss, but third down offense. Steelers 2-12. against
7:57
Speaker 2: the Patriots, 5-25 through two games. We heard Coach talk
8:01
Speaker 2: about it, we will hear from Coach later on in
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Speaker 2: this podcast, but too many free and outs, and frankly,
8:08
Speaker 2: because of that, too many stall drives, and it's about
8:11
Speaker 2: getting that consistency, and that is going to come over time. Certainly,
8:16
Speaker 2: you'll want to see a wee bit more consistency. Like, look,
8:19
Speaker 2: we're on a team podcast here, but I think anybody
8:22
Speaker 2: that watches a game through two weeks and then watches
8:24
Speaker 2: the game against the Patriots in New England, Mark will agree.
8:27
Speaker 2: More consistency in that offensive line, allow Aaron Rodgers not
8:32
Speaker 2: to be pressured so much, and allow him to get
8:33
Speaker 2: that ball out. That was an issue in Week 2,
8:37
Speaker 2: and we will not talk about Week 3 here, Mark,
8:41
Speaker 2: but certainly that's something to look at. It was hard,
8:45
Speaker 2: but it has to improve.
8:47
Speaker 3: That's what it is. I don't think anyone's going to
8:49
Speaker 3: look at that and be happy with the state of
8:52
Speaker 3: play There's no point in sugarcoating it or walking away
8:56
Speaker 3: from it, but you can learn a lot more from
9:00
Speaker 3: losses than wins. I certainly have in my lifetime in
9:03
Speaker 3: the sports that I've played. I think that the good
9:07
Speaker 3: thing is that they've drafted three first-round draft picks, a
9:12
Speaker 3: second-round draft pick, a fourth-round draft pick over the last
9:14
Speaker 3: few years in that offensive line. You're going to have
9:17
Speaker 3: some good big athletes there. They didn't do a ton
9:21
Speaker 3: of physical contact stuff in the preseason coming up. The
9:26
Speaker 3: preseason games, they were still trying to figure out what
9:29
Speaker 3: that offensive line was going to be. I think this
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Speaker 3: is kind of the pudding that's come from the end
9:35
Speaker 3: of that, trying to find the right group of guys
9:37
Speaker 3: and seeing who's really going to want it. I think
9:41
Speaker 3: we just want to see them be more physical. I
9:43
Speaker 3: want to see them grind them down. You've got those
9:44
Speaker 3: big receivers. Washington have the big stiff arm. The week before,
9:49
Speaker 3: I wanted to see him go on early doors, got
9:52
Speaker 3: the big seven-yard go, but he only got thrown targeted twice.
9:56
Speaker 3: Friarmouth targeted five times. I'd love to see those guys
9:59
Speaker 3: get a wee bit more. obviously no pitman i think
10:03
Speaker 3: well what's your opinion on this does pitman coming back
10:05
Speaker 3: into the offense completely change the the options they have.
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Speaker 2: I think i think for any offense when somebody comes
10:11
Speaker 2: back in it adds more to an arsenal like like
10:14
Speaker 2: looking at the different teams mark in the nfl and
10:18
Speaker 2: i think it's something that we haven't really done on
10:19
Speaker 2: this podcast in recent years but it is looking at
10:21
Speaker 2: different teams in the nfl like certainly teams in the
10:25
Speaker 2: afc like you know patrick mahomes who has all these
10:28
Speaker 2: different weapons certainly weapons that he may not have had
10:30
Speaker 2: before and they're finding a way to make chunk plays
10:35
Speaker 2: on second and third down certainly it's something we'll talk
10:38
Speaker 2: about in a minute but i think you know pitman
10:39
Speaker 2: coming back hopefully this week or whenever he does come
10:42
Speaker 2: back at the time of recording will be a huge
10:45
Speaker 2: pro and a huge plus to this offense because it
10:47
Speaker 2: just needs probably just that wee bit more juice. And
10:49
Speaker 2: I think a man that probably is the best person
10:52
Speaker 2: to talk about the juices needed and the current situation
10:55
Speaker 2: that the Steelers are in. Steelers are one and one
10:58
Speaker 2: through two weeks. They're not in a bad, bad position here, folks.
11:01
Speaker 3: They've been worse.
11:02
Speaker 2: They have been worse. And there's plenty of other teams, Mark,
11:06
Speaker 2: in worse positions at the minute in the NFL. So
11:07
Speaker 2: let's hear from the man in charge. Let's hear from
11:11
Speaker 2: Head coach Mike McCarthy here on the Irish Steelers podcast.
11:13
Speaker 2: Before we look ahead to this game against the Cincinnati
11:16
Speaker 2: Bengals on Sunday night.
11:19
Speaker 3: Hey, Mike, with the offensive lineman, is it a technique thing?
11:22
Speaker 3: Is it an execution thing or what we've been able
11:25
Speaker 3: to see?
11:28
Speaker 4: In regards to performance? Performance, yeah, I think like anything, it's...
11:36
Speaker 4: you know, you look at first, you look at the assignment,
11:38
Speaker 4: you know, the alignments and then in the technique. And
11:40
Speaker 4: I think we've had really throughout the team, just going
11:44
Speaker 4: back through the game. There's definitely things that we can
11:46
Speaker 4: do better. And, you know, I think there's some things
11:49
Speaker 4: schematically we need to probably take the next step. So, but,
11:53
Speaker 4: you know, I talked on this Monday. I think the
11:56
Speaker 4: continuity is not where we would like it to be.
11:59
Speaker 4: And that's all I'm going to come with reps and,
12:01
Speaker 4: you know, trying to get the same five playing together. And,
12:04
Speaker 4: you know, that's, That's always a challenge, particularly when you've
12:07
Speaker 4: got jobs that are being, you know, the competition for
12:10
Speaker 4: who's going to start, who, you know, moving guys around.
12:15
Speaker 4: I think we've talked about this numerous times, about the
12:18
Speaker 4: different combinations of guys playing together during training camp. And
12:22
Speaker 4: so we just, we have to give these guys some continuity.
12:26
Speaker 3: You mentioned that Michael Pittman Jr. was part of the
12:29
Speaker 3: group that was being evaluated this morning.
12:30
Speaker 2: What's your expectation for him to be able to do?
12:33
Speaker 4: He's going to work today. Gabe has a plan for
12:38
Speaker 4: every player that's come through the training room this morning.
12:42
Speaker 4: The plan will be set and we'll see how it
12:44
Speaker 4: goes in practice today. Results will be on the injury report.
12:49
Speaker 3: What have you learned about Dean and Samuel? What have
12:52
Speaker 3: you learned about those two guys? In particular, how they
12:54
Speaker 3: handle maybe bigger receivers?
12:57
Speaker 4: I think two weeks into it, they've done a good job.
13:01
Speaker 4: We'll Just continue to work. A big challenge, I think,
13:05
Speaker 4: obviously this week. You know, both guys, particularly the big
13:09
Speaker 4: play production that they have is, you know, something we're
13:12
Speaker 4: focused on. They're playing at a high level and have
13:16
Speaker 4: played at a high level for quite some time.
13:18
Speaker 3: Mike, how do you think having Aaron Allen up and playing,
13:20
Speaker 3: are they earning more opportunities?
13:23
Speaker 4: Well, I mean, opportunities as far as what, the passing game? Well,
13:29
Speaker 4: I mean, yeah, I hope so. You know, you set
13:32
Speaker 4: a plan for all the guys. Obviously, Pat and Darnell
13:35
Speaker 4: are a big part of our plans each and every week.
13:38
Speaker 4: The front of all 80 times in two-day games. So,
13:41
Speaker 4: we just got to keep, you know, trying to create opportunities,
13:43
Speaker 4: if anything. You like to see those numbers come down
13:45
Speaker 4: a little bit. But, yeah, I'd definitely love to see
13:47
Speaker 4: those guys get more catches. Mike, Cincinnati rebuilt its defense
13:52
Speaker 4: in the offseason.
13:53
Speaker 3: Let's see if I don't save it.
13:54
Speaker 4: I'm not going to hand-flip it again. Well, I think
13:56
Speaker 4: watching them, watching the two games last year and then
13:58
Speaker 4: watching the games so far this year, you kind of
14:02
Speaker 4: wrestle back and forth on what they do because, you know,
14:04
Speaker 4: same coordinator and then about who they're doing it with.
14:06
Speaker 4: So definitely the front is obviously different. You know, Dexter
14:11
Speaker 4: makes it– it's a large group. They impose some challenges. But, yeah,
14:17
Speaker 4: they're definitely off to a really good start defensively.
14:20
Speaker 2: Good to hear from Coach ahead of this game in
14:22
Speaker 2: Week 3 against the Cincinnati Bengals. Folks, this game is
14:24
Speaker 2: at 6 o'clock. Early window in Ireland. Get down to
14:27
Speaker 2: Cedar Station at Kennedy's if you can in Dublin or
14:31
Speaker 2: else the game is on Sky Sports. It's on NFL
14:33
Speaker 2: Game Pass on The Zone and it's also available on
14:36
Speaker 2: audio on OTB Sports app across the island of Ireland.
14:39
Speaker 2: So no excuses. If you're in a field in Kerry,
14:42
Speaker 2: if you're sitting outside a car park in Belfast, you
14:44
Speaker 2: can listen in on the audio. You can tune in
14:46
Speaker 2: on NFL Game Pass on The Zone. There's so many
14:49
Speaker 2: different ways here the tune into this game. And Mark,
14:52
Speaker 2: we heard Coach there talk about getting better and finding
14:55
Speaker 2: ways to improve week by week here. Obviously, let's firstly
15:00
Speaker 2: look at the Bengals. Bengals through two weeks, very, very impressive.
15:04
Speaker 2: You have to give them their props. They know how
15:06
Speaker 2: difficult this division, how difficult the AFC North is. They
15:09
Speaker 2: have a big win in week one against the Bucs.
15:11
Speaker 2: They have a big win in week two against the
15:14
Speaker 2: Houston Texans. I really like, as a football player, I
15:18
Speaker 2: really respect Joe Burrow and what he's been able to
15:20
Speaker 2: do and come back from in his career so far.
15:22
Speaker 2: But we're going to talk about the keys of this
15:25
Speaker 2: game in a minute. But we do have to acknowledge
15:28
Speaker 2: one of the biggest challenges in this game, which you
15:30
Speaker 2: would expect if it continues from week two to week three,
15:33
Speaker 2: is going to be this Bengals' defense. A defense that
15:36
Speaker 2: we've seen a few years ago, Mark, got them to
15:38
Speaker 2: a Super Bowl. They look really good two weeks in.
15:41
Speaker 2: And they're going to be coming to Accresure on Sunday
15:44
Speaker 2: and thinking... This is a big moment for us.
15:48
Speaker 3: As I said, the big fix that you want to
15:51
Speaker 3: see is just more consistent offensive line play. A bit
15:55
Speaker 3: less confusion, picking up the guys they want to do.
15:57
Speaker 3: I think everything becomes easier if they can establish that
16:01
Speaker 3: one game. I would expect the big men to be
16:04
Speaker 3: in pads on Wednesday and I'd expect them to be
16:06
Speaker 3: grounded at that blue-collar Steelers football we look to do.
16:10
Speaker 3: You saw some of the receivers blocking like absolute demons yesterday.
16:14
Speaker 3: in that last game. Who was it sprung? Friar Muth
16:17
Speaker 3: in the fourth, down that sideline. Oh, absolutely flattened.
16:24
Speaker 2: And that is the difference in that one play. It
16:26
Speaker 2: can completely change the game. And on the flip side
16:28
Speaker 2: for us, and it's probably something if we jump into
16:31
Speaker 2: our keys here, Mark, when you look at what this
16:34
Speaker 2: Bengals team has on both sides of the ball, it's
16:36
Speaker 2: going to be so, so important for this Steelers defense
16:40
Speaker 2: to really limit two big guys in Jamar Chase, Tee Higgins.
16:45
Speaker 2: When Burrow's getting pressured, I don't think that... Yes, we've
16:49
Speaker 2: seen some situations. We've seen actually one of the more
16:54
Speaker 2: iconic photos in week two of Joe Burrow about to
16:57
Speaker 2: be sacked and he was cool, calm, collected. But I
17:01
Speaker 2: don't feel like Joe Burrow has been under that much
17:04
Speaker 2: pressure yet. Chase bounced back last week. Seven catches, 75 yards,
17:08
Speaker 2: two touchdowns. Higgins added 95 yards. TJ Watts... And this
17:13
Speaker 2: pass rush need to find a way at every point
17:16
Speaker 2: in this game to not just pressure him, but disrupt
17:18
Speaker 2: Burrow as well to, you know, find the star receivers.
17:22
Speaker 2: It's funny because I said he hasn't been under that
17:24
Speaker 2: much pressure. Yes, he was sacked five times last week.
17:27
Speaker 2: But the thing that makes sense with Joe Burrow is
17:30
Speaker 2: Joe Burrow was sacked five times last week. He still
17:32
Speaker 2: got up. He made plays. There's a lot of quarterbacks
17:35
Speaker 2: in this league with talent around them that cannot do that.
17:39
Speaker 2: And it's the difference between watching the team and going, Well,
17:41
Speaker 2: he was sacked five times. That doesn't add up to
17:44
Speaker 2: me because in that same game, CJ Stroud, people will say, oh,
17:49
Speaker 2: he struggled. But the reality is, Mark, CJ Stroud doesn't
17:52
Speaker 2: really have anybody to throw the ball to at the minute.
17:53
Speaker 2: So yes, he was sacked five times. But the biggest
17:56
Speaker 2: story of that game was the defense of the Bengals,
17:58
Speaker 2: him coming back and getting those points on the board
18:00
Speaker 2: as well. And that big play as well from Jamar Chase.
18:03
Speaker 2: They have guys that can really make big game-changing one-time plays.
18:06
Speaker 2: and it's going to be in our defense to try
18:08
Speaker 2: and find a way to stop it.
18:09
Speaker 3: We saw it last year. Um, the first time we
18:11
Speaker 3: played them, we tried out the man coverage, Jason Higgins,
18:14
Speaker 3: and we got kind of torched, but then the second
18:18
Speaker 3: time we played them, we, we kind of doubled up.
18:21
Speaker 3: We took away those options and we handled them quite well. Um,
18:26
Speaker 3: obviously you've, you've got some, some good talent in that
18:29
Speaker 3: DB core. Uh, but I'm still thinking you need to
18:32
Speaker 3: double up on chase, make, borrows, go to somebody else. Um,
18:37
Speaker 3: you know, beat you with somebody else. And if you
18:39
Speaker 3: can double up on him, same as we did last
18:42
Speaker 3: year and take that away with the pass rush and
18:46
Speaker 3: the explosiveness of our defense, I really don't think, you know,
18:50
Speaker 3: Burrows could be in for not a very nice day,
18:53
Speaker 3: all going well. But I would say that the key
18:56
Speaker 3: is to double up on Chase and make him go
18:59
Speaker 3: to somebody else.
19:01
Speaker 2: And I think you've made a really good point there.
19:04
Speaker 2: And I think one of the things to add to
19:05
Speaker 2: that is, It's so early in the season. You're going
19:08
Speaker 2: to have good days. You're going to have bad days.
19:10
Speaker 2: And especially in a division like this in the AFC North,
19:13
Speaker 2: it's what can you do today to help yourself down
19:16
Speaker 2: the line? And one of the things I think they
19:18
Speaker 2: can do and one of the keys to this game
19:20
Speaker 2: for me, Mark, is it sounds obvious, but to protect
19:22
Speaker 2: Aaron Rodgers' guy that was actually sacked less than Joe
19:25
Speaker 2: Burrow in Week 2 when he sacked four times. But
19:27
Speaker 2: I think the manner in which he was sacked and
19:31
Speaker 2: the manner in which that changed the game defensively, like
19:33
Speaker 2: the Bengals, Mark, had a guy in Dexter Lawrence, who
19:37
Speaker 2: has really improved their front. The Steelers cannot afford another
19:43
Speaker 2: game of constant pressure, strip sacks and negative plays. It
19:47
Speaker 2: has to find a way to come out early and
19:50
Speaker 2: have those positive moments.
19:51
Speaker 3: You did say that turnover battle. I remember when Alan
19:55
Speaker 3: Solomon was our rugby coach, he always had a thing
19:58
Speaker 3: about there'll be three or four turning points in a game.
20:02
Speaker 3: Every team's going to have their purple patches and you've
20:04
Speaker 3: got to weather the purple patches, but there'll be three
20:05
Speaker 3: or four points in every game where if... the bounce
20:09
Speaker 3: of the ball goes your way and that if you
20:11
Speaker 3: can work a bit harder than the other team at
20:13
Speaker 3: that point, that's what wins and loses those games at
20:16
Speaker 3: that high level of sport because everything is so close.
20:19
Speaker 3: And up until, as you said, that strip sack that
20:22
Speaker 3: they managed to run in, the scoop and score, it
20:26
Speaker 3: was right in the game. Everything was still really, really close.
20:30
Speaker 3: It's those little turning points and if the turning points,
20:33
Speaker 3: if we can get them to be in our favor,
20:36
Speaker 3: I think we can come away with a win I
20:39
Speaker 3: think the defense has what it has to get the
20:40
Speaker 3: pressure on. And I think the offense, if they can
20:42
Speaker 3: get the run game going, it's still like, you still
20:44
Speaker 3: have an absolutely massive receiver core. If we can get
20:47
Speaker 3: that offensive line play flying, I think that, and again,
20:51
Speaker 3: as you said, just little improvements. Um, as coach said,
20:54
Speaker 3: just improve, just get a bit better every week. The,
20:57
Speaker 3: the win and loss can't be what we focus on,
21:00
Speaker 3: but the big improvement we're hoping to see is not
21:02
Speaker 3: offensive line play.
21:04
Speaker 2: Take the offensive line. And we'll also add in the
21:06
Speaker 2: offense here. A couple of things for people to listen to. Uh,
21:09
Speaker 2: Just one touchdown score by the Steelers offense in 25
21:11
Speaker 2: possessions this season. I'm not being negative, but that's the stat.
21:15
Speaker 2: And I guess one of the more improvements you want
21:16
Speaker 2: to see over that third game and then over that
21:18
Speaker 2: average of the first three weeks, Mark, is start fast,
21:22
Speaker 2: score early. Like Pittsburgh's first quarter has been hard. They
21:28
Speaker 2: have a scoring drought where they've, I think, a number
21:31
Speaker 2: of different games. I'll not say the number here, but
21:33
Speaker 2: seven or fewer points in the opening quarter. Bengals defense
21:36
Speaker 2: has been stingy, as we said. even if it's Mark,
21:39
Speaker 2: even if it is start the game, get down the
21:42
Speaker 2: field and allow Chris Boswell to get that confidence back
21:45
Speaker 2: and get some points on the board. Something helps because
21:47
Speaker 2: you made a really good point a second ago. You're
21:49
Speaker 2: going to have that stretch of these purple patches, but
21:52
Speaker 2: you're also going to be in the other side of
21:53
Speaker 2: that where, let's be very clear here, there's going to
21:55
Speaker 2: be a number of games like this this season where
21:57
Speaker 2: it's the AFC North. There's going to be times in
22:00
Speaker 2: this game potentially where the Bengals are up by three
22:02
Speaker 2: to seven to 10 points. And it goes back to
22:04
Speaker 2: what you said a second ago about New England where, um,
22:07
Speaker 2: It's finding the way to keep yourself in it and
22:10
Speaker 2: allow that. And it goes back to what you said
22:12
Speaker 2: earlier on in this podcast about Michael Pittman, about a
22:15
Speaker 2: guy like DK Metcalf, about guys that, yes, we have
22:18
Speaker 2: got Pat Fryer moved there. We've got a running game
22:20
Speaker 2: there in jail and Warren, different guys, but it's finding
22:23
Speaker 2: a way to allow those guys. Go for it.
22:27
Speaker 3: As you said, we've got a running game in Warren,
22:29
Speaker 3: but what are your thoughts on maybe using him a
22:31
Speaker 3: wee bit more in the passing game? Two receptions, a
22:33
Speaker 3: lot of yards. He can make a guy miss with
22:36
Speaker 3: a bit of space.
22:38
Speaker 2: It's something I've talked about to a few people this week,
22:40
Speaker 2: going from week two, week three, and it's not even
22:42
Speaker 2: with the Steelers, Mark. It's more, it's teams finding ways
22:46
Speaker 2: to utilize guys. We've seen it in week one where
22:49
Speaker 2: Pat Friermuth was utilized maybe more as like a whiteout
22:52
Speaker 2: in that sense, but also as well, one of the
22:54
Speaker 2: really key examples, I think, and a lot of people
22:56
Speaker 2: and one of the biggest storylines people talked about from
22:59
Speaker 2: week one was the way that the Chiefs utilized Kenneth
23:02
Speaker 2: Walker III in week two because they used him a
23:05
Speaker 2: lot as a whiteout. against the colts and yeah i'm
23:09
Speaker 2: talking about a different team but it's a really good
23:11
Speaker 2: example whereas if you have rico daudler and if you
23:13
Speaker 2: have warren there and if you're sitting on a third
23:16
Speaker 2: and five or a second and seven and rogers does
23:18
Speaker 2: drop back and you can see that bangles front go
23:21
Speaker 2: at him early well then find a way to get
23:24
Speaker 2: a guy open you've 11 guys on the field have
23:27
Speaker 2: them out have them spaced and find a way to
23:30
Speaker 2: put the pressure on because this is a key second
23:33
Speaker 2: home game they're on like As bad as week two was,
23:37
Speaker 2: we've moved on. They're undefeated at home. They're going to
23:41
Speaker 2: find those stretches where the players are going to be free.
23:43
Speaker 2: They're going to be available. And I think the biggest
23:46
Speaker 2: key in this game is if something's not working and
23:49
Speaker 2: you've tried it for half a quarter to a quarter,
23:52
Speaker 2: move on. If they're finding, Mark, that run game is
23:55
Speaker 2: not being efficient, do what you've said there now. Get
23:58
Speaker 2: them in as a slot. Find a way to extrapolate
24:01
Speaker 2: that a bit and allow players a veteran Aaron Rodgers,
24:04
Speaker 2: to continue to build his confidence as he goes back
24:07
Speaker 2: into the season. I think it's those small moments which
24:09
Speaker 2: are going to be key, key in this game. And
24:12
Speaker 2: I think we've really talked about a lot of things.
24:14
Speaker 2: One thing we haven't talked about, Mark, is beginning with E.
24:17
Speaker 2: And I love this word, explosive, like explosive plays. It's
24:21
Speaker 2: something that we haven't really seen yet so far. I
24:24
Speaker 2: think we've only seen one gain of 20 plus yards
24:26
Speaker 2: so far. And I mentioned a second ago about getting
24:28
Speaker 2: DK involved. Some of these guys have had a hard.
24:30
Speaker 3: Start to the season.
24:32
Speaker 2: Like, there's no doubt about it. And we can talk
24:34
Speaker 2: around that. But something at some point is going to come.
24:37
Speaker 2: You're going to have a big play, whether that's Rodgers
24:39
Speaker 2: at the 20, 30-yard line. Try and find a way
24:42
Speaker 2: to get those guys down the field. And if it works, great.
24:45
Speaker 2: And if it doesn't, go back again a second or
24:47
Speaker 2: third time.
24:48
Speaker 3: You're wanting to get your number one receivers in space,
24:52
Speaker 3: in the ball. Obviously, DK was targeted nine times. As
24:55
Speaker 3: you said, he's having a bit of a... But he's
24:57
Speaker 3: a veteran receiver. He is a hard worker. He's going
25:01
Speaker 3: to figure it out and he's going to, as you said,
25:04
Speaker 3: keep getting better as we go. I think we're going
25:06
Speaker 3: to see a lot of production out of him as
25:08
Speaker 3: we get going. I think, as I said last week,
25:11
Speaker 3: I think Farnmouth is going to get into the number
25:13
Speaker 3: two for receptions. I think we need to use him
25:15
Speaker 3: a bit more. He's also blocking really well, which is
25:19
Speaker 3: a big difference from last year to this year. No
25:22
Speaker 3: offence to him if he sees this, but it's great
25:25
Speaker 3: to see him in blocking because then you don't know
25:27
Speaker 3: if you're going to run the ball Or if you're
25:29
Speaker 3: going to pass, because he can do both things at
25:32
Speaker 3: a very high level. But yeah, explosive plays is what
25:36
Speaker 3: obviously you want to see. And that's those turning points,
25:38
Speaker 3: isn't it? That special teams is a great thing for it.
25:41
Speaker 3: But when those explosive plays happen, the energy really lifts.
25:45
Speaker 3: One of the things that really, obviously week one, Washington's
25:47
Speaker 3: big stiff arm on the ground. Week two, I saw
25:50
Speaker 3: Aaron Rodgers tackle a guy. Hit harder than I have
25:54
Speaker 3: ever hit anyone in my life. And I love, you
25:57
Speaker 3: don't want your quarterback doing that. but the want is
26:00
Speaker 3: still there. Absolutely. After the sacks, after everything else, he
26:04
Speaker 3: wants to win, the team wants to win. They're going
26:06
Speaker 3: to keep working hard for each other. Rodgers was talking
26:09
Speaker 3: about how he felt like they were grinding really hard
26:11
Speaker 3: during the week in the build-up to the game. The
26:14
Speaker 3: team want that win, and you can't create that want
26:18
Speaker 3: in a team. The players do that themselves.
26:22
Speaker 2: I think a lot of these guys are veteran leaders.
26:25
Speaker 2: a lot of these guys are iron rogers for example
26:27
Speaker 2: have been in different teams have been in different situations
26:30
Speaker 2: it's one game it's one loss take it and move
26:33
Speaker 2: on and there are going to be moments of season
26:36
Speaker 2: where we see that like this i do want to
26:38
Speaker 2: talk about one more key in a wee second before
26:40
Speaker 2: we go here but you know one of the biggest
26:43
Speaker 2: probably talking points that have changed and something we'll look
26:45
Speaker 2: at in three or four weeks time is the paris
26:47
Speaker 2: game now we're looking at a saints team that i've
26:50
Speaker 2: certainly changed my opinion on over the last couple of weeks.
26:52
Speaker 2: They beat the Ravens last week. And as much as
26:55
Speaker 2: we can sit here and say, God, you know, we
26:56
Speaker 2: have to pick ourselves up. The Ravens lost in the
26:59
Speaker 2: AFC North to the Saints and the Ravens have to
27:01
Speaker 2: go to Rio and play the Dallas Cowboys this weekend.
27:04
Speaker 2: One thing I wanted to talk about was, we've talked
27:07
Speaker 2: about our run game a good bit. Chase Brown is
27:11
Speaker 2: RB1 with the Bengals. Perrine is RB2 and Taj Brooks, sorry,
27:17
Speaker 2: is RB3. That run defense, Mark, I think in those
27:22
Speaker 2: big clutch moments on Sunday in this game against the
27:24
Speaker 2: Bengals is going to be so, so important because we've
27:28
Speaker 2: seen in week two Trevion Henderson for the Patriots. I
27:31
Speaker 2: think there was, yeah, the 39-40 yard touchdown run. The
27:35
Speaker 2: Steelers front on Sunday has to find a way to
27:37
Speaker 2: stay gap sound against Cincinnati's, I guess you could say
27:40
Speaker 2: it's a complimentary run game because they can hand it
27:42
Speaker 2: off to each other. They have to be aggressive. And
27:45
Speaker 2: not just in that, but going back to what you said,
27:47
Speaker 2: I think we're sort of talking around it. against borough
27:50
Speaker 2: as well but um what's your genuine thoughts in this
27:53
Speaker 2: game because this is a it's hard after week two
27:57
Speaker 2: but um you know it's it's it's difficult but it's
28:01
Speaker 2: it's it's a huge game mark for for everybody involved.
28:04
Speaker 3: Yeah i i think you're gonna have an along an
28:06
Speaker 3: angry offensive line coming into this game um and the
28:10
Speaker 3: hope with that is with them coming in highly motivated
28:14
Speaker 3: of what I'm assuming wasn't a very pleasant video session,
28:17
Speaker 3: or maybe they're in the middle of it right now,
28:20
Speaker 3: at whatever time, 11 o'clock on Monday night it is here,
28:23
Speaker 3: and they might be in the middle of it now. Obviously,
28:26
Speaker 3: with the turnover, there's a highly competitive group there where
28:30
Speaker 3: people are fighting for starting positions as well. So I think,
28:35
Speaker 3: touch wood, I think they're going to come out firing
28:36
Speaker 3: and get that run game established. I think this is
28:38
Speaker 3: going to be a really close game. As you said
28:40
Speaker 3: last week, it could come with a wee ball as well,
28:42
Speaker 3: but I'm still putting my faith in that Steelers defense,
28:46
Speaker 3: and I want to see big Washington Friarmouth getting used
28:48
Speaker 3: a bit more, and Warren getting some of those big carries.
28:54
Speaker 3: That's the thing. Get the run game established, and then
28:56
Speaker 3: just pick them apart from there. But I think we
28:58
Speaker 3: need to take a bit of pressure off. I don't
29:00
Speaker 3: want to see him throw in 40, 45 times. I
29:03
Speaker 3: want to see that ground game. Complimentary football, I think,
29:06
Speaker 3: was the term you just said when describing the Patriots.
29:09
Speaker 3: If we can get complementary football with the Steelers, I
29:12
Speaker 3: think they've got to win.
29:15
Speaker 2: Just finally, Steelers-Bengals, 6 o'clock, Sunday night, Sky Sports, NFL
29:20
Speaker 2: in the Zone, OTB Sports app, and it's obviously in
29:23
Speaker 2: Kennedy's Steelers station as well in Dublin. Free entry, the
29:27
Speaker 2: one in week six is paid. There is a ticket
29:32
Speaker 2: link in the bio. I will see you down there.
29:33
Speaker 2: I hope Mark's going as well.
29:35
Speaker 3: We'll see the crack.
29:36
Speaker 2: You're going, Mark, I haven't even told you, but you're going,
29:38
Speaker 2: I'm telling you on camera. That should be a good night.
29:41
Speaker 2: If you haven't, get down there.
29:42
Speaker 3: Get down there.
29:42
Speaker 2: Some of the pictures on the wall are just... I
29:47
Speaker 2: don't care if you're half or under this podcast who
29:49
Speaker 2: you support. Obviously, I hope you support the Steelers, but
29:51
Speaker 2: if you're an NFL fan, it's a very, very special place.
29:54
Speaker 2: There's not really a lot of places like that on
29:55
Speaker 2: the island of Ireland. It's phenomenal. Check it out. For me,
29:59
Speaker 2: I'm going to give people a heart attack here, Mark,
30:01
Speaker 2: metaphorically speaking. 17-14, Cedars, Gritty win. You know what?
30:06
Speaker 3: I was going to say 17-14. I don't know if
30:07
Speaker 3: I have to change my prediction.
30:09
Speaker 2: No, no, it's all good.
30:10
Speaker 3: It's all good. 17-14. And this recipe that you have
30:14
Speaker 3: to try now if you're not going to have a
30:15
Speaker 3: roast dinner.
30:17
Speaker 2: I am happy to talk about this every week. So,
30:21
Speaker 2: six o'clock game Sunday. So, what's the recipe?
30:25
Speaker 3: Go for it. It's more of a snack. sliced up
30:28
Speaker 3: sweet potato cooked in a toaster.
30:32
Speaker 2: Like the whole all right hold on hold on potato
30:35
Speaker 2: now hold on the skin's off though yeah the skin's
30:38
Speaker 2: off and then toast.
30:39
Speaker 3: Skins off yeah yeah feel the skin slice it into
30:42
Speaker 3: discs put it in a toaster sprinkled with chili flakes
30:45
Speaker 3: and salt i am looking forward to trying it and
30:48
Speaker 3: i've never cooked a potato on a toaster before in
30:50
Speaker 3: my life.
30:51
Speaker 2: This is i mean obviously folks you know anybody listening
30:54
Speaker 2: to this it's your toaster If anything happens, it's Mark
30:58
Speaker 2: McGrath's fault. I might not go that far, but I
31:03
Speaker 2: do need to up my game. The problem is you
31:05
Speaker 2: live around Belfast direction, right? I live in the sticks.
31:08
Speaker 2: So like my delivery app, there's about three different places
31:12
Speaker 2: and that's it. So I will try my best. One
31:14
Speaker 2: thing I can guarantee is I'll be sitting, I'll be
31:16
Speaker 2: watching the game on Sunday night and Mark will be
31:19
Speaker 2: as well. We'll be back a bit of a different
31:22
Speaker 2: week next week. We'll talk about that in a wee second,
31:23
Speaker 2: but obviously folks do check out the Cedar Socials during
31:26
Speaker 2: the game and throughout the week It's leadersirelandx, Instagram, TikTok.
31:29
Speaker 2: Bit of a different week next week, Mark. We have
31:32
Speaker 2: a very special podcast on Monday. Do you know what
31:34
Speaker 2: the significance of Monday the 28th is?
31:37
Speaker 3: No, but what's the significance? Oh, is it one year?
31:39
Speaker 3: One year since the big Ireland game?
31:41
Speaker 2: One year since the historic NFL. Can you believe it's
31:46
Speaker 2: one year on? Can you believe it's one year on?
31:51
Speaker 3: I wish it hadn't been a full year. That game
31:53
Speaker 3: was electric and that makes me a year older than
31:55
Speaker 3: I was then.
31:58
Speaker 2: Hold on. I actually never asked you this. I feel
32:00
Speaker 2: like I know the answer, but where were you sitting
32:04
Speaker 2: on that day and how did you find it? Or standing, Mark,
32:08
Speaker 2: is probably the best way to say it.
32:10
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah. I was very fortunate. I was with a
32:13
Speaker 3: lot of the sort of Steelers friends and family zone.
32:16
Speaker 3: So I was kind of near the halfway line.
32:20
Speaker 2: On the Hogan stand, like facing the TV view, yeah?
32:22
Speaker 3: Yeah, exactly. And it was electric. It was such a
32:26
Speaker 3: good day. The noise was fantastic. Honestly, I've never been
32:29
Speaker 3: to a game like it, London anywhere. It was electric.
32:33
Speaker 2: I love it. I love it. And I love that
32:35
Speaker 2: you said that because we've got the London game starting
32:37
Speaker 2: next week. Steelers not there. Steelers are in Paris. And
32:39
Speaker 2: you're right. It's something that we're going to talk about.
32:41
Speaker 2: We've got Max Starks joining us early next week. Myself
32:44
Speaker 2: and Mark will regroup. We'll probably do it in person again, Mark,
32:47
Speaker 2: after we get next week over in terms of we're
32:49
Speaker 2: just going to look ahead to the game next week.
32:50
Speaker 2: But certainly... Enjoyed the chat. I hope people enjoyed it
32:54
Speaker 2: as well. I hope we've picked people up from week two.
32:57
Speaker 3: More importantly, we're.
32:57
Speaker 2: Back and we're ready for week three. Two and one
33:00
Speaker 2: is the aim here.
33:00
Speaker 3: Two and one. Two and one's the goal and keep
33:03
Speaker 3: those very interesting recipes coming my way.
33:08
Speaker 2: Well, I can't wait to hear about this sweet potato
33:10
Speaker 2: next week. For myself, for Mark. Wow. Enjoy the Bengals
33:14
Speaker 2: game against the Steelers on Sunday. Looking forward to hearing
33:17
Speaker 2: everyone's thoughts on social media. We'll see you next week, folks.
33:21
Speaker 2: This has been the Irish Leaders Podcast presented by Aer Lingus.
33:24
Speaker 2: We'll talk to you soon.
33:24
Speaker 3: Thank you.
33:35
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33:38
Speaker 1: Lingus is flying Steelers Nation even closer to the action.
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Speaker 1: The Irish airline Aer Lingus has launched a brand new
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33:57
Speaker 1: Here we go Steelers!