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HR1: Outlook · In the Locker Room presented by Neighborhood Ford Store (Pittsburgh Steelers)

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: This is In the Locker Room with Rob King, Max Starks,
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: and Willie Colon on Steelers Nation Radio. Brought to you
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: in part by the Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop.steelers.com.
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: And by your neighborhood Ford store. The F-150 is the
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: official truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: And thanks very much for being with us in the
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  Speaker 2: locker room on this Thursday afternoon as the Steelers are
• 0:29
  Speaker 2: getting ready to take on Tampa Bay. a team that's
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  Speaker 2: one in four revived its hopes for its season by
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  Speaker 2: upsetting Dallas on Thursday night, gets the extra rest, uh,
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  Speaker 2: with the Steelers, uh, obviously haven't played last Sunday. So
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  Speaker 2: a few extra days of rest for Tampa Bay, looking
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  Speaker 2: into this game, uh, for the next few weeks, Tampa
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  Speaker 2: Bay season is going to be on the line. Every
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  Speaker 2: win is going to be absolutely crucial.
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  Speaker 3: For this team. Uh, Willie Cologne. First of all, Willie,
• 0:54
  Speaker 3: my friend, how are you doing today?
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  Speaker 4: All as well. Just busy. Got to move things running,
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  Speaker 4: trying to catch up to the day. And, uh, This
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  Speaker 4: is Locked and Loaded with you, Rob.
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  Speaker 2: Locked and Loaded, ready to go. Max Starks will be
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  Speaker 2: with us shortly, so we'll have him on. But, Willie,
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  Speaker 2: this extra rest seems to be something that people are
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  Speaker 2: really tracking. And they're tracking how much does a team
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: travel and the wear and tear in your body for
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: that sort of thing.
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  Speaker 3: We know Thursdays are very.
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  Speaker 2: Difficult to play, especially if you're on the road.
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  Speaker 3: You get that short week.
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: We found that out with the Steelers visiting Cleveland.
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  Speaker 3: Of course, Cleveland had a short week as well. But
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  Speaker 3: now this extra rest.
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  Speaker 2: Steelers had it last week against Indianapolis. This week, Tampa
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  Speaker 2: Bay gets it. Is it a big deal to you?
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  Speaker 2: Is it a big deal that a team gets three
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  Speaker 2: extra days of rest?
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  Speaker 4: Oh, yeah. I mean, for Tampa's sake, I mean, there's
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  Speaker 4: a possibility of Baker Mayfield now playing, right? But I
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  Speaker 4: think for the average ball player, the rest definitely disallows
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  Speaker 4: you in three phases. One, to kind of mentally get
• 2:01
  Speaker 4: the clarity to kind of reset, refocus, and kind of
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  Speaker 4: also tapping off the field. You know, there's so much
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  Speaker 4: that goes on with a guy from a family home
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  Speaker 4: front that sometimes this time allows you to catch up
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  Speaker 4: to wife, kids, and whatever needs to happen in your
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  Speaker 4: own house. From a physical standpoint, you know the rest
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  Speaker 4: of recovery is necessary. And it also allows you to
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  Speaker 4: I think kind of checking beneath the hood. You know,
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  Speaker 4: so many guys don't pay attention to the little elements
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  Speaker 4: because you're in the grind, right? You're practicing every day.
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  Speaker 4: You probably have an hour or two out to practice
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  Speaker 4: for recovery. Try to go home, get a little food.
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  Speaker 4: Try to, you know, do a little something extra if
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  Speaker 4: you're up to it. And then you're right back into
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  Speaker 4: the job. So this kind of allows guys to, you know,
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  Speaker 4: get the acupuncture, get the massages, get the cryo chamber,
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  Speaker 4: kind of do things that they normally probably wouldn't have
• 2:52
  Speaker 4: time to do necessarily today. during the week of, uh, play. Now,
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  Speaker 4: if you're Tampa, you have an opportunity to kind of
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  Speaker 4: reset and look at everything you've done thus far, um, physically, mentally,
• 3:03
  Speaker 4: and schematically. Uh, and so this, this, this rest means
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  Speaker 4: a lot. If used wisely, uh, a lot of times,
• 3:10
  Speaker 4: anytime I was afforded a rest, you know, this time off,
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  Speaker 4: if we played on a Thursday night, I, it was
• 3:17
  Speaker 4: a great time for me to, you know, being a,
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  Speaker 4: I'm from New York to run up to New York
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  Speaker 4: and see my mom and check on her and, get
• 3:25
  Speaker 4: back to Pittsburgh and lock back in. So these little breaks,
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  Speaker 4: these little windows allow guys to kind of breathe a
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  Speaker 4: little bit. Because as you mentioned, for a team like Tampa,
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  Speaker 4: every game from here on out is a big one.
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  Speaker 4: There's no days off. And if you have to get
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  Speaker 4: locked in for the Steelers, you know, this is a
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  Speaker 4: game where you want to start stacking Ws, where you
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  Speaker 4: want to kind of ride the momentum. You know, I
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  Speaker 4: kind of gave you the recipe before, Rob, that if
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  Speaker 4: you was to lose a game, You want to lose
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  Speaker 4: at least one game every month, right? You never want
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  Speaker 4: to be a team that's losing two or three games
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  Speaker 4: in a month because it's just tough to get to
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  Speaker 4: the finish line or to get to where you want
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  Speaker 4: to be, which is in the playoffs and hopefully have
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  Speaker 4: an opportunity to make a run for the Super Bowl.
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  Speaker 4: So this is crucial. This is a pivotal game for
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  Speaker 4: both teams. I think, once again, for Tampa, you have
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  Speaker 4: an opportunity to get Tampa, excuse me, you have an
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  Speaker 4: opportunity to get Baker back to capitalize off what you
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  Speaker 4: did in Dallas and hopefully get some wins underneath the
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  Speaker 4: shelves for the Steelers. You know, there's been so much
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  Speaker 4: talk about what this offense looked like against the Colts.
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  Speaker 4: And valid, there's been some injuries with Roman Wilson and
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  Speaker 4: I'll see Brian Sloik, if you will. This is right now,
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  Speaker 4: you have to figure out the young guns you have
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  Speaker 4: on both sides of the ball, who's ready to play,
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  Speaker 4: who's ready to help carry the baton because that's a
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  Speaker 4: necessary win. The division isn't getting easier. Baltimore was able
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  Speaker 4: to win. Since he won, the Browns are still scrappy,
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  Speaker 4: even though they're dealing with some injuries. So the Steelers
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  Speaker 4: have to kind of start putting themselves in a position
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  Speaker 4: where when December comes around, they're playing meaningful games and
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  Speaker 4: hopefully a shot to clinch a playoff spot.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, in no way, shape, or form do I expect
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  Speaker 2: this to be an easy game against Tampa Bay.
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  Speaker 3: No way.
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  Speaker 2: On the road, you know, a Tampa Bay team that
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  Speaker 2: I think can be labeled as one of the disappointing
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  Speaker 2: teams in the NFL thus far.
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  Speaker 3: They come off that victory.
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  Speaker 2: And, you know, you brought up Baker Mayfield, and I
• 5:29
  Speaker 2: think it's really interesting because, you know, any time you
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  Speaker 2: have an injury to a key player, it might affect
• 5:38
  Speaker 2: the way you prepare, and it might affect, you know,
• 5:41
  Speaker 2: one or two players as to, Willie, if you're going
• 5:43
  Speaker 2: against a great pass rusher and you don't know whether
• 5:46
  Speaker 2: that guy's going to play and now does that tackle
• 5:51
  Speaker 2: need chip help or whatever, there's always great players always
• 5:54
  Speaker 2: affect what you're doing.
• 5:55
  Speaker 3: But the quarterback position is different.
• 5:57
  Speaker 2: You're building your whole game plan defensively around is it
• 6:01
  Speaker 2: going to be Jalen Daniels and maybe it's a young
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  Speaker 2: quarterback and you want to try to bring some blitzing
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  Speaker 2: on it, some pressure. Maybe you want to press up
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  Speaker 2: on those those outside receivers and say, you know, we're,
• 6:11
  Speaker 2: we're going to make you prove you can beat us deep. Well,
• 6:14
  Speaker 2: Baker Mayfield loves to throw the deep ball, you know,
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  Speaker 2: so you pressure him.
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  Speaker 3: Um, he's going to take those shots downfield.
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  Speaker 2: There might be a completely different way of approaching the
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  Speaker 2: quarterback position. Um, so it's a big item. Now Mayfield
• 6:28
  Speaker 2: did not practice. He's got a, I think it's a
• 6:30
  Speaker 2: dislocated finger. So he has trouble gripping the football. He
• 6:33
  Speaker 2: wants to get back to play. We know he's a
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  Speaker 2: tough guy, uh, but, but it is, uh, It's a
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  Speaker 2: big item for Patrick Graham and his staff, and I
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  Speaker 2: suspect you have to put in almost two types of preparation, right,
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  Speaker 2: depending upon which quarterback is going to play?
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  Speaker 4: Well, you know Baker has the ability to stretch the
• 6:53
  Speaker 4: ball down the field, so he's a threat not only
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  Speaker 4: with his arm but his legs. You know he has
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  Speaker 4: no problems of getting scrappy and gaining extra yards with
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  Speaker 4: his legs, and his energy along with how he commands
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  Speaker 4: the huddle, that team feeds off that. So he's a
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  Speaker 4: weapon in himself. But I also think for the undrafted
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  Speaker 4: free agent in Jalen Daniels, he's getting stronger. And I
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  Speaker 4: think the more, you know, I think the game, excuse me,
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  Speaker 4: I feel the game against the Cowboys, it was more
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  Speaker 4: or less protecting him and what he was able to do.
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  Speaker 4: Todd Bowles has always been really smart, right, with that.
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  Speaker 4: He's always been the type of coach, hey, this is
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  Speaker 4: what this kid does well, let's maximize that. Let's not
• 7:30
  Speaker 4: go out there and ask him to throw the ball away.
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  Speaker 4: 40 times a game when this is a lot already
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  Speaker 4: on him. So he's going to be protected with the
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  Speaker 4: run game and living in heavy personnel. And the Bucs
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  Speaker 4: feel comfortable with what the game plan is and what
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  Speaker 4: the game plan was against Dallas. That's running the ball,
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  Speaker 4: living in heavy personnel with multiple tight ends, being able
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  Speaker 4: to hand off the ball, using the young fellas dating games,
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  Speaker 4: his legs as a weapon too. And he seems to
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  Speaker 4: have like a fearless approach on running, throwing on a run.
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  Speaker 4: He's not afraid to, put the ball anywhere that it
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  Speaker 4: needs to be so he can be successful. He's not
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  Speaker 4: skittish by no means. So I think this, you talk
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  Speaker 4: about the week of preparation and the extra rest, I
• 8:15
  Speaker 4: think those are going to be some of the things
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  Speaker 4: that they're trying to figure out. If Baker's not able
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  Speaker 4: to go, how can we expand upon what he did
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  Speaker 4: against the Cowboys Thursday night? And so everybody's expecting Bucks
• 8:25
  Speaker 4: to come out and run the ball out of heavy tote,
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  Speaker 4: control the time of possession, allow the defense to to
• 8:32
  Speaker 4: be blitz heavy and really kind of get after the Steelers.
• 8:36
  Speaker 4: But they also understand that that's Aaron Rodgers. It's not
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  Speaker 4: anybody that you just walk up on. He will have
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  Speaker 4: answers to the test at the line of scrimmage. So
• 8:43
  Speaker 4: they're going to be smart and methodical about it. But
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  Speaker 4: I think the Steelers offensively right now, it doesn't matter
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  Speaker 4: what the Bucs do. They have to continue to do
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  Speaker 4: what they do and what they've discovered against the Colts.
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  Speaker 4: I think I would be puzzled and confused and dumbfounded
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  Speaker 4: if they went back to leaning on a lot of
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  Speaker 4: 11 personnel and not really maximizing the tight ends that
• 9:05
  Speaker 4: we currently have who had a big game against the
• 9:08
  Speaker 4: Colts because we know the linebacker core for the Bucs
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  Speaker 4: and their safeties is not their strong point. So I
• 9:14
  Speaker 4: expect another big game out of Pat Fairmouth and Darnell Washington.
• 9:19
  Speaker 4: So we'll see what happens. But I think it's imperative
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  Speaker 4: right now for the Steelers to, you know, Lean on
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  Speaker 4: what they were able to do against the Colts, but
• 9:30
  Speaker 4: understand that Tampa is not going to give Aaron Rodgers
• 9:32
  Speaker 4: a lot of chop at the apple. So every time
• 9:34
  Speaker 4: they're on the field, they're going to have to maximize
• 9:36
  Speaker 4: those drives. Those three and outs are just as important.
• 9:39
  Speaker 4: Keeping things in manageable downs are extremely important because Todd
• 9:43
  Speaker 4: Bowles is not going to have Aaron Rodgers light them up.
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  Speaker 4: He's going to be methodical, control the clock, run the ball.
• 9:49
  Speaker 4: and allow that defense to kind of play that bend
• 9:52
  Speaker 4: but don't break and take his shots at will. So
• 9:55
  Speaker 4: it's going to be an interesting chess play between Mike
• 9:57
  Speaker 4: McCarthy and Todd Bowles.
• 9:59
  Speaker 3: I think, Willie, you bring up a bunch of good points.
• 10:03
  Speaker 2: I'm going to start with that last one first before
• 10:05
  Speaker 2: we circle back to Jalen Daniels and what the Bucs
• 10:09
  Speaker 2: were able to do on Thursday night against Dallas. For
• 10:14
  Speaker 2: the last several years, Aaron Rodgers faced one of the
• 10:17
  Speaker 2: lowest blitz percentages in the league because Like you said,
• 10:20
  Speaker 2: he's so good at diagnosing it. And Todd Bowles wants
• 10:24
  Speaker 2: to blitz. And, you know, he will roll those corners up,
• 10:29
  Speaker 2: make you prove you can beat him downfield, and try
• 10:33
  Speaker 2: to get to you before you can get to your
• 10:35
  Speaker 2: passing game.
• 10:36
  Speaker 3: Now, they have not had a very good pass rush.
• 10:39
  Speaker 2: But the one thing, and we've talked about it for
• 10:40
  Speaker 2: the last several weeks, the one or two items, well,
• 10:43
  Speaker 2: there's two items really that seem to have, troubled the Steelers'
• 10:47
  Speaker 2: offensive line and have led to Aaron Rodgers being sacked
• 10:51
  Speaker 2: 14 times in five games. And that is the twists
• 10:54
  Speaker 2: and stunts up front trying to create confusion among an
• 10:59
  Speaker 2: offensive line that's still young and still, you know, presumably
• 11:02
  Speaker 2: trying to figure out its communication and its– I don't
• 11:06
  Speaker 2: want to say they don't trust each other, but that factor,
• 11:08
  Speaker 2: that unspoken factor that makes offensive lines really good.
• 11:12
  Speaker 3: We know what to do. We know your strengths and
• 11:15
  Speaker 3: weaknesses well.
• 11:16
  Speaker 2: You know, the guys to your right and to your left,
• 11:19
  Speaker 2: what they can do well, all that sort of stuff.
• 11:22
  Speaker 2: That's still a work in progress. And then we have
• 11:24
  Speaker 2: seen the Blitz get home. And, you know, I don't
• 11:27
  Speaker 2: care how good you are at Aaron Rodgers, if you
• 11:30
  Speaker 2: get the snap and your back foot is, you know,
• 11:33
  Speaker 2: you're planning and trying to get ready to throw and
• 11:35
  Speaker 2: the ball, you know, pressure's coming in your face, there's
• 11:38
  Speaker 2: nothing you could do about it, you know. You could
• 11:40
  Speaker 2: be a wizard and a magician, as we know Aaron
• 11:42
  Speaker 2: Rodgers is, but that pass rush gets home too quick.
• 11:45
  Speaker 2: There's nothing he can do. So we have seen teams
• 11:48
  Speaker 2: do the stunts up front, and we have seen teams
• 11:51
  Speaker 2: do the blitzing. And until the Steelers prove they can
• 11:55
  Speaker 2: stop that, and I'm talking about the offensive line, not
• 11:58
  Speaker 2: Aaron Rodgers diagnosing it, I think that they could still
• 12:01
  Speaker 2: see it.
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  Speaker 3: And so Todd Bowles loves to blitz.
• 12:03
  Speaker 2: It'll be an interesting part of the chess match, Willie,
• 12:07
  Speaker 2: that I'll be looking forward to be watching on Sunday.
• 12:10
  Speaker 4: Yeah, and that tends to happen when you're dealing with
• 12:13
  Speaker 4: somewhat of a young line you know i think the
• 12:16
  Speaker 4: interior line has played well versus the run um but
• 12:20
  Speaker 4: moments continues to be an issue and i think sometimes
• 12:22
  Speaker 4: communication and seeing too much and not identifying what your
• 12:26
  Speaker 4: rules are can get you in trouble in real time
• 12:29
  Speaker 4: i think when you start to look at some of
• 12:31
  Speaker 4: the mischievous like even rob go back to that dump
• 12:33
  Speaker 4: pass to jaylen warren where he went up 80 yards
• 12:36
  Speaker 4: and dk kind of he was able to block two
• 12:38
  Speaker 4: guys and we was 88 out the gate That play,
• 12:42
  Speaker 4: Zach Frazier lets a nose tackle scot through and smashes
• 12:45
  Speaker 4: Aaron Rodgers. Do you remember that play?
• 12:47
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I couldn't remember somebody. One guy got doubled, and
• 12:52
  Speaker 2: Grover Stewart was left free.
• 12:53
  Speaker 3: And I don't remember who got doubled.
• 12:54
  Speaker 4: So it was Zach Frazier and Mason McCormick in a
• 12:56
  Speaker 4: block and the same guy. Initially, it was a five-down call,
• 13:00
  Speaker 4: which is five across the board. All five linemen have
• 13:03
  Speaker 4: to take a big and leave one. And it was
• 13:07
  Speaker 4: some type of communication. But the thing is... it's a
• 13:12
  Speaker 4: common rule in basketball. It's a common rule in football.
• 13:16
  Speaker 4: If you're going to be wrong, you've got to be
• 13:18
  Speaker 4: wrong together. The line can't be split. One guy, one
• 13:21
  Speaker 4: half of the line going the other way, the other
• 13:23
  Speaker 4: line going the opposite way. And it's telling that, you
• 13:28
  Speaker 4: can tell that the guys are seeing, they're not seeing
• 13:31
  Speaker 4: the same thing. And I don't know if that, it's
• 13:33
  Speaker 4: definitely a film room thing, but it's also being able to,
• 13:37
  Speaker 4: they also have to be like some type of Max
• 13:41
  Speaker 4: was here to say it, there always has to be
• 13:42
  Speaker 4: like a checker reset, meaning like, all right, we may
• 13:45
  Speaker 4: be confused right now. Let's just call one set protection,
• 13:48
  Speaker 4: go with it. And if we're right together, we're right.
• 13:50
  Speaker 4: If we're wrong together, something right will come out of it.
• 13:53
  Speaker 4: And I don't see that with this line at times.
• 13:56
  Speaker 4: So it's something that you're going to have to continue
• 13:59
  Speaker 4: to figure out and learn. But overall, the Steelers are
• 14:02
  Speaker 4: a group that's really trying to figure it out and
• 14:05
  Speaker 4: what they are from a pass protection standpoint. And, you know,
• 14:10
  Speaker 4: you tell they're trying to protect each other in reference
• 14:13
  Speaker 4: to full slides, you know, not leaving the runner back
• 14:16
  Speaker 4: on bigger D linemen, being safe. Aaron knows how to
• 14:20
  Speaker 4: get rid of the football, but Aaron can't stop nose
• 14:22
  Speaker 4: tackles running Scott free through the A gap. He just can't.
• 14:26
  Speaker 4: So that's something that they're going to have to figure
• 14:29
  Speaker 4: out real fast.
• 14:30
  Speaker 2: Max, do you suspect that Todd Bowles– will continue, you know,
• 14:37
  Speaker 2: it seems like blitzing it is in his DNA, you know,
• 14:40
  Speaker 2: get a third down, and here comes the pressure, and
• 14:42
  Speaker 2: understanding that I think the jury's still out on whether
• 14:45
  Speaker 2: the Steelers, I mean, eventually they're going to handle it, right? Eventually,
• 14:51
  Speaker 2: at some point this season, you hope they're handling the blitz,
• 14:53
  Speaker 2: and if you blitz, Aaron Rodgers makes you pay. Right now,
• 14:56
  Speaker 2: that hasn't necessarily been the case, so does Todd Bowles
• 15:01
  Speaker 2: you know, roll the dice and continue his blitzing and
• 15:05
  Speaker 2: his DNA? Or does he think twice about it because
• 15:08
  Speaker 2: if that rush doesn't get home, and by the way,
• 15:10
  Speaker 2: it hasn't gotten home. Tampa Bay has not done a
• 15:14
  Speaker 2: good job of pressuring the quarterback at all. The two
• 15:16
  Speaker 2: worst pressure rate teams in the NFL, I believe, are
• 15:20
  Speaker 2: the Colts and the Buccaneers. If they're not the two worst,
• 15:22
  Speaker 2: they're down at the bottom of the league.
• 15:23
  Speaker 3: See, they've just held the Colts to one sack.
• 15:25
  Speaker 2: But that's going to be an interesting part of the
• 15:27
  Speaker 2: chess match to see what Todd Bowles does with his
• 15:30
  Speaker 2: defense this week against Aaron Rodgers.
• 15:35
  Speaker 5: Pressure in some type of creative way because he saw what,
• 15:39
  Speaker 5: in our two losses, was what was the issue.
• 15:42
  Speaker 3: That we couldn't handle. It was pressure.
• 15:44
  Speaker 5: And, I mean, they have the guys and the personnel.
• 15:47
  Speaker 5: When you look at the names, they have the personnel,
• 15:50
  Speaker 5: but for whatever reason, you know, their communication hasn't been there.
• 15:54
  Speaker 5: Teams have figured out a way of throwing them out
• 15:56
  Speaker 5: of it really quickly. But You know, it's something that
• 16:01
  Speaker 5: he's going to have to. He's going to have to
• 16:03
  Speaker 5: sell out on figuring out how to blitz Aaron because.
• 16:08
  Speaker 3: That's the only key right now.
• 16:10
  Speaker 5: Until this offensive line gets better at their pass-offs and
• 16:15
  Speaker 5: being able to communicate down the line, you know, it's
• 16:18
  Speaker 5: one of those things. Willie, I heard you talking, and
• 16:22
  Speaker 5: you're absolutely right. I mean, it's a film room study thing,
• 16:26
  Speaker 5: and I don't know how much they're watching together You know,
• 16:30
  Speaker 5: I hate to go back to once again, back in
• 16:32
  Speaker 5: my day, right?
• 16:33
  Speaker 3: Back in our day. Back in my day? Yeah, exactly.
• 16:37
  Speaker 5: Exactly.
• 16:38
  Speaker 3: You see here, Sonny? No. Nickel is a nickel. No.
• 16:43
  Speaker 5: But we spent that time together, right? We knew that
• 16:47
  Speaker 5: there was some type of communication gap and we knew
• 16:50
  Speaker 5: that we weren't getting it in the meeting room.
• 16:53
  Speaker 3: So we created that ourselves, right?
• 16:55
  Speaker 5: You know, we designated once a week, we would go
• 16:58
  Speaker 5: get The computer and the projector, right?
• 17:03
  Speaker 3: I mean, that's how old school it was, right?
• 17:05
  Speaker 5: We had to go check it out with Mac in
• 17:07
  Speaker 5: the video department and had Big Andy put all the
• 17:12
  Speaker 5: different cut-ups into the computer file, check out the computer
• 17:16
  Speaker 5: and the projector, and we'd pick somebody's house.
• 17:19
  Speaker 3: It'd be Juice's house. It'd be Hartwig's house, you know, whoever.
• 17:23
  Speaker 5: And then we'd get some food and we'd watch films.
• 17:26
  Speaker 5: And we would watch it on a Thursday night together
• 17:28
  Speaker 5: as a unit, go through all of our calls and
• 17:31
  Speaker 5: make sure that everybody understood. And then we came up
• 17:33
  Speaker 5: with our own calls, things that weren't the traditional terminology.
• 17:37
  Speaker 5: Cause sometimes you need something in between, right? You need
• 17:42
  Speaker 5: something that the coach can't give you because he doesn't
• 17:46
  Speaker 5: see it like you see it. And you've got to
• 17:49
  Speaker 5: have that on. And that's, that's a unit personality thing.
• 17:53
  Speaker 5: You know, we, we had all kinds of different things. We,
• 17:55
  Speaker 5: we was, saying when it was hard count, we were
• 17:57
  Speaker 5: speaking in French. We were saying, trois, trois, trois. And
• 18:00
  Speaker 5: then Juice looking.
• 18:00
  Speaker 3: At us confused.
• 18:01
  Speaker 5: I'm like, Juice, you're the one that said you wanted trois.
• 18:03
  Speaker 3: You didn't want trace.
• 18:08
  Speaker 5: But those are the type of things that when you
• 18:10
  Speaker 5: spend time as a unit together, you start to mold
• 18:13
  Speaker 5: as a group.
• 18:14
  Speaker 3: Those are the things that matter.
• 18:16
  Speaker 5: And just like you're going to see here, all those
• 18:19
  Speaker 5: different twists, all the different stunts, when you get a
• 18:22
  Speaker 5: five down MDM or you get a squeeze call, You know,
• 18:25
  Speaker 5: that has to be relayed between everybody so everybody knows
• 18:28
  Speaker 5: you're on the same page. The center starts the communication,
• 18:31
  Speaker 5: but then it's the job of the rest of the
• 18:32
  Speaker 5: line to communicate that to each other and also different assignments.
• 18:37
  Speaker 5: One side of the ball might have a different assignment
• 18:39
  Speaker 5: versus the other side. One side's going out sliding, getting
• 18:41
  Speaker 5: three for four. The other two are going two for three. And,
• 18:45
  Speaker 5: you know, you either have a duel. You know, we
• 18:47
  Speaker 5: called it a molly duel or you had a switch call.
• 18:50
  Speaker 3: Or you had.
• 18:51
  Speaker 5: Something that communicated and reverberated to make sure that all
• 18:55
  Speaker 5: five guys got their assignment done. And I think when
• 18:59
  Speaker 5: we think about Tampa Bay, that's what I want to see.
• 19:01
  Speaker 5: I want to see that communication because they're going to
• 19:04
  Speaker 5: have to blitz. And Vita Vea is a very good
• 19:06
  Speaker 5: nose in the middle. And he's going to provide a
• 19:11
  Speaker 5: lot of challenges. And listen, this isn't like the first
• 19:14
  Speaker 5: lunch pail game for Zach Frazier. Zach Frazier has been
• 19:17
  Speaker 5: getting top-notch noses at three techniques. all season so far.
• 19:22
  Speaker 5: So it's now another challenge of how can he be cleaner?
• 19:25
  Speaker 5: How can Mason McCormick and Brock Hoffman help him? How
• 19:29
  Speaker 5: can they be border walls for Zach? And how can
• 19:32
  Speaker 5: those three communicate in the interior of the line and
• 19:36
  Speaker 5: let the tackles handle the islands, right? They, you know,
• 19:39
  Speaker 5: we're always used to, and Willie knows this, we got email, right?
• 19:42
  Speaker 3: In man, online scrimmage.
• 19:43
  Speaker 5: It's either email or MDM pass pro.
• 19:45
  Speaker 3: That's the only two things we got. The inside has
• 19:48
  Speaker 3: to work the magic. They have to work.
• 19:49
  Speaker 5: D-line to linebackers, blitzing guys up the middle. You know,
• 19:53
  Speaker 5: what are you leaving for the back? All these different aspects.
• 19:56
  Speaker 5: But I think that's what it really comes down to.
• 19:58
  Speaker 5: It comes down to just taking the little bit of
• 20:00
  Speaker 5: extra time and getting to know your buddy next to
• 20:03
  Speaker 5: you and watching film together. Don't just go home and
• 20:06
  Speaker 5: turn on your Microsoft Surface tablet and sitting on the
• 20:09
  Speaker 5: couch and crack a cold one. You need to be
• 20:13
  Speaker 5: in a room with your teammate watching it after hours
• 20:16
  Speaker 5: because that's what the job is. Once we get paid
• 20:18
  Speaker 5: to do this job, it's no longer a hobby or
• 20:22
  Speaker 5: something we do.
• 20:24
  Speaker 3: As just sport. It's a profession. It's a career path,
• 20:29
  Speaker 3: and you have to do that.
• 20:30
  Speaker 5: Sometimes it takes longer hours than what's mandated by.
• 20:34
  Speaker 3: Your team. You've got to go put in the extra work.
• 20:38
  Speaker 2: All right, so that's one of the things we're certainly
• 20:40
  Speaker 2: going to be looking at tomorrow as we look at
• 20:41
  Speaker 2: the key matchups.
• 20:43
  Speaker 3: Will Todd Bowles blitz? Will the Steelers be able to
• 20:45
  Speaker 3: handle that blitz if he does?
• 20:47
  Speaker 2: I wanted to let you know that Jerry Dulac is
• 20:50
  Speaker 2: going to be joining us next hour. Tony Castricone, the
• 20:52
  Speaker 2: play-by-play man for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, is going to
• 20:55
  Speaker 2: give you the latest dope on the Bucs coming up
• 20:57
  Speaker 2: in about 15 minutes or so. Plenty more to come
• 20:59
  Speaker 2: as we're also going to look forward. I think we'll
• 21:01
  Speaker 2: do this next segment. We're going to look forward to
• 21:03
  Speaker 2: the AFC North matchups this weekend and also pick our
• 21:07
  Speaker 2: a game that intrigues us the most.
• 21:10
  Speaker 3: I've got my seven ready to go.
• 21:12
  Speaker 2: Let's see what Willie and Max have to say when
• 21:13
  Speaker 2: we continue in the locker room here on the Steelers
• 21:16
  Speaker 2: Audio Network.
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: This is In the Locker Room with Rob King, Max Starks,
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: and Willie Colon on Steelers Nation Radio, brought to you
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: in part by the Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
• 21:30
  Speaker 1: from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop.steelers.com.
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: And by your neighborhood Ford store, the F-150 is the
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: official truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
• 21:43
  Speaker 2: And thanks very much for being with us in the
• 21:44
  Speaker 2: locker room, Tony Castricone. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers play-by-play guy
• 21:48
  Speaker 2: is going to be joining us in just a little bit,
• 21:50
  Speaker 2: and we are going to be joined by Jerry Dulac
• 21:52
  Speaker 2: coming up next hour. As we do every Thursday, we
• 21:55
  Speaker 2: wanted to take a look at the AFC matchups.
• 22:01
  Speaker 3: They are brought to you by Ford, neighborhood Ford store.
• 22:05
  Speaker 2: The F-150 is the official truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers,
• 22:08
  Speaker 2: and of course, I think the one we have to
• 22:10
  Speaker 2: lead with the first game looks like a pretty good
• 22:14
  Speaker 2: chance Lamar Jackson will return as The Ravens visit the Browns.
• 22:19
  Speaker 2: Ravens 4-1, Browns 3-2. Max, let's get your early thoughts
• 22:25
  Speaker 2: on that game in which I think the Ravens are
• 22:29
  Speaker 2: the favorites going into that game in Cleveland.
• 22:32
  Speaker 3: Yeah, no, I mean, I think this is one.
• 22:35
  Speaker 5: You talk about the Browns trying to have a bounce
• 22:37
  Speaker 5: back and Ravens on the road bringing back Lamar. I
• 22:42
  Speaker 5: probably would have held Lamar out a little bit longer
• 22:44
  Speaker 5: if I were the Ravens, if I were Jesse Minter's shoes,
• 22:47
  Speaker 5: just because I know that.
• 22:50
  Speaker 3: I need him for the rest of the way.
• 22:51
  Speaker 5: And I feel like, you know, that injury, you rush
• 22:53
  Speaker 5: him back and he just say he suffers another setback. Well,
• 22:57
  Speaker 5: then now you've got an even longer injury. And, you know,
• 23:01
  Speaker 5: Snoop Huntley showed you that he that he could still
• 23:03
  Speaker 5: win games for you. I mean, he he's a quarterback
• 23:06
  Speaker 5: that's done this a number of times. He's played against
• 23:08
  Speaker 5: the Browns. and he's a capable guy. I just don't
• 23:14
  Speaker 5: know if I would have rushed Lamar back. But listen,
• 23:17
  Speaker 5: we also don't see the Ravens until the back half
• 23:19
  Speaker 5: of the year. So listen, send him out there selfishly
• 23:23
  Speaker 5: and hope he gets injured. But I think it's going
• 23:27
  Speaker 5: to be a tough game. That offensive line.
• 23:30
  Speaker 3: Got better.
• 23:30
  Speaker 5: They traded for Cam Juergen so they didn't have to
• 23:32
  Speaker 5: move Vega into the center position, which kept them a
• 23:36
  Speaker 5: little solid up front.
• 23:37
  Speaker 3: But I still think Atlanta got after them. pretty good.
• 23:40
  Speaker 5: So if Lamar is less than 100%, you know, that's
• 23:44
  Speaker 5: going to be a problem. And listen, we know what
• 23:47
  Speaker 5: the Cleveland Browns defensive line can do. We watched it
• 23:50
  Speaker 5: absolutely terrorize us on a Thursday night game, but that
• 23:53
  Speaker 5: was a short week. So, you know, when I kind
• 23:56
  Speaker 5: of look at this game, I think this is very interesting.
• 23:58
  Speaker 5: You know, the Ravens come in four and one and,
• 24:01
  Speaker 5: you know, the Browns are three and two. I think
• 24:03
  Speaker 5: this is one of the Browns, you know, I hate
• 24:04
  Speaker 5: to say it. I think they could actually take this
• 24:06
  Speaker 5: one potentially just depending on the health of Lamar and
• 24:10
  Speaker 5: how healthy he is coming out to that game.
• 24:13
  Speaker 2: Well, it'll be an interesting decision as to whether they
• 24:15
  Speaker 2: play him, for sure. And right now it seems like
• 24:21
  Speaker 2: it's leaning in the direction of him being able to play. Cleveland, meanwhile,
• 24:26
  Speaker 2: they're pretty banged up right now, and you wonder, you know,
• 24:29
  Speaker 2: Schlesinger is questionable.
• 24:33
  Speaker 3: Delpit is questionable. Mason Graham is doubtful.
• 24:36
  Speaker 2: So you talk about the defense, that's, you know, with
• 24:39
  Speaker 2: Denzel Ward, I think I just probably named three of
• 24:41
  Speaker 2: their four best players right there. And Judkins has been
• 24:45
  Speaker 2: banged up, and Denzel Boston's a little bit banged up.
• 24:48
  Speaker 3: But, you know, assuming those guys play, this is one, Willie,
• 24:53
  Speaker 3: where I don't care who wins. You know what I mean?
• 24:57
  Speaker 3: Either way, an AFC North team's going to lose.
• 25:01
  Speaker 2: But Cleveland at home, I mean, Cleveland– puts themselves on
• 25:04
  Speaker 2: the map if they can find a way to win
• 25:07
  Speaker 2: this game. All of a sudden, I think there's going
• 25:10
  Speaker 2: to be a different perception, right or wrong, of the
• 25:13
  Speaker 2: Browns around the NFL if they win this game.
• 25:18
  Speaker 4: Yeah, unfortunately, guys, I see the Ravens blowing the boots
• 25:21
  Speaker 4: off the Browns.
• 25:24
  Speaker 3: Okay.
• 25:25
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I think partly because I think a good reason,
• 25:29
  Speaker 4: one of my factors going into this game, why I
• 25:32
  Speaker 4: think the Ravens will beat the Browns is because The
• 25:34
  Speaker 4: Browns are severely injured. This is not one of those
• 25:36
  Speaker 4: things where, you know, they get one or two guys out.
• 25:41
  Speaker 4: I mean, they missed their– I think there's two or
• 25:43
  Speaker 4: three guys that are starting off the line that's maybe
• 25:46
  Speaker 4: not playing in this game. Quincy on Junkins may be
• 25:50
  Speaker 4: out for this game. Casey Concepcion got knocked out the
• 25:53
  Speaker 4: game last week by Minka Fitzpatrick. And then, you know,
• 25:56
  Speaker 4: they didn't play all that well against the Jets. partially
• 26:00
  Speaker 4: because the Jets blitzed them and, you know, the Jets
• 26:03
  Speaker 4: front seven really got after Deshaun Watson and outside of
• 26:08
  Speaker 4: Denzel Boston, they really didn't have much offense. So to
• 26:11
  Speaker 4: think that, you know, the Ravens coming off an emotional
• 26:14
  Speaker 4: win on Sunday night football in which they, to your point, Max,
• 26:17
  Speaker 4: they felt comfortable with Snoop Huntley leading that offense and
• 26:21
  Speaker 4: obviously Ken Henry doing what Ken Henry does. And the defense,
• 26:24
  Speaker 4: their pass rush was really, was pretty, was stifling. The
• 26:28
  Speaker 4: kid green that came out of Marshall, man, he really
• 26:31
  Speaker 4: had a good game against the Falcons. So, I would
• 26:34
  Speaker 4: like to think the Browns have a shot. Yes, we
• 26:36
  Speaker 4: know collectively their roster is really young. There's a lot
• 26:39
  Speaker 4: of talent. But a lot of that talent there, depending
• 26:41
  Speaker 4: on his bang, now defensively, is going to come up
• 26:44
  Speaker 4: to their defensive line and their secondary kind of neutralize
• 26:47
  Speaker 4: what Huntley does. You know, I've said this before, Snoop
• 26:50
  Speaker 4: Huntley likes to, he'll scramble, he'll run. But he scrambles
• 26:53
  Speaker 4: a run. He's not scrambling to throw the ball. So,
• 26:56
  Speaker 4: it all starts with him, but I can see the
• 26:58
  Speaker 4: Ravens not even putting it in his hands. Um, I
• 27:01
  Speaker 4: can see this. He'd be a very run dominant game
• 27:03
  Speaker 4: by the Ravens and just pounding the ball down the
• 27:06
  Speaker 4: Browns throat. So we'll see. Uh, but I think the
• 27:08
  Speaker 4: Ravens really, really put the boots to the Browns and
• 27:11
  Speaker 4: this thing is going to be over early.
• 27:13
  Speaker 2: You know, one of the reasons that I thought that
• 27:16
  Speaker 2: the Browns were going to be better this year. Um, again, I, I,
• 27:21
  Speaker 2: I did expect them to take a step forward because
• 27:23
  Speaker 2: I thought the defense would be solid right now. You
• 27:25
  Speaker 2: don't have, obviously, you know, Miles Garrett is gone. You
• 27:30
  Speaker 2: traded him. You know, you picked up an extra first.
• 27:33
  Speaker 2: You have a guy in Jared Burst who's, you know,
• 27:35
  Speaker 2: a good player. He's not Miles Garrett, but he's a
• 27:38
  Speaker 2: good player. I thought the defense would be fine. I
• 27:40
  Speaker 2: really thought their offensive line was going to take a
• 27:43
  Speaker 2: step forward. And it might still. I mean, they had
• 27:46
  Speaker 2: Fano with the first-round pick at left tackle. They really
• 27:52
  Speaker 2: like Austin Barber, who we saw. He looked impressive. a
• 27:54
  Speaker 2: guy who'd been a tackle his whole career. They put
• 27:56
  Speaker 2: him at right guard. But with the additions of Elton Jenkins,
• 27:59
  Speaker 2: who didn't play against the Steelers with an injury, Titus
• 28:02
  Speaker 2: Howard at right tackle, Zion Johnson, I know people were
• 28:06
  Speaker 2: critical of that signing. I just thought this offensive line, Willie,
• 28:09
  Speaker 2: was going to be way improved, and that was going
• 28:12
  Speaker 2: to unlock Judkins, and those guys on the outside were
• 28:16
  Speaker 2: going to be weapons. Well, it's been the exact opposite.
• 28:19
  Speaker 2: The outside guys... are the guys, Boston and Concepcion, that
• 28:23
  Speaker 2: have been driving this offense. They just can't find a
• 28:25
  Speaker 2: way to get Judkins going. And I know talking to
• 28:27
  Speaker 2: the people up in Cleveland, you watch Judkins, he reminds
• 28:31
  Speaker 2: me a little bit of a little more shifty, a
• 28:34
  Speaker 2: little bit faster, maybe not quite as big, but a
• 28:37
  Speaker 2: hard-running guy like a Najee Harris type of guy. And
• 28:41
  Speaker 2: they just can't, they can't even get him to the
• 28:43
  Speaker 2: line of scrimmage. You know, they still like him and
• 28:46
  Speaker 2: they still think he's a quality NFL running back, but
• 28:49
  Speaker 2: the offensive line just cannot find a way to open
• 28:53
  Speaker 2: up holes for him. And so they've been better, like
• 28:57
  Speaker 2: I expected them to be, but they've been better in
• 28:58
  Speaker 2: a way, not the way I expected them to be.
• 29:01
  Speaker 2: You know, Deshaun Watson's been pretty good, and the receivers
• 29:04
  Speaker 2: have been pretty good. They can't get Judkins going, though,
• 29:06
  Speaker 2: and that could spell big problems against the Ravens.
• 29:10
  Speaker 4: It can, and I think he's, And I think he
• 29:14
  Speaker 4: understands that. But, you know, him now being dinged and
• 29:17
  Speaker 4: Titus Howard, one of their office alum, being dinged as well,
• 29:22
  Speaker 4: part of it is scheme. And they're just going to
• 29:25
  Speaker 4: have to find ways to feature him in the office
• 29:27
  Speaker 4: that may be untraditional to his running back role because
• 29:29
  Speaker 4: he can't catch the ball at the backfield. He does
• 29:31
  Speaker 4: have hands. But we know his superpowers, being able to
• 29:35
  Speaker 4: run the ball in between the tackles. I don't know.
• 29:37
  Speaker 4: I really don't have an answer to that. for you, Rob,
• 29:41
  Speaker 4: other than the offensive line is still trying to find
• 29:44
  Speaker 4: this cohesion. Schematically, they have to figure out what works
• 29:48
  Speaker 4: best for them. But we also said a lot of
• 29:50
  Speaker 4: teams don't know who they are until week five or six. Well,
• 29:52
  Speaker 4: here we are, and there's still some questions. But I
• 29:54
  Speaker 4: think a lot of the questions revolve around the health
• 29:58
  Speaker 4: of this team. And so while Yes, they've had, you know,
• 30:02
  Speaker 4: the Browns haven't had, I don't think they've played a
• 30:04
  Speaker 4: team over 500 yet. So with that said, you know,
• 30:09
  Speaker 4: this is a true test to see if they're going
• 30:11
  Speaker 4: to be able to step up in weight class and
• 30:14
  Speaker 4: really bully or potentially try to bully the Baltimore Ravens
• 30:17
  Speaker 4: or are they going to get bullied. And it does
• 30:19
  Speaker 4: a fair well considering all the injuries that they do
• 30:22
  Speaker 4: have and the fact that if Lamar Jackson does play,
• 30:25
  Speaker 4: now you've got a healthy Lamar Jackson rolling into Cleveland. Yeah.
• 30:29
  Speaker 4: You know, it's tough to swallow when you try to
• 30:32
  Speaker 4: be optimistic, but nevertheless, we shall see. But I think
• 30:36
  Speaker 4: if the Browns want to win this game, defensively they're
• 30:39
  Speaker 4: going to have to get one or two turnovers that
• 30:42
  Speaker 4: roll into touchdowns that they can convert. If not, I
• 30:45
  Speaker 4: just don't see the Browns offense being able to step
• 30:47
  Speaker 4: up and compete against the Ravens defense.
• 30:50
  Speaker 2: And the other team in the AFC North is the
• 30:54
  Speaker 2: Cincinnati Bengals. They're going to buy one of four teams
• 30:56
  Speaker 2: of the Lions, the Dolphins, and the Vikings. that have
• 30:59
  Speaker 2: a buy, first buys of the year. Max, your thoughts on,
• 31:02
  Speaker 2: we just have about a minute or so here, maybe
• 31:04
  Speaker 2: even a little bit less. As a team, I don't
• 31:06
  Speaker 2: think I'd want to buy this early. I just don't think.
• 31:08
  Speaker 2: I mean, if you're banged up, maybe Cleveland is one
• 31:11
  Speaker 2: of those teams that would love a buy this early.
• 31:13
  Speaker 3: But I think by and large, if I'm a team,
• 31:15
  Speaker 3: I don't want to buy in week five. No, no.
• 31:18
  Speaker 3: I mean, this is not the ideal situation.
• 31:21
  Speaker 5: It's a long slog of a second half when you
• 31:24
  Speaker 5: don't have That full week off, I mean, we always
• 31:27
  Speaker 5: talk about the mini-bye in Thursday night football, and, you know,
• 31:30
  Speaker 5: the Bengals will have one of those, but that's still
• 31:33
  Speaker 5: not the same. I mean, a bye is a bye,
• 31:35
  Speaker 5: and you need that full week recovery, and you love
• 31:38
  Speaker 5: to be in that sweet spot of week 8, 9, 10.
• 31:42
  Speaker 5: That's where you want to be, 7 at the worst.
• 31:45
  Speaker 5: But when you get it in, you know, week 5,
• 31:48
  Speaker 5: week 6, that stuff, or you go like week 13,
• 31:51
  Speaker 5: I think is the latest date you can have a bye,
• 31:54
  Speaker 5: that's just– that's just a lot of wear and tear
• 31:57
  Speaker 5: on the body. And I think if we eventually get
• 32:00
  Speaker 5: to the 18 games, I think you'll see double-bys in there.
• 32:02
  Speaker 4: That's right.
• 32:03
  Speaker 5: Just because that's going to be mandatory.
• 32:06
  Speaker 3: When you go to 18 games.
• 32:07
  Speaker 5: And I think that 18th game pushes everybody to an
• 32:10
  Speaker 5: international game as well. So you've got to take that
• 32:13
  Speaker 5: into account. I mean, granted, the Seattle Seahawks are the
• 32:16
  Speaker 5: team that always travels the most miles, right, year in
• 32:20
  Speaker 5: and year out, just for where they are geographically. But
• 32:22
  Speaker 5: you just, yeah, that's just a tough toll on the
• 32:25
  Speaker 5: body to have to get ready and then throw in
• 32:28
  Speaker 5: short weeks mixed in with maybe a long week.
• 32:31
  Speaker 3: Here and there.
• 32:32
  Speaker 5: But for all intents and purposes, you go to a
• 32:34
  Speaker 5: Monday night and you're going to get a Sunday game
• 32:35
  Speaker 5: the next week. You know, if you have Thursday night football,
• 32:39
  Speaker 5: you get a little bit of a break. But on
• 32:41
  Speaker 5: the front end, you just played on Sunday and then
• 32:43
  Speaker 5: you're either traveling or you're hosting at home on a
• 32:45
  Speaker 5: Thursday night. So all of that kind of messes up
• 32:47
  Speaker 5: the whole circadian rhythm of the body.
• 32:49
  Speaker 3: All right, stick around.
• 32:50
  Speaker 2: Tony Castrico and the fine play-by-play man for the Tampa
• 32:53
  Speaker 2: Bay Buccaneers is going to be joining us next to
• 32:54
  Speaker 2: give you the latest dope on the Bucs prior to
• 32:57
  Speaker 2: Sunday's game.
• 32:58
  Speaker 3: We continue here in the locker room on the Steelers
• 33:00
  Speaker 3: Audio Network.
• 33:12
  Speaker 1: This is In the Locker Room with Rob King, Max Starks,
• 33:17
  Speaker 1: and Willie Colon on Steelers Nation Radio. Brought to you
• 33:20
  Speaker 1: in part by the Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
• 33:23
  Speaker 1: from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop.steelers.com.
• 33:28
  Speaker 1: And by your neighborhood Ford store. The F-150 is the
• 33:32
  Speaker 1: official truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
• 33:36
  Speaker 2: And thanks very much for being with us in the
• 33:37
  Speaker 2: locker room, getting you ready for the Steelers and the
• 33:39
  Speaker 2: Bucs coming up on Sunday. Steelers looking for their first
• 33:42
  Speaker 2: home or road win of the season. The Bucs looking
• 33:45
  Speaker 2: for their first home win of the season. Tony Castricone,
• 33:48
  Speaker 2: play-by-play man for the Tampa Bay Bucs, joins us now. Tony,
• 33:51
  Speaker 2: how are you? I'm sure it's– well, I shouldn't be sure.
• 33:54
  Speaker 2: I guess you've had rainy weather down there. Sunshiny and
• 33:57
  Speaker 2: lovely down in Florida right now?
• 33:59
  Speaker 3: Yeah, it's perfect.
• 34:01
  Speaker 1: Come on down.
• 34:02
  Speaker 6: Enjoy the weather. The water's fine. It's– It's going to
• 34:05
  Speaker 6: be a game where something's got to give, right? You know,
• 34:07
  Speaker 6: you just mentioned 0-2 on the road for the Steelers,
• 34:10
  Speaker 6: 0-3 at home for the Bucs. So both these teams
• 34:12
  Speaker 6: want this one pretty bad. But I'd say the crew
• 34:15
  Speaker 6: is feeling much better after a week ago going on
• 34:20
  Speaker 6: the road and getting that first win of the season
• 34:21
  Speaker 6: against Dallas. You know, you start off 0-4, and everybody's
• 34:24
  Speaker 6: kind of just wondering, okay, when's it going to end, right?
• 34:27
  Speaker 6: And to go out there and play as well as
• 34:28
  Speaker 6: they did on the national scene in Jerry World and
• 34:31
  Speaker 6: get the win, that was big for this team.
• 34:33
  Speaker 2: Did it with Jalen Daniels at the controls. I guess
• 34:37
  Speaker 2: the door is open for Baker Mayfield to potentially return
• 34:42
  Speaker 2: on Sunday, and I would imagine that would be quite
• 34:44
  Speaker 2: a different game plan, whether it's Mayfield or whether it's
• 34:46
  Speaker 2: Daniels under center for Tampa Bay.
• 34:50
  Speaker 6: It doesn't sound like it's trending in that direction that
• 34:53
  Speaker 6: Baker would play, but it all just comes down to
• 34:54
  Speaker 6: can he grip the football, right? I mean, a dislocated
• 34:57
  Speaker 6: thumb on your throwing hand– I mean all the toughness
• 35:01
  Speaker 6: in the world at a certain point, you know, can
• 35:04
  Speaker 6: you just get your finger to bend and grip and,
• 35:08
  Speaker 6: and then let it rip. That's what it comes down to.
• 35:09
  Speaker 6: So yeah, You know, I mean, I think everybody's preparing
• 35:12
  Speaker 6: as if Jalen Daniels would be the guy.
• 35:14
  Speaker 3: Be interesting to see.
• 35:15
  Speaker 6: If Baker Mayfield can can, you know, make a pretty
• 35:20
  Speaker 6: miraculous race to the finish line here for for Sunday
• 35:23
  Speaker 6: to get back out there. But Jalen's done a nice job.
• 35:26
  Speaker 6: And Todd Bowles even said in his in his coaches
• 35:28
  Speaker 6: show this week. You know, they are very similar in
• 35:34
  Speaker 6: their leadership styles and just with their capacity mentally. Now,
• 35:38
  Speaker 6: Baker's got the accumulated knowledge that Jalen doesn't have yet.
• 35:43
  Speaker 6: And obviously, Baker's a phenomenal player, and it's his team.
• 35:47
  Speaker 6: But he was really impressed with the way that Jalen
• 35:50
  Speaker 6: was able to step in as a rookie into a
• 35:52
  Speaker 6: tough situation where your 0-3 went when he comes in,
• 35:55
  Speaker 6: and then after the loss to Green Bay, 0-4. and
• 35:58
  Speaker 6: just had the leadership to take.
• 36:00
  Speaker 3: Them on the road. You know, Dallas gets the ball first.
• 36:03
  Speaker 6: They go right down the field, seven, nothing Cowboys.
• 36:05
  Speaker 4: Here we go again.
• 36:06
  Speaker 3: Right.
• 36:07
  Speaker 6: And the rookie just poised, like just chipping away 15 plays,
• 36:13
  Speaker 6: 73 yards, 10 minutes, 58.
• 36:15
  Speaker 3: Seconds off the clock.
• 36:16
  Speaker 6: They didn't get in the end zone until the second quarter,
• 36:18
  Speaker 6: but he just did the little things that you need
• 36:21
  Speaker 6: to do. Went eight for eight on that opening drive.
• 36:23
  Speaker 6: and help Tampa Bay get that first win. So they
• 36:26
  Speaker 6: are impressed with Jalen Daniels, even though he is an
• 36:29
  Speaker 6: undrafted rookie, and they do feel like he's capable of
• 36:33
  Speaker 6: going out there and getting the win. That way you
• 36:34
  Speaker 6: don't have to rush Baker back. But certainly it's Baker's team.
• 36:39
  Speaker 6: Whenever he's ready to go, he'll go.
• 36:43
  Speaker 5: Yeah, and Tony, also another thing that obviously eases a rookie's,
• 36:50
  Speaker 5: I guess, process in this game, is would you have
• 36:54
  Speaker 5: an explosive running game? And Bucky Irving looked like, I think,
• 36:59
  Speaker 5: I think they're still putting roadblocks up on I-4 in
• 37:02
  Speaker 5: case he starts to run again, just to slow him down. But,
• 37:07
  Speaker 5: you know, as you kind of look at that, I mean,
• 37:09
  Speaker 5: a run game, obviously you had some injuries to the
• 37:11
  Speaker 5: offensive line, but how big is that to have Bucky
• 37:15
  Speaker 5: Irving kind of unlocked, you know, in that game against
• 37:19
  Speaker 5: the Cowboys and he just kind of ran roughshod that allowed,
• 37:23
  Speaker 5: you know, Jalen to kind of, like you said, have
• 37:25
  Speaker 5: that maturation. I mean, he completes 76% of his passes.
• 37:29
  Speaker 5: So having that one-two punch or two dimensions to the offense,
• 37:32
  Speaker 5: how much was that nice to see in that victory?
• 37:37
  Speaker 3: Absolutely huge.
• 37:38
  Speaker 6: And, you know, I mean, it's funny how conversations get
• 37:41
  Speaker 6: started and stuff. I mean, I think if Tampa Bay's
• 37:44
  Speaker 6: record was a little bit different, if the Bucs were
• 37:45
  Speaker 6: maybe three and two right now, you might be talking
• 37:49
  Speaker 6: about Bucky as one of the top three, five running
• 37:51
  Speaker 6: backs in the NFL here this year for the way
• 37:53
  Speaker 6: that his season has started. And yeah, I mean, 165
• 37:58
  Speaker 6: yards on the ground, 10th most by a single player
• 38:01
  Speaker 6: in Buccaneers history, most rushing yards in Bucks history on
• 38:05
  Speaker 6: 21 attempts or fewer.
• 38:06
  Speaker 3: He averaged 7.9 a pop.
• 38:08
  Speaker 6: That was the fifth most in Bucks history with a
• 38:10
  Speaker 6: minimum of 20 attempts and His 72-yard burst was the
• 38:14
  Speaker 6: eighth longest run in Bucs history. I mean, he had
• 38:16
  Speaker 6: a historic night on Thursday Night Football in a big-time situation. Like,
• 38:21
  Speaker 6: they needed that out of him in order to... you know,
• 38:26
  Speaker 6: get in the wind column for the first time this year.
• 38:29
  Speaker 3: He's so shifty.
• 38:31
  Speaker 6: You know, Todd Bowles saying during his coach's show, he
• 38:33
  Speaker 6: doesn't know that there's a guy that has as good
• 38:36
  Speaker 6: a stop start as Bucky Irving does in the league.
• 38:39
  Speaker 6: He had 10 missed tackles forced, which was the most
• 38:42
  Speaker 6: of week five throughout the NFL. And so he's been awesome.
• 38:47
  Speaker 6: There's no doubt about it. Y'all have an awesome running
• 38:50
  Speaker 6: back as well. who has really carried the load. But
• 38:53
  Speaker 6: Bucky's been a lot of fun to watch, and it
• 38:56
  Speaker 6: should be interesting to see how he's able to operate
• 39:00
  Speaker 6: against that strong Steelers front that you all will be
• 39:03
  Speaker 6: bringing into town.
• 39:11
  Speaker 3: Willie, are you there? We're having some trouble.
• 39:13
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I'm here. Do you hear me now?
• 39:15
  Speaker 3: Yeah, we got you now.
• 39:16
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I apologize. So, listen, the Bucs have one of
• 39:20
  Speaker 4: the best run defenses in the league. And, you know,
• 39:22
  Speaker 4: Vita Vare in that front seven will always get a
• 39:24
  Speaker 4: lot of credit. You mentioned Jalen Warren and our offensive
• 39:27
  Speaker 4: line coming into town, obviously wanting to oppose their will,
• 39:31
  Speaker 4: but you guys have a safety by the name of
• 39:33
  Speaker 4: Tyree Smith, who's been an absolute menace, who hasn't gotten
• 39:38
  Speaker 4: a lot of credit. Can you talk a little bit
• 39:40
  Speaker 4: about this defensive line and Tyree Smith and this defense
• 39:43
  Speaker 4: as a whole and how well they've played thus far?
• 39:46
  Speaker 6: Yeah, I think one of the biggest offseason acquisitions for
• 39:50
  Speaker 6: the team, maybe the biggest, A'shaun Robinson, when you're looking
• 39:54
  Speaker 6: at the defensive side of the ball, like they needed
• 39:56
  Speaker 6: to get a linebacker to go out there and wear
• 39:59
  Speaker 6: the green dot. And Alex Anzalone has come in and
• 40:02
  Speaker 6: done the best he can at picking up a new defense.
• 40:04
  Speaker 6: But that takes some time. And we're seeing Anzalone at
• 40:07
  Speaker 6: linebacker improve week after week after kind.
• 40:10
  Speaker 4: Of a rough start.
• 40:11
  Speaker 6: But A'shaun Robinson has just been an anchor down there
• 40:14
  Speaker 6: on the defensive line. They went out and got him
• 40:17
  Speaker 6: to a one-year deal. He had the ninth-best run-stop percentage
• 40:20
  Speaker 6: in week one, according to PFF, the third-best among interior
• 40:23
  Speaker 6: defensive linemen. You look at the way that he's kind
• 40:27
  Speaker 6: of just come up with these big plays. He got
• 40:29
  Speaker 6: a sack against the Browns. He came up with a
• 40:31
  Speaker 6: really difficult interception to make in a game against the
• 40:34
  Speaker 6: Vikings that, unfortunately, they weren't able to really totally capitalize on.
• 40:39
  Speaker 6: And that's the kind of thing that makes a difference
• 40:41
  Speaker 6: in the ballgame. You set up your team with amazing
• 40:44
  Speaker 6: field position players at the plus 22 with an interception
• 40:48
  Speaker 6: like that, you've done your part, right? And then, you know,
• 40:51
  Speaker 6: just at that point in the season, the offense hadn't
• 40:53
  Speaker 6: clicked yet to be able to capitalize, and you end
• 40:56
  Speaker 6: up losing that game against Minnesota. But at the end
• 41:00
  Speaker 6: of the day, A'shawn's been huge on that defensive line.
• 41:03
  Speaker 3: We all know about Vita Veya.
• 41:05
  Speaker 6: Kalijah Cansey coming off the torn pec from a season ago,
• 41:08
  Speaker 6: you know, like he hasn't put up. And that's a
• 41:11
  Speaker 6: Pitt guy.
• 41:12
  Speaker 4: He hasn't put up.
• 41:13
  Speaker 6: The sack numbers he did early in his career, but
• 41:17
  Speaker 6: he has still been effective at helping in that run game.
• 41:21
  Speaker 6: I think he had a quarterback hit on Dak the
• 41:26
  Speaker 6: other night, and you saw him kind of breaking through
• 41:28
  Speaker 6: and making Dak uncomfortable and just getting him off his spot.
• 41:32
  Speaker 6: You know, so I think that that defensive front has
• 41:35
  Speaker 6: been pretty stout. And then you look at the back
• 41:38
  Speaker 6: end of the defense, Tykee Smith with Antoine Winfield out,
• 41:42
  Speaker 6: they actually asked Tykee to take on more of, of
• 41:46
  Speaker 6: his role as being a guy that can kind of
• 41:49
  Speaker 6: do a little blitzing and those sorts of things. And,
• 41:51
  Speaker 6: I thought Tykee had a pretty good game. You know,
• 41:54
  Speaker 6: he had a quarterback hit and a forced fumble against
• 41:56
  Speaker 6: Green Bay. He had a couple quarterback hits in the
• 41:59
  Speaker 6: game against Dallas. And I think Keith Smith is a
• 42:02
  Speaker 6: guy that's just, he's a playmaker. Like, he just kind
• 42:05
  Speaker 6: of has a knack for being around the football and
• 42:07
  Speaker 6: making those sorts of plays. And so they need him
• 42:10
  Speaker 6: desperately to continue to step up with Antoine Winfield Jr. out.
• 42:14
  Speaker 3: A couple of Pitt guys, by the way, Kalijah Canty,
• 42:16
  Speaker 3: Servasi A. Dennis.
• 42:17
  Speaker 2: Real quick, before I get to my question for you,
• 42:21
  Speaker 2: Was there any talk that A'shaun Robinson wasn't touched when
• 42:23
  Speaker 2: he had that interception? Because he got up and ran
• 42:25
  Speaker 2: into the end zone. And I'm like, I think that's
• 42:28
  Speaker 2: a touchdown. I don't know if he was touched in
• 42:30
  Speaker 2: the way. I just watched the game this morning. That's
• 42:32
  Speaker 2: why it's fresh in my mind.
• 42:34
  Speaker 6: Yeah, I didn't really think it live. And I didn't really, yeah,
• 42:40
  Speaker 6: I didn't go back and analyze that too much. And
• 42:42
  Speaker 6: you know how it is when you're calling a game.
• 42:44
  Speaker 6: Like how it looks live is kind of how it
• 42:45
  Speaker 6: sticks with you a little bit. Well, so here's my,
• 42:48
  Speaker 6: no doubt.
• 42:48
  Speaker 3: I'll have to go back and watch it.
• 42:50
  Speaker 2: So here's my next question for you because we don't
• 42:52
  Speaker 2: have the luxury of– so when I'm watching the game
• 42:55
  Speaker 2: as a fan, I might watch an offensive tackle like
• 42:58
  Speaker 2: Max Ahanachor, the rookie right tackle.
• 43:00
  Speaker 3: I might watch him live for a couple plays. We
• 43:02
  Speaker 3: don't have that luxury, Tony. We have to follow the ball.
• 43:04
  Speaker 3: It's part of our job. Well, frankly, it is our job,
• 43:07
  Speaker 3: that and describing what's happening.
• 43:09
  Speaker 2: So I will go back and watch– when I rewatched
• 43:12
  Speaker 2: the Steelers, I watched Max Ahanachor a lot. I'll be
• 43:15
  Speaker 2: very interested to watch– Zach Frazier against Vita Bay, I
• 43:20
  Speaker 2: think that's a heavyweight matchup.
• 43:21
  Speaker 3: The other guy that.
• 43:22
  Speaker 2: I'll be watching more back on tape is Tristan Wirfs,
• 43:27
  Speaker 2: who might be the best left tackle in football. I
• 43:31
  Speaker 2: know he was a right tackle before, but an all-pro
• 43:33
  Speaker 2: and pro bowler, perennial guy, made the switch seamlessly.
• 43:38
  Speaker 3: I know he was dinged up a little bit last year.
• 43:40
  Speaker 3: How has he been? Is he back?
• 43:42
  Speaker 2: Because Minnesota really took it to Tampa Bay in the
• 43:47
  Speaker 2: pass rush game, But but Wirfs is just such an
• 43:50
  Speaker 2: anchor on that left side of the offensive line for
• 43:53
  Speaker 2: the Tampa Bay.
• 43:55
  Speaker 6: Yeah, there was a lot of pressure the Vikings put
• 43:58
  Speaker 6: on not just Tampa Bay, but pretty much everybody that
• 44:00
  Speaker 6: they played this year. I think when you look at
• 44:03
  Speaker 6: where that pressure was coming from, Wirfs has been incredible
• 44:07
  Speaker 6: at that left tackle position. I mean, like you go
• 44:09
  Speaker 6: back and watch kind of his one on one's. And
• 44:13
  Speaker 6: it feels like he's dominating them pretty much every time.
• 44:15
  Speaker 6: I think I saw the PFF stat earlier today that
• 44:18
  Speaker 6: he's got the most consecutive snaps in all the NFL
• 44:22
  Speaker 6: for not giving up a pressure at the tackle position,
• 44:24
  Speaker 6: left or right. And that's the active streak. I think
• 44:28
  Speaker 6: it's 90 straight snaps. And so, yeah, I mean, he's
• 44:30
  Speaker 6: one of the best in the game. There's no doubt
• 44:32
  Speaker 6: about it. I mean, he got a little bit of
• 44:34
  Speaker 6: a knee against Dallas, you know, came back into the game,
• 44:38
  Speaker 6: was on the injury report. This dude's tough as nails.
• 44:40
  Speaker 6: I mean, he's he's out there all the time. I
• 44:42
  Speaker 6: think he was full go yesterday. And so but I yeah,
• 44:46
  Speaker 6: I mean, that's going to be really fun to see, like,
• 44:48
  Speaker 6: you know, who's who's matched up on his side. Whoever
• 44:52
  Speaker 6: it is going up against Wirfs, you all got some
• 44:55
  Speaker 6: great edge rushers, so it'll be fun to watch. But
• 44:58
  Speaker 6: Wirfs has been really good to start this year.
• 45:03
  Speaker 5: And I want to kind of pick your brain. Reuben
• 45:08
  Speaker 5: Bain Jr., where are we at with him, and what
• 45:12
  Speaker 5: have you seen kind of out of him as he's
• 45:16
  Speaker 5: been playing? I know that he's a rookie. He's a
• 45:20
  Speaker 5: little bit undersized. But, I mean, strong.
• 45:23
  Speaker 3: I mean, I called, like, a number of his Miami
• 45:26
  Speaker 3: games last year. I mean, with him and Mesador, they were, like, unstoppable.
• 45:30
  Speaker 5: But how has he transitioned? And where do you feel
• 45:34
  Speaker 5: his effect is? Because I don't think, you know, he
• 45:36
  Speaker 5: hasn't really logged a lot of snaps or plays where
• 45:39
  Speaker 5: he's made plays. Where do you think– do you think
• 45:42
  Speaker 5: that's something schematic or rotationally? Or has it just been
• 45:47
  Speaker 5: a tough transition for him?
• 45:49
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 45:50
  Speaker 6: I think the jury is still out. I mean, everything
• 45:53
  Speaker 6: that you brought up there is probably part of it.
• 45:56
  Speaker 3: Right. And he's played three games.
• 45:58
  Speaker 6: He played in the first two, then was inactive with
• 46:01
  Speaker 6: a groin for a couple of weeks before coming back
• 46:03
  Speaker 6: 35 snaps in Dallas on Thursday night.
• 46:06
  Speaker 3: But, you know, this is a guy that.
• 46:08
  Speaker 6: Like, you know, through camp, everybody was just talking about,
• 46:11
  Speaker 6: cannot wait to see him get unleashed. And I, while
• 46:15
  Speaker 6: they didn't come through with any sacks, even as a
• 46:18
  Speaker 6: unit at Dallas, Todd Bowles really feels like the, the
• 46:24
  Speaker 6: pass rush is what won them that game, that their
• 46:28
  Speaker 6: ability to get Dak off his spot, make him uncomfortable,
• 46:32
  Speaker 6: make him erratic when he was throwing downfield, like that
• 46:35
  Speaker 6: is what won them the game. And so it doesn't
• 46:37
  Speaker 6: show up with the sacks and I'm talking about the
• 46:39
  Speaker 6: unit altogether. So like Bain on his own, I think
• 46:42
  Speaker 6: he kind of, You laid it out nicely, kind of
• 46:45
  Speaker 6: all that what's at play there with his lack of
• 46:47
  Speaker 6: productivity through three games. But, you know, they kind of
• 46:51
  Speaker 6: feel like sacks are the stats, but what really wins
• 46:55
  Speaker 6: you the games are securing the turnovers and making the
• 46:58
  Speaker 6: quarterback uncomfortable. And I think that that's kind of really
• 47:02
  Speaker 6: what the focus is. But I'll tell you, like, I mean,
• 47:04
  Speaker 6: if you would have told me, that Diaby, Bain, Cee,
• 47:08
  Speaker 6: and Muhammad would combine for no sacks through the first
• 47:11
  Speaker 6: five weeks of the season, I would have been like, well,
• 47:14
  Speaker 6: how is this defense doing anything?
• 47:16
  Speaker 3: And yet the defense is really good. Like, it's definitely the.
• 47:19
  Speaker 4: Team's strength here through five weeks.
• 47:21
  Speaker 6: And so, you know, sometimes the stats, you know, say
• 47:24
  Speaker 6: kind of funny things. And, you know, it'll be interesting
• 47:27
  Speaker 6: to see how Ruben continues to grow through the first
• 47:30
  Speaker 6: half of his rookie year.
• 47:32
  Speaker 2: Tony Castricone, play-by-play man at the Tampa Bay Bucs. Tony,
• 47:35
  Speaker 2: thanks very much for spending the time with us. Save
• 47:36
  Speaker 2: some of that sunshine for us, my friend.
• 47:40
  Speaker 3: Don't worry. You'll get it.
• 47:41
  Speaker 2: Enjoy the trip down. Look forward to seeing you on Sunday.
• 47:44
  Speaker 2: Tony Castricone, kind enough to join us from the Tampa
• 47:47
  Speaker 2: Bay Buccaneers.
• 47:49
  Speaker 3: Stick around.
• 47:50
  Speaker 2: We have much to get to as we're going to
• 47:51
  Speaker 2: prepare you for the Steelers in Tampa Bay.
• 47:53
  Speaker 3: Continue those preparations. Jerry Dulac is going to be
• 47:55
  Speaker 2: Joining us next hour as well when we continue here
• 47:58
  Speaker 2: on the Steelers Audio Network.