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

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: This is In the Locker Room with Rob King, Max Starks,
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: and Willie Colon on Steelers Nation Radio. Brought to you
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: in part by the Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop.steelers.com.
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: And by your neighborhood Ford store. The F-150 is the
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: official truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
• 0:29
  Speaker 2: And thanks very much for being with us on this
• 0:32
  Speaker 2: Wednesday hump day as we are Sort of turning the
• 0:36
  Speaker 2: page on what happened last week to see if it's
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: improving to 3-2 and set our sights on the game
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: coming up Sunday in Tampa. Not completely turning the page
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: because we do have our power rankings to get to.
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: Jim Wexel is going to be joining us. A little
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: bit of NFL news as well. But first, salutations, gentlemen. Willie,
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: I hope things are going well in Mississippi.
• 0:58
  Speaker 3: Yeah, all is well. Just busy, man.
• 1:00
  Speaker 4: You know, we're all dads, man, and sometimes.
• 1:04
  Speaker 3: Your kids.
• 1:04
  Speaker 4: Life and their livelihood and whatever they got going on
• 1:07
  Speaker 4: takes over yours.
• 1:08
  Speaker 3: So that's where I'm at.
• 1:11
  Speaker 4: It's, you know, it's just a busy time in the
• 1:14
  Speaker 4: clone house overall.
• 1:15
  Speaker 3: So I'm locked in and ready to roll.
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: Good man. Willie, Max, I beg your pardon. Everything good
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: with you as well?
• 1:22
  Speaker 5: Oh, yeah. We are just peachy over here in the
• 1:26
  Speaker 5: Starks household.
• 1:27
  Speaker 3: I mean.
• 1:28
  Speaker 6: Got the girls off. We're getting them ready. I'm starting
• 1:31
  Speaker 6: to do this, Willie. You have many years to worry
• 1:33
  Speaker 6: about this. High school shopping. Looking at different high schools
• 1:39
  Speaker 6: for next year for Wave.
• 1:41
  Speaker 5: So, yeah.
• 1:44
  Speaker 6: New phase coming up and we got to go search
• 1:46
  Speaker 6: out what the next frontier is for that level of schooling. So,
• 1:51
  Speaker 6: having to do a lot of research with these high
• 1:53
  Speaker 6: schools and do school visits.
• 1:54
  Speaker 5: So, prepping for.
• 1:55
  Speaker 6: That in our household and then Volleyball tryouts for clubs.
• 1:59
  Speaker 5: So, busy, busy.
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: Busy, busy. So, guys, some news to get to. I'm
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: sure you've seen by now Alaric Jackson of the punch
• 2:11
  Speaker 2: on Bradley Chubb after the game. Two-game suspension for Jackson. Willie,
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: your thoughts on that? Does that sound about right to you?
• 2:20
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, come on. I thought it would be worse, actually.
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: I actually thought it could have been worse than that
• 2:29
  Speaker 2: as well. I agree.
• 2:30
  Speaker 3: Well, you got to understand, Laurie Jackson was questionable to
• 2:33
  Speaker 3: start the season because he was dealing with some off-field.
• 2:35
  Speaker 4: Issues prior to the season started. They didn't think they
• 2:37
  Speaker 4: were going to have him.
• 2:40
  Speaker 3: Early in the season.
• 2:41
  Speaker 4: They thought he was going to be out at least
• 2:42
  Speaker 4: four games to a situation that happened off the field
• 2:46
  Speaker 4: with him specifically.
• 2:47
  Speaker 3: So for him to kind of be a repeat offender.
• 2:51
  Speaker 4: I assumed that it was going to be a lot
• 2:55
  Speaker 4: heftier than what they laid down. You know, listen, guys
• 3:00
  Speaker 4: get emotional, man. You're in the heat of battle. Things
• 3:02
  Speaker 4: are said. Un-Christian-like words get flowing around and things get
• 3:07
  Speaker 4: taken personal and it happens. You're dealing with grown men
• 3:12
  Speaker 4: in real time trying to regulate their emotions when a
• 3:15
  Speaker 4: lot is on the line and a lot of that
• 3:17
  Speaker 4: carries over to after the game and Dare I say, you.
• 3:20
  Speaker 3: Know, outside the stadium. So it's it is what it is.
• 3:26
  Speaker 4: I don't I don't I don't know what was said.
• 3:29
  Speaker 4: You know, I haven't tapped into the grapevine and ask
• 3:32
  Speaker 4: around what made the Lord Jackson Jackson to, you.
• 3:35
  Speaker 3: Know, lose his top, if you will. But, you know,
• 3:38
  Speaker 3: it happens. Max, I don't know if you remember this.
• 3:41
  Speaker 3: Maybe you do. There was a time with quick story, Rob.
• 3:43
  Speaker 3: I know you love story time.
• 3:45
  Speaker 2: I do.
• 3:45
  Speaker 4: Me and Max were in Miami. We were playing the Dolphins.
• 3:49
  Speaker 4: We've been in Miami before, but this is more NFL-focused.
• 3:53
  Speaker 4: We were playing the Dolphins, and after the game, Max
• 3:57
  Speaker 4: is really good friends with Richie Incognito. Now, we know
• 4:00
  Speaker 4: Richie's notoriously known for being a habitual line-stepper and somewhat
• 4:05
  Speaker 4: of a dirty guy. Nevertheless, I support the cause because
• 4:08
  Speaker 4: I think, you know, as an offensive lineman, you either
• 4:10
  Speaker 4: enforce it or you get stepped on.
• 4:12
  Speaker 3: So Richie was definitely the enforcer.
• 4:13
  Speaker 4: And played– with an edge and dirty at times, but
• 4:16
  Speaker 4: it is what it is. Anyway, at the end of
• 4:19
  Speaker 4: the game, Max is talking to Richie. I'm talking to
• 4:21
  Speaker 4: Richie as well. I got to know Richie a little
• 4:24
  Speaker 4: bit from the offseason, and he has supposedly did something
• 4:29
  Speaker 4: to one of our teammates, Nick Eason. And he– so
• 4:36
  Speaker 4: paint the story. We're at the 50th. It's at the
• 4:39
  Speaker 4: end of the game. Richie's playing for the Dolphins. Max
• 4:41
  Speaker 4: is standing there talking. Richie there catching up. I'm standing
• 4:44
  Speaker 4: next to Max talking. Nick Easton, who, by the way,
• 4:46
  Speaker 4: I love.
• 4:47
  Speaker 3: One of my favorite teammates of all time.
• 4:49
  Speaker 4: Tough ball player. Extremely smart. He's currently now, I think,
• 4:53
  Speaker 4: still down at Clemson. Yeah, D-line coach. Yeah, D-line coach.
• 4:57
  Speaker 2: Anyway.
• 4:59
  Speaker 4: So Richie's standing there talking to us. Nick comes around,
• 5:02
  Speaker 4: and he's like, get a mother effer, if you will,
• 5:05
  Speaker 4: excuse me. And he's like, you know, do what you're
• 5:08
  Speaker 4: going to do now.
• 5:09
  Speaker 3: You want to talk all that mess?
• 5:10
  Speaker 4: And so me and Max are standing there having no
• 5:12
  Speaker 4: idea what's going on. And so Richie stops, looks at Nick,
• 5:16
  Speaker 4: and he's prepared for whatever's coming at him.
• 5:18
  Speaker 3: And Nick goes, you spit in my face.
• 5:20
  Speaker 4: And, you know, they're flying at each other. And me
• 5:23
  Speaker 4: and Max for the first time was like, whoa, this
• 5:25
  Speaker 4: is about to go down. And mind you, there's nobody around. Like,
• 5:29
  Speaker 4: the team has– the Dolphins have walked into their locker room.
• 5:32
  Speaker 4: We have– the Steelers have walked into the locker room.
• 5:34
  Speaker 3: We won that game.
• 5:35
  Speaker 4: So, it's really me, Max, and Nick Eason, and Richie
• 5:38
  Speaker 4: Incognito on the 50. And it's about to be WWF
• 5:42
  Speaker 4: right after this game. Like, it's getting real close. By
• 5:44
  Speaker 4: the grace of God, I grabbed– I kind of pushed
• 5:47
  Speaker 4: Nick back. I was like, man, don't do that, bro.
• 5:49
  Speaker 4: I know he was– and Nick is– Nick is a funny, easygoing,
• 5:53
  Speaker 4: you know, he's a man's man, but I've never seen
• 5:56
  Speaker 4: him that mad. He was red in the face, like
• 6:01
  Speaker 4: fire coming out of his eyes, mad. And Richie just
• 6:03
  Speaker 4: stood there and kind of nodded his head like, you know,
• 6:05
  Speaker 4: whatever it's going to be, it's going to be.
• 6:07
  Speaker 3: And I kind of pushed Nick back.
• 6:09
  Speaker 4: And some other people came by and saw what was
• 6:11
  Speaker 4: about to go down and separated him. But that was
• 6:15
  Speaker 4: about to be really, really, really bad because Nick is
• 6:17
  Speaker 4: not no punk and not no pushover.
• 6:20
  Speaker 3: Neither is Richie. Um, so you, things that happen in
• 6:24
  Speaker 3: a game do carry over.
• 6:26
  Speaker 4: Um, it's fortunate that there are guys that are around
• 6:29
  Speaker 4: to kind of separate it because if it was Bradley
• 6:31
  Speaker 4: Chubb and a large Jackson left out there by themselves,
• 6:35
  Speaker 4: oh man, it would have been.
• 6:35
  Speaker 3: A full out nose hall ball, a baller scrap match.
• 6:39
  Speaker 4: So, uh, and it would have been the same thing
• 6:41
  Speaker 4: for Nick and Rich. So unfortunately, man, things happen.
• 6:45
  Speaker 2: It is what it is.
• 6:46
  Speaker 3: It's a man's game.
• 6:47
  Speaker 4: And, you know, you just want both parties to be
• 6:50
  Speaker 4: respectful of the game and the team that they represent.
• 6:54
  Speaker 2: What's too far? See, I think spitting on somebody. I
• 6:58
  Speaker 2: think that might be too far. Yeah, spitting is the line.
• 7:01
  Speaker 5: Yeah.
• 7:02
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 7:04
  Speaker 5: Easily the toughest one. And, yeah, I mean, that was–
• 7:07
  Speaker 5: and Willie made it perfect. Yeah, hell yeah, remember? Because
• 7:13
  Speaker 5: you grabbed Nick. I had to go grab him because,
• 7:15
  Speaker 5: you know, Rich doesn't back down. So Rich was like, yeah,
• 7:18
  Speaker 5: and I'll do it again. And I was like, oh, God, okay.
• 7:20
  Speaker 3: Yeah, and Nick was so mad. I had never seen
• 7:23
  Speaker 3: Nick that mad in my life.
• 7:23
  Speaker 6: Oh, he was pissed because he came up. And remember, like,
• 7:26
  Speaker 6: we kind of had our back to him. He kind
• 7:28
  Speaker 6: of came through both of us to push Rich and
• 7:32
  Speaker 6: get in his face. So, you know, we're already startled.
• 7:35
  Speaker 6: because Nick has come through. And like you said, it's
• 7:38
  Speaker 6: out of character for Nick.
• 7:39
  Speaker 5: But I'm like, he must have definitely done that.
• 7:42
  Speaker 3: Correct.
• 7:43
  Speaker 5: To have done it.
• 7:44
  Speaker 6: And so I'm like, man, I'm like, oh, God, we're
• 7:48
  Speaker 6: about to have another tussle on the field. We just
• 7:51
  Speaker 6: tussled for 60 minutes. Like, why do y'all still have energy?
• 7:55
  Speaker 6: You know what I'm saying?
• 7:56
  Speaker 4: Right.
• 7:56
  Speaker 5: But you're right.
• 7:57
  Speaker 6: There is a certain line where it becomes disrespect. And listen,
• 8:02
  Speaker 6: we've all been guilty of it. We've all said words.
• 8:06
  Speaker 6: in the pileup, in the huddle. We've had these type
• 8:09
  Speaker 6: of situations that come up because it's just the nature
• 8:12
  Speaker 6: of the game, right? When you've got that much testosterone
• 8:15
  Speaker 6: enclosed within, I mean, it is just lines. There's no cage.
• 8:19
  Speaker 6: It's not like the UFC, right? There's no ring ropes
• 8:22
  Speaker 6: like wrestling. You know, you're contained within that area, but
• 8:26
  Speaker 6: you know whatever goes between those white lines, it's by
• 8:28
  Speaker 6: any means necessary. But there is a certain level of
• 8:31
  Speaker 6: decorum where, you know, You know, I think about like
• 8:35
  Speaker 6: the Albert Hainsworth situation, right, on Andre Garrard, right?
• 8:38
  Speaker 5: Oh, yeah, look at that.
• 8:40
  Speaker 6: You know, like there have been other altercations that have
• 8:45
  Speaker 6: kind of led beyond what is deemed necessary.
• 8:49
  Speaker 5: And we won't bring up the other story about a
• 8:52
  Speaker 5: huddle and a pile Chargers game.
• 8:55
  Speaker 6: Somebody was reaching for the ball and caught multiple, plural
• 9:00
  Speaker 6: of that word.
• 9:03
  Speaker 2: Yep.
• 9:03
  Speaker 3: Put a basket full.
• 9:05
  Speaker 5: Yeah, exactly. Chock full of nuts like the coffee, right?
• 9:10
  Speaker 2: Anyway.
• 9:10
  Speaker 4: Yep.
• 9:14
  Speaker 2: I think we had it. I think we had it.
• 9:16
  Speaker 2: But now we definitely have it.
• 9:18
  Speaker 5: Yeah, in case you didn't know, now you know.
• 9:22
  Speaker 6: But, yeah, no, I think when you get to those points, man,
• 9:24
  Speaker 6: there has to be regulation. And, you know, honestly, I
• 9:27
  Speaker 6: thought the penalty was going to be way worse. I
• 9:29
  Speaker 6: thought it was going to be a four-game suspension. So
• 9:30
  Speaker 6: the fact that it only came up to two. Good
• 9:32
  Speaker 6: for the Rams and now Rick Jackson. That may be
• 9:35
  Speaker 6: not so good for Bradley Chubb, who's pissed about that. But, yeah,
• 9:39
  Speaker 6: there has to be rules in place because, yes, you
• 9:42
  Speaker 6: will get very fringe– uh determination in gray areas when
• 9:46
  Speaker 6: you're trying to win a football.
• 9:47
  Speaker 2: Game can i can i tell you something that would
• 9:49
  Speaker 2: annoy me as a player um and uh you know
• 9:53
  Speaker 2: my my little division three playing like back back then
• 9:56
  Speaker 2: there was no like if a guy pile drove you
• 9:59
  Speaker 2: into the ground he piled drove you into the ground.
• 10:01
  Speaker 3: That was fine.
• 10:02
  Speaker 2: That was a tackle. But when somebody pushed off me
• 10:05
  Speaker 2: after they tackled me, pushed off me to stand up,
• 10:08
  Speaker 2: pushed off my chest to stand up, that annoyed me.
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: That got my temper going. I don't see that as
• 10:14
  Speaker 2: much anymore. That was a little thing for a while.
• 10:17
  Speaker 2: Maybe that's a penalty now. I don't know, but I
• 10:20
  Speaker 2: can't imagine after the game. It's just in the moment.
• 10:23
  Speaker 2: I mean, there's stuff that happens in the moment. But
• 10:25
  Speaker 2: is spitting, is grabbing the coffee can, is that something
• 10:32
  Speaker 2: that would get you mad after the game too? Or
• 10:34
  Speaker 2: is that just within the game and you forget about
• 10:36
  Speaker 2: it when it's over? And how about somebody that's constantly cheating? Well,
• 10:39
  Speaker 2: you guys are offensive linemen. I would imagine if I'm
• 10:41
  Speaker 2: a defensive lineman and I feel like, man, that guy
• 10:44
  Speaker 2: held me every play, I might still be mad after
• 10:47
  Speaker 2: the game. I don't know, though. That happens– That happens
• 10:49
  Speaker 2: within the whistles. Is it just spinning? Is that it?
• 10:53
  Speaker 5: No, spinning and hitting.
• 10:54
  Speaker 6: Yeah, hitting somebody in the groan parts, I mean, definitely
• 10:58
  Speaker 6: something that's going to carry over.
• 11:00
  Speaker 3: Okay.
• 11:01
  Speaker 2: You're going to have.
• 11:02
  Speaker 5: Some emotion in it. Yeah. Winning obviously cures that ill
• 11:07
  Speaker 5: to a degree.
• 11:07
  Speaker 6: Right. But at the same time, no, you're still upset
• 11:11
  Speaker 6: about those type of things. I mean, you know, I remember,
• 11:14
  Speaker 6: you know, I was still pissed when– When Terrell Suggs,
• 11:18
  Speaker 6: after we won the AFC Championship game, because he kept
• 11:21
  Speaker 6: diving at the back of my knee because I tore
• 11:22
  Speaker 6: my LCL like the first play of the game because
• 11:24
  Speaker 6: I tried to undercut Trevor Price. We were running zone
• 11:28
  Speaker 6: to the right the first play in the AFC Championship game.
• 11:31
  Speaker 6: And I got so far across, like his helmet hit
• 11:34
  Speaker 6: my knee, and he fell over my leg. So it
• 11:37
  Speaker 6: was kind of an awkward position. And I kind of
• 11:39
  Speaker 6: got up a little bit slow and was checking my knee,
• 11:42
  Speaker 6: even though I had a brace on. And it was
• 11:44
  Speaker 6: just like, I was like, man, this thing hurts. But,
• 11:46
  Speaker 6: you know, we got to play. And Terrell Suggs, I guess,
• 11:49
  Speaker 6: saw it. So every time on the backside cutoffs, you know,
• 11:52
  Speaker 6: we'd have zone. He would dive at the.
• 11:54
  Speaker 5: Back of my knee after the play. Just fall into
• 11:57
  Speaker 5: the back of my legs. Yes. Exactly. Muddy mud skipper.
• 12:01
  Speaker 2: Did you alert the ref? Did you alert the official
• 12:04
  Speaker 2: and say, look, this is what he's doing?
• 12:06
  Speaker 5: No, I mean, it's it's in the moment.
• 12:08
  Speaker 6: And for this arbitrary thing, they're not going to pick
• 12:11
  Speaker 6: it up.
• 12:12
  Speaker 5: But I know.
• 12:13
  Speaker 6: And then during one of the timeouts, I had some
• 12:16
  Speaker 6: words with him. You know, we're standing on the field,
• 12:18
  Speaker 6: you know, during the timeout.
• 12:20
  Speaker 5: I'm like, hey, man.
• 12:21
  Speaker 6: I was like, I don't know what your issue is.
• 12:24
  Speaker 6: I was like, but stop diving in the back of
• 12:26
  Speaker 6: my legs. He's like, no, man, I smell blood in
• 12:28
  Speaker 6: the water. I said, okay, bet.
• 12:29
  Speaker 5: All right. You smell blood in the water. Okay.
• 12:31
  Speaker 2: All right.
• 12:32
  Speaker 6: Well, I'm about to draw some blood. And after that,
• 12:34
  Speaker 6: it was a problem after that. And so I made
• 12:37
  Speaker 6: it my personal issue to go after him. Every time
• 12:40
  Speaker 6: I got a shot, I was going to take it.
• 12:42
  Speaker 6: a couple of rib shots, a couple of knees to
• 12:45
  Speaker 6: the chest. Like, you know, when we were in those
• 12:47
  Speaker 6: type of short yardage situations, make sure I fell on
• 12:50
  Speaker 6: top of him.
• 12:51
  Speaker 5: You know, those type of things.
• 12:52
  Speaker 6: If the pile's kind of going, clear the top of
• 12:54
  Speaker 6: the pile back when that was still legal. So, you know,
• 12:57
  Speaker 6: you have those moments. And then, you know, we had
• 13:00
  Speaker 6: our words afterwards, and that was it. And, you know,
• 13:03
  Speaker 6: I see him out here. He acts like everything's fine.
• 13:04
  Speaker 6: I mean, I can't stand him. But– He acted like
• 13:09
  Speaker 6: everything was fine.
• 13:10
  Speaker 2: Sure.
• 13:10
  Speaker 6: I just blacked out every time I play you guys.
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: Oh, boy.
• 13:13
  Speaker 5: No, you know what you're doing. But, yeah, that happens.
• 13:19
  Speaker 6: That's just part and parcel.
• 13:22
  Speaker 5: That's the price of doing business.
• 13:24
  Speaker 2: Yeah. So, a couple other bits of news. One other one.
• 13:28
  Speaker 2: Montez Sweat. This happened just after we went off the
• 13:30
  Speaker 2: air yesterday. Dinged for a two-game suspension. So, he didn't
• 13:35
  Speaker 2: test positive. For anabolic steroids, it is like, you know,
• 13:40
  Speaker 2: a diuretic or a masking agent or something that they see.
• 13:43
  Speaker 2: So he's dinged for two-game suspension.
• 13:44
  Speaker 3: Who's Rob? I'm sorry, I didn't hear you.
• 13:46
  Speaker 2: Montez Sweat.
• 13:46
  Speaker 3: Montez Sweat. Okay. Okay.
• 13:49
  Speaker 2: And then this news just coming out here as we
• 13:53
  Speaker 2: were going, do you guys have a good guess as
• 13:57
  Speaker 2: to who might be the AFC Offensive Player of the Week?
• 14:03
  Speaker 5: It can only be one man.
• 14:04
  Speaker 2: It can only be one man, and it is that man.
• 14:07
  Speaker 2: Jalen Warren.
• 14:08
  Speaker 3: Oh, okay.
• 14:12
  Speaker 2: Who did you say?
• 14:12
  Speaker 3: I said Max Ahonatur. I apologize.
• 14:16
  Speaker 4: I just assumed since he put on high quality tape
• 14:20
  Speaker 4: that they would ignore the big game out of Jalen
• 14:22
  Speaker 4: Warren and finally salute the big fellas.
• 14:23
  Speaker 3: Make it possible.
• 14:25
  Speaker 2: Hey, I looked at every snap of his this morning.
• 14:27
  Speaker 2: Max Ahonatur. I was watching him. I thought he looked
• 14:29
  Speaker 2: really good, huh? He looked great.
• 14:31
  Speaker 3: Loved it.
• 14:32
  Speaker 4: He started to see his confidence come. He started to
• 14:34
  Speaker 4: put it all together slowly but surely. So the Steelers
• 14:37
  Speaker 4: may have gotten one.
• 14:38
  Speaker 3: We'll see.
• 14:39
  Speaker 2: Oh, I certainly hope so. But, hey, well-deserved for Jalen Warren. And,
• 14:44
  Speaker 2: you know, there was– and going back and listening, because
• 14:47
  Speaker 2: you don't know what they're going to be talking about. Hey,
• 14:49
  Speaker 2: if Jim Nance and J.J. Watt are talking about something
• 14:52
  Speaker 2: on a national game in a positive light, that's a
• 14:56
  Speaker 2: good thing. And they just kept talking about, First of all,
• 14:58
  Speaker 2: it sounded like they were saying they wanted Jalen Warren
• 15:00
  Speaker 2: to get the ball more, J.J. Watt did, but just
• 15:04
  Speaker 2: how underrated he is, and this is the kind of
• 15:06
  Speaker 2: game that maybe takes a guy. And that kind of commentary,
• 15:11
  Speaker 2: let's be honest, sometimes the media has that, especially if
• 15:14
  Speaker 2: it's a top guy like Jim Nance and his partner J.J. Watt, top,
• 15:18
  Speaker 2: top guys, talking about a guy being underrated. Maybe he's
• 15:22
  Speaker 2: going to start, maybe more people are going to start
• 15:25
  Speaker 2: noticing just how awesome he has been for the Steelers.
• 15:29
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 15:30
  Speaker 5: I mean, you, you, you'd like to think so.
• 15:32
  Speaker 6: And like you said, it starts, it starts with, you know,
• 15:34
  Speaker 6: getting that national rep, so to speak, you know, that,
• 15:37
  Speaker 6: that goes a long way to turning eyes in a
• 15:40
  Speaker 6: direction where they start taking notice. So once again, you,
• 15:44
  Speaker 6: you put the tape out there and you, and, and you,
• 15:47
  Speaker 6: you know, you have positive things being said about you
• 15:50
  Speaker 6: that that's, that's all you can do.
• 15:52
  Speaker 5: That's all, that's all you could hope for.
• 15:53
  Speaker 6: So let's hope they continue that going and, You know,
• 15:56
  Speaker 6: we have a new week, but people do have short-term
• 15:59
  Speaker 6: memory loss, so you got to keep reminding them every
• 16:01
  Speaker 6: single week about who you are. And so, you know,
• 16:05
  Speaker 6: just like I said, the biggest thing, keep your nose
• 16:07
  Speaker 6: down and keep working hard.
• 16:09
  Speaker 2: By the way, Corliss Waitman, just a great guy. Tremendous dude.
• 16:15
  Speaker 2: Of course, kick for the punter for the Steelers. He's
• 16:18
  Speaker 2: now the 49ers. NFC Special Teams Player.
• 16:21
  Speaker 5: Of the Week.
• 16:22
  Speaker 2: Good for him. Gregory Rousseau was the– Hang on, I'm
• 16:26
  Speaker 2: going to get to him in a moment because there
• 16:27
  Speaker 2: was other news with him. Jameer Gibbs, NFC Offensive Player
• 16:29
  Speaker 2: of the Week, in case you're wondering. David Bailey, the
• 16:33
  Speaker 2: AFC Defensive Player of the Week. Byron Murph, the NFC
• 16:36
  Speaker 2: Defensive Player of the Week. You get to see David Bailey,
• 16:39
  Speaker 2: number two overall pick, strong. I'm looking forward to watching that.
• 16:43
  Speaker 2: I'll watch that when we get back from Paris as
• 16:45
  Speaker 2: we get ready for the Browns. But, you know, David Bailey,
• 16:49
  Speaker 2: a little coming out party for him, Willie.
• 16:52
  Speaker 3: Well, yeah, he was able to....
• 16:56
  Speaker 4: Remind people why he was selected where he was selected
• 16:59
  Speaker 4: at he's a kid who by the way doesn't have
• 17:01
  Speaker 4: social media um barely uses the phone he seems to
• 17:04
  Speaker 4: be the super introvert but a hard worker i think
• 17:07
  Speaker 4: he's still learning the game there's some things out there
• 17:09
  Speaker 4: that he would love to clean up but he's only
• 17:11
  Speaker 4: five games into his nfl career so he's he's been
• 17:14
  Speaker 4: awarded grace but against the browns what he was able
• 17:18
  Speaker 4: to do to show his tenacity um he was tenacious
• 17:21
  Speaker 4: and violent and And his relentlessness really allowed.
• 17:28
  Speaker 3: His play to pop off the tape. And there's still
• 17:31
  Speaker 3: some things to his game.
• 17:32
  Speaker 4: I think at times he plays too high and needs
• 17:33
  Speaker 4: to be more of a violent hand fighter. And in
• 17:37
  Speaker 4: the game, it seemed to slow down for him a
• 17:40
  Speaker 4: little bit on Sunday, which allowed him to.
• 17:43
  Speaker 3: Have a big game.
• 17:44
  Speaker 4: But overall, the kid, the ceiling is extremely high for
• 17:46
  Speaker 4: this kid, man. If you watch him at the end
• 17:49
  Speaker 4: of the presser, Rob and Max, you can tell he's,
• 17:52
  Speaker 4: I don't think he's comfortable with the lights. He's a
• 17:55
  Speaker 4: kid who doesn't wear gloves and just kind of a
• 17:57
  Speaker 4: man's man, just wants to line up and just go
• 18:00
  Speaker 4: play football. You know, in New York, in the media,
• 18:03
  Speaker 4: you know, anytime they get.
• 18:04
  Speaker 3: A guy, they feel like it can be a guy.
• 18:06
  Speaker 4: They wrap their arms around him until he messes up,
• 18:08
  Speaker 4: and then they want to throw him to the curb.
• 18:09
  Speaker 5: Right, yep.
• 18:11
  Speaker 4: So it's interesting how he handles the fame that's kind
• 18:16
  Speaker 4: of being thrown his way, but right now he just
• 18:19
  Speaker 4: seems like a 9-to-5 kid who just honestly just wants
• 18:21
  Speaker 4: to play football and let things rip.
• 18:24
  Speaker 2: So the reason I wanted to end with Greg Rousseau,
• 18:29
  Speaker 2: because Greg Rousseau had the block of the game-winning field
• 18:33
  Speaker 2: goal attempt on Monday night, Max, and then the Rams, again,
• 18:37
  Speaker 2: I think it was shortly after we got off the air,
• 18:39
  Speaker 2: cut their kicker. Just a reminder of how nice it
• 18:42
  Speaker 2: is to have the Wizard of Oz and the kicker
• 18:44
  Speaker 2: you feel really good about because the Rams at 2-3
• 18:47
  Speaker 2: are thinking at the very least they should be 3-2
• 18:50
  Speaker 2: and maybe even a little bit better. But Rousseau's triumph
• 18:56
  Speaker 2: is another man's pain.
• 19:00
  Speaker 5: Hey, cold world. It's a production league, right?
• 19:04
  Speaker 6: You know, you got to put up on tape every
• 19:07
  Speaker 6: single week because you never know when your number might
• 19:11
  Speaker 6: be called. And that right there, a team that's got
• 19:17
  Speaker 6: all the expectations that the Rams do and to be living,
• 19:21
  Speaker 6: to come up falling short of those expectations when this
• 19:25
  Speaker 6: was like the Super Bowl or bus type of year. Again,
• 19:28
  Speaker 6: the less need all in type of thing.
• 19:31
  Speaker 5: F them picks.
• 19:32
  Speaker 6: Now I'm sure they wish they had some of them
• 19:33
  Speaker 6: picks back so they could have actually drafted a better kicker.
• 19:38
  Speaker 6: Mervis is not having a good season. Five for nine overall.
• 19:41
  Speaker 6: And he's not having a season anymore right now. His
• 19:44
  Speaker 6: season's over.
• 19:45
  Speaker 2: Unless somebody else picks him up.
• 19:47
  Speaker 4: Oh, he'll get picked up. There's too many. average kickers
• 19:50
  Speaker 4: out there floating around. Somebody will give him a shot.
• 19:52
  Speaker 4: It's tough because I don't know how he could have
• 19:56
  Speaker 4: done any better. I mean, they put Greg Rousseau right
• 20:00
  Speaker 4: in his kicking line, and he just got his big
• 20:04
  Speaker 4: paws up. Greg Rousseau is like 6'5, 6'6. I mean,
• 20:07
  Speaker 4: he's a tall guy. I don't know, you know, maybe
• 20:10
  Speaker 4: you guys can help, maybe Max. I don't know if
• 20:13
  Speaker 4: Mivas could have, like, curved the ball in any way.
• 20:15
  Speaker 4: He took a shot at it. If Greg Rousseau doesn't
• 20:18
  Speaker 4: get his paw on it, man, I think he's going
• 20:19
  Speaker 4: through the uprights to win that game. It's unfortunate the
• 20:23
  Speaker 4: way it ended, considering that, you know, it was a
• 20:27
  Speaker 4: big play by Nate Landman to kind of punch out
• 20:29
  Speaker 4: the ball from James Cook. But, man, it's just– I
• 20:33
  Speaker 4: just feel bad because I'm a supporter of pudgy kickers, man. Yeah.
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 20:39
  Speaker 2: Good stuff. All right, we've got to take a break.
• 20:40
  Speaker 2: I'm getting the temptations roll.
• 20:41
  Speaker 5: The Janikowskis of the world, you know?
• 20:42
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm getting the temptations roll from Justin Miller. That
• 20:46
  Speaker 2: means we've got to go to break. We're going to
• 20:48
  Speaker 2: do that now. Man, if you think Jalen Warren's overlooked,
• 20:51
  Speaker 2: way to get a look at this week's power rankings.
• 20:53
  Speaker 2: We'll talk about that a little later on. Jim Wexler
• 20:55
  Speaker 2: is going to join us as well when we continue
• 20:57
  Speaker 2: in the locker room here on the Steelers Audio Network.
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: This is In the Locker Room with Rob King, Max Starks,
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: and Willie Colon on Steelers Nation Radio, brought to you
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: in part by the Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop.steelers.com.
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: And by your neighborhood Ford store, the F-150 is the
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: official truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
• 21:29
  Speaker 2: Well, thank you very much for being with us in
• 21:31
  Speaker 2: the locker room today. As we mentioned, we have our
• 21:34
  Speaker 2: good buddy, Jim Wexel is coming up. We also mentioned
• 21:37
  Speaker 2: where the Steelers are. Are they underrated a little bit,
• 21:42
  Speaker 2: like Jalen Warren? Well, I guess I should be over
• 21:47
  Speaker 2: getting dismayed by some of these rankings, but I was
• 21:51
  Speaker 2: dismayed by some of these rankings that we're going to
• 21:53
  Speaker 2: get to. By the way, I double-checked and looked at
• 21:57
  Speaker 2: other sites as well. We generally use The Athletic. No
• 22:01
  Speaker 2: place else was any nicer to the Steelers. than the
• 22:04
  Speaker 2: athletic for the most part. Gentlemen, are you ready for
• 22:08
  Speaker 2: this week's power rankings?
• 22:10
  Speaker 3: Start your engines.
• 22:13
  Speaker 2: Do we want to start your engines? Do we want
• 22:15
  Speaker 2: a drum roll? What do we need in here? Do
• 22:17
  Speaker 2: we need something here?
• 22:18
  Speaker 3: I think something needs to be added.
• 22:23
  Speaker 5: I think a drum roll is appropriate. Justin, I think
• 22:27
  Speaker 5: we should have a drum roll.
• 22:28
  Speaker 2: Hey, Justin.
• 22:31
  Speaker 5: Because the trumpet's already used. Yes, I'll figure something out.
• 22:34
  Speaker 2: I'll get in the lab here. See if you can
• 22:37
  Speaker 2: find Summertime by Fresh Prince, the very beginning of it.
• 22:42
  Speaker 3: I'm with you.
• 22:42
  Speaker 2: Actually, that's Drums, Please. It's not Drum Roll. That's him
• 22:48
  Speaker 2: sampling an old Kool and the Gang when Kool and
• 22:49
  Speaker 2: the Gang used to be a jazz outfit before they
• 22:52
  Speaker 2: even had any singers. Summertime. Anyway. You guys jump into it.
• 22:57
  Speaker 3: I'll figure it out. Okay, thank you. Rob, you need
• 23:01
  Speaker 3: to be on SiriusXM on the music channel.
• 23:03
  Speaker 4: You need to be on something because your wealth of
• 23:05
  Speaker 4: knowledge is impeccable.
• 23:07
  Speaker 2: Well, you know what? Unfortunately, it ends in about 1990.
• 23:10
  Speaker 2: I hate to admit that I can't name a single
• 23:16
  Speaker 2: Britney Spears song, not one. Not Britney Spears. Who's the
• 23:21
  Speaker 2: big star that's married to Travis Kelsey?
• 23:23
  Speaker 5: You mean Taylor Swift?
• 23:25
  Speaker 2: Taylor Swift, yeah. I watched a documentary on her, too.
• 23:30
  Speaker 2: I'll watch any music documentary, anything. I don't care whether
• 23:33
  Speaker 2: I like the music, know the music, don't know the music.
• 23:36
  Speaker 2: I love the show. There's a show called Daisy Jones
• 23:39
  Speaker 2: and the Six, which is fictionalized, basically loosely based on
• 23:45
  Speaker 2: Fleetwood Mac. Great show if you're looking for a six-part miniseries.
• 23:49
  Speaker 2: I love music, but Taylor Swift, she seems very talented, obviously.
• 23:55
  Speaker 2: Just in case her career was struggling, I just gave
• 23:59
  Speaker 2: her a little boost there in the locker room. She'll
• 24:02
  Speaker 2: probably post that on social media now. Give her career
• 24:05
  Speaker 2: a little boost. Okay, enough. Number one. You got anything
• 24:13
  Speaker 2: for us, Justin?
• 24:14
  Speaker 5: Still working on it.
• 24:15
  Speaker 2: Willie was buying you time there. I know he was.
• 24:18
  Speaker 2: Number one. No surprise, San Francisco 49ers. Number two, no surprise,
• 24:24
  Speaker 2: Kansas City Chiefs. Number three, no surprise, Buffalo Bills.
• 24:28
  Speaker 3: Right?
• 24:28
  Speaker 2: No surprises there, guys.
• 24:31
  Speaker 3: No surprises at all.
• 24:33
  Speaker 2: No. By the way, be on the outlook for your
• 24:36
  Speaker 2: most overrated team and your most underrated team.
• 24:39
  Speaker 3: Okay?
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: Okay.
• 24:40
  Speaker 2: We have promised that I've got to make sure I
• 24:43
  Speaker 2: fulfill the promise. It has to become rote for me. Okay,
• 24:45
  Speaker 2: number four. Not rote, but, you know, anyway. Four, Minnesota
• 24:50
  Speaker 2: Vikings at 5-0.
• 24:53
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, their defense continues to excel, and Brian
• 24:56
  Speaker 4: Flores is putting on a master class on it doesn't
• 24:58
  Speaker 4: matter who the guy is. It just matters about the
• 25:01
  Speaker 4: efficiency and production, and they're playing at a high level.
• 25:03
  Speaker 3: So credit the Vikings, man. And Kyler Murray's starting to
• 25:05
  Speaker 3: heat up a little bit too.
• 25:07
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and here are the teams they've beaten, the Packers,
• 25:10
  Speaker 2: the Bears, the Buccaneers, the Dolphins, the Saints. Okay, you know,
• 25:15
  Speaker 2: maybe somebody wants them to have beaten the Bills or
• 25:17
  Speaker 2: the 49ers, but guess what? They haven't played them. So
• 25:21
  Speaker 2: they've beaten everybody on their schedule. They're 5-0. They just
• 25:24
  Speaker 2: beat the Saints 23-13. Okay, so now number five, Jacksonville Jaguars.
• 25:32
  Speaker 2: That was a team that I think all of us
• 25:34
  Speaker 2: thought was maybe a little bit, you know, could be higher.
• 25:39
  Speaker 2: They moved from 6-5. I have no problem with that.
• 25:43
  Speaker 2: They beat the Eagles 19-17. I mean, dramatic win, obviously.
• 25:47
  Speaker 2: But I think the Jaguars are for real. Anybody have
• 25:49
  Speaker 2: any disagreement with that?
• 25:52
  Speaker 3: No. No.
• 25:53
  Speaker 5: The Jaguars have done it.
• 25:55
  Speaker 6: They've done what they needed to do, and especially that
• 25:57
  Speaker 6: Eagles game, seemingly lost and still come back and win.
• 26:01
  Speaker 3: You can't fight that.
• 26:03
  Speaker 2: Plus, they get to chill in London for a week
• 26:05
  Speaker 2: while Houston comes over and visits them. Huge, massive game
• 26:08
  Speaker 2: for Houston, if they have any hope at all left. Six,
• 26:12
  Speaker 2: Seattle at 3-2. They lost to the 49ers 32-29. I
• 26:20
  Speaker 2: guess I don't have any real problem with it. They
• 26:22
  Speaker 2: moved from three down to six with that loss.
• 26:26
  Speaker 5: Huge.
• 26:27
  Speaker 2: Oh, man. They're playing the Broncos on Thursday night. That's
• 26:29
  Speaker 2: got to be the game of the week as of
• 26:31
  Speaker 2: right now. Of course, I'll pick seven other games of
• 26:33
  Speaker 2: the week. But do you have any problem with Seattle
• 26:36
  Speaker 2: being number six?
• 26:37
  Speaker 5: First of many?
• 26:38
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's right. First of many. No problem with Seattle
• 26:41
  Speaker 2: being six, guys?
• 26:43
  Speaker 3: No, it's fair.
• 26:44
  Speaker 4: Okay.
• 26:47
  Speaker 2: There, by the way, they are. The first 3-2 team,
• 26:54
  Speaker 2: I believe there are nine 3-2 teams, if you can trust.
• 26:59
  Speaker 2: Not my counting skills because I counted, but my memory
• 27:01
  Speaker 2: skills because I didn't write it down. But I think
• 27:03
  Speaker 2: there's nine 3-2 teams. Seattle is the highest ranked. They're
• 27:08
  Speaker 2: the defending champions. Okay, fine, no problem. Number seven, the
• 27:13
  Speaker 2: 4-1 Baltimore Ravens.
• 27:17
  Speaker 4: Hmm.
• 27:21
  Speaker 2: You know, there just aren't a lot of other– are
• 27:24
  Speaker 2: they the final 4-1 team? They are the final 4-1 team.
• 27:28
  Speaker 2: I guess you have to have them there, right? You
• 27:31
  Speaker 2: have to.
• 27:31
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 27:32
  Speaker 5: Because you're 4-1.
• 27:33
  Speaker 6: Yeah, they're 4-1. I mean, you got to pay credence, right?
• 27:36
  Speaker 6: The record's the record. And we just talked about it
• 27:39
  Speaker 6: with Minnesota, right?
• 27:40
  Speaker 5: Exactly. Who you're supposed to beat on the schedule. I mean,
• 27:44
  Speaker 5: it's just– it's going to be there.
• 27:46
  Speaker 2: They are at the Browns on Sunday. Okay, now we
• 27:51
  Speaker 2: start to run into a bunch of 3-2 teams. The
• 27:54
  Speaker 2: New England Patriots. Willie, I'm going to say this is
• 27:59
  Speaker 2: a little too rich for your blood. You haven't been
• 28:01
  Speaker 2: that high in the Patriots, have you?
• 28:04
  Speaker 3: No, I haven't.
• 28:07
  Speaker 4: But Drake May is starting to heat up, and they're
• 28:09
  Speaker 4: finding their ability to run the ball up front. They're
• 28:11
  Speaker 4: still dealing with some injuries, nevertheless. Defensively, they're coming around.
• 28:14
  Speaker 4: So I can understand why they've gotten the boosts. Um,
• 28:19
  Speaker 4: and this was a Raider team that I thought was
• 28:20
  Speaker 4: going to come in and spoil their plans, but it
• 28:22
  Speaker 4: didn't happen. The Patriots showed up in a major way
• 28:24
  Speaker 4: and really kind of put the boots to the Raiders
• 28:26
  Speaker 4: last Sunday. So I can understand why people are high
• 28:29
  Speaker 4: in them. Uh, but Drake may is starting to kind
• 28:31
  Speaker 4: of erase some of those woes. And I think it
• 28:33
  Speaker 4: started from the bills game prior to this one against
• 28:37
  Speaker 4: the Raiders, where I think in the second half, he
• 28:39
  Speaker 4: started to get his, uh, starting as a win back
• 28:41
  Speaker 4: in the sales. And I think it pretty much carried
• 28:43
  Speaker 4: over into the game against the Raiders. So I can
• 28:45
  Speaker 4: understand why, uh, The rankings are a little bullish on
• 28:49
  Speaker 4: the Patriots.
• 28:51
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and, you know, their wins are quality wins, right?
• 28:55
  Speaker 2: I mean, they've beaten the Steelers, they've beaten the Bills,
• 28:59
  Speaker 2: and they've beaten the Raiders. So, you know, they've had
• 29:01
  Speaker 2: a really rough early season schedule. So, I mean, I can–
• 29:09
  Speaker 2: I guess– I understand where you're coming from, Willie, like,
• 29:14
  Speaker 2: You know, I'm not– I don't know if I'm completely
• 29:16
  Speaker 2: sold on the Patriots, especially if Drake May doesn't progress.
• 29:20
  Speaker 2: You know, a lot of that offense seems to me
• 29:23
  Speaker 2: is built around Drake May and his abilities. And if
• 29:25
  Speaker 2: he can't– you know, if he's going to struggle, that's
• 29:27
  Speaker 2: going to be an issue. But he has been better.
• 29:30
  Speaker 2: So he's eight. And the Denver Broncos are nine, also
• 29:37
  Speaker 2: three and two. They've beaten the Jaguars, the Rams. the Chargers.
• 29:43
  Speaker 2: Did I mention on Thursday night that they are taking
• 29:45
  Speaker 2: on the Seahawks, hosting the Seahawks? Early candidate for game
• 29:49
  Speaker 2: of the week. Did I mention that yet?
• 29:50
  Speaker 6: I think you've mentioned that, Rob. I think we've all
• 29:53
  Speaker 6: heard that. Is it like two teams, one game? Does
• 29:58
  Speaker 6: that count as a double pick?
• 30:00
  Speaker 2: It's a double pick. Because not only are the Seahawks
• 30:05
  Speaker 2: visiting the Broncos, but the Broncos are also hosting the Seahawks. So,
• 30:10
  Speaker 2: drumroll please as we get to a very dramatic pick here. Oh,
• 30:17
  Speaker 2: he got it! The Alabama Crimson Tide at number 10. Actually,
• 30:24
  Speaker 2: they did take a tumble. The Rams tumbled from 5
• 30:27
  Speaker 2: to 10. You know, their wins are over the Giants
• 30:32
  Speaker 2: and the Eagles. I know they've had a tough schedule,
• 30:34
  Speaker 2: but they have not measured up. And I have a very–
• 30:39
  Speaker 2: I've made my position clear on this just from a
• 30:42
  Speaker 2: fan standpoint. Enough's enough for me. I'm not– you know,
• 30:47
  Speaker 2: I will say this. I enjoy watching them play. They
• 30:49
  Speaker 2: are a really good team. They are the number 10 team,
• 30:53
  Speaker 2: Willie Colon, with a 2-3 record.
• 30:56
  Speaker 3: Yeah, it was interesting. I thought they might be a
• 30:57
  Speaker 3: little lower. I think some of their roles are happening.
• 31:02
  Speaker 4: I feel most of their roles are happening defensively because
• 31:06
  Speaker 4: Chris Shula continues to play zone and there's a lot
• 31:09
  Speaker 4: of trust in that defensive line to be impactful. They
• 31:11
  Speaker 4: were able to do it against the Eagles, but against
• 31:14
  Speaker 4: the Bills, man, they got the ball shoved down their throat.
• 31:17
  Speaker 3: There was a lot of.
• 31:20
  Speaker 4: I thought Chris Shula, defensive coordinator, was going to mix
• 31:23
  Speaker 4: it up, play a lot more man and considering that
• 31:28
  Speaker 4: I thought the edge as far as receivers was.
• 31:30
  Speaker 3: On the Rams side, but it seemed like the.
• 31:32
  Speaker 4: Bills receivers really had their way with the DBs.
• 31:37
  Speaker 3: Of the Rams.
• 31:38
  Speaker 4: And so it was interesting because I don't know, man.
• 31:42
  Speaker 4: I thought this Rams defense was going to be a
• 31:44
  Speaker 4: lot better Monday night against the Bills. I thought they
• 31:46
  Speaker 4: were going to be up for the fight. Aaron Donald,
• 31:47
  Speaker 4: I know, had one sack and But overall, collectively, that
• 31:51
  Speaker 4: front seven got beat up by the Bills. And so
• 31:53
  Speaker 4: I think that the Rams have a bigger issue defensively.
• 31:56
  Speaker 3: They got to figure out what can they do well.
• 31:58
  Speaker 3: And sure, they had two.
• 31:59
  Speaker 4: Big turnovers that really put them in position to win
• 32:01
  Speaker 4: a game by their middle linebacker, Nate Landman. But with
• 32:06
  Speaker 4: all that said, it's a four-quarter game. And if you
• 32:11
  Speaker 4: turn on that tape, the Bills just had their way
• 32:13
  Speaker 4: with them up and down, up and down. So I
• 32:16
  Speaker 4: I can understand why they're ranked where they're ranked, but
• 32:18
  Speaker 4: I thought it would be a little lower.
• 32:22
  Speaker 3: Than where they're currently at.
• 32:24
  Speaker 2: So I'm going to look at them and play the
• 32:25
  Speaker 2: schedule game here, Max, because when I look at them
• 32:28
  Speaker 2: at 2-3, right, and I see they got the Cardinals
• 32:31
  Speaker 2: coming up at home. Well, I got that 3-3. They're
• 32:34
  Speaker 2: at the Raiders much improved, but I could see that
• 32:36
  Speaker 2: being 4-3. The Chargers are a mess. Now you're 5-3.
• 32:40
  Speaker 2: You went at the Commanders. You went at the Cardinals.
• 32:42
  Speaker 2: Now you're 7-3 going into a– a game, what is Netflix,
• 32:48
  Speaker 2: Thursday night game against the Packers. Then they have the Packers,
• 32:52
  Speaker 2: the Chiefs, and the 49ers, and then the Cowboys, and
• 32:56
  Speaker 2: then they're at the Seahawks. So they're really interesting because
• 33:00
  Speaker 2: you could see them at 7-3, you'd be like, okay,
• 33:04
  Speaker 2: the Rams are back. They stubbed their toe in there somewhere, Max,
• 33:08
  Speaker 2: with that. They got a bit of a gauntlet coming
• 33:10
  Speaker 2: up later in the season. You know, they had a
• 33:12
  Speaker 2: gauntlet at the beginning. They got a gauntlet coming up
• 33:14
  Speaker 2: at the end. this could be a very, very interesting
• 33:20
  Speaker 2: season for the Rams. I'm not saying they're not worthy
• 33:22
  Speaker 2: of this power ranking. I still think they're a terrific team.
• 33:26
  Speaker 2: You know, a little bit of a tongue-in-cheek comparing them
• 33:27
  Speaker 2: to Alabama because of their ranking. But still, it's going
• 33:33
  Speaker 2: to be– they're one stub toe away from being like,
• 33:37
  Speaker 2: what do we got here? You know what I mean?
• 33:38
  Speaker 2: Over the next five or six weeks.
• 33:41
  Speaker 5: Yeah, they're one stub toe away from being like, okay,
• 33:44
  Speaker 5: this is a fire sale now.
• 33:46
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 33:47
  Speaker 6: It's like we got to we got to recoup all
• 33:49
  Speaker 6: the all this earmarked money that we allocated. And do
• 33:54
  Speaker 6: we have a time frame for when Miles Garrett is
• 33:57
  Speaker 6: coming back?
• 33:59
  Speaker 2: I don't know.
• 34:00
  Speaker 3: No, I haven't heard anything. Yeah.
• 34:02
  Speaker 2: So I'm like, I'm going to get that information for you, Max.
• 34:06
  Speaker 5: I appreciate that. But but that's the thing, right?
• 34:08
  Speaker 6: I mean, everything was hinged on this Miles Garrett trade.
• 34:13
  Speaker 6: And then you pulled Aaron Donald out of retirement. And
• 34:16
  Speaker 6: now we have assembled the Monstars, like Space Jam. And
• 34:21
  Speaker 6: the Monstars apparently, you know.
• 34:24
  Speaker 5: Was only good in the 90s.
• 34:26
  Speaker 6: Because right now, they are not looking like that team.
• 34:30
  Speaker 5: And like you said, you see the star power. You
• 34:32
  Speaker 5: see the names associated with it. And all of a.
• 34:36
  Speaker 6: Sudden, this is supposed to be this vicious squad. And
• 34:40
  Speaker 6: this vicious squad is below 500 right now. And like
• 34:43
  Speaker 6: you said, if, if they play down to their competition,
• 34:46
  Speaker 6: if they don't, you know, play up to the expectation, listen,
• 34:49
  Speaker 6: Matt Stafford, Pook Nakua, Kyron Williams, and them, they're doing
• 34:52
  Speaker 6: their job, right? You know, they're putting points on the board.
• 34:55
  Speaker 6: The defense isn't stopping enough. You know, the object of
• 34:58
  Speaker 6: a defense, right. Is to ensure that, that you, that
• 35:01
  Speaker 6: the team you're playing against scores one point less than
• 35:03
  Speaker 6: what your offense can produce. That's what defenders normally go by.
• 35:07
  Speaker 6: And they have not been able to do that part.
• 35:09
  Speaker 6: And like you said, You don't know what you're going
• 35:11
  Speaker 6: to see in these teams, the teams that you think
• 35:15
  Speaker 6: are seemingly victories. I mean, the Chargers have to eventually
• 35:18
  Speaker 6: win a game, right?
• 35:19
  Speaker 5: You know what I'm saying?
• 35:20
  Speaker 6: You have to eventually put it together. And the Dolphins
• 35:23
  Speaker 6: eventually have to put it together. They're not going to
• 35:26
  Speaker 6: go 0-17. So you just hope it's not the week
• 35:29
  Speaker 6: that you're playing them. So if you're the Rams, you
• 35:32
  Speaker 6: hope that you're not the one that's up on the
• 35:34
  Speaker 6: chopping block. Like we thought with the Thursday night game
• 35:37
  Speaker 6: with Tampa Bay and Dallas, we thought that was, Oh,
• 35:39
  Speaker 6: for sure. That's going to be a Dallas victory. And
• 35:43
  Speaker 6: Tampa Bay now has a victory under their belt, right?
• 35:45
  Speaker 6: So these are the things that happen. That's what makes
• 35:47
  Speaker 6: league so good is that from week to week, you
• 35:50
  Speaker 6: never know what's going to happen on any given Sunday.
• 35:53
  Speaker 6: And these are professionals too. They're going to step up
• 35:56
  Speaker 6: and play up to their capabilities and guys get healthier.
• 35:58
  Speaker 6: That also determines how this team is looking, how they
• 36:01
  Speaker 6: looked at the beginnings, not going to be how they
• 36:02
  Speaker 6: look in.
• 36:03
  Speaker 5: November, December.
• 36:04
  Speaker 6: So, You know, yeah, they're on notice. And to be
• 36:09
  Speaker 6: a two and three team that's still in the top ten?
• 36:14
  Speaker 5: Come on now.
• 36:15
  Speaker 2: Come on now. So because I know Max loves soup
• 36:19
  Speaker 2: so much, when you said vicious squad, it sounded like vichyssoise.
• 36:23
  Speaker 2: But the vicious squad will be in the vichyssoise if
• 36:26
  Speaker 2: they don't win some games. They'll be in the soup
• 36:28
  Speaker 2: if they don't win some games. I swear I thought
• 36:29
  Speaker 2: you said Vichy Swamp.
• 36:31
  Speaker 5: Listen, you are getting very close. You can't wait for Paris,
• 36:33
  Speaker 5: I can tell you.
• 36:37
  Speaker 2: Miles Garrett is maybe like around week eight seems to
• 36:40
  Speaker 2: be the sort of general sense. They haven't put him
• 36:43
  Speaker 2: on the 21-day return yet, so he won't play this week. Okay,
• 36:47
  Speaker 2: stick around. We are still nowhere near Steelers land on
• 36:50
  Speaker 2: the rankings, as you might surmise. We'll get to that.
• 36:53
  Speaker 5: Even though we have a better record than the Alabama Rams.
• 36:55
  Speaker 2: That's right. When we continue here in the locker room
• 36:58
  Speaker 2: on the Steelers Audio Network.
• 37:10
  Speaker 1: This is In the Locker Room with Rob King, Max Starks,
• 37:15
  Speaker 1: and Willie Colon on Steelers Nation Radio. Brought to you
• 37:18
  Speaker 1: in part by the Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
• 37:21
  Speaker 1: from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop.steelers.com.
• 37:26
  Speaker 1: And by your neighborhood Ford store. The F-150 is the
• 37:30
  Speaker 1: official truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
• 37:34
  Speaker 2: You know, one of the wonderful things about hanging out
• 37:38
  Speaker 2: with offensive linemen is, first of all, they're offensive linemen.
• 37:42
  Speaker 2: My roommate in college was a guard on the offensive line.
• 37:47
  Speaker 2: Dave Schiff. Still a very good friend of mine. I
• 37:50
  Speaker 2: like hanging out with offensive linemen. I get to hang
• 37:53
  Speaker 2: out with two of them all the time, which is
• 37:54
  Speaker 2: really kind of fun. And during the commercial break, we
• 37:56
  Speaker 2: were looking at that sack. It's funny. I went back
• 38:00
  Speaker 2: and I was trying to just watch this morning. We'll
• 38:03
  Speaker 2: get back to the power rankings in a minute. I
• 38:05
  Speaker 2: was trying to just get back to the rankings, but
• 38:10
  Speaker 2: So I was watching the offensive linemen. Basically, that's what
• 38:12
  Speaker 2: I was watching. And a lot of watching Max Ahanachor.
• 38:16
  Speaker 2: And they had it, and we're talking about twists and stunts, right?
• 38:19
  Speaker 2: Because twists and stunts and overloads and other things were
• 38:23
  Speaker 2: causing confusion. A lot of the sacks that were given
• 38:27
  Speaker 2: up by the Steelers, I'm going to say a lot,
• 38:30
  Speaker 2: I don't know the exact percentage, were less physical errors
• 38:34
  Speaker 2: to me, Max, than all of a sudden two guys
• 38:37
  Speaker 2: are blocking one guy and one guy's running free. Well,
• 38:40
  Speaker 2: that can't possibly be what's supposed to happen. There was
• 38:44
  Speaker 2: a play in which they ran a twist on Max
• 38:48
  Speaker 2: Ahanachor and the guy who was inside of him. So
• 38:52
  Speaker 2: Max has got somebody lined up on his outside shoulder, right?
• 38:55
  Speaker 2: So you're thinking about that. That's going to be the
• 38:56
  Speaker 2: pass rush guy. The inside guy actually drove into Max
• 39:00
  Speaker 2: like he was a blocking sled. He hit him in
• 39:03
  Speaker 2: the hip with his shoulder. He made no effort to
• 39:06
  Speaker 2: try to beat the block. All he was trying to
• 39:08
  Speaker 2: do was get Max out of there and hope that
• 39:10
  Speaker 2: the inside guy would loop past him and be able
• 39:13
  Speaker 2: to get to the quarterback, which was unsuccessful. Hoffman picked
• 39:17
  Speaker 2: him up. And I don't remember if it was a
• 39:19
  Speaker 2: rushed throw. I don't remember the, but I remember that
• 39:21
  Speaker 2: wasn't a sack, right? So, you know, for everybody to
• 39:25
  Speaker 2: stand there and say, well, we know what happened and
• 39:27
  Speaker 2: this guy gave up the sack and that guy gave
• 39:28
  Speaker 2: up the sack. It's, it's, it's hard to do, man.
• 39:33
  Speaker 2: It's hard to do unless you know what's going on.
• 39:36
  Speaker 2: And most people, frankly, cause I texted you guys both
• 39:39
  Speaker 2: this morning and asked you a question about this. You
• 39:42
  Speaker 2: don't know what's going on. Even if you think, you know,
• 39:43
  Speaker 2: what's going on.
• 39:45
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 39:46
  Speaker 6: And I think, and that's the beauty of watching film
• 39:48
  Speaker 6: and video and Willie, Willie can attest to this, right?
• 39:51
  Speaker 5: This is why we watch film.
• 39:53
  Speaker 6: We watch film to understand what our tendencies to figure out, Hey,
• 39:57
  Speaker 6: anticipate when a twist is going to come, right? There's
• 40:00
  Speaker 6: the E T T E nut ton. There's all these
• 40:04
  Speaker 6: different ones. There's slappy dog. Like there's all kinds of
• 40:07
  Speaker 6: different ways of getting to the, the, the twist game.
• 40:13
  Speaker 6: And once again, The Browns put it on tape, so
• 40:16
  Speaker 6: guess what the Colts are going to do? They're going
• 40:17
  Speaker 6: to go copycat everything that the Browns did, and they're
• 40:21
  Speaker 6: going to try and make it difficult for them. And
• 40:26
  Speaker 6: this is what I talked about with having your own
• 40:29
  Speaker 6: calls in your offensive line. It doesn't have to be
• 40:33
  Speaker 6: anything fancy, but something that lets you know, hey, guys,
• 40:37
  Speaker 6: we need to back off the ball.
• 40:38
  Speaker 5: Now, I showed it to you, Rob, and Willie, what
• 40:41
  Speaker 5: it was. 4-2 open, right? Double mug. So the Mike
• 40:45
  Speaker 5: Zimmer blitz, right? Both your backers are up.
• 40:47
  Speaker 6: Pre-snap, the backer on Zach's left shoulder moved over to
• 40:52
  Speaker 6: the right, and Jalen Warren's to the left.
• 40:53
  Speaker 5: So that was Jalen's guy.
• 40:55
  Speaker 6: Zach points the right linebacker into a gap as the
• 40:59
  Speaker 6: Mike points. So that's where he's going. He's going to
• 41:02
  Speaker 6: that direction. What happens is that linebacker picks Hoffman, Buckner
• 41:07
  Speaker 6: wraps underneath, right? You know, just a little inside twist.
• 41:10
  Speaker 6: The problem was Zach turned his shoulders to attack the
• 41:13
  Speaker 6: linebacker that's picking Brock, and Buckner comes around his shoulder,
• 41:18
  Speaker 6: and he doesn't get to him in time.
• 41:19
  Speaker 5: That's what led to the sack.
• 41:21
  Speaker 2: Yeah, the lone.
• 41:22
  Speaker 5: Sack of the game.
• 41:23
  Speaker 6: That was one where Brock probably should have gotten off
• 41:25
  Speaker 6: the ball as well. Zach should also set back off
• 41:28
  Speaker 6: the ball because when you have that guy mugged in
• 41:30
  Speaker 6: the A-gap and he has all that pressure on his
• 41:32
  Speaker 6: front foot, you know he's coming. Because the other double
• 41:35
  Speaker 6: mug guy has already backed off the ball into coverage, right?
• 41:38
  Speaker 5: He's picking off.
• 41:40
  Speaker 3: Into a zone.
• 41:41
  Speaker 6: That's one where they both should set off. And we
• 41:43
  Speaker 6: talked about this. Our call back in the day was sugar.
• 41:46
  Speaker 6: And if we said sugar, that means everybody take two
• 41:49
  Speaker 6: vertical sets, let them figure it out and stay square
• 41:52
  Speaker 6: because twist is coming. Something is going to impact us
• 41:57
  Speaker 6: and they're not going to straight rush in those situations.
• 42:00
  Speaker 5: And that was a classic example.
• 42:01
  Speaker 6: Where If they had worked together more and they'd talked
• 42:03
  Speaker 6: about this and seen this before, they would have known, hey,
• 42:06
  Speaker 6: we need to get off of this. Or Brock should
• 42:08
  Speaker 6: have put his left hand up as a border wall
• 42:10
  Speaker 6: to help Zach and also kept himself square while looking
• 42:13
  Speaker 6: at DeForest Buckner.
• 42:15
  Speaker 5: And then it would have been an easier pass off
• 42:17
  Speaker 5: for both of them.
• 42:18
  Speaker 6: Zach could have snapped and then got back square to
• 42:21
  Speaker 6: pick up 9-9 as he was looping around.
• 42:23
  Speaker 2: So the point is that Hoffman, people on– social media
• 42:28
  Speaker 2: were criticizing Hoffman for allowing the sack on Buckner. And
• 42:31
  Speaker 2: I don't think it was that easy. Not even sure.
• 42:34
  Speaker 2: I mean, I don't want to say, well, I don't know. Again,
• 42:37
  Speaker 2: I don't know whether definitively Zach Frazier's responsibility to be
• 42:41
  Speaker 2: square up there, what the call. I don't know. I
• 42:43
  Speaker 2: just know that to blame that on Brock Hoffman, I
• 42:45
  Speaker 2: think seemed, seemed a little tough.
• 42:49
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 42:49
  Speaker 6: Cause Brock technically was already had Zach's guy, even though
• 42:53
  Speaker 6: he was, it was colliding with him and that's a
• 42:55
  Speaker 6: pass off. So that's, You could split it between Brock
• 42:58
  Speaker 6: and Zach equally, however you want to say it, but
• 43:00
  Speaker 6: it is not Hoffman's fault.
• 43:02
  Speaker 5: Hoffman obviously does.
• 43:03
  Speaker 6: Not want to get picked and wants to be able
• 43:05
  Speaker 6: to snap Zach sooner, but Zach at the center position
• 43:08
  Speaker 6: should also know if my guy's going right, somebody's going
• 43:12
  Speaker 6: to replace, right? Two guys aren't going through the same gap.
• 43:15
  Speaker 6: So if my guy's going across face into the A
• 43:19
  Speaker 6: or B gap, somebody's going to replace him to that
• 43:23
  Speaker 6: opposite A gap. So you have to stay square in
• 43:25
  Speaker 6: those situations.
• 43:26
  Speaker 2: You know, I think there are probably sources on the
• 43:28
  Speaker 2: Internet that are really good at this kind of stuff.
• 43:31
  Speaker 2: But it's just, you know, and again, I'm sorry to
• 43:35
  Speaker 2: have referenced this twice, but just even playing little itty-bitty
• 43:38
  Speaker 2: Division III ball 40 years ago, not quite that much,
• 43:43
  Speaker 2: close though, reminded me that it was– I learned that
• 43:48
  Speaker 2: I didn't know as much as I thought about football
• 43:51
  Speaker 2: when I sat in meeting rooms. And so, like, for example,
• 43:55
  Speaker 2: Dale and Everett– Willie in the Cleveland game gets beat
• 43:58
  Speaker 2: up the left sideline by Denzel Boston. Everyone's like, oh, man,
• 44:02
  Speaker 2: you know, he got beat by Denzel Boston. That's a
• 44:05
  Speaker 2: loss for Dale and Everett. Well, then we didn't see
• 44:07
  Speaker 2: Rayshon Jenkins the rest of the game. What does that mean?
• 44:10
  Speaker 2: It was cover two, and he needed to be over
• 44:12
  Speaker 2: the top, right?
• 44:13
  Speaker 5: He needed to be over there.
• 44:14
  Speaker 2: And you don't know that if you're a fan sitting
• 44:16
  Speaker 2: at home. You don't know the call. It's why when
• 44:18
  Speaker 2: guys are looking around on the field– with their hands
• 44:20
  Speaker 2: up in the air. Well, I thought it was supposed
• 44:22
  Speaker 2: to be cover three. I thought it was supposed to
• 44:23
  Speaker 2: be cover two. No, it was supposed to be man.
• 44:25
  Speaker 2: I don't know what it is, you know? So I just,
• 44:28
  Speaker 2: the only thing I'm saying is that we should all
• 44:30
  Speaker 2: be a little, a little cautious with our second guessing
• 44:34
  Speaker 2: of the players because we don't know what they were
• 44:37
  Speaker 2: supposed to do necessarily.
• 44:39
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 44:39
  Speaker 3: And you also don't know what was communicated, right?
• 44:41
  Speaker 4: Sometimes a guy can be out of position solely because
• 44:44
  Speaker 4: of what he heard.
• 44:45
  Speaker 3: From his guy say, right?
• 44:46
  Speaker 4: And sometimes, You know, the league right now, and Max
• 44:49
  Speaker 4: alluded to it, is a copycat league. And the purpose
• 44:52
  Speaker 4: of motions is to change leverage and figure out if
• 44:55
  Speaker 4: a defense is playing zone or man.
• 44:58
  Speaker 2: Right.
• 44:58
  Speaker 4: And you do these motions to get these last-minute communications.
• 45:02
  Speaker 4: And you see time after time the tempo of the
• 45:05
  Speaker 4: offense kind of speed up to kind of disturb the
• 45:08
  Speaker 4: defense between the motions and the tempo of the game.
• 45:11
  Speaker 3: Right.
• 45:13
  Speaker 4: There's always more than one reason why a guy blows
• 45:17
  Speaker 4: a coverage or whatever. Sure, a guy could be a
• 45:19
  Speaker 4: lot more detailed. It means it always costs a defense
• 45:23
  Speaker 4: a big player or a touchdown. But there's so much
• 45:25
  Speaker 4: that goes into a blown coverage or a missed tackle or.
• 45:30
  Speaker 3: A blocking assignment. There's a lot that happens.
• 45:33
  Speaker 4: Like I say, when you hear coaches say, you know what,
• 45:37
  Speaker 4: I can't evaluate it.
• 45:38
  Speaker 3: I have to look at the tape.
• 45:40
  Speaker 4: They really mean that, you know, sometimes the emotional reaction,
• 45:44
  Speaker 4: it's easy to say, you know, watch a guy blow
• 45:47
  Speaker 4: a coverage and be like, Oh man, this guy just
• 45:49
  Speaker 4: wasn't on his P's and Q's or.
• 45:50
  Speaker 3: Or whatever, whatever.
• 45:51
  Speaker 4: There's these, there's three or four things that led up
• 45:54
  Speaker 4: to that one guy to blow that one coverage, right?
• 45:57
  Speaker 4: It's never just that one guy's fault in Valley. He
• 46:00
  Speaker 4: may be the poster boy of that one situation, but
• 46:04
  Speaker 4: there's a lot that adds to it. So I, I
• 46:07
  Speaker 4: try to kind of step back from being emotional about it.
• 46:11
  Speaker 4: And then sometimes the guy just gets you.
• 46:13
  Speaker 2: That's right. They get paid to smoke. And by the way,
• 46:18
  Speaker 2: just one more before we go to break. I remember
• 46:20
  Speaker 2: watching film with Tunch Oken when he came in. He
• 46:23
  Speaker 2: would come in, and I would sit with him every Monday,
• 46:26
  Speaker 2: and he would break down the tape, and I always
• 46:27
  Speaker 2: sat down next to him, and I loved doing it. But,
• 46:30
  Speaker 2: you know, he was talking about how a lot of quarterbacks,
• 46:32
  Speaker 2: veteran quarterbacks, will let the play clock get down to
• 46:35
  Speaker 2: the very end. and fans are hollering, and, oh, this is–
• 46:40
  Speaker 2: it's all the timing looks off. Well, they're looking for
• 46:43
  Speaker 2: the guy who's going to give them the tell because
• 46:47
  Speaker 2: they're showing cover two. When the ball snaps, they're going
• 46:50
  Speaker 2: to move into cover three. And if it's cover two,
• 46:54
  Speaker 2: you know, the X is open. And if it's cover three,
• 46:56
  Speaker 2: the Y receiver is open. So that's the information they're
• 46:59
  Speaker 2: trying to figure out as they wait. And there's always–
• 47:02
  Speaker 2: there's always one guy who will get antsy. Maybe he's slow.
• 47:06
  Speaker 2: Maybe he's worried. Maybe he's a rookie. Maybe he wants
• 47:08
  Speaker 2: to get back and make sure he doesn't blow his assignment.
• 47:10
  Speaker 2: Somebody's going to tip it off for you. So there's
• 47:13
  Speaker 2: so much more going on out there than people realize.
• 47:17
  Speaker 2: They need to get that play called. Why did they
• 47:19
  Speaker 2: take that delay a game? He got burned in this coverage.
• 47:24
  Speaker 2: There's more to it. Frequently. Sometimes there isn't, but usually
• 47:27
  Speaker 2: there is. All right, that's it. We've got to get
• 47:30
  Speaker 2: back to the power rankings. We're going to take a break.
• 47:32
  Speaker 2: When we return, inside the locker room here on the
• 47:34
  Speaker 2: Steelers Audio Network.