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HR2: Intriguing Matchups · In the Locker Room presented by Neighborhood Ford Store (Pittsburgh Steelers)

• 0:03
  Speaker 1: This is In the Locker Room with Rob King, Max Starks,
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: and Willie Colon on Steelers Nation Radio. Brought to you
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: in part by the Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop.steelers.com.
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: And by your neighborhood Ford store. The F-150 is the
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: official truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: It is the cool breeze blowing us into the locker
• 0:29
  Speaker 2: room and carrying with it The great Jerry Dulac brought
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: to you by Frank B.
• 0:35
  Speaker 3: Fuhrer Wholesale. That music will go really well.
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: Down in Tampa Bay with all that sunshine down there
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: and warm weather.
• 0:43
  Speaker 3: Jerry, how are you doing today, my friend?
• 0:46
  Speaker 4: Rob, I am fine, my friend. I am doing well.
• 0:51
  Speaker 5: I am actually, as I believe I told you, heading
• 0:54
  Speaker 5: down there soon.
• 0:56
  Speaker 6: And.
• 0:58
  Speaker 5: I'm going to head to Orlando first, and my daughter
• 1:00
  Speaker 5: lives there, and then I'm heading over.
• 1:02
  Speaker 4: To Tampa on Saturday.
• 1:05
  Speaker 7: Taking the old I-4 west there, Jer, from Orlando?
• 1:10
  Speaker 5: That's exactly right, Max. I know that's your old haunt.
• 1:14
  Speaker 5: You're very much familiar with Shingle Creek and all those
• 1:18
  Speaker 5: places that.
• 1:18
  Speaker 4: I have frequented. So, yes, I don't have to tell you.
• 1:21
  Speaker 4: You know everything there.
• 1:23
  Speaker 8: Are you going to get around it? That's the question.
• 1:26
  Speaker 8: Are you going to get around him?
• 1:27
  Speaker 6: Max, I will not.
• 1:28
  Speaker 5: Whenever I'm with my family, I usually pass on the
• 1:32
  Speaker 5: golf because I get to golf many other times. So
• 1:35
  Speaker 5: when they're with me, just like in France, there'll be
• 1:39
  Speaker 5: no golf for me, believe that or not.
• 1:42
  Speaker 8: Okay.
• 1:43
  Speaker 3: Ireland, Jerry. Ireland, a little different story.
• 1:49
  Speaker 4: Well, but my family wasn't with me.
• 1:51
  Speaker 3: Oh, I see. Yeah.
• 1:56
  Speaker 6: All right.
• 1:56
  Speaker 3: Yeah, Paris has some beautiful courses.
• 1:57
  Speaker 8: Anyways, it's October.
• 1:58
  Speaker 5: Rob, I know that doesn't stop you, but that's a
• 2:01
  Speaker 5: different story because you spend a lot of time overseas.
• 2:04
  Speaker 3: No, my family is, you know, I did not.
• 2:11
  Speaker 2: Grandfather in the motorcycle when I met my wife, and
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: she basically said, no motorcycle for you.
• 2:18
  Speaker 3: It had died just before we started dating.
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: That was it. But the golf has lived on. The
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: golf was grandfathered into the relationship, so. She's very good
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: about it.
• 2:27
  Speaker 8: So, Jerry.
• 2:29
  Speaker 5: Rob, that was the deal breaker, brother.
• 2:31
  Speaker 3: What's that, the golf?
• 2:33
  Speaker 6: The golf, absolutely.
• 2:36
  Speaker 3: You could have the motorcycle.
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: So, Jerry, the Steelers are getting ready to win for the,
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: you know, hopefully to win on the road for the
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: first time this season. A lot of questions about winning
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: on the road during yesterday's press conference. Press conferences, Mike
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: McCarthy was asked about it. I think Cam Hayward was
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: asked about it. Aaron Rodgers was certainly asked about it.
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: Is there something to it? Does the team need to
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: play differently or do anything differently, in your opinion, to
• 3:06
  Speaker 2: go down to Tampa Bay and win their first road
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: game of the season?
• 3:11
  Speaker 4: Well, of course, the biggest problem.
• 3:15
  Speaker 5: On the road for the most part is for the
• 3:17
  Speaker 5: offense and the offensive line, you know, communicating with the
• 3:22
  Speaker 5: noise level, whatever that is. But I think why this
• 3:27
  Speaker 5: game is important in terms of winning on the road
• 3:31
  Speaker 5: is because, look, we know Mike McCarthy can do it.
• 3:33
  Speaker 5: It's been proven. But I think he needs to do
• 3:37
  Speaker 5: it to show the guys, not that they're wondering, like, hey,
• 3:40
  Speaker 5: can Mike McCarthy win on the road? But I think
• 3:42
  Speaker 5: it's important as the new Steeler coach, after losing the
• 3:46
  Speaker 5: first two, being kind of, I don't want to say embarrassed,
• 3:50
  Speaker 5: but the whooped up in New England. and then kind
• 3:53
  Speaker 5: of kicking the one away.
• 3:54
  Speaker 4: In Cleveland, I think it's important for a.
• 3:57
  Speaker 5: New coach to show the guys, hey, we can go
• 3:59
  Speaker 5: and we can win on the road. And I don't
• 4:02
  Speaker 5: know that they approach what they do differently besides trying
• 4:06
  Speaker 5: to handle the silent count, which is nothing new for
• 4:09
  Speaker 5: Aaron Rodgers. Maybe it's difficult for some of your younger
• 4:13
  Speaker 5: guys who aren't maybe accustomed to that. But in terms
• 4:17
  Speaker 5: of how they approach it, I don't think the road
• 4:20
  Speaker 5: factors into how they're going to scheme either for or
• 4:23
  Speaker 5: against Tampa Bay. But again, I just, I just think
• 4:27
  Speaker 5: it's important for Mike McCarthy to win a road game
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  Speaker 5: to show just, you know, just to get the team
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  Speaker 5: and the players to show, yes, look, we can.
• 4:34
  Speaker 6: Win on the road.
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  Speaker 7: And Jerry, I know that, like you said, that's important, right?
• 4:40
  Speaker 7: We've proven that home dominance is something that they can
• 4:43
  Speaker 7: handle thus far. And obviously we'll get some bigger challenges
• 4:46
  Speaker 7: as the year comes on. But right now, 3-0, and,
• 4:48
  Speaker 7: you know, you kind of laid it out perfectly. We
• 4:50
  Speaker 7: got a win on the road. But how much more
• 4:53
  Speaker 7: important do you think it is to be on the
• 4:55
  Speaker 7: road this week knowing that you have an international travel
• 4:59
  Speaker 7: week right.
• 5:01
  Speaker 8: Afterwards, essentially?
• 5:02
  Speaker 6: Yeah.
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  Speaker 7: So it's a short time at home before you technically
• 5:06
  Speaker 7: go on the road, even though it is a neutral
• 5:07
  Speaker 7: site for another game, you know, as they get ready
• 5:12
  Speaker 7: for the Saints after the Bucs. And I know we're
• 5:14
  Speaker 7: looking ahead. You're not supposed to look ahead, but that's
• 5:16
  Speaker 7: a player's thing, not the media thing. We're allowed to
• 5:18
  Speaker 7: look ahead. How important do you think that is?
• 5:22
  Speaker 4: Well, Max, it is.
• 5:24
  Speaker 5: And that was the one thing that, you know, I
• 5:27
  Speaker 5: failed to mention but was leading in that direction was
• 5:29
  Speaker 5: the fact that, you know, then they're.
• 5:31
  Speaker 4: Playing another game on the road.
• 5:33
  Speaker 5: And You know, this is a good stretch for the Steelers.
• 5:35
  Speaker 4: Let's face it.
• 5:36
  Speaker 5: They already blew part of that good stretch in Cleveland.
• 5:39
  Speaker 5: I mean, I'm not going to sit here and, you know,
• 5:41
  Speaker 5: Cleveland's closer to the bottom feeders in the league than
• 5:43
  Speaker 5: they are to the top of the league. So you
• 5:46
  Speaker 5: look at the stretch between the Browns and the Colts
• 5:49
  Speaker 5: who were beatable. They're not the bottom feeder either, but
• 5:51
  Speaker 5: they're not in the upper half. And you got Tampa
• 5:54
  Speaker 5: Bay one and four. You got the Saints one and four.
• 5:57
  Speaker 5: And then you got the Browns.
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  Speaker 4: Again at home.
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  Speaker 5: So, you know, that's a five game stretch where you've
• 6:02
  Speaker 5: got to make some hay. And they've already given one
• 6:05
  Speaker 5: of those away. So, you know, four and one in
• 6:08
  Speaker 5: those five games would be really good, which means they
• 6:11
  Speaker 5: would win the next four. They've already won one of those.
• 6:15
  Speaker 5: But at this point in time, they can't do any
• 6:17
  Speaker 5: worse than three, to me, than three and one. Look,
• 6:21
  Speaker 5: it doesn't make everything impossible.
• 6:22
  Speaker 6: But, you know, it.
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  Speaker 5: Probably puts you behind a few games, two to three
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  Speaker 5: games behind the Ravens at the halfway point.
• 6:29
  Speaker 4: And you don't want to do that.
• 6:31
  Speaker 5: Um, because then you're asking for other factors to be
• 6:33
  Speaker 5: involved to try and defend your division title. If in fact,
• 6:37
  Speaker 5: they're going to be able to do that or that
• 6:39
  Speaker 5: if they can do that. So, yeah, I think with, um,
• 6:42
  Speaker 5: you know, with another road game after that, especially an
• 6:45
  Speaker 5: international game, but still a road game. Um, yeah, you better,
• 6:49
  Speaker 5: you better be able to show you can have success
• 6:51
  Speaker 5: on the road. Otherwise it becomes a, you know, kind
• 6:55
  Speaker 5: of a little bugaboo out there like where it becomes, okay,
• 6:58
  Speaker 5: we can't win on the road. I don't think that's
• 7:00
  Speaker 5: going to be the case, but you certainly don't want.
• 7:02
  Speaker 6: That to happen. Jared, can we pivot over to the
• 7:06
  Speaker 6: defensive side? Has there been much talk about Patrick Graham's
• 7:11
  Speaker 6: ability to come from the booth down to the sideline
• 7:14
  Speaker 6: where he's able to call the game? Did the players
• 7:17
  Speaker 6: talk about how much they enjoyed it and how much
• 7:20
  Speaker 6: they feel like that was a key turn to getting
• 7:22
  Speaker 6: his defense performing at an elite level?
• 7:26
  Speaker 5: Willie, they did. We'll see what it means, but I
• 7:30
  Speaker 5: think from the player standpoint, especially from the veterans who,
• 7:34
  Speaker 5: let's face it, in all these years, back when you
• 7:37
  Speaker 5: guys were playing and Max, I mean, that coordinator was
• 7:40
  Speaker 5: always on the sideline. And those guys who have been
• 7:44
  Speaker 5: there for a while aren't accustomed to that.
• 7:46
  Speaker 4: And again, I think, Willie, that's one.
• 7:49
  Speaker 5: Of the changes that they're getting accustomed to. Mike McCarthy
• 7:54
  Speaker 5: and his staff, or in Patrick Graham's case, who's always
• 7:57
  Speaker 5: in the booth, he said he's more comfortable there.
• 8:00
  Speaker 4: The players aren't used to that.
• 8:02
  Speaker 5: And I don't think there's any question after what happened
• 8:05
  Speaker 5: in Cleveland. I just think that kind of points up
• 8:08
  Speaker 5: why the move was made. Mike McCarthy said it was
• 8:10
  Speaker 5: something he wanted to do all the time. But, you know,
• 8:13
  Speaker 5: I think that's what Patrick Graham prefers, being in a booth.
• 8:17
  Speaker 5: But he said he enjoyed being back down on the field.
• 8:20
  Speaker 5: I'm sure he's going to stay there. And the players
• 8:23
  Speaker 5: had an opportunity to be able to talk to him face-to-face. And,
• 8:27
  Speaker 5: you know, when you talk about– we hear all the
• 8:29
  Speaker 5: time about communication. There's a lot of factors there that
• 8:31
  Speaker 5: people aren't aware of beyond just the communication of getting
• 8:34
  Speaker 5: the calls in and players getting the calls to one another.
• 8:38
  Speaker 5: And part of it is just that, having a coordinator
• 8:42
  Speaker 5: on the field, and that's just part of it. And, again,
• 8:45
  Speaker 5: I think it's all just getting– used to what each
• 8:48
  Speaker 5: other is accustomed to. And, and I think the players
• 8:53
  Speaker 5: appreciated having Patrick Graham down on the sidelines.
• 8:59
  Speaker 3: So Jerry Dulac is our guest. Jerry is brought to
• 9:02
  Speaker 3: you by Frank B. Fuhrer Wholesale.
• 9:05
  Speaker 2: Jerry, I did want to ask about the defense and,
• 9:10
  Speaker 2: you know, this feels like the kind of game that,
• 9:12
  Speaker 2: you know, going hearkening back years ago, You know, Dick
• 9:16
  Speaker 2: LeBeau comes in and makes a mockery of the young
• 9:19
  Speaker 2: quarterback and throws him off his game and, you know,
• 9:22
  Speaker 2: completely gets.
• 9:23
  Speaker 3: Him off his rhythm.
• 9:24
  Speaker 2: I just think we have seen, you know, Patrick Graham
• 9:28
  Speaker 2: adapt from week to week. And I don't know if
• 9:31
  Speaker 2: I know what they're going to do to attack. You know,
• 9:33
  Speaker 2: this last week, clearly, they wanted to shut down Jonathan
• 9:37
  Speaker 2: Taylor and take their chances with everybody else. And they
• 9:39
  Speaker 2: shut down Jonathan Taylor, took their chances with everybody else. Yes,
• 9:43
  Speaker 2: they got good situational defense. holding the Colts to a
• 9:47
  Speaker 2: couple chip shot field goals that could have made a
• 9:49
  Speaker 2: big difference in the game.
• 9:51
  Speaker 3: But it's been effective.
• 9:52
  Speaker 2: It's just been different and I'm not really sure what
• 9:55
  Speaker 2: to expect week to week. I mean, I could say
• 9:57
  Speaker 2: the same thing offensively because every is new but i
• 10:00
  Speaker 2: i think it's more different on defense week to week
• 10:04
  Speaker 2: um than it is for me on.
• 10:05
  Speaker 5: Offense well the one thing i have seen rob that
• 10:10
  Speaker 5: concerns me is the lack of pressure and um I
• 10:15
  Speaker 5: don't think they've been very creative on defense and I
• 10:18
  Speaker 5: think they need to.
• 10:19
  Speaker 4: Be a little bit more creative.
• 10:20
  Speaker 5: And I say that because you look at the lack
• 10:23
  Speaker 5: of pressure the last three games. Now, I know there's
• 10:25
  Speaker 5: two different approaches to how you approach it. Now, you
• 10:27
  Speaker 5: look around the National Football League right now. I was
• 10:30
  Speaker 5: just looking this up the other day. The teams are
• 10:32
  Speaker 5: blitzing more now, like at the fast, more frequent pace
• 10:35
  Speaker 5: since 2018. And we're seeing, what are we seeing? We're
• 10:39
  Speaker 5: seeing more quarterbacks under center now, aren't we? Including Aaron Rodgers.
• 10:43
  Speaker 6: And so.
• 10:44
  Speaker 5: Now that that's happening, the blitz rate is the highest
• 10:48
  Speaker 5: since 2006 when the quarterbacks are under center. The Steelers
• 10:51
  Speaker 5: aren't part of that. I know the Minnesota Vikings, you know,
• 10:55
  Speaker 5: with Brian Flores are leading the pack in that.
• 10:57
  Speaker 4: New England's not far behind.
• 10:58
  Speaker 5: I'll tell you who else blitzes a lot is the
• 11:01
  Speaker 5: Tampa Bay. But we have not seen that from Patrick Graham.
• 11:05
  Speaker 5: And I know several weeks ago he says, we'll blitz,
• 11:08
  Speaker 5: I promise. But you haven't seen that. He's trying to
• 11:10
  Speaker 5: get home with four guys. And it hasn't been happening.
• 11:14
  Speaker 5: They have only four sacks in the last three games
• 11:17
  Speaker 5: in their high price trio of outside linebackers, you know,
• 11:20
  Speaker 5: TJ and Alex Highsmith and Nick Herbig. They have one
• 11:24
  Speaker 5: sack in the last three games. Now I get what's happening.
• 11:27
  Speaker 5: He wants to rush with four and cover with seven.
• 11:30
  Speaker 5: And so, you know, and they're playing a lot of
• 11:32
  Speaker 5: zone behind it, but, but what's happening is the quarterbacks
• 11:36
  Speaker 5: now have more time to throw.
• 11:38
  Speaker 4: And so what are you seeing happening?
• 11:40
  Speaker 5: Longer pass plays because they have more time to throw
• 11:43
  Speaker 5: the receivers have more time to run their routes and
• 11:46
  Speaker 5: so the Steelers have given up 19 passes of at
• 11:49
  Speaker 5: least 20 yards that's third most in the league And
• 11:53
  Speaker 5: they've allowed.
• 11:53
  Speaker 4: Three passes of 40 yards. Only five teams have allowed more.
• 11:56
  Speaker 5: Now, it's not an outlandish number, but you're talking about
• 11:59
  Speaker 5: only after five games. And so their inability to pressure
• 12:04
  Speaker 5: that pocket, even if they're not going to sack them.
• 12:08
  Speaker 5: I was just I looked this number up. They blitzed
• 12:10
  Speaker 5: according to pro football reference. They blitzed 18 times in
• 12:14
  Speaker 5: five games. Now, project that over a season. Now, look,
• 12:17
  Speaker 5: do I expect that's not going to stay at that number?
• 12:20
  Speaker 5: I hardly doubt it. But just project that over a season.
• 12:24
  Speaker 5: That's 130-some blitzes over a season. Back in the 20, 21, 19,
• 12:31
  Speaker 5: when they were leading the league in sacks those five
• 12:34
  Speaker 5: straight years with 50-some a year, they were blitzing 350, 370,
• 12:37
  Speaker 5: 410 times.
• 12:41
  Speaker 6: Wow.
• 12:42
  Speaker 5: This team does not approach that. And I point this
• 12:44
  Speaker 5: up only because, you know, when Mike McCarthy became a coach,
• 12:48
  Speaker 5: one of the things he talked about and embraced was
• 12:51
  Speaker 5: the way the Steelers played defense. And in particular, he
• 12:54
  Speaker 5: referenced the Blitzburg days of the 1990s. Now, I'm not
• 12:59
  Speaker 5: expecting this defense to be Blitzburg. You know, he loved
• 13:03
  Speaker 5: that defense. It's why he hired Tom Capers when he
• 13:06
  Speaker 5: was at Green Bay. Well, what we've seen in the
• 13:09
  Speaker 5: last three games has... No resemblance to Blitzburg. They're playing
• 13:13
  Speaker 5: it so vanilla in that regard. Now, I can't sit
• 13:17
  Speaker 5: here and tell you what's going on or what they're
• 13:19
  Speaker 5: trying to do in the back end all the time
• 13:20
  Speaker 5: with the coverages. Willie and Max might know that a
• 13:23
  Speaker 5: whole lot better than I do. But I just think
• 13:25
  Speaker 5: they need to be more creative with what they do
• 13:28
  Speaker 5: because they, okay, you got a rookie quarterback now.
• 13:31
  Speaker 4: What are you going to do?
• 13:32
  Speaker 5: You're either going to confuse them with your looks or
• 13:35
  Speaker 5: you're going to come after them. That was always Dick LeBeau's.
• 13:38
  Speaker 5: Which one are you going to pick? And so I don't–
• 13:42
  Speaker 5: I need to see more of that. I haven't seen
• 13:44
  Speaker 5: it the last three games.
• 13:46
  Speaker 8: I'm right there with you, Jerry. And I'll say this.
• 13:50
  Speaker 8: It's playing safe.
• 13:52
  Speaker 7: It's playing– you know, you said vanilla, but, you know,
• 13:56
  Speaker 7: it's almost like playing scared.
• 13:58
  Speaker 8: You're scared of giving up.
• 13:59
  Speaker 6: The big play.
• 13:59
  Speaker 8: That's exactly right. And you're absolutely right.
• 14:02
  Speaker 7: And like you said, I mean, especially when you have
• 14:04
  Speaker 7: a Jalen Ramsey playing so close to the line of scrimmage,
• 14:06
  Speaker 7: I mean, I.
• 14:06
  Speaker 8: Would love to just blitz Jalen.
• 14:08
  Speaker 4: Great blitzer.
• 14:08
  Speaker 7: Because Jalen– has he he just he has that killer
• 14:13
  Speaker 7: instinct right and when you're thinking about blitzing guys because
• 14:16
  Speaker 7: a blitz technically is where you bring safety support or
• 14:21
  Speaker 7: secondary support a dog is when you when you bring
• 14:24
  Speaker 7: the linebackers right we've seen I've seen a number of
• 14:26
  Speaker 7: dogs I haven't seen a lot of blitz and you
• 14:30
  Speaker 7: know the one the one blitz that you know is
• 14:34
  Speaker 7: famously coined by Dick LeBeau is that three four zone
• 14:38
  Speaker 7: blitz right and you're bringing that nickel support, that safety
• 14:42
  Speaker 7: support in there, and blitzing and dropping guys into coverage.
• 14:45
  Speaker 8: I'm right there with you.
• 14:47
  Speaker 7: And I think that's also what kind of triggers me, right?
• 14:53
  Speaker 7: Because teams are going to put you in 11, so
• 14:55
  Speaker 7: you're going to be in four down. You're not going
• 14:57
  Speaker 7: to be in this traditional 3-4 as they're trying to,
• 15:01
  Speaker 7: I guess, as they have it slated. So you're not
• 15:04
  Speaker 7: getting a lot of YA black. and they're getting more
• 15:07
  Speaker 7: Keanu Benton at nose, which I thought we were trying
• 15:09
  Speaker 7: to move him out of nose. So it's been confusing
• 15:12
  Speaker 7: from that perspective, and hopefully with Patrick Graham down on
• 15:15
  Speaker 7: the sidelines, he can catch the temperature of the team
• 15:18
  Speaker 7: a little bit better, like those coaches you aforementioned, the
• 15:21
  Speaker 7: Dom Capers and the Dick LeBose of the world, and
• 15:23
  Speaker 7: even Keith Butlers when he took over. Hopefully they can
• 15:27
  Speaker 7: get back to that type of era. As we look
• 15:30
  Speaker 7: out on the health front, just injury-wise, I mean, Where
• 15:34
  Speaker 7: are we sitting? I know we added Landon to the
• 15:38
  Speaker 7: practice squad. Mike McCarthy loves to travel everybody on these
• 15:43
  Speaker 7: trips now. I mean, it looks more like a college
• 15:44
  Speaker 7: sideline with all the practice squad guys there.
• 15:49
  Speaker 8: Where are we at with kind of some of the–
• 15:51
  Speaker 8: on the injury front for the Steelers?
• 15:54
  Speaker 5: You know, one thing I've learned about Mike McCarthy, and
• 15:58
  Speaker 5: that was reinforced again today when he met with– the
• 16:02
  Speaker 5: media people was that he is not very forthcoming with
• 16:07
  Speaker 5: the status of his injured players. He was asked about
• 16:10
  Speaker 5: Jamel Dean today and he bought, you know, bit that
• 16:14
  Speaker 5: question off. And it was actually the first time since I,
• 16:18
  Speaker 5: that I've seen Mike be a little short and testy
• 16:21
  Speaker 5: with some of the questions. I haven't seen that much
• 16:23
  Speaker 5: from him, but he was today. So I can't tell
• 16:27
  Speaker 5: you where Jamel Dean is. We know where they are
• 16:30
  Speaker 5: at wide receiver. They're without three of their top five guys,
• 16:33
  Speaker 5: including two of their top three. You know, you know,
• 16:36
  Speaker 5: Brandon Smith's going to be is going to be elevated again. Goodness,
• 16:40
  Speaker 5: we might even see Caden Weijin line up at wide receiver,
• 16:43
  Speaker 5: which he hasn't taken an offensive snap yet this year.
• 16:47
  Speaker 4: You know, he was a gadget receiver, as you guys know,
• 16:49
  Speaker 4: at Iowa. And I thought somewhere.
• 16:51
  Speaker 5: Along the line they would use him in that manner.
• 16:54
  Speaker 5: Somewhere more than nothing. And maybe this is his opportunity.
• 17:00
  Speaker 5: But I also think, I don't think there's any question
• 17:02
  Speaker 5: we're probably going to see a big heavy dose of
• 17:05
  Speaker 5: the heavy package. I think Bobby Tunyon, as they like
• 17:08
  Speaker 5: to call him, you know, I bet he played 15
• 17:11
  Speaker 5: snaps all year. I think you might see him maybe,
• 17:14
  Speaker 5: maybe play that many in Tampa Bay. So I think
• 17:17
  Speaker 5: that's how they're going to counter you know, the injuries
• 17:21
  Speaker 5: that they have. But, you know, Mike McCarthy is not
• 17:24
  Speaker 5: very forthcoming about who's healthy and who isn't, especially on
• 17:28
  Speaker 5: a Thursday afternoon.
• 17:31
  Speaker 6: Well, Jerry, out of me, going into this game against
• 17:33
  Speaker 6: the Bucs, we know the Bucs have a big time
• 17:36
  Speaker 6: run defense, and we highlighted it earlier before you came on.
• 17:40
  Speaker 6: I'm a firm believer that, you know, we should live
• 17:43
  Speaker 6: in a heavy personnel because of our tight end and
• 17:46
  Speaker 6: Jalen Warren. But, you know, How do we feature more backs?
• 17:51
  Speaker 6: What's the best way of attacking this run defense that
• 17:53
  Speaker 6: we're not so boxed in? And how should the Steelers
• 17:56
  Speaker 6: go into this game, and what should the mindset be?
• 17:59
  Speaker 5: You know, Willie, I think what's happened the last week
• 18:02
  Speaker 5: or so, and again, you know, Max, you see it live,
• 18:06
  Speaker 5: and Willie, with your trained eye, I don't think there's
• 18:10
  Speaker 5: any question that the offensive line has played better. Now,
• 18:12
  Speaker 5: Jalen Warren might help it might help it look like
• 18:16
  Speaker 5: they're playing better. But I do think especially I think
• 18:19
  Speaker 5: Max Hunter on the right side, he gets better every week.
• 18:22
  Speaker 5: And so I think you're seeing them play better. And
• 18:25
  Speaker 5: and what they've been able to do with Jalen Warren
• 18:28
  Speaker 5: and what he's been able to do has been obviously
• 18:32
  Speaker 5: extremely impressive. And I don't expect them. to deviate a
• 18:36
  Speaker 5: whole lot more. You know, they have to worry about
• 18:38
  Speaker 5: Vita Vita in the middle. He's such a big, strong guy.
• 18:41
  Speaker 5: I mean, it's tough to move. You know, he's the
• 18:44
  Speaker 5: heart of their run defense. But so it's going to,
• 18:49
  Speaker 5: you know, it's going to be a key game for
• 18:51
  Speaker 5: Zach Frazier. But they've had success with Jalen Warren. You know,
• 18:57
  Speaker 5: if Rico Dowdle comes back, which he's kind of indicated,
• 19:01
  Speaker 5: I don't think you're going to see them go back
• 19:02
  Speaker 5: to splitting snaps because they want Jalen Warren on the field.
• 19:05
  Speaker 5: But you will see him get a few more a
• 19:07
  Speaker 5: few more snaps, unlike what we saw from any of
• 19:10
  Speaker 5: the other backups. So, you know, I can't tell you
• 19:13
  Speaker 5: exactly how.
• 19:14
  Speaker 4: They're going to scheme up and attack him.
• 19:16
  Speaker 5: But I know one thing they're going to try and
• 19:18
  Speaker 5: feature Jalen Warren because he's been their best offensive player
• 19:20
  Speaker 5: and that's not going to change.
• 19:23
  Speaker 2: He is Jerry Dulac, the cool breeze blowing him south
• 19:26
  Speaker 2: a little earlier than the rest of us. Glad to
• 19:28
  Speaker 2: hear that for you, Jerry. Look forward to seeing you
• 19:30
  Speaker 2: on Sunday at Raymond James Stadium. Jerry brought to us
• 19:33
  Speaker 2: by Frank B. Fuhrer Wholesale.
• 19:35
  Speaker 3: Thank you, Du.
• 19:36
  Speaker 5: I'll see you fellas at the.
• 19:39
  Speaker 4: Ball yard on Sunday.
• 19:41
  Speaker 3: Jerry Dulac, safe travels, my friend. Stick around.
• 19:44
  Speaker 2: We're going to look at the game that intrigues us
• 19:46
  Speaker 2: the most around the NFL and other items pertaining to it.
• 19:50
  Speaker 2: to the Steelers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers when we continue
• 19:52
  Speaker 2: in the locker room here on the Steelers Audio Network.
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: This is In the Locker Room with Rob King, Max Starks,
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: and Willie Colon on Steelers Nation Radio. Brought to you
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: in part by a Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
• 20:09
  Speaker 1: from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop.steelers.com.
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: And by your neighborhood Ford store. The F-150 is the
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: official truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
• 20:28
  Speaker 7: Oh, you know, he had to make a stop at
• 20:30
  Speaker 7: some point in the power hour. And of course, with
• 20:33
  Speaker 7: Jerry Dulac coming in at the top, you know, we
• 20:35
  Speaker 7: hold off. We want to give Jerry his due. And,
• 20:38
  Speaker 7: you know, the cool breeze gets its own type of introduction.
• 20:43
  Speaker 7: So we have the power.
• 20:46
  Speaker 8: Two thirds out.
• 20:49
  Speaker 7: As we get ready to finish up the rest of
• 20:52
  Speaker 7: the second hour. I got two more segments left for
• 20:54
  Speaker 7: the day and. Rob, you know, Jerry kind of laid
• 20:57
  Speaker 7: out some good stuff for us. I mean, especially, you know,
• 21:01
  Speaker 7: after talking to Tony as well, you know, and for
• 21:05
  Speaker 7: the Steelers, kind of what's at stake here. I thought
• 21:08
  Speaker 7: it was very interesting what he talked about as far
• 21:10
  Speaker 7: as kind of this stretch being the stretch where if
• 21:13
  Speaker 7: you're going to make some hay, this is the stretch
• 21:16
  Speaker 7: you kind of make the hay on, right?
• 21:18
  Speaker 8: You know, we dropped the one to the Browns, but,
• 21:20
  Speaker 8: you know, we'll see them.
• 21:22
  Speaker 7: For a second time in five weeks coming up after
• 21:26
  Speaker 7: we go to Tampa, we take the old trip to
• 21:31
  Speaker 7: the Fleur de Lille land in old Paris, but we'll
• 21:36
  Speaker 7: see the Browns again.
• 21:38
  Speaker 3: You know, I.
• 21:40
  Speaker 2: Asked this of Mike McCarthy prior to the game on
• 21:45
  Speaker 2: Sunday in our pregame interview. If he's a coach that
• 21:49
  Speaker 2: breaks the season up into quarters or thirds or sections or.
• 21:53
  Speaker 6: What have you.
• 21:54
  Speaker 3: You know, a lot of people, and he does a
• 21:56
  Speaker 3: lot of people like to break it up into quarter.
• 21:58
  Speaker 2: Of course, there's no pure quarter anymore since they turned
• 22:01
  Speaker 2: from 16 games to 17 games, but you go two
• 22:05
  Speaker 2: and two in the first four, you know, like Willie said,
• 22:09
  Speaker 2: lose a game a month. I was kind of thinking
• 22:12
  Speaker 2: three and one there. Um, If you go 3-1 in
• 22:16
  Speaker 2: this stretch, you have the Colts here, you have the
• 22:18
  Speaker 2: Saints in Paris, you have the Browns coming home. This
• 22:22
  Speaker 2: is the one that concerns me the most, Willie, and
• 22:25
  Speaker 2: it concerns me the most because I don't think Tampa
• 22:29
  Speaker 2: Bay expected to be 0-4.
• 22:31
  Speaker 3: I know they didn't.
• 22:31
  Speaker 2: I think they expected themselves to go out and win
• 22:34
  Speaker 2: the NFC South, a division that was totally up for grabs.
• 22:38
  Speaker 3: We talked about this. Going into the season, I think every.
• 22:41
  Speaker 2: Single team in that division, somebody picked them As a
• 22:44
  Speaker 2: surprise team this year.
• 22:45
  Speaker 3: Oh, it's going to be the Saints. No, it's going
• 22:46
  Speaker 3: to be Carolina. No, it's going to be Tampa Bay.
• 22:50
  Speaker 2: I think that this is a dangerous team. They just
• 22:54
  Speaker 2: revived their hopes last week. If they lost, maybe I
• 22:59
  Speaker 2: don't feel like they're quite as dangerous at 0-5. At 1-4,
• 23:03
  Speaker 2: they know that every game, until you get back to,
• 23:07
  Speaker 2: you know, Until you get back to 3-4, 4-4, 5-5,
• 23:12
  Speaker 2: somewhere in there. We saw what won the division a
• 23:14
  Speaker 2: year ago. You know, I think that they're a team
• 23:19
  Speaker 2: in which every game has that extra little measure of desperation.
• 23:23
  Speaker 2: And I think that makes them a dangerous team coming
• 23:25
  Speaker 2: up on Sunday.
• 23:27
  Speaker 6: Yeah, and I also think, you know, in their eyes,
• 23:31
  Speaker 6: they feel like they're just getting started. To your point,
• 23:34
  Speaker 6: I don't think they would have loved to start off
• 23:35
  Speaker 6: this way. But if you look around the division... In
• 23:38
  Speaker 6: their division, the Saints are still, you know, I think
• 23:40
  Speaker 6: the Saints are 1-4, if you will. The Panthers are
• 23:44
  Speaker 6: up and down. The Falcons, even though they've been sufficient
• 23:48
  Speaker 6: and been able to put up good fights, you know,
• 23:50
  Speaker 6: their record is their record, actually. I think they're 2-3
• 23:53
  Speaker 6: as well. Maybe 2-2, I'm not sure. Excuse me on that.
• 23:58
  Speaker 6: But with all that said, man, the division seems like
• 24:01
  Speaker 6: it's reachable. That's what I'm trying to say. And they're
• 24:05
  Speaker 6: looking at a Steeler team who they feel... On tape,
• 24:08
  Speaker 6: they have an opportunity to get, right? And I think
• 24:12
  Speaker 6: largely because what Jerry alluded to last segment is the
• 24:17
  Speaker 6: defense is not getting after the quarterback like it has
• 24:19
  Speaker 6: done in previous years for multiple reasons. Max called it
• 24:22
  Speaker 6: playing it safe. I agree with that. Offensively, they look
• 24:26
  Speaker 6: at the receiving core being banged up. So in their mind,
• 24:30
  Speaker 6: Aaron Rodgers is playing with limited weapons, even though the
• 24:32
  Speaker 6: Titans popped off the tape in the run game last
• 24:36
  Speaker 6: was the haymaker for the Steelers. So they feel like
• 24:39
  Speaker 6: also this team is 0-2, and they're coming into their house.
• 24:42
  Speaker 6: You know, they don't have to go on the road
• 24:44
  Speaker 6: to get a win. So there's a lot of things
• 24:48
  Speaker 6: that's kind of up in the air and in question.
• 24:51
  Speaker 6: But when you come off an emotional loss, excuse me,
• 24:53
  Speaker 6: an emotional win against the Cowboys, and you have the
• 24:56
  Speaker 6: rest you have, and it's, you know, they say Baker
• 24:59
  Speaker 6: may or may not play. Who knows? I know Baker
• 25:02
  Speaker 6: is tough as nails. he's going to try to play.
• 25:04
  Speaker 6: It's just my gut instinct that he's going to figure
• 25:06
  Speaker 6: out how he can get on that field. And so, yeah, I,
• 25:10
  Speaker 6: I think if you're the Steelers right now, this, this
• 25:12
  Speaker 6: is a must win because of everything we alluded to. You,
• 25:16
  Speaker 6: you play, you play the Browns, excuse me, you play,
• 25:20
  Speaker 6: you play the Bucs, you have the Saints, and now
• 25:23
  Speaker 6: you got the Browns again. You know, this, this is
• 25:26
  Speaker 6: where you have to start getting momentum. This is all the,
• 25:28
  Speaker 6: all these games for the next three weeks are winnable.
• 25:32
  Speaker 6: And again, you have an opportunity to really start trying
• 25:35
  Speaker 6: to make a push towards the back end of the season.
• 25:38
  Speaker 6: As Max stated, it's going to be a tough one,
• 25:40
  Speaker 6: like it was last year. And you have to start getting–
• 25:45
  Speaker 6: you've got to start stacking dubs, man. And I think–
• 25:49
  Speaker 6: I feel confident with the Steelers' ability to do so
• 25:51
  Speaker 6: because of the young core that we've been able to
• 25:53
  Speaker 6: build up between Jeremy Benoit, talking about Rubio on the
• 25:56
  Speaker 6: other side, and obviously some of the other guys that
• 25:58
  Speaker 6: we've been able to pull around, Aaron Rodgers. I just
• 26:02
  Speaker 6: feel like this is a game where the Steelers just
• 26:03
  Speaker 6: have to come out and play with their heads on
• 26:05
  Speaker 6: fire and play with a different edge and play a
• 26:08
  Speaker 6: lot more physical brand of football than the Bucs have
• 26:11
  Speaker 6: been able to play against thus far. So the Cowboys
• 26:15
  Speaker 6: aren't a physical team, especially on the defensive side. Bucky Irvin,
• 26:19
  Speaker 6: like I said before, he looked like sweetness. He looked
• 26:23
  Speaker 6: like Walter Payton coming back a lot. So I think
• 26:26
  Speaker 6: our Steelers defense is going to be up for the challenge.
• 26:29
  Speaker 6: But we just have to really just be a team
• 26:32
  Speaker 6: that doesn't beat ourselves. And that's the only thing the
• 26:34
  Speaker 6: Bucs do. They do stack up a lot of penalties.
• 26:37
  Speaker 6: So we just got to be better in that department.
• 26:39
  Speaker 6: It's not a special teams game. It just has to
• 26:40
  Speaker 6: come alive for us on the road. It just has
• 26:42
  Speaker 6: to for us to win this game.
• 26:47
  Speaker 8: I mean, I'm right there, Rob.
• 26:48
  Speaker 3: I'm talking to Tony Castricone. Go ahead, Max.
• 26:50
  Speaker 6: Oh, yeah, go ahead.
• 26:51
  Speaker 7: I was just going to say, I'm right there with Willie.
• 26:53
  Speaker 7: I think, you know, if there's a week for the
• 26:55
  Speaker 7: special teams to be special, because I think we've been
• 26:57
  Speaker 7: kind of building towards this, like, Come on, give us something.
• 27:00
  Speaker 7: Give us something explosive. Flip the field. You kind of
• 27:04
  Speaker 7: saw what the Colts could do.
• 27:06
  Speaker 8: And it just leaves us.
• 27:07
  Speaker 7: Wanting like, hey, we can ask for more. We deserve more, right?
• 27:12
  Speaker 7: Caden Weedon, you're a rookie. You know, Eli Heinreich hasn't
• 27:16
  Speaker 7: been active the last couple of weeks.
• 27:18
  Speaker 8: It's been Lou Nichols that's.
• 27:19
  Speaker 7: Kind of pulled that duty from him. So, you know,
• 27:23
  Speaker 7: he's already, you know, kind of struggling trying to figure
• 27:25
  Speaker 7: out where he's going to be on this roster. But
• 27:29
  Speaker 7: We have a host of young guys, and the young guys,
• 27:32
  Speaker 7: this is where we need a little bit of youthful
• 27:33
  Speaker 7: exuberance on the road. You can't go in wide-eyed and bushy-tailed.
• 27:37
  Speaker 7: You've got to go in with the boxing gloves and
• 27:41
  Speaker 7: the pre-wrap underneath those gloves ready to rock and roll
• 27:44
  Speaker 7: as soon as you step out the locker room and
• 27:47
  Speaker 7: ready to hit the ground running. This is one where
• 27:49
  Speaker 7: you need to take the fight to them and take
• 27:50
  Speaker 7: it out of them early because.
• 27:51
  Speaker 8: There is doubt.
• 27:53
  Speaker 7: Because they are a 1-4 team, you want them to
• 27:56
  Speaker 7: be like, oh, no, here we go again versus... okay,
• 27:59
  Speaker 7: here we come. You know, it's two different mindsets to have.
• 28:03
  Speaker 7: And hopefully for the Steelers, they prepare for that as
• 28:05
  Speaker 7: you're seeking that first road win. Because once you get
• 28:07
  Speaker 7: the first one under your belt, it makes the next
• 28:10
  Speaker 7: one that much easier. And you have to be able
• 28:13
  Speaker 7: to play with that edge and know that I'm going
• 28:16
  Speaker 7: into a place where they do not want me to
• 28:18
  Speaker 7: see everybody in that stadium minus the smattering of black
• 28:21
  Speaker 7: and gold. Because, you know, the Sunshine State is very
• 28:26
  Speaker 7: friendly to Steeler fans.
• 28:27
  Speaker 8: A lot of expectations.
• 28:28
  Speaker 7: Expats from, uh, the, uh, greater, greater Pittsburgh region seem
• 28:34
  Speaker 7: to move to Florida and other places. So we will
• 28:37
  Speaker 7: travel well, but the home team does not want us
• 28:40
  Speaker 7: to succeed. So you kind of have to go in
• 28:41
  Speaker 7: with a little edge, a little chip on your shoulder
• 28:44
  Speaker 7: and go and go and go be ready to fight
• 28:46
  Speaker 7: because the bucks aren't going to just give it to them.
• 28:48
  Speaker 8: Cause they got a little bit of life.
• 28:49
  Speaker 7: They got, they got a taste of what the dubs
• 28:51
  Speaker 7: felt like and they want more of it. And for
• 28:53
  Speaker 7: the Steelers, we're trying to wash the L's off of
• 28:55
  Speaker 7: us on the road.
• 28:57
  Speaker 2: You know, uh, I do think that Reuben Bain, of course,
• 29:02
  Speaker 2: he had the off-field issues and then the short arms,
• 29:07
  Speaker 2: those two things pushed him down. A lot of people
• 29:09
  Speaker 2: were thinking he was going to be a top-five pick.
• 29:12
  Speaker 2: He's not been a factor yet. And when you look
• 29:15
  Speaker 2: at this Tampa defense, you can see why they thought
• 29:21
  Speaker 2: that was such an important position to try to fill
• 29:24
  Speaker 2: because they've got Vita Vea anchoring in.
• 29:27
  Speaker 3: A good defensive line.
• 29:30
  Speaker 2: As Tony Castricone was talking about, you go sign A'shaun Robinson,
• 29:34
  Speaker 2: you have Kalijah Cansey, back and healthy, the former Pitt star.
• 29:38
  Speaker 3: You've got some depth guys, some rotation guys.
• 29:40
  Speaker 6: Pieces.
• 29:41
  Speaker 2: You went out and got Joaquin Nunez-Roches, former Giants guy.
• 29:46
  Speaker 2: So you've got some guys that provide some depth for
• 29:50
  Speaker 2: you on the defensive line, and you spend a second-round
• 29:54
  Speaker 2: pick on an inside linebacker. You sign Anzalone. you know,
• 29:58
  Speaker 2: in free agency. So you have some rangy guys at
• 30:00
  Speaker 2: that linebacker position.
• 30:02
  Speaker 3: What's missing?
• 30:03
  Speaker 2: Well, if you can get a pass rush and they
• 30:05
  Speaker 2: haven't done it without blitzing, they haven't done it with blitzing.
• 30:07
  Speaker 2: That's why Ruben Bain, I think the guy that Max
• 30:10
  Speaker 2: talked about with Tony Castricone is going to be such
• 30:12
  Speaker 2: a key figure. And you never know when a rookie
• 30:15
  Speaker 2: is going to break through and you just hope it's
• 30:16
  Speaker 2: not going to be this week against the Steelers. We're
• 30:19
  Speaker 2: going to break down a lot of these key matchups,
• 30:21
  Speaker 2: but coming up next, we're going to have one of
• 30:23
  Speaker 2: our favorite segments as we look forward to our Most
• 30:27
  Speaker 2: anticipated game of the week. Everybody only gets one except me.
• 30:31
  Speaker 2: I get to choose seven. We're going to have those
• 30:34
  Speaker 2: for you when we continue here inside the locker room
• 30:36
  Speaker 2: on the Steelers Audio Network.
• 30:41
  Speaker 1: This is In the Locker Room with Rob King, Max Starks,
• 30:45
  Speaker 1: and Willie Colon on Steelers Nation Radio. Brought to you
• 30:49
  Speaker 1: in part by the Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
• 30:52
  Speaker 1: from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop.steelers.com.
• 30:56
  Speaker 1: And by your neighborhood Ford store. The F-150 is the
• 31:00
  Speaker 1: official truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
• 31:05
  Speaker 8: All right, back inside the locker room here. And, of course,
• 31:09
  Speaker 8: as we get to our intriguing matchups, Or all of.
• 31:13
  Speaker 7: Them, as Rob would say, every game is probably an
• 31:16
  Speaker 7: intriguing matchup.
• 31:17
  Speaker 8: We now go with the King's Decree.
• 31:19
  Speaker 5: That's right.
• 31:25
  Speaker 3: Rob, go ahead, bud. Let us know how you want
• 31:29
  Speaker 3: this to go.
• 31:30
  Speaker 8: It is intriguing matchups.
• 31:33
  Speaker 2: Well, one of those that I thought was intriguing because
• 31:37
  Speaker 2: I think Well, there's a couple games I don't think
• 31:41
  Speaker 2: are intriguing. I'm going to point those out, and then
• 31:43
  Speaker 2: we can get to our intriguing matchups. But Jalen Hurts,
• 31:48
  Speaker 2: this news just came down, ruled out of Sunday's game
• 31:52
  Speaker 2: against the Panthers with a blood clot.
• 31:54
  Speaker 3: I think it's a blood clot in his leg. Yeah,
• 31:57
  Speaker 3: not to be messed around with.
• 31:58
  Speaker 2: So that was a game that, because I am a
• 32:02
  Speaker 2: football goober, interested me. I'm going to go through the
• 32:08
  Speaker 2: games that don't interest me. So, by the way, that's,
• 32:10
  Speaker 2: you know, the Eagles are just trying desperately to sort of,
• 32:15
  Speaker 2: you know, kind of resurrect their season. Here are the
• 32:18
  Speaker 2: games that don't interest me. The 0-5 Titans against the
• 32:24
  Speaker 2: 2-3 Colts.
• 32:27
  Speaker 3: That game does not interest me.
• 32:30
  Speaker 8: It bores you? Does it bore you, sir?
• 32:33
  Speaker 3: I just, it doesn't interest me.
• 32:36
  Speaker 2: And as much as I hate to say this because
• 32:37
  Speaker 2: I love Monday Night Football, The Commanders and the 49ers,
• 32:41
  Speaker 2: that game does not interest me.
• 32:44
  Speaker 8: You never know.
• 32:45
  Speaker 3: That's right. Jay Daniels.
• 32:49
  Speaker 2: So even then, even then we could find some redeeming
• 32:52
  Speaker 2: characteristic in the game. But that's it. That's the only
• 32:56
  Speaker 2: game that doesn't interest me. So the rest of them
• 33:01
  Speaker 2: I can find a way. But that Jalen Hurts news, man,
• 33:05
  Speaker 2: the Eagles are just dealing with body blow after body blow.
• 33:09
  Speaker 2: And it just, you know, again, they came up with
• 33:14
  Speaker 2: sort of a championship, you know, caliber effort as far
• 33:18
  Speaker 2: as just their, you know, what you would expect from
• 33:22
  Speaker 2: a team that's won championships in Jacksonville, then lost that
• 33:24
  Speaker 2: game in London in heartbreaking fashion last week. But that
• 33:30
  Speaker 2: game now taking on a different slant with the 2-2 Panthers,
• 33:33
  Speaker 2: the NFC South leaders taking on the Eagles.
• 33:37
  Speaker 3: But, Willie, let us start with you. What is the
• 33:39
  Speaker 3: game that you.
• 33:40
  Speaker 2: Are most interested in, most intrigued in this week?
• 33:48
  Speaker 6: Oh, I think it's easy. Steelers versus the Bucs. No,
• 33:51
  Speaker 6: I'm only kidding. I'm talking about this.
• 33:53
  Speaker 2: Always eliminated, just so people know. You can never pick
• 33:55
  Speaker 2: the Steelers.
• 33:56
  Speaker 3: That's one of the rules.
• 34:00
  Speaker 6: To be honest, it's a Sunday night game. I think
• 34:02
  Speaker 6: it's the Packers and Cowboys, if that helps.
• 34:04
  Speaker 3: Yeah, yep. I agree with you. It's a big game.
• 34:08
  Speaker 6: It's a big game for the Cowboys. The way they left,
• 34:11
  Speaker 6: they lost the loss to Tampa. And, you know, even
• 34:13
  Speaker 6: though Dak was able to be sufficient for the most part,
• 34:16
  Speaker 6: you know, there's the Cowboys defense just has to figure
• 34:21
  Speaker 6: it out. You know, I think there's no other way
• 34:24
  Speaker 6: of putting it. You know, hopefully JPJ, Joey Porter Jr.
• 34:27
  Speaker 6: is able to play. But everything they've been able to
• 34:31
  Speaker 6: acquire on that side of the ball just hasn't really
• 34:34
  Speaker 6: popped off the table or nevertheless shown any promise. And
• 34:37
  Speaker 6: now you have Christian Parker, this young defensive coordinator, where
• 34:40
  Speaker 6: people are feeling like this job may be over his head,
• 34:43
  Speaker 6: that the Cowboys may have to bring in a consultant
• 34:46
  Speaker 6: to kind of right the ship for this Cowboys defense.
• 34:50
  Speaker 6: Dak in that offense, you know, can put up points
• 34:53
  Speaker 6: at bunches. And so the firepower they have with C.D.
• 34:57
  Speaker 6: and George and Jake Ferguson, who was a no-show for
• 35:01
  Speaker 6: the Cowboys, Thursday night against the Bucs. Hopefully that is
• 35:04
  Speaker 6: all behind them. But Green Bay, man, they look dangerous.
• 35:09
  Speaker 6: I mean, they do. I mean, the boat whooping they
• 35:11
  Speaker 6: put on the Bears, I didn't see happening, but I
• 35:13
  Speaker 6: know you did, Rob. But with all that said, man,
• 35:18
  Speaker 6: Jordan Love threw for 367 yards and two touchdowns. There's
• 35:23
  Speaker 6: a chance he may put up big numbers again against
• 35:26
  Speaker 6: the Cowboys. So we'll see if that happens. But I
• 35:28
  Speaker 6: just want to see how this Cowboy team responds to
• 35:30
  Speaker 6: a letdown loss against the Bucs and I think Green
• 35:32
  Speaker 6: Bay may carry this wave and really shake up the division.
• 35:35
  Speaker 6: So we'll see what happens. But, yeah, Packers, Cowboys, I'm
• 35:38
  Speaker 6: excited to see.
• 35:38
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I think that's a good pick because, you know,
• 35:41
  Speaker 3: I think people were– and, again, we all overreact. We react.
• 35:45
  Speaker 2: We overreact early in the season. I think a lot
• 35:47
  Speaker 2: of people are saying, man, the Packers are– what a disappointment.
• 35:50
  Speaker 2: You know, they get up to a bit of a
• 35:51
  Speaker 2: sluggish start. Well, they're 3-2 now, and if you're 4-2
• 35:55
  Speaker 2: after this game, you are feeling much differently about yourselves.
• 36:00
  Speaker 2: And conversely, if you're the Cowboys at 2-4, yikes. That
• 36:04
  Speaker 2: is not the start you were looking for at all.
• 36:06
  Speaker 2: So definitely, I agree. That was one of my plan
• 36:10
  Speaker 2: B games of the week. But it's certainly among the
• 36:15
  Speaker 2: three or four games that I was certainly looking at
• 36:18
  Speaker 2: the most highly.
• 36:19
  Speaker 3: Max Starks.
• 36:21
  Speaker 7: You know, I'm going to go with the Saints and
• 36:24
  Speaker 7: the Giants. Like what, why not? Why can't I go
• 36:33
  Speaker 7: with that one? I want to see what, what, what
• 36:35
  Speaker 7: they could do. I mean, Jameis is always intriguing.
• 36:39
  Speaker 8: By the, the experience.
• 36:42
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 36:43
  Speaker 7: The experience of the Jameis project. But I mean, I
• 36:47
  Speaker 7: look at, I look at it and I say, you know,
• 36:49
  Speaker 7: I want to see what the giants can do. And also,
• 36:51
  Speaker 7: you know, this is a precursor for us having to
• 36:53
  Speaker 7: deal with, um, having to deal with what the Saints
• 36:58
  Speaker 7: are going to be when they come to Paris. What
• 36:59
  Speaker 7: state are they coming in? And I think that's kind
• 37:03
  Speaker 7: of where I look at it and say, man, you know,
• 37:05
  Speaker 7: what are we going to get? So I'm excited to
• 37:08
  Speaker 7: see how that plays out. And those are going to
• 37:10
  Speaker 7: be our last game, I think, that we watch before
• 37:11
  Speaker 7: we actually play them.
• 37:15
  Speaker 8: Okay.
• 37:16
  Speaker 2: Willie and I are both sucking in our teeth a
• 37:18
  Speaker 2: little bit, but we'll go with that.
• 37:20
  Speaker 8: Listen, how many games did we win last time? How
• 37:23
  Speaker 8: many games did we win last time?
• 37:25
  Speaker 7: Just tell me, how many games in our intriguing underdog
• 37:28
  Speaker 7: matchups did we win?
• 37:29
  Speaker 3: Tomorrow's the upset special. Today is just the games.
• 37:31
  Speaker 8: We're most interested in.
• 37:33
  Speaker 7: But what I'm saying is that we didn't pick upset
• 37:35
  Speaker 7: specials properly, and that's why we're dealing with what we're
• 37:39
  Speaker 7: dealing with.
• 37:40
  Speaker 8: So I could pick my intriguing game. Let me have
• 37:42
  Speaker 8: my intriguing game.
• 37:45
  Speaker 6: It is hard to believe that Max Austin is intrigued
• 37:49
  Speaker 6: with Cam Skadable. and Tyler Shuck.
• 37:53
  Speaker 8: And Tyler Shuck. I want to see Tyler Shuck. All Shucks.
• 37:58
  Speaker 8: All Shucks, Tyler Shuck.
• 38:00
  Speaker 6: You want to see the experience versus Shuck.
• 38:04
  Speaker 8: Exactly. I want to see if they Shuck it or not.
• 38:06
  Speaker 2: Okay, so let me run down why I'm intrigued by
• 38:10
  Speaker 2: a bunch of games before I get to the game
• 38:11
  Speaker 2: that I'm most intrigued by.
• 38:13
  Speaker 3: Texans, Jaguars. This is it for the Texans, right?
• 38:20
  Speaker 2: I mean, it's almost do or die, kind of like
• 38:23
  Speaker 2: Tampa Bay.
• 38:24
  Speaker 3: It's almost do or die. And if they win in
• 38:29
  Speaker 3: London against.
• 38:29
  Speaker 2: Jacksonville, who's been able to hang out over there with
• 38:32
  Speaker 2: their tea and crumpets for the extra week, preparing for
• 38:35
  Speaker 2: this game, and they look like a legitimate contender. If
• 38:40
  Speaker 2: you're the Texans, now you're 2-4, the Jaguars are 4-2,
• 38:43
  Speaker 2: and it's a completely different feel for that division. So
• 38:46
  Speaker 2: that's why that game intrigues me. The Bears-Falcons. The Bears
• 38:51
  Speaker 2: at 3-2, Falcons at 2-3 after a tough loss to
• 38:55
  Speaker 2: the Ravens. I think that's intriguing for obvious reasons. Both
• 38:59
  Speaker 2: those teams jockeying for position right now. The Jets and Patriots. Willie,
• 39:06
  Speaker 2: do your New York Jets have any chance of going
• 39:09
  Speaker 2: up there and giving New England a tussle?
• 39:13
  Speaker 6: I do. I do believe so. It's a possibility because
• 39:16
  Speaker 6: our defense is starting to come together, led by Minkah Fitzpatrick.
• 39:19
  Speaker 6: For the second week in a row, he's been able
• 39:23
  Speaker 6: to impact his defense by allowing our corners to play
• 39:28
  Speaker 6: a lot faster. Our defensive line is coming together. David
• 39:31
  Speaker 6: Bailey had a breakout game. And sure, we can attest
• 39:35
  Speaker 6: that the Browns were injured and missing some key guys.
• 39:39
  Speaker 6: But overall, the synergy behind this defense is really starting
• 39:43
  Speaker 6: to emerge. They look like they're starting to find their footing. Now, offensively,
• 39:48
  Speaker 6: I think one of the bright spots, and it's weird
• 39:50
  Speaker 6: to say out loud, but ever since Brees Hall has
• 39:53
  Speaker 6: been out, the Jets have been able to find out
• 39:57
  Speaker 6: who Braylon Allen is and who Isaiah Davis is, two
• 40:00
  Speaker 6: young backs who show a lot of promise, especially Braylon Allen.
• 40:03
  Speaker 6: And so now they kind of have this thunder and
• 40:05
  Speaker 6: lightning package thing going on where both backs are efficient.
• 40:08
  Speaker 6: And the offensive line has slowly gotten better. They haven't
• 40:11
  Speaker 6: started off as good as I would have liked, excuse me,
• 40:17
  Speaker 6: because the offense is really focused around the production of
• 40:20
  Speaker 6: the offensive line. But they're playing better, still have to
• 40:22
  Speaker 6: play better. They're down their left guard, Dylan Farnham, if
• 40:27
  Speaker 6: you will. He played left guard for the Raiders. Hopefully
• 40:32
  Speaker 6: he'll be able to come back in this game. But
• 40:34
  Speaker 6: the thing about the Jets to watch out for this game,
• 40:36
  Speaker 6: they've been down Omar Cooper, who they drafted from Indiana.
• 40:42
  Speaker 6: They've been down Adonai Mitchell. Kenya Sadiq got hurt Sunday
• 40:46
  Speaker 6: against the Browns due to concussion. He may be back
• 40:49
  Speaker 6: for this game. So this may be the first game
• 40:52
  Speaker 6: with everybody who's been on the snide, so to speak,
• 40:54
  Speaker 6: have the availability to play against the Patriots. So we
• 40:58
  Speaker 6: may have an opportunity to see the Jets in, like,
• 41:00
  Speaker 6: full Voltron mode, if you will, where everybody's available and
• 41:05
  Speaker 6: ready to roll against the Patriots, who you know are
• 41:07
  Speaker 6: feeling very good about themselves after beating the Raiders last week.
• 41:10
  Speaker 6: So we'll see. I think it's going to be a
• 41:12
  Speaker 6: tight one. but it's going to be a game where
• 41:15
  Speaker 6: all hands on deck will be needed to beat the Patriots,
• 41:18
  Speaker 6: especially in Foxborough. But could an upset happen? Could it happen, Rob?
• 41:22
  Speaker 8: It could happen. So we're intrigued.
• 41:25
  Speaker 3: We're intrigued. It's not our most intriguing game, but Willie
• 41:28
  Speaker 3: and I are intrigued.
• 41:30
  Speaker 6: Yeah.
• 41:32
  Speaker 3: Let me point out, so the Panthers-Eagles talked about with.
• 41:34
  Speaker 2: Jalen Hurts that, boy, the Eagles just feel like they're
• 41:39
  Speaker 2: hanging on by their fingernails right now.
• 41:40
  Speaker 3: That's a blow for them.
• 41:42
  Speaker 2: I mentioned the game that I was not interested in seeing.
• 41:46
  Speaker 2: I think I can add the Cardinals ramps to that list.
• 41:48
  Speaker 3: That game doesn't interest me.
• 41:52
  Speaker 8: Maybe you get Carson Beck. Maybe you get Carson Beck
• 41:54
  Speaker 8: this game.
• 41:55
  Speaker 3: Who knows?
• 41:55
  Speaker 6: Doesn't interest me.
• 41:56
  Speaker 3: Yeah, that doesn't interest me.
• 41:58
  Speaker 2: The Chargers Chiefs interest me, though, because, you know, as Max,
• 42:03
  Speaker 2: you put this forth earlier, the Chargers aren't going to
• 42:06
  Speaker 2: go 0-17, right?
• 42:08
  Speaker 3: And the Chiefs, I don't think it.
• 42:10
  Speaker 8: Does feel like it.
• 42:11
  Speaker 3: I don't think they're going to go 17 or no either.
• 42:14
  Speaker 2: But could they possibly be– could this possibly be a
• 42:19
  Speaker 2: deep upset?
• 42:19
  Speaker 3: I don't know. So it intrigues me.
• 42:22
  Speaker 2: The Bills Raiders because Willie has been talking about the Raiders.
• 42:26
  Speaker 2: So that one intrigues me.
• 42:28
  Speaker 8: Old Billy Raider over here.
• 42:30
  Speaker 2: But I got the low-hanging fruit, guys.
• 42:34
  Speaker 3: I got tonight's game.
• 42:34
  Speaker 8: Are you picking Seahawks? Yep, I was at Seahawks-Broncos. Seahawks-Broncos.
• 42:37
  Speaker 2: I mean, I know it's low-hanging fruit, but come on.
• 42:40
  Speaker 2: This should have been the Super Bowl rematch. Like, I
• 42:43
  Speaker 2: think if Bo Nix was healthy, Denver beats New England.
• 42:47
  Speaker 2: And Denver goes to the Super Bowl.
• 42:49
  Speaker 6: Yeah, for sure.
• 42:49
  Speaker 3: And this is the rematch of the Super Bowl. And
• 42:52
  Speaker 3: having said that.
• 42:53
  Speaker 7: Jared Stidham doesn't necessarily incite fear in an AFC championship game.
• 42:58
  Speaker 2: Yeah, having said that, I don't think either one of
• 43:01
  Speaker 2: these two teams– is thrilled with being 3-2.
• 43:08
  Speaker 8: You know?
• 43:08
  Speaker 2: I mean, if you're Seattle, and I know that they
• 43:15
  Speaker 2: had some injury issues early on, but Sam Darnold comes back,
• 43:19
  Speaker 2: you lose to the Commanders.
• 43:21
  Speaker 3: That's a Commanders-only win this year.
• 43:24
  Speaker 2: I just can't imagine that they're thrilled at being 3-2,
• 43:28
  Speaker 2: and you know that Denver's not thrilled with being 3-2 either.
• 43:31
  Speaker 3: So I think this... This looms as not.
• 43:35
  Speaker 2: Only a game that's going to be really, really well played,
• 43:39
  Speaker 2: but a game that's going to be interesting to see
• 43:40
  Speaker 2: who comes out four and two. And one of these
• 43:43
  Speaker 2: two teams is going to be three and three, and
• 43:44
  Speaker 2: they're not going to be happy.
• 43:48
  Speaker 6: Yeah, I think if you're the Seattle Seahawks, you feel
• 43:51
  Speaker 6: like you gifted that game to the San Francisco 49ers.
• 43:54
  Speaker 6: Considering the first half of that game, the Niners offense
• 43:56
  Speaker 6: didn't really play well. But Seattle turned over the ball
• 44:01
  Speaker 6: four times. And three out of those four times, the
• 44:03
  Speaker 6: Niners were able to get touchdowns off those. You got
• 44:06
  Speaker 6: to feel like, man, if we don't turn over that ball,
• 44:08
  Speaker 6: we put a whooping on the Niners. It was the
• 44:10
  Speaker 6: second half of that game when Brock Purdy started to
• 44:13
  Speaker 6: come to life and Mike Evans turned into Shaq, Shaquille
• 44:15
  Speaker 6: O'Neal in the paint. With all that said, man, I
• 44:20
  Speaker 6: give the edge to the Seahawks. I think they learn
• 44:23
  Speaker 6: from their sins and they get after the Broncos. So
• 44:26
  Speaker 6: I'm picking the, you know, I know we're not picking
• 44:28
  Speaker 6: right now, but my point is, I give my edge
• 44:31
  Speaker 6: to the Seahawks winning that game.
• 44:32
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I can't wait for that one.
• 44:33
  Speaker 8: Well, we've got to pick them because they're playing tonight.
• 44:36
  Speaker 6: Yeah, there you go.
• 44:38
  Speaker 8: You're good there, Will. You're good.
• 44:41
  Speaker 2: Unless somebody wants Denver as their upset special of the
• 44:43
  Speaker 2: week tonight because Seattle's slightly favored.
• 44:48
  Speaker 3: I think Thursday night's off the books, guys, off the table.
• 44:50
  Speaker 8: We have to pick a weekend game. That can't be
• 44:53
  Speaker 8: an upset special.
• 44:54
  Speaker 3: We're going to get to that tomorrow.
• 44:56
  Speaker 8: Stop trying to plant the seeds, Rob.
• 44:58
  Speaker 3: We're going to look at trying to plant the seeds tomorrow.
• 45:01
  Speaker 3: We're going to be joined by Mr.
• 45:02
  Speaker 8: Rob wants upset specials on Thursdays. He wants seven.
• 45:05
  Speaker 3: No, I just eliminated it. Listen, man, I got my
• 45:10
  Speaker 3: seven intriguing games of the weekend. So we're all good.
• 45:13
  Speaker 7: I feel like you were trying to hint at it
• 45:16
  Speaker 7: like you still wanted it.
• 45:17
  Speaker 8: Like one of us say, oh, no, Rob.
• 45:19
  Speaker 3: No, we shouldn't.
• 45:20
  Speaker 8: No, I'm not picking him.
• 45:21
  Speaker 2: I just wanted to open it up to I just
• 45:23
  Speaker 2: wanted to open it up. I told you offensive lineman,
• 45:26
  Speaker 2: my favorite people. I just wanted to open it up
• 45:27
  Speaker 2: to my favorite people.
• 45:29
  Speaker 8: Oh, well, we appreciate it, but no.
• 45:31
  Speaker 3: We're going to stick to only weekend games. That's Max Starks.
• 45:34
  Speaker 3: He's Willie Colon. Justin Miller's at the control in our
• 45:37
  Speaker 3: iHeart studio.
• 45:38
  Speaker 8: I'm Rob King.
• 45:38
  Speaker 2: We thank you, as always, for being with us in
• 45:40
  Speaker 2: the locker room here on the Steelers Audio Network.