Latest / In the Locker Room presented by Neighborhood Ford Store (Pittsburgh Steelers) / HR2: Power Rankings cont.

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HR2: Power Rankings cont. · In the Locker Room presented by Neighborhood Ford Store (Pittsburgh Steelers)

• 0:04
  Speaker 1: This is In the Locker Room with Rob King, Max Starks,
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: and Willie Colon on Steelers Nation Radio. Brought to you
• 0:11
  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.
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: And by your neighborhood Ford store. The F-150 is the
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: official truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: Oh, that's right. Hour number two.
• 0:36
  Speaker 3: Optimist.
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: Willie, don't you shake.
• 0:38
  Speaker 3: Your head at me. That is one of the greatest
• 0:40
  Speaker 3: intros to a power hour in all of radio. You've
• 0:44
  Speaker 3: got to hear the big trucker horn. You mean to
• 0:47
  Speaker 3: tell me you weren't a kid on a road trip,
• 0:49
  Speaker 3: and you look at the trucker, you give him the
• 0:51
  Speaker 3: big tug, and then he tugs the horn, and you
• 0:53
  Speaker 3: don't get excited and lose your mind in the back
• 0:56
  Speaker 3: of the station wagon back in the day?
• 1:00
  Speaker 4: I'm going to surprise you with this, Max.
• 1:02
  Speaker 5: No, I didn't.
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: I don't.
• 1:04
  Speaker 5: I forgot.
• 1:06
  Speaker 2: I forgot. You're from the city. You're from New York.
• 1:08
  Speaker 3: I was like, first of all, you didn't drive until
• 1:11
  Speaker 3: you got to Pittsburgh. So you know what? Let me,
• 1:13
  Speaker 3: let me back off. There wasn't a lot of Cologne
• 1:16
  Speaker 3: family road trips, you know, down the coast.
• 1:21
  Speaker 5: No, I mean, my father was, we had one car
• 1:23
  Speaker 5: in the family and it was a minivan.
• 1:26
  Speaker 4: And if we happen to pass a truck, We damn
• 1:29
  Speaker 4: sure was a signaling to kind of do the honk sign.
• 1:31
  Speaker 5: If anything, our father was telling us.
• 1:33
  Speaker 4: To sit still because we, it was about too many
• 1:35
  Speaker 4: of us in the back seat with three, with three seatbelts.
• 1:38
  Speaker 5: So we all kind of had to bear down. No,
• 1:43
  Speaker 5: I listened to the optimist thing that I love trucks,
• 1:46
  Speaker 5: trucks are cool.
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: Power hour.
• 1:49
  Speaker 5: I get it. I'm the new guy to the show.
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: So what was the horn on your Dodge Ram?
• 1:54
  Speaker 3: What was the horn on your.
• 1:55
  Speaker 2: Dodge Ram, Willie?
• 1:56
  Speaker 5: It was a train horn. It was an air horn. Okay,
• 1:59
  Speaker 5: it was the air horn, which.
• 2:00
  Speaker 3: Is similar to the truck horn. It's a similar horn system.
• 2:04
  Speaker 3: So you should be appreciating this.
• 2:08
  Speaker 5: I'm not a horn connoisseur.
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: I'm just saying.
• 2:12
  Speaker 3: But you added to your ridiculous Yankee truck that had
• 2:16
  Speaker 3: like the jacket. You were pretty much on the same
• 2:19
  Speaker 3: height as a semi truck with the lift kit you
• 2:21
  Speaker 3: had on it. And you had an air horn.
• 2:23
  Speaker 4: Well, it was out of safety because people were so
• 2:26
  Speaker 4: enamored with my beautiful truck. They would jump out in
• 2:29
  Speaker 4: front and try to take pictures. So one way of
• 2:31
  Speaker 4: scaring them away from my truck was hitting a horn
• 2:33
  Speaker 4: on them. And an air horn that loud makes you
• 2:36
  Speaker 4: say back up. So it was more out of necessity
• 2:39
  Speaker 4: than fashion. I'm not against the air horn. I'm not
• 2:42
  Speaker 4: against the Optimus Prime, but it's fine. And like I said,
• 2:47
  Speaker 4: I'm new to the show, so I can't come over
• 2:49
  Speaker 4: here and start moving furniture around and suggesting things. However,
• 2:54
  Speaker 4: as we continue on this journey together, which I'm very
• 2:58
  Speaker 4: happy and proud to be a part of, I would
• 3:01
  Speaker 4: suggest maybe a time where we add another soundbite other
• 3:06
  Speaker 4: than the truck horn. And when I am presented that option,
• 3:10
  Speaker 4: I will have some options to kind.
• 3:13
  Speaker 5: Of show you, hopefully present to you guys. But as
• 3:17
  Speaker 5: of right now, Optimus Prime it is.
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: All right, okay.
• 3:23
  Speaker 3: I'm now talking to our producer real fast. Rob, I
• 3:26
  Speaker 3: know I've commandeered this segment.
• 3:28
  Speaker 5: Go ahead.
• 3:29
  Speaker 3: Justin, can we pot up what the normal Wednesday is
• 3:34
  Speaker 3: when we normally get this? Can we please pot up?
• 3:37
  Speaker 3: This is Willie's alternative, so let's just hear it. What
• 3:41
  Speaker 3: is today, Willie?
• 3:42
  Speaker 2: What is today?
• 3:44
  Speaker 3: Willie, what day is it? Okay.
• 3:47
  Speaker 5: Hump Day. All right.
• 3:48
  Speaker 3: Let's go, Justin.
• 3:49
  Speaker 6: Uh-oh.
• 3:50
  Speaker 5: Guess what day it is. Guess what day it is.
• 3:53
  Speaker 6: Huh?
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: Anybody?
• 3:55
  Speaker 6: Julie, hey, guess what day it is. Oh, come on.
• 3:58
  Speaker 6: I know you can hear me. Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike.
• 4:00
  Speaker 5: What day is it, Mike? Leslie, guess what today is.
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: It's Hump Day.
• 4:06
  Speaker 6: Woo-woo!
• 4:08
  Speaker 3: Woo-woo!
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: So that's normally Wednesdays.
• 4:11
  Speaker 3: We do not pot it up. We still have to
• 4:13
  Speaker 3: work on the production. But that is what would have
• 4:16
  Speaker 3: played instead of Optimus today, Willie.
• 4:19
  Speaker 5: Okay. Like I said, I hate that too. But fine.
• 4:23
  Speaker 5: It's not about me.
• 4:24
  Speaker 7: It's not about me.
• 4:26
  Speaker 5: It's not about me at all. So I'm a reserve.
• 4:32
  Speaker 2: I'm a quarterback. You're bigger than Nino Brown?
• 4:34
  Speaker 3: Bigger than Nino Brown?
• 4:35
  Speaker 5: Yeah.
• 4:36
  Speaker 3: I'm a team player.
• 4:37
  Speaker 2: I'm not a me guy.
• 4:38
  Speaker 5: So– Even though there's an amenity in there, it's still
• 4:43
  Speaker 5: a team.
• 4:44
  Speaker 6: That is, yes.
• 4:45
  Speaker 3: Right.
• 4:46
  Speaker 6: Yeah. Too wise and willing, by the way. But, listen,
• 4:50
  Speaker 6: I just wanted to say that I'll tell you why
• 4:54
  Speaker 6: I like that, and then we'll get back to the
• 4:56
  Speaker 6: power rankings, is because the first time I heard it,
• 5:00
  Speaker 6: I literally thought it was Craig Wolfley. He sounds so
• 5:05
  Speaker 6: much like Wolf, the guy who does that. I really
• 5:09
  Speaker 6: thought it was Wolf. And so, of course, because he
• 5:12
  Speaker 6: in turn started the locker room, that's why I like
• 5:15
  Speaker 6: hearing it. It gets me every time. I think it
• 5:17
  Speaker 6: sounds like Wolf to me. Do you guys think it
• 5:19
  Speaker 6: sounds like Wolf?
• 5:21
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I agree. There is semblance to the Wolf. A
• 5:26
  Speaker 3: little bit more gruffness in it.
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: Yeah. You know, but it does give an homage.
• 5:32
  Speaker 3: And we did open with Wolf and I when we
• 5:36
  Speaker 3: were doing the show with that as our Wednesday and
• 5:39
  Speaker 3: Wolf would just be dying, laughing the entire time for
• 5:44
  Speaker 3: like the next two minutes after we play it to
• 5:46
  Speaker 3: start the second hour. So there is like a little
• 5:49
  Speaker 3: bit of a nod of the cap and some of the,
• 5:52
  Speaker 3: you know, old feels when I do hear that one.
• 5:56
  Speaker 3: But yeah, I, but yeah, I definitely introduced the truck
• 5:59
  Speaker 3: horn for our number two, the power hour.
• 6:03
  Speaker 2: And, Wolf just let me be me.
• 6:09
  Speaker 5: I don't want to be a contrarian. Listen, I don't
• 6:14
  Speaker 5: want to be difficult for the sake of being difficult.
• 6:16
  Speaker 4: I'm just telling you my opinion, but I have no
• 6:19
  Speaker 4: problems with us wrapping my arms around the truck horn
• 6:22
  Speaker 4: or the optimist horn, whatever the hell you want to
• 6:24
  Speaker 4: call it for the hour or two.
• 6:25
  Speaker 5: So whatever it is.
• 6:26
  Speaker 2: It's a power hour horn.
• 6:28
  Speaker 5: A power hour horn, Wolf.
• 6:29
  Speaker 6: Yeah. My favorite line of the day is, I'm not
• 6:35
  Speaker 6: a horn connoisseur. I'm going to be chuckling about that
• 6:39
  Speaker 6: one all afternoon.
• 6:40
  Speaker 3: I've got horns and bells for all of our significant moments.
• 6:43
  Speaker 6: Oh, that's good. So the only thing I wanted to
• 6:46
  Speaker 6: say with the Chargers, we're running through the power rankings.
• 6:51
  Speaker 6: So in case you're just joining us, we're going to
• 6:53
  Speaker 6: run through them here quickly again. Rams, number one. Seahawks,
• 6:56
  Speaker 6: number two. No surprises there. Bills, three. Patriots, four. Broncos, five.
• 7:02
  Speaker 6: 49ers six Texans seven chargers eight you know um when
• 7:09
  Speaker 6: we were getting ready for the chargers game last year
• 7:11
  Speaker 6: max and I was watching Justin Herbert tape when he's
• 7:16
  Speaker 6: right I think he's as good as anybody in the
• 7:19
  Speaker 6: NFL anybody I mean the combination of agility arm strength
• 7:24
  Speaker 6: um I don't know what's holding him back I don't
• 7:27
  Speaker 6: know whether it's inconsistency But the closer we got to
• 7:31
  Speaker 6: the game, the more I'm like, man, if you told
• 7:33
  Speaker 6: me this guy's a top five quarterback, I'm on board.
• 7:36
  Speaker 6: But there's got to be something missing. But this will
• 7:38
  Speaker 6: be interesting now with a new offensive coordinator in Mike McDaniel,
• 7:44
  Speaker 6: whether he can unlock that more consistently. And that might
• 7:48
  Speaker 6: make a world of difference as to how we perceive
• 7:51
  Speaker 6: the Chargers.
• 7:53
  Speaker 3: Well, I think also it was a combination of he
• 7:55
  Speaker 3: never had a healthy offensive line in front of him. So,
• 7:59
  Speaker 3: you know, like we did, they put a lot of
• 8:01
  Speaker 3: capital into their offensive line, right? Rashawn Slater, Joe Ault,
• 8:05
  Speaker 3: Zion Johnson, the list goes on. And then you literally
• 8:09
  Speaker 3: lost all of them, like, at the beginning of every
• 8:12
  Speaker 3: year for the last two years. So you're dealing with
• 8:15
  Speaker 3: a makeshift offensive line. They never really had a true
• 8:17
  Speaker 3: number one receiver on that squad as well. So, you know,
• 8:21
  Speaker 3: you're throwing the two-two half-wells of the world and Quentin Johnston,
• 8:25
  Speaker 3: who was– You look at Quentin Johnson and you're like,
• 8:29
  Speaker 3: this dude looks like the Predator, right?
• 8:32
  Speaker 2: You know what I'm saying?
• 8:32
  Speaker 3: Long dreads, tall, and could do everything, but just it
• 8:36
  Speaker 3: never clicked. And he never quite got, you know, to
• 8:41
  Speaker 3: being that number one receiver. And then health in the backfield.
• 8:45
  Speaker 3: You know, he had Austin Eckler, but Austin Eckler would
• 8:47
  Speaker 3: get injured. And then, you know, you go and you
• 8:51
  Speaker 3: got Najee, and then Najee has an eye injury. And
• 8:54
  Speaker 3: you had a rookie in the backfield last year in
• 8:56
  Speaker 3: Omari and Hampton, and I think with Omari and Hampton
• 8:59
  Speaker 3: now being in the second year, because he's a special back.
• 9:00
  Speaker 3: I remember watching him at UNC, and I was like, man,
• 9:04
  Speaker 3: this kid can go. Because he was in the backfield
• 9:08
  Speaker 3: with Drake May and was a difference maker. And you
• 9:13
  Speaker 3: kind of saw some of that, but he had injury
• 9:15
  Speaker 3: issues as well. So I don't know what it is
• 9:18
  Speaker 3: about California teams and the health of their team, because
• 9:20
  Speaker 3: I look at San Francisco as well, and They got
• 9:23
  Speaker 3: a multitude. It's like the Rams are the only healthy
• 9:25
  Speaker 3: California team in the last couple of years where you
• 9:28
  Speaker 3: look at it and you're like, okay, everybody's talking about
• 9:30
  Speaker 3: power lines and cell signals or whatever. But that's really,
• 9:34
  Speaker 3: I think, been the biggest thing has been the supporting
• 9:36
  Speaker 3: cast of Justin Herbert. It hasn't been Herbert himself. He
• 9:40
  Speaker 3: just hasn't had the cast around him. I think having
• 9:43
  Speaker 3: a Mike McDade and also, you know, having.
• 9:46
  Speaker 2: The coaches they had.
• 9:47
  Speaker 3: Brendan Staley was fantastic. That was a whole situation. I
• 9:52
  Speaker 3: remember calling that playoff game after our season. I went
• 9:55
  Speaker 3: and I did that Jacksonville Chargers playoff game. um I
• 10:00
  Speaker 3: want to say it was in 2021 or two and
• 10:03
  Speaker 3: I mean Justin Herbert had probably one of the finest
• 10:06
  Speaker 3: halves and Trevor Lawrence probably had one of the worst
• 10:08
  Speaker 3: halves of professional football for a quarterback where he threw
• 10:11
  Speaker 3: four interceptions he looked terrible Justin Herbert everything went right
• 10:14
  Speaker 3: and then all of a sudden it flipped um But
• 10:17
  Speaker 3: it's been a supporting cast, really, and I think the coaching.
• 10:20
  Speaker 3: I think now he finally has some continuity with John
• 10:23
  Speaker 3: Harbaugh bringing in Mike McDaniels that I think you're going
• 10:26
  Speaker 3: to see a different Justin Herbert this season. So that's
• 10:29
  Speaker 3: the reason why I think you also see him ranked
• 10:30
  Speaker 3: at eighth in this power ranking because there is a
• 10:33
  Speaker 3: lot of potential. And you just think health being the
• 10:36
  Speaker 3: biggest thing, can you actually get all these players healthy
• 10:40
  Speaker 3: and through a season? Because I think that could help
• 10:42
  Speaker 3: and benefit Justin Herbert.
• 10:46
  Speaker 6: Yeah.
• 10:46
  Speaker 5: Go ahead, Rob.
• 10:48
  Speaker 6: I was just going to say this. I'm not sure
• 10:51
  Speaker 6: I agree 100% with Justin Herbert. I think you make
• 10:54
  Speaker 6: great points, Max. You know, when I look at athletes,
• 10:59
  Speaker 6: so obviously you guys know that I do a lot
• 11:01
  Speaker 6: of baseball too. You see a lot of pitchers that
• 11:03
  Speaker 6: can throw 99. You see a lot of pitchers that
• 11:05
  Speaker 6: can break off a curveball and make a guy's knees buckle.
• 11:09
  Speaker 6: What you can't see is a lot of guys who
• 11:11
  Speaker 6: can do it again and again and again. that consistency
• 11:15
  Speaker 6: and repeatability. I think when people talk about athleticism, I
• 11:20
  Speaker 6: just think that one is... You can't forget about that one.
• 11:23
  Speaker 6: The ability to repeat and do it again and again.
• 11:26
  Speaker 6: I just don't know if Justin Herbert is at the
• 11:31
  Speaker 6: level where he can repeat it 100% of the time.
• 11:34
  Speaker 6: And again, I'm just saying that not because I've seen
• 11:38
  Speaker 6: Justin Herbert play 100 times. I haven't. I just wonder
• 11:42
  Speaker 6: if potentially... that could be part of the issue. That
• 11:45
  Speaker 6: ability to repeat that the great ones seem to have.
• 11:52
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I think, listen, Justin Herbert is at this point
• 11:56
  Speaker 4: where he, you know, John Harbaugh had to get an
• 12:00
  Speaker 4: OC in there that could help elevate his game. One
• 12:02
  Speaker 4: way he was able to do that is to clean
• 12:04
  Speaker 4: up his footwork. He realized that Justin Herbert was sitting
• 12:06
  Speaker 4: in the pocket holding on to the ball way too long.
• 12:09
  Speaker 4: And that was leading to a lot of his sacks. Yeah,
• 12:11
  Speaker 4: the offensive line issues were Sure, half your line gets depleted.
• 12:16
  Speaker 4: You're playing with backups and guys who haven't had a
• 12:18
  Speaker 4: lot of experience. There's going to be some trouble in
• 12:20
  Speaker 4: the water.
• 12:21
  Speaker 5: We know he's durable. We know he's tough. We know
• 12:23
  Speaker 5: he can shoulder an offense.
• 12:25
  Speaker 4: But from inside the pocket, Mike McDaniels is asking him
• 12:28
  Speaker 4: to clean up his footwork and to mirror that with
• 12:31
  Speaker 4: his have a more quick release. And that's going to
• 12:34
  Speaker 4: be a lot more because that's going to be a
• 12:35
  Speaker 4: lot more helpful for the offense. But that's also going
• 12:38
  Speaker 4: to help the longevity of Justin Herbert. and this offense
• 12:42
  Speaker 4: as a unit be a lot better. Because if you
• 12:44
  Speaker 4: look at Mike McDaniel's offense and what he was able
• 12:46
  Speaker 4: to do with Miami, the offense, especially with Tua, it
• 12:51
  Speaker 4: was about quick slants, quick strikes, getting the ball out
• 12:54
  Speaker 4: on time, seeing it, letting it go, having answers at
• 12:57
  Speaker 4: the line of scrimmage, not being caught up in the
• 12:59
  Speaker 4: pocket where you're patting the baby, waiting for things to
• 13:02
  Speaker 4: get open, which leads to sacks, turnovers, and all that
• 13:06
  Speaker 4: we hate to see from our offensive players. But I
• 13:09
  Speaker 4: do think if you're looking at the Chargers offense, From
• 13:12
  Speaker 4: a bird's eye view, you're looking at a team right
• 13:14
  Speaker 4: now over the last few years, and Max alluded to it,
• 13:16
  Speaker 4: they've gotten some free agents. They have a head coach
• 13:19
  Speaker 4: who has an identity, who's established an identity. The one
• 13:22
  Speaker 4: thing that we haven't seen consistently out of John Harbaugh
• 13:25
  Speaker 4: and his team is a run game. Now you're talking
• 13:27
  Speaker 4: about Amari and Hampton being healthy, who I think is
• 13:31
  Speaker 4: going to be a big-time star, not one day, but
• 13:34
  Speaker 4: I think he's a rising star, with a healthy offensive line.
• 13:38
  Speaker 4: You know John Harbaugh loves running the football. He loves
• 13:41
  Speaker 4: having a defense to compliment him. And he likes a big,
• 13:44
  Speaker 4: strong quarterback that can make every throw on the field.
• 13:47
  Speaker 4: So if you're talking about having an OC, a quarterback,
• 13:50
  Speaker 4: a head coach that has an identity, a defense that
• 13:52
  Speaker 4: has an identity, you're looking at a team right now
• 13:54
  Speaker 4: in a division in the AFC West where they can feel,
• 13:58
  Speaker 4: if we can stay healthy, we can shake some things up.
• 14:01
  Speaker 4: Because I think a lot of people are looking at
• 14:02
  Speaker 4: the Broncos being the team to beat. A lot of
• 14:04
  Speaker 4: people are expecting Patrick Holmes to kind of shoulder this
• 14:06
  Speaker 4: team and the Chiefs being a lot better. The Raiders
• 14:09
  Speaker 4: will be better than what they were last year because
• 14:12
  Speaker 4: of Kirk Cousins. But overall, man, I think if you
• 14:16
  Speaker 4: talk about the Chargers and what they could be as
• 14:18
  Speaker 4: far as their ranking, like they should be ahead of
• 14:20
  Speaker 4: the 49ers collectively. So it's an interesting list, but I
• 14:24
  Speaker 4: think the Chargers are the team, as long as they
• 14:27
  Speaker 4: can stay healthy, they're going to– I can't even say
• 14:30
  Speaker 4: they're a dark horse.
• 14:31
  Speaker 5: They're just the team that we expect them to be
• 14:33
  Speaker 5: if they can stay healthy.
• 14:35
  Speaker 3: All right, just quick stats real fast, Rob, to help.
• 14:39
  Speaker 3: I don't know if I'm going to win you over,
• 14:41
  Speaker 3: but just to give you semblance of why I feel
• 14:43
  Speaker 3: so high about him. Quarterback rating. Six years in the league, right?
• 14:49
  Speaker 3: 2020 to now going into this season. His lowest quarterback
• 14:53
  Speaker 3: rating was a 93.2. He's thrown for 24,000 yards in
• 14:59
  Speaker 3: six years. He also has a completion percentage at 66%
• 15:05
  Speaker 3: average over his career. His lowest attempts was 456 attempts
• 15:13
  Speaker 3: at dropping back. And that was in 13 games played
• 15:16
  Speaker 3: in the 2023 season. But he averages over 500, almost
• 15:20
  Speaker 3: 600 attempts a season dropping back. And his average completion
• 15:27
  Speaker 3: yards is about seven yards. He's thrown for almost 170
• 15:32
  Speaker 3: touchdowns as well. So he is a professional quarterback and
• 15:40
  Speaker 3: a guy who I think if you add– and I
• 15:44
  Speaker 3: listed all of those players that he's had and the
• 15:46
  Speaker 3: health issues and everything else. I think if you add
• 15:48
  Speaker 3: health and competence there, I think that is going to
• 15:51
  Speaker 3: be a differentiator for him. Because he's– I mean, his
• 15:54
  Speaker 3: second year in the league, he threw for over 5,000 yards.
• 15:56
  Speaker 3: I mean, so he hasn't– I think he's replicated it,
• 16:00
  Speaker 3: but he's replicated it under duress. I'm not here to
• 16:04
  Speaker 3: be the biggest. I'm not going and buying a Justin
• 16:06
  Speaker 3: Herbert powder blue Chargers jersey or anything. But when I'm
• 16:10
  Speaker 3: thinking about him and who can make that biggest jump
• 16:15
  Speaker 3: based on the things around him, I think that's a
• 16:18
  Speaker 3: contending team, and he's just been looking for the rest
• 16:20
  Speaker 3: of the team around him, unlike how we're talking about
• 16:22
  Speaker 3: the Steelers building their swabs. They kind of built it
• 16:24
  Speaker 3: around him, and they're trying to build the fortress walls
• 16:28
  Speaker 3: around him as he's there.
• 16:29
  Speaker 2: In the castle.
• 16:30
  Speaker 6: So the only thing I would say to that, Yes,
• 16:33
  Speaker 6: thank you. I got a little bit of that. I
• 16:36
  Speaker 6: went to school in St. Louis, so I got a
• 16:37
  Speaker 6: little bit of the show me. I'm just saying show me.
• 16:40
  Speaker 6: So remember a couple years ago there were rumors, hey,
• 16:42
  Speaker 6: the students might be interested in trading for Justin Herbert, right?
• 16:45
  Speaker 6: I'm like, sign me up, man. I know Justin. I
• 16:48
  Speaker 6: know we're running late. Sign me up. I mean, I'm
• 16:50
  Speaker 6: all for him. Like I said, when I watch him,
• 16:53
  Speaker 6: I see all going up to that game, I see
• 16:56
  Speaker 6: a guy that if you told me he's top five,
• 16:58
  Speaker 6: I'm on it. We just haven't seen him get there.
• 17:01
  Speaker 6: And so I'm just wondering if perhaps that's a problem.
• 17:04
  Speaker 6: I'm not saying that's a problem. I'm just saying I
• 17:06
  Speaker 6: wonder if that's maybe he just has too many down
• 17:10
  Speaker 6: games that will catch up to you when you play
• 17:12
  Speaker 6: the top teams.
• 17:13
  Speaker 3: I don't know.
• 17:13
  Speaker 6: I'm not a Justin Herbert expert. I just think he's
• 17:16
  Speaker 6: super talented, Max. And I do think they're a volatile
• 17:21
  Speaker 6: team as far as whether they could move up or
• 17:23
  Speaker 6: down these ratings. Now I've gone over. We're going to
• 17:27
  Speaker 6: get back to the ratings. We'll be back with more
• 17:29
  Speaker 6: Inside the Locker Room here on the Steelers Audio Network.
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: This is In the Locker Room with Rob King, Max Starks,
• 17:41
  Speaker 1: and Willie Colon on Steelers Nation Radio. Brought to you
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: in part by the Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop.steelers.com.
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: And by your neighborhood Ford store. The F-150 is the
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: official truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
• 17:59
  Speaker 6: Okay, so in and amongst the power rankings, we stopped
• 18:03
  Speaker 6: for quite some time at the L.A. Chargers. as the
• 18:10
  Speaker 6: eighth-ranked team on this list. We're going to move along
• 18:13
  Speaker 6: here because we still got a ways to go to
• 18:15
  Speaker 6: get to the Steelers. Number nine, the Lions. I'm fine
• 18:19
  Speaker 6: with that. Missed the playoffs last year, but I'm fine
• 18:22
  Speaker 6: with that. Ten, the Bears. Again, I got the old
• 18:25
  Speaker 6: went to school in Missouri. You got to show me.
• 18:28
  Speaker 6: I got to see that again from the Bears. They
• 18:30
  Speaker 6: had so many miraculous finishes. I'm on the Lions. Bears,
• 18:36
  Speaker 6: I got an eyebrow arched. Gentlemen, any comments on those
• 18:39
  Speaker 6: two teams?
• 18:48
  Speaker 2: Well, I think you're muted.
• 18:56
  Speaker 5: Okay.
• 18:57
  Speaker 6: Max, you go because I think Willie's muted.
• 18:58
  Speaker 2: I'll go in, yeah.
• 19:00
  Speaker 3: No, I think when I look at the Lions, I mean,
• 19:03
  Speaker 3: that's also a show-me situation because I believe they built, right?
• 19:08
  Speaker 3: and Jared Goff has looked that part. I think I
• 19:10
  Speaker 3: put Jared Goff in the same place that you kind
• 19:12
  Speaker 3: of put Justin Herbert, right? Where you kind of, I
• 19:16
  Speaker 3: see the growth and I see the consistency to agree,
• 19:20
  Speaker 3: but there's like, there's like a wall there and they
• 19:23
  Speaker 3: haven't burst through that wall yet. I mean, Jared Goff,
• 19:27
  Speaker 3: we're still talking about when he went to the Superbowl
• 19:29
  Speaker 3: with the Rams and then the Rams offloaded him. And I,
• 19:34
  Speaker 3: We've been watching them and then, oh, the offense is great,
• 19:36
  Speaker 3: but then it's like, oh, the defense is gone, Aiden Hutchinson.
• 19:39
  Speaker 3: So I'm more bullish. I would say I would take
• 19:43
  Speaker 3: the field in the NFC North over the Lions, but
• 19:46
  Speaker 3: I don't necessarily think that that field would necessarily be
• 19:50
  Speaker 3: the Chicago Bears. I'm the same way. Caleb Williams, you've
• 19:52
  Speaker 3: proven that you can do it, and he's had some
• 19:54
  Speaker 3: miraculous moments, but he's also boom or bust. Even when
• 19:57
  Speaker 3: we had that game last year, Rob, if he wasn't
• 20:01
  Speaker 3: playing spectacular, we were just giving them the ball. They
• 20:05
  Speaker 3: had interceptions in short fields, and that was a difference maker,
• 20:07
  Speaker 3: and they had a great run game with DeAndre Swift.
• 20:10
  Speaker 3: And then you would see Caleb Williams do something spectacular,
• 20:15
  Speaker 3: but he couldn't make the routine eight-yard out throw. And
• 20:19
  Speaker 3: so he majored in the crazy, but then minored in
• 20:25
  Speaker 3: the routine. He didn't do routine things routinely. So I
• 20:29
  Speaker 3: agree with you. I think it is a bore, but
• 20:31
  Speaker 3: everybody's tantalized about that. They think about the Washington Commanders game.
• 20:36
  Speaker 3: coming down to the end of it and hauling the
• 20:38
  Speaker 3: ball into a Hail Mary situation. They love the oohs
• 20:42
  Speaker 3: and the aahs. I mean, the jump man logo-esque type
• 20:46
  Speaker 3: of throw.
• 20:46
  Speaker 2: That he makes.
• 20:48
  Speaker 3: Dude, keep your feet planted and drive the football and
• 20:50
  Speaker 3: just throw the check down. You know, those are the
• 20:52
  Speaker 3: things I think. So, I mean, both of them, yes,
• 20:55
  Speaker 3: that NFC North is packed with talent, Jordan Love. That's
• 20:59
  Speaker 3: a division of quarterbacks that we're going to see insert
• 21:01
  Speaker 3: Kyler Murray into that situation. but I just feel like
• 21:04
  Speaker 3: the field wins in that division. So picking and slotting,
• 21:08
  Speaker 3: I don't know how I feel because I have something
• 21:10
  Speaker 3: with each of those quarterbacks.
• 21:14
  Speaker 5: Yeah, I think you're spot on.
• 21:15
  Speaker 4: When it comes to the Chicago Bears, the regression is
• 21:18
  Speaker 4: always an issue because he had so much success last
• 21:22
  Speaker 4: year and I think he, you know, people, I don't
• 21:25
  Speaker 4: know how many people are aware of it. The Bears
• 21:27
  Speaker 4: are on prime time at least eight times this season.
• 21:30
  Speaker 4: So they're going to, we're going to see a lot
• 21:31
  Speaker 4: of Bears football and I think Caleb Williams is going
• 21:35
  Speaker 4: to have an opportunity to make people either believers or
• 21:38
  Speaker 4: doubters week after week. People were, to your point, Max,
• 21:43
  Speaker 4: enamored with his ability to put on a cape, so
• 21:45
  Speaker 4: to speak. And his biggest issue was he wasn't efficient
• 21:50
  Speaker 4: from snap to snap. And he struggled with playing boring football.
• 21:53
  Speaker 4: Think about the game against the Rams where he threw
• 21:56
  Speaker 4: the big interception in that game to lose the game
• 22:00
  Speaker 4: against the Rams. Like, There was a check down he
• 22:03
  Speaker 4: could have made and took another check down after that.
• 22:06
  Speaker 4: That could have easily propelled him down the field for
• 22:08
  Speaker 4: them to kick the field goal and win that game.
• 22:11
  Speaker 5: But what did he do? He had a big completion
• 22:13
  Speaker 5: before that.
• 22:14
  Speaker 4: He was like, man, I'm going for the kill. Went
• 22:16
  Speaker 4: for the kill and getting the ball picked off. So
• 22:19
  Speaker 4: you go through these ebb and flows with these drastic
• 22:23
  Speaker 4: ebb and.
• 22:23
  Speaker 5: Flows, that is, with Caleb Williams.
• 22:25
  Speaker 4: The goal for him going into the season and the
• 22:28
  Speaker 4: Bears is, How efficient can I be from snap to snap?
• 22:31
  Speaker 5: Can I make my layups and free throws, so to speak?
• 22:34
  Speaker 4: And can I take care of the football at a
• 22:36
  Speaker 4: rate where Valley, he didn't turn over the ball a
• 22:38
  Speaker 4: lot last season. But in crucial situations, I'm a lot
• 22:41
  Speaker 4: more smarter with the football in my hand and my
• 22:44
  Speaker 4: use of my legs. I think another issue that's not
• 22:46
  Speaker 4: talked about enough is when Drew Doman, their starting center,
• 22:49
  Speaker 4: decided to retire last season, he did a lot for
• 22:53
  Speaker 4: Caleb Williams. He called out the protection. He got the
• 22:56
  Speaker 4: guys up front. pretty much doing everything he needed them
• 23:00
  Speaker 4: to do. All Caleb had to do was call the ball,
• 23:02
  Speaker 4: call for the ball, snap the ball, and let it rip.
• 23:05
  Speaker 4: Now Caleb is going to have to do a lot
• 23:07
  Speaker 4: more thinking, a lot more operating for the neck up.
• 23:10
  Speaker 4: Hopefully that's not an issue going into the season for
• 23:12
  Speaker 4: the Bears. But from a schematic standpoint, they want Caleb
• 23:15
  Speaker 4: to just do the small things at a lot more
• 23:18
  Speaker 4: efficient and smart level. We know he can put on
• 23:21
  Speaker 4: the cape. We know he can do all the things
• 23:23
  Speaker 4: you want to do in prime time moments. But can
• 23:25
  Speaker 4: he play and be– immerse himself into playing boring football.
• 23:29
  Speaker 5: That's going to be the goal. Max.
• 23:32
  Speaker 2: And I'll go with this.
• 23:34
  Speaker 3: They also are playing a first-place schedule this year. And J.J.
• 23:38
  Speaker 3: McCarthy is not the starter who was two of their
• 23:39
  Speaker 3: wins when they were losing that game, and two of
• 23:42
  Speaker 3: those miraculous finishes came against the Vikings. So you're going
• 23:44
  Speaker 3: to have Tyler Murray and a different squad there, and
• 23:47
  Speaker 3: you're playing a first-place schedule. So that's also going to be,
• 23:50
  Speaker 3: can you actually do that? And just one last point.
• 23:53
  Speaker 3: Caleb Williams, when he first got in the league, he
• 23:54
  Speaker 3: couldn't operate from under center. Like, all of his big
• 23:58
  Speaker 3: plays came from shotgun, and it became predictable as well
• 24:02
  Speaker 3: with the pass rush, and that's why he had to
• 24:04
  Speaker 3: run around and everything. So he still needs to clean
• 24:06
  Speaker 3: up the footwork on getting from under center and getting
• 24:09
  Speaker 3: to a traditional drop back. So there's still a lot
• 24:11
  Speaker 3: of questions, and like you said, a lot of emphasis
• 24:14
  Speaker 3: put on them for all the primetime games that he's
• 24:17
  Speaker 3: got to show that he can do those type of
• 24:20
  Speaker 3: routine things consistently.
• 24:23
  Speaker 6: This trip around the NFL, by the way, is brought
• 24:24
  Speaker 6: to you by your neighborhood Forrester, the F-150's official truck
• 24:27
  Speaker 6: of the Pittsburgh Steelers, our first AFC North team at
• 24:30
  Speaker 6: number 11. It is the Baltimore Ravens, who going into
• 24:34
  Speaker 6: camp will rank 16th. The Athletic moved them up five spots.
• 24:38
  Speaker 6: Here's what they say. The Ravens actually have the second
• 24:40
  Speaker 6: highest projected win total in Mock's model, but we had
• 24:44
  Speaker 6: a hard time getting them into the top 10 with
• 24:46
  Speaker 6: all the unknowns. Can Lamar Jackson stay healthy? Can new
• 24:49
  Speaker 6: coach Jesse Minter return to defense to elite status? We
• 24:53
  Speaker 6: bumped them up five spots since training camp started, giving
• 24:56
  Speaker 6: their good health an easy schedule to start the season.
• 24:59
  Speaker 6: The Ravens at 11, the top team in the AFC North.
• 25:05
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I don't know when this ranking must have came
• 25:09
  Speaker 4: out earlier, but the Ravens just lost their starting center, too.
• 25:13
  Speaker 4: And they had offensive line issues last year, and they
• 25:16
  Speaker 4: also lost Isaiah Likely and Patrick Ricard, their fullback, who
• 25:19
  Speaker 4: was big for them in the run game. I mean,
• 25:22
  Speaker 4: Lamar Jackson, I think a lot of people know what
• 25:24
  Speaker 4: he's capable of being a two-time MVP. Now, he's also
• 25:28
  Speaker 4: acquired those MVPs during the time he also had a
• 25:32
  Speaker 4: new offensive coordinator.
• 25:33
  Speaker 5: Now, he does have a new offensive coordinator in Declan Doyle.
• 25:36
  Speaker 4: But I'm an advocate of, listen, just because something new,
• 25:40
  Speaker 4: that doesn't mean it's better.
• 25:41
  Speaker 5: There still has to be an unlearning curve.
• 25:43
  Speaker 4: There's still going to be, you know, this man really
• 25:47
  Speaker 4: trying to shoulder the load of producing wins. I think
• 25:51
  Speaker 4: there's been a lot of talk about Lamar Jackson getting
• 25:53
  Speaker 4: older and not running as more.
• 25:55
  Speaker 5: I don't think that's going to be the case this season.
• 25:57
  Speaker 4: I think the reason he didn't run a lot last
• 25:59
  Speaker 4: season because he realized, I can't take the hits and
• 26:01
  Speaker 4: I'm too valuable for this team to get dinged because
• 26:04
  Speaker 4: if I use my legs, I'm going to have to
• 26:06
  Speaker 4: stay in the pocket a little bit more. With that said,
• 26:09
  Speaker 4: if we push forward for the Ravens, man, this defense
• 26:11
  Speaker 4: isn't the same as well, Rob. I think this defense
• 26:13
  Speaker 4: took a hit, even though they have Trey Hendricks. Trey Hendricks,
• 26:17
  Speaker 4: by the way, came off a hernia surgery. So you're
• 26:20
  Speaker 4: talking about a pass rusher who can still get to
• 26:22
  Speaker 4: the quarterback, but is still dealing with some injuries in himself.
• 26:27
  Speaker 6: So just real quick, Max, the poll came out yesterday.
• 26:30
  Speaker 6: So this is a brand-new poll from The Athletic. And
• 26:33
  Speaker 6: I think Willie said a mouthful there. Just because it's
• 26:36
  Speaker 6: new doesn't mean it's better. And I think as we
• 26:39
  Speaker 6: go through these rankings, we're going to see the new coaches,
• 26:43
  Speaker 6: the first-time head coaches, because there's an excitement level for them.
• 26:46
  Speaker 6: These teams are going to be bumped up three or
• 26:48
  Speaker 6: four spots. a new old coach like the Steelers have,
• 26:52
  Speaker 6: I think that bumps them down three or four spots.
• 26:55
  Speaker 6: I think Willie's spot on with that.
• 26:57
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and I'm just going to say Missouri.
• 27:00
  Speaker 3: I've seen way too many Steelers-Baltimore games at AFC North.
• 27:04
  Speaker 3: You've got to show me. I mean, who has the
• 27:07
  Speaker 3: current reigning AFC North division championship?
• 27:10
  Speaker 2: Oh, that's right.
• 27:11
  Speaker 3: It's in southwestern PA. And how many times have they
• 27:15
  Speaker 3: told us that the Ravens are this big, bad team
• 27:17
  Speaker 3: and Lamar Jackson has been a no-show inside of Akershore,
• 27:21
  Speaker 3: then Hines, whatever you want to call the stadium name.
• 27:23
  Speaker 3: It's the home of the Steelers. So it's nice. Like
• 27:28
  Speaker 3: you said, nice new bright, shiny toys are great. But
• 27:33
  Speaker 3: give me.
• 27:33
  Speaker 2: Tried, faithful, and true.
• 27:35
  Speaker 3: You know, give me that F-150 with the diesel engine.
• 27:37
  Speaker 3: I know it's going to start every single time. It
• 27:39
  Speaker 3: just needs an oil change and a kick in the
• 27:42
  Speaker 3: tires every once in a while. I don't want to
• 27:44
  Speaker 3: see the Bugatti every single week. It's not a daily driver,
• 27:47
  Speaker 3: and it feels like my butt's scraping on the ground
• 27:48
  Speaker 3: when I drive it.
• 27:50
  Speaker 6: Real quick, thank you, Max. 12, Philadelphia Eagles. I think
• 27:54
  Speaker 6: that might be a little low. 13, Jacksonville. 14, Kansas City. 15,
• 28:02
  Speaker 6: Dallas before we get to our next AFC North team. Quickly,
• 28:05
  Speaker 6: you guys want to take any thoughts on that? Eagles, Jaguars, Chiefs, Cowboys?
• 28:12
  Speaker 5: Yes.
• 28:14
  Speaker 3: I'm fine with it. I'm fine with it.
• 28:15
  Speaker 4: I think the Cowboys would be a lot higher, considering
• 28:17
  Speaker 4: they had a top-five offense last season in that process.
• 28:21
  Speaker 3: But they had a bottom-five defense.
• 28:23
  Speaker 5: That bottom-five defense was trash.
• 28:27
  Speaker 3: Correct.
• 28:27
  Speaker 4: I mean, listen, they gave up 30 points a game,
• 28:29
  Speaker 4: so I understand why they are where they are. I
• 28:32
  Speaker 4: just figured their offense did enough. Maybe you would have
• 28:34
  Speaker 4: gave them a little bit of a bump, but it
• 28:36
  Speaker 4: is what it is. I understand it.
• 28:38
  Speaker 6: Okay, so number 16, before we get to the break,
• 28:42
  Speaker 6: second AFC North team, And it ain't Pittsburgh. Cincinnati Bengals.
• 28:48
  Speaker 6: Mock's projected win total. I'm not sure who Mock is.
• 28:51
  Speaker 6: I don't know if this is a person or a
• 28:53
  Speaker 6: computer model. Projected win total, 10.3. Thanks in part to
• 28:58
  Speaker 6: arguably the easiest schedule in the league. The Bengals opened
• 29:01
  Speaker 6: the season as favorites in 15 of their 17 games.
• 29:05
  Speaker 6: The defense got some meaningful improvements in the offseason, notably
• 29:08
  Speaker 6: by uncharacteristically trading for Dexter Lawrence. Their season will once
• 29:12
  Speaker 6: again come down to Joe Burrow's health. He has played
• 29:14
  Speaker 6: in more than 10 games just once in the past
• 29:18
  Speaker 6: three seasons. They have dumped a lot of resources into
• 29:21
  Speaker 6: the defense. It hasn't worked for them in the draft.
• 29:24
  Speaker 6: They lose Trey Hendrickson. I do think Dexter Lawrence is
• 29:28
  Speaker 6: a really good player and a really good anchor in
• 29:31
  Speaker 6: the middle of that defense. But again, they're just I
• 29:36
  Speaker 6: think the Bengals are like in boxing terms they're a
• 29:39
  Speaker 6: slugger they can knock you out but I think they're
• 29:43
  Speaker 6: still searching for that consistency defensively and Joe Burrow's got
• 29:48
  Speaker 6: to be healthy.
• 29:51
  Speaker 4: Yeah it's the same story with the Bengals we know
• 29:54
  Speaker 4: they have potential offensively they're jugging out there's no doubt
• 29:57
  Speaker 4: about that defensively they made some upgrades You know, I
• 30:01
  Speaker 4: think the pressure needs to be put on Zach Taylor
• 30:04
  Speaker 4: because at some point we've watched this movie of the
• 30:08
  Speaker 4: Cincinnati Bengals. If and when Joe Burrow gets hurt at
• 30:13
  Speaker 4: this point, there's no excuse for you to bottom out
• 30:15
  Speaker 4: early in the season because now you have a defense.
• 30:18
  Speaker 5: Now with Dexter.
• 30:19
  Speaker 4: Lawrence and some of the pieces they had on defense,
• 30:21
  Speaker 4: you're now expected because of defense to without Joe Burrow,
• 30:25
  Speaker 4: you're still expected to win games.
• 30:27
  Speaker 5: We talked about coaches being on the hot seat.
• 30:29
  Speaker 4: I don't understand how he's never on the hot seat
• 30:32
  Speaker 4: because any other coach in his predicament.
• 30:35
  Speaker 5: Would be in the hot seat. Yes, Joe Burrow goes down.
• 30:39
  Speaker 5: You got to figure it out. But that happened to
• 30:42
  Speaker 5: Mike Tomlin. Mike Tomlin lost Ben Roethlisberger. He had to
• 30:45
  Speaker 5: figure it out. He had to win games.
• 30:47
  Speaker 4: Other coaches around the league, when you lose your starting quarterback,
• 30:50
  Speaker 4: whether it's the free agency or injury, You have to
• 30:53
  Speaker 4: figure it out and you got to win football games
• 30:55
  Speaker 4: to keep your job. The fact that year after year,
• 30:58
  Speaker 4: it's like, well, Joe went down.
• 30:59
  Speaker 5: Well, give him a pass. See you next season. I'm like,
• 31:01
  Speaker 5: what the hell is going on?
• 31:02
  Speaker 4: Did we just turn off the television and wait till
• 31:04
  Speaker 4: Joe comes back for us to talk about the Bengals?
• 31:07
  Speaker 5: It's totally unfair.
• 31:08
  Speaker 4: Like I'm looking at John Harbaugh when Lamar Jackson went
• 31:11
  Speaker 4: down because he had Derrick Henry in that defense. He
• 31:14
  Speaker 4: was expected to win games. And when he didn't win
• 31:17
  Speaker 4: games with the Baltimore Ravens, they said, hey, it's time
• 31:20
  Speaker 4: for a coach. Let's get his ass out of town
• 31:23
  Speaker 4: or help him. It was just people were calling for
• 31:25
  Speaker 4: his head. Nobody ever calls for Zach Taylor's head, and
• 31:28
  Speaker 4: I don't know why.
• 31:29
  Speaker 5: I just don't.
• 31:30
  Speaker 4: And so it baffles me that we're kind of always
• 31:34
  Speaker 4: in this conversation. When Joe's there, thumbs up for the Bengals.
• 31:36
  Speaker 4: When he's not there, we'll just see him next year.
• 31:38
  Speaker 4: Nobody talks about Zach Taylor and his lack of production
• 31:41
  Speaker 4: and his ability to get this team over the hump.
• 31:43
  Speaker 5: It's wild to me.
• 31:45
  Speaker 3: I think our safe word for this show now is
• 31:47
  Speaker 3: going to be Missouri, Rob. I think we've now coined
• 31:50
  Speaker 3: Missouri as a safe word here. I agree with everything
• 31:55
  Speaker 3: Willie said. And I'm just going to say, show me
• 31:58
  Speaker 3: the pass rush. Because, yes, you have Dexter Lawrence in
• 32:01
  Speaker 3: the interior. Where the hell is the edge rush? You
• 32:06
  Speaker 3: didn't really address it. Shamar Stewart is not that guy.
• 32:10
  Speaker 2: Who is your.
• 32:10
  Speaker 3: Pass rush edge specialist? I don't know. And regardless of
• 32:15
  Speaker 3: how many points that you score, we've shown you can
• 32:18
  Speaker 3: fumble the bag multiple times. And that's where I have
• 32:24
  Speaker 3: my issue with Cincinnati always being touted and crowned. Yes,
• 32:28
  Speaker 3: you had the number one receiver a.
• 32:29
  Speaker 2: Couple of years ago. Yes, Joe Burrow throws for thousands
• 32:31
  Speaker 2: of yards.
• 32:32
  Speaker 3: But you also said he ain't going for more than
• 32:34
  Speaker 3: a handful of games. He hasn't made it to a
• 32:36
  Speaker 3: baker's dozen yet of games in the last.
• 32:38
  Speaker 2: Three years, okay? So that's where.
• 32:42
  Speaker 3: I always question it. And to Willie's point, when does
• 32:46
  Speaker 3: it become the coach and not the personnel? Like, this
• 32:48
  Speaker 3: is one of the only situations where the coach is
• 32:52
  Speaker 3: never the best. Of anybody going into last offseason that
• 32:56
  Speaker 3: I thought should have been fired in the AFC North,
• 32:58
  Speaker 3: it was Zach Taylor and maybe Kevin Stavatsky as well.
• 33:02
  Speaker 3: But it was not Harbaugh. It was not Tomlin. And
• 33:06
  Speaker 3: Willie made a great point. You know, you went in
• 33:09
  Speaker 3: and you traded for Joe Flacco in the division. And
• 33:13
  Speaker 3: he gave you some great moments, but there was no
• 33:18
  Speaker 3: real plan or success of like, hey, we feel like
• 33:20
  Speaker 3: we're still a playoff contending team.
• 33:22
  Speaker 2: It was, ah, we got through the game. Ah, get
• 33:26
  Speaker 2: them next time.
• 33:27
  Speaker 3: All these 40-point losses. They scored 40.5 times and lost
• 33:33
  Speaker 3: an NFL record.
• 33:35
  Speaker 7: That is coaching.
• 33:36
  Speaker 3: Mike, we were winning games, not even scoring 20 points.
• 33:40
  Speaker 2: We beat the Falcons.
• 33:42
  Speaker 3: In Atlanta with five Chris Boswell field goals, not one touchdown. Sorry, six.
• 33:49
  Speaker 6: Six.
• 33:49
  Speaker 3: Chris Boswell field goals and a punt by Boswell. Right.
• 33:54
  Speaker 3: Talk about being.
• 33:54
  Speaker 2: Down in the dumps, and we still pulled out a victory.
• 33:57
  Speaker 3: Zach Taylor can't pull it with T. Higgins and Jamar
• 34:01
  Speaker 3: Chase and Chase Brown and Yoshibosh.
• 34:05
  Speaker 5: What.
• 34:06
  Speaker 7: and scoring 40 points. If we had 40 points, we
• 34:09
  Speaker 7: would be a 14-3 team. We couldn't get to 20 consistently.
• 34:15
  Speaker 7: We were still winning games.
• 34:17
  Speaker 6: We need this on video, Max. Arms waving around, those
• 34:20
  Speaker 6: big 6'8 arms waving around, all animated. Good stuff. All right,
• 34:25
  Speaker 6: stick around. We're almost at the Steelers, almost there. We're
• 34:28
  Speaker 6: going to get there when we continue in the locker
• 34:30
  Speaker 6: room here on the Steelers Audio Network.
• 34:37
  Speaker 1: This is In the Locker Room with Rob King, Max Starks,
• 34:41
  Speaker 1: and Willie Colon on Steelers Nation Radio, brought to you
• 34:45
  Speaker 1: in part by the Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
• 34:48
  Speaker 1: from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop.steelers.com.
• 34:53
  Speaker 1: And by your neighborhood Ford store, the F-150 is the
• 34:57
  Speaker 1: official truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
• 35:02
  Speaker 2: All right, we.
• 35:03
  Speaker 3: Are winding down the show on this Wednesday afternoon. pump
• 35:08
  Speaker 3: day and of course no last segment will be complete
• 35:12
  Speaker 3: without the bell laugh it is okay it's always lunchtime
• 35:21
  Speaker 3: here inside the locker room and that's what it will
• 35:23
  Speaker 3: that's what it will be as of now but that
• 35:25
  Speaker 3: is also under consideration of the tribunal so we will
• 35:30
  Speaker 3: figure it out but for right now that's that is
• 35:32
  Speaker 3: the late lunch bell for rob king that is the
• 35:35
  Speaker 3: Mid-lunch bell for Willie and early lunch bell for me
• 35:39
  Speaker 3: when I'm back home normally. It's okay. It's time to forage.
• 35:42
  Speaker 3: It's time to forage after this last segment. So if
• 35:45
  Speaker 3: you're wherever you are listening to our show, you're either
• 35:47
  Speaker 3: heading from or to, to and fro, however you want
• 35:50
  Speaker 3: to do it, from some fine dining establishment, and your
• 35:53
  Speaker 3: belly will be full or has been filled. Back to you, Rob.
• 35:57
  Speaker 6: Willie, you have to love the relish with which Max
• 35:59
  Speaker 6: calls for the– I mean, you have to like that
• 36:01
  Speaker 6: part of it, right? I mean, come on.
• 36:05
  Speaker 5: It's an adjustment.
• 36:07
  Speaker 4: I don't know how enthusiastic you want me to be
• 36:11
  Speaker 4: about it, Rob.
• 36:13
  Speaker 5: I'm trying to take it one day at a time.
• 36:16
  Speaker 3: It's a lot.
• 36:17
  Speaker 6: We're going to leave it there. Here's our next order
• 36:22
  Speaker 6: of business. The next group of teams. The Packers are 17th.
• 36:29
  Speaker 6: This is a bit of a dividing line for the
• 36:32
  Speaker 6: Athletic because The Packers, their projected win total is 9.4.
• 36:38
  Speaker 6: After that, we don't get to anybody who quite reaches 9.
• 36:40
  Speaker 6: There might be 8. You could round up to 9.
• 36:43
  Speaker 6: But that's it. That's the last winning team. So now,
• 36:47
  Speaker 6: I'm going to jump out of this poll just for
• 36:48
  Speaker 6: a second and jump into NFL.com. 19 voters and who
• 36:53
  Speaker 6: they predicted to win their divisions. So division winners, they
• 36:58
  Speaker 6: pick the Bills, the Ravens, the Texans, The Broncos. In
• 37:05
  Speaker 6: the NFC, they pick the Cowboys, the Lions, the Bucks,
• 37:10
  Speaker 6: the Rams. Playoff teams, wildcard teams. Now, of course, there
• 37:16
  Speaker 6: are more votes here than teams that actually couldn't get
• 37:19
  Speaker 6: into the playoffs. But Chargers, Patriots, Chiefs, Bengals, Jags, Texans.
• 37:29
  Speaker 6: So we have now named... But the Texans, of course,
• 37:32
  Speaker 6: are also picked as a division winner. So we've named
• 37:34
  Speaker 6: nine AFC teams. We have not named a certain team
• 37:37
  Speaker 6: in western Pennsylvania. In the NFC, in addition to the Cowboys, Lions, Bucks,
• 37:42
  Speaker 6: and Rams, Seahawks, Eagles, Bears, 49ers, Vikings, Packers, who get one,
• 37:49
  Speaker 6: somebody voted for the Giants making the playoffs.
• 37:53
  Speaker 5: What?
• 37:55
  Speaker 6: The athletic NFL executives rank the AFC teams. Six voters. One, Bills,
• 38:03
  Speaker 6: two Broncos, three Texans, four Patriots, five Ravens, six Chiefs,
• 38:08
  Speaker 6: seven Bengals, eight Chargers, nine Jaguars. Number 10, your team
• 38:17
  Speaker 6: who's 17th, I beg your pardon, 18th in the athletic poll.
• 38:23
  Speaker 6: and 10th in their poll of AFC teams, your Pittsburgh Steelers.
• 38:28
  Speaker 6: Projected win total, 8.4. Here's the quick write-up. Steelers haven't
• 38:33
  Speaker 6: had a losing season since 2003, so maybe it's unwise
• 38:37
  Speaker 6: to predict only eight wins. They boast the league's highest-paid defense,
• 38:41
  Speaker 6: but the big question is how good the offense can
• 38:44
  Speaker 6: be with 42-year-old quarterback Aaron Rodgers reuniting with Mike McCarthy.
• 38:52
  Speaker 5: Yeah, it's a fair question. I don't think anybody has
• 38:55
  Speaker 5: a problem with the question.
• 38:56
  Speaker 4: I think the question just feels like it's rooted in
• 38:59
  Speaker 4: doubt because we're sitting here age-shaming Aaron Rodgers being 42
• 39:04
  Speaker 4: years old.
• 39:05
  Speaker 5: And I'm sitting here, I'm like, so the hell what?
• 39:07
  Speaker 4: Like, we're not, you're talking about a Hall of Fame
• 39:10
  Speaker 4: quarterback who happens to be 42 years old. You're talking
• 39:13
  Speaker 4: about a quarterback who I mentioned yesterday masked a lot
• 39:16
  Speaker 4: of deficiencies on the offensive side for the Steelers. I
• 39:20
  Speaker 4: also talk about a quarterback who went into late December
• 39:22
  Speaker 4: and what a meaningful game against the Detroit Lions that
• 39:25
  Speaker 4: they needed to have and willed that team to victory. Sure,
• 39:28
  Speaker 4: he didn't play as well as he should have against
• 39:31
  Speaker 4: the Texans in the playoffs, but that game was close
• 39:34
  Speaker 4: up until it wasn't. Nevertheless, I think if you're taking
• 39:37
  Speaker 4: Aaron Rodgers on his last hurrah with a head coach
• 39:41
  Speaker 4: who knows him probably better than himself, to be honest
• 39:44
  Speaker 4: with you, and you talk about with some new additions
• 39:47
  Speaker 4: in Michael Pittman and Rico Dotto, and with the offensive line,
• 39:50
  Speaker 4: who I think, once they figure out who that five's
• 39:53
  Speaker 4: going to be, and sure, we would like that five
• 39:55
  Speaker 4: to be already solidified, but it is what it is,
• 39:58
  Speaker 4: the Steelers will be a lot better team than what
• 40:00
  Speaker 4: they were last year. I think I get frustrated with
• 40:02
  Speaker 4: the naysayers because they give every other team in the
• 40:06
  Speaker 4: division the benefit of the doubt. But a team that
• 40:09
  Speaker 4: hasn't lost since 2023, meaning a losing season, they throw
• 40:13
  Speaker 4: us to the sidewalk like, oh, that's an old TV.
• 40:16
  Speaker 4: And I'm saying to myself, what happened to being old, steady,
• 40:19
  Speaker 4: and faithful? Is that no longer the way of the youth?
• 40:23
  Speaker 4: Does it have to be flash and dash and everything?
• 40:26
  Speaker 4: It's nauseating. If I had to be, if you were
• 40:30
  Speaker 4: to be a brand new football fan, would you take
• 40:33
  Speaker 4: the team that, yeah, they have a lot of, the
• 40:35
  Speaker 4: ceiling is extremely high, but there's nothing in the middle,
• 40:38
  Speaker 4: like you can't figure them out, or would you take
• 40:40
  Speaker 4: the team who constantly has a place at the table
• 40:42
  Speaker 4: come playoff time and is fair game for everybody. Like,
• 40:46
  Speaker 4: it's just, I scratch my head with the whole nonsense
• 40:50
  Speaker 4: of like, oh, pick the two-time MVP.
• 40:52
  Speaker 5: By the way, doesn't play well in the big games.
• 40:54
  Speaker 5: We see what he did in the AFC Championship. Oh,
• 40:57
  Speaker 5: pick Joe Burrow. Always hurt, and they really don't have
• 40:59
  Speaker 5: anything around him as far as defensively. Oh, what about
• 41:02
  Speaker 5: the Browns? Forget about it. The Steelers? Eh, we'll see. Like,
• 41:06
  Speaker 5: I'm like, what are we talking about? It's always nonsense, so.
• 41:09
  Speaker 5: I'm over it.
• 41:10
  Speaker 4: I don't want to continue to sound like the old
• 41:12
  Speaker 4: man on the porch throwing acorns at the young kids,
• 41:14
  Speaker 4: but it is what it is.
• 41:18
  Speaker 6: I didn't know that's what old men did on the porch,
• 41:20
  Speaker 6: throw acorns at the young kids.
• 41:22
  Speaker 5: They do that in Widow.
• 41:23
  Speaker 3: Get off my lawn. Yeah, and then Widow would, apparently.
• 41:27
  Speaker 3: That's the other thing. You throw acorns at Widow would.
• 41:30
  Speaker 3: And I think Willie says it perfectly. Like, if we took–
• 41:35
  Speaker 3: if we just took away team names– and player names,
• 41:40
  Speaker 3: and you just simply presented a resume to the unknown fan.
• 41:45
  Speaker 3: Let's just take an international fan that had to pick
• 41:48
  Speaker 3: a team, and you put the resumes out there and say,
• 41:52
  Speaker 3: what these teams have done.
• 41:53
  Speaker 2: In the last five years.
• 41:56
  Speaker 3: You would probably pick the Pittsburgh Steelers, but because you
• 42:00
  Speaker 3: see the Steelers logo, you see the hypocycloids, and you're like, oh, man,
• 42:06
  Speaker 3: here we go again. that's when people get disenfranchised in
• 42:09
  Speaker 3: the media world because they've tried to pour dirt on
• 42:12
  Speaker 3: us for the last 10 years, and we keep rising
• 42:16
  Speaker 3: up like The Undertaker in a WrestleMania, right? Every single year,
• 42:20
  Speaker 3: we come out of the ashes, out of the casket,
• 42:22
  Speaker 3: and we chokeslam the division, and they're like, why does
• 42:25
  Speaker 3: this keep happening? Because The Undertaker's not allowed to lose
• 42:28
  Speaker 3: a WrestleMania, and that's what it is.
• 42:31
  Speaker 7: People want it to happen.
• 42:33
  Speaker 3: They'll throw the John Cena's up there. They'll throw all
• 42:35
  Speaker 3: these different all-stars at you, And the one thing that
• 42:39
  Speaker 3: is eternal, the Undertaker will rise again. And that is
• 42:43
  Speaker 3: what we deal with.
• 42:45
  Speaker 2: And you know what?
• 42:46
  Speaker 3: I don't mind. They put the bullseye on our back
• 42:48
  Speaker 3: for the different reasons. They don't put it on because
• 42:50
  Speaker 3: we're the team to beat. They put it on us
• 42:52
  Speaker 3: because they just want to see us dead. They are
• 42:55
  Speaker 3: so mad we've never rebuilt like all the other teams
• 42:58
  Speaker 3: around us. And we've just kind of reloaded, restocked, and
• 43:02
  Speaker 3: just kind of held water. And that's why you get
• 43:06
  Speaker 3: this right here and why we get this. And then
• 43:08
  Speaker 3: at the end of the season, when we're in the
• 43:10
  Speaker 3: top seven, people are pissed off. They're not happy. They're
• 43:14
  Speaker 3: always pissed off when we're there. It's because that is
• 43:17
  Speaker 3: a constant threat. It hasn't yielded the fruit that we want,
• 43:21
  Speaker 3: but we're always in the picture, and they have to
• 43:23
  Speaker 3: talk about it in January. That's what the media hates,
• 43:25
  Speaker 3: and that's.
• 43:26
  Speaker 2: Why we're ranked here.
• 43:27
  Speaker 6: Rest of the power rankings, in case you're interested, real quick.
• 43:30
  Speaker 6: 19 Vikings, 20 Bucs, 21 Colts. Oh, interesting.
• 43:35
  Speaker 5: Interesting.
• 43:35
  Speaker 6: 22, Saints. 23, Commanders. They might be interesting. 24, Carolina. 25, Giants. 26, Falcons.
• 43:46
  Speaker 6: Of course, first opponent for this year. There's 27, Raiders. 28, Titans. 29, Jets. 30,
• 43:55
  Speaker 6: the Browns.
• 43:58
  Speaker 2: Might be a little high.
• 43:59
  Speaker 6: You know.
• 44:04
  Speaker 6: I might be– I might– I haven't– I don't know.
• 44:08
  Speaker 6: The Browns, I think the Browns could give some teams
• 44:11
  Speaker 6: a little more than they are expecting this year. 31 Cardinals,
• 44:15
  Speaker 6: 32 Dolphins. That's all there is time for today, guys.
• 44:18
  Speaker 6: We all agree Steelers should be higher, right? But you
• 44:22
  Speaker 6: got to play the games. You can start playing the
• 44:23
  Speaker 6: games on Sunday.
• 44:24
  Speaker 5: You got to play the games.
• 44:25
  Speaker 6: Guys will be back tomorrow. We're going to start launching
• 44:27
  Speaker 6: into the serious matchups here. between the Steelers and the
• 44:31
  Speaker 6: Falcons for Max Starks and Willie Colon. I'm Rob King.
• 44:34
  Speaker 6: We thank you for being with us in the locker
• 44:36
  Speaker 6: room here on the Steelers Audio Network.