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Time to take Command · The Irish Steelers Podcast

0:07
Speaker 1: Week ten of the NFL season is ruling in this
0:11
Speaker 1: weekend and you're listening to the Irish Steelers Podcast, the
0:15
Speaker 1: podcast for Pittsburgh Steelers fans across the island of Ireland
0:19
Speaker 1: and far beyond. Michael mccaddy here, delighted to join you
0:22
Speaker 1: as we reach into double digit figures of the twenty
0:25
Speaker 1: twenty four NFL season, and also joined by Mike Comrades,
0:29
Speaker 1: Jimmy English and Dove ag McKee. After a bye week,
0:32
Speaker 1: so it's great to have the guys back again properly
0:34
Speaker 1: to talk about the Steelers football and as we enter
0:37
Speaker 1: this key second half of the season. Jimmy, it's good
0:40
Speaker 1: to see him on HI.
0:42
Speaker 2: I'm fantastic. Michael, good to be back. Looking forward to
0:46
Speaker 2: Unich this weekend. Hopefully it won't be too.
0:48
Speaker 3: Long before we see our Steelers in an international fixture
0:53
Speaker 3: and big game against the Commanders. I think it's it's
0:55
Speaker 3: probably the first real test we're going to have this season.
0:57
Speaker 3: The Commanders are flying high with Jayden and we'll get
1:00
Speaker 3: into that in a while. And as you say, the
1:03
Speaker 3: regular season keeps rolling on, so let's enjoy and savor
1:07
Speaker 3: every single game that we have.
1:11
Speaker 1: Yeah, and I know there's a lot of Steeters fans
1:13
Speaker 1: over in Germany. So if you're listening to this, or
1:15
Speaker 1: if you're heading over from Ireland, or do you care
1:18
Speaker 1: or wherever, give us a shot if you see us
1:20
Speaker 1: looking forward to that game on Sunday and do all.
1:23
Speaker 1: It's good to see you on. How are you doing.
1:25
Speaker 1: I can see you have your goalwig gear on tonight,
1:26
Speaker 1: which is interesting as Ruman.
1:28
Speaker 2: Yeah, I've got my goal away gear on.
1:31
Speaker 4: I've got no family in goal away, but I just
1:33
Speaker 4: like the jersey, to be honest, you know, up there
1:34
Speaker 4: a way. I think we only were them up north
1:36
Speaker 4: for that reason. But yeah, Michael, I'm the exact same.
1:39
Speaker 4: I've had a chance to sort of recuperate the value
1:41
Speaker 4: it where we're at in the Bay Week, and I'm
1:44
Speaker 4: as saying I'm about to say as well, I don't
1:46
Speaker 4: think we could have asked for a better Unfortunately, end
1:49
Speaker 4: not going to Germany, so I'll say O Vader's n
1:51
Speaker 4: next year, next year maybe, but yeah, I'm looking forward
1:55
Speaker 4: to Washington Steters and Sunday without them flights.
1:57
Speaker 2: I do feel for you lots.
1:59
Speaker 4: You know, maybe if you can get the WiFi on
2:01
Speaker 4: the flights, maybe he's a bab A catch it.
2:03
Speaker 2: But uh yeah, I'm happy. I'll be watching it at home.
2:06
Speaker 1: Well we will see, yeah, I'm actually the game is
2:10
Speaker 1: at six o'clock, so see the first quarter at least
2:14
Speaker 1: we'll see the crack. And obviously entering the second half
2:17
Speaker 1: of the season here and a game which kicks off
2:18
Speaker 1: and we are going to talk about in this podcast,
2:20
Speaker 1: this game against a hot, flying in team like the
2:23
Speaker 1: Washington Commanders. The game in Week eleven has not been
2:26
Speaker 1: flexed against Baltimore, so it remains in the early window
2:29
Speaker 1: next week, which is a great game for Staiers fans
2:31
Speaker 1: across Ireland to watch it an earlier time. And then
2:33
Speaker 1: we really get into that sort of cusp of the
2:35
Speaker 1: AFC North Cleveland, Cincinnati and then Cleveland at home before
2:39
Speaker 1: finishing Baltimore, Philadelphia, Kansas City and Cincinnati. I just runded
2:43
Speaker 1: awful lot of games there. But the reason I've done that,
2:46
Speaker 1: Jimmy and Davogg starting yourself, Jimmy, is because this is
2:49
Speaker 1: a real stretch now and we will talk about the
2:52
Speaker 1: Commanders in the second. But I feel like I've been
2:55
Speaker 1: so impressed by how this team is geled and how
2:56
Speaker 1: it's developed, and I was talking to Dalg Jimmy on
2:58
Speaker 1: that podcast by week podcast, how about that? But now
3:02
Speaker 1: it's how quickly can we get to ten wins? And
3:05
Speaker 1: if when we get the ten wins, how many losses
3:08
Speaker 1: do we have? Because I feel as if if we
3:10
Speaker 1: can get to ten and we've only got the three
3:12
Speaker 1: losses at that point, that's a serious opportunity for this team.
3:16
Speaker 1: Won in the January. What's your faults going.
3:18
Speaker 3: Into Yeah, I mean we knew at the start of
3:22
Speaker 3: the season, make that will were facing the gauntlet when
3:24
Speaker 3: we got to this stretch this season. I think the
3:26
Speaker 3: bye week came with a perfect time because we finished
3:29
Speaker 3: on a high. We had the wins over the Jets
3:31
Speaker 3: and Giants, and we had the return of Russell Wilson,
3:33
Speaker 3: which I think really unlocked our offense and the offense's potential.
3:37
Speaker 3: So I really don't think we could be coming in.
3:39
Speaker 2: To this this stretch in a better situation or in
3:43
Speaker 2: a better place.
3:44
Speaker 3: You know, our defense has been firing all season, our
3:47
Speaker 3: offense is finally caught up and should only continue to improve.
3:51
Speaker 3: And the ASC North is not as cut and dry
3:55
Speaker 3: as we might have thought. A couple of weeks ago,
3:56
Speaker 3: we had the Ravens had that big win against the Broncos.
4:00
Speaker 3: They took their frustrations out on the Broncos. Last weekend.
4:03
Speaker 3: We saw the Bengals getting the better of the Raiders
4:05
Speaker 3: there last weekend. Those two teams are playing tonight, which
4:08
Speaker 3: is Thursday, so it could be very interesting to see
4:10
Speaker 3: how that shakes out and the effect that has on
4:12
Speaker 3: the on the on the AFC North. But I really
4:15
Speaker 3: think we need to be perfect now, or are as
4:17
Speaker 3: perfect as possible going heading into this into the second
4:21
Speaker 3: half of the season. There are some really tricky games there,
4:24
Speaker 3: and there are some games that I mean the two
4:26
Speaker 3: games against the Browns. We know what we're like against
4:29
Speaker 3: the Browns.
4:29
Speaker 2: They've caught us out before.
4:31
Speaker 3: So I wouldn't take those who granted either, I won't
4:33
Speaker 3: be taking any games for granted at this stage of
4:35
Speaker 3: the season. But I really I am positive and hopeful
4:39
Speaker 3: that we can at least get to the to the
4:42
Speaker 3: divisional round of the playoffs this year and and further
4:45
Speaker 3: if possible. So look, like I said, we were in
4:48
Speaker 3: a really great place now I must let's keep it going.
4:51
Speaker 3: Let's just keep building, let's keep stucking the wins, and
4:54
Speaker 3: let's get back to the playoffs.
4:56
Speaker 1: Stack the W is a big game against w this
4:59
Speaker 1: weekend of a and just sort of wondering as we've
5:01
Speaker 1: had that week. It's literally been a week since we
5:03
Speaker 1: last spoke, and the sort of regroup and think and
5:07
Speaker 1: I don't want to times on this podcast, but it's
5:10
Speaker 1: it's going to be timestand because of the meaning and
5:12
Speaker 1: the time of this game, and Jimmy mentioned it as well,
5:13
Speaker 1: there dog big AFC North game on Thursday. I'm probably
5:17
Speaker 1: one of the games of the season on the Thursday
5:19
Speaker 1: night slid so far, the Bengals playing the Ravens. I'm
5:21
Speaker 1: still to watch it. It's that big, it feels, and look,
5:25
Speaker 1: I don't want to talk too much about this game,
5:26
Speaker 1: but every AFC North team, like every team in the NFL,
5:30
Speaker 1: has a story this season, has it has issues, has
5:33
Speaker 1: things going for them, and we're starting to see that
5:36
Speaker 1: division take take ship and look, it's not going to
5:38
Speaker 1: be decided tonight, but it's going to be a really
5:40
Speaker 1: interesting few weeks. How are you feeling post by did
5:42
Speaker 1: you did you get a chance to get a slumber
5:44
Speaker 1: or head of the dinings for a few days and relax.
5:47
Speaker 4: I wouldn't go that far Mack. But know this, this
5:50
Speaker 4: game the night is is, it is massive, and I
5:52
Speaker 4: feel a Bengals win could potentially blow the FC North
5:56
Speaker 4: wide open. I mean, the Ravens, as Jimmy's alluded to
5:59
Speaker 4: last week, looked very impressive against the Broncos, as he said,
6:02
Speaker 4: they took the frustrations out, it seems. And the Bengals,
6:06
Speaker 4: although they beat the Raiders, the Raiders they're not a
6:09
Speaker 4: good team, and we're looked quite impressive against them. I
6:12
Speaker 4: think they put up forty points, so it's always hard
6:14
Speaker 4: to do that against any team in the NFL. So
6:17
Speaker 4: it's primed and ready. I mean, if you're a neutral
6:20
Speaker 4: watching this division, it's about the blow in an absolute chaos.
6:23
Speaker 4: But just like we are as an organization, will continue
6:27
Speaker 4: just to pray on and continue our way, and you'll
6:29
Speaker 4: continue to fly under that radar.
6:31
Speaker 2: But I'll be standing up that game the night.
6:32
Speaker 4: I'm really looking forward it, and I do feel I
6:35
Speaker 4: believe the Baton books have the Bengals six point underdogs.
6:38
Speaker 4: I think that's very disrespectful and I think I actually
6:40
Speaker 4: feel like a win tonight, which I think could happen,
6:43
Speaker 4: could blow this division wide up, and so I'll be
6:46
Speaker 4: intrigued to see how it ends.
6:48
Speaker 2: And just as Jimmy said, though, I mean, we're the
6:50
Speaker 2: Steelers and we're going to.
6:51
Speaker 4: Continue to play on and then, you know, I feel
6:54
Speaker 4: if we can get to that ten win mark, we'll
6:56
Speaker 4: find ourselves in the playoffs and before we know what,
6:58
Speaker 4: you know, no team is going to be watching us.
7:00
Speaker 4: But yeah, I feel it's as ambitious as the power
7:03
Speaker 4: of you. And yeah, this weekend's a big weekend as well.
7:05
Speaker 4: We have to tune in and it's it's a bit
7:07
Speaker 4: of a trap game. I mean, it's Jimmy said, it's
7:10
Speaker 4: a definitely difficult game on the road against Eden Daniels,
7:12
Speaker 4: who's a phenomenal talent, but I still fail. You know,
7:16
Speaker 4: where we're at Awful Bay, we can come out with
7:18
Speaker 4: a win. So yeah, I'm looking forward it.
7:21
Speaker 3: He had that out is not staying up to watch
7:23
Speaker 3: the game tonight.
7:24
Speaker 2: I'm prioritizing my.
7:25
Speaker 3: Sleep after the week I've had in the week, the
7:27
Speaker 3: weekend we're gonna have in Germany, so I'm gonna be
7:31
Speaker 3: no spoilers in the group lag tomorrow morning. Let me
7:33
Speaker 3: let me get to watch the highlights at least.
7:36
Speaker 2: First before we start shotting about it.
7:37
Speaker 1: Please, I will text Avo the word yeah. I think
7:40
Speaker 1: at this point of the season, I keep telling himself, yeah,
7:42
Speaker 1: I should probably sleep, But at the same time, it's
7:44
Speaker 1: like we'll be long and for football come March. As
7:46
Speaker 1: I'm just telling myself, okay, okay, let's but it's one
7:49
Speaker 1: of those nights. I actually haven't set up for any
7:50
Speaker 1: FIRS night games and so far this year, so I'm
7:55
Speaker 1: just going to try it tonight and see how it goes.
7:56
Speaker 1: I know we've got a game coming up against Cleveland,
7:59
Speaker 1: quite still up for that, but bar not that probably
8:01
Speaker 1: with me for the year on the Thursday nights, looking
8:03
Speaker 1: forward to it, obviously, looking forward to this com manage
8:05
Speaker 1: games again. And we are going to talk about it
8:06
Speaker 1: in the second but Lad's just really eager to hear
8:09
Speaker 1: your thoughts on Look, it's not really huge storylines, but
8:15
Speaker 1: we all know how big Tuesday was in regards to
8:18
Speaker 1: the NFL NFL three deadline day, and we've seen that
8:22
Speaker 1: we've brought in wide receiver Mike Williams from the Jets.
8:25
Speaker 1: We heard Aran Rodgers be so positive about him live
8:28
Speaker 1: when he heard about it. A veteran wide receiver, a
8:30
Speaker 1: guy that has a good experience in the league and
8:32
Speaker 1: then Preston Smith as well. Guys, what do you think
8:35
Speaker 1: of these moves? Because for me, the way I see
8:37
Speaker 1: it is, you know, we're seeing teams that are really
8:41
Speaker 1: in win now move across the league and they're really
8:44
Speaker 1: putting the foot down on certain contracts. But the reality
8:47
Speaker 1: is like this is this is a leaders team where
8:50
Speaker 1: you know, long term between two to two to four years. Here,
8:53
Speaker 1: I feel that the nucleus of this team is going
8:56
Speaker 1: to remain and you just you have not seen them
8:58
Speaker 1: sort of mortgage or bet on their long term future, which.
9:01
Speaker 2: I think is good. I like the moves.
9:04
Speaker 1: It'll be interesting to see, you know, how long it
9:06
Speaker 1: might take Mike Williams to come in and how many
9:08
Speaker 1: snaps he'll play on the offense if he does. We've
9:11
Speaker 1: seen guys like DeAndre Hopkins come into the Chiefs and
9:13
Speaker 1: really perform from from day one, So it'll be interesting
9:16
Speaker 1: to see. What do you guys think of these moves
9:18
Speaker 1: over the last few days.
9:20
Speaker 3: Yeah, it looked there's no debt that they're positive Mick
9:25
Speaker 3: in terms of adding potentially much needed depth. I neither
9:29
Speaker 3: side of the ball.
9:30
Speaker 2: I did see that. I did see that we had
9:35
Speaker 2: an injury on this.
9:36
Speaker 3: To the Steers defensive lineman, the Marvin Leal, I believe
9:40
Speaker 3: it was actually has he is out for the season
9:41
Speaker 3: with the neck injury, so that could have prompted the
9:44
Speaker 3: signing of Preston Smith from Green Bay, though I think
9:46
Speaker 3: they are to Marvin Leal was more of a middle linebacker,
9:49
Speaker 3: whereas I believe Preston Smith is more of an edge rusher.
9:52
Speaker 3: So again, I think it comes down to just having
9:54
Speaker 3: depth and coverage of the position, which is always important.
9:56
Speaker 3: I mean, we've seen Alex Heismiker, then this season we've
10:00
Speaker 3: seen Nick Herbig, you know, being out for a couple
10:04
Speaker 3: of weeks with an.
10:05
Speaker 2: Injury, so it never hurt.
10:06
Speaker 3: It never hurts to have veteran depth at any position.
10:09
Speaker 3: So from that perspective, and he's played in Green Bay,
10:12
Speaker 3: which you know, the Packers are known for their defensive strength,
10:16
Speaker 3: so I don't think it's a bad mood a bad
10:18
Speaker 3: move as such. And then in terms of Mike Williams,
10:22
Speaker 3: it's no harmony having that depth, and of course, I
10:25
Speaker 3: mean he has the experience of playing with Aaron Rodgers
10:27
Speaker 3: to play with the Chargers as well previously, and looking
10:29
Speaker 3: forward to seeing how he how he contributes to the
10:32
Speaker 3: to the offense. But yeah, I mean overall, I'm not
10:35
Speaker 3: I'm not disappointed with the signings. You can't hurt having
10:38
Speaker 3: the veteran experience and that especially to help with some
10:42
Speaker 3: of the younger players as well.
10:43
Speaker 1: There. Now, look, what's your thoughts on the lapeltry at
10:47
Speaker 1: bad line for Pittsburgh.
10:49
Speaker 4: Yeah, and pretty much the same as Jimmy. I mean
10:53
Speaker 4: the best way probably describe it as solid and I
10:56
Speaker 4: consider maybe it a solid division. You know, pres the smith.
11:00
Speaker 4: I always look at Macware have they been on? How
11:02
Speaker 4: long were they there for? I think maybe he's at
11:04
Speaker 4: the Packers for six years, and as Jimmy's just said,
11:06
Speaker 4: there the Packers always have a solid defensive structure and
11:09
Speaker 4: they have valued him enough to keep him more for
11:11
Speaker 4: six years. So that's always a good sign. He's come
11:13
Speaker 4: from Green Bay, which is another solid organization. He's going
11:16
Speaker 4: to fit right in and so I think as as
11:19
Speaker 4: Jimmy said, it's it's it's more depth for that position
11:21
Speaker 4: where we have had injuries. You know, Nick Herbig I
11:23
Speaker 4: struggled with an injury as well as you know the
11:27
Speaker 4: other rutside landbacker escape my mind. Sorry Alex Heighsmith. Of
11:31
Speaker 4: course I can forget, and so yeah, I'm really happy
11:34
Speaker 4: with that one and Mike Williams, and he's another solid edition.
11:38
Speaker 4: I always felt that if we want to be a
11:40
Speaker 4: serious contender, we had to add another wide receiver for
11:43
Speaker 4: that purpose because the position we are very thin. You know,
11:46
Speaker 4: his time with the Jets, you know, it has been
11:48
Speaker 4: nothing short of a disaster. I mean when they added
11:50
Speaker 4: DeVante Adams, he just felt like he's a writing on
11:54
Speaker 4: the wall. And as Jimmy just said, there, if we
11:55
Speaker 4: can get that one that was at the Chargers, I
11:57
Speaker 4: believe he posted over a thousand yards and nine touchdowns
11:59
Speaker 4: in two twenty one. If we can get that Mike
12:01
Speaker 4: Williams as opposed to the one that we've seen in
12:03
Speaker 4: New York, I feel it can be in a brilliant edition.
12:05
Speaker 2: So yeah, I'm I'm a I'm optimistic.
12:08
Speaker 4: As Jimmy just said, I wasn't blown away by the
12:10
Speaker 4: whole you know, additions, but I think it's as solid
12:13
Speaker 4: as we possibly could have guessed.
12:14
Speaker 2: So yeah, I'm happy. Pretty much, I'm the same.
12:18
Speaker 1: I don't think I ever sort of expected them to
12:20
Speaker 1: go mad anyway, and like I think it's just to
12:22
Speaker 1: have that insurance policy, but you never know what you're
12:24
Speaker 1: gonna need down the stretch, especially when you've got a
12:27
Speaker 1: game on the twenty first and then the game on
12:30
Speaker 1: the twenty fifth of December go up against Kansas City,
12:32
Speaker 1: So it's gonna be a sort of short window where
12:34
Speaker 1: you need. Look, if you can get a guy in
12:35
Speaker 1: third down that gets seventy eight yards to get us
12:37
Speaker 1: down the in the goal that goes on, I'm I'm
12:41
Speaker 1: happy enough. So it's even small things I got there.
12:43
Speaker 1: I guess we'll take it like that. We're actually gonna
12:45
Speaker 1: hear from Russell Wilson ahead of this big game this
12:48
Speaker 1: weekend on the Irish Cities podcast.
12:51
Speaker 2: That's what's Mike working with the Blue Receiver mixt season.
12:54
Speaker 5: How do you guys get on the same Yeah, Mike's
12:58
Speaker 5: done a great job so far coming in. He's been
13:00
Speaker 5: right in the meetings, He's been great in the field.
13:01
Speaker 5: Just a lot of attension of details. You can tell
13:04
Speaker 5: he's a pro. I've been on a play against him,
13:07
Speaker 5: you know, several years. You know he's he's a dominant receiver.
13:09
Speaker 5: He can make some great plays. The good thing is
13:12
Speaker 5: we've got a lot of great players and man We've
13:13
Speaker 5: got a lot of great receivers, obviously George, you know
13:15
Speaker 5: the addition of Mike, but also Van has been playing
13:18
Speaker 5: unbelievable football. Calvin, we believe in Scottie Miller too and
13:22
Speaker 5: all of the things he can do. We're just a
13:23
Speaker 5: pluthor of guys that can really make plays, and obviously
13:26
Speaker 5: our Titans and our running back. So it's just a
13:29
Speaker 5: guy who wants to win, a guy who's competitive, you know,
13:32
Speaker 5: and he's determined to show who he is.
13:35
Speaker 2: His skill sets fit in. Is there anything specific?
13:38
Speaker 5: I think the first thing is his mindset, you know,
13:40
Speaker 5: how he's approached practice, how he's approached being here. This
13:43
Speaker 5: is a very particular locker room. Man. We were very,
13:47
Speaker 5: very competitive. We're we're very guys are tons of confidence,
13:52
Speaker 5: guys that you know, want to have be their best
13:55
Speaker 5: every day for each other, and you know, sometimes that's
13:59
Speaker 5: not always the case. Everywhere you go or everywhere you
14:01
Speaker 5: may play, or whatever it may be, they don't have
14:03
Speaker 5: the same mentality of work and practice in particular is
14:05
Speaker 5: what I'm really talking about. And the games are the
14:08
Speaker 5: fun part and that's the easy part, but I can't
14:10
Speaker 5: bring in every day and practicing. He has so far,
14:12
Speaker 5: He's been great trying to learn everything. But I think
14:15
Speaker 5: we have a great receiver room and those guys have
14:18
Speaker 5: really you know, been open arms, vice versa, and just
14:21
Speaker 5: trying to learn everything that that they can and we
14:23
Speaker 5: can together. Obviously, had a big game this week, another
14:26
Speaker 5: great moment. They're all great moments, and he look forward
14:29
Speaker 5: to him and I think he can bring a lot
14:31
Speaker 5: to the table.
14:32
Speaker 2: The one thing he's been theorized is that because Williams
14:34
Speaker 2: his good speed put ups.
14:35
Speaker 5: Out the numbers, cast radious deep threat. That's sort of
14:37
Speaker 5: and provide that presence and maybe free of George do
14:40
Speaker 5: some other things in the route tree.
14:42
Speaker 3: Is there any merit to that?
14:44
Speaker 5: And I think those are all truths. I think when
14:45
Speaker 5: you look out there and he realized that guy sixs
14:47
Speaker 5: five and can run the way he can jump up
14:49
Speaker 5: and catch the ball and run past people, and he's physical.
14:53
Speaker 5: Even in the short game, he can you know, catch
14:55
Speaker 5: a slant and you know, catch a hitch, catch us
14:57
Speaker 5: you know post route, he can catch a you could
15:00
Speaker 5: run every route. I mean, he's just he's a guys
15:02
Speaker 5: had I think he's had over three one thousand yard
15:04
Speaker 5: plus the yard seasons. I mean there's it's real football,
15:07
Speaker 5: you know, and so he's not out there playing mad
15:08
Speaker 5: and he can make some plays. He's just he's a
15:10
Speaker 5: guy that's really been special over the years. And the
15:14
Speaker 5: great thing is that we also have unbelievable you know,
15:18
Speaker 5: a group of guys that have put the work in
15:20
Speaker 5: all all training camp and in all seasons so far,
15:22
Speaker 5: they've shown up a big, big way, you know, and
15:25
Speaker 5: just we have so much confidence.
15:27
Speaker 3: You know.
15:28
Speaker 5: For me, I've always thought about the game with football,
15:30
Speaker 5: just spreading the ball around and facilitating the ball to
15:32
Speaker 5: the right guy at the right time, trusting to read
15:33
Speaker 5: and take what's there and everything else. And uh, you know,
15:37
Speaker 5: he'll be a really good addition for us because he's
15:39
Speaker 5: competitive in that sense, and you know he's he's the
15:41
Speaker 5: right mentality.
15:43
Speaker 6: Too.
15:43
Speaker 3: Big deep ball and you throwing the bat ball?
15:45
Speaker 2: Does that open up?
15:46
Speaker 1: Three years?
15:47
Speaker 3: They're pretty well cover too.
15:49
Speaker 5: And I think with our run game and how physical
15:51
Speaker 5: we are and how we run the ball downhill, all
15:53
Speaker 5: the things we're able to do. We want to be
15:55
Speaker 5: able to spread guys out. We want to be able
15:56
Speaker 5: to you know, get get tight and run it, you know,
15:59
Speaker 5: run it down hill. We want to obviously be able
16:01
Speaker 5: to play action when we get on the edge. We
16:02
Speaker 5: want to do everything. There's nothing that we shouldn't be
16:04
Speaker 5: able to do with the guys that we have, and
16:07
Speaker 5: coach Arthur Smith done great job of putting us in
16:08
Speaker 5: good situations and all that stuff, and so I think
16:11
Speaker 5: just we want to be able to do it all.
16:13
Speaker 5: And that's that's the confidence of who we are and
16:15
Speaker 5: what we believe.
16:16
Speaker 3: We can do.
16:17
Speaker 1: We are looking ahead to the Washington Commanders game done
16:20
Speaker 1: in a few moments for the Irish repersball cost that
16:23
Speaker 1: big GM and two teams are really playing well so
16:25
Speaker 1: far this season and the Washington really coming out of
16:27
Speaker 1: their shell and shocking a lot of people in the league.
16:30
Speaker 1: Before we break the game. Before we break the game
16:33
Speaker 1: downe and give our picks, let's listen to Mike Tomlin,
16:36
Speaker 1: who previews the game on the Iris Hitters podcast.
16:39
Speaker 6: If we turn our attention to the Commanders, I'll talk
16:41
Speaker 6: briefly about those guys. Really impressed with first and foremost
16:46
Speaker 6: what they're doing offensively on their young signal caller. Quarterback
16:52
Speaker 6: mobility is an asset to him, but I've been really
16:55
Speaker 6: impressed by his prudent use of it, not only him.
16:58
Speaker 6: But but you got to ignore as coach Kingsbury as
17:01
Speaker 6: the architect of it, their ability to prudently utilize his mobility,
17:08
Speaker 6: particularly in weighty moments, to keep the defense off balance,
17:13
Speaker 6: to win lines, to game the score points. It shows
17:17
Speaker 6: up in a lot of situational statistics or circumstances. They
17:21
Speaker 6: got fifteen Russian touchdowns. They lead the NFL and Russian touchdowns.
17:25
Speaker 6: His quarterback mobility is a component of that. There are
17:28
Speaker 6: eleven of eleven on the season on fourth down conversions.
17:32
Speaker 6: You watch that reel. His mobility, whether by design or
17:36
Speaker 6: ad lib, is a component of that. It doesn't matter
17:38
Speaker 6: what tape you put on third down, red zone operation.
17:43
Speaker 6: His mobility is a is a major factor. Whether it's
17:47
Speaker 6: by design or by ad lib, play extension, escape, it
17:51
Speaker 6: is something to be reckoned with. It's one of the
17:54
Speaker 6: core components of why they're dangerous group. You couple that
17:58
Speaker 6: with their unique bass security. They've turned the ball over
18:02
Speaker 6: three times in nine games. I think that's a record
18:05
Speaker 6: of some description. Through nine games in the NFL. They
18:08
Speaker 6: throw two interceptions and they fumbled one time. You lead
18:13
Speaker 6: the league in rushing touchdowns. You're running the ball as
18:15
Speaker 6: effectively as a collective as they are. And you've only
18:18
Speaker 6: turned it over three times in nine games, man, you're
18:20
Speaker 6: gonna be seven and two and so man, we're preparing
18:23
Speaker 6: with an edge. We respect those things, but they got
18:27
Speaker 6: a total unit. McLaren is a guy that is a
18:32
Speaker 6: significant winner in one on one matchups. We better do
18:35
Speaker 6: a really good job of thoughtfully managing our exposure to
18:41
Speaker 6: him and working to minimize him, particularly in circumstances. But
18:44
Speaker 6: they do a nice job of utilizing all the eligibles.
18:49
Speaker 6: I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the impressive complimentary
18:52
Speaker 6: backfield that they have. Robinson is kind of a nuts
18:55
Speaker 6: and bolts, downhill guy. Everyone in football is familiar e
19:00
Speaker 6: and his his talents in the running game and in
19:02
Speaker 6: the passing game. And Jeremy McNichols has done a really
19:06
Speaker 6: nice job for him. We had Jeremy here a couple
19:08
Speaker 6: of years ago in training camp with us MAN. He's
19:10
Speaker 6: a core special teams contributor, and you know, coach Kingsbury's
19:14
Speaker 6: doing a nice job of finding football for him within
19:17
Speaker 6: the offensive structure as well. Ertz is a dangerous tight end.
19:22
Speaker 6: It's capable of getting down the grass man, and they
19:24
Speaker 6: got a well welled out round, a well rounded wide
19:27
Speaker 6: receiver group. That that makes it them a formidable group
19:31
Speaker 6: in three wide receiver sets and so forth. On the
19:34
Speaker 6: defensive side of the ball, Man, they're They're highly fundamental,
19:39
Speaker 6: They're very rarely out of place. They don't give up
19:41
Speaker 6: big plays. I think they're fifth in the league and
19:43
Speaker 6: pass defense, and I think that's reflective of the lid
19:46
Speaker 6: that they keep on it continually. Man, they're inside linebacker tandem.
19:52
Speaker 6: Not only is a catalyst for them in terms of
19:54
Speaker 6: play making and energy, but you see how they thoughtfully
19:58
Speaker 6: utilize their talents comatic Louvu Man is an awesome combination
20:03
Speaker 6: linebacker in that he's really good at playing off the ball,
20:06
Speaker 6: but he's also good at rushing the passer. You get
20:08
Speaker 6: in one dimensional passing circumstances, he essentially becomes a defensive end.
20:14
Speaker 6: They deploy him in similar ways as they did Michael
20:17
Speaker 6: Parsons when Michael was young, and he was kind of
20:20
Speaker 6: a more of a hybrid player in Dallas. Obviously, Michael's
20:22
Speaker 6: more of an end now, but when he was young,
20:25
Speaker 6: he was more of a hybrid. And I think about
20:27
Speaker 6: that when I see the many ways that they're moving
20:30
Speaker 6: louvou around and finding ways to get him on a
20:33
Speaker 6: variety of people from a rush standpoint, Bobby Wagner. You know,
20:38
Speaker 6: what can you say about Bobby that hadn't already been said. Man,
20:41
Speaker 6: he's got a legendary body of work for this generation.
20:43
Speaker 6: One hundred and nine, one hundred ninety four games, one
20:46
Speaker 6: hundred and ninety three starts. You know, over a thousand
20:49
Speaker 6: plus career solo tackles. Man, you could tell he's a
20:53
Speaker 6: student of the game in hublic communication for them, you know,
20:57
Speaker 6: their new outfit in that everyone is new to the
21:00
Speaker 6: schematics and new to dan Quinn's approach to business. But
21:03
Speaker 6: Bobby Wagner didn't. And I imagine that he is a
21:06
Speaker 6: catalyst for growth within that collective in a hub of
21:10
Speaker 6: communication and really steadies a lot of Warders.
21:13
Speaker 2: You watch their tape, all right, Welcome back in Week
21:16
Speaker 2: ten on the Rocks.
21:17
Speaker 1: If you're Evans and munichas week enjoyed focus the final
21:20
Speaker 1: international game of the season. If you do so, just
21:22
Speaker 1: give the shot. If you're wearing your black and gold
21:24
Speaker 1: ed The Steelers are going into Week ten seven and two,
21:26
Speaker 1: and I guess Jimmy for one thing, you know it's
21:29
Speaker 1: been a really productive season so far to really get
21:33
Speaker 1: over the line in so many games and get those
21:35
Speaker 1: w's on the board. We've seen TG Watt really have
21:38
Speaker 1: a breakout season in comparison to the rest of the seasons.
21:41
Speaker 1: He is having a hell of a breakout season in comparison.
21:43
Speaker 1: He's really leading the stats that he's usually hold, which
21:46
Speaker 1: is incredible to see twelve socks in the season so far.
21:49
Speaker 1: Really being impressed for a run game, and that's something
21:51
Speaker 1: that myself and Davo talked about on the bye week
21:53
Speaker 1: and trying to improve in different areas, and we can
21:55
Speaker 1: see George Pickens starting to come into himself a bit
21:58
Speaker 1: more week on week. I guess the problem this week
22:01
Speaker 1: is you're going up against a team against the Washington
22:03
Speaker 1: Commanders in a situation where you're going into Landover, Maryland,
22:08
Speaker 1: and the last time they played in Landover, they had
22:12
Speaker 1: one of the best plays of the decade in the NFL.
22:14
Speaker 1: Never Mind the fact that it wasn't okay. You could
22:17
Speaker 1: argue on that basis it was a fluke play, it
22:19
Speaker 1: was a lucky play, but the reality is the Commanders
22:22
Speaker 1: across the Commanders across the base of the first eight
22:25
Speaker 1: to nine weeks of the season have been nothing short
22:28
Speaker 1: of unreal to watch. There's been a couple of games
22:31
Speaker 1: where they've dipped a little bit, but they're really really good.
22:34
Speaker 1: Like first off, their defense fifth and past defense in
22:37
Speaker 1: the league. But the points per game average is third
22:40
Speaker 1: overall in the league. When I was watching some tape
22:42
Speaker 1: this morning on their running game, they're getting so many
22:45
Speaker 1: yards per game, the third in the league. I guess
22:47
Speaker 1: for us, they're twenty eighth. Jimmy on stopping the run,
22:51
Speaker 1: which which suggests that we need to be getting our
22:53
Speaker 1: running game going early against his team in Washington. I know,
22:57
Speaker 1: and I expected a lot of odds, A lot of
22:58
Speaker 1: fans from Pennsylvania and across the eastern side of North
23:03
Speaker 1: America will travel down to the scheme. You'll see a
23:05
Speaker 1: lot of Steelers fans. But you're looking at a real
23:08
Speaker 1: opportunity here. This is a commander's team that are hot.
23:12
Speaker 1: They know exactly where they are, and they firmly believe
23:15
Speaker 1: that they'll be challenging, not just for a wild card
23:18
Speaker 1: or divisional spot, they expect to be going as far
23:20
Speaker 1: as the championship game in the NFC. That's how good
23:22
Speaker 1: Jaden Daniels is, So I guess my key to the game,
23:26
Speaker 1: Jimmy is try and get that run game going. As
23:28
Speaker 1: I said in terms of high period, are on your
23:29
Speaker 1: run game. And also try and stop Jaden Daniels as
23:32
Speaker 1: quickly as possible in this game, get the confidence down
23:35
Speaker 1: and go after him. What's your general thoughts ahead of
23:38
Speaker 1: this game? And do you want to give us a
23:40
Speaker 1: pick for the game. I'll say that the Steelers win
23:45
Speaker 1: twenty one to seventeen and move to eight and two,
23:48
Speaker 1: and I wouldn't say at that point the shocks the league,
23:50
Speaker 1: but I think it puts the league on notice. If
23:52
Speaker 1: he can get a win this weekend, I think it's massive.
23:54
Speaker 1: But I will say as well, if they lose but
23:58
Speaker 1: still play well, I wouldn't be that concerned. That's how
24:01
Speaker 1: much I value Washington.
24:04
Speaker 3: Yeah. Well, just under the traveling fans point, Nick, we've
24:08
Speaker 3: seen all season how well Steeler Nation has traveled around
24:11
Speaker 3: the country, especially, I mean even as far as the
24:13
Speaker 3: West coast. We took over Las Vegas there a couple
24:16
Speaker 3: of weeks ago, and you could hear how loud the
24:19
Speaker 3: stadium was with the Steelers Nation. It's actually funny you
24:22
Speaker 3: mentioned that because I saw something on social media earlier
24:25
Speaker 3: where commanders are so concerned about the amount of black
24:28
Speaker 3: and Gold and Terrible Tales in the stadium they're actually
24:31
Speaker 3: handing out red tels to drown out the yellow tells.
24:34
Speaker 3: But that just gives you an inkling into their mentality
24:36
Speaker 3: before ahead of this game. So I definitely expect Steeler
24:40
Speaker 3: Nation to have an impact on this game and to
24:42
Speaker 3: travel and to dominate in terms of the action on
24:45
Speaker 3: the field. I mean, it's simple stop Jayden Daniels. Well,
24:48
Speaker 3: maybe not as simple. It's simple to say that, it's
24:50
Speaker 3: not as easy to actually do that. He's been an
24:54
Speaker 3: absolute fenom this season.
24:55
Speaker 2: He's a shoeing for.
24:56
Speaker 3: The NFL Rookie of the Year, if not Offensive Player
25:00
Speaker 3: of the Year as well. Wouldn't be surprised to see
25:02
Speaker 3: him scoop boat players. I know one really expected him
25:05
Speaker 3: to light up the league like he has. His connection
25:07
Speaker 3: with his connection with Terry McLaurin is just sensational. And
25:12
Speaker 3: mclaurin's a receiver who's been who's been begging for a
25:15
Speaker 3: good quarterback for years and he's finally been. His potential
25:20
Speaker 3: has finally been unlocked with with Jayden Daniels. That he
25:23
Speaker 3: has such a fantastic connection. So I think that that
25:25
Speaker 3: that's going to be absolutely key to this game. Is
25:28
Speaker 3: is getting after Daniels and harassing him. And like you say,
25:33
Speaker 3: as well, that's that's from our defensive perspective. And then
25:36
Speaker 3: in terms of the offense, it's like you said, it's
25:38
Speaker 3: get to get the two headed monster going with with
25:40
Speaker 3: with them with Jalen and Nagy and and get them
25:44
Speaker 3: running the ball. They've they've run the ball well the
25:46
Speaker 3: past couple of weeks, haven't exactly punched into the end zone,
25:49
Speaker 3: so it might be time to start getting a few
25:51
Speaker 3: more rushing touchdowns on the board. From from the the
25:55
Speaker 3: commander's point of view, they just they they managed to
25:58
Speaker 3: sign at the Simon Marsh a lot of more, a
26:00
Speaker 3: lot of more in free agency, so that's I would
26:04
Speaker 3: expect him to follow George Pickens around the field and
26:06
Speaker 3: to trail George Pickens, So that could be a bit
26:08
Speaker 3: of a challenge. But I think overall, if we keep
26:11
Speaker 3: playing like we have been playing, and we keep fighting
26:14
Speaker 3: on we keep getting better week on week, I really do.
26:17
Speaker 3: I really am optimistic about this game. I think it's
26:20
Speaker 3: like I said earlier on in the podcast is our
26:21
Speaker 3: first real challenge of the season. It's our first real
26:24
Speaker 3: test to see what we're made of. And I do
26:26
Speaker 3: think the Steelers team is going to rise up and
26:28
Speaker 3: meet that challenge and play together as as an entire
26:32
Speaker 3: team and not just the defense dragging the offense or
26:35
Speaker 3: carrying the offense along in terms of scores. I mean,
26:40
Speaker 3: first of all, I'm hoping I can find an Irish
26:42
Speaker 3: bar of Munich that has sky Sports or somewhere I can.
26:45
Speaker 3: I can watch it online this weekend after we finish
26:48
Speaker 3: up in Alianthrena. And I do think the Steaders are
26:51
Speaker 3: gonna win, but I think it's going to be close,
26:53
Speaker 3: and I think it's gonna be Steeters twenty four, Commanders
26:56
Speaker 3: twenty one. I think we're gonna win by the skin
26:58
Speaker 3: of our teeth. And I think we were This is it,
27:01
Speaker 3: Like I said, this is their opportunity to put the
27:03
Speaker 3: league on notice, and I think the Steelers go in
27:05
Speaker 3: there and make a statement and actually prove themselves as
27:09
Speaker 3: genuine contenders for a playoff, for a playoff run this season.
27:15
Speaker 2: Dog.
27:16
Speaker 1: Just in terms of Jimmy Sender, in terms of his
27:18
Speaker 1: prediction for the game, you know, you look at the Commanders,
27:20
Speaker 1: and I think sometimes not all slots right, but I
27:24
Speaker 1: think sometimes people will look at like the stats for
27:26
Speaker 1: the Giants game last week and think, oh, well they
27:28
Speaker 1: didn't do that. Well, Well, they won the game, and
27:30
Speaker 1: they they stifled the Giants offense as bad as the
27:33
Speaker 1: Giants have been the season, or as as inconsistent as
27:36
Speaker 1: they've been. But the reality is on the Commanders offense
27:40
Speaker 1: on their day when you've got like Jimmy said, there
27:43
Speaker 1: Terry McLaurin, but also no Brian Zacker. Stacker has been
27:45
Speaker 1: the league for how many years? Dollog and like people
27:48
Speaker 1: aren't talking enough about Christian mcafefish bar Luke. That Luke
27:51
Speaker 1: is literally bouncing around on that line and he's stopping
27:55
Speaker 1: guys getting the gyd and Daniels. Whenever he's not getting
27:58
Speaker 1: that working, he might be getting low yard in terms
28:00
Speaker 1: of his catches. So they are a flat on the offense.
28:04
Speaker 1: How do you see this game going in this week?
28:06
Speaker 1: Because the next five out of six games for the
28:09
Speaker 1: Steers team are against AFC ORP opponents. When you say
28:13
Speaker 1: that this suddenly gets more important, it does?
28:17
Speaker 2: It does?
28:18
Speaker 4: Ma You know, these AFC North games, they're always going
28:21
Speaker 4: to feel like you win one you're up to because
28:23
Speaker 4: you know that's just the way it goes. I mean,
28:25
Speaker 4: each team is fighting for it, aside from maybe the
28:27
Speaker 4: Browns who have just fell apart just obviously on this one.
28:31
Speaker 4: You know it's going to be obviously an extremely difficult games.
28:33
Speaker 4: Jimmy just said it's one of I wouldn't go as
28:36
Speaker 4: far asay it's our first challenge, but it's certainly the
28:38
Speaker 4: our most difficult challenge to date. I mean, you know,
28:40
Speaker 4: they almost remind me of last year's Lands where everybody
28:43
Speaker 4: was claiming they were their second favorite team. I mean,
28:45
Speaker 4: Jayden Daniels has been absolutely sensational. I think he's actually
28:49
Speaker 4: won seven of the nine Rookie of the Week's awards,
28:52
Speaker 4: so you may as well just wrap up that offensive
28:54
Speaker 4: Rookie of the of the Year award already. And as
28:57
Speaker 4: well as that, you know, they do have a good
28:59
Speaker 4: rush rushing off so I think they're stacking in the
29:01
Speaker 4: league in rushing yards, first in the league in rushing touchdowns.
29:04
Speaker 4: Bran Robinson is a great piece as well, and Terry
29:07
Speaker 4: McLaurin as well. He's a fantastic receiver and he's probably
29:09
Speaker 4: one of those that's been crying out for a quarterback,
29:12
Speaker 4: as Jimmy has just said. So it's gonna be a
29:14
Speaker 4: very difficult game, and I do see it being low scoring.
29:18
Speaker 4: I think both teams are actually ranked one and two
29:20
Speaker 4: in field goals made, which indicates could come down to
29:22
Speaker 4: the kickers. But if I look at Mike Tomlin's record
29:26
Speaker 4: against Rickey quarterback, he's twenty five and six. That's the
29:29
Speaker 4: most in the NFL history. So and it's gonna be
29:31
Speaker 4: absolutely no surprise. I'm taking the Steelers in a low, close,
29:34
Speaker 4: low scoring game, close game, twenty three to twenty. Mike
29:37
Speaker 4: Tomlin off of Bays thirteen to four. He's gonna make
29:40
Speaker 4: that fourteen and four. We are underdogs in this game,
29:42
Speaker 4: and usually the Steelers on the road as underdogs do
29:45
Speaker 4: ten to do well. So it's gonna be a long
29:46
Speaker 4: time before I product the Steelers. Dawson this podcast, I'm
29:49
Speaker 4: gonna go twenty three twenty Steelers and you can take
29:51
Speaker 4: that to the bank.
29:53
Speaker 1: Steelers game is takes to the Bank. Steelers game is
29:57
Speaker 1: on Sky Sports this weekend. As if we refer to
30:00
Speaker 1: there now plenty of Irish bars. I mean, like I'll
30:03
Speaker 1: tell you what the one we went to a couple
30:04
Speaker 1: of years ago. If you're a mind may, I'll actually
30:06
Speaker 1: the location. You'll definitely get that game. Watch new problem
30:09
Speaker 1: and yeah, that game is on Sky Sports and so
30:11
Speaker 1: that means it's not on NFL Game Pass in Ireland
30:14
Speaker 1: the UK because is blacked out, but also it's on
30:16
Speaker 1: OTV Sports Radio. You can listen to the staters broadcast
30:20
Speaker 1: as well. We are still waiting to hear in regards
30:22
Speaker 1: and folks, I'm just talking as a fan here. I
30:24
Speaker 1: know this is a team podcast, but we're still waiting
30:26
Speaker 1: to hear in regards to Baltimore next week. That usually
30:30
Speaker 1: is announced officially on Wednesday afternoon at about two o'clock
30:34
Speaker 1: by the NFL in the ukn and Ireland. In terms
30:36
Speaker 1: of that if that's on TV or not, the only
30:38
Speaker 1: other game in that window would be the Green Bay
30:40
Speaker 1: Packers against Chicago Bears, So we'll see what happens. So
30:43
Speaker 1: potentially a couple of games for the Steelers on TV
30:46
Speaker 1: because that Visi Night Football game will be on Sky
30:48
Speaker 1: Sports as well. So if you have that, happy days,
30:50
Speaker 1: and if not, we hope you get a chance to
30:52
Speaker 1: watch the game as well. We'll be back after Germany
30:55
Speaker 1: this weekend and after the Steelers game against Commanders, hopefully
30:58
Speaker 1: talking about a great win in Londover, Maryland. And for now,
31:02
Speaker 1: as we get set for week end of the season,
31:04
Speaker 1: we'll hope you all enjoyed folks, and hope that you
31:06
Speaker 1: have a great weekend of football and we will chat
31:08
Speaker 1: to you sin Here we go.