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Transcript

HR 1: Colts (2-2) at Steelers (2-2) Week 5 Game Preview · The Steelers Report

• 0:09
  Speaker 1: This is the Steelers Report with Brian Batko and Ed
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: True on Steelers Nation Radio, a part of the Steelers
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: Audio Network.
• 0:19
  Speaker 2: The Pittsburgh Steelers have dominated the series with the Indianapolis Colts.
• 0:23
  Speaker 2: The Steelers lead the all-time series 28-8, including a 26-5
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: record over the Colts since their first four meetings. How
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: about that? The teams have met 36 times dating back
• 0:38
  Speaker 2: to 1950, and the Steelers have also had a lot
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: of success here at home in Pittsburgh. They've won five
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: straight against Indianapolis at home, including last year's 27-20 victory.
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: And the Steelers enter this game having won four straight
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: regular season home games. How about that? Dating back from
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: last season. We're getting you set for this Sunday. It
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: is the Indianapolis Colts 2-2 visiting the Pittsburgh Steelers who
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: are 2-2 on the season. It's week five, double B.
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: And as we said, it's been 10 days since we
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: last saw the black and gold. There's some injuries we
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: need to talk about today. But hopefully they've had more
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: than enough time to flush that Browns game out of
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: their system.
• 1:20
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm eager for Sunday. I'm eager for another game here.
• 1:24
  Speaker 3: It does feel like it's been a while. Get into
• 1:26
  Speaker 3: that every week routine, and then Thursday night football throws
• 1:31
  Speaker 3: you off a little bit.
• 1:33
  Speaker 4: I've got some bad news, though, to start the show.
• 1:36
  Speaker 3: Per our discussion yesterday about my sixth seed shirt honoring
• 1:41
  Speaker 3: the 2005 Steelers, who won the Super Bowl. That shirt's
• 1:48
  Speaker 3: a goner. I was looking for it last night when
• 1:53
  Speaker 3: I got home in the usual spots that it would be,
• 1:56
  Speaker 3: and then I'm like, uh-oh, wait a second. I think
• 1:59
  Speaker 3: that one might have gotten thrown out, so I confirmed
• 2:03
  Speaker 3: with my wife.
• 2:03
  Speaker 4: She's like, yeah, that wasn't in too good a shape anymore. Shocker.
• 2:06
  Speaker 4: 20 years later.
• 2:07
  Speaker 3: That shirt hadn't held up all that well structurally, but yeah,
• 2:12
  Speaker 3: that one is no longer with us, but it's here
• 2:16
  Speaker 3: in my heart and spirit.
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: It sleeps with the fishes, my friend. It's no longer
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: in the rotation of Double B's archive of shirts. You
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: still have that sweet hat, though, you wore the other day,
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: the 2001 inaugural season for the Pittsburgh Steelers, which, again,
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: celebrated 25 years the other day for the first game.
• 2:35
  Speaker 4: Yeah, at least that one was still floating around. That's
• 2:38
  Speaker 4: the difference.
• 2:39
  Speaker 3: If it's floating around at my parents' house, where, again,
• 2:41
  Speaker 3: only child, it's kind of just a trying to, to
• 2:46
  Speaker 3: me untouched at some point, they're going to make me
• 2:50
  Speaker 3: get rid of all that, but not just yet. I'm
• 2:52
  Speaker 3: only 35. But if it's at, if it's at my
• 2:55
  Speaker 3: house with my wife, she's the type that's like, yeah,
• 2:57
  Speaker 3: you know, give it a hug, say it good, say goodbye.
• 3:00
  Speaker 3: And you know, some, someone else will enjoy this, but well,
• 3:04
  Speaker 3: I don't know about the case of an old shirt,
• 3:06
  Speaker 3: but also speaking of which, yeah, they weren't the only
• 3:09
  Speaker 3: six seed to do it, but that shirt applies to
• 3:12
  Speaker 3: not just the Steelers, Also Aaron Rodgers, because unfortunately that
• 3:17
  Speaker 3: 2010 Packers team was the second and only other number
• 3:21
  Speaker 3: six seed to run the table in the postseason. And
• 3:25
  Speaker 3: it was too bad that it ended with a win
• 3:27
  Speaker 3: over the Steelers in the Super Bowl in 2011. But
• 3:31
  Speaker 3: that's one thing he and his current team.
• 3:33
  Speaker 4: Have in common.
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: Yeah, we don't like to talk about Aaron Rodgers and
• 3:37
  Speaker 2: that Super Bowl team of Super Bowl 45, that's for sure.
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: What we would like to talk about is Aaron Rodgers
• 3:42
  Speaker 2: in a potential Super Bowl berth this year in his
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: final season with the black and gold. But we are
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: a long, long ways from that, Brian. And one thing
• 3:51
  Speaker 2: the Steelers are going to have to navigate now is
• 3:53
  Speaker 2: it came out late yesterday. You were on the south side.
• 3:55
  Speaker 2: You were at practice. Head coach Mike McCarthy announcing that
• 3:58
  Speaker 2: Michael Pittman Jr. will be a no-go for this upcoming Sunday.
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: He may miss even more than that. We will stay
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: tuned to see how many games he will be out. Brian, I...
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: I thought about this last night, and one hand, I
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: say to myself, well, look, he was brought in to
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: be the No. 2 wide receiver. He's a great option.
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: He's very reliable. Man, this is a huge loss for
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: the Steelers moving forward. But then on the other hand,
• 4:22
  Speaker 2: I look at his numbers through the first handful of games,
• 4:25
  Speaker 2: and we talked about it here on the show this week.
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: Nothing really jumps out at you with what he's done
• 4:30
  Speaker 2: so far. It's been more of a miss. Now, again,
• 4:32
  Speaker 2: he's only played three games, but seven catches, 89 yards,
• 4:35
  Speaker 2: no touchdowns on 12 targets through three games. He hasn't
• 4:38
  Speaker 2: even broken 100 yards yet. So I'm not sure how
• 4:40
  Speaker 2: much this offense will miss Pittman come this Sunday.
• 4:44
  Speaker 4: Especially when you've.
• 4:45
  Speaker 3: Got Roman Wilson playing pretty well right now, Ed, and
• 4:47
  Speaker 3: Jeremy Bernard. I think we've all been kind of itching
• 4:50
  Speaker 3: to see what more he can do if he gets
• 4:53
  Speaker 3: more opportunities on his plate. And then the other thing
• 4:56
  Speaker 3: that I'll be curious to to see between now and
• 5:00
  Speaker 3: oh I guess uh tomorrow afternoon was is when they
• 5:03
  Speaker 3: would have to make this move by a couple big
• 5:06
  Speaker 3: bodies on the uh practice squad receiver who were similar
• 5:11
  Speaker 3: build to Michael Pittman Jr. One of those is Isaiah
• 5:14
  Speaker 3: Hodgins he's been on the Steelers practice squad before but
• 5:18
  Speaker 3: funny thing about him his actual games played in the
• 5:20
  Speaker 3: NFL regular season appearances uh Only Buffalo and only the
• 5:25
  Speaker 3: Giants for Isaiah Hodgins.
• 5:27
  Speaker 4: And I think he had multiple stints with both.
• 5:30
  Speaker 3: But he did have a touchdown catch last year for
• 5:32
  Speaker 3: the Giants after I think they signed him off the
• 5:35
  Speaker 3: Steelers practice squad. Like I said, he's a big frame.
• 5:39
  Speaker 4: 6'3, 200.
• 5:40
  Speaker 3: He's got eight career touchdown catches at the NFL level.
• 5:44
  Speaker 4: So he can maybe do some things.
• 5:45
  Speaker 3: And then the other guy who we all noticed out
• 5:48
  Speaker 3: in Latrobe this preseason, and we didn't didn't have it
• 5:52
  Speaker 3: on our bingo card, so to speak, was Brandon Smith,
• 5:55
  Speaker 3: who played well in his practice opportunities and not as
• 5:58
  Speaker 3: much in the preseason, but 6'1, 220, another bigger bodied guy.
• 6:03
  Speaker 3: The Steelers might just roll with DK Metcalf, Rowan Wilson,
• 6:08
  Speaker 3: Jeremy Bernard, Ben Skoranek, and, you know, Caden Weijin is
• 6:11
  Speaker 3: technically our receiver too. Or maybe they elevate one of
• 6:15
  Speaker 3: those guys for this week, but there's a lot of
• 6:18
  Speaker 3: stuff going on that they'll have to figure out roster
• 6:21
  Speaker 3: wise between yeah now the receiver situation the running back
• 6:26
  Speaker 3: situation that continues to be fluid and then especially the
• 6:30
  Speaker 3: secondary situation and at cornerback particularly.
• 6:34
  Speaker 2: Well with that secondary they did get some good news
• 6:36
  Speaker 2: yesterday with Deshaun Elliott returning to the practice field his
• 6:39
  Speaker 2: 21 day window is now open that will be what's
• 6:42
  Speaker 2: your gut feel there could they potentially get Deshaun Elliott
• 6:45
  Speaker 2: back as early as this Sunday and if so I'm
• 6:48
  Speaker 2: sure he can make a huge impact in this secondary
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: that's a bit banged up right now.
• 6:53
  Speaker 3: I think there's a chance, Ed, but I think it's
• 6:55
  Speaker 3: more likely that they'll give him a little bit more
• 6:57
  Speaker 3: time to work his way back in. I think it's
• 7:00
  Speaker 3: great that he was ready and raring to go to
• 7:03
  Speaker 3: start practice this week. First week he was eligible, not
• 7:05
  Speaker 3: the first day he was eligible for whatever reason.
• 7:07
  Speaker 4: Maybe there was just.
• 7:10
  Speaker 3: Some stuff that they needed to get ironed out for
• 7:13
  Speaker 3: him to hit the field Thursday rather than Wednesday. But
• 7:16
  Speaker 3: I just think it's logical that use a little bit
• 7:19
  Speaker 3: of that runway that you have with the return to
• 7:22
  Speaker 3: play window to make sure that he is 100% before
• 7:26
  Speaker 3: you roll him out there. But I do think he's
• 7:29
  Speaker 3: going to help when you do get him back at safety.
• 7:32
  Speaker 3: And I know another thing that was like floating around
• 7:34
  Speaker 3: in my brain, Ed, Patrick Graham talked on Monday and
• 7:38
  Speaker 3: he was asked about Jalen Ramsey and whether he should
• 7:41
  Speaker 3: be moved around or could be moved around now that
• 7:44
  Speaker 3: Jamel Dean is dealing with his ankle injury. And he
• 7:46
  Speaker 3: said he likes Jalen Ramsey. Ramsey right where he is.
• 7:50
  Speaker 3: But what if he did want to move him? It
• 7:52
  Speaker 3: wouldn't behoove Patrick Graham to say that publicly. So I'm just,
• 7:56
  Speaker 3: I'm taking that one with a grain of salt. I'm
• 7:57
  Speaker 3: not suggesting that Ramsey's going to bump out to outside corner,
• 8:01
  Speaker 3: but I just think that there's a lot we don't
• 8:04
  Speaker 3: know about how Graham is going to construct things this week.
• 8:08
  Speaker 4: And, you know, it's a week to week league.
• 8:11
  Speaker 3: We saw it last night, Cowboys Bucks, another one of
• 8:13
  Speaker 3: those results that just leaves you.
• 8:16
  Speaker 4: As you're watching the game play out.
• 8:19
  Speaker 3: But the week-to-week nature of it really never more relevant
• 8:24
  Speaker 3: than what the Steelers are dealing with right now and
• 8:26
  Speaker 3: all the moving pieces on the back end.
• 8:28
  Speaker 2: Brian is talking about the Thursday night football game that
• 8:31
  Speaker 2: opened up Week 5 in which the Dallas Cowboys at
• 8:34
  Speaker 2: home lose to then the 0-4 Tampa Bay Bucs who
• 8:39
  Speaker 2: are no longer winless. And by the way, that's the Steelers'
• 8:41
  Speaker 2: next opponent. Not to look too far ahead, but they're
• 8:43
  Speaker 2: right around the corner We'll start talking about the Bucs
• 8:46
  Speaker 2: as early as next Monday or Tuesday here on the show.
• 8:49
  Speaker 2: They now have a win under their belt. I don't know, Brian,
• 8:51
  Speaker 2: I kind of like that because get that off of
• 8:54
  Speaker 2: the juju, if you will, going down to Florida next weekend,
• 8:58
  Speaker 2: that you don't have to worry about them getting their
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: first win against you. They got that out of the way,
• 9:02
  Speaker 2: so now you don't have to worry about that.
• 9:04
  Speaker 4: But I think on the flip side, had they gone
• 9:07
  Speaker 4: into this thing 0-5.
• 9:09
  Speaker 3: When they faced the Steelers, it might have just been
• 9:12
  Speaker 3: complete and utter, what's the word I'm looking.
• 9:15
  Speaker 4: For, malaise for the team at that point.
• 9:19
  Speaker 2: True.
• 9:19
  Speaker 3: But, you know, I saw I think the Buccaneers website
• 9:22
  Speaker 3: said it could be a season-changing win for them. Now
• 9:26
  Speaker 3: 0-4 is quite a hole to dig out of, but
• 9:29
  Speaker 3: you never know, especially in that division. All it took
• 9:31
  Speaker 3: last year to win it was 8-9. So it absolutely
• 9:34
  Speaker 3: could change the fortunes of the Bucs season. And the
• 9:37
  Speaker 3: way they did it, impressive. I don't think I stayed
• 9:41
  Speaker 3: up all the way until the very end. I think
• 9:42
  Speaker 3: I fell asleep in bed watching it, but didn't have
• 9:45
  Speaker 3: to make it to the end to know that Jalen Daniels,
• 9:47
  Speaker 3: the rookie undrafted quarterback, he was fun to watch. Part
• 9:51
  Speaker 3: of the process for any player who starts getting some
• 9:56
  Speaker 3: action in the regular season is teams will get more
• 9:59
  Speaker 3: film on. you, figure out your tendencies, come up with
• 10:02
  Speaker 3: blueprints to stop you, which is what the Steelers will
• 10:04
  Speaker 3: have to do starting right around 5 o'clock on Sunday.
• 10:08
  Speaker 4: But he was mobile back there. He was extending plays.
• 10:11
  Speaker 4: He was creative. He made some accurate– I mean, he
• 10:14
  Speaker 4: was accurate. His throws were on the money.
• 10:15
  Speaker 3: I mean, you can't just– run around like a chicken
• 10:18
  Speaker 3: with your head cut off in the backfield and then
• 10:20
  Speaker 3: throw it out of bounds. But no, he was finding
• 10:23
  Speaker 3: the Bucs receivers, especially Emeka Egbuka. So that was an
• 10:27
  Speaker 3: encouraging development for Tampa, but one that will pique my
• 10:30
  Speaker 3: curiosity once we get past.
• 10:32
  Speaker 4: This Colts game.
• 10:33
  Speaker 2: Yeah, something the Steelers will have to, as you said, Brian,
• 10:36
  Speaker 2: start turning their attention to as early as well. They'll
• 10:39
  Speaker 2: turn their attention to Tampa. They've already turned their attention
• 10:41
  Speaker 2: to Tampa Bay. I mean, these coaching staffs, they work
• 10:44
  Speaker 2: weeks ahead of time with scouting teams. their future opponents.
• 10:47
  Speaker 2: But Mike McCarthy and his staff, it's game day. We'll
• 10:51
  Speaker 2: start looking at the Bucs as early as Sunday night
• 10:53
  Speaker 2: after they played the Colts. Joey Porter Jr., just one
• 10:56
  Speaker 2: other note, did not go last night for the Dallas Cowboys.
• 10:59
  Speaker 2: He was sick. Um, I sent that text to Brian
• 11:02
  Speaker 2: back at the last night and said, Hmm, ha. And
• 11:04
  Speaker 2: Brian said, I think he's really sick. And then after
• 11:07
  Speaker 2: you said that, Brian, I saw some video pop up
• 11:10
  Speaker 2: of some staff members of Dallas with a garbage can
• 11:12
  Speaker 2: next to JPJ. So indeed it appeared that he got
• 11:16
  Speaker 2: some type of bug that he was dealing with.
• 11:18
  Speaker 3: That's what it looked like to me. I know that
• 11:20
  Speaker 3: Richard Sherman on prime cast some is aspersions the right word,
• 11:26
  Speaker 3: at least cast some doubt or profess some doubt. But now,
• 11:30
  Speaker 3: I mean, it, It sure seemed like Joey Porter Jr.
• 11:32
  Speaker 3: was happy with his destination the first week that he
• 11:35
  Speaker 3: was in Dallas. So it'd be strange.
• 11:38
  Speaker 4: There was no.
• 11:38
  Speaker 3: Indication that he wanted to exact any leverage on Jerry
• 11:43
  Speaker 3: Jones and company contract-wise after one game in which he
• 11:47
  Speaker 3: didn't play all that many snaps. And just, yeah, I mean,
• 11:50
  Speaker 3: looking at those clips, I've seen sick people. I've been
• 11:53
  Speaker 3: sick myself. It looked like he was sick.
• 11:57
  Speaker 2: Yeah, he did not go for Dallas last night, and
• 11:59
  Speaker 2: the Cowboys now 2-3 on the season. Meanwhile, the Bucs,
• 12:03
  Speaker 2: Tampa Bay, the Steelers' next opponent next weekend, next Sunday,
• 12:06
  Speaker 2: 1 o'clock in Tampa, are now 1-4. Just a few
• 12:09
  Speaker 2: more minutes in this segment, Brian. We do want to
• 12:11
  Speaker 2: let everyone know what's coming up next. We're going to
• 12:13
  Speaker 2: do the official injury report whenever we come back. We'll
• 12:16
  Speaker 2: also talk about some more key matchups for Sunday between
• 12:19
  Speaker 2: Colts and Steelers. And then coming up at 3 o'clock today,
• 12:22
  Speaker 2: our five keys on offense, 320, five keys on defense.
• 12:25
  Speaker 2: And we'll end the show today with talking with Matt Taylor.
• 12:29
  Speaker 2: who's the voice of the Indianapolis Colts, the play-by-play guy.
• 12:32
  Speaker 2: We talked to him earlier this week. We did ask
• 12:34
  Speaker 2: him about Michael Pittman Jr. That's an obvious question. It's
• 12:37
  Speaker 2: where he's been playing in Indianapolis. And if they missed him,
• 12:40
  Speaker 2: he talked more about how they missed Pittman off the
• 12:42
  Speaker 2: field with what he was able to do in the community.
• 12:45
  Speaker 2: They could sure use him with some of the injuries
• 12:47
  Speaker 2: they've had at the wide receiver position. That was before
• 12:49
  Speaker 2: we knew Pittman was going to be out for the Steelers.
• 12:52
  Speaker 2: Steelers could use him too, but as you said, and
• 12:53
  Speaker 2: I agree with you, at the start of the show today,
• 12:56
  Speaker 2: when you got a guy like Roman Wilson that's been
• 12:58
  Speaker 2: playing very well, again, in four games, 14 catches, 188 yards,
• 13:02
  Speaker 2: two touchdowns, that makes you feel a bit better about it.
• 13:06
  Speaker 3: Yeah, it does, and, you know, last thought on Thursday
• 13:09
  Speaker 3: night football, Cowboys could have used Joey Porter Jr. because
• 13:12
  Speaker 3: the coverage was lacking there at times, and it might be,
• 13:15
  Speaker 3: you know, same old song and dance for Dallas, good offense,
• 13:21
  Speaker 3: not nearly enough defense, but We'll see when he returns.
• 13:26
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 13:27
  Speaker 3: As far as Steelers Colts, you'd love to be as
• 13:29
  Speaker 3: healthy as possible, but Rico Dowdle dealing with the toe
• 13:33
  Speaker 3: injury still, although it was good that he got a
• 13:35
  Speaker 3: second consecutive limited day of practice on Thursday, you know,
• 13:40
  Speaker 3: no setbacks.
• 13:41
  Speaker 4: Is, is good.
• 13:42
  Speaker 3: So, yeah, I mean, we'll, we'll see who they roll
• 13:45
  Speaker 3: out there in the secondary, you know, receiver wise, but
• 13:49
  Speaker 3: there's some excitement to, to kind of knowing going into
• 13:52
  Speaker 3: the game, Hey, these young guys are going to have
• 13:55
  Speaker 3: a chance to, to shine and thrive. And Roman Wilson
• 13:57
  Speaker 3: has been shining and thriving. He was very humble, almost
• 14:03
  Speaker 3: to an angry degree. There's, I don't want to say
• 14:06
  Speaker 3: he was angry, but Thursday after practice, he like really
• 14:09
  Speaker 3: was bristling at some questions about him breaking out week
• 14:13
  Speaker 3: four at the Browns. I mean, he said it was mediocre.
• 14:15
  Speaker 3: And I think it was our own Mike Pursuta who
• 14:17
  Speaker 3: was kind of like, ah, it was, I thought you
• 14:19
  Speaker 3: played well.
• 14:19
  Speaker 4: And he's like, all right.
• 14:20
  Speaker 3: I think he let himself say above average, but, Obviously,
• 14:24
  Speaker 3: he holds himself.
• 14:25
  Speaker 4: To a high standard, does Roman Wilson.
• 14:27
  Speaker 2: Wilson's been good. Bernard has a good opportunity to step
• 14:31
  Speaker 2: up here in his fifth NFL football game. And it's
• 14:34
  Speaker 2: that next man up mentality, Brian. You know, Mike Tomlin
• 14:37
  Speaker 2: talked about that for a lot of years. Next man up.
• 14:40
  Speaker 2: It made it on to t-shirts. It made it on
• 14:42
  Speaker 2: to walls in and around Accuture Stadium. And it's very true.
• 14:46
  Speaker 2: One man's misfortune is another one's game. However that goes, hey,
• 14:50
  Speaker 2: step up to the plate. make an impact on Sunday,
• 14:53
  Speaker 2: and who knows, going forward, maybe Roman Wilson truly turns
• 14:56
  Speaker 2: in to be your number two wide receiver for the
• 14:58
  Speaker 2: rest of this season. Whenever we come back, we're going
• 15:00
  Speaker 2: to jump into some key players to watch on the
• 15:02
  Speaker 2: Indianapolis Colts offensively and defensively. We'll also get into our
• 15:06
  Speaker 2: keys on offense and keys in defense in the next hour.
• 15:09
  Speaker 2: It's Troop and Backo on the Steelers Report, getting you
• 15:12
  Speaker 2: ready for Colts Steelers this Sunday right here on Steelers
• 15:16
  Speaker 2: Nation Radio, part of the Steelers Audio Network.
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: This is the Steelers Report with Brian Backo and Ed
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: Troop on Steelers Nation Radio, a part of the Steelers
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: Audio Network.
• 15:34
  Speaker 2: We were talking... to open up the show about the Steelers'
• 15:37
  Speaker 2: success overall against the Indianapolis Colts. Again, 28-8 overall. Teams
• 15:44
  Speaker 2: have met 36 times dating back to 1950. But how
• 15:47
  Speaker 2: about the playoffs? The Steelers have owned the Colts in
• 15:50
  Speaker 2: the playoffs. They've met five times with the Steelers winning
• 15:54
  Speaker 2: all five. They're 5-0 in the postseason. And everyone remembers
• 15:59
  Speaker 2: the January 15, 2006 game. We talked about it earlier
• 16:02
  Speaker 2: this week. Steelers 21, Colts 18. Divisional playoff game at
• 16:07
  Speaker 2: then RCA Dome. Jerome Bettis. my all-time favorite NFL player
• 16:12
  Speaker 2: and Steeler, by the way. Fumbled late. Nick Harper picked
• 16:15
  Speaker 2: it up. A potential game-winning return, but Big Ben makes
• 16:20
  Speaker 2: the shoelace tackle, chased him down. It's one of the
• 16:24
  Speaker 2: most famous tackles in Steelers history. And, of course, we
• 16:27
  Speaker 2: know the rest of the story. Steelers go on to
• 16:28
  Speaker 2: win in Denver and go on to win Super Bowl XL.
• 16:31
  Speaker 2: Double B, no doubt, that is the most memorable matchup
• 16:35
  Speaker 2: between these two franchises. Number two was that 1995 Jim
• 16:37
  Speaker 2: Harbaugh matchup AFC championship game, he throws to Hail Mary,
• 16:41
  Speaker 2: it falls incomplete.
• 16:43
  Speaker 3: Yeah, and I don't know, and the Steelers have been
• 16:46
  Speaker 3: in the playoffs in recent years too, I don't know
• 16:48
  Speaker 3: when the Colts are going to get back there. I mean,
• 16:51
  Speaker 3: the AFC South is, it's kind of, it feels like
• 16:55
  Speaker 3: it skipped them almost because the Texans were rolling and
• 16:59
  Speaker 3: now the Jaguars are rolling in the AFC South and
• 17:03
  Speaker 3: the Colts, like, you know, numerous teams around the league
• 17:07
  Speaker 3: at you can kind of lump in the Steelers in
• 17:09
  Speaker 3: this category too. I don't know that they have a
• 17:12
  Speaker 3: long-term franchise quarterback. I mean, they signed Daniel Jones long-term,
• 17:17
  Speaker 3: but if I'm not mistaken, I think that's one that
• 17:19
  Speaker 3: they can get out of somewhat easily. And I think
• 17:23
  Speaker 3: it was a bit of a tough call for them.
• 17:27
  Speaker 3: He played well, but had that major injury last season.
• 17:30
  Speaker 4: And now he's Daniel Jones.
• 17:33
  Speaker 3: Like he was a high pick, but he basically flamed
• 17:36
  Speaker 3: out of his time with the giants and kind of
• 17:40
  Speaker 3: Mitch Trubisky esque in some way of how there was
• 17:43
  Speaker 3: a lot of expectations and he was okay for a while,
• 17:46
  Speaker 3: but never quite, you know, reach those expectations. And, you know,
• 17:51
  Speaker 3: their GM Chris Ballard is probably on the hot seat.
• 17:56
  Speaker 3: So I don't, I don't know who, who their week
• 17:58
  Speaker 3: one QB will.
• 18:00
  Speaker 4: Be next season.
• 18:01
  Speaker 3: Obviously if Jones plays well, the rest of this season,
• 18:03
  Speaker 3: hopefully not starting Sunday, it could be him again, but
• 18:07
  Speaker 3: if he doesn't, they're one of these teams that could
• 18:09
  Speaker 3: be turning the page to a first-round rookie.
• 18:12
  Speaker 2: The Colts started the season at home against the Baltimore Ravens.
• 18:16
  Speaker 2: Ravens took care of them 41-23. Week 2, they went
• 18:19
  Speaker 2: to Kansas City. That was the overtime game. They gave
• 18:21
  Speaker 2: the Chiefs a great game. 33-30, Chiefs win that one.
• 18:25
  Speaker 2: And then two back-to-back wins against the winless Houston Texans.
• 18:29
  Speaker 2: They beat them 19-17 in Week 3. And then a
• 18:32
  Speaker 2: dominant win overseas in London last week, 30-13 against the
• 18:36
  Speaker 2: Washington Commanders. You mentioned Daniel Jones. He's completed 63.6% of
• 18:42
  Speaker 2: his passes so far this season, Brian, for 754 yards.
• 18:46
  Speaker 2: Just three touchdowns, four interceptions. The receiving core is a
• 18:50
  Speaker 2: mess right now. Josh Downs is the main target there
• 18:54
  Speaker 2: so far. 17 catches for 202 yards, no touchdowns on
• 18:58
  Speaker 2: 28 targets. But they do have that talented tight end,
• 19:01
  Speaker 2: Tyler Warren, one to watch for sure. He has caught
• 19:04
  Speaker 2: 23 passes for 130 yards and two touchdowns. But outside
• 19:08
  Speaker 2: of that, Pierce is out. So Daniel Jones, maybe his
• 19:12
  Speaker 2: struggles is because he doesn't have those offensive weapons in
• 19:15
  Speaker 2: and around him. But we've seen this show before from
• 19:18
  Speaker 2: Daniel Jones, as you mentioned, in his days in New York.
• 19:21
  Speaker 2: He wasn't exactly being the dominant quarterback, though he did
• 19:25
  Speaker 2: show some promise through the first half of last year
• 19:27
  Speaker 2: with the Colts.
• 19:29
  Speaker 3: I'm pretty confident in saying, Ed, I think this is
• 19:31
  Speaker 3: going to be the best Warren matchup all season in
• 19:35
  Speaker 3: the NFL with Tyler Warren on one side and Jalen
• 19:38
  Speaker 3: Warren on the other. I guess there's, I think there's
• 19:42
  Speaker 3: an offensive lineman, Warren McClendon. I think he might play
• 19:45
  Speaker 3: for the Rams, but okay.
• 19:47
  Speaker 4: That doesn't matter.
• 19:48
  Speaker 2: I like it.
• 19:49
  Speaker 4: It's Warren on Warren. Maybe the better, may the better
• 19:51
  Speaker 4: Warren win.
• 19:53
  Speaker 3: As far as, yeah, you know, Daniel Jones, wouldn't that
• 19:56
  Speaker 3: be cool if the Colts got Arch Manning in the
• 19:59
  Speaker 3: draft next year? I don't think they're going to be
• 20:00
  Speaker 3: that bad because they're already two and two. They're, they're,
• 20:04
  Speaker 3: you know, playing at 500 level. And I think their roster's,
• 20:08
  Speaker 3: probably just too talented to have that kind of record,
• 20:11
  Speaker 3: but that would be fascinating. And I'd love to see
• 20:14
  Speaker 3: it just from a storyline perspective.
• 20:16
  Speaker 4: I'd love to see Arch Manning go to like either
• 20:18
  Speaker 4: the Saints.
• 20:20
  Speaker 3: They seem to be good with Tyler Chuck, the Colts,
• 20:23
  Speaker 3: the Giants, but you know, Jackson Dart is entrenched there,
• 20:26
  Speaker 3: or I guess the Broncos, but Bo Nix is entrenched there.
• 20:30
  Speaker 3: So I don't know what other teams would fit kind
• 20:33
  Speaker 3: of the Manning, you know, bloodlines and who knows that
• 20:36
  Speaker 3: there's so much time between now and the draft that
• 20:38
  Speaker 3: I might be getting ahead of myself even expecting that
• 20:41
  Speaker 3: he's going to be a top ten, top five, top
• 20:44
  Speaker 3: three pick. But I saw one from a mock draft
• 20:46
  Speaker 3: from Yahoo the other day that had him number one overall.
• 20:48
  Speaker 4: So I'm just spitballing.
• 20:50
  Speaker 2: Hey, Brian, then they go out and trade for Marvin
• 20:53
  Speaker 2: Harrison Jr. So you get him. And then all of
• 20:55
  Speaker 2: a sudden you got the whole band back together there
• 20:58
  Speaker 2: in Indianapolis, at least the bloodline.
• 21:00
  Speaker 3: Now we're talking, Ed. I mean, Marvin Harrison Jr. from
• 21:03
  Speaker 3: the Cardinals, he could get traded for it. at the
• 21:05
  Speaker 3: drop of a hat here from probably by anybody, anybody
• 21:08
  Speaker 3: who sees the talent and pedigree and thinks a fresh
• 21:11
  Speaker 3: start would do him good.
• 21:12
  Speaker 4: I haven't followed it super closely.
• 21:14
  Speaker 3: I don't know why the former Ohio State stud wide
• 21:17
  Speaker 3: receiver named Maserati Marv has been stuck in the garage
• 21:21
  Speaker 3: in Arizona, but.
• 21:24
  Speaker 4: We'll see if he's on the move at the deadline
• 21:25
  Speaker 4: or before.
• 21:27
  Speaker 2: Maserati Marv stuck in the garage. You must be a writer,
• 21:31
  Speaker 2: Brian Bacco. Do you write.
• 21:33
  Speaker 3: From time to time, occasionally, yeah. I'm sure I'm not
• 21:36
  Speaker 3: the first one to make that pun as he's been
• 21:39
  Speaker 3: stuck in neutral here in the early part of the season.
• 21:42
  Speaker 2: Oh, boy, here we go. We're going down this dark path. Hey, listen, Steelers.com,
• 21:47
  Speaker 2: Brian Bacco. Absolutely, he's a writer. One of the best
• 21:49
  Speaker 2: in and around the Pittsburgh market. Make sure you log
• 21:51
  Speaker 2: on to Steelers.com. Lots of good stuff up there this
• 21:54
  Speaker 2: week in and around the team as they prepare. for
• 21:56
  Speaker 2: the Colts this upcoming Sunday. Brian, Jonathan Taylor, he's the workhorse.
• 22:00
  Speaker 2: We talked about the NFL numbers yesterday. Top rushers in
• 22:03
  Speaker 2: the NFL through the first four weeks of the season.
• 22:06
  Speaker 2: Jonathan Taylor, number five. He has 86 rushes, 353 yards,
• 22:11
  Speaker 2: averaging 4.1 yards per carry, six rushing touchdowns so far
• 22:15
  Speaker 2: this season. The Steelers have faced some good running backs
• 22:18
  Speaker 2: here early on in the season, not so much on
• 22:20
  Speaker 2: the quarterback side or the wide receiver side. but they've
• 22:23
  Speaker 2: faced some studs at running back, and so far they've
• 22:25
  Speaker 2: done a decent job there, but they're going to face
• 22:27
  Speaker 2: one of the best right now in the game this
• 22:28
  Speaker 2: upcoming Sunday once again with Jonathan Taylor.
• 22:32
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, you look, I guess it's just one
• 22:34
  Speaker 3: of those deals where around the league, pretty much every
• 22:37
  Speaker 3: team has that marquee offensive talent. The Steelers had to
• 22:41
  Speaker 3: deal with Bajon Robinson in week one, did not have
• 22:44
  Speaker 3: to deal with A.J. Brown in week two, but Travion Henderson,
• 22:48
  Speaker 3: who's got the same kind of breakaway speed that Jonathan
• 22:51
  Speaker 3: Taylor does, He broke away 4-1 in that game in Foxborough.
• 22:56
  Speaker 3: Jamar Chase and Tee Higgins were out there in week three.
• 22:59
  Speaker 3: And then week four, I think the Browns are more
• 23:02
  Speaker 3: death by a thousand cuts when you look at how
• 23:05
  Speaker 3: they do damage offensively. But they got enough cuts to
• 23:09
  Speaker 3: win that ball game. I remember Joe Witt, Jr., Steelers
• 23:13
  Speaker 3: assistant head coach and secondary coach, talked to us after
• 23:16
  Speaker 3: week one going into week two. And he said that
• 23:19
  Speaker 3: Patrick Graham's game plan facing the Falcons was kind of
• 23:22
  Speaker 3: like the Jordan rolls for when you faced Michael Jordan
• 23:25
  Speaker 3: way back when he's going to get his, but don't
• 23:28
  Speaker 3: make it easy on him and definitely don't let his
• 23:31
  Speaker 3: teammates beat you. I wonder if it'll be a similar
• 23:35
  Speaker 3: kind of outlook this week against the Colts. Taylor doesn't
• 23:38
  Speaker 3: do quite as much damage as a pass catcher as
• 23:41
  Speaker 3: Bajon Robinson does, but I think it's the same general
• 23:45
  Speaker 3: focus of, you know, the Colts want to get them
• 23:47
  Speaker 3: the ball. All's, 68,000-some people at Accresure Stadium Sunday are
• 23:52
  Speaker 3: going to know that the ball is going to number
• 23:54
  Speaker 3: 28 a lot of the time. But how do you
• 23:56
  Speaker 3: minimize the likes of Tyler Warren, Josh Downs, Keenan Allen,
• 24:02
  Speaker 3: if he's healthy enough to play?
• 24:04
  Speaker 4: That could go a long way toward determining this game.
• 24:06
  Speaker 3: And, I mean, even though you know he's going to
• 24:08
  Speaker 3: get his, so to speak, you can't let Jonathan Taylor
• 24:11
  Speaker 3: just absolutely.
• 24:12
  Speaker 4: Wreck the game.
• 24:13
  Speaker 2: No, and Jonathan Taylor can take over a game. I mean,
• 24:16
  Speaker 2: we've seen it. But there are other games, too, where
• 24:18
  Speaker 2: if you get after him early, and I thought they
• 24:20
  Speaker 2: did that last year when they played him midway through
• 24:22
  Speaker 2: the regular season when the Colts were undefeated. They kind
• 24:25
  Speaker 2: of shut him down early, didn't give him the opportunity
• 24:27
  Speaker 2: to break out, and he was kind of ineffective during
• 24:30
  Speaker 2: that game last year at Accashore Stadium. I'm sure the
• 24:32
  Speaker 2: strategy is going to be there again, make Daniel Jones
• 24:35
  Speaker 2: and those receivers beat you. But watch Josh Downs and
• 24:38
  Speaker 2: Tyler Warren. Steelers have struggled with tight ends over the years.
• 24:41
  Speaker 2: And Josh Downs has had some good games against the Steelers, too,
• 24:43
  Speaker 2: so I'm with you, Double B. You cannot go light
• 24:47
  Speaker 2: on any NFL offense. As soon as you do that,
• 24:50
  Speaker 2: you go into a game thinking you got the advantage.
• 24:52
  Speaker 2: Just ask the Dallas Cowboys from last night about that
• 24:56
  Speaker 2: against the Tampa Bay Bucs. Some of the other games
• 24:58
  Speaker 2: that have happened this year that have surprised us. You
• 25:01
  Speaker 2: cannot take this offense lightly, even though Daniel Jones has
• 25:03
  Speaker 2: been subpar so far this season.
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 25:08
  Speaker 3: And I guess that's another part of the key to
• 25:11
  Speaker 3: the game for me too. We'll get to the true
• 25:13
  Speaker 3: keys later, but just as we're brainstorming early in the show, Ed,
• 25:18
  Speaker 3: if you do contain Jonathan Taylor and you're not letting him,
• 25:22
  Speaker 3: like you said, just control the game by getting five, six, seven,
• 25:26
  Speaker 3: eight yard runs, you know, that's to me, some, sometimes
• 25:31
  Speaker 3: even more, we always think about it from the perspective
• 25:34
  Speaker 3: of you can't let Jonathan Taylor take off 80 yards through.
• 25:36
  Speaker 4: The hole and and take it to the house.
• 25:38
  Speaker 3: Well, obviously, but you also don't really want him just
• 25:41
  Speaker 3: going out there and five yards here, seven yards here.
• 25:44
  Speaker 4: Oh, he just ripped off a 12 yard gain here.
• 25:46
  Speaker 3: And they keep moving the sticks because if they stay
• 25:49
  Speaker 3: ahead of schedule, that really limits your opportunities to pin
• 25:52
  Speaker 3: your ears back and get the Daniel Jones. So if
• 25:54
  Speaker 3: they hit Jonathan Taylor at or behind the line of
• 25:58
  Speaker 3: scrimmage and they're making him work hard for two, three,
• 26:02
  Speaker 3: four yard gains, and then it's third and, manageable or
• 26:07
  Speaker 3: especially third and long you know I like the Steelers
• 26:10
  Speaker 3: chances when Daniel Jones has to drop back scan the
• 26:12
  Speaker 3: field I think the Steelers will get pressure more often
• 26:15
  Speaker 3: than not in those situations and it'll it'll pay off
• 26:18
  Speaker 3: and turn into good.
• 26:19
  Speaker 2: Things for their defense Colts offense so far this season
• 26:23
  Speaker 2: points per game 25.5 not bad 13th in the NFL
• 26:25
  Speaker 2: yards per game 284.3 that's 25th best in the NFL
• 26:26
  Speaker 2: 4.5 yards per carry excuse me per play is one
• 26:36
  Speaker 2: of the worst in the NFL, 30th or 26th in
• 26:38
  Speaker 2: pass yards per game with Daniel Jones averaging 174. So
• 26:43
  Speaker 2: those offensive numbers really don't do too much for you.
• 26:45
  Speaker 2: But again, you can't sleep on this offense because Jonathan
• 26:48
  Speaker 2: Taylor can take over. As we said, Josh Downs can
• 26:51
  Speaker 2: also take over at the wide receiver spot. Do not
• 26:53
  Speaker 2: forget about Tyler Warren. It's also an offensive line that
• 26:57
  Speaker 2: has played well at times as well.
• 26:59
  Speaker 3: You're absolutely right, though, that Jonathan Taylor– The Steelers did
• 27:03
  Speaker 3: a great job on him last year. 14 carries for
• 27:05
  Speaker 3: 45 yards. Did not have a double-digit carry. Well, did
• 27:11
  Speaker 3: not have a carry longer than nine yards in that
• 27:13
  Speaker 3: entire game. And he caught a couple passes, so he
• 27:16
  Speaker 3: didn't destroy you through the air either.
• 27:18
  Speaker 4: Got to have that again. Absolutely got to have that
• 27:21
  Speaker 4: again this week. The offensive line, I think it's strong
• 27:24
  Speaker 4: on the interior.
• 27:26
  Speaker 3: I think right tackle Jalen Travis, TJ Watt's going to
• 27:28
  Speaker 3: give him all he can handle. He got all he
• 27:31
  Speaker 3: could handle week two, no, week three, excuse me, against
• 27:34
  Speaker 3: Will Anderson and the Texans. Anderson came off the edge
• 27:38
  Speaker 3: and got a strip sack of Daniel Jones early in
• 27:41
  Speaker 3: that game. I think that is a clear mismatch for
• 27:45
  Speaker 3: the Steelers, but the Colts know that too. So I'm
• 27:47
  Speaker 3: sure there's going to be a lot of chips, a
• 27:49
  Speaker 3: lot of double teams on TJ Watt to help out.
• 27:52
  Speaker 4: That right tackle position. Jalen Travis.
• 27:55
  Speaker 3: And one thing that I think is a constant with
• 27:57
  Speaker 3: the Colts, Ed, and we saw it last year, too,
• 27:58
  Speaker 3: in the game at Akershire Stadium, Shane Steichen is going
• 28:01
  Speaker 3: to have some wrinkles. He's especially his opening script is
• 28:05
  Speaker 3: usually really, really strong. I think he's one of the
• 28:08
  Speaker 3: best offensive minds and play callers out there in the NFL.
• 28:13
  Speaker 3: And I think he's you know, he's going to come
• 28:15
  Speaker 3: out with a good plan and a good scheme. But
• 28:17
  Speaker 3: guys like T.J. Watt, Cam Hayward, Alex Highsmith, Nick Herbig,
• 28:21
  Speaker 3: Keanu Benton, They can wreck those plans and those schemes
• 28:24
  Speaker 3: by simply destroying blocks and causing havoc in the backfield.
• 28:28
  Speaker 2: To your point, their pass rate so far this season,
• 28:31
  Speaker 2: 21st in the NFL as far as calling pass plays, 57%
• 28:35
  Speaker 2: of the time. They like to use motion a lot too,
• 28:37
  Speaker 2: Double B. They're 6th in the NFL there at 72%,
• 28:41
  Speaker 2: and 1st in the NFL in going play action. That's 20%.
• 28:45
  Speaker 2: of the time. So that all goes into that game
• 28:47
  Speaker 2: plan that you're talking about, especially early on. You establish
• 28:50
  Speaker 2: a running game with Jonathan Taylor. Well, now you can
• 28:52
  Speaker 2: work off play action. Defense is doubling down, expecting run.
• 28:55
  Speaker 2: And then all of a sudden, Josh Downs or Warren
• 28:57
  Speaker 2: are wide open in the middle of the football field
• 28:59
  Speaker 2: or on the sideline. And they're getting big chunk type play.
• 29:03
  Speaker 2: So important early on to shut down Jonathan Taylor, make
• 29:07
  Speaker 2: them one dimensional. They did that last year. I remember
• 29:10
  Speaker 2: early on in that game, they tried to establish the
• 29:12
  Speaker 2: run with Jonathan Taylor and And to your point, only
• 29:14
  Speaker 2: 45 yards in that game. They shut him down. They
• 29:17
  Speaker 2: forced the Colts and Daniel Jones to make mistakes. Same
• 29:21
  Speaker 2: game plan this year, no doubt.
• 29:24
  Speaker 4: Yeah, Steichen's a really good tactician. They are balanced.
• 29:27
  Speaker 3: They do have a lot of misdirection and bells and
• 29:31
  Speaker 3: whistles there pre-snap and at the snap. And he's probably
• 29:34
  Speaker 3: going to have to lean into that even more as
• 29:36
  Speaker 3: this supporting cast for Daniel Jones and Jonathan Taylor is...
• 29:39
  Speaker 3: not really one to write home about because they're missing
• 29:43
  Speaker 3: Alec Pierce on injured reserve and I think he's got
• 29:45
  Speaker 3: to miss at least one or two more games after
• 29:48
  Speaker 3: this one Ed you know Tyler Warren is is a
• 29:51
  Speaker 3: good pass catcher over the middle but I don't now
• 29:54
  Speaker 3: knock on wood maybe I get proven wrong Sunday I
• 29:56
  Speaker 3: don't really think of him as a game-breaking tight end,
• 29:59
  Speaker 3: more of someone who's uber-reliable in the red zone. You know,
• 30:03
  Speaker 3: kind of Pat Fryermuth-ish. Granted, he was a first-rounder and
• 30:08
  Speaker 3: rewrote the record books at Penn State. But yeah, those receivers,
• 30:12
  Speaker 3: they don't strike fear in you the same way that
• 30:15
  Speaker 3: the Bengals did a couple weeks ago or even the
• 30:18
  Speaker 3: Browns rookies last week. I think Denzel Boston and Casey
• 30:22
  Speaker 3: Concepcion were probably a little bit more to deal with
• 30:24
  Speaker 3: for the Steelers' corners than the players that the Colts
• 30:27
  Speaker 3: are going to bring in here, but you can never
• 30:29
  Speaker 3: underestimate stiking, scheming guys open, and then it'll be up
• 30:33
  Speaker 3: to Daniel Jones to hit them.
• 30:35
  Speaker 2: Coming up at 3.40 today, we'll be speaking with Matt Taylor,
• 30:38
  Speaker 2: who's the voice of the Indianapolis Colts, the play-by-play man.
• 30:42
  Speaker 2: We'll talk to him about the Colts coming in here
• 30:44
  Speaker 2: to Accashore this upcoming Sunday, and whenever we come back,
• 30:47
  Speaker 2: we're going to talk about some key matchups in this
• 30:49
  Speaker 2: game and also check the injury report two days into
• 30:53
  Speaker 2: the work week. I'm Troop. He's Backo. It's the Steelers
• 30:55
  Speaker 2: Report right here on Steelers Nation Radio, part of the
• 30:58
  Speaker 2: Steelers Audio Network.
• 31:06
  Speaker 1: This is the Steelers Report with Brian Backo and Ed
• 31:10
  Speaker 1: Troop on Steelers Nation Radio, a part of the Steelers
• 31:14
  Speaker 1: Audio Network.
• 31:16
  Speaker 2: Double B, I'm a big morning news person locally and nationally.
• 31:20
  Speaker 2: And this morning I had The NBC Today show on
• 31:23
  Speaker 2: in the background while I was getting ready for our
• 31:25
  Speaker 2: show and getting my day started with my coffee and
• 31:28
  Speaker 2: my water. And a story came on about Notre Dame football.
• 31:32
  Speaker 2: And of course, NBC is the home of Notre Dame football.
• 31:34
  Speaker 2: We're both Pitt football fans and even Penn State fans
• 31:37
  Speaker 2: that listen. Even West Virginia fans that listen. I'm sure
• 31:39
  Speaker 2: none of them are fans of Notre Dame, though I
• 31:42
  Speaker 2: can appreciate that. the movie Rudy. I can appreciate the
• 31:45
  Speaker 2: history of the Fighting Irish, and South Bend is an
• 31:48
  Speaker 2: awesome place to go watch college football. But the story
• 31:51
  Speaker 2: that came on was about the family bloodline of Notre
• 31:54
  Speaker 2: Dame football right now. You have Jerome Bettis' son playing
• 31:57
  Speaker 2: for the Irish.
• 31:58
  Speaker 1: You have.
• 32:00
  Speaker 2: Larry Fitzgerald, of course, who played at Pitt, his son
• 32:03
  Speaker 2: playing there. And one I wasn't aware of until this morning,
• 32:05
  Speaker 2: the Plexico Burris, his son also playing at Notre Dame.
• 32:09
  Speaker 2: It was a really good story. They had the three
• 32:11
  Speaker 2: of them there with their sons and talking about that.
• 32:15
  Speaker 2: Probably a recruiting tool on national TV, but still a
• 32:20
  Speaker 2: pretty cool story and obviously some local ties here in Pittsburgh.
• 32:24
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I did know that.
• 32:26
  Speaker 3: I knew off the top of my head Plexico's kid
• 32:29
  Speaker 3: and Jerome's kid. I remember seeing Larry Fitz's kid, but
• 32:34
  Speaker 3: I don't know that I would have remembered that one
• 32:36
  Speaker 3: in the moment.
• 32:37
  Speaker 4: I mean, it's cool, man.
• 32:39
  Speaker 3: You've got those three, obviously, at Notre Dame, and we
• 32:43
  Speaker 3: all know that Larry Fitzgerald didn't play for the Steelers,
• 32:45
  Speaker 3: but he's a, like you said, he's a Pitt football
• 32:48
  Speaker 3: legend here, and he's a Hall of Famer, so he's
• 32:50
  Speaker 3: just He needs no endorsement from me.
• 32:53
  Speaker 4: But even throughout.
• 32:54
  Speaker 3: College football, you know, Tyson Aluolo's oldest son is still
• 32:58
  Speaker 3: at Temple, I believe. Verron Haynes, you remember him from
• 33:03
  Speaker 3: the Steelers backfield way back when?
• 33:05
  Speaker 2: Of course.
• 33:05
  Speaker 3: His son, Justice Haynes, is the number one running back
• 33:08
  Speaker 3: at Georgia Tech by way of, I think, Georgia and Michigan,
• 33:13
  Speaker 3: or maybe Alabama and Michigan.
• 33:15
  Speaker 4: He's been at a couple other stops. Ike Taylor's son,
• 33:19
  Speaker 4: forget where he is.
• 33:20
  Speaker 3: So there's a lot of Steelers alumni children running around
• 33:26
  Speaker 3: out there.
• 33:27
  Speaker 4: It's weird to call them children.
• 33:28
  Speaker 3: You know, they're like six, three, six, four, six, five,
• 33:30
  Speaker 3: and probably going to be in the NFL themselves before long.
• 33:35
  Speaker 4: So yeah, it's, it's really fun.
• 33:37
  Speaker 3: And, you know, we should absolutely track those guys as
• 33:40
  Speaker 3: they get closer and it'll be always, it always comes
• 33:43
  Speaker 3: up more during draft time once they're eligible or they're
• 33:47
  Speaker 3: leaving college early, if they're fortunate enough to do so. And,
• 33:50
  Speaker 3: You know that the bloodlines are always a good topic
• 33:54
  Speaker 3: for draft preparation. And sometimes that works both ways. You
• 34:00
  Speaker 3: don't want to put too much pressure on someone. You
• 34:02
  Speaker 3: don't want to draft them on name alone. But it's
• 34:06
  Speaker 3: still cool that Carson Bruner is on this team. It's
• 34:08
  Speaker 3: cool to me that Joey Porter Jr. was on this
• 34:11
  Speaker 3: team for a few seasons. And even the Hayward brothers,
• 34:14
  Speaker 3: the Watt brothers, the Herbig brothers, there's been so many.
• 34:17
  Speaker 4: Of them here in Pittsburgh.
• 34:18
  Speaker 2: Chris Hoke, his son. of course, at the University of Pittsburgh,
• 34:22
  Speaker 2: North Allegheny kid in his freshman season. He's on the field, too.
• 34:25
  Speaker 2: I've seen Hoke a handful of times, right, Brian, during
• 34:28
  Speaker 2: those Pitt games?
• 34:30
  Speaker 3: Yeah, there was another one that I came across the
• 34:31
  Speaker 3: other day. You remember Hank Poteet from Pitt and the Steelers?
• 34:35
  Speaker 2: Absolutely.
• 34:36
  Speaker 4: Former corner and returner.
• 34:38
  Speaker 3: He has a son who's playing at Tennessee, so he
• 34:40
  Speaker 3: must be no slouch himself if he's playing.
• 34:42
  Speaker 4: For the Vols in the SEC.
• 34:43
  Speaker 2: Oh, no doubt. Poteet, man, he was good, especially for
• 34:47
  Speaker 2: the Panthers back then. yeah so a really cool story
• 34:49
  Speaker 2: again if you have a chance I'm sure you can
• 34:51
  Speaker 2: find it on YouTube or any of your streaming services
• 34:54
  Speaker 2: out there was on the Today Show this morning and
• 34:55
  Speaker 2: I tell you what Bettis looked pretty trim he didn't
• 34:59
  Speaker 2: look too bad the bus did you know a little
• 35:02
  Speaker 2: bit of weight on he played with a lot of
• 35:03
  Speaker 2: weight when he played that's why he was one of
• 35:04
  Speaker 2: my favorite players because he was a big man living
• 35:07
  Speaker 2: the dream as a dominant hall of fame running back
• 35:10
  Speaker 2: in the NFL and that was the dream of Anybody
• 35:12
  Speaker 2: that played offensive line, you either wanted to be a
• 35:14
  Speaker 2: tight end back then before tight ends were. Today, you
• 35:16
  Speaker 2: could play tight end as an offensive lineman. That's Darnell Washington.
• 35:19
  Speaker 2: But back then, Brian, if you were big, you were
• 35:22
  Speaker 2: on the line. They weren't giving you the rock. So
• 35:25
  Speaker 2: Bettis always was living the dream for all of us
• 35:27
  Speaker 2: big boys that played football. And then on the other
• 35:30
  Speaker 2: flip side of that, Plexico Burris and Larry Fitzgerald, they
• 35:34
  Speaker 2: both look like they could still play ball.
• 35:37
  Speaker 4: Well, I'm looking it up right now on their roster.
• 35:39
  Speaker 4: Jerome Bettis Jr., 6'2, 207.
• 35:42
  Speaker 3: He's a wide receiver, so did not choose the same
• 35:45
  Speaker 3: position as his famous father. The younger Burris, Elijah Burris, 6'1,
• 35:51
  Speaker 3: still good size for a receiver, but didn't quite get
• 35:55
  Speaker 3: his dad's otherworldly height at that spot. And then Devin Fitzgerald,
• 36:00
  Speaker 3: also a receiver himself, 6'2, 208. So yeah, all three
• 36:03
  Speaker 3: receivers too is pretty wild. Maybe that's also a big
• 36:08
  Speaker 3: part of the story because they also have a few
• 36:10
  Speaker 3: Scroll down a little bit more. Thomas Davis Jr. is
• 36:13
  Speaker 3: a freshman linebacker. I have to assume, Ed, that that
• 36:17
  Speaker 3: is the son of the former Panther star.
• 36:19
  Speaker 4: And yes, it is.
• 36:20
  Speaker 3: Panthers, Chargers and Commanders star Thomas Davis, Walter Payton Man
• 36:24
  Speaker 3: of the Year Award winner in 2014. He was an
• 36:28
  Speaker 3: absolute stud at linebacker himself in his day.
• 36:31
  Speaker 2: Brian, they did have a fourth player combination with a
• 36:35
  Speaker 2: former NFL player that was on the right side of
• 36:37
  Speaker 2: the story, but I was only paying attention to the
• 36:39
  Speaker 2: three that I knew. He might have been part of
• 36:41
  Speaker 2: that story. That would make sense, especially with that Pitt
• 36:44
  Speaker 2: connection as well. A really cool story out there. As
• 36:48
  Speaker 2: you said, who knows? Maybe in a few years when
• 36:50
  Speaker 2: these guys are draft eligible, maybe they make their way
• 36:53
  Speaker 2: onto the Pittsburgh Steelers. I knew Bettis' son did not
• 36:55
  Speaker 2: play running back, and I knew he wasn't built big
• 36:58
  Speaker 2: as far as the heavy part of it. I knew
• 37:00
  Speaker 2: he was tall. in high school and played a skilled
• 37:03
  Speaker 2: position like receiver.
• 37:05
  Speaker 3: And James Harrison's oldest son, I believe, was at North
• 37:09
  Speaker 3: Allegheny High School here locally and is in a prep
• 37:11
  Speaker 3: school in the area now.
• 37:13
  Speaker 4: So you might hear from him again.
• 37:15
  Speaker 3: Troy Polamalu's oldest son is committed to Stanford. So yeah,
• 37:19
  Speaker 3: it's going to keep coming. It's going to keep making
• 37:21
  Speaker 3: you feel old, but it would certainly be awesome if
• 37:25
  Speaker 3: any of these guys are at the level, caliber of
• 37:28
  Speaker 3: player to wear black and gold too someday.
• 37:30
  Speaker 2: That was my next comment. It makes you feel old.
• 37:33
  Speaker 2: If you start seeing guys that you grew up watching
• 37:37
  Speaker 2: and now you're going to watch their kids play. I've
• 37:39
  Speaker 2: seen that at the high school level now. There's been
• 37:42
  Speaker 2: players that I covered 20-some years ago that are now coaches,
• 37:45
  Speaker 2: and I remember them during their playing days. Let's get
• 37:47
  Speaker 2: into some key matchups for this upcoming Sunday against the
• 37:51
  Speaker 2: Indianapolis Colts for the Pittsburgh Steelers. We'll start on an
• 37:55
  Speaker 2: offensive matchup, and it'll be the Steelers' interior offensive line
• 37:59
  Speaker 2: against DeForest Buckner. And we've talked about Buckner. He's the
• 38:03
  Speaker 2: big player on this defensive line. He was a few
• 38:05
  Speaker 2: years ago a bit quiet the last couple seasons, but
• 38:08
  Speaker 2: he seems to be back on track. He has three sacks,
• 38:10
  Speaker 2: 12 quarterback pressures, 133 pass rushes. He's off to a
• 38:16
  Speaker 2: good start here in the 2026 season. So how did
• 38:18
  Speaker 2: the Steelers' interior offensive line play? Those are the guys
• 38:21
  Speaker 2: we're talking about, like Zach Frazier at the center position,
• 38:25
  Speaker 2: Mason McCormick at that guard spot. Brock Hoffman at the
• 38:28
  Speaker 2: other guard spot. They're going to have to deal with
• 38:30
  Speaker 2: that interior part. Now, Brian, the good news is, you know,
• 38:33
  Speaker 2: we talked about the Steelers facing some good running backs
• 38:36
  Speaker 2: so far this season from a defensive standpoint. Well, from
• 38:38
  Speaker 2: an offensive line standpoint, they face some really good defensive
• 38:42
  Speaker 2: lines here early in the season. I think they'll be
• 38:44
  Speaker 2: up for this challenge.
• 38:46
  Speaker 3: They have, and I'm going to correct my mistakes from
• 38:49
  Speaker 3: previous weeks. I feel like against the Patriots and against
• 38:52
  Speaker 3: the Browns, I sort of undersold the opposing defensive line.
• 38:57
  Speaker 3: And then they caused a lot of chaos against the Steelers.
• 38:59
  Speaker 3: So I can't, not that they're listening, but I can't
• 39:02
  Speaker 3: give any more bulletin board material. I'm just going to
• 39:04
  Speaker 3: talk up these guys from the Colts and make them
• 39:06
  Speaker 3: sound like the second coming of the 2000 Ravens or
• 39:11
  Speaker 3: the monsters of the midway here. I mean, but DeForest Buckner,
• 39:13
  Speaker 3: he actually is an extremely accomplished player, still going strong
• 39:17
  Speaker 3: at 32, not quite ageless wonder level of a Cam Hayward,
• 39:22
  Speaker 3: but maybe someday he will be.
• 39:24
  Speaker 4: If he keeps this up, he's just a load to
• 39:27
  Speaker 4: deal with in there.
• 39:28
  Speaker 3: The reason why he was the seventh overall pick back
• 39:31
  Speaker 3: in 2016 of the Niners, 6'7, 295.
• 39:34
  Speaker 4: And what I think is.
• 39:35
  Speaker 3: Fascinating about this Colts front is the other guy who's
• 39:39
  Speaker 3: been generating a lot of interior pressure for them. It's
• 39:42
  Speaker 3: kind of the complete opposite player of Buckner, 95.
• 39:46
  Speaker 4: Let me see if I can, Get this right, I
• 39:50
  Speaker 4: was working on it earlier.
• 39:51
  Speaker 3: Adetomua Adebare, he is 6'2, 282, so he's a stout.
• 39:57
  Speaker 3: I don't want to call him a little guy, but
• 39:59
  Speaker 3: by defensive tackle standards, he's kind of a little spark
• 40:04
  Speaker 3: plug in there, but he's really, really quick off the snap.
• 40:08
  Speaker 3: They took him out of Northwestern, I think maybe second
• 40:11
  Speaker 3: or third round. He killed the combine back in the day,
• 40:15
  Speaker 3: so he's in his fourth season now.
• 40:17
  Speaker 4: Maybe coming into his own.
• 40:18
  Speaker 3: I was talking to Mason McCormick in the locker room,
• 40:20
  Speaker 3: the Steelers' left guard, about you've got Buckner, who's a.
• 40:25
  Speaker 4: Mountain, and then you've got Adebuare, who's this bowling ball
• 40:30
  Speaker 4: in there.
• 40:30
  Speaker 3: And he said, yeah, it makes it difficult because they
• 40:32
  Speaker 3: can come at you different ways, and they're both really good.
• 40:36
  Speaker 4: So that's a key matchup to watch, no doubt.
• 40:38
  Speaker 2: Yeah, Steelers' offensive line. Well, Steelers' defensive line is going
• 40:42
  Speaker 2: to have to do good, too, especially with stopping the run.
• 40:44
  Speaker 2: We'll get to that here in a second. But offensively,
• 40:46
  Speaker 2: that line, and again, they played. This will be their
• 40:49
  Speaker 2: third game together, third straight game together with putting Maxie
• 40:52
  Speaker 2: on a chore at right tackle, Brock Hoffman at right guard, Brian. So,
• 40:56
  Speaker 2: you know, great debut against the Bengals. Played very well
• 41:00
  Speaker 2: with their run blocking and also their pass protection of
• 41:02
  Speaker 2: Aaron Rodgers. Not so much against the Browns. It wasn't
• 41:05
  Speaker 2: a huge step back. I thought the first quarter and
• 41:07
  Speaker 2: the fourth quarter they did better than the middle part,
• 41:09
  Speaker 2: and the Steelers' defense didn't do good in the middle
• 41:11
  Speaker 2: part of that game either. but I thought the line
• 41:13
  Speaker 2: showed sparks, few penalties, few mishaps here or there. You're
• 41:17
  Speaker 2: going to have those growing pains, especially with a first
• 41:19
  Speaker 2: round draft pick like Maxi on a chore. You're gonna
• 41:21
  Speaker 2: have to deal with those growing pains as you go
• 41:23
  Speaker 2: throughout the season. But my whole point is I'm looking
• 41:25
  Speaker 2: for a bounce back game this week against the Colts
• 41:28
  Speaker 2: to get the confidence back for this revamped offensive line.
• 41:33
  Speaker 4: For sure. And, you know, that didn't even mention Grover Stewart.
• 41:36
  Speaker 2: Who's a career and is.
• 41:38
  Speaker 3: You know, always he's, He's a goon in the middle,
• 41:42
  Speaker 3: as Mike Tomlin would have said.
• 41:43
  Speaker 4: Complimentary, of course.
• 41:45
  Speaker 3: You know, he's another big body who, not always in
• 41:48
  Speaker 3: the sack column, but usually stout against the run, and
• 41:51
  Speaker 3: the Steelers have seen him over and over in this matchup.
• 41:55
  Speaker 4: The edges, you know, they don't have as much juice,
• 41:57
  Speaker 4: at least not on paper.
• 41:58
  Speaker 3: We'll see about Liatu Latu, who was a first-rounder a
• 42:04
  Speaker 3: couple years ago, and then JT Tuomalau from Ohio State.
• 42:07
  Speaker 3: He's going to be taking over for Arden Key, who
• 42:10
  Speaker 3: we mentioned on yesterday's show, is going to miss several
• 42:13
  Speaker 3: weeks for the Colts. Tui Omolau is one of those,
• 42:16
  Speaker 3: the Buckeyes from the national championship team, man. I mean,
• 42:19
  Speaker 3: they just pop up all over the league, no matter
• 42:22
  Speaker 3: what matchup it is. You know, it was Travion Henderson
• 42:25
  Speaker 3: in week two. It was Quinshawn Judkins in week four.
• 42:29
  Speaker 3: But Tui Omolau was also a beast on that team
• 42:32
  Speaker 3: with Jack Sawyer and Will Howard and all those Buckeyes
• 42:38
  Speaker 3: who have gone on to the NFL. He was actually
• 42:40
  Speaker 3: a second rounder. He was, you know, the bookend to
• 42:42
  Speaker 3: Sawyer in Columbus and drafted a couple rounds ahead of
• 42:46
  Speaker 3: Jack Sawyer. He's going to be playing a lot of
• 42:48
  Speaker 3: snaps on Sunday against the Steelers, and it's probably going
• 42:51
  Speaker 3: to be a lot of Maxi Honichor.
• 42:54
  Speaker 4: Dealing with him.
• 42:56
  Speaker 2: The Steelers have given up 13 sacks in the first
• 42:59
  Speaker 2: four games. That's an average of three per game against
• 43:01
  Speaker 2: Aaron Rodgers, 42-year-old Aaron Rodgers. So they got to do
• 43:05
  Speaker 2: a better job there. as well all right let's get
• 43:07
  Speaker 2: to our other key matchup for this week it's Jonathan
• 43:09
  Speaker 2: Taylor against the Steelers linebackers look the Steelers missed 14
• 43:13
  Speaker 2: tackles last Thursday night against the Browns it is extremely
• 43:18
  Speaker 2: important against a running back like Jonathan Taylor this weekend
• 43:21
  Speaker 2: that Patrick Queen and Peyton Wilson in particular in those
• 43:24
  Speaker 2: middle linebacker spots have a bounce back game we talked
• 43:27
  Speaker 2: about the offensive line having a bounce back game the
• 43:29
  Speaker 2: team overall having a bounce back game the middle linebackers
• 43:32
  Speaker 2: have to have a bounce back game and they cannot
• 43:34
  Speaker 2: miss these tackles especially against a talented runner like Jonathan Taylor.
• 43:39
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 43:40
  Speaker 3: I mean, you don't want JT in one-on-one in space
• 43:43
  Speaker 3: with cornerbacks or even, well, you know, it might take
• 43:47
  Speaker 3: my chances with some of the Steelers hard hitting safeties,
• 43:50
  Speaker 3: whether it's Jalen Ramsey or Jaquan Brisker, but that's still
• 43:52
  Speaker 3: a very tough ask to deal with Taylor. If he
• 43:56
  Speaker 3: gets out there like a runaway train, you know, but
• 43:59
  Speaker 3: the front needs to do its job too. So I
• 44:01
  Speaker 3: think it could be a big game for, for Y.A.
• 44:03
  Speaker 3: Black to step up, maybe even for Gabriel Rubio to
• 44:06
  Speaker 3: step up. I got a few minutes with him in
• 44:08
  Speaker 3: the locker room on Thursday after practice, too, and he's
• 44:12
  Speaker 3: not tipping his hand, really, one way or the other.
• 44:14
  Speaker 4: It's a coach's decision, and a.
• 44:15
  Speaker 3: Lot can change between now and when they set the
• 44:18
  Speaker 3: inactives on Sunday. But it sounded like, from talking to
• 44:21
  Speaker 3: Gabriel Rubio, he's pretty excited to get that first opportunity
• 44:25
  Speaker 3: at the NFL level. Obviously, the sixth rounder out of
• 44:27
  Speaker 3: Notre Dame was inactive for the first four games because
• 44:32
  Speaker 3: the Steelers had their whole complement of defensive linemen. Now
• 44:36
  Speaker 3: they don't, though, with Derek Harmon out. So I think
• 44:38
  Speaker 3: you could see Rubio, Big 96, in there. And we
• 44:41
  Speaker 3: liked what we saw from him in training.
• 44:43
  Speaker 4: Camp, Ed.
• 44:44
  Speaker 3: He was flashing pretty consistently. He carried that over into
• 44:48
  Speaker 3: the preseason. Now we'll see if he gets an opportunity
• 44:50
  Speaker 3: to carry it over into the regular season.
• 44:53
  Speaker 2: Well, much like the wide receiver spot, next man up mentality,
• 44:57
  Speaker 2: same opportunity with the Pittsburgh Steelers defensive line this weekend
• 45:00
  Speaker 2: with Derek Harmon now being on the IR. Guys like
• 45:03
  Speaker 2: Gabriel Rubio, a rookie, it's his time to shine if
• 45:06
  Speaker 2: he gets a helmet come this Sunday. That's going to
• 45:08
  Speaker 2: do it for our number one. Whenever we come back,
• 45:10
  Speaker 2: we'll get into our five keys on offense, and then
• 45:13
  Speaker 2: at 3.20, our five keys on defense. We'll wrap up
• 45:15
  Speaker 2: the show today at 3.40 with Matt Taylor, the voice
• 45:18
  Speaker 2: of the Indianapolis Colts, play-by-play guy. He's the Rob King
• 45:21
  Speaker 2: of Indianapolis, if you will. Not as good as Rob King.
• 45:23
  Speaker 2: No offense, Matt, but we love Rob. Rob's our guy.
• 45:25
  Speaker 2: He's our hometown guy. But Matt does a great job.
• 45:28
  Speaker 2: He's really good, too. with Indianapolis. He's on some podcasts
• 45:31
  Speaker 2: out there as well. We'll talk about that and more
• 45:33
  Speaker 2: a bit later on. He's back. Oh, I'm troop. It's
• 45:36
  Speaker 2: the Steelers report right here on Steelers nation radio, part
• 45:38
  Speaker 2: of the Steelers audio network.