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Thursday Night in Cleveland Awaits · The Irish Steelers Podcast

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: As an official airline partner of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Aer
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Lingus is flying Steelers Nation even closer to the action.
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: The Irish airline Aer Lingus has launched a brand new
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: non-stop route between Dublin and Pittsburgh. So whether you're heading
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: to Steel City for game day or crossing the Atlantic
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: for that Irish adventure you've always dreamed about, flying there
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: has never been easier. Book now at aerlingus.com. Here we
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: go Steelers!
• 0:31
  Speaker 2: Welcome into the Irish Students Podcast.
• 0:32
  Speaker 3: It's already week four of the season and we had
• 0:34
  Speaker 3: a special podcast on Monday, of course, presented by Aer
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  Speaker 3: Lingus on the first anniversary of the 2025 NFL Dublin
• 0:42
  Speaker 3: game with Max Starks. And you know it's a big
• 0:44
  Speaker 3: week with a second podcast. Michael McQuaid, delighted to be
• 0:47
  Speaker 3: joined with my compadre. He's made it to week four,
• 0:50
  Speaker 3: Mark McGrath. And Mark, it's good to see you, man.
• 0:54
  Speaker 3: It's good to talk to you. Certainly good to talk
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  Speaker 3: to you after a win like that there. First off,
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  Speaker 3: for you, as the football man that you are. How's
• 1:03
  Speaker 3: life doing?
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  Speaker 2: Are you good? Things are good, brother.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah. And I was going to ask you how you're doing.
• 1:07
  Speaker 4: You've been traveling a lot the last few days. I'm
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  Speaker 4: surprised you're awake.
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  Speaker 2: It probably looks crazier than it is.
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  Speaker 3: I went to have the opportunity to go over and
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  Speaker 3: I went to the hall of honor dinner on Friday night.
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  Speaker 2: And let me just say on record here.
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  Speaker 3: Now, before we maybe talk about that weekend, I had
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  Speaker 3: the opportunity to see it was guys be inducted. But
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  Speaker 3: I do want to give props to Craig Wolfie, obviously,
• 1:29
  Speaker 3: who was not just a former player, but a Steelers
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  Speaker 3: guy that worked in media and was very, very, very,
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  Speaker 3: very good to us before.
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  Speaker 2: His passing last year.
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  Speaker 3: He came on multiple times and I know how excited
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  Speaker 3: he was for Dublin. So to see his wife make
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  Speaker 3: that speech last week was just a really, really cool
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  Speaker 3: moment and props to him and his family and, of course,
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  Speaker 3: all the families and the recipients of the Hall of
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  Speaker 3: Honour Award to be there on a Friday was cool.
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  Speaker 2: But no, man, look.
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  Speaker 3: Maybe this gives hope to some Irish fans listening, right?
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  Speaker 3: I went to the game on Sunday. I flew back
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  Speaker 3: on the Sunday night and I was at home at
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  Speaker 3: 11 o'clock, 12 o'clock on Monday and it was fine.
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  Speaker 2: You missed the party? Well, I seen plenty of the
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  Speaker 2: party post-game.
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  Speaker 3: I ended up, and we are going to hear from
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  Speaker 3: Coach McCarthy, Mark, on this podcast ahead of that game,
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  Speaker 3: but went down, heard from Coach McCarthy, heard from Aaron
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  Speaker 3: Rodgers after the game. The atmosphere in the stadium... I
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  Speaker 3: think certainly from week two going to week three, it's
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  Speaker 3: not that it was subdued at the start, but you
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  Speaker 3: could definitely feel it was that AFC North battle. And
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  Speaker 3: it picked up and it picked up. And primarily, Mark,
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  Speaker 3: it picked up. Like, let's go on. When you win
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  Speaker 3: 30-27 against this Bengals team and you win in the
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  Speaker 3: manner in which you win and the performance that you
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  Speaker 3: pick up and the plays that you make, what a
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  Speaker 3: great game. And from being there and from seeing it, Mark,
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  Speaker 3: what a great atmosphere. What was it like for you
• 2:53
  Speaker 3: back home and actually watching it as well?
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  Speaker 4: Well, again, the 6-6 games, absolutely love them. But you
• 3:00
  Speaker 4: could feel some of the atmosphere coming through. It does
• 3:03
  Speaker 4: feel a wee bit different when they're at home. It
• 3:07
  Speaker 4: felt energised. The energy you could see on the field,
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  Speaker 4: the players seemed really, really hyped up for the game.
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  Speaker 4: I think it was the answer we were hoping to
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  Speaker 4: see that we talked about the week before. The big
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  Speaker 4: thing for me, round of applause for the big dogs.
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  Speaker 4: We asked them, we said they're probably going to be
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  Speaker 4: in having a big meeting on Monday. I don't know
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  Speaker 4: if they had their pads off on Wednesday or not,
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  Speaker 4: but gee whiz, did they come out ready to hit
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  Speaker 4: and ready to fight.
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  Speaker 3: We can talk about those guys with the big hits,
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  Speaker 3: but we know in terms of the fluidity of this offense,
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  Speaker 3: it certainly was not at the level that it was
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  Speaker 3: in week one or two than what we've seen on
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  Speaker 3: Sunday and week three. And before we talk maybe about
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  Speaker 3: Rodgers and about different guys, I think it's really, really
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  Speaker 3: important to talk about Jalen Warren. Jalen Warren had 127
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  Speaker 3: yards on 17 carries, and at times during the game,
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  Speaker 3: he looked so, so good.
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  Speaker 2: Darnell Washington as well, Mark. He's the big man. But
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  Speaker 2: it's one thing about.
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  Speaker 3: I think one of the funniest things was actually coming
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  Speaker 3: home on Monday and seeing Evan Washburn's interview with Aaron
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  Speaker 3: Rodgers after the game with CBS, who were televising the
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  Speaker 3: game in the U.S., And he talked about that last
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  Speaker 3: play and Rodgers was like, well, I just handed it
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  Speaker 3: off to Washington and he made it work.
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  Speaker 2: He seems to make.
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  Speaker 3: Plays out of nowhere. Like the big guy, he can
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  Speaker 3: turn and he gets all these different types of yardage.
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  Speaker 3: For a guy involved in football, Mark, can you maybe
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  Speaker 3: explain to us how difficult, no matter how big or
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  Speaker 3: how small you are as a football player, how difficult
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  Speaker 3: is that for somebody like Washington to actually do week in,
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  Speaker 3: week out? Because that's not easy to do what he done.
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  Speaker 4: No, it's very difficult. I suppose in some ways, and
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  Speaker 4: it's maybe not a fair comparison, but you look at Henry.
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  Speaker 4: Everyone says you've got to tackle him in the backfield.
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  Speaker 4: Rodgers was saying in his interview, I'm just trying to
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  Speaker 4: get the ball so Washington has enough space to turn
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  Speaker 4: upfield because once he gets going, gee, Bruce, he's hard
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  Speaker 4: to stop. I did not expect the big man tiptoeing
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  Speaker 4: down the sideline hard to stop and jumping over people,
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  Speaker 4: but he is such a hard man to tackle. The
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  Speaker 4: hardest thing is getting him going so he can get
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  Speaker 4: that turn, get upfield, and get that north-south run. That's
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  Speaker 4: been very difficult. I think the way you would try
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  Speaker 4: to stop him is get him as he's getting the
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  Speaker 4: ball or as he's going sideways.
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  Speaker 3: How impressed were you? Obviously, let's just stick in the
• 5:33
  Speaker 3: offense for now. We talk about pressure, and I think
• 5:39
  Speaker 3: we've done a very, very good job coming out of
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  Speaker 3: Week 2, going into Week 3, and we did find
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  Speaker 3: some positives. I think the thing that you do so well, Mark,
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  Speaker 3: is on this podcast, and I really appreciate you being
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  Speaker 3: a part of this for that reason, is you can
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  Speaker 3: take not a negative, but an improvement point and look
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  Speaker 3: at it like an opportunity. And this offense certainly proved
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  Speaker 3: on Sunday that there's a lot left in the tank.
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  Speaker 2: They're not there yet.
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  Speaker 3: But when Aaron Rodgers finds the way to get the ball,
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  Speaker 3: like what, 19 to 34, nearly 300 yards passing on
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  Speaker 3: the day, three touchdowns, but not just that there. You know,
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  Speaker 3: we talked about Gillian Warren on the rush.
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  Speaker 2: He had 49 yards. on the pass as well.
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  Speaker 3: Roman Wilson, we've seen a wee bit from DK, we'll
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  Speaker 3: talk about him in a second, gets his first touchdown
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  Speaker 3: of the season. Pat Friermuth, there are a lot of,
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  Speaker 3: and we knew coming into week one, week two, there
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  Speaker 3: was a lot of talent.
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  Speaker 2: Pittman, there's a lot of talent there in that offense.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, and I asked you last week, did you think
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  Speaker 4: Pittman coming back in was going to make a difference
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  Speaker 4: to the offense? And you said, yeah, a guy like
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  Speaker 4: Pittman coming in gives another weapon, takes some focus away
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  Speaker 4: from guys. But I mean.
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  Speaker 4: On the positivity, negativity comment, I've been around sports. I
• 6:47
  Speaker 4: was fortunate to play at a relatively high level of rugby.
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  Speaker 4: I've been coached by some world-renowned coaches, and none of
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  Speaker 4: them shy away from losses. They always say that there's
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  Speaker 4: things you can learn from a win, there's things you
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  Speaker 4: can learn from a loss, and there's no point. One
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  Speaker 4: of my coaches always had a 24-hour rule. You have
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  Speaker 4: 24 hours where you're allowed to dwell on a win
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  Speaker 4: and dwell on a loss and then it's just fine,
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  Speaker 4: the points go back to work and everything just goes
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  Speaker 4: towards what can you learn for it, how can you
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  Speaker 4: get better. I can't imagine at this level of sport
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  Speaker 4: that that mindset isn't multiplied a hundredfold where they're already
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  Speaker 4: thinking about how to get better, whether they did well
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  Speaker 4: or poorly on the last play. So it's easy to
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  Speaker 4: kind of focus on what the positive takeaways are because
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  Speaker 4: that's this sport. Everything is the next play, the next snap,
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  Speaker 4: the next inch you can fight and claw to take
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  Speaker 4: away from a team or to gain from a team.
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  Speaker 2: That's why we love the sport.
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  Speaker 3: I think you're bang on on that there. And one
• 7:45
  Speaker 3: thing that I don't think I've done previously over the
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  Speaker 3: last number of years in this podcast, Mark, is probably
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  Speaker 3: acknowledge our foes, our competitors in the AFC North. To
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  Speaker 3: see Joe Burrow on Sunday and to see what he
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  Speaker 3: can do, you have to give the Bengals props for
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  Speaker 3: what they have, but you also have to give this
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  Speaker 3: defense props for what they have because that Derek Harmon
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  Speaker 3: strip sack of Burrow with 50-odd seconds left in the
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  Speaker 3: game where it could have went either way, the Steelers
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  Speaker 3: recover and they needle it out.
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  Speaker 2: What a play, man. What a play that was at
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  Speaker 2: the weekend.
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  Speaker 4: Fantastic play. What I'm hoping, though, coming into this short
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  Speaker 4: week is we're not waiting until there's 53 seconds left
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  Speaker 4: to generate our first sack you know, credit where credit's due,
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  Speaker 4: that Bengals offensive line and Burrows, you know, we mentioned
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  Speaker 4: Chasen and Higgins and.
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  Speaker 2: How they were going to be problems, and they were problems.
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  Speaker 4: That really dominant defensive performance, and we said last week
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  Speaker 4: the defense isn't going to be able to play at
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  Speaker 4: this level every single week, where they're just completely shutting
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  Speaker 4: down offenses, and you need your offense at some point
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  Speaker 4: to be able to come and take some pressure off
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  Speaker 4: the defense, and I think that happened perfectly. It We
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  Speaker 4: said it last week and it's worked very much in
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  Speaker 4: our favor that that's happened this week. The defense, I think,
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  Speaker 4: while still being great, they definitely didn't have the pressure
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  Speaker 4: on Burrows that they have been generating in other games.
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  Speaker 4: But on the flip side, the offense really stepped up
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  Speaker 4: and took some of that pressure off the defense, having
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  Speaker 4: to perform at such a high level. But yes, fantastic
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  Speaker 4: sack at the perfect time.
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  Speaker 3: I think one of the things I'd like to talk
• 9:21
  Speaker 3: about before we actually hear from Coach McCarthy on this podcast, Mark,
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  Speaker 3: is the fact that a reminder for people only is
• 9:28
  Speaker 3: for a regular season game as a head coach to Steelers.
• 9:31
  Speaker 3: And there's those building blocks, there's those learning objectives and
• 9:35
  Speaker 3: learning lessons that they're going to take from every week.
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  Speaker 3: And he knows as much as anybody that takes time
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  Speaker 3: to implement and embed that in the offense.
• 9:43
  Speaker 2: It takes time to.
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  Speaker 3: Implement and embed that across the team but it's quite
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  Speaker 3: clear to me from what we've seen in week three
• 9:51
  Speaker 3: mark that mccarthy's scheme you know finally clicked in in
• 9:55
  Speaker 3: week three you know there was different for me i
• 9:57
  Speaker 3: think the formation pick on the wilson touchdown the unique
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  Speaker 3: looks that they had receivers wide open on all three
• 10:01
  Speaker 3: scores was a really, really big one as well. We've
• 10:03
  Speaker 3: seen DK back into himself. He targeted, and he talked
• 10:06
  Speaker 3: about this in the press conference as well, after the game, Mark,
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  Speaker 3: he targeted 31 points pre-game, and they get 30.
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  Speaker 2: You know, after owning those early struggles, this was his.
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  Speaker 3: His promised offense, I guess the biggest talking point now is,
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  Speaker 3: can they keep this going? I certainly think they can.
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  Speaker 2: You know what?
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  Speaker 4: It was just great to see that it can go.
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  Speaker 4: There was that small little voice in the back of
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  Speaker 4: your head. We have all these weapons. Last week, it
• 10:33
  Speaker 4: kind of looked like Rodgers was trying to find and
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  Speaker 4: make and force an offense to happen. This week, it
• 10:39
  Speaker 4: looked like he was just in control and managing an
• 10:41
  Speaker 4: offense that was already established and happening. A lot of
• 10:43
  Speaker 4: that comes down to not getting pressure. complimentary football you
• 10:47
  Speaker 4: look at how well warren ran the ball and he
• 10:49
  Speaker 4: had that massive run wiped out as well so if
• 10:52
  Speaker 4: that had been on there jeepers what a day in
• 10:55
  Speaker 4: the stack column that would have been for him and
• 10:57
  Speaker 4: you take a little bit of pressure off rogers by
• 11:00
  Speaker 4: getting some run game established and gee whiz look what
• 11:03
  Speaker 4: he can do with the weapons that he has it
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  Speaker 4: was fantastic i.
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  Speaker 3: Do want to before we hear from coach mccarthy i
• 11:08
  Speaker 3: do want to acknowledge and thank everyone that listened to
• 11:10
  Speaker 3: the podcast with max starks that came out on monday
• 11:13
  Speaker 3: i am I met Max on Sunday, and one of
• 11:16
  Speaker 3: the first things he said to me was about how
• 11:18
  Speaker 3: much he enjoyed last year. And I know people probably
• 11:22
  Speaker 3: get it on the podcast and listen to it and
• 11:23
  Speaker 3: hear it genuinely, but there's a genuine love of the
• 11:27
  Speaker 3: island of Ireland there and a genuine love.
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  Speaker 2: For what he had and what he'd done.
• 11:31
  Speaker 3: And he also mentioned, I know he wasn't up at
• 11:33
  Speaker 3: the Trojans, Mark, but he was up in Belfast doing
• 11:35
  Speaker 3: the clinic that week as well. A few very, very
• 11:38
  Speaker 3: special Steelers players and players. He looks back on that
• 11:42
  Speaker 3: time very fondly, and I know a lot of people do.
• 11:43
  Speaker 3: So certainly for me, Monday was a very, it wasn't
• 11:47
  Speaker 3: an emotional day. It was probably more of a jet
• 11:49
  Speaker 3: lag day, but very, very cool to look back on.
• 11:53
  Speaker 3: I tell you what, man, there's no doubt about it, Mark.
• 11:57
  Speaker 3: The reality here is that Coach McCarthy has got his statement,
• 12:02
  Speaker 3: one of his career in Pittsburgh so far. And like
• 12:04
  Speaker 3: anything in the NFL, it's who's next and when is next.
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  Speaker 3: It's Thursday Night Football. And we're going to talk about
• 12:09
  Speaker 3: that game against the Cleveland Browns. It'll be second after
• 12:11
  Speaker 3: we hear from Coach McCarthy on the Irish Tears podcast
• 12:14
  Speaker 3: presented by Aer Lingus.
• 12:17
  Speaker 5: You've won a lot of games on Thursdays throughout your
• 12:21
  Speaker 5: coaching career. Thank you for noticing. I don't have to
• 12:25
  Speaker 5: look it up because I made that statement earlier to
• 12:28
  Speaker 5: a group of people. And I thought, well, I might
• 12:31
  Speaker 5: want to check that to make sure I was as
• 12:33
  Speaker 5: successful as I thought I was. What was the record?
• 12:36
  Speaker 2: I'm just curious. I think 16-6.
• 12:37
  Speaker 3: Okay.
• 12:40
  Speaker 5: Thanks, Bert.
• 12:43
  Speaker 4: When you have a record like that on Thursdays, I
• 12:45
  Speaker 4: don't know, obviously being in the same division as the
• 12:46
  Speaker 4: Lions and then coaching the Cowboys and things like that,
• 12:49
  Speaker 4: but over that many times, what have you learned about
• 12:53
  Speaker 4: the prep during these kind of weeks that's led to
• 12:55
  Speaker 4: that success?
• 12:56
  Speaker 5: Well, I think the reality of it is, you know,
• 12:58
  Speaker 5: every one of those games was different, but I think
• 13:00
  Speaker 5: the fact is, just from a planning perspective, you've been in,
• 13:04
  Speaker 5: you know, so many of them. So I think preparation
• 13:08
  Speaker 5: in season, is a big part of surviving and thriving
• 13:15
  Speaker 5: on the ride of this journey that happens each and
• 13:18
  Speaker 5: every week. So I think we have a good schedule.
• 13:22
  Speaker 5: We have a good thought process. We adjust in the
• 13:25
  Speaker 5: areas we feel like we need to adjust. We'll do
• 13:27
  Speaker 5: the same this week. We're still in the midst of
• 13:31
  Speaker 5: the preparations right now. We haven't had our practice yet today,
• 13:34
  Speaker 5: a walkthrough actually. So I just think we have a
• 13:37
  Speaker 5: sound plan. I think we pay attention to the things
• 13:40
  Speaker 5: that are most important and in tune with an environment
• 13:44
  Speaker 5: that we need to play in, too. So, I mean,
• 13:46
  Speaker 5: playing on the road on Thursdays is a lot different, obviously,
• 13:49
  Speaker 5: than playing at home. But I think the fact that
• 13:52
  Speaker 5: we're close, I think that helps. You know, it's just
• 13:57
  Speaker 5: a bus ride up there. But, you know, we actually
• 14:00
  Speaker 5: even had a conversation yesterday about sleeping in your own bed,
• 14:04
  Speaker 5: you know, just because of the importance of sleep and
• 14:06
  Speaker 5: so forth. And field to realize you have to be
• 14:08
  Speaker 5: there at least 19 hours before the game, so that's
• 14:10
  Speaker 5: not going to happen. My point is looking at every
• 14:14
  Speaker 5: part of the Thursday schedule just to make sure we're
• 14:18
  Speaker 5: doing what's best for the players.
• 14:19
  Speaker 6: Back along those lines, I know you haven't had a
• 14:20
  Speaker 6: ton of time to look at it yet, but Cleveland,
• 14:23
  Speaker 6: how are they getting around? Miles not being there anymore
• 14:26
  Speaker 6: up front, and how are guys like Vers and Graham
• 14:28
  Speaker 6: sort of stepping up both in terms of the run
• 14:30
  Speaker 6: and the pass?
• 14:31
  Speaker 5: Well, I think Graham obviously jumps off the tape at you,
• 14:34
  Speaker 5: and I think Their D-line as a whole, Burse, I
• 14:37
  Speaker 5: had a chance to see him live in the practice
• 14:41
  Speaker 5: opportunities against the Rams when I was out there in California.
• 14:44
  Speaker 5: Sam Williams, someone I've coached, we drafted him out of
• 14:46
  Speaker 5: Ole Miss. They're playing really good team defense. It's a
• 14:51
  Speaker 5: different system from Jim Swartz when he was there. We're
• 14:55
  Speaker 5: just looking at those changes. Just on the fact that
• 15:02
  Speaker 5: we just played Cincinnati where you're able to watch the tape,
• 15:05
  Speaker 5: of the games last year versus Pittsburgh and see the
• 15:08
  Speaker 5: same system on defense, but just different players where now
• 15:11
  Speaker 5: you're seeing the same players, but different systems. So just
• 15:15
  Speaker 5: working through that as far as our offense versus our defense. So,
• 15:19
  Speaker 5: but it's a very talented football team. They're playing with
• 15:21
  Speaker 5: a lot of confidence. You can see that in their wins.
• 15:24
  Speaker 5: So we're looking forward to Thursday night football. I mean,
• 15:26
  Speaker 5: it's going to be, it's incredible. I mean, Thursday night,
• 15:30
  Speaker 5: I've never not experienced in an atmosphere that you, You
• 15:34
  Speaker 5: love to compete in, and it'll be that way when
• 15:36
  Speaker 5: we get to Cleveland. So it's going to be a battle.
• 15:40
  Speaker 5: It's the Steelers versus the Browns. We know what that means.
• 15:43
  Speaker 5: So I grew up with that, and I'm looking forward
• 15:46
  Speaker 5: to playing in my first Pittsburgh-Cleveland football game.
• 15:51
  Speaker 3: Okay, that's Coach McCarthy on the Irish Shooters podcast presented
• 15:55
  Speaker 3: by Aer Lingus. And my goodness me, folks, 1.15 a.m.
• 16:01
  Speaker 3: Can we call it Friday morning football? It's Thursday night football,
• 16:04
  Speaker 3: early Friday morning. And for Steelers fans across Ireland, provided
• 16:07
  Speaker 3: you can get yourself a little cup of coffee and
• 16:08
  Speaker 3: get on with it, Sky Sports NFL, NFL on the zone.
• 16:13
  Speaker 3: And of course, if you're somehow in the car at
• 16:16
  Speaker 3: that time of the morning, I'm sure some people will
• 16:17
  Speaker 3: be listening to this, the OTB Sports app as well,
• 16:21
  Speaker 3: if you can listen in to that game. Look, Steelers
• 16:24
  Speaker 3: fans in Ireland, across the island of Ireland, north and south,
• 16:26
  Speaker 3: have a big opportunity to watch that game. There's so
• 16:29
  Speaker 3: many different options available there. Mark, before we talk about
• 16:32
  Speaker 3: the game, we sort of joked about it pre-record here.
• 16:37
  Speaker 3: There's no shine away from it, man. And this is
• 16:39
  Speaker 3: the issue that we have that nobody in America really has.
• 16:43
  Speaker 2: Late night.
• 16:43
  Speaker 3: What's the prep? For me, it's a little bit of
• 16:47
  Speaker 3: sleep a couple of hours before. What are you going
• 16:49
  Speaker 3: to eat?
• 16:50
  Speaker 2: Well, I will come to the food in a second.
• 16:53
  Speaker 2: What is the.
• 16:57
  Speaker 3: What's the Mark McGrath schedule like for a late game
• 16:59
  Speaker 3: over its first night football.
• 17:01
  Speaker 4: So the mark mcgrath schedule for a late game is
• 17:05
  Speaker 4: that's going to be future mark's problem you know we're
• 17:10
  Speaker 4: very much throwing future mark under the bus to watch
• 17:13
  Speaker 4: football and enjoy football um there isn't really the scope
• 17:17
  Speaker 4: to get a nice if in a perfect world you
• 17:19
  Speaker 4: get a nice nap in the afternoon and everything's ready
• 17:21
  Speaker 4: and it just goes through maybe we lie in in
• 17:23
  Speaker 4: the morning but that that doesn't uh doesn't exist in
• 17:26
  Speaker 4: my world or your world so I think we're throwing
• 17:29
  Speaker 4: future Mike and future Mark under the bus and just
• 17:32
  Speaker 4: kind of hoping we get through Friday with no real problems.
• 17:35
  Speaker 2: I've got good news for you. We're not recording on
• 17:37
  Speaker 2: Friday immediately after the game, don't worry. So we're all
• 17:39
  Speaker 2: good there.
• 17:40
  Speaker 3: But I guess what I would say is, and maybe
• 17:42
  Speaker 3: I know we've got a lot of American listeners as well,
• 17:44
  Speaker 3: it is hard because the game is on to four
• 17:46
  Speaker 3: or five o'clock in the morning. I actually don't mind, Mark.
• 17:51
  Speaker 3: If I go to bed at five and open at
• 17:52
  Speaker 3: eight thirty or nine, I actually don't find it that difficult,
• 17:55
  Speaker 3: but it's more getting through the game. And I think
• 17:58
  Speaker 3: one of the standouts was probably that game against the
• 18:00
  Speaker 3: Texans in the playoffs late last season. I found it
• 18:04
  Speaker 3: very hard. It went on so, so late. But you
• 18:08
  Speaker 3: obviously love the game. You have to find a way forward. Okay,
• 18:12
  Speaker 3: we are going to break the game down, but you've
• 18:13
  Speaker 3: asked a very important question.
• 18:15
  Speaker 4: Food.
• 18:16
  Speaker 2: Honestly, for a late night game, pizza for me. Pizza.
• 18:20
  Speaker 2: Pizza is the go-to.
• 18:22
  Speaker 3: You're a bit more original. You've got all these different ideas.
• 18:25
  Speaker 3: Have you, have you a Cleveland inspired?
• 18:29
  Speaker 4: I always think not, not Cleveland inspired, but kind of
• 18:32
  Speaker 4: like yourself, something easy to eat. I'm thinking like some,
• 18:34
  Speaker 4: some Mac and cheese, Frank's hot sauce, nothing that's going
• 18:37
  Speaker 4: to be ridiculous to make. Um, but just nice and
• 18:41
  Speaker 4: tasty filling something that you're going to enjoy eating and
• 18:44
  Speaker 4: isn't gonna, isn't going to make me too sleepy. Hopefully
• 18:47
  Speaker 4: with all the carbs.
• 18:47
  Speaker 3: And cheese, I would say I'm not a coffee guy
• 18:51
  Speaker 3: during these games. I just get through it somehow. It's, um,
• 18:54
  Speaker 3: I have time. If people don't know this about me,
• 18:57
  Speaker 3: I wear contacts, so it starts to get hard because
• 19:02
  Speaker 3: the contact lenses start getting hard by the third quarter,
• 19:04
  Speaker 3: but I will get through it. The guys have a
• 19:06
  Speaker 3: far bigger challenge, of course, on the field. Short week,
• 19:10
  Speaker 3: both teams mark two and one. You could argue, I
• 19:13
  Speaker 3: know the Ravens won that game in Rio at the weekend,
• 19:15
  Speaker 3: but the winner really takes that early pole position in
• 19:19
  Speaker 3: a four-way tie in the AFC North game. Steelers are
• 19:23
  Speaker 3: slight favourites going into this game, of course, but we
• 19:26
  Speaker 3: know that's never something to look at.
• 19:30
  Speaker 2: In this case, any even Thursday.
• 19:33
  Speaker 3: Firstly, on the Cleveland Browns, Mark, I look at that
• 19:37
  Speaker 3: game in Week 1 against Jacksonville and they get blown out.
• 19:40
  Speaker 3: But Week 2 and 3, they have a win at
• 19:44
  Speaker 3: Tampa in Tampa Bay and they have a win against
• 19:47
  Speaker 3: Carolina at home. The defense is certainly tightened up I
• 19:50
  Speaker 3: think they sacked Bryce Young three times and then obviously
• 19:53
  Speaker 3: seed that game with a late interception but Deshaun Watson
• 19:56
  Speaker 3: is and we know he hasn't been on the field
• 19:58
  Speaker 3: as much for various different reasons Deshaun Watson is starting
• 20:03
  Speaker 3: to play like the guy that a lot of people
• 20:04
  Speaker 3: watched many years ago for Houston and thought he Yeah,
• 20:11
  Speaker 3: and not even just without their mark, you know, they've
• 20:13
  Speaker 3: got Jerry Judy, they've got Fan, they've got Judkins as
• 20:17
  Speaker 3: well at running back. They have got threats, and when
• 20:20
  Speaker 3: you add in that home crowd, and let's be very,
• 20:22
  Speaker 3: very clear and frank here, that home crowd against a
• 20:25
  Speaker 3: Browns team and a Browns organisation and a Browns fan
• 20:30
  Speaker 3: that hates any AFC North team, but especially hate, but
• 20:34
  Speaker 3: also love going up against the Steelers team, they are
• 20:36
  Speaker 3: going to be a force to be reckoned with on
• 20:40
  Speaker 3: Thursday night, and it's going to be very much on
• 20:41
  Speaker 3: this defense as well, isn't it?
• 20:43
  Speaker 4: Again, we obviously mentioned the defense briefly when we were
• 20:48
  Speaker 4: breaking down the game of the weekend there, but I
• 20:51
  Speaker 4: think we need to see that pass rush getting a
• 20:54
  Speaker 4: bit more pressure earlier if we want things to go
• 20:57
  Speaker 4: the way that we can. The fear, and maybe fear
• 21:01
  Speaker 4: is the wrong word, but I suppose the stumbling block
• 21:04
  Speaker 4: is that emotional high of the But beating the Bengals
• 21:08
  Speaker 4: at home, everyone's really, really high. And then it has
• 21:11
  Speaker 4: this big crowd in a short week. Can you get
• 21:14
  Speaker 4: yourself back to level? Having just had that big close game,
• 21:18
  Speaker 4: that win, and then you've got to come back in.
• 21:21
  Speaker 4: Last year, both teams won at home. We can't go
• 21:25
  Speaker 4: into Cleveland complacent or thinking it's just going to happen.
• 21:29
  Speaker 4: It's not. We have good teams at this level. Like
• 21:32
  Speaker 4: you look at how many games in the NFL week
• 21:34
  Speaker 4: to week are close and how many teams you think
• 21:36
  Speaker 4: are definitely going to win that don't. It's going to
• 21:39
  Speaker 4: be getting that coming in really level, ready to compete,
• 21:42
  Speaker 4: taking nothing from that chip on their shoulder that they
• 21:44
  Speaker 4: carried from week two into this week just needs to
• 21:47
  Speaker 4: live there. And we want to see that some really,
• 21:49
  Speaker 4: really physical, aggressive Steelers football.
• 21:53
  Speaker 3: And there are a few talking points. And before I
• 21:56
  Speaker 3: do talk about that, just to remind people, This is
• 21:58
  Speaker 3: week four. The Steelers, probably the good aspect of this
• 22:01
  Speaker 3: game is they get a bit of a rest over
• 22:03
  Speaker 3: that weekend before they go to week five. Week six,
• 22:05
  Speaker 3: there is a big watch party in Dublin at Kennedy's
• 22:08
  Speaker 3: Steelers station. And of course, that is ticketed, that game
• 22:11
  Speaker 3: against the Bucks. But week five, there will be the
• 22:15
  Speaker 3: watch party in Kennedy's for free. So rock down. And
• 22:18
  Speaker 3: I can confirm this week that I will 100%, 1000%
• 22:21
  Speaker 3: be down there week six. So Do get your tickets
• 22:26
  Speaker 3: if you haven't got them yet. But staying on to
• 22:28
  Speaker 3: week four, that real opportunity to put the feet up
• 22:31
  Speaker 3: on the Sunday and watch the rest of the league, Mark,
• 22:32
  Speaker 3: is there. I think for me, that's Steelers' secondary against Watson, Judy, Fanon.
• 22:38
  Speaker 3: You know, you look at what they can do. And
• 22:42
  Speaker 3: even if we don't see Joey Porter Jr. there yet,
• 22:44
  Speaker 3: you've still got that mix of Jalen Ramsey, mix and
• 22:47
  Speaker 3: match between Eccles, Dean, Samuel. This is a secondary that
• 22:51
  Speaker 3: can make noise. And we've seen it already this season.
• 22:54
  Speaker 3: And they're going to be crucial in this game on
• 22:56
  Speaker 3: Thursday night.
• 22:57
  Speaker 2: Yes, I very much agree.
• 22:58
  Speaker 4: And look, as we said in week one, if you
• 23:01
  Speaker 4: were ever having to go into things and there was
• 23:03
  Speaker 4: something you were going to back in the NFL, that
• 23:05
  Speaker 4: the Steelers D that we've had and how they played
• 23:07
  Speaker 4: week one, week two, and not that they played badly
• 23:09
  Speaker 4: this last week, but you can't live at this level
• 23:13
  Speaker 4: all the time. But I think they're not going to
• 23:16
  Speaker 4: be happy with the offense getting all the roses this week.
• 23:19
  Speaker 4: And I think you're going to find a hungry, angry
• 23:22
  Speaker 4: defense coming in going, no, hang on. We're the heart
• 23:25
  Speaker 4: of this team. We're the reason we're going to win
• 23:28
  Speaker 4: everything this year. And they're going to come back firing.
• 23:32
  Speaker 2: They are.
• 23:33
  Speaker 3: And I guess if I look and we maybe give
• 23:35
  Speaker 3: a few keys to the game to finish this out,
• 23:38
  Speaker 3: you know, it's a short week and it is hard to.
• 23:41
  Speaker 3: really dig in deep whenever the team are just coming
• 23:43
  Speaker 3: straight off and going back in. But for me, you know,
• 23:45
  Speaker 3: we talked at the top of this podcast, Mark, about
• 23:48
  Speaker 3: the run game and how efficient Jalen Warren was. My
• 23:51
  Speaker 3: question is really, can this offense continue to move those chains?
• 23:55
  Speaker 3: And when you focus on that Jalen Warren situation, can
• 23:59
  Speaker 3: they keep that run game rolling on a short week
• 24:01
  Speaker 3: against the Browns front that has been better lately? You know,
• 24:03
  Speaker 3: establishing that run is really, really going to take the
• 24:06
  Speaker 3: pressure off Aaron Rodgers. I do want to see, you know,
• 24:10
  Speaker 3: I do want to see more special teams play.
• 24:13
  Speaker 2: I'd love to see another turnover.
• 24:15
  Speaker 3: Chris Boswell in that Cleveland wind and rain, if it
• 24:19
  Speaker 3: did happen, that's one to look out for. But we
• 24:21
  Speaker 3: hope and we know that he will be able to
• 24:25
  Speaker 3: pack it and keep it going when it happens. That
• 24:27
  Speaker 3: run game and the way that we see that offense
• 24:29
  Speaker 3: continue to juice is going to be crucial into this
• 24:32
  Speaker 3: as well, isn't it?
• 24:34
  Speaker 4: Yeah, and as you said, the special teams is massive.
• 24:37
  Speaker 4: You look at the number of special teams there, that
• 24:39
  Speaker 4: Hunt recovery was a huge turning point, as we mentioned.
• 24:45
  Speaker 4: There are three or four turning points in a game,
• 24:48
  Speaker 4: and if you can get those turning points to go
• 24:49
  Speaker 4: in the favour of your team, you had one with
• 24:53
  Speaker 4: the interception right before half against us, then we had
• 24:55
  Speaker 4: a couple for us. So we get the two turning
• 24:58
  Speaker 4: points out of the three, and all of a sudden
• 25:00
  Speaker 4: we win by three instead of lose by three. Those
• 25:03
  Speaker 4: little turning points in the game where one player makes
• 25:06
  Speaker 4: a mistake or another player makes a play are just
• 25:09
  Speaker 4: so big at this level.
• 25:11
  Speaker 3: Time will tell what happens. It's time for us to
• 25:14
  Speaker 3: make our predictions for this game. And this is a
• 25:17
  Speaker 3: game where, like, look, I definitely am more buoyed after
• 25:22
  Speaker 3: week three. There's no point in saying otherwise. I definitely
• 25:25
  Speaker 3: feel like this team can continue to make steps and continue.
• 25:28
  Speaker 2: To be better.
• 25:29
  Speaker 3: And that is why I really think that this defense
• 25:31
  Speaker 3: is going to get at the Sean Watson on Thursday night,
• 25:35
  Speaker 3: and it will guide the team through the game. I
• 25:37
  Speaker 3: think it's going to be low scoring. I like 17-14,
• 25:40
  Speaker 3: the Pittsburgh mark. Give me your score prediction. And, you know,
• 25:44
  Speaker 3: sometimes somebody's going to go against the Steelers here and
• 25:47
  Speaker 3: maybe pick the other team.
• 25:48
  Speaker 2: I don't think that's going to be the case for you,
• 25:50
  Speaker 2: is it?
• 25:51
  Speaker 4: No, not this week. Anyway, I have 17-9 written down
• 25:54
  Speaker 4: here in the Steelers' favor. My hope is this defense
• 25:58
  Speaker 4: is going to come off having the offense rightly getting
• 26:00
  Speaker 4: the flowers from last week. I'm sure a few comments
• 26:04
  Speaker 4: talking about how that pass rush couldn't get home until
• 26:07
  Speaker 4: when it mattered most. They got home and saw the game,
• 26:11
  Speaker 4: but we have some very talented defensive linemen in there.
• 26:16
  Speaker 4: I think that front four, front five, front six guys
• 26:19
  Speaker 4: are going to be putting a lot of pressure on
• 26:22
  Speaker 4: this quarterback.
• 26:24
  Speaker 2: I tell you what, pressure is one thing for those guys,
• 26:26
  Speaker 2: for those athletes. For us, it's pressure.
• 26:28
  Speaker 3: Staying up on Thursday night, Friday morning football.
• 26:32
  Speaker 2: Watch that three o'clock window. I hear. We can do it.
• 26:36
  Speaker 3: I'm going to text you mid for a quarter to
• 26:37
  Speaker 3: make sure you're awake, my friend.
• 26:39
  Speaker 2: 1.15 a.m.
• 26:41
  Speaker 3: Thursday night at Sky Sports NFL, NFL in the Zone,
• 26:45
  Speaker 3: OTB Sports Radio app as well across the island of Ireland. Folks,
• 26:48
  Speaker 3: a great opportunity for the Steelers to get a W,
• 26:51
  Speaker 3: please God, early in that week. get it done and
• 26:54
  Speaker 3: move on. And obviously, I hope everyone enjoys the game
• 26:57
  Speaker 3: Thursday night, enjoys the weekend. We'll be back early in
• 26:59
  Speaker 3: the week to look back at week four and to
• 27:01
  Speaker 3: look ahead to week five as well. Mark, thank you
• 27:03
  Speaker 3: so much for your time, everyone. Thank you so much
• 27:05
  Speaker 3: for listening as well. Check out Steelers Ireland on social
• 27:07
  Speaker 3: and check out that week six watch party the week
• 27:10
  Speaker 3: before our little rendezvous in Paris. Mark, chat to you soon, man.
• 27:14
  Speaker 3: Thanks for coming on and go Steelers.
• 27:16
  Speaker 5: Thank you.
• 27:16
  Speaker 4: Thanks for having me.
• 27:17
  Speaker 2: Go Steelers.
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: As an official airline partner of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Aer
• 27:47
  Speaker 1: Lingus is flying Steelers Nation even closer to the action.
• 27:50
  Speaker 1: The Irish airline Aer Lingus has launched a brand new
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: non-stop route between Dublin and Pittsburgh. So whether you're heading
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  Speaker 1: to Steel City for game day or crossing the Atlantic
• 27:59
  Speaker 1: for that Irish adventure you've always dreamed about, flying there
• 28:02
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• 28:06
  Speaker 1: go Steelers!