Latest / The Steelers Report / HR 2: 5 Keys on Offense & Defense, Matt Taylor Joins the Show

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HR 2: 5 Keys on Offense & Defense, Matt Taylor Joins the Show · The Steelers Report

• 0:08
  Speaker 1: This is the Steelers Report with Brian Batko and Ed
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: Troop on Steelers Nation Radio, a part of the Steelers
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: Audio Network.
• 0:19
  Speaker 2: During our opening hour here on the show, we were
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: talking a lot about Jonathan Taylor and that Colts offense.
• 0:25
  Speaker 3: Taylor already has six rushing touchdowns in his top 20 touches.
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: In every game so far this season, that leads all
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: NFL players with 26 touchdowns since the start of last season, 2025.
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: Colts offense starts and ends with Jonathan Taylor and one
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: player that will be there to potentially stop Jonathan Taylor.
• 0:48
  Speaker 3: I say potentially because he probably will. I don't want
• 0:51
  Speaker 3: to jinx him. We'll knock on wood. Everybody knock on
• 0:52
  Speaker 3: wood in Steelers Nation. TJ Watt. He has 37 career
• 0:57
  Speaker 3: forced fumbles.
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: That's nine more than any other player since he entered
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: the NFL in 2017. He's also recovered his own forced
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: fumble last week, giving him 15 fumble recoveries, also the
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: most in the NFL during that span. T.J. Watt, Alex Highsmith,
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: the edge rushers, the defensive line, all hands on deck
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: on Sunday to get after Jonathan Taylor in this offense.
• 1:19
  Speaker 3: Brian, back up.
• 1:21
  Speaker 4: You know who fumbles a lot? Mr. Edge Roof.
• 1:25
  Speaker 3: Who's that, Jonathan Taylor?
• 1:27
  Speaker 4: No, Daniel Jones. Daniel Jones fumbled a lot, so I'm
• 1:32
  Speaker 4: not making any bold proclamations, but I like that trend.
• 1:38
  Speaker 4: I like that trajectory here in this matchup as we
• 1:41
  Speaker 4: look ahead to Sunday. And I mentioned it earlier this week,
• 1:43
  Speaker 4: but I think it bears repeating with an addendum. Sunday
• 1:47
  Speaker 4: will be TJ Watt's 32nd birthday. It'll also be Troy
• 1:52
  Speaker 4: Fa'utanu's birthday, Ed. So Troy and Trent share a birthday.
• 1:57
  Speaker 4: Fa'utanu will turn 26. And yes, TJ Watt will turn
• 2:03
  Speaker 4: 32 here in 2026. So hopefully both of those guys
• 2:09
  Speaker 4: can win their matchups on the edge. Fa'utanu versus good
• 2:12
  Speaker 4: old JT Tuomalau. A lot of tough to pronounce names
• 2:16
  Speaker 4: in this game between Adebuare up front for the Colts
• 2:20
  Speaker 4: and Tui Omolau and Liatu Latu. I hope I'm not
• 2:24
  Speaker 4: completely butchering these. We've gotten Troy Fautanu down over the years,
• 2:28
  Speaker 4: but I'm sure that, you know what? Opposing beat writers
• 2:32
  Speaker 4: and radio hosts probably feel the same about the Steelers
• 2:35
  Speaker 4: when you look at Maxi Honachor and Troy. And well,
• 2:39
  Speaker 4: I guess those are kind of the two main ones,
• 2:41
  Speaker 4: but yeah, Troy Fautanu and TJ Watt, happy early birthdays.
• 2:46
  Speaker 3: Yeah, no doubt.
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: And hopefully they'll, be able to celebrate their birthdays on
• 2:50
  Speaker 2: the field with making a big impact play or two.
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: and the Steelers can get the win against the Colts
• 2:54
  Speaker 2: this upcoming week. Hey, Double B, I'm proud of you.
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: Better you than me, I always say on these pronunciations,
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: because gosh knows I butcher them left and right, even
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: sometimes the Steeler ones. But I always yield to you,
• 3:04
  Speaker 2: my friend, and kudos to you because you're originally, I mean,
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: we made you into a broadcaster. I don't know if
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: you realize that, but you're one of the best doing that, too,
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: here in town. But remember, you started on the print side.
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: You still do the print side, but that's your bread
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: and butter. All this, though, you've turned into it, and
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: you're pronouncing those names on a high level, my friend.
• 3:23
  Speaker 4: Well, I was a broadcaster in college during my pit
• 3:25
  Speaker 4: days at WPTS. That was actually before the print side,
• 3:30
  Speaker 4: kind of. So maybe that is more.
• 3:33
  Speaker 3: My bread and butter.
• 3:35
  Speaker 4: But now I've gone down a rabbit hole of, oh,
• 3:37
  Speaker 4: and one more point on that note, Ed. Steelers are,
• 3:42
  Speaker 4: heaven forbid, one or two more injuries away on the
• 3:44
  Speaker 4: D-line from our guy Asazi Otomowo having to step in there.
• 3:48
  Speaker 4: And then it'll really get Really get thorny for us
• 3:52
  Speaker 4: and any opposing teams. But October 11th, is this the
• 3:55
  Speaker 4: best NFL birthday? You've got TJ, but you've also got
• 3:59
  Speaker 4: Steve Young, Terrell Suggs, Joel Petonio, Chris Spielman. That is
• 4:04
  Speaker 4: a murderer's row of players born on October 11th.
• 4:08
  Speaker 2: Hey, that is a huge day for the NFL to
• 4:11
  Speaker 2: celebrate those birthdays. Back to your WPIT days. I want
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: to hear some audio, man. Let's go. I mean, there's
• 4:17
  Speaker 2: some WPPJ audio out there on cassette tapes for me
• 4:21
  Speaker 2: back during my Point Park days. But WPIT, nicely done,
• 4:25
  Speaker 2: my friend. I didn't know you originated on the broadcast side.
• 4:28
  Speaker 3: I mean, I can tell.
• 4:29
  Speaker 2: And by the way, Double B is on TV sometimes, too.
• 4:32
  Speaker 2: So you can even catch him on that part of things.
• 4:34
  Speaker 2: So You trim up the beard and you take the
• 4:37
  Speaker 2: hat off and comb the hair back and put on
• 4:39
  Speaker 2: a nice shirt.
• 4:40
  Speaker 3: You always have nice shirts on.
• 4:42
  Speaker 4: Including tonight, Friday on the nightly sports call on KDKA Plus.
• 4:46
  Speaker 4: So you didn't even know that, Ed, but great plug. Also,
• 4:48
  Speaker 4: I have to correct you. It's WPTS 92.1 emanating from
• 4:53
  Speaker 4: the top of the William Pitt Union on campus in Oakland.
• 4:57
  Speaker 4: But I can probably dig up some. some audio. Would
• 5:01
  Speaker 4: you prefer a show or me doing my best Rob King,
• 5:04
  Speaker 4: Matt Taylor play by play for some pit football games
• 5:08
  Speaker 4: back in the day?
• 5:09
  Speaker 3: Oh, that, that I want to hear my friend. Let's let,
• 5:11
  Speaker 3: let's definitely go with that.
• 5:12
  Speaker 2: I hope you, I, though I'd appreciate it more if
• 5:14
  Speaker 2: you did more of the Hillgrove where The snap is down.
• 5:17
  Speaker 3: The kick is up. That kick is high enough. That
• 5:19
  Speaker 3: kick is long enough. And that kick is good.
• 5:22
  Speaker 2: Panthers 3, Syracuse 0, sponsored by Domino's.
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: I don't know.
• 5:26
  Speaker 2: I don't know who the sponsor was back in probably,
• 5:29
  Speaker 2: you know, the O. I'm sure the O was the
• 5:31
  Speaker 2: sponsor at one point.
• 5:33
  Speaker 4: Well, I don't have the burly voice of a Bill Hillgrove,
• 5:37
  Speaker 4: so that was never in my wheelhouse. But, no, back
• 5:42
  Speaker 4: in the day, student radio was, you're liable to be
• 5:45
  Speaker 4: the play by play or you're liable to be the
• 5:47
  Speaker 4: color analyst on a game. We did football. I did
• 5:50
  Speaker 4: a lot of basketball too. That's my, my kind of
• 5:53
  Speaker 4: first love as far as sports go. I don't think
• 5:55
  Speaker 4: we ever dived too much into like the more obscure sports.
• 6:00
  Speaker 4: I never called a baseball game. My college roommate, Pete
• 6:03
  Speaker 4: blaze was also on, on the radio side with me.
• 6:06
  Speaker 4: And he took that on to like calling minor league
• 6:09
  Speaker 4: baseball games and, Stetson in Florida and Arkansas double A teams.
• 6:15
  Speaker 4: And eventually he got out of that crazy industry, but
• 6:18
  Speaker 4: he obviously knew what he was doing, calling the balls
• 6:21
  Speaker 4: and strikes on the mic.
• 6:23
  Speaker 2: Order your pizza outlet pizza now and have it ordered
• 6:25
  Speaker 2: by or have it delivered by halftime.
• 6:26
  Speaker 3: No, I'm just kidding.
• 6:27
  Speaker 2: See, I got to do my Hillgrove because that's my idol, man.
• 6:29
  Speaker 2: I mean, and Rob King's another one, but man, I
• 6:32
  Speaker 2: grew up on Hillgrove pit football, still doing it by
• 6:34
  Speaker 2: the way.
• 6:35
  Speaker 5: How about that?
• 6:35
  Speaker 3: Bill Hillgrove still doing pit football. That's awesome stuff. We've
• 6:38
  Speaker 3: had him on the show and we will again. It's
• 6:40
  Speaker 3: always good to talk to him.
• 6:41
  Speaker 2: And Jack Fleming, for those OG Steeler fans out there listening,
• 6:46
  Speaker 2: Jack Fleming back in the day, too.
• 6:48
  Speaker 4: And Billy's got a big one to call tomorrow. Pitt
• 6:51
  Speaker 4: against North Carolina. That's right. At Accresure Stadium. I've got
• 6:56
  Speaker 4: stuff to do, like both with the kids and around
• 7:00
  Speaker 4: the house tomorrow. And then we've got a chili cook-off
• 7:03
  Speaker 4: in our cul-de-sac. Um, but then we also have a
• 7:06
  Speaker 4: Halloween party. So like, we've got a busy man. I
• 7:08
  Speaker 4: feel like Will Ferrell in, uh, in old school, you know,
• 7:11
  Speaker 4: we've got a busy Saturday chili cook-off, uh, Halloween party, bed,
• 7:15
  Speaker 4: bath and beyond. I don't know if we're going to
• 7:16
  Speaker 4: have time. Um, but I hope I have time to
• 7:19
  Speaker 4: catch some of that pit UNC game, you know, backup
• 7:22
  Speaker 4: QB coming in for the Panthers at home against Bill
• 7:25
  Speaker 4: Belichick and, and Fred, well, not friends, Bill Belichick and,
• 7:29
  Speaker 4: and company, but huge weekend on the North shore, man.
• 7:32
  Speaker 4: It's unfortunately, it seems like The Pitt Panthers and the
• 7:35
  Speaker 4: UNC Tar Heels are going to get the good weather day,
• 7:37
  Speaker 4: and the Steelers and the Colts are going to get
• 7:39
  Speaker 4: the muddy weather day, the rainy weather day. But it's
• 7:44
  Speaker 4: two really big back-to-back games for a 5-0 Pitt team
• 7:48
  Speaker 4: that wants to keep it going and a 2-2 Steelers
• 7:50
  Speaker 4: team that wants to get back to the good.
• 7:52
  Speaker 2: Yeah, we haven't talked too much about the weather for Sunday,
• 7:54
  Speaker 2: but the hurricane that's brewing in the Gulf that's going
• 7:58
  Speaker 2: to come up, and as it always does, it seems
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: like when it takes that route, through the Alabama coastline,
• 8:04
  Speaker 2: the western part of the Florida coastline, which it appears
• 8:07
  Speaker 2: right now that's its track. It comes right up through
• 8:09
  Speaker 2: the Ohio Valley, and that will cause not just a
• 8:13
  Speaker 2: little bit of rain, Double B. It could be potentially
• 8:15
  Speaker 2: a lot of rain this upcoming Sunday. So you talk
• 8:17
  Speaker 2: about running the football, important for the Steelers. Maybe that
• 8:20
  Speaker 2: will be one of our keys on offense.
• 8:23
  Speaker 3: Oh, look, it is. It is one of our keys
• 8:25
  Speaker 3: on offense. What a great segue. Fee Jalen Warren.
• 8:28
  Speaker 2: Warren is averaging 5.6 yards per carry and 11 yards
• 8:31
  Speaker 2: per catch, and he's played more than 90% of offensive
• 8:34
  Speaker 2: snaps in the last two games.
• 8:36
  Speaker 3: He's become the centerpiece of this offense.
• 8:39
  Speaker 2: If indeed it is wet on that natural grass surface
• 8:42
  Speaker 2: at AccuShore Stadium, Fee Jalen Warren.
• 8:46
  Speaker 4: Yeah, feed him. Keep him going. He's literally shouldering the load, though.
• 8:50
  Speaker 4: I mean, he's still dealing with that shoulder injury or
• 8:55
  Speaker 4: just whatever you want to call it, but you wouldn't
• 8:57
  Speaker 4: know it from watching him play. So, yeah, I'd say
• 9:02
  Speaker 4: maybe it's going to be more out of the backfield
• 9:04
  Speaker 4: if that Colts defensive line is messing things up on
• 9:09
  Speaker 4: the interior. If they're stuffing the run lanes, then I'd
• 9:13
  Speaker 4: say get Warren to the perimeter and make the Colts
• 9:16
  Speaker 4: linebackers tackle him in space. I don't think that's necessarily
• 9:19
  Speaker 4: one of the strengths of their defense. I looked at
• 9:22
  Speaker 4: the Browns last weekend and thought Carson– this name– Carson
• 9:27
  Speaker 4: Schwessinger and Quincy Williams are two guys that are pretty
• 9:31
  Speaker 4: reliable bringing down ball carriers in space. Well, that didn't
• 9:34
  Speaker 4: stop Jalen Warren from going off again. I don't feel
• 9:37
  Speaker 4: quite the same about a Colts team. Zaire Franklin was
• 9:40
  Speaker 4: a thorn in the Steelers' side. He was over the years.
• 9:42
  Speaker 4: And Aaron Rodgers mentioned on Wednesday that he's no longer there.
• 9:44
  Speaker 4: He's in Green Bay now. They had to kind of
• 9:48
  Speaker 4: gut that salary from a long tenured veteran in Indy
• 9:53
  Speaker 4: to make some other moves. But yeah, I'm with you.
• 9:56
  Speaker 4: Jalen Warren's just a, he's a key to the game
• 9:58
  Speaker 4: every week at this point. He's an X factor.
• 10:00
  Speaker 2: Our second key on offense will be to take advantage
• 10:03
  Speaker 2: of the Colts struggles with play action. The Steelers averaging
• 10:06
  Speaker 2: 9.3 yards per attempt on play action. Meanwhile, the Colts
• 10:10
  Speaker 2: defensively allowing 10.4 yards per pass on play action. That's
• 10:15
  Speaker 2: the second highest in the NFL. Brian, establish that running
• 10:18
  Speaker 2: game with Jalen Warren.
• 10:20
  Speaker 3: It'll be wet, though.
• 10:20
  Speaker 2: If it's raining, that's going to make the passing game
• 10:22
  Speaker 2: a bit complicated, but you can work off that play
• 10:24
  Speaker 2: action if you establish that running game.
• 10:27
  Speaker 4: I also think it could be another big darn out
• 10:30
  Speaker 4: Washington week. Pat Friermuth as well.
• 10:33
  Speaker 3: Yeah, good call.
• 10:34
  Speaker 4: And DK Metcalf. They got the ball in his hands
• 10:36
  Speaker 4: early in that Browns game, and he was shot out
• 10:39
  Speaker 4: of a cannon on that reception and got some yards
• 10:41
  Speaker 4: after the catch, too. That might have to be the
• 10:44
  Speaker 4: way to go this week if it's difficult to get
• 10:48
  Speaker 4: that ball moving through the air deep downfield, whether it's
• 10:51
  Speaker 4: because of the weather or because of Sauce Gardner and
• 10:54
  Speaker 4: Travarius Ward on the outside. So I think as much
• 10:59
  Speaker 4: as we were excited early in the show to entertain
• 11:02
  Speaker 4: the notion of Roman Wilson and Jeremy and Bernard getting involved,
• 11:06
  Speaker 4: and those guys may well get involved. If I'm the Colts,
• 11:08
  Speaker 4: if I'm Lou Anarumo, they're D.C., I'm trying to figure
• 11:11
  Speaker 4: out ways to force those guys to beat us on Sunday.
• 11:15
  Speaker 4: But if I'm the Steelers, I'm trying to funnel the
• 11:17
  Speaker 4: ball to DK, Friar Muth, Darnell, Jalen Warren, the guys
• 11:22
  Speaker 4: that you've given second contracts to and for good reason.
• 11:26
  Speaker 2: Well, here we go again. Double B guessing the keys
• 11:28
  Speaker 2: on offense and defense. There's your first of the day,
• 11:30
  Speaker 2: my friend. Number three, get DK involved early and often.
• 11:34
  Speaker 2: Metcalf broke out last week in Cleveland on that Thursday
• 11:37
  Speaker 2: night game. Five catches for 115 yards. Had the touchdown
• 11:41
  Speaker 2: reception the previous week. against the Bengals. He's heating up.
• 11:44
  Speaker 2: Get him involved. Get him involved in those explosive plays
• 11:47
  Speaker 2: that you just talked about. Number four, fix the third
• 11:50
  Speaker 2: down offense. The Steelers converted just four of 13 third.
• 11:56
  Speaker 3: Downs last week. Boy, that's a handful to say in
• 11:58
  Speaker 3: one sentence. Four of 13 third downs last week. There
• 12:02
  Speaker 3: you go.
• 12:03
  Speaker 2: And they were converting just 32% for the season.
• 12:05
  Speaker 3: That's 28th in the NFL.
• 12:07
  Speaker 2: No doubt the last 10 days that had to be
• 12:09
  Speaker 2: part of the formula for that Mike McCarthy and his
• 12:12
  Speaker 2: offensive staff was looking at how to get into these
• 12:14
  Speaker 2: third and short situations and not third and long, do
• 12:17
  Speaker 2: not get behind the sticks and try to pick up
• 12:19
  Speaker 2: some of these third downs.
• 12:20
  Speaker 3: Keep that offense on the football field.
• 12:23
  Speaker 4: I still view it as a loss that the Steelers
• 12:25
  Speaker 4: won't have Michael Pittman Jr. in this game against his
• 12:27
  Speaker 4: former team and maybe for the foreseeable future. But if
• 12:31
  Speaker 4: you were kind of looking critically at Pittman coming into
• 12:35
  Speaker 4: this season or even after the first three or four games,
• 12:38
  Speaker 4: you could probably argue that It's not one of his strengths,
• 12:41
  Speaker 4: maybe never was one of his strengths, to separate from
• 12:44
  Speaker 4: tight man coverage. He's more of a bigger body. He's
• 12:47
  Speaker 4: going to make some contested catches. If he does get
• 12:50
  Speaker 4: open over the middle, he's probably coming down with it
• 12:52
  Speaker 4: and he'll put his body on the line, play physical
• 12:56
  Speaker 4: block for you, of course. Good red zone and end
• 12:59
  Speaker 4: zone target. But he's not really someone to uncover quickly
• 13:03
  Speaker 4: at his size. So in that sense, it could be
• 13:06
  Speaker 4: an upgrade to go from him to Roman Wilson and
• 13:08
  Speaker 4: and Jeremy Bernard and give Aaron Rodgers a chance to
• 13:10
  Speaker 4: look for them on those third downs when teams are
• 13:13
  Speaker 4: probably going to want to press them. And everybody that
• 13:15
  Speaker 4: you've talked to under the Steelers roof these last couple
• 13:18
  Speaker 4: of days on the third down topic has said, you know,
• 13:21
  Speaker 4: we're just getting, we're getting a lot of man coverage
• 13:23
  Speaker 4: and it, you know, it's incumbent upon us to protect,
• 13:27
  Speaker 4: get open, make the throw. Aaron Rodgers laid it out
• 13:30
  Speaker 4: pretty succinctly on Wednesday, and that's not blaming anybody else.
• 13:34
  Speaker 4: He's including in there that he needs to hit guys
• 13:37
  Speaker 4: and he has admitted that at times this season, that
• 13:39
  Speaker 4: he hasn't always hit guys. But I think it's also
• 13:42
  Speaker 4: crucial because teams are going to man you up if
• 13:44
  Speaker 4: they're not worried about you taking off, right? I mean,
• 13:47
  Speaker 4: you think about some of these games in years past
• 13:49
  Speaker 4: from a Steelers defensive perspective, Ed. You're facing Lamar Jackson
• 13:53
  Speaker 4: or you're facing even Justin Herbert or Josh Allen. Like,
• 13:57
  Speaker 4: you go man across the board. Yeah, it's a nice
• 14:00
  Speaker 4: aggressive style. But next thing you know, Herbert or Allen
• 14:04
  Speaker 4: or Jackson is taking off because there's nobody– spying him
• 14:08
  Speaker 4: and he's going through a lane and he's picking up
• 14:10
  Speaker 4: the first down with his legs. I don't think Aaron
• 14:13
  Speaker 4: Rodgers is going to be doing that. I kind of
• 14:14
  Speaker 4: jokingly asked Mike McCarthy yesterday, is Aaron back in the
• 14:18
  Speaker 4: QB sneak game? And he was like, yeah, I think
• 14:22
  Speaker 4: we actually want to try to do it two or
• 14:23
  Speaker 4: three times a game now because he loves it so
• 14:25
  Speaker 4: much at 42 years old. Tongue-in-cheek comments aside, you don't
• 14:29
  Speaker 4: want Aaron running all over the place, especially in what
• 14:32
  Speaker 4: might be adverse conditions. So find some other ways to
• 14:36
  Speaker 4: get it done on third down.
• 14:38
  Speaker 3: No doubt.
• 14:38
  Speaker 2: You got to protect them too. As we said, a
• 14:40
  Speaker 2: lot of sacks 13 times in the first four games,
• 14:43
  Speaker 2: keep your 42 year old quarterback upright. Our final key
• 14:46
  Speaker 2: on offense attack, the Colts down the middle of the
• 14:49
  Speaker 2: football field. They give up the fourth most passing yards
• 14:52
  Speaker 2: per game in the middle of the football field. and
• 14:54
  Speaker 2: the third highest yards per completion at 13.3.
• 14:58
  Speaker 3: So get those tight ends involved.
• 15:00
  Speaker 2: Brian, you mentioned Darnell Washington and Pat Fryermuth just a
• 15:03
  Speaker 2: little bit ago, and that'll be our fifth and final
• 15:05
  Speaker 2: key on offense. Whenever we come back, we'll get to
• 15:07
  Speaker 2: our five keys on defense, and then coming up at 340,
• 15:10
  Speaker 2: Matt Taylor, voice of the Colts play-by-play man, will be
• 15:13
  Speaker 2: joining us.
• 15:14
  Speaker 3: He's back. Oh, I'm Troop.
• 15:15
  Speaker 2: It's the Steelers Report right here on Steelers Nation Radio,
• 15:17
  Speaker 2: part of the Steelers Audio Network.
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: This is the Steelers Report with Brian Bacco and Ed
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: Trudeau on Steelers Nation Radio, a part of the Steelers
• 15:33
  Speaker 1: Audio Network.
• 15:34
  Speaker 2: Again, coming up here at 340, Matt Taylor, voice of
• 15:37
  Speaker 2: the Colts, play-by-play man, will be joining us to talk
• 15:40
  Speaker 2: about Colts-Steelers this Sunday, 1 o'clock at Accashore Stadium. But
• 15:46
  Speaker 2: Double B, I got to tell you, I'm not thinking
• 15:48
  Speaker 2: about football right now. I'm thinking about this chili cook-off
• 15:51
  Speaker 2: in your cul-de-sac. Two questions for you. One, is the
• 15:55
  Speaker 2: Bacco family participating? And the second part of that, is
• 15:59
  Speaker 2: it you or your wife that is making the chili?
• 16:02
  Speaker 3: Are you a chili guy? I love chilies.
• 16:05
  Speaker 4: I love chili. I love food. I love eating. I'm
• 16:08
  Speaker 4: not skilled at cooking, so we will not be participating.
• 16:11
  Speaker 4: It always falls, well, there's no mystery to it. There's
• 16:15
  Speaker 4: nothing mystical. It's October, and I cover football for a living,
• 16:19
  Speaker 4: so it always falls during a busy time in the
• 16:22
  Speaker 4: calendar for us. One of these years, hopefully my wife
• 16:26
  Speaker 4: will be off, or maybe it'll be the Steelers' bye
• 16:28
  Speaker 4: week or something, and we can really cook something up, literally.
• 16:31
  Speaker 4: But no, all of our neighbor's do a great job
• 16:34
  Speaker 4: bringing a pot there's usually like seven or eight contestants
• 16:38
  Speaker 4: and uh we vote on it and sometimes there's like
• 16:40
  Speaker 4: a white chicken chili there's there's spicy ones there's sweet
• 16:44
  Speaker 4: ones there's traditional uh so yeah it's it's a nice
• 16:46
  Speaker 4: little tradition in our neighborhood in shaylor we'll just chip
• 16:50
  Speaker 4: in with like a dessert or something we won't be
• 16:52
  Speaker 4: dead beats but i'm not gonna i'm not gonna enter
• 16:55
  Speaker 4: the contest unfortunately.
• 16:57
  Speaker 2: Oh, man, you've got all those different types of chilies.
• 16:59
  Speaker 2: You know, don't sleep on a good chicken white chili,
• 17:02
  Speaker 2: especially if you're watching the calories from a health standpoint.
• 17:05
  Speaker 3: So I do like to cook. I cook a lot.
• 17:08
  Speaker 2: In fact, I cook the majority of my household, and
• 17:10
  Speaker 2: chili is one of my specialties. But that white chicken
• 17:12
  Speaker 2: chili is one of my best. I'll have to make
• 17:14
  Speaker 2: something and bring them in here. We'll bring in a
• 17:15
  Speaker 2: crock pot in here in the studio, and we'll feed
• 17:17
  Speaker 2: the whole iHeart family.
• 17:21
  Speaker 4: Come to the cook-off. I mean, it's a little short
• 17:23
  Speaker 4: notice this year, but I'll get you the invite with
• 17:25
  Speaker 4: ample time next year. And you can drive whatever, 45,
• 17:28
  Speaker 4: 50 minutes from your house up to my house just
• 17:32
  Speaker 4: for the chili cook-off. The white chicken chili, though, it's
• 17:34
  Speaker 4: like it is a little bit of a wild card.
• 17:36
  Speaker 4: It's kind of like when you've got the MVP voting
• 17:39
  Speaker 4: in the NFL and it's like there's six or seven
• 17:41
  Speaker 4: QBs who are in the mix. But then there's like
• 17:43
  Speaker 4: one edge rusher who has 22 sacks. You're like, how
• 17:46
  Speaker 4: do you even kind of compare him with the rest?
• 17:49
  Speaker 4: Because it's such a different evaluation. But you got to
• 17:53
  Speaker 4: just try to take it all into account.
• 17:54
  Speaker 2: I'll pack my lunch and head north. You know, here
• 17:57
  Speaker 2: in Pittsburgh, you don't go north to south and you
• 17:59
  Speaker 2: don't go east to west or west to east. North
• 18:01
  Speaker 2: Hills people stay in the North Hills. South people stay
• 18:04
  Speaker 2: in the south, west, east.
• 18:05
  Speaker 3: Of course, I'm kidding. You and I travel all over
• 18:07
  Speaker 3: the place.
• 18:07
  Speaker 2: And, man, I'd be happy to come up and go
• 18:09
  Speaker 2: to the Shaler, Cotisac, chili cook-off. And, hey, maybe I
• 18:15
  Speaker 2: could be a celebrity judge. I mean, I'm not that
• 18:16
  Speaker 2: much of a celebrity, but I'm on the air with you.
• 18:18
  Speaker 2: That has to count for something.
• 18:21
  Speaker 4: Well, you just got to get this to the right.
• 18:23
  Speaker 4: powers that be at iHeartRadio, and suddenly we're doing a
• 18:26
  Speaker 4: remote broadcast, I think, from the Chili Cook-Off, and we're
• 18:29
  Speaker 4: sponsoring it in some way.
• 18:31
  Speaker 3: Oh, man, now you're talking. Now we're bringing everything together.
• 18:34
  Speaker 2: We can do the Steelers report from the cul-de-sac and
• 18:37
  Speaker 2: eat some chili and talk about Steeler football. Speaking of
• 18:40
  Speaker 2: talking about Steeler football, let's get into our five keys
• 18:42
  Speaker 2: on defense. We just did our five keys on offense
• 18:45
  Speaker 2: for the Pittsburgh Steelers game this upcoming Sunday, week five.
• 18:48
  Speaker 2: against the 2-2 Indianapolis Colts. Here's an obvious one, and
• 18:52
  Speaker 2: we've been talking about it all show long. If you
• 18:55
  Speaker 2: listen to any pregame here on SNR throughout the weekend,
• 18:57
  Speaker 2: which I'm sure you will be, I'm sure all the
• 18:59
  Speaker 2: shows are talking about this one. Stop Jonathan Taylor. Pretty simple, right? Well,
• 19:03
  Speaker 2: maybe easier said than done. The Colts offense runs through him.
• 19:06
  Speaker 2: Taylor has 20-plus touches in every game he's played this season,
• 19:10
  Speaker 2: six rushing touchdowns, and 308 more rushing yards than any
• 19:14
  Speaker 2: other Colts player. You've got to shut down Jonathan Taylor
• 19:17
  Speaker 2: from a defensive standpoint on Sunday.
• 19:20
  Speaker 4: That much is obvious. How you do it, not quite
• 19:23
  Speaker 4: as simple, but I'd just boil it down to defensive
• 19:27
  Speaker 4: linemen need to get off blocks. Linebackers need to swarm
• 19:30
  Speaker 4: to the ball, probably need to get multiple guys to
• 19:32
  Speaker 4: the ball, and you need to wrap them up. This
• 19:35
  Speaker 4: is a team that's really good at takeaways, and the
• 19:38
  Speaker 4: turnover culture is prevalent once again this year, even with
• 19:41
  Speaker 4: the new staff, but I'm not trying to punch the
• 19:43
  Speaker 4: ball away from Jonathan Taylor. I mean, he can put
• 19:46
  Speaker 4: it on the ground sometimes, but I'd worry more about
• 19:49
  Speaker 4: making sure I just get him on the ground. And,
• 19:51
  Speaker 4: you know, we'll worry about getting our turnovers from Danny Dimes.
• 19:56
  Speaker 3: Speaking of Danny Dimes, here we go. He's up next.
• 19:58
  Speaker 3: Get pressure on Jones.
• 20:00
  Speaker 2: The Steelers have a three sack differential on the season
• 20:04
  Speaker 2: with Jones. He has struggled when forcing to make plays.
• 20:07
  Speaker 2: The Steelers need guys like T.J. Watt, to get in
• 20:09
  Speaker 2: front of him and create those negative plays and get
• 20:12
  Speaker 2: constant pressure on him. And also our third key on defense,
• 20:16
  Speaker 2: we're just going to put these two together because I
• 20:18
  Speaker 2: talked about getting pressure on Jones, but also.
• 20:20
  Speaker 3: Make Daniel Jones beat you deep.
• 20:22
  Speaker 2: Jones is averaging just 188.5 passing yards per game and
• 20:26
  Speaker 2: has completed only 11% of his passes with 20 or
• 20:30
  Speaker 2: plus yards down the field. That is worse than in
• 20:32
  Speaker 2: the NFL. Don't give up the big run and make
• 20:35
  Speaker 2: him constantly throw to beat you. We were talking about
• 20:37
  Speaker 2: this earlier. You get after Jonathan Taylor from a defensive standpoint,
• 20:41
  Speaker 2: shut him down, and force Daniel Jones to beat you
• 20:43
  Speaker 2: with his arm.
• 20:45
  Speaker 4: For sure, and if he's dropping back trying to look deep,
• 20:48
  Speaker 4: that also means that business is open for getting in
• 20:52
  Speaker 4: there and getting to the football. Daniel Jones, 62 career fumbles.
• 20:57
  Speaker 4: 31 of those have been lost. It feels like 45
• 21:01
  Speaker 4: of those and 20 of the lost fumbles have come
• 21:05
  Speaker 4: against the Steelers. Remember, it was a couple years ago
• 21:08
  Speaker 4: before he joined the Colts when he was with the Giants.
• 21:11
  Speaker 4: TJ Watt flipped sides of the line earlier in that game.
• 21:15
  Speaker 4: Daniel Jones was trying to pick him up late in
• 21:17
  Speaker 4: that game. Next thing you know, they're late on a
• 21:20
  Speaker 4: protection call and switch and they don't slide it. TJ
• 21:24
  Speaker 4: gets in there, strip sack, boom, game over. Steelers win.
• 21:28
  Speaker 4: So Daniel Jones is not fared well against Pittsburgh in
• 21:32
  Speaker 4: his NFL career. And let's hope we see that again
• 21:35
  Speaker 4: on Sunday.
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 21:37
  Speaker 3: You know, you got to stop.
• 21:39
  Speaker 2: Like I said, Jonathan Taylor, first and foremost, but if
• 21:42
  Speaker 2: you force Daniel Jones to make those mistakes, the Steelers
• 21:45
  Speaker 2: can feast on those big splash plays that they like
• 21:48
  Speaker 2: to live and die by on the defensive side of
• 21:50
  Speaker 2: the football field, Brian. Maybe it's an opportunity for TJ
• 21:53
  Speaker 2: Watt on his birthday to come up with one of
• 21:55
  Speaker 2: those big splash plays. He's done it so much throughout
• 21:57
  Speaker 2: the first four weeks of the regular season.
• 22:00
  Speaker 3: I don't know about you.
• 22:00
  Speaker 2: Again, I don't want to go out and say that
• 22:02
  Speaker 2: he's going to do it on Sunday, but it sure
• 22:04
  Speaker 2: feels like a good opportunity for a guy like TJ
• 22:07
  Speaker 2: Watt to make one of those big plays.
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: Oh, man.
• 22:11
  Speaker 4: I think when it comes to this Colts offensive line,
• 22:15
  Speaker 4: I mentioned him earlier, Jalen Travis is– stepping into a
• 22:19
  Speaker 4: bigger role this year because Braden Smith was their right
• 22:22
  Speaker 4: tackle for a long, long time. He's off to Houston now,
• 22:26
  Speaker 4: I believe. Travis, a fourth rounder a year ago out
• 22:29
  Speaker 4: of Iowa State. I think T.J. Watt, and Travis is
• 22:33
  Speaker 4: a big guy, so he's got the size at 6'8, 339.
• 22:37
  Speaker 4: He's huge out there. He's a large wall to try
• 22:41
  Speaker 4: to run around, but T.J. Watt has done that before
• 22:44
  Speaker 4: against imposing right tackles. And I think the interior of
• 22:49
  Speaker 4: the Colts line is more of a strength. You know,
• 22:51
  Speaker 4: Tanner Bordellini, their center, has been pretty stout. Love the
• 22:54
  Speaker 4: right guard, Matt Gonsalves, mainly because he's a Pitt guy.
• 22:58
  Speaker 4: You know, he's a Pitt alum who goes back, I
• 23:01
  Speaker 4: think I covered when he committed to Pitt. So that
• 23:03
  Speaker 4: would have been in like 2017 or 2018. And he
• 23:07
  Speaker 4: was a tackle for Pat Narduzzi's bunch, but he's moved
• 23:09
  Speaker 4: to the interior for the Colts. And he's been pretty reliable.
• 23:14
  Speaker 4: And I remember last year, too, right before the Colts
• 23:16
  Speaker 4: traveled here, Matt Gonsalves lost his father, William. So he
• 23:21
  Speaker 4: was playing with a heavy heart that day. And I'm
• 23:22
  Speaker 4: sure some of those emotions will come rushing back to
• 23:25
  Speaker 4: him on the field that he played at in college
• 23:27
  Speaker 4: as well. But I don't know that there will be
• 23:29
  Speaker 4: too many easy, quick wins against him. Hopefully TJ gets
• 23:33
  Speaker 4: a lot against Jalen Travis.
• 23:35
  Speaker 2: Our fourth key on defense for the Steelers this upcoming
• 23:38
  Speaker 2: Sunday against the Colts is to win the turnover battle.
• 23:41
  Speaker 2: We talk about winning the turnover battle as a key
• 23:43
  Speaker 2: probably pretty much every week, but listen to this, Double B.
• 23:45
  Speaker 2: The Colts are a negative six in turnover differential so
• 23:49
  Speaker 2: far this season. That is worst in the NFL, and
• 23:51
  Speaker 2: they've lost the turnover battle in every game so far
• 23:55
  Speaker 2: this season. Meanwhile, the Steelers have forced at least one
• 23:58
  Speaker 2: turnover in every game so far this season.
• 24:00
  Speaker 3: Again, that sets up nicely for the black and gold.
• 24:03
  Speaker 6: Yes.
• 24:04
  Speaker 4: Yes, it does, Ed. And, you know, I think that
• 24:08
  Speaker 4: the Steelers defense, you might need to thrive on that
• 24:11
  Speaker 4: a little bit more than usual this week because there
• 24:13
  Speaker 4: are going to be some patchwork stuff going on, some
• 24:16
  Speaker 4: patchwork moves in the secondary. But that doesn't mean that
• 24:20
  Speaker 4: you can underestimate anyone who steps in there at corner.
• 24:24
  Speaker 4: I mean, Sean Murphy Bunting's a vet. Daylon Everett's a
• 24:28
  Speaker 4: rookie who might get his first NFL start. in this one.
• 24:31
  Speaker 4: And then Asante Samuel Jr. I think it's been somewhat
• 24:34
  Speaker 4: up and down these, these last few weeks for him.
• 24:37
  Speaker 4: So I'm sure that the Colts are going to try
• 24:39
  Speaker 4: to exploit the, the lack of corner options or depth
• 24:43
  Speaker 4: right now for the Steelers, but Hey, that's why you
• 24:45
  Speaker 4: got to rise to the occasion.
• 24:47
  Speaker 2: It is why you have to rise to the occasion
• 24:50
  Speaker 2: this week and force those turnovers. And again, the Colts,
• 24:53
  Speaker 2: one of the worst in the NFL and the Steelers
• 24:55
  Speaker 2: forcing one, at least every game so far this season,
• 24:58
  Speaker 2: our fifth and final. key on defense is simply tackle
• 25:02
  Speaker 2: better especially against the run especially against Jonathan Taylor the
• 25:05
  Speaker 2: Steelers have already allowed 303 yards after missing tackles that's
• 25:10
  Speaker 2: the second most in the NFL and against someone like
• 25:13
  Speaker 2: Taylor who missed and makes defenders miss tackles on a
• 25:15
  Speaker 2: regular basis you have to limit him with those explosive
• 25:19
  Speaker 2: plays we talked about at 14 last week in Cleveland
• 25:23
  Speaker 2: boy it felt like Cincinnati though from the previous year
• 25:26
  Speaker 2: on that Thursday night but no Last week in Cleveland
• 25:29
  Speaker 2: on Thursday night, the Steelers missed 14 tackles. They have
• 25:32
  Speaker 2: to clean that up, and that'll be a big part
• 25:34
  Speaker 2: of this defensive game plan this weekend.
• 25:36
  Speaker 4: No doubt. And I think as we sit here Friday,
• 25:39
  Speaker 4: if I had to guess the five DBs who are
• 25:42
  Speaker 4: going to play the most for the Steelers, probably be
• 25:44
  Speaker 4: Daylon Everett and Asante Samuel Jr. on the outside, Jalen
• 25:47
  Speaker 4: Ramsey at nickel, and then Jaquan Brisker and Robert Spears
• 25:51
  Speaker 4: Jennings at safety. I think he has eclipsed Rayshon Jenkins
• 25:56
  Speaker 4: in that role. So that's still a starting five, so
• 26:00
  Speaker 4: to speak, of guys with experience or youth and speed.
• 26:07
  Speaker 4: And we'll see if they can counteract a Colts receiving
• 26:11
  Speaker 4: core that is missing its best player, traded its second
• 26:15
  Speaker 4: best player maybe in the offseason to the Steelers. It's
• 26:18
  Speaker 4: going to be a fun one. Should we get to
• 26:19
  Speaker 4: our predicts, Ed?
• 26:21
  Speaker 2: Yes, I was going there next, Double B, because we
• 26:24
  Speaker 2: only have a couple minutes left here in this segment.
• 26:25
  Speaker 2: We're going to finish the show today from the interview
• 26:28
  Speaker 2: we recorded the other day with Matt Taylor.
• 26:30
  Speaker 3: And again, when you listen to that interview, we do
• 26:31
  Speaker 3: talk about Pittman.
• 26:33
  Speaker 2: We're not aware yet when we recorded that the other
• 26:35
  Speaker 2: day that Pittman was going to be out, so Make
• 26:38
  Speaker 2: sure you take note of that when you listen to
• 26:39
  Speaker 2: that interview. But make sure you listen because it was
• 26:41
  Speaker 2: an interesting response from Matt Taylor about Michael Pittman Jr.
• 26:45
  Speaker 2: We both had the Steelers beating the Colts at the
• 26:48
  Speaker 2: beginning of the season, Brian, in this game this upcoming Sunday.
• 26:51
  Speaker 3: I'm going to stick with that.
• 26:52
  Speaker 2: I think the Steelers bounced back just like they did
• 26:54
  Speaker 2: against the Cincinnati Bengals after that tough loss in New England.
• 26:58
  Speaker 2: And they've had 10 days to prepare for the Colts.
• 27:01
  Speaker 2: in this game and the Colts coming back from overseas too.
• 27:03
  Speaker 2: That could potentially be a factor, but I like the
• 27:06
  Speaker 2: Steelers on Sunday to get the three and two on
• 27:09
  Speaker 2: the season.
• 27:11
  Speaker 4: I do too. I'm thinking the Steelers win here as
• 27:13
  Speaker 4: well and bounce back fashion, but I think it's going
• 27:16
  Speaker 4: to be a close one. I just simply haven't seen
• 27:18
  Speaker 4: from this team yet at the ability to go out
• 27:20
  Speaker 4: there and win decisively and really slam the door on
• 27:24
  Speaker 4: an opponent, play a complete 60 minutes from start to finish.
• 27:27
  Speaker 4: So until I see that I'm going to predict and
• 27:30
  Speaker 4: project another, Close victory, but I think T.J. Watt, it's
• 27:35
  Speaker 4: sort of one of those obvious call is an obvious call,
• 27:38
  Speaker 4: but stop me if you've heard this before. I'm not
• 27:42
  Speaker 4: going to try to reinvent the wheel. I think T.J.
• 27:43
  Speaker 4: Watt is going to be pretty dominant, and the Steelers
• 27:47
  Speaker 4: will get enough going offensively to win a close ballgame
• 27:51
  Speaker 4: Sunday against the Baby Horses.
• 27:53
  Speaker 2: Sure feels that way, doesn't it? And I think the
• 27:56
  Speaker 2: weather will slow that game down, too, for both teams.
• 27:59
  Speaker 2: And that'll be one of the storylines for you when
• 28:02
  Speaker 2: you write the game recap on Steelers.com after the game,
• 28:05
  Speaker 2: Double B.
• 28:06
  Speaker 3: We'll see.
• 28:07
  Speaker 2: It's a grass surface. We know it's had its struggles
• 28:09
  Speaker 2: throughout the year. So far, so good here in 2026.
• 28:12
  Speaker 2: But if you have a hurricane, I'm sure by then,
• 28:14
  Speaker 2: tropical storm moving in with a lot of rain, wherever
• 28:18
  Speaker 2: the NFL games will be played on Sunday, It'll be
• 28:20
  Speaker 2: part of those storylines.
• 28:22
  Speaker 5: He's back.
• 28:22
  Speaker 3: Oh, I'm troop up next.
• 28:24
  Speaker 2: We will speak with the voice of the Indianapolis Colts
• 28:27
  Speaker 2: play by play man, Matt Taylor. It is the Steelers
• 28:30
  Speaker 2: report right here on Steelers nation radio, part of the
• 28:32
  Speaker 2: Steelers audio network.
• 28:37
  Speaker 1: This is the Steelers report with Brian Bacco and Ed
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: troop on Steelers nation radio, a part of the Steelers
• 28:48
  Speaker 1: audio network.
• 28:49
  Speaker 2: The Indianapolis Colts 2-2 on the season against the Pittsburgh
• 28:52
  Speaker 2: Steelers 2-2. As we've been talking all week long, Steelers
• 28:56
  Speaker 2: trying to turn the corner from the Thursday night loss
• 28:58
  Speaker 2: from last week. Meanwhile, the Colts trying to ride the
• 29:01
  Speaker 2: wave of a two-game winning streak, trying to make it
• 29:03
  Speaker 2: three coming into Pittsburgh this upcoming weekend. We welcome in
• 29:07
  Speaker 2: Matt Taylor, voice of the Colts. He's the play-by-play guy there.
• 29:11
  Speaker 2: You can also catch Matt's weekly content with a host
• 29:14
  Speaker 2: of others. on the Colts Podcast Network. Matt, welcome into
• 29:19
  Speaker 2: the program. Thanks for joining us.
• 29:20
  Speaker 6: My pleasure, guys. Good to be with you and good
• 29:23
  Speaker 6: to be talking about this game. I think it's pretty
• 29:25
  Speaker 6: fascinating from both sides heading into a week five matchup here.
• 29:28
  Speaker 4: Matt, the Colts and the Steelers have locked horns a
• 29:32
  Speaker 4: lot for two teams that aren't in the same division.
• 29:34
  Speaker 4: I mean, I've been on the beat for, this is
• 29:36
  Speaker 4: year eight for me covering the Steelers and year one
• 29:39
  Speaker 4: for Steelers.com. But, uh, there's, there's a lot of familiarity here.
• 29:42
  Speaker 4: And I guess that goes to show, you know, two
• 29:44
  Speaker 4: teams that are, you know, usually right in that, uh,
• 29:47
  Speaker 4: you know, one, two or three spot in the division.
• 29:49
  Speaker 4: So it's, it doesn't, it feels like a yearly occurrence
• 29:53
  Speaker 4: at this point, whether it's out there or back here.
• 29:55
  Speaker 6: You're exactly right. This is the fifth year in a row.
• 29:57
  Speaker 6: These two teams will meet.
• 29:59
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 29:59
  Speaker 6: I mean, it's, that's, that's a very, very rare thing
• 30:02
  Speaker 6: for non divisional teams. And of course this year they're
• 30:05
  Speaker 6: meeting because of the AFC South and the AFC North
• 30:08
  Speaker 6: crossover there.
• 30:09
  Speaker 5: But all these games.
• 30:11
  Speaker 6: Come down to the wire, seemingly last year's game, a
• 30:15
  Speaker 6: little bit deceiving. I mean, it was a seven point game,
• 30:17
  Speaker 6: but I think the Steelers were more in control down
• 30:20
  Speaker 6: the stretch of that game than just the seven points.
• 30:22
  Speaker 6: But yeah, you got two, two, two and two teams
• 30:25
  Speaker 6: in this game. And I think, you know, for the Colts,
• 30:28
  Speaker 6: they're playing much better the last two weeks than they were,
• 30:32
  Speaker 6: than they did the first two games when they played
• 30:34
  Speaker 6: some elite teams in the AFC and Kansas city and Baltimore.
• 30:37
  Speaker 5: And then you got the Steelers. You, I mean, I'm
• 30:39
  Speaker 5: not telling you guys anything.
• 30:40
  Speaker 6: You don't know a little bit uneven kind of alternating
• 30:43
  Speaker 6: winds and 2-0 at home, 0-2 on the road, coming
• 30:47
  Speaker 6: off some long rest, the nine-day window after playing on
• 30:50
  Speaker 6: Thursday night football. And Mike McCarthy saying we kind of
• 30:54
  Speaker 6: need to clean some things up, take some stock of
• 30:57
  Speaker 6: who we are and where we need to get better.
• 31:00
  Speaker 6: So it'll be fascinating in that regard. The Colts are
• 31:03
  Speaker 6: coming off short rest, having played in London, the long
• 31:06
  Speaker 6: flight home and things like that. So it's a very
• 31:09
  Speaker 6: interesting game on paper with a lead up heading into Sunday.
• 31:12
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 31:12
  Speaker 4: And a dozen two and two teams at the moment
• 31:14
  Speaker 4: in the NFL. So a lot of teams kind of
• 31:16
  Speaker 4: at an early crossroads as the Colts come from the
• 31:19
  Speaker 4: crossroads of America. And I think it was Yogi Berra
• 31:21
  Speaker 4: who said, when you come to a fork in the road,
• 31:23
  Speaker 4: take it.
• 31:23
  Speaker 6: That's classic line right there.
• 31:26
  Speaker 5: We'll, we'll see where the Colts are at.
• 31:27
  Speaker 6: I mean, they're, they're a interesting team because offensively, you know,
• 31:32
  Speaker 6: they've had to kind of change the dynamics and the
• 31:34
  Speaker 6: aesthetics on who they are. this year compared to this
• 31:37
  Speaker 6: time a year ago mainly because of Alec Pierce's injury
• 31:41
  Speaker 6: and then defensively who are the Colts you know because
• 31:46
  Speaker 6: the first two games they allowed over a thousand yards
• 31:49
  Speaker 6: to elite offenses didn't play very well but got kind
• 31:52
  Speaker 6: of shredded up between Lamar Jackson and Patrick Mahomes and
• 31:56
  Speaker 6: then these last two games you know played two teams
• 32:00
  Speaker 6: that are combined one and seven record wise between the
• 32:02
  Speaker 6: Texans they played them without Nico Collins and then they
• 32:06
  Speaker 6: played A majority of that game in London against Washington
• 32:09
  Speaker 6: with a third string quarterback. And those two games, their
• 32:13
  Speaker 6: two wins, the Colts only gave up 500 yards combined.
• 32:16
  Speaker 6: So it's a little bit of a kind of a
• 32:18
  Speaker 6: litmus test game, I think, for the Colts to find
• 32:20
  Speaker 6: out who they actually are, how good they can be
• 32:23
  Speaker 6: against the Steelers team that's also two and two.
• 32:26
  Speaker 3: Matt, I want to talk to you about that Colts defense.
• 32:29
  Speaker 2: They've produced nine sacks in the first four games of
• 32:31
  Speaker 2: the season, and DeForest Buckner continues to lead this defense.
• 32:35
  Speaker 2: I believe he has three sacks in the first four
• 32:37
  Speaker 2: games and is the leader of that Colts defense that
• 32:39
  Speaker 2: you just spoke to that has obviously improved here in
• 32:42
  Speaker 2: recent weeks with the two wins.
• 32:43
  Speaker 6: Yeah, their pass rush is a little bit tricky because
• 32:46
  Speaker 6: the sack totals are respectable and the pressures are respectable.
• 32:52
  Speaker 6: All the numbers say they're they're, they're kind of fair,
• 32:55
  Speaker 6: you know, they're not elite to be fair, but, um,
• 32:59
  Speaker 6: they have six and a half sacks from their defensive
• 33:02
  Speaker 6: tackles and only one and a half sacks combined from
• 33:05
  Speaker 6: their edge group of players.
• 33:07
  Speaker 5: And that's kind of the missing thing.
• 33:08
  Speaker 6: If this defense has any sort of idea of going
• 33:11
  Speaker 6: from good to great, and hopefully as the season goes on,
• 33:15
  Speaker 6: you know, great to elite, um, that, that, that part
• 33:18
  Speaker 6: of the pass rush has got to come on.
• 33:20
  Speaker 5: And, You know, the Colts.
• 33:22
  Speaker 6: Lost a lot of players and a lot of production
• 33:25
  Speaker 6: off the edge in the offseason, and they just haven't
• 33:28
  Speaker 6: been able to replace it. They thought the idea coming
• 33:31
  Speaker 6: into the season was Layatu Latu, who was their first-round
• 33:34
  Speaker 6: pick a couple years ago, 15th overall selection in 2024.
• 33:38
  Speaker 6: For him, he was going to come into year number three,
• 33:41
  Speaker 6: and the light bulb was going to go off, and
• 33:43
  Speaker 6: he was going to have all of those close moments
• 33:46
  Speaker 6: that were almost sacks in years past.
• 33:49
  Speaker 5: Those were going to turn into.
• 33:51
  Speaker 6: game-changing quarterback takedowns in year number three, and we're a
• 33:56
  Speaker 6: quarter of the season in, and it just hasn't happened.
• 33:59
  Speaker 6: He only has a half sack so far through a month.
• 34:04
  Speaker 6: He's had flashes, but they need him to turn into
• 34:08
  Speaker 6: like the dog. I mean, it's not fair to say
• 34:12
  Speaker 6: he needs to be T.J. Watt because nobody's T.J. Watt,
• 34:14
  Speaker 6: but you get what I'm saying. He needs to be
• 34:17
  Speaker 6: the Colts' version of their game wrecker, and it just–
• 34:21
  Speaker 6: They're still waiting, you know, four games in. So the
• 34:24
  Speaker 6: defensive tackles, you mentioned DeForest Buckner individually.
• 34:27
  Speaker 5: I mean, he's having a resurgence.
• 34:31
  Speaker 6: I mean, I hate to call it that because I
• 34:32
  Speaker 6: don't think he ever, you know, completely went away. But
• 34:36
  Speaker 6: the reason why I classify it like that is because
• 34:38
  Speaker 6: he's coming off a neck injury that, ironically, he sustained
• 34:42
  Speaker 6: in Pittsburgh last year.
• 34:44
  Speaker 4: Troy, I want to really thump them there on one
• 34:47
  Speaker 4: of those pass sets.
• 34:49
  Speaker 5: So he was.
• 34:50
  Speaker 6: for the rest of that year, last year from November on,
• 34:53
  Speaker 6: he was basically out of commission. Uh, it ultimately had
• 34:57
  Speaker 6: to end the year on injured reserve, had an off
• 34:59
  Speaker 6: season neck procedure. And the way he talked about it,
• 35:03
  Speaker 6: you know, back in January, right before having surgery, he said,
• 35:07
  Speaker 6: I couldn't even lift 10 pounds.
• 35:09
  Speaker 5: I couldn't play with my kids.
• 35:10
  Speaker 6: I couldn't pick my kids up just because I was
• 35:12
  Speaker 6: in that much, uh, you know, pain. And it was,
• 35:15
  Speaker 6: it was that severe. So he has the, the, the
• 35:18
  Speaker 6: surgery and has the procedure. Um, comes back, doesn't do
• 35:22
  Speaker 6: anything in the offseason, really kind of takes a slow
• 35:25
  Speaker 6: in training camp. And so only speaking for myself, like
• 35:28
  Speaker 6: I had no idea what to expect from Buck. I
• 35:32
  Speaker 6: thought anything they got from him from a production standpoint
• 35:35
  Speaker 6: would just be like gravy or just kind of a bonus.
• 35:40
  Speaker 6: But never in my wildest dreams did I think that
• 35:42
  Speaker 6: he was going to come back and play as much
• 35:44
  Speaker 6: as he is, which is over 80% of the snaps
• 35:47
  Speaker 6: right now.
• 35:48
  Speaker 5: And look this good.
• 35:49
  Speaker 6: He's been dominant, you know, with the tackles for loss,
• 35:52
  Speaker 6: the pressure numbers, the sack. So he's been their most
• 35:56
  Speaker 6: consistent force, not only within the pass rush, but probably
• 35:59
  Speaker 6: the most consistent player they have on defense overall.
• 36:03
  Speaker 5: And just wild to think.
• 36:04
  Speaker 6: The journey that he's been on and, you know, the
• 36:07
  Speaker 6: amount of uncertainty that did surround him coming into the season.
• 36:11
  Speaker 6: So it's been a wild ride, but it's been a
• 36:13
  Speaker 6: positive ride for DeForest Buckner. But Um, sack numbers are
• 36:17
  Speaker 6: okay across the board for the defense, but if you
• 36:19
  Speaker 6: look closer, it's a little bit concerning because most of
• 36:22
  Speaker 6: that production is coming from the interior pass rush and
• 36:25
  Speaker 6: not on the outside where it needs to be.
• 36:27
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 36:28
  Speaker 4: That's the, uh, the harsh reality of a violent game
• 36:30
  Speaker 4: is here in Pittsburgh. We viewed that one play within
• 36:34
  Speaker 4: an overall Sunday's worth of, uh, you know, reps for
• 36:38
  Speaker 4: Troy Fautano as kind of a coming out moment, but
• 36:41
  Speaker 4: on the other side of it, you, you've got an
• 36:43
  Speaker 4: all time, uh, you know, interior defensive lineman who, you know,
• 36:47
  Speaker 4: really went through it there with, with Buckner. That's, I mean,
• 36:49
  Speaker 4: your answer just tells me there's going to be a
• 36:50
  Speaker 4: lot of stress on Steelers guard and guards and centers
• 36:53
  Speaker 4: in this one. I wanted to ask you one more
• 36:55
  Speaker 4: on defense though. What have we been seeing from sauce
• 36:57
  Speaker 4: Gardner on the back end? Because it was the weird thing.
• 37:00
  Speaker 4: The Steelers faced him in week one with the jets.
• 37:02
  Speaker 4: That was the first game for DK Metcalf and Aaron Rodgers,
• 37:05
  Speaker 4: but then did not see him in what could have
• 37:07
  Speaker 4: been return engagement with the Colts. Do you see him
• 37:10
  Speaker 4: shadowing DK, or is he just kind of trying to
• 37:13
  Speaker 4: erase one side of the field right now?
• 37:14
  Speaker 6: Well, the Colts have the luxury of having two guys
• 37:17
  Speaker 6: that can, on paper, potentially shut down both outside parts
• 37:22
  Speaker 6: of the field, and Ward and Sauce Gardner, Charverius Ward,
• 37:26
  Speaker 6: he's back after having some injuries last year as well.
• 37:29
  Speaker 6: He had three different concussions in 2025. and played a
• 37:32
  Speaker 6: career-low seven games. So he's back, and I think the
• 37:38
  Speaker 6: concerning thing about the Colts in the past defense has
• 37:42
  Speaker 6: been they've got those two guys, and if you look
• 37:45
  Speaker 6: at the analytics with those two outside corners, those guys
• 37:48
  Speaker 6: are playing well for the most part, but the Colts'
• 37:51
  Speaker 6: passing defensive numbers are still pretty gaudy, and that's because
• 37:55
  Speaker 6: they haven't been able to shut down the middle of
• 37:57
  Speaker 6: the field, and they've been taken advantage of on long,
• 38:00
  Speaker 6: developing defense like over routes, deep crossers. I mean, it's
• 38:04
  Speaker 6: just tough for corners to hang on and covers for
• 38:07
  Speaker 6: that long in that part of the field. But, you know,
• 38:10
  Speaker 6: you mentioned Sauce. He has the potential to be a
• 38:13
  Speaker 6: premier shutdown corner. And that's why the Colts traded for
• 38:18
  Speaker 6: him and gave up big draft capital to do so
• 38:21
  Speaker 6: with two first round picks. But he didn't play well
• 38:24
  Speaker 6: last week. And he was the first one today in
• 38:26
  Speaker 6: the locker room to admit that. He kind of owned
• 38:29
  Speaker 6: up to it and face the music. I mean, he,
• 38:32
  Speaker 6: I think he gave up five completions last week against,
• 38:35
  Speaker 6: you know, no name receivers. I hate to say it that,
• 38:38
  Speaker 6: but I mean, you, you gave up over a hundred
• 38:40
  Speaker 6: yards to, um, Traylon Burks and Deami Brown had a
• 38:44
  Speaker 6: big catch. I mean, those aren't, that's not Justin Jefferson.
• 38:48
  Speaker 6: That's not Jamar chase, right? All due respect to those guys.
• 38:51
  Speaker 6: And you had a third string, uh, quarterback deliver the
• 38:54
  Speaker 6: ball to him.
• 38:55
  Speaker 5: Um, so he didn't play well.
• 38:57
  Speaker 6: And I think what, riled up colts fans a little
• 39:00
  Speaker 6: bit is that uh you know he was kind of
• 39:02
  Speaker 6: shutting it down a little bit early on you know
• 39:05
  Speaker 6: chasing a a would-be touchdown that got called back via
• 39:08
  Speaker 6: penalty there was a couple of other moments on tape
• 39:10
  Speaker 6: that didn't look good in terms of hustle um so
• 39:14
  Speaker 6: he kind of had to own up to that a
• 39:15
  Speaker 6: little bit and you know held himself accountable didn't like
• 39:19
  Speaker 6: the way that translated didn't like the way it looked
• 39:21
  Speaker 6: on film um but that's that's the reality that's how
• 39:24
  Speaker 6: this goes anytime You have a player with a big
• 39:28
  Speaker 6: name like Sauce Gardner and the way that he was acquired,
• 39:31
  Speaker 6: the Colts giving up two first-round picks to bring him in,
• 39:34
  Speaker 6: the spotlight is going to be a little bit brighter.
• 39:37
  Speaker 5: So he knows he's got to play well. He knows
• 39:40
  Speaker 5: he has to play better.
• 39:42
  Speaker 6: And as far as shadowing DK Metcalf, I don't know because,
• 39:45
  Speaker 6: like I said, I don't think they need to do
• 39:47
  Speaker 6: that because they have both guys outside that have the
• 39:50
  Speaker 6: ability to shut down, you know, elite number one wide receivers,
• 39:54
  Speaker 6: but that's not to say the Colts can't or won't
• 39:57
  Speaker 6: do that with sauce, or maybe it's even ward in
• 39:59
  Speaker 6: that regard, but, definitely something to keep an eye on
• 40:02
  Speaker 6: as we inch closer to Sunday.
• 40:04
  Speaker 2: We're talking with Matt Taylor, who is the voice of
• 40:06
  Speaker 2: the Indianapolis Colts, the play-by-play guy there. You can also
• 40:09
  Speaker 2: hear Matt's content weekly on the Colts Podcast Network.
• 40:14
  Speaker 3: Matt, Michael Pittman Jr.
• 40:15
  Speaker 2: that was the big acquisition for the Steelers to try
• 40:18
  Speaker 2: to get their true number two wide receiver this past offseason.
• 40:21
  Speaker 2: They did that. They got him from the Colts. Let
• 40:23
  Speaker 2: me ask you, does Indianapolis miss Pittman?
• 40:26
  Speaker 5: Well, you know, I don't know.
• 40:27
  Speaker 6: That's a really good question, but I mean, just the
• 40:30
  Speaker 6: level of respect that everybody in the organization top down
• 40:34
  Speaker 6: had for Michael Pittman Jr.
• 40:35
  Speaker 5: Is just off the charts. He was a guy that
• 40:38
  Speaker 5: always answered the bell.
• 40:39
  Speaker 6: A couple of years ago, he played with a back
• 40:42
  Speaker 6: injury that I think most receivers probably would have shut
• 40:44
  Speaker 6: it down and dealt with early on in the season too.
• 40:47
  Speaker 6: Like it was about this time, week three, four, five,
• 40:51
  Speaker 6: and he played the entire rest of the season with
• 40:53
  Speaker 6: that nagging deal and didn't miss any games. And he's
• 40:57
  Speaker 6: just a really tough son of a gun. And I think,
• 41:01
  Speaker 6: to be fair, I think the biggest thing that they
• 41:03
  Speaker 6: probably miss out of Pittman are just things that don't
• 41:06
  Speaker 6: show up in the box score, like a lot of intangibles, leadership, accountability.
• 41:11
  Speaker 6: He's completely, or was here, he was completely bought in
• 41:15
  Speaker 6: to the running game, the physicality, blocking on the outside.
• 41:19
  Speaker 6: I mean, he's just a really, really good dude. He
• 41:21
  Speaker 6: was a good guy to talk to in the locker room.
• 41:23
  Speaker 6: So I do miss that aspect of things. But, you know,
• 41:28
  Speaker 6: he was that possession. You know, here at Indianapolis, he was,
• 41:32
  Speaker 6: you know, what I'm about to say might sound like
• 41:35
  Speaker 6: it's a slight, but I truly mean it as a
• 41:38
  Speaker 6: total compliment. Michael Pittman Jr. is kind of like a
• 41:41
  Speaker 6: tight end in a wide receiver's body, right? Because here anyways,
• 41:45
  Speaker 6: I don't have the– body of work to really be
• 41:50
  Speaker 6: an expert on how Pittsburgh is using them. But at
• 41:53
  Speaker 6: least here, a lot of his catches, most of his
• 41:56
  Speaker 6: catches were between the numbers, 15 to 20 yards down
• 42:00
  Speaker 6: the field. And he was a high volume possession receiver.
• 42:05
  Speaker 6: He was big on third down or a clutch moment,
• 42:09
  Speaker 6: you know, a tough contested grab. They were always looking
• 42:12
  Speaker 6: in Michael Pittman Jr. 's way in moments like that.
• 42:16
  Speaker 6: But his yards per catch numbers, they were never going
• 42:19
  Speaker 6: to blow you away. His yards per catch typically was 11,
• 42:25
  Speaker 6: 12 yards down the field, things like that. So it
• 42:28
  Speaker 6: was more like a tight end production, but a higher
• 42:32
  Speaker 6: volume because of where they could line him up on
• 42:34
  Speaker 6: the field and his ability to take advantage of matchups
• 42:38
  Speaker 6: between linebackers and safeties no matter the down and distance
• 42:41
  Speaker 6: on the field well the last.
• 42:43
  Speaker 4: One i got for you matt maybe ed's got another
• 42:44
  Speaker 4: one but uh keeping with the receivers and nfl juniors
• 42:48
  Speaker 4: because i just got an email pop in here from
• 42:50
  Speaker 4: one of these sites that puts odds on everything you
• 42:52
  Speaker 4: can possibly put odds on out there are the colts
• 42:54
  Speaker 4: gonna trade for marvin harrison jr before they make the
• 42:56
  Speaker 4: the flight out to pittsburgh on saturday or what i
• 42:59
  Speaker 4: know that uh that would be kind of a crazy
• 43:01
  Speaker 4: story and it looks like he's not faring too well
• 43:03
  Speaker 4: in the cardinals.
• 43:04
  Speaker 6: Offense Well, I think it's, it's all hands on deck
• 43:06
  Speaker 6: for the Colts. They're on this quest right now. I
• 43:08
  Speaker 6: mentioned Alec Pierce there at the top. They're on a
• 43:11
  Speaker 6: quest to find some more pop, some more juice in
• 43:14
  Speaker 6: their offense.
• 43:15
  Speaker 5: You know, they signed Darius Slayton. Um, he hasn't been
• 43:19
  Speaker 5: active yet.
• 43:19
  Speaker 6: He has good rapport, you know, historically with Daniel Jones, uh,
• 43:23
  Speaker 6: in New York. Um, Ashton Doolin is a guy that
• 43:26
  Speaker 6: they think can have some burn on the outside, but
• 43:29
  Speaker 6: we just haven't seen it. Um, Deion Burks is a
• 43:33
  Speaker 6: draft pick in the seventh round out of Oklahoma. Not
• 43:35
  Speaker 6: the biggest guy, but he's got speed. I just think
• 43:39
  Speaker 6: they're feeling the reverse effect of Alec Pierce. What they
• 43:43
  Speaker 6: got from him last year really stretched the defense away
• 43:46
  Speaker 6: from the line of scrimmage. The threat of Pierce elongated
• 43:50
  Speaker 6: the defense. That helped the intermediate part of the passing game.
• 43:54
  Speaker 6: It definitely helped the running game be really efficient with
• 43:57
  Speaker 6: Jonathan Taylor. And you're seeing the opposite of that this
• 44:00
  Speaker 6: year where You know, Daniel Jones has yards per attempt numbers.
• 44:05
  Speaker 5: Right now, they're just a hair over five.
• 44:07
  Speaker 6: Last year for the season, it was over eight, which
• 44:10
  Speaker 6: just speaks to the threat of Pierce and the big
• 44:12
  Speaker 6: plays that he was able to generate.
• 44:14
  Speaker 5: You know, the 50-50 goal balls down the sideline.
• 44:17
  Speaker 6: I mean, that was such an important aspect for the
• 44:19
  Speaker 6: Colts a year ago. They only have nine completions this year,
• 44:23
  Speaker 6: over 20 yards. Pass catchers and receivers, as a team,
• 44:27
  Speaker 6: they're only averaging nine yards per catch collectively. So the
• 44:32
  Speaker 6: Colts right now, I think from a, from a body
• 44:36
  Speaker 6: of work standpoint there right now, they're very centered around
• 44:39
  Speaker 6: Jonathan Taylor. They're going to have to be that team
• 44:42
  Speaker 6: that goes on nine, 10, 11 play drives to get
• 44:46
  Speaker 6: into the end zone, you know, possession type catches from
• 44:49
  Speaker 6: Keenan Allen and Josh Downs and Tyler Warren. That's just
• 44:54
  Speaker 6: who the Colts are right now without big pop on
• 44:57
  Speaker 6: the outside.
• 44:58
  Speaker 5: So, You know, I don't know if it's going to
• 44:59
  Speaker 5: be Marvin Harrison Jr. or somebody else.
• 45:01
  Speaker 6: Quez Watkins was signed this week to the practice squad.
• 45:04
  Speaker 6: We'll see if he's in the mix. But they're just
• 45:06
  Speaker 6: desperate for somebody that they can trust on the outside
• 45:09
  Speaker 6: to generate some more, some bigger plays for them to
• 45:13
  Speaker 6: help the offensive efficiency. Because you guys know it's hard
• 45:18
  Speaker 6: to go on long drives and score every time. especially
• 45:22
  Speaker 6: when you're playing on the road at Pittsburgh with that defense,
• 45:25
  Speaker 6: it's not the, it's not the best defense in the league,
• 45:27
  Speaker 6: but it's really disruptive. They're top 10 and all the
• 45:30
  Speaker 6: disruptive categories with tackles for loss and sacks and passes,
• 45:34
  Speaker 6: defense force fumbles, the number two and takeaways. So when
• 45:38
  Speaker 6: you have an offense that operates like the Colts for
• 45:41
  Speaker 6: the time being, any bad thing can really screw you
• 45:44
  Speaker 6: up a penalty, a sack, something that gets you off schedule,
• 45:48
  Speaker 6: or if he just flat out, get behind on the
• 45:50
  Speaker 6: scoreboard and, That really tests your ability stylistically to be
• 45:54
  Speaker 6: who the Colts are right now. So they're just desperate
• 45:57
  Speaker 6: to find somebody that can push the field and get
• 46:02
  Speaker 6: into some quicker scoring threats, I should say, and quickly
• 46:06
  Speaker 6: get into the high red, the low red.
• 46:09
  Speaker 5: Much more efficient than they have been.
• 46:10
  Speaker 3: Matt, thank you so much for coming on. Let's do
• 46:12
  Speaker 3: it again.
• 46:13
  Speaker 4: My pleasure, guys.
• 46:13
  Speaker 5: Good to be with you.
• 46:14
  Speaker 4: See you, Matt.
• 46:15
  Speaker 2: Thanks, man. All right, Matt Taylor, voice of the Indianapolis Colts.
• 46:18
  Speaker 2: And again, make sure you check out the Colts Podcast Network.
• 46:21
  Speaker 2: More whenever we come back right here on Steelers Nation Radio.