Latest / In the Locker Room presented by Neighborhood Ford Store (Pittsburgh Steelers) / HR1: Falcons Preview
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: Steelers Nation Radio SNR. This is In the Locker Room
- 0:13Speaker 1: with Rob King, Max Starks, and Willie Colon on Steelers
- 0:17Speaker 1: Nation Radio. Brought to you in part by the Steelers
- 0:20Speaker 1: Pro Shop. Get it direct from the team at the
- 0:23Speaker 1: Steelers Pro Shop at shop.steelers.com. And by your neighborhood Ford store.
- 0:29Speaker 1: The F-150 is the official truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
- 0:35Speaker 2: Well, thanks very much for being with us in the
- 0:36Speaker 2: locker room here in the Steelers Audio Network.
- 0:38Speaker 3: It's finally here. It's finally here. We're ready to go.
- 0:45Speaker 3: We're ready for a game week. Ah, was I muted there?
- 0:52Speaker 4: Yes, yeah.
- 0:53Speaker 5: No, I hear you loud and clear, Rob.
- 0:55Speaker 3: Okay, so yeah, see? Willie's got me. Willie's got me, Max.
- 0:59Speaker 3: Come on.
- 1:00Speaker 4: You were muted on the team's call, Rob. I see.
- 1:04Speaker 2: Well, I'm not coming out on the team's call. I'm
- 1:06Speaker 2: coming out across the Steelers Audio Network.
- 1:09Speaker 4: That is correct. That is correct.
- 1:11Speaker 3: I hope you guys had a good show yesterday.
- 1:13Speaker 2: I plan to be here for the foreseeable future. Had
- 1:17Speaker 2: an appointment yesterday that had to be kept. And now
- 1:21Speaker 2: I'm back. I don't know what you guys talked about,
- 1:23Speaker 2: but I'm fired up. Before I guess we get into
- 1:26Speaker 2: the game, and I can't wait to talk about some
- 1:28Speaker 2: of these matchups. I think we have some really intriguing
- 1:30Speaker 2: matchups here. What are you guys' thoughts on last night's game?
- 1:34Speaker 2: The 49ers just worked the Rams last night, Willie.
- 1:39Speaker 3: Yeah, it was.
- 1:41Speaker 6: Interesting because I think a lot of people who were
- 1:43Speaker 6: anticipating this matchup thought the 49ers weren't going to be
- 1:48Speaker 6: the lesser team solely because of.
- 1:50Speaker 5: The way the construction of the Rams roster looks like.
- 1:54Speaker 6: When you talk about assembling the Avengers in the offseason,
- 1:57Speaker 6: a lot of people thought like, yeah, the Niners are
- 1:59Speaker 6: a little aged, a little, you know, they lack depth
- 2:02Speaker 6: in certain positions.
- 2:04Speaker 5: Um, And listen, I never blame travel as.
- 2:07Speaker 6: An excuse why you shouldn't play well or why you
- 2:10Speaker 6: do play well. But it was clear from the jump
- 2:13Speaker 6: that the Rams were jet lagged. Showing up 28 hours
- 2:17Speaker 6: before the game did not help them. They absolutely got
- 2:20Speaker 6: dominated from, I want to say, from the first half
- 2:23Speaker 6: to the second half. Especially in the second half, they
- 2:25Speaker 6: gave up 24 points. And this was a defense led
- 2:28Speaker 6: by Myles Garrett, who was an absolute no-show defense. It
- 2:32Speaker 6: was put in the child's seat by Trent Williams and company.
- 2:35Speaker 6: With all that said, man, it was a humbling experience
- 2:39Speaker 6: for the Rams. And you can say what you want.
- 2:42Speaker 6: They were just out physical, out skiing. Kyle Shanahan clearly
- 2:46Speaker 6: owned Sean McVay. And it was a great example of
- 2:52Speaker 6: that paper tigers don't win games. You know, you still
- 2:56Speaker 6: have to show up, the ball has to be rolled out,
- 2:57Speaker 6: and you've got to execute and play at a high
- 2:59Speaker 6: level and be physical.
- 3:00Speaker 5: And the more physical team was the San Francisco 49ers.
- 3:03Speaker 6: For instance, if you go to the first play of
- 3:05Speaker 6: the game, the very first play, the 49ers are on defense,
- 3:09Speaker 6: the Rams are on offense. If you look at the
- 3:11Speaker 6: way Nick Bosa threw the right tackle of the Rams
- 3:15Speaker 6: out the club on the very first play and almost
- 3:17Speaker 6: sacked Matthew Stafford, I knew the Rams were in trouble
- 3:23Speaker 6: from that play right then on. I just knew it
- 3:25Speaker 6: because the Niners came in with a chip. They came
- 3:29Speaker 6: in with an edge.
- 3:29Speaker 5: I mean, it was crazy. He almost gave up a
- 3:31Speaker 5: sack and an interception on the very.
- 3:33Speaker 6: First play of the game. Because if Fred Warner is
- 3:36Speaker 6: a step quicker, he picks that ball off. So, listen,
- 3:40Speaker 6: it is what it is. I think Sean McVay said it.
- 3:43Speaker 6: He goes, he didn't do enough job. They didn't do
- 3:46Speaker 6: enough job. There's no excuses. Right now, the Rams are
- 3:49Speaker 6: 0-1 to start the NFL season.
- 3:54Speaker 4: Yeah, it was not a good display.
- 3:56Speaker 7: I kept kind of toggling back and forth, watching the
- 4:01Speaker 7: game as I was calling.
- 4:03Speaker 4: My game, and I was just checking the highlights, and
- 4:06Speaker 4: I was like, man.
- 4:07Speaker 7: Talk about, oh, Super Bowl or busted, this is the
- 4:11Speaker 7: best thing. They sure got off to a stumble at
- 4:14Speaker 7: the gates, and Miles Garrett, of course, coming out afterwards,
- 4:20Speaker 7: talking about he's not fully healthy, he's 85% he needs
- 4:24Speaker 7: to be better.
- 4:25Speaker 4: He needs to get healthy. I was like, why do
- 4:28Speaker 4: we have to make excuses? Just, you didn't play well,
- 4:31Speaker 4: you know, listen, just because you.
- 4:33Speaker 7: Didn't get a tackle and you're the reigning MVP and
- 4:35Speaker 7: you have all this stuff. I don't see TJ making
- 4:38Speaker 7: excuses like that, but you know, that's neither here nor there.
- 4:44Speaker 4: You know, I thought once again, San Francisco did it right.
- 4:47Speaker 7: You are literally going across the international dateline to play
- 4:51Speaker 7: a football game. So, You know, what have we learned here?
- 4:55Speaker 7: Don't think you're better than everybody else and flying over
- 4:57Speaker 7: there 48 hours ahead of time.
- 4:59Speaker 4: Take the time. Get your team adjusted because you didn't
- 5:01Speaker 4: do them a service.
- 5:03Speaker 7: And I think, like Willie said, they did not come
- 5:05Speaker 7: off that plane ready to go.
- 5:07Speaker 4: They needed to get adjusted.
- 5:08Speaker 5: Well, Rob, I want.
- 5:11Speaker 4: To say this quickly. Yeah, yeah.
- 5:12Speaker 3: Willie, you go.
- 5:13Speaker 2: Then I have a question for you guys that's going
- 5:15Speaker 2: to be a little off the wall.
- 5:16Speaker 3: But, Willie, you go first.
- 5:18Speaker 6: Well, I want to say this in reference to Max's
- 5:20Speaker 6: statement saying, you know– the Rams not being smart like
- 5:25Speaker 6: the 49ers and probably getting to Australia a little ahead
- 5:30Speaker 6: of time where they could get acclimated, settled, and ready
- 5:32Speaker 6: to play this game. Sean McVay, we got to remember,
- 5:35Speaker 6: also did this in London, but he had success. So
- 5:38Speaker 6: he probably felt like, oh, this is what I do.
- 5:41Speaker 6: We'll be fine. The issue with traveling, and by the way,
- 5:45Speaker 6: I got to throw my hand up in the sky.
- 5:47Speaker 6: I have never traveled out of the country for a
- 5:49Speaker 6: football game. But those who have will tell you the
- 5:54Speaker 6: biggest component to that is sleep. Now, I know the
- 5:56Speaker 6: Rams were like, well, we had a double-decker plane. Every
- 6:00Speaker 6: guy had a pod for themselves.
- 6:02Speaker 5: And it's different. It's just different, the setup. Max can
- 6:06Speaker 5: attest to this.
- 6:06Speaker 6: The night before the game, actually the two nights before
- 6:11Speaker 6: the game, is the most important sleep to be prepared
- 6:14Speaker 6: to play that game.
- 6:15Speaker 5: So obviously the Rams didn't do a good enough job.
- 6:17Speaker 5: And it showed. It showed all over. It showed through
- 6:19Speaker 5: all four quarters, Rob.
- 6:21Speaker 2: So I guess the Rams– I didn't follow the story closely, but, Willie,
- 6:29Speaker 2: we have a Cub reporter in the locker room. That
- 6:32Speaker 2: Cub reporter is my son, Schaefer King. So Schaefer King
- 6:35Speaker 2: filed a report telling me that the Rams evidently spent
- 6:38Speaker 2: months sending people over to Australia to see what was
- 6:42Speaker 2: the best– how did they react the best. Okay, hop
- 6:46Speaker 2: on a flight, go over there. Did you react best after–
- 6:49Speaker 2: 48 hours, 72 hours, 28 hours. I believe that's why
- 6:54Speaker 2: they came up with this 28 hours.
- 6:58Speaker 3: Max, are you privy to that? Is that the way
- 7:01Speaker 3: that went as well?
- 7:03Speaker 7: Yeah, well, and I'm sorry, but Joe from sales is not.
- 7:09Speaker 4: A proper player comp for that. I mean, you should
- 7:12Speaker 4: have said players. You know, Michelle in HR, I'm sure,
- 7:17Speaker 4: you know, did better.
- 7:18Speaker 7: 48 hours prior, but, you know, apparently a Matthew Stafford,
- 7:26Speaker 7: you know, Kyron Williams, Miles Garrett, probably should have sent
- 7:30Speaker 7: a player over there to see how can the body
- 7:34Speaker 7: go through that.
- 7:35Speaker 4: And that's where I think, you know, it's, it's one
- 7:38Speaker 4: thing to do London, right.
- 7:39Speaker 7: Where you're kind of going backwards in time and you're gaining,
- 7:44Speaker 7: you know, you're, you're, you know.
- 7:45Speaker 4: You're losing time. I'm sorry, you're losing time in a
- 7:49Speaker 4: different way going forward. London, right?
- 7:52Speaker 6: There's from L.A.
- 7:53Speaker 4: That is a seven to eight-hour time difference.
- 8:00Speaker 7: Eight-hour time difference to London.
- 8:02Speaker 6: Yeah.
- 8:03Speaker 4: I'll try to remember which one. I'll try to do
- 8:05Speaker 4: my counting.
- 8:05Speaker 2: But when you fly, you get there in the morning, right?
- 8:08Speaker 2: And you've had a couple of hours of sleep. Now
- 8:11Speaker 2: all you've got to do is get through that day.
- 8:13Speaker 2: By the way, anybody who travels to Europe, Get through
- 8:15Speaker 2: that first day. Maybe a little nap. Maybe, but no sleep.
- 8:19Speaker 2: Maybe 15 minutes.
- 8:20Speaker 4: Close your eyes.
- 8:21Speaker 3: Get through the day. Go to bed early. You wake
- 8:23Speaker 3: up the next day.
- 8:23Speaker 2: You're in pretty good shape. You wake up the day
- 8:26Speaker 2: after that. You're pretty much on target, right?
- 8:29Speaker 6: Yeah.
- 8:30Speaker 7: But you go to Australia. It is a significant time.
- 8:36Speaker 7: And you've gone back to the future. Let's just face it.
- 8:40Speaker 7: You've gone into the future once you crossed over the Pacific.
- 8:45Speaker 7: So that time difference is what I want to say.
- 8:48Speaker 7: It's from LA. Isn't that like a 16 hour time difference?
- 8:54Speaker 4: Yeah.
- 8:54Speaker 2: I don't, I don't know what it is, but it's
- 8:56Speaker 2: the other direction.
- 8:58Speaker 6: Yeah.
- 8:58Speaker 4: It's the other direction.
- 8:59Speaker 7: So you, you've sped up 16 hours into the future.
- 9:04Speaker 7: That's a huge biological physiological shift.
- 9:08Speaker 4: And listen, I have, I have.
- 9:10Speaker 7: Flown backwards before across the Pacific and Granted, I didn't
- 9:15Speaker 7: have whatever these sleep pods, sleep number mattress, whatever they
- 9:18Speaker 7: had on this Rams flight.
- 9:21Speaker 4: But it is rough.
- 9:23Speaker 7: It is rough when you wake up in a different
- 9:27Speaker 7: time zone and you're trying to like play catch up,
- 9:30Speaker 7: but you're ahead.
- 9:32Speaker 4: So it's like your body is like fighting itself.
- 9:35Speaker 7: And that whole sleep theory, and it's already a long,
- 9:38Speaker 7: almost 20, 24 hour flight.
- 9:40Speaker 4: To get there. So it's one of those that, I
- 9:44Speaker 4: know they did that, but this was the first time
- 9:45Speaker 4: they've ever played in Australia.
- 9:48Speaker 7: It was the first time they traveled that far for
- 9:51Speaker 7: an NFL game. I felt like there should have been
- 9:54Speaker 7: a little bit more credence and they should have done
- 9:57Speaker 7: it with players to have a better running.
- 10:00Speaker 3: Here we go.
- 10:01Speaker 7: You know, San Francisco is going to know in the division,
- 10:03Speaker 7: their number one in the division, even though Seattle had,
- 10:06Speaker 7: had their win at night, but everybody was pouring dirt
- 10:10Speaker 7: on San Francisco is the third best team in this.
- 10:12Speaker 4: Car, right out the gates. They get, they get the
- 10:15Speaker 4: victory and they get the NFC, the NFC West lead.
- 10:19Speaker 6: At the week one.
- 10:20Speaker 2: Sure glad that we did the power rankings on Tuesday
- 10:22Speaker 2: because we can rip them up. Or Wednesday, we can
- 10:24Speaker 2: rip them up and throw them away now. Rams aren't
- 10:26Speaker 2: going to be number one anymore. That division is going
- 10:28Speaker 2: to be brutal. Those top three teams are really good.
- 10:31Speaker 2: That was a good win for Seattle. But it brings
- 10:33Speaker 2: me to my question. Willie, I'll start with you, but
- 10:36Speaker 2: I also want Max to talk about this as well. So,
- 10:42Speaker 2: you know, you do all this research as a team.
- 10:45Speaker 2: You know, the game has changed a lot. And, you know,
- 10:49Speaker 2: I follow– several different sports in my job. I'm down
- 10:52Speaker 2: to basically two now, but everyone's looking for an edge
- 10:56Speaker 2: and everyone's trying to find this edge, you know, in
- 10:58Speaker 2: the computer world. And hey, we're going to fly here
- 11:00Speaker 2: because this is what we said. And they're trying to
- 11:02Speaker 2: think outside the box. And I think a lot of
- 11:05Speaker 2: good things come out of that. But I started to
- 11:07Speaker 2: think about watching the quality of this football, right?
- 11:10Speaker 3: And you see A.J.
- 11:11Speaker 2: Brown get injured in week one and he's going to
- 11:15Speaker 2: miss the Steelers game, it sounds like, with a high
- 11:17Speaker 2: ankle sprain. That could have happened any time. So I
- 11:20Speaker 2: think teams look at that and say, well, at least
- 11:22Speaker 2: he got hurt during the regular season and wasn't hurt
- 11:27Speaker 2: in the preseason.
- 11:28Speaker 3: But I just wonder if you dropped.
- 11:32Speaker 2: A good Week 4 team, a team that's played three
- 11:37Speaker 2: games under their belt, into those stadiums, with those teams
- 11:42Speaker 2: who might have been underdogs in a game otherwise, but
- 11:45Speaker 2: are at least in the same ballpark, Would they win
- 11:48Speaker 2: those games? Are those teams actually ready to play? I
- 11:53Speaker 2: thought the quality of football was not particularly good in
- 11:57Speaker 2: week one. I didn't think New England or Seattle looked
- 12:00Speaker 2: particularly sharp, especially early on in the game. I just
- 12:03Speaker 2: wonder if a team went out old school and played
- 12:07Speaker 2: a bunch of guys in the preseason, Willie, whether they
- 12:10Speaker 2: could steal a win or two early in the season. Now,
- 12:13Speaker 2: I understand you run the risk of injuring a guy,
- 12:16Speaker 2: Or am I overblowing how unready these teams looked?
- 12:21Speaker 5: No, I don't think you're overblowing it.
- 12:23Speaker 6: Like, you know, Max talked a little bit about it
- 12:25Speaker 6: yesterday when we were on together. When we played in
- 12:30Speaker 6: the preseason, it was a legit buildup to week one
- 12:37Speaker 6: because I think Coach Bill Cowher and Mike Tomlin were
- 12:41Speaker 6: of the mindset, you can't just turn it on and
- 12:44Speaker 6: turn it off. The brand of football we had to
- 12:47Speaker 6: play because of the reputation we had had to be physical,
- 12:50Speaker 6: we had to be scrappy, and we had to just be,
- 12:52Speaker 6: from an operations standpoint, a lot cleaner. And you only
- 12:57Speaker 6: get those kinks out by going through it in the preseason.
- 13:00Speaker 5: When I played in the preseason, Ben Roethlisberger was out
- 13:03Speaker 5: there in the preseason.
- 13:04Speaker 6: In Rallet, it may have been a quarter, a half,
- 13:09Speaker 6: maybe into the third quarter on the third game.
- 13:11Speaker 5: But you got a lot of those things out.
- 13:13Speaker 6: So week one looked like a confident and polished outfit
- 13:16Speaker 6: rolling onto the field. And what we've seen thus, what
- 13:20Speaker 6: we've seen this week thus far is a lot of
- 13:23Speaker 6: these teams, if a lot of these teams, both teams,
- 13:27Speaker 6: meaning the Patriots and Seahawks, Niners and Rams, both teams,
- 13:32Speaker 6: it looked like one team in the Niners was ready
- 13:34Speaker 6: to fight. And then the Rams was kind of eked
- 13:37Speaker 6: off the bus and their operation was sloppy. And there
- 13:39Speaker 6: was things that you said, man, they don't look like
- 13:41Speaker 6: they're ready to go. The Patriots and Seahawks, their operation,
- 13:48Speaker 6: especially Seahawks in particular, was sloppy because one, Sam Darnold
- 13:52Speaker 6: went down. And two, Drew Locke, his wristband gave him
- 13:56Speaker 6: more hell than the Patriots did. Like this dude kept
- 13:58Speaker 6: staring at his damn wristband and it kept getting delayed games.
- 14:02Speaker 6: So with all that said, a lot of the nuances,
- 14:05Speaker 6: a lot of the minutiae on how to be competent
- 14:08Speaker 6: within a game You get a lot of that done
- 14:10Speaker 6: in the preseason. And when teams aren't doing it, like
- 14:14Speaker 6: to your point, Rob, they're not doing it because they.
- 14:16Speaker 5: Want guys healthy and ready to go for week one.
- 14:19Speaker 6: But you still got to let the horse go out,
- 14:21Speaker 6: get out the stable and run around and kind of
- 14:23Speaker 6: get acclimated to the track. If you're just rolling guys
- 14:27Speaker 6: out week one, you're going to see sloppy football.
- 14:30Speaker 5: You're going to have penalties.
- 14:31Speaker 6: You're going to also see guys that aren't conditioned for
- 14:35Speaker 6: four quarters of football because they haven't played four quarters
- 14:38Speaker 6: of football for Since last year. And so it's just
- 14:42Speaker 6: a week one and two is always clunky. A lot
- 14:46Speaker 6: of teams don't hit their stride or get in rhythm
- 14:47Speaker 6: to week three or four. And then the season starts
- 14:51Speaker 6: to pick up. I don't think you're wrong in your
- 14:53Speaker 6: assessment on, you know, just looking from a bird's eye view,
- 14:57Speaker 6: seeing like football games.
- 14:59Speaker 5: Are kind of a little bit all over the place.
- 15:01Speaker 6: But that's because there's no, you know, the preseason games
- 15:04Speaker 6: only have three of them. And on top of that,
- 15:06Speaker 6: we don't even see our starters like we used to.
- 15:08Speaker 6: I'm always a fan of teams who play their starting quarterback,
- 15:11Speaker 6: a la the Buffalo Bills, a la Patrick Mahomes and
- 15:14Speaker 6: the Kansas City Chiefs. You have to get guys out
- 15:17Speaker 6: there because, especially at the quarterback position, he's your operator,
- 15:20Speaker 6: and he has to be the most efficient and the
- 15:23Speaker 6: more polished out of everybody else.
- 15:24Speaker 5: And if he's just now, you know, Aaron Rodgers is
- 15:27Speaker 5: an anomaly, right?
- 15:28Speaker 6: He said he's wanting to play, but they want to
- 15:30Speaker 6: keep him fresh because he is 42 years old.
- 15:32Speaker 5: Totally get that.
- 15:33Speaker 4: That's smart.
- 15:34Speaker 6: But at the same time, I would expect week one
- 15:38Speaker 6: against the Falcons, he's going to be a little clunky.
- 15:41Speaker 4: He just is.
- 15:42Speaker 6: It is what it is, Max, but I think for
- 15:44Speaker 6: a lot of people out there like Rob and myself,
- 15:47Speaker 6: I'm not surprised by it because guys just aren't playing
- 15:50Speaker 6: enough in the preseason so that week one is a
- 15:52Speaker 6: lot more polished and a lot more efficient for each
- 15:54Speaker 6: team on the field.
- 15:58Speaker 7: Week one is literally week four of the preseason right now,
- 16:01Speaker 7: the way that we look at it. That's essentially how
- 16:03Speaker 7: this is and And we talked about this, Will and Rob. So,
- 16:09Speaker 7: you know, it was simply a victim of looking at
- 16:14Speaker 7: everybody's so worried about getting to the regular season. But listen,
- 16:20Speaker 7: that Achilles has a ticking time clock. I'd rather find
- 16:25Speaker 7: out in the preseason if it's going to be something
- 16:28Speaker 7: versus getting into week one, building this future plan, and
- 16:32Speaker 7: then four plays into it, Something happens. Sam Darnold, his
- 16:38Speaker 7: was more of an injury of, you know, force impact
- 16:41Speaker 7: type of deal with the hip.
- 16:44Speaker 4: And thank goodness he avoided the fracture.
- 16:46Speaker 7: But, you know, if it's going to happen, it's going
- 16:49Speaker 7: to happen.
- 16:49Speaker 4: That's why I always say it's not a matter of if.
- 16:52Speaker 7: It's always a matter of when adversity, attrition is going
- 16:56Speaker 7: to happen.
- 16:57Speaker 4: And if you're going to, you know, guys are going
- 17:00Speaker 4: to get injured.
- 17:01Speaker 7: I mean, whether it's a preseason or regular season, if
- 17:03Speaker 7: they don't make it to week 18, It doesn't matter.
- 17:06Speaker 7: You pay guys hundreds of millions of dollars and you're
- 17:10Speaker 7: expecting them to be out there every play. And if
- 17:12Speaker 7: it happens in the first game, it happens in the
- 17:14Speaker 7: fourth game, it's still going to happen. Whether it happens
- 17:16Speaker 7: in the preseason, at least I might not be the best,
- 17:21Speaker 7: but it'll give me something to where I can play
- 17:24Speaker 7: in four.
- 17:24Speaker 4: If you get into the regular season, you're pretty much
- 17:26Speaker 4: locked in at that point.
- 17:27Speaker 7: And to go and try and find somebody, or try
- 17:31Speaker 7: and get somebody up to speed in the midst of
- 17:34Speaker 7: all that, when there were plenty of opportunities in training
- 17:37Speaker 7: camp where they could have gotten those reps, that's where
- 17:39Speaker 7: I'm kind of like before. And I know there's a
- 17:41Speaker 7: different philosophy. Listen, I'm a former player, not, not an
- 17:45Speaker 7: active coach.
- 17:46Speaker 4: You know, I don't have to.
- 17:48Speaker 7: Worry about all of those things, but I just look
- 17:50Speaker 7: at it. And just based off of my experience, it
- 17:53Speaker 7: was like, you had to play in the preseason. I mean,
- 17:55Speaker 7: I just watched, you know, I know this is different.
- 17:57Speaker 7: This is college, but I had the Miami game last night,
- 18:02Speaker 7: and one of the big things I noticed was Mario
- 18:05Speaker 7: Cristobal had his stars playing special teams.
- 18:10Speaker 4: The starters had to play special teams.
- 18:12Speaker 5: Oh, wow.
- 18:13Speaker 4: Because he's like, these guys got to get callous. These
- 18:16Speaker 4: guys have.
- 18:16Speaker 7: To play to be ready to play in big moments.
- 18:21Speaker 7: And if you're not going to play much in a
- 18:23Speaker 7: game against Florida A & M last night, You're going
- 18:26Speaker 7: to get these special teams reps because I need you
- 18:28Speaker 7: to callous. I need you to callous for what's to
- 18:31Speaker 7: come because there is going.
- 18:33Speaker 4: To be that dogfight.
- 18:34Speaker 7: There is going to be that big moment, and I'm
- 18:37Speaker 7: going to need to know that you're ready.
- 18:39Speaker 4: And I need to see it live.
- 18:41Speaker 7: I need live competitive reps that's not against your teammate,
- 18:45Speaker 7: and it's not against a potential brother-in-law, right?
- 18:47Speaker 4: I need to see it where it matters. And so.
- 18:51Speaker 7: I'm in more of that school of thought in the
- 18:53Speaker 7: way that we came up, Will, where it's like, hey,
- 18:55Speaker 7: first preseason game, you got about a series of two,
- 18:57Speaker 7: just get the legs going.
- 18:59Speaker 4: Second preseason game, you get a quarter.
- 19:01Speaker 7: Third preseason game, you get a half and possibly the
- 19:04Speaker 7: first half. And then fourth game, scale it back again, series,
- 19:09Speaker 7: maybe two. Boom, we're off to the season. And now
- 19:12Speaker 7: I've actually seen what all 11 guys on each side
- 19:15Speaker 7: of the ball looks like because they've all had to
- 19:18Speaker 7: go through reps.
- 19:23Speaker 4: Yeah, I agree.
- 19:24Speaker 5: Rob, I want to ask you this from a viewer standpoint.
- 19:27Speaker 6: Outside of, I guess, the sloppy operation and lack of
- 19:31Speaker 6: physicality from whatever team, what surprised you the most out
- 19:39Speaker 6: of all of it, though? Was it the fact that
- 19:42Speaker 6: Matthew Stafford maybe looked old? Or was it the fact
- 19:45Speaker 6: that maybe Kyle Shanahan looked like he had got out-schemed McVay?
- 19:50Speaker 6: or if it was the fact that Mike Madonna once
- 19:52Speaker 6: again had the opportunity to drop his cojones because he
- 19:55Speaker 6: went for it on a fourth and one and that
- 19:58Speaker 6: led to a touchdown out of JSN when Mike Rabel
- 20:01Speaker 6: had the opportunity to do so and he ended up
- 20:02Speaker 6: punting before halftime. Was there anything that kind of stuck
- 20:06Speaker 6: out to you the most out of these four games?
- 20:08Speaker 2: You know, it is always– I'm always very, very leery
- 20:15Speaker 2: of early season football. I always figure these are important
- 20:19Speaker 2: games to win, which is why I brought up this topic,
- 20:21Speaker 2: by the way. You know, while we were talking about it,
- 20:23Speaker 2: I was thinking about, man, wouldn't the Ravens love to
- 20:25Speaker 2: have not been 1-3 after four games last year? Wouldn't
- 20:28Speaker 2: the Bengals like to get off to a better start
- 20:30Speaker 2: one of these seasons? And if you're in the NFC South,
- 20:35Speaker 2: You know, where everyone finished 8-9 last year, wouldn't it
- 20:38Speaker 2: be nice to steal the game early and maybe go
- 20:41Speaker 2: back old school? And then, you know, again, I'll get
- 20:43Speaker 2: back to your question, Willie. I was thinking about this too, but,
- 20:46Speaker 2: you know, everyone's worried. We're hearing Mike McCarthy talk about,
- 20:49Speaker 2: I don't want T.J. Watt playing every single snap. I
- 20:51Speaker 2: want him ready for Week 16, 17, 18. So maybe
- 20:55Speaker 2: teams worry about, you know, if you get extra reps
- 20:59Speaker 2: in the preseason, okay, maybe it helps you in Week 1,
- 21:01Speaker 2: but maybe it hurts you in Week 17 and 18. Anyway,
- 21:05Speaker 2: I just think it's– It's interesting, and I'd be interested
- 21:07Speaker 2: to see if a team decides to roll back the
- 21:09Speaker 2: clock because everybody's doing all these tests and studies about
- 21:14Speaker 2: how to travel and how to play and when to
- 21:17Speaker 2: go for it. To your point, Willie, in some of
- 21:20Speaker 2: these games, everything is now analyzed in a different way.
- 21:24Speaker 2: Maybe an old-school analyzation will lead a team or two
- 21:28Speaker 2: back to treating the preseason differently. As far as you,
- 21:33Speaker 2: I think that... I think Seattle showed a lot of class.
- 21:36Speaker 2: I mean, they just, they didn't look very good at all. Again,
- 21:39Speaker 2: I thought, you know, the Patriots didn't look all that
- 21:43Speaker 2: sharp throughout the game. I didn't think Seattle looked that
- 21:47Speaker 2: sharp until they needed to look sharp. I didn't think
- 21:50Speaker 2: the Rams looked that sharp. I thought the 49ers looked sharp.
- 21:54Speaker 2: But I do think that, you know, for Seattle, the
- 21:58Speaker 2: way they won that game, the way they came back,
- 22:01Speaker 2: I think, you know, For Seattle and the 49ers, that
- 22:05Speaker 2: was an early foot down to say, okay, you're ready
- 22:10Speaker 2: to crown the Rams. Well, we just beat the AFC
- 22:13Speaker 2: rep in the Super Bowl again. And if you're the 49ers,
- 22:17Speaker 2: we just took it to the Rams. And don't forget
- 22:20Speaker 2: about us. That's just going to be a wild division.
- 22:22Speaker 2: I think that's what I came out of it. I
- 22:25Speaker 2: think the Rams are still going to be the Rams.
- 22:27Speaker 2: They're still going to be really good. But, man, oh, man,
- 22:30Speaker 2: that is just going to be– a dogfight in that division.
- 22:34Speaker 2: If everybody stays healthy, those are the three. Well, we
- 22:36Speaker 2: did the power rankings. I think those are the top
- 22:38Speaker 2: three teams in the NFC, right? The three teams in
- 22:41Speaker 2: the NFC West were ranked.
- 22:43Speaker 3: Max, you're nodding your head, right? They were ranked as
- 22:45Speaker 3: the top three teams in the NFC.
- 22:48Speaker 4: Yeah. I mean, the NFC West is the division in
- 22:51Speaker 4: the West.
- 22:51Speaker 3: Right.
- 22:52Speaker 6: Yep.
- 22:52Speaker 4: All right.
- 22:53Speaker 3: We're going to take a break. We are ready.
- 22:56Speaker 2: And I am totally excited to dive into the Steelers
- 22:59Speaker 2: and the Falcons week one.
- 23:02Speaker 3: Tua news.
- 23:04Speaker 2: Did you guys get that news before you went off
- 23:06Speaker 2: the air yesterday about Tua getting injured, Max?
- 23:09Speaker 4: No, we did not get that before.
- 23:13Speaker 3: We will get to that today.
- 23:14Speaker 6: I saw it literally right when we got off air yesterday, Rob.
- 23:19Speaker 2: Well, thank you for saving it for me. It's a
- 23:20Speaker 2: great topic. We're going to get to that. We're going
- 23:22Speaker 2: to get to the new coaches. We're going to get
- 23:23Speaker 2: to the key matchups. We're going to get you everything
- 23:25Speaker 2: you need to get ready for the game on Sunday
- 23:28Speaker 2: when we continue in the locker room here on the
- 23:30Speaker 2: Steelers Audio Network.
- 23:36Speaker 1: This is In the Locker Room with Rob King, Max Starks,
- 23:40Speaker 1: and Willie Colon on Steelers Nation Radio. Brought to you
- 23:43Speaker 1: in part by the Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
- 23:47Speaker 1: from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop.steelers.com.
- 23:51Speaker 1: And by your neighborhood Ford store. The F-150 is the
- 23:55Speaker 1: official truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
- 24:00Speaker 3: And thank you very much for being with us in
- 24:02Speaker 3: the locker room.
- 24:03Speaker 2: Here on the Steelers Audio Network, and we are fired
- 24:05Speaker 2: up about game time coming.
- 24:07Speaker 3: Up, right? Can't wait. Let's go.
- 24:09Speaker 2: I guess we should start, Max, with the fact that
- 24:13Speaker 2: we have two new head coaches, and we've spent a
- 24:15Speaker 2: lot of time talking about Mike McCarthy. You have Kevin Stefanski, who,
- 24:20Speaker 2: you know, in and around some pretty terrible teams, was
- 24:24Speaker 2: two-time coach of the year. That was his only two
- 24:27Speaker 2: winning seasons in his time with Cleveland. But five and five,
- 24:31Speaker 2: against the Steelers. I guess, you know, we have all
- 24:34Speaker 2: these statistics about what the Steelers did last year and
- 24:38Speaker 2: what the Falcons did last year. Like, if Raheem Morris
- 24:41Speaker 2: was coming back this year, I'd probably be looking at
- 24:45Speaker 2: this Falcons team a different way because they won their
- 24:47Speaker 2: last four games, right? They're 4-9. They win their last
- 24:51Speaker 2: four games. You're thinking, okay, maybe they're building something. Well,
- 24:55Speaker 2: Raheem Morris is gone. General Manager's gone. Ian Cunningham is
- 24:59Speaker 2: in as the General Manager. Kevin Stefanski is in as
- 25:01Speaker 2: the coach. They still have the same defensive coordinator. They
- 25:04Speaker 2: changed a lot of personnel. It feels a little like
- 25:07Speaker 2: they're hitting a reset button by bringing Stefanski in. So
- 25:12Speaker 2: I'm tempted statistically to throw everything out because you go
- 25:15Speaker 2: from a defensive-minded coach like Raheem Morris to an offensive
- 25:18Speaker 2: guy like Stefanski. Can we take anything out of the
- 25:22Speaker 2: 5-5 record against the Steelers? Or was that more Kevin
- 25:26Speaker 2: Stefanski against Mike Tomlin than it was Kevin Stefanski against
- 25:30Speaker 2: the Steelers?
- 25:33Speaker 7: I think it was more of Miles Garrett versus the
- 25:37Speaker 7: Steelers than Kevin Stefanski.
- 25:40Speaker 4: Gotcha. And no knock there.
- 25:43Speaker 7: I think when you look at Stefanski's era in Cleveland,
- 25:48Speaker 7: it was some of the worst offensive play call I saw.
- 25:53Speaker 4: And then the way they mismanaged the quarterback position while
- 25:56Speaker 4: he was there.
- 25:58Speaker 7: It was out of sheer will and their defense really
- 26:01Speaker 7: being led by Miles Garrett.
- 26:02Speaker 4: I think You know, a little bit of Nick Chubb,
- 26:06Speaker 4: you know, did not hurt during that 5-5 record.
- 26:09Speaker 7: And also, short week going into a Thursday night football game, almost.
- 26:14Speaker 4: Always in Cleveland was the game that they won.
- 26:16Speaker 3: Again, this year.
- 26:17Speaker 4: Again. And we go again.
- 26:20Speaker 7: It's almost like this is our Thursday night game is
- 26:24Speaker 7: whenever Cleveland has Pittsburgh visiting them, that's when, you know, Prime.
- 26:29Speaker 4: Video wants to put us on television. So.
- 26:34Speaker 7: I think it's a lot more circumstantial than actual execution
- 26:36Speaker 7: by Stefanski.
- 26:37Speaker 5: So it's more of a.
- 26:40Speaker 7: Luck of a situation, but this is a normal time game,
- 26:43Speaker 7: first game of the season.
- 26:45Speaker 4: And he's still got quarterback issues that he has to
- 26:47Speaker 4: work through. So it'll be interesting.
- 26:48Speaker 7: So I don't necessarily put what last year's team did
- 26:52Speaker 7: because the change at leadership at the top, and then
- 26:55Speaker 7: also change at quarterback. We'll see what that looks like.
- 26:59Speaker 7: I think you have to just go off the merits
- 27:00Speaker 7: of what you have now. and just let your experience
- 27:04Speaker 7: be the guide to not make the same mistakes, you know,
- 27:08Speaker 7: a fifth, sixth time, whatever.
- 27:10Speaker 4: I don't know how many times I would call that.
- 27:12Speaker 2: Willie, that's how I feel about it. And when I
- 27:14Speaker 2: look at the– like, for example, you see these stats. Well,
- 27:16Speaker 2: the Steelers are 16-2-1 against the Falcons.
- 27:20Speaker 3: Okay, that's great.
- 27:21Speaker 2: They own the Falcons. But Mike McCarthy is 5-5 against
- 27:24Speaker 2: the Falcons. Well, that was a different era, different time.
- 27:27Speaker 2: I just think– I don't think the trends– are going
- 27:32Speaker 2: to be really applicable here because we have two different
- 27:36Speaker 2: head coaches and two teams that they're trying to make
- 27:39Speaker 2: in the mold that they want to make them in.
- 27:40Speaker 2: And I just think that the past, you know, as
- 27:44Speaker 2: Henry Ford once said, the history is bunk. And I
- 27:46Speaker 2: think in this instance, maybe history is bunk. And we just,
- 27:49Speaker 2: we just evaluate these teams based on the merit instead
- 27:52Speaker 2: of any trend from last year or now maybe Aaron
- 27:56Speaker 2: Rogers trends, because he's still going to be at the controls, but,
- 27:59Speaker 2: and he's going to, and he plays the game a
- 28:00Speaker 2: certain way. But I think by and large, we can
- 28:02Speaker 2: throw out most of the statistics and trends from a
- 28:07Speaker 2: year ago or even the last several years.
- 28:10Speaker 6: Yeah, I also think right now, for the Steelers, that is,
- 28:14Speaker 6: as you walk into this game, you have now told
- 28:20Speaker 6: the world and the NFL world that you are going
- 28:22Speaker 6: to be an explosive offense because of Mike McCarthy, because
- 28:27Speaker 6: of the additions of Michael Pittman and Rico Dardold and
- 28:31Speaker 6: You re-signed Darnell Washington. You have this revamped offensive line.
- 28:34Speaker 6: There's an expectation going into this game because the Steelers
- 28:38Speaker 6: have the better roster that they should perform a lot better.
- 28:43Speaker 5: And me and Max kind of hit this yesterday.
- 28:46Speaker 6: With that expectation, we have to put an asterisk next
- 28:50Speaker 6: to it because we also have to understand Aaron Rodgers
- 28:53Speaker 6: and Michael Pittman haven't played a lot together, right? And so...
- 28:56Speaker 6: there's a little bit of like, okay, what is that
- 28:59Speaker 6: going to look? Rico Dotto, you know, is used to
- 29:02Speaker 6: being running back number one. Now he's going to be
- 29:04Speaker 6: sharing reps with Jalen Warren. What does that look like?
- 29:07Speaker 6: This offensive line is going to be revamped. As I
- 29:10Speaker 6: just mentioned, Troy Furtado now on the left side with
- 29:11Speaker 6: Mason McCormick. As of right now, we don't know who
- 29:14Speaker 6: the starting right tackle for the Steelers is going to be.
- 29:17Speaker 5: Is it going to be Dylan Cook or is it
- 29:19Speaker 5: going to be Max Honachor?
- 29:21Speaker 6: We know who will be the starting guy if I
- 29:24Speaker 6: had to throw my vote in there. With all that said,
- 29:29Speaker 6: this is a Falcons team that I feel like is
- 29:35Speaker 6: going to treat this game as if it's their Super
- 29:37Speaker 6: Bowl because it's a litmus test, right?
- 29:39Speaker 4: It's a mess.
- 29:40Speaker 6: Stick. There's a standard in which they feel like they
- 29:42Speaker 6: have to play to when you play the Pittsburgh Steelers.
- 29:45Speaker 6: And I've been saying this, and not to be redundant,
- 29:47Speaker 6: my biggest fear with the Steelers, and I know you
- 29:49Speaker 6: know where I'm going with this, Rob, is they tend
- 29:51Speaker 6: to eat off the bus every instead of come out
- 29:53Speaker 6: guns blazing like the 49ers did last night, being a
- 29:56Speaker 6: lot more sharper, a lot more physical, where this doesn't
- 29:59Speaker 6: have to be a game. One thing Mike Tomlin used
- 30:01Speaker 6: to say when he coached Max Alon was, this doesn't
- 30:06Speaker 6: have to be a game.
- 30:07Speaker 5: We don't have to feel this way out.
- 30:09Speaker 6: Let's come out swinging, punching people in the mouth early,
- 30:12Speaker 6: set the tone in the trenches, and we dictate how
- 30:16Speaker 6: we're going to play this game rather than trying to
- 30:18Speaker 6: figure out who's going to make the first blow.
- 30:20Speaker 5: And I think for the.
- 30:23Speaker 6: For the Atlanta Falcons, especially with Kevin Stefanski, very familiar
- 30:29Speaker 6: with what this is, obviously, from his time being a Browns.
- 30:32Speaker 6: But there's also this opportunistic mindset, like, hey, man, if
- 30:36Speaker 6: we keep this thing on the ground and we allow
- 30:39Speaker 6: Bijon to get more touches, having more than 25 touches
- 30:42Speaker 6: on the football, to have Kyle Pitt to be the
- 30:46Speaker 6: kind of the X factor, and for us to go
- 30:48Speaker 6: over the top with Drake London and an off-line state state, man,
- 30:51Speaker 6: we can keep this close all the way into the
- 30:53Speaker 6: fourth quarter, and hopefully we can grind it out with
- 30:55Speaker 6: a dub. So for the Steelers, I think there's way
- 30:58Speaker 6: more pressure on Pittsburgh going into this game to be
- 31:01Speaker 6: as advertised, so we can see Mike McCarthy's blueprint come alive,
- 31:08Speaker 6: and for Aaron Rodgers to deliver, right? And sure, if
- 31:11Speaker 6: it's Tua, if it's Cooper Rush, whoever it is, my
- 31:14Speaker 6: fear is in the quarterback position. My fear is that
- 31:17Speaker 6: the Steelers may play down to a level that they
- 31:19Speaker 6: shouldn't be at solely because they haven't had enough time
- 31:22Speaker 6: together in the preseason.
- 31:25Speaker 3: Interesting take.
- 31:27Speaker 2: Willie, Tua, okay, so, you know, we're trying to follow
- 31:30Speaker 2: along here because there's a media portion of practice. A
- 31:35Speaker 2: reporter at the Falcon said that they didn't see Tua
- 31:37Speaker 2: during the media viewing portion of practice. We're going to
- 31:41Speaker 2: have to wait until later today to find out whether
- 31:43Speaker 2: he did practice, what his injury designation is. You know,
- 31:47Speaker 2: Michael Penix was– listed as a full participant on Wednesday,
- 31:51Speaker 2: but when the news broke that Tua evidently had a
- 31:55Speaker 2: back issue, and I think that's something that's plagued him,
- 31:58Speaker 2: that it was Cooper Rush who took all the first-team reps.
- 32:03Speaker 2: I think we can clearly call that significant if Cooper
- 32:09Speaker 2: Rush is starting instead of Tua on Sunday.
- 32:16Speaker 6: Yeah, I'll say this. We also got to remember, Tua's
- 32:22Speaker 6: last start as a Dolphins was against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
- 32:27Speaker 6: He threw for 200-something yards. He did throw a pick
- 32:29Speaker 6: in that game, but he wasn't god-awful. So Tua, out
- 32:32Speaker 6: of both the quarterbacks, him meeting him and Cooper Rush,
- 32:36Speaker 6: Tua has more familiarity with him.
- 32:40Speaker 5: And no matter how.
- 32:41Speaker 6: You feel about him, whether he's washed up or whatever,
- 32:45Speaker 6: he's comfortable. He doesn't fear the Steelers as maybe a
- 32:48Speaker 6: Cooper Rush does. So If you're, and I know that,
- 32:52Speaker 6: I think there's speculation that his injury is an oblique injury.
- 32:55Speaker 6: And I don't know how true that is, but I
- 32:57Speaker 6: think that's what some of the reports I saw. You know,
- 33:00Speaker 6: if Tua is able to go, man, there's going to be,
- 33:04Speaker 6: I guess, if you just did this, you have to
- 33:07Speaker 6: play with height and ears because he's, you know, that
- 33:10Speaker 6: game happened week 15 for him.
- 33:12Speaker 5: So he's comfortable with saying, I know what this defense
- 33:14Speaker 5: looks like.
- 33:15Speaker 6: I know what to expect. Cooper Rush hasn't played the
- 33:17Speaker 6: Steelers in quite some time. And so he's the one
- 33:20Speaker 6: that you kind of got to worry about how effective
- 33:22Speaker 6: he can be right out the gate for the Falcons.
- 33:24Speaker 5: So if Tua can.
- 33:25Speaker 6: Go, I imagine it's going to be Tua because he has,
- 33:29Speaker 6: I guess, recent oral history. Excuse me, not oral history.
- 33:32Speaker 6: He has recent history with the Steelers, Max.
- 33:36Speaker 2: And by the way, it is an oblique, Max. He's
- 33:39Speaker 2: clutching his back, but it is an oblique. And that
- 33:43Speaker 2: could take a while.
- 33:44Speaker 3: You never know.
- 33:46Speaker 6: Yeah.
- 33:47Speaker 4: And let's just face it. I mean, if you.
- 33:53Speaker 7: Are in this situation, would you rather have Tua with
- 33:56Speaker 7: an oblique or Cooper Rush just being Cooper Rush?
- 33:59Speaker 4: I'm going to go with Tua with the oblique. Right.
- 34:02Speaker 7: Because Michael Penix isn't ready, and he's talked about not
- 34:05Speaker 7: being ready. And I think that's what made this decision
- 34:08Speaker 7: for Tua to start that much easier and You know,
- 34:13Speaker 7: for whatever people want to say about Tua, that dude's thrown.
- 34:16Speaker 4: For over 18,000 yards in his career.
- 34:19Speaker 7: So he's moved the ball around the yard. I will
- 34:22Speaker 7: take that type of guy in those moments, even though
- 34:26Speaker 7: people want to talk a lot about him and what
- 34:30Speaker 7: it looked like, you know, towards the end of that
- 34:32Speaker 7: Mike McDaniels era, and it was a lot more Devon A-chain.
- 34:36Speaker 4: But he's got a B.
- 34:36Speaker 7: John Robinson in the backfield, you know, and they did
- 34:40Speaker 7: go on a tear of what, a four or five
- 34:42Speaker 7: game win streak. So let's just say, you know, him
- 34:47Speaker 7: being a manager was still more than enough. Now, granted,
- 34:51Speaker 7: you know, you had your lulls at the beginning of
- 34:53Speaker 7: the season, some interception issues. But I think when we're
- 34:56Speaker 7: talking about where the Falcons are and leading this out
- 34:59Speaker 7: the gates, yes, it's less.
- 35:00Speaker 4: Than ideal to have an oblique injury.
- 35:02Speaker 7: And, of course, if you're a quarterback, I really want
- 35:04Speaker 7: to know which side it is because that also determines
- 35:06Speaker 7: the throwing motion.
- 35:06Speaker 4: Absolutely. Yep.
- 35:08Speaker 7: And I would also love to know which side Alex Highsmith,
- 35:11Speaker 7: TJ Watt, Nick Herbig, Cam Hayward, Sebastian Joseph Day, Keanu Benton,
- 35:17Speaker 7: name anybody here that could possibly sack him, knows which
- 35:20Speaker 7: side to tenderize.
- 35:21Speaker 4: But that's a whole different story.
- 35:25Speaker 7: They need to be a rib salesman on that one
- 35:29Speaker 7: right there.
- 35:30Speaker 2: So just to wrap up the injury report, and then
- 35:33Speaker 2: this is through yesterday, and then we're going to get
- 35:36Speaker 2: to the key matchups. beginning next segment because the injuries, obviously,
- 35:40Speaker 2: if two can't go, that's huge.
- 35:42Speaker 3: Joey Porter Jr.
- 35:43Speaker 2: Limited in practice yesterday and Wednesday. He was the only
- 35:46Speaker 2: one in the injured report. Now, a lot of full practice.
- 35:49Speaker 2: Penix was full practice. Branch Bowman was full practice. Guys
- 35:53Speaker 2: that were added to the injury list, Kendall Daniels, a
- 35:58Speaker 2: rookie linebacker who we expect to see. Suddenly he showed
- 36:02Speaker 2: up with an Achilles injury. Must have suffered that, you
- 36:05Speaker 2: would think, on Wednesday in practice because he was not
- 36:07Speaker 2: on the designation. And also, Jawan Taylor did not practice
- 36:13Speaker 2: starting right tackle, just signed in the offseason. And Deshaun Hand,
- 36:19Speaker 2: who practiced on Wednesday, was limited with a knee. They
- 36:23Speaker 2: only have five defensive linemen on their roster. So if
- 36:26Speaker 2: Hand can't go, presumably they would have to call up
- 36:28Speaker 2: somebody from the.
- 36:29Speaker 3: Practice squad to take his place.
- 36:31Speaker 2: Okay, lots of fascinating matchups in this game. We're going
- 36:35Speaker 2: to get into them and start breaking them down when
- 36:37Speaker 2: we continue in the locker room here on the Steelers
- 36:40Speaker 2: Audio Network.
- 36:44Speaker 1: This is In the Locker Room with Rob King, Max Starks,
- 36:49Speaker 1: and Willie Colon on Steelers Nation Radio. Brought to you
- 36:52Speaker 1: in part by the Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
- 36:55Speaker 1: from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop.steelers.com.
- 37:00Speaker 1: And by your neighborhood Ford store. The F-150 is the
- 37:04Speaker 1: official truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
- 37:09Speaker 2: And we thank you very much for being with us
- 37:11Speaker 2: here in the locker room on the Steelers Audio Network
- 37:14Speaker 2: along with Willie Colon and Max Starks.
- 37:16Speaker 3: I'm Rob King.
- 37:16Speaker 2: We are getting fired up to bring you some Pittsburgh
- 37:20Speaker 2: Steelers football, and we're talking about this matchup against the
- 37:24Speaker 2: Atlanta Falcons and some of the key matchups in this
- 37:28Speaker 2: game against the Atlanta Falcons. And, guys, I know you
- 37:32Speaker 2: talked a little bit about T.J. Watt and Juwan Taylor,
- 37:37Speaker 2: who now is on the injured list, But I want
- 37:39Speaker 2: to start on the other side of the ball where
- 37:41Speaker 2: I think the Falcons have a couple of strengths. And offensively,
- 37:46Speaker 2: I would say their offensive line is, you know, I
- 37:50Speaker 2: think pretty much universally acclaimed as a top 10 unit.
- 37:54Speaker 2: Chris Lindstrom, their right guard, is an excellent player. Four
- 37:58Speaker 2: consecutive Pro Bowls. It's a unit that's played together a lot.
- 38:01Speaker 2: They added Juwan Taylor, Jake Matthews, son of Hall of
- 38:05Speaker 2: Famer Bruce Williams, is a stalwart at.
- 38:07Speaker 3: Left tackle, long-time player. Pro Bowl once, but just a
- 38:10Speaker 3: solid guy, very good in pass protection.
- 38:14Speaker 2: That goes against the Steelers' front five, if you will,
- 38:18Speaker 2: and I think, Willie, that is going to be when
- 38:22Speaker 2: the Falcons have the ball. That is going to be
- 38:24Speaker 2: the key to me to slowing them down. We know
- 38:27Speaker 2: they have weapons. We can get into the weapons in
- 38:29Speaker 2: a minute, but I want to start right in the
- 38:30Speaker 2: trenches because I think it might be the most important
- 38:34Speaker 2: matchup of the game, but I do think it's the
- 38:35Speaker 2: most important matchup when the Falcons have the ball.
- 38:39Speaker 6: Yeah, and that's because they want to get B. John
- 38:42Speaker 6: Robinson going early and often. They feel like right now
- 38:45Speaker 6: they're limited at the quarterback position and they want to
- 38:47Speaker 6: lean on that offensive line to be the kind of
- 38:49Speaker 6: bell cow of what they want to do out there.
- 38:52Speaker 6: The goal is for them to survive all four quarters.
- 38:54Speaker 6: They want to be able to do so. by having
- 38:57Speaker 6: a running back like Bijan who can affect you in
- 38:59Speaker 6: multiple ways. He can be a guy that can get
- 39:01Speaker 6: it out the backfield. You can put him in a slot.
- 39:03Speaker 6: Because of his home run ability, he's a mismatched nightmare
- 39:07Speaker 6: for any linebacker or safety out there. And when you
- 39:09Speaker 6: talk about one place that the Steelers are deficient in,
- 39:13Speaker 6: is the secondary of the Steelers, especially at the safety position,
- 39:18Speaker 6: considering some of the injuries they have acquired. With all
- 39:21Speaker 6: that said, man, I think right now the offensive line
- 39:23Speaker 6: for the Ravens, excuse me, the Falcons, is if you're
- 39:28Speaker 6: going to– the mindset of them is if we can
- 39:31Speaker 6: just play bully ball with the Pittsburgh Steelers, considering that
- 39:36Speaker 6: why this is going to be his first initial start.
- 39:39Speaker 6: You talk about Cam Hayward, even though it's his 16th season,
- 39:43Speaker 6: still an old man, still got to figure out what
- 39:45Speaker 6: he wants to look like coming out of week one
- 39:47Speaker 6: and where his condition level is. And on top of that,
- 39:50Speaker 6: Derek Harmon. There's going to be a lot expected of him.
- 39:52Speaker 6: So it's going to be interesting. But I think an
- 39:56Speaker 6: elite front seven like Isaac to be, it's going to be–
- 40:01Speaker 6: the physicality has to be, you know, often and early
- 40:04Speaker 6: and pop off tape.
- 40:05Speaker 3: You guys are hilarious, by the way.
- 40:09Speaker 6: This is simply trying to do my thing.
- 40:13Speaker 2: So I have to say, so Willie– Nobody can see us, right,
- 40:19Speaker 2: because we're on the Steelers Audio Network. But Willie showed up.
- 40:23Speaker 2: So Willie wasn't in the first couple of segments. We
- 40:25Speaker 2: had an issue with him getting him on our team's call.
- 40:28Speaker 2: And then he showed up with his sunglasses. So then,
- 40:29Speaker 2: of course, I had to put on my sunglasses and
- 40:31Speaker 2: Max had to put on his sunglasses. So all three
- 40:33Speaker 2: of us are doing radio with our sunglasses on.
- 40:37Speaker 4: Exactly.
- 40:37Speaker 7: It's better than I wear my sunglasses at night because
- 40:41Speaker 7: we're wearing them during the day.
- 40:42Speaker 4: But we are indoors.
- 40:44Speaker 3: That's right.
- 40:46Speaker 7: And this is a unified front here.
- 40:47Speaker 4: This is the closeness of this group.
- 40:49Speaker 3: That's right.
- 40:50Speaker 4: That one wears, we all wear.
- 40:52Speaker 3: That's right.
- 40:53Speaker 4: And we're going to wear it.
- 40:54Speaker 7: But, you know, to kind of talk with, you know,
- 40:58Speaker 7: off of Willie's point, I think, yeah, this is something
- 41:01Speaker 7: when you're talking about how good can this be.
- 41:04Speaker 3: Did we lose Max? Max, we just lost your audio.
- 41:14Speaker 4: You're muted.
- 41:16Speaker 3: Oh, we lost Max.
- 41:19Speaker 4: Uh-oh.
- 41:20Speaker 2: Okay, so while we're waiting on Max, who is now
- 41:24Speaker 2: taking off his sunglasses to try to figure out what's wrong.
- 41:27Speaker 4: Yeah, I couldn't see.
- 41:28Speaker 3: So there you go.
- 41:29Speaker 4: I was not muted. I was not muted in that moment.
- 41:32Speaker 6: Okay.
- 41:32Speaker 4: So I will say there's some type of clerical error.
- 41:35Speaker 7: But no, what I was trying to say was that,
- 41:38Speaker 7: you know, to piggyback off of Willie's point, is that
- 41:42Speaker 7: when you want to see how good this defense can be,
- 41:45Speaker 7: this is a great test. This is front seven versus
- 41:48Speaker 7: offensive line. This is the trench fight to see which
- 41:52Speaker 7: group is better because you listed Jake Matthews, Chris Lindstrom,
- 41:56Speaker 7: but also Ryan Neusel there in the middle. Matthew Bergeron
- 41:59Speaker 7: just got a big contract extension as well.
- 42:02Speaker 4: So there's a lot of faith in four out of
- 42:04Speaker 4: those five.
- 42:05Speaker 7: Positions that And then we'll see if it's Juwan Taylor
- 42:08Speaker 7: can go or you throw in the seventh rounder from
- 42:10Speaker 7: Ohio State, Ethan Oneyawa or Oneyana.
- 42:15Speaker 4: I can't remember how to pronounce it, but.
- 42:17Speaker 7: That's what you're going to see. I want to see
- 42:20Speaker 7: what Cam Hayward, Keanu Benton, and Derek Harmon, all of
- 42:24Speaker 7: them can do. And how do the edges handle that pressure?
- 42:27Speaker 7: You know, is this something where, yes, you know, we
- 42:30Speaker 7: talked about it yesterday, Will.
- 42:31Speaker 4: You know, is this a Juwan Taylor versus T.J. Watt mismatch?
- 42:35Speaker 4: That's going to happen.
- 42:36Speaker 7: And then if he isn't, God forbid you throw a
- 42:38Speaker 7: seventh-round rookie out there against T.J.
- 42:41Speaker 4: Watt, and then you have both those guys flipping flopping sides,
- 42:45Speaker 4: him and Alex Highsmith. So you can get some Highsmith
- 42:47Speaker 4: off of that edge. You can get Herbig off that edge.
- 42:49Speaker 4: So it's going to be a really good test.
- 42:52Speaker 7: And the run defense has been our biggest issue the
- 42:55Speaker 7: last couple of years. The reason why we went and got,
- 42:57Speaker 7: you know, frickin' fracked over there with Derek Harmon and Y.A.
- 43:00Speaker 4: Black was because run defense was an issue. So let's see...
- 43:05Speaker 4: Can we actually stop the run?
- 43:07Speaker 7: Because we're getting one of the top rushers in the
- 43:09Speaker 7: NFL from a year ago.
- 43:11Speaker 4: That's your first test right out the gates.
- 43:14Speaker 2: Totally agree. And it is why, to me, it's such
- 43:17Speaker 2: a big matchup. It is, you know, if you're watching
- 43:23Speaker 2: a boxing match, it's the number fourth-ranked heavyweight against the
- 43:26Speaker 2: number seventh-ranked heavyweight. This isn't maybe the championship fight, but
- 43:31Speaker 2: this is two guys wanting to prove where they are.
- 43:34Speaker 2: I think if the Falcons dominate up front, they're going
- 43:36Speaker 2: to say, see, we are a top ten. And I
- 43:38Speaker 2: think that middle three is about as good as there
- 43:40Speaker 2: is in the NFL. No offense to Matthews, he's very good,
- 43:43Speaker 2: but Nuzle, Bergeron, and Lindstrom, they're really good.
- 43:47Speaker 3: So, how's Y.A.
- 43:48Speaker 2: Black going to stand up to that? Cam Hayward wants to,
- 43:51Speaker 2: you know, he's talking about, hey, I've got a year
- 43:53Speaker 2: or two left.
- 43:54Speaker 3: Let's go, big guy.
- 43:55Speaker 2: You know, Keanu Benton, all this, you know, Sebastian Joseph Day,
- 43:59Speaker 2: they've got waves they can run at them. And So
- 44:02Speaker 2: if you can make things uncomfortable for the quarterback in
- 44:05Speaker 2: the interior, and if you can tell them you're not
- 44:08Speaker 2: running the ball up the middle, and you can make
- 44:10Speaker 2: them a little more one-dimensional, Willie, I just think it's
- 44:15Speaker 2: a great matchup.
- 44:16Speaker 3: I can't wait to see that aspect of this game.
- 44:20Speaker 6: Yeah, and I also think if you're, you know, the
- 44:23Speaker 6: linebacker core of the Steelers, you know, there's so much
- 44:27Speaker 6: talk about the Steelers secondary not being as stout as
- 44:30Speaker 6: maybe like for various reasons. But if you're Patrick Queen
- 44:34Speaker 6: and you're Peyton Wilson and you're going into this game,
- 44:38Speaker 6: you have to play at a level where you kind
- 44:41Speaker 6: of quiet the noise. Because, you know, one thing– say
- 44:44Speaker 6: what you want about– and I know we're kind of–
- 44:46Speaker 6: I don't mean to bounce back and forth, but I
- 44:48Speaker 6: think the Seattle defense really showed when you're in a dogfight,
- 44:54Speaker 6: so to speak, and your defense is playing gritty, hard-nosed,
- 44:58Speaker 6: home-booth football– One thing, the winning edge for a defense
- 45:02Speaker 6: to get off that field with a W is being
- 45:05Speaker 6: able to tackle and tackle and keep and play with
- 45:09Speaker 6: a manageable bounce. Because there were times where if you
- 45:12Speaker 6: turn on that game against the Patriots and you watch Seattle, you.
- 45:16Speaker 5: Watch the Seattle team who figured it out.
- 45:18Speaker 6: Like, yeah, we can be physical, but we can also
- 45:20Speaker 6: neutralize them by tackling better. If you're the Pittsburgh Steelers
- 45:24Speaker 6: and you're this linebacker core, there's no secret you can
- 45:29Speaker 6: rush the quarterbacks.
- 45:30Speaker 5: But can you tackle? Can you make those plays in space?
- 45:34Speaker 5: Because B. John Robinson is a hard guy to get
- 45:36Speaker 5: on the floor. Ty Loggia is no longer there.
- 45:38Speaker 6: But Brian Robinson is still a damn good running back
- 45:42Speaker 6: himself coming from San Francisco. It's going to be an
- 45:45Speaker 6: emphasis for these corners to tackle really well, for these
- 45:48Speaker 6: linebackers to tackle really well, for them to communicate on
- 45:52Speaker 6: the back end, for the safety and linebackers to be
- 45:54Speaker 6: playing and staying with each other. I'm not so worried. Yes,
- 45:58Speaker 6: The Falcons have a good offensive line. I expect them
- 46:00Speaker 6: to do what they do. But I expect us to
- 46:02Speaker 6: do what we do because I think we're more physical
- 46:04Speaker 6: and we have a big offensive line. And I think
- 46:06Speaker 6: we're just a more physical group. We shall see. But
- 46:09Speaker 6: from a linebacker standpoint, if you're Patrick Queen, with everything
- 46:13Speaker 6: that was talked about you in the office, about how
- 46:15Speaker 6: you weren't tough, how poor tackling, the mental errors, all
- 46:21Speaker 6: this stuff, this has to be a breakout game for
- 46:24Speaker 6: you because if you're able to show up and be
- 46:26Speaker 6: the more physical linebacker core, especially against an elite runner
- 46:30Speaker 6: like Brian Robinson, you put the rest of the NFL
- 46:32Speaker 6: notice that the Steelers' defense is legit. And I think
- 46:35Speaker 6: it has to be, in particular, that linebacker core to
- 46:40Speaker 6: spearhead it. Because, listen, Cam's going to be great. Keanu's
- 46:43Speaker 6: going to be great. I don't suspect. I expect TJ
- 46:46Speaker 6: to pop off the tape, especially now that he's going
- 46:48Speaker 6: to get limited reps. I expect Alex Highsmith to do
- 46:52Speaker 6: what he do. Nick Herbig, if all three of them
- 46:54Speaker 6: are on the field, I can't wait to see what
- 46:57Speaker 6: that looks like. But, man, if you're Patrick Queen, enough
- 47:00Speaker 6: with the talking because there's real-life tape and there's real-life data.
- 47:06Speaker 6: You weren't the same guy you were when you were
- 47:08Speaker 6: playing with Roquan Smith, right? Now that you're the green-dot
- 47:11Speaker 6: linebacker and you're in this defense, you haven't, to my opinion,
- 47:15Speaker 6: and I'm not trying to slam the guy because there's
- 47:17Speaker 6: nothing personal between me and him and I don't really
- 47:19Speaker 6: know him, but from watching how he played in Baltimore
- 47:24Speaker 6: compared to what he looks like in a stealing uniform,
- 47:26Speaker 6: there's a complete difference. And so now you're talking about
- 47:30Speaker 6: a defense that's supposed to be a little bit better, right?
- 47:32Speaker 5: And obviously we got to get JPJ back.
- 47:35Speaker 6: But you have to be the guy to kind of
- 47:39Speaker 6: be the hammer because I come from a Steelers team
- 47:42Speaker 6: and Max comes from a Steelers team where James Fayer
- 47:45Speaker 6: and Larry Foote were so in sync and they were
- 47:48Speaker 6: willing to jump on grenades for each other and they
- 47:50Speaker 6: were big-time tacklers. And then Lawrence Timmons comes along and
- 47:54Speaker 6: he's a young guy who's fast, physical, and hungry. And
- 47:59Speaker 6: there was a standard that group loan played with that
- 48:02Speaker 6: kind of spearheaded the defense. And so I don't mean
- 48:06Speaker 6: to be going to rant, but man, if there's one
- 48:08Speaker 6: group I want to see pop off the tape and
- 48:11Speaker 6: you'll say, man, look at these guys go, especially against
- 48:15Speaker 6: a runner like B.J.
- 48:16Speaker 4: Robinson.
- 48:16Speaker 6: It has to be our off ball linebacker core with, with, with,
- 48:21Speaker 6: you know, Patrick Wayne and Peyton.
- 48:24Speaker 2: So Max, I think that, I don't want to oversimplify
- 48:27Speaker 2: what Willie's saying, but I totally agree with him. And
- 48:30Speaker 2: if your front five, and I'm talking about the outside
- 48:33Speaker 2: linebackers now, if your 50 front can neutralize their front,
- 48:35Speaker 2: I know it's not this simple. Like Willie said, everybody's
- 48:38Speaker 2: got to be part of getting B. John Robinson to
- 48:40Speaker 2: the ground. But this is why you have fast inside linebackers.
- 48:44Speaker 2: This is why you have Patrick Queen and Peyton Wilson.
- 48:47Speaker 2: For matchups like this, you're going against Jameer Gibbs. Pretty
- 48:50Speaker 2: good job last year. You're going against James Cook. Not
- 48:53Speaker 2: a good job last year. You're going against B. John Robinson.
- 48:57Speaker 2: These are why you have fast linebackers. It's not all
- 49:00Speaker 2: on them, but this is why you have them.
- 49:02Speaker 3: I think B. John Robinson is the best running back
- 49:04Speaker 3: in the NFL, number one.
- 49:06Speaker 5: Hands down.
- 49:07Speaker 2: Yeah, right. I kind of think it is hands down. Willie,
- 49:10Speaker 2: I agree with you. He's the closest to Marshall Falk
- 49:14Speaker 2: Closest to Marshall Falk.
- 49:16Speaker 3: Yeah. Max, they got to be able to get him
- 49:19Speaker 3: on the ground. It's a big matchup for those guys.
- 49:22Speaker 4: You got to get him on the ground. And it
- 49:23Speaker 4: has to be collective tackling.
- 49:27Speaker 5: Right?
- 49:27Speaker 7: We can't depend on one guy to be there. They
- 49:31Speaker 7: have to swarm to the football. And that's what it's
- 49:34Speaker 7: going to take. But like you said, it has to
- 49:37Speaker 7: lead off with your backers. You've got to have those
- 49:41Speaker 7: guys for me. I need to see safety fill in
- 49:44Speaker 7: the gaps, especially on the outside zone concepts. And then,
- 49:47Speaker 7: like you said, the line of scrimmage has to deter
- 49:50Speaker 7: him from coming up the middle. And that's when we'll
- 49:53Speaker 7: know that this run defense is legit and that we
- 49:56Speaker 7: put the right guys together. And we haven't seen them
- 49:58Speaker 7: all together in this iteration. So it's going to come
- 50:02Speaker 7: down to, like you said, Patrick, Peyton, Cam, Keanu, Derrick,
- 50:08Speaker 7: And they're going to have to be that interior crew
- 50:11Speaker 7: that forces everything to the outside. And now I need Jalen,
- 50:16Speaker 7: Robert Spears, Jennings, Jaquan Brisker, right? Ray Sean Jenkins. I need,
- 50:20Speaker 7: I need it to be a collective effort here, but
- 50:23Speaker 7: it has to be the torchbearer at the front of
- 50:26Speaker 7: that line has to be, you know, it has to
- 50:29Speaker 7: be either Peyton Wilson or Patrick Wayne. All right.
- 50:32Speaker 2: We still have more to get to the Falcons have
- 50:34Speaker 2: some other weapons besides B John, although he's number one
- 50:36Speaker 2: on the list. We're talking about Aaron Rodgers against his
- 50:39Speaker 2: Falcons defense as well. When we continue in the locker
- 50:42Speaker 2: room here on the Steelers Audio Network.