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All roads lead to Detroit · The Irish Steelers Podcast

0:07
Speaker 1: Everybody.
0:08
Speaker 2: You're very welcome into the Lad's edition of the Irish
0:10
Speaker 2: Theaters podcast, presented by Erlingus Michael McQuaid. Here, it's lighted
0:14
Speaker 2: to be with you, getting very very close to Christmas,
0:16
Speaker 2: very Christmas. Not like Hannah. It's one of those times
0:19
Speaker 2: where the Knights are getting darker. Everyone's in the festive form.
0:24
Speaker 2: But I'll tell you what. Everyone's in good form because
0:26
Speaker 2: we have afora of football coming up and it's no
0:29
Speaker 2: different from our Pittsburgh Steelers, who are going on the
0:31
Speaker 2: road this weekend to Ford Field to take on the
0:33
Speaker 2: Detroit Lions. Before we start off, just to let people know,
0:36
Speaker 2: I'll tell you what. If you're in Ireland this weekend,
0:38
Speaker 2: you can watch the game on Sky Sports Plus. But
0:40
Speaker 2: if you're up in Northern Ireland, the game is free
0:43
Speaker 2: on five Action. A fantastic opportunity to watch this team
0:47
Speaker 2: for free at one of the biggest times of the
0:49
Speaker 2: year in a huge matchup against the Detroit Lions. Well, look,
0:52
Speaker 2: we are here, we know the predicament, we know where
0:55
Speaker 2: we are. It's a big, big game for this Staters.
0:57
Speaker 2: Got to get a win under our belts and keep
1:00
Speaker 2: going as this season it's into really the last few
1:03
Speaker 2: weeks of action that it's very very important.
1:05
Speaker 3: Delighted to be here.
1:06
Speaker 2: Today with Jimmy English on the podcast. Jimmy, you're very
1:08
Speaker 2: very welcome in Christmas coming up. How are you doing.
1:12
Speaker 3: I'm very well, Nick, I'm very well.
1:14
Speaker 4: Counting down the days until Christmas, not long to go
1:16
Speaker 4: now until the big day, my favorite time of the year,
1:21
Speaker 4: and obviously, you know, just just so excited for the
1:24
Speaker 4: fest of season and looking forward as well, of course to.
1:27
Speaker 3: The to the Lions game on Sunday night.
1:30
Speaker 4: Obviously we'll get into that a little bit later on,
1:32
Speaker 4: but I think it's such an important game for both teams.
1:35
Speaker 4: Both teams, both sides need to keep winning if if
1:37
Speaker 4: they want to keep their playoff hopes alive. So I
1:39
Speaker 4: think there's there's so much on the line for the
1:42
Speaker 4: Steelers in for the Lions. More so perhaps for the
1:45
Speaker 4: Lions given the way the NFC North is at the minute.
1:48
Speaker 3: But look really really excited to see.
1:50
Speaker 4: How far this Steelers team can go into the into
1:53
Speaker 4: the season and hopefully make a bit of a deep
1:56
Speaker 4: playoff run this year.
1:57
Speaker 3: That would be nice. It's good to have you on, Jimmy.
2:00
Speaker 2: Was next week I tell you what as a Steelers fan,
2:02
Speaker 2: what is one present you would like or you think
2:04
Speaker 2: Steelers fans in Ireland would like ahead of Christmas.
2:07
Speaker 3: I think for me, it would definitely be a playoff win.
2:10
Speaker 4: I mean, you win the wild Card round, your two
2:13
Speaker 4: games away from the super Bowl. So and you know
2:16
Speaker 4: the way this team is playing right now, Aaron Rodgers
2:18
Speaker 4: is having one of his best years ever.
2:20
Speaker 3: He's thrown back, he's running back the clock. I think,
2:24
Speaker 3: you know, definitely a playoff win, even one playoff win
2:28
Speaker 3: I would take. That would be just that would just
2:30
Speaker 3: be fantastic.
2:32
Speaker 2: Tell you what, I think what I'd like is the
2:35
Speaker 2: jackets that they wore to the Dublin game. It's like
2:39
Speaker 2: the Black Steelers Ireland Zip jackets with the Doublin game
2:41
Speaker 2: on the side. If anybody has any please let me know.
2:45
Speaker 5: Iconic.
2:45
Speaker 2: I think we'll be looking back at them in years
2:47
Speaker 2: to come think of just how great they were. All
2:49
Speaker 2: I can think of is Aaron Rodgers walking off the
2:51
Speaker 2: play and wear and what it was a class Jimmy
2:53
Speaker 2: Monday Night football. Obviously great to get a win under
2:56
Speaker 2: the belts on Monday Night against the Miami Dolphins. And look,
2:59
Speaker 2: I think the matter of which it happened, Jimmy, you know,
3:01
Speaker 2: playoff football basically, like you know, you gotta win games.
3:04
Speaker 2: You're going week the week as a side trying to
3:07
Speaker 2: get a win under your belt. But a win and
3:09
Speaker 2: Acroshers just great to see the guys as well. But
3:12
Speaker 2: Ben Roethlisberger among overs honored into the Hall of Honor
3:14
Speaker 2: at halftime. But really, Jimmy, from watching it thousands of
3:17
Speaker 2: miles away, a great atmosphere almost reminded me actually of
3:21
Speaker 2: that game that Big Ben finished off on on the
3:23
Speaker 2: Monday Night Football a few years ago. That being said,
3:26
Speaker 2: Dolphins have not been great turns out. It looks like
3:29
Speaker 2: it was to his final game for the team. Quin
3:31
Speaker 2: yours coming in now, but they were still around, Jimmy,
3:34
Speaker 2: that playoff bubble before being eliminated. We still had to
3:37
Speaker 2: go out and get the job done. You can't beat
3:39
Speaker 2: a late night win, can you.
3:41
Speaker 4: You know, I watched the game back Mac on Monday
3:43
Speaker 4: morning and game pass the game in forty and obviously
3:47
Speaker 4: through the first you know, a couple of quarters that
3:49
Speaker 4: was it was very low scoring, not a lot happening.
3:52
Speaker 4: You know, it was a bit a bit concerned about
3:56
Speaker 4: about the Steelers and their offense. But once they get going,
3:58
Speaker 4: they were they really really ramped up. Back to back,
4:02
Speaker 4: I mean, four fourth scoring drives in a row. It
4:05
Speaker 4: was fantastic to see. Great to see, you know, Kenny
4:08
Speaker 4: Kenneth game well, having a great game as well. He's
4:11
Speaker 4: really come into his own with the Steelers in the
4:14
Speaker 4: run game and the pass game as well. I mean,
4:16
Speaker 4: he effectively has become the Steelers number two wide receiver.
4:19
Speaker 4: But it was great to see Aaron Rodgers in his
4:21
Speaker 4: I mean, he really has come back into his into
4:23
Speaker 4: his prime as well. I think, really kind of rolling
4:26
Speaker 4: back the years and playing some of some of his
4:28
Speaker 4: best football people. People have been saying that the Ravens
4:32
Speaker 4: game was Aaron Rodgers best game as a Steeler. I
4:35
Speaker 4: think that the Dolphins game was his second best game.
4:39
Speaker 4: He took a few sacks, fair enough, but he really
4:42
Speaker 4: really led that offense. He drove the offense some good
4:46
Speaker 4: a good pair of touchdowns as well. You mean, he
4:48
Speaker 4: had the passing touchdown to DK Metcalf and to Marquez
4:52
Speaker 4: Valdez Scantling as well, who I actually forgot was on
4:54
Speaker 4: the Steelers. To be honest with you, we haven't seen
4:57
Speaker 4: that much of him either great to see Adam feeling
4:59
Speaker 4: as well getting involved in the offense as a blocker
5:02
Speaker 4: more so than a receiver. But look, it was a
5:05
Speaker 4: really really efficient offensive game. Good good on the defensive
5:08
Speaker 4: side of things as well, minus TJ.
5:11
Speaker 3: But look, a win is a win. And the Steelers
5:14
Speaker 3: are twenty three and oher on home Monday.
5:16
Speaker 4: Night football games, which is a good statistic to have,
5:20
Speaker 4: and no losses on Monday night football, so luck. I
5:23
Speaker 4: mean there's often been times that I have been I've
5:27
Speaker 4: watched games back or I've stayed up to watch games
5:29
Speaker 4: on need to be disappointed. So it was another notch
5:34
Speaker 4: and another step towards towards the playoffs.
5:37
Speaker 2: I think one of the big things that stands out
5:39
Speaker 2: for me, Jimmy, and I'm sure you'll talk about it
5:40
Speaker 2: here is that the efficient run game that was there
5:43
Speaker 2: on Monday night. Good to see Kenny game will get
5:46
Speaker 2: a big performance under his belt and really something that
5:49
Speaker 2: it's not that we've been missing, but something that we
5:50
Speaker 2: really need to rely on. It's one thing to see
5:54
Speaker 2: Rogers get the ball down the field effectively on Monday
5:56
Speaker 2: night and look very confident in terms of doing so.
5:58
Speaker 2: But good to see Kenny actually have a good time
6:00
Speaker 2: on Monday night. One of the big question marks on
6:03
Speaker 2: Monday Night was really the availability of tjt Watton exactly
6:06
Speaker 2: what we were going to expect. Obviously, the podcast and sorry,
6:08
Speaker 2: focus of the podcast last week went out before we
6:10
Speaker 2: knew his availability or before any of the injury news
6:12
Speaker 2: came out. We wish him well. Of course, at the
6:16
Speaker 2: time of recording, it looks like he's probably not going
6:17
Speaker 2: to play this week. Didn't practice on Thursday, obviously, TVC.
6:21
Speaker 2: We'll hear from coach Tomlin in a few moments as
6:22
Speaker 2: well on that. I think, you know, even if we
6:25
Speaker 2: expect Jimmy for him not to play, you know, going
6:29
Speaker 2: back one week for a start, good to see the
6:31
Speaker 2: defense stepping up in his opposite. I think they've done
6:33
Speaker 2: an excellent job, especially when they're on little bit of pressure.
6:36
Speaker 2: Whenever you have such a big leader, right.
6:37
Speaker 4: Obviously, you know TJ is a massive part of our defense.
6:41
Speaker 3: He's one of the leaders on that team.
6:45
Speaker 4: He's he's he might he hasn't had the best year
6:48
Speaker 4: in terms of his own personal statistics, but teams always
6:52
Speaker 4: have to account for him when he's on the field.
6:55
Speaker 4: So I think having that that element of him being
6:58
Speaker 4: missing was crucial for the defense. And look, even when
7:02
Speaker 4: he's been missing in the past, players have stepped up, right.
7:04
Speaker 4: I mean, we've seen Nick Herbig emerge as a massive
7:07
Speaker 4: piece in that defense this year. He's only in his
7:09
Speaker 4: second or third years as a linebacker as an edge rusher,
7:14
Speaker 4: but when TJ is absent, it allows other guys to
7:17
Speaker 4: step up.
7:18
Speaker 3: So we still had three sacks against the Dolphins.
7:20
Speaker 4: Being Cam Hayward has had his first sack since I
7:23
Speaker 4: can't even remember this season he had. Actually, he had
7:25
Speaker 4: one of his biggest games I think against the Dolphins,
7:29
Speaker 4: and I think it was so important for him to
7:30
Speaker 4: have that game because against the Bills he went missing.
7:33
Speaker 4: He was he was talking talking to Josh Allen, but
7:36
Speaker 4: he wasn't doing anything. So I think Cam Hayward had
7:39
Speaker 4: to have a big game and he did. He definitely
7:41
Speaker 4: stepped up. We also saw Peyton Wilson get a sack.
7:45
Speaker 4: That's another guy who has as an inside linebacker has
7:48
Speaker 4: been playing exceptionally well this year. He had a great
7:51
Speaker 4: game against the Colts a couple of weeks ago when
7:53
Speaker 4: I was in Pittsburgh, so great to see him also
7:56
Speaker 4: play well. And then there was a sack by number
7:59
Speaker 4: ninety three. He says the Omeo, I've probably butchered that name,
8:04
Speaker 4: so I apologize if he is listening. But he got
8:06
Speaker 4: a sack at the end of the game on tour
8:08
Speaker 4: to kind of end the game out a bit like
8:11
Speaker 4: Heismid did against the Ravens and Lamar Jackson there last week,
8:15
Speaker 4: so I actually.
8:16
Speaker 3: Had to google who he was.
8:17
Speaker 4: Apparently he's been with the Steelers since since March this year,
8:20
Speaker 4: but just to close out the game in that kind
8:22
Speaker 4: of way was fantastic to see. And Asante Samuel Junior
8:26
Speaker 4: who elevated from the practice squad to replace Darius Slay.
8:30
Speaker 4: He had an interception on on two. So look, overall,
8:35
Speaker 4: a very very solid defensive performance. Their touchdowns, their scores
8:38
Speaker 4: didn't really come into the garbage time. So hopefully now
8:41
Speaker 4: we can we can we can carry that defensive performance
8:44
Speaker 4: into the game against the lines, because we all know
8:46
Speaker 4: what the lines, the weapons they have at every position
8:50
Speaker 4: in offense. You know, Amon ra Saint Brown, they have
8:53
Speaker 4: Jameson Williams, They've one of the best running backs in
8:55
Speaker 4: the league, and Jamier Gibbs, David Montgomery there.
8:58
Speaker 3: They kind of won two points.
9:00
Speaker 4: So I think they're gonna be a It's gonna be
9:02
Speaker 4: a very challenging game for the defense against the Lions.
9:05
Speaker 4: But I think if we continue to play the way
9:07
Speaker 4: we have been playing in previous games, we should be fine.
9:11
Speaker 2: Okay, before we look ahead to this Lions game, let's
9:13
Speaker 2: do what we always do on the Irish Sitters podcast, Folks,
9:17
Speaker 2: it's our time of year. We got to hear firstly
9:19
Speaker 2: from coach Tomlin ahead of this big, big match up
9:22
Speaker 2: against the Lions, and we're also gonna hear from Steeters
9:24
Speaker 2: quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who's finally bagging the playoff knicks off
9:28
Speaker 2: for a few years. You just know he's ready to go.
9:30
Speaker 2: You can hear both of these guys now on the
9:32
Speaker 2: Irish Theaters podcast presented by er Lingus.
9:35
Speaker 5: You certainly hope that that there's a cumulative effect of
9:40
Speaker 5: the daily work that we've had over the course of
9:42
Speaker 5: this journey that could be an asset to us that
9:43
Speaker 5: we can summers summons up when we get pressed on
9:47
Speaker 5: a short week like this week. Now, give some time
9:51
Speaker 5: and attention to the Detroit Lions. Man, I just got
9:54
Speaker 5: a lot of respect for these for this group and
9:58
Speaker 5: how they go about their business, their competitive group, their
10:01
Speaker 5: physical group. In all three phases. They're aggressive, not only
10:06
Speaker 5: in play but schematically. Got to tip my cap to
10:09
Speaker 5: coach Campbell in company for that. You see their personality
10:14
Speaker 5: on tape. I'll start first on defense. They've certainly absorbed
10:18
Speaker 5: a lot of attrition in recent weeks, particularly in the secondary,
10:24
Speaker 5: first at corner and then more recently at safety. But
10:27
Speaker 5: they've also done some things in terms of acquiring talent
10:31
Speaker 5: to help fortify those depths. Some some NFL players, some veterans,
10:35
Speaker 5: much like we went out and acquired Pep and Doug
10:37
Speaker 5: and others Asante that have helped us out. More recently,
10:42
Speaker 5: they've acquired KZ, a former Steeler that I'm sure is
10:46
Speaker 5: chopping at the bid to be a contributor to them.
10:48
Speaker 5: Arthur Malette also a former Steeler. And so what they've
10:53
Speaker 5: put on tape and who they've played on tape in
10:55
Speaker 5: recent weeks might not necessarily be who they play in
10:59
Speaker 5: this game. And so we got a lot of respect
11:01
Speaker 5: for that. They're aggressive schematically, they play a lot of
11:05
Speaker 5: man to man. Uh, they get after you with with
11:08
Speaker 5: a variety of of of blitz packages and so forth.
11:12
Speaker 5: Can't say enough about their linebacker tandem, very versatile. They
11:16
Speaker 5: play in all circumstances. Did a lot of research on
11:20
Speaker 5: Jack Campbell. We got a lot of Iowa guys in
11:22
Speaker 5: our program, and you know, got a lot of respect
11:25
Speaker 5: for for who he is as a football man and
11:27
Speaker 5: how he plays, and his relationship with the game, and
11:30
Speaker 5: and his natural leadership skills. That was very evident going
11:35
Speaker 5: to Iowa and and participating in their pro day efforts
11:38
Speaker 5: and getting to know those guys, taking them to dinner.
11:41
Speaker 5: He is certainly a natural leader and football player and man.
11:45
Speaker 5: And it appears from the outside that that those that
11:48
Speaker 5: those characteristics have have transferred to the professional level and
11:51
Speaker 5: he's doing similar things for the Lions that he did
11:54
Speaker 5: at the University of Iowa. Certainly, we got a hands
11:57
Speaker 5: full up front minimizing the rush, starting first and foremost
12:03
Speaker 5: with Aiden. He is elite. He's a game wrecker. He
12:08
Speaker 5: just is. He's a top quality rusher. He's very aware
12:12
Speaker 5: in terms of ball aware, ball searching. His ability to
12:16
Speaker 5: produce fumbles and hunt the ball as he hunts the
12:18
Speaker 5: quarterback speaks for itself. He's got very good hand eye
12:23
Speaker 5: coordination and find motor skills for a big man. Uh
12:26
Speaker 5: that was on display in his interception of that screen
12:29
Speaker 5: last week. But he's not a one man gang. Mohammad
12:32
Speaker 5: is having a breakout year for him as a rushman.
12:36
Speaker 5: Davenport obviously is a former first rounder in New Orleans
12:40
Speaker 5: Saints is also a component of their collective. They got
12:45
Speaker 5: DJ Reader up front, a veteran run stopper, and so
12:48
Speaker 5: certainly they have a bunch of capable men and I'm
12:52
Speaker 5: sure they're gonna be chopping at the bit to get
12:54
Speaker 5: back on the winning track this week. And we just
12:57
Speaker 5: got respect for that. As competitors on the offensive side
13:00
Speaker 5: of the ball, man, they take very good care of
13:03
Speaker 5: the football, and it starts first with Golf. I think
13:06
Speaker 5: he's only thrown five interceptions on the season, and you
13:09
Speaker 5: couple that with his quick decision making. He's got to
13:12
Speaker 5: have one of the top times to throw in football.
13:15
Speaker 5: He makes good and quick decisions. He certainly has some
13:18
Speaker 5: capable eligibles to distribute the ball to. Saint Brown and
13:22
Speaker 5: William's man are are formidable tandem. They also have some
13:25
Speaker 5: other guys that are playing extremely well in a lesser
13:28
Speaker 5: role in terms of volume or targets. But a playmaker
13:33
Speaker 5: is nonetheless, you know It's just it's not only about
13:37
Speaker 5: rushing the pass or if you're trying to minimize a
13:39
Speaker 5: guy like Golf who's functioning in the ways that he's functioning.
13:43
Speaker 5: He's completing seventy percent of his passes. He's not throwing
13:45
Speaker 5: the ball to the other team. We better utilize a
13:48
Speaker 5: lot of schematic strategies in terms of coverage, coverage makeups,
13:53
Speaker 5: man's zone, simulation pressures. We better work the bat passes, etc.
13:59
Speaker 5: Is not about the rush, UH, in terms of getting
14:02
Speaker 5: him and them off rhythm. We better fight for each
14:04
Speaker 5: and every incompletion. And so that's our mindset as we
14:08
Speaker 5: lean in on the week. A couple that with the
14:10
Speaker 5: top notch running game UH and that formidable run tandem
14:14
Speaker 5: that they have, we got a big week for us.
14:17
Speaker 5: UH in terms of preparing for those guys. In terms
14:19
Speaker 5: of their running game. Can't say enough about the demeanor
14:24
Speaker 5: of their collective. Certainly, I know their offensive line coach
14:29
Speaker 5: and run game coordinator Hank fairly, and I remember him
14:32
Speaker 5: as a player.
14:33
Speaker 2: UH.
14:33
Speaker 5: They play as a collective the way he played. He
14:36
Speaker 5: has built that that that unit, in his image, is
14:39
Speaker 5: a gritty group. They finish. They take pride in terms
14:44
Speaker 5: of winning the line of scrimmage and waging the war
14:46
Speaker 5: of attrition in the run game. And so we'll be
14:50
Speaker 5: challenged and challenging a big way in that regard. But
14:53
Speaker 5: again it's December. The roads getting narrowed, such as life
14:57
Speaker 5: uh in the big show man, and and we're all
15:00
Speaker 5: happy obviously to be a component of that, but we'll
15:03
Speaker 5: narrow our focus, man, and understand that we pay respect
15:07
Speaker 5: for this big game.
15:10
Speaker 1: Aaron, you guys use a bit more leveled person in
15:12
Speaker 1: the past couple of weeks, so that just the be
15:15
Speaker 1: added the edition. So MBS and Adam or is that
15:18
Speaker 1: something that maybe you saw or someone saw and said, hey,
15:20
Speaker 1: we can get more out of this against these teams.
15:24
Speaker 6: That's a question for Arthur probably, But you know, we
15:29
Speaker 6: use so much big personnel, and'd say in the middle
15:31
Speaker 6: of the season, starting with the Minnesota game, and see
15:34
Speaker 6: a lot of teams get weeks to scheme for that.
15:37
Speaker 6: So we've gotten some smaller personnel. As they said, last
15:40
Speaker 6: few weeks, have.
15:42
Speaker 3: You've seen more consistent details and the route running and
15:46
Speaker 3: all the concepts that you guys are trying to EXEQT
15:49
Speaker 3: over the past couple of.
15:50
Speaker 6: Weeks, I think detail has been good. I think the
15:52
Speaker 6: preparation has been good during the week. You know, the
15:54
Speaker 6: Monday to Saturday is super important. So I think we've
15:57
Speaker 6: been locked in. We've had better practices today. It was
16:00
Speaker 6: obviously lesser speed, but like the full speed bructs has
16:04
Speaker 6: been better the last couple of weeks. You had some
16:06
Speaker 6: battles your last couple with Detroit. What stuck out to
16:09
Speaker 6: you about a Hutchinson and what that Detroit teams? Yeah,
16:14
Speaker 6: I mean he's a game wrecker. He's a fantastic player.
16:16
Speaker 6: He's making his way, uh down down the path of
16:22
Speaker 6: being a generational type player. You know, he's had a
16:25
Speaker 6: great career. Obviously, he had a tough injury he was
16:28
Speaker 6: last year, is that correct? But he's battled back and
16:31
Speaker 6: he's anything but a one trick pony. He's got all
16:35
Speaker 6: the moves passed for us, great spin move, uh cobra, strike,
16:40
Speaker 6: speed to power. He's a talented guy. You know, he's
16:43
Speaker 6: one of the few guys in the league. He really
16:44
Speaker 6: gotta gotta know where he's out on every play. What's
16:47
Speaker 6: your relationship like with the Detroit fans as opposed to
16:50
Speaker 6: what you had with maybe Chicago and Minnesota. I would
16:54
Speaker 6: say with Chicago compared to Chicago, it's much less hostile.
16:58
Speaker 6: I would like to think Minnesota. You know, for our
17:03
Speaker 6: fans in Green Bay was always you know, I've said
17:07
Speaker 6: it before, I feel like they borderline hate Minnesota and
17:12
Speaker 6: they just have a complex with Chicago because it was
17:15
Speaker 6: always big Chicago a little Green Bay and Detroit was
17:19
Speaker 6: always battles, but there wasn't maybe the hatred that they
17:22
Speaker 6: have for Minnesota or Chicago.
17:25
Speaker 2: How the crowd noise different in in the Dome.
17:28
Speaker 6: Just in that setting, well back in the day when
17:31
Speaker 6: we played there, it wasn't a big factor. You know,
17:36
Speaker 6: in the early years we played there, there'd be some
17:38
Speaker 6: games where we had some crowd noise. But I would
17:42
Speaker 6: say since Dan got there, it's been a different type
17:44
Speaker 6: of crowd. And we were there when kind of their
17:47
Speaker 6: runs started going, I believe in twenty twenty two, and
17:49
Speaker 6: could have we could have buried them, and they they
17:52
Speaker 6: beat us and kind of went on a on a
17:53
Speaker 6: run there and finished the season hot. Then next year
17:56
Speaker 6: they were in the NFC Championship, I believe. So Dan
17:59
Speaker 6: is the obviously create a good culture there and the
18:02
Speaker 6: fans are believing and showing up early and really loud,
18:05
Speaker 6: so it's a it's a really good environment to play
18:07
Speaker 6: and you're down.
18:08
Speaker 3: Your fourth string god checking your blindside. What what's Cookman
18:11
Speaker 3: like for making his NFL.
18:12
Speaker 2: Debut been in?
18:15
Speaker 6: Yeah, I mean I thought he played really well. I
18:16
Speaker 6: played well when he came in, and that I played
18:19
Speaker 6: really well this last week. He's real calm guy in
18:22
Speaker 6: the auto and I like his demeanor. You know, we
18:25
Speaker 6: wanted to make sure he felt comfortable, so he gave
18:27
Speaker 6: him some chips early in the game and some slides.
18:29
Speaker 6: But I think he handled his own really well, and
18:31
Speaker 6: I think every rep for him is confidence and really
18:35
Speaker 6: proud of the way that Dylan played.
18:37
Speaker 2: Create to hear from both coach Tomblin and Aron Rodgers
18:40
Speaker 2: on this week's podcast, The Irish Theaters podcast presented by
18:43
Speaker 2: Erlingis and joined Michael mccuid with Jimmy English as we
18:46
Speaker 2: look ahead. A reminder you can get this game on
18:49
Speaker 2: TV at the weekend or on the OTB Sports app.
18:53
Speaker 2: If you're across Ireland, you can hear the Steelers radio
18:56
Speaker 2: networks coverage over Jimmy Look Detroit Lions. Let's be clear,
19:02
Speaker 2: I think we're both in agreement here. This team on
19:05
Speaker 2: their day are lethal. This is a massive, massive game
19:10
Speaker 2: for the Lions, especially after Thursday Night Football in where
19:13
Speaker 2: the Seahawks won the game. The NFC is getting tight
19:16
Speaker 2: as well as the AFC as well, but that NFC
19:18
Speaker 2: now for NFC North team is getting very very tight. Indeed,
19:23
Speaker 2: how impressed have you been with Dan Campbell this year?
19:25
Speaker 2: Even if the Lions statistically have not been as good
19:28
Speaker 2: on the field, they're trying to get their third year
19:31
Speaker 2: in a row of playoff contention.
19:33
Speaker 4: The thing with Dan Campbell has make that he's such
19:34
Speaker 4: a great motivator. He brings such passion to the team
19:38
Speaker 4: and he really has revolutionized the Detroit Lions when he
19:42
Speaker 4: came on board there a couple of years ago. I mean,
19:44
Speaker 4: he brought them to the playoffs for the first time
19:46
Speaker 4: in god knows how long. And you can just see
19:49
Speaker 4: the energy that he that he brings to that locker room.
19:51
Speaker 4: And he's such a I think he's a great man coach,
19:54
Speaker 4: you know coaches, He coaches the man very well. So
19:57
Speaker 4: I think he's been a difference maker in Detroit and
20:00
Speaker 4: he's really unlocked the teams the team's potential and so
20:04
Speaker 4: look the Lions have had they haven't had the best
20:06
Speaker 4: season that you know, they can't even really blame injuries.
20:10
Speaker 4: I don't think where they could have easily blamed injuries
20:12
Speaker 4: last year, and not that they blamed them, but injury
20:15
Speaker 4: has certainly played a factor down the stretch last year.
20:17
Speaker 4: And you know they're down Brian branch Now on defense
20:20
Speaker 4: obviously a key piece there.
20:22
Speaker 3: But I think the Lions just haven't been executing as
20:24
Speaker 3: well as they have previously this year.
20:26
Speaker 4: They've allowed teams to come back, they haven't put teams away,
20:29
Speaker 4: and they just haven't lived up to their potential, I think.
20:32
Speaker 4: But Dan Campbell, you know, he's able to he's able
20:37
Speaker 4: to get to the core of his team. He's able
20:39
Speaker 4: to talk to the players, he's able to really kind
20:41
Speaker 4: of motivate them and get him up and gee them
20:44
Speaker 4: up and just just get them going. So I think
20:47
Speaker 4: he's for me, he's one of the best coaches in
20:49
Speaker 4: the league. And you can never you can never count
20:52
Speaker 4: the lines out with Dan Campbell at their backs. So
20:56
Speaker 4: I think just he's just a massive part of that
20:59
Speaker 4: organized organization success. And I think the Lions are going
21:03
Speaker 4: to be really, really dangerous when they come in when
21:04
Speaker 4: they come into Hines. Sorry, we're playing in Detroit. The
21:09
Speaker 4: Lions are going to be very, very dangerous, and obviously
21:11
Speaker 4: it's a road game for the Staiers as well, which
21:13
Speaker 4: means the environment will be even tougher there in Ford
21:17
Speaker 4: Field in Detroit. So yeah, look, it's gonna be a
21:21
Speaker 4: great game.
21:22
Speaker 2: This game, Jimmy, is huge for both sides and with
21:24
Speaker 2: the AFC North. We're not gonna specially right now, what
21:27
Speaker 2: it can mean in terms of the playoff seeds. We're
21:28
Speaker 2: looking at probably more in detail next week as we
21:31
Speaker 2: get in the week seventeen until postgame. But realistically, Jimmy,
21:36
Speaker 2: this is gonna be a real, real challenge for us.
21:38
Speaker 2: It's gonna be electric. We know the Steders are got
21:41
Speaker 2: history in the stadium, but what do you want to
21:43
Speaker 2: see from this side on Sunday. For me, it's trying
21:46
Speaker 2: to find a way trying to elevate that run game.
21:49
Speaker 2: We know how good Rogers can play at this time
21:52
Speaker 2: of the year. He was excellent in terms of what
21:54
Speaker 2: he was able to do on Monday Night Football. He
21:57
Speaker 2: had an almost perfect game, two pass and touchdown, was
22:00
Speaker 2: efficient in the passing game. I want to see a
22:02
Speaker 2: wee bit more of that. But if TJ doesn't play Jimmy.
22:06
Speaker 2: I want to see this defense continue to step up
22:08
Speaker 2: because if they can step up on the road against
22:11
Speaker 2: the defense, against an offense, sorry in what can be
22:15
Speaker 2: lethal with Jared Goff handed off to Jumior Gibbs handing
22:18
Speaker 2: it off to Devin Montgomery. Never mind the weapons that
22:20
Speaker 2: they have in the past game, you know, if the
22:23
Speaker 2: Steelers defense can come up here, this is a massive,
22:26
Speaker 2: massive opportunity.
22:27
Speaker 4: This is gonna be a shoot out maker thing. This
22:29
Speaker 4: is gonna be a really, really high scoring game. Both
22:31
Speaker 4: sides have the pieces to get into the end zone,
22:33
Speaker 4: be it on the ground or through the air. We
22:36
Speaker 4: you know, we have Aaron Rodgers. He's a former NFC quarterback.
22:39
Speaker 4: He's used to playing against the Lions twice the season
22:42
Speaker 4: up there in Green Bay, so he knows, I think,
22:44
Speaker 4: what to expect from this Lions outfit.
22:46
Speaker 3: He's been in this scenario before.
22:48
Speaker 4: And so look, it's just gonna be on our guys,
22:52
Speaker 4: like you say, it's gonna be on the defense to
22:53
Speaker 4: shut them down offensively. Look, they are gonna score points,
22:57
Speaker 4: there's no way. But there's no two ways about that
23:00
Speaker 4: about not panicking and being able to respond with points
23:02
Speaker 4: of our own, and I think offense needs to have
23:05
Speaker 4: a bigger game than the defense this week. I think,
23:07
Speaker 4: I mean, the defense has stepped up really well the
23:09
Speaker 4: past couple of weeks. So we just have to hope
23:13
Speaker 4: that we can keep pace with the with the Lions
23:15
Speaker 4: and Mike Tomlin can ultimately out coach Dan Campbell, because
23:19
Speaker 4: I think that's what it's gonna come down to, honestly.
23:22
Speaker 2: Right, let's get a score production, Jimmy before we finish
23:24
Speaker 2: off here for the week. Do you know what I have? Really?
23:27
Speaker 2: You know, I was driving up the road before I
23:29
Speaker 2: recorded this podcast and I thought to myself, God, this
23:31
Speaker 2: is hard. This is one of the games that you
23:33
Speaker 2: look at the start of the year and think to yourself,
23:35
Speaker 2: this is a hard game to go into Detroit and win.
23:39
Speaker 2: It's hard. I don't think it ever picked against the
23:43
Speaker 2: Sailers in this podcast. I'm not going to this week,
23:45
Speaker 2: but my god, I think we know it's hard. In
23:47
Speaker 2: your mouth football, Jimmy, I think we gotta limit the
23:50
Speaker 2: Lions to twenty four points, and we gotta limit that
23:53
Speaker 2: run game and establish the run ourselves. As I said previously,
23:56
Speaker 2: give me a twenty seven to twenty four win. For
24:00
Speaker 2: Steelers and Monday Night Football. I think if that happened,
24:02
Speaker 2: it would really raise the steaks in the AFC, never
24:05
Speaker 2: mind the AFC nor for the Steelers team, because we
24:08
Speaker 2: know the better that we play, hopefully the better wildcard
24:11
Speaker 2: game that we get. It looks like that buy is
24:13
Speaker 2: locked up of course now with the Denver Broncos. So
24:16
Speaker 2: let's try and get the better game. Let's try and
24:18
Speaker 2: maybe get that Chargers at home on wild Card weekend.
24:21
Speaker 2: We'll see what happens to give me a twenty seven
24:23
Speaker 2: to twenty four win and start people talking the game
24:26
Speaker 2: in the national and in this case for US the
24:29
Speaker 2: international media about the whole ceiling for the Pittsburgh Steelers,
24:32
Speaker 2: who look, if they get a win, have really hit
24:35
Speaker 2: a different gear after a bit of a slump in
24:37
Speaker 2: the middle of the season. Give me that win. What's
24:40
Speaker 2: your prediction?
24:40
Speaker 3: My score prediction?
24:41
Speaker 4: I think the Steelers are actually going to put up
24:44
Speaker 4: over forty points for the first time this season.
24:48
Speaker 3: And I think if we can follow the Rams blueprint
24:51
Speaker 3: from last Sunday and shut down Engremier games and put
24:54
Speaker 3: pressure under Jared Goff and Aaron Rodgers can outduel Jared Goff,
24:58
Speaker 3: the way that Matt Stafford did last I think the
25:01
Speaker 3: Steelers just get the edge in this one. So look,
25:04
Speaker 3: they're gonna score points. Like I said, there's no two
25:06
Speaker 3: ways about that.
25:07
Speaker 4: We just have to try and limit those points and
25:09
Speaker 4: putting more points up ourselves. So my official score prediction,
25:12
Speaker 4: I think the Steelers are going to win this one.
25:15
Speaker 4: It's gonna be a buy a one score game. And
25:18
Speaker 4: I do think that the Steelers are gonna win this
25:20
Speaker 4: game forty two to thirty five.
25:22
Speaker 3: And don't take that to the bank.
25:24
Speaker 4: Maybe maybe don't cash that one in because I'm not
25:27
Speaker 4: as good as the all score predictions as Davogue is.
25:30
Speaker 4: But no, I do feel very, very very positive positive
25:34
Speaker 4: about this game. I think we can get a win.
25:36
Speaker 4: So we have to just wait now and see if
25:38
Speaker 4: that comes true.
25:39
Speaker 2: Okay, Jimmy, Let's see what happens, man, Let's see what happens, Johnny,
25:43
Speaker 2: to you, to everybody listening, not like ham and Merry Christmas.
25:47
Speaker 2: We are gonna be back next Friday, which is in
25:49
Speaker 2: Stevens there Boxing Day of course, on December to twenty sixth.
25:52
Speaker 2: Looking ahead to the week seventeen matchup, we will see
25:56
Speaker 2: how that plays out over the weekend, what the permutations
25:58
Speaker 2: are if if restls Wow, I need coffee folks. Hey,
26:02
Speaker 2: if starters will be rested or not, we will see.
26:05
Speaker 2: Time will tell, but Jimmy, have a good one for
26:08
Speaker 2: everybody listening now. Thank you very much for listening to
26:10
Speaker 2: the Irish Series podcast presented by our Lingus. A reminder
26:13
Speaker 2: that the Steers Against the Alliance is on Sunday in
26:15
Speaker 2: the late window nine twenty five Sky Sports Plus. But
26:18
Speaker 2: also if you're up north five Action. Have a great weekend, folks,