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HR2: Sunday's Heros · In the Locker Room presented by Neighborhood Ford Store (Pittsburgh Steelers)

• 0:06
  Speaker 1: This is In the Locker Room with Rob King, Max Starks,
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: and Willie Colon on Steelers Nation Radio. Brought to you
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: in part by the Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop.steelers.com.
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: And by your neighborhood Ford store. The F-150 is the
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: official truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: Oh, you know what that sound is? The power hour
• 0:38
  Speaker 2: is fully engaged, and Optimus a little happier on this Monday.
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: I felt that was like a winner's toot-toot there from
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: the big old big rig. And we delivered a victory
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: in the City of Steel, and, you know... we were
• 0:59
  Speaker 2: talking about it some and we're going through some of
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: the heroes of the game, Rob. And I think, you know,
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: as we talk about what the defensive snap counts look
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: like and that distribution, you know, and how that looks
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: to hopefully play in our favor going into the rest
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: of the season, but more importantly going into the next week. And,
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: you know, the other thing I think is health, which
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: is always a good sign. I mean, you know, We'll
• 1:28
  Speaker 2: talk about the offensive side. Troy Fontano going down for
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: a snap or two. But let's keep it on the
• 1:35
  Speaker 2: defensive side. I know you wanted to finish up there first.
• 1:37
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I was looking at the snap counts, and I
• 1:40
  Speaker 3: thought it very interesting. You know, Dillon never got one,
• 1:43
  Speaker 3: by the way. Good to see him make his debut.
• 1:45
  Speaker 3: Jamel Dean got nicked up, so Jamel got 59 snaps.
• 1:49
  Speaker 3: The guys who got 60 were Brisker, Samuel, Queen, Ramsey,
• 1:56
  Speaker 3: 59 for Dean. So I think that goes without saying
• 2:00
  Speaker 3: right uh brisker safety position uh samuel and ramsey and
• 2:05
  Speaker 3: dean at the cornerback positions basically played all the snaps
• 2:08
  Speaker 3: except for the one in which dean had to leave
• 2:10
  Speaker 3: the game uh those are the four defensive backs that
• 2:14
  Speaker 3: were on the field most of the time and then
• 2:16
  Speaker 3: you know you saw uh the other safety jenkins getting
• 2:20
  Speaker 3: 31 snaps so a lot of times it was just
• 2:22
  Speaker 3: basically playing with one safety robert spears jennings did not
• 2:26
  Speaker 3: log a defensive snap in the So you saw just
• 2:32
  Speaker 3: one safety out there quite a bit as far as
• 2:35
  Speaker 3: the nickel and Ramsey. Ramsey is a good guy to
• 2:39
  Speaker 3: be able to deploy close to the line of scrimmage.
• 2:41
  Speaker 3: That's what Mike Tomlin wanted him to do. That's where
• 2:43
  Speaker 3: everybody thought he was going to be best because he's
• 2:45
  Speaker 3: such a good physical player. By the way, we're talking
• 2:49
  Speaker 3: and singing the praises of B. John Robinson. Brisker, in
• 2:51
  Speaker 3: addition to the interception, lit up B.
• 2:54
  Speaker 2: John.
• 2:55
  Speaker 3: I mean, you don't see B. John get hit like
• 2:57
  Speaker 3: that very often. He hit him and drove him into
• 3:00
  Speaker 3: the ground.
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, it was emphatic, I think, is the
• 3:06
  Speaker 2: key operative word. He plays emphatically. When he's out there,
• 3:11
  Speaker 2: he's going to make you remember that number five still
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: could play football.
• 3:15
  Speaker 3: Yeah, three. And three, though, too, Brisker. I was talking
• 3:18
  Speaker 3: about the one down field where Brisker lit up.
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: Oh, you're talking about Brisker's out? Because I was saying
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: there was one. Yeah. Jalen met him, met him in
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: the hole in the outside. Yes. It was like it
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: was an eraser. But you're right. No, that was a good. Right. Yeah.
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: Jaquan Brisker. Absolutely. And then the one on the. Yeah.
• 3:37
  Speaker 2: It was the one when he was going for the pass. Right.
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: And he went up in the air and and and
• 3:43
  Speaker 2: he did not go down on his own volition. Jaquan
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: Brisker made sure that when he went down, it was
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: not gentle. Yeah, I know exactly what you're talking about.
• 3:51
  Speaker 3: And then had a run later to lift him up
• 3:53
  Speaker 3: off his feet and just planted him on the ground.
• 3:55
  Speaker 3: But anyway, you know, first of all, I would like
• 3:59
  Speaker 3: to praise Peyton Wilson, who I thought played a really
• 4:03
  Speaker 3: good game, led the team in tackles. He and Queen
• 4:06
  Speaker 3: basically didn't come off the field. He only sat for
• 4:09
  Speaker 3: three plays. But, you know, Queen had his moments for sure,
• 4:12
  Speaker 3: but I thought Peyton Wilson was very, very visible.
• 4:16
  Speaker 2: He was very visible. He was blitzing. And he was
• 4:20
  Speaker 2: meeting Bijan in the hole. I think that was a
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: marked difference in what we've seen the first two years
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: out of Peyton Wilson. We're starting to see the maturity.
• 4:29
  Speaker 2: We're starting to see the FBI football intelligence of Peyton Wilson.
• 4:37
  Speaker 2: And we realize that when both of those guys are
• 4:38
  Speaker 2: on the field, one guy has to be the hammer, right?
• 4:42
  Speaker 2: And so for Peyton Wilson, answer the phone call. It
• 4:46
  Speaker 2: was ringing. It was ringing. It's been ringing for the
• 4:48
  Speaker 2: last three years. And he picked up that call, said, hello?
• 4:53
  Speaker 2: New phone, who this? And he was like, no, no, no.
• 4:57
  Speaker 2: It was like, you can call me Thumper, but I
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: don't have a friend named Bambi. You know? And he
• 5:03
  Speaker 2: came in, and he was absolutely popping, guys.
• 5:06
  Speaker 3: I think if you told me, you know, the notion that,
• 5:08
  Speaker 3: and we talked about this a lot, that Nick Herbig
• 5:11
  Speaker 3: was going to play. Look, they signed him to a
• 5:14
  Speaker 3: big contract extension. He's going to play.
• 5:17
  Speaker 2: Yeah. Well, T.J.
• 5:18
  Speaker 3: Watt's going to play, and Heisman's going to play. We
• 5:21
  Speaker 3: heard a lot of talk about the quote-unquote three-headed monster
• 5:24
  Speaker 3: last year. We saw it deployed a little. It didn't
• 5:27
  Speaker 3: feel like we saw it deployed a lot. Now, there
• 5:29
  Speaker 3: were some injuries that may have slowed down that plan
• 5:31
  Speaker 3: a little bit. But if you were to tell me, hey,
• 5:34
  Speaker 3: these three guys are going to spend, and I don't
• 5:37
  Speaker 3: know the exact number, but say 15, 18 plays on
• 5:44
  Speaker 3: the field together as a trio, I would have told you,
• 5:48
  Speaker 3: and I think it was probably close to that. I
• 5:50
  Speaker 3: don't know, Max. I don't have the exact figure. I'm
• 5:52
  Speaker 3: going to be going back and looking at the tape
• 5:55
  Speaker 3: again later today. But I would have thought one of
• 5:59
  Speaker 3: those inside linebackers, Queen or Wilson, would have come out
• 6:02
  Speaker 3: of the game. Well, there must have been a lot
• 6:05
  Speaker 3: of times where they played all five of those guys,
• 6:07
  Speaker 3: both inside linebackers and all three edge rushers. Had to be.
• 6:12
  Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, no, there was, like I said, there was
• 6:15
  Speaker 2: a lot, and there was a lot of different ways
• 6:17
  Speaker 2: they deployed it. And as I'm kind of going through
• 6:20
  Speaker 2: my film breakdown, you know, I talked about it. It was,
• 6:24
  Speaker 2: it was some of the four down looks. There was
• 6:26
  Speaker 2: still some where it was literally three and it looked like,
• 6:30
  Speaker 2: you know, it was three and five linebackers out there. Right.
• 6:33
  Speaker 2: You know, so almost like an eight man type front.
• 6:35
  Speaker 2: So that's when you talk about only having a single
• 6:37
  Speaker 2: safety in those moments, like because they were trying to
• 6:40
  Speaker 2: subscribe some things. Um, at one point they went into
• 6:43
  Speaker 2: 13 personnel on the, on the Falcon side. And I
• 6:49
  Speaker 2: think that in order to get, make that work, that's
• 6:53
  Speaker 2: why you had only five D linemen, five down linemen
• 6:57
  Speaker 2: dress that day yesterday. So we didn't see Joe buddy
• 7:01
  Speaker 2: or Rubio dress because of the fact that they were
• 7:05
  Speaker 2: trying to create this kind of package and, With three
• 7:10
  Speaker 2: outside linebackers, but still three outside linebackers in a base look,
• 7:13
  Speaker 2: three outside linebackers in a sub look. And how do
• 7:17
  Speaker 2: we deploy it? How does it work? What is the
• 7:19
  Speaker 2: nuance of it? So I'm with you. It had to
• 7:22
  Speaker 2: have been at least 12 to 15 plays where we
• 7:25
  Speaker 2: saw that out of the 60, where you had all
• 7:28
  Speaker 2: of them out there. And it was tough to ID
• 7:32
  Speaker 2: in the moment, too, because of the pace, the changes,
• 7:37
  Speaker 2: also our vantage point. A lot of plays were played
• 7:40
  Speaker 2: to the far side of the field from where our
• 7:41
  Speaker 2: booth is. So you're sitting there with the binoculars trying
• 7:44
  Speaker 2: to get it, but then the play's coming up, and
• 7:46
  Speaker 2: you're like, oh, okay, okay. But I see Herbick out there.
• 7:48
  Speaker 2: I see Watt. And then when we get to the
• 7:51
  Speaker 2: play call, who made the tackles, it's like, oh, okay,
• 7:53
  Speaker 2: Highsmith was out there too. So, you know, it was
• 7:55
  Speaker 2: like one of those things where it was really tough
• 7:58
  Speaker 2: to kind of catch it in the moment. But when
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: you kind of look back, you're like, oh, yeah, they
• 8:02
  Speaker 2: were out there a pretty good amount. It wasn't like
• 8:04
  Speaker 2: just four snaps, which we were used to. It was
• 8:07
  Speaker 2: a very obvious– third and long they're spread out wide
• 8:11
  Speaker 2: you only see one D lineman and just them so
• 8:15
  Speaker 2: um I'm really happy to see how that evolves as
• 8:17
  Speaker 2: the season progresses.
• 8:19
  Speaker 3: And my guess is Max that that will be a
• 8:23
  Speaker 3: game plan specific snap distribution right like like I think
• 8:28
  Speaker 3: you're right I think that was packages for this game
• 8:31
  Speaker 3: you got Cooper Rush in there um you know you
• 8:34
  Speaker 3: don't Zaccheaus and Dotson, fine veteran guys, branch or rookie,
• 8:40
  Speaker 3: they don't scare you. They don't scare me. Look, if
• 8:45
  Speaker 3: you're a defensive coach, everybody scares you. You've got to
• 8:48
  Speaker 3: figure out a way to stop them all. But I
• 8:49
  Speaker 3: think that if you used to go see the Bengals,
• 8:54
  Speaker 3: my guess is that we're not going to see this
• 8:55
  Speaker 3: type of deployment. My guess is that if you're going
• 8:58
  Speaker 3: to put those three pass rushers out there, one of
• 9:00
  Speaker 3: the linebackers will come off the field. I don't know
• 9:03
  Speaker 3: that for a fact because This is our first year
• 9:05
  Speaker 3: of the Patrick Graham defense. Maybe he's saying, I don't
• 9:07
  Speaker 3: care what you do, man. We're going to do this. Because, look,
• 9:10
  Speaker 3: Patrick Queen and Peyton Wilson are fast inside linebackers. I
• 9:16
  Speaker 3: know people want them to be downhill thumpers. And, you know,
• 9:22
  Speaker 3: I think Peyton Wilson showed some tendencies to be able
• 9:24
  Speaker 3: to do that. Queen has in the past. But they're not–
• 9:27
  Speaker 3: this isn't, you know, Dick Butkus– you know, Mike Singletary,
• 9:34
  Speaker 3: Harry Carson, meet you in the hole. This is, we
• 9:37
  Speaker 3: got to get to new league. We got to get
• 9:39
  Speaker 3: side to side. We need guys with speed. They have
• 9:42
  Speaker 3: that speed. And so you hope they're going to be
• 9:45
  Speaker 3: good matchups against Pitts and Bijan and let the back
• 9:48
  Speaker 3: end deal with Drake London and whoever else they want
• 9:50
  Speaker 3: to throw the ball to. If you're going against the Bengals,
• 9:52
  Speaker 3: my guess is, that those packages will be different.
• 9:58
  Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely. It has to be. And I think you
• 10:00
  Speaker 2: have the depth that if you're Patrick Graham, you feel
• 10:05
  Speaker 2: good about being able to mix things up and being
• 10:07
  Speaker 2: able to kind of fit what you need the team
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: to be. And so that's what I'm excited about. And
• 10:15
  Speaker 2: this is also the first outing for this group. as
• 10:19
  Speaker 2: a full unit. We didn't see TJ Watt in the preseason.
• 10:22
  Speaker 2: We didn't see Cam Hayward in the preseason. We saw
• 10:25
  Speaker 2: a little bit of Keanu Benton in the preseason. You know,
• 10:29
  Speaker 2: Alex Highsmith played very little in the preseason. So you
• 10:34
  Speaker 2: didn't really get this full compliment. Jalen Ramsey didn't play
• 10:36
  Speaker 2: at all in the preseason, right? So trying to figure
• 10:41
  Speaker 2: out how this group looks and does and moves and operates,
• 10:46
  Speaker 2: it's a tough prospect. And, you know, you have to
• 10:49
  Speaker 2: get them out there. You have to get them communicating.
• 10:51
  Speaker 2: You have to get them talking. You have to get
• 10:52
  Speaker 2: them moving. And it looked clunky. Honestly, it looked like
• 10:57
  Speaker 2: they had just played together, you know. But they had
• 11:00
  Speaker 2: been in a lot of meetings, so the knowledge was there.
• 11:02
  Speaker 2: And you saw the ramp up in communication and doing
• 11:05
  Speaker 2: those things. And I believe it's going to get a
• 11:06
  Speaker 2: lot cleaner. It's going to get a lot easier because
• 11:09
  Speaker 2: now that you have actual film to teach off of,
• 11:13
  Speaker 2: you actually have some coaching tape. I think that's what's
• 11:16
  Speaker 2: going to aid this team as they progress. Because now
• 11:20
  Speaker 2: you have physical, tangible plays that you can point to
• 11:24
  Speaker 2: and go through. So then when you get to that situation,
• 11:28
  Speaker 2: week four, week five, week 13, it's a race because
• 11:33
  Speaker 2: they've all seen it. They've all repped it. They've all
• 11:35
  Speaker 2: done it together. And that was a key thing. Doing
• 11:38
  Speaker 2: it together live when the bullets are flying, quote unquote.
• 11:43
  Speaker 2: But That's what you have to do. You have to
• 11:45
  Speaker 2: get to that time. And it does take a little
• 11:48
  Speaker 2: bit of time. Some things go faster. I think defense
• 11:51
  Speaker 2: always ramps up a lot quicker than offense and coordination
• 11:55
  Speaker 2: because you have so many individuals who can wreck the
• 11:58
  Speaker 2: game that the responsibility and the coordination doesn't have to
• 12:01
  Speaker 2: be as high. Whereas offense, everything has to go right
• 12:07
  Speaker 2: for a play to be successful. You can't really break
• 12:10
  Speaker 2: away Yeah, you can have guys who have speed. I mean,
• 12:13
  Speaker 2: you got to be the Bichons, the exceptions. But for
• 12:16
  Speaker 2: the most part, the five guys up front have to block.
• 12:19
  Speaker 2: And then whoever else is an auxiliary blocker, you know,
• 12:22
  Speaker 2: with your tight ends and then wide receivers, wide receivers
• 12:24
  Speaker 2: have to block downfield, too, you know, to create an
• 12:27
  Speaker 2: explosive play. So everything has to work in in coordination.
• 12:31
  Speaker 2: And then in any given pass play, guys must block.
• 12:35
  Speaker 2: They bring one more. You have the receiver has to
• 12:37
  Speaker 2: know what that looks like. Break off to the right route.
• 12:40
  Speaker 2: but also be in position to make that catch. I mean,
• 12:42
  Speaker 2: I think we kind of think, oh, man, one guy
• 12:45
  Speaker 2: can make a difference. Oh, we got two receivers. It's
• 12:47
  Speaker 2: going to be great. No, it takes time. DK, Pittman,
• 12:52
  Speaker 2: and Aaron did not play in a live game together
• 12:55
  Speaker 2: until yesterday.
• 12:56
  Speaker 3: Yeah, and we're going to get to the offense, but
• 12:57
  Speaker 3: I just wanted to point out one more thing, which
• 12:59
  Speaker 3: is that the defensive line, the guy who led the
• 13:01
  Speaker 3: snap count charge was Benton with 35. So, again, a
• 13:05
  Speaker 3: lot of rotation with these guys. Cam Hayward was right
• 13:08
  Speaker 3: behind him with 30. one, a 32, I'm sorry, 35
• 13:12
  Speaker 3: for Benton, 32 for Hayward, who I thought was, again,
• 13:17
  Speaker 3: very visible, batting down balls, creating havoc, clogging things up
• 13:22
  Speaker 3: in the middle. I'm going to have you comment on that,
• 13:25
  Speaker 3: but just quickly to finish this off, Harmon with 24,
• 13:28
  Speaker 3: Black with 18, Joseph Day with 18. That seems a
• 13:33
  Speaker 3: reasonable distribution. And again, you see the Baltimore Ravens, you
• 13:38
  Speaker 3: might see more Harmon, right? These, these might fluctuate a
• 13:41
  Speaker 3: little bit week to week and opponent to opponent.
• 13:44
  Speaker 2: Oh yeah. It's definitely going to fluctuate. You know, I was,
• 13:47
  Speaker 2: the only thing I was surprised by was that, you know, Keanu,
• 13:50
  Speaker 2: he's listed as Cam's backup, but he was out there
• 13:52
  Speaker 2: a lot with Cam.
• 13:54
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 13:55
  Speaker 2: Right. And, and like you said, to that point, uh,
• 13:59
  Speaker 2: you know, why a black, not as, not as visible
• 14:01
  Speaker 2: in that game, only 18 out of the 60 snaps. Um,
• 14:04
  Speaker 2: So that's also a thing. And also, let's not forget,
• 14:08
  Speaker 2: it was untenable in the heat category yesterday. It was hot.
• 14:15
  Speaker 2: So I think, you know, once the weather cools, I
• 14:18
  Speaker 2: think you also might get a little bit more of
• 14:21
  Speaker 2: some participation and rotation. But the rotation was high in
• 14:24
  Speaker 2: that game because guys were just, you know, famished. I mean,
• 14:28
  Speaker 2: you know, we heard Missy yesterday in the postgame interview
• 14:31
  Speaker 2: with TJ. He was leakin'. So, yeah, it was also
• 14:37
  Speaker 2: dealing with the heat and trying to make sure you
• 14:38
  Speaker 2: kept guys fresh as well.
• 14:39
  Speaker 3: Pittsburgh Steelers win by the final score of 20-13. One
• 14:45
  Speaker 3: quick look at T.J. Watt because we talked about him already,
• 14:48
  Speaker 3: and then we're going to talk about the offense and
• 14:50
  Speaker 3: some of the special teams as well when we continue
• 14:52
  Speaker 3: in the locker room here on the Steelers Audio Network.
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: This is In the Locker Room with Rob King, Max Starks,
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: and Willie Colon on Steelers Nation Radio. Brought to you
• 15:07
  Speaker 1: in part by the Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop.steelers.com.
• 15:14
  Speaker 1: And by your neighborhood Ford store. The F-150 is the
• 15:18
  Speaker 1: official truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
• 15:21
  Speaker 3: Rush gets the snap.
• 15:22
  Speaker 2: Back to pass.
• 15:23
  Speaker 3: Steps up.
• 15:24
  Speaker 2: T.J. Watt has him.
• 15:26
  Speaker 3: And T.J.
• 15:27
  Speaker 2: Watt with a sack.
• 15:30
  Speaker 3: Yeah, TJ with a sack, two sacks. TJ with an
• 15:34
  Speaker 3: interception return for a touchdown. TJ Watt all over this game.
• 15:39
  Speaker 3: You know, probably about, you know, two-thirds of the way
• 15:43
  Speaker 3: through the game or thereabouts. I'm like, man, Alex Heisman's
• 15:46
  Speaker 3: the defensive player of the game. Alex had a great game.
• 15:49
  Speaker 3: Defensive player of the game, TJ Watt. I don't think
• 15:52
  Speaker 3: there's any– no offense to anybody, Max. Alex played a
• 15:56
  Speaker 3: great game, but, man, two sacks. The tackles for losses,
• 16:00
  Speaker 3: the quarterback hurries, and, of course, the touchdown. And your
• 16:05
  Speaker 3: game MVP has got to be T.J.
• 16:07
  Speaker 2: Watt. Oh, no question. I mean, by far and away.
• 16:11
  Speaker 2: I said it on the broadcast yesterday, Rob. AFC player,
• 16:15
  Speaker 2: defensive player of the week. Like, if he doesn't get that,
• 16:19
  Speaker 2: there's something wrong with the voting. Miles Garrett is gone, okay?
• 16:22
  Speaker 2: So we don't have to worry about that. In fact,
• 16:24
  Speaker 2: he's on IR. So he's not eligible for any awards
• 16:27
  Speaker 2: for the rest of this month. If not longer. But
• 16:31
  Speaker 2: there's no way, no way you can deny T.J. Watt
• 16:36
  Speaker 2: and what he did. He was absolute pure electricity, as
• 16:40
  Speaker 2: his name denotes. And like I said, that was an electrocution. Yeah,
• 16:45
  Speaker 2: he had a lot of he brought a lot of
• 16:46
  Speaker 2: wattage out there. Yeah. And hey, it must have been
• 16:49
  Speaker 2: solar powered. Yeah. It was it was it was good.
• 16:56
  Speaker 3: Powered the Steelers to a victory. That is for sure.
• 16:59
  Speaker 3: So let's quickly, and I don't want to gloss this over,
• 17:02
  Speaker 3: but let's quickly get to a negative in the game
• 17:06
  Speaker 3: for me. And it was, I think overall with special teams,
• 17:11
  Speaker 3: I don't think I could give them a thumbs up
• 17:13
  Speaker 3: in this game. There was the odd-looking field goal, fake
• 17:19
  Speaker 3: field goal. I never did get a really good explanation.
• 17:22
  Speaker 3: Hopefully we will get an explanation for that. I have
• 17:25
  Speaker 3: no idea what happened on that play. Chris Boswell lined
• 17:28
  Speaker 3: up to try a career-long 62-yard field goal. Mike Pursuta
• 17:32
  Speaker 3: was saying in pregame he went from 63 with plenty
• 17:37
  Speaker 3: of leg to spare. Would have been fun to watch
• 17:39
  Speaker 3: him try it, and then it somehow turned into a
• 17:41
  Speaker 3: fake field goal that nobody knew was a fake field goal.
• 17:45
  Speaker 3: Boswell was just sort of standing there. Nobody released Harmon,
• 17:48
  Speaker 3: and I think Hayward would have been the receivers on
• 17:51
  Speaker 3: that side. Nobody released. So that was not good, Max,
• 17:55
  Speaker 3: and The return, the coverage teams, you know, the kick return, okay.
• 18:00
  Speaker 3: The punt return, fine. You know, 11 yards per return
• 18:04
  Speaker 3: for Zachariah Branch, probably a little more than you'd like
• 18:06
  Speaker 3: to give up. And then the kickoff returns, they averaged
• 18:08
  Speaker 3: almost 31 yards per return, and they had a 63
• 18:12
  Speaker 3: or 64-yarder call back on a hold that didn't have
• 18:15
  Speaker 3: anything to do with a return. I think it was
• 18:18
  Speaker 3: kind of a fortunate penalty call for the Steelers.
• 18:20
  Speaker 2: Yeah, oh, that was a blessing.
• 18:22
  Speaker 3: Yeah, those are some things that are going to need
• 18:24
  Speaker 3: to be tightened. And look, When you go against a
• 18:26
  Speaker 3: team like the Falcons, what's going to beat you, right,
• 18:28
  Speaker 3: when you're playing a third-string quarterback? Turnovers, special teams. Well,
• 18:32
  Speaker 3: they had one turnover. Falcons cashed it in. If that
• 18:36
  Speaker 3: 64-yard return had stood, who knows what would have happened
• 18:40
  Speaker 3: in this game. So that's something that's just got to
• 18:42
  Speaker 3: be cleaned up here. The communication on special teams and
• 18:46
  Speaker 3: the tackling, especially on kickoff return or just whatever, not tackling,
• 18:51
  Speaker 3: just stopping them. It's got to be better.
• 18:54
  Speaker 2: No, I absolutely agree, Robin. And it's a kickoff return.
• 18:58
  Speaker 2: I mean, you have to make sure that these guys
• 19:01
  Speaker 2: are buttoned up and doing what they need to do
• 19:04
  Speaker 2: and covering the gaps. I mean, yes, does Zachariah Branch
• 19:08
  Speaker 2: have 100-meter speed? Yes, he does. But he also has
• 19:11
  Speaker 2: to move sideways, and he has to stop, start, go.
• 19:17
  Speaker 2: That negates all of that. You need to be able
• 19:21
  Speaker 2: to press him, force him to bounce, and do some
• 19:24
  Speaker 2: different things. And, yeah, you know, for Danny Crossman's group
• 19:28
  Speaker 2: out there, this is the first kind of iteration. So
• 19:31
  Speaker 2: they have a lot of coaching tape they need to
• 19:33
  Speaker 2: go through. And we talked about not tackling in camp. Well,
• 19:39
  Speaker 2: that was one where not tackling in camp did not
• 19:41
  Speaker 2: help this unit get ready for what they needed to
• 19:44
  Speaker 2: do on game day.
• 19:46
  Speaker 3: 40-yard return for Brian Robinson, who doesn't have Branch's speed.
• 19:49
  Speaker 2: By the way, Branch. He just ran right up the middle.
• 19:52
  Speaker 2: Brian Robinson just ran right up the middle.
• 19:53
  Speaker 3: Yeah, and found a hole.
• 19:55
  Speaker 2: And found a hole. And found a hole and kept going.
• 19:58
  Speaker 3: So when Zachariah Branch was running on a treadmill at
• 20:03
  Speaker 3: USC before he transferred to Georgia. By the way, he
• 20:05
  Speaker 3: had a punt return, a kick return for a touchdown
• 20:07
  Speaker 3: in college. His speed approached that of Usain Bolt's.
• 20:13
  Speaker 2: On a treadmill.
• 20:14
  Speaker 3: Now, it's a treadmill, but just to get, as Max
• 20:16
  Speaker 3: was saying, he's fast. Very, very fast. Still, that's got
• 20:20
  Speaker 3: to be better.
• 20:21
  Speaker 2: Keep up with that pace regardless. I don't care. Yeah, yeah.
• 20:24
  Speaker 2: Usain Bolt's speed is ridiculous.
• 20:26
  Speaker 3: Yes, that's moving. But it's got to be better. They
• 20:30
  Speaker 3: know it's got to be better. Hopefully, from Mike McCarthy
• 20:34
  Speaker 3: at the 3 o'clock press conference today, we'll hear more
• 20:36
  Speaker 3: of an explanation about what went on in that field
• 20:39
  Speaker 3: goal attempt. So I want to get into the skill position, guys,
• 20:44
  Speaker 3: because that's what everybody looks at. No Willie Colon here.
• 20:47
  Speaker 3: I'm going to get more of his opinion on this tomorrow, Bax,
• 20:50
  Speaker 3: but I really want your opinion as well, obviously, on
• 20:53
  Speaker 3: the offensive line play. What did you see? Did you
• 20:55
  Speaker 3: see good? Did you see indifferent? Did you see– what
• 21:00
  Speaker 3: did you see? You tell me.
• 21:03
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's– there's a lot of room for improvement. One
• 21:07
  Speaker 2: of the things I noticed is it looked like a
• 21:09
  Speaker 2: unit that had just been playing together. And, you know,
• 21:13
  Speaker 2: in the run game, I mean, it was not the
• 21:15
  Speaker 2: numbers that we wanted to see just because, you know,
• 21:19
  Speaker 2: guys were making plays in the backfield. LaKale London lived
• 21:22
  Speaker 2: in the backfield. Mason Smith lived in the backfield. Jared
• 21:25
  Speaker 2: Ivey lived in the backfield in this game. It was
• 21:29
  Speaker 2: because of the double teams not being able to mesh,
• 21:33
  Speaker 2: get forward progress, and then bump off. to the linebacker cleanly. Now, granted,
• 21:38
  Speaker 2: I will say this. Jeff Ulbrich, great scheme. A lot
• 21:41
  Speaker 2: of run blitzes that they guessed right into that also
• 21:46
  Speaker 2: made that tough and why the double teams could not
• 21:48
  Speaker 2: establish and why guys were getting off early. But the
• 21:51
  Speaker 2: problem was when the guys get off early of a
• 21:53
  Speaker 2: double team, the guy who's staying might not necessarily have
• 21:56
  Speaker 2: the right body position. And so, you know, a lot
• 22:00
  Speaker 2: of times, Zach Frazier was leaving a little bit early
• 22:03
  Speaker 2: because that's where the backer, backers plussed. and backers firing downhill,
• 22:07
  Speaker 2: you got to try and hit him. But if you're
• 22:09
  Speaker 2: Spencer Anderson, if I've got the outside edge of a
• 22:14
  Speaker 2: guy and the ball is on the inside edge of
• 22:17
  Speaker 2: me and I don't have him covered up, guess what?
• 22:20
  Speaker 2: He's going to fall into the play. And so you
• 22:23
  Speaker 2: saw a lot of that. Some of the stuff with
• 22:27
  Speaker 2: Zach and Mason and then some of the double teams
• 22:29
  Speaker 2: with Troy and Mason and then Dylan and Spencer, it
• 22:32
  Speaker 2: was all over. And then also the tight ends. You know,
• 22:35
  Speaker 2: so a lot of equal blame can be spread about,
• 22:40
  Speaker 2: but also you have to tip your cap to the
• 22:42
  Speaker 2: D coordinator for also knowing that and taking advantage of that.
• 22:46
  Speaker 2: And they were very aggressive on that end, which led
• 22:49
  Speaker 2: to some shots downfield that just didn't quite convert as
• 22:55
  Speaker 2: well that would have kept that momentum and that consistency going.
• 22:58
  Speaker 2: I mean, you know, when you look back on it
• 23:01
  Speaker 2: and you read through the tail of the tape, I mean,
• 23:02
  Speaker 2: third down percentage, Was nowhere near where you would have
• 23:06
  Speaker 2: liked to have seen it for the Steelers. Three of
• 23:09
  Speaker 2: 13 third down efficiency. Yeah. But some of those big
• 23:14
  Speaker 2: third downs, there was a hold, right? First third down
• 23:20
  Speaker 2: of the game. DK Metcalf, AJ Terrell. A hold, a
• 23:24
  Speaker 2: pull on a timing route messes up that play. Yep.
• 23:28
  Speaker 2: The most egregious pass interference I've ever seen. in the
• 23:34
  Speaker 2: open field, A.J. Terrell did not turn his head around.
• 23:39
  Speaker 3: A.J.
• 23:40
  Speaker 2: Terrell left his feet. He grabbed the inside hand of D.K. Metcalf,
• 23:46
  Speaker 2: and you could see where if his second hand is
• 23:49
  Speaker 2: there and not contacted, that is either, at minimum, a
• 23:54
  Speaker 2: big 40-yard gain. At maximum, that's a touchdown. That changes
• 23:58
  Speaker 2: the whole momentum and the cohesion of your team. if
• 24:02
  Speaker 2: at worst it's a huge field flipping play that puts
• 24:06
  Speaker 2: you in the scoring zone, whether you do anything after
• 24:08
  Speaker 2: that play or not, but also it's another third down conversion. Right.
• 24:13
  Speaker 2: So now that number creeps closer to just off those
• 24:16
  Speaker 2: plays alone, five out of 13 that, that you would
• 24:21
  Speaker 2: have had, right. That would have been converted, but it
• 24:24
  Speaker 2: would have been by penalty and not necessarily by catch.
• 24:28
  Speaker 2: And then you look at some other small ones, you know,
• 24:32
  Speaker 2: Aaron had his moments as well, but DK breaking to
• 24:35
  Speaker 2: the middle of the field, going for the catch, hits
• 24:39
  Speaker 2: both his hands, hits the ground. That's now 6-13. Now
• 24:43
  Speaker 2: we're approaching 50%, Rob. So there was just little timing
• 24:47
  Speaker 2: and quarterback wide receiver things that could have changed it.
• 24:51
  Speaker 2: Now the Jeremy Bernard attempt, that one was tough. That
• 24:54
  Speaker 2: was thrown low. Jeremy was parallel with the ground trying
• 24:57
  Speaker 2: to catch it with his hands. That was a very
• 25:00
  Speaker 2: tough catch. Um, other times pressure forced that and forced throwaways.
• 25:06
  Speaker 2: So there was just, it was just not enough consistency
• 25:11
  Speaker 2: in game one.
• 25:13
  Speaker 3: Uh, was there, and first of all, I think we,
• 25:19
  Speaker 3: you know, the expectation is the line's going to be
• 25:21
  Speaker 3: good from the jump, right? Um, because we saw Fautano
• 25:25
  Speaker 3: and McCormick building, we saw Zach Frazier be very good. Um,
• 25:30
  Speaker 3: McCormick and Fautano have changed sides of formation, Max. You know,
• 25:34
  Speaker 3: Zach Frazier is now dealing with McCormick on his left
• 25:37
  Speaker 3: instead of his right. Spencer Anderson on his right instead
• 25:40
  Speaker 3: of when he played on his left last year. Is
• 25:44
  Speaker 3: this a unit that should be especially left tackle, left guard, center?
• 25:51
  Speaker 3: We're expecting that side to be a strength sooner rather
• 25:56
  Speaker 3: than later. Would you agree with that, Max?
• 25:59
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think you have to. You have to say that.
• 26:02
  Speaker 2: And it was good that you saw Troy Fatano return
• 26:07
  Speaker 2: to the game, took a spill there, got looked at,
• 26:12
  Speaker 2: had to leave the field for a play, insert Maxi Onature, right?
• 26:15
  Speaker 2: And then you swing Dylan out to the left. This
• 26:20
  Speaker 2: group has playing experience, right? Together and next to each other.
• 26:26
  Speaker 2: Differences on a different side. So that's a little bit tougher.
• 26:30
  Speaker 2: But you're right. That learning curve should be a lot
• 26:34
  Speaker 2: steeper as opposed to the right side. Right side is
• 26:39
  Speaker 2: guys who contributed, who came in and spot duty and
• 26:43
  Speaker 2: did a good job. And they were the best combination,
• 26:48
  Speaker 2: as Mike McCarthy called it, to start the season. Now,
• 26:52
  Speaker 2: do I think that'll change? Absolutely not. I think once
• 26:55
  Speaker 2: you get Ionichor up to pace, I think you will
• 26:58
  Speaker 2: see him sooner rather than later, but as it stands
• 27:04
  Speaker 2: right now, your left side needs to be your strong side.
• 27:06
  Speaker 3: Yep, and by the way, moving from right to left
• 27:10
  Speaker 3: reminds me of a quote from a totally different part
• 27:13
  Speaker 3: of the world, but there was a famous dance duo
• 27:18
  Speaker 3: way back in the day, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers,
• 27:21
  Speaker 3: and Fred Astaire was known as Just a great dancer, smooth, very,
• 27:24
  Speaker 3: very wonderful dancer. But the two of them were a
• 27:29
  Speaker 3: dancing couple. And somebody asked Ginger Rogers, well, what was
• 27:32
  Speaker 3: it like to dance with Fred Astaire? And she said, well,
• 27:35
  Speaker 3: don't forget, I did everything Fred did, except I did
• 27:38
  Speaker 3: it moving backwards and in high heels. So you're dancing,
• 27:43
  Speaker 3: but you're doing a different dance. And I just wonder
• 27:45
  Speaker 3: if moving from the right to the left side is
• 27:48
  Speaker 3: a little bit like doing it backward and having to
• 27:51
  Speaker 3: learn how to do it. A little bit different. Those
• 27:54
  Speaker 3: guys have experience on the left side. They've never done it.
• 27:58
  Speaker 3: But now, you know, give them a game or two
• 28:00
  Speaker 3: under their belt, and I've just got to believe that
• 28:02
  Speaker 3: that is going to be a strong point on the
• 28:06
  Speaker 3: Pittsburgh Steelers, that left side, center, left guard, left tackle.
• 28:10
  Speaker 3: We're going to look at this and be like, that
• 28:11
  Speaker 3: is just going to be– we're not even going to
• 28:13
  Speaker 3: be talking about it because it's going to just be
• 28:15
  Speaker 3: so solid.
• 28:17
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, and, you know, I'm glad they're not
• 28:19
  Speaker 2: playing in heels out there on the football field. You
• 28:23
  Speaker 2: do have to move in reverse, but that's kind of
• 28:25
  Speaker 2: a normal part. Yeah, I would definitely say it's definitely
• 28:30
  Speaker 2: a reverse. It's doing everything opposite of what you want
• 28:34
  Speaker 2: to do. So whether it's backwards or forward, you're flipping
• 28:38
  Speaker 2: everything in your mind. That lead step, your up leg
• 28:42
  Speaker 2: is a different leg. So then when you're taking a
• 28:44
  Speaker 2: lead step, it's a different foot. When you're cutting off,
• 28:47
  Speaker 2: you're moving to the right more often than not with
• 28:50
  Speaker 2: your guard versus going to the left that you're used
• 28:53
  Speaker 2: to in old ways. So there is a funny feeling,
• 29:00
  Speaker 2: a fuzzy feeling at first because you're trying to get
• 29:03
  Speaker 2: your neurons to fire in a different way. You're trying
• 29:05
  Speaker 2: to change your neurological pathway of how you have to
• 29:09
  Speaker 2: think of any given play. So you're already flipping it
• 29:11
  Speaker 2: in your head. You're consolidating what you knew the play
• 29:16
  Speaker 2: to be before and then converting it to what you
• 29:19
  Speaker 2: need to do now. And your body is in a
• 29:23
  Speaker 2: different position and you're saying, we've got to go. Well,
• 29:27
  Speaker 2: how do we go? You know, because you don't want
• 29:29
  Speaker 2: your feet crossing up. So now it's like, no, no, no.
• 29:32
  Speaker 2: Left where I told you not to move. I need
• 29:36
  Speaker 2: you to move. Right? You stay there. Don't move. Don't move.
• 29:38
  Speaker 2: Don't move. But you're going to have those moments because
• 29:43
  Speaker 2: your body is just physiologically, if you had so many
• 29:46
  Speaker 2: reps in one direction, to go in the opposite direction,
• 29:50
  Speaker 2: it just takes time because you're trying to balance out.
• 29:54
  Speaker 2: You're trying to even out what you've done neurologically and mentally.
• 29:58
  Speaker 2: So You know, it's going to take a little bit
• 30:01
  Speaker 2: of time, but, you know, I have all the faith
• 30:02
  Speaker 2: in the world in Troy and Mason to get that
• 30:05
  Speaker 2: job done. And they work absolutely well together. They know
• 30:09
  Speaker 2: how to communicate. And they're two tough guys that I
• 30:14
  Speaker 2: wouldn't be surprised if when it's all said and done,
• 30:16
  Speaker 2: the left side ends up being the most productive run
• 30:18
  Speaker 2: side of both the sides when we kind of take
• 30:21
  Speaker 2: a stock at the end of the season. Hopefully. Not
• 30:23
  Speaker 2: anytime soon, but at the end of the season.
• 30:25
  Speaker 3: So someone brought you Jerry Dulac brought this up to me.
• 30:28
  Speaker 3: And not in this context, but think about this. If
• 30:31
  Speaker 3: you're one of those people that crosses one leg over
• 30:33
  Speaker 3: the other when you sit down, next time you sit down,
• 30:36
  Speaker 3: cross the other leg over and see how weird it feels.
• 30:40
  Speaker 3: You start doing stuff backward, left-handed, right-handed, this foot movement.
• 30:45
  Speaker 3: And I'm talking about crossing your legs. I'm not talking
• 30:47
  Speaker 3: about drop steps, punch, and a 330-pound man trying to
• 30:51
  Speaker 3: maul you into the ground. I'm just talking about something simple.
• 30:55
  Speaker 3: Just keep that in mind. It's harder than it sounds like.
• 30:59
  Speaker 2: That's my only point.
• 31:01
  Speaker 3: Stick around. We've got more to come, too. We haven't
• 31:02
  Speaker 3: talked about the offense. We've got to talk about the
• 31:05
  Speaker 3: skill position, guys. We're going to do that when we
• 31:07
  Speaker 3: continue in the locker room here on the Steelers Audio Network.
• 31:16
  Speaker 1: This is In the Locker Room with Rob King, Max Starks,
• 31:20
  Speaker 1: and Willie Colon on Steelers Nation Radio. Brought to you
• 31:23
  Speaker 1: in part by the Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop.steelers.com.
• 31:31
  Speaker 1: And by your neighborhood Ford store. The F-150 is the
• 31:35
  Speaker 1: official truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
• 31:42
  Speaker 2: All right. You know what time it is. The ultimate lap.
• 31:45
  Speaker 2: It's the bell lap. Final segment of the show. And
• 31:52
  Speaker 2: we are wrapping up a Steelers victory Monday here on
• 31:57
  Speaker 2: the show. And of course, Rob, we don't want to
• 32:01
  Speaker 2: shortchange the offense. We did a lot of talking about
• 32:03
  Speaker 2: the defense. Well, the defense also deserved a bulk of
• 32:05
  Speaker 2: this because they were the most successful unit yesterday. But
• 32:09
  Speaker 2: at the end of the day, It's all about team.
• 32:12
  Speaker 2: There's no I and T, Rob. And that's what we're
• 32:15
  Speaker 2: here to promote. But also, you know, kind of just
• 32:18
  Speaker 2: give you a little bit of a tail of the tape. Yeah.
• 32:21
  Speaker 3: And, you know, Mike McCarthy said in the postgame press conferences, look,
• 32:24
  Speaker 3: we said from the jump, we're going to build this
• 32:26
  Speaker 3: team on defense. This is a defense first team. And
• 32:29
  Speaker 3: they were that way in week one.
• 32:30
  Speaker 2: Right.
• 32:30
  Speaker 3: So great. And there's going to be moments, as we
• 32:33
  Speaker 3: said before, this offense is going to carry the load.
• 32:36
  Speaker 3: Certainly capable. You know, I thought. Aaron Rodgers, if I
• 32:39
  Speaker 3: was going to use a word to describe him, I
• 32:41
  Speaker 3: would say solid. He didn't turn the ball over, which
• 32:44
  Speaker 3: is what you wanted. Made the throws at the end
• 32:48
  Speaker 3: of the game you needed him to make in order
• 32:50
  Speaker 3: for you to execute that four-minute offense and run out
• 32:53
  Speaker 3: the clock. 40 attempts, only 221 yards, 24 completions. Was
• 32:59
  Speaker 3: sacked twice. I thought he evaded some sacks. It's a
• 33:02
  Speaker 3: nice job. He was clearly frustrated with a couple of
• 33:04
  Speaker 3: the throws he didn't make, particularly one to Jalen Warren
• 33:07
  Speaker 3: in the flat. before the Friermuth touchdown that could have
• 33:10
  Speaker 3: come as a touchdown one play earlier. So I just
• 33:14
  Speaker 3: thought he was solid.
• 33:15
  Speaker 2: Three what?
• 33:16
  Speaker 3: What do you got?
• 33:18
  Speaker 2: Three passes he wishes he could have back in that game. Okay. Well,
• 33:21
  Speaker 2: the bench.
• 33:21
  Speaker 3: Out of 40 attempts. Not the bench. The corner route,
• 33:27
  Speaker 3: you know, to Roman Wilson over his head. Yeah. I
• 33:30
  Speaker 3: thought that was one. Yeah, that was one. The one
• 33:34
  Speaker 3: to Warren. Are you got a third?
• 33:37
  Speaker 2: The third one I was going to say was it
• 33:39
  Speaker 2: ended up being a throwaway, but he wanted Pat Friermuth
• 33:46
  Speaker 2: on a route, and it just– he got forced out
• 33:49
  Speaker 2: to the left, and he couldn't come back to it.
• 33:52
  Speaker 2: You kept seeing him try to look for it, and
• 33:54
  Speaker 2: then eventually had to throw it away. But I felt
• 33:57
  Speaker 2: like there was like three of those passes total that
• 33:59
  Speaker 2: I would say that he wishes he could have back.
• 34:01
  Speaker 3: Yeah, so not bad. Also victimized by drops, which we'll
• 34:04
  Speaker 3: get to in a moment, but he also– He had
• 34:06
  Speaker 3: a throw to Pat Friermuth moving left to right on
• 34:08
  Speaker 3: a seam pattern, probably a 20-yard pickup or thereabouts to Pat.
• 34:13
  Speaker 3: And I thought it went through the defender's hands maybe,
• 34:17
  Speaker 3: or maybe caught him with his back turn. And then
• 34:19
  Speaker 3: when we saw the replay, he had a one-by-one-foot square
• 34:24
  Speaker 3: that he had to deliver that ball in. I mean,
• 34:27
  Speaker 3: when I look back at it, I was like, whoa, man.
• 34:30
  Speaker 3: And I guess, now I've not seen the game back.
• 34:33
  Speaker 3: That's my next order of business here when we're finished
• 34:35
  Speaker 3: with the show. But I have not seen it back yet,
• 34:37
  Speaker 3: but I guess the Fox announcer was raving, Olsen was
• 34:42
  Speaker 3: raving about Rodgers' ability to still throw the football. I
• 34:47
  Speaker 3: thought we saw it last year. You know, is his
• 34:51
  Speaker 3: arm talent what it was as a 27-year-old?
• 34:53
  Speaker 2: I don't know.
• 34:53
  Speaker 3: I mean, is it diminished a little bit? Probably. Father
• 34:55
  Speaker 3: Time's caught up with him. Is it still upper echelon?
• 34:59
  Speaker 3: I think it is, Max. This guy can make some
• 35:01
  Speaker 3: serious throws, man.
• 35:04
  Speaker 2: Oh, absolutely. I mean, he is– He's one of those
• 35:06
  Speaker 2: guys where you kind of look at it, you're just like, well,
• 35:10
  Speaker 2: what can he do?
• 35:11
  Speaker 3: Right.
• 35:12
  Speaker 2: I mean, and he did it on the move. So
• 35:16
  Speaker 2: all that talk about legs and being old and everything,
• 35:18
  Speaker 2: I thought he moved particularly well. Agreed. Considering the amount
• 35:21
  Speaker 2: of pressure. And then, you know, what's funny is we
• 35:24
  Speaker 2: go back, and I'm going to go back in my
• 35:26
  Speaker 2: time machine, but remember when Mason Rudolph had that pressure
• 35:32
  Speaker 2: in his face on that first drive? of the first
• 35:35
  Speaker 2: preseason game against Green Bay.
• 35:36
  Speaker 3: Yes.
• 35:37
  Speaker 2: And he shook off the sack and delivered the strike,
• 35:39
  Speaker 2: and it just narrowly missed as a touchdown. I could
• 35:44
  Speaker 2: say the same thing for Aaron. Aaron did the same things.
• 35:47
  Speaker 2: That same type of issue. It showed that he still
• 35:49
  Speaker 2: has the movement, and that's a quarterback in Mason Rudolph
• 35:53
  Speaker 2: that's in, what, year eight or nine? And he's in
• 35:57
  Speaker 2: 20-plus and still able to make that similar move. So
• 36:01
  Speaker 2: I'm just saying. Just saying, it's not that, but you've
• 36:04
  Speaker 2: got to keep him protected, though, if you want this
• 36:06
  Speaker 2: to last 17 weeks and beyond. Right.
• 36:09
  Speaker 3: So, the running game didn't really get going. I don't
• 36:12
  Speaker 3: really fault Warren or Dowdle. I saw Dowdle. Somebody gave Dowdle,
• 36:16
  Speaker 3: you know, Dowdle, well, you know, not a great debut.
• 36:19
  Speaker 3: Got to have holes. I mean, he shrugged off two
• 36:21
  Speaker 3: tackles to get no yards on a play. He took
• 36:24
  Speaker 3: the guy and flung him to the ground. I mean,
• 36:27
  Speaker 3: you know, can't run if you don't have holes.
• 36:29
  Speaker 2: So.
• 36:30
  Speaker 3: You know, Warren would love to have the fumble back,
• 36:33
  Speaker 3: but he was effective in the passing game. Did have
• 36:35
  Speaker 3: the fumble. I'm sure he'd be the first to tell
• 36:38
  Speaker 3: you that he can't have that. Can't happen.
• 36:40
  Speaker 2: It happens.
• 36:42
  Speaker 3: Hopefully it won't happen again. I love Jalen Warren. I
• 36:45
  Speaker 3: love him as a football player. I really like the
• 36:47
  Speaker 3: attitude Dowdle runs with. I'm going to give him a
• 36:50
  Speaker 3: pass on this game because there just wasn't a lot
• 36:52
  Speaker 3: of room to run. And, you know, I think that
• 36:55
  Speaker 3: the tight ends, Max, in the passing game, Fryermuth and Darnell,
• 37:00
  Speaker 3: I'm giving him both high, high grades. Darnell angrily shoving
• 37:06
  Speaker 3: that man to the ground. Like, if he was a football,
• 37:09
  Speaker 3: he would have spiked that guy. He didn't push him
• 37:11
  Speaker 3: to the ground. I mean, it was– Lawn dart. It
• 37:17
  Speaker 3: was a lawn dart. That's what you called it.
• 37:19
  Speaker 2: Lawn dart shot out of a crossbow into the ground.
• 37:25
  Speaker 3: It was impolite.
• 37:26
  Speaker 2: So violent.
• 37:27
  Speaker 3: Yes, it was violent.
• 37:29
  Speaker 2: So egregious. And I loved every second of it. Oh,
• 37:32
  Speaker 2: loved every second of it. Absolutely wonderful.
• 37:35
  Speaker 3: I thought I would love to see, and, you know,
• 37:39
  Speaker 3: Aaron Rodgers was asked about this, I think, at the
• 37:41
  Speaker 3: end of last week, not this week of practice. It
• 37:44
  Speaker 3: might have been this week of practice. I think it
• 37:45
  Speaker 3: was a week before, about, you know, getting Pittman back.
• 37:49
  Speaker 3: And he said, you know, we still have to get
• 37:50
  Speaker 3: the ball to DK. DK's our guy. But I would
• 37:54
  Speaker 3: love to see more than three targets to Michael Pittman.
• 37:57
  Speaker 3: I'm a Michael Pittman fan. I've equated him, in my mind,
• 38:02
  Speaker 3: coming to the Steelers much like when the Steelers got
• 38:05
  Speaker 3: Deshaun Elliott on defense. I think he's a fit. I
• 38:07
  Speaker 3: think he brings an attitude without having to sit. They
• 38:13
  Speaker 3: have different personalities, but I think Pittman brings a real
• 38:17
  Speaker 3: positive attitude. He's going to take some pressure off DK Metcalf.
• 38:21
  Speaker 3: He had three receptions on three targets for 58 yards.
• 38:25
  Speaker 3: I'd love to see that be seven or eight targets
• 38:28
  Speaker 3: to him. Love him. And then, you know, DK, a
• 38:33
  Speaker 3: very uneven performance, I think might be a way to
• 38:36
  Speaker 3: put it. Had a drop, was interfered with a couple
• 38:38
  Speaker 3: times that weren't called. Hard to blame him on those things.
• 38:41
  Speaker 3: I'm sure DK wishes he caught that crossing pattern that
• 38:44
  Speaker 3: he dropped because I think it might have been a touchdown.
• 38:46
  Speaker 3: I don't think there's anybody behind him. No, there's nobody
• 38:49
  Speaker 3: behind him. DK could have had three touchdowns in this game,
• 38:51
  Speaker 3: you know?
• 38:53
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and that sideline path, I mean, He just went
• 38:56
  Speaker 2: up and just didn't come inbounds. I mean, but he
• 38:58
  Speaker 2: had a fantastic catch. It just wasn't an inbounds catch.
• 39:02
  Speaker 2: I mean, the defender played it perfectly, forcing him out
• 39:05
  Speaker 2: of bounds so that he couldn't get his feet on
• 39:06
  Speaker 2: the ground.
• 39:07
  Speaker 3: And then there's the one with Terrell where he just
• 39:09
  Speaker 3: grabbed him by the wrist, right? And in the end zone, again,
• 39:13
  Speaker 3: was grabbed. And, you know, two really egregious misses as
• 39:17
  Speaker 3: far as I'm concerned on the flag thing. I'm sure
• 39:20
  Speaker 3: DK would like to be a little bit better, right?
• 39:23
  Speaker 3: I'm sure he'd love to have that one over the
• 39:25
  Speaker 3: middle back But again, it's game one. You won the game.
• 39:29
  Speaker 3: He got ten targets. I think he's still going to
• 39:31
  Speaker 3: get a lot of targets for this team because he's
• 39:33
  Speaker 3: their number one guy.
• 39:35
  Speaker 2: Yeah. No, and I agree. And when you look at
• 39:37
  Speaker 2: the distribution, I mean, Pat was five for five. Right.
• 39:40
  Speaker 2: Caught all five of his targets. Jalen caught five out
• 39:43
  Speaker 2: of his six targets. So, you look at that, and
• 39:46
  Speaker 2: like you said, Pittman going three of three. Roman– three
• 39:49
  Speaker 2: of six targets. So they tried to get Roman also
• 39:52
  Speaker 2: involved in the game. Just like you said, some missed
• 39:54
  Speaker 2: opportunities there. The one in the end zone though. Oh man,
• 39:57
  Speaker 2: that was so close.
• 39:58
  Speaker 3: Yep.
• 39:58
  Speaker 2: That would have been a nice little touchdown for him
• 40:00
  Speaker 2: to have on his career. But doesn't happen, but we
• 40:04
  Speaker 2: live to fight another day, which is most important.
• 40:06
  Speaker 3: Yep. And for me, that third receiver, you're going to
• 40:09
  Speaker 3: see him catch hopefully 30, 35 passes in a year. Pittman,
• 40:14
  Speaker 3: I'd like to see up more around 70 or thereabouts
• 40:17
  Speaker 3: if DK is going to get his receptions too. But Hey, listen,
• 40:20
  Speaker 3: you're 1-0, and you're moving on to New England, and
• 40:24
  Speaker 3: we're going to hear from Mike McCarthy coming up in
• 40:26
  Speaker 3: a little bit, and we're going to move on to
• 40:27
  Speaker 3: New England. Willie Colon's going to join us tomorrow. Max,
• 40:30
  Speaker 3: enjoy that repast, my friend.
• 40:33
  Speaker 2: I will, and you enjoy your repast as well, sir.
• 40:35
  Speaker 3: Thank you. He's Max Stark. Our producer is Justin Miller.
• 40:39
  Speaker 3: I'm Rob King. We thank you for being with us
• 40:41
  Speaker 3: in the locker room here on the Steelers Audio Network.