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HR 1: Steelers at Patriots Preview, Ken Laird Joins the Show · The Steelers Report

• 0:08
  Speaker 1: This is the Steelers Report with Brian Batko and Ed
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: Troup on Steelers Nation Radio, a part of the Steelers
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: Audio Network.
• 0:18
  Speaker 2: The Steelers and Patriots series began back in 1972 with
• 0:23
  Speaker 2: the Pittsburgh Steelers winning the first two matchups and five
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: of the first six. Overall, New England leads 19-17, including
• 0:32
  Speaker 2: five playoff matchups. The Steelers' only postseason win was the one.
• 0:36
  Speaker 3: We talked about yesterday here on the show.
• 0:38
  Speaker 2: That was a 7-6 win at Three Rivers Stadium in
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: the divisional round.
• 0:43
  Speaker 3: After the 1997 season, the Patriots.
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: Have won the last three of the last four meetings,
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: but the Steelers won last year in Foxborough. During the
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: last 20 meetings dating back to December of 1998, New
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: England is 15-5. And with that, Brian, we set the
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: stage for Patriots-Steelers this Sunday in New England.
• 1:04
  Speaker 3: It should be a good one.
• 1:06
  Speaker 4: Absolutely, Adam.
• 1:07
  Speaker 5: Fired up last show of the week, and it's going
• 1:10
  Speaker 5: to be a long wait between now and Sunday, but
• 1:13
  Speaker 5: Still got one more Steelers practice to go through, comb through,
• 1:18
  Speaker 5: find out what happens on the Patriots side of things.
• 1:21
  Speaker 5: Honestly though, last night was a great night for football.
• 1:24
  Speaker 5: So that was a couple of good appetizers to, to
• 1:26
  Speaker 5: get ready for the meal of this weekend.
• 1:29
  Speaker 4: I mean, I'm not going to lie.
• 1:30
  Speaker 5: I'm sure nationally Pitt Syracuse didn't maybe resonate on ESPN,
• 1:35
  Speaker 5: but here locally in Pittsburgh and for a Pitt alum
• 1:38
  Speaker 5: like myself, I was curious to see how the Panthers
• 1:41
  Speaker 5: would come out.
• 1:41
  Speaker 4: They beat Syracuse really.
• 1:42
  Speaker 5: They, They took care of business against Syracuse at home,
• 1:46
  Speaker 5: but that's what you have to do sometimes against inferior
• 1:49
  Speaker 5: foes in conference play. And then really, the fireworks of
• 1:52
  Speaker 5: the night up there in Buffalo. Bills 41, Lions 31.
• 1:57
  Speaker 5: That was a heck of an entertaining game. I didn't
• 2:00
  Speaker 5: get to my TV until Josh Allen had already put
• 2:03
  Speaker 5: two tutties.
• 2:04
  Speaker 6: On the board.
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: 72 combined points in Thursday night's game with the Bills
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: opening up the new stadium in Buffalo. Officially, they opened
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: it up during the preseason against the Steelers up there,
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: but this was the official first regular season game.
• 2:18
  Speaker 3: Josh Allen, double B. I had the game on.
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: I actually watched the whole first half before I retired
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: for the evening.
• 2:25
  Speaker 6: Yes, I'm old.
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  Speaker 3: Can't stay up the entire time and watch 72 points.
• 2:28
  Speaker 3: What's that, Brian?
• 2:29
  Speaker 6: Go ahead.
• 2:29
  Speaker 7: Go ahead.
• 2:30
  Speaker 4: So you took the first half. I took the second
• 2:32
  Speaker 4: for the most part.
• 2:33
  Speaker 3: Exactly.
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  Speaker 2: Between the two of us, we got it in. And
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: I was switching back and forth with the pick game
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: as well. And congratulations to your Panthers on a 3-0 start.
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: That is good stuff there. But back to that Bills
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: game from last night. Josh Allen scores the first touchdown
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: in the stadium's history. Takes it in from a yard out.
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: So that was a little bit of trivia that will
• 2:54
  Speaker 2: live forever for the first touchdown ever scored in the
• 2:57
  Speaker 2: new stadium.
• 2:59
  Speaker 5: And it was the first touchdown scored there since Caden
• 3:01
  Speaker 5: Weegin's punt return touchdown to end preseason action against the Steelers, right?
• 3:06
  Speaker 5: Or no, well, no, the Bills came back and scored
• 3:09
  Speaker 5: a touchdown in that game, didn't they? I'm forgetting the
• 3:12
  Speaker 5: Steelers preseason collapse, I suppose. But all right, regardless, first
• 3:18
  Speaker 5: regular season touchdown. That's all that people are going to remember.
• 3:22
  Speaker 5: And yeah, who else to get it other than Josh Allen?
• 3:26
  Speaker 5: I mean, he was just lights out. in that game
• 3:29
  Speaker 5: and back-to-back games already in the NFL season at 36
• 3:35
  Speaker 5: and 41 points for the Buffalo bills.
• 3:38
  Speaker 4: They might be a.
• 3:41
  Speaker 5: Buzzsaw, not to not Chris Adamski, but they might be
• 3:45
  Speaker 5: a buzzsaw here in the AFC. I know it's only
• 3:47
  Speaker 5: two weeks, but hard not to be impressed with what
• 3:49
  Speaker 5: we've seen.
• 3:51
  Speaker 3: That is for sure.
• 3:51
  Speaker 2: Double B the Buffalo bills have really looked strong throughout
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: the first two weeks and at least offensively. Now, defensively,
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: they've given up some points, and that seems to be
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: the theme right now across the NFL, which is interesting
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: to me because normally it's the opposite. Normally early on
• 4:07
  Speaker 2: in the season, the defenses shine more because any coach
• 4:10
  Speaker 2: will tell you at any level of football, it takes
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: a bit longer for offenses to develop throughout an NFL season.
• 4:16
  Speaker 2: The defenses get it quicker. But so far through the
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: first week of the NFL season, including last night to
• 4:22
  Speaker 2: the start of week two, it's been all offense in
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  Speaker 2: and around the NFL.
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  Speaker 5: Maybe the Steelers and Falcons defenses are just really good.
• 4:31
  Speaker 5: We'll find out over the balance of the season. That's
• 4:33
  Speaker 5: what's great about it. And I don't look at it
• 4:35
  Speaker 5: as overreactions, what we're doing now after a game or
• 4:39
  Speaker 5: two for a couple teams. It's more just reacting to
• 4:43
  Speaker 5: what we see, but keeping it in perspective. We did
• 4:46
  Speaker 5: our top five offenses and defenses earlier this week, and
• 4:51
  Speaker 5: neither of us just rattled off the top five and
• 4:52
  Speaker 5: top offensive and defensive performances from week one. There's things
• 4:58
  Speaker 5: that you preconceived notions that you have coming into a
• 5:01
  Speaker 5: season that you don't abandon after one week. And then
• 5:04
  Speaker 5: there are things that you just simply can't do anything
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  Speaker 5: other than see it with your own eyes and believe
• 5:12
  Speaker 5: what you're seeing.
• 5:13
  Speaker 2: Let's get you all set for this upcoming Sunday between
• 5:16
  Speaker 2: the Pittsburgh Steelers and the New England Patriots. as they
• 5:21
  Speaker 2: get set to battle on Sunday at 1 o'clock in Foxborough. Brian,
• 5:25
  Speaker 2: it's our Iron City Insight preview of Week 2 of
• 5:29
  Speaker 2: this matchup.
• 5:30
  Speaker 3: And let's talk about the Patriots, and we'll start with
• 5:32
  Speaker 3: Drake May.
• 5:32
  Speaker 2: 69% pass completion in Week 1, 178 yards, a touchdown,
• 5:38
  Speaker 2: three interceptions. Now listen, that was over 10 days ago
• 5:41
  Speaker 2: by the time we get to Sunday, so he's had
• 5:43
  Speaker 2: some time to reflect and look back. But a lot
• 5:46
  Speaker 2: of that was the pressure that the Seattle Seahawks put
• 5:49
  Speaker 2: on Drake May in that Week 1.
• 5:51
  Speaker 3: The blitz several times.
• 5:52
  Speaker 2: The Steelers against the Falcons did not blitz a lot,
• 5:55
  Speaker 2: and as we've talked about here on the show all week,
• 5:56
  Speaker 2: I'm sure that is one of the game plans for
• 5:59
  Speaker 2: Patrick Graham in this Pittsburgh Steelers defense, is to blitz
• 6:02
  Speaker 2: Drake May early and often in this game, because obviously
• 6:05
  Speaker 2: last week it forced him to make some mistakes.
• 6:09
  Speaker 5: Yeah, but at the same time, I don't know that
• 6:11
  Speaker 5: I'd want to blitz too much, because we heard from
• 6:14
  Speaker 5: Evan Lazari on yesterday's show from Patriots.com this morning, this
• 6:19
  Speaker 5: notion or this narrative of maybe a blueprint forming against
• 6:22
  Speaker 5: Drake May and the Patriots offense. And it's forced him
• 6:25
  Speaker 5: to get bored and take some chances and then put
• 6:27
  Speaker 5: the ball in harm's way, which he has done often lately.
• 6:31
  Speaker 5: And I can remember, you know, in the last two
• 6:34
  Speaker 5: or three years, some teams or defenses thought they had
• 6:36
  Speaker 5: the blueprint against Patrick Mahomes, which was, Hey, don't blitz him,
• 6:41
  Speaker 5: force him to just, you know, dump it down, be surgical,
• 6:45
  Speaker 5: take the boring quote unquote conservative play and, And eventually
• 6:49
  Speaker 5: he might just decide that he needs to take a shot.
• 6:51
  Speaker 5: And now you've got him right where you want him.
• 6:53
  Speaker 5: So perhaps we're seeing the same with a young Drake May.
• 6:58
  Speaker 5: It's easy to forget that he's only in year three.
• 7:00
  Speaker 5: I was honestly kind of shocked to hear that. I mean,
• 7:02
  Speaker 5: that goes for him. Caleb Williams, who's piloting the Bears
• 7:06
  Speaker 5: to 59 points. And also in that class, I think
• 7:09
  Speaker 5: Bo Nix was one of them. Michael Penix. It's hard
• 7:12
  Speaker 5: to believe these guys. Well, it's not hard to believe
• 7:14
  Speaker 5: that Penix is in year three because he hasn't played
• 7:17
  Speaker 5: that much. But May and Williams and Knicks, to an extent,
• 7:21
  Speaker 5: seems like they've been around even longer. There's going to
• 7:23
  Speaker 5: be growth and maturation for the quarterbacks who really blossom
• 7:27
  Speaker 5: in that class. But, you know, there's also going to
• 7:30
  Speaker 5: be growing pains. And Drake May, not to be overly dramatic,
• 7:34
  Speaker 5: but kind of at a little bit of a crossroads
• 7:36
  Speaker 5: right now. He's probably got half the fan base doubting
• 7:39
  Speaker 5: him and half the fan base saying that he's about
• 7:41
  Speaker 5: to turn it around and explode. So that's an interesting
• 7:45
  Speaker 5: line and delicate line for the Steelers defense to walk.
• 7:48
  Speaker 5: when you think about the best ways to heat him up.
• 7:50
  Speaker 2: Ramondre Stevenson, 18 carries, 51 yards last week out of
• 7:54
  Speaker 2: that New England backfield. Drake May also, Brian, had seven
• 7:58
  Speaker 2: carries for 47 yards. So New England rushing was just
• 8:02
  Speaker 2: shy of the 100-yard mark. They will get Trayvon Henderson back,
• 8:07
  Speaker 2: I believe, for this game. So between Henderson and Stevenson,
• 8:12
  Speaker 2: much like what the Steelers want to do with Dowdle
• 8:14
  Speaker 2: and Warren, have that two-headed attack out of the backfield.
• 8:19
  Speaker 4: Yeah, and I think Henderson's a huge boost for them.
• 8:21
  Speaker 5: Ramondre Stevenson is someone who's just not really a difference maker,
• 8:27
  Speaker 5: in my opinion. I think he does little things well
• 8:29
  Speaker 5: for a running back as far as pass protection, catching
• 8:32
  Speaker 5: the ball out of the backfield. He's had fumbling woes
• 8:35
  Speaker 5: in his career, maybe none more pronounced than last year,
• 8:39
  Speaker 5: against the Steelers. So they knew going into that game
• 8:42
  Speaker 5: that they could probably jar the ball loose, and they did.
• 8:45
  Speaker 5: So that's a big, I think, key in this game
• 8:49
  Speaker 5: is if, you know, not only does Henderson return, but
• 8:51
  Speaker 5: if he can return at 100% and be the guy
• 8:54
  Speaker 5: who ripped off some long runs last year, especially the
• 8:57
  Speaker 5: guy that we saw on that Ohio State National Championship
• 9:00
  Speaker 5: team with Will Howard and Jack Sawyer, you can make
• 9:04
  Speaker 5: the case that three of the biggest names from that
• 9:07
  Speaker 5: team are going to be in New England for this game.
• 9:10
  Speaker 5: But yeah, I mean, going back to May and, you know,
• 9:14
  Speaker 5: Henderson and Stevenson and that backfield trio, The Seahawks, yeah,
• 9:18
  Speaker 5: they blitzed 13 times against the Patriots, but it doesn't
• 9:22
  Speaker 5: seem like they played a ton of man coverage. They
• 9:25
  Speaker 5: sort of sat up there in the two high safeties
• 9:27
  Speaker 5: and said, hey, you've got to know what you're looking
• 9:30
  Speaker 5: at here and be content to make the smart play
• 9:34
  Speaker 5: rather than hunt the explosive play. So Patrick Graham's got
• 9:39
  Speaker 5: something to go off of now, but that was two
• 9:41
  Speaker 5: games in a row against arguably the best defense in
• 9:44
  Speaker 5: the NFL.
• 9:45
  Speaker 2: Yeah, no doubt about that with the Seattle Seahawks. Receiving-wise
• 9:49
  Speaker 2: for the Patriots in week one, Mack Hollins had five targets,
• 9:52
  Speaker 2: four catches for 51 yards.
• 9:54
  Speaker 3: We know about A.J.
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: Brown.
• 9:55
  Speaker 3: He got hurt in that game before he went out.
• 9:57
  Speaker 2: He had four targets for three catches. for 26 total yards.
• 10:01
  Speaker 2: Hunter Henry, who had a big game against the Steelers
• 10:03
  Speaker 2: last year in 2025 up in Foxborough, had three catches
• 10:07
  Speaker 2: and 26.
• 10:07
  Speaker 3: Yards in Week 1.
• 10:08
  Speaker 2: Stevenson out of the backfield, Brian, he was targeted six times,
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: caught five balls for 44 yards. So when you combine
• 10:14
  Speaker 2: that with his rushing attack of 51 yards, He was
• 10:19
  Speaker 2: just shy of getting towards that 100 mark as well
• 10:22
  Speaker 2: for total yards last week.
• 10:23
  Speaker 3: But again, as you said, too, I'm with you.
• 10:25
  Speaker 2: I think Travion Henderson being back in that backfield for
• 10:29
  Speaker 2: the Patriots is a big plus and something that the
• 10:31
  Speaker 2: Steelers defense will have to address.
• 10:34
  Speaker 4: For sure.
• 10:34
  Speaker 5: And everybody needs to step up a little bit more
• 10:36
  Speaker 5: in that Drake Mays supporting cast with no A.J.
• 10:39
  Speaker 4: Brown.
• 10:41
  Speaker 5: I wonder sort of like, is it a huge loss
• 10:45
  Speaker 5: when you game plan for having a guy and funneling
• 10:48
  Speaker 5: so many targets to him all offseason, all training camp,
• 10:52
  Speaker 5: all preseason, all lead up to week one, and then
• 10:56
  Speaker 5: you lose him in week one? Or is it almost,
• 10:59
  Speaker 5: you know, there's really no silver lining to having an
• 11:01
  Speaker 5: injured A.J. Brown, but it's not like their offense had
• 11:04
  Speaker 5: operated that much without him that it's going to be
• 11:08
  Speaker 5: completely foreign to them to lose him. So you've got
• 11:13
  Speaker 5: returning guys like Demario Douglas and Hunter Henry, Stevenson as
• 11:17
  Speaker 5: a pass catcher.
• 11:18
  Speaker 4: I think Kyle Williams is.
• 11:19
  Speaker 5: A second year receiver who had some big proponents of
• 11:23
  Speaker 5: his game coming out of Washington State, but hasn't really
• 11:25
  Speaker 5: broken through yet in the NFL.
• 11:28
  Speaker 4: It's a group that without A.J.
• 11:30
  Speaker 5: Brown, I'm not saying they can't be productive, but I
• 11:34
  Speaker 5: don't think many of them really scare you if you're
• 11:37
  Speaker 5: the Steelers. And I'd maybe be singing a different tune
• 11:40
  Speaker 5: had Romeo Dobbs put forth a good game in week
• 11:43
  Speaker 5: one in his Patriots debut, but he put forth a
• 11:46
  Speaker 5: pretty miserable game, and he's in a bounce-back spot, but
• 11:50
  Speaker 5: so is D.K.
• 11:51
  Speaker 4: Metcalf on the other side.
• 11:53
  Speaker 3: I'm with you there. I mean, A.J. Brown, that's why
• 11:55
  Speaker 3: he was brought in in the offseason.
• 11:57
  Speaker 2: That's why they traded for him and acquired him from
• 11:59
  Speaker 2: the Philadelphia Eagles to be a big part of that
• 12:02
  Speaker 2: receiving room, be the part of that receiving room for
• 12:05
  Speaker 2: Drake May. Defensively, Brian, for the New England Patriots, just
• 12:08
  Speaker 2: one sack against the Seattle Seahawks, Draymond Jones. But he
• 12:12
  Speaker 2: also led the way with 23 pass rushes in that
• 12:15
  Speaker 2: game and six quarterback pressures. So Draymond Jones leading the
• 12:19
  Speaker 2: charge defensively. Corey Durden also with 13 pass rushes last week.
• 12:24
  Speaker 3: One pressure towards the quarterback, Milton Williams.
• 12:27
  Speaker 2: Your old buddy, Robert Spillane, got in on the action
• 12:29
  Speaker 2: last week with a quarterback pressure. The Patriots defense blitzed 44%
• 12:35
  Speaker 2: during that game. That's fourth highest in the NFL defense. Man,
• 12:38
  Speaker 2: they went 33% of the time. That was also fifth
• 12:41
  Speaker 2: highest in the NFL. So just a quick peek at
• 12:44
  Speaker 2: this New England defense that, listen, Mike Vrabel, we know
• 12:47
  Speaker 2: his history as playing in the NFL as a defender.
• 12:52
  Speaker 2: We know his history leading defenses down in Tennessee before
• 12:56
  Speaker 2: he got to New England. He led this defense last
• 12:58
  Speaker 2: year with the New England Patriots all the way to
• 13:00
  Speaker 2: the Super Bowl.
• 13:01
  Speaker 3: You can't sleep on this defense. It's the strength of
• 13:03
  Speaker 3: the team.
• 13:05
  Speaker 4: Yeah, but I think it's more so in the secondary
• 13:07
  Speaker 4: than in the front four. And, you know, even when you.
• 13:11
  Speaker 5: Compact that, I think the biggest strength of that front
• 13:13
  Speaker 5: is probably Milton Williams on the interior. And I'd say
• 13:17
  Speaker 5: that's the strength of the Steelers offensive line right now.
• 13:20
  Speaker 5: At least, you know, Zach Frazier and, you know, maybe
• 13:23
  Speaker 5: Mason McCormick there at the center and guard tandem. Now
• 13:26
  Speaker 5: does Milton Williams try to bump over and maybe get
• 13:29
  Speaker 5: some matchups with Spencer Anderson. If they feel like that's
• 13:32
  Speaker 5: a mismatch, we shall see. I mean, Anderson will have
• 13:34
  Speaker 5: a big chance to, to cement himself going forward. If
• 13:38
  Speaker 5: he plays well in this game to that point, I
• 13:42
  Speaker 5: don't think, you know, the Patriots edge rushers really scare
• 13:45
  Speaker 5: you too much, which is a positive for the Steelers,
• 13:49
  Speaker 5: because I think that's one of the biggest concerns that
• 13:52
  Speaker 5: we have, right? Coming out of week one is Troy
• 13:55
  Speaker 5: Faltano on the injury report. We'll see what he can
• 13:57
  Speaker 5: do Friday, but he was, limited again on Thursday. So
• 14:00
  Speaker 5: back-to-back limited days, no setbacks, which is good. And then
• 14:04
  Speaker 5: we know that right tackle spot is one that we're
• 14:06
  Speaker 5: going to be keeping an eye on all season for
• 14:09
  Speaker 5: better or worse. Your Patriots edge rushers, Elijah Ponder, Draymond Jones,
• 14:14
  Speaker 5: the Steelers saw him twice last year when he was
• 14:16
  Speaker 5: with the Ravens. He had a good game last week
• 14:18
  Speaker 5: against the Seahawks. He didn't have a sack in two
• 14:20
  Speaker 5: games last year against the Steelers. Gabe Ackes is a
• 14:24
  Speaker 5: rookie that you might know the name coming out of
• 14:26
  Speaker 5: this game. He's a rookie out of Illinois. 6'4, 261.
• 14:31
  Speaker 5: His last name is spelled J-A-C-A-S, but it's pronounced Ackis.
• 14:36
  Speaker 5: So silent J there. Let's hope Rob King, he's a pro.
• 14:41
  Speaker 5: He won't get tripped up, but that's a funky one.
• 14:43
  Speaker 5: You ever read Catcher in the Rye, Ed? There's Ackley
• 14:45
  Speaker 5: Kid is like Holden Caulfield's nemesis. It's Gabe Ackis, who
• 14:51
  Speaker 5: was a second round pick of the Patriots who had a.
• 14:54
  Speaker 4: Sack last week.
• 14:55
  Speaker 2: I don't read books, Double B. I only read articles
• 14:58
  Speaker 2: by you on Steelers.com. That's the only thing that I
• 15:00
  Speaker 2: do right there. That's a quick look at the Patriots
• 15:03
  Speaker 2: and Steelers week two matchup this upcoming Sunday. Whenever Brian
• 15:08
  Speaker 2: and I come back, we're going to jump into some
• 15:10
  Speaker 2: injury news. You just heard a hint from Double B
• 15:13
  Speaker 2: right there, what he saw yesterday on the south side.
• 15:15
  Speaker 3: He'll be down there today for Day number three.
• 15:17
  Speaker 2: We'll also look at some key matchups from Matt's stats
• 15:20
  Speaker 2: that are out there on Steelers.com. Coming up at 2.40,
• 15:23
  Speaker 2: Ken Laird, our good buddy Kenny from WEEI Boston and
• 15:27
  Speaker 2: co-host of the Rich and Ken with Teddy Johnson show,
• 15:30
  Speaker 2: will be joining us to talk Steelers Patriots. And then
• 15:32
  Speaker 2: coming up at 3 o'clock, our five keys on offense,
• 15:35
  Speaker 2: followed by our five keys on defense. And then 3.40,
• 15:38
  Speaker 2: we'll wrap up the show in the week with our
• 15:40
  Speaker 2: Renegade preview in and around the AFC North, AFC, and
• 15:44
  Speaker 2: NFL games for week two. It's Troop and Backo on
• 15:47
  Speaker 2: the Steelers Report on Steelers Nation Radio, part of the
• 15:50
  Speaker 2: Steelers Audio Network.
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: This is the Steelers Report with Brian Backo and Ed
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: Troop on Steelers Nation Radio, a part of the Steelers
• 16:07
  Speaker 1: Audio Network.
• 16:10
  Speaker 2: We all know the Steelers have been to eight Super Bowls,
• 16:13
  Speaker 2: winning six.
• 16:14
  Speaker 3: New England has been to 11. They've also won six,
• 16:17
  Speaker 3: as we know.
• 16:18
  Speaker 6: This is the most of any of.
• 16:20
  Speaker 3: The 32 franchises, of course.
• 16:22
  Speaker 2: The Patriots were 6-3 at home last year, while the
• 16:25
  Speaker 2: Steelers were 5-3.
• 16:27
  Speaker 3: On the road.
• 16:29
  Speaker 2: After playing on Wednesday, New England will have had a
• 16:32
  Speaker 2: four-day rest advantage over the Steelers by this Sunday.
• 16:37
  Speaker 3: The Patriots have.
• 16:38
  Speaker 2: Also lost five straight home openers. I think the biggest
• 16:42
  Speaker 2: takeaway in that sequence, Double B, is the extra rest
• 16:46
  Speaker 2: for the New England Patriots, and with that also comes
• 16:48
  Speaker 2: extra prep for the coaching staff and the players to
• 16:50
  Speaker 2: prepare for the Pittsburgh Steelers this Sunday.
• 16:54
  Speaker 5: Yeah, it could be, although sometimes I do wonder with
• 16:56
  Speaker 5: as methodical as these coaches are and as many people
• 17:00
  Speaker 5: that they have in analytics and video, do you really
• 17:04
  Speaker 5: need three extra days? I mean, how much more film
• 17:07
  Speaker 5: Do you need to see? But certainly it's probably good
• 17:10
  Speaker 5: for the body to stay fresh. And it doesn't help
• 17:14
  Speaker 5: them with A.J. Brown, obviously, which we talked about to
• 17:17
  Speaker 5: open the show. But anybody else who's maybe coming out
• 17:20
  Speaker 5: of that hard-hitting slugfest of a game against the Seahawks
• 17:23
  Speaker 5: to open the season might be feeling a little bit
• 17:26
  Speaker 5: better than they would have if they had to turn
• 17:28
  Speaker 5: around and play a week later as opposed to 10 days.
• 17:31
  Speaker 2: Double B, we were talking during the last segment about
• 17:34
  Speaker 2: Josh Allen scoring his first– Touchdown in the new stadium
• 17:38
  Speaker 2: last night up in Buffalo. Well, some research by our
• 17:43
  Speaker 2: crack team here during the break found that the first
• 17:46
  Speaker 2: touchdown in then-Hines Field was Cordell Stewart. Back on October 7, 2001,
• 17:52
  Speaker 2: an eight-yard touchdown run for the Pittsburgh Steelers in a
• 17:57
  Speaker 2: 16-7 win over the Bengals. Now Chris Brown scored the
• 17:59
  Speaker 2: first points to the former kicker, a 26-yard field goal.
• 18:03
  Speaker 2: In that game, of course, the Steelers were supposed to
• 18:05
  Speaker 2: open in September that year. Everything got pushed back due
• 18:09
  Speaker 2: to what happened on 9-11 back in 2001. Now, the
• 18:12
  Speaker 2: first points ever outside of the Pittsburgh Steelers organization were
• 18:16
  Speaker 2: your Pitt Panthers on September 1, 2001. A 31-0 win
• 18:22
  Speaker 2: against East Tennessee State. I'm going to go and test
• 18:25
  Speaker 2: you for a second. There was a quarterback who ran
• 18:28
  Speaker 2: 85 yards for a Pittsburgh Steelers touchdown. Do you remember
• 18:33
  Speaker 2: who the quarterback was for Pitt back in 2001? I
• 18:35
  Speaker 2: thought you.
• 18:35
  Speaker 5: Were going to ask me the ETSU mascot, which I
• 18:39
  Speaker 5: actually know. It's the Buccaneers. And the Buccaneers didn't know
• 18:43
  Speaker 5: what hit them that day. But just to prove that
• 18:45
  Speaker 5: I didn't look that up, I don't think I know
• 18:47
  Speaker 5: the answer to this one. I will guess Pete Gonzalez.
• 18:51
  Speaker 3: That is a good guess, but that is not correct.
• 18:55
  Speaker 3: So it is. I don't know if you remember this guy.
• 18:58
  Speaker 3: I certainly do.
• 18:58
  Speaker 2: I had season tickets back in and around the early
• 19:02
  Speaker 2: 2000s for Pitt football for about six or seven years
• 19:05
  Speaker 2: when I was finishing up college at Point Park and
• 19:07
  Speaker 2: then beyond that. It was David Presley, former Pittsburgh Steelers.
• 19:12
  Speaker 3: Oh, my goodness.
• 19:12
  Speaker 2: We're on Steelers Nation Radio, so I just want to
• 19:14
  Speaker 2: talk Steelers, Steelers, Steelers. No, Pitt Panther quarterback David Presley,
• 19:17
  Speaker 2: an 85-yard quarterback. Touchdown run was the first score ever,
• 19:21
  Speaker 2: and then Hinesfield.
• 19:24
  Speaker 4: Priestley, right?
• 19:25
  Speaker 5: Because I actually almost said David Priestley. That name did
• 19:27
  Speaker 5: come to mind, but I didn't think he had wheels
• 19:29
  Speaker 5: like that.
• 19:30
  Speaker 4: Good for him.
• 19:31
  Speaker 3: Yes, I guess so.
• 19:34
  Speaker 2: I think he was a very mobile quarterback, if I
• 19:36
  Speaker 2: remember right, from way back in the day there during
• 19:39
  Speaker 2: the early 2000s. Brian and I are getting set for
• 19:42
  Speaker 2: not the Pitt Panthers, but again, congratulations, the team that
• 19:45
  Speaker 2: shares the facility on the south side and Accuture Stadium
• 19:47
  Speaker 2: with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
• 19:49
  Speaker 3: Are off to a three.
• 19:50
  Speaker 4: Start.
• 19:51
  Speaker 2: Good luck to all the Penn State and WVU fans
• 19:53
  Speaker 2: out there this upcoming weekend as well as college football
• 19:56
  Speaker 2: continues to navigate through their start of their season as well.
• 20:01
  Speaker 2: The NFL for week two, which did kick off last night.
• 20:04
  Speaker 2: with the Buffalo Bills winning 41-31 against the Detroit Lions.
• 20:10
  Speaker 2: But Double B and I are getting all set for
• 20:11
  Speaker 2: this upcoming week with the Patriots on Sunday, and it's
• 20:14
  Speaker 2: time to check our injury report to kick off this segment. Yesterday,
• 20:18
  Speaker 2: Michael Pittman Jr. did not practice due to a foot injury.
• 20:22
  Speaker 2: He was limited on Wednesday, so we'll continue to monitor him.
• 20:25
  Speaker 2: Joey Porter Jr., I'm sure you know by now, left
• 20:28
  Speaker 2: due to a back injury during practice on Thursday. Troy Fontano,
• 20:32
  Speaker 2: an ankle injury. He was limited for the second straight day.
• 20:37
  Speaker 2: Actually did not practice on Wednesday and was limited yesterday,
• 20:39
  Speaker 2: so it was good to see Fontano back on the
• 20:41
  Speaker 2: practice field, but today will be a big indication on
• 20:43
  Speaker 2: where he currently sits. Darnell Washington for the second straight
• 20:46
  Speaker 2: day due to a personal rest situation, did not practice,
• 20:50
  Speaker 2: and Cam Hayward got the day off on Thursday. Brian,
• 20:53
  Speaker 2: your thoughts on the injury report two days into this
• 20:56
  Speaker 2: work week. There's one more, of course, today here on
• 20:58
  Speaker 2: Friday before we get set for the week, and I
• 21:00
  Speaker 2: think the main name Well, there's two big names on there,
• 21:02
  Speaker 2: Pittman and also Fontano, but at least Fontano was back
• 21:05
  Speaker 2: on the field on Thursday.
• 21:07
  Speaker 5: Yeah, Mike McCarthy said that they were going to have
• 21:10
  Speaker 5: a plan for Troy Fontano, and it's still not ideal.
• 21:14
  Speaker 5: You'd like to see him get some full work on Friday,
• 21:17
  Speaker 5: and possibly he will, but he might be at the
• 21:19
  Speaker 5: stage of his career too, though. Maybe three limited days
• 21:22
  Speaker 5: would be enough for him to still go out there
• 21:26
  Speaker 5: and start Sunday in Foxborough, but you still just You
• 21:29
  Speaker 5: don't love to see it. Any sort of lower body
• 21:33
  Speaker 5: injury obviously can linger, but Troy's a tough dude, so
• 21:37
  Speaker 5: we'll see where that goes. Pittman, I also don't love
• 21:40
  Speaker 5: the setback, if you want to call it that. I mean,
• 21:43
  Speaker 5: that's just kind of a literal term looking at an
• 21:46
  Speaker 5: injury report when you go from full to limited or
• 21:49
  Speaker 5: limited to DNP, of course. But maybe this was part
• 21:53
  Speaker 5: of the plan, too. If you gleaned anything from Mike McCarthy–
• 21:58
  Speaker 5: training camp in the preseason. He's obviously going to err
• 22:00
  Speaker 5: on the side of caution with a lot of guys,
• 22:02
  Speaker 5: especially the older, more experienced veteran guys. You want to
• 22:06
  Speaker 5: keep them upright. You want to keep them healthy. And
• 22:09
  Speaker 5: that could be all this is with Pittman. You hope
• 22:11
  Speaker 5: that that's all it is. Still, though, not great to
• 22:15
  Speaker 5: see it diminish in activity versus increase in activity. Definitely
• 22:21
  Speaker 5: keep an eye on that. Darnell Washington, You want him
• 22:23
  Speaker 5: out there. You got to rep the game plan at
• 22:26
  Speaker 5: some point in the week. But I believe he and
• 22:30
  Speaker 5: his family announced a new child on the way in June.
• 22:34
  Speaker 5: So that I'm just not a math major, but doing
• 22:37
  Speaker 5: some math. Hopefully he's missing for all good reasons. And
• 22:41
  Speaker 5: if that is indeed it, congratulations and best of luck
• 22:45
  Speaker 5: to the Washington family.
• 22:47
  Speaker 3: Yeah, that would definitely make sense. Again, they just said
• 22:49
  Speaker 3: personal reasons.
• 22:50
  Speaker 2: So you figure it's probably something in and around possibly
• 22:54
  Speaker 2: their double B. Let's look at some key matchups for
• 22:57
  Speaker 2: this upcoming weekend from Matt's stats, which, by the way,
• 22:59
  Speaker 2: you can check out on Steelers.com, along with Brian Batko's
• 23:03
  Speaker 2: wall-to-wall coverage of the Pittsburgh Steelers leading up to this
• 23:06
  Speaker 2: Sunday's game between the Patriots and the Steelers. As Matt
• 23:09
  Speaker 2: noted in Matt's stats this week, one of the big matchups,
• 23:12
  Speaker 2: as we've talked about this week, too, will be that
• 23:14
  Speaker 2: DK Metcalf versus Christian Gonzalez matchup. Gonzalez in week one.
• 23:19
  Speaker 2: faced one of the best in Jackson Smith and Jigba.
• 23:21
  Speaker 2: Now listen, Smith and Jigba did put up some big
• 23:25
  Speaker 2: numbers in that game against the Patriots last week, but
• 23:28
  Speaker 2: it was when Gonzalez was not on him. When Gonzalez
• 23:30
  Speaker 2: was on Smith and Jigba, he did not catch a
• 23:33
  Speaker 2: pass throughout that game. So that just goes to show
• 23:35
  Speaker 2: you how good Christian Gonzalez is. He's now gotten paid,
• 23:39
  Speaker 2: and most likely he will be one-on-one with the Steelers'
• 23:42
  Speaker 2: best receiver in DK Metcalf on Sunday.
• 23:45
  Speaker 3: Brian, this is a big matchup for the Steelers.
• 23:47
  Speaker 2: We know Metcalf last week frustrated, I'm sure, with the
• 23:51
  Speaker 2: 10 targets and only the four catches. There were a
• 23:53
  Speaker 2: couple drops during that sequence, during that game against the
• 23:56
  Speaker 2: Falcons too. As I predicted earlier this week, I think
• 23:59
  Speaker 2: he has a big bounce back game over 100 yards,
• 24:02
  Speaker 2: maybe a touchdown. I think Also, Aaron Rodgers is going
• 24:06
  Speaker 2: to target DK Metcalf early in this game. But if
• 24:10
  Speaker 2: Metcalf and the Steelers passing game and Aaron Rodgers are
• 24:12
  Speaker 2: to have success, they're going to have to beat one
• 24:14
  Speaker 2: of the best in Christian Gonzalez.
• 24:17
  Speaker 4: No doubt about it, Ed.
• 24:18
  Speaker 5: DK Metcalf did his usual media interview Thursday after practice.
• 24:23
  Speaker 5: Of course, as you would expect, a lot of questions
• 24:25
  Speaker 5: about the missed connections in week one, the drops, penalties.
• 24:30
  Speaker 5: He was pretty matter of fact on all of it.
• 24:33
  Speaker 5: I mean, there was no big come-to-Jesus speech from DK.
• 24:37
  Speaker 5: He's like, look, I mean, it wasn't up to my standards.
• 24:41
  Speaker 5: I'm paraphrasing here. It wasn't good enough for me, but
• 24:44
  Speaker 5: no use crying over spilled milk. You know, we're going
• 24:46
  Speaker 5: to work to get back at it. And, you know,
• 24:48
  Speaker 5: he doesn't usually like talking about opposing players either, Ed, but,
• 24:53
  Speaker 5: you know, even he mentioned how Gonzalez was not out
• 24:56
  Speaker 5: there last year for the Patriots in that week three
• 24:59
  Speaker 5: game and that he's a really good corner so that
• 25:02
  Speaker 5: they'll have to be ready for him. And yeah, I mean, he's,
• 25:06
  Speaker 5: he's somebody who the spotlight's always on him. I can't
• 25:09
  Speaker 5: even imagine what it's like to be DK Metcalf on
• 25:11
  Speaker 5: a daily basis. You are always drawing attention and drawing
• 25:17
  Speaker 5: a crowd wherever you are, heavy lies, the crown type
• 25:20
  Speaker 5: of thing, but same goes for when he's on a
• 25:22
  Speaker 5: football field. And I don't think the Patriots are going
• 25:25
  Speaker 5: to overlook him or take him lightly and put Ed
• 25:29
  Speaker 5: troop on him just because he had.
• 25:30
  Speaker 6: A rough week one.
• 25:32
  Speaker 2: Definitely do not want to put me on anybody, let
• 25:34
  Speaker 2: alone one of the best out in the game. The
• 25:38
  Speaker 2: other matchup, too, that Matt noticed in Matt's stats is
• 25:41
  Speaker 2: the Morgan Moses right tackle for the New England Patriots
• 25:45
  Speaker 2: against the Steelers' T.J.
• 25:46
  Speaker 7: Watt.
• 25:47
  Speaker 2: Now, listen, Brian, you and I, if we were in
• 25:49
  Speaker 2: a defensive game plan room and we're looking ahead to
• 25:52
  Speaker 2: the following week or even two weeks from now and
• 25:54
  Speaker 2: we see the Steelers on the schedule, I'm sorry, did
• 25:57
  Speaker 2: I say defensive?
• 25:58
  Speaker 3: I meant offensive room.
• 25:59
  Speaker 2: If we're in the offensive room and we're looking at
• 26:01
  Speaker 2: the Steelers' defense, you're going to look at T.J. Watt
• 26:04
  Speaker 2: first and foremost every single week. I mean, Cam Hayward
• 26:06
  Speaker 2: and there's some other playmakers on that defense too, don't
• 26:08
  Speaker 2: get me wrong, but it all starts and ends with T.J.
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: Watt.
• 26:11
  Speaker 3: You've got to stop No.
• 26:12
  Speaker 4: 90.
• 26:12
  Speaker 2: We saw what he did last week, so I'm sure
• 26:15
  Speaker 2: the game plan in New England this week, first and foremost,
• 26:18
  Speaker 2: is to maybe not stop T.J. Watt, but at least
• 26:21
  Speaker 2: contain him and keep him under control, and it's going
• 26:23
  Speaker 2: to be Morgan Moses most likely at that right tackle
• 26:26
  Speaker 2: position that's going to be up for that challenge and
• 26:29
  Speaker 2: going to have to perform for the Patriots if they
• 26:30
  Speaker 2: want to be successful.
• 26:32
  Speaker 3: Against the Steelers' top defensive player.
• 26:34
  Speaker 5: Morgan Moses, he's been around a long time now. He's
• 26:37
  Speaker 5: actually 35. Morgan Moses, he's older than me, and I'm
• 26:43
  Speaker 5: kind of old. So good credit Morgan Moses, I guess,
• 26:46
  Speaker 5: for still getting those checks. And he's become really a
• 26:53
  Speaker 5: bona fide starter no matter what team he's on. He
• 26:55
  Speaker 5: was a starter for Washington for a long time to
• 26:58
  Speaker 5: start his career. He had a season with the Jets,
• 27:01
  Speaker 5: a couple seasons with the Ravens, so he knows the
• 27:03
  Speaker 5: Steelers well and vice versa. And then he actually circled
• 27:06
  Speaker 5: back with the Jets, and now he has returned to
• 27:10
  Speaker 5: New England. So this is the right tackle who's pretty
• 27:12
  Speaker 5: much seen it all. He's a big guy out there, 6'6, 320.
• 27:18
  Speaker 5: But I like the Steelers' chances against Morgan Moses, and
• 27:23
  Speaker 5: I like the Steelers' chances because they have T.J. Watt,
• 27:26
  Speaker 5: and other teams do not. And don't get me wrong.
• 27:29
  Speaker 5: The Seahawks have a fantastic front, but I think they're
• 27:32
  Speaker 5: one that's more of a interior based pressure and, you know,
• 27:37
  Speaker 5: the edge guys, or maybe they get it schemed up
• 27:39
  Speaker 5: for them a little bit more. And the Steelers are
• 27:41
  Speaker 5: getting more into that in my mind with Patrick Graham
• 27:44
  Speaker 5: and some of what he's cooking up versus just, Hey,
• 27:47
  Speaker 5: we're going to do what we do because we're the
• 27:48
  Speaker 5: Steelers and we trust TJ Watt to go out there
• 27:51
  Speaker 5: and beat anybody else on the planet. The Steelers still
• 27:54
  Speaker 5: trust him to do that, but you saw him play
• 27:56
  Speaker 5: on the other side. I think six snaps in week one,
• 27:59
  Speaker 5: and they want to keep teams guessing. It's just another
• 28:02
  Speaker 5: wrinkle that Josh McDaniels and all those Patriots offensive staffers
• 28:06
  Speaker 5: have to account for here. Something else that has to
• 28:08
  Speaker 5: be on the radar of Morgan Moses and his bookend,
• 28:12
  Speaker 5: Will Campbell, at the other tackle spot.
• 28:15
  Speaker 2: I think the other player who is poised to maybe
• 28:18
  Speaker 2: have a big week here on the stat sheet, Brian,
• 28:21
  Speaker 2: is Nick Herbig, who was a bit quiet in week one. Now,
• 28:24
  Speaker 2: of course, he had two sacks by His counterpart in
• 28:27
  Speaker 2: Alex Highsmith and his teammate there, his other counterpart in
• 28:30
  Speaker 2: TJ Watts. So only so many can eat during a
• 28:33
  Speaker 2: defensive game. But Nick Herbig was a bit quiet. I
• 28:37
  Speaker 2: bet you this week against the Patriots, he'll be more active. And,
• 28:40
  Speaker 2: you know, listen, he's doing his job. They all do
• 28:43
  Speaker 2: their job. It doesn't necessarily show up on the stat
• 28:45
  Speaker 2: sheet each and every week. However, those splash plays that
• 28:48
  Speaker 2: we were used to seeing from Nick Herbig last year,
• 28:50
  Speaker 2: we didn't see at least in week one. I have
• 28:52
  Speaker 2: a sneaking suspicion we might see him this week.
• 28:56
  Speaker 5: Yeah, Herbig, as Evan Lazar pointed out yesterday on the show,
• 28:59
  Speaker 5: he had a really good game last year against New England,
• 29:02
  Speaker 5: and that was one of the springboards for his, I
• 29:04
  Speaker 5: would say, breakout season, although say that, and he kind
• 29:07
  Speaker 5: of keeps breaking out more and more every year. But
• 29:10
  Speaker 5: just real quick, I mean, T.J. Watt last year against
• 29:12
  Speaker 5: New England and Morgan Moses, two sacks up there in Foxborough,
• 29:16
  Speaker 5: none the year before when the Steelers faced Moses and
• 29:19
  Speaker 5: the Jets, and the year prior against the Ravens, T.J. Watt,
• 29:24
  Speaker 5: two sacks in each of those games. So without going
• 29:27
  Speaker 5: back and looking at every single pass rush against Moses,
• 29:31
  Speaker 5: just from a quick perusal of the box score, TJ
• 29:34
  Speaker 5: has kind of owned this guy and maybe that bodes
• 29:37
  Speaker 5: well for Sunday.
• 29:38
  Speaker 2: It should indeed. for the Pittsburgh Steelers. It's a look
• 29:42
  Speaker 2: at some of our key matchups for this upcoming week.
• 29:45
  Speaker 2: Whenever we come back, we're going to hear from Ken
• 29:47
  Speaker 2: Laird from WEEI in Boston, co-host of The Rich in
• 29:50
  Speaker 2: Ken with Ted Johnson Show. Kenny is a Pittsburgh native
• 29:54
  Speaker 2: who was actually on the air here in Pittsburgh for
• 29:57
  Speaker 2: a number of years. He's been in Boston now for
• 29:59
  Speaker 2: over 10 years, covering all the great sports scene there
• 30:04
  Speaker 2: in Boston.
• 30:05
  Speaker 3: Including the New England Patriots.
• 30:07
  Speaker 2: Then coming up at 3 o'clock, our five keys on offense,
• 30:10
  Speaker 2: followed by our five keys on defense, and we'll wrap
• 30:11
  Speaker 2: up the show today at 3.40 with our Renegade preview.
• 30:15
  Speaker 2: I'm Ed, and he is Brian, and you're listening to
• 30:17
  Speaker 2: the Steelers Report right here on Steelers Nation Radio, part
• 30:20
  Speaker 2: of the Steelers Audio Network.
• 30:31
  Speaker 1: This is the Steelers Report with Brian Batko and Ed
• 30:35
  Speaker 1: Troup on Steelers Nation Radio, a part of the Steelers
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: Audio Network.
• 30:46
  Speaker 2: Brian Batko and myself continue to navigate the week as
• 30:49
  Speaker 2: we lead up to Patriots-Steelers 1 o'clock this upcoming Sunday
• 30:54
  Speaker 2: for week number two across the NFL. And this week
• 30:59
  Speaker 2: we've been going behind enemy lines. We had Evan Lazar,
• 31:02
  Speaker 2: the senior reporter and staff writer for Patriots.com on yesterday
• 31:06
  Speaker 2: with us.
• 31:07
  Speaker 3: And today, because we want to go behind enemy lines
• 31:11
  Speaker 3: not once, but twice.
• 31:13
  Speaker 2: Because that's how important the Patriots-Steelers matchup is this upcoming Sunday.
• 31:17
  Speaker 2: So we welcome in our good friend Ken Laird from
• 31:20
  Speaker 2: WEEI Boston. He's the co-host of the afternoon show from
• 31:24
  Speaker 2: 2 to 6 that is Rich and Ken with Ted Johnson.
• 31:28
  Speaker 2: And Kenny, some of our listeners out there might know
• 31:31
  Speaker 2: your name because you were born and raised here in
• 31:35
  Speaker 2: Pittsburgh and you were on the Pittsburgh airwaves for a time.
• 31:38
  Speaker 3: Before you made the move to Boston. Great to have
• 31:40
  Speaker 3: you on, Ken.
• 31:41
  Speaker 7: Good to reconnect with you, Ed, as always. And Brian,
• 31:44
  Speaker 7: good to meet you. Yeah, I feel like Benedict Arnold.
• 31:46
  Speaker 7: I mean, Pittsburgh born and raised. And it's been a while, though.
• 31:49
  Speaker 7: I mean, I've been gone 10 years.
• 31:50
  Speaker 6: Hard to believe.
• 31:52
  Speaker 3: That was my next question for you. Have you spent
• 31:53
  Speaker 3: more time? Have you been in Boston now?
• 31:55
  Speaker 2: Because you went to college in Boston too, right?
• 31:57
  Speaker 6: I did.
• 31:57
  Speaker 3: I did.
• 31:58
  Speaker 6: Yeah. It's been about even.
• 31:59
  Speaker 7: I'm about 50-50 now for, I guess, probably an edge
• 32:02
  Speaker 7: to Pittsburgh for my upbringing. But yeah, although I don't
• 32:08
  Speaker 7: want to take any shots here at the top of
• 32:09
  Speaker 7: the show, but I'm not sure much has happened in
• 32:11
  Speaker 7: 10 years since I left. Have any of the local
• 32:14
  Speaker 7: teams had much success? It's been a tough grind.
• 32:18
  Speaker 4: To be honest, there might be a Stanley Cup in there.
• 32:20
  Speaker 5: Lose track sometimes with the Pens.
• 32:23
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, I guess the only difference is Benedict
• 32:25
  Speaker 4: Arnold left.
• 32:26
  Speaker 5: New England to go to the original England and he
• 32:31
  Speaker 5: left Pittsburgh to go to New England.
• 32:33
  Speaker 6: Right, exactly. We're all same team, but it is full circle,
• 32:39
  Speaker 6: you know, talking to you.
• 32:39
  Speaker 2: And, you know, obviously being in Boston now, covering the
• 32:44
  Speaker 2: New England Patriots and Heck, I'm sure you guys make
• 32:47
  Speaker 2: it all the way around to the Celtics. And by
• 32:48
  Speaker 2: the way, we like the Celtics because there's not an
• 32:50
  Speaker 2: NBA team here in Pittsburgh, so we're okay with the Celts.
• 32:53
  Speaker 2: And Red Sox don't bother us. They're in the American League. Now, Bruins, Pens,
• 32:56
  Speaker 2: that might be a different story, but we do know
• 32:58
  Speaker 2: the rivalry between the Patriots and the Steelers. It goes way,
• 33:02
  Speaker 2: way back. It's been a heated rivalry over the years.
• 33:04
  Speaker 2: Give us the Boston perspective right now. I'm sure they're
• 33:08
  Speaker 2: excited to get back onto the field after a long
• 33:10
  Speaker 2: layoff and that opening week one loss to the Seahawks.
• 33:13
  Speaker 6: Yeah.
• 33:14
  Speaker 7: Well, if you guys talk to Evan Lazar, he's a
• 33:15
  Speaker 7: good X's and O's guys. He probably gave you a
• 33:17
  Speaker 7: lot of the in the trenches info. But just from
• 33:20
  Speaker 7: a talk show, two to six here weekdays, it's a
• 33:23
  Speaker 7: it's more of a rattled fan base here in New
• 33:26
  Speaker 7: England currently that I would have expected for a team
• 33:27
  Speaker 7: coming off a Super Bowl. And Drake May had a
• 33:30
  Speaker 7: lot of praise, particularly locally. I know there were some
• 33:33
  Speaker 7: skeptics after his playoff run, but. Week one was a
• 33:36
  Speaker 7: wake-up call for sure. The offense didn't play particularly well,
• 33:40
  Speaker 7: and of course Drake didn't play well at all in
• 33:42
  Speaker 7: the fourth quarter with three interceptions. So I've had my
• 33:44
  Speaker 7: colleague Ted Johnson, who played in some of those battles
• 33:47
  Speaker 7: in the early 2000s with Pittsburgh, against Pittsburgh. He's called
• 33:51
  Speaker 7: it a must-win. So has our morning host, former tight
• 33:54
  Speaker 7: end Jermaine Wiggins. So we're in a week two must-win scenario.
• 33:58
  Speaker 6: You don't hear that very often.
• 34:00
  Speaker 5: Yeah, absolutely, and going into it without– top flight wide
• 34:04
  Speaker 5: receiver who was the biggest acquisition bar none this offseason
• 34:08
  Speaker 5: for the Patriots and A.J.
• 34:10
  Speaker 4: Brown.
• 34:10
  Speaker 5: How do you expect them to kind of divvy up
• 34:12
  Speaker 5: the roles there in the receiver room? I mean, on
• 34:14
  Speaker 5: one hand, Romeo Dobbs is another big body. But on
• 34:18
  Speaker 5: the other hand, he didn't play very well in his
• 34:20
  Speaker 5: first foray with New England. And I've seen some fans
• 34:24
  Speaker 5: seem to be high on old Pop Douglas, the short receiver.
• 34:27
  Speaker 5: Are we going to see more Romeo or more Pop?
• 34:30
  Speaker 7: So Romeo has, if not for Drake's performance, that would
• 34:33
  Speaker 7: have been the negative performance to dwell on the most.
• 34:35
  Speaker 7: He had a very significant drop in the game, put
• 34:38
  Speaker 7: it that way. Three targets, no catches. So they spent
• 34:42
  Speaker 7: $ 68 million to bring him over from Green Bay in
• 34:43
  Speaker 7: the offseason before the A.J. Brown trade. So he kind
• 34:48
  Speaker 7: of got lost in the shuffle of expectations with Brown,
• 34:50
  Speaker 7: but now the spotlight is on. So I think they're
• 34:53
  Speaker 7: going to try to feature him early to get his
• 34:55
  Speaker 7: confidence up. But it will be interesting to see. It's
• 34:57
  Speaker 7: also supposed to be bad weather Sunday, some heavy rains,
• 35:01
  Speaker 7: 60 degrees, but heavy rains.
• 35:02
  Speaker 6: So that could alter game plans as well.
• 35:05
  Speaker 7: And Travion Henderson, their running back, he practiced fully today,
• 35:08
  Speaker 7: so it looks like he's on track to play. So
• 35:10
  Speaker 7: it could be more of a ground game than the air,
• 35:13
  Speaker 7: but let's see.
• 35:14
  Speaker 2: You know, Ken, it's funny that you mentioned that this
• 35:16
  Speaker 2: is a must-win for the Patriots already in Week 2
• 35:19
  Speaker 2: because the conversation here in Pittsburgh last week was, Don't
• 35:23
  Speaker 2: hiccup against the Falcons because if the Steelers were going
• 35:25
  Speaker 2: up to Foxborough 0-1, this would be a must-win game
• 35:28
  Speaker 2: for Pittsburgh this week. But they took care of business
• 35:31
  Speaker 2: against the Falcons in typical Steeler fashion over the last 19,
• 35:35
  Speaker 2: 20 years. It's never sexy, but they get the job done.
• 35:39
  Speaker 2: They get the win against the Falcons, and they move
• 35:41
  Speaker 2: on to face a Patriot team in which last year
• 35:44
  Speaker 2: they went up to Foxborough, beat the Patriots, and then
• 35:47
  Speaker 2: the Patriots didn't lose another game until the Super Bowl.
• 35:50
  Speaker 2: They went on that big run a year ago.
• 35:52
  Speaker 7: Yeah, they ripped off 10 in a row after that. Also,
• 35:54
  Speaker 7: I remember you and I may have talked at the
• 35:56
  Speaker 7: time as well. Christian Gonzalez didn't play in the game,
• 35:59
  Speaker 7: and that was somewhat significant. Biggest problem with five turnovers
• 36:02
  Speaker 7: from New England, some of those forced by that good
• 36:05
  Speaker 7: front that the Steelers always have. So that will be
• 36:08
  Speaker 7: another key to the game this week. And I would
• 36:11
  Speaker 7: expect the Patriots to have a plan for TJ Watt,
• 36:14
  Speaker 7: but it looks like he's still got some ability. I
• 36:16
  Speaker 7: think that's the big matchup to watch, though. Patriots offense,
• 36:19
  Speaker 7: Steelers D. That's going to determine the game.
• 36:21
  Speaker 4: How about that front that New England has, though?
• 36:23
  Speaker 5: Because obviously there's, you know, slouches over there and, you know,
• 36:26
  Speaker 5: giving up 13 points to the Seahawks. Granted, Drew Locke
• 36:30
  Speaker 5: was running the show instead of Sam Darnold. But I
• 36:34
  Speaker 5: still feel like you look at Milton Williams up there
• 36:36
  Speaker 5: anchoring that D-line. I mean, was it Draymond Jones looked
• 36:40
  Speaker 5: somewhat rejuvenated? I mean, that's still a front that can
• 36:43
  Speaker 5: wreak some havoc, right?
• 36:44
  Speaker 6: Yeah.
• 36:45
  Speaker 7: So, I mean, Draymond Jones is interesting. He was their
• 36:48
  Speaker 7: big ticket free agent signing from a pass rush perspective.
• 36:50
  Speaker 7: They lost Caleb on chase on who was decent for them.
• 36:54
  Speaker 7: And Jones looked better. We didn't really see him at
• 36:57
  Speaker 7: nobody who plays in the preseason. It's hard to get
• 36:58
  Speaker 7: a read on anybody. So Jones looked okay, but he's
• 37:02
  Speaker 7: limited today in practice. So I don't know if he's
• 37:04
  Speaker 7: nicked up their pass rush is probably their weakest, not
• 37:07
  Speaker 7: even probably it is there with a weak spot of
• 37:09
  Speaker 7: their defense and they really need to get pressure with,
• 37:12
  Speaker 7: with blitz games more so than individual rush.
• 37:14
  Speaker 6: Milton Williams is good.
• 37:15
  Speaker 7: Uh, you know, it gets the push in the middle, but, um,
• 37:19
  Speaker 7: there's their strength really is their secondary. They're arguably the
• 37:23
  Speaker 7: best secondary in the NFL all over with Kevin Bayard
• 37:27
  Speaker 7: now joining them, but they just, they have a lot
• 37:28
  Speaker 7: of unproven question marks in the front. So, um, you know, they,
• 37:32
  Speaker 7: and Rogers is pretty crafty. Vrabel was talking the day
• 37:35
  Speaker 7: about last year, they tried to blitz them a little
• 37:37
  Speaker 7: bit and he was ready for it. So I think they're, uh,
• 37:41
  Speaker 7: how they'll prepare for Aaron Rodgers will be an interesting
• 37:43
  Speaker 7: chess match with Vrabel's defense.
• 37:46
  Speaker 2: We're talking with Ken Laird from WEEI in Boston. You
• 37:50
  Speaker 2: can catch Ken in the Boston area afternoons from 2
• 37:53
  Speaker 2: to 6 on the Rich and Ken with Ted Johnson show.
• 37:56
  Speaker 2: And as he already referenced, Ted Johnson, Teddy Johnson, former
• 38:00
  Speaker 2: Patriot player, right, Kenny, that played against the Steelers in
• 38:03
  Speaker 2: some of those 2000 games. So I'm sure he has
• 38:05
  Speaker 2: an interesting perspective on this historic matchup between Two franchises
• 38:09
  Speaker 2: that each have now won six Super Bowls apiece atop
• 38:12
  Speaker 2: the NFL.
• 38:14
  Speaker 1: He does.
• 38:14
  Speaker 7: He talks fondly about his battles with Jerome Bettis. He
• 38:17
  Speaker 7: had a lot of good outcomes in some of those games,
• 38:21
  Speaker 7: the 2004 AFC title game.
• 38:23
  Speaker 6: I remember being there.
• 38:26
  Speaker 7: Probably the last game as a fan, I had a
• 38:28
  Speaker 7: Steelers jersey on, and it was the coldest game I've
• 38:30
  Speaker 7: ever been in in my life. But they just kicked
• 38:33
  Speaker 7: ass that day, and the Steelers had a painful wake-up
• 38:36
  Speaker 7: call for Roethlisberger's rookie year. Those games were great. The
• 38:39
  Speaker 7: 0-1 game, obviously going back to the Cordell years, and
• 38:42
  Speaker 7: then the Jesse James game and the AFC title before
• 38:46
  Speaker 7: the Patriots went on to beat the Falcons. So there
• 38:48
  Speaker 7: have been some memorable ones. The last few years has
• 38:50
  Speaker 7: been a bit more of an ugly watch. So I
• 38:53
  Speaker 7: guess we've devolved into that. Before Drake May came of
• 38:56
  Speaker 7: age last year, it was a five-year just sort of
• 39:01
  Speaker 7: dearth of QB trying to find the next guy. So
• 39:03
  Speaker 7: it's been a tough five years, but all things considered
• 39:06
  Speaker 7: for the Patriots fan base, they're happy to have what
• 39:08
  Speaker 7: they think is a good direction.
• 39:10
  Speaker 2: Well, it wasn't, it wasn't a total loss for new England.
• 39:13
  Speaker 2: Cause remember Bailey's Bailey came in here and beat the Steelers.
• 39:16
  Speaker 2: Oh yeah.
• 39:17
  Speaker 6: Bailey Zappy.
• 39:18
  Speaker 3: There you go.
• 39:19
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 39:19
  Speaker 7: Yeah.
• 39:20
  Speaker 5: I was going to say these last few matchups, I
• 39:23
  Speaker 5: sort of just refer to it writ large as the
• 39:25
  Speaker 5: Bailey Zappi era, even though he didn't play last year.
• 39:29
  Speaker 5: And he might as well have with the way Drake
• 39:31
  Speaker 5: May and the Patriots turned the ball over.
• 39:34
  Speaker 4: So, Ken, we've hit on a lot of the big names.
• 39:37
  Speaker 5: I mean, can you give us, our Steelers Nation listeners,
• 39:40
  Speaker 5: maybe a more under-the-radar Patriots name, whether it's a young
• 39:43
  Speaker 5: guy or a rookie, someone who has stood out thus far,
• 39:46
  Speaker 5: and we might come away from Sunday's game knowing that name.
• 39:51
  Speaker 7: So on the offensive side, they've realigned their line. So
• 39:55
  Speaker 7: they signed Elijah Vera Tucker. He's their left guard and
• 40:00
  Speaker 7: former 14th overall pick. So they have some expectations that
• 40:03
  Speaker 7: he's going to help fix their line. He had kind
• 40:05
  Speaker 7: of an underwhelming week one. I think that's really a key.
• 40:08
  Speaker 7: They've really tried to, even though Seattle's great against the run,
• 40:11
  Speaker 7: they tried to establish it. So Vera Tucker, to me,
• 40:15
  Speaker 7: is somebody that's got to be good for the Patriots
• 40:17
  Speaker 7: to win, especially if there's weather. And then... On the
• 40:21
  Speaker 7: flip side, I think, you know, Carlton Davis was out today,
• 40:26
  Speaker 7: their starting corner. Marcus Jones, their nickel corner, is a
• 40:30
  Speaker 7: real interesting one to me. He's undersized.
• 40:32
  Speaker 6: He's good.
• 40:33
  Speaker 7: He's their punt returner as well. But just watching the Steelers,
• 40:35
  Speaker 7: big physical receivers. If I'm Pittsburgh, that's a matchup that
• 40:39
  Speaker 7: I try to exploit with DK. Then the big tight
• 40:41
  Speaker 7: end who just I saw slam somebody off the turf there.
• 40:44
  Speaker 7: You know, I think they're not going to throw Gonzalez.
• 40:46
  Speaker 7: So whoever he's on, they'll probably look the other way.
• 40:49
  Speaker 6: But I would say.
• 40:50
  Speaker 7: Even though Jones is good, if he has to step
• 40:53
  Speaker 7: up and be the starting corner this week, that's the
• 40:54
  Speaker 7: matchup they'll pick on.
• 40:56
  Speaker 2: Ken, going back to Drake May, too, at the quarterback spot,
• 41:00
  Speaker 2: not the best game, obviously, against the Seattle Seahawks last week.
• 41:04
  Speaker 2: What does he need to do this week to bounce
• 41:06
  Speaker 2: back here in week two against a Pittsburgh Steelers defense
• 41:09
  Speaker 2: that faced a third-string quarterback last week with Cooper Rush?
• 41:12
  Speaker 2: They let him hang around, but they did contain him
• 41:15
  Speaker 2: for the most part, and they should. He's a third-string quarterback.
• 41:17
  Speaker 2: This week, the Steelers are going to have a bigger test, obviously,
• 41:20
  Speaker 2: with Drake made, but what does he need to do
• 41:21
  Speaker 2: to bounce back here.
• 41:22
  Speaker 7: In week two?
• 41:23
  Speaker 6: So it's interesting.
• 41:24
  Speaker 7: I think, you know, Seattle is a bad matchup for
• 41:27
  Speaker 7: Drake teams that have beaten him and had success have
• 41:30
  Speaker 7: played the, just make you beat them underneath. He's a
• 41:34
  Speaker 7: big game hunter. He wants to be Josh Allen. He
• 41:36
  Speaker 7: wants to run. He wants to take some chunk yards
• 41:39
  Speaker 7: and he, in his own words, got impatient last week,
• 41:42
  Speaker 7: but he was just forced to go up and down
• 41:44
  Speaker 7: the field and kind of be Brady like, and he,
• 41:47
  Speaker 7: at his heart, he wants to be a bit of
• 41:48
  Speaker 7: more of a gunslinger. So, The Steelers have always been
• 41:52
  Speaker 7: a bad matchup for the McDaniels offense. They've spread them
• 41:55
  Speaker 7: out in the past and been able to see their
• 41:57
  Speaker 7: blitzes coming and kind of carve them up. So I'm
• 42:00
  Speaker 7: very kind of interested to see if Drake can handle
• 42:01
  Speaker 7: that game plan this time around. Again, the weather may
• 42:04
  Speaker 7: play a factor and they definitely have, you know, have made,
• 42:07
  Speaker 7: you know, some efforts to improve the ground game, but
• 42:09
  Speaker 7: all that's going to come into effect. And to be honest,
• 42:11
  Speaker 7: Drake's a little bit, he's, he's been taking the heat
• 42:14
  Speaker 7: and feeling the criticism. So, his mental state and his
• 42:17
  Speaker 7: emotional ability to handle this game in the home opener
• 42:20
  Speaker 7: will be something to watch as well.
• 42:22
  Speaker 6: Yeah, absolutely.
• 42:23
  Speaker 4: That's a great point.
• 42:24
  Speaker 5: You know, young quarterback facing probably the most adversity that
• 42:27
  Speaker 5: he's come up with so far. I mean, everything was
• 42:30
  Speaker 5: all sunshine and rainbows on that run last year and
• 42:33
  Speaker 5: until the end. But, you know, to your point, though, Kevin,
• 42:37
  Speaker 5: this isn't Tom Brady's Steelers defenses that he faced, and
• 42:39
  Speaker 5: this isn't even Bailey.
• 42:40
  Speaker 4: Zappi's Steelers defenses that he faced. This is Patrick Graham's.
• 42:43
  Speaker 5: A former Bill Belichick disciple bringing his defense here week one.
• 42:48
  Speaker 4: They did not blitz hardly at all. They didn't play
• 42:52
  Speaker 4: a single snap of man coverage, at least in the
• 42:55
  Speaker 4: most general sense. So maybe that doesn't bode so well
• 42:58
  Speaker 4: for Drake May, and we'll see if he's content to
• 43:01
  Speaker 4: play more of the conservative game plan and be a
• 43:04
  Speaker 4: game manager. But my last question for you is one
• 43:07
  Speaker 4: that is truly the most important What should I do
• 43:10
  Speaker 4: in Boston this weekend? I hung out last year with
• 43:13
  Speaker 4: a college roommate in Providence, and I stayed in Foxborough,
• 43:17
  Speaker 4: so I've kind of seen that side of things. What
• 43:21
  Speaker 4: should I do if I venture down to Boston proper here?
• 43:23
  Speaker 7: If you could get up in time for Saturday, I mean,
• 43:26
  Speaker 7: everybody in Boston leaves the city and goes to either
• 43:29
  Speaker 7: Cape Cod or Maine or New Hampshire.
• 43:31
  Speaker 6: They get out of the city on the weekends.
• 43:33
  Speaker 7: Now, the Seaport, if you're going to be in the
• 43:34
  Speaker 7: city proper, the Seaport District is the happening place that
• 43:38
  Speaker 7: when I went to college here, it didn't even exist.
• 43:40
  Speaker 7: but they had a big dig project which put the
• 43:44
  Speaker 7: interstates underground, and they've expanded, and that's where all the
• 43:47
  Speaker 7: money is. So Robert Kraft, the Patriots owner, has a
• 43:50
  Speaker 7: condo out there, and it's a lot of money. So
• 43:53
  Speaker 7: it's good if you're going to go to Boston. That
• 43:56
  Speaker 7: would be the nightlife on Saturday night. But if you
• 43:59
  Speaker 7: really want to be a New Englander, go to the
• 44:01
  Speaker 7: beaches and get your last bit of summer. Foxborough was
• 44:05
  Speaker 7: not exactly the– the place you would want to go
• 44:08
  Speaker 7: for a vacation.
• 44:09
  Speaker 6: It's fine for a football game, and you get in
• 44:11
  Speaker 6: and get out, that sort of deal.
• 44:13
  Speaker 5: Yeah, I don't think I'm going to have any time
• 44:15
  Speaker 5: for the beaches, but Seaport District, I'll make a mental
• 44:18
  Speaker 5: note of that. I think the only other time, I
• 44:20
  Speaker 5: spent a day in Boston once because my sister-in-law went
• 44:24
  Speaker 5: to UConn, so we made the drive over there, and
• 44:26
  Speaker 5: we did Beacon Hill and some of that more touristy
• 44:30
  Speaker 5: or historic stuff. I saw Fenway from the outside. I
• 44:33
  Speaker 5: wish the Red Sox were playing at home.
• 44:36
  Speaker 7: Yeah, unfortunately, they're down in Tampa this weekend and probably
• 44:39
  Speaker 7: not going to get any home baseball playoff games, at
• 44:41
  Speaker 7: least not in the first round.
• 44:43
  Speaker 6: Yankees look like they're the opponent.
• 44:45
  Speaker 5: Yeah, we won't be getting any baseball playoff games here
• 44:47
  Speaker 5: in Pittsburgh either, by the way.
• 44:48
  Speaker 3: That has not changed, Ken, since you left.
• 44:50
  Speaker 7: Well, believe it or not, I know my brother, who's
• 44:52
  Speaker 7: 10 years older than me, is a diehard Pirates fan.
• 44:54
  Speaker 7: He was alive when they won the World Series in
• 44:56
  Speaker 7: 71 and 79, so he will not give it up,
• 44:59
  Speaker 7: and he updates me like weekly, you know, and, uh, we,
• 45:03
  Speaker 7: we've gone to see them a few times and I just,
• 45:05
  Speaker 7: I can't do it anymore. I've, I just, I have
• 45:08
  Speaker 7: bailed on my pirate fandom. So, um, I kudos to
• 45:12
  Speaker 7: those who have hung in there for this long. One
• 45:14
  Speaker 7: of these years they'll, they'll be back. I went to Hemfield, uh,
• 45:16
  Speaker 7: high school, Greensburg. Yep. And, uh, then left and went
• 45:20
  Speaker 7: to Northeastern, but came back in 2002. And, uh, first
• 45:24
  Speaker 7: gig there was producing on the weekends with Ellis cannon. And, uh, then, uh,
• 45:28
  Speaker 7: Guy Junker and Stan Saverin had a show and Junker
• 45:31
  Speaker 7: and Crow.
• 45:31
  Speaker 6: And on and on.
• 45:33
  Speaker 7: And Tim Benz eventually left and I took his night spot.
• 45:35
  Speaker 7: So he and I have crossed paths many a time.
• 45:38
  Speaker 7: He went to Boston before I did and then came back.
• 45:40
  Speaker 7: So it's incestual, the radio business, you know, it's kind
• 45:44
  Speaker 7: of a long winding path, but yeah, a lot of
• 45:46
  Speaker 7: good memories from growing up in the Eastern suburbs and
• 45:50
  Speaker 7: obviously high school football, which we covered Eddie still part
• 45:53
  Speaker 7: of the lifeblood.
• 45:54
  Speaker 3: Absolutely. Ken, thank you so much for coming on. We
• 45:56
  Speaker 3: appreciate it.
• 45:57
  Speaker 2: Again, you can hear Ken Laird in the Boston area
• 46:00
  Speaker 2: on WEEI. Co-host, afternoons 2 to 6, Rich and Ken
• 46:05
  Speaker 2: with Ted Johnson. Make sure you check it out if
• 46:07
  Speaker 2: you're up in the Boston area. Nowadays, too, you don't
• 46:09
  Speaker 2: have to be in Boston. You can log on anywhere
• 46:11
  Speaker 2: and listen to it. They're streaming each and everywhere.
• 46:14
  Speaker 3: Ken, let's catch up soon. Next time you're in Pittsburgh
• 46:16
  Speaker 3: or next time I'm in Boston, we will definitely catch up,
• 46:18
  Speaker 3: my friend.
• 46:19
  Speaker 6: Sounds good. See you in the seaport, Brian.
• 46:21
  Speaker 4: Good stuff, Ken. Thanks, man. See you.
• 46:22
  Speaker 2: All right, Ken Laird joining us to help preview Steelers
• 46:25
  Speaker 2: and Patriots this Sunday at 1 o'clock.
• 46:28
  Speaker 3: It is the Steelers Report.
• 46:29
  Speaker 2: Ahmed, he's Brian. E-T-B-B, right here on the Steelers Report
• 46:33
  Speaker 2: on Steelers Nation Radio, part of the Steelers Audio Network.