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HR 1: Steelers Hits & Misses: Week 4 · The Steelers Report

• 0:10
  Speaker 1: This is the Steelers Report with Brian Batko and Ed
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: Troup on Steelers Nation Radio, a part of the Steelers
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: Audio Network.
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: The Cleveland Browns have lost just one of their last
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  Speaker 2: eight home games against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Cleveland 6-1-1 since
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  Speaker 2: 2018 at home against the Steelers. including 3-0 on Thursday
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  Speaker 2: night football. The last Thursday night football matchup was the
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  Speaker 2: 2-8 Browns in which they defeated the 8-2 Steelers 24-19
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  Speaker 2: in the snow back in week 12 of 2024.
• 0:50
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, I remember that game well.
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  Speaker 4: Russell Wilson and Justin Fields made a cameo appearance in
• 1:00
  Speaker 4: that one. George Pickens got chippy at the end. That
• 1:04
  Speaker 4: was a bizarre game, as they always tend to be
• 1:07
  Speaker 4: up there. You had the Miles Garrett, Mason Rudolph scuffle
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  Speaker 4: also on a Thursday night in Cleveland. That was my
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  Speaker 4: first time at the Browns Stadium, my first year on
• 1:17
  Speaker 4: the Steelers beat. Geez, I mean, you know, even the
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  Speaker 4: games that they've played in Cleveland, not on Thursdays, have
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  Speaker 4: felt like Thursdays because they tend to be knock-down, drag-out
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  Speaker 4: type of games, as Mike McCarthy put it. on Tuesday
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  Speaker 4: and yeah hopefully uh for once the Steelers can go
• 1:35
  Speaker 4: up there to Cleveland and get a W um trying
• 1:38
  Speaker 4: to find the uh what's the last time they did.
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  Speaker 3: In Cleveland 2021.
• 1:46
  Speaker 4: 15 to 10 Steelers over the Browns Ben Roethlisberger's final
• 1:51
  Speaker 4: season he had to sweep the Browns one last time
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  Speaker 4: that's it he tossed one touchdown pass to Pat Friermuth
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  Speaker 4: that day I think that was in the corner of
• 2:00
  Speaker 4: the end zone, and then it was the failed Chris
• 2:02
  Speaker 4: Boswell two-point conversion game, right?
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: That's right.
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  Speaker 5: I remember that. He got blown up on that play, right?
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  Speaker 3: He did. He did get blown up on that play.
• 2:11
  Speaker 3: Let's see. Who else was involved in that one?
• 2:15
  Speaker 4: I remember Presley Harvin had to handle the kickoffs because
• 2:18
  Speaker 4: Boswell left with that injury. Steelers' leading tackler on that day,
• 2:23
  Speaker 4: Joe Sjobert. There's a blast from the past, a former
• 2:27
  Speaker 4: Brown and Steeler. He is Najee Harris, 26 totes for
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  Speaker 4: 91 yards and a touchdown. So, yeah, that wasn't really
• 2:36
  Speaker 4: a memorable game, but I'll take not memorable if it
• 2:40
  Speaker 4: means the Steelers come out with a win.
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: A win is a win, even if it's not highlight
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  Speaker 2: highlighting the year from an offensive or defensive statistical standpoint. Brian,
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: you get the W, you move on. and that's what
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: the Steelers will look to do tomorrow night. Thursday night
• 2:55
  Speaker 2: football has not been kind to them, but it has
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  Speaker 2: been kind to Mike McCarthy. 17 wins on Thursday nights,
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  Speaker 2: the most in NFL history.
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  Speaker 5: How about that?
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  Speaker 2: And from a quarterback standpoint, Aaron Rodgers has 13 wins
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  Speaker 2: on Thursday night.
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  Speaker 4: Didn't we clarify yesterday it's Thursdays and not Thursday nights?
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  Speaker 3: Thursdays, we did.
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  Speaker 2: Thanksgiving.
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  Speaker 3: We did.
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  Speaker 5: That's two days in a row I've done that now.
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  Speaker 4: But, you know, in football parlay, it's like, coaches and players,
• 3:22
  Speaker 4: it's kind of always nighttime to them. It's like, you know,
• 3:25
  Speaker 4: it could be a one o'clock game and they're in
• 3:26
  Speaker 4: there in the postgame presser. And it's like, oh, we
• 3:28
  Speaker 4: didn't have a good night. It's like, well, you just
• 3:29
  Speaker 4: played at one. So the night's still ahead of you, man.
• 3:32
  Speaker 4: I know you lost the game, but I digress. But yeah,
• 3:36
  Speaker 4: Thursday success, regardless for those two.
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  Speaker 5: And for.
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  Speaker 2: Aaron Rodgers and Mike McCarthy, the majority of their careers
• 3:42
  Speaker 2: were played in the NFC, who plays on Thursdays a
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: lot each year. The Dallas Cowboys, the Green Bay Packers,
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: the Detroit Lions, they all play a lot of games
• 3:51
  Speaker 2: on Thursdays because of Thanksgiving.
• 3:53
  Speaker 4: And the other part about it, too, is like in this,
• 3:55
  Speaker 4: I always felt the same way about a lot of
• 3:56
  Speaker 4: these quirky Steelers stats under Mike Tomlin, Ben Roethlisberger. When
• 4:01
  Speaker 4: you're as good for as long as they were and
• 4:05
  Speaker 4: have been in this case, most of the time the
• 4:08
  Speaker 4: stats are going to be positive for you. It's more
• 4:11
  Speaker 4: like wake me up when there's a bad win-loss record
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  Speaker 4: on a certain day or a certain time or against
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  Speaker 4: a certain team because sustained success means that you've won
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  Speaker 4: a lot of games, and that means you've won games
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  Speaker 4: on Sundays, Mondays, Thursdays, at home, on the road, against
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  Speaker 4: this team, against that team. But, yeah, it's still encouraging
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  Speaker 4: that Thursdays in particular, historic levels of, Sustained success for
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  Speaker 4: McCarthy and Rodgers.
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  Speaker 5: We like that.
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  Speaker 4: And it'll be the last Thursday for Rodgers in his
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  Speaker 4: NFL career. Even if the Steelers make the playoffs, run
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  Speaker 4: on through the postseason, ain't playing no Thursday games once
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  Speaker 4: you get to the wildcard divisional title games.
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  Speaker 3: So this is the last one for the old gunslinger.
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  Speaker 3: And if he defeats, he's going to miss it. Probably not.
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  Speaker 2: If he defeats the Browns on Thursday night, he will
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  Speaker 2: get the 14 wins on Thursdays, Thursday nights, Thursdays. And
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  Speaker 2: that would tie Tom Brady for the most wins on
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  Speaker 2: a Thursday. He has 14.
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  Speaker 4: If he beats the Browns Thursday night, he will pass
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  Speaker 4: Ben Roethlisberger for most regular season wins for a quarterback.
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  Speaker 3: In NFL history and. How fitting would that.
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  Speaker 4: Be if he beats the Bengals to tie and the
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  Speaker 4: Browns to pass a man who owned those two Ohio
• 5:29
  Speaker 4: teams for the better part of his career?
• 5:31
  Speaker 3: I owned him. We should have seen this coming.
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  Speaker 4: We should have been predicting week three and week four
• 5:35
  Speaker 4: wins for the Steelers. Well, no, because then the week
• 5:39
  Speaker 4: one and week two outcomes would have affected. We should
• 5:42
  Speaker 4: have foreseen this exact scenario and the tie and the
• 5:45
  Speaker 4: pass against the Ohio teams, regardless of what happened in
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  Speaker 4: week one and two.
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  Speaker 5: You couldn't write a better story, my friend. That's for sure.
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  Speaker 3: It's fitting.
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  Speaker 5: That's it. Very, very scripty.
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  Speaker 4: And we mentioned with Missy Matthews yesterday. Thanks again to
• 5:56
  Speaker 4: her for coming on the show.
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  Speaker 5: Yeah, great interview.
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  Speaker 3: Fantastic.
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  Speaker 4: The Browns, I called them the color rush jerseys, I think.
• 6:03
  Speaker 4: The rich mahogany uniforms. I did some research. They're called
• 6:07
  Speaker 4: the alpha dog jerseys. Sponsored by Dude Wipes.
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  Speaker 3: No.
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: No.
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  Speaker 3: I'm serious. I'm dead serious. Presented without further comment.
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  Speaker 5: The dog pound and.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: Not that dude wipes are used for that, but you
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  Speaker 2: could if you took your dog outside and you wanted
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  Speaker 2: to do a dog wipe.
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  Speaker 3: I'm just saying.
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  Speaker 4: Go for it. The alpha dog jerseys are what they
• 6:29
  Speaker 4: will be wearing. They're slightly different than the color rush
• 6:32
  Speaker 4: ones that they wore back in the Baker Mayfield, Odell
• 6:35
  Speaker 4: Beckham Jr.
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  Speaker 3: Is it the helmet that's the difference?
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  Speaker 4: A little bit of everything is different on there. I
• 6:40
  Speaker 4: think the shade of the jerseys, but yeah, the helmet's
• 6:42
  Speaker 4: like matte black. There's a little less bright orange stripes,
• 6:46
  Speaker 4: but Yeah, I think it's just another reason the home
• 6:50
  Speaker 4: crowd will be fired up tomorrow night and.
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  Speaker 3: The Steelers will have to deal with that.
• 6:54
  Speaker 4: And I will say, we're not really in the business
• 6:56
  Speaker 4: of giving flowers to Cleveland or Cincinnati or Baltimore, for
• 7:01
  Speaker 4: that matter, on Steelers Nation Radio. But you've got to
• 7:03
  Speaker 4: give credit where credit is due. Those Dog Pound fans,
• 7:07
  Speaker 4: they do always show up.
• 7:08
  Speaker 3: They are loyal. They tailgate. They especially want.
• 7:11
  Speaker 4: To beat the Steelers every year, regardless of what else
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  Speaker 4: is going on. with their record or their team at
• 7:17
  Speaker 4: the time. And I think that is one of the reasons,
• 7:19
  Speaker 4: like we talked about it with Missy. Why is it
• 7:21
  Speaker 4: so hard to win there? Well, I think it's uniquely
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  Speaker 4: difficult for the Steelers because of the border war sense
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  Speaker 4: of the rivalry. And they, they do, they get on you.
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  Speaker 4: And players have talked about that this week about how,
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  Speaker 4: how much vitriol comes spilling out literally and figuratively sometimes
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  Speaker 4: from the Browns fans.
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  Speaker 3: So, you know, you, you got to overcome that.
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  Speaker 4: You got to deal with the, the hostile environment, to
• 7:48
  Speaker 4: use a football or sports cliche, but I expect it
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  Speaker 4: to be no different Thursday.
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  Speaker 2: You mentioned some of the players talking. Pat Fryermuth mentioned
• 7:56
  Speaker 2: something about that this week, right? Was it his mom
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  Speaker 2: in Cleveland?
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, I wasn't in on that interview scrum, so I
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  Speaker 4: don't want to misquote Pat or anything, but I think
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  Speaker 4: his mom was treated rather.
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  Speaker 2: And Patrick Queen with dog food being thrown at him.
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  Speaker 5: But that's not new to this generation. This goes back decades, Brian.
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  Speaker 3: And it was probably worse back in the day.
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  Speaker 5: For sure. And not that Pittsburgh's been kind either to
• 8:20
  Speaker 5: Browns fans.
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  Speaker 4: I'd like to think that society has appropriately prioritized sporting
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  Speaker 4: events a little bit better since the 70s and the 80s.
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  Speaker 3: But who knows? Maybe it's gotten worse.
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  Speaker 5: Brian, let's check in on some injury news, too.
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  Speaker 2: The first couple injury reports coming out this week ahead
• 8:34
  Speaker 2: of the game. The first was more of a, you know,
• 8:37
  Speaker 2: it wasn't official official. It was more of a walkthrough
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  Speaker 2: injury report, if you want.
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  Speaker 3: To say that.
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  Speaker 5: Yesterday, though, more of an official.
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  Speaker 3: Jog through. Mike McCarthy used the term jog through.
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  Speaker 5: Jog through.
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  Speaker 3: Is that an official term?
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  Speaker 2: What do you got with us so far? Jalen Ramsey
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  Speaker 2: definitely at the top of that list.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, and he met with the media yesterday, too, Ed,
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  Speaker 4: and I give Jalen credit. He peeled back the curtain
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  Speaker 4: somewhat on his injury and players and coaches are sometimes
• 9:00
  Speaker 4: want to do that.
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  Speaker 3: Granted, you know, competitive advantage.
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  Speaker 4: I understand that. But fans also, you know, as you
• 9:07
  Speaker 4: would expect, want to know what's going on. He was
• 9:11
  Speaker 4: limited for the second straight day with a wrist injury.
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  Speaker 4: And he told reporters yesterday it's he broke his wrist
• 9:16
  Speaker 4: in week three against the Bengals played through it. I
• 9:20
  Speaker 4: think he said he broke it very early in that game.
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  Speaker 4: So said it was hurting. and it's a real injury,
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  Speaker 4: and he's going to have to make the decision that
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  Speaker 4: a lot of players do when you're in these shoes.
• 9:32
  Speaker 3: You want to be.
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  Speaker 4: Tough and lay it all on the line for your
• 9:35
  Speaker 4: team and be a warrior. We know that that's what
• 9:38
  Speaker 4: it's kind of all about, especially for this franchise, but
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  Speaker 4: there's probably a fine line between, okay, am I hurting
• 9:44
  Speaker 4: the team if I can't play? If I can't play
• 9:47
  Speaker 4: my best, if I'm not even close, nobody's 100% once
• 9:50
  Speaker 4: you get to week four, let alone week 18, but
• 9:52
  Speaker 4: At what point does the scale tip from like, all right,
• 9:56
  Speaker 4: let me just take a week or two. and we
• 9:58
  Speaker 4: saw this last year with Aaron Rodgers and his wrist
• 10:00
  Speaker 4: injury and it's a little different for a quarterback obviously
• 10:03
  Speaker 4: than any defensive player but yeah Ramsey said he's gonna
• 10:07
  Speaker 4: have to try to figure out like can I go
• 10:09
  Speaker 4: out there get it wrapped casted whatever play not let
• 10:13
  Speaker 4: my teammates down or I suppose the flip side of
• 10:16
  Speaker 4: that do you just let you just take a week
• 10:20
  Speaker 4: and trust whoever would be Danico slaughter or, you know, well,
• 10:26
  Speaker 4: Brandon Echols is limited to concussion. So he might not
• 10:29
  Speaker 4: be out there, but Dalen Everett, you know, Dalen Everett
• 10:31
  Speaker 4: or Asante Samuel jr. We'll play a lot more instead
• 10:34
  Speaker 4: of Ramsey or Ray Sean Jenkins against his old team.
• 10:38
  Speaker 3: So maybe that's, that's a situation where he does that, but.
• 10:41
  Speaker 4: Knowing Ramsey and he did this last year, I think
• 10:43
  Speaker 4: he had a hamstring against the Vikings in week four
• 10:46
  Speaker 4: in Dublin and, I don't think he missed any time.
• 10:50
  Speaker 4: So he is a high pain tolerance type of guy.
• 10:54
  Speaker 4: But we'll see how that plays out. We should get
• 10:55
  Speaker 4: news on that a little bit later this afternoon.
• 10:59
  Speaker 2: One thing that worries me about Jalen Ramsey is he's
• 11:02
  Speaker 2: so active as a tackler.
• 11:04
  Speaker 3: In one part, Brian, you look at it and say, look.
• 11:10
  Speaker 5: As a safety, just cover. If your wrist is broke
• 11:13
  Speaker 5: or it's wrapped up, you're okay.
• 11:14
  Speaker 3: Back down a pass.
• 11:15
  Speaker 5: Yeah, exactly. But he's used so much on blitz packages.
• 11:19
  Speaker 2: Last week, I thought he had a great game against
• 11:21
  Speaker 2: the Bengals tackling, as did Rayshon Jenkins, who was very
• 11:24
  Speaker 2: active in that department, too. So the Steelers are asking
• 11:27
  Speaker 2: their safeties right now a bit more than just covering.
• 11:30
  Speaker 2: They're also stepping up and making tackles along with Pat
• 11:32
  Speaker 2: Queen and and Peyton Wilson in the middle of that
• 11:34
  Speaker 2: football field.
• 11:34
  Speaker 3: And you do see defensive guys mostly.
• 11:37
  Speaker 4: I guess maybe the occasional O-lineman, but obviously it's difficult
• 11:40
  Speaker 4: for skill positions. But you sometimes see them with those
• 11:43
  Speaker 4: big old oven mitts on their hands or the big
• 11:46
  Speaker 4: brace on the arm. I feel like that's kind of
• 11:48
  Speaker 4: patented by the 295-pound D-lineman. He's got a club out there. Like,
• 11:53
  Speaker 4: no wonder he's getting past O-line. I know he's hurt,
• 11:56
  Speaker 4: but almost becomes an advantage sometimes.
• 11:58
  Speaker 5: Who was the one for the New York Giants back
• 12:00
  Speaker 5: in the day?
• 12:00
  Speaker 3: That's who I'm picturing, too. I can't remember. Blew his
• 12:02
  Speaker 3: finger off. Oh, Jason Pierre-Paul. There you go.
• 12:04
  Speaker 5: That was the one who had it, right? He had
• 12:05
  Speaker 5: the club.
• 12:05
  Speaker 3: Well, he had one.
• 12:06
  Speaker 4: Yeah, he's one of them. But so we'll see what
• 12:08
  Speaker 4: goes on with Ramsey there. Rico Dowdle, another DNP. I
• 12:12
  Speaker 4: can't anticipate. I can't expect him to come back. I'm
• 12:14
  Speaker 4: thinking you're going to see Lou Nichols called up from
• 12:17
  Speaker 4: the practice squad again for any potential running back duty
• 12:20
  Speaker 4: and also maybe kick return duty. If Eli Heidenreich is
• 12:23
  Speaker 4: inactive again this week. So that's kind of the, the
• 12:26
  Speaker 4: injury update and you know, we'll find out about Joey
• 12:30
  Speaker 4: Porter jr.
• 12:31
  Speaker 3: Two consecutive.
• 12:32
  Speaker 4: Again, we'll go back to the quotes for everybody that
• 12:35
  Speaker 4: we're discussing here. Estimated injury report. So not any DNP
• 12:41
  Speaker 4: limited or full take with a grain of salt because
• 12:44
  Speaker 4: it's not true practices. They're, They're planning on doing that
• 12:48
  Speaker 4: today or maybe already did that today. And thus, we'll
• 12:51
  Speaker 4: get the final report of the week and the game
• 12:54
  Speaker 4: status for all these guys.
• 12:56
  Speaker 5: Good news for Joey Porter Jr.
• 12:57
  Speaker 2: He's been a full participant last week and this week.
• 13:00
  Speaker 5: But facts are facts, Brian.
• 13:03
  Speaker 2: You know, a certain number of practices have to occur
• 13:06
  Speaker 2: for contact for Joey Porter Jr. Any NFL player has
• 13:09
  Speaker 2: to have a certain amount of contact before they can
• 13:11
  Speaker 2: play an NFL game. So he continues to ramp up.
• 13:14
  Speaker 2: We know the contract situation is still lingering out there
• 13:16
  Speaker 2: as well. So we'll see if Joey Porter Jr. can
• 13:18
  Speaker 2: get back this Thursday or after the 10-day layoff, they
• 13:21
  Speaker 2: get things figured out.
• 13:22
  Speaker 5: Either way, it would be a plus to have him.
• 13:24
  Speaker 2: But they've also ridden the wave without Joey Porter Jr.
• 13:28
  Speaker 2: through three weeks, and nothing stands out. There hasn't been
• 13:29
  Speaker 2: any huge blown coverages.
• 13:32
  Speaker 4: Well, there were some blown coverages against the Bengals, and
• 13:35
  Speaker 4: the Asante Samuel Jr. touchdown allowed to T. Higgins in
• 13:39
  Speaker 4: the end zone. I mean, hey, I don't know that
• 13:41
  Speaker 4: Joey is— Yeah. Avoiding getting boxed out by one of
• 13:45
  Speaker 4: the biggest receivers in the NFL either.
• 13:47
  Speaker 5: Great catch.
• 13:47
  Speaker 3: In that spot.
• 13:48
  Speaker 4: But he might have had a little better chance just
• 13:49
  Speaker 4: because of the size that he brings to the table.
• 13:52
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I think the depth is being tested right now.
• 13:55
  Speaker 3: It is.
• 13:55
  Speaker 4: In the secondary. And I like Daylon Everett. So maybe
• 13:58
  Speaker 4: this is baptism by fire time.
• 13:59
  Speaker 3: He did fine last week. On the road for Everett.
• 14:01
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 14:01
  Speaker 4: And I was surprised even they used him somewhat inside,
• 14:05
  Speaker 4: which was not really his game coming out of Georgia.
• 14:08
  Speaker 4: I know some of the draft Knicks thought that– that
• 14:11
  Speaker 4: he could potentially do that at the NFL level or
• 14:13
  Speaker 4: even maybe play safety. So, yeah, I mean, at least
• 14:17
  Speaker 4: you do have some potential answers there in the secondary
• 14:21
  Speaker 4: if Joey doesn't play.
• 14:22
  Speaker 5: And quickly, Deshaun Elliott, we know he's still on the IR.
• 14:24
  Speaker 3: Could be the last game he misses.
• 14:25
  Speaker 2: I was going to say this would be game number four, right?
• 14:27
  Speaker 2: So he'll have a 10-day layoff. They can activate that
• 14:30
  Speaker 2: 21-day window maybe before the next game, and he can
• 14:33
  Speaker 2: get back on the field. But that would be a
• 14:34
  Speaker 2: nice plus to get him back, especially– if Jalen Ramsey
• 14:37
  Speaker 2: is banged up with this wrist.
• 14:39
  Speaker 5: Well, we know he's banged up with the wrist, but
• 14:40
  Speaker 5: will he miss time with it?
• 14:42
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 14:43
  Speaker 4: So I just looked on, at least according to Pro
• 14:45
  Speaker 4: Football Focus, Jalen Everett, four snaps, not at outside corner.
• 14:49
  Speaker 4: They technically have him lining up in the box, but
• 14:53
  Speaker 4: consider that the slot for all intents and purposes. And
• 14:58
  Speaker 4: we'll see who they roll out there on the back
• 15:00
  Speaker 4: end in Cleveland. We also, you want to guess our
• 15:02
  Speaker 4: captain's to start the next segment. I know we talked
• 15:05
  Speaker 4: about that yesterday. I gave you a homework assignment.
• 15:07
  Speaker 5: Yeah. And guess what? I didn't do the homework assignment.
• 15:10
  Speaker 3: Your dog ate it.
• 15:11
  Speaker 5: As usual. I'll run it on the fly, my friend,
• 15:14
  Speaker 5: as we always do.
• 15:15
  Speaker 2: We have a big show today. Coming up next, we'll
• 15:17
  Speaker 2: get to our hits and misses of the week here
• 15:19
  Speaker 2: at 2.20 and 2.40. Coming up at 3 o'clock, Ashley
• 15:22
  Speaker 2: Bastok will join us, Browns reporter for Cleveland.com, to help
• 15:26
  Speaker 2: preview Steelers and Browns for tomorrow night on Thursday night.
• 15:30
  Speaker 2: And then 3.20 and 3.40, Double B and I will
• 15:32
  Speaker 2: go through our top five NFL power ranking offenses and
• 15:36
  Speaker 2: our top five power ranking games.
• 15:38
  Speaker 5: NFL defenses. Great show in front of us here today.
• 15:42
  Speaker 2: It's Troop and Batko on the Steelers report on Steelers
• 15:45
  Speaker 2: Nation Radio, part of the Steelers Audio Network.
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: This is the Steelers report with Brian Batko and Ed
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: Troop on Steelers Nation Radio, a part of the Steelers
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: Audio Network.
• 16:06
  Speaker 2: Double B, I got a good one for you to
• 16:08
  Speaker 2: start this segment off with, non-football related, but I know
• 16:11
  Speaker 2: you enjoy these. My wife is a teacher, middle school,
• 16:14
  Speaker 2: eighth grade at West Allegheny. And every morning on her
• 16:17
  Speaker 2: big whiteboard, she has all kind of ELA type stuff
• 16:21
  Speaker 2: up there, English literature. And today she sent me a
• 16:24
  Speaker 2: snapshot this morning and said, hey, can you guess this one?
• 16:28
  Speaker 2: And off on the side it said, somebody should tell
• 16:30
  Speaker 2: the dudes from Green Day that it's time to wake up.
• 16:34
  Speaker 3: Wake me up when September ends. I know that song.
• 16:37
  Speaker 5: I know you would enjoy that tidbit.
• 16:39
  Speaker 3: Well, tomorrow is October 1st.
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: Yes.
• 16:44
  Speaker 3: So then there's also Wyclef Jean gone till November.
• 16:47
  Speaker 5: Ah, that's another good one.
• 16:49
  Speaker 2: So he might still be gone for one more month,
• 16:52
  Speaker 2: for 31 more days starting tomorrow.
• 16:54
  Speaker 4: Before he returns. And then it'll be Counting Crows along December.
• 16:57
  Speaker 5: Along December. Yep, you got them all teed up.
• 16:59
  Speaker 3: And of course, we just came out of... And then
• 17:00
  Speaker 3: New Year's Day by Taylor Swift.
• 17:02
  Speaker 5: Ah, there's another good one. And we just finished up Earth,
• 17:05
  Speaker 5: Wind & Fire, September.
• 17:06
  Speaker 3: Oh, yes.
• 17:07
  Speaker 4: And I have a cousin, Nicole, who's born on Earth,
• 17:09
  Speaker 4: Wind & Fire Day. I don't think we gave Earth,
• 17:11
  Speaker 4: Wind & Fire Day a shout-out on September 21st.
• 17:15
  Speaker 3: We should have. Also, don't want to miss this.
• 17:17
  Speaker 4: Happy birthday to Bill Nunn, legendary Steelers scout.
• 17:22
  Speaker 5: Hall of Famer.
• 17:23
  Speaker 3: Yep.
• 17:23
  Speaker 4: He's one of the GOATs in a lot of ways. So,
• 17:29
  Speaker 4: Bill Nunn, shout-out to him. Long-time player personnel man. Scout
• 17:34
  Speaker 4: did a ton with HBCU, Historically Black College Universities, and
• 17:40
  Speaker 4: getting the team to look at those players. And actually
• 17:44
  Speaker 4: a sports writer, too, back in the day before he
• 17:47
  Speaker 4: worked for the team.
• 17:49
  Speaker 5: I did not know that.
• 17:50
  Speaker 4: So, yeah, Bill Nunn passed away in 2014 at age 89.
• 17:53
  Speaker 4: So I'm not sure what quick math. I guess he
• 17:57
  Speaker 4: would have been 101 today, right?
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 18:00
  Speaker 2: Or 102.
• 18:00
  Speaker 3: One of the.
• 18:02
  Speaker 2: Leaders of putting those Steelers 70 teams together, that's for sure. And, wow,
• 18:08
  Speaker 2: I mean, when you look back at that career, how
• 18:10
  Speaker 2: about that on your resume? When you can look at
• 18:12
  Speaker 2: the Steelers of the 70s and you know you were
• 18:14
  Speaker 2: part of that footprint, just incredible.
• 18:16
  Speaker 5: So happy birthday to Bill Nunn and his family.
• 18:19
  Speaker 2: Double B and I continue to navigate this week as
• 18:22
  Speaker 2: we get you ready for Steelers-Browns for Thursday night. night
• 18:26
  Speaker 2: football tomorrow night, in which you can hear wall-to-wall coverage
• 18:29
  Speaker 2: right here on Steelers Nation Radio and the Steelers Audio Network.
• 18:32
  Speaker 5: Double B & I.
• 18:32
  Speaker 2: Tomorrow will be the lead-up for you from 2 to
• 18:35
  Speaker 2: 4 o'clock to Tom Offerman and Matt Williamson, who will
• 18:38
  Speaker 2: kick things off with Countdown to Kickoff at 4 o'clock tomorrow,
• 18:43
  Speaker 2: followed by Mike Pursuta and the whole gang. They're with
• 18:46
  Speaker 2: Jerry Dulac and Bob Labriola. They also have the countdown
• 18:50
  Speaker 2: to kickoff leading up to Rob King, Max Starks, and
• 18:53
  Speaker 2: Missy Matthews, who we talked to yesterday.
• 18:55
  Speaker 4: You might hear me for my weekly hit on that
• 18:58
  Speaker 4: show as well with Matt and Tom.
• 19:00
  Speaker 2: So all the Brian Bacco fans out there, you get
• 19:03
  Speaker 2: him from 2 to 4 tomorrow afternoon, and then you
• 19:06
  Speaker 2: get a bonus Brian Bacco with Tom Offerman and Matt
• 19:09
  Speaker 2: Williamson between 4 and 6.
• 19:12
  Speaker 5: That's awesome.
• 19:13
  Speaker 3: How about that?
• 19:13
  Speaker 5: You'll be in Cleveland by then.
• 19:15
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I think I will be.
• 19:17
  Speaker 2: We're going to make some radio magic tomorrow. So Double
• 19:21
  Speaker 2: B will be on the air while he's traveling to Cleveland.
• 19:24
  Speaker 3: Oh, yeah. That's show business, right?
• 19:27
  Speaker 5: That's show business. We will make it happen.
• 19:29
  Speaker 3: I'm on the fly looking at other birthdays today. C.J.
• 19:32
  Speaker 4: Henderson, former Steelers corner. That's a deep cut. Oh, it's
• 19:36
  Speaker 4: a very deep cut, but played a pivotal role for
• 19:39
  Speaker 4: the Falcons in their win over the Packers. Thursday night
• 19:43
  Speaker 4: last Thursday night.
• 19:45
  Speaker 3: Yeah, last Thursday.
• 19:47
  Speaker 4: He was the ninth overall pick in 2020 for the
• 19:50
  Speaker 4: Jaguars out of Florida.
• 19:52
  Speaker 5: He was a top ten NFL draft pick.
• 19:54
  Speaker 4: He got traded. I don't think he ever actually appeared
• 19:56
  Speaker 4: in a game for the Steelers. He was on the
• 19:58
  Speaker 4: practice squad. I can't remember if he even made it
• 20:02
  Speaker 4: to the 53 at any point. But anyway, now he's
• 20:04
  Speaker 4: on the Falcons, and he was thrust into starter role
• 20:08
  Speaker 4: in place of A.J.
• 20:08
  Speaker 3: Terrell.
• 20:09
  Speaker 4: The other night, he's September 30th and turns 28 today.
• 20:16
  Speaker 3: Who else do we got?
• 20:17
  Speaker 4: Former Steelers running back Jonathan Ward. That's another deep cut.
• 20:22
  Speaker 4: A little bit of 53-man roster stuff, but mostly practice squad.
• 20:26
  Speaker 3: HB Blades, Pitt football.
• 20:29
  Speaker 5: Blades from Pitt, yeah.
• 20:30
  Speaker 3: I remember him.
• 20:31
  Speaker 5: Linebacker, right?
• 20:32
  Speaker 4: Yeah, he was a tough guy with Clint Sessions. Brenston Buckner.
• 20:37
  Speaker 4: Brenton Buckner, former Steeler.
• 20:39
  Speaker 5: Number 96.
• 20:39
  Speaker 3: Yeah, we talked about.
• 20:40
  Speaker 4: Him during the Steelers by the number segment in the offseason.
• 20:45
  Speaker 2: One of my favorite memories growing up, Brian, was watching
• 20:48
  Speaker 2: Super Bowl XXX, the intros, and Brenton Buckner comes out
• 20:51
  Speaker 2: with a terrible towel. And on national television, he says,
• 20:54
  Speaker 2: let's get this mother you know what started.
• 20:56
  Speaker 5: And I'll just leave it at that. Still one of
• 20:57
  Speaker 5: my favorite childhood memories, Brenton Buckner.
• 20:59
  Speaker 3: That's all I got. That's all I got for September 30th.
• 21:01
  Speaker 2: Hey, listen, you covered all your bases, and you end
• 21:04
  Speaker 2: with a good one.
• 21:06
  Speaker 5: With Brentston Buckner.
• 21:07
  Speaker 2: Let's get to our hits and misses of the week
• 21:09
  Speaker 2: for the Pittsburgh Steelers as we do each and every week.
• 21:12
  Speaker 2: And we'll start with a hit as we always do. And,
• 21:14
  Speaker 2: of course, we end with a hit coming up here
• 21:17
  Speaker 2: at the end of 240 today. And, by the way,
• 21:19
  Speaker 2: just one more shout-out at 3 o'clock today. Ashley Bastock,
• 21:22
  Speaker 2: Browns reporter for Steelers.com, will be joining Double B.
• 21:25
  Speaker 4: You always call me an award-winning journalist, Ed. Ashley actually
• 21:29
  Speaker 4: is an award-winning journalist. She was the Ohio– like top
• 21:34
  Speaker 4: journalism award winner last year. First place for sports reporting
• 21:39
  Speaker 4: in 2025 in Ohio's best journalism.
• 21:42
  Speaker 5: She does.
• 21:43
  Speaker 2: She does a great job there. And she's also on
• 21:45
  Speaker 2: the airwaves. She's on the orange and Brown talk podcast
• 21:48
  Speaker 2: as well.
• 21:48
  Speaker 3: So good week to go. Yeah.
• 21:50
  Speaker 4: Good week to go behind enemy lines. I know some
• 21:52
  Speaker 4: fans probably do that. If you get some of it
• 21:54
  Speaker 4: through us talking about the opposition, but sure. If you
• 21:57
  Speaker 4: really want a deep dive, got to check out the
• 21:59
  Speaker 4: other teams, media professionals.
• 22:01
  Speaker 2: You have to, and we're going to, Continue to do
• 22:04
  Speaker 2: that each and every week here on the show.
• 22:05
  Speaker 3: We hope you've enjoyed that. I mean, some Browns fans
• 22:07
  Speaker 3: could be listening to.
• 22:08
  Speaker 5: Us right now. They're scouting.
• 22:10
  Speaker 3: If you're out there, hello.
• 22:11
  Speaker 5: They're scouting. Yes, hello. Absolutely.
• 22:14
  Speaker 2: Listen, we're not just on Fox Sports Pittsburgh 970 AM
• 22:17
  Speaker 2: each day. We're up on the podcast world, too, so
• 22:20
  Speaker 2: you can get us all across the world, Brian Bacco,
• 22:23
  Speaker 2: at any point. So all your international fans can also
• 22:26
  Speaker 2: tune in. And you are, listen, if you're not an
• 22:29
  Speaker 2: official award-winning journalist.
• 22:30
  Speaker 4: Well, I mean, I probably have some, but nothing is impressive.
• 22:32
  Speaker 4: You've got to have something. Nothing is impressive as Ashley's credentials.
• 22:35
  Speaker 5: No golden quill?
• 22:35
  Speaker 3: I think I've got some golden quills.
• 22:37
  Speaker 5: You have to.
• 22:37
  Speaker 2: In my closet. The Post-Gazette's won like a thousand of them,
• 22:40
  Speaker 2: your old stomping grounds. Now, Steelers.com, make sure you log on,
• 22:43
  Speaker 2: catch Brian Bacco, all kind of good stuff up this
• 22:46
  Speaker 2: week to get you ready for Thursday Night Football.
• 22:48
  Speaker 5: Okay, our first hit is this.
• 22:50
  Speaker 2: Aaron Rodgers is averaging 233 yards per game, 58% completion
• 22:55
  Speaker 2: percentage through three games, and 700 yards even at 700,
• 22:58
  Speaker 2: by the way.
• 22:59
  Speaker 5: Four touchdowns, two interceptions. Pretty good start for Aaron Rodgers.
• 23:02
  Speaker 4: Yeah, and some of it's a little skewed, and it
• 23:04
  Speaker 4: will be skewed until the end of the season, really,
• 23:06
  Speaker 4: because of the missed connections week one and the drops.
• 23:10
  Speaker 4: I know there's metrics out there for everything and analytics
• 23:13
  Speaker 4: out there for everything in the NFL in 2026. If
• 23:17
  Speaker 4: you can dream it up, you can probably find it online.
• 23:20
  Speaker 4: And we could go and check like drop adjusted completion percentage.
• 23:24
  Speaker 4: I'm sure it's out there somewhere. Some site is tracking it,
• 23:28
  Speaker 4: but I bet his is relatively high. And if there's
• 23:31
  Speaker 4: something that measures yardage lost or expected points lost based
• 23:36
  Speaker 4: on drops, he's probably up there in that too. But
• 23:40
  Speaker 4: hopefully that will course correct over the course of the season.
• 23:43
  Speaker 5: Well, in the two interceptions, especially the one this past
• 23:46
  Speaker 5: week was off.
• 23:47
  Speaker 3: Neither one were on him, really.
• 23:49
  Speaker 2: Yeah, the first one as well. I mean, you can't
• 23:52
  Speaker 2: control when your receiver goes off the fingertips, right?
• 23:55
  Speaker 5: It's a catch that should be made.
• 23:56
  Speaker 2: So really, he should be perfect in that category, a
• 23:59
  Speaker 2: category in which last year, Brian, he did very well
• 24:01
  Speaker 2: with not turning the football over.
• 24:02
  Speaker 5: I think he had seven his whole career, really.
• 24:04
  Speaker 3: That's been his calling card.
• 24:06
  Speaker 5: Yep, protecting the football.
• 24:07
  Speaker 2: Our first miss of the day is also involving Aaron Rodgers,
• 24:10
  Speaker 2: but not on Aaron Rodgers, but the offensive line. He
• 24:14
  Speaker 2: has been sacked eight times in three games. When I
• 24:16
  Speaker 2: was pulling stats yesterday for this, Brian, that really glared
• 24:20
  Speaker 2: out at me as much as we talked up the
• 24:21
  Speaker 2: offensive line. And they only gave up two sacks in
• 24:24
  Speaker 2: that game. Facts are facts. Through three games so far
• 24:27
  Speaker 2: this year, eight total sacks. That has to get better.
• 24:30
  Speaker 2: You can't have your 42-year-old quarterback going down that many times.
• 24:33
  Speaker 3: But it did get better from week two to week three.
• 24:35
  Speaker 4: And I think also, if you were curious or if
• 24:40
  Speaker 4: it means anything at all, Kind of just further confirmation,
• 24:43
  Speaker 4: I suppose. But the depth chart, the official depth chart
• 24:46
  Speaker 4: put out for week four by the Steelers. Maxi Honachor
• 24:48
  Speaker 4: is the starting right tackle. Brock Hoffman is the starting
• 24:52
  Speaker 4: right guard. No other changes.
• 24:54
  Speaker 5: It's in stone.
• 24:55
  Speaker 3: It's in stone now.
• 24:56
  Speaker 2: I mean, I just want to see it back to
• 24:58
  Speaker 2: back games. So give me give me Thursday night, another
• 25:01
  Speaker 2: performance like Sunday. Then I'll get really excited. But if
• 25:04
  Speaker 2: we backtrack and we could be having a back to
• 25:06
  Speaker 2: that conversation again next week here.
• 25:08
  Speaker 4: And it'll be a tough test because it is Jared
• 25:11
  Speaker 4: verse for the Browns and Mason Graham on the interior.
• 25:15
  Speaker 3: For the Browns.
• 25:16
  Speaker 4: Graham's an interesting one. I mean, he's, he's tearing it
• 25:18
  Speaker 4: up in terms of the box score. I think he's
• 25:21
  Speaker 4: got the most sacks among interior linemen in the league
• 25:24
  Speaker 4: right now with four, but some of the, the ball knowers,
• 25:28
  Speaker 4: the film watchers out there have been saying that he's
• 25:30
  Speaker 4: hasn't been quite as consistently productive as, as the stats
• 25:35
  Speaker 4: would lead you to believe.
• 25:36
  Speaker 3: So, Hey, Whatever. Roll the ball out. We'll see tomorrow night.
• 25:39
  Speaker 4: We'll see what Mason McCormick and Zach Frazier have in
• 25:42
  Speaker 4: store for him.
• 25:43
  Speaker 2: Our second hit of the week is Derek Harmon. In
• 25:45
  Speaker 2: three games, 12 tackles, a sack and a half, and
• 25:48
  Speaker 2: a forced fumble. And of course we've got to put
• 25:49
  Speaker 2: him on our hit list, Brian, because he had the
• 25:52
  Speaker 2: game-winning strip sack this past week against the Bengals. So
• 25:55
  Speaker 2: kudos to Derek Harmon, the Steelers' first-round draft pick from
• 25:58
  Speaker 2: last year.
• 25:59
  Speaker 3: Big harm. D-harm. DJ.
• 26:01
  Speaker 5: Getting lots of love this week.
• 26:02
  Speaker 3: You might hear players call him DJ. I think it's
• 26:04
  Speaker 3: Derek Jr.
• 26:05
  Speaker 4: That's what he introduces himself as and what he's known
• 26:08
  Speaker 4: to a lot of the players as. If he keeps
• 26:10
  Speaker 4: inflicting harm on opposing quarterbacks, D-Harm and Big Harm should
• 26:13
  Speaker 4: catch on it.
• 26:15
  Speaker 2: It's been nice to see him on the defensive line
• 26:17
  Speaker 2: develop the way he is from last year to this year.
• 26:19
  Speaker 2: He's the type of player, Brian, where you don't need
• 26:21
  Speaker 2: him to get a home run every single play. When
• 26:24
  Speaker 2: he puts together, and he did it last year and
• 26:26
  Speaker 2: so far this year, he's doing it again with the
• 26:28
  Speaker 2: stats I just gave you, consistency at that defensive line position. Listen,
• 26:32
  Speaker 2: When he's in the lineup, they are much better against
• 26:34
  Speaker 2: stopping the run when he's out of the lineup, and
• 26:37
  Speaker 2: I thought that showed last year when he missed the
• 26:39
  Speaker 2: first part of the season. Run defense got better when
• 26:41
  Speaker 2: he was in there, and I think you'll continue to
• 26:43
  Speaker 2: see that this year, too, with him so far.
• 26:45
  Speaker 5: Knock on wood.
• 26:46
  Speaker 4: And expanding his game as a pass rusher, too. I
• 26:48
  Speaker 4: know he doesn't want to be known as just a
• 26:50
  Speaker 4: big run player, and in all fairness to DJ or
• 26:54
  Speaker 4: any D-line, if that's all you do, you're you probably
• 26:57
  Speaker 4: weren't worth the first round pick. You know, the first
• 27:00
  Speaker 4: rounders are the guys who, like Patrick Graham put it
• 27:02
  Speaker 4: about Derek Harmon, they're different. You know, their makeup is different.
• 27:05
  Speaker 4: And that means you can and you do perform both
• 27:09
  Speaker 4: of those tasks very well, rushing the passer and stopping
• 27:13
  Speaker 4: the run. If Cam Hayward was only good at one
• 27:15
  Speaker 4: of those, he wouldn't be Cam Hayward.
• 27:16
  Speaker 3: That's it. Yep.
• 27:17
  Speaker 5: Got to do it all.
• 27:18
  Speaker 2: Roman Wilson is our second miss. Now listen, for Roman Wilson,
• 27:21
  Speaker 2: this might be a hit. He leads the team in
• 27:23
  Speaker 2: receiving 114 yards. He's number one right now. 11 catches,
• 27:27
  Speaker 2: 114 yards, and a touchdown. The miss here, Brian, is
• 27:31
  Speaker 2: I'm not sure you want your third or fourth wide
• 27:34
  Speaker 2: receiver to be leading the team with receiving yardage three
• 27:37
  Speaker 2: games in.
• 27:38
  Speaker 4: Well, that means you're not the third or fourth wide receiver.
• 27:40
  Speaker 4: That means you're wide receiver number one.
• 27:42
  Speaker 3: He's number one. So again, that tongue in cheek again, from.
• 27:45
  Speaker 2: Roman Wilson standpoint, good news for him, but for the
• 27:48
  Speaker 2: Steelers receiving room, I'm not sure.
• 27:50
  Speaker 3: We also know there's been a lot more meat on
• 27:51
  Speaker 3: that bone too.
• 27:52
  Speaker 4: I mean, he, he's the one who had the dropped, uh,
• 27:55
  Speaker 4: interception and some other misconnections with Aaron Rogers. And actually
• 27:59
  Speaker 4: I know people have pointed this out and it's pointed
• 28:01
  Speaker 4: out by Matt Williamson and Matt stats online. Now it,
• 28:05
  Speaker 4: www.steelers.com for Week 4 at the Browns. He didn't play
• 28:09
  Speaker 4: as many snaps in the second half. The snap share
• 28:14
  Speaker 4: leaned more toward rookie Jeremy Bernard after that drop. We'll
• 28:18
  Speaker 4: figure out if that's a trend going forward or if
• 28:21
  Speaker 4: that was a blip for Wilson in Week 3 against
• 28:24
  Speaker 4: the Bengals.
• 28:24
  Speaker 3: Stay tuned.
• 28:25
  Speaker 2: Our next hit is the Steelers' time of possession average
• 28:29
  Speaker 2: through three games, double B, 30 minutes, 31 seconds. Now,
• 28:32
  Speaker 2: I bring that up because last year that was a
• 28:34
  Speaker 2: statistical category that the offense struggled in. They were around 25,
• 28:37
  Speaker 2: 26 minutes average per game pretty much the entire season. Well,
• 28:42
  Speaker 2: through three games, they're about halfway, 30 minutes, 31 seconds.
• 28:45
  Speaker 4: I'm not a huge time of possession honk, to be
• 28:47
  Speaker 4: honest with you. I mean, I think sometimes it's misleading,
• 28:51
  Speaker 4: or at least it gets overly emphasized. It's like, hey, just–
• 28:55
  Speaker 4: I don't care if you're putting points on the board
• 28:56
  Speaker 4: on a three or four play drive, that takes a
• 28:59
  Speaker 4: minute and 12 seconds.
• 29:00
  Speaker 3: Let's put points on the board.
• 29:01
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 29:01
  Speaker 3: Agreed.
• 29:02
  Speaker 4: It's not always good if you're possessing the ball a lot, but,
• 29:05
  Speaker 4: and we've seen this with some past iterations of Steelers
• 29:07
  Speaker 4: teams and Steelers offenses that struggled, put together a nice
• 29:11
  Speaker 4: long 12, 13 play drive.
• 29:13
  Speaker 3: And then you, you bungle it at the end.
• 29:16
  Speaker 4: No pun intended as we talk about Steelers Bengals, but
• 29:20
  Speaker 4: so that's not really helpful either. If, if we're doing that,
• 29:24
  Speaker 4: but then when the, When the window narrows and you
• 29:26
  Speaker 4: get in close, well, then you struggle to finish it.
• 29:29
  Speaker 3: So I'm good with points.
• 29:31
  Speaker 4: I'll take that Roman Wilson 38-yard touchdown catch any day
• 29:35
  Speaker 4: of the week, even if it didn't help their time
• 29:37
  Speaker 4: of possession. The other thing, going back to Roman for
• 29:38
  Speaker 4: a second, it's good that he's at least getting open
• 29:40
  Speaker 4: i mean yeah sounds weird to say at least he's
• 29:42
  Speaker 4: getting open to drop a pass but you know as
• 29:44
  Speaker 4: long as he irons that out which i do believe
• 29:47
  Speaker 4: and i'm confident he can it's good that he's getting
• 29:49
  Speaker 4: separation from guys.
• 29:50
  Speaker 5: In year three At least you're seeing him.
• 29:52
  Speaker 3: He's noticeable.
• 29:54
  Speaker 2: A couple past seasons when he's been on the field,
• 29:56
  Speaker 2: you haven't noticed him. One more miss before we go
• 29:58
  Speaker 2: to break. DK Metcalf has a total of 98 yards
• 30:02
  Speaker 2: receiving in three games. He has not gone over 100 yet.
• 30:05
  Speaker 2: He does have the touchdown though. Did get a touchdown
• 30:07
  Speaker 2: against the Bengals last week. We'll see if DK can.
• 30:10
  Speaker 5: Build on that.
• 30:12
  Speaker 4: He has to and I still think the breakout is coming.
• 30:16
  Speaker 4: It might be tough this week against Denzel Ward. He's
• 30:19
  Speaker 4: a lot like the corners that he's seen the last
• 30:21
  Speaker 4: couple weeks, DJ Turner and Christian Gonzalez, in that he's
• 30:25
  Speaker 4: probably going to shadow DK and go just about wherever
• 30:30
  Speaker 4: DK Metcalf goes.
• 30:31
  Speaker 3: And, you know, with Metcalf, he has.
• 30:34
  Speaker 4: Yet to clear 40 receiving yards in a game this
• 30:37
  Speaker 4: year and seven deep targets, but doesn't have a catch
• 30:40
  Speaker 4: on any of those just yet.
• 30:42
  Speaker 2: More hits and misses whenever we come back. 3 o'clock today,
• 30:45
  Speaker 2: Ashley Bastock, Browns reporter for Cleveland.com.
• 30:49
  Speaker 5: This is the.
• 30:50
  Speaker 2: Steelers Report with Troop and Backo on Steelers Nation Radio,
• 30:53
  Speaker 2: part of the Steelers Audio Network.
• 31:01
  Speaker 1: This is the Steelers Report with Brian Backo and Ed
• 31:04
  Speaker 1: Troop on Steelers Nation Radio, a part of the Steelers
• 31:08
  Speaker 1: Audio Network.
• 31:11
  Speaker 2: Double B, Aaron Rodgers and Deshaun Watson have only met
• 31:16
  Speaker 2: one time head-to-head, and it was week seven of 2020. Now,
• 31:22
  Speaker 2: Aaron Rodgers was the quarterback for the Green Bay Packers
• 31:25
  Speaker 2: at the time, of course, and Deshaun Watson.
• 31:27
  Speaker 3: And root to an MVP season. He was.
• 31:29
  Speaker 2: You're stealing my thunder before the rain. Or whatever you
• 31:32
  Speaker 2: want to say. Whatever that may be.
• 31:34
  Speaker 3: Or lightning.
• 31:35
  Speaker 5: Lightning, thunder, rain. But Deshaun Watson.
• 31:40
  Speaker 2: As you just said with Aaron Rodgers winning the MVP
• 31:42
  Speaker 2: that year, Deshaun Watson led the NFL in passing yardage
• 31:46
  Speaker 2: that year. That was his really strong year. 35-20 was
• 31:50
  Speaker 2: the score of that game. Rodgers in Green Bay over Houston.
• 31:54
  Speaker 2: So Rodgers 1-0 lifetime against Deshaun Watson. Now listen, the
• 31:57
  Speaker 2: quarterbacks that day combined for 592 yards passing, six touchdowns,
• 32:02
  Speaker 2: no interceptions. Rodgers had 283, four pass touchdowns, a passer
• 32:07
  Speaker 2: rating of 132.4.
• 32:07
  Speaker 1: Watson.
• 32:07
  Speaker 2: 309 yards passing, so he actually outthrew Rodgers that day.
• 32:13
  Speaker 2: Two passing touchdowns, a passing rating of 114.2, but again,
• 32:18
  Speaker 2: if you go back six years ago, Rodgers MVP season,
• 32:22
  Speaker 2: Deshaun Watson probably the peak of his NFL career so far,
• 32:25
  Speaker 2: but who knows?
• 32:26
  Speaker 5: Maybe he'll get back there.
• 32:27
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I guess that's when Deshaun was really cooking too
• 32:30
  Speaker 4: with those Texans teams.
• 32:32
  Speaker 3: Seems like ages ago, doesn't it?
• 32:35
  Speaker 4: We're going to talk to Ashley about him at the
• 32:38
  Speaker 4: top of the hour, but You know, I never thought
• 32:41
  Speaker 4: I would really be sitting here saying this going into
• 32:43
  Speaker 4: week four. I mean, there was a time where I
• 32:46
  Speaker 4: thought it'd be more likely he'd be out of the
• 32:47
  Speaker 4: league by now.
• 32:49
  Speaker 1: Agreed.
• 32:50
  Speaker 4: So in an odd way, you almost have to begrudgingly
• 32:54
  Speaker 4: tip your cap to him that he's still going out
• 32:57
  Speaker 4: there and shocking that he's got, dare I say, momentum
• 33:01
  Speaker 4: on his side coming into this Thursday night matchup with
• 33:04
  Speaker 4: the Steelers.
• 33:06
  Speaker 3: You go back to that flashback to that.
• 33:07
  Speaker 4: Preseason– just everything was Mubar messed up beyond all repair.
• 33:13
  Speaker 4: It seemed for Deshaun and the Browns first game looked
• 33:16
  Speaker 4: like Shador. It was only a matter of time and people,
• 33:19
  Speaker 4: people were crushing Todd Munkin for sticking with Watson and
• 33:23
  Speaker 4: naming him the starter week one. And regardless of all
• 33:27
  Speaker 4: of that, uh, toxicness, toxicity, I mean, the guys, what
• 33:32
  Speaker 4: he tore his Achilles twice, I think he did. He
• 33:35
  Speaker 4: re tore it coming off of his initial tear at it.
• 33:38
  Speaker 5: And then all that off-the-field stuff.
• 33:41
  Speaker 3: That's what I'm saying.
• 33:42
  Speaker 5: It's been a tough go at it.
• 33:44
  Speaker 4: Even if you wipe all of that away, self-inflicted much
• 33:48
  Speaker 4: of it. The injury stuff, I didn't think he was
• 33:51
  Speaker 4: ever really going.
• 33:52
  Speaker 5: To make his way back from. He's had his challenges.
• 33:55
  Speaker 3: And again, many of them self-inflicted.
• 33:57
  Speaker 4: But if you just talk about health alone, and there
• 34:00
  Speaker 4: was a shoulder injury in there too, I think. I'm
• 34:04
  Speaker 4: kind of shocked that we're even sitting here discussing him
• 34:06
  Speaker 4: going into week four and discussing him in a way
• 34:08
  Speaker 4: that I'm not saying he's like Joe Burrow level scary
• 34:12
  Speaker 4: to the Steelers or even Drake May level scary, but
• 34:15
  Speaker 4: he ain't Cooper Rush.
• 34:16
  Speaker 3: I'll give him that.
• 34:17
  Speaker 2: Watson is 0-3 in his career against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
• 34:22
  Speaker 2: All three games coming on the road, though, here in
• 34:24
  Speaker 2: Pittsburgh for Watson. In those games, he was sacked five, seven,
• 34:28
  Speaker 2: and six times in those three games. Steelers got home
• 34:31
  Speaker 2: against the Deshaun Watson Houston Texans many times during those
• 34:35
  Speaker 2: three games. But again, all three of those games, Brian,
• 34:38
  Speaker 2: here in Pittsburgh.
• 34:39
  Speaker 3: They tend to do that. T.J.
• 34:41
  Speaker 4: Watt tends to get to the quarterback when he faces
• 34:45
  Speaker 4: the Cleveland Browns, regardless of who that quarterback is.
• 34:50
  Speaker 3: But I will say, I mean, I watched some highlights.
• 34:52
  Speaker 4: I didn't rewatch the entire game of Browns-Panthers, but it
• 34:56
  Speaker 4: looked like Deshaun was running around pretty well out there.
• 34:58
  Speaker 4: And I'll just make the point again, kind of remarkable
• 35:02
  Speaker 4: after everything that he went through injury-wise that he's even still–
• 35:06
  Speaker 4: still capable of doing that.
• 35:08
  Speaker 3: How old is Deshaun now? Deshaun Watson.
• 35:11
  Speaker 5: Let me take a guess here. So I just gave
• 35:13
  Speaker 5: you six years ago.
• 35:14
  Speaker 3: He just had a birthday a couple of weeks ago.
• 35:16
  Speaker 5: So I'm going to say he is 30.
• 35:17
  Speaker 3: He just turned 31. Okay.
• 35:20
  Speaker 5: I wasn't too far off.
• 35:21
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 35:21
  Speaker 2: All right. Because I was thinking to myself six years ago,
• 35:24
  Speaker 2: height of his career, he had at least a year
• 35:26
  Speaker 2: or two.
• 35:26
  Speaker 4: And he's had such a bizarre career between Houston and
• 35:29
  Speaker 4: Cleveland that I don't even know, Ed, does he seem
• 35:32
  Speaker 4: older or younger than 31?
• 35:33
  Speaker 3: I'm not really sure. Maybe he seems appropriate.
• 35:35
  Speaker 5: Off the field older, on the field maybe younger. Oh,
• 35:38
  Speaker 5: my goodness.
• 35:39
  Speaker 3: Because he's missed a lot of time.
• 35:40
  Speaker 5: Yeah, he has. He sure has. Well, the Steelers will
• 35:42
  Speaker 5: have to deal with him one way or another.
• 35:43
  Speaker 2: You know, we were just talking to Tom Offerman, host
• 35:46
  Speaker 2: of the Blitz and also Steelers pregame show tomorrow with
• 35:49
  Speaker 2: Matt Williamson, in which you can catch Double B checking
• 35:52
  Speaker 2: in during that as well from 4 to 6. But
• 35:54
  Speaker 2: before that tomorrow from 2 to 4, special programming note,
• 35:56
  Speaker 2: we will be the lead up to that. So make
• 35:58
  Speaker 2: sure you keep it right here on Steelers. nation radio
• 36:01
  Speaker 2: and the Steelers audio network. But Tom and I were
• 36:03
  Speaker 2: talking yesterday, double B after you had left, I was
• 36:07
  Speaker 2: wrapping up a few things and we both said the
• 36:09
  Speaker 2: same thing that we will find out quickly on Thursday night,
• 36:12
  Speaker 2: whether this is Deshaun Watson being back after these last
• 36:15
  Speaker 2: two performances, or will the Steelers expose him? The Steelers
• 36:18
  Speaker 2: defense expose him tomorrow night. And he'll look like the
• 36:22
  Speaker 2: Deshaun Watson of that preseason that you mentioned in week one.
• 36:24
  Speaker 4: And it wouldn't take much. I don't think for the
• 36:27
  Speaker 4: dog pound to turn on him again. It was all
• 36:33
  Speaker 4: sunshine and rainbows for them because they beat the Panthers
• 36:36
  Speaker 4: in week three in their home opener. But, yeah, I
• 36:38
  Speaker 4: think if it goes poorly and it goes according to
• 36:41
  Speaker 4: plan for the Steelers, suddenly that avalanche of negativity will
• 36:46
  Speaker 4: be coming right back down. And the Steelers are kind
• 36:49
  Speaker 4: of known for sending Browns head coaches to their demise.
• 36:55
  Speaker 4: Maybe they can do it with a quarterback here. But, hey,
• 36:58
  Speaker 4: regardless of who you are, not wishing on anyone to
• 37:00
  Speaker 4: lose their job. So we'll, you know, it adds another
• 37:04
  Speaker 4: layer of intrigue to the, to the affairs tomorrow night.
• 37:08
  Speaker 2: Can't wait to ask Ashley Bastok, Brown's reporter for Cleveland.com.
• 37:12
  Speaker 2: She'll be joining us here at the top of the
• 37:14
  Speaker 2: hour at three o'clock. Can't wait to ask her about
• 37:17
  Speaker 2: Tom Munkin and the reaction Cleveland has had with him
• 37:19
  Speaker 2: so far. It's, it's, it's been, it's been unique to
• 37:22
  Speaker 2: say the least in a positive way. And I think
• 37:24
  Speaker 2: that's what Cleveland needed. They needed a guy like Munkin
• 37:27
  Speaker 2: to get in there to, to, re-energize that fan base they.
• 37:31
  Speaker 4: Just need to believe i mean i've my wife went
• 37:33
  Speaker 4: to college at gannon university up in erie so there's
• 37:36
  Speaker 4: a lot of steelers bills and browns fans who come
• 37:39
  Speaker 4: to the uh that little bermuda triangle of northwestern pa
• 37:44
  Speaker 4: up there on lake erie and i can just remember
• 37:47
  Speaker 4: talking to many of her friends over the years who
• 37:48
  Speaker 4: were browns fans and this is going back to like
• 37:50
  Speaker 4: the baker mayfield draft and and around that era and
• 37:54
  Speaker 4: it's like I remember one of them telling me, I'm
• 37:57
  Speaker 4: not even delusional enough to think that we're going to
• 37:59
  Speaker 4: go to the playoffs this year and immediately go to
• 38:01
  Speaker 4: the Super Bowl, but.
• 38:02
  Speaker 3: Just give me some hope in the QB.
• 38:04
  Speaker 4: Even if they go 7-9 or something, 16-game schedule at
• 38:08
  Speaker 4: the time, if Baker shows that he's the dude, I'll
• 38:11
  Speaker 4: feel like I've got some hope and some optimism coming.
• 38:13
  Speaker 3: Off this season.
• 38:14
  Speaker 4: You could probably say it's kind of the same right
• 38:17
  Speaker 4: now for Munkin and that fan base.
• 38:20
  Speaker 3: Todd Munkin and Mike McCarthy... I think.
• 38:23
  Speaker 4: Vince Williams made this point on the Blitz with Tom
• 38:25
  Speaker 4: either earlier today or yesterday on their show when I
• 38:27
  Speaker 4: was listening. These were two of the coaching hires that
• 38:30
  Speaker 4: got side-eyed by a lot of the league.
• 38:31
  Speaker 3: They're older guys. Yes.
• 38:33
  Speaker 4: Sometimes it's tough to sell the quote-unquote retread, and that
• 38:38
  Speaker 4: doesn't really apply to Munkin because he's never been an
• 38:40
  Speaker 4: NFL head coach. And, I mean, to use that about
• 38:43
  Speaker 4: Mike McCarthy is not really fair either. I mean, he
• 38:45
  Speaker 4: had extremely successful stints in his first two head coaching stops.
• 38:50
  Speaker 1: But.
• 38:51
  Speaker 4: You know, there is a perception where it's like, oh,
• 38:53
  Speaker 4: this guy's on his last legs in the NFL. Why
• 38:55
  Speaker 4: do you want him taking over your franchise? Well, Munkins,
• 38:59
  Speaker 4: maybe he just knows what he's doing, coaching offensive football.
• 39:01
  Speaker 4: And that's why he's been around so long. And he
• 39:03
  Speaker 4: finally got his chance to be an offense or excuse me,
• 39:05
  Speaker 4: a head coach. And obviously, Mike McCarthy knows what he's
• 39:08
  Speaker 4: doing and has been in these shoes a lot. And
• 39:10
  Speaker 4: it's helped the Steelers get off to a two in
• 39:12
  Speaker 4: one start. They're both off to a two in one start.
• 39:15
  Speaker 2: I was going to text you this last evening because
• 39:17
  Speaker 2: we were talking yesterday about Todd Munkin and how.
• 39:19
  Speaker 5: Much you and I, as much as we hate to
• 39:21
  Speaker 5: admit it, we like the guy.
• 39:23
  Speaker 3: We do.
• 39:23
  Speaker 2: And last night I'm watching a clip of him. Did
• 39:25
  Speaker 2: you see this? Him talking about T.J. Watt and Cam
• 39:27
  Speaker 2: Hayward no I didn't he started the sound clip out
• 39:29
  Speaker 2: by saying in his press conference those guys just need
• 39:31
  Speaker 2: to retire and of course he was making a joke
• 39:33
  Speaker 2: because then he went on to praise them about how
• 39:35
  Speaker 2: good they are and what they've done throughout their NFL
• 39:38
  Speaker 2: careers specifically Cam Hayward this later in his career and
• 39:42
  Speaker 2: how effective and good he still is.
• 39:44
  Speaker 5: So it was.
• 39:46
  Speaker 2: Funny at the beginning. You're like, well, is he really
• 39:47
  Speaker 2: meaning for them to retire? No, he was actually complimenting them, saying,
• 39:51
  Speaker 2: you know, if they do retire, then I don't have
• 39:53
  Speaker 2: to worry about them because they're still playing at such
• 39:54
  Speaker 2: a high level.
• 39:56
  Speaker 5: I like Todd Munkin so far.
• 39:58
  Speaker 4: Much like a lot of people around here in Pittsburgh
• 40:00
  Speaker 4: were saying they don't mind Miles Garrett getting traded to
• 40:03
  Speaker 4: the Rams.
• 40:04
  Speaker 3: Exactly, exactly.
• 40:05
  Speaker 4: Garrett on IR, and it doesn't seem like Aaron Donald's
• 40:07
  Speaker 4: really been setting the world on fire either so far
• 40:10
  Speaker 4: through the first season. Well, he's played two, they've played three,
• 40:13
  Speaker 4: and hey, I wouldn't count him out. I mean, he
• 40:16
  Speaker 4: might just be getting his sea legs back under him,
• 40:18
  Speaker 4: and he might be a wrecking ball by the end
• 40:20
  Speaker 4: of the season.
• 40:21
  Speaker 2: I don't think he's been on the field as much
• 40:23
  Speaker 2: as he should. I don't want to say should be,
• 40:25
  Speaker 2: but to be effective.
• 40:27
  Speaker 5: How about that?
• 40:27
  Speaker 2: Maybe he hasn't gotten the snap count as much to
• 40:30
  Speaker 2: put up the stats so far yet. I'm sure they're
• 40:32
  Speaker 2: easing him back in. Let's get to some more hits
• 40:34
  Speaker 2: and misses, Brian. We're going to start with a miss.
• 40:36
  Speaker 2: The Steelers return game on kickoffs.
• 40:38
  Speaker 5: I don't know about you.
• 40:39
  Speaker 2: Again, this was another stat yesterday I pulled that I
• 40:41
  Speaker 2: was a bit surprised because I felt good so far
• 40:43
  Speaker 2: about Caden Wieschen, the rookie, on kickoff returns. But statistics
• 40:48
  Speaker 2: will tell you otherwise, but you were one to point
• 40:49
  Speaker 2: out last segment. You can't go by the stats all
• 40:52
  Speaker 2: the time, but here's one for you.
• 40:53
  Speaker 5: The Steelers are No.
• 40:54
  Speaker 2: 29 in the NFL for kick returns so far this
• 40:57
  Speaker 2: season with an average of 22.6 per return. 13 returns
• 41:02
  Speaker 2: for 294 yards that doesn't look good but on the
• 41:04
  Speaker 2: flip side from what i've seen during these first three
• 41:06
  Speaker 2: games i like what i've seen from weijin.
• 41:08
  Speaker 4: Yeah i think weijin is i think he's okay as
• 41:11
  Speaker 4: a kick returner but i think he can be dynamic
• 41:13
  Speaker 4: still as a punt returner this is just kickoff yeah
• 41:16
  Speaker 4: he's just so shifty um but you know what we'll
• 41:19
  Speaker 4: see i mean in the kick return game it's it's
• 41:22
  Speaker 4: i mean it's difficult in both at the nfl level
• 41:24
  Speaker 4: coverage units are are really good at what they do
• 41:27
  Speaker 4: and You know, the kickers and punters themselves are always
• 41:30
  Speaker 4: looking for an edge. There was actually some language that
• 41:33
  Speaker 4: went out from the NFL clarifying, I think, last week
• 41:36
  Speaker 4: about what you can and can't do with a player
• 41:38
  Speaker 4: holding the ball for you on kickoffs. And it's like
• 41:42
  Speaker 4: you need to have a player holding it, but with
• 41:43
  Speaker 4: a tee.
• 41:44
  Speaker 3: Really? So that's yeah. I mean, that's the level of
• 41:46
  Speaker 3: granular detail that.
• 41:48
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 41:48
  Speaker 3: I mean, it was like.
• 41:49
  Speaker 4: You're allowed to have that 12th guy on there to
• 41:51
  Speaker 4: hold it if it's windy, but he's supposed to hold
• 41:53
  Speaker 4: it on a tee. But I guess teams were using
• 41:55
  Speaker 4: him to hold it so that they could angle it
• 41:56
  Speaker 4: and get those dirty kickoffs into the ground and the
• 42:00
  Speaker 4: landing zone and all that. So you got to be
• 42:03
  Speaker 4: a different breed to be a special teams coach, man.
• 42:05
  Speaker 4: You got to be like a ball knower, but also
• 42:08
  Speaker 4: a nerd of all nerds with some of this stuff.
• 42:10
  Speaker 2: I didn't know that that was an extra player on
• 42:12
  Speaker 2: the field, a 12th player holding that. I thought it
• 42:14
  Speaker 2: was just one of the 11 that were out there
• 42:16
  Speaker 2: that had to hold the ball on kickoff. I didn't
• 42:18
  Speaker 2: know you were allowed an extra player just to hold it.
• 42:20
  Speaker 2: And then what does he do run off the field?
• 42:22
  Speaker 3: I guess so.
• 42:23
  Speaker 5: You can't have 12 players running down to try to
• 42:25
  Speaker 5: make a tackle.
• 42:26
  Speaker 3: That'd be the all. Yeah. That would really be a
• 42:27
  Speaker 3: nice penalty.
• 42:29
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 42:29
  Speaker 3: Um, that, that would be a nice loophole. If you
• 42:32
  Speaker 3: could get that one in.
• 42:33
  Speaker 5: There, Danny Smith somewhere is like, yes.
• 42:35
  Speaker 4: Well, I was going to say, I mean, here's a,
• 42:36
  Speaker 4: like a half baked idea is to, um, let the
• 42:42
  Speaker 4: kicker run off because you.
• 42:43
  Speaker 3: Don't want that guy getting hurt or trying to make
• 42:44
  Speaker 3: a tackle. Like a goalie type. But that would just
• 42:47
  Speaker 3: make it more difficult for exciting kick returns. And I
• 42:50
  Speaker 3: think we all like.
• 42:51
  Speaker 5: I kind of like that idea.
• 42:52
  Speaker 3: You like that idea?
• 42:53
  Speaker 5: And the kicker kick, he runs off and it's like
• 42:55
  Speaker 5: the goalie coming off.
• 42:55
  Speaker 4: But if you get an extra tackler in there, you're
• 42:57
  Speaker 4: going to have even fewer kick returns for touchdowns.
• 42:59
  Speaker 3: And I mean, that's an exciting play.
• 43:01
  Speaker 2: Oh, no doubt.
• 43:01
  Speaker 4: I know they've already been trying all these different... I mean,
• 43:04
  Speaker 4: now we have the dynamic kickoff, quote unquote, which was
• 43:07
  Speaker 4: to try to marry... as much player safety as you
• 43:10
  Speaker 4: can without just getting rid of the play entirely.
• 43:13
  Speaker 2: So there's some people that argue that to just get
• 43:15
  Speaker 2: rid of it all, you know, just have the ball
• 43:17
  Speaker 2: start at the 25, 30 year line, 35.
• 43:19
  Speaker 4: Speaking of reference, Matt stats again on Steelers.com, please only
• 43:23
  Speaker 4: one touchback so far for the Steelers in the kicking game.
• 43:26
  Speaker 4: A couple of teams have none Steelers have won the
• 43:28
  Speaker 4: Ravens lead the league with the most. And it seems
• 43:31
  Speaker 4: like that's a constant strategic push and pull with teams
• 43:35
  Speaker 4: and special teams coaches.
• 43:36
  Speaker 3: Do you want to just boot it through the end zone? Well,
• 43:38
  Speaker 3: now they've made that less, advantageous.
• 43:40
  Speaker 4: So you're trying to get those dirty balls where it's
• 43:43
  Speaker 4: in the landing zone, but it's bouncing and it's making
• 43:45
  Speaker 4: it hard on the returner.
• 43:47
  Speaker 3: I don't know.
• 43:48
  Speaker 4: I mean, I've always been someone who's like, if they
• 43:50
  Speaker 4: did that back when there was talk of getting rid
• 43:52
  Speaker 4: of the kickoff entirely, I was honestly okay with it.
• 43:54
  Speaker 4: I mean, I know there's football traditionalists who were like, no,
• 43:57
  Speaker 4: this that's you're minimizing the impact of special teams.
• 44:00
  Speaker 3: I understand that.
• 44:00
  Speaker 4: But it's also like most people go up and get
• 44:03
  Speaker 4: nachos during the kick And are you ever coming away
• 44:06
  Speaker 4: from a great game and you're like, man, what a
• 44:09
  Speaker 4: thrilling shootout. I just wish there would have been more
• 44:11
  Speaker 4: good kick returns. That disappointed me.
• 44:14
  Speaker 2: To your point, Double B, I'm with you. I think
• 44:16
  Speaker 2: the punt return is more exciting than the kick return.
• 44:19
  Speaker 2: And more opportunities on a punt return, too, to make
• 44:21
  Speaker 2: a splash play. But, hey, kickoff returns happen as well
• 44:25
  Speaker 2: throughout the NFL.
• 44:26
  Speaker 3: Let's get to a hit.
• 44:27
  Speaker 2: Steelers' defense on third down this season, 12 of 36
• 44:31
  Speaker 2: at 33%.
• 44:32
  Speaker 5: Excellent so far. Steelers getting off the field on third down.
• 44:35
  Speaker 2: Though, I will say this, out of that 12 I
• 44:37
  Speaker 2: just gave you, 12 out of 36, a good handful
• 44:40
  Speaker 2: of those were the Bengals converting third downs last week.
• 44:43
  Speaker 5: They converted several.
• 44:44
  Speaker 2: Steelers struggled a bit with that against the Bengals, and
• 44:47
  Speaker 2: a lot of it had to do with Jamar Chase
• 44:49
  Speaker 2: and T.
• 44:49
  Speaker 3: Higgins. Yeah, those guys are tough to cover a little bit, right?
• 44:52
  Speaker 3: Just a bit. But it's going to be interesting. I've
• 44:54
  Speaker 3: got my first time I've referenced it on the show.
• 44:56
  Speaker 4: I'm wearing my 2026 NFL draft Pittsburgh hat. The 2026
• 45:00
  Speaker 4: draft will be well represented in this game. A couple
• 45:03
  Speaker 4: guys trying to get open on third downs for the
• 45:05
  Speaker 4: Browns will be Denzel Boston, their second rounder out of Washington,
• 45:08
  Speaker 4: and Casey Concepcion, their first rounder out of Texas A & M.
• 45:12
  Speaker 4: One of two first rounders because they're starting left tackle,
• 45:15
  Speaker 4: Spencer Fano out of Utah. was a first-rounder as well,
• 45:20
  Speaker 4: and he was a pre-draft visitor of the Steelers, as was,
• 45:23
  Speaker 4: I can't remember if Concepcion or Boston were, too.
• 45:27
  Speaker 5: I thought they both were.
• 45:29
  Speaker 3: Maybe they were.
• 45:29
  Speaker 5: I think they both did visits.
• 45:30
  Speaker 3: Maybe they were. I feel like it might have just
• 45:32
  Speaker 3: been Boston. I'll have to double-check that. But Mekhi Lemon was.
• 45:37
  Speaker 5: Wow, we know that.
• 45:38
  Speaker 3: Just a real quick, like, I generally don't... Where's your
• 45:40
  Speaker 3: Lemon update? I don't make it a habit to.
• 45:43
  Speaker 4: to disagree with or not align with the scouting evaluations
• 45:46
  Speaker 4: of the Eagles or the Steelers for that matter. But
• 45:49
  Speaker 4: he's not off to a torrid start in Philadelphia. And
• 45:52
  Speaker 4: I haven't been watching every snap of Jalen hurts in
• 45:55
  Speaker 4: the Eagles offense, but so maybe he's getting open a
• 45:57
  Speaker 4: lot and they're not getting the ball to him. But
• 46:00
  Speaker 4: as someone who was kind of, I was definitely Boston
• 46:03
  Speaker 4: over lemon and I was sort of leaning conception over lemon.
• 46:06
  Speaker 3: When we were talking about the.
• 46:07
  Speaker 4: Receiver class ad nauseum, it's way too early to, But
• 46:11
  Speaker 4: the early returns look good for me because I think
• 46:13
  Speaker 4: Boston and Concepcion have been a nice one-two punch for
• 46:17
  Speaker 4: the Browns.
• 46:17
  Speaker 5: Yeah, they've really put up some big numbers so far.
• 46:19
  Speaker 2: Denzel Boston, 15 targets, nine catches, 195 yards, two touchdowns
• 46:25
  Speaker 2: so far in his rookie season through three games. And Concepcion,
• 46:29
  Speaker 2: right with him, he has 12 catches for 80 yards,
• 46:31
  Speaker 2: no touchdowns yet.
• 46:33
  Speaker 5: And he'll try to change that against the Steelers on
• 46:35
  Speaker 5: Thursday night.
• 46:35
  Speaker 2: Whenever we come back, we will be talking, speaking to
• 46:37
  Speaker 2: the Browns and these rookie receivers. I'm sure Ashley Bastok
• 46:41
  Speaker 2: will have a few things to tell us about those two.
• 46:43
  Speaker 2: She is the Browns reporter for Cleveland.com and on the
• 46:46
  Speaker 2: Orange and Brown Talk podcast.
• 46:48
  Speaker 5: She's up next.
• 46:49
  Speaker 3: I'm Troop. He's back.
• 46:50
  Speaker 2: It's the Steelers report right here on Steelers Nation Radio,
• 46:53
  Speaker 2: part of the Steelers Audio Network.