Latest / In the Locker Room presented by Neighborhood Ford Store (Pittsburgh Steelers) / HR2: Falcons Preview cont.

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HR2: Falcons Preview cont. · In the Locker Room presented by Neighborhood Ford Store (Pittsburgh Steelers)

• 0:03
  Speaker 1: This is In the Locker Room with Rob King, Max Starks,
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: and Willie Colon on Steelers Nation Radio. Brought to you
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: in part by the Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop.steelers.com.
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: And by your neighborhood Ford store. The F-150 is the
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: official truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: Just when Willie got excited about a new sound, we.
• 0:39
  Speaker 3: Still had to give him a little bit of the
• 0:40
  Speaker 3: old school. You still got to have Optimus in there.
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: But when you hear that sound, you know it's Friday.
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: But more importantly, you know exactly who that is coming
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: into the studios.
• 0:51
  Speaker 3: That's the one, the only.
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: Missy Matthews, sideline reporter extraordinaire for the Steelers broadcast at
• 0:59
  Speaker 2: She gets her own theme music. That's just how bad
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: she is. She is team mom, but she's a hip,
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: cool team mom. And that's why we have the sounder
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: for Missy. Missy, welcome into our new locker room. Willie
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: has now joined us. And you now get to.
• 1:16
  Speaker 3: Deal with and wrangle around with three guys that.
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: You have to deal with on every.
• 1:21
  Speaker 3: Friday on this show.
• 1:24
  Speaker 4: That's okay.
• 1:25
  Speaker 5: I mean, I feel like this is what I do
• 1:26
  Speaker 5: on game day anyways.
• 1:28
  Speaker 2: True.
• 1:29
  Speaker 6: True.
• 1:29
  Speaker 7: So before we launch into this, I have a question
• 1:32
  Speaker 7: from earlier in the week, which is if I were
• 1:34
  Speaker 7: to say to you, Missy, bow, wow, wow, yippee, yo, yippee, yay, bow, wow, yippee, yo, yippee, yay,
• 1:41
  Speaker 7: other than maybe edging back a step and calling the kennel,
• 1:45
  Speaker 7: would you think Snoop Dogg or would you think George Clinton?
• 1:52
  Speaker 5: Snoop Dogg.
• 1:53
  Speaker 8: Okay.
• 1:54
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 1:55
  Speaker 4: Did you have that written down?
• 1:56
  Speaker 8: Snoop Dogg's the winner. What's that?
• 1:58
  Speaker 5: Did you have that written down?
• 2:00
  Speaker 8: No, no.
• 2:01
  Speaker 7: I said it on TV the other night.
• 2:05
  Speaker 4: Wow.
• 2:07
  Speaker 8: And Michael McHenry said Snoop Dogg.
• 2:09
  Speaker 7: And I'm like, oh, yeah, I totally forgot Snoop Dogg
• 2:11
  Speaker 7: sampled that, which is a George Clinton song.
• 2:15
  Speaker 8: But I'm aging myself.
• 2:16
  Speaker 3: Okay.
• 2:17
  Speaker 7: So, Missy, fired up and ready to go for week one.
• 2:21
  Speaker 8: It's a new era.
• 2:23
  Speaker 7: You only get these about once every 20 years. If
• 2:26
  Speaker 7: you're working for the Steelers, this is your first time
• 2:29
  Speaker 7: in this role when Mike Tomlin hasn't been the head coach.
• 2:33
  Speaker 5: Yeah, it is kind of different, but I will certainly
• 2:37
  Speaker 5: say I have enjoyed thoroughly watching him on TV because
• 2:41
  Speaker 5: it's kind of like how you just know what Tomlinism
• 2:44
  Speaker 5: or what phrase that you've heard before he might say.
• 2:48
  Speaker 5: I know Rob and I were talking, Max and Willie,
• 2:51
  Speaker 5: yesterday about how when they just straight up asked him
• 2:54
  Speaker 5: about the Steelers, Falcons game, he pretty much was like, yeah,
• 2:59
  Speaker 5: I knew what we did to a last year.
• 3:01
  Speaker 8: He got benched.
• 3:03
  Speaker 5: Now he has a new team. I like Mike McCarthy
• 3:05
  Speaker 5: and Patrick Graham in this one. Just very blunt, which
• 3:09
  Speaker 5: is not something we necessarily saw from him all the
• 3:12
  Speaker 5: time in front of a microphone, maybe, you know, in
• 3:14
  Speaker 5: the hallways or whatnot. But yeah. It's interesting, and I'm
• 3:21
  Speaker 5: very excited to see not only what does a Mike
• 3:23
  Speaker 5: McCarthy offense look like with all of the new toys
• 3:26
  Speaker 5: and weapons that they have, but also the defense. I
• 3:30
  Speaker 5: think we saw a little bit from Patrick Graham in
• 3:32
  Speaker 5: the preseason, but not really a full complement, if you will. Again,
• 3:38
  Speaker 5: using all of the guys who were not playing in
• 3:41
  Speaker 5: the preseason.
• 3:42
  Speaker 3: All right.
• 3:45
  Speaker 2: And Missy, you know, as we kind of look at that,
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: that was kind of one of my big questions. I mean,
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: is it more excitement, anxiety, or blank that you're feeling
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: going into this game, seeing the starting 22 out there
• 4:05
  Speaker 2: for the first time together since we did not get
• 4:08
  Speaker 2: it in the preseason?
• 4:11
  Speaker 5: I'll say a little bit of both and then like
• 4:14
  Speaker 5: throw in some butterflies to like make it extra spicy.
• 4:18
  Speaker 5: I think, yeah, I think we're going to see a
• 4:20
  Speaker 5: little bit of everything in terms of how they're feeling,
• 4:24
  Speaker 5: how we're feeling. I think obviously people want to know
• 4:27
  Speaker 5: what's going to happen with Joey Porter still. So it's definitely,
• 4:32
  Speaker 5: there's not a loss of emotions that you could potentially
• 4:35
  Speaker 5: feel on Sunday. That's for sure.
• 4:37
  Speaker 3: Missing Willie here.
• 4:41
  Speaker 6: One of the things we know the Falcons do well
• 4:43
  Speaker 6: is running the football with B.
• 4:45
  Speaker 3: Joe Robinson.
• 4:46
  Speaker 9: One of the things that the Steelers have improved to do.
• 4:48
  Speaker 6: Well thus far, starting from last year, is their ability
• 4:51
  Speaker 6: to run the ball consistently with only five runs.
• 4:57
  Speaker 9: Is there a.
• 4:58
  Speaker 6: Chance that we can honestly get Jalen Warren and Rico
• 5:01
  Speaker 6: Dotto off and running against a defensive line that's limited in.
• 5:05
  Speaker 9: The Atlanta Falcons?
• 5:08
  Speaker 5: Oh, I mean, I would love that. You know, the
• 5:11
  Speaker 5: running backs coach, he started calling them this and that
• 5:15
  Speaker 5: because they're interchangeable. They are, you know, this one can
• 5:20
  Speaker 5: do that. This one can do this. And it doesn't
• 5:23
  Speaker 5: matter which name you say. And Mike McCarthy has complimented
• 5:25
  Speaker 5: the fact that as a play caller, he doesn't have
• 5:28
  Speaker 5: to worry now which running back is in the game
• 5:31
  Speaker 5: between those two because they can do it all. So
• 5:35
  Speaker 5: I would love to see that happen, especially, Willie, as
• 5:37
  Speaker 5: you said, the problems up front for the defense of
• 5:40
  Speaker 5: the Falcons. And I think more than anything, as you
• 5:43
  Speaker 5: and Max can probably attest to, just seeing the Steelers'
• 5:46
  Speaker 5: offensive line start to gel, start to form some continuity,
• 5:52
  Speaker 5: and see what those guys can bring in terms of
• 5:54
  Speaker 5: protecting Aaron Rodgers.
• 5:57
  Speaker 3: Yep.
• 5:57
  Speaker 7: And by the way, I mentioned this in the matchup
• 6:00
  Speaker 7: show that I taped with Missy and Matt Williamson yesterday.
• 6:04
  Speaker 8: You know, I think we think of the West Coast offense.
• 6:06
  Speaker 7: With Mike McCarthy, that means he wants to dink and
• 6:08
  Speaker 7: dunk it around the field and spread everything out. Well,
• 6:11
  Speaker 7: in the five years he was in Dallas, they were
• 6:13
  Speaker 7: a better running team than the Steelers. They had two
• 6:16
  Speaker 7: top ten finishes. It's not like they don't want to
• 6:18
  Speaker 7: run the ball. They want to run the football. Missy,
• 6:22
  Speaker 7: I think that if you showed up at– let's just
• 6:25
  Speaker 7: put it this way. If Dan Quinlan got a panicked
• 6:28
  Speaker 7: phone call for you or me at 3 o'clock Saturday
• 6:31
  Speaker 7: wondering where the team charter was, and being told, oh no,
• 6:34
  Speaker 7: the Steelers are actually opening at home this year. You're
• 6:37
  Speaker 7: not flying anywhere on day one of the season. I
• 6:40
  Speaker 7: don't think that would have been a surprise, certainly for me.
• 6:42
  Speaker 7: I can't speak for you. They're opening at home. They
• 6:45
  Speaker 7: never open at home. This is fun that the Steelers, what,
• 6:48
  Speaker 7: twice in the last 11 or 12 years they've opened
• 6:51
  Speaker 7: at home.
• 6:52
  Speaker 5: Yeah, the last time was 2014, so it is an anomaly.
• 6:57
  Speaker 5: We can blame the Pirates for that a little bit,
• 6:59
  Speaker 5: I think, but I agree. I think, especially with a
• 7:02
  Speaker 5: new coaching staff, new players, it's just easier to be
• 7:06
  Speaker 5: at home for this first game. So I'm excited about it.
• 7:11
  Speaker 5: I'm excited when we don't have to get on a plane.
• 7:13
  Speaker 5: I know Max, that's all you do is get on planes.
• 7:16
  Speaker 5: So you're used to it, but I do like the
• 7:19
  Speaker 5: fact that, you know, it's going to be hopefully fingers
• 7:22
  Speaker 5: crossed a beautiful weekend. Maybe that rain gets out of
• 7:25
  Speaker 5: the forecast a little bit and it can be a
• 7:28
  Speaker 5: great wind and, I can't remember who said it earlier
• 7:32
  Speaker 5: today that I heard, or maybe it was a replay,
• 7:34
  Speaker 5: but Chuck Knoll, Bill Coward, Mike Tomlin all had a
• 7:37
  Speaker 5: win in their first game. So I feel like Mike
• 7:40
  Speaker 5: McCarthy has to do it as well, right?
• 7:44
  Speaker 8: Sounds good to me.
• 7:46
  Speaker 2: I completely agree with that one. I think the circumstances
• 7:52
  Speaker 2: are right. I mean, we look at this Falcons team,
• 7:55
  Speaker 2: you know, they come in, new head coach, like us
• 7:59
  Speaker 2: but unlike the other team our coach stepped away their
• 8:04
  Speaker 2: coach got fired and right with Stefanski bringing in a
• 8:09
  Speaker 2: lot of new faces trying to institute this system I
• 8:13
  Speaker 2: think has also been one of the tougher parts of
• 8:16
  Speaker 2: you know any new coach's head job but I just
• 8:20
  Speaker 2: feel like the flux at quarterback the uncertainty and then
• 8:25
  Speaker 2: now two of being injured I mean how big is
• 8:27
  Speaker 2: that to have an injury to your starting quarterback essentially
• 8:32
  Speaker 2: the eve's eve of the season opener and you already
• 8:37
  Speaker 2: had the guy that you drafted saying he's not ready
• 8:39
  Speaker 2: to play and the only other guy is cooper rush
• 8:43
  Speaker 2: i mean just from you from your thoughts and looking
• 8:46
  Speaker 2: at this and the injury report i mean the falcons
• 8:49
  Speaker 2: kind of are limping into this game wouldn't you say.
• 8:52
  Speaker 5: Yeah, and I mean, what a bad time. You're literally
• 8:57
  Speaker 5: starting the regular season, the games that count, with a
• 9:00
  Speaker 5: number of injuries, guys that are already on IR. And
• 9:05
  Speaker 5: the quarterback thing, you know, not that I'm dismissing it completely,
• 9:09
  Speaker 5: but I truly believe it didn't matter who is named quarterback.
• 9:13
  Speaker 5: They're still going to run their offense through Bijon, rightfully so.
• 9:17
  Speaker 5: Why would you not? But I do think if it's
• 9:20
  Speaker 5: Cooper Rush, Mike McCarthy knows him well. I'm sure he
• 9:23
  Speaker 5: could tell Patrick Graham and that side of the ball
• 9:26
  Speaker 5: some things that he knows from working with him in
• 9:28
  Speaker 5: their time in Dallas together. So it will be interesting
• 9:32
  Speaker 5: to see. Practice reports have not come out yet. I've
• 9:35
  Speaker 5: been feverishly checking my email to see because I think
• 9:39
  Speaker 5: those are going to tell us a lot in terms
• 9:42
  Speaker 5: of availability and what's going to happen in terms of
• 9:45
  Speaker 5: healthy or Slightly healthy bodies on Sunday that we'll be playing.
• 9:50
  Speaker 9: Speaking of healthy bodies, Missy, help me with this.
• 9:55
  Speaker 6: Mike McCarthy has come out and said he's going to
• 9:56
  Speaker 6: limit T.J. Watt's snaps. They kind of want to keep
• 10:00
  Speaker 6: him alive and running and fresh through the season. But
• 10:03
  Speaker 6: I'm looking at a 16-year-old vet in Cam Haywood. That's
• 10:06
  Speaker 6: not the case for him. And what am I getting wrong?
• 10:10
  Speaker 6: How are we limiting T.J.
• 10:11
  Speaker 8: Watt?
• 10:12
  Speaker 6: But the grizzly old vet who me and Max was
• 10:14
  Speaker 6: on the team with in Cam Haywood, is told, no,
• 10:17
  Speaker 6: you're going to go out there, your reps are going
• 10:19
  Speaker 6: to be your reps, give them hell, big fella, we
• 10:20
  Speaker 6: love you.
• 10:21
  Speaker 9: And I'm like, how is T.J.
• 10:23
  Speaker 6: Watt and Cam Haywood not on the same snap count,
• 10:28
  Speaker 6: if you will?
• 10:29
  Speaker 9: What am I missing there, Missy?
• 10:32
  Speaker 5: Well, I mean, I think the Nick Herbig contract and
• 10:35
  Speaker 5: the fact that he was listed quote-unquote as a starter
• 10:39
  Speaker 5: on the first official depth chart, Mike McCarthy said, take
• 10:42
  Speaker 5: it with a grain of salt, but I do think
• 10:45
  Speaker 5: they must believe that rotating an outside linebacker a lot,
• 10:48
  Speaker 5: you can't forget about Jack Sawyer, that that will be
• 10:51
  Speaker 5: the key to keeping everybody healthy, keeping people fresh, getting
• 10:55
  Speaker 5: the most out of them. I think Mike McCarthy even
• 10:58
  Speaker 5: said at one point during training camp, DJ Watts, like
• 11:01
  Speaker 5: that crazy guy who gives like 100% on every snap.
• 11:05
  Speaker 5: So maybe their theory is you can't do that for
• 11:08
  Speaker 5: so long before you need a break. And that's no
• 11:12
  Speaker 5: slight to TJ. He is conditioned. We know that he
• 11:14
  Speaker 5: eats like the same thing every day. He's very, you know,
• 11:18
  Speaker 5: religious about what he puts in his body, how he
• 11:20
  Speaker 5: takes care of it. But maybe the coaching staff just
• 11:23
  Speaker 5: thinks slightly different in terms of that. Now, I will
• 11:26
  Speaker 5: say when you brought up Cam, it was making me
• 11:29
  Speaker 5: think of the one day in training camp when Troy
• 11:32
  Speaker 5: Palomalu didn't practice and somebody asked coach Tomlin about it.
• 11:35
  Speaker 5: And he said, contusion of the birth certificate. He just
• 11:40
  Speaker 5: needs a day off guys, you know, like it is
• 11:43
  Speaker 5: what it is.
• 11:43
  Speaker 4: So maybe I, I do think with Omar Khan and
• 11:49
  Speaker 4: Andy Weidel investing so much in the big guys, whether
• 11:53
  Speaker 4: it's offense or defense specifically on defense, like you got
• 11:56
  Speaker 4: some young up.
• 11:56
  Speaker 5: And comers there, Keanu Benson got a new extension and,
• 12:00
  Speaker 5: Look at what Derek Harmon did, why a black, you know,
• 12:03
  Speaker 5: he is seeming to be thriving when they put him
• 12:06
  Speaker 5: at nose. So it'll be interesting to see if that
• 12:10
  Speaker 5: stays the same. I also, you know, you guys know Cam,
• 12:15
  Speaker 5: he's one of those guys that like, you could probably
• 12:16
  Speaker 5: tell him to come off the field and he's like
• 12:19
  Speaker 5: pretending like he's looking somewhere else and can't hear a
• 12:22
  Speaker 5: word you're saying. So I don't know. I think it'll
• 12:24
  Speaker 5: be interesting to kind of, you know, break down those
• 12:27
  Speaker 5: snap towns, not just after this first game, but probably
• 12:30
  Speaker 5: the first four or five where you're like, okay, here's
• 12:33
  Speaker 5: kind of what this coaching staff is thinking and what
• 12:35
  Speaker 5: their plan is. And I'm sure it can also change
• 12:38
  Speaker 5: due to injuries and opponents. But definitely, you know, there's
• 12:42
  Speaker 5: no shortage of things to look for and watch and
• 12:46
  Speaker 5: break down with this team.
• 12:49
  Speaker 7: So, by the way, I do think they're going to
• 12:51
  Speaker 7: rotate at least the top five guys more than maybe
• 12:55
  Speaker 7: they're letting on. But I used to wonder this. You
• 12:57
  Speaker 7: guys were teammates with Casey Hampton. who I would have
• 13:00
  Speaker 7: loved to have seen more out there in pass rush situations. But, well, Max,
• 13:06
  Speaker 7: you were, right? Willie, were you teammates with Casey Hampton?
• 13:08
  Speaker 8: I can't remember.
• 13:08
  Speaker 5: Yeah.
• 13:10
  Speaker 3: Okay.
• 13:10
  Speaker 7: So I always thought, what's harder for Casey Hampton, to
• 13:14
  Speaker 7: stay in and get a snap or have to sprint
• 13:17
  Speaker 7: 35 yards to the sideline, you know, get a quick
• 13:20
  Speaker 7: drink of water, and then they pick up a first
• 13:22
  Speaker 7: down and you've got to sprint 35 yards back onto
• 13:24
  Speaker 7: the field to play nose tackle on first and tenth?
• 13:27
  Speaker 8: So I don't know. I just just throw it out.
• 13:29
  Speaker 9: That's that's it. That's an easy question. The hardest thing
• 13:31
  Speaker 9: for Casey Hampton was his ability to put on his cleats.
• 13:35
  Speaker 9: That's all. Everything else you do. It was if you
• 13:40
  Speaker 9: ever watch Hampton on his cleats, that gave him hell.
• 13:43
  Speaker 9: It was like.
• 13:44
  Speaker 2: He was choking himself, like he was cutting off all circulation.
• 13:49
  Speaker 8: It was not anymore. He's skinny.
• 13:50
  Speaker 9: He is.
• 13:50
  Speaker 3: Oh, yeah, it was hell.
• 13:56
  Speaker 8: Yeah, he looks great. So Missy, I did want to
• 13:59
  Speaker 8: ask you this.
• 14:00
  Speaker 7: I do think, and I think this might be the
• 14:03
  Speaker 7: last question we have time for, but I do think that, look,
• 14:06
  Speaker 7: Mike McCarthy was hired last January. He's gone through the
• 14:10
  Speaker 7: hiring practice of the coaches, the OTAs. He's gone to
• 14:13
  Speaker 7: the diners and been on the streets of Pittsburgh and
• 14:15
  Speaker 7: seen people. He's coached a couple of preseason games at
• 14:19
  Speaker 7: Accresure Stadium. All that having been said, and I know
• 14:23
  Speaker 7: coaches are like completely focused. Sometimes you get the 10,000-yard
• 14:27
  Speaker 7: stare when you see a guy on game day. But
• 14:30
  Speaker 7: I've got to believe that his emotions will be running
• 14:33
  Speaker 7: high when he runs to the tunnel on Sunday.
• 14:35
  Speaker 8: Got to believe it.
• 14:37
  Speaker 5: Yeah, I think so. But I do agree with him
• 14:41
  Speaker 5: in the sense that you could tell a difference in
• 14:43
  Speaker 5: him from the first preseason game to the second preseason game.
• 14:48
  Speaker 5: That Band-Aid's kind of been ripped off. Of course, it's
• 14:50
  Speaker 5: not the real thing. And, you know, maybe it's even
• 14:54
  Speaker 5: like reuniting with Aaron Rodgers again and like an official capacity.
• 14:58
  Speaker 5: It's been a while as they both keep saying, but
• 15:01
  Speaker 5: Mike McCarthy has said every time he spoke this week,
• 15:04
  Speaker 5: the honeymoon is over. His whole thing is like, we've
• 15:08
  Speaker 5: done all of that. We understand the logistics of the stadium.
• 15:11
  Speaker 5: We understand where people park, how they get on the field.
• 15:15
  Speaker 5: What time do we want the team going out for warmups?
• 15:18
  Speaker 5: I think when you, get rid of those things that
• 15:20
  Speaker 5: you would potentially only, you know, know from going through
• 15:24
  Speaker 5: the process, but getting to do it twice, I think
• 15:26
  Speaker 5: they learned a lot and you know how detailed he is,
• 15:30
  Speaker 5: but I would have to imagine, like, I even just
• 15:33
  Speaker 5: keep thinking about the national anthem being that today is
• 15:35
  Speaker 5: nine 11, just thinking about so many different things. Maybe
• 15:39
  Speaker 5: that's the moment, or maybe it's a quiet drive into
• 15:42
  Speaker 5: the stadium. I'm sure at some point, he's going to
• 15:45
  Speaker 5: be like, Holy crap. Like I'm doing this, you know,
• 15:49
  Speaker 5: but I think as a head coach, he's just been
• 15:52
  Speaker 5: pulled in a thousand directions, trying to make decisions and
• 15:55
  Speaker 5: delegating to just get to this point. So maybe this
• 15:58
  Speaker 5: is where he can kind of like, Ooh, all right,
• 16:01
  Speaker 5: let's do this.
• 16:03
  Speaker 8: Missy Matthews.
• 16:04
  Speaker 7: So Missy, I'm going to keep that extra piece of
• 16:06
  Speaker 7: toast off my plate on, on a Sunday morning for breakfast.
• 16:09
  Speaker 8: Is that true? A little Oakmont delivery coming to the– Oh, Missy.
• 16:14
  Speaker 5: I'm going to be picking up a cookie cake and
• 16:17
  Speaker 5: maybe some donut holes because, I mean, why not, right?
• 16:21
  Speaker 5: It's morning time.
• 16:22
  Speaker 8: It's morning time. We're going to be celebrating.
• 16:24
  Speaker 2: And there's always room for cake, and especially a cookie cake.
• 16:28
  Speaker 3: There's always room.
• 16:28
  Speaker 5: That's right.
• 16:29
  Speaker 8: Missy, thank you so much. Can't wait to see you
• 16:31
  Speaker 8: on Sunday.
• 16:32
  Speaker 5: All right, guys. Have a great day. See you, Willie.
• 16:36
  Speaker 6: All right.
• 16:36
  Speaker 9: Have a good one.
• 16:37
  Speaker 8: Thanks, Missy.
• 16:38
  Speaker 7: Missy Matthews joining us in the locker room, going to
• 16:41
  Speaker 7: break down some of the more key matchups in this game,
• 16:44
  Speaker 7: or more of the key matchups in this game, as
• 16:46
  Speaker 7: we continue to get you ready for the Steelers and
• 16:48
  Speaker 7: Falcons on Sunday here in the locker room on the
• 16:50
  Speaker 7: Steelers Audio Network.
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: This is In the Locker Room with Rob King, Max Starks,
• 17:06
  Speaker 1: and Willie Colon on Steelers Nation Radio. Brought to you
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: in part by the Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop.steelers.com.
• 17:17
  Speaker 3: And by your.
• 17:18
  Speaker 1: Neighborhood Ford store. The F-150 is the official truck of
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: the Pittsburgh Steelers.
• 17:24
  Speaker 8: And welcome back inside the locker room. I'm going to
• 17:26
  Speaker 8: complete the Falcons. We talked about the offensive line play.
• 17:29
  Speaker 8: They've got a really good offensive line. We talked a
• 17:31
  Speaker 8: little bit about B. John Robinson.
• 17:32
  Speaker 7: You know, he's one of those guys that, you know,
• 17:35
  Speaker 7: you think, okay, pretty good job on first down. And
• 17:38
  Speaker 7: you look up, wait a minute, second and four? He
• 17:40
  Speaker 7: really got six yards there? He's just one of those guys.
• 17:43
  Speaker 7: But they also have to worry about Pitts in London.
• 17:46
  Speaker 7: And I think, Willie, maybe in particular, I might be looking,
• 17:50
  Speaker 7: and no slight on Drake London. They have Dotson and
• 17:53
  Speaker 7: Zaccheaus they brought in. They have Zachariah Branch as a
• 17:56
  Speaker 7: rookie receiver. He could be dangerous in the return game.
• 17:59
  Speaker 7: No offense on London. I think the Steelers have some
• 18:01
  Speaker 7: good guys on the outside, big guys that can handle
• 18:04
  Speaker 7: a big target like London. When you think about a
• 18:07
  Speaker 7: Stefanski offense and wanting to involve the tight end, I
• 18:10
  Speaker 7: think next to B. John Robinson, I think Kyle Pitts
• 18:13
  Speaker 7: might be the guy. I think if I'm the Steelers,
• 18:15
  Speaker 7: I'm most concerned about limiting in the game on Sunday.
• 18:19
  Speaker 9: Yeah, because he puts so.
• 18:20
  Speaker 6: Much stress on safety, right, because of his 6'5 frame.
• 18:24
  Speaker 6: I think he's about 275 pounds, maybe a little less
• 18:26
  Speaker 6: than that.
• 18:26
  Speaker 3: I could be wrong.
• 18:28
  Speaker 6: Yeah, probably am wrong about his weight. But nevertheless, man,
• 18:31
  Speaker 6: his ability to stretch the seams. And, you know, believe
• 18:34
  Speaker 6: it or not, man, he can go up and get
• 18:37
  Speaker 6: the football when needed. And so he's such a mismatch
• 18:40
  Speaker 6: in that regard. And if you're talking about one of
• 18:43
  Speaker 6: the things that the Steelers need to do better, is
• 18:46
  Speaker 6: being able to stand up stronger in the red zone.
• 18:48
  Speaker 6: You know, he's a legit red zone threat, especially when
• 18:51
  Speaker 6: they get him in motion, they isolate him on, you know, linebackers. Like,
• 18:56
  Speaker 6: he can just cause hell. And what Kevin Stefanski likes
• 18:58
  Speaker 6: to do, especially in the red zone, he likes to
• 19:00
  Speaker 6: flood the back of the red zone, right? And so
• 19:03
  Speaker 6: that leads opportunity to throw jump balls to big guys
• 19:06
  Speaker 6: like him, for him to kind of be, you know, play,
• 19:09
  Speaker 6: if lack of better words, he can play Shaq basketball.
• 19:12
  Speaker 9: He can just get in, you know, post up a D.B.,
• 19:14
  Speaker 9: go up and get it in touchdowns.
• 19:15
  Speaker 6: So it's a situation where the Steelers have to be
• 19:19
  Speaker 6: able to communicate. Then they're going to have to really
• 19:21
  Speaker 6: understand that when he's out there, man, especially when you're
• 19:24
  Speaker 6: in between the 20s, he can tell you up in
• 19:26
  Speaker 6: the middle of the field. So I think Kyle Pitts,
• 19:31
  Speaker 6: he hasn't really become like that elite, like we've seen
• 19:34
  Speaker 6: him become. But I thought towards the back in the
• 19:37
  Speaker 6: last year, he really started picking up. And this year
• 19:40
  Speaker 6: could be a whole different thing. We know what David
• 19:42
  Speaker 6: Njoku looked like in Kevin Stefanski's offense. Kyle Pitts can
• 19:46
  Speaker 6: have a resurgence this year, and it may start with
• 19:49
  Speaker 6: Pittsburgh Steelers, but they're not on their piece against Max.
• 19:52
  Speaker 7: 6'6, 250, he's a big guy. Better hands, I think,
• 19:55
  Speaker 7: than Njoku, who's always susceptible to drops. He's eighth overall pick.
• 19:59
  Speaker 7: He had 88 catches last year. Max, I think he's
• 20:03
  Speaker 7: a guy to keep.
• 20:03
  Speaker 8: An eye on.
• 20:05
  Speaker 2: Yeah, so Kyle's one of my kids from Florida. And
• 20:10
  Speaker 2: at UF, and I know people, when you mention it,
• 20:14
  Speaker 2: it's almost like mentioning like Voldemort, right?
• 20:16
  Speaker 3: From Harry Potter. When you mentioned the guy that I'm
• 20:19
  Speaker 3: about to make the comparison to, he gives you Aaron
• 20:21
  Speaker 3: Hernandez vibes.
• 20:24
  Speaker 2: As far as his skill set on the field, like
• 20:26
  Speaker 2: he's a guy that can play detached. He can play
• 20:28
  Speaker 2: on the line of scrimmage. He has an athleticism about him.
• 20:31
  Speaker 2: Like you said, basketball-esque on the football field. And his
• 20:36
  Speaker 2: first and second year, You know, he was unstoppable. Like, oh, shoot,
• 20:40
  Speaker 2: this is a number eight overall pick. And then kind
• 20:42
  Speaker 2: of with Arthur Smith, it kind of soured.
• 20:45
  Speaker 9: I don't know what it was.
• 20:46
  Speaker 3: Got in the doghouse. Wasn't really effective.
• 20:48
  Speaker 2: And then you saw, like Willie said, he had probably
• 20:52
  Speaker 2: one of the greatest stat lines towards the.
• 20:55
  Speaker 3: End of the season last year.
• 20:56
  Speaker 2: In fact, you know, full transparency here, I was going
• 21:00
  Speaker 2: up against.
• 21:01
  Speaker 3: Him in fantasy. And it was. I've known him since
• 21:09
  Speaker 3: he was a sophomore in college, and he's an effective guy.
• 21:14
  Speaker 2: And I think, like you guys pointed out, Stefanski loves
• 21:17
  Speaker 2: his tight ends, and he could fall in love very
• 21:19
  Speaker 2: easily with him. And I think having him and Austin
• 21:23
  Speaker 2: in that 12 personnel, that's going to put a lot
• 21:25
  Speaker 2: of stress on our safeties.
• 21:27
  Speaker 7: Okay, so let's talk about the Steelers' offense and the Falcons' defense.
• 21:32
  Speaker 7: And I want to start again on the offensive line
• 21:34
  Speaker 7: because just like I think– It's the opposite, really. I
• 21:39
  Speaker 7: think that the defensive line of the Steelers and the
• 21:41
  Speaker 7: offensive line of the Falcons is a matchup of strength
• 21:43
  Speaker 7: on strength. I think for the Steelers, the offensive line,
• 21:47
  Speaker 7: let's be honest, there's some uncertainty there. You've taken two
• 21:49
  Speaker 7: very good guys, moved them from the right side to
• 21:51
  Speaker 7: the left side. We know Zach Frazier's an outstanding center,
• 21:55
  Speaker 7: probably on the verge of being a Pro Bowl kind
• 21:57
  Speaker 7: of guy. Question marks on the right side. If I
• 22:00
  Speaker 7: was going to look at the weakness of this Falcons defense,
• 22:05
  Speaker 7: it would be.
• 22:07
  Speaker 7: It would be that front five for them, especially with
• 22:11
  Speaker 7: the injuries that they have. Well, the injury and its
• 22:13
  Speaker 7: suspension to Pierce on the edge rusher, top two edge
• 22:16
  Speaker 7: rushers from a year ago, one injured, one suspended. They
• 22:20
  Speaker 7: won't play this week. They brought in Z'Darrius Smith. He
• 22:23
  Speaker 7: shows up on the injured list yesterday. But I just
• 22:27
  Speaker 7: think that much like I'm excited about two heavyweight contenders
• 22:31
  Speaker 7: going at it, O-line, D-line, Falcon Steelers, I think this
• 22:36
  Speaker 7: is okay. probably a good way for this offensive line
• 22:39
  Speaker 7: to kind of ease into the season, Max, because I
• 22:43
  Speaker 7: think that front five, call it the front seven for
• 22:46
  Speaker 7: the Falcons, I think their back end is really good.
• 22:49
  Speaker 7: I think their front seven has some big question marks.
• 22:54
  Speaker 3: They do. No James Pierce.
• 22:57
  Speaker 2: That's ten and a half sacks that you have missing.
• 23:00
  Speaker 3: From a year ago.
• 23:03
  Speaker 2: You brought in a Cam Thomas, Samson Ebicon, is another
• 23:08
  Speaker 2: guy that you brought in. We know Cam Thomas from
• 23:11
  Speaker 2: his days in Cleveland. They also, you know, claimed Jared
• 23:16
  Speaker 2: Ivey right at the end of preseason because they knew
• 23:19
  Speaker 2: they needed some pass rush. I mean, that's going to
• 23:22
  Speaker 2: be the biggest thing is I don't know where the
• 23:24
  Speaker 2: pass rush is going to come from for this squad.
• 23:26
  Speaker 3: And then in the middle, I mean, you got some
• 23:28
  Speaker 3: okay guys.
• 23:29
  Speaker 2: You know, Brandon Dorlis is a guy, you know, that
• 23:33
  Speaker 2: has eight and a half sacks, but I think isn't he.
• 23:35
  Speaker 3: The one It.
• 23:46
  Speaker 9: Went out again, Max.
• 23:47
  Speaker 8: Max, you have to say it again. You have to
• 23:51
  Speaker 8: repeat yourself.
• 23:52
  Speaker 3: Okay, can you hear me now?
• 23:54
  Speaker 7: We can hear you, but you're talking about Brandon Dorlis.
• 23:56
  Speaker 7: And by the way, Dorlis and they brought in Jervon
• 24:01
  Speaker 7: Dexter from the Bears into trade. Both those guys are
• 24:04
  Speaker 7: big guys, but they're both better. I think they're both
• 24:06
  Speaker 7: considered better pass rushers than they are run defenders. But
• 24:10
  Speaker 7: that's going to stress those young guys, right? Those guys
• 24:13
  Speaker 7: are good pass rushers. They're big, beefy, good pass rushing
• 24:16
  Speaker 7: type of guys.
• 24:18
  Speaker 2: Yeah, but they're going to be playing, if they're going 3-4,
• 24:22
  Speaker 2: they're going to be the Cam Hayward, Derek Harmon type.
• 24:25
  Speaker 2: So they're going to be a lot more removed versus
• 24:27
  Speaker 2: the traditional five techniques. So I think that kind of
• 24:31
  Speaker 2: changes what they can and can't do. Now, granted, they
• 24:35
  Speaker 2: could come out and say, because we don't have pass rush,
• 24:37
  Speaker 2: we go down to a 4-2 nickel.
• 24:39
  Speaker 3: They could easily do that so they can get.
• 24:40
  Speaker 2: Them more 5-5 technique work.
• 24:44
  Speaker 3: But as the.
• 24:45
  Speaker 2: Structure looks in this 3-4 style system, that's where I question,
• 24:50
  Speaker 2: can they make that true transition? You know, because Ulbricht
• 24:54
  Speaker 2: has a 3-4 background. And if we're going to come
• 24:58
  Speaker 2: in and play 12 personnel, you play base. Like, they're
• 25:02
  Speaker 2: not going to go and all of a sudden become
• 25:04
  Speaker 2: a four-down team. I mean, you have Divine Diablo back
• 25:07
  Speaker 2: there at the inside backer and Kendall Daniels, but Kendall
• 25:10
  Speaker 2: Daniels is a rookie. So, you know, how much do
• 25:14
  Speaker 2: you want to really stress them in a 4-2 situation?
• 25:17
  Speaker 2: I think they stick to that 3-4 structure, but there's
• 25:19
  Speaker 2: just not a lot of production on the outside. So
• 25:21
  Speaker 2: it's going to be really imperative for the offensive line
• 25:25
  Speaker 2: to stick on those double teams, especially against Dorlis and
• 25:28
  Speaker 2: especially against Dexter. to make sure that they're sewing that
• 25:31
  Speaker 2: up and creating issues and havoc so that Rico Dotto
• 25:34
  Speaker 2: and Jalen Warren can really work that. Because I think
• 25:37
  Speaker 2: this is an area where if you talk about, hey,
• 25:39
  Speaker 2: we need to establish running the football, this is a
• 25:40
  Speaker 2: team that you want to try and do that.
• 25:42
  Speaker 3: It's a solid front, but it's not a great front.
• 25:45
  Speaker 8: Willie, I think they'll be able to run the football.
• 25:48
  Speaker 7: The one thing I think the game within the game,
• 25:50
  Speaker 7: when you talk about schematics, we talked about how you
• 25:52
  Speaker 7: can throw some of the stuff out the window because
• 25:54
  Speaker 7: they have new head coaches. Jeff Ulbrich, throws a ton
• 25:59
  Speaker 7: of blitzes out there. That's how they got... Look, those
• 26:02
  Speaker 7: guys had a lot of sacks, but he brought the
• 26:04
  Speaker 7: kitchen sink again and again and again.
• 26:07
  Speaker 8: That's how he... Yes, those two rookies were very good,
• 26:11
  Speaker 8: but they changed the scheme a lot.
• 26:13
  Speaker 7: Now, Aaron Rodgers, teams don't want to blitz him because
• 26:17
  Speaker 7: he's so good at diagnosing it and so good at
• 26:19
  Speaker 7: burning you. I will be really interested at the end
• 26:22
  Speaker 7: of this game to see whether Ulbricht sticks to that
• 26:25
  Speaker 7: high blitz percentage or... backs off a little bit because
• 26:29
  Speaker 7: of who he's facing at the quarterback position.
• 26:32
  Speaker 9: Well, I think you're spot on.
• 26:34
  Speaker 6: I think it comes down to situational football. I think
• 26:37
  Speaker 6: it also comes down to how effective can they rush
• 26:42
  Speaker 6: without blitzing. If they feel that that front four can
• 26:45
  Speaker 6: get home and put pressure on Aaron Rodgers and collapse him,
• 26:50
  Speaker 6: then I think he's going to dial back and try
• 26:52
  Speaker 6: to protect on the back end, especially with a– because
• 26:55
  Speaker 6: the strength of their defense is their secondary. and if
• 26:58
  Speaker 6: you're talking about Michael Pittman, you're talking about D.K. McAfee,
• 27:01
  Speaker 6: you're talking about Jeremy Bernard, one of the things they
• 27:04
  Speaker 6: want to do is be able to limit.
• 27:06
  Speaker 9: If you're able to erase D.K.
• 27:08
  Speaker 6: And now put a lot of onus on Pittman to
• 27:10
  Speaker 6: be that guy, well, that's a lot of stress on
• 27:13
  Speaker 6: the Steelers' offense. So the goal is about temperament. Can
• 27:17
  Speaker 6: that four, no matter who it is, be able to
• 27:19
  Speaker 6: get home to Aaron Rodgers? If they can't, then they're
• 27:22
  Speaker 6: going to have a lot of disguised blitzes. issue with that,
• 27:26
  Speaker 6: and not to kind of beat a dead horse, is
• 27:28
  Speaker 6: when you talk about a new five-star, one of the
• 27:31
  Speaker 6: things that you miss is one of the things they
• 27:34
  Speaker 6: will lack, excuse me, is the communication standpoint. Being able
• 27:37
  Speaker 6: to see five guys seeing all five, excuse me, having
• 27:41
  Speaker 6: five guys seeing the same thing at the same time,
• 27:44
  Speaker 6: instead of individual guys trying to do their best part
• 27:48
  Speaker 6: in identifying things coming from all over the place, because
• 27:51
  Speaker 6: that's where miscommunication comes from, that's where the lack of confidence,
• 27:54
  Speaker 6: and that's when Aaron We'll get antsy, right? He's at
• 27:57
  Speaker 6: the age of 42 where you know he's not taking
• 27:59
  Speaker 6: hits no more. The ball is going to come out
• 28:01
  Speaker 6: a lot faster. He's not going to be willing to
• 28:04
  Speaker 6: take the shots down the field. He will dink and
• 28:07
  Speaker 6: dunk you to death. But we also know that those
• 28:11
  Speaker 6: type of games like we've seen last year don't necessarily
• 28:14
  Speaker 6: lead to sevens. Those lead to Chris Boswell's foot showing
• 28:18
  Speaker 6: up for us, kicking field goals and getting out of
• 28:22
  Speaker 6: football games with Ws. That tends to be the still way,
• 28:25
  Speaker 6: but when you get a guy like Mike Carthy, you
• 28:27
  Speaker 6: have the offense that he has, where it has to be,
• 28:30
  Speaker 6: we have to start scoring, right? And so I think
• 28:33
  Speaker 6: it's going to be a lot of pressure on this
• 28:34
  Speaker 6: offensive line to neutralize the front first. If they do blitz,
• 28:39
  Speaker 6: Aaron Rodgers having those answers at the line of scrimmage
• 28:41
  Speaker 6: so he can get the ball out faster. I'm, and
• 28:44
  Speaker 6: I've said this before, I'm really curious to see what
• 28:47
  Speaker 6: the relationship and the dynamic between him and Michael Pittman
• 28:50
  Speaker 6: look like and even D.K., because if those guys are
• 28:54
  Speaker 6: in sync and in line, the Steelers will be fine.
• 28:57
  Speaker 6: If there's a situation where Aaron's not being able to,
• 29:01
  Speaker 6: you know, if those guys aren't able to pick up
• 29:02
  Speaker 6: the cues that Aaron throws at them in the scrimmage,
• 29:04
  Speaker 6: there's mental errors, we're just not seeing things look as smooth,
• 29:08
  Speaker 6: which can happen, right?
• 29:10
  Speaker 9: They didn't have a lot of reps together in the preseason.
• 29:14
  Speaker 6: You know, I'm worried about agitation of Aaron Rodgers and
• 29:17
  Speaker 6: how much that affects our offense.
• 29:20
  Speaker 7: So, Max, I want to ask– I want to follow
• 29:22
  Speaker 7: up on this.
• 29:23
  Speaker 8: Justin, can I follow up on this, or should I
• 29:25
  Speaker 8: take a break? Okay, we're going to follow up on this.
• 29:26
  Speaker 7: So, I think that– I'll be interested to see if
• 29:32
  Speaker 7: they travel A.J. Terrell or what they use. He's clearly
• 29:36
  Speaker 7: their best corner. His younger brother, Avion, was drafted in
• 29:39
  Speaker 7: the second round Looks like he's going to be starting
• 29:41
  Speaker 7: at the nickel position. Leaving the safeties out for a moment,
• 29:45
  Speaker 7: you know, the chess game of can your top corner
• 29:50
  Speaker 7: neutralize the other team's top receiver? I think those are
• 29:53
  Speaker 7: the discussions that are probably happening with Joey Porter in
• 29:55
  Speaker 7: contract negotiations, right?
• 29:57
  Speaker 8: Can you throw a guy out there and say, okay,
• 29:59
  Speaker 8: you're done. You're out. we got you covered. And now
• 30:03
  Speaker 8: if that can happen, now.
• 30:05
  Speaker 7: You're taking Mike Hughes, right, the other corner, and maybe
• 30:08
  Speaker 7: some safety help over the top. Maybe Xavier Watts. Xavier Watts,
• 30:12
  Speaker 7: who had a good rookie year a year ago. And
• 30:14
  Speaker 7: now you can neutralize Pittman, right? Now it comes down
• 30:17
  Speaker 7: to your third wide receiver. And somewhere along the line,
• 30:20
  Speaker 7: when these kind of matchups, either a defense runs out
• 30:23
  Speaker 7: of guys who can cover your receivers, or it's the
• 30:27
  Speaker 7: other way around, right? your receivers, they don't have enough
• 30:31
  Speaker 7: good guys to cover your receivers. So this would be
• 30:34
  Speaker 7: an interesting test right out of the chute to see
• 30:37
  Speaker 7: how Metcalf and Pittman can deal against a very good,
• 30:42
  Speaker 7: solid secondary for the Falcons.
• 30:46
  Speaker 3: Well, now I insert Pat Friermuth and Darnell Washington.
• 30:48
  Speaker 8: If that's the case. That's right. And now Jesse Bates.
• 30:51
  Speaker 8: But now you've got Bates over there, too. He's very good, right?
• 30:55
  Speaker 2: But base is also six foot one Darnell Washington, six
• 30:58
  Speaker 2: foot eight.
• 30:59
  Speaker 3: So I, I, I welcome that, please. You know what,
• 31:03
  Speaker 3: let's do that.
• 31:04
  Speaker 2: And when Willie talked about what, what did you want
• 31:06
  Speaker 2: to see more of Willie middle of the field action?
• 31:09
  Speaker 9: Yeah.
• 31:10
  Speaker 6: Yeah.
• 31:10
  Speaker 2: Leave Jesse Bates on Darnell Washington in the middle of
• 31:14
  Speaker 2: the field.
• 31:14
  Speaker 3: And you'll see, you will see what happens.
• 31:17
  Speaker 2: And then I think when that's the case, if you
• 31:19
  Speaker 2: are going to have some type of zone where you're,
• 31:21
  Speaker 2: bracketing him in the middle of the field on the
• 31:23
  Speaker 2: seams with one of your now linebackers, Divine Diablo.
• 31:26
  Speaker 3: Kendall Daniels. Now what do you do with Jalen Warren
• 31:30
  Speaker 3: or Rico Dowdle out the backfield?
• 31:32
  Speaker 2: This is the one quandary that I think makes the
• 31:36
  Speaker 2: Steelers attractive in these type of matchups is we now
• 31:39
  Speaker 2: have dudes everywhere. So it's like hide your wife, hide
• 31:43
  Speaker 2: your kids. It's like we got something for everything. You
• 31:48
  Speaker 2: can go try and barricade the front door, come.
• 31:50
  Speaker 3: Out the back door. Oh, we're going to get the
• 31:52
  Speaker 3: back door to boom, come through the window. And then
• 31:54
  Speaker 3: if all else fails, come through the chimney, Santa Claus style, right?
• 31:58
  Speaker 3: There's just so many different things that.
• 32:00
  Speaker 2: Have to be attacked at one time that you can't
• 32:05
  Speaker 2: ISO anybody. And I think that's what is going to
• 32:08
  Speaker 2: be interesting. And that's why the relationship matters. If he had,
• 32:10
  Speaker 2: if he gives that one quick slant strike to Michael Pittman, Oh, snap.
• 32:15
  Speaker 2: I got to pay attention to him. I thought the
• 32:18
  Speaker 2: Adonis on the other side looked like chiseled marble and
• 32:20
  Speaker 2: DK Metcalf was an issue. But now I got to
• 32:23
  Speaker 2: deal with Michael Pittman, who's just as adept. Oh, and
• 32:26
  Speaker 2: by the way, God forbid they throw Jeremy Bernard in
• 32:29
  Speaker 2: the slot over Roman Wilson. And then I got the
• 32:32
  Speaker 2: Monstars at three receivers. So there's just so many different matchups.
• 32:36
  Speaker 2: It's almost like an overwhelming type of feeling for Mike
• 32:41
  Speaker 2: McCarthy to have all these weapons everywhere.
• 32:43
  Speaker 3: So that's why it's going to be interesting to get
• 32:45
  Speaker 3: all 11 on the field and look at it.
• 32:47
  Speaker 7: Yeah, and we'll get to more of that. I totally agree.
• 32:50
  Speaker 7: I think Pittman has that trickle-down effect on the roster. And,
• 32:53
  Speaker 7: of course, the other guys are good in their own
• 32:54
  Speaker 7: right as well.
• 32:56
  Speaker 8: Stick around.
• 32:56
  Speaker 7: We're going to get to our keys to the game
• 32:58
  Speaker 7: as the Steelers are getting ready to take on the
• 32:59
  Speaker 7: Falcons when we continue in the locker room here on
• 33:02
  Speaker 7: the Steelers Audio Network.
• 33:09
  Speaker 1: This is In the Locker Room with Rob King, Max Starks,
• 33:13
  Speaker 1: and Willie Colon on Steelers Nation Radio, brought to you
• 33:16
  Speaker 1: in part by the Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
• 33:19
  Speaker 1: from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop.steelers.com.
• 33:24
  Speaker 1: And by your neighborhood Ford store, the F-150 is the
• 33:28
  Speaker 1: official truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
• 33:34
  Speaker 3: Final segment for this week. And we all know what
• 33:40
  Speaker 3: time it is. It's time for the bell laugh. That's right.
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  Speaker 3: Come out the corner, Will. Time to fight. This is
• 33:50
  Speaker 3: the 12th round. Let's go. Last one. Last one. That
• 33:54
  Speaker 3: bell still brings me so much joy. It brings me
• 33:57
  Speaker 3: so much joy.
• 33:58
  Speaker 2: Because I can also see the agitation build in Willie
• 34:02
  Speaker 2: when we get to this.
• 34:03
  Speaker 3: And he knows that bell is coming. There's nothing he
• 34:05
  Speaker 3: can do about it.
• 34:06
  Speaker 7: So, not answering the bell. Not answering the bell. Tua
• 34:11
  Speaker 7: Tungalayo Boa. He is out of the game. He has
• 34:14
  Speaker 7: just been ruled out. So it's going to be Cooper
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  Speaker 7: Rush and Jack Strand is going to be his backup.
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  Speaker 7: Billy Bowman, defensive back, a nickel. Michael Penix, again, we
• 34:28
  Speaker 7: just mentioned him. Cam Williams, all out of the game.
• 34:32
  Speaker 7: Zedarius Smith is questionable. So it's Cooper Rush and Jack
• 34:36
  Speaker 7: Strand at the quarterback position. against the Steelers. So, guys,
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  Speaker 7: this feels eminently more winnable than it did two hours
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  Speaker 7: ago when we were having this question about Tua.
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  Speaker 8: So, let's.
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  Speaker 7: Get to our keys to the game and what we
• 34:55
  Speaker 7: think the Steelers need to do or have go right
• 34:59
  Speaker 7: in order for.
• 35:00
  Speaker 8: Them to win the game.
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  Speaker 3: Stop B.
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  Speaker 9: John.
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  Speaker 3: Stop B.
• 35:06
  Speaker 9: John.
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  Speaker 5: Okay.
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  Speaker 3: Stop Bijan. Stop Bijan.
• 35:10
  Speaker 6: And when in doubt, refer to the first two. Well,
• 35:16
  Speaker 6: I'll say this for me. Offensively, protect Aaron Rodgers. You know,
• 35:21
  Speaker 6: don't make this game harder than it has to be
• 35:23
  Speaker 6: up front for the guys. Obviously, if they can't get
• 35:25
  Speaker 6: home with a fast rush, they're going to try to
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  Speaker 6: light them up.
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  Speaker 9: From a blitz standpoint.
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  Speaker 6: You know how Aaron Rodgers is more than confident enough
• 35:30
  Speaker 6: to pick apart any defense, especially when they did a blitz. Also,
• 35:35
  Speaker 6: establish an identity up front with the five whoever's out there.
• 35:38
  Speaker 6: If it is Dylan Cook, let them boys use their
• 35:43
  Speaker 6: weight and then own the line of scrimmage. One of
• 35:45
  Speaker 6: the things I thought the Patriots did well versus the
• 35:47
  Speaker 6: Seahawks is they understood that in the Super Bowl, that
• 35:51
  Speaker 6: Patriots offensive line gave up six sacks, right? However, going
• 35:55
  Speaker 6: back to this recent game that happened Wednesday, you could
• 35:57
  Speaker 6: tell it was a conscious effort to get that five
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  Speaker 6: fighting early, rolling off the ball, using that weight, kind
• 36:03
  Speaker 6: of dictating how they wanted to play their brand of football.
• 36:06
  Speaker 6: And Drake May was able to kind of, with his legs,
• 36:08
  Speaker 6: keep the offense on time and stabilize the offense. I
• 36:11
  Speaker 6: think with Aaron Rodgers going into this game, you don't
• 36:14
  Speaker 6: want to have a sloppy operation where we're seeing penalties
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  Speaker 6: and all that other stuff.
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  Speaker 9: You want to see the guys up front being able
• 36:19
  Speaker 9: to throw their weight around.
• 36:21
  Speaker 6: And you also want to see them pick apart the Falcons'
• 36:23
  Speaker 6: defense if they dare to blitz.
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  Speaker 9: I think defensively for the Steelers, bottom line, Make hell.
• 36:29
  Speaker 6: Whoever the quarterback is, if this is going to be
• 36:30
  Speaker 6: Cooper Rush, make his day a living hell. You want
• 36:34
  Speaker 6: to see him tap early. Well, the only option is B.
• 36:37
  Speaker 6: John Robinson. They have to pretty much go in full
• 36:39
  Speaker 6: tank mode just to look like a competent outfit out there.
• 36:44
  Speaker 9: Max is right. It comes down to B.
• 36:45
  Speaker 6: John Robinson, but don't sleep on Kyle Pitts and don't
• 36:48
  Speaker 6: sleep on what Drake London can do as well because
• 36:50
  Speaker 6: both of those guys can wake up and bite you
• 36:52
  Speaker 6: in the butt.
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  Speaker 2: Max? Yeah, I think defensively what I want to see is,
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  Speaker 2: I want to see solid tackling.
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  Speaker 9: Right?
• 37:02
  Speaker 3: I want to see solid tackling. Take the ball.
• 37:05
  Speaker 2: You know, because I think when you have a Cooper
• 37:08
  Speaker 2: Rush coming into this, right, this was a Michael Penix,
• 37:11
  Speaker 2: Tua Tonga, Vailoa camp, and Cooper Rush kind of got
• 37:14
  Speaker 2: the leftovers of scraps.
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  Speaker 3: Now you're going into the season, you get to Friday,
• 37:18
  Speaker 3: and Cooper Rush fries out, he's got to start.
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  Speaker 5: So.
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  Speaker 2: there's already going to be a limited focus on the
• 37:25
  Speaker 2: playbook for him to get him through this game. So
• 37:29
  Speaker 2: what you have to do is you're going to have
• 37:31
  Speaker 2: to watch the quick game, watch a lot of 12 personnel.
• 37:35
  Speaker 2: Cause I believe they're going to go more max protect
• 37:37
  Speaker 2: and kind of put those two man routes out there
• 37:40
  Speaker 2: and try and keep these things in a bubble. Cause
• 37:43
  Speaker 2: they know they're working from a disadvantageous position. So yeah,
• 37:47
  Speaker 2: My thing is you've got to own the line of scrimmage,
• 37:50
  Speaker 2: and you've got to tackle. It has to be a
• 37:53
  Speaker 2: group effort when it comes to tackling, and it's got
• 37:56
  Speaker 2: to be led by that linebacker.
• 37:58
  Speaker 3: We talked earlier, Willie.
• 37:59
  Speaker 2: I need to see Peyton Wilson and Patrick Queen holding
• 38:01
  Speaker 2: the torch and leading the soldiers into battle and rallying
• 38:05
  Speaker 2: at every tackle. That's what I need to see defensively.
• 38:10
  Speaker 2: And like I said, Dijon is the key. If you
• 38:12
  Speaker 2: eliminate Dijon, you eliminate a lot of the headaches that
• 38:15
  Speaker 2: can come you know, in this football game. And offensively,
• 38:20
  Speaker 2: establish the run, establish the line of scrimmage. Four new
• 38:24
  Speaker 2: guys playing at positions on that offensive line, establish the
• 38:28
  Speaker 2: line of scrimmage. Establish an identity early. Who do I
• 38:31
  Speaker 2: want to be as an offensive unit and an offensive
• 38:34
  Speaker 2: line more specifically, going into this 2026 season, I want
• 38:39
  Speaker 2: to see some chemistry.
• 38:40
  Speaker 3: I want to see some jelly.
• 38:41
  Speaker 2: I need to see pads clapping, and I need to
• 38:44
  Speaker 2: see guys owning double teams in these situations.
• 38:48
  Speaker 3: And like you said, be opportunistic in the air.
• 38:50
  Speaker 2: I don't think it has to be anything fancy, but
• 38:52
  Speaker 2: they need to be opportunistic in the air, but own
• 38:54
  Speaker 2: the line of scrimmage and make a new line of
• 38:57
  Speaker 2: scrimmage in the run game.
• 38:58
  Speaker 7: So, you know, we have spent more time talking about
• 39:00
  Speaker 7: Mike McCarthy than Patrick Graham, but I'm really interested to
• 39:04
  Speaker 7: see the Steelers' establish an identity defensively. You guys have
• 39:08
  Speaker 7: both touched on it a little bit, but if you
• 39:10
  Speaker 7: look around the league and you see seven, eight guys
• 39:13
  Speaker 7: standing up at the line of scrimmage and some are
• 39:15
  Speaker 7: backing up, some are attacking, some are moving forward, I
• 39:18
  Speaker 7: think we're going to see more of that. I think
• 39:20
  Speaker 7: Patrick Graham wants to attack. Even though the Steelers blitzed
• 39:23
  Speaker 7: a lot last year, I think we're going to see
• 39:25
  Speaker 7: different attack modes from Patrick Graham. So I want to
• 39:28
  Speaker 7: see the template put in place. on defense and that
• 39:32
  Speaker 7: is be aggressive be in attack mode now on offense
• 39:37
  Speaker 7: I'm back and forth on the template because part of
• 39:40
  Speaker 7: me says I don't care if you win two nothing
• 39:42
  Speaker 7: right just so long as you win the game it
• 39:43
  Speaker 7: doesn't matter how you win the game by the same
• 39:45
  Speaker 7: token I'm You've got a new head coach who wants
• 39:47
  Speaker 7: to establish what he wants to do offensively. Now, the
• 39:53
  Speaker 7: only thing is, do you mitigate a little bit of risk?
• 39:56
  Speaker 7: Because it almost feels as we get closer to this
• 39:58
  Speaker 7: game that risk, that bad things happening, a strip sack,
• 40:03
  Speaker 7: a pick six, even though Rodgers doesn't throw a lot
• 40:05
  Speaker 7: of those, that that's the best way for the Falcons
• 40:07
  Speaker 7: to be in this. Something to happen in the return game,
• 40:10
  Speaker 7: a muffed punt, something like that. Do you go into
• 40:12
  Speaker 7: a game thinking you want to mitigate risk, or do
• 40:14
  Speaker 7: you go in and say, I don't care who they are.
• 40:17
  Speaker 7: We're going to establish our style. We're going to do
• 40:19
  Speaker 7: what Mike McCarthy does. We're going to run a lot
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  Speaker 7: of plays, and we're going to come at you fast,
• 40:24
  Speaker 7: and we're going to try to score a lot of points.
• 40:28
  Speaker 6: I want you to, Rob, and I also think we
• 40:30
  Speaker 6: have to know one thing. You don't want to see penalties, right?
• 40:33
  Speaker 6: You want to see this team operate. from a level
• 40:36
  Speaker 6: where they're not constantly hurting themselves because they haven't had
• 40:39
  Speaker 6: a lot of time together. You want to see some
• 40:41
  Speaker 6: form of this team looking like they're ready to play.
• 40:44
  Speaker 6: We talked about the physicality aspect of it, sure. We
• 40:47
  Speaker 6: talked about the operational part of it. But you want
• 40:51
  Speaker 6: to see this team look like they're prepared for the
• 40:54
  Speaker 6: game and not taking the foul as lightly or not
• 40:56
  Speaker 6: being what they need to be right out the gate.
• 40:59
  Speaker 6: So I'm interested to see what Mike McCarthy's office looks like.
• 41:01
  Speaker 6: There's a lot of pressure on Patrick Graham. to unleash
• 41:04
  Speaker 6: these three ninjas and T.J. Watt and Nick Erbig and I.
• 41:08
  Speaker 9: Smith.
• 41:08
  Speaker 6: But I think there's also a lot of pressure for
• 41:10
  Speaker 6: this linebacker corps as a whole, the off-ball, in-ball, on-ball linebackers,
• 41:15
  Speaker 6: to dominate this game because they can. Yeah, the Falcons
• 41:17
  Speaker 6: have a good offense line, but if you're Derek Harmon
• 41:20
  Speaker 6: and Y.A.
• 41:20
  Speaker 9: Black and Cam.
• 41:21
  Speaker 6: Haywood, you have to take the challenge and you have
• 41:24
  Speaker 6: to take the challenge early and set the tone because it's.
• 41:26
  Speaker 9: Going to ultimately be on how you fight off blocks
• 41:30
  Speaker 9: and make an impression in the run game.
• 41:34
  Speaker 6: Y.A.
• 41:34
  Speaker 3: Black needs to play at 6'2, not 6'5. Right. This
• 41:42
  Speaker 3: much lower, and we have a different conversation, right? Don't
• 41:46
  Speaker 3: play so tall. Dig the guy out, please.
• 41:51
  Speaker 2: Make it hard on that Newlands and Bergeron and Lindstrom.
• 41:58
  Speaker 3: Make it tough on them. Make it here, because... I
• 42:02
  Speaker 3: kind of said this throughout training camp. I've said this
• 42:04
  Speaker 3: since Y.A. Black's been here.
• 42:05
  Speaker 2: He is baby Huey. He falls into chaos. He doesn't
• 42:11
  Speaker 2: create it. He's a problem when he just decides, I'm
• 42:16
  Speaker 2: going straight.
• 42:16
  Speaker 3: Let me go. That's what I want to see. I
• 42:19
  Speaker 3: want to see Y.A. Black have a dominating game in
• 42:21
  Speaker 3: the interior.
• 42:22
  Speaker 7: I think if they dominate, it's hard enough right now
• 42:26
  Speaker 7: if you're a Falcons fan.
• 42:26
  Speaker 8: You've got to squint to try to see a victory,
• 42:28
  Speaker 8: I think, right now.
• 42:30
  Speaker 7: It's harder if that defensive line dominates their offensive line.
• 42:34
  Speaker 8: Okay, we're going to make radio history here. Show of hands,
• 42:37
  Speaker 8: who thinks the Steelers are going to win?
• 42:41
  Speaker 7: Justin Miller voted too. So I'm going to translate here.
• 42:44
  Speaker 7: All four of us voted for victory. Okay, so there
• 42:46
  Speaker 7: you go. Radio history right there. We voted by a
• 42:50
  Speaker 7: show of hands on radio. We're very proud of ourselves.
• 42:53
  Speaker 7: For Willie Colon, for Max Starks, Justin Miller at the
• 42:55
  Speaker 7: controls in the iHeartRadio studio.
• 42:57
  Speaker 8: I'm Rob King.
• 42:58
  Speaker 7: Our thanks to Missy Matthews for joining us as well.
• 43:00
  Speaker 7: And we thank you, of course, always for being with
• 43:02
  Speaker 7: us in the locker room here on the Steelers Audio Network.