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HR2: Missi and Alex · In the Locker Room presented by Neighborhood Ford Store (Pittsburgh Steelers)

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: This is In the Locker Room with Rob King, Max Starks,
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: and Willie Colon on Steelers Nation Radio, brought to you
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: in part by the Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop.steelers.com.
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: And by your neighborhood Ford store. The F-150 is the
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: official truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: Snap turns gives to Travion Henderson and he's hit in
• 0:29
  Speaker 2: the backfield track down tackle for loss Alex Highsmith drops
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: him back at the 38 yard line man he is
• 0:38
  Speaker 2: off to a great start Alex Highsmith three sacks four
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: tackles for loss the entire Steelers defense has been excellent
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: thus far you know Mike McCarthy said it after the
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: game on Sunday when you know when you give up
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: 13 points on defense. Of course, the Patriots got 7
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: points by their own defensive score. You've got 13 points.
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: You expect to win the football game. The Steelers' defense,
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: Max has given them 2-0 football. Unfortunately, they're 1-1 right
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: now as they're still waiting for the offense to kind
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: of catch up with that defensive unit. But Alex Highsmith
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: and T.J. Watt among those off to just incredible starts.
• 1:16
  Speaker 3: For the Steelers.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, it's been a fantastic start. I mean, you're throwing.
• 1:20
  Speaker 5: cam hayward doing his best fly swatting impressions in two
• 1:23
  Speaker 5: games uh you've got a good recipe for that front
• 1:27
  Speaker 5: line being able to affect the passer and the runners
• 1:31
  Speaker 5: on the opposite side of the ball and you know
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  Speaker 5: i think that's just a testament to not only the
• 1:36
  Speaker 5: players and their skill but i think the scheme to
• 1:39
  Speaker 5: put them in positions to be successful and that's what
• 1:41
  Speaker 5: patrick graham's done in the first two games of this
• 1:44
  Speaker 5: season is is show them a way that they can
• 1:47
  Speaker 5: be effective and Limited snaps or not, however we want
• 1:51
  Speaker 5: to categorize that, at the end of the day, you're
• 1:55
  Speaker 5: measured by efficiency and effectiveness, and they get top marks
• 1:59
  Speaker 5: in both of those categories.
• 2:02
  Speaker 6: Yeah, I think it pretty much comes down to the Steelers'
• 2:04
  Speaker 6: defense being able to eliminate the Bengals' explosive plays. They
• 2:09
  Speaker 6: live in 12 personnel, and for everybody out there, two
• 2:12
  Speaker 6: tight ends, two receivers. But what they really do well
• 2:15
  Speaker 6: outside of being explosive, they feed their running backs, right?
• 2:18
  Speaker 6: You talk about Chase Brown and Samarja Piran. You know,
• 2:21
  Speaker 6: as much as they hand it off, they get those
• 2:23
  Speaker 6: backs out into the flat and they dump the ball off.
• 2:26
  Speaker 6: So it's going to be imperative to this Steelers defense.
• 2:29
  Speaker 6: We said it last week and it's going to be
• 2:31
  Speaker 6: big for this week. You know, we got to tackle well.
• 2:33
  Speaker 6: We can't allow those guys to get the yards out
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  Speaker 6: to carry. We got to do a good job on
• 2:38
  Speaker 6: third down like we've been able to do. but it's
• 2:41
  Speaker 6: going to be imperative for us to kind of keep
• 2:43
  Speaker 6: everything in front of us and really, really condense Joe Burrow.
• 2:47
  Speaker 6: People got to remember, he was sacked five times in
• 2:50
  Speaker 6: that Houston game, so we know we have the dogs
• 2:52
  Speaker 6: to go hunt, but it comes down to how well
• 2:55
  Speaker 6: we cover and how well we tackle collectively, and as
• 2:58
  Speaker 6: long as we can do that, I think defensively, man,
• 3:01
  Speaker 6: we should have a pretty solid day, Rob.
• 3:04
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, there's a lot of guys to get
• 3:06
  Speaker 3: on the ground.
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: They've got a lot of really good football players, and
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: You know, I don't want to tip my hand on
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: my key, but I'm with you, Willie. You cannot let
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: this team be multidimensional. You've got to take something away
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: from them.
• 3:20
  Speaker 6: You know what?
• 3:22
  Speaker 3: I'm going to go.
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: No, I'm not going to. We're right on my key, man.
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: Max is shaking his head. Don't do it.
• 3:29
  Speaker 4: You said last segment, Rob.
• 3:30
  Speaker 3: I know. You said last segment.
• 3:32
  Speaker 5: I know.
• 3:33
  Speaker 3: I'm just holding the.
• 3:34
  Speaker 5: Accountability train up there.
• 3:35
  Speaker 4: That's all.
• 3:38
  Speaker 3: You guys are hauling me in. I appreciate you guys
• 3:41
  Speaker 3: hauling me in.
• 3:43
  Speaker 2: We also wanted to take a look at some of
• 3:45
  Speaker 2: the key matchups or a game that we're looking forward
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: to this weekend, whether we think it's going to be
• 3:50
  Speaker 2: an upset, whether we have a prediction from around the league.
• 3:55
  Speaker 2: We're going to get to those a little bit later
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: on in the broadcast as well. One of the things
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: also that the Bengals have done, they brought in Dante Myers,
• 4:05
  Speaker 2: who's a Canadian Football League star, who they are hoping
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: is going to be able to give them explosives in
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  Speaker 2: the return game.
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  Speaker 3: And they also have.
• 4:14
  Speaker 2: An excellent kicker in Evan McPherson and a good punter
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  Speaker 2: in Ryan Rico. So as we talk about the special teams, Max,
• 4:22
  Speaker 2: I think one of the things that, you know, I'm
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: glad Mike McCarthy said this, was that the special teams,
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: the coverage units, were.
• 4:27
  Speaker 3: Better against New England. They're going to need to be
• 4:30
  Speaker 3: on it again today.
• 4:31
  Speaker 2: I think it It almost goes without saying, but I
• 4:34
  Speaker 2: do think you have to say it in a game
• 4:35
  Speaker 2: like this. You cannot lose a turnover battle, and you
• 4:39
  Speaker 2: cannot lose a special teams battle in a game like
• 4:41
  Speaker 2: this and expect to win the game.
• 4:44
  Speaker 4: Absolutely. Absolutely.
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  Speaker 5: And, you know, when all things are equal, right, offensive, defense,
• 4:49
  Speaker 5: special teams comes in, and that's your X factor. Like,
• 4:52
  Speaker 5: where are the hidden yards at? Like, it's a big
• 4:55
  Speaker 5: deal on field position. Where do I start this drive?
• 5:00
  Speaker 5: you know, how short or how long of a field
• 5:03
  Speaker 5: is this going to be for the offense or the defense, right? So,
• 5:09
  Speaker 5: you know, you have to be able to create those
• 5:12
  Speaker 5: edges or advantages in these moments, and it starts with
• 5:15
  Speaker 5: your kickoff coverage unit, right? And that's a big starting point, but,
• 5:21
  Speaker 5: you know, punt and punt return, you know, we've been
• 5:24
  Speaker 5: close on a couple of occasions, but You know, that's
• 5:28
  Speaker 5: going to be, can we unlock Caden Legion to be
• 5:31
  Speaker 5: an explosive guy?
• 5:32
  Speaker 4: Because you see, he has a turnover.
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  Speaker 5: In fact, sometimes he's so fast, his feet don't know
• 5:37
  Speaker 5: what his brain is thinking because it's going so fast.
• 5:39
  Speaker 5: It looks like the Roadrunner at times, right? He's falling
• 5:41
  Speaker 5: over his feet. And that's, I want to see him
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  Speaker 5: just unlock. Like, you create the perfect funnel to see
• 5:48
  Speaker 5: what he can do. But also, I'll say this, Robert
• 5:50
  Speaker 5: Spears Jennings has been an absolute missile. in the coverage game.
• 5:55
  Speaker 5: He has been huge at eliminating a lot of those
• 5:58
  Speaker 5: big play opportunities. I mean, you look at the job
• 6:01
  Speaker 5: he did on Marco Jones last week, preventing him when
• 6:05
  Speaker 5: he got.
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  Speaker 4: Him in the crosshairs. It was good night.
• 6:07
  Speaker 5: So just continuing to keep that type of adept play
• 6:12
  Speaker 5: and skill and develop those core four guys is going
• 6:15
  Speaker 5: to be key, and this is going to be a
• 6:16
  Speaker 5: big-time matchup to really do this because I think it's
• 6:19
  Speaker 5: going to be a field position game.
• 6:20
  Speaker 3: And Willie, again, everything's new.
• 6:22
  Speaker 2: We're talking about Patrick Graham on defense. We're talking about
• 6:27
  Speaker 2: Mike McCarthy on offense and of course as the head coach.
• 6:30
  Speaker 2: We're also talking about Danny Crossman. It's a new special teams.
• 6:33
  Speaker 2: It's a different philosophy. Mike Tomlin proved to be willing
• 6:37
  Speaker 2: to keep a guy or two on his roster simply
• 6:40
  Speaker 2: for special teams. Mike McCarthy sort of rejects that notion. Says, look,
• 6:44
  Speaker 2: you've got to be able to help me on four
• 6:45
  Speaker 2: downs to make the team first and then be a
• 6:49
  Speaker 2: contributor on special teams. So, you know, special teams philosophy
• 6:53
  Speaker 2: is also different, and we shouldn't overlook that that's another
• 6:55
  Speaker 2: unit that hopefully, you know, obviously you want every unit
• 6:59
  Speaker 2: to come out looking great, like the defense has been
• 7:02
  Speaker 2: able to do.
• 7:02
  Speaker 3: But sometimes these things take time, and.
• 7:05
  Speaker 2: That's all well and good to say, but this is
• 7:08
  Speaker 2: the kind of game where you can't be the team
• 7:11
  Speaker 2: that's on the short end of that.
• 7:13
  Speaker 6: No, and our punt game is going to have to
• 7:15
  Speaker 6: be stellar. You're talking about the Steelers right now. They
• 7:18
  Speaker 6: average six punts per game. I think they're right in
• 7:21
  Speaker 6: line with Tennessee and Detroit. So, you know, until we
• 7:25
  Speaker 6: get our offense clicking and being more efficient on third down, man,
• 7:28
  Speaker 6: Max is right. Field position is going to be key
• 7:30
  Speaker 6: in this game just because of how explosive the Bengals'
• 7:33
  Speaker 6: offense is. And on top of that, man, you also
• 7:36
  Speaker 6: got to think about Chris Boswell. I just looked this up.
• 7:38
  Speaker 6: Chris Boswell is currently nine field goals, behind Gary Anderson
• 7:42
  Speaker 6: for most of all time is still a history, right?
• 7:44
  Speaker 6: And so you know what Chris right now, he keeps
• 7:47
  Speaker 6: us in a lot of games, but he's looking to
• 7:49
  Speaker 6: break the books, right? But with those field goals, we
• 7:53
  Speaker 6: want to attack some seven. So there's a lot of goals.
• 7:56
  Speaker 6: There's a lot of things out there that we want
• 7:58
  Speaker 6: to hopefully acclaim while we're, you know, during this matchup
• 8:01
  Speaker 6: against the Bengals. But it comes down to field position,
• 8:04
  Speaker 6: comes down to tackling. And really, I think from a
• 8:06
  Speaker 6: special team standpoint, man, we got to start becoming the
• 8:10
  Speaker 6: bullies on the block. And I know that's always been
• 8:13
  Speaker 6: a big factor underneath Danny Smith, being able to get
• 8:16
  Speaker 6: down and cover and shorten the blade of grass. But
• 8:19
  Speaker 6: I think, you know, all hands on deck, the teams
• 8:21
  Speaker 6: that are really winning and having good success is because
• 8:26
  Speaker 6: their special teams are starting to pop off the tape.
• 8:28
  Speaker 6: And we need to see more of that out of
• 8:30
  Speaker 6: the Steelers.
• 8:31
  Speaker 2: You know, one other thing, too, Max, as I look
• 8:33
  Speaker 2: at this game and think about where you attack this
• 8:37
  Speaker 2: Bengals defense. And I'm not saying they're trying to do
• 8:39
  Speaker 2: this on purpose, but, you know, the Steelers certainly, you know,
• 8:43
  Speaker 2: the early 2000s, they would bring pressure to bear. They
• 8:46
  Speaker 2: felt like, hey, if we can get your quarterback on
• 8:49
  Speaker 2: the ground, make him uncomfortable, make it a long day
• 8:53
  Speaker 2: for him, that's going to help everybody around us. Now,
• 8:56
  Speaker 2: of course, you also had excellent linebackers. You had Larry
• 8:59
  Speaker 2: Foote and, you know, James Ferrier, and you had Ike
• 9:02
  Speaker 2: Taylor on the back end. Later you added Troy Polamalu
• 9:05
  Speaker 2: on the back end. You had great players. I'm not
• 9:07
  Speaker 2: saying the Bengals had the same amount of great players.
• 9:11
  Speaker 2: But when you think about where would you attack this team? Well,
• 9:15
  Speaker 2: maybe you want to attack that second corner. I think
• 9:16
  Speaker 2: Brian Cook, we haven't talked a whole lot about coming
• 9:19
  Speaker 2: over from Kansas City, solidifies their safety position a little
• 9:23
  Speaker 2: bit along with Jordan Battle. But maybe you want to
• 9:26
  Speaker 2: attack that second corner. Maybe Aaron Rodgers can manipulate these
• 9:32
  Speaker 2: young inside linebackers, both second-year guys in Demetrius Knight and
• 9:35
  Speaker 2: Barrett Carter. You've got a veteran in Aaron Rodgers. And
• 9:39
  Speaker 2: a lot is asked of off-the-ball linebackers. They have to
• 9:42
  Speaker 2: be able to accomplish a lot. But I still just
• 9:46
  Speaker 2: get back to this, that it's all well and good
• 9:48
  Speaker 2: to say, hey, let's do this. But when you've got
• 9:50
  Speaker 2: Boye Mafe creating 10 pressures a game, when you've got
• 9:54
  Speaker 2: the pass rush leading the league in sacks, they're making
• 9:59
  Speaker 2: it very, very difficult for teams to try to exploit
• 10:03
  Speaker 2: what might be their weaknesses or might just be– and
• 10:06
  Speaker 2: I'm not even saying– when I'm not talking about weak players,
• 10:09
  Speaker 2: I'm just talking about where you might want to attack
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: this team. And so, Willie, I mean, the first thing
• 10:15
  Speaker 2: you've got to do is you have to be able to–
• 10:17
  Speaker 2: protect Aaron Rodgers, and that begins up front, and that
• 10:21
  Speaker 2: front four is not going to make it easy to
• 10:23
  Speaker 2: exploit any weaknesses we think they might be able to have,
• 10:26
  Speaker 2: like using the tight ends.
• 10:29
  Speaker 6: Yeah, I think it comes down, you know, when it
• 10:31
  Speaker 6: comes down to attacking the Bengals' defense, it's tempo, right?
• 10:36
  Speaker 6: I think Aaron Rodgers is one of the best quarterbacks
• 10:39
  Speaker 6: of predicting when to pick it up and when to
• 10:41
  Speaker 6: kind of stay steady, and I think when you have...
• 10:45
  Speaker 6: a team when you have a defensive line like the
• 10:48
  Speaker 6: bangles do who want to get after quarterback you know
• 10:50
  Speaker 6: they want to be playing heavy um and they want
• 10:53
  Speaker 6: to kind of come at you in different ways it's
• 10:56
  Speaker 6: all about tempo and it's about aaron rogers ability to
• 10:59
  Speaker 6: have the answers at the line of scrimmage but also
• 11:01
  Speaker 6: getting the ball out of his hands quick which we
• 11:02
  Speaker 6: know he's capable of doing but i think when you
• 11:05
  Speaker 6: as you continue to attack the defense man a lot
• 11:08
  Speaker 6: of those guys you know they if you can keep
• 11:11
  Speaker 6: those big guys on the field and getting the ball
• 11:14
  Speaker 6: out of your hand and getting explosive plays out on
• 11:16
  Speaker 6: the flat where, you know, we're dumping it off to
• 11:18
  Speaker 6: Jalen Warren, where we were hitting, you know, Fairmouth or
• 11:23
  Speaker 6: Donnell Washington in the seams, or, you know, if they
• 11:25
  Speaker 6: choose to play a lot of nickel where we're kind
• 11:27
  Speaker 6: of having, allowing our big titles to be mismatched nightmares
• 11:30
  Speaker 6: for their linebacker quarter and safeties. Now you're talking about
• 11:34
  Speaker 6: us dictating what we want to do to them instead
• 11:36
  Speaker 6: of them kind of saying, all right, we're going to
• 11:38
  Speaker 6: keep them locked in by erasing DK or we're playing
• 11:41
  Speaker 6: a lot of dime or maybe throwing an extra DB
• 11:43
  Speaker 6: on the field where we can kind of have an
• 11:45
  Speaker 6: extra guy for the run because we know that's what
• 11:47
  Speaker 6: the Steelers want to do. They want to establish the run.
• 11:50
  Speaker 6: But overall, man, it comes down to tempo, being a
• 11:54
  Speaker 6: lot better on third down, which the Steelers haven't been
• 11:56
  Speaker 6: as of late, and really understanding who are our playmakers, right?
• 12:01
  Speaker 6: Our playmakers right now, to your point, Rob, and I'm
• 12:04
  Speaker 6: glad you called out Michael Pittman because of the game
• 12:05
  Speaker 6: he had against the Falcons, You know, if he's able
• 12:07
  Speaker 6: to play and he's healthy, he's a playmaker for us.
• 12:10
  Speaker 6: Jalen Warren, you know he's a playmaker for us. We've
• 12:12
  Speaker 6: got to get Rico Donald going. But also, you're talking
• 12:14
  Speaker 6: about our tight ends between Faramuth and Darnell Washington. And
• 12:18
  Speaker 6: once again, you know, Jerry Meade, Bernard, we've got to
• 12:20
  Speaker 6: get that. If we can get that kind of synergy going,
• 12:24
  Speaker 6: it only pays well for the Steelers. So it's about
• 12:28
  Speaker 6: attacking their secondary, but understanding kind of the weight of
• 12:32
  Speaker 6: their defense, that face of their defense is that front four.
• 12:35
  Speaker 6: So You know, for our offensive line, you know, we've
• 12:38
  Speaker 6: been talking about it all week. It's a big matchup
• 12:40
  Speaker 6: for them, you know, especially with dealing with some of
• 12:41
  Speaker 6: the injuries we have. We talked about Spencer Anderson. Troy
• 12:44
  Speaker 6: Furtado's going through something. But collectively, that five is going
• 12:48
  Speaker 6: to have to figure it out because in the Bengals' mind,
• 12:51
  Speaker 6: you know, the Steelers aren't already running the ball. The
• 12:54
  Speaker 6: next thing up is about getting to Aaron Rodgers. So
• 12:56
  Speaker 6: they're going to dial up some blitzes, and they're going
• 12:58
  Speaker 6: to have some pressure packages, and they want to make
• 13:02
  Speaker 6: it hell for Aaron Rodgers because, like, Rob, you said
• 13:04
  Speaker 6: some early this week, You know, teams are going to
• 13:06
  Speaker 6: continue to do the same thing until you fix it.
• 13:09
  Speaker 6: And the Bengals, for sure, they want to see if
• 13:11
  Speaker 6: the Steelers fix it during the week of preparation, Max.
• 13:15
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, it's a big deal.
• 13:17
  Speaker 5: And, you know, like you said, we come into this
• 13:19
  Speaker 5: game with a lot more questions than answers about the
• 13:23
  Speaker 5: team from an offensive standpoint. So you've got to go
• 13:27
  Speaker 5: out there and you've got to start filling in some
• 13:29
  Speaker 5: of those bubbles in the multiple-choice questions, right? I mean,
• 13:33
  Speaker 5: this is that week where you've got to– you've got
• 13:36
  Speaker 5: to start showing what the identity is. Like, who are
• 13:40
  Speaker 5: we going to be in 2026? That starts to take
• 13:44
  Speaker 5: shape at this point. You know, you usually take the
• 13:45
  Speaker 5: first four games and you start extrapolating what a team
• 13:48
  Speaker 5: can be. Well, this is the third of those four,
• 13:52
  Speaker 5: and you're going to see four really quickly next week
• 13:54
  Speaker 5: on a Thursday night, and we'll have an idea. We'll
• 13:57
  Speaker 5: start formulating opinions about what we think about this Steelers
• 14:00
  Speaker 5: squad based off of the culmination of, quote-unquote, the first
• 14:04
  Speaker 5: quarter of the season. as we used to go about it, right? Well,
• 14:08
  Speaker 5: we used to take it into quarters. Hey, who am
• 14:10
  Speaker 5: I after this quarter? Who am I at the halfway point?
• 14:13
  Speaker 5: Who am I three quarters of the way through? And
• 14:16
  Speaker 5: is there a consistency there? Well, we start building that
• 14:19
  Speaker 5: consistency now. And so you've got games that are going
• 14:23
  Speaker 5: to span, you know, in the next seven days, we're
• 14:28
  Speaker 5: going to have two games played and we'll be out
• 14:30
  Speaker 5: of the first quarter of the season.
• 14:31
  Speaker 4: So who do you want to be?
• 14:33
  Speaker 5: So you've got to draw a line in the sand
• 14:35
  Speaker 5: now and say, okay, this is what I want to be.
• 14:37
  Speaker 5: And like I said, go fill in those question marks.
• 14:39
  Speaker 5: Make them exclamation points. Bend them into exclamation points.
• 14:43
  Speaker 3: Sounds good.
• 14:44
  Speaker 2: So the Steelers, we're going to get to our key
• 14:46
  Speaker 2: matchups in the game. If we have time, we're going
• 14:49
  Speaker 2: to look forward to some of the weekend games, maybe
• 14:53
  Speaker 2: our big upset prediction.
• 14:54
  Speaker 3: And maybe we've got some upset predictions in the tank.
• 14:57
  Speaker 3: We'll get to that.
• 14:57
  Speaker 2: Missy Matthews is going to join us next when we
• 14:59
  Speaker 2: continue in the locker room here on the Steelers Audio Network.
• 15:08
  Speaker 1: This is In the Locker Room with Rob King, Max Starks,
• 15:12
  Speaker 1: and Willie Colon on Steelers Nation Radio. Brought to you
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: in part by the Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
• 15:19
  Speaker 1: from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop.steelers.com.
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: And by your neighborhood Ford store. The F-150 is the
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: official truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
• 15:33
  Speaker 4: If it don't bounce, we don't want it.
• 15:36
  Speaker 5: Right, and Missy Matthews is the one that is our
• 15:42
  Speaker 5: cool kid, aka Team Mom. It's our sideline reporter, Missy Matthews,
• 15:47
  Speaker 5: joining us here on the hotline.
• 15:49
  Speaker 4: How are we doing today, Missy?
• 15:52
  Speaker 6: I'm doing good.
• 15:53
  Speaker 7: It's like a nice, sunny day in Pittsburgh. I just
• 15:56
  Speaker 7: heard the weather report. Looks like it's going to be
• 15:58
  Speaker 7: great for.
• 15:59
  Speaker 3: Sunday, so.
• 16:00
  Speaker 7: I'm ready to right the ships in AFC North football to,
• 16:03
  Speaker 7: you know, kind of clear the slate for us.
• 16:07
  Speaker 2: Yeah, Missy, this feels very early on like an important
• 16:12
  Speaker 2: game for the Steelers and a game that's going to
• 16:16
  Speaker 2: test their mettle a little bit. I know it's early
• 16:18
  Speaker 2: on in the season, and you don't want to make
• 16:19
  Speaker 2: too much of it. And yet, within a span of
• 16:22
  Speaker 2: five days, Sunday, and then you go Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday,
• 16:28
  Speaker 2: You got another game against an AFC North opponent, the
• 16:30
  Speaker 2: Cleveland Browns, with a short week to prepare. So this
• 16:34
  Speaker 2: suddenly feels like an important early season stretch for the Steelers.
• 16:40
  Speaker 7: Yeah, I think it's extra important. And normally you'd say, oh,
• 16:44
  Speaker 7: it's just the beginning quarter, the first quarter of the season.
• 16:48
  Speaker 7: But the Bengals are sitting at 2-0 right now. You
• 16:52
  Speaker 7: don't want them to go to 3-0, and then you
• 16:53
  Speaker 7: don't want that to continue, especially when every other team
• 16:57
  Speaker 7: in the AFC North currently has at least a loss.
• 17:01
  Speaker 7: So I think for the Steelers, it's not so much,
• 17:04
  Speaker 7: you know, trying to keep pace. This isn't like a,
• 17:07
  Speaker 7: you know, down to the wire week 15, 16, whatever
• 17:11
  Speaker 7: type of race, but it's don't dig yourself into a
• 17:14
  Speaker 7: hole and then have to dig yourself out when it
• 17:17
  Speaker 7: feels like you're not exactly sure yet what you want
• 17:20
  Speaker 7: to be or what you can be in terms of
• 17:23
  Speaker 7: the Steelers and their offense.
• 17:29
  Speaker 6: Oh, I was letting you go first.
• 17:32
  Speaker 3: No, no, jump in, please.
• 17:34
  Speaker 6: Oh, my apologies, guys. Sorry for the delay. Hey, Missy,
• 17:37
  Speaker 6: can we talk about the tone of the locker room?
• 17:40
  Speaker 6: There's been a lot of talk about JPJ and his contract.
• 17:44
  Speaker 6: You know, there's so much kind of surrounding this team
• 17:46
  Speaker 6: from obviously having a bad outing against the Patriots, JPJ's
• 17:51
  Speaker 6: contract situation. You know, there's been a lot of criticism
• 17:54
  Speaker 6: about Mike McCarthy and what this offense currently looks like.
• 17:58
  Speaker 6: How is the locker room handling all the headlines that's
• 18:00
  Speaker 6: kind of surrounding this team?
• 18:02
  Speaker 7: I think they did a really good job of, you know,
• 18:06
  Speaker 7: everyone was kind of in there feeling Sunday. I'm sure
• 18:09
  Speaker 7: the plane ride home didn't help because then you're just
• 18:12
  Speaker 7: like sitting with it longer with the people that, you know,
• 18:14
  Speaker 7: you just went to battle with and didn't like the outcome. But,
• 18:18
  Speaker 7: you know, even on the defensive side, those guys we're
• 18:20
  Speaker 7: talking about on the plane, they were going through and
• 18:22
  Speaker 7: already looking at plays to say, hey, here's where we
• 18:24
  Speaker 7: can clean up and stop these explosive plays type stuff.
• 18:28
  Speaker 7: So I do think that once practice started, the page
• 18:31
  Speaker 7: was turned, even though Coach McCarthy made it very clear
• 18:34
  Speaker 7: this week that it was about cleaning their house, too,
• 18:38
  Speaker 7: because clearly after that performance, they needed to clean some
• 18:41
  Speaker 7: things up on all three phases, truly, but specifically on offense.
• 18:46
  Speaker 7: And I think the players know what's at stake, and
• 18:49
  Speaker 7: maybe it's almost one of those things where you know
• 18:52
  Speaker 7: who's coming into your house, you know it's a division game,
• 18:54
  Speaker 7: you know how explosive this offense can be. that it's
• 18:58
  Speaker 7: something that's almost helping them turn the page as well.
• 19:01
  Speaker 7: But I think there's good leadership. I know they don't
• 19:05
  Speaker 7: have like the yearly captains that we're used to on
• 19:08
  Speaker 7: a weekly basis, but I think we all know who
• 19:11
  Speaker 7: the guys are that kind of lead the charge in
• 19:13
  Speaker 7: terms of being the team leaders and bringing the young
• 19:17
  Speaker 7: guys along with them.
• 19:21
  Speaker 5: Missy, you know, as we kind of, get ready and
• 19:24
  Speaker 5: and you know we we've we've been through these situations
• 19:28
  Speaker 5: i mean you think about where we were a year
• 19:31
  Speaker 5: ago going into a thursday nighter against cincinnati right with
• 19:34
  Speaker 5: joe flacco at the helm and we felt good about
• 19:37
  Speaker 5: ourselves going into that game right and then the result
• 19:41
  Speaker 5: was the result and now we go into this game
• 19:44
  Speaker 5: knowing who joe burrow is knowing who this.
• 19:47
  Speaker 4: Team is um.
• 19:50
  Speaker 5: You know, and we might not necessarily feel our best.
• 19:53
  Speaker 5: I mean, how have you seen this matchup? And we've,
• 19:56
  Speaker 5: trust me, we've sat through the sidelines and watched many games.
• 19:58
  Speaker 5: I mean, we watched Pat Friermuth absolutely take over Cincinnati game.
• 20:02
  Speaker 5: We watched Mitch Trubisky try and battle it out, even
• 20:05
  Speaker 5: with his best intentions and the defense really, uplift offense
• 20:09
  Speaker 5: in a similar situation as a year ago. So, you know,
• 20:12
  Speaker 5: as you kind of look at this, I mean, this is,
• 20:15
  Speaker 5: this is one of those rivalries where you kind of,
• 20:17
  Speaker 5: or I should say match-ups cause it's technically not a rivalry.
• 20:20
  Speaker 5: One of these match-ups where it can go either way
• 20:25
  Speaker 5: and we've seen the ups and downs of this. So,
• 20:27
  Speaker 5: I mean, as you look at this, is there anything
• 20:29
  Speaker 5: that you draw on like experience wise or in the
• 20:32
  Speaker 5: past from seeing these games that you're like, okay, You know,
• 20:35
  Speaker 5: this is kind of par for the course, or is
• 20:37
  Speaker 5: this something that we feel like is an outlier coming.
• 20:39
  Speaker 4: Into this matchup?
• 20:42
  Speaker 7: Well, I think two things, Max. First of all, Joe
• 20:45
  Speaker 7: Burrow has a winning record in Pittsburgh, which is kind
• 20:48
  Speaker 7: of unheard of for any quarterback, let alone a division
• 20:51
  Speaker 7: quarterback who plays there at least once a year. So
• 20:55
  Speaker 7: you don't love that. But then I go back to,
• 20:57
  Speaker 7: he's played seven games against the Steelers. He has 10 interceptions.
• 21:01
  Speaker 7: Two of them are from TJ Watt. TJ Watt is
• 21:03
  Speaker 7: still on the Pittsburgh Steelers last time I checked. And
• 21:06
  Speaker 7: he just has a knack for getting after the ball
• 21:11
  Speaker 7: and messing with Burrow. Burrow talked extensively this week about
• 21:15
  Speaker 7: TJ and Cam and how you know that they are
• 21:18
  Speaker 7: going to bat your passes down at some point. He
• 21:21
  Speaker 7: said it's at least one or two. that he counts on.
• 21:25
  Speaker 7: And it said when you get to three and four,
• 21:26
  Speaker 7: that's when you get into trouble or, you know, if
• 21:28
  Speaker 7: the ball bounces a different way once it's batted down,
• 21:31
  Speaker 7: that type of thing. But I think that, yes, the
• 21:35
  Speaker 7: defense has changed. But if you listen to any of
• 21:38
  Speaker 7: the press conferences from Cincinnati, it's still some of the
• 21:42
  Speaker 7: same players. They're still trying to do some of the
• 21:44
  Speaker 7: same things. And I think it's, you know, almost one
• 21:47
  Speaker 7: of those things that, like, everybody knows each other so well.
• 21:50
  Speaker 7: I think the unknown is– how does a team rebound
• 21:53
  Speaker 7: after a performance like that under head coach, Mike McCarthy,
• 21:56
  Speaker 7: this is new for everybody. But I think the good
• 21:59
  Speaker 7: thing is, and what maybe gives me a little reassurance
• 22:02
  Speaker 7: is that he's done this before. It's not like he's
• 22:05
  Speaker 7: a first time head coach. This isn't like the Ravens
• 22:07
  Speaker 7: and Jesse Mittener where it's a little bit different. So hopefully,
• 22:11
  Speaker 7: you know, as we're talking very quickly about the next
• 22:13
  Speaker 7: day of North matchups, feelers have that, We feel pretty
• 22:17
  Speaker 7: good after this outcome on Sunday, and hopefully it's something
• 22:20
  Speaker 7: that they can build on.
• 22:22
  Speaker 6: Agreed.
• 22:23
  Speaker 2: And, you know, Missy, what is strange to me, I mean, look,
• 22:26
  Speaker 2: there was a time, I think it was back in 2011, right,
• 22:32
  Speaker 2: where the Steelers and Ravens opened up the season. But
• 22:34
  Speaker 2: it's just the last few years, it's like those AFC
• 22:37
  Speaker 2: North matchups, I think two years ago that Steelers were
• 22:40
  Speaker 2: the last team to play a division matchup. These matchups
• 22:44
  Speaker 2: have come later and later in the season. You're not
• 22:46
  Speaker 2: going to see the Ravens at all until December, it
• 22:49
  Speaker 2: seems like, every year now. That adds to it. I mean,
• 22:52
  Speaker 2: if you're 1-1 and this is, say, an NFC North
• 22:56
  Speaker 2: opponent coming in, I think it's got a different feel
• 22:59
  Speaker 2: than it's 1-1, you're still looking for that traction on offense,
• 23:04
  Speaker 2: and now suddenly you're coming in with a Bengals team
• 23:07
  Speaker 2: that looks great and a Browns team behind it, but
• 23:09
  Speaker 2: they're division opponents. We're not used to seeing division opponents
• 23:13
  Speaker 2: until at least October.
• 23:16
  Speaker 7: No, but I do vividly remember the week one game
• 23:19
  Speaker 7: in Cincinnati where Joe Burrow didn't have very much fun
• 23:24
  Speaker 7: that week. I think it was 2022 maybe, and the
• 23:28
  Speaker 7: Steelers defense just went lights out. That's when Mike Tomlin
• 23:31
  Speaker 7: passed out some black Air Force Ones to the team
• 23:34
  Speaker 7: prior to the trip, and I think they kind of
• 23:36
  Speaker 7: took everybody by surprise because they were not prepared. For
• 23:40
  Speaker 7: the Steelers, it was kind of one of those years
• 23:42
  Speaker 7: where they were down and out on them, but Yeah,
• 23:45
  Speaker 7: I do agree. It feels different than last year, Rob,
• 23:47
  Speaker 7: where you were like, okay, the schedule lays out nicely. It's, hey,
• 23:52
  Speaker 7: you have two early back-to-back AFC North matchups. But then,
• 23:57
  Speaker 7: of course, we know how this goes where, you know,
• 23:59
  Speaker 7: you got to wait like it feels like a year
• 24:00
  Speaker 7: before you see the Ravens.
• 24:02
  Speaker 6: Right.
• 24:03
  Speaker 3: Right.
• 24:05
  Speaker 6: Missy, quickly, can you talk about– oh, go ahead, Rob.
• 24:08
  Speaker 3: Sorry.
• 24:08
  Speaker 6: No, no, no.
• 24:09
  Speaker 3: It's all yours, Willie.
• 24:10
  Speaker 4: You got it.
• 24:11
  Speaker 6: Oh, hey, Mr. Quick, can we talk about the Bengals' defense?
• 24:14
  Speaker 6: I know there's a lot of talk about Dexter Lawrence
• 24:16
  Speaker 6: and Jonathan Allen and the front they'd be able to create.
• 24:20
  Speaker 6: There's a lot talked about this Steeler offensive line really
• 24:23
  Speaker 6: having a big task going against Dexter Lawrence. We talked
• 24:27
  Speaker 6: about some of the injuries between Spencer Anderson and Votano. Obviously,
• 24:30
  Speaker 6: he was dealing with a foot injury. Has there been
• 24:33
  Speaker 6: any talks? Is there legit talks about remixing this offensive
• 24:37
  Speaker 6: line again going into this matchup maybe? having Troy Furtado
• 24:40
  Speaker 6: playing a right tackle or just seeing a new five,
• 24:43
  Speaker 6: maybe Brock Hoffman getting some burn. Has anybody talked about
• 24:45
  Speaker 6: what this offense looks like against this daunted Bengals defense?
• 24:50
  Speaker 7: Yeah, you know, Mike McCarthy and his staff always keep
• 24:53
  Speaker 7: things pretty close to the vest. But yesterday he was
• 24:55
  Speaker 7: kind of like, you're going to see some different combinations
• 24:58
  Speaker 7: of the offensive line working out there, almost like previewing
• 25:00
  Speaker 7: and like dropping that little character. Um, but I think
• 25:04
  Speaker 7: until we know for sure, uh, when that status report
• 25:07
  Speaker 7: comes out, but you know, Brock Hoffman is somebody who
• 25:10
  Speaker 7: knows Dexter Lawrence well from his time when he was
• 25:13
  Speaker 7: in Dallas and he was with the giants. So they've,
• 25:16
  Speaker 7: they've gone to battle before. And I agree. I mean,
• 25:19
  Speaker 7: I normally we're talking about, you know, but the Bengals
• 25:22
  Speaker 7: defense isn't that strong. There's ways to exploit them. And
• 25:25
  Speaker 7: this year it's, man, their front seven has gotten really good.
• 25:31
  Speaker 7: They are doing a lot of damage. They didn't let
• 25:33
  Speaker 7: Houston score a touchdown. They're stopping the run.
• 25:36
  Speaker 8: Mr.
• 25:37
  Speaker 7: Lawrence is blowing up plays left and right. So I
• 25:40
  Speaker 7: do think, you know, if there are changes in the
• 25:42
  Speaker 7: offensive line, will it work and will it help? And
• 25:46
  Speaker 7: is this something that can quickly gel together in enough
• 25:51
  Speaker 7: time to go against this defensive unit and protect Aaron
• 25:54
  Speaker 7: Rodgers at the same time? Because I don't know about
• 25:56
  Speaker 7: you guys, but Those hits that he took in New England,
• 25:58
  Speaker 7: those are the ones that, like, make you flinch when
• 26:00
  Speaker 7: you watch them. And then when you see the replay, you, like,
• 26:03
  Speaker 7: make a noise while you flinch. I don't want to
• 26:05
  Speaker 7: see those again. So I'm good on that front.
• 26:14
  Speaker 2: I think we lost Max with his headset issue here, Missy.
• 26:21
  Speaker 3: And it'll be interesting, too.
• 26:22
  Speaker 2: You know, we made a lot about all the young
• 26:24
  Speaker 2: players that have been added to this roster recently. And
• 26:26
  Speaker 2: if Max Ahanachor gets a start, he's going to be
• 26:29
  Speaker 2: one of these rookies that's going to get their first
• 26:34
  Speaker 2: taste of AFC North football.
• 26:36
  Speaker 3: And it's kind of fun. It's kind of exciting.
• 26:39
  Speaker 2: Maybe if you're a Steelers fan, it's a little bit
• 26:40
  Speaker 2: scary because maybe you'd like to have a few more
• 26:44
  Speaker 2: games under the belt.
• 26:45
  Speaker 3: But ready or not, here it comes.
• 26:48
  Speaker 7: Yeah, and you know, what better way to, if it
• 26:51
  Speaker 7: is his first NFL start, to kind of, you know,
• 26:53
  Speaker 7: rip off the Band-Aid and throw him into the fire.
• 26:56
  Speaker 7: Think about the fact that, you know, injuries hampered him
• 26:58
  Speaker 7: throughout training camp, didn't get to play in the preseason
• 27:01
  Speaker 7: until that Buffalo game. And according to the news reports,
• 27:04
  Speaker 7: you know, he was robbed right before that. Still got
• 27:06
  Speaker 7: on the plane, still went to Buffalo, still, you know,
• 27:10
  Speaker 7: was able to settle in. Aaron Rodgers spoke highly of
• 27:13
  Speaker 7: him this week and just how beautiful his pass sets are.
• 27:17
  Speaker 7: and can, you know, compare beautiful pass sets to some
• 27:20
  Speaker 7: pretty prestigious offensive linemen that he's played with. So if
• 27:24
  Speaker 7: that's how the plan kind of goes, you know, that's
• 27:26
  Speaker 7: something Max and I will be, you know, eye-hocking and
• 27:29
  Speaker 7: watching during pregame warm-ups or even just how they come
• 27:32
  Speaker 7: out in a line and warm-up together, even if it's stretching,
• 27:36
  Speaker 7: because everyone's going to want to know what is the
• 27:38
  Speaker 7: plan for that offensive line.
• 27:41
  Speaker 2: Missy Matthews, thank you very much. Can't wait to– I'm
• 27:45
  Speaker 2: glad the weather's going to be nice for you, Missy.
• 27:46
  Speaker 2: It's always the same weather in the press box.
• 27:49
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 27:50
  Speaker 3: But we're happy for you. It's going to be a
• 27:51
  Speaker 3: nice day. I'm glad you'll be okay.
• 27:53
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 27:54
  Speaker 3: All right, Missy.
• 27:55
  Speaker 2: Thank you very much, Missy Matthews. Missy, you complete us
• 27:59
  Speaker 2: on the broadcast team.
• 28:00
  Speaker 6: Thank you so much. Thank you, Missy.
• 28:01
  Speaker 3: For completing us in the locker room today. All right,
• 28:04
  Speaker 3: stick around.
• 28:04
  Speaker 2: We have our key matchups to the game, our keys
• 28:08
  Speaker 2: to the game, and an upset pick for each of
• 28:11
  Speaker 2: us coming up for the weekend's games.
• 28:12
  Speaker 3: When we continue in the locker room here on the
• 28:14
  Speaker 3: Steelers Audio Network.
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: This is In the Locker Room with Rob King, Max Starks,
• 28:25
  Speaker 1: and Willie Colon on Steelers Nation Radio, brought to you
• 28:28
  Speaker 1: in part by the Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
• 28:31
  Speaker 1: from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop.steelers.com.
• 28:36
  Speaker 1: And by your neighborhood Ford store. The F-150 is the
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: official truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
• 28:46
  Speaker 4: All right, final segment here of the week.
• 28:49
  Speaker 5: And, of course, it would not be right if we
• 28:53
  Speaker 5: did not get the king's decree.
• 28:55
  Speaker 4: And that is.
• 28:59
  Speaker 5: The matchups, the surprises, the expected, but most importantly, it's
• 29:07
  Speaker 5: our take. The tribunal proceeds. King, please lead the way.
• 29:12
  Speaker 2: Okay, Willie, so here's what we're going to do. We
• 29:15
  Speaker 2: are going to give you every Friday our big-time matchup
• 29:19
  Speaker 2: for the game, our keys to the game on offense
• 29:22
  Speaker 2: and defense, and our around-the-league weekend prediction or upset of
• 29:27
  Speaker 2: the week. So, Willie Colon, let's go in reverse order.
• 29:32
  Speaker 2: Let's start with you. Do you have a weekend prediction
• 29:35
  Speaker 2: or upset of the week that you want to bring
• 29:38
  Speaker 2: to us?
• 29:40
  Speaker 6: Oh, man, Matt. So, listen, one of the games that
• 29:45
  Speaker 6: I think a lot of people watch was obviously the
• 29:48
  Speaker 6: Giants versus the Rams. This week is Rams versus the Broncos.
• 29:52
  Speaker 6: The Battle of the Shorns, right? That's something that Joker
• 29:56
  Speaker 6: Max would appreciate.
• 29:57
  Speaker 4: Anyway.
• 30:00
  Speaker 6: I say this, I think the Rams, as good as
• 30:04
  Speaker 6: they looked Monday night against the Giants, it's hard for
• 30:07
  Speaker 6: me to believe if Jackson Dart would have stayed healthy,
• 30:11
  Speaker 6: that game would have been a lot different. I just
• 30:13
  Speaker 6: thought there was, Jameis just wasn't capable and confident at
• 30:15
  Speaker 6: the time to make some of the throws and the
• 30:17
  Speaker 6: offense kind of fell apart. They had a better quarterback
• 30:20
  Speaker 6: out there. I think the Rams might have lost that game.
• 30:22
  Speaker 6: That's just how I take and I lean on it. Nevertheless, man,
• 30:26
  Speaker 6: Rams versus Broncos, I think the Broncos are starting to
• 30:28
  Speaker 6: get their rhythm. They're playing a lot better on defense.
• 30:32
  Speaker 6: I've followed both of these coaches. I think Sean Payton
• 30:35
  Speaker 6: is the type of coach where he wants to control
• 30:36
  Speaker 6: the game. He wants to master situational football. He wants
• 30:41
  Speaker 6: to own a time of possession. He wants to have
• 30:43
  Speaker 6: explosive plays and also have a run game behind that
• 30:46
  Speaker 6: really good offensive line in the Broncos. On the other hand,
• 30:49
  Speaker 6: I think Sean McVay, he just wants the light of
• 30:51
  Speaker 6: the scoreboard. It's really Sean McVay versus Vance Joseph. And
• 30:55
  Speaker 6: I think he wants to get this offense of the
• 30:57
  Speaker 6: Rams to really come out firing early and often. I
• 31:02
  Speaker 6: think right now when you talk about their 13 personnel,
• 31:04
  Speaker 6: their package, their tight ends, along with Devontae Adams, and
• 31:07
  Speaker 6: they're running the ball really, really well right now. They
• 31:10
  Speaker 6: want to put it to the Broncos defense, who's been
• 31:13
  Speaker 6: up and down as of late. They're playing a lot better.
• 31:15
  Speaker 6: But you can tell they're obviously missing Jonathan Cooper. So
• 31:19
  Speaker 6: I have the Broncos beating the Rams Sunday. And so
• 31:23
  Speaker 6: that's my matchup. and that's what I got. As far
• 31:26
  Speaker 6: as key matchups, man, can I go with that right now, Rob?
• 31:29
  Speaker 3: Is that okay? Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 31:31
  Speaker 2: I think we might have Alex Highsmith joining us, so
• 31:33
  Speaker 2: we're going to try to move through these briskly, but
• 31:36
  Speaker 2: please go ahead.
• 31:37
  Speaker 6: Yeah, so for my matchup, for me, it's Peyton Wilson.
• 31:42
  Speaker 6: He's going to have a tall tax of shutting down
• 31:44
  Speaker 6: Mike Zeske and really shutting down Chase Brown. We know
• 31:49
  Speaker 6: what T. Higgins brings to the table. We know what
• 31:50
  Speaker 6: Jamar Chase brings to the table. But if he's able
• 31:53
  Speaker 6: to shut down the tight end, Mike Giusezzi of the Bengals,
• 31:57
  Speaker 6: and really suppress the run game of the Bengals, led
• 32:00
  Speaker 6: by Chase Brown and some RGP run, that's what I'm
• 32:03
  Speaker 6: interested to see. As far as keys to the game, man,
• 32:07
  Speaker 6: it's quick. You just got to get after Joe Burrow.
• 32:10
  Speaker 6: Get after Joe Burrow. You know, even on the center,
• 32:13
  Speaker 6: they're still explosive. They still want to throw the ball,
• 32:16
  Speaker 6: even when Joe Burrow's on the center. But it's about...
• 32:19
  Speaker 6: getting him off the field on third down and keep
• 32:21
  Speaker 6: him on the bench, but also the more you get
• 32:24
  Speaker 6: to him and knock him down, the odds are in
• 32:27
  Speaker 6: our favor. Once again, he was sacked five times in
• 32:30
  Speaker 6: the Texans games. You can't tell me Highsmith and TJ
• 32:32
  Speaker 6: and the rest of them boys can't do the same thing.
• 32:34
  Speaker 6: So that's the key to the game. That's my overall synopsis, Rob.
• 32:38
  Speaker 3: Okay, that's good stuff.
• 32:39
  Speaker 2: By the way, I was on the same wavelength of
• 32:42
  Speaker 2: you as the upset of the week. I feel the
• 32:45
  Speaker 2: same way. I think the Broncos are going to win
• 32:46
  Speaker 2: that game. So having said that, I will shift to
• 32:50
  Speaker 2: the Vikings and the Bucs. The Bucs at home are
• 32:54
  Speaker 2: slight underdogs, and I'm taking them. I think 0-2, I
• 32:58
  Speaker 2: just cannot see that team starting 0-3 in the season.
• 33:02
  Speaker 2: I know they haven't looked great, but they're taking on
• 33:05
  Speaker 2: a Vikings team that's 2-0, brimming with confidence, but I'm
• 33:08
  Speaker 2: taking the Buccaneers in that game. My big-time matchup in
• 33:15
  Speaker 2: this game, boy, I've got a few of them, but
• 33:17
  Speaker 2: I'm going to go with.
• 33:20
  Speaker 2: Their cover guys, and I'm talking about Barrett Carter in particular,
• 33:24
  Speaker 2: the cover linebacker, and Brian Cook against the Steelers tight ends.
• 33:29
  Speaker 3: Willie, you pointed this out.
• 33:31
  Speaker 2: Friar Moose had some massive games against the Bengals, and
• 33:35
  Speaker 2: the Bengals remain susceptible to the tight end position. That's
• 33:38
  Speaker 2: my big-time matchup. As far as my keys to the
• 33:41
  Speaker 2: game are concerned, I think similar to you, I think
• 33:45
  Speaker 2: in particular, you know, exploiting Orlando Brown. Amarius Mims is
• 33:50
  Speaker 2: coming into his own at the right tackle position. I
• 33:53
  Speaker 2: think the Steelers, you know, if they can get pressure
• 33:58
  Speaker 2: on Joe Burrow off that edge, that'll be big. But
• 34:00
  Speaker 2: it starts in a little different spot for me. I
• 34:03
  Speaker 2: think they've got to stop the run. I know that's, like,
• 34:06
  Speaker 2: third on the list of things. You've got to stop Chase.
• 34:09
  Speaker 2: You've got to stop Higgins. You cannot allow them to
• 34:11
  Speaker 2: have the full playbook open to them. If they're running
• 34:14
  Speaker 2: the ball, they're going to be able to throw the ball–
• 34:16
  Speaker 2: I think that you just have to pick your poison
• 34:18
  Speaker 2: with this team. I cannot let them be multidimensional. I
• 34:22
  Speaker 2: think you have to stop the run. And I think offensively, again,
• 34:29
  Speaker 2: you've got to find a way to convert on third
• 34:32
  Speaker 2: down and keep drives alive. Second worst in the league,
• 34:35
  Speaker 2: 31st in the league on third down offense. So those
• 34:38
  Speaker 2: are my keys to the matchup. Stop Chase Brown and
• 34:41
  Speaker 2: convert third downs on offense, Max.
• 34:46
  Speaker 4: Okay.
• 34:46
  Speaker 3: All right.
• 34:47
  Speaker 6: Okay.
• 34:47
  Speaker 4: Where am I going? Where am I starting at?
• 34:49
  Speaker 2: Key upset. Upset of the week or game you're keeping.
• 34:52
  Speaker 2: You know, you could pick another one.
• 34:55
  Speaker 4: Baltimore-Dallas. Keep an eye on that one.
• 34:58
  Speaker 5: Who do I want to lose less is kind of
• 35:00
  Speaker 5: how I'm looking at this one. And I think, you know,
• 35:03
  Speaker 5: for Dallas, there's a lot that's been made about them
• 35:06
  Speaker 5: and whether their defense is up to snuff or not. And,
• 35:09
  Speaker 5: you know, Lamar Jackson didn't look great last week, but
• 35:12
  Speaker 5: if he unlocks his legs, it's going to be a
• 35:13
  Speaker 5: whole different problem that teams have to deal with. So
• 35:16
  Speaker 5: I'm hoping that for my selfish AFC North heart, I
• 35:20
  Speaker 5: hope Baltimore loses.
• 35:21
  Speaker 4: But in the grand scheme of things, in.
• 35:23
  Speaker 5: Historical Hatfield and McCoy type fashion, as far as rivalries go,
• 35:28
  Speaker 5: I hope the Cowboys lose. I hope they end in
• 35:30
  Speaker 5: a tie, actually. That's my upset of the week. My
• 35:33
  Speaker 5: upset is a tie between Dallas and Baltimore.
• 35:37
  Speaker 4: As far as my matchup of the week, it's easy.
• 35:40
  Speaker 4: It's easy. Zach Frazier versus Dexter Lawrence. That's what it is.
• 35:43
  Speaker 5: That's what it comes down to. Can you control the
• 35:46
  Speaker 5: line of scrimmage? And if our offensive line can control
• 35:49
  Speaker 5: the defensive line of scrimmage, then it's going to be
• 35:52
  Speaker 5: a very good day.
• 35:53
  Speaker 4: But that is where it starts and ends. I know
• 35:56
  Speaker 4: the offense is going to score points.
• 35:58
  Speaker 5: I think we have personnel that can, but it comes
• 36:00
  Speaker 5: down to if the lines can hold up. And if
• 36:03
  Speaker 5: our defense, and I'm going to put this out there,
• 36:05
  Speaker 5: Orlando Brown versus Alex Highsmith. I think it's a prime
• 36:09
  Speaker 5: matchup on the opposite side. So those are my two
• 36:11
  Speaker 5: key matchups I'm looking for is going to be in
• 36:13
  Speaker 5: the trenches this week.
• 36:15
  Speaker 3: All right.
• 36:16
  Speaker 4: And that's also my key to the game as well.
• 36:18
  Speaker 4: That's a key as well.
• 36:19
  Speaker 6: Okay.
• 36:20
  Speaker 3: You're extending it. You're broadening.
• 36:22
  Speaker 4: It's all encompassing.
• 36:23
  Speaker 3: Your matchup is also your keys to the game.
• 36:25
  Speaker 4: It's omnipresent, Rob. It's omnipresent. All of that.
• 36:29
  Speaker 2: I can't disagree with anything we've been talking about, guys.
• 36:31
  Speaker 2: I mean, there's just so many keys across the board here.
• 36:34
  Speaker 2: So many ways this game can go offensively and defensively.
• 36:38
  Speaker 2: I just think, Willie, you just cannot allow this Bengals
• 36:43
  Speaker 2: offense to get going. We talked about, like, And again,
• 36:45
  Speaker 2: they're all intertwined, right? So if you can convert on
• 36:49
  Speaker 2: third down and you're the Steelers, that keeps Joe Burrow
• 36:53
  Speaker 2: off the field. And maybe that makes your pass rush
• 36:55
  Speaker 2: a little more effective. Maybe that allows you to be
• 36:57
  Speaker 2: a little fresher in stopping the run. If you stop
• 37:01
  Speaker 2: the run, right now you have a chance maybe to
• 37:04
  Speaker 2: get the ball more often and have a chance to
• 37:06
  Speaker 2: convert more third down.
• 37:07
  Speaker 3: So everything's interwoven. Everything's interlocked.
• 37:09
  Speaker 2: But I just think that you've got to find a
• 37:11
  Speaker 2: way to make this this Joe Burrow-led Bengals offense either
• 37:16
  Speaker 2: uncomfortable or one-dimensional, or both.
• 37:20
  Speaker 6: Yeah, it comes down to getting the field a third down,
• 37:21
  Speaker 6: bottom line. You know, when Joe Burrow gets in the
• 37:24
  Speaker 6: rhythm and he starts, when those receivers have a knack
• 37:29
  Speaker 6: of getting behind linebackers, sitting in their zones, and on
• 37:34
  Speaker 6: top of that, man, you know, he's one of the
• 37:36
  Speaker 6: most accurate quarterbacks in the NFL. It's about disrupting his timing,
• 37:41
  Speaker 6: getting him off his spot. You know, we talked about
• 37:44
  Speaker 6: knocking down some of those footballs and really just trying
• 37:47
  Speaker 6: to suppress the momentum of the Bengals because the run
• 37:50
  Speaker 6: game right now, that's what kind of gets them going.
• 37:52
  Speaker 6: You know, when they feel like they can run the football,
• 37:54
  Speaker 6: you talked about it, Rob, when they feel like they
• 37:56
  Speaker 6: can run the football, they can dump the ball out
• 37:58
  Speaker 6: into the flats and a lot of those running backs
• 38:00
  Speaker 6: start eating up yards. And then that's when they allow
• 38:03
  Speaker 6: the defense to kind of hunker down and stop the run.
• 38:05
  Speaker 6: And that's when they say, all right, that's when we'll
• 38:06
  Speaker 6: be letting the big dogs out. and you start seeing
• 38:08
  Speaker 6: explosive plays from Jamar Chase and T. Higgins. So it really,
• 38:12
  Speaker 6: really comes down to getting after those running backs and tackling, man.
• 38:15
  Speaker 6: I can't tell you enough how, you know, if you're
• 38:18
  Speaker 6: able to tackle and stop the yards at the carry,
• 38:20
  Speaker 6: that forces them to think. Now you're forcing second and long.
• 38:23
  Speaker 6: Now you're playing more of a grittier style of football
• 38:26
  Speaker 6: when you're able to tackle. So that's going to be
• 38:28
  Speaker 6: a big task for the Steelers. Can they tackle and
• 38:30
  Speaker 6: can they get Joe Burrow and the Bengals off the
• 38:33
  Speaker 6: field on third down?
• 38:34
  Speaker 2: I also think, Max, that They feel, you know, we
• 38:37
  Speaker 2: talk a lot about their tackles, obviously, because they have
• 38:40
  Speaker 2: to block these two of those great edge rushers. And
• 38:42
  Speaker 2: Amarius Mims is a guy, you know, he was a
• 38:45
  Speaker 2: project coming out of college. I think he only started
• 38:48
  Speaker 2: eight games in college. Just a big, massive guy who
• 38:51
  Speaker 2: seems to be coming along. But the internal three of
• 38:55
  Speaker 2: that offensive line for the Bengals has quietly solidified. Fairchild, Karras,
• 39:01
  Speaker 2: and Reisner at left guard, center, and right guard, respectively.
• 39:05
  Speaker 2: That's a pretty solid crew. I mean, Cam Hayward, Derek Harmon,
• 39:09
  Speaker 2: Keanu Benton, Y.A. Black, Sebastian Joseph Day, they're going to
• 39:13
  Speaker 2: have their hands full with that crew. That's an emerging
• 39:16
  Speaker 2: sort of quietly pretty solid part of this Bengals team,
• 39:20
  Speaker 2: I think.
• 39:20
  Speaker 5: It is solid, but it's it's, it's, it's not fortified.
• 39:24
  Speaker 4: It's not, it's not a complete wall there, right?
• 39:29
  Speaker 5: Because you do have cracks at the left tackle position.
• 39:32
  Speaker 5: Amarius Mims is proving to be adept and athlete. That's
• 39:36
  Speaker 5: gaining a lot of experience. You know, I mean, he said, hell,
• 39:39
  Speaker 5: he started twice as many games now in the pros
• 39:42
  Speaker 5: than he did in college. When he came out, he
• 39:44
  Speaker 5: was super raw and now he's kind of seasoned into
• 39:47
  Speaker 5: a good right tackle position. But Orlando Brown, you know,
• 39:50
  Speaker 5: is going to have the challenge. He was a guy
• 39:52
  Speaker 5: that struggled last week. You know, Dan Hoard even talked
• 39:54
  Speaker 5: about the struggles. And that's the blind side of Joe Burrow, right?
• 39:57
  Speaker 4: When you talk about.
• 39:57
  Speaker 5: Things going wrong, it's usually when Joe Burrow gets hit
• 40:00
  Speaker 5: when he can't see it. That's why he's so quick
• 40:02
  Speaker 5: to get the ball out. And he's always so quick
• 40:04
  Speaker 5: to get out of the pocket and try and create
• 40:06
  Speaker 5: space for himself. It's because that left side collapses very easily.
• 40:09
  Speaker 5: So when you have that issue, guess what? That's a
• 40:11
  Speaker 5: two-way go in the B and C gap. So you've
• 40:14
  Speaker 5: got to design your pressures. You've got to design your
• 40:16
  Speaker 5: twists around taking advantage of that.
• 40:18
  Speaker 4: Dalton Risers is solid. Ted Karras is solid. But once again, I.
• 40:24
  Speaker 5: Love our guys up against those guys versus them emerging
• 40:27
  Speaker 5: as talent. They're not established as talent. So let's go
• 40:30
  Speaker 5: put that under question.
• 40:32
  Speaker 2: I think that could be a big factor in this game. Willie,
• 40:35
  Speaker 2: I did want to ask you, you played AFC East football,
• 40:37
  Speaker 2: and I'm sure when you were getting ready for a game,
• 40:40
  Speaker 2: the Jets, they were saying, hey, this is the AFC
• 40:42
  Speaker 2: East football. Is there something special about AFC North football?
• 40:46
  Speaker 3: Or is it always just divisional football that's more important?
• 40:49
  Speaker 6: Well, I'll tell you it's not AFC North football. You know,
• 40:54
  Speaker 6: I think the thing about when you play in the
• 40:56
  Speaker 6: AFC North, it's led by traditionally historic defenses. And there's
• 41:01
  Speaker 6: just a brand collectively that everybody and every team in
• 41:04
  Speaker 6: the division adheres to. And I think, you know, during
• 41:08
  Speaker 6: my time and Max's time and collectively, you know, we
• 41:11
  Speaker 6: realize when you're playing– like even– You know, even the
• 41:15
  Speaker 6: Browns had a really tough defense. People forget that the
• 41:17
  Speaker 6: Browns at one point had big baby Sean Rogers and
• 41:20
  Speaker 6: Eric Barton, and they had a host of guys who
• 41:22
  Speaker 6: could play. They may have not been good offensively, but
• 41:25
  Speaker 6: defensively they were pretty stout. And so there really was
• 41:28
  Speaker 6: no days off and no Sundays off, respectively, when you
• 41:33
  Speaker 6: roll the ball out there against a division opponent. Like
• 41:35
  Speaker 6: you were going to play, you were going to be
• 41:37
  Speaker 6: forced to play a style of football that, you know,
• 41:40
  Speaker 6: was maybe a little bit boring, but it was going
• 41:43
  Speaker 6: to be tough, rugged, And you were really fighting for
• 41:46
  Speaker 6: every inch. And I think everybody in the division just
• 41:49
  Speaker 6: understands when you play in the AFC North, it's always
• 41:51
  Speaker 6: led by defense. It's always talked about. It's a grown
• 41:55
  Speaker 6: man's game. And overall, man, you don't walk away from
• 42:00
  Speaker 6: any of those games feeling good about yourself, right? Because
• 42:04
  Speaker 6: the competition is so tough. You don't really have a
• 42:07
  Speaker 6: dominant outing. It really comes down to who has enough
• 42:11
  Speaker 6: legs and who has enough grit in the 12th round.
• 42:14
  Speaker 6: to put your opponent to sleep. We've had a lot
• 42:18
  Speaker 6: of success because of that, because of our defense and
• 42:21
  Speaker 6: our ability to run the football and having probably the
• 42:23
  Speaker 6: toughest quarterback in NFL history in Ben Roethlisberger. So it
• 42:27
  Speaker 6: comes down to toughness, grit, and really who's willing to
• 42:31
  Speaker 6: win a 12-round fight? Can you sustain it?
• 42:34
  Speaker 2: Max, I think one of the other things when we
• 42:37
  Speaker 2: look at this game from the fans' perspective, and Jerry
• 42:39
  Speaker 2: Dulac kind of pointed this out, if you start one
• 42:43
  Speaker 2: and two... fans are going to be running around panicking and,
• 42:46
  Speaker 2: you know, right or wrong, the pressure is going to
• 42:48
  Speaker 2: be turned up, you know, on the coaching staff and
• 42:52
  Speaker 2: the players, on everybody.
• 42:54
  Speaker 3: By the same token, if you win, completely different story.
• 42:57
  Speaker 2: You know, I mean, it's week three of the season
• 43:00
  Speaker 2: and already, you know, we're talking about how big these
• 43:04
  Speaker 2: games feel because they're AFC North games.
• 43:06
  Speaker 3: We're not used to it.
• 43:07
  Speaker 2: It's been a couple of years since we've seen games
• 43:09
  Speaker 2: in the AFC North this early in the season. But,
• 43:12
  Speaker 2: you know, the fan perception, it's a big part of it.
• 43:14
  Speaker 2: I mean, you know, you get 66,000 fans, whatever it is,
• 43:18
  Speaker 2: showing up to the game, right? I mean, tuning in
• 43:20
  Speaker 2: on the TV more, tuning in on the radio more.
• 43:23
  Speaker 2: They're a big part of what happens in the NFL.
• 43:26
  Speaker 2: And I know they're not out there playing, but it's
• 43:28
  Speaker 2: going to be interesting to hear what Steelers Nation has
• 43:30
  Speaker 2: to say Sunday in the postgame show with Mike and
• 43:33
  Speaker 2: Charlie and Monday morning when you're, you know, stopping by
• 43:36
  Speaker 2: the dry cleaners or going into the grocery store or
• 43:39
  Speaker 2: walking down the sidewalk or whatever it is.
• 43:42
  Speaker 5: Yeah, it's a lot really depends on this and we're
• 43:45
  Speaker 5: getting division play very early in the year.
• 43:48
  Speaker 7: Right.
• 43:48
  Speaker 5: And we're getting back to back division play. That's why
• 43:50
  Speaker 5: it matters so much.
• 43:52
  Speaker 4: But yeah, this is the moment where, you know, you can't,
• 43:55
  Speaker 4: you know, you had all.
• 43:56
  Speaker 5: What summer, I guess, because the schedule came out in
• 43:59
  Speaker 5: May to digest this, what this is going to look like,
• 44:02
  Speaker 5: where we're going to be at currently. And so you
• 44:05
  Speaker 5: just have, you just have to hold onto your butts
• 44:07
  Speaker 5: and keep it going. Um, And I think that's just
• 44:11
  Speaker 5: kind of how we have to proceed is that, you know,
• 44:14
  Speaker 5: these guys got to go out and they got to
• 44:16
  Speaker 5: answer the call.
• 44:17
  Speaker 4: You know, all we can do is watch, cheer, root, analyze.
• 44:21
  Speaker 5: But at the end of the day, it falls on
• 44:24
  Speaker 5: the shoulders of the players to go out there and
• 44:25
  Speaker 5: perform and get the job done.
• 44:28
  Speaker 2: One of the guys that's been getting the job done
• 44:31
  Speaker 2: in the first two games is last year's sack leader
• 44:34
  Speaker 2: for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
• 44:36
  Speaker 3: Three sacks this year. Chasing down T.J. Watt.
• 44:38
  Speaker 2: Probably a little friendly rivalry going on for who has
• 44:41
  Speaker 2: the most sacks and tackles for losses. But Alex Highsmith
• 44:44
  Speaker 2: joins us now in the locker room. Off to a
• 44:46
  Speaker 2: phenomenal start thus far. Alex, how do you feel about
• 44:49
  Speaker 2: the way things have been going with you and this
• 44:51
  Speaker 2: defense through the first two games of the season?
• 44:54
  Speaker 8: Yeah, I appreciate you guys having me on. Everybody can
• 44:57
  Speaker 8: hear me okay?
• 44:58
  Speaker 3: Yes, we can.
• 44:58
  Speaker 6: Thank you. Awesome. Yeah, I think.
• 45:03
  Speaker 8: We've gotten off to a solid start. Obviously, you know,
• 45:06
  Speaker 8: we want to see 2-0 in the one column. But,
• 45:08
  Speaker 8: you know, I think for us, we've been able to
• 45:11
  Speaker 8: go out there and, you know, get the ball some,
• 45:13
  Speaker 8: get some turnovers. But I think there's a lot of
• 45:15
  Speaker 8: ways that we can be better. We obviously know we
• 45:17
  Speaker 8: can stop the run better. You know, giving up, you know,
• 45:20
  Speaker 8: 100-plus yards in the run game, you know, is not
• 45:21
  Speaker 8: the standard. And so I think for us, it's just about,
• 45:24
  Speaker 8: you know, being the most physical team. And I think
• 45:26
  Speaker 8: we have, you know, the guys in our locker room,
• 45:30
  Speaker 8: you know, on our defense who are able to, help
• 45:32
  Speaker 8: us stop the run. And so I think that's just
• 45:33
  Speaker 8: going to be a big, key, big focus for us,
• 45:36
  Speaker 8: you know, every single game. Obviously, coming up, we know that,
• 45:38
  Speaker 8: you know, the Bengals are primarily a pass offense. But
• 45:42
  Speaker 8: I think last year in that first game, they got.
• 45:44
  Speaker 6: Away from us.
• 45:45
  Speaker 8: You know, they were able to run the ball effectively.
• 45:46
  Speaker 8: So I think for us, it just starts with stopping
• 45:49
  Speaker 8: the run. And so, like I said, we know we
• 45:51
  Speaker 8: have the players to be able to do that. And
• 45:52
  Speaker 8: so we just got to go out there and execute
• 45:54
  Speaker 8: and be the most physical team.
• 45:57
  Speaker 5: Alex, you've been in a number of these matchups, and
• 46:00
  Speaker 5: there's something different about AFC North football. What is it
• 46:04
  Speaker 5: that gets you guys particularly motivated when you play the Bengals?
• 46:08
  Speaker 5: Is there one thing, or is it just, hey, this
• 46:11
  Speaker 5: is the division, it's the next opponent? Or do you
• 46:13
  Speaker 5: have a sense, because I know when I played, it
• 46:16
  Speaker 5: was the Ravens. The Ravens just got under my crawl.
• 46:18
  Speaker 5: It was a very physical, tough matchup. You knew it
• 46:21
  Speaker 5: was going to be a bloody affair. But I feel
• 46:23
  Speaker 5: like the Bengals have kind of been that team where
• 46:25
  Speaker 5: we've kind of, had a lot of, a lot of,
• 46:28
  Speaker 5: you know, mix-ups, and, you know, what's up is down
• 46:31
  Speaker 5: inside of that game, and I know you guys get
• 46:33
  Speaker 5: particularly motivated about that game. I didn't know, is there
• 46:35
  Speaker 5: something particular about that team? Is that the team that
• 46:38
  Speaker 5: you guys look at and say, all right, this is
• 46:40
  Speaker 5: a team we have to go put to sleep as
• 46:42
  Speaker 5: a defense because of what they have offensively?
• 46:44
  Speaker 4: Like, what is it about the Bengals?
• 46:47
  Speaker 8: Yeah, I mean, I think, obviously, there's a lot of
• 46:50
  Speaker 8: history in this robbery. You know, there's a lot of history,
• 46:53
  Speaker 8: and and bad blood between the teams, but I think
• 46:56
  Speaker 8: it's any, any AFC North team that we play, we
• 46:58
  Speaker 8: just know that, that, that these games are weighted differently
• 47:01
  Speaker 8: and that, um, you know, if you, if you want
• 47:03
  Speaker 8: to be in the playoffs and competing for a Superbowl, uh,
• 47:06
  Speaker 8: at the end of the year, you know, it starts,
• 47:08
  Speaker 8: it starts with winning your division games. So we just,
• 47:11
  Speaker 8: we know how much more these games mean. And so, um,
• 47:14
  Speaker 8: you know, we, we can't miss out on any opportunity
• 47:16
  Speaker 8: to be able to win these games. So, um, that's
• 47:18
  Speaker 8: why it means so much.
• 47:21
  Speaker 6: Alex, can you talk about your new defensive coordinator, Patrick Graham,
• 47:24
  Speaker 6: and his defense thus far? There's been so much talk
• 47:27
  Speaker 6: about your unit in particular having maybe pulling back on
• 47:32
  Speaker 6: some of TJ's snaps and getting her back out there
• 47:35
  Speaker 6: a little bit more, getting him more snaps and building
• 47:38
  Speaker 6: up his volume along with yourself and Jack Sawyer. Collectively,
• 47:41
  Speaker 6: you guys control the game. You guys are high-impact guys, man.
• 47:48
  Speaker 6: Can you talk about his defense and what you like
• 47:50
  Speaker 6: about it the most, and what do you expect for
• 47:54
  Speaker 6: the year from an impact standpoint?
• 47:57
  Speaker 8: Yeah, it's been awesome so far. I think coming in,
• 48:00
  Speaker 8: the start of OTAs, PG just really established himself and
• 48:04
  Speaker 8: what he wanted our defense to look like. He's a
• 48:07
  Speaker 8: former linebacker, D-line coach, so he knows that the defense
• 48:11
  Speaker 8: starts up front. If we want to be a great defense,
• 48:15
  Speaker 8: we've got to be physical. We've got to beat this
• 48:17
  Speaker 8: up up front. I think it's just been awesome so far.
• 48:20
  Speaker 8: Like you said, his scheme has been putting guys in
• 48:23
  Speaker 8: a lot of positions to be able to make plays
• 48:25
  Speaker 8: on the front end and the back end. Being able
• 48:28
  Speaker 8: to rotate the way we have been is awesome. All
• 48:30
  Speaker 8: of us are fresh throughout the whole game. It's just
• 48:33
  Speaker 8: a testament to our group and the depth that we
• 48:36
  Speaker 8: have in our group. All of us are able to
• 48:38
  Speaker 8: go out there and make plays for our defense. I'm
• 48:41
  Speaker 8: just excited to see how we continue to gel as
• 48:44
  Speaker 8: a unit and continue to get better throughout the year.
• 48:46
  Speaker 8: I think we're all just leaning in and trusting his plan. And,
• 48:50
  Speaker 8: you know, ultimately he knows that we have a lot
• 48:53
  Speaker 8: of great players in this defense. And so, yes, he
• 48:55
  Speaker 8: draws up the schemes and, you know, puts us in opportunities,
• 48:58
  Speaker 8: puts us in positions to make great plays. But, you know,
• 49:01
  Speaker 8: in some instances he gives us the keys because, you know,
• 49:03
  Speaker 8: he knows we have a lot of veteran guys on
• 49:05
  Speaker 8: our defense. So I'm just excited to, you know, continue
• 49:08
  Speaker 8: to work with him throughout this year.
• 49:10
  Speaker 3: Oh, it's wonderful to hear. Alex Highsmith is our guest.
• 49:13
  Speaker 2: And, Alex, you're facing an opponent that's very familiar to you,
• 49:17
  Speaker 2: But they're also very familiar with you as well.
• 49:20
  Speaker 3: Well on the other end.
• 49:21
  Speaker 2: Do you feel like there's an edge one way or
• 49:23
  Speaker 2: the other, offense, defense, when you face the team as
• 49:26
  Speaker 2: often as you guys have faced Joe Burrow in this
• 49:27
  Speaker 2: Bengals outfit?
• 49:30
  Speaker 8: Yeah, I think obviously any division team that you play,
• 49:34
  Speaker 8: like you said, they know you, we know them. I
• 49:37
  Speaker 8: think the thing that separates you know, the winner from
• 49:41
  Speaker 8: the loser in these games is, you know, who's the
• 49:43
  Speaker 8: most physical and who is the most detailed. Ultimately, I
• 49:47
  Speaker 8: think that's what's really going to matter is, you know,
• 49:49
  Speaker 8: who can, you know, play fundamental football the best and
• 49:52
  Speaker 8: who can be on their details the most, I think
• 49:54
  Speaker 8: is what's most important. And then that physicality as well, man,
• 49:57
  Speaker 8: like all the games that I've been in, in this
• 49:59
  Speaker 8: AFC North, you know, the most physical team has won.
• 50:02
  Speaker 8: So we just know that we have to, you know,
• 50:03
  Speaker 8: bring the juice and really, you know, it starts up
• 50:06
  Speaker 8: front with us, just being physical, stopping the run and
• 50:08
  Speaker 8: getting after them. in the past game.
• 50:11
  Speaker 2: Alex, before we go, I just want to, I wanted
• 50:13
  Speaker 2: to just go a little off script here for a moment. And,
• 50:16
  Speaker 2: you know, because our buddy Craig Wolfley is going into
• 50:18
  Speaker 2: the Steelers Hall of Honor and, you know, Wolf was
• 50:21
  Speaker 2: known for, among other things, his great, the way he
• 50:25
  Speaker 2: gave to the community and you and your wife, Alyssa,
• 50:27
  Speaker 2: have made that a big, big point and a big
• 50:31
  Speaker 2: emphasis of your lives. Why is that important to you
• 50:35
  Speaker 2: to give so much to the community like you do?
• 50:38
  Speaker 8: Yeah, it's so important. Ever since I got in the league,
• 50:42
  Speaker 8: I feel like my purpose is gone. It's so beyond
• 50:47
  Speaker 8: the game of football. I truly believe that God has
• 50:49
  Speaker 8: given me this platform to be a blessing to others
• 50:52
  Speaker 8: and to bring glory to him and to impact the
• 50:55
  Speaker 8: communities that I love and that I'm in. So that's
• 50:58
  Speaker 8: just really something that God has put on my heart
• 51:01
  Speaker 8: to just make an impact that goes far beyond the game.
• 51:04
  Speaker 8: And I think a guy like Wilf, He just really
• 51:07
  Speaker 8: showed an amazing example of that. And I got to
• 51:09
  Speaker 8: know Wolf over the years that I've been here, man.
• 51:14
  Speaker 8: I loved being able to talk to that dude all
• 51:18
  Speaker 8: the time, lean on him. He gave me a lot
• 51:20
  Speaker 8: of wisdom just in regards to how to get connected
• 51:25
  Speaker 8: in the Pittsburgh community. And then he was also a
• 51:29
  Speaker 8: strong man of faith. He was a firm believer in
• 51:31
  Speaker 8: and our Lord Jesus Christ and just to be able
• 51:33
  Speaker 8: to lean on him. He helped me grow in my
• 51:36
  Speaker 8: faith as well. And so I just have so much
• 51:39
  Speaker 8: respect for him. And he meant a lot to me
• 51:43
  Speaker 8: for sure. And so, like I said, just knowing that
• 51:45
  Speaker 8: the platform that I have, it goes so much more,
• 51:49
  Speaker 8: so much far beyond football. So I'm just grateful that
• 51:52
  Speaker 8: God has given me the platform to be able to
• 51:53
  Speaker 8: do that.
• 51:55
  Speaker 2: Alex Ismith has been our guest. Alex, thanks very much.
• 51:58
  Speaker 2: Good luck on Sunday. Look forward to calling some sacks,
• 52:00
  Speaker 2: maybe some turnovers in the game, and hopefully a Steelers
• 52:04
  Speaker 2: victory over the Bengals as well.
• 52:06
  Speaker 8: Yeah, we've got to go get it. I appreciate you guys.
• 52:08
  Speaker 3: Okay. Alex Highsmith has been our guest.
• 52:11
  Speaker 2: We've gone a little bit over, but well worth it
• 52:13
  Speaker 2: to spend some time with Alex, who's off to just
• 52:15
  Speaker 2: a phenomenal start this season for the Steelers once again.
• 52:19
  Speaker 2: Our thanks to Alex. Our thanks to Missy Matthews, to
• 52:23
  Speaker 2: Justin Miller, to Controls, and our iHeartStudio. For Willie Colon,
• 52:27
  Speaker 2: Max Starks, myself, Rob King, we thank you for being
• 52:29
  Speaker 2: a part of In the Locker Room here on the
• 52:31
  Speaker 2: Steelers Audio Network.