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HR1: Victory Monday · In the Locker Room presented by Neighborhood Ford Store (Pittsburgh Steelers)

0:04
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: Burrow gets a snap. Play action pass.
0:28
Speaker 3: Rolling back.
0:29
Speaker 2: Some pressure coming. Derek Harmon gets it.
0:31
Speaker 4: Tracks it down.
0:32
Speaker 2: Ball is loose. A battle for it along the ground.
0:35
Speaker 2: Who's got it?
0:36
Speaker 4: Does Sebastian Joseph Gay have it? The Steelers think they
0:41
Speaker 4: have it. The crowd certainly thinks they have it. Waiting
0:45
Speaker 4: for the official signal. And it is Pittsburgh Steelers football.
0:49
Speaker 4: What a play by Derek Harmon.
0:52
Speaker 5: This game we knew was going to be about who
0:54
Speaker 5: won the big play battle. I haven't seen any statistics yet,
0:57
Speaker 5: but I knew big plays were going to be a
1:00
Speaker 5: big part of this game. And it came down to
1:03
Speaker 5: who made the final big play, and we did at
1:05
Speaker 5: the end. Complementing football, what jumps out to me, offense, defense,
1:09
Speaker 5: and special teams, everybody contributed today, especially when the game
1:13
Speaker 5: was on the line. But yes, we were much better
1:17
Speaker 5: today on offense.
1:20
Speaker 6: What a victory for the Steelers as they defeat the
1:22
Speaker 6: Cleveland Browns by the final score of 30-27. Thank you
1:25
Speaker 6: very much for being with us in the locker room.
1:29
Speaker 6: Max Starks will be with us shortly, still making his
1:31
Speaker 6: way back across the country, planes, trains, and automobiles for
1:34
Speaker 6: Max getting back home.
1:37
Speaker 2: We pray safely.
1:39
Speaker 6: We're going to be joined by Jim Wexel, but for
1:41
Speaker 6: now we have Willie Colon and myself, Rob King, here
1:44
Speaker 6: in the locker room with you. Willie, your thoughts on
1:47
Speaker 6: the Steelers' victory over the Cincinnati Bengals, especially considering that
1:52
Speaker 6: Cincinnati came into Accresher Stadium as favorites over the Pittsburgh Steelers?
1:57
Speaker 3: Well, first of all, Rob, I have to not only
2:01
Speaker 3: say you and Max called a hell of a game.
2:04
Speaker 3: To the point, I was listening to a couple of
2:07
Speaker 3: NFL podcasts. You know, there's a couple of people who
2:10
Speaker 3: I like to listen to and kind of get to
2:12
Speaker 3: up-to-date news and different perspectives. Can you hear me?
2:19
Speaker 2: Yes, got you. I just cut out for a moment,
2:20
Speaker 2: but we got you back.
2:22
Speaker 3: I'm back. I apologize. And the big run by Mount Washington,
2:27
Speaker 3: they've clipped a lot of you and Max's call on
2:29
Speaker 3: that play. So you're becoming a star, Rob. I don't
2:34
Speaker 3: know if you're aware of that.
2:35
Speaker 7: Oh, boy.
2:36
Speaker 3: People are talking about how Rob King and Max Starks
2:39
Speaker 3: are calling some of the best games. you guys do
2:43
Speaker 3: a great job. I don't know how to kind of
2:45
Speaker 3: gloat and kind of glorify your name anymore. I mean,
2:48
Speaker 3: you guys are rock stars.
2:50
Speaker 2: Well, that's enough, but thank you.
2:54
Speaker 3: Don't be blushing over there, Rob. I'm just trying to
2:56
Speaker 3: say you and Max are doing a hell of a
2:58
Speaker 3: job and keep up the good work.
3:02
Speaker 2: I appreciate it. Thank you. And I do appreciate it.
3:05
Speaker 2: Thank you.
3:06
Speaker 6: I don't know how other people feel about it. Randy
3:09
Speaker 6: Baumann accused me this morning on TV. He said, you're
3:13
Speaker 6: the most bashful person listening back to his own calls.
3:16
Speaker 6: I asked him, you like listening back.
3:19
Speaker 2: To your own gigs? No, I don't.
3:21
Speaker 6: There you have it. You call, I'm glad people enjoy it.
3:26
Speaker 3: I've said this before. We're joking, but I'm saying this seriously.
3:30
Speaker 3: There are people who are... I've listened to three podcasts
3:33
Speaker 3: who are well-respected and well-known. They're playing clips from you
3:37
Speaker 3: and Max calling the game. I'm like, It's weird because
3:40
Speaker 3: I feel like I know you guys now, right? We're
3:41
Speaker 3: on every day. We're talking. We're building this kinship. So
3:44
Speaker 3: I'm like, man, those are my guys. They're being celebrated.
3:46
Speaker 3: So sometimes you don't receive it because you stay– you
3:49
Speaker 3: keep your nose down to the ground and you grind
3:51
Speaker 3: and you grind and grind. And I get that. So
3:53
Speaker 3: I'm here to give you your flowers, damn it.
3:55
Speaker 7: Thank you.
3:55
Speaker 3: I'm here to say keep kicking ass, Rob and Max Starks.
3:58
Speaker 3: People are listening and loving you guys on air. With
4:01
Speaker 3: all that said, fast forward on to the Steelers, man.
4:08
Speaker 3: I think the game was, one, indicative of what we've
4:15
Speaker 3: been talking about thus far, meaning that change needed to
4:20
Speaker 3: be happening, change happened now, and the changes that we
4:25
Speaker 3: saw in yesterday's game, thank God they didn't happen week
4:30
Speaker 3: five or six where things would have become more unhinged.
4:35
Speaker 3: I think the addition of having Brock Hoffman and Max
4:38
Speaker 3: Ahanuchu at the right side really stabilized the line. They
4:42
Speaker 3: were obviously able to do a lot of things. And
4:44
Speaker 3: I credit Mike McCarthy's ability to say, hey, you know,
4:48
Speaker 3: if we're not able to get vertical movement, let's see
4:51
Speaker 3: if we can get horizontal movement, right? And I think
4:53
Speaker 3: they were able to lean on the athleticism of that
4:56
Speaker 3: offensive line, and they were able to make hay in
4:59
Speaker 3: that regard. I also appreciate that, you know, there was
5:03
Speaker 3: a lot of talk about the Steelers, how much 11
5:05
Speaker 3: personnel they used, right, and how they came to kind
5:07
Speaker 3: of They live in 11 personnel, and I'm glad Aaron Rodgers,
5:10
Speaker 3: at the end of his presser, was able to say, hey, man,
5:12
Speaker 3: when you don't win on first or second down, you
5:15
Speaker 3: have to lean on 11 personnel to throw the ball.
5:18
Speaker 3: I mean, that's just the way the league is. If
5:20
Speaker 3: you perform better on first or second down, then you
5:23
Speaker 3: can kind of dive into more of your packages and
5:25
Speaker 3: be more diverse in that regard. So it seemed like
5:28
Speaker 3: the team, one, played with a lot more energy, They
5:33
Speaker 3: tapped into our tight end usage. Obviously, we have big-time
5:35
Speaker 3: tight ends with Mount Washington and Pat Furmouth. And Tanyan,
5:39
Speaker 3: I think, is a damn good tight end as well.
5:41
Speaker 3: And I like that. It felt like this was a
5:43
Speaker 3: game the Steelers accepted the challenge, right? There was so
5:46
Speaker 3: much talk about the Bengals coming into Ackleshire. You know,
5:51
Speaker 3: they have this big-time offense with Jamar Chase and T.
5:53
Speaker 3: Higgins and Joe Burrow. And there was so much about
5:56
Speaker 3: this defense, you know, this revamped defense. And Dex Lawrence,
5:59
Speaker 3: I mean, he still made his plays. And I think
6:01
Speaker 3: he ended up having two sacks in the game. But nevertheless,
6:03
Speaker 3: it felt like the Steelers met the challenge, which was
6:06
Speaker 3: great because that's one of the things I thought going
6:08
Speaker 3: into the season. We needed to see this team do better,
6:11
Speaker 3: start faster, and come off the bus with a lot
6:14
Speaker 3: more attitude and play with a level of physicality that
6:17
Speaker 3: kind of let the opposition know, like, hey, man, you
6:21
Speaker 3: better glove up. This is going to be a rough one.
6:23
Speaker 3: So I think we saw a lot of that. There
6:27
Speaker 3: were still some miscues, some drops, obviously penalties, Kind of
6:31
Speaker 3: stunned a lot of our explosive plays. Obviously, the big
6:34
Speaker 3: one from Jalen Warren, he had the big 87-yard run,
6:38
Speaker 3: and that got called back because of the hold, which
6:39
Speaker 3: is nonsense. The DK actually wasn't holding on that. But
6:43
Speaker 3: I also want to credit the old man, Rob. Aaron
6:47
Speaker 3: Rodgers showed his will a little bit. He was mobile.
6:49
Speaker 3: And I think that has to be the goal for
6:52
Speaker 3: the Steelers moving forward. And if I was to lay
6:57
Speaker 3: three checkpoints on the table, I think one– continue to,
7:01
Speaker 3: you know, for this deal is offers the line, continue
7:03
Speaker 3: to lean on that athleticism and whatever that means may
7:06
Speaker 3: open up the spring game and obviously continue to feed
7:09
Speaker 3: our tight ends. But to Aaron Rogers has to be
7:11
Speaker 3: more mobile. You know, he, we know that he's not
7:14
Speaker 3: what he used to be, but I think yesterday showed
7:16
Speaker 3: when he's able to kind of step up, move, shift left, right,
7:20
Speaker 3: that it just, it just buys the line more time
7:22
Speaker 3: and it kind of keeps them alive and it helps
7:24
Speaker 3: them stabilize the office. And then, you know, I said
7:28
Speaker 3: this going into this game and I'm glad he was
7:30
Speaker 3: able to have a big catch in his game. Jeremy Bernard,
7:32
Speaker 3: we have to figure out how the Steelers can have
7:35
Speaker 3: packages solely for him. We got to figure out how
7:38
Speaker 3: we can get him the ball solely. Because I think he,
7:41
Speaker 3: he's such a weapon. He can be such a weapon
7:43
Speaker 3: for the Steelers. And I know he's continued to immerse
7:46
Speaker 3: himself in the offense, but I was just really that,
7:49
Speaker 3: you know, this, the defense was fine. I think the defense,
7:52
Speaker 3: you know, they, they were able to close out the game.
7:53
Speaker 3: Derek Harmon had the big sack at the end of
7:55
Speaker 3: the game and, They played gritty football. But I think offensively,
7:59
Speaker 3: we needed a facelift, and we got it yesterday. So
8:02
Speaker 3: I'm just happy. Victory Monday for the Pittsburgh Steelers is
8:05
Speaker 3: always a good day in my book.
8:07
Speaker 7: Agreed.
8:07
Speaker 2: And, Boyle, a lot to unpack there.
8:10
Speaker 6: There's so much stuff that goes on during the course
8:13
Speaker 6: of a game and the course of a preparation for
8:17
Speaker 6: the game and what a team has to do schematically.
8:22
Speaker 6: And I think when you talk about you know, like
8:25
Speaker 6: personnel grouping. So a lot of times, you know, fans
8:29
Speaker 6: will see that and they will separate it from the
8:32
Speaker 6: game itself. And Aaron Rogers explained that very well. Hey,
8:35
Speaker 6: you're in a lot of 11. Well, it doesn't mean
8:36
Speaker 6: we want to be in 11. It's when you're third
8:39
Speaker 6: and eight, you know, you got to be in 11, right?
8:41
Speaker 6: You're not going to use two tight ends. He's also
8:43
Speaker 6: said this now a couple of times. And I think
8:46
Speaker 6: this is important for fans, maybe fans that are intermediate
8:50
Speaker 6: fans or newer to the game. Aaron Rogers has said,
8:54
Speaker 6: I throw the ball to the guy who's open. So
8:58
Speaker 6: people want to talk about targets. How many targets does
9:00
Speaker 6: a guy have? Well, look, if you see DK Metcalf one-on-one,
9:06
Speaker 6: you're probably going to give him a shot up the sideline.
9:10
Speaker 6: So fans know quarterback comes out. They've got a play call. Now, again,
9:15
Speaker 6: sometimes there's option routes. Sometimes there isn't. A defense is
9:19
Speaker 6: trying to fool you. Maybe they're in cover two. Maybe
9:21
Speaker 6: they're in cover three. You have a veteran like Aaron Rodgers,
9:24
Speaker 6: when the ball snapped, he pretty much knows where he's going. Now,
9:28
Speaker 6: maybe somebody will flash and fool him late. Now he's
9:30
Speaker 6: got to go to his second target or whatever. But
9:32
Speaker 6: it's not like, well, we're going to increase DK's target
9:36
Speaker 6: share this week. No, he's going to go to the
9:38
Speaker 6: line of scrimmage. He's going to figure out who's open,
9:41
Speaker 6: and he's going to throw him the ball. And I
9:42
Speaker 6: understand target share. I get where fans are coming from.
9:46
Speaker 6: But you have to understand these things within the confines
9:48
Speaker 6: of the game. You have to understand personnel groupings. You
9:51
Speaker 6: have to understand target share within the confines of what's
9:55
Speaker 6: actually happening.
9:57
Speaker 2: In the game.
9:59
Speaker 3: Yeah, I agree. And I think right now when you
10:02
Speaker 3: talk about this offense and how they springboard and kind
10:04
Speaker 3: of take this emotional win, because it was an emotional win.
10:07
Speaker 3: You would agree, right, Rob? Absolutely. I felt like it
10:10
Speaker 3: was an emotional win. And it was a win that
10:12
Speaker 3: a lot of people needed to see the Steelers respond.
10:16
Speaker 3: Because I think, yeah, you can be absolutely disgruntled about
10:20
Speaker 3: how they played against the Patriots. But there's another thing
10:23
Speaker 3: to come home against a division rival who feels like, man,
10:26
Speaker 3: this is the year where they kind of step over
10:29
Speaker 3: the Steelers. And you respond in a fashion where you
10:32
Speaker 3: saw our receivers block, right? You saw our offensive line
10:34
Speaker 3: actually own the line of scrimmage and hold up and
10:37
Speaker 3: fight and claw. You saw Aaron Rodgers kind of turn
10:41
Speaker 3: back the clock and actually move and deliver the football
10:43
Speaker 3: on time. And then you saw some splash plays out
10:46
Speaker 3: of Michael Pittman and And I think altogether, man, offensively,
10:51
Speaker 3: the offense needed to catch up to the defense because
10:54
Speaker 3: when you see the defense shut down the Patriots and
10:56
Speaker 3: they only had scored 13 points and you go into
10:58
Speaker 3: this game knowing that Joe Burrow and company can light
11:01
Speaker 3: up the scoreboard if you're not on your P's and
11:03
Speaker 3: Q's and you see our offense respond after they scored,
11:08
Speaker 3: it made you feel like, okay, the boys are dialed in.
11:11
Speaker 3: And now you have an opportunity to go on Thursday night, man,
11:14
Speaker 3: against a Browns team who is also coming off an
11:16
Speaker 3: emotional win. I don't know if you read the headlines.
11:21
Speaker 3: Deshaun Watson wasn't a fan of the Dog Pound. Not
11:25
Speaker 3: a Dog Pound seems to love him. In the fourth quarter,
11:28
Speaker 3: they were calling for him to come back onto the
11:29
Speaker 3: field and rally the boys. They were saying his name.
11:32
Speaker 3: He honestly admitted how emotionally charged up he was because
11:37
Speaker 3: of that. So you're talking about two teams right now
11:40
Speaker 3: who are emotionally– invested in being not only the best
11:44
Speaker 3: versions of themselves, but starting to start, you know, the
11:47
Speaker 3: ability to start stacking some division wins, right. Which always
11:50
Speaker 3: means something, especially when you go towards the back end
11:52
Speaker 3: of the season. So I, I, I'm, I'm happy for
11:56
Speaker 3: the Steelers because I think this is, they needed to
11:58
Speaker 3: kind of get that ugly out their mouth, right. They
12:00
Speaker 3: kind of, they needed to kind of get that yucky
12:02
Speaker 3: feeling and beating the Bengals in the fashion they did.
12:05
Speaker 3: It feels like they were able to, now they got
12:06
Speaker 3: to get ready because this Browns does have a defense that,
12:10
Speaker 3: And there's a young man by the name of Mason
12:11
Speaker 3: Graham who had a breakout game. Sure did. The interior
12:14
Speaker 3: line got another dogfight ahead of them.
12:16
Speaker 2: They do.
12:17
Speaker 6: And I do want to break, you know, we have
12:19
Speaker 6: such just a two-day week here, really, to break down
12:22
Speaker 6: some of the key matchups in this game and also
12:24
Speaker 6: talk about some of the key performers in this past game. And,
12:29
Speaker 6: you know, the running game, Jill and Warren, was fabulous.
12:31
Speaker 6: But as I look at these past receivers, you know,
12:34
Speaker 6: Darnell Washington, three receptions, 67 yards, he leads the way.
12:38
Speaker 6: In week one, it was Pat Fryermuth who had five receptions, right?
12:42
Speaker 6: And I just think when you have Aaron Rodgers and
12:45
Speaker 6: you have this schemed up the way it is, do
12:47
Speaker 6: they want to get the ball to DK?
12:49
Speaker 3: Sure.
12:50
Speaker 6: And if Aaron Rodgers sees what the defense gives him
12:52
Speaker 6: and thinks there's an opportunity to throw to DK, he
12:56
Speaker 6: may go there more often than he would with another guy.
12:59
Speaker 6: That's going to drive that quote-unquote target share up a
13:02
Speaker 6: little bit. I just think that with Aaron Rodgers at
13:05
Speaker 6: the controls, and I think this is.
13:09
Speaker 2: This is good in a way. Look, you know, is
13:11
Speaker 2: there Jamar Chase on this team?
13:13
Speaker 3: No.
13:13
Speaker 6: DK Metcalf's been to a couple Pro Bowls.
13:16
Speaker 2: He's the guy you want to get the ball to.
13:18
Speaker 6: I just think you're going to see a different hero
13:21
Speaker 6: emerging virtually every week in the pass game. I mean,
13:24
Speaker 6: who had, you know, Roman Wilson and Ben Skoranek, both
13:28
Speaker 6: had touchdown receptions in this game.
13:29
Speaker 2: I just think that's the way it's going to be, Willie.
13:32
Speaker 3: I think that's how Aaron Rodgers wants it. He wants
13:35
Speaker 3: to have the ability to pepper it around and and
13:38
Speaker 3: get guys activated within the offense. But I also think
13:41
Speaker 3: he's no fool. You know, right now what's winning for
13:44
Speaker 3: him on the outside is a D.K. Metcalf. And so
13:47
Speaker 3: they have to figure out the defense is going to
13:48
Speaker 3: start rolling coverages, you know, to D.K. 's way. You know,
13:53
Speaker 3: you don't want it to become a situation where he's
13:55
Speaker 3: now erased off the field because they'll start leaning his way.
13:59
Speaker 3: But that also means other people have to show up.
14:01
Speaker 3: You know, you talk about, you know, Mount Washington. He
14:04
Speaker 3: was able to have a big game. I know Aaron
14:07
Speaker 3: missed one or two throws to Fairmouth. That could have
14:09
Speaker 3: been a big completion. You also look at Pittman, somebody
14:13
Speaker 3: who has to continue to find himself within the offense. Hopefully,
14:16
Speaker 3: you know, this foot doesn't become something that linkers and
14:18
Speaker 3: hinders him. But there's a lot of answers. And I
14:21
Speaker 3: think what's most important is if the offensive line that
14:26
Speaker 3: we currently have, that currently play, and obviously having Troy
14:29
Speaker 3: Pitano and Mason McCormick, Zach Frazier and Hoffman and Max Wancho,
14:34
Speaker 3: who I thought really for a young guy stepping in,
14:36
Speaker 3: and they protected him a little bit, but he held
14:38
Speaker 3: his own in a lot of key moments. I was
14:40
Speaker 3: really proud of him. If they're able to kind of
14:43
Speaker 3: continue to keep Aaron upright, man, when Aaron gets hot,
14:47
Speaker 3: he gets hot, man. He just does. And it's hard
14:49
Speaker 3: to pull him off because, to your point, Rob, he
14:52
Speaker 3: always has the answers at the line of scrimmage. And
14:54
Speaker 3: on top of that, he has a way of buying
14:57
Speaker 3: time where he's like, I'm going to get the ball
14:59
Speaker 3: to this guy's hands because he can make yards after
15:02
Speaker 3: the play and You have to be excited about what
15:05
Speaker 3: you saw yesterday. The goal right now for the Steelers
15:09
Speaker 3: is how do we now continue to generate that type
15:12
Speaker 3: of momentum against Cleveland because Cleveland's going to be fired
15:16
Speaker 3: up and they're going to be ready. I think you
15:19
Speaker 3: said it earlier, Rob. I remember one time we were talking.
15:22
Speaker 3: When you start going into the week fours and fives
15:25
Speaker 3: and sixes, this is where you want to start stacking Ws.
15:28
Speaker 3: This is where you want to start pulling yourself away
15:30
Speaker 3: from And, you know, having such an emotional win against
15:33
Speaker 3: the Bengals is a good opportunity to do so. So
15:36
Speaker 3: hopefully Steelers do it, man. But good day all around
15:39
Speaker 3: for the boys.
15:40
Speaker 2: No doubt.
15:41
Speaker 3: No doubt.
15:42
Speaker 6: Steelers win 30-27. Upset victory at home over the Bengals. Much,
15:48
Speaker 6: much more to get to coming up next. We're going
15:50
Speaker 6: to talk a little bit about the emotional component of
15:52
Speaker 6: this and something that I think was very good for
15:55
Speaker 6: Mike McCarthy as well in this victory. When Jim Wexel
15:58
Speaker 6: joins us coming up next here. In the Locker Room
16:02
Speaker 6: on the Steelers Audio Network.
16:08
Speaker 1: This is In the Locker Room with Rob King, Max Starks,
16:12
Speaker 1: and Willie Colon on Steelers Nation Radio. Brought to you
16:15
Speaker 1: in part by the Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
16:18
Speaker 1: from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop.steelers.com.
16:23
Speaker 1: And by your neighborhood Ford store. The F-150 is the
16:27
Speaker 1: official truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
16:32
Speaker 6: And we're still waiting on the hardest working man in
16:34
Speaker 6: show business, Max Starks, who has had a cross-country journey that.
16:40
Speaker 2: We're going to get you filled in on.
16:41
Speaker 6: It's been amazing. Max will be joining us shortly. Willie
16:44
Speaker 6: Colon here. I'm Rob King.
16:46
Speaker 2: And we're joined.
16:46
Speaker 6: It's a Wex Wednesday, only it's a Monday because it's
16:49
Speaker 6: a game on a Thursday, not on a Sunday.
16:51
Speaker 2: I think I got most of the days of the
16:52
Speaker 2: week in there. Jim Wexel joining us now. Wex, how
16:55
Speaker 2: you doing, my friend?
16:57
Speaker 7: Good, Rob, and I want to welcome Willie. I know
17:00
Speaker 7: he's been there a while, but I haven't said congratulations
17:04
Speaker 7: on his new gig. So, Willie, it's nice to hear
17:07
Speaker 7: you again.
17:08
Speaker 3: Thanks, Jim. I appreciate it.
17:11
Speaker 6: He is a fabulous addition to the locker room.
17:17
Speaker 7: This is probably something you've already talked to him about, but, Willie,
17:21
Speaker 7: how long did it take you to get that starting
17:22
Speaker 7: job at right tackle? How many games did you have
17:24
Speaker 7: to wait?
17:28
Speaker 3: It's a little sensitive subject because I took it from Max.
17:35
Speaker 3: I started the last two games in my rookie year
17:37
Speaker 3: and then I took it over for sure.
17:40
Speaker 7: Okay. So I'm sorry to ask the questions, Rob, but
17:45
Speaker 7: I'm just curious because I didn't think Max would be
17:49
Speaker 7: so ready so early. And I'm sure you guys have
17:54
Speaker 7: talked about it, but it's quite an accomplishment what he's done.
17:58
Speaker 7: I mean, Willie Colon, it took you almost a full season.
18:02
Speaker 7: It took Alan Fanica five games. It took Jermaine Austin
18:05
Speaker 7: four games. Mike Webster two years. I mean, it's not
18:09
Speaker 7: that easy. So I thought Max played really well yesterday.
18:15
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think part of that was they did a
18:17
Speaker 3: great job of protecting him on the edges and kind
18:20
Speaker 3: of letting him feel his way through the game a
18:24
Speaker 3: little bit. I said this to Max and Rob in
18:26
Speaker 3: the preseason, the second half of that game, I think
18:30
Speaker 3: it was the second quarter or the second half of
18:32
Speaker 3: the game against Buffalo in the preseason, I thought the
18:36
Speaker 3: way he was moving and just how he looked out
18:39
Speaker 3: there from a comfortability standpoint, I thought he was ready.
18:42
Speaker 3: The issue I was concerned about was his conditioning because
18:45
Speaker 3: I know he had got hurt and he was only
18:49
Speaker 3: playing a half or a quarter Now, the goal, you know,
18:52
Speaker 3: the conversation at that time was do you start him
18:55
Speaker 3: or do you let Dylan Cook go? And I was
18:57
Speaker 3: a fan of starting him if there was a game
19:00
Speaker 3: plan on protecting him, obviously giving him tight end presence,
19:03
Speaker 3: chip help, doing things that fit his skill set. But
19:07
Speaker 3: I thought during that preseason game against the Buffalo Bills,
19:10
Speaker 3: the longer he played, the stronger he got. He got
19:13
Speaker 3: more comfortable. And he had a Brock Hoffman look like
19:17
Speaker 3: they had some type of chemistry brewing between them. We
19:22
Speaker 3: saw it on full display yesterday. I agree with you, Jim.
19:25
Speaker 3: He looks like he's ready for the show. Obviously, there
19:29
Speaker 3: are some mechanical things that you expect out of a
19:31
Speaker 3: young guy, but just from a comfortability standpoint, his ability
19:35
Speaker 3: just to raise the level of play over the office line,
19:38
Speaker 3: it popped off the tape for me.
19:41
Speaker 2: Jim Wexel is our guest.
19:44
Speaker 6: Jim, and we'll be here in the locker room as
19:46
Speaker 6: he has been in the past, every Wednesday except, as
19:49
Speaker 6: we said, it's a short week, so it's a Monday
19:51
Speaker 6: he's joining us.
19:52
Speaker 2: And, Wex, you know, I.
19:54
Speaker 6: Think that there was some concern, probably rightly so from
20:00
Speaker 6: a fan base. Look, there's always complaining about the coaches.
20:02
Speaker 6: You know, people are complaining about Mike Tomlin toward the end.
20:05
Speaker 6: But I think there was an expectation that coming off
20:08
Speaker 6: a game like the Patriots, that Mike Tomlin would have
20:11
Speaker 6: his team ready to play against the Cincinnati Bengals. Now,
20:15
Speaker 6: we know that Mike McCarthy has got a Hall of
20:18
Speaker 6: Fame resume of his own, and my expectation was they
20:21
Speaker 6: would be ready, but you don't know for sure until
20:24
Speaker 6: you see it up close. I think that, you know,
20:27
Speaker 6: Mike McCarthy is just, you know, and I saw these
20:30
Speaker 6: comments online, oh, you know, typical Steelers, they rally. Well, okay, yeah,
20:34
Speaker 6: that's what they've done the last 19 years, and I'm
20:36
Speaker 6: sure there were questions for Mike Tomlin when he took
20:38
Speaker 6: over for Bill Cowher, but to me, Mike McCarthy, this
20:42
Speaker 6: is a great bounce back. I'm sure he had the
20:44
Speaker 6: confidence that the team was going to be able to
20:45
Speaker 6: do it, but they did bounce back, and now that
20:49
Speaker 6: you've seen it, maybe a bit of a sigh of
20:52
Speaker 6: relief on one hand from some Steelers fans, but also
20:55
Speaker 6: Mike McCarthy's now part of that lore.
20:57
Speaker 2: Already, he's part of the same old Steelers. Backs against
21:01
Speaker 2: the wall.
21:02
Speaker 6: I mean, in a good way, they're going to find
21:03
Speaker 6: a way to come out and play, and now Three
21:06
Speaker 6: games into his career.
21:07
Speaker 2: Mike McCarthy is, you know, part of that mystique already
21:10
Speaker 2: for me.
21:12
Speaker 7: I think this was such a big game for him, Rob. Especially,
21:18
Speaker 7: you know, the way it ended. Say Big Harm doesn't
21:21
Speaker 7: get that sack. You know, Burrow said he was looking
21:26
Speaker 7: for the end zone on that play. My guess is
21:29
Speaker 7: he was looking for Jamar Chase isolated again on the
21:33
Speaker 7: rookie Everett, third-round pick. who, you know, if you're counting
21:38
Speaker 7: Joey Porter Jr., is probably the number five or six cornerback,
21:44
Speaker 7: however you want to add him up with the slotbacks.
21:47
Speaker 7: So say that happens. Say Chase beats the rookie. Now
21:54
Speaker 7: what do you have about Joey Porter Jr. going on?
21:57
Speaker 7: Now what's Jalen Ramsey shouting behind the interviews, Deshaun Elliott and–
22:03
Speaker 7: Jaquan Brisker, all shouting during the interview last week with Porter. CB1,
22:08
Speaker 7: you know, they... That locker room could have been fractured.
22:15
Speaker 7: You know, they lose. The fans are all over McCarthy.
22:20
Speaker 7: The players are a little disgruntled about no Joey Porter.
22:24
Speaker 7: They are giving up 14.4 per reception. That's not a
22:28
Speaker 7: good pass defense number.
22:31
Speaker 8: And....
22:33
Speaker 7: You know, with Cleveland, and we know how difficult beating
22:37
Speaker 7: Cleveland on Thursday night and Cleveland is, with that right
22:42
Speaker 7: around the corner, you know, Mike McCarthy's looking at an
22:47
Speaker 7: outraged fan base, for one thing, and two questions about
22:51
Speaker 7: his locker room. Also, he was a bit of a
22:54
Speaker 7: questionable hire in the regard that he wasn't what Chuck Knoll,
22:59
Speaker 7: Bill Cowher, Mike Tomlin were. 34-year-old, defensive-minded, energetic, young coaches.
23:08
Speaker 7: He was different. He was a different hire. So the
23:13
Speaker 7: outrage rises to the level of the front office. I
23:19
Speaker 7: just think it was a huge win for McCarthy. Now
23:21
Speaker 7: you've got some momentum going into Thursday night's game, and
23:26
Speaker 7: maybe the Joey Porter Jr., problem resolves itself this week.
23:31
Speaker 7: I don't know, but I just think it was a
23:33
Speaker 7: really big win for Mike McCarthy.
23:38
Speaker 3: Yeah.
23:38
Speaker 8: Yeah.
23:39
Speaker 2: Jerry, I'm sorry, Jim.
23:41
Speaker 3: How are you, bud?
23:42
Speaker 9: It's good to talk to you on a Wex Monday,
23:45
Speaker 9: not a Wex Wednesday as Rob intimated, but you're right.
23:50
Speaker 9: I mean, when you look at that and, and how
23:54
Speaker 9: Can we even call it untraditional, Jim? Can we call
23:57
Speaker 9: this an idea, untraditional hire with Mike McCarthy because it's
24:02
Speaker 9: an established coach?
24:03
Speaker 2: I would.
24:03
Speaker 7: I don't know if untraditional is a word, but I'd
24:06
Speaker 7: use it.
24:07
Speaker 3: Yeah.
24:08
Speaker 9: Listen, in the spirit of Wolf going into the Hall
24:11
Speaker 9: of Fame, it's untraditional. Don't try and correct and say
24:14
Speaker 9: nontraditional and be all proper, Rob.
24:15
Speaker 2: We know you're a writer and an author.
24:20
Speaker 9: I'm in my wolf bag right now because I feel
24:24
Speaker 9: like that mystique carried over into this game. But, you know,
24:29
Speaker 9: as you kind of go through it, and Rob kind
24:32
Speaker 9: of said this, right, to have that signature rallying cry win,
24:37
Speaker 9: do you think in your history, and you said this
24:42
Speaker 9: as well, but, you know, Thursday night, short week after
24:46
Speaker 9: an emotional win, now playing the Browns who we know
24:49
Speaker 9: in the mistake by the Lake is not, uh, has
24:53
Speaker 9: not been favorable to us since what I believe 2021
24:56
Speaker 9: is the last time we actually won in Cleveland. Um,
24:59
Speaker 9: just as you look at that, is it, do you,
25:01
Speaker 9: from what you've seen, do you look at that as
25:04
Speaker 9: a springboard or is that something where, you know, teams
25:08
Speaker 9: are emotionally drained after these types of wins from your,
25:11
Speaker 9: from your perspective?
25:13
Speaker 7: Yeah, you guys, you and Willie could probably fill me
25:16
Speaker 7: in on the, uh, emotional drainage of a game like
25:20
Speaker 7: that better. But I do believe this is going to
25:24
Speaker 7: be a difficult win, a difficult game to win. But
25:28
Speaker 7: there are so many veterans that have experienced this. TJ, Cam,
25:33
Speaker 7: Aaron Rodgers, they get this. And they also see how
25:38
Speaker 7: important this game can be. They know how difficult. I
25:44
Speaker 7: really don't think they will let any of these young
25:47
Speaker 7: guys off the hook. Now, a guy like Jalen Warren,
25:50
Speaker 7: who went in with a bad shoulder and just left
25:53
Speaker 7: his heart on the field Sunday, he could be a
25:57
Speaker 7: problem Thursday night. Is Rico Dowdell back? Is sweet Lou
26:01
Speaker 7: Nichols ready for prime time yet? The only guy I'm
26:07
Speaker 7: worried about is Jalen. I think these leaders... have a
26:12
Speaker 7: full understanding of what Thursday night in Cleveland, how difficult
26:16
Speaker 7: it's going to be, and really how good that defense is.
26:20
Speaker 7: It's a much better defense than the Bengals' defense. It
26:23
Speaker 7: has been, and it continues to be. You know, look
26:26
Speaker 7: at the names. I know Miles Garrett isn't there, but
26:30
Speaker 7: the kid they got from the Rams, the pass rusher's quality.
26:33
Speaker 7: Mason Graham up the middle, quality. Rookie of the year
26:36
Speaker 7: playing middle linebacker last year. Denzel Ward. This pass defense
26:42
Speaker 7: isn't going to be as easy. And I assume Aaron
26:46
Speaker 7: Rodgers understands that, understands the emotional trap this game represents.
26:52
Speaker 7: I think TJ gets it. I think Cam gets it.
26:55
Speaker 7: I know I probably went through all their names last
26:58
Speaker 7: year saying the same thing, but I think they get it.
27:03
Speaker 7: So that's the hope, and also the hope that Cleveland
27:07
Speaker 7: really hasn't found their quarterback yet.
27:13
Speaker 3: Yeah, I agree, Jim. Another question for you. You talked
27:17
Speaker 3: about Mike McCarthy having a signature win. I know between
27:21
Speaker 3: him and Aaron, this is their 100th win together. But
27:25
Speaker 3: how big was it for Aaron to play better with
27:27
Speaker 3: this offensive line? I know it was a big win
27:30
Speaker 3: for Mike, but I also think this was a big
27:32
Speaker 3: emotional win for Aaron because part of his mystique is
27:35
Speaker 3: to kind of erase some of the deficiencies on offense.
27:38
Speaker 3: and kind of elevate the offense. And I thought he
27:40
Speaker 3: was able to do so. And they were able to
27:42
Speaker 3: kind of pepper the ball around. Can you talk about
27:44
Speaker 3: his play on Sunday as well? Yeah.
27:48
Speaker 7: Unless my memory is just fading, I thought that was
27:52
Speaker 7: the best he's looked in black and gold.
27:56
Speaker 3: Oh, wow.
27:56
Speaker 7: And I don't mean to denigrate what McCarthy did and
28:04
Speaker 7: what Aaron did because the Bengals, I mean– The Steelers
28:08
Speaker 7: have scored 30 points or more four times since 2025 opener,
28:14
Speaker 7: and three of them were against the Bengals. But I
28:18
Speaker 7: don't want to denigrate what they did. I thought, Aaron,
28:20
Speaker 7: that was the best he's looked with the Steelers. And
28:24
Speaker 7: that offense was the best it's looked. I thought McCarthy
28:28
Speaker 7: really installed some creative stuff. I really enjoyed watching what
28:34
Speaker 7: he was doing with the tight ends, using them as
28:36
Speaker 7: a fullback on the first play of the game. I
28:38
Speaker 7: think Jalen broke it for 30 yards. Great, great block
28:43
Speaker 7: by Friar Moose coming out of the backfield. Darnell lined
28:46
Speaker 7: up in the backfield. They messed around with that on
28:49
Speaker 7: another big play by Warren. I think the play where
28:54
Speaker 7: the turf monster got him, I think they had two
28:56
Speaker 7: tight ends lined up on the right. They both motioned
28:59
Speaker 7: over to the left. There were some really interesting things
29:02
Speaker 7: going on, so I don't want to denigrate saying, oh,
29:04
Speaker 7: it was just against the Bengals. I think it's definitely
29:07
Speaker 7: a springboard for this offense. They shouldn't have to score
29:12
Speaker 7: as many points against Cleveland, but 20 points might be enough,
29:17
Speaker 7: but will they get to 20 points? I think this
29:19
Speaker 7: is a nice springboard towards that. I really liked what
29:23
Speaker 7: Aaron looked like. We know about his arm, but his mobility... Man,
29:29
Speaker 7: how hard did he work out this past offseason? That's
29:33
Speaker 7: just fantastic. You know, he can do it. He gets
29:37
Speaker 7: some playmakers, and that line continues to play. He had
29:40
Speaker 7: some really clean pockets, too. That was fun to watch. So, yeah,
29:46
Speaker 7: I think this could be a real springboard for these
29:49
Speaker 7: guys if they stay healthy and at that line. I'm
29:53
Speaker 7: sure he's going to keep that line intact going into
29:55
Speaker 7: next weekend.
29:56
Speaker 3: I don't think there's any doubt.
29:59
Speaker 6: Wax, one more thing before we let you go, because
30:02
Speaker 6: you worked closely with Craig Wolfley on his book, your
30:06
Speaker 6: guy's book that you put together. You've obviously known Craig
30:09
Speaker 6: Wolfley for a long time. What was it like for you,
30:13
Speaker 6: if you want to share some words to see? Obviously,
30:17
Speaker 6: Kevin Colbert and JT Thomas went in, but you just
30:19
Speaker 6: worked with Wolf extensively and closely. Your thoughts on Wolf
30:23
Speaker 6: going into the Hall of Honor this past weekend?
30:26
Speaker 7: Well, it's fantastic. And, you know, I thought of him again,
30:31
Speaker 7: of course, talking to Faith before, you know, in the
30:35
Speaker 7: media gathering yesterday before the game, talking to Faith. We
30:40
Speaker 7: were thinking about Craig, too, then. But when the turf
30:44
Speaker 7: monster jumped up and tackled Warren in the open field,
30:48
Speaker 7: I could just hear Wolf calling it the turf monster.
30:51
Speaker 7: I think that's where I got it from was Wolf. Again,
30:55
Speaker 7: today with talking to Max, we both used the word untraditional.
31:00
Speaker 7: We know that's how Wolf would have described it. It's
31:06
Speaker 7: great to see the family as happy as they were.
31:09
Speaker 7: I didn't see the Friday awards banquet where the banquet
31:15
Speaker 7: was held and Faith gave a talk. I understand it
31:18
Speaker 7: was a great talk. I really wish I could have
31:20
Speaker 7: heard that, but I'm so happy for her because she
31:23
Speaker 7: has handled this with such class. And, you know, when
31:28
Speaker 7: you get sad and you see faith and she lifts
31:31
Speaker 7: your spirits up, it should be the other way around.
31:35
Speaker 7: We're supposed to lift her spirits up, but she lifts
31:38
Speaker 7: your spirits up. And you're so happy with all the
31:41
Speaker 7: good things that come her and their family's way. You know,
31:45
Speaker 7: I met Wolf's mom, his son, Kyle. his brother Ron,
31:51
Speaker 7: it's just so happy for the family to be honored
31:55
Speaker 7: this way. And, you know, it's not just because he
31:58
Speaker 7: was an announcer. Wolf was a really good player. He
32:02
Speaker 7: was on the original, I believe it was a 75-year
32:06
Speaker 7: anniversary or 50-year anniversary, you know, I think before Fanica
32:13
Speaker 7: began playing. And, you know, Fanica deserved his reputation as
32:17
Speaker 7: a Steelers all-time great left guard. But Wolf was that before,
32:22
Speaker 7: and he was a very good player. So this was
32:25
Speaker 7: not just given to him because of the story and
32:30
Speaker 7: because we all love him as a person. He was
32:33
Speaker 7: a great player, too. So I'm just happy for the family.
32:38
Speaker 7: The sons and the daughters, I've gotten to know Esther
32:40
Speaker 7: and Hannah, too. I knew Megan from before. I'm just
32:44
Speaker 7: happy for the entire family.
32:45
Speaker 2: Good people.
32:47
Speaker 6: Jim Wexel. Wex, thanks very much. Always appreciate the insight.
32:50
Speaker 6: We look forward to talking to you every week here inside.
32:54
Speaker 2: The locker room.
32:55
Speaker 7: Great talking to all you guys. Take care.
32:57
Speaker 3: Thanks, Jim. Take care, Wex.
32:59
Speaker 2: And by the way, Willie, you know why Max Starks.
33:04
Speaker 6: Just another manifestation of what made him such a great
33:07
Speaker 6: offensive lineman. 6'8, 340, sliding into the show gracefully. You know,
33:16
Speaker 6: just a beautiful move with the great feet.
33:18
Speaker 3: Like a glove.
33:19
Speaker 2: Yeah, just slid right in. Dancing bear, baby. Dancing bear.
33:23
Speaker 6: Max, we're going to get caught up on Max's travels.
33:28
Speaker 6: You know, it's where's Waldo, where's Max?
33:32
Speaker 2: He was everywhere.
33:33
Speaker 6: We'll get to that briefly, but we're also going to
33:34
Speaker 6: talk much more about this great victory for the Steelers
33:37
Speaker 6: over the Cincinnati Bengals when we continue in the locker
33:40
Speaker 6: room here on the Steelers Audio Network.
33:46
Speaker 1: This is In the Locker Room with Rob King, Max Starks,
33:50
Speaker 1: and Willie Colon on Steelers Nation Radio, brought to you
33:53
Speaker 1: in part by the Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
33:56
Speaker 1: from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop.steelers.com.
34:01
Speaker 1: And by your neighborhood Ford store. The F-150 is the
34:05
Speaker 1: official truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
34:07
Speaker 2: Kicks to Keyshawn Williams. Lost the football. It's on the ground.
34:11
Speaker 4: Still on the ground. Skoranek looks like he's got it.
34:13
Speaker 4: Inside the 15-yard line of the Bengals. Keyshawn Williams muffed
34:18
Speaker 4: the punt. And Ben Skoranek has it. And the Steelers
34:23
Speaker 4: have a crucial turnover.
34:25
Speaker 10: Yeah, Ben's deceptively fast. He's like a coach on the field.
34:28
Speaker 10: You know, he's a try-hard guy. So we gave him...
34:33
Speaker 10: you know, an opportunity there. But I was glad, you know,
34:37
Speaker 10: we had that run in the plan that we came
34:39
Speaker 10: to later where he was actually lead blocking on the
34:41
Speaker 10: same motion. And I was glad when Mike kind of
34:44
Speaker 10: flipped those. Sometimes he run the run play first and
34:47
Speaker 10: the fake off of it. He ran the fake first.
34:50
Speaker 10: And we talked about kind of like our communication between
34:53
Speaker 10: the two of us. We actually worked on the snap point.
34:57
Speaker 10: And yeah, I mean, it worked out. To perfection, I
35:01
Speaker 10: came off the fig. I couldn't believe that the safety
35:04
Speaker 10: was still coming downhill.
35:07
Speaker 6: Yeah, made for a relatively easy throw over the top
35:10
Speaker 6: to Ben Skoranek.
35:12
Speaker 2: Again, a little windy out there.
35:13
Speaker 6: You wonder if that played havoc with any of the
35:15
Speaker 6: throws that were maybe just a little bit off the mark.
35:18
Speaker 2: I thought other than that, Aaron Rodgers was really good
35:21
Speaker 2: in that one.
35:21
Speaker 6: By the way, Max, I saw you snickering as he
35:25
Speaker 6: took the little shot at Ben and a little shot.
35:29
Speaker 6: at the at probably at the scouting reports on Ben
35:32
Speaker 6: Skoranek he's a try hard guy I mean obviously he's
35:37
Speaker 6: a good athlete right but but just a little just
35:40
Speaker 6: a little just you know look he jabbed at Jalen
35:43
Speaker 6: Warren for tripping at the five yard line he jabbed
35:46
Speaker 6: at Ben Skoranek.
35:47
Speaker 2: For uh for his athleticism I'm.
35:49
Speaker 6: Not afraid to land a few blows subtly in those
35:52
Speaker 6: postgame press conferences Oh.
35:54
Speaker 9: Yeah, just a little vinegar in there with the wine, right?
35:57
Speaker 9: You know, just to make sure it's not that sweet.
36:00
Speaker 9: Just a little bit of bitterness to make sure that
36:03
Speaker 9: you understand what it is. But, I mean, that's the
36:06
Speaker 9: thing with Aaron, and that's what endears him with his teammates, right?
36:10
Speaker 9: The fact that he can make those type of jabs,
36:13
Speaker 9: and it's not taken personal. It's not taken out of
36:15
Speaker 9: context in that locker room.
36:17
Speaker 2: But he's absolutely right.
36:18
Speaker 9: I love the fact that they ran that play, and
36:21
Speaker 9: like you said, they flipped it, ran the fake, and
36:24
Speaker 9: then actually ran it with him leading the ball. So
36:26
Speaker 9: you actually came back to that original concept to see
36:30
Speaker 9: if they're going to hold back so that you can
36:32
Speaker 9: get an effective run. And that's what I like about it.
36:34
Speaker 9: There's actual thought that goes into the game plan. I mean,
36:38
Speaker 9: I can't talk about how many years, especially early on
36:40
Speaker 9: when I came back, where we had this gripe about
36:44
Speaker 9: Matt Cannon's system and how there was no rhyme or reason.
36:48
Speaker 9: And then even with Arthur Smith, You would do all
36:51
Speaker 9: of these things, and then we wouldn't quite see it
36:53
Speaker 9: in the game plan. Or if we did, it was
36:54
Speaker 9: a one-off. Mike McCarthy's building plans and building games around
37:02
Speaker 9: these different concepts, and he's using multiple things off of
37:05
Speaker 9: it because that's what good offenses do. You run the
37:09
Speaker 9: same thing, and you run something that's a little bit
37:11
Speaker 9: different off of it.
37:13
Speaker 2: And I thought that was a great nod of.
37:14
Speaker 9: The cap to the creativity of Mike McCarthy and his
37:17
Speaker 9: relationship with Aaron Rodgers to talk through those type of plays.
37:21
Speaker 3: Yeah, and I also think– go ahead, Rob, sorry.
37:23
Speaker 2: No, no, no, Willie, please.
37:26
Speaker 3: No, I was going to say, you're right, Max. I
37:29
Speaker 3: think a big part of going into this game was
37:32
Speaker 3: Mike Tomlin– Mike Tomlin, excuse me, Mike McCarthy was going
37:34
Speaker 3: to have to get in his bag, right, when you
37:37
Speaker 3: talk about having what happened in New England and that
37:41
Speaker 3: office looking stagnant. And, you know, I thought he did
37:44
Speaker 3: a great job. Before you got around to– I was
37:46
Speaker 3: telling Rob, I really appreciated him kind of grabbing– the
37:50
Speaker 3: bull by the horns. Because I think if you're a
37:52
Speaker 3: head coach of his caliber, and when you start to
37:58
Speaker 3: talk about some of these really good head coaches around
37:59
Speaker 3: the league, one of their gifts has to be, one
38:02
Speaker 3: of their abilities, rather, has to be their ability to
38:05
Speaker 3: put out small fires and make sure that fire doesn't
38:08
Speaker 3: become a big fire. And I think after what happened
38:10
Speaker 3: in New England, there was potential. This team didn't perform
38:13
Speaker 3: well offensively, and they'd lose this game and potentially have
38:19
Speaker 3: to go into Cleveland You know, that fire that happened
38:22
Speaker 3: in New England, now you've got a wildfire and it
38:24
Speaker 3: starts to spread. And what we saw was an offense
38:27
Speaker 3: collectively start to get in line. And when Aaron Rodgers
38:31
Speaker 3: has the ability to stay upright and use his mobility
38:34
Speaker 3: and extend plays and you start seeing our tight ends
38:37
Speaker 3: get in action, and you see our offensive lines just
38:40
Speaker 3: start kind of throwing their weight around, things just start
38:43
Speaker 3: to seem like, oh, this is the offense that we've
38:46
Speaker 3: kind of been waiting for. Um, so I thought if
38:48
Speaker 3: Mike McCarthy had a hell of a game plan, uh,
38:51
Speaker 3: it was good to see Aaron once again, pepper the
38:53
Speaker 3: ball around. But I think, you know, as we continue
38:55
Speaker 3: to look ahead, man, this is going to have to
38:57
Speaker 3: be an office that, you know, continues to start early
39:00
Speaker 3: like they did in this game. Uh, if they able
39:02
Speaker 3: to start early and get active early, man, it just,
39:05
Speaker 3: it just feels like the team collectively all three phases
39:08
Speaker 3: feed feeds off that. So that has to kind of
39:11
Speaker 3: be the check mark right now for the Steelers moving forward. Yup.
39:15
Speaker 6: And, uh, You know, I've been dying to ask you
39:18
Speaker 6: guys this. I wanted both of you guys in here
39:20
Speaker 6: so I could ask this question. But what did you
39:25
Speaker 6: guys think? Willie's talked about it a little bit. Max,
39:30
Speaker 6: I know that you haven't had a chance to watch
39:32
Speaker 6: the game back because you've had plane trains and automobiles
39:34
Speaker 6: to get across the country, but your thoughts on Ahana
39:37
Speaker 6: Chor and Hoffman on.
39:38
Speaker 2: The right side, I guess. I told you during the game,
39:40
Speaker 2: I snuck a peek there.
39:41
Speaker 6: I always follow the ball, but I snuck a little
39:43
Speaker 6: bit of a peek over there a couple of times
39:46
Speaker 6: to see how they were doing. I just have to
39:48
Speaker 6: assume they did well because Aaron Rodgers had time to
39:50
Speaker 6: throw and Jalen Warren had room to run.
39:52
Speaker 9: Yeah, I think, you know, for the test and for
39:57
Speaker 9: what the offense was, I thought Maxi Onatur and Brock
40:00
Speaker 9: Hoffman performed admirably. I thought they had their moments, right? And,
40:06
Speaker 9: you know, they did enough that on the backside cutoffs
40:09
Speaker 9: because I felt like a lot, they still ran the
40:11
Speaker 9: ball heavy left. They ran to the side they felt
40:14
Speaker 9: most comfortable with, which was Mason McCormick and Troy Fatano.
40:18
Speaker 9: But on the backside cutoffs, I felt like they weren't
40:20
Speaker 9: sliding off of stuff as much. And Dexter Lawrence, even
40:24
Speaker 9: though Dexter Lawrence had some decent stats, he didn't wreck
40:27
Speaker 9: that game. So that means that Brock Hoffman and Zach
40:29
Speaker 9: Frazier were doing their job.
40:31
Speaker 3: Right?
40:31
Speaker 7: Correct.
40:31
Speaker 9: Backside cutoffs were looking good in the run game, and
40:33
Speaker 9: they were creating lanes, especially that first play of the
40:37
Speaker 9: game where you had that diamond full house formation. And,
40:40
Speaker 9: you know, you're able to seal those blocks and create
40:43
Speaker 9: the lane for Jalen. I felt like Jalen did a
40:44
Speaker 9: lot of good work. in the stretch game of just
40:47
Speaker 9: getting to the outside. So you saw some of the hook,
40:50
Speaker 9: the hook that was happening with Darnell Washington, Maxi Anitro
40:54
Speaker 9: working the double teams up to that front side backer.
40:56
Speaker 9: So from what I saw, I thought it looked, I
40:59
Speaker 9: thought it looked solid, looked competent, but I also think
41:02
Speaker 9: the game plan looked a lot more simple, right? I
41:04
Speaker 9: didn't see as much motion and I saw easier communication
41:10
Speaker 9: as far as once the mic point was there, you
41:11
Speaker 9: didn't see Aaron really redirecting a lot of it. And
41:14
Speaker 9: also the Bengals didn't really pressure. They were not a
41:17
Speaker 9: big pressure team. So if there was a first game
41:19
Speaker 9: for Maxi Onator to get in, I thought this was
41:21
Speaker 9: the one that when you look at it, this was
41:24
Speaker 9: the perfect game for him to be in. And I
41:27
Speaker 9: know I talked about, hey, I'd rather see it at
41:28
Speaker 9: a bye and everything. I'm big enough to admit.
41:31
Speaker 2: I was wrong.
41:32
Speaker 9: I was wrong in my assessment.
41:35
Speaker 3: And I'll take that.
41:36
Speaker 9: I mean, for good reason, right? Because we saw what
41:38
Speaker 9: the result is. But I think this was the perfect one.
41:42
Speaker 9: They were not getting blitzed to all hell like they
41:44
Speaker 9: were against New England last week. This was one where
41:47
Speaker 9: if you're going to ease a rookie in, this was
41:49
Speaker 9: the type of front where they really relied heavily on
41:51
Speaker 9: their four-man rush. You saw very little add-on blitz with
41:55
Speaker 9: Demetrius Knight and with Barrett Carter. And you got a
41:58
Speaker 9: lot of four-man one-on-one. So once Iannotore pointed, that was
42:01
Speaker 9: my guy MDM off the edge, the E-mole.
42:04
Speaker 2: That was it.
42:05
Speaker 9: It wasn't like, oh, man, okay, you got to redirect. Okay,
42:07
Speaker 9: now I got to middle it a little bit, wait
42:10
Speaker 9: for the backer. If he fires frontside, he didn't have
42:13
Speaker 9: to do any of that. Just see ball, hit ball,
42:15
Speaker 9: hit man, and try and drive him into the ground
42:18
Speaker 9: and make him a plant seed.
42:24
Speaker 3: Make him a plant seed.
42:25
Speaker 2: I like it. There were also, you know, and this is, okay,
42:31
Speaker 2: you know what?
42:31
Speaker 6: Before I launch into these subjects, because there's so much
42:34
Speaker 6: more I still want to talk about before we have
42:36
Speaker 6: to kind of abruptly turn our attention to the Browns. Max,
42:41
Speaker 6: how in the world did you get home last night? Well, actually,
42:44
Speaker 6: I'm sorry. How did you get home this morning?
42:47
Speaker 9: Yeah, because it was after midnight Eastern Standard Time. So
42:51
Speaker 9: my flight was supposed to leave at 8.40 p.m. And
42:55
Speaker 9: I got to the airport in plenty of time. Got
42:57
Speaker 9: there around 6.15, so way earlier than I normally get
43:00
Speaker 9: to the airport.
43:03
Speaker 2: I get a delay. So it goes from 840 to 950.
43:06
Speaker 9: So I'm like, I'll just go in the lounge. You know,
43:10
Speaker 9: it'll be boarding time by the time the lounge closes.
43:14
Speaker 9: Then as I'm walking to the gate, it goes to 1050.
43:18
Speaker 3: Then as I'm sitting there, it goes to 1120.
43:22
Speaker 4: 1140.
43:23
Speaker 8: Then 1201. And then 1221.
43:33
Speaker 9: And I'm just sitting at the gate. I'm just, I
43:35
Speaker 9: am melting over in the, and everything is closed. The
43:39
Speaker 9: Pittsburgh airport closes like around nine 45.
43:41
Speaker 3: Okay.
43:42
Speaker 9: So there's not like there's anything. So I just start
43:46
Speaker 9: pacing the airport. I walked the entire, all four concourses
43:49
Speaker 9: in that, in that airport. Got my 10,000 steps in
43:51
Speaker 9: by the way.
43:51
Speaker 3: Thanks for asking.
43:55
Speaker 2: And we get to Chicago.
43:57
Speaker 9: I've, gravely missed my connection and they put me on
44:00
Speaker 9: a 5 a.m flight so we get into chicago it's
44:02
Speaker 9: like 1 30 and i luckily they had a room
44:05
Speaker 9: at the hilton right there at the airport that's literally
44:08
Speaker 9: right across from the baggage claim i walk in there
44:11
Speaker 9: i take an hour and a half nap i get
44:13
Speaker 9: up about 3 45 and i walk back to the
44:16
Speaker 9: airport walk to my gate and i get on the
44:20
Speaker 9: plane and when i tell you it felt like a
44:22
Speaker 9: five minute nap on that airplane it felt like a
44:24
Speaker 9: five minute nap only to walk to my car and
44:29
Speaker 9: realize I still have a flat tire I had to
44:31
Speaker 9: deal with because I caught a flat a mile out from.
44:33
Speaker 2: The airport leaving out on the trip.
44:37
Speaker 9: I then jacked my car up, get the tire iron out,
44:40
Speaker 9: ready to bust the hubcaps off. The tire iron has
44:44
Speaker 9: a misshapen lug nut wrench on it at the end.
44:47
Speaker 9: And it's welded.
44:50
Speaker 3: It's iron.
44:51
Speaker 9: And so I had to call AAA.
44:53
Speaker 2: I waited for AAA.
44:54
Speaker 9: And this dude literally came with like, it looked like
44:56
Speaker 9: a NASCAR jack.
44:58
Speaker 2: Right? He goes, weep, weep, weep, weep, weep, weep, weep.
45:00
Speaker 8: Boom.
45:01
Speaker 2: Off. Flip the tire on. Weep, weep, weep, weep, weep.
45:03
Speaker 8: On.
45:03
Speaker 2: I'm like, mother. I was like, you know what? Thank you.
45:06
Speaker 9: I was just so mad because I sat there for
45:08
Speaker 9: about an hour and a half and this dude comes
45:12
Speaker 9: and just, I mean, literally in under five minutes. I mean,
45:15
Speaker 9: it was like a NASCAR pit change. He just swapped
45:17
Speaker 9: the tire on. Then I was able to drive home
45:19
Speaker 9: and I missed the first segment. I listened to you
45:21
Speaker 9: guys a little bit. And then, yeah, we got right
45:24
Speaker 9: on the airwaves and asked my question to Wex, but
45:27
Speaker 9: It's been a very interesting time home, and then I'll
45:30
Speaker 9: be getting on a plane Wednesday. So to head back
45:33
Speaker 9: to Pittsburgh and then head over for the Thursday night
45:36
Speaker 9: football game and then on to Buffalo on Sunday. So, yeah,
45:40
Speaker 9: this is the life of a broadcaster.
45:41
Speaker 2: Yep, drink it up. It's awesome.
45:44
Speaker 3: In the streets. Yep.
45:48
Speaker 6: All right, well, we're going to– oh, God, Jalen Warren
45:51
Speaker 6: was terrific. Mount Washington was terrific. Derek Harmon made the
45:56
Speaker 6: big play on defense. There's just a lot to get to,
45:59
Speaker 6: a lot to like about the Steelers' performance, the big
46:03
Speaker 6: plays which have been absent and which has been something
46:06
Speaker 6: Mike McCarthy has talked about.
46:08
Speaker 2: They were on full display.
46:10
Speaker 6: Lots to get to when we continue in the locker
46:11
Speaker 6: room here on the Steelers Audio Network.