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HR 2: Top 5 NFL Offenses & Defenses: Week 8 · The Steelers Report

• 0:07
  Speaker 1: This is the Steelers Report with Brian Batko and Ed
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: Troop on Steelers Nation Radio, a part of the Steelers
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: Audio Network.
• 0:17
  Speaker 2: Kicking off hour number two here on the Steelers Report,
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: as we welcome back in our guest Chris Carter from
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, also host of Locked on Steelers podcast.
• 0:31
  Speaker 2: You can catch Chris and his excellent coverage of the
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: Pittsburgh Steelers podcast each and every day. Make sure you
• 0:36
  Speaker 2: check them out on the PG there. And Chris, welcome
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: back to the show. It's been a minute. I think
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: about a month ago we had you on.
• 0:43
  Speaker 3: Yeah, about that.
• 0:45
  Speaker 4: I've always happened to be on with you guys. And Brian,
• 0:47
  Speaker 4: it's always cool to catch up with y'all.
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  Speaker 5: Absolutely, Chris. Good to see you.
• 0:50
  Speaker 6: You and I have done many shows in a former life. Well,
• 0:53
  Speaker 6: mainly a former life for me. But yes, it's great
• 0:56
  Speaker 6: to have you on, man.
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: Chris, let's start with this. The Pittsburgh Steelers on a
• 0:59
  Speaker 2: roll up to this point. They have won three straight
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: games since that loss. against the Thursday night game against
• 1:06
  Speaker 2: the Cleveland Browns. Second time around, a lot more at
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  Speaker 2: stake this upcoming Sunday at Accashore Stadium. First line in
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: the AFC North at stake. Plus, the Steelers do not
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: want to get swept by the Cleveland Browns. That would
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: certainly put them behind the eight ball within the division.
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: This might be the most important matchup between the Browns
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  Speaker 2: and Steelers in a long, long time.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, since that playoff game, right, where the
• 1:27
  Speaker 4: Browns actually won, which is... the only time they've won
• 1:32
  Speaker 4: at Accra Stadium slash Heinz Field since 2003. And still
• 1:38
  Speaker 4: that 2003 loss is the only time the Steelers lost
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  Speaker 4: to the Browns at home when fans were allowed to
• 1:44
  Speaker 4: fully attend. Certainly a huge game. They haven't been swept
• 1:47
  Speaker 4: by the Browns since 1988, I believe. So this is
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  Speaker 4: a big matchup. But I also think it's a big
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  Speaker 4: matchup to kind of show that the Steelers, the improvements
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  Speaker 4: they've made in the last month during this win streak
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  Speaker 4: they've been on aren't just for show.
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  Speaker 3: They're real improvements that they.
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  Speaker 4: You know, when they played the Browns, I thought the
• 2:08
  Speaker 4: biggest thing that they weren't doing the first time around
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  Speaker 4: was they weren't leaning into their strength. Early on that
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  Speaker 4: first drive, I thought they did. They ran the ball.
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  Speaker 4: They hit their tight ends. They allowed themselves to play physical.
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  Speaker 4: But then throughout that game, they played into the Browns'
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  Speaker 4: hands while calling more 11 personnel, trying to rely on
• 2:24
  Speaker 4: heavier wide receiver formations. And the Browns were able to
• 2:28
  Speaker 4: rely on that man coverage defense that plays to their
• 2:31
  Speaker 4: strength and the Steelers weaknesses. But since then, the Steelers
• 2:34
  Speaker 4: have been running the ball. Well, they've been passing the ball. Well,
• 2:36
  Speaker 4: they've been calling a lot more plays that lean into
• 2:39
  Speaker 4: the physicality of their offensive line of their ball carriers.
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  Speaker 4: And that's allowed them to just get into this rhythm
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  Speaker 4: where maybe they don't put up a ton of points
• 2:47
  Speaker 4: on each time.
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  Speaker 3: But they certainly possess the ball better.
• 2:49
  Speaker 4: And you saw that last week where they finally looked
• 2:52
  Speaker 4: really good on third downs.
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  Speaker 3: I think they converted 10 out of 16.
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  Speaker 4: So the key for me is this week to reset
• 2:58
  Speaker 4: the tone and, is to play that style of ball
• 3:00
  Speaker 4: the entire game. Don't let them punk you into playing
• 3:04
  Speaker 4: something that's not your strength. Get your tight ends out there,
• 3:06
  Speaker 4: get your running backs out there, get your linemen on
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  Speaker 4: the move, out physical these guys, and let that be
• 3:11
  Speaker 4: the tone of the game.
• 3:12
  Speaker 6: Yeah, you referenced it in passing there, Chris. I was
• 3:14
  Speaker 6: going to ask you, did you print up the T-shirt
• 3:16
  Speaker 6: for Mike McCarthy yet? Did you get him his T-shirt
• 3:19
  Speaker 6: about the stat that you rattled off to him during
• 3:21
  Speaker 6: the presser on Monday?
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  Speaker 3: I have not. I saw that.
• 3:24
  Speaker 4: I was worried that you trademarked it already when I
• 3:26
  Speaker 4: saw your tweet after that. But I mean, I just
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  Speaker 4: thought it was it was very indicative of like and.
• 3:32
  Speaker 5: Tell people what that is again if they if they
• 3:34
  Speaker 5: missed it.
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  Speaker 3: Oh, yeah.
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  Speaker 4: So when I was looking things up, when the Steelers
• 3:39
  Speaker 4: have run the ball on third and fourth down, when
• 3:41
  Speaker 4: it's two yards or less to go, they've converted every
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  Speaker 4: single time, 12 out of 12 on the season.
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  Speaker 3: They're the only team in the NFL to do that.
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  Speaker 4: Mike McCarthy was like, that sounds like a T-shirt.
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  Speaker 3: But to me, it kind of is, right?
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  Speaker 4: Because the whole idea, the classic aura of Steelers football
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  Speaker 4: is physicality.
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  Speaker 3: It's bullying. It's where we may not be the best team,
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  Speaker 3: but we're going to be the meanest team. We're going
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  Speaker 3: to be the most physical team.
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  Speaker 4: And when you're able to play that way, when they're saying,
• 4:08
  Speaker 4: when other teams are saying, Hey, we know that you
• 4:10
  Speaker 4: only have two yards to go, but we're going to
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  Speaker 4: try to stop you and you can, and they can't
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  Speaker 4: stop you.
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  Speaker 3: That to me is a key element of Steelers ball.
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  Speaker 4: It's also, in my opinion, Brian, a big part of
• 4:19
  Speaker 4: what Andy Wido was trying to bring from Philly was,
• 4:21
  Speaker 4: to pittsburgh when he came and joined omar khan's front
• 4:24
  Speaker 4: front office um because the eagles what were they known
• 4:28
  Speaker 4: for like what was their iconic thing it was the
• 4:30
  Speaker 4: tush push it was that when they needed a yard
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  Speaker 4: nothing there was nothing you could do offensive line was
• 4:35
  Speaker 4: going to move you jaylen hertz was going to get
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  Speaker 4: through you and that's that the steelers don't necessarily need
• 4:39
  Speaker 4: the the moose the moose push with with fryer moose
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  Speaker 4: they can do it with jaylen warren or rico daddle
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  Speaker 4: and to me that's what's dangerous about this team is
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  Speaker 4: if you have that in your bag that you know
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  Speaker 4: when it's Third and fourth and short. And the defense
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  Speaker 4: is just helpless. That opens up so much more because
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  Speaker 4: then you can say, hey, you know what? It's third
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  Speaker 4: and it's third and 12. We don't need 14, 15 yards.
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  Speaker 4: We need 10. That that's something that you that you
• 5:02
  Speaker 4: can play to your strength a bit more. And it
• 5:05
  Speaker 4: can also be something that intimidates defenses and forces them
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  Speaker 4: to play out of their play out of their comfort
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  Speaker 4: zone as well.
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  Speaker 6: I mean, I still personally like the Pittsburgh Pat plunge.
• 5:13
  Speaker 6: I like the odds of converting on that when you
• 5:15
  Speaker 6: do it. But, hey, it didn't always work for the
• 5:18
  Speaker 6: Saints and big Tyler Shuck, big body, but they were
• 5:21
  Speaker 6: still having trouble getting that push up front against the Steelers' interior.
• 5:26
  Speaker 3: They certainly were.
• 5:27
  Speaker 4: And I thought I was, man, if they had been
• 5:29
  Speaker 4: able to, if they had gotten that fumble at the
• 5:32
  Speaker 4: goal line or if they had, or if, you know,
• 5:34
  Speaker 4: they don't just don't allow that touchdown fourth down, they
• 5:37
  Speaker 4: would have been the first team to keep the saints
• 5:39
  Speaker 4: from scoring in a goal to go situation all year long.
• 5:42
  Speaker 4: So like the fact that they were that close on
• 5:44
  Speaker 4: two different plays is really impressive because it's, again, it's
• 5:48
  Speaker 4: not just the offensive line.
• 5:49
  Speaker 3: It's the defensive line too.
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  Speaker 4: They're extremely impressive, especially in the last five games, especially,
• 5:53
  Speaker 4: They have been able to shut down the run really well.
• 5:57
  Speaker 4: They've been able to win at the line of scrimmage.
• 5:58
  Speaker 4: I think Keanu Benton is having a heck of a year.
• 6:01
  Speaker 4: He's really been earning his paycheck. That contract that Omar
• 6:04
  Speaker 4: Khan got him, Cam Hayward, still Cam Hayward.
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  Speaker 3: You know, he's not prime Cam Hayward, but he's still
• 6:08
  Speaker 3: a weapon.
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  Speaker 4: And why a black has made such an improvement from
• 6:12
  Speaker 4: last year, constantly getting off the ball, not come out
• 6:16
  Speaker 4: of the stands high winning with his hands up. Uh, this,
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  Speaker 4: this looks like a much more complete defensive line and
• 6:21
  Speaker 4: we still haven't seen Derek Harmon.
• 6:23
  Speaker 3: In about a month.
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  Speaker 4: So it, this to me is a really good sign
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  Speaker 4: that Omar Khan and what he's doing is working. Uh,
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  Speaker 4: if you're looking at the investments into the, into the
• 6:34
  Speaker 4: strength of the offensive line, the strength of the defensive line, sure.
• 6:38
  Speaker 4: Pass protection could be better from Troy Faltano and Maxi Hanachor.
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  Speaker 4: But when the Steelers want to run the ball, which
• 6:44
  Speaker 4: right now is their strength defensively, They are one of the.
• 6:45
  Speaker 3: Best at doing it right now.
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  Speaker 4: And I think that that's and then on the flip side,
• 6:50
  Speaker 4: they're becoming one of the best at stopping the run
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  Speaker 4: to having those two things on your side. That's classic
• 6:55
  Speaker 4: Steelers football. And I think that's something this franchise desperately
• 6:58
  Speaker 4: needed to reclaim.
• 6:59
  Speaker 2: We're talking with Chris Carter, who's the host of the
• 7:01
  Speaker 2: Locked on Steelers podcast, also writer for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette,
• 7:05
  Speaker 2: covers the Steelers and also covers the Pitt Panthers. as well,
• 7:08
  Speaker 2: so make sure you check out Chris on the PG. Chris,
• 7:11
  Speaker 2: let's continue to talk about this Steeler defense and Patrick
• 7:14
  Speaker 2: Graham in year number one. Through seven weeks, the stats
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  Speaker 2: are now starting to take shape. They are the No.
• 7:20
  Speaker 2: 6 defense overall in the NFL, No. 5 for points
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  Speaker 2: per game given up with 19.7, No. 7 against the run,
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  Speaker 2: only 91 yards per game given up there, No. 6
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  Speaker 2: in total yards with 212, and No. 11 against the pass.
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  Speaker 2: Pretty much a top 10, top 5 defense across the
• 7:37
  Speaker 2: board so far seven games in.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, I think it's been a really healthy revamp from
• 7:43
  Speaker 4: what they did last year.
• 7:45
  Speaker 3: What's funny is, you know, last year's kind of an outlier.
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  Speaker 4: They weren't, they were top 10 in all, you know,
• 7:51
  Speaker 4: in points allowed in the first three years of the
• 7:53
  Speaker 4: Terrell Austin era. And then last year they fell off
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  Speaker 4: largely because I think they thought that they could be
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  Speaker 4: this defense that relied on the man coverage of Jalen
• 8:02
  Speaker 4: Ramsey and Darius Slay. And then they realized halfway through
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  Speaker 4: the season, whoa, that's not us. We got to switch
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  Speaker 4: things up. But this year, Patrick Graham, once Joey Porter Jr.
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  Speaker 4: wasn't playing, he had to come up with a new plan.
• 8:13
  Speaker 4: In fact, this is something I'm writing about for the
• 8:15
  Speaker 4: Post-Gazette in a film study that you'll be able to
• 8:17
  Speaker 4: check out probably later by Wednesday afternoon. But the defense
• 8:23
  Speaker 4: is calling so much more zone. Like last year, they
• 8:25
  Speaker 4: used the most man coverage in the NFL. This year,
• 8:27
  Speaker 4: I think they've used the seventh most zone coverage in
• 8:29
  Speaker 4: the NFL. And they're doing it in a way that
• 8:32
  Speaker 4: allows them to kind of play to their strengths and
• 8:35
  Speaker 4: cover up their weaknesses more. For example, you look at
• 8:38
  Speaker 4: that Saints game. Sure, they were giving up stuff underneath.
• 8:42
  Speaker 4: There were times Tyler Shuck was able to convert, but
• 8:44
  Speaker 4: what they were doing was each time they were dropping
• 8:46
  Speaker 4: back and they were saying, hey, we're going to show
• 8:48
  Speaker 4: cover four, we're going to show cover three, but we're
• 8:50
  Speaker 4: going to have a defense that's going to make you
• 8:52
  Speaker 4: throw underneath, and eventually you're going to make a mistake.
• 8:55
  Speaker 4: And that's what happened. with the Peyton Wilson interception. They
• 8:58
  Speaker 4: get into the red zone, and now it's like, okay,
• 9:01
  Speaker 4: you can only, you know, you can dink and dunk,
• 9:03
  Speaker 4: but we're just going to start looking for some things.
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  Speaker 4: And on that play, they called cover six. And it
• 9:09
  Speaker 4: was cover six, you know, half the field is cover four,
• 9:11
  Speaker 4: half the field is cover two. And so Chris Olave
• 9:13
  Speaker 4: is running into the cover four side. So Tyler Shuck thinks, okay, well,
• 9:16
  Speaker 4: if there's two deep defenders, that means Chris Olave is
• 9:19
  Speaker 4: going to have a lot of space underneath. But because
• 9:21
  Speaker 4: there were two deep defenders, that allowed Peyton Wilson to
• 9:23
  Speaker 4: be very aggressive with his coverage and say, you know what?
• 9:26
  Speaker 4: I can just jump every, you know, the first cut
• 9:28
  Speaker 4: that I see Chris Olave make underneath in my zone coverage.
• 9:32
  Speaker 4: And if the pass is thrown, I can pick it off.
• 9:34
  Speaker 4: If it's not, if it's not thrown, he goes upfield.
• 9:36
  Speaker 4: I've got safety protection behind me to pay off on
• 9:40
  Speaker 4: that gamble.
• 9:40
  Speaker 3: Sorry to protect me. on that gamble. So, uh, and
• 9:43
  Speaker 3: on that place, Chuck didn't think that Wilson could get there.
• 9:46
  Speaker 3: He did.
• 9:47
  Speaker 4: And it was a huge game changing play for the Steelers.
• 9:49
  Speaker 4: And they've done a lot of that this year where
• 9:51
  Speaker 4: they've been a label out. Hey, you may get some
• 9:52
  Speaker 4: yards here and there. You may be able to convert
• 9:54
  Speaker 4: some third downs, but when we get to the red zone,
• 9:56
  Speaker 4: you're gonna have problems and they're also one of the
• 9:58
  Speaker 4: best at keeping teams out of the red zone and
• 10:00
  Speaker 4: so to me people you know i chat i do
• 10:03
  Speaker 4: the live chat with steelers fans you know that and
• 10:05
  Speaker 4: post because that subscribers during the game where you know
• 10:08
  Speaker 4: during the game every negative moment is the end of
• 10:11
  Speaker 4: the world it's like oh my everyone this is the
• 10:13
  Speaker 4: dumbest call I've ever seen this is the worst player
• 10:15
  Speaker 4: I've ever seen but then as soon as something flips
• 10:17
  Speaker 4: they're like oh this is the greatest thing I've ever
• 10:18
  Speaker 4: seen so you know typical Steelers fandom there but I
• 10:21
  Speaker 4: think what people are starting to realize is that hey
• 10:23
  Speaker 4: like they're gonna give up these little things underneath but
• 10:27
  Speaker 4: they're fine as long as you don't hit that super
• 10:29
  Speaker 4: explosive play and as long as they eventually get their
• 10:33
  Speaker 4: playmakers to make plays when they force you to win
• 10:36
  Speaker 4: with a thousand cuts.
• 10:38
  Speaker 6: All right Chris I'm gonna switch gears real quick for
• 10:40
  Speaker 6: my last question There's a fire sale going on in
• 10:43
  Speaker 6: the NFL right now. There's a garage sale, yard sale,
• 10:46
  Speaker 6: street sale, whatever you want to call it, in Indianapolis,
• 10:49
  Speaker 6: in the crossroads of America. Quentin Nelson's already gone to
• 10:53
  Speaker 6: the Seahawks. DeForest Buckner's already gone to the Niners. Anybody
• 10:56
  Speaker 6: else interest you from the Indianapolis Colts? Or if Omar
• 11:00
  Speaker 6: Khan strolls down the street, should he just keep it
• 11:02
  Speaker 6: pushing to the next house?
• 11:05
  Speaker 3: I feel like he should keep it pushing.
• 11:06
  Speaker 4: I mean, like, I just think with the things that
• 11:10
  Speaker 4: the Steelers have in their assets right now, you know,
• 11:13
  Speaker 4: do you really want to.
• 11:14
  Speaker 3: Go get a Josh Downs? Now, if you can get Josh.
• 11:16
  Speaker 4: Downs for a fifth, okay, sure, you know, that could work. But, like,
• 11:20
  Speaker 4: a lot of people are saying, go get this wide receiver,
• 11:22
  Speaker 4: go get that wide receiver. This team has a lot
• 11:25
  Speaker 4: of money and guaranteed money tied up in DK Metcalf
• 11:28
  Speaker 4: and Michael Pittman Jr.
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: Already.
• 11:30
  Speaker 4: I think the better move for the Steelers, if they
• 11:33
  Speaker 4: were to go, because I know a lot of people
• 11:34
  Speaker 4: want a wide receiver, if they want to get a
• 11:35
  Speaker 4: new talented wide receiver to add to the mix, trust
• 11:38
  Speaker 4: the draft is going to deliver it. Jeremy Bernard, I think,
• 11:40
  Speaker 4: has had a good rookie year. Get another guy that
• 11:42
  Speaker 4: will be on a rookie contract for the next four
• 11:44
  Speaker 4: to five years, and then that will allow you to
• 11:48
  Speaker 4: kind of play to have that young receiver work with
• 11:51
  Speaker 4: Jeremy Bernard, and then when Metcalf and Pittman age out,
• 11:53
  Speaker 4: you could have two young guys that you're ready to
• 11:55
  Speaker 4: pay at that time to take over your wide receiver
• 11:58
  Speaker 4: room as they've developed in this wide receiver room.
• 12:00
  Speaker 3: Now, on the flip side, there's other positions, cornerbacks, one
• 12:03
  Speaker 3: of them.
• 12:03
  Speaker 4: You know, Charverius Ward could be something interesting there to
• 12:07
  Speaker 4: help you replace what you lost in Joey Porter Jr.
• 12:09
  Speaker 3: I think Asante Samuel Jr. has done well.
• 12:12
  Speaker 4: Um, but certainly I think that they could use some
• 12:15
  Speaker 4: depth because if they get another injury or two, they're
• 12:17
  Speaker 4: going to be in a, in a, in a hurt
• 12:18
  Speaker 4: piece at the cornerback position. But by and large, I
• 12:22
  Speaker 4: just think just don't feel the need to rush into something.
• 12:25
  Speaker 4: Don't feel the need to force something. Just get into,
• 12:29
  Speaker 4: just keep doing what you're doing. If there's a fire sale,
• 12:31
  Speaker 4: it's like, you know what? We can call a fifth
• 12:33
  Speaker 4: round pick for that. That's fine. But to me, the
• 12:36
  Speaker 4: goal for the Steelers this year should be to get
• 12:38
  Speaker 4: load up and get ready for this draft. Um, I
• 12:40
  Speaker 4: know some people still really like this quarterback class. I
• 12:43
  Speaker 4: think it still could pan out to be a good one.
• 12:45
  Speaker 4: But even if you don't like the quarterback class, there's
• 12:47
  Speaker 4: some really good cornerbacks, some really good wide receivers, some
• 12:50
  Speaker 4: really good.
• 12:50
  Speaker 3: Linebackers, safeties.
• 12:52
  Speaker 4: There's some key playmakers outside of the linemen. I think
• 12:55
  Speaker 4: that they've been drafting a lot of linemen. Now it's
• 12:57
  Speaker 4: time to start addressing playmakers. This is a draft where
• 13:00
  Speaker 4: you can load up on those type of guys and
• 13:03
  Speaker 4: maybe even trade up and get a superstar one. in
• 13:05
  Speaker 4: the top 10, top 12 picks there this year. That
• 13:09
  Speaker 4: can be a game changer for your franchise moving forward.
• 13:11
  Speaker 4: And if you trade away useful picks that can help
• 13:13
  Speaker 4: you with doing that, you're going to forego that opportunity
• 13:16
  Speaker 4: to continue developing that younger roster that you want moving forward.
• 13:20
  Speaker 3: So to me, fire sale.
• 13:22
  Speaker 4: You know, go ahead, shop, look around, you know, poke around, see,
• 13:25
  Speaker 4: tap to kick the tires on some things, check to
• 13:27
  Speaker 4: see what kind of records they got in their garage.
• 13:29
  Speaker 3: But if anything's more.
• 13:31
  Speaker 4: Than $ 5, get up out of there because right now
• 13:33
  Speaker 4: you're on a budget.
• 13:35
  Speaker 3: I love it, Chris.
• 13:36
  Speaker 2: Carter, if Omar Khan retires one day, I like your mentality,
• 13:40
  Speaker 2: my friend, to step in there and use that same
• 13:43
  Speaker 2: mentality for the garage sale. Hey, one last question, then
• 13:45
  Speaker 2: we will let you go. Jalen Warren, last five games,
• 13:48
  Speaker 2: 472 yards rushing, touchdowns. And three 100-yard games in that
• 13:54
  Speaker 2: span as well. 233 yards receiving, a touchdown as well there.
• 13:58
  Speaker 2: So that's 705 total offensive yards these last five games.
• 14:03
  Speaker 2: If the season was to end today, would Jalen Warren
• 14:06
  Speaker 2: be your team MVP?
• 14:08
  Speaker 3: Absolutely.
• 14:09
  Speaker 4: There's no question about it. He's the, he's the best
• 14:11
  Speaker 4: player on the team right now. You run the ball,
• 14:14
  Speaker 4: catch the ball block for Aaron Rogers, whatever he needs,
• 14:16
  Speaker 4: whatever you ask him to do, he does it at
• 14:18
  Speaker 4: a high level. You know, I think he, he might
• 14:21
  Speaker 4: even get like offensive player of the year voting numbers
• 14:25
  Speaker 4: at this point.
• 14:25
  Speaker 3: Now he wouldn't win Jackson Smith and Jigma. I think
• 14:27
  Speaker 3: he's running away with it right now.
• 14:29
  Speaker 4: He leads the league in receiving, receiving yards, yard touchdowns,
• 14:32
  Speaker 4: the overall touchdowns, receiving touchdowns. It's, he's going off in
• 14:37
  Speaker 4: Seattle right now. But Jalen Warren is one of the
• 14:40
  Speaker 4: more productive guys. I think he leads all running backs
• 14:43
  Speaker 4: in yards per touch in the NFL right now.
• 14:46
  Speaker 3: He's extremely impressive.
• 14:48
  Speaker 4: But I like how Mike McCarthy is trying to keep
• 14:50
  Speaker 4: him balanced because I've always had this worry that if
• 14:53
  Speaker 4: Jalen Warren were to become too much of the bell cow,
• 14:56
  Speaker 4: that with his size, you'd wear him down and he'd
• 14:58
  Speaker 4: be unable to you know, 30, 35 touches a game,
• 15:02
  Speaker 4: but having it more like 21 to 25 touches a game,
• 15:05
  Speaker 4: I think that's a healthier pace. And then that also
• 15:07
  Speaker 4: allows Rico Dowd to use what he does well. To me,
• 15:09
  Speaker 4: Jalen Warren, build the plane out of Jalen Warren right
• 15:12
  Speaker 4: now because he is playing that well and he's making
• 15:14
  Speaker 4: everyone else better around him.
• 15:17
  Speaker 2: I like it, Chris Carter. That's for sure. I agree
• 15:19
  Speaker 2: with you. He's definitely been the best player on this
• 15:21
  Speaker 2: team up to this point, and hopefully he will continue
• 15:24
  Speaker 2: to do that as the Steelers navigate these next 10
• 15:27
  Speaker 2: regular season games. Chris Carter from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. You
• 15:30
  Speaker 2: can catch him there. You can catch him on Locked
• 15:32
  Speaker 2: on Steelers podcast. You can catch him on Pitt Football.
• 15:35
  Speaker 5: Chris, you're everywhere.
• 15:37
  Speaker 2: And I didn't even mention the TV show on Sunday
• 15:39
  Speaker 2: nights on WPXI, The Last.
• 15:40
  Speaker 5: Word, right?
• 15:42
  Speaker 3: The final word, man.
• 15:43
  Speaker 4: We love, we love that show there too. Also catch
• 15:45
  Speaker 4: me on Friday night skylights. We do high school football highlights.
• 15:48
  Speaker 3: And the whip. Your playoffs are up on us.
• 15:51
  Speaker 4: So definitely, definitely want to check all that out there.
• 15:54
  Speaker 4: Thanks so much for having me guys. It's always a
• 15:56
  Speaker 4: pleasure to be here and heck we'll have some pit
• 15:58
  Speaker 4: basketball coverage for you very soon as they, they tip
• 16:01
  Speaker 4: off on Monday. So it's, it's that one most wonderful
• 16:04
  Speaker 4: time of the year when all the sports.
• 16:05
  Speaker 3: Are in gear.
• 16:07
  Speaker 5: Thanks, Chris. I'll see you on the South side, man.
• 16:09
  Speaker 3: Yes, sir. See you guys.
• 16:10
  Speaker 2: Thank you, Chris Carter. Both Brian and I are hoop fans,
• 16:13
  Speaker 2: pit hoop fans to that. So we'll definitely be paying
• 16:16
  Speaker 2: attention to you as we get towards basketball season. As
• 16:19
  Speaker 2: you said, just right around the corner. Great time of
• 16:21
  Speaker 2: the year. Whenever Brian and I come back, we're going
• 16:23
  Speaker 2: to get into our power rankings for the top five
• 16:26
  Speaker 2: offenses and defenses into the NFL after the week seven.
• 16:31
  Speaker 2: But first, this is the Steelers report on SNR, part
• 16:34
  Speaker 2: of the Steelers audio network.
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: This is the Steelers report with Brian Bacco and Ed
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: truth on Steelers nation radio, a part of the Steelers
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: audio network.
• 16:52
  Speaker 2: Great stuff from Chris Carter from the Pittsburgh post-gazette. Again,
• 16:55
  Speaker 2: you can catch Chris's excellent coverage of the black and
• 16:57
  Speaker 2: gold there with the PG, as well as his locked
• 17:01
  Speaker 2: on Steelers podcast. Very good podcast out there. And a
• 17:05
  Speaker 2: double B you, you heard him talk about. He also
• 17:06
  Speaker 2: covers pitch football, pit basketball, as did you at one
• 17:09
  Speaker 2: time with the post-gazette way back in the day. But, uh,
• 17:13
  Speaker 2: you know, basketball season. College basketball season starting.
• 17:16
  Speaker 5: Up next week. Here we go.
• 17:18
  Speaker 6: Don't feel the same excitement for it as I once did.
• 17:21
  Speaker 6: I think it's even harder now than college football to
• 17:23
  Speaker 6: track player movement and who's where. Your team got rid
• 17:28
  Speaker 6: of one 6'4 shooting guard who averaged 10 points a
• 17:31
  Speaker 6: game to bring in another 6'4 shooting guard who averaged
• 17:34
  Speaker 6: 9 points a game at a different school in a
• 17:37
  Speaker 6: different conference, and that's seemingly the musical chairs of of
• 17:41
  Speaker 6: the portal era but uh you never know when your
• 17:44
  Speaker 6: team is going to come together and i guess that
• 17:46
  Speaker 6: kind of makes it fun because i mean it's not
• 17:48
  Speaker 6: just a pit thing basically unless you're like the dukes
• 17:50
  Speaker 6: or kansas even kansas brings in a ton of transfers
• 17:53
  Speaker 6: yeah i don't even know like i guess duke and
• 17:56
  Speaker 6: unc probably still recruit pretty well of freshmen but it's
• 18:00
  Speaker 6: uh it's hard to even know uh who's good coming
• 18:02
  Speaker 6: into any season these days i.
• 18:03
  Speaker 2: Think we could spend the next two hours talking about
• 18:06
  Speaker 2: the mess of uh college sports.
• 18:08
  Speaker 6: Right now even a lot of the head coaches that
• 18:10
  Speaker 6: you know and love have have come and gone. Tom
• 18:12
  Speaker 6: Izzo is still out there doing it, I guess, right?
• 18:14
  Speaker 5: Bill Self.
• 18:15
  Speaker 2: Not too many of the old school guys left, that's
• 18:18
  Speaker 2: for sure. We'll see where Pitt basketball goes. We know
• 18:21
  Speaker 2: Pitt football is struggling here as of late as well.
• 18:23
  Speaker 2: Penn State football is struggling. West Virginia, the local collegiate
• 18:27
  Speaker 2: teams have had their work cut out. They all got
• 18:29
  Speaker 2: off to a good start. We had good conversations through
• 18:32
  Speaker 2: the first part of September for college football locally with Pitt,
• 18:34
  Speaker 2: Penn State, and West Virginia, but it's been a tough
• 18:37
  Speaker 2: ride since. But that continues to take shape. Still some
• 18:40
  Speaker 2: time left for those teams. We will see where they
• 18:42
  Speaker 2: will go. But we do know this. The Pittsburgh Steelers
• 18:45
  Speaker 2: in action this Sunday. We're getting ready for Browns-Steelers Part
• 18:49
  Speaker 2: 2 showdown for the AFC North. And coming up later
• 18:52
  Speaker 2: this week, Double B and I will get into our
• 18:54
  Speaker 2: keys of the game as well as our terrible takes tomorrow.
• 18:57
  Speaker 2: We just did our hits and misses during the first
• 19:00
  Speaker 2: hour today on the show. We'll do our terrible takes tomorrow.
• 19:02
  Speaker 2: We'll also have Ashley Bastock. of Cleveland.com. She will be
• 19:08
  Speaker 2: joining us again. We had Ashley on back before the
• 19:10
  Speaker 2: October 1st meeting, so now we'll have her on again
• 19:13
  Speaker 2: to get her thoughts on this matchup this upcoming Sunday.
• 19:16
  Speaker 2: Double B, it's time to jump into our power rankings
• 19:19
  Speaker 2: for our top five offenses and top five defenses of
• 19:23
  Speaker 2: the week. I'll give you the choice. Do you want
• 19:24
  Speaker 2: to start with offense or defense?
• 19:26
  Speaker 5: Let's go offense.
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: Okay.
• 19:27
  Speaker 5: Is that good by you?
• 19:28
  Speaker 2: That works for me. Do you want to start? Do
• 19:30
  Speaker 2: you want me to start? Lots of questions for you
• 19:31
  Speaker 2: in this.
• 19:32
  Speaker 3: I'll start. I'll start.
• 19:33
  Speaker 6: My number five offense is one that has really been
• 19:36
  Speaker 6: kind of inconsistent, but they broke out in a big
• 19:39
  Speaker 6: way this past week. And this is a team that
• 19:42
  Speaker 6: I still think the personnel that they have is very intriguing.
• 19:46
  Speaker 6: And they did it against a team that's reeling, but
• 19:48
  Speaker 6: the Dallas Cowboys just won 38-21 in Philly. I think
• 19:52
  Speaker 6: the Eagles' offense is spiraling downward a lot more than
• 19:55
  Speaker 6: their defense is, so I still give the Cowboys credit.
• 19:58
  Speaker 6: It's not just CeeDee Lamb, George Pickens, Dak Prescott. Javonte
• 20:01
  Speaker 6: Williams is running really hard. He had 155 yards on
• 20:05
  Speaker 6: the ground in that game. Clearly, their offensive line is
• 20:08
  Speaker 6: doing something right. So I've got a lot of teams
• 20:11
  Speaker 6: that could vie for that fifth and final spot, but
• 20:14
  Speaker 6: I'll put the Cowboys in there, even though they're only
• 20:17
  Speaker 6: three and four on the year.
• 20:18
  Speaker 2: Pickens had a good game, didn't he, last week?
• 20:20
  Speaker 5: Yeah, he had a great touchdown catch.
• 20:21
  Speaker 2: I know that. I saw that highlight, too.
• 20:23
  Speaker 5: CeeDee Lamb had two touchdown catches, but that Pickens one
• 20:25
  Speaker 5: was nice.
• 20:26
  Speaker 2: Yep, Pickens getting it done. For the Dallas Cowboys, former
• 20:29
  Speaker 2: Pittsburgh Steeler, I do not have the Cowboys in my
• 20:32
  Speaker 2: top five, but it's noted based on what you just
• 20:34
  Speaker 2: told me. I have the Lions at number five. They're
• 20:37
  Speaker 2: 4-2 on the season, averaging 30.7 points per game. They
• 20:41
  Speaker 2: have an average of the most passing yards, I was
• 20:45
  Speaker 2: going to say overall, but it's the most passing yards
• 20:48
  Speaker 2: at 282 passing yards per game so far this season.
• 20:51
  Speaker 2: So the Lions at 4-2, check in at number five
• 20:54
  Speaker 2: on my list.
• 20:56
  Speaker 5: I've got the Lions at number four.
• 20:57
  Speaker 2: There you go.
• 20:58
  Speaker 5: On my list.
• 20:59
  Speaker 6: And they've got a big test this week against the Vikings.
• 21:03
  Speaker 6: It's in Detroit. Weren't we saying that, you know, Packers-Lions
• 21:07
  Speaker 6: was going to be such a shootout last week, and
• 21:09
  Speaker 6: then next thing you know, 20-17 win at home for
• 21:14
  Speaker 6: Detroit over Green Bay. So old NFC North rivals flared up. But, yeah,
• 21:19
  Speaker 6: I think this offense for the Lions is really, really
• 21:22
  Speaker 6: difficult to contain. That game was actually the first time
• 21:25
  Speaker 6: all season, Ed, that they were held to 25 points
• 21:29
  Speaker 6: or fewer. Green Bay knows them very well. Vikings will
• 21:33
  Speaker 6: try to do the same. But you've got Jameer Gibbs,
• 21:35
  Speaker 6: Almon Ross, St.
• 21:36
  Speaker 5: Brown.
• 21:37
  Speaker 6: They're staying healthy, too. I mean, Jamison Williams caught a
• 21:40
  Speaker 6: couple touchdowns in that game. Jared Goff's lack of mobility
• 21:43
  Speaker 6: always gives me some pause when it comes to picking
• 21:46
  Speaker 6: the Lions to maybe go all the way. But as
• 21:48
  Speaker 6: far as just being a very good regular season offense,
• 21:50
  Speaker 6: they're still humming.
• 21:52
  Speaker 2: Gibbs up to 620 yards, rushing number four in the
• 21:55
  Speaker 2: NFL going into this week. He also has seven rushing touchdowns.
• 22:00
  Speaker 2: That's a fantasy stat for you. And yes, I do
• 22:02
  Speaker 2: have Jameer Gibbs on one of my fantasy football teams.
• 22:04
  Speaker 6: Isn't he having like a historic season to this point
• 22:07
  Speaker 6: for a running back in fantasy?
• 22:08
  Speaker 2: I think so. I mean, those seven touchdowns.
• 22:09
  Speaker 5: Because he's doing it through the air and on the ground.
• 22:11
  Speaker 2: Yeah, he's had some big receiving numbers too. Number four
• 22:14
  Speaker 2: on my list, there's one team on both of my
• 22:17
  Speaker 2: top five defenses and offenses, Brian, that has a losing record.
• 22:21
  Speaker 2: And it's the L.A. Rams. They're 3-4 on the year.
• 22:23
  Speaker 2: We talked about this, I believe, yesterday here on the show,
• 22:27
  Speaker 2: that they're not your typical 3-4 team because they faced
• 22:30
  Speaker 2: a lot of good football teams through the first seven weeks.
• 22:32
  Speaker 2: But they are under. 500. But they have the most
• 22:35
  Speaker 2: yards per game on average, 399, number one in the
• 22:39
  Speaker 2: NFL for that offense. So they check in at number
• 22:42
  Speaker 2: four for me.
• 22:43
  Speaker 6: I've got the San Francisco 49ers, number three. Brock Purdy
• 22:48
  Speaker 6: continues to have an MVP caliber season. Now, wasn't super
• 22:53
  Speaker 6: fluid last time out against the Washington Commanders.
• 22:56
  Speaker 5: That was a bit of a grind of a game.
• 22:58
  Speaker 6: And it seems like they're always dealing with injuries, too.
• 23:03
  Speaker 6: But I'm sort of just giving benefit of the doubt
• 23:04
  Speaker 6: here to Kyle Shanahan at this point.
• 23:08
  Speaker 5: And with.
• 23:10
  Speaker 6: The Niners receiving core, it seems like they always kind
• 23:12
  Speaker 6: of find other people to fill in and play well,
• 23:15
  Speaker 6: even if they're guys you've never really heard from, like
• 23:18
  Speaker 6: Jordan Watkins right now putting up some Some decent statistics
• 23:22
  Speaker 6: for them.
• 23:23
  Speaker 5: Still got George Kittle in the fold. I'll go Niners three.
• 23:26
  Speaker 2: I have the Niners at number three on my list
• 23:28
  Speaker 2: as well. So we are now with you. The Lions
• 23:31
  Speaker 2: at four. I had them at five. You had the
• 23:33
  Speaker 2: Cowboys at five. I had the Rams at four. I'm
• 23:34
  Speaker 2: doubting the Rams are in your top three.
• 23:36
  Speaker 5: Yeah, they're not.
• 23:37
  Speaker 2: I'll just go to make that call right now. But yeah,
• 23:39
  Speaker 2: I'm with you with the 49ers. I mean, when you
• 23:41
  Speaker 2: look at this offense, what they've done, you mentioned Purdy.
• 23:43
  Speaker 2: They've averaged, what, 371 yards per game. That is in
• 23:48
  Speaker 2: the top 10 in the NFL. Also, they are the
• 23:52
  Speaker 2: 49ers averaging 28.1 points per game. I thought that was
• 23:56
  Speaker 2: number one, but it's not. It is number three. Yeah,
• 23:58
  Speaker 2: they have the third offense averaging 28.1 points per game.
• 24:02
  Speaker 2: So the Niners number three for me.
• 24:05
  Speaker 5: All righty.
• 24:06
  Speaker 6: Yeah, I don't have the Rams in my top two.
• 24:08
  Speaker 6: I just, you know, Devontae Adams injury gives me some
• 24:11
  Speaker 6: pause on them.
• 24:12
  Speaker 5: They don't have their full deck either at the moment.
• 24:15
  Speaker 6: But I've got the Bears number two because I think
• 24:17
  Speaker 6: when they have their full deck, Caleb Williams healthy. at
• 24:20
  Speaker 6: quarterback and the pieces around it. Kyle Menonga is still
• 24:24
  Speaker 6: dealing with an injury. He was running hard earlier this season.
• 24:26
  Speaker 2: I think he might be back this week.
• 24:28
  Speaker 3: We'll see.
• 24:28
  Speaker 6: But DeAndre Swift's been good, too. He's been very consistent
• 24:31
  Speaker 6: for them in the backfield. They even get some contributions
• 24:35
  Speaker 6: from Kalief Raymond, kind of a longtime slot receiver, first
• 24:39
  Speaker 6: for the Lions, now across the division.
• 24:41
  Speaker 5: I think they've got a good O-line, too, Ed. I
• 24:43
  Speaker 5: like the Bears.
• 24:44
  Speaker 6: I was fast asleep in Paris when they put up
• 24:47
  Speaker 6: 30 points on the Patriots. at home on Thursday night
• 24:51
  Speaker 6: football this past week. But to me, that's impressive to
• 24:53
  Speaker 6: do against the new England defense. That is right around
• 24:56
  Speaker 6: my top five. You'll have to listen to the last
• 24:58
  Speaker 6: segment to see if I include the pats in there.
• 25:00
  Speaker 2: Five and a half hour difference between Pittsburgh and, or
• 25:03
  Speaker 2: not five and a half.
• 25:04
  Speaker 5: It'd be, yeah.
• 25:05
  Speaker 3: What am I thinking?
• 25:05
  Speaker 6: Well, it kind of was actually for that trip. Well, no,
• 25:08
  Speaker 6: it was, it was six until Saturday night. It was
• 25:12
  Speaker 6: daylight savings time in at least France. I don't know
• 25:15
  Speaker 6: about all of Europe, but okay.
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 25:17
  Speaker 6: So we gained an hour. I'm actually going to gain
• 25:18
  Speaker 6: two hours. I am, circumventing time and space here because
• 25:23
  Speaker 6: i was in paris and gained an hour of daylight
• 25:25
  Speaker 6: savings time so that the difference went from six to
• 25:28
  Speaker 6: then five on sunday you know it was 9 30
• 25:30
  Speaker 6: here 2 30 there kick off and then i'm gonna
• 25:33
  Speaker 6: get another hour this weekend.
• 25:34
  Speaker 2: Look at you you're doubling down on the i.
• 25:36
  Speaker 6: Should just change up then maybe i'll keep going west
• 25:39
  Speaker 6: i'll like move to yeah la and australia You mean.
• 25:42
  Speaker 2: The time zones don't have a half hour difference?
• 25:44
  Speaker 3: I'm joking.
• 25:44
  Speaker 5: Not that I know of.
• 25:45
  Speaker 2: I don't know why I said five and a half.
• 25:47
  Speaker 2: I think I was thinking of the flight over there.
• 25:48
  Speaker 2: Somebody had said it was somewhere around there.
• 25:50
  Speaker 5: Seven and a half.
• 25:50
  Speaker 2: Seven and a half. There was a half involved there somewhere.
• 25:53
  Speaker 3: Okay.
• 25:53
  Speaker 2: Anyhow, I got the Bears as well. Brian Backo at
• 25:56
  Speaker 2: number two. So now I'm starting to think we probably
• 25:57
  Speaker 2: have the same top three. Bears have the number one
• 26:00
  Speaker 2: rushing offense in the NFL. going into this week. They
• 26:04
  Speaker 2: have averaged 236. Let me see there. It's passing. Okay, rushing.
• 26:09
  Speaker 2: Now I got my number. 154, though. Still pretty good.
• 26:11
  Speaker 2: 154 yards per game on the ground. That's number one
• 26:15
  Speaker 2: in the NFL. In fact, there's only two NFL teams
• 26:17
  Speaker 2: that have gone over 1,000 yards through seven games. Tampa
• 26:20
  Speaker 2: Bay and Bucky Irving, he's had a few big games
• 26:22
  Speaker 2: as a team. These are not individual stats. As a team,
• 26:25
  Speaker 2: Tampa Bay has rushed for over 1,000 yards, and the
• 26:27
  Speaker 2: Chicago Bears, 1,080 yards, number one in the NFL.
• 26:32
  Speaker 5: All righty. drum roll please oh man i know where
• 26:36
  Speaker 5: we're both going here.
• 26:36
  Speaker 6: Yeah team who was off this past week so really
• 26:39
  Speaker 6: no reason to drop them the buffalo bills josh allen
• 26:43
  Speaker 6: as the maestro steering the ship um you know now
• 26:46
  Speaker 6: they've they come out of their week seven by home
• 26:49
  Speaker 6: matchup with baltimore say that ravens team is thriving a
• 26:54
  Speaker 6: little bit more on offense than the defensive side of
• 26:56
  Speaker 6: the ball but still it's a lot of Big-time matchups
• 27:00
  Speaker 6: between these two over the years with a lot on
• 27:02
  Speaker 6: the line. This one, regular season, but take my chances
• 27:06
  Speaker 6: with Josh Allen and the fellas putting up some points
• 27:08
  Speaker 6: for the Buffalo Bills.
• 27:09
  Speaker 2: No doubt. Sign us up all day long for Josh Allen, right?
• 27:13
  Speaker 2: Just not when he plays the Steelers. Bills number one
• 27:16
  Speaker 2: on my list, 2-double-B, 6-1, 5-1, excuse me, as you said,
• 27:19
  Speaker 2: they had the bye week this past week. Top points
• 27:23
  Speaker 2: per game in the NFL, 32.8. So your top three
• 27:27
  Speaker 2: as far as that category goes for most points scored
• 27:29
  Speaker 2: per game, Buffalo number one, 32.8, Detroit 30.7, San Francisco 28.1.
• 27:35
  Speaker 2: By the way, just round these numbers up, NFL.
• 27:37
  Speaker 6: I don't see many weaknesses for the Bills, especially with
• 27:40
  Speaker 6: the emergence now of Keyon Coleman coming into his own
• 27:43
  Speaker 6: a little bit as a receiver. I thought their receiving
• 27:46
  Speaker 6: core was probably the shakiest thing about them. DJ Moore,
• 27:50
  Speaker 6: to me, is one of those wide receiver one-and-a-halves, and
• 27:53
  Speaker 6: he's been dealing with some injuries, but They've got him, Shakir,
• 27:58
  Speaker 6: Keon Coleman. I like Skylar Bell coming out of UConn.
• 28:01
  Speaker 6: Josh Palmer has been around the league for a while.
• 28:03
  Speaker 6: And even Ty Johnson's like their pass catching third down back.
• 28:07
  Speaker 6: Ray Davis is a pretty good backup to James Cook.
• 28:09
  Speaker 5: The O-line.
• 28:10
  Speaker 2: Dalton Kincaid.
• 28:12
  Speaker 6: Yep, Dalton Kincaid and my guy Dawson Knox. And even
• 28:14
  Speaker 6: Jackson Hawes is like their blocking tight end. So I
• 28:18
  Speaker 6: just think they've got a lot.
• 28:21
  Speaker 5: Of stuff that's difficult to poke holes in there.
• 28:24
  Speaker 6: Alec Anderson has moved into the starting lineup for them
• 28:26
  Speaker 6: at left guard. He started in a pinch against the
• 28:29
  Speaker 6: Steelers last year, and I was impressed by him in
• 28:31
  Speaker 6: that game. So even their O-line, I think, is pretty
• 28:35
  Speaker 6: difficult to get much penetration against. I think this Bills offense,
• 28:40
  Speaker 6: they might hold down the top spot for the rest
• 28:42
  Speaker 6: of the season in my mind.
• 28:43
  Speaker 2: James Cook. Did you mention James Cook in the backfield?
• 28:46
  Speaker 6: I think I mentioned Ray Davis as the backup to
• 28:48
  Speaker 6: James Cook.
• 28:49
  Speaker 5: But, yeah, I mean, he's been tremendous too.
• 28:50
  Speaker 2: 627 yards rushing.
• 28:53
  Speaker 6: In the Bills' next three games, they get the Ravens
• 28:58
  Speaker 6: at Minnesota on Monday Night Football, and then Ed Troop's
• 29:01
  Speaker 6: best defense in the league, the Jets, on the road
• 29:04
  Speaker 6: in Week 10.
• 29:05
  Speaker 2: I don't know if the Jets made my top five
• 29:07
  Speaker 2: this week, my friend. They did sneak back in last
• 29:09
  Speaker 2: week for a short appearance, but I'll just go ahead
• 29:11
  Speaker 2: and give you that tease now.
• 29:12
  Speaker 5: What, losing to the Dolphins?
• 29:13
  Speaker 2: No, no, yeah, that's right. I eat those words, me
• 29:17
  Speaker 2: and Fireman Ed, two Eds that are eating their words.
• 29:20
  Speaker 2: going into this upcoming week. Well, speaking of defenses, Brian
• 29:24
  Speaker 2: and back. Oh, Brian and back.
• 29:25
  Speaker 3: Oh, sure.
• 29:26
  Speaker 2: We'll say Brian and back. Oh, Brian back.
• 29:27
  Speaker 5: Oh, myself.
• 29:27
  Speaker 2: Whenever we come back, the top five defensive rankings for
• 29:31
  Speaker 2: this week, we'll get into that. And also, uh, if
• 29:34
  Speaker 2: you have a chance, make sure you go back. You
• 29:35
  Speaker 2: can listen anytime to the Steelers report on Steelers.com. The Steelers.
• 29:40
  Speaker 3: App.
• 29:40
  Speaker 2: We are always podcasted up there along with our other
• 29:43
  Speaker 2: great shows that we have here on NSNR each and
• 29:46
  Speaker 2: every day and each and every week. This is the
• 29:48
  Speaker 2: Steelers Report with Troop and Backo on Steelers Nation Radio,
• 29:52
  Speaker 2: part of the Steelers Audio Network.
• 30:07
  Speaker 1: This is the Steelers Report with Brian Batko and Ed
• 30:11
  Speaker 1: Troup on Steelers Nation Radio, a part of the Steelers
• 30:15
  Speaker 1: Audio Network.
• 30:17
  Speaker 2: Listen, we have to let that intro roll a little bit, Brian.
• 30:19
  Speaker 2: That's probably one of the most popular bed intros that
• 30:22
  Speaker 2: we have here on SNR.
• 30:24
  Speaker 5: Why do they call it a bed in the radio industry?
• 30:26
  Speaker 2: I have no clue. That's a good question. I did
• 30:28
  Speaker 2: study it for four years, as did you.
• 30:30
  Speaker 3: You did too.
• 30:31
  Speaker 5: You're to blame.
• 30:31
  Speaker 6: I did student radio. I wouldn't say I studied the industry.
• 30:34
  Speaker 6: I was more like learning on the job. You were
• 30:37
  Speaker 6: in the lab.
• 30:39
  Speaker 5: I think we called them rejoins, actually.
• 30:41
  Speaker 2: What'd you call them?
• 30:41
  Speaker 5: Rejoins.
• 30:42
  Speaker 2: I mean, that makes more sense. Yeah, rejoining the show.
• 30:45
  Speaker 5: But yes, bed is something that I've picked up over
• 30:48
  Speaker 5: the years of doing radio. And I don't know the
• 30:51
  Speaker 5: etymology of that.
• 30:52
  Speaker 2: I mean, it's even labeled right here on the computer.
• 30:55
  Speaker 2: You can't see that at home. You're listening. But Brian can.
• 30:57
  Speaker 2: It says SNR beds. And there's a whole bunch of them.
• 31:00
  Speaker 5: I'm Googling. That we can play.
• 31:01
  Speaker 2: You know, one time you were able to actually play songs.
• 31:04
  Speaker 2: But all that copyright stuff kind of got in the way.
• 31:07
  Speaker 2: So now you've got to go with these generic guitar,
• 31:10
  Speaker 2: drum intros.
• 31:11
  Speaker 3: But I like them.
• 31:12
  Speaker 5: According to something called Sam Broadcaster. Okay.
• 31:16
  Speaker 6: It's called a bed because it serves as the underlying
• 31:18
  Speaker 6: structure or foundation that the host's voice rests upon.
• 31:22
  Speaker 2: Oh, there you go. We are resting in bed to
• 31:26
  Speaker 2: give you this. Well, we're not in bed.
• 31:28
  Speaker 6: I don't know if I like it, though, because it
• 31:30
  Speaker 6: makes it seem like it should be played throughout the
• 31:32
  Speaker 6: entire show if it was a true bed, right?
• 31:34
  Speaker 2: In the background.
• 31:35
  Speaker 5: Well, I guess you get up out of bed, so.
• 31:36
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 31:36
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 31:37
  Speaker 5: Whatever. It's caught on regardless.
• 31:39
  Speaker 2: Either way, we got some favorites. We listen to them
• 31:41
  Speaker 2: all week long. There's like a rotation of seven or
• 31:43
  Speaker 2: eight of them. You hear them in and out of
• 31:44
  Speaker 2: breaks all the time. Well, mostly into breaks. I think
• 31:46
  Speaker 2: we don't go out of breaks with them. Anyhow, getting
• 31:48
  Speaker 2: too much into the weeds with everything. Brian, we are
• 31:52
  Speaker 2: moving ahead there this week. It's Wednesday already. Hard to believe.
• 31:55
  Speaker 2: We'll be on the back half of the week tomorrow.
• 31:57
  Speaker 2: And we'll be that much closer to Sunday in a
• 31:59
  Speaker 2: very big game between the Steelers and the Browns. And then,
• 32:03
  Speaker 2: of course, the Steelers go on a bye week. So
• 32:04
  Speaker 2: we'll have two weeks in between there. and a return
• 32:07
  Speaker 2: trip to Cincinnati.
• 32:08
  Speaker 5: We haven't done a, yeah.
• 32:09
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 32:09
  Speaker 6: And it's, it's going to be hot and heavy coming
• 32:11
  Speaker 6: out of the buy. I'm looking forward to that buy.
• 32:13
  Speaker 6: I got to think my yard's looking forward to the buy.
• 32:15
  Speaker 6: I've got leaves everywhere. If anybody out there listening, have
• 32:18
  Speaker 6: your people call my people. Maybe we can set up
• 32:20
  Speaker 6: a consultation on someone making the leaves in my yard disappear.
• 32:25
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 32:25
  Speaker 2: Well, you got the pool closed, so you don't have
• 32:27
  Speaker 2: to worry about that. Right.
• 32:28
  Speaker 1: Right.
• 32:28
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 32:28
  Speaker 5: That's done over and done with.
• 32:29
  Speaker 6: I'd like to get one more grass cut in and
• 32:31
  Speaker 6: that would Pick up a lot of the leaves, but
• 32:34
  Speaker 6: not all of them because, I mean, when I tell
• 32:35
  Speaker 6: you there's a lot, Ed, there's a lot.
• 32:38
  Speaker 2: Are the kids, they got to be out there playing
• 32:39
  Speaker 2: in the leaves, right? A little bit, yeah.
• 32:41
  Speaker 5: Actually, I mean.
• 32:41
  Speaker 2: That's fun.
• 32:42
  Speaker 6: They were helping us last night. I mean, honestly, my
• 32:44
  Speaker 6: wife was doing yeoman's work on the leaves. I was
• 32:47
  Speaker 6: just like the mule taking them to the back hill
• 32:49
  Speaker 6: and dumping them.
• 32:51
  Speaker 5: So, because that's.
• 32:52
  Speaker 6: Like, you know, they say you're not supposed to dispose
• 32:54
  Speaker 6: of your leaves in the trash. It's like bad for
• 32:56
  Speaker 6: the environment.
• 32:56
  Speaker 5: Yes, correct.
• 32:57
  Speaker 2: You can use it as like mulch and stuff.
• 32:59
  Speaker 6: Yeah, so I always just give her a hard time.
• 33:01
  Speaker 6: I'm like, can we please just. dispose them down the
• 33:03
  Speaker 6: back hill. And then it's like, well, you do it.
• 33:05
  Speaker 5: All right.
• 33:06
  Speaker 6: Somebody's got a little bit of a like reverse psychology too.
• 33:08
  Speaker 6: Cause then she's doing the more difficult job of rounding
• 33:11
  Speaker 6: them up into the bags. And I'm just carrying the bags,
• 33:13
  Speaker 6: you know, doing the dad carry like you do with
• 33:15
  Speaker 6: groceries and dump them.
• 33:17
  Speaker 5: We've got a back hill and might as well utilize it.
• 33:19
  Speaker 2: Get uncle Tommy over. Could he help?
• 33:22
  Speaker 5: You know what?
• 33:22
  Speaker 2: You're not putting uncle Tommy to work.
• 33:24
  Speaker 5: You know what?
• 33:24
  Speaker 6: If he's, he's been a very loyal listener, so he
• 33:27
  Speaker 6: can respond to that question himself via text to me.
• 33:30
  Speaker 2: And then you'll let me know later.
• 33:32
  Speaker 1: Yes.
• 33:33
  Speaker 2: I enjoy my Brian back.
• 33:34
  Speaker 3: Oh, random.
• 33:34
  Speaker 5: I'll just leave it out there later on. Yeah.
• 33:36
  Speaker 6: He will tell me uncle Tommy said, cause he'll have
• 33:38
  Speaker 6: a definitive answer.
• 33:39
  Speaker 5: Trust me.
• 33:40
  Speaker 2: He will let you know. Oh, you can pay him
• 33:41
  Speaker 2: with that candy bar.
• 33:44
  Speaker 6: I told him he could have one of my credentials from, Oh,
• 33:46
  Speaker 6: that's nice. There was like three separate ones for the
• 33:48
  Speaker 6: Paris game. There was like, Advanced stadium access, which we
• 33:51
  Speaker 6: didn't end up needing because the team didn't practice there.
• 33:54
  Speaker 6: Then there was one for, like, Steelers media availability that
• 33:56
  Speaker 6: day at their team hotel. Then there was one for
• 33:58
  Speaker 6: the game, of course, which would probably be the best
• 34:00
  Speaker 6: one to keep. But we didn't do much.
• 34:02
  Speaker 5: Yeah, go ahead.
• 34:03
  Speaker 2: I'm going to get Uncle Tommy a T-shirt here from iHeart.
• 34:06
  Speaker 2: I'm going to hook you up, Uncle Tommy, because you're
• 34:08
  Speaker 2: a loyal listener. So hold on. We'll finish this up
• 34:11
  Speaker 2: here today. Then I will go in the archives. I
• 34:13
  Speaker 2: got some connections, just put it that way. A few connections.
• 34:15
  Speaker 2: We need to know Uncle Tommy's size, though.
• 34:18
  Speaker 5: Okay, well, I'll get that answer from him, too, if
• 34:20
  Speaker 5: he's listening.
• 34:20
  Speaker 3: All right, okay.
• 34:21
  Speaker 2: Try to get it.
• 34:22
  Speaker 5: We didn't do much of NFL headlines this week.
• 34:24
  Speaker 6: I mean, right after we, well, at some point yesterday
• 34:28
  Speaker 6: during everything that was going on, Quentin Nelson got traded
• 34:31
  Speaker 6: from the Colts to the Seahawks, which I think is
• 34:33
  Speaker 6: fascinating because they've got a first-round pick from a couple
• 34:36
  Speaker 6: years ago, and Gray Zabel was their left guard, but
• 34:39
  Speaker 6: Nelson's been a left guard, I think, his whole career,
• 34:41
  Speaker 6: so I haven't seen the news out of Seattle what
• 34:44
  Speaker 6: they're going to do there, but I'd assume they'd move
• 34:45
  Speaker 6: Zabel over to the right guard position. And the guy
• 34:47
  Speaker 6: that they won the Super Bowl with last year is
• 34:49
  Speaker 6: going to take a seat on the bench. But when
• 34:51
  Speaker 6: you're John Schneider and you want to repeat as champs,
• 34:54
  Speaker 6: I guess they'd be the first repeat champs since the Chiefs, right?
• 34:56
  Speaker 6: They had a two in a row at one point there.
• 34:59
  Speaker 6: No one's ever three-peated in the NFL, have they?
• 35:02
  Speaker 2: No, no three-peats.
• 35:03
  Speaker 5: Not even the Patriots in their hay?
• 35:04
  Speaker 2: New England's come close a few times.
• 35:06
  Speaker 5: They were back.
• 35:07
  Speaker 2: They had opportunities back.
• 35:08
  Speaker 6: The Seahawks are very good again, and so this will
• 35:11
  Speaker 6: lead into our defenses discussion, I would assume. think they'll
• 35:14
  Speaker 6: be on both of our lists that's holding the chiefs
• 35:16
  Speaker 6: to three segue but so they acquire a new guard
• 35:19
  Speaker 6: uh to try to repeat for the first time since
• 35:22
  Speaker 6: the chiefs did uh in 23 and 24 and then
• 35:26
  Speaker 6: the you know at that point i literally thought to
• 35:27
  Speaker 6: myself i'm like okay so the colts are just selling
• 35:29
  Speaker 6: guys off deforest buckner will probably go the niners are
• 35:33
  Speaker 6: a team that could use him they had him originally
• 35:35
  Speaker 6: and then they traded for him so no one out
• 35:37
  Speaker 6: there listening will know that i had a beat on
• 35:39
  Speaker 6: that or at least i thought it was a logical
• 35:41
  Speaker 6: move but helps the 49ers defensive front that might also
• 35:45
  Speaker 6: tie into our top five defense power rankings but I
• 35:48
  Speaker 6: wonder who else will go Chris Carter wasn't too interested
• 35:51
  Speaker 6: in anybody I think Josh Downs for the Steelers is
• 35:53
  Speaker 6: at least mildly interesting just because the receiving core has
• 35:55
  Speaker 6: been so ram ransacked by injuries.
• 36:00
  Speaker 2: But it certainly wasn't heard it would help.
• 36:02
  Speaker 6: Right and then you know Grover Stewart's another interior guy
• 36:05
  Speaker 6: for the Colts but I think the Steelers like their
• 36:08
  Speaker 6: internal options on that front.
• 36:09
  Speaker 2: I think where the Steelers are, by the way, the
• 36:12
  Speaker 2: trade deadline coming up on November 10th, so it literally
• 36:14
  Speaker 2: is right around the corner. It'll be here quicker than
• 36:17
  Speaker 2: you know, two and a half weeks, really, if you
• 36:18
  Speaker 2: think about it, double B. But I think they're in
• 36:21
  Speaker 2: a good spot right now, and we'll see how this
• 36:23
  Speaker 2: game goes going into the bye week. But I said
• 36:25
  Speaker 2: it a couple weeks ago, if this receiving core in
• 36:28
  Speaker 2: this room continues to be solid. They don't have to
• 36:31
  Speaker 2: be great, but they're just solid. Better than what we've
• 36:33
  Speaker 2: seen previous years where they really lacked a number two, three,
• 36:36
  Speaker 2: or four wide receiver. I think maybe you just stay put.
• 36:39
  Speaker 2: But if a guy like Josh Downs comes on the
• 36:42
  Speaker 2: radar and you can get him at a good price,
• 36:44
  Speaker 2: and I think that's what Chris was kind of alluding
• 36:46
  Speaker 2: to towards that interview, then you go for it. But
• 36:48
  Speaker 2: I don't think you have to give up top two or.
• 36:50
  Speaker 6: Three draft picks. It'd be a rental probably. One year
• 36:52
  Speaker 6: left on his deal, though. You could have the inside
• 36:54
  Speaker 6: track to.
• 36:55
  Speaker 2: I like that, though. I don't hate it.
• 36:56
  Speaker 6: He's actually the Downs family and the Hayward family are friends.
• 37:00
  Speaker 6: I think I told you that maybe off the air.
• 37:02
  Speaker 6: But both Atlanta folks, and I think there's a lot
• 37:06
  Speaker 6: of connections there with Cam, Connor, Josh, and Caleb Downs,
• 37:10
  Speaker 6: who was a first-round pick this year of the Cowboys
• 37:12
  Speaker 6: coming out of Ohio State. So I think there's some
• 37:15
  Speaker 6: family friends there.
• 37:15
  Speaker 3: Some synergy. Yeah.
• 37:17
  Speaker 5: So that would at least be kind of interesting. But
• 37:19
  Speaker 5: you know what?
• 37:19
  Speaker 6: Omar Khan and those folks, they know a lot better
• 37:22
  Speaker 6: than we do the prognosis for Roman Wilson. how long
• 37:25
  Speaker 6: he might be out with that hand, finger, thumb injury,
• 37:29
  Speaker 6: whatever it is. Then Ben Skoronek's calf, Michael Pittman Jr.
• 37:32
  Speaker 3: 's foot.
• 37:33
  Speaker 5: But that's a lot of names that I just rattled
• 37:35
  Speaker 5: off there.
• 37:35
  Speaker 6: So it would not hurt to add a bit of
• 37:37
  Speaker 6: depth to the Steelers receiving core, even for when those
• 37:40
  Speaker 6: guys are healthy. And then Grover Stewart up front. I mean,
• 37:43
  Speaker 6: I think it's already a little bit like Vince Williams
• 37:46
  Speaker 6: from the Blitz is real big on, you know, Keanu Benton.
• 37:50
  Speaker 6: Cam Hayward, Derek Harmon, you get them out there all
• 37:52
  Speaker 6: at the same time. Benton's your nose tackle, but he's
• 37:54
  Speaker 6: done really well when he's not used at nose tackle.
• 37:57
  Speaker 6: I don't know if Grover Stewart helps that at all.
• 37:59
  Speaker 6: It gives you another body to throw in there, an
• 38:00
  Speaker 6: experienced body in a rotation. But, you know, he's also
• 38:04
  Speaker 6: been kind of a nose and defensive tackle over the
• 38:09
  Speaker 6: course of his career. But he's up there in age
• 38:11
  Speaker 6: as well. If the Steelers acquire 33-year-old Grover Stewart, they
• 38:15
  Speaker 6: might become the absolute oldest team in the NFL. But
• 38:18
  Speaker 6: just kind of– oh, and another– Signing Justin Tucker signed
• 38:21
  Speaker 6: to the Chiefs practice squad.
• 38:23
  Speaker 5: The former Ravens kicker.
• 38:24
  Speaker 2: I didn't see that.
• 38:26
  Speaker 3: Wow.
• 38:27
  Speaker 6: Harrison Butker missed a couple field goals in that Seahawks game.
• 38:30
  Speaker 5: So that's a strange one.
• 38:32
  Speaker 2: Imagine that if he becomes the Kansas City Chiefs kicker.
• 38:35
  Speaker 2: One of the best of all time. but not currently,
• 38:38
  Speaker 2: not currently in the NFL. We'll just leave it there.
• 38:40
  Speaker 3: Okay.
• 38:41
  Speaker 2: Let's get into our top five defenses there. Brian Bacco.
• 38:43
  Speaker 2: We'll start at number five. I'll start this time. You
• 38:45
  Speaker 2: started the offense. I'll start the defense. I have our
• 38:49
  Speaker 2: Pittsburgh Steelers. Number five, checking in for the first time
• 38:52
  Speaker 2: on my top five power rankings, five and two on
• 38:54
  Speaker 2: the year, an average of 19.7 points per game given up,
• 38:58
  Speaker 2: which by the way is number five in the NFL.
• 39:00
  Speaker 2: They have the number six overall defense right now in
• 39:02
  Speaker 2: the NFL, seven against the run, 11 against the pass,
• 39:06
  Speaker 2: number six, And total yards given up are, I was
• 39:09
  Speaker 2: going to say your, but it's mine too. It's all
• 39:11
  Speaker 2: of ours. If you're listening on Steelers Nation Radio, it's
• 39:13
  Speaker 2: our Pittsburgh Steelers, number five.
• 39:15
  Speaker 5: I thought about it. I thought about it.
• 39:16
  Speaker 6: I'd like to see one more week like this. If
• 39:19
  Speaker 6: they stomp the Browns, I probably would move them in.
• 39:23
  Speaker 6: But I've got the Chiefs at five. A little better statistically.
• 39:26
  Speaker 6: They've got at least one takeaway in every game. Giving
• 39:30
  Speaker 6: up 20 points to the Seahawks this past week, to me,
• 39:32
  Speaker 6: that's a solid defensive performance still at the end of
• 39:36
  Speaker 6: the day. And they obviously didn't get much help from
• 39:39
  Speaker 6: their offense. They gave up a 28-yard touchdown pass to
• 39:41
  Speaker 6: Jackson Smith and Jigba. I mean, geez, who doesn't these days?
• 39:45
  Speaker 6: The monsters of the midway might have let Jackson Smith
• 39:47
  Speaker 6: and Jigba go off against them if you could play it.
• 39:50
  Speaker 5: On a neutral field.
• 39:51
  Speaker 2: He had some strong catches, including that one touchdown.
• 39:54
  Speaker 5: No doubt.
• 39:55
  Speaker 6: But I still think the Chiefs defense over the course
• 39:57
  Speaker 6: of this season has been pretty tough.
• 39:59
  Speaker 2: I have them in my top five, but not yet.
• 40:02
  Speaker 2: Number four for me, the Seattle Seahawks. You mentioned them already.
• 40:05
  Speaker 2: Four and three on the year, but coming off that
• 40:07
  Speaker 2: big game against Kansas City that you just mentioned, 17.9
• 40:10
  Speaker 2: points given up per game. That is also number two.
• 40:15
  Speaker 5: No, no, no, no, no.
• 40:16
  Speaker 2: Number four in the NFL. And they are number one
• 40:19
  Speaker 2: against the pass. That's the number I'm looking to give you,
• 40:21
  Speaker 2: Double B. 144 yards in the air on an average
• 40:24
  Speaker 2: given up per game. Seahawks, the defending Super Bowl champs.
• 40:27
  Speaker 2: That defense was so good last year. There's been a
• 40:29
  Speaker 2: few holes here or there this year. But overall, I
• 40:31
  Speaker 2: feel like the last couple games they have put together
• 40:33
  Speaker 2: some strong defensive efforts. They're number four for me.
• 40:37
  Speaker 3: Okay.
• 40:38
  Speaker 6: I'm going to go with a team that is coming
• 40:40
  Speaker 6: on of late and one that we thought was going
• 40:43
  Speaker 6: to be really good. coming into this season defensively because
• 40:46
  Speaker 6: of what they were last season defensively. And that's the
• 40:47
  Speaker 6: Denver Broncos, a team that the Steelers will see the
• 40:50
  Speaker 6: end of November on Black Friday, right around a month
• 40:52
  Speaker 6: from now, actually a day less than a month from now.
• 40:56
  Speaker 6: It's one thing to give up 16 in Arizona, whoop-dee-doo.
• 41:00
  Speaker 6: But just the week prior, they give up 14 to
• 41:02
  Speaker 6: the Seahawks in an overtime win. So it was really
• 41:05
  Speaker 6: that the Chiefs went off against them in week one.
• 41:08
  Speaker 6: The Rams went off against them in week three when
• 41:10
  Speaker 6: they had everybody healthy.
• 41:11
  Speaker 5: Other than that, They've been pretty stout. So I'll go
• 41:14
  Speaker 5: Broncos at four.
• 41:15
  Speaker 6: But I had Broncos, Chiefs and Steelers all kind of
• 41:18
  Speaker 6: in the same tier range, whatever you want to call it.
• 41:22
  Speaker 2: Broncos, Steelers are different, I think, because I'm guessing we
• 41:26
  Speaker 2: have the same top three. We'll see.
• 41:29
  Speaker 5: I don't know.
• 41:30
  Speaker 2: You had Broncos. I had Steelers. You don't have Steelers
• 41:33
  Speaker 2: in your top three, do you?
• 41:33
  Speaker 6: No, you already said you just missed. You already said
• 41:35
  Speaker 6: you just missed the cut. So they keep playing like this, though.
• 41:38
  Speaker 2: Number three for me, the Jacksonville Jaguars. Four and two
• 41:41
  Speaker 2: on the year, 17.3 points per game given up. And
• 41:44
  Speaker 2: the number one rush defense. Talk about the Steelers rush
• 41:46
  Speaker 2: defense being so good. Jacksonville, number one. They're only giving
• 41:49
  Speaker 2: up 72 yards per game on the ground.
• 41:52
  Speaker 6: They got bludgeoned by the Texans last time out in London.
• 41:55
  Speaker 6: So I do not have the Jaguars in my top three.
• 41:58
  Speaker 2: You definitely look at game by it. See, I look
• 42:00
  Speaker 2: at overall performance, but this is good. This is a
• 42:02
  Speaker 2: good exercise for you and I, because you're definitely in
• 42:05
  Speaker 2: a previous game more.
• 42:06
  Speaker 6: I'm trying to do some of both. My number three
• 42:08
  Speaker 6: team here did not play this past week. And last
• 42:12
  Speaker 6: time we saw them, they almost blew it, but they
• 42:16
  Speaker 6: didn't because the defense stepped up at the end. And
• 42:18
  Speaker 6: that is the San Francisco 49ers. They really fly around.
• 42:22
  Speaker 6: They've got some hitters at the middle of the defense,
• 42:24
  Speaker 6: the back end of that defense. And now they've got
• 42:27
  Speaker 6: the Forrest Buckner. up front on the interior, who's playing
• 42:29
  Speaker 6: really well this season. So I'm giving them a buck
• 42:32
  Speaker 6: bump even before he gets there to San Fran. I
• 42:34
  Speaker 6: think he's only going to help what the Niners are
• 42:37
  Speaker 6: doing on that side of the ball.
• 42:39
  Speaker 3: Wow.
• 42:39
  Speaker 2: So we, I do not have the 49ers or the
• 42:41
  Speaker 2: Broncos on my list so far. You do not have
• 42:44
  Speaker 2: the Steelers. I'll see if you have the Jaguars on
• 42:46
  Speaker 2: your list. We had four or five. similar on the
• 42:49
  Speaker 2: offense power rankings for this week that will be but
• 42:52
  Speaker 2: our defense is much different and coming into this you
• 42:54
  Speaker 2: and I talked off the air we're like man defenses
• 42:55
  Speaker 2: are easy offenses are the challenge to do this exercise
• 42:58
  Speaker 2: each week well little did we know little did we
• 43:00
  Speaker 2: know number two for me you had them at number
• 43:02
  Speaker 2: five they're number two for me the Kansas City Chiefs
• 43:04
  Speaker 2: five and one on the year 17.2 points per game
• 43:07
  Speaker 2: given up see I really value this points per game
• 43:09
  Speaker 2: given up I put a lot of value on that
• 43:12
  Speaker 2: so that.
• 43:14
  Speaker 6: Matters to me a lot more than yards allowed and
• 43:15
  Speaker 6: that kind of stuff because I think If you're a defense,
• 43:18
  Speaker 6: they don't ask how, they ask how many.
• 43:20
  Speaker 2: You can bend, but you can't break. And that's been
• 43:22
  Speaker 2: the Steelers formula this year.
• 43:23
  Speaker 1: It has.
• 43:23
  Speaker 2: That's why they're number five.
• 43:25
  Speaker 6: I've got the Seahawks number two on mine, and you
• 43:27
  Speaker 6: had them a little bit earlier. I think that what
• 43:31
  Speaker 6: they did against the Chiefs this past week, and again,
• 43:33
  Speaker 6: this is.
• 43:33
  Speaker 2: It was impressive.
• 43:34
  Speaker 6: Yeah, I'm kind of going season long, but I'm kind
• 43:36
  Speaker 6: of going recency bias here in the power ranking style.
• 43:39
  Speaker 6: But on that front, a team that we both kind
• 43:41
  Speaker 6: of overlooked, maybe we sort of wrote them off after
• 43:44
  Speaker 6: what happened in week three. the Green Bay Packers have
• 43:47
  Speaker 6: been really hot of late defensively.
• 43:50
  Speaker 5: They've gotten better.
• 43:51
  Speaker 6: 17 allowed to the Lions, or excuse me, 20 allowed
• 43:53
  Speaker 6: to the Lions in a loss this past week. But
• 43:55
  Speaker 6: the week prior, they only gave up 13 to the Cowboys,
• 43:58
  Speaker 6: my fifth-ranked offense. The week before that, they only gave
• 44:01
  Speaker 6: up seven to the Bears, albeit with Case Keenum. The
• 44:03
  Speaker 6: week before that, 14 to the Bucs, albeit with Jalen Daniels.
• 44:07
  Speaker 6: So I left them off because they have faced some
• 44:08
  Speaker 6: backup QBs. But keep an eye on the Packers, too,
• 44:11
  Speaker 6: sneaking into this thing. But I've got the Seahawks number two.
• 44:14
  Speaker 6: I think they're going to be a team over the
• 44:16
  Speaker 6: course of the season. Yeah, there have been some blips
• 44:17
  Speaker 6: on the radar, but this is still the team that
• 44:20
  Speaker 6: went to the Super Bowl and won it last year
• 44:22
  Speaker 6: with a dominating defensive run.
• 44:24
  Speaker 2: We both share the number one once again, Minnesota Vikings.
• 44:28
  Speaker 2: 6-0 undefeated. They've averaged 12.3 points given up in six games.
• 44:33
  Speaker 5: They're way out ahead of the pack.
• 44:34
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's not even close. Next closest to Chiefs at 17.2,
• 44:36
  Speaker 2: Jags at 17.3. Seahawks at 17.9, and our Pittsburgh Steelers
• 44:42
  Speaker 2: at 19.7, number five. But yeah, it's not even close.
• 44:46
  Speaker 2: 12.3 to 17.2. Vikings have been very strong defensively.
• 44:48
  Speaker 6: At some point, though, they're going to have to do
• 44:49
  Speaker 6: it against some better teams in QB. They faced the Colts, Saints,
• 44:52
  Speaker 6: and Dolphins the last few weeks, and then a Bucs
• 44:55
  Speaker 6: team that lost Baker Mayfield in that game. They've also
• 44:58
  Speaker 6: knocked two quarterbacks out with injury in Caleb Williams and
• 45:01
  Speaker 6: Baker Mayfield. So maybe the Vikings are like, sure, go ahead.
• 45:04
  Speaker 6: Give us Josh Allen or a really good quarterback. We'll
• 45:07
  Speaker 6: be heating them up and hitting them.
• 45:09
  Speaker 2: Brian and I had four of the five similar offenses
• 45:12
  Speaker 2: in our power rankings on offense, but only three of
• 45:14
  Speaker 2: five for defense. But we did share the same number
• 45:17
  Speaker 2: one offense this week. Both of us have the Bills,
• 45:19
  Speaker 2: and both of us have the Vikings, number one for
• 45:21
  Speaker 2: our power rankings for top five defenses. That's going to
• 45:25
  Speaker 2: do it for the show for today. I'm Ed Troop,
• 45:26
  Speaker 2: along with Brian Bacco. Thanks for listening to the Steelers Report.
• 45:29
  Speaker 2: Up next, it's Wes Shuler and Matt Williamson on SNR's
• 45:32
  Speaker 2: The Drive, right here on Steelers Nation Radio, part of
• 45:35
  Speaker 2: the Steelers Audio Network.