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

• 0:03
  Speaker 1: This is In the Locker Room with Rob King, Max Starks,
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: and Willie Colon on Steelers Nation Radio, brought to you
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: in part by the Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop.steelers.com.
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: And by your neighborhood Ford store, the F-150 is the
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: official truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: Fourth and eight, the ball at the Steelers' 48-yard line.
• 0:29
  Speaker 2: Daniels in the shotgun. Gets the snap. Steelers bringing pressure.
• 0:33
  Speaker 3: And Daniels is hit.
• 0:35
  Speaker 4: And down he goes.
• 0:36
  Speaker 3: Who's that man?
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: And it is Jalen Ramsey once again with a huge
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: play for the Steelers to seal the victory in Tampa.
• 0:46
  Speaker 4: Two sacks.
• 0:48
  Speaker 3: Tackle leader.
• 0:50
  Speaker 4: Battering Ram.
• 0:52
  Speaker 5: Jalen Ramsey finishes the game off.
• 0:56
  Speaker 3: In the only fashion that he knows how, and that's
• 0:59
  Speaker 3: with pain.
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: Oh, the blitz off the edge by Jalen Ramsey, and
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: that is the end of the game with a final score,
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: the Steelers 26 and Tampa Bay 19. My man Max
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: Starks was on fire yesterday, absolutely on fire yesterday. Thanks
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: for being with us in the locker room with Max Starks,
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: with Willie Colon.
• 1:25
  Speaker 4: With our producer, Justin Miller, back at the iHeart Studio.
• 1:28
  Speaker 2: I'm Rob King. Thanks very much for being with us.
• 1:30
  Speaker 2: Willie Colon, what did you think of the Steelers' victory yesterday?
• 1:33
  Speaker 2: Hard-fought victory yesterday for the Black and Gold.
• 1:37
  Speaker 6: I think like everybody else, everybody was just holding on
• 1:39
  Speaker 6: for dear life, right? It was an experience that I
• 1:42
  Speaker 6: think for every Steelers fan that traveled down there, you
• 1:44
  Speaker 6: definitely got your money's worth. Everybody saw on the TV
• 1:48
  Speaker 6: screen how Steelers Nation just showed up in droves, but
• 1:51
  Speaker 6: I think Man, it's a couple things. I know there's
• 1:54
  Speaker 6: been a lot of feedback about the Steelers throwing the
• 1:56
  Speaker 6: ball so much, but I think there's one way you
• 1:57
  Speaker 6: can look at it. They've shown that they can win
• 1:59
  Speaker 6: in a multitude of ways. You would have liked to
• 2:02
  Speaker 6: have seen more of a ground presence. But overall, you know,
• 2:06
  Speaker 6: even though with the discourse between Aaron Rodgers and Mike
• 2:08
  Speaker 6: McCarthy in the sideline, they figured it out together, right,
• 2:12
  Speaker 6: in real time. So I think they're still kind of
• 2:13
  Speaker 6: nurturing that relationship. And, you know, Steelers do what Steelers do.
• 2:17
  Speaker 6: They ding and dunk their way to an ugly victory.
• 2:20
  Speaker 6: And the defense was able to stand up in a
• 2:22
  Speaker 6: big moment. So credit Jim Ramsey for getting that sack.
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: After the game, Aaron Rodgers called it a trajectory-changing victory.
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: And I think I understand what he's saying. I mean, look,
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: you lose that game, you're 3-3. Talking to Brian Batko today,
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: he said every game changes your trajectory, right, because it
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: changes your record. But the way you win a game
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: like this, it had been 34 years. 1992 against the
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: Houston Oilers, the last time the Steelers went into a
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: fourth quarter down 13 points and were able to secure
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: a victory. So that says something. I think that you
• 3:06
  Speaker 2: talk about winning in a multitude of ways. You always
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: want to win 50 to nothing. But to show that
• 3:11
  Speaker 2: you can come back from a 13-point deficit on the
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: road when, let's be honest, they had not played well
• 3:17
  Speaker 2: at all. They didn't play good football for 42 minutes.
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: It just was not a strong game, especially offensively. To
• 3:24
  Speaker 2: bounce back from that, I think that can give something
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: to a team, Willie, don't you?
• 3:29
  Speaker 6: Well, yeah, we do. Going into that game, the Rams,
• 3:31
  Speaker 6: excuse me, Rams, the Bucs defense was a legit one,
• 3:35
  Speaker 6: especially against the run. They ranked second against the run,
• 3:37
  Speaker 6: and they had some pieces, especially at safety. Tykee Smith
• 3:41
  Speaker 6: was going to be a guy that they felt like
• 3:43
  Speaker 6: was going to impact that game. So it was a dogfight.
• 3:47
  Speaker 6: And we knew one thing the Steelers had to do
• 3:49
  Speaker 6: was really maximize Jeremy Bernard, who had an outstanding game.
• 3:53
  Speaker 6: I know he had 11 catches on 12 targets. And,
• 3:56
  Speaker 6: you know, one thing about you like to see how
• 3:58
  Speaker 6: the young fella is, not being able to make the
• 4:01
  Speaker 6: same mistake twice. And I think that's one thing that
• 4:03
  Speaker 6: Aaron Rodgers talked about, the reason why he loves Jeremy Bernard,
• 4:05
  Speaker 6: that the kid is a fast learner and he's dependable.
• 4:08
  Speaker 6: And I think yesterday showed that. On top of that, man,
• 4:11
  Speaker 6: you know, The Steelers' offense is one of those things
• 4:14
  Speaker 6: where it's still unraveling. It's still, because of some of
• 4:17
  Speaker 6: the injuries they suffer, we talk about the offensive line
• 4:19
  Speaker 6: at the beginning of the year, really trying to find
• 4:21
  Speaker 6: their way and figure out who they wanted to be.
• 4:23
  Speaker 6: I know Ruben Bean had a decent game yesterday against
• 4:27
  Speaker 6: our amateur. But overall, man, that's what life on the
• 4:31
  Speaker 6: road for an NFL team is. You want to step
• 4:32
  Speaker 6: into somebody's house where it's gritty and ugly, you're going
• 4:36
  Speaker 6: to have to kind of find your way through the forest.
• 4:37
  Speaker 6: And the Steelers were able to do so. Credit Chris Boswell,
• 4:40
  Speaker 6: who continues to be huge and got to have it moments, man.
• 4:44
  Speaker 6: And not only was he able to tie the game,
• 4:47
  Speaker 6: but he was also to win the game for the Steelers.
• 4:48
  Speaker 6: So it's, it's a situation where if you're offensively, if
• 4:52
  Speaker 6: you're the Steelers, man, yeah, you want to run the
• 4:53
  Speaker 6: ball a lot better. I thought there was some missed
• 4:56
  Speaker 6: opportunities and Rogers failed to throw the ball in the
• 4:59
  Speaker 6: middle of the field, which was one of the Buccaneers
• 5:01
  Speaker 6: weakness on defense. But overall Metcalf had a big, had
• 5:04
  Speaker 6: a couple of big catches and, you know, we continue
• 5:07
  Speaker 6: to find a way to win. And at the end
• 5:08
  Speaker 6: of the day, it doesn't matter how you win as
• 5:10
  Speaker 6: long as you win. And the fact that he did
• 5:12
  Speaker 6: it in dramatic fashion with the defense, putting the ice
• 5:14
  Speaker 6: pick in the Buccaneers just shows that this team has heart.
• 5:18
  Speaker 6: And they got to continue to build on that, you know,
• 5:20
  Speaker 6: hopefully championship DNA.
• 5:23
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 5:23
  Speaker 2: And, you know, we're talking about this with mentioned a
• 5:27
  Speaker 2: little bit to Mike McCarthy, like he wants a player
• 5:30
  Speaker 2: led team. He talked about that last week. You know,
• 5:34
  Speaker 2: let's get into the locker room. Let's let those guys lead.
• 5:37
  Speaker 2: And what an effect that can have. on the younger guys.
• 5:40
  Speaker 2: You know, that's one of the things that people who
• 5:43
  Speaker 2: talk about, and Jim Wexel mentioned this last week, Willie,
• 5:48
  Speaker 2: when a team talks about, you know, or fans talk about, hey,
• 5:52
  Speaker 2: they should rip this thing down and start over and
• 5:55
  Speaker 2: go through some losing seasons. Well, if you go through
• 5:57
  Speaker 2: some losing seasons, then.
• 5:58
  Speaker 4: What do you have? You have veterans who've lost.
• 6:02
  Speaker 2: I'm not going to call them losers, but you have
• 6:03
  Speaker 2: a losing, you begin to have a losing identity And
• 6:07
  Speaker 2: if it lasts too long, it's a losing culture. And
• 6:10
  Speaker 2: people don't take that into account, that the Steelers don't
• 6:14
  Speaker 2: have that. Have they reached the success they've wanted to?
• 6:17
  Speaker 6: No.
• 6:17
  Speaker 2: They're 0-7 in their last seven playoff games. Of course
• 6:21
  Speaker 2: that's not what they want. But I do think it
• 6:23
  Speaker 2: helps them win a game like that, perhaps, with the
• 6:26
  Speaker 2: veteran leadership stepping forward. And then we saw a lot
• 6:29
  Speaker 2: of the young guys playing well as well. I mean,
• 6:31
  Speaker 2: I don't think it was any coincidence that Aaron Rodgers
• 6:34
  Speaker 2: and Jalen Ramsey were great late. And hopefully it's no
• 6:37
  Speaker 2: coincidence that Keanu Benton and Dalen Everett and some of
• 6:41
  Speaker 2: your young guys were able to step up. Jeremy Bernard
• 6:43
  Speaker 2: were able to step up and make big plays when
• 6:45
  Speaker 2: you needed them to.
• 6:48
  Speaker 6: Yeah, and I also think a lot of our young
• 6:51
  Speaker 6: guys starting to have success like Everett and Jeremy Bernard
• 6:55
  Speaker 6: is because of the ecosystem and the culture which the
• 6:58
  Speaker 6: Steelers stand for. There's a comfort zone there that these
• 7:00
  Speaker 6: kids are– not kids, they are men– But these guys
• 7:03
  Speaker 6: are allowed to just have countless examples on how to
• 7:07
  Speaker 6: be great. You know, you've heard me and Max talk about,
• 7:09
  Speaker 6: you know, some teams have to look externally to find motivation.
• 7:13
  Speaker 6: The Steelers don't have to do that. You know, they internally,
• 7:15
  Speaker 6: they can look around and see guys who are nine
• 7:18
  Speaker 6: to five guys, always trying to perfect their craft and
• 7:21
  Speaker 6: be better. And so if you're a young guy in
• 7:23
  Speaker 6: that locker room, you could look at a TJ Ward,
• 7:26
  Speaker 6: you could look at a Cam Award, you could look
• 7:27
  Speaker 6: at a Pat Furman, you know, you could look at
• 7:29
  Speaker 6: Aaron Rodgers, and see how they handle their business and
• 7:33
  Speaker 6: how they live up to the expectations on Sunday. So
• 7:36
  Speaker 6: it's good to have that. And this is why when
• 7:38
  Speaker 6: you talk about what Omar Khan and a lot of
• 7:40
  Speaker 6: these guys wanted to do, part of their campaign this
• 7:43
  Speaker 6: season was having the old guys show the young guys
• 7:46
  Speaker 6: how to be efficient and what it means to be
• 7:48
  Speaker 6: a Steeler. So when you see Jalen Ramsey pop off
• 7:50
  Speaker 6: the table, I think he's probably one of the most
• 7:52
  Speaker 6: underrated guys on the Steelers' defense right now and how
• 7:55
  Speaker 6: versatile he is. All it does is elevate and illuminate
• 7:59
  Speaker 6: some of these young guys to be who they were
• 8:03
  Speaker 6: drafted to be. And so I'm proud that the team
• 8:07
  Speaker 6: fought their way through it, stepping into a hostile territory,
• 8:11
  Speaker 6: even though it felt like a home game with all
• 8:13
  Speaker 6: the yellow terrible towels. But you saw a Bucs group
• 8:19
  Speaker 6: that felt like, man, if we win this game, we're
• 8:22
  Speaker 6: in a different light. We're 2-4, and we're back in
• 8:25
  Speaker 6: this thing. But Steelers put the knife to that and
• 8:29
  Speaker 6: now the Steelers are moving on and the Bucs are
• 8:30
  Speaker 6: still trying to figure it out.
• 8:34
  Speaker 2: Max Starks, as I mentioned, was en fuego yesterday with
• 8:37
  Speaker 2: his calls. Max, the return to Florida, you were on it,
• 8:43
  Speaker 2: my friend. You were into it. Again, now a little
• 8:49
  Speaker 2: bit less than 24 hours later, you can examine the Steelers' victory.
• 8:53
  Speaker 2: How does it feel to you now that the Steelers
• 8:56
  Speaker 2: are 4-2? Is it as Aaron Rodgers suggested, a trajectory-changing
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: victory for the Steelers?
• 9:03
  Speaker 5: I think it is because you've now put games together
• 9:06
  Speaker 5: in back-to-back fashion. One that was just a methodical game
• 9:12
  Speaker 5: in the Colts game, and we look and see what
• 9:14
  Speaker 5: the Colts are right now. They just fired Chris Ballard
• 9:18
  Speaker 5: this morning. Of course, a guy who we know very
• 9:21
  Speaker 5: well as the Red Bull caper. But Yeah, well, you
• 9:28
  Speaker 5: missed this. So in the booth in the stadium, you know,
• 9:35
  Speaker 5: visiting GM, visiting administration sits in the booth right now
• 9:41
  Speaker 5: when National's not in there, National Radio's not in there.
• 9:44
  Speaker 3: So Chris Ballard was in there. I didn't realize he
• 9:45
  Speaker 3: was in there.
• 9:46
  Speaker 5: And he's like literally like right next to, you know,
• 9:49
  Speaker 5: glass between us, but he's literally right there behind me.
• 9:52
  Speaker 3: And we're sitting there and I forgot what it was.
• 9:55
  Speaker 3: It was the.
• 9:57
  Speaker 5: I think it was the DK pass interference. DK Metcalf
• 10:00
  Speaker 5: pass interference late in that game. All we saw.
• 10:06
  Speaker 4: Was a Red Bull can flying. It was a lack
• 10:08
  Speaker 4: of a pass interference call, but, yeah.
• 10:10
  Speaker 7: Oh, sorry, it was a lack of one.
• 10:11
  Speaker 4: You're right, you're right.
• 10:12
  Speaker 5: They didn't call it on them. They thought that– he
• 10:16
  Speaker 5: thought that it was on us. All I saw was
• 10:19
  Speaker 5: a Red Bull camp flying in the room, like out
• 10:21
  Speaker 5: of the corner of my eye. And then Chris Ballard
• 10:24
  Speaker 5: storming up the steps, like sitting in the back, and
• 10:27
  Speaker 5: he was just a nervous wreck, and he was just erratic.
• 10:31
  Speaker 5: So that's kind of the story about that. So it's
• 10:34
  Speaker 5: just funny that now, a week later, he's gone. But,
• 10:38
  Speaker 5: you know, I think this trajectory for this team and
• 10:42
  Speaker 5: this victory just goes to show they played bad football
• 10:45
  Speaker 5: for three quarters collectively.
• 10:47
  Speaker 4: Yeah, they did.
• 10:49
  Speaker 5: Minus what I like to say, 90 and 5 plus 95. So, like,
• 10:55
  Speaker 5: those three on defense were doing great. And we had
• 10:58
  Speaker 5: a theme with that with the show about 95.
• 11:00
  Speaker 4: Bill Priatko.
• 11:03
  Speaker 5: Yeah, Bill Priatko turning 95 years young. And just going
• 11:08
  Speaker 5: through what the team was going through, defense was doing
• 11:12
  Speaker 5: their part at times, but the offense wasn't picking up
• 11:14
  Speaker 5: the opportunities. It reminded me of Cleveland, right? where defense
• 11:18
  Speaker 5: would have a turnover and we did nothing with it, right?
• 11:21
  Speaker 5: Sudden change, and the defense would respond, but the offense
• 11:25
  Speaker 5: couldn't respond when they got their own sudden change. And
• 11:29
  Speaker 5: it was just like pulling teeth. There was no consistency
• 11:32
  Speaker 5: at the end of the first half. The teams combined, Willie,
• 11:35
  Speaker 5: for three of 15 on third downs, and the teams
• 11:38
  Speaker 5: only had one of those three. That's how bad the
• 11:41
  Speaker 5: game was, right? So when that fourth quarter came, And
• 11:46
  Speaker 5: over time, you saw a team that needed 70 minutes
• 11:50
  Speaker 5: to win, but those last 25 minutes looked absolutely superb.
• 11:55
  Speaker 5: And that was just kind of a team slowly getting
• 11:58
  Speaker 5: themselves into it and, you know, not running off the bus,
• 12:03
  Speaker 5: really just nonchalantly walking off the bus and expecting a
• 12:07
  Speaker 5: victory because they looked at the record of the team
• 12:09
  Speaker 5: that they're playing and played down to their competition. And
• 12:13
  Speaker 5: then all of a sudden woke up, remembered who they were,
• 12:15
  Speaker 5: And everybody kicked it into gear.
• 12:17
  Speaker 3: So, I mean, it was a tough task. I mean,
• 12:19
  Speaker 3: this is a desperate team. And, you know, and we
• 12:21
  Speaker 3: got former.
• 12:22
  Speaker 5: Guys on that squad that have a lot of pride
• 12:24
  Speaker 5: and want to be, you know, on.
• 12:27
  Speaker 3: The right side of this. Because Larry Foote, right, longtime
• 12:31
  Speaker 3: Steelers legend.
• 12:32
  Speaker 5: He's the co-DC. You know, Foote's going to dial it up.
• 12:36
  Speaker 5: He's a very good, very smart player. when he played,
• 12:40
  Speaker 5: and that's also been one of his M.O.s as a coordinator.
• 12:43
  Speaker 3: He's going to adapt.
• 12:44
  Speaker 5: He's going to look at that film and see what
• 12:45
  Speaker 5: Cleveland did to us, see what New England did to us, say, hey.
• 12:48
  Speaker 3: I got some dogs, too. I got Kalijah Cansey.
• 12:51
  Speaker 5: I got David Walker, and I've got Reuben Bain that
• 12:55
  Speaker 5: I just drafted, you know, first round.
• 12:58
  Speaker 3: I've got some dogs that can go.
• 12:59
  Speaker 5: Tykee Smith on the backside, Keontae Scott, another rookie they drafted.
• 13:03
  Speaker 5: You know, I got guys who can play man, and
• 13:06
  Speaker 5: we can run single high on you and pressure you offensively,
• 13:10
  Speaker 5: and give you the looks that everybody else was giving you.
• 13:14
  Speaker 3: And, you know, and I thought that.
• 13:16
  Speaker 5: That was the big X factor was going to be
• 13:17
  Speaker 5: how Jalen Daniels was going to play. And he played
• 13:20
  Speaker 5: good enough, but, I mean, a rookie, undrafted free agent
• 13:23
  Speaker 5: rookie starting in.
• 13:23
  Speaker 3: The league, you know, going into his third game.
• 13:26
  Speaker 5: I mean, he didn't look like a rookie for the
• 13:28
  Speaker 5: most part, but then as the game started to wear on,
• 13:31
  Speaker 5: he started looking like a rookie.
• 13:33
  Speaker 3: You know, everything started speeding up. Our defense started heating
• 13:35
  Speaker 3: him up.
• 13:36
  Speaker 5: We started mixing the blitz with some of the four-man rush,
• 13:38
  Speaker 5: and then the four-man rush started hitting home.
• 13:40
  Speaker 3: So I was just really proud.
• 13:43
  Speaker 5: Of the way they kept slugging and fighting.
• 13:45
  Speaker 3: They never gave up.
• 13:46
  Speaker 5: And even though they might have gotten quiet at times
• 13:48
  Speaker 5: on that sideline when we were talking to Missy, they
• 13:51
  Speaker 5: didn't blow up like Cleveland. They learned from the Cleveland game,
• 13:55
  Speaker 5: and they just kept chopping wood. So that was, I think,
• 13:59
  Speaker 5: what goes to show you that as long as there's
• 14:01
  Speaker 5: time on the clock to play, you still have an
• 14:04
  Speaker 5: opportunity to fight.
• 14:05
  Speaker 3: You're never out of it, and I think that's what
• 14:07
  Speaker 3: that did.
• 14:07
  Speaker 5: I think that really did a good thing for their
• 14:09
  Speaker 5: ego and their mindset to boost that, hey, we can
• 14:13
  Speaker 5: still win games. We don't have to quit. We don't
• 14:15
  Speaker 5: have to mail it in. If we just keep doing
• 14:18
  Speaker 5: little things and just keep trying to get better every
• 14:21
  Speaker 5: time we step on that field, whichever unit we are,
• 14:24
  Speaker 5: we've got a shot. And I thought that's really what
• 14:27
  Speaker 5: it was. It was that game of attrition, and they
• 14:29
  Speaker 5: beat their own minds.
• 14:34
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, I think one of the things that
• 14:38
  Speaker 2: I'll take out of this is that they've proven they
• 14:41
  Speaker 2: can win a game like this. As we mentioned, Max,
• 14:44
  Speaker 2: 34 years, the last time they overcame a 13-point deficit
• 14:47
  Speaker 2: in the fourth quarter to win a game.
• 14:49
  Speaker 4: So that shows you can do it. Was it perfect?
• 14:52
  Speaker 2: No, but I think these are little building blocks you
• 14:55
  Speaker 2: put in place. Can we shut down top running backs?
• 14:59
  Speaker 4: Yes. Can we win on the road? Yes.
• 15:02
  Speaker 2: Can we come back from a 13-point deficit if we
• 15:05
  Speaker 2: get down?
• 15:06
  Speaker 4: Yes.
• 15:07
  Speaker 2: I think all these things are little building blocks that
• 15:11
  Speaker 2: build belief. We all want the perfect game. We all
• 15:13
  Speaker 2: want the game in which every facet of your game
• 15:17
  Speaker 2: looks great.
• 15:17
  Speaker 4: But those games are rare.
• 15:19
  Speaker 2: There's more games in which you've got to find something
• 15:22
  Speaker 2: to win than there are, hell, we just went out
• 15:24
  Speaker 2: and executed our game plan and overwhelmed them.
• 15:26
  Speaker 4: I mean, it happens, sure.
• 15:28
  Speaker 2: But, you know, The reverse happens, I think, more often
• 15:31
  Speaker 2: because teams are good. There's a lot of parity in
• 15:33
  Speaker 2: the NFL. This is a 1-4 Tampa team that felt
• 15:37
  Speaker 2: like they had resurrected their season with a Thursday night win,
• 15:41
  Speaker 2: knew they had to follow it up.
• 15:42
  Speaker 4: They were desperate.
• 15:43
  Speaker 2: They gave the Steelers their best possible shot, and the
• 15:46
  Speaker 2: Steelers were the ones that were able to come away
• 15:47
  Speaker 2: with a victory.
• 15:51
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I agree.
• 15:52
  Speaker 6: I also think you've got to give credit to patchy
• 15:56
  Speaker 6: grant um you know valid the defense wasn't stellar but
• 16:00
  Speaker 6: i think he did something that i think doesn't need
• 16:02
  Speaker 6: to be that hasn't been talked about a lot and
• 16:03
  Speaker 6: that's the fact that he adjusted nick herbeck right there's
• 16:06
  Speaker 6: been so much talk about where's this where's this pass
• 16:09
  Speaker 6: rush where's it coming from you know he paid nick
• 16:11
  Speaker 6: herbeck all this money he said you know i'm gonna
• 16:12
  Speaker 6: simplify it i'm gonna let that dog go humming off
• 16:15
  Speaker 6: the edge and you know he had two sacks he
• 16:17
  Speaker 6: had two quarterback hits and the six tackles you know
• 16:19
  Speaker 6: that was that was the breakout game we've been waiting
• 16:21
  Speaker 6: for nick herbeck this season and i thought he popped
• 16:24
  Speaker 6: up the tape for the defense man and I think
• 16:26
  Speaker 6: that's the biggest thing with this defense. As much as
• 16:29
  Speaker 6: they love to play zone and mix it up in
• 16:31
  Speaker 6: that regard, sometimes you just got to let the dogs
• 16:34
  Speaker 6: go hunting. I thought we saw some of that yesterday,
• 16:38
  Speaker 6: which was great.
• 16:42
  Speaker 3: I think that's a great point, Will, is.
• 16:44
  Speaker 5: That we saw these performances, and like you said, you
• 16:49
  Speaker 5: lead to the Nick Herbig performance and what he did.
• 16:51
  Speaker 5: You lead to you know, what Peyton Wilson has now
• 16:55
  Speaker 5: done again, right? Led the team in tackles two weeks
• 16:57
  Speaker 5: now in a row. And, you know, the game that
• 17:01
  Speaker 5: Jalen Ramsey had. I thought Keanu Benton also came back alive.
• 17:05
  Speaker 5: We said, oh, okay, there he goes. Number 95 is
• 17:09
  Speaker 5: causing havoc again. And you saw Jamel Dean come off
• 17:14
  Speaker 5: of injury, right?
• 17:16
  Speaker 3: And start and play against his old squad. The nerves
• 17:18
  Speaker 3: that had to have been there. And to deliver... an amazing.
• 17:23
  Speaker 5: Interception and return that ball back down to the three
• 17:26
  Speaker 5: late in that game that led to us being able
• 17:28
  Speaker 5: to go ahead, um, for the first time and take
• 17:31
  Speaker 5: a lead in that ball game.
• 17:33
  Speaker 3: Uh, Dalen Everett, rookie, right? Tough assignment. You know, you, Hey,
• 17:38
  Speaker 3: your number, your number two, you know, it's you and.
• 17:40
  Speaker 5: Asante going back and forth for who's, who's playing opposite
• 17:42
  Speaker 5: Jamel and for Dalen to get his first interception of
• 17:47
  Speaker 5: his career. Um, And to draw the tall task of
• 17:51
  Speaker 5: having to block the Emeka Aboukas and Chris Godwin guys
• 17:53
  Speaker 5: of the world and Tess Johnson. So I thought there
• 17:57
  Speaker 5: were a lot of great individual defensive performances in this
• 18:02
  Speaker 5: thing that led to the collective success of the team.
• 18:07
  Speaker 5: And so really happy to see them kind of come together.
• 18:10
  Speaker 5: Was it a perfect game? Absolutely not. But when I
• 18:13
  Speaker 5: say who kept us in this game, it was the defense.
• 18:15
  Speaker 5: I mean, the defense, the first three First three drives
• 18:18
  Speaker 5: of the game, three and out. You know, that's for
• 18:21
  Speaker 5: a team that was red hot coming off of a
• 18:23
  Speaker 5: 10-day rest to be able to turn them away three
• 18:25
  Speaker 5: consecutive times to start that game in their home stadium,
• 18:29
  Speaker 5: I thought was a really big sign of this defense.
• 18:33
  Speaker 5: And then went through that long eight-minute drive in the
• 18:36
  Speaker 5: second quarter. I mean, you know, the Bucs dominated the
• 18:40
  Speaker 5: second quarter. And to only be up, you know, was
• 18:45
  Speaker 5: it 13-3 at the half? I thought was just absolutely
• 18:50
  Speaker 5: amazing that they still had gas in the tank because
• 18:53
  Speaker 5: the offense was doing nothing to help them.
• 18:57
  Speaker 2: Let's hold those thoughts because there are a lot of
• 19:01
  Speaker 2: tremendous individual performances that I'd like to get to. I
• 19:05
  Speaker 2: thought most of the guys that I had starred were
• 19:08
  Speaker 2: on defense. There were a couple guys on offense, though, too.
• 19:10
  Speaker 2: Want to examine special teams. A quick look at Chris Bauer.
• 19:14
  Speaker 2: We'll dive more into that because there is some news
• 19:16
  Speaker 2: today in the NFL. Also news coming out of Philadelphia.
• 19:20
  Speaker 2: We'll get into all that when we continue in the
• 19:22
  Speaker 2: locker room here on the Steelers Audio Network.
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: This is In the Locker Room with Rob King, Max Starks,
• 19:33
  Speaker 1: and Willie Colon on Steelers Nation Radio. Brought to you
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: in part by the Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
• 19:39
  Speaker 1: from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop.steelers.com.
• 19:44
  Speaker 1: And by your neighborhood Ford store. The F-150 is the
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: official truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
• 19:50
  Speaker 4: Steelers. Four and two. I think you are what your
• 19:53
  Speaker 4: record is. I believe that. I live that.
• 19:57
  Speaker 8: I pay close attention to that. We needed a win
• 20:00
  Speaker 8: on the road. We got it done today. This is
• 20:03
  Speaker 8: a big step for us. We needed to stack two
• 20:06
  Speaker 8: wins in a row. That's another big step. Those are
• 20:08
  Speaker 8: chunks of confidence that you gain as a football team.
• 20:14
  Speaker 4: Yep. I think that is. You're 4-2 right now. That's
• 20:17
  Speaker 4: what you are.
• 20:18
  Speaker 2: And you'd love to be 5-1 having won that game
• 20:21
  Speaker 2: in Cleveland. But you'd rather be 4-2 than say.
• 20:26
  Speaker 4: The 2-4 Rams. Rather be 4-2. I think we can
• 20:29
  Speaker 4: safely say that.
• 20:31
  Speaker 2: So the Steelers win this game and wanted to hand
• 20:34
  Speaker 2: out some accolades to some players. Oh, by the way,
• 20:37
  Speaker 2: It is a Monday, so our phone lines are open, 412-919-1316.
• 20:39
  Speaker 4: 412-919-1316.
• 20:39
  Speaker 2: Phone lines open here in the locker room.
• 20:44
  Speaker 6: Where's the donuts?
• 20:47
  Speaker 2: Victory Donut Monday. And Max has got the T-shirt on.
• 20:52
  Speaker 2: You can't see it on radio, but I can see it.
• 20:54
  Speaker 5: No, you can't. That's why I have the point. And
• 20:58
  Speaker 5: eventually Willie will be able to see it too.
• 21:00
  Speaker 6: Yes, I'll be back tomorrow.
• 21:03
  Speaker 4: I also got a new computer, but I have a backup,
• 21:05
  Speaker 4: so I'm using my backup. You'll be back tomorrow, Willie. Nice.
• 21:08
  Speaker 4: I like it.
• 21:09
  Speaker 6: Yeah, I'll be up and running.
• 21:10
  Speaker 4: Good stuff. A visible Willie Colon. Always a good Willie Colon.
• 21:14
  Speaker 2: So, you know, the defensive game ball, for me, it
• 21:23
  Speaker 2: goes to Jalen Ramsey. I mean, I thought Benton played great.
• 21:28
  Speaker 2: Herbig played great. Dean had the big interception. Ebert had
• 21:32
  Speaker 2: a big interception. Y.A. Black was visible. Oh, Peyton Wilson
• 21:38
  Speaker 2: led the team in tackles again. I just thought, Willie,
• 21:42
  Speaker 2: I think Max and I were both blown away by
• 21:44
  Speaker 2: Jalen Ramsey.
• 21:46
  Speaker 4: Two sacks, four tackles for losses. Ten tackles, four tackles
• 21:52
  Speaker 4: for losses. Just incredible, I thought.
• 21:55
  Speaker 2: Again, I said this on an earlier show, but there's
• 21:58
  Speaker 2: only so good– So well you can play.
• 22:01
  Speaker 4: You know what I mean? And he played that well.
• 22:06
  Speaker 6: Yeah, I think it's a testament to who he is
• 22:07
  Speaker 6: as a person, too. You know, as a kid, I've
• 22:10
  Speaker 6: got to stop saying that. I keep feeling like I'm
• 22:12
  Speaker 6: talking to my kids. I keep saying kids. You know,
• 22:16
  Speaker 6: this is a guy who, you know, that was vocal
• 22:19
  Speaker 6: about the loss of Joey Porter Jr. And who the
• 22:23
  Speaker 6: secondary was, you know, decimated to some degree by injuries.
• 22:28
  Speaker 6: And they needed somebody to kind of be that bell cow.
• 22:31
  Speaker 6: They needed somebody who was going to stand up and
• 22:33
  Speaker 6: really represent that secondary. Because we knew what the pass
• 22:37
  Speaker 6: rush could do with an elite linebacker in court. We
• 22:39
  Speaker 6: knew how to defense the line, how to versatility, and
• 22:42
  Speaker 6: the power to be a dominant force. But the secondary,
• 22:45
  Speaker 6: the Steelers, was in question. And when you lose, you know,
• 22:48
  Speaker 6: you're talking about Jamel Dean coming into that game with
• 22:51
  Speaker 6: coming off an injury. You talk about Zante Samuel, Junior Valley.
• 22:54
  Speaker 6: He had a strong game against the Colts. there's still
• 22:58
  Speaker 6: questions on how dominant he can be, especially as a starter.
• 23:02
  Speaker 6: And then you talk about Bruce Garrett, and you talk
• 23:03
  Speaker 6: about obviously Jalen Ramsey. They needed somebody to kind of say, hey, man,
• 23:08
  Speaker 6: we can also impact this game and be a bright
• 23:10
  Speaker 6: spot for this team. So when you see Daylon Everett
• 23:12
  Speaker 6: get the pick, and you see Jamel Dean get the pick,
• 23:15
  Speaker 6: and then you finish it off with Jalen Ramsey having
• 23:18
  Speaker 6: the type of game he had and the way he
• 23:19
  Speaker 6: impacted that game, man, this is why you have to
• 23:21
  Speaker 6: feel good about the Steelers being 4-2 right now because
• 23:24
  Speaker 6: there's aspects of the defense that are starting to come
• 23:26
  Speaker 6: alive And the secondary yesterday was an aspect of it
• 23:30
  Speaker 6: that we say, man, if this secondary can play with
• 23:33
  Speaker 6: Jalen Ramsey leading this charge, man, we're going to be okay.
• 23:37
  Speaker 6: And me and Max has talked about before when, you know,
• 23:41
  Speaker 6: we've lost guys on the offensive line and we've had
• 23:44
  Speaker 6: games where we weren't, you know, we weren't the bright
• 23:46
  Speaker 6: spot of the team. And if anything, we were the
• 23:48
  Speaker 6: sore spot. And how collectively we had to come together
• 23:51
  Speaker 6: and figure out, well, the only way to change that
• 23:53
  Speaker 6: narrative is collectively we have to play better. But individually,
• 23:56
  Speaker 6: we all have to be accountable for what we put
• 23:58
  Speaker 6: on tape. And I think J.M. Ramsey, being a veteran guy, man,
• 24:02
  Speaker 6: understands that. He understands with the boos and the cheers,
• 24:06
  Speaker 6: it doesn't matter what's coming at you. It's about what
• 24:08
  Speaker 6: you put on tape. And once again, I think his versatility,
• 24:12
  Speaker 6: I think he's extremely underrated. We love to talk about
• 24:15
  Speaker 6: the Haywoods and T.J. Watts and Herb Biggs and all
• 24:17
  Speaker 6: those guys and rightfully so the Peyton Wilsons. But he's
• 24:21
  Speaker 6: a guy right now who, since week one, has been
• 24:25
  Speaker 6: playing really strong, making impact plays, and continues to be
• 24:30
  Speaker 6: one of the faces of that defense. So I'm not
• 24:32
  Speaker 6: surprised by the type of game he had and how
• 24:35
  Speaker 6: he was able to close out that game. I was
• 24:36
  Speaker 6: just happy to see it.
• 24:38
  Speaker 4: And playing with a broken wrist, too. I mean, tough
• 24:41
  Speaker 4: as nails. Just so tough and such a good player.
• 24:45
  Speaker 4: What broken wrist?
• 24:46
  Speaker 3: You couldn't tell.
• 24:47
  Speaker 4: Yeah, you couldn't tell.
• 24:49
  Speaker 2: We have, as I mentioned, the phone lines open at 412-919-1316.
• 24:55
  Speaker 2: Let's get to it and let's talk with Circus George.
• 24:57
  Speaker 2: Circus George, how are you doing today?
• 24:59
  Speaker 7: Hey, just a little bit sick after my trip. A
• 25:03
  Speaker 7: little bit of a sniffle.
• 25:04
  Speaker 4: Did you go from Sarasota to Tampa?
• 25:07
  Speaker 7: No, I was in, remember I was out hiking in
• 25:09
  Speaker 7: Bryce Canyon and Antelope Canyon.
• 25:11
  Speaker 4: Oh, that's right. I just flew back yesterday. That's right.
• 25:13
  Speaker 4: I tried calling you last Monday.
• 25:16
  Speaker 7: I tried calling you guys and then I went through
• 25:18
  Speaker 7: the canyon before Bryce and I lost all coverage of
• 25:21
  Speaker 7: my crap. I was on hold and then I lost it.
• 25:24
  Speaker 7: And it was too late after that. So anyways, I
• 25:25
  Speaker 7: was hiking in like 40 degree rainy weather for eight miles.
• 25:30
  Speaker 7: It was wonderful. Just great.
• 25:32
  Speaker 4: Did you enjoy it though?
• 25:35
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I did.
• 25:36
  Speaker 7: We saw some great sights. It was an amazing trip.
• 25:38
  Speaker 7: But anyways, about the two games now. Colts, I love
• 25:41
  Speaker 7: the fact that, again, people say they can't. And yes,
• 25:47
  Speaker 7: we can. Apparently, we can. And the Bucs game, I'm
• 25:52
  Speaker 7: watching my nephew saying, I can't believe our offense. It
• 25:55
  Speaker 7: looks the same as it has for years. We're in that.
• 25:57
  Speaker 7: We can't get a third down conversion. And now I
• 26:00
  Speaker 7: have somebody else call me while I'm driving back from
• 26:02
  Speaker 7: the airport in Orlando and say, hey, what's up with
• 26:04
  Speaker 7: your 63-year-old quarterback? I said, we'll talk after the game.
• 26:08
  Speaker 7: I need to return this call sometime today. Our quarterback
• 26:14
  Speaker 7: made the plays when it counted. Our old, our overpaid
• 26:17
  Speaker 7: quote unquote defense made the plays when they had to.
• 26:19
  Speaker 7: And that's what counts. It doesn't matter if you had
• 26:22
  Speaker 7: a great three quarters of a game. Did you finish well?
• 26:25
  Speaker 7: Did you score when you have to? The answer for
• 26:27
  Speaker 7: the Bucs is no. For the Steelers, yes.
• 26:30
  Speaker 4: Yeah, they got outplayed for 42 minutes, right?
• 26:33
  Speaker 2: But as it turned out, the last 18 minutes of
• 26:37
  Speaker 2: regulation and overtime was what swung the game.
• 26:40
  Speaker 4: That's what won them the football game.
• 26:43
  Speaker 7: I don't understand thinking, and I know everybody's squawked about this,
• 26:47
  Speaker 7: I would have ran the ball three times there and
• 26:48
  Speaker 7: made them use their timeouts at the end of the game.
• 26:50
  Speaker 7: Give them 40 seconds with no timeouts. See if you
• 26:53
  Speaker 7: can go down the field and get a field goal
• 26:54
  Speaker 7: set up. That would have been called taking the odds.
• 26:59
  Speaker 6: Yeah.
• 27:00
  Speaker 7: I don't understand the thought process behind it, but we won,
• 27:03
  Speaker 7: so I guess you can't talk too much. But I
• 27:05
  Speaker 7: think if they'd faced Mayfield or a better quarterback, they
• 27:08
  Speaker 7: may not have won. They might have given up a touchdown.
• 27:10
  Speaker 7: That was a lot of time.
• 27:12
  Speaker 2: I think Max and I were both, I wouldn't say baffled,
• 27:20
  Speaker 2: but surprised.
• 27:22
  Speaker 4: Let's put it that way. Max, I was surprised by...
• 27:25
  Speaker 4: I think it was about.
• 27:26
  Speaker 2: A minute 43, I'm going to say, somewhere in there
• 27:29
  Speaker 2: after the Dean interception.
• 27:30
  Speaker 7: Not too much time.
• 27:31
  Speaker 6: Right.
• 27:31
  Speaker 4: Run it.
• 27:32
  Speaker 2: And look, you run it three times. First of all,
• 27:35
  Speaker 2: I'm confident you're going to get the ball in the
• 27:36
  Speaker 2: end zone. I mean, I know that run is good.
• 27:39
  Speaker 2: At the very least, you're going to make him use
• 27:42
  Speaker 2: your timeouts. And if you kick a field goal, there's
• 27:44
  Speaker 2: going to be, what, 40 seconds left, something like that.
• 27:47
  Speaker 2: You chew up another eight seconds with a kick. Hopefully
• 27:51
  Speaker 2: you trust your kick coverage unit. I'm with you. I
• 27:55
  Speaker 2: think that pretty much... In fact, there are some people
• 27:58
  Speaker 2: that that's all they're talking about today. I'm glad you
• 28:01
  Speaker 2: put it the way you put it. They won the game.
• 28:04
  Speaker 2: That's what counts. But it was interesting that.
• 28:09
  Speaker 4: The way that.
• 28:12
  Speaker 2: I can't say that I was crazy about it. Aaron
• 28:15
  Speaker 2: Rodgers made the point that if he throws a touchdown
• 28:17
  Speaker 2: pass there, everybody's talking.
• 28:18
  Speaker 4: About what a gutsy move it was.
• 28:21
  Speaker 3: However.
• 28:22
  Speaker 2: The downside still has to be taken into account, right?
• 28:24
  Speaker 2: And the downside is almost as great as the upside there.
• 28:29
  Speaker 4: You know what I mean? Scoring the touchdown and giving
• 28:31
  Speaker 4: them that much time left to time out.
• 28:33
  Speaker 7: If I can make a comparison, if you remember the
• 28:36
  Speaker 7: Super Bowl where the Seahawks choked against the Pats about
• 28:39
  Speaker 7: a decade ago when they tried throwing a touchdown pass
• 28:42
  Speaker 7: on the quicksand and they got picked.
• 28:44
  Speaker 4: Yep.
• 28:45
  Speaker 7: If he makes that catch... If he doesn't let the
• 28:47
  Speaker 7: corner get underneath him, oh, what a gutsy play to
• 28:50
  Speaker 7: go for the touchdown there, right? Everybody's expecting a run
• 28:53
  Speaker 7: with beast mode, and he's changed up and threw the pass,
• 28:56
  Speaker 7: and what a play. But it didn't work out that way.
• 28:59
  Speaker 7: That's exactly what you're talking about, the second guessers. And,
• 29:03
  Speaker 7: you know, I don't mind that they went for it.
• 29:04
  Speaker 7: I don't mind that they went for it twice. I
• 29:06
  Speaker 7: would have ran the ball on first and second down,
• 29:08
  Speaker 7: make them use those timeouts. Don't give them to them
• 29:12
  Speaker 7: for a drive. But anyways, we won. I don't disagree.
• 29:15
  Speaker 7: You know, everyone can just take a big, tall glass
• 29:18
  Speaker 7: of shut up and swill it. That's what you got.
• 29:23
  Speaker 7: And I do get to listen to you guys during
• 29:24
  Speaker 7: the game.
• 29:25
  Speaker 4: I subscribe.
• 29:26
  Speaker 7: So I hear all of your comments. I love it.
• 29:28
  Speaker 7: Absolutely love listening to you guys.
• 29:30
  Speaker 4: Oh, thank you so much. Really, really appreciate it.
• 29:32
  Speaker 7: By the way, I just heard they're canceling Paris. So
• 29:36
  Speaker 7: what does that mean? Do the Steelers go to New
• 29:38
  Speaker 7: Orleans or play at their home?
• 29:39
  Speaker 9: I have.
• 29:40
  Speaker 4: Heard that they're canceling Paris.
• 29:41
  Speaker 7: Yeah. I just got some kind of a notification saying
• 29:45
  Speaker 7: the NFL is not going to let the game happen
• 29:47
  Speaker 7: over there.
• 29:49
  Speaker 2: I have not heard that, but we'll get to work
• 29:52
  Speaker 2: on it. If we know that's news for us. If
• 29:56
  Speaker 2: that's breaking news, that's news. I heard rumors of that
• 29:58
  Speaker 2: last week, but I have heard.
• 30:00
  Speaker 4: Nothing about that.
• 30:02
  Speaker 5: Yeah, and, you know, NFL security, you know, goes through
• 30:06
  Speaker 5: all of their protocols. And as of yesterday, George, it
• 30:10
  Speaker 5: was still on because they felt where the areas were
• 30:14
  Speaker 5: for the game and where the fan zones were were
• 30:17
  Speaker 5: secure areas in the main parts of the city, where
• 30:19
  Speaker 5: that rioting and some of the other civil unrest, I
• 30:24
  Speaker 5: guess you'd say.
• 30:26
  Speaker 3: Is happening more in the outskirt neighborhoods.
• 30:29
  Speaker 5: In Paris, but not near where Estade de France, also
• 30:35
  Speaker 5: where the teams are staying, are secure zones as well.
• 30:39
  Speaker 5: And some of the NFL official fan sites are all secured.
• 30:45
  Speaker 5: So to my knowledge, as of yesterday, with NFL G
• 30:49
  Speaker 5: sock that, that we were still in the clear for travel.
• 30:54
  Speaker 7: I would love that because we need to take care of,
• 30:56
  Speaker 7: we'd have to go to the Superdome and play in
• 30:59
  Speaker 7: that noisy place. I'd rather see it.
• 31:03
  Speaker 4: Yeah. Which would not be a fun one.
• 31:05
  Speaker 5: And you would definitely love to see kind of, you know,
• 31:08
  Speaker 5: the NFL expanding this game and we, you know, we're
• 31:10
  Speaker 5: already at a record level of international games with nine
• 31:14
  Speaker 5: being played this year. And, And like you said, we
• 31:16
  Speaker 5: haven't had a hitch really in any of those. So,
• 31:20
  Speaker 5: and we've gone to, I would say, I would argue
• 31:22
  Speaker 5: more dangerous locations and have been able to put on really,
• 31:25
  Speaker 5: really fantastic shows and, uh, and have a good time.
• 31:29
  Speaker 3: I would love, I would hate that, you know, Paris,
• 31:31
  Speaker 3: a place that's.
• 31:31
  Speaker 4: Hosted the Olympics, right?
• 31:33
  Speaker 3: I mean, getting bigger than that, um, able to kind of,
• 31:36
  Speaker 3: kind of fair.
• 31:38
  Speaker 4: Yeah. So yeah. Good question.
• 31:39
  Speaker 7: Did you ever see the movie Kelly's heroes?
• 31:42
  Speaker 4: Old movie like us, um, with, uh, Is that the
• 31:45
  Speaker 4: one with Frank Sinatra? No, that's Van Ryan.
• 31:48
  Speaker 7: No, it's Quinn Eastwood and Tully Savalas. They go by
• 31:50
  Speaker 7: in German lines to rob a bank.
• 31:55
  Speaker 4: I don't know if I have seen that.
• 31:56
  Speaker 7: And Donald Sondland plays a hippie in a tank, and
• 32:00
  Speaker 7: his tank breaks down, and they're like, hey, what are
• 32:02
  Speaker 7: you doing sitting around? He goes, well, I'm just sipping
• 32:04
  Speaker 7: some wine and eating some cheese, enjoying the sun. That's
• 32:07
  Speaker 7: going to be the Parisian fans.
• 32:10
  Speaker 4: We shall see. Thanks very much. I'm glad you're back.
• 32:14
  Speaker 4: Hope you feel better, my friend.
• 32:16
  Speaker 7: Thanks. I appreciate it.
• 32:17
  Speaker 6: Take care, guys.
• 32:18
  Speaker 2: That is Circus George joining us. By the way, Jerry
• 32:21
  Speaker 2: Dulac is going to be joining us today at 1 o'clock.
• 32:24
  Speaker 2: Just so you know, no Jerry on Thursday because we're
• 32:30
  Speaker 2: going to be traveling. We're in travel mode.
• 32:33
  Speaker 3: In transition. But we will be coming to you live
• 32:37
  Speaker 3: on Friday and Saturday, though.
• 32:38
  Speaker 4: Yes. Yes, we will.
• 32:41
  Speaker 3: There's that.
• 32:42
  Speaker 2: From Paris. Going to take a break now. We have
• 32:46
  Speaker 2: phone calls to get to. The number is 412-919-1316. We
• 32:51
  Speaker 2: continue in the locker room here on the Steelers Audio Network.
• 33:07
  Speaker 1: This is In the Locker Room with Rob King, Max Starks,
• 33:11
  Speaker 1: and Willie Colon on Steelers Nation Radio. Brought to you
• 33:14
  Speaker 1: in part by the Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
• 33:17
  Speaker 1: from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop.steelers.com.
• 33:22
  Speaker 1: And by your neighborhood Ford store. The F-150 is the
• 33:26
  Speaker 1: official truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
• 33:30
  Speaker 2: Many to praise for yesterday's performance for the Steelers, I
• 33:33
  Speaker 2: think especially on defense, and certainly some offensive guys we
• 33:36
  Speaker 2: want to get to. But again, this is a victory
• 33:38
  Speaker 2: donut Monday, which means the phone lines are open. And
• 33:41
  Speaker 2: they're open even if it's not a victory Monday, but
• 33:43
  Speaker 2: we like a victory donut Monday with open lines as well.
• 33:46
  Speaker 2: So let's get to Sarcastic Sword, who joins us now
• 33:49
  Speaker 2: in the locker room.
• 33:49
  Speaker 4: Sword, how are you doing today?
• 33:52
  Speaker 9: Pretty good, guys.
• 33:53
  Speaker 10: Nice to get back, change my schedule around so I
• 33:57
  Speaker 10: can meet up with you from time to time.
• 33:59
  Speaker 9: Always enjoy the show.
• 34:01
  Speaker 10: Hey, on a serious note, you're talking about Paris. This
• 34:05
  Speaker 10: last Saturday, the protesters organized a day of rage, they
• 34:10
  Speaker 10: called it, and they already announced that they're going to
• 34:13
  Speaker 10: do the same thing next Saturday. So this isn't ending.
• 34:17
  Speaker 10: It's in all kind of cities around France and especially Paris.
• 34:21
  Speaker 10: I don't worry too much about the security of the
• 34:24
  Speaker 10: Steelers per se, but The tens of thousands of fans
• 34:28
  Speaker 10: that won't.
• 34:29
  Speaker 9: Go are going to be maybe getting into trouble. Getting
• 34:34
  Speaker 9: there is what I worry about.
• 34:35
  Speaker 10: So I hope Roger Goodell is on the phone with
• 34:38
  Speaker 10: the State Department, keeping up to date on what's going
• 34:42
  Speaker 10: over there. It's a very serious matter, I'm afraid to say.
• 34:46
  Speaker 10: More pleasant, the game yesterday, a couple of quick thoughts.
• 34:51
  Speaker 10: I really, like Willie, agree with the pressure defense. I
• 34:56
  Speaker 10: really like that. I think the Steelers fans do as well.
• 35:01
  Speaker 10: Daniels is a pretty good mobile quarterback, and they still
• 35:04
  Speaker 10: were all over him. They should be able to use
• 35:07
  Speaker 10: that defense pretty much against any quarterback, especially those that
• 35:11
  Speaker 10: aren't as mobile as him.
• 35:12
  Speaker 9: I really hope they stick with that.
• 35:15
  Speaker 10: And defensively, I'll tell you, Brewster's really a solid, that guy,
• 35:21
  Speaker 10: it's like hitting a steel pipe when you run into him.
• 35:24
  Speaker 10: That guy is a really solid addition to this team.
• 35:28
  Speaker 10: And I'll tell you what, when Dean intercepted that ball,
• 35:31
  Speaker 10: I got to give Daniels credit for tracking him down
• 35:34
  Speaker 10: and stopping him.
• 35:35
  Speaker 9: That was quite an effort on his part.
• 35:37
  Speaker 10: And that, coupled with the missed field goal by Boswell earlier,
• 35:41
  Speaker 10: I really thought we were in trouble when we didn't
• 35:44
  Speaker 10: punch it in down there. But fortunately, a beautiful drive,
• 35:48
  Speaker 10: a thing of beauty in overtime. And like you say,
• 35:52
  Speaker 10: it's really great to watch. And stars are being born,
• 35:55
  Speaker 10: and that's what I love about the NFL. You know,
• 36:00
  Speaker 10: Wilson's dying because of his hand or finger, but Bernard is...
• 36:06
  Speaker 10: really being featured and showing us what that guy got.
• 36:10
  Speaker 10: And so he's really on stage now with that opportunity
• 36:13
  Speaker 10: and taking full advantage of it. I, I, and one
• 36:17
  Speaker 10: last thing I noticed probably, I don't know if anybody does,
• 36:20
  Speaker 10: but the discipline of our defensive backs.
• 36:25
  Speaker 9: On hits and tackles a couple.
• 36:27
  Speaker 10: Of times, they, they, after they got a guy down
• 36:30
  Speaker 10: or had them in their grasp, they, They didn't pile on.
• 36:33
  Speaker 10: They didn't have illegal hits for unwanted penalties. They did
• 36:38
  Speaker 10: a nice job of being disciplined, of jumping over guys
• 36:41
  Speaker 10: or pulling off at the last second instead of, you know,
• 36:44
  Speaker 10: a year ago I would see them plowing the guys
• 36:46
  Speaker 10: in some stupid flag and keep a drive alive. So
• 36:50
  Speaker 10: they're becoming more disciplined. They're playing together nicely little by
• 36:55
  Speaker 10: little on the defensive backside. A lot of guys getting
• 36:58
  Speaker 10: a lot of good experience that is going to really.
• 37:01
  Speaker 9: Pay off down the road. But over and all, a.
• 37:04
  Speaker 10: Really great game to watch despite the slow start. It
• 37:08
  Speaker 10: was really a great game to watch. I'm looking forward
• 37:11
  Speaker 10: to many like that.
• 37:13
  Speaker 3: Agreed.
• 37:14
  Speaker 2: All the way around. Stuart, thank you very much for
• 37:16
  Speaker 2: the call. Really appreciate it. Always do appreciate your call.
• 37:19
  Speaker 2: You know, yeah, there was so much to like. The
• 37:23
  Speaker 2: crowd seeming very much like a Pittsburgh-based crowd. And we're
• 37:27
  Speaker 2: going to be talking to Jerry Dulac in a minute.
• 37:29
  Speaker 2: But as I look at the heroes, you know, again,
• 37:31
  Speaker 2: to me, so many of them on the defensive side
• 37:34
  Speaker 2: of the ball. But when you think about some of
• 37:37
  Speaker 2: the young guys stepping forward, and I'm sure this has
• 37:40
  Speaker 2: to feel good for the Steelers front office. They went
• 37:43
  Speaker 2: out in the offseason and they said, you know, everyone
• 37:46
  Speaker 2: was paying attention to Joey Porter Jr. Obviously, they wanted
• 37:49
  Speaker 2: him to stay on this team. Instead, you signed Darnell
• 37:52
  Speaker 2: Washington to a contract extension. He scores a touchdown yesterday.
• 37:57
  Speaker 2: you sign Nick Herbig to a contract extension. He comes
• 38:01
  Speaker 2: up with his first two sacks as you really are
• 38:05
  Speaker 2: able to unleash him and let him go. And I
• 38:07
  Speaker 2: thought both of those guys were big parts. And then
• 38:10
  Speaker 2: Keanu Benton was another guy, Willie. I thought all three
• 38:14
  Speaker 2: of those guys who the Steelers signed to contract extensions
• 38:18
  Speaker 2: really played fine, fine ballgames for the Steelers yesterday.
• 38:23
  Speaker 4: Yeah, we need it.
• 38:24
  Speaker 6: You talk about life on the road, man. You need
• 38:26
  Speaker 6: your guys to step up and cruise the situation. And
• 38:28
  Speaker 6: Keanu understanding that the price tag that he now has
• 38:31
  Speaker 6: comes with the level of expectation where he has to deliver.
• 38:33
  Speaker 6: So credit him for stepping up in that regard. But
• 38:36
  Speaker 6: I also think collectively the defensive line, you know, is
• 38:40
  Speaker 6: one of those things where they had to impact that
• 38:43
  Speaker 6: game considering what the Buccaneers put on tape against the Cowboys, right?
• 38:47
  Speaker 6: You knew the Buccaneers were going to live in heavy
• 38:48
  Speaker 6: personnel and They were going to pound the ball, buck
• 38:52
  Speaker 6: your urban. They were going to try to make life
• 38:55
  Speaker 6: for the Steelers, you know, hard, right? Think about yesterday's
• 39:00
  Speaker 6: game between the Rams and Cardinals, right? The Cardinals won
• 39:04
  Speaker 6: that game by kicking six field goals, right? And their
• 39:07
  Speaker 6: goal was to keep staffing on the sideline, run the
• 39:12
  Speaker 6: ball with Bam Knight. and just grind it out. And
• 39:16
  Speaker 6: if you were to ask the Buccaneers what was the
• 39:18
  Speaker 6: game plan, that was the game plan they wanted to have.
• 39:20
  Speaker 6: But it was up to the Steelers to really decide
• 39:23
  Speaker 6: how they wanted to finish that game. And so when
• 39:26
  Speaker 6: you look at the production out of Keanu Benton, man,
• 39:30
  Speaker 6: he owned the interior of that line. He made a decision,
• 39:33
  Speaker 6: not only mentally and physically, that he was going to
• 39:34
  Speaker 6: be an X factor, but he was going to impose
• 39:36
  Speaker 6: his will. And we said this on Friday, guys, you know,
• 39:40
  Speaker 6: it was going to come down to who was going
• 39:43
  Speaker 6: to own the line of scrimmage, not only from my
• 39:45
  Speaker 6: officer line, who I thought had a little bit of
• 39:47
  Speaker 6: a rough day, But from our defensive line, they were
• 39:50
  Speaker 6: going to have to step up too and own the
• 39:51
  Speaker 6: line of scrimmage, man. And so Keanu and the boys,
• 39:54
  Speaker 6: I thought, did a stellar job of doing so, especially
• 39:56
  Speaker 6: late in the game. But overall, man, Keanu, when you
• 40:00
  Speaker 6: leave him one-on-one, he's able to show his pass rush ability.
• 40:03
  Speaker 6: And I think, like anything, and I've said this time
• 40:06
  Speaker 6: and time before, and I'll say it again, and I
• 40:09
  Speaker 6: don't mean to be redundant, I felt like I wasn't
• 40:12
  Speaker 6: a pro or understood conceptually what I needed to do
• 40:15
  Speaker 6: from my position to year three or four, right? And
• 40:18
  Speaker 6: so when you see Keanu not only get the tag,
• 40:20
  Speaker 6: but he's getting better with the amount of snaps he's getting,
• 40:23
  Speaker 6: and also he's getting better with time. So it was
• 40:27
  Speaker 6: good to see him kind of live up to the
• 40:29
  Speaker 6: price tag and he had a big-time game.
• 40:35
  Speaker 3: And I think, you know, you're absolutely right.
• 40:37
  Speaker 5: I mean, you know, Mike Tomlin says this all the
• 40:40
  Speaker 5: time to us, Willie, right? Like, A players play A games.
• 40:43
  Speaker 5: And you need your A players to play their A games.
• 40:46
  Speaker 5: And I thought, you know, A players stepped up and
• 40:49
  Speaker 5: played A games defensively. I know, you know, TJ didn't have,
• 40:54
  Speaker 5: you know, the sack numbers. But listen, hey, those tackles
• 40:59
  Speaker 5: for loss, him chasing guys down in the backfield and
• 41:01
  Speaker 5: the way that they minimized Bucky Irving and put all
• 41:05
  Speaker 5: the pressure in Jalen Daniels' hands, I thought was exactly
• 41:08
  Speaker 5: what you wanted to do. And that was exactly what
• 41:11
  Speaker 5: the scheme was. and it was going to be by
• 41:14
  Speaker 5: any means necessary type of approach. It's just you wanted
• 41:17
  Speaker 5: your big-time guys to step up in big moments and
• 41:20
  Speaker 5: have big-time plays, and they did absolutely that. And I
• 41:22
  Speaker 5: thought it was a collective synergy that the defense had
• 41:27
  Speaker 5: to make sure that they kept this game close so
• 41:30
  Speaker 5: that when the offense got clicking and Aaron Rodgers got comfortable,
• 41:37
  Speaker 5: that they could then take over.
• 41:39
  Speaker 3: And that's exactly what happened.
• 41:41
  Speaker 5: I'm sure it was definitely not the plan on how
• 41:44
  Speaker 5: it unfolded. But the integrity and the tenacity is what
• 41:48
  Speaker 5: really kind of drove them over the top because they
• 41:53
  Speaker 5: were minimizing what, you know, Tampa Bay had exploited against Dallas.
• 41:59
  Speaker 5: And they just took all those things away. I mean,
• 42:01
  Speaker 5: Bucky Irving could not find a hole. Kenneth Gainwell had
• 42:05
  Speaker 5: a couple of carries in a very different role for
• 42:09
  Speaker 5: the Bucks than what the role he had Last year
• 42:12
  Speaker 5: when he had an MVP level, he was our team
• 42:14
  Speaker 5: MVP a year ago, and we barely called his name.
• 42:18
  Speaker 5: And so it just goes to show you just how
• 42:20
  Speaker 5: good everybody played in concert with each other and making
• 42:25
  Speaker 5: this a very long day for that.
• 42:30
  Speaker 3: Bucs offense, but also a very long day.
• 42:33
  Speaker 5: And it took a little while to start the car
• 42:36
  Speaker 5: for the offense, but they got it into gear. And now, Will,
• 42:39
  Speaker 5: you look at it, Four straight games, even though this
• 42:41
  Speaker 5: one took 70 minutes, they still scored 24-plus points in
• 42:45
  Speaker 5: four consecutive games. And they're 3-1 in those games when
• 42:48
  Speaker 5: they score above 24 points. So you see the trajectory
• 42:52
  Speaker 5: kind of holding true and it kind of steadily rising.
• 42:56
  Speaker 5: It's not an arrow pointed flat. They're not stagnating. They're
• 42:59
  Speaker 5: not plateauing. And the arrow's not pointing down for the
• 43:02
  Speaker 5: first time. So you're seeing consistent upward motion and upward
• 43:06
  Speaker 5: mobility for the entire team. And everybody's starting to really
• 43:09
  Speaker 5: start to hum as we kind of get guys healthy
• 43:12
  Speaker 5: and back. We still got a couple of guys, you know, out, obviously,
• 43:16
  Speaker 5: you know, Ben Skoranek still out of this game, Roman
• 43:18
  Speaker 5: Wilson on IR, Michael Pittman on IR, Deshaun Elliott coming
• 43:22
  Speaker 5: back on his 21-day.
• 43:25
  Speaker 3: Return from IR.
• 43:26
  Speaker 4: So, you know, Derek Harmon on IR.
• 43:28
  Speaker 5: So, I mean, it's not like we're going without any
• 43:30
  Speaker 5: bugaboos or injuries and people are like, hey, this is
• 43:32
  Speaker 5: easy sledding to get to forward two. No, it's been
• 43:35
  Speaker 5: a slog to get there, but you're seeing guys start
• 43:37
  Speaker 5: to develop with the opportunities that are given to them.
• 43:43
  Speaker 4: Agreed.
• 43:44
  Speaker 2: I mean, that's what you have to do. And, and
• 43:47
  Speaker 2: I mean, to be perfectly honest, that's what it takes.
• 43:50
  Speaker 2: It takes finding ways to win. It takes, what are
• 43:54
  Speaker 2: we going to do when everybody's not healthy? Sometimes it takes, Hey,
• 43:57
  Speaker 2: their quarterback is hurt. It doesn't matter how you get it.
• 44:00
  Speaker 4: You get it.
• 44:01
  Speaker 2: And I do think as I look at this team,
• 44:05
  Speaker 2: that there's more there, there's more meat in the bone.
• 44:07
  Speaker 2: You know, I mean, they, For 42 minutes, I didn't
• 44:10
  Speaker 2: think they played very good football. And yet they found
• 44:13
  Speaker 2: that 18 minutes was good enough. And that's not going
• 44:16
  Speaker 2: to be good enough every week. It was good enough
• 44:17
  Speaker 2: in this game. Maybe down the line they call on that.
• 44:20
  Speaker 2: But the fact of the matter is that if they're
• 44:22
  Speaker 2: better in their first.
• 44:23
  Speaker 4: 42 minutes, maybe they do win that game handily.
• 44:27
  Speaker 2: I think offensively and defensively, Willie, and again, just a
• 44:32
  Speaker 2: quick thought on this from you, I don't think they've
• 44:34
  Speaker 2: reached their peak yet. I think there's still more– I
• 44:36
  Speaker 2: think there's better football ahead of this team.
• 44:39
  Speaker 6: Yeah, and I think that comes with guys getting healthier
• 44:42
  Speaker 6: and being able to play together. And I think also,
• 44:45
  Speaker 6: you know, I know Max mentioned T.J. Watt. You know, T.J.
• 44:49
  Speaker 6: could have easily been, you know, there could have been
• 44:52
  Speaker 6: four or five calls that could have went his way.
• 44:54
  Speaker 6: I mean, he was getting mugged during the whole game.
• 44:58
  Speaker 6: But I think this defense is still trying to find
• 45:01
  Speaker 6: its identity. I think Patrick Graham is still trying to
• 45:04
  Speaker 6: figure out what he wants to be with the personnel
• 45:07
  Speaker 6: he has.
• 45:07
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 45:09
  Speaker 6: And I think guys are just responding off talent and
• 45:11
  Speaker 6: grit and heart. And I think collectively when the personnel
• 45:14
  Speaker 6: is starting to match the talent, grit and heart, and
• 45:16
  Speaker 6: the impact players are finding, you know, getting more into
• 45:20
  Speaker 6: their comfortable roles. I highlighted how putting Nick Herbig back
• 45:24
  Speaker 6: on the edge and allowing him to just go rush
• 45:25
  Speaker 6: the passer benefited the Steelers. You know, and Herbig was
• 45:29
  Speaker 6: going against Tristan Walsh, right? He's a big-time tackle.
• 45:31
  Speaker 10: Yeah.
• 45:32
  Speaker 7: So....
• 45:35
  Speaker 6: When you start to see our impact guys get comfortable,
• 45:39
  Speaker 6: Patrick Graham understanding what he has from a personnel standpoint,
• 45:42
  Speaker 6: guys getting healthier, it was good to have Deshaun Elliott back.
• 45:47
  Speaker 6: The fact that I forgot to mention Keanu Benton fought
• 45:50
  Speaker 6: through an ankle injury going into this game, right?
• 45:51
  Speaker 4: Yeah, that's right.
• 45:52
  Speaker 6: So you're seeing guys, you're starting to see guys believe
• 45:56
  Speaker 6: in a bigger goal in real time. And winning on
• 46:00
  Speaker 6: the road in the football, despite whatever team record is,
• 46:04
  Speaker 6: is not an easy task, valid for some reason this year.
• 46:07
  Speaker 6: And so it's one of them wacky years in football
• 46:09
  Speaker 6: where a lot of teams that are on the road
• 46:11
  Speaker 6: have a higher percentage winning those games than their home team.
• 46:14
  Speaker 6: But I think it also alludes to guys realizing that,
• 46:17
  Speaker 6: to your point, Rob, this is a 12-round fight, right?
• 46:22
  Speaker 6: How you start early in the fight doesn't necessarily mean
• 46:25
  Speaker 6: you have to end the fight that way. I think
• 46:27
  Speaker 6: you have to stand up. I think Mike McCarthy and
• 46:31
  Speaker 6: Aaron Rodgers are still going through whatever they're going through.
• 46:34
  Speaker 6: And collectively, I think the team is still trying to
• 46:35
  Speaker 6: figure themselves out. Max has said it before. A team
• 46:38
  Speaker 6: doesn't know if they have– they don't know their identity
• 46:40
  Speaker 6: until week six. Well, week six. And I think if
• 46:42
  Speaker 6: we was to put a stamp on the Steelers' identity
• 46:44
  Speaker 6: right now, we can attest that this is a scrappy,
• 46:47
  Speaker 6: battle-hardened team that still has to figure out how to
• 46:51
  Speaker 6: start faster. I think that's something that continues to plague
• 46:54
  Speaker 6: the team overall and the defense. But overall, man, I
• 46:57
  Speaker 6: think this is– to say the Steelers are 4-2, yeah,
• 47:00
  Speaker 6: they could be 5-1. But I think they learned a
• 47:02
  Speaker 6: lot from that. that Browns lost too, Rob and Max.
• 47:05
  Speaker 6: I think they realized, one, they humbled themselves. Two, they
• 47:09
  Speaker 6: realized nobody fears them as much as they would like
• 47:12
  Speaker 6: to perceive. So they're going to have to be a lot–
• 47:14
  Speaker 6: they're going to have to put a lot more polished
• 47:16
  Speaker 6: work on tape for teams to kind of get that–
• 47:18
  Speaker 6: to get that fear factor back. And I think realize
• 47:21
  Speaker 6: as unhinged as they looked in that game against the Browns,
• 47:25
  Speaker 6: they realized it wasn't benefiting anybody. It was actually hurting them.
• 47:28
  Speaker 6: And so I'm glad you guys alluded to saying, hey, man,
• 47:32
  Speaker 6: The game wasn't good through three quarters, and the sideline
• 47:35
  Speaker 6: was quiet, but you didn't see guys pointing fingers. You
• 47:37
  Speaker 6: didn't see guys yelling at each other. You didn't see guys,
• 47:40
  Speaker 6: you know, look dismissive of what was going on on
• 47:43
  Speaker 6: the field. What you saw was a group of guys
• 47:46
  Speaker 6: trying to figure it out in real time, and you'd
• 47:47
  Speaker 6: rather have that than guys snatching headsets and yelling at each.
• 47:51
  Speaker 7: Other, right?
• 47:51
  Speaker 6: Agreed. Yeah. I agree. I'm in agreement with what we
• 47:57
  Speaker 6: saw yesterday. It wasn't pretty.
• 47:59
  Speaker 4: It was a win.
• 48:00
  Speaker 6: But when you're in week six of the season and
• 48:02
  Speaker 6: you haven't got a bye week yet, and you've been
• 48:05
  Speaker 6: around the same guys since July, to see this team
• 48:10
  Speaker 6: respond in this manner, in a positive manner, I think
• 48:13
  Speaker 6: it's a testament to the roster buildup, the quality of
• 48:16
  Speaker 6: the guys they've got in the locker room, and the
• 48:17
  Speaker 6: belief in a bigger goal. And that's getting to the
• 48:18
  Speaker 6: Super Bowl.
• 48:19
  Speaker 4: All right. Stick around.
• 48:21
  Speaker 2: Jerry Dulac is going to be joining us next as
• 48:23
  Speaker 2: we relive a Steelers overtime victory over Tampa Bay when
• 48:27
  Speaker 2: we continue in the locker room here on the Steelers
• 48:29
  Speaker 2: Audio Network.