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HR2: Game Recap · In the Locker Room presented by Neighborhood Ford Store (Pittsburgh Steelers)

• 0:02
  Speaker 1: And that beautiful, lovely Calypso.
• 0:05
  Speaker 2: Music, and only one thing, the cool breeze.
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: That flows through Paris, France, on its way to.
• 0:12
  Speaker 3: The locker room here in Pittsburgh, Mississippi, Phoenix, all parts
• 0:18
  Speaker 3: of the globe. The cool breeze that blows, Jerry Dulac here,
• 0:22
  Speaker 3: brought to you by Frank B.
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: Feuer Wholesale.
• 0:26
  Speaker 3: Jerry Dulac, thanks for being with us, and the Steelers
• 0:28
  Speaker 3: are 4-2, my friend. I think You know, my sense
• 0:32
  Speaker 3: was outplayed for 42 minutes, outplayed them for the 18
• 0:35
  Speaker 3: minutes in the overtime that counted, and wound up getting
• 0:39
  Speaker 3: your first road victory of the season.
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: Meat left on the bone, but you're 4-2 right now.
• 0:44
  Speaker 4: Bonjour, mes amis.
• 0:46
  Speaker 5: Bonjour.
• 0:47
  Speaker 4: I apologize.
• 0:49
  Speaker 6: Wait.
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: I'm just getting in the mood here.
• 0:52
  Speaker 6: Nice.
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: Very nice.
• 0:53
  Speaker 5: Oui, oui.
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: You know, Rob, you know what amazes me about this team?
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: is their ability to transform from inept to precise, from
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: inefficient to productive, like in a moment's notice. And what
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: I think that is in part, and I'll give due
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: to their resolve and to the veterans on the team,
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: which I think that's a big thing, the veteran leadership
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: they have.
• 1:20
  Speaker 4: And the amount of veterans.
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: But when you see offensively, For them to play as
• 1:26
  Speaker 2: poorly as they did into the fourth quarter, only three points,
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: and yet do what they did when they had to
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: is testament to Aaron Rodgers. And I think the great
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: quarterbacks do that. Look, not all the time, obviously. But
• 1:40
  Speaker 2: their ability to transform when it is most needed is
• 1:46
  Speaker 2: one of the reasons why they're one of the all-time greats.
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: Ben Roethlisberger could do that. Aaron Rodgers does it. manning
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: brady good right down the list i'm sure of all
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: the great quarterbacks i'm sure they all possess that quality
• 1:58
  Speaker 2: when they need to do it they turn it up
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: a notch sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't but
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: we've seen that several times now from aaron rogers just
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: this season alone and we saw it again yesterday you
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: look at those three botched plays down at the goal
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: line now like aaron rogers says yeah if i slip
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: that pass through then you're not asking me about those
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: plays okay But nonetheless, to me, they were three horrible
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: plays because to me, you run the ball with the
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: whiz considering the timeout. And then they turn around on
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: the next series and just execute one of those precision
• 2:29
  Speaker 2: drives in overtime that you eat up nearly seven minutes
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: and it's just further proof as to why you always.
• 2:35
  Speaker 4: Take the ball in overtime.
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: Don't kick it to the other team because if they
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: eat up the whole period, now you're scrambling just to
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: try to get down the field to match them. But
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: to come back with that kind of drive after those
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: three horrid plays down the goal line when it looks
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: like they're going to put the game away.
• 2:55
  Speaker 4: Yeah, they do that all the time. Not all the time.
• 2:59
  Speaker 4: We see that a lot. But, again, I think that's
• 3:02
  Speaker 4: what's kind of mystifying about this team.
• 3:05
  Speaker 2: But they did it. They got away with it. And, yeah,
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: big win on the road. And they're 4-2. But I
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: thought it was more important. It was a big win
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: on the road, even though it seemed like a home
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: environment with all those terrible towels yesterday.
• 3:19
  Speaker 5: Oh, the towels were swirling, Jer, and as you know,
• 3:22
  Speaker 5: as we sat up there, you know, kind of wondering,
• 3:25
  Speaker 5: you know, the wind was going to be a factor.
• 3:27
  Speaker 5: I think the wind definitely played a role in this
• 3:30
  Speaker 5: game with some of the passes and, of course, the
• 3:34
  Speaker 5: missed Boz field goal. You know, you just look at
• 3:38
  Speaker 5: some different elements, but the ability to overcome, like you said,
• 3:42
  Speaker 5: to go from inept to competent, to go from zero to–
• 3:46
  Speaker 5: We'll just say 55. I don't know if they truly
• 3:48
  Speaker 5: went to 60, but they went to 55 at least.
• 3:51
  Speaker 5: The governor cap was on. Nice golf cart reference. Yeah,
• 3:58
  Speaker 5: there we go. Look at that. I'm just getting you prepared.
• 4:02
  Speaker 5: You were just in Orlando. Now we're headed to Paris,
• 4:04
  Speaker 5: of course. They do have some great courses. I don't
• 4:07
  Speaker 5: know how well they are in October, but as we
• 4:12
  Speaker 5: kind of look at just taking the snapshot six weeks in,
• 4:17
  Speaker 5: What do we know and what are we still waiting
• 4:21
  Speaker 5: to answer for this team is probably the questions that
• 4:23
  Speaker 5: I have for you. So from your perspective, what do
• 4:26
  Speaker 5: we know about this team after six weeks and a
• 4:29
  Speaker 5: 4-2 record in your eyes?
• 4:32
  Speaker 4: Well, to me, Max, you know, I.
• 4:37
  Speaker 2: Think what we know is somewhat what I alluded to.
• 4:40
  Speaker 4: With Aaron Rodgers.
• 4:43
  Speaker 6: And, you know, look, I have.
• 4:44
  Speaker 4: My doubts from time to time.
• 4:46
  Speaker 2: But one of the things you know is that, or
• 4:50
  Speaker 2: at least you found out yesterday, and we'll see if
• 4:52
  Speaker 2: it continues. Aaron Rodgers said after the game it was
• 4:56
  Speaker 2: a trajectory alternating game moment. And we'll see if he
• 5:03
  Speaker 2: is correct, but I get his point. 16-3 in the
• 5:07
  Speaker 2: fourth quarter, and they somehow come back and win that
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: game when it looks like they're going to win the game,
• 5:12
  Speaker 2: then it looks like they're going to lose the game,
• 5:14
  Speaker 2: then it looks like they're going to win it. And
• 5:15
  Speaker 2: then it's like, okay, I mean, it looks like they're
• 5:17
  Speaker 2: going to get.
• 5:18
  Speaker 4: Blown out is what it looks like.
• 5:20
  Speaker 2: And even Aaron Rodgers said that he says it didn't
• 5:22
  Speaker 2: look like a win for the longest time and it didn't,
• 5:25
  Speaker 2: but you're missing two of your three top receivers and
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: you're missing three of your top three or five. And
• 5:32
  Speaker 2: you solve that by completing 11 passes to Jeremy Bernard
• 5:37
  Speaker 2: and DK Metcalf when you If you're Tampa Bay, I mean,
• 5:41
  Speaker 2: you make sure you take DK Metcalf away. Now, he
• 5:44
  Speaker 2: had eight of his catches in the fourth quarter in overtime.
• 5:47
  Speaker 2: That's a key moment of the game. And to be
• 5:50
  Speaker 2: able to deliver with those two guys, I mean, I
• 5:53
  Speaker 2: think that's a significant, important sign, especially with Jeremy Bernard. Now,
• 5:59
  Speaker 2: at some point, when you get Michael Pittman back and
• 6:01
  Speaker 2: or Roman Wilson, now all of a sudden, you know,
• 6:05
  Speaker 2: you're looking pretty good at your wide receiver position. So
• 6:09
  Speaker 2: I think that's one of the huge positives. And, and,
• 6:13
  Speaker 2: and I think the other thing, Maxim, and you know,
• 6:16
  Speaker 2: you and I talked about this in the pregame, the, the, to,
• 6:20
  Speaker 2: to turn the blitz package loose and to bring the
• 6:23
  Speaker 2: pressure after three games of basically sitting back, I thought
• 6:28
  Speaker 2: was significant. Mike McCarthy said after the game, he said,
• 6:31
  Speaker 2: we needed it.
• 6:32
  Speaker 4: It was time. It was good. We needed it as
• 6:34
  Speaker 4: the coaches.
• 6:35
  Speaker 2: We needed it as the players and the players feed
• 6:38
  Speaker 2: off of that. They feed off Jalen Ramsey coming off
• 6:40
  Speaker 2: that edge. You know, Nick Herbig, nothing for five games
• 6:46
  Speaker 2: after signing that big contract, two sacks. So they found
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: ways to get in the backfield.
• 6:54
  Speaker 4: And disrupt plays and make plays.
• 6:56
  Speaker 2: And I think the sack at the end was, emblematic
• 6:59
  Speaker 2: of that. You needed a play, and you brought the guy.
• 7:04
  Speaker 2: At the time, I'm thinking, bring him, bring him. It's
• 7:07
  Speaker 2: fourth down, and they brought Jalen, who's really, let's face it,
• 7:10
  Speaker 2: at his size and speed, he's great off the edge.
• 7:13
  Speaker 2: He's as good a blitzer as you're going to find.
• 7:16
  Speaker 2: And so I think those were the things you kind
• 7:18
  Speaker 2: of learned about the team. Now, again, we'll see what continues,
• 7:25
  Speaker 2: but I think those were the important aspects of it
• 7:30
  Speaker 2: defensively and offensively when you're looking at it in retrospect.
• 7:35
  Speaker 6: Jerry, you talked about the poor offense roughly through one, two,
• 7:43
  Speaker 6: three quarters. Why do you think the run game felt
• 7:47
  Speaker 6: so stagnant and the Steelers really couldn't get it going
• 7:50
  Speaker 6: on the ground offensively?
• 7:53
  Speaker 2: You know, I think Vita Veya has something to do
• 7:56
  Speaker 2: with that, but I don't think there's any question Tampa
• 7:58
  Speaker 2: Bay wasn't. They were going to focus on Jalen Warren.
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: They saw what he had meant to this offense, and so,
• 8:03
  Speaker 2: you know, I'm not going to sit there and say
• 8:05
  Speaker 2: they gave him the Jonathan Taylor, Jameer Gibbs, B. John
• 8:08
  Speaker 2: Robinson treatment, but I don't think there's any question they
• 8:11
  Speaker 2: weren't going to let Jalen Warren get loose the way
• 8:13
  Speaker 2: he had and beat these other teams or hurt these
• 8:16
  Speaker 2: other teams. So I think that was number one. You know,
• 8:20
  Speaker 2: Rico Dotto had a couple good runs, but I just
• 8:22
  Speaker 2: thought that– You know, the Bucs played very well, you know,
• 8:28
  Speaker 2: up front, you know, to stop the Steelers' run. And,
• 8:33
  Speaker 2: you know, I mean, Aaron Rodgers, how many times he
• 8:35
  Speaker 2: dropped back? Fifty-four times. He was sacked five more times,
• 8:38
  Speaker 2: 49 throws. I mean, you know, ideally you don't want
• 8:42
  Speaker 2: that when you're a 42-year-old quarterback. And you know, Willie,
• 8:47
  Speaker 2: what they say, you know, and let's face it, there
• 8:49
  Speaker 2: weren't many passes until the fourth quarter. or overtime that
• 8:52
  Speaker 2: went longer than five yards. A lot of short passes, almost,
• 8:56
  Speaker 2: you know, to the point it was tough to watch. But,
• 8:58
  Speaker 2: you know, they'll tell you those are like run plays, you.
• 9:01
  Speaker 4: Know, little swings and whatnot.
• 9:04
  Speaker 2: And so, you know, some of.
• 9:08
  Speaker 4: Those plays are designed for that.
• 9:11
  Speaker 2: But, you know, and I think that's why you saw
• 9:13
  Speaker 2: them trying to find ways to, you know, stop them from,
• 9:20
  Speaker 2: you know, at least trying to counter their ability to
• 9:22
  Speaker 2: stop and steal the run game.
• 9:25
  Speaker 3: So I want to give some kudos, and we've been
• 9:26
  Speaker 3: passing out some kudos. Kudos to Chris Boswell. You know,
• 9:32
  Speaker 3: had the missed field goal early, and then, you know,
• 9:36
  Speaker 3: the play with– first of all, the clock started with
• 9:39
  Speaker 3: two minutes and 47 seconds left. Aaron Rodgers sacked for
• 9:45
  Speaker 3: minus nine yards. You know, kind of the one thing
• 9:48
  Speaker 3: you don't want to have happen there. is you don't
• 9:50
  Speaker 3: want to get sacked and make it a longer field goal.
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: I don't know if you.
• 9:55
  Speaker 3: Felt the same way I did, Jerry. It took the
• 9:57
  Speaker 3: officiating crew forever to do that.
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: Spot the ball.
• 10:00
  Speaker 3: The Steelers special teams unit was out there waiting, and
• 10:03
  Speaker 3: then they got it lined up. It's going to be
• 10:04
  Speaker 3: a 61-yard attempt. No, the ball's not at the 44.
• 10:07
  Speaker 3: It's at the 41. It's going to be a 58-yard attempt.
• 10:10
  Speaker 3: I don't know what in the world took the officials
• 10:13
  Speaker 3: that long because when Aaron Rodgers snapped the ball on
• 10:16
  Speaker 3: third down, there was two minutes and 47 seconds left.
• 10:19
  Speaker 3: and the Steelers did not get the field goal off.
• 10:21
  Speaker 3: And it wasn't because the unit wasn't out there. It
• 10:23
  Speaker 3: was because the ball hadn't been spotted. So now he
• 10:26
  Speaker 3: kicks the ball, and it's good, but they find out, no,
• 10:30
  Speaker 3: he actually kicked it after the two-minute warning, so he
• 10:33
  Speaker 3: got to kick it again.
• 10:34
  Speaker 1: So I thought there was some.
• 10:35
  Speaker 3: Confusion on the part of the officiating crew, but kudos
• 10:38
  Speaker 3: to Chris Boswell because they really needed him to drill
• 10:41
  Speaker 3: that kick, and that was a big moment. And good
• 10:44
  Speaker 3: to see the Wizard of Boz, who surpassed Gary Anderson
• 10:47
  Speaker 3: as the all-time field goal leader in Steelers history drill
• 10:50
  Speaker 3: that one when they needed it.
• 10:51
  Speaker 4: Yeah. And it wasn't a chip shot. As you mentioned,
• 10:53
  Speaker 4: Rob shows 58 yarder.
• 10:55
  Speaker 6: Yeah.
• 10:55
  Speaker 2: And you hit it once, you hit it once and
• 10:57
  Speaker 2: you come back and you hit it again. So, you know,
• 11:00
  Speaker 2: and he missed the first one, you know, earlier in
• 11:02
  Speaker 2: the game. And so, you know, that's for Mrs. Form
• 11:05
  Speaker 2: already this year. I mean, that's a lot for him
• 11:08
  Speaker 2: as we know. But yeah, to come back and hit
• 11:11
  Speaker 2: that 58 yarder, not once, but twice. It just goes
• 11:14
  Speaker 2: to show you what type of kicker he is. And
• 11:16
  Speaker 2: I agree with you. I mean, that was big at
• 11:19
  Speaker 2: that time for him to be able to do that
• 11:20
  Speaker 2: after that, you know, ridiculous sequence there with the officiating.
• 11:26
  Speaker 5: Yeah, and Jerry, I mean, I think that was also
• 11:29
  Speaker 5: kind of a microcosm of the game, right? It just
• 11:31
  Speaker 5: felt like there were just lapses, you know, with what
• 11:36
  Speaker 5: they were looking at, what they were calling, what they
• 11:38
  Speaker 5: weren't calling. and kind of just like trying to get
• 11:41
  Speaker 5: to this game. I mean, the officiating looked about as
• 11:43
  Speaker 5: bad as the gameplay was itself at points. But, you know,
• 11:48
  Speaker 5: as we kind of look at what the defense was
• 11:51
  Speaker 5: able to do, right, they were able to at least
• 11:53
  Speaker 5: hold them at bay and turn them away multiple times
• 11:59
  Speaker 5: in that game to allow that offense to finally kick
• 12:01
  Speaker 5: into gear in the fourth quarter and finally wake up
• 12:04
  Speaker 5: and say, oh, yeah, we can still win this game.
• 12:07
  Speaker 5: But defense, you know, just– You know, we talked about it, like, before, like,
• 12:11
  Speaker 5: when there's been games where the defense just hasn't been
• 12:12
  Speaker 5: able to hold it. And, you know, you take that
• 12:14
  Speaker 5: second quarter alone, right, Jerry? I mean, to run an
• 12:17
  Speaker 5: eight-minute drive on them, normally that defense is dead in
• 12:22
  Speaker 5: the water, right, you know, going into the second half
• 12:24
  Speaker 5: because the time of possession was so skewed. But the
• 12:29
  Speaker 5: Steelers were able to kind of bring things back to balance.
• 12:31
  Speaker 5: And like you said, then the offense does their job.
• 12:34
  Speaker 5: And actually in overtime has a very commanding, six minute
• 12:38
  Speaker 5: drive of their own. You know, just talk about kind
• 12:42
  Speaker 5: of what you've seen from them playing off of each other,
• 12:45
  Speaker 5: offense and defense and special teams.
• 12:49
  Speaker 2: Well, I think, you know, Max, it was kind of
• 12:53
  Speaker 2: a little bit like the Indy game, you know, when
• 12:55
  Speaker 2: they kind of, you know, they Indy got inside there
• 12:58
  Speaker 2: 46 times and.
• 13:00
  Speaker 4: They held them to five field goal. Yeah. What was
• 13:03
  Speaker 4: the five field goals?
• 13:05
  Speaker 2: And I think the same type of thing is they,
• 13:07
  Speaker 2: is they, you know, Chase McLaughlin hasn't missed all year.
• 13:11
  Speaker 2: I think he's 16 to 16, 17 to 17. But
• 13:15
  Speaker 2: to hold them there to field goals and not let
• 13:17
  Speaker 2: it get any further, you know, further was, I mean,
• 13:21
  Speaker 2: you know, okay, good for them. And that kept them
• 13:23
  Speaker 2: in the game, you know, 16 to three. And as
• 13:26
  Speaker 2: bad as it looked, it was 16 to three. So
• 13:28
  Speaker 2: they come down, Steelers scored 16 to 10. And you think, okay,
• 13:31
  Speaker 2: they're back in the game. you know, Daylon Everett gets the, the, uh,
• 13:35
  Speaker 2: the interception, a kick, a field goal, 16, 13. And,
• 13:39
  Speaker 2: and you could just, you could just feel, you know,
• 13:42
  Speaker 2: Jalen Daniels played very well in the first half, but
• 13:46
  Speaker 2: you could see in the second half, whether it was
• 13:48
  Speaker 2: the pressure or whatever he was getting, he was rushing
• 13:51
  Speaker 2: his throws. He's getting extremely erratic.
• 13:53
  Speaker 4: I think he was 11.
• 13:54
  Speaker 2: To five in the, um, in the second half and
• 13:58
  Speaker 2: several of those completions for a hundred yards, several of
• 14:00
  Speaker 2: those completions came on that final drive for 22 yard
• 14:03
  Speaker 2: or 17 yard or whatever it was. So you could,
• 14:07
  Speaker 2: you could just tell you, you knew you could feel
• 14:10
  Speaker 2: the game changing. When I say that is, you know,
• 14:13
  Speaker 2: I'm sitting in a press box and I'm sitting next
• 14:15
  Speaker 2: to my colleague, Ray. And I say to him, you know,
• 14:18
  Speaker 2: I said, he, I said, he's going to.
• 14:20
  Speaker 4: Throw another one because you could just tell.
• 14:23
  Speaker 5: And, and he did.
• 14:24
  Speaker 4: And Jamel Dean picks it off.
• 14:26
  Speaker 2: And, and, you, you know, you, you sense that when
• 14:29
  Speaker 2: you're at the game and you're watching the game and you,
• 14:30
  Speaker 2: you feel that and you can see what was going
• 14:33
  Speaker 2: on with Jalen Daniels. And, you know, that's to the
• 14:35
  Speaker 2: defense's credit. Um, uh, Jamel Dean had six pass breakups yesterday.
• 14:40
  Speaker 4: All right.
• 14:41
  Speaker 2: That's a lot for a corner in a game six. Um,
• 14:44
  Speaker 2: some quarters don't have that many in a season. And,
• 14:47
  Speaker 2: and of course the big pick and how, how fitting
• 14:50
  Speaker 2: is that, uh, you know, to do that against a
• 14:52
  Speaker 2: team that drafted them in Tampa. So, um, I think
• 14:56
  Speaker 2: the defense, you know, they, you know, Tampa Bay didn't
• 15:00
  Speaker 2: have a lot of yards. They weren't exactly killing them.
• 15:03
  Speaker 2: Bucky Irvin had some nice runs, but they did a
• 15:05
  Speaker 2: good job with him.
• 15:06
  Speaker 4: A lot of tackles for loss or zero yards.
• 15:09
  Speaker 2: So I thought the defense did enough to, to keep
• 15:12
  Speaker 2: it from, from, you know, getting worse. And, you know,
• 15:16
  Speaker 2: for as bad as it was or bad as it looked,
• 15:18
  Speaker 2: it was only 16 to three and going into the
• 15:19
  Speaker 2: fourth quarter.
• 15:22
  Speaker 6: Jerry, I got to ask you, Mike McCarthy ends up
• 15:26
  Speaker 6: in the blue tent, and what was your first thoughts?
• 15:29
  Speaker 4: I'll be honest with you, Willie.
• 15:31
  Speaker 2: I was unaware that he had gone into the tent,
• 15:34
  Speaker 2: you know, because I don't get to see that. You know,
• 15:36
  Speaker 2: it depends on where the screens are sometimes in the
• 15:38
  Speaker 2: press box, but I didn't see that, and I didn't
• 15:39
  Speaker 2: know that until after the game. And, you know, when
• 15:43
  Speaker 2: he came limping into the interview room, I asked him,
• 15:45
  Speaker 2: I said, you know, what happened?
• 15:46
  Speaker 6: How are you?
• 15:47
  Speaker 4: He says, I'm fine. I had to battle through it. But,
• 15:49
  Speaker 4: you know, I didn't know until after.
• 15:51
  Speaker 2: The game he had spent the entire halftime, you know,
• 15:55
  Speaker 2: in the medical tent. And I think, you know, people,
• 15:59
  Speaker 2: you know, he was asked and Aaron Rodgers was asked
• 16:03
  Speaker 2: after the game, you know, about, you know, what effect
• 16:07
  Speaker 2: does that have and how did you handle it? I mean,
• 16:10
  Speaker 2: you guys know halftimes are 12 minutes long. There's not
• 16:14
  Speaker 2: exactly a lot of changing of the game plan. The
• 16:17
  Speaker 2: coaches have some discussion.
• 16:18
  Speaker 4: Guys, what do they do?
• 16:19
  Speaker 2: Grab a piece of fruit or something to drink. There's
• 16:23
  Speaker 2: small discussion, and it's time to go back on the field.
• 16:25
  Speaker 2: It's not like the game is being altered drastically at halftime,
• 16:29
  Speaker 2: and so Mike McCarthy being in the medical tent, It's
• 16:33
  Speaker 2: not like, you know, he's there and, oh, my gosh,
• 16:35
  Speaker 2: what are they going to do?
• 16:36
  Speaker 4: Where's their leader?
• 16:37
  Speaker 2: I mean, you know, they were perfectly fine, and Mike
• 16:41
  Speaker 2: wasn't making a big deal out of it.
• 16:43
  Speaker 4: I'm just curious who stepped on his foot.
• 16:45
  Speaker 2: That's what I want to know, and how did it happen?
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: That was interesting.
• 16:52
  Speaker 3: You know, Jerry, the final thing is that we're kind
• 16:55
  Speaker 3: of kicking this around, and, you know, the comment that
• 17:00
  Speaker 3: Aaron Rodgers made made that it's possibly a trajectory changer
• 17:05
  Speaker 3: for the Steelers.
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: To come out of that win.
• 17:10
  Speaker 3: With a win in a game in which you didn't
• 17:12
  Speaker 3: play well for 42 minutes out of the 60 in regulation,
• 17:18
  Speaker 3: just did not play well at all, and you're on
• 17:21
  Speaker 3: the road and to find a way to win and
• 17:24
  Speaker 3: to come away with that victory and to be 4-2,
• 17:26
  Speaker 3: I do.
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: Think that That helps.
• 17:32
  Speaker 3: That's something that you, the first comeback of that nature,
• 17:36
  Speaker 3: 13-point deficit or more going into the fourth quarter in
• 17:40
  Speaker 3: 34 years for the Steelers. I do think there's something
• 17:45
  Speaker 3: to that. I do think that this could be something
• 17:47
  Speaker 3: that we look back at and say that wound up
• 17:50
  Speaker 3: being a pivotal win in Tampa.
• 17:52
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and that's what it'll be, Rob. It'll be looking
• 17:55
  Speaker 2: back at it in retrospect because we will see what
• 18:00
  Speaker 2: it does for this team. If they go to Paris
• 18:04
  Speaker 2: and lose to the Saints, then all of a sudden
• 18:07
  Speaker 2: that trajectory is, yeah, it's altered all right. It stops
• 18:10
  Speaker 2: going up. It kind of starts going back down the
• 18:13
  Speaker 2: other way maybe a little bit. So, yeah, I think
• 18:16
  Speaker 2: it certainly can be.
• 18:17
  Speaker 4: I get his point.
• 18:19
  Speaker 2: And for all the reasons, you know, coming back on
• 18:22
  Speaker 2: the road the way they did it, it looks like
• 18:24
  Speaker 2: they're going to get blown out, then it looks like
• 18:26
  Speaker 2: they might win, and it looks like, oh, no, they
• 18:28
  Speaker 2: might give it away, and then it's like, okay, they're
• 18:30
  Speaker 2: going to win. When you go up and down like
• 18:33
  Speaker 2: that and you come out on top, and again, you hadn't.
• 18:35
  Speaker 4: Won on the road and you do with your new.
• 18:37
  Speaker 2: Coach, yeah, I think it all has the makings of
• 18:42
  Speaker 2: a trajectory-altering moment, but that's what we're going to find out,
• 18:46
  Speaker 2: if in fact it was.
• 18:48
  Speaker 4: Yep.
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: That is Jerry Dulac. Du, we're going to see you
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: in Paris.
• 18:56
  Speaker 4: I will be there, Rob. I will beat you there.
• 18:58
  Speaker 2: So, you know, God willing, we all make it safely
• 19:00
  Speaker 2: and we remain safe there.
• 19:02
  Speaker 4: And I will be there.
• 19:04
  Speaker 2: You get there Thursday, I believe, if I'm not mistaken.
• 19:06
  Speaker 4: Is that correct?
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: You are correct. You are not mistaken. That is the
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: that's the plan anyway for now.
• 19:11
  Speaker 6: To be there.
• 19:11
  Speaker 4: I will.
• 19:12
  Speaker 2: You say that like there's some amount of maybe you
• 19:15
  Speaker 2: won't be there, but I anticipate you being there and
• 19:20
  Speaker 2: I'll be waiting.
• 19:20
  Speaker 4: For you, my friend.
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: Jerry Dulac, brought to us by Frank B. Fuhrer Wholesale. Jerry,
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: thanks very much for being with us in the locker
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: room and sharing your wisdom with us.
• 19:31
  Speaker 4: Always good chatting with you.
• 19:33
  Speaker 1: Jerry Dulac being with us.
• 19:36
  Speaker 3: We have much to get to, some news, NFL news
• 19:38
  Speaker 3: to get to, some final thoughts as we sort of
• 19:41
  Speaker 3: wrap up this year's victory. Your phone calls as well
• 19:44
  Speaker 3: at 412-919-1316. And we continue in the locker room here
• 19:48
  Speaker 3: on the Steelers Audio Network.
• 19:56
  Speaker 7: This is In the Locker Room with Rob King, Max Starks,
• 20:00
  Speaker 7: and Willie Colon on Steelers Nation Radio, brought to you
• 20:03
  Speaker 7: in part by the Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
• 20:07
  Speaker 7: from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop.steelers.com.
• 20:11
  Speaker 7: And by your neighborhood Ford store. The F-150 is the
• 20:15
  Speaker 7: official truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
• 20:24
  Speaker 5: All right, power two-thirds hour. Making the adjustment on the
• 20:28
  Speaker 5: fly here inside the locker room as we had Jerry
• 20:32
  Speaker 5: come on at the top of the hour because we
• 20:34
  Speaker 5: will not have a show on Thursday. That's travel day.
• 20:37
  Speaker 5: So we will be in transition in the locker room. But,
• 20:41
  Speaker 5: of course, it's still a Victory Donut Monday, so we
• 20:44
  Speaker 5: welcome your calls. Remember the phone line number, 412-919-1316. If
• 20:47
  Speaker 5: you want to hit us up over here, you can
• 20:49
  Speaker 5: hit us up on social. I'm not going to go
• 20:55
  Speaker 5: through all of them. Willie has one. You can look
• 20:57
  Speaker 5: up his name. I have one. You can look up
• 20:59
  Speaker 5: my name. And Rob King has one. You can look
• 21:01
  Speaker 5: up our name. So me trying to remember our handles
• 21:05
  Speaker 5: is not it, whether it's former Twitter, ex, Instagram, whatever.
• 21:09
  Speaker 6: I mean, we can just tell you, Max.
• 21:11
  Speaker 5: Okay, okay. Go ahead, Will.
• 21:12
  Speaker 4: Go ahead.
• 21:13
  Speaker 5: Hit him with something. What's yours?
• 21:15
  Speaker 6: WillieCologne66. All platforms.
• 21:19
  Speaker 2: Okay.
• 21:19
  Speaker 5: Okay.
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: I have multiple platforms.
• 21:22
  Speaker 5: Mine is MaxStark78 on X, MStark78 on Instagram. And that's
• 21:30
  Speaker 5: all I have. I don't have TikTok or Snapchat or
• 21:31
  Speaker 5: any of those other ones.
• 21:32
  Speaker 6: I'm RobKinger91. That's what I am.
• 21:35
  Speaker 5: There we go. RobKinger91. All right. So those are the socials.
• 21:39
  Speaker 6: RobKinger91.
• 21:40
  Speaker 4: That's right.
• 21:41
  Speaker 5: Kingerstingers. I think that should be the next handle you
• 21:44
  Speaker 5: should have. That should be your, like, alias one.
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: Yeah, sure.
• 21:47
  Speaker 3: So, guys– Talking a little bit about the defense, but
• 21:51
  Speaker 3: I thought two guys in particular stuck out for me
• 21:55
  Speaker 3: on offense, and that was the wide receivers, Jeremy Bernard.
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: Who we know Willie Colon loves Jeremy Bernard.
• 22:02
  Speaker 5: That's great.
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: We love Jeremy Bernard, too. He came on with us
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: last week, and DK Metcalf.
• 22:07
  Speaker 3: I thought both those guys, Willie, just played outstanding ballgame
• 22:10
  Speaker 3: for the Steelers.
• 22:12
  Speaker 6: Yeah, I was pounding the table for the Steelers to
• 22:14
  Speaker 6: really use him in this game, coming into this game,
• 22:17
  Speaker 6: because I just felt like, with his skill set and
• 22:20
  Speaker 6: what he brings to the table and his explosive assets,
• 22:25
  Speaker 6: it could benefit what Aaron Rodgers does really well, right?
• 22:27
  Speaker 6: It's just getting the ball on time to a guy
• 22:30
  Speaker 6: who can, you know, if he's able to catch the
• 22:32
  Speaker 6: ball in stride, man, he can make guys miss and
• 22:35
  Speaker 6: because he has home run speed, it could really help
• 22:38
  Speaker 6: to steal it out offensively. And I just, you know,
• 22:41
  Speaker 6: I think it's a tribute to drafting guys with a purpose,
• 22:46
  Speaker 6: and his purpose being drafted here was to make this
• 22:49
  Speaker 6: offense more explosive under Mike McCarthy. Mike McCarthy came here
• 22:53
  Speaker 6: with the mindset of ushering the offense into a new
• 22:56
  Speaker 6: ever where because of his skill set, they can give
• 23:00
  Speaker 6: him the ball down the field and he can go.
• 23:03
  Speaker 6: And you talk about having 11 catches on 12 targets, man.
• 23:07
  Speaker 6: It is indicative to his ability to catch the ball
• 23:11
  Speaker 6: and Aaron Rodgers' trust in him. especially being on the
• 23:15
  Speaker 6: road when you talk about a game where, as we
• 23:16
  Speaker 6: just said, the nausea and how it was so slow
• 23:19
  Speaker 6: and kind of– it was kind of all clunky, if
• 23:22
  Speaker 6: you will, for the first three quarters. And then in
• 23:26
  Speaker 6: the fourth quarter, things start to unravel. And I just–
• 23:29
  Speaker 6: I like the young fellow. And by the way, we
• 23:31
  Speaker 6: interviewed him, right? I think he was over our interview
• 23:33
  Speaker 6: on Friday.
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: Yeah, that's right.
• 23:34
  Speaker 6: Yep. We interviewed him on Friday, and he talked about how,
• 23:39
  Speaker 6: his relationship with Aaron Rodgers and his ability to show
• 23:42
  Speaker 6: up and be accountable and really learn how much football
• 23:45
  Speaker 6: he's learning in real time. Meanwhile, this kid came from Alabama, right?
• 23:49
  Speaker 6: He didn't come from Austria. And so it was good
• 23:54
  Speaker 6: to see him and everything that he brings to the
• 23:58
  Speaker 6: table be able to come into life in real time.
• 24:04
  Speaker 6: So I'm glad he was able to have the game
• 24:07
  Speaker 6: he was able to have and hopefully– you know, they
• 24:09
  Speaker 6: continue to build on it. Hopefully that game is a
• 24:11
  Speaker 6: game where, you know, he continues to generate momentum for
• 24:14
  Speaker 6: the offense.
• 24:16
  Speaker 3: And Max, I thought not only Jeremy, but DK Metcalf,
• 24:19
  Speaker 3: two out of the last three games, DK has really
• 24:21
  Speaker 3: been terrific for the Steelers.
• 24:25
  Speaker 5: Yeah, he's been locked in. And, you know, the stuff
• 24:28
  Speaker 5: we saw early in the season where we talked about,
• 24:30
  Speaker 5: you know, game one, right? He was He had four
• 24:34
  Speaker 5: catches on like ten targets, you know, and we're like, man,
• 24:37
  Speaker 5: what is this dude doing? What is he doing? But
• 24:40
  Speaker 5: Aaron has always held the belief in him and faith
• 24:43
  Speaker 5: in his buddy and has continued to feed him. And
• 24:45
  Speaker 5: like you said, the last two weeks has really paid off.
• 24:49
  Speaker 5: And yesterday was no different. I mean, some big chain-moving plays,
• 24:53
  Speaker 5: the big fourth-down conversions, right, the one where he went
• 24:57
  Speaker 5: to the knee, got the first down, then tried to
• 24:59
  Speaker 5: step a little bit extra. You know, DK is now,
• 25:03
  Speaker 5: you can see where he's shifting from, you know, self-centered
• 25:09
  Speaker 5: in a lot of things to selfless in a lot
• 25:13
  Speaker 5: of other aspects, right? Where he's not the number one target,
• 25:16
  Speaker 5: but he's working the route and Aaron's finding him in
• 25:20
  Speaker 5: the progression. It's not like, oh, just throw it to
• 25:22
  Speaker 5: DK right out the gates. And he's making... The 50-50
• 25:27
  Speaker 5: ball game work in his favor to where it feels
• 25:30
  Speaker 5: like a 70-30 ball game when you throw the ball
• 25:32
  Speaker 5: up in the air. Him, man-to-man up against the receiver.
• 25:36
  Speaker 5: And he's catching those nice quick slants and going for
• 25:39
  Speaker 5: more yardage. You know, the catch short, run long type
• 25:43
  Speaker 5: of concept. And it's just all starting to come together.
• 25:46
  Speaker 5: You're starting to see it click. And there's just an
• 25:50
  Speaker 5: innate trust that when I throw this ball, DK's going
• 25:53
  Speaker 5: to be there on some of the timing route situations.
• 25:57
  Speaker 5: and Aaron using his feet, right, to create the matchup
• 26:01
  Speaker 5: that he wants with his receivers, and that goes to everybody,
• 26:04
  Speaker 5: you know, and I think, you know, even though I
• 26:06
  Speaker 5: would have loved to have seen our tight ends utilized
• 26:07
  Speaker 5: more since that was one of the positions of weakness
• 26:11
  Speaker 5: with Antoine Winfield Jr. being out of the game for
• 26:13
  Speaker 5: the Buccaneers and them not really having some answers, you know,
• 26:17
  Speaker 5: still the trust in Darnell Washington in the red zone
• 26:21
  Speaker 5: to continue to try and feed him in those areas
• 26:24
  Speaker 5: because he's such a large target, I think is huge,
• 26:26
  Speaker 5: and You know, the interception he had, right? They were
• 26:28
  Speaker 5: trying to run a tight end delay screen to the right.
• 26:31
  Speaker 5: It gets bobbled up, and A'shaun Robinson comes down with it. But,
• 26:37
  Speaker 5: you know, it wasn't for a lack of trust. It's
• 26:38
  Speaker 5: not like he didn't go back to him. And then
• 26:40
  Speaker 5: you think about the fourth down with Jeremy Bernard, right?
• 26:42
  Speaker 5: You know, Jeremy, if he just catches that ball and
• 26:45
  Speaker 5: falls down, we got the first down. It's not a
• 26:48
  Speaker 5: turnover on downs. But because he took that step back
• 26:50
  Speaker 5: trying to get more as a rookie, right? You're trying
• 26:53
  Speaker 5: to strain and stress. He missed the opportunity, but it
• 26:55
  Speaker 5: didn't stop Aaron from going back to him. So seeing
• 26:59
  Speaker 5: that trust being transferred and being built upon within the
• 27:04
  Speaker 5: construct of a game time, I thought was fantastic to
• 27:07
  Speaker 5: see that trust building right in front of our eyes.
• 27:10
  Speaker 5: And like you said, 22 catches between two receivers. That's
• 27:13
  Speaker 5: a heck of a day. It is.
• 27:16
  Speaker 3: And again, I, you know, Aaron Rogers, I think we, Look,
• 27:20
  Speaker 3: we want to see the Steelers, and Mike McCarthy's talked
• 27:23
  Speaker 3: about this, we want to see the Steelers run the
• 27:25
  Speaker 3: ball more than we want to see them throw the ball.
• 27:29
  Speaker 3: Aaron Rodgers threw the ball a ton yesterday, did not
• 27:32
  Speaker 3: continue the streak of three straight games with touchdown passes,
• 27:37
  Speaker 3: came close at the end, tried to at the end,
• 27:40
  Speaker 3: when we all thought maybe they should have run the ball,
• 27:42
  Speaker 3: but still two touchdown passes, and once again, you know, Max,
• 27:48
  Speaker 3: the interceptions thrown by Aaron Rodgers have been, you know,
• 27:53
  Speaker 3: there was the Hail Mary at the end of the
• 27:55
  Speaker 3: game against Cleveland.
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: Was it Cleveland? The Hail Mary at the end of
• 27:58
  Speaker 1: the game against Cleveland.
• 27:59
  Speaker 7: Yep.
• 28:00
  Speaker 3: And then the other ones have all been batted or
• 28:01
  Speaker 3: should have been caught or whatever the case may be.
• 28:04
  Speaker 1: So I think you have to give kudos to Aaron Rodgers.
• 28:07
  Speaker 3: I'd like to see the team run the ball more, but,
• 28:10
  Speaker 3: you know, Aaron Rodgers turned in another strong performance.
• 28:17
  Speaker 6: He did, I think. Go ahead. No, I'm sorry. I
• 28:21
  Speaker 6: think that's Aaron being Aaron, too, and I think Jerry
• 28:24
  Speaker 6: kind of alluded to it, man. When people continue to
• 28:28
  Speaker 6: pound the desk and say, why do the Steelers have
• 28:32
  Speaker 6: the 43-year-old quarterback thinking that he can do X, Y, Z,
• 28:35
  Speaker 6: it's for games like that, right? It's games like yesterday,
• 28:37
  Speaker 6: where he's able to find a way, and they talked
• 28:41
  Speaker 6: about not being able to manufacture runs the traditional way,
• 28:44
  Speaker 6: where sometimes those little short dink and dunk passes is
• 28:48
  Speaker 6: how you kind of get momentum, and I think his
• 28:51
  Speaker 6: brain is what allowed us to win that game in
• 28:53
  Speaker 6: the fourth quarter. And he needs, you know, that's why
• 28:55
  Speaker 6: you give him his flowers, for his ability to kind
• 28:58
  Speaker 6: of figure it out, along with Mike McCarthy. And it's
• 29:01
  Speaker 6: not always going to be pretty, and it was ugly,
• 29:02
  Speaker 6: and I'm pretty sure they're going to go back this
• 29:04
  Speaker 6: week and realize, like, hey, man, you know, we got
• 29:07
  Speaker 6: to be a lot better. But nevertheless, a manufactured win,
• 29:11
  Speaker 6: no matter how you get it, is a win.
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: And I also think that.
• 29:21
  Speaker 5: And I think also that when you have these games, because,
• 29:26
  Speaker 5: I mean, here's my thing, Willie. When Tom Brady was
• 29:30
  Speaker 5: at the end of his career, they didn't complain when
• 29:32
  Speaker 5: he threw the ball. You know what I'm saying? Like,
• 29:36
  Speaker 5: you know, and I think it's crazy that there's a
• 29:38
  Speaker 5: double standard here for Aaron, but yet you didn't give
• 29:41
  Speaker 5: that for him. And when Peyton Manning's arm was an
• 29:45
  Speaker 5: absolute noodle, you didn't complain when he was trying to
• 29:49
  Speaker 5: throw the ball, even though he couldn't get, he couldn't
• 29:50
  Speaker 5: shot put at five yards.
• 29:51
  Speaker 6: Right.
• 29:52
  Speaker 5: So I just think it's, it's those different types of
• 29:55
  Speaker 5: things because of, Some of the image and persona things.
• 29:58
  Speaker 5: You're right. We don't give the flowers. Or he doesn't
• 30:01
  Speaker 5: receive the flowers that's necessary of him. The fact that
• 30:04
  Speaker 5: he's still throwing. He throws a hard ball still to
• 30:08
  Speaker 5: this day. And there's been no diminishment in his arms.
• 30:13
  Speaker 5: He's talking about it. He's like, my arm feels great.
• 30:15
  Speaker 5: It's my legs that don't. But yet, he's still pulling
• 30:18
  Speaker 5: out a couple father time moments. Like escaping some pressure.
• 30:22
  Speaker 5: But I think that's something that's so underrated. the mind
• 30:28
  Speaker 5: and the ability to actually make his body do what
• 30:31
  Speaker 5: his mind is thinking. When it comes to passing the football,
• 30:35
  Speaker 5: I think it's just absolutely phenomenal still to do that
• 30:38
  Speaker 5: at his age. And that's such a weapon on our
• 30:40
  Speaker 5: side that we can't underappreciate. And so I just want
• 30:45
  Speaker 5: to make sure we keep on promoting that. Like you said,
• 30:47
  Speaker 5: keep giving this guy flowers on his farewell tour because
• 30:52
  Speaker 5: for him to do that, to go into Buccaneers Stadium
• 30:54
  Speaker 5: in a hostile environment, one that he's been in a
• 30:57
  Speaker 5: lot of times playing in the NFC for the majority
• 30:59
  Speaker 5: of his career, to go in and say, hey, I
• 31:03
  Speaker 5: can check that one off the list. Got a dub
• 31:05
  Speaker 5: there on the tour. And he really earned it. He
• 31:09
  Speaker 5: really helped. He lifted us up at the end of
• 31:12
  Speaker 5: that game and was distributing the football in a quick manner.
• 31:16
  Speaker 5: And I think you kind of alluded to it, Willie,
• 31:19
  Speaker 5: not the strongest day for the offensive line, had some
• 31:23
  Speaker 5: struggles along the way. But I do want to– I'm
• 31:27
  Speaker 5: going to hit you with that when we come back
• 31:29
  Speaker 5: in the final segment here. We do need to take
• 31:31
  Speaker 5: a break. I just looked at the time. But we
• 31:33
  Speaker 5: will be back with more here inside the locker room
• 31:37
  Speaker 5: with King, Starks, and Colon when we come back here
• 31:41
  Speaker 5: on Steelers Nation Radio and Steelers Audio Network.
• 31:46
  Speaker 7: This is In the Locker Room with Rob King, Max Starks,
• 31:51
  Speaker 7: and Willie Colon on Steelers Nation Radio. Brought to you
• 31:54
  Speaker 7: in part by the Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
• 31:57
  Speaker 7: from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop.steelers.com.
• 32:02
  Speaker 7: And by your neighborhood Ford store. The F-150 is the
• 32:06
  Speaker 7: official truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
• 32:11
  Speaker 5: All right, final segment here inside the locker room.
• 32:16
  Speaker 2: And.
• 32:17
  Speaker 5: This is only the fitting way to end it. The
• 32:20
  Speaker 5: King's decree shall be handed down. And Rob, before we
• 32:26
  Speaker 5: went to break, I kind of posed this question to
• 32:28
  Speaker 5: Willie and I just kind of wanted to get a
• 32:29
  Speaker 5: quick response. Offensive line didn't play their best game. And
• 32:33
  Speaker 5: I think that's also what led to kind of some
• 32:34
  Speaker 5: of the offensive inconsistencies. I just wanted to talk about
• 32:37
  Speaker 5: this as part of the growing pain process. You know,
• 32:42
  Speaker 5: it's better when you have a victory associated with some
• 32:45
  Speaker 5: struggles on the offensive line. But, you know, still a
• 32:49
  Speaker 5: lot to learn from. It's just easier to, I think,
• 32:51
  Speaker 5: receive the lessons in the process. So I just wanted
• 32:55
  Speaker 5: to kind of pick your brain real fast, Willie. Just
• 32:57
  Speaker 5: kind of things that you saw in the game that
• 33:01
  Speaker 5: were some bugaboos and gave the offensive line trouble.
• 33:05
  Speaker 6: I thought we just didn't win on the first and
• 33:07
  Speaker 6: second down. I thought we struggled with movement at times.
• 33:10
  Speaker 6: We knew they were going to go anchor in and
• 33:13
  Speaker 6: load the box. We knew that was all a possibility.
• 33:15
  Speaker 6: But I think right now we just didn't. we didn't
• 33:18
  Speaker 6: own that initial first wave of contact. And I think
• 33:20
  Speaker 6: collectively we have to do a better job of anchoring
• 33:23
  Speaker 6: down on our, on the first line of the line.
• 33:25
  Speaker 6: And we said at time at the time, the linebackers,
• 33:27
  Speaker 6: I know they were fast flowing in, but as alone
• 33:29
  Speaker 6: in them boys, they were trying to come down here
• 33:31
  Speaker 6: and bring up the double teams, but we didn't do
• 33:34
  Speaker 6: a good enough job of just putting our hat play side,
• 33:37
  Speaker 6: rolling our hips and getting guys off the ball collectively,
• 33:40
  Speaker 6: but some of our combo blocking. And I thought at
• 33:42
  Speaker 6: times we didn't win on the edge, which killed us too. Um,
• 33:46
  Speaker 6: So collectively with all that, man, it was just clunky.
• 33:49
  Speaker 6: We knew they were going to be up for the fight.
• 33:51
  Speaker 6: We knew they were a very good run defense. I
• 33:53
  Speaker 6: think Steelers really have to figure out more from a
• 33:56
  Speaker 6: schematic standpoint how not to be so somewhat predictable and
• 34:02
  Speaker 6: also figure out ways from a blocking scheme standpoint where
• 34:06
  Speaker 6: they can mix up their blocking assignments, whether it's, you know,
• 34:11
  Speaker 6: full blocking on the backside or, or maybe having this
• 34:14
  Speaker 6: different combination ways that we can get our guys moving.
• 34:20
  Speaker 6: I think we're a better team when we move north
• 34:22
  Speaker 6: and south. Moving laterally, especially against the alpha like that,
• 34:27
  Speaker 6: you lose more than you win. Those are some things
• 34:29
  Speaker 6: I saw. It's a learning lesson, honestly. Every style makes fights,
• 34:36
  Speaker 6: and that was the type of style that we needed
• 34:38
  Speaker 6: to adjust to. It just took us too long to
• 34:40
  Speaker 6: get to.
• 34:40
  Speaker 1: I also think.
• 34:42
  Speaker 6: You know, I like Brock Hoffman. I like his feisty ways.
• 34:46
  Speaker 6: I know he got in, too, with a couple of
• 34:47
  Speaker 6: those guys out there. And I like, you know, Zach Frazier.
• 34:49
  Speaker 6: I know he's a solid player, man. But we have
• 34:53
  Speaker 6: way more athleticism around our offensive line now than we
• 34:56
  Speaker 6: use at times. And there's more range on that offensive
• 35:01
  Speaker 6: line that we need to explore. And I think that's
• 35:03
  Speaker 6: something that Mike McCarthy and, you know, the powers that
• 35:05
  Speaker 6: be have to entertain moving forward.
• 35:08
  Speaker 1: You know, I will say this again.
• 35:11
  Speaker 3: I think that when you win and you're still capable
• 35:16
  Speaker 3: of beating another NFL team and you're 4-2 and we're
• 35:21
  Speaker 3: not seeing it be all the way to where we
• 35:23
  Speaker 3: want to see it.
• 35:24
  Speaker 1: It is not a graph.
• 35:26
  Speaker 3: It is not where you go in that little L-shaped
• 35:29
  Speaker 3: thing and you go from the bottom left-hand corner and
• 35:32
  Speaker 3: you get a ruler out and you draw it and
• 35:35
  Speaker 3: you go diagonally up to the top right-hand corner. That's
• 35:37
  Speaker 3: not the way it works. It would be wonderful if
• 35:40
  Speaker 3: it did. And we have seen elements of the offensive
• 35:44
  Speaker 3: line be good. We've seen elements of the offensive line struggle.
• 35:48
  Speaker 3: We saw questions about the defensive line earlier. Those questions
• 35:52
  Speaker 3: are starting to go by the wayside as they have
• 35:54
  Speaker 3: shut down two top running backs without their best defensive
• 35:58
  Speaker 3: run stopper in Derek Harmon. And again, this is a
• 36:02
  Speaker 3: team that's building through the trenches, Max. A team that
• 36:05
  Speaker 3: is expecting the offensive lines and defensive lines to.
• 36:08
  Speaker 1: Get better and better.
• 36:09
  Speaker 3: Now, it's hard to get better as a defensive line
• 36:12
  Speaker 3: when you're going to eventually, Cam Hayward's going to step aside.
• 36:15
  Speaker 1: But that's what you're trying to do.
• 36:16
  Speaker 3: Get these young guys to be a brick wall and
• 36:19
  Speaker 3: guys that can be disruptive up front in the passing
• 36:22
  Speaker 3: game as well. And it's not going to, it is
• 36:25
  Speaker 3: not going to be linear. But I think we saw,
• 36:28
  Speaker 3: you know, Keanu Benton have a really, really strong game.
• 36:32
  Speaker 3: Gabe Rubio threw his hand in the pile.
• 36:34
  Speaker 6: Y.A.
• 36:34
  Speaker 3: Black got his first sack on the defensive line. And
• 36:38
  Speaker 3: on the offensive line, Were there some struggles? Yeah, I
• 36:41
  Speaker 3: think they were overwhelmed by the blitz at times. And
• 36:44
  Speaker 3: I don't think that was all on the offensive line.
• 36:46
  Speaker 3: There were some big blitz pickup issues that I think
• 36:49
  Speaker 3: could have been better team-wide.
• 36:51
  Speaker 1: But all in all, you win.
• 36:53
  Speaker 3: This is one of the reasons I'm encouraged. Now, have
• 36:57
  Speaker 3: you beaten the Buffalo Bills? No, you haven't played the
• 37:00
  Speaker 3: Buffalo Bills yet. Have you beaten an elite team yet? Well,
• 37:03
  Speaker 3: if you listen to some people, you did by beating Cincinnati.
• 37:07
  Speaker 3: But you haven't beaten a real inner circle team you
• 37:10
  Speaker 3: haven't played a real inner circle team you do have
• 37:13
  Speaker 3: two losses on your resume but you have four wins
• 37:15
  Speaker 3: and to me when you have four wins and you're
• 37:18
  Speaker 3: four and two and you haven't reached your full potential
• 37:21
  Speaker 3: yet max i think that's a very good place for
• 37:24
  Speaker 3: a team to be and that's where i think the
• 37:26
  Speaker 3: steelers are right now yeah and i.
• 37:28
  Speaker 5: Think you know we'll look at it and we'll see
• 37:31
  Speaker 5: what if it moved the needle on the power rankings
• 37:34
  Speaker 5: for us but you just need to be in striking distance.
• 37:38
  Speaker 5: You know, that's the biggest thing. Cause at the end
• 37:40
  Speaker 5: of the day, it's wins and losses, no style points accrued,
• 37:44
  Speaker 5: you know, whether we won that game 26 to 19,
• 37:46
  Speaker 5: or we won that game 20 to 19, right. You know,
• 37:51
  Speaker 5: three to two, it doesn't matter. As long as you
• 37:54
  Speaker 5: get the victory at the end of the day, that's
• 37:56
  Speaker 5: what matters in this and, and stacking them together. Mike
• 38:00
  Speaker 5: McCarthy kind of talked about that on one of our
• 38:01
  Speaker 5: rejoins in his post game press conference. Um, was it
• 38:06
  Speaker 5: was important to stack wins because that's what good teams do.
• 38:09
  Speaker 5: They can stack wins. And we hadn't had the opportunity
• 38:12
  Speaker 5: to really stack those wins consistently. This is the first
• 38:17
  Speaker 5: time we get to do that. And then now we
• 38:19
  Speaker 5: get to go back on the road again and go
• 38:23
  Speaker 5: across the pond and beyond to go to Paris to
• 38:28
  Speaker 5: then see if we can stack another one. God forbid,
• 38:31
  Speaker 5: go 3-0 in a stretch game. And I think that's
• 38:36
  Speaker 5: where the true test of a team is. Can you
• 38:38
  Speaker 5: handle the change in time, the change in venue, and
• 38:44
  Speaker 5: does defense still travel? Does the offense travel with them?
• 38:50
  Speaker 5: Are they in the main cabin or are they below
• 38:52
  Speaker 5: the plane? We need to see how these teams do
• 38:56
  Speaker 5: because you're going to be presented with that. If you
• 38:58
  Speaker 5: want a January push, meaning playoffs, that show's going to
• 39:04
  Speaker 5: have to go on the road. either all the time
• 39:07
  Speaker 5: or at least some of the time. It's going to
• 39:08
  Speaker 5: have to go on the road. And so what you
• 39:11
  Speaker 5: show in the regular season should be a good indicator
• 39:14
  Speaker 5: of you being able to pursue those things in the postseason.
• 39:17
  Speaker 5: So it meant a lot for them to go in
• 39:19
  Speaker 5: that position and do that.
• 39:21
  Speaker 3: I also think that, you know, as we look at
• 39:23
  Speaker 3: this defense, I do think that if they get– and
• 39:27
  Speaker 3: I do expect at least Deshaun Elliott's going to be activated,
• 39:33
  Speaker 3: but I think he's going to help out that back end.
• 39:35
  Speaker 3: When you go into this season and you think you're
• 39:37
  Speaker 3: going to have Joey Porter Jr. and you think the
• 39:40
  Speaker 3: defense is going to be able to play a certain way,
• 39:42
  Speaker 3: Brandon Echols was lost to injury in this game. We'll
• 39:44
  Speaker 3: hear what Mike McCarthy has to say about that later on,
• 39:46
  Speaker 3: but when you bring back a Deshaun Elliott You know, again,
• 39:51
  Speaker 3: are they as banged up as other teams? No, they're
• 39:53
  Speaker 3: not as banged up as other teams, but they were
• 39:54
  Speaker 3: expecting Deshaun Elliott to play a big part. They were
• 39:57
  Speaker 3: expecting Michael Pittman to play a big part. Roman Wilson
• 40:01
  Speaker 3: was playing a big part on this team. They've had
• 40:03
  Speaker 3: to overcome some injuries as well, and hopefully they can
• 40:06
  Speaker 3: start getting some guys back who.
• 40:08
  Speaker 1: Can help them contribute.
• 40:09
  Speaker 3: You know, it would be nice to be in the
• 40:12
  Speaker 3: middle point of the season, have yourself a really good record,
• 40:14
  Speaker 3: and start to get some guys back. And I think
• 40:17
  Speaker 3: when I look at a game like this, Willie, as
• 40:19
  Speaker 3: we just sort of wrap this up with what happened
• 40:21
  Speaker 3: in Tampa Bay, that's the upside I'm taking is you
• 40:24
  Speaker 3: proved something to yourself. You proved you could do something
• 40:27
  Speaker 3: that no Steelers team has done in the last 34 years.
• 40:30
  Speaker 1: That's not insignificant. Should you have beaten that team? Sure.
• 40:34
  Speaker 1: Should you have had to do it in that fashion?
• 40:37
  Speaker 1: Probably not. Did you do it in that fashion and
• 40:39
  Speaker 1: prove you can do it? Yeah, you did.
• 40:41
  Speaker 3: And is it a Steelers team that's at full strength or–
• 40:46
  Speaker 3: With everybody you want, no, you don't have Derek Harmon.
• 40:48
  Speaker 1: You haven't had Deshaun Elliott.
• 40:50
  Speaker 3: You don't have two of your more important wide receivers,
• 40:53
  Speaker 3: and you're still able to find a way to win
• 40:55
  Speaker 3: the game. I think there's, you know, we could talk
• 40:59
  Speaker 3: about what didn't happen, but I think when you talk
• 41:01
  Speaker 3: about what did happen, all in all, this is just
• 41:03
  Speaker 3: a good victory for this team.
• 41:06
  Speaker 6: I agree, Rob. It brings me back to me and Max.
• 41:10
  Speaker 6: We played a game on Monday night against the Kansas
• 41:12
  Speaker 6: City Chiefs, and I The Chiefs' defense was pretty solid.
• 41:17
  Speaker 6: They had Tomba Ali and Derrick Johnson at linebacker and
• 41:20
  Speaker 6: Eric Berry at safety. The Chiefs' offense at the time
• 41:24
  Speaker 6: was okay. I felt like we had the better offense,
• 41:28
  Speaker 6: and it was an expectation for us to go into
• 41:29
  Speaker 6: that game and really dog-walk the Chiefs, if you will.
• 41:33
  Speaker 6: But that didn't happen. The game ended up going to overtime,
• 41:35
  Speaker 6: and we only won that game because of Lawrence Timmons' interception.
• 41:39
  Speaker 6: I remember going into the locker room as much as
• 41:41
  Speaker 6: it was a necessary win, and we did win. It
• 41:44
  Speaker 6: was really frustrating. It was really frustrating that we played
• 41:46
  Speaker 6: that bad. We weren't able to run the ball. We
• 41:48
  Speaker 6: weren't able to do the things that we had set
• 41:50
  Speaker 6: out to prepare for because I felt like we were
• 41:52
  Speaker 6: just a better unit and we weren't able to get
• 41:54
  Speaker 6: it done. And I remember Mike Tomlin coming up to
• 41:57
  Speaker 6: me like he always does at the end of games.
• 41:59
  Speaker 6: He walks around shaking hands, shaking man's hand. And he
• 42:02
  Speaker 6: came up to me and he was like, hey, good job, Cologne, da-da-da-da-da.
• 42:05
  Speaker 6: And I was like, man, I wish we could have
• 42:07
  Speaker 6: played better. I wish we did. He was like, damn that.
• 42:09
  Speaker 6: He was like, it's Monday Night Football. It's the NFL.
• 42:13
  Speaker 6: If you're able to come out with a win, a
• 42:14
  Speaker 6: win is a win. And as much as you try
• 42:17
  Speaker 6: to hang up the ugly so you can correct them,
• 42:19
  Speaker 6: you also got to hang up the positives. And the
• 42:21
  Speaker 6: positive is that they found the way to win, that
• 42:24
  Speaker 6: the guys that have a heavy price tag stood up
• 42:27
  Speaker 6: in those games. And considering that it was a home
• 42:29
  Speaker 6: game where a lot of that crowd could have been disappointed, right?
• 42:35
  Speaker 6: Especially it felt like a home game for the Steelers,
• 42:37
  Speaker 6: but they could have walked out of the building feeling
• 42:40
  Speaker 6: disrupted about what happened on that field. And I also think,
• 42:43
  Speaker 6: you know, some of these guys, we talked about the
• 42:46
  Speaker 6: old and the new learning from each other. The young
• 42:48
  Speaker 6: guys on that team got to experience what a gritty
• 42:51
  Speaker 6: win on the road looks like. Sometimes it's not always
• 42:54
  Speaker 6: going to go according to plan, but you found the way.
• 42:55
  Speaker 6: I mean, think about what happened to Steelers. You played
• 42:58
  Speaker 6: bad football through three quarters. Your head coach ends up
• 43:02
  Speaker 6: in a blue tent. Defensively, right, you're stagnant, right? And then...
• 43:13
  Speaker 6: for most of the game, man, you don't, like, I
• 43:15
  Speaker 6: think Jerry alluded to it. You think you're going to
• 43:17
  Speaker 6: lose this game, but the light comes on for your team.
• 43:20
  Speaker 6: So there's all things you can build upon, man. And
• 43:22
  Speaker 6: I just hope they continue to do so and understand that,
• 43:25
  Speaker 6: you know, from here on out, man, week after week,
• 43:28
  Speaker 6: you're able to stack doves, man. It puts you in
• 43:30
  Speaker 6: a better position to come to December. So hopefully it
• 43:32
  Speaker 6: happens for the Steelers that they don't, you know, they,
• 43:35
  Speaker 6: they drink it up, but they understand that the Saints
• 43:37
  Speaker 6: who just beat the Giants, they're feeling good about themselves, right?
• 43:40
  Speaker 6: They don't matter where they, no matter where they play,
• 43:43
  Speaker 6: they feel like they can put up a fight because
• 43:45
  Speaker 6: they have the offensive firepower to do so. And a
• 43:49
  Speaker 6: defense right now that's playing really well. So with all
• 43:53
  Speaker 6: that said, man, there's no time to rest, if you will,
• 43:58
  Speaker 6: if you're the Pittsburgh Steelers. You stack it and you
• 43:59
  Speaker 6: move on.
• 44:01
  Speaker 1: Max? Amen.
• 44:04
  Speaker 5: I mean, once again, hey, the snowball's rolling downhill. Don't
• 44:08
  Speaker 5: catch any rocks down the way. Let's keep building this
• 44:10
  Speaker 5: momentum and see how big it can get. But you're
• 44:13
  Speaker 5: getting a lot of good things done. Even with key
• 44:18
  Speaker 5: guys on this team missing, you're still surviving and moving forward,
• 44:22
  Speaker 5: I think is a key thing. And the more that
• 44:25
  Speaker 5: snowball starts to build and then you start adding pieces
• 44:28
  Speaker 5: back in, right? You know, you added Derek Harmon back
• 44:30
  Speaker 5: into the role while it's rolling. You add back in
• 44:33
  Speaker 5: Michael Pittman and Roman Wilson into the fold. Deshaun Elliott
• 44:36
  Speaker 5: comes back to you. Then those positions that have been
• 44:39
  Speaker 5: stressed and really having to give their ultimate best effort
• 44:43
  Speaker 5: you know, starts to get a little bit of reinforcements, right?
• 44:46
  Speaker 5: You know, when you've been fighting and fighting and fighting,
• 44:48
  Speaker 5: when that backup cavalry comes to give that assistance and
• 44:54
  Speaker 5: bolster your numbers, you know, it makes you even stronger.
• 44:57
  Speaker 5: You know, you look behind you and there's 50 guys
• 45:00
  Speaker 5: in a fight. The next thing you know, you turn
• 45:02
  Speaker 5: around and there's 200 guys in the fight. You know,
• 45:05
  Speaker 5: you start to puff your chest out a little bit more.
• 45:06
  Speaker 5: So keep it going. Hold the line strong until the
• 45:10
  Speaker 5: reinforcements come. And I can't wait to see this. I
• 45:13
  Speaker 5: can't wait. Like, like Willie said, I want to see three,
• 45:15
  Speaker 5: two is nice, but I want to see thrice.
• 45:19
  Speaker 3: So coming up tomorrow, uh, we thank everybody, uh, obviously
• 45:22
  Speaker 3: for being with us today, coming up tomorrow, we're going
• 45:24
  Speaker 3: to react to, uh, what we hear from Mike McCarthy
• 45:27
  Speaker 3: coming up in just a little bit. Uh, we didn't
• 45:30
  Speaker 3: get to the news that Chris Ballard was fired, um,
• 45:33
  Speaker 3: as the GM of the Colts and that, uh, Jalen
• 45:36
  Speaker 3: hurts blood clot out for the year.
• 45:40
  Speaker 1: Uh, Jalen Hurts.
• 45:42
  Speaker 3: Maybe we'll get to some of those items tomorrow because
• 45:44
  Speaker 3: those are big items that certainly the one.
• 45:45
  Speaker 5: With Jalen Hurts. That changes our Philly game.
• 45:48
  Speaker 1: Absolutely.
• 45:49
  Speaker 4: Sorry.
• 45:49
  Speaker 3: It certainly does. So there's a lot to get to.
• 45:52
  Speaker 3: A very short week as we're going to continue tomorrow.
• 45:56
  Speaker 3: Sort of turn the page a little bit. It'll be
• 45:57
  Speaker 3: a little bit like a Wednesday tomorrow. You guys want
• 46:00
  Speaker 3: to have a Wednesday tomorrow? Let's have a Wednesday tomorrow.
• 46:03
  Speaker 5: You want to go power rankings too?
• 46:04
  Speaker 3: Yeah, we'll go power rankings. We'll do that tomorrow. We'll
• 46:06
  Speaker 3: have a Wednesday tomorrow. We'll also have a Twednesday.
• 46:10
  Speaker 1: All right?
• 46:11
  Speaker 5: Twins Day.
• 46:12
  Speaker 1: We'll combine a Tuesday and a Wednesday.
• 46:13
  Speaker 3: That's what we're going to do tomorrow when we come
• 46:16
  Speaker 3: back in the locker room with Justin Miller at the
• 46:18
  Speaker 3: controls in our iHeart Studio. And for Willie Colon and
• 46:21
  Speaker 3: Max Tarch, I'm Rob King. We thank you for being
• 46:23
  Speaker 3: with us in the locker room here on the Steelers
• 46:25
  Speaker 3: Audio Network.