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HR 2: Top 5 NFL Offenses & Defenses: Week 6 · The Steelers Report

• 0:03
  Speaker 1: This is the Steelers Report with Brian Batko and Ed
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: Troup on Steelers Nation Radio, a part of the Steelers
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: Audio Network.
• 0:17
  Speaker 2: Kicking off hour number two with a familiar voice here
• 0:22
  Speaker 2: on SNR, that's for sure. And if you don't get
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: enough of Wes Euler, you can have more of Wes
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: Euler here In about 55 minutes or so on SNR's
• 0:32
  Speaker 2: Drive with Matt Williamson that follows up the Steelers report
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: each and every day right here on Steelers Nation Radio.
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: And Wes, if I would have done this correctly, I
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: would have found the WVU fight song. or country roads
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: take me home something i'm going to work on that
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: because next time we have you on the show we're
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: going to start with that my friend congratulations to your
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: west virginia mountaineers so far this season about halfway through
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: maybe we'll get some feedback there from you but before
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: we get into steward talk how are you my friend
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: Doing well, Ed.
• 1:03
  Speaker 3: Always good to catch up with you. And, yeah, I
• 1:07
  Speaker 3: needed that Steelers win on Sunday after the putrid performance
• 1:11
  Speaker 3: by my Mountaineers on Saturday.
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  Speaker 2: Well, there's a lot of football left to be played,
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: my friend. It was a good start for Rich Rodriguez
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: in his second go here. With the Mountaineers, we'll see
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: if they can get things back on track. But look,
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: there's not a lot to compare with. The Panthers dropped
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: their first game of the season, and Penn State, a
• 1:28
  Speaker 2: little rocky start for the Nittany Lions there at Happy Valley.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, no doubt. It was not the best weekend for
• 1:34
  Speaker 3: football fans in this region, of course, except for on Sunday.
• 1:38
  Speaker 3: But yeah, it's been a weird start to the college
• 1:41
  Speaker 3: football season. Heck yeah, I think it's been a weird
• 1:43
  Speaker 3: start to the NFL season. The Rams are under 500
• 1:47
  Speaker 3: five weeks into this thing. Who saw that coming? The
• 1:50
  Speaker 3: Chargers are 0-5. Who saw that coming? The Vikings are 5-0.
• 1:54
  Speaker 3: Who saw that coming? It's always a lot of fun
• 1:56
  Speaker 3: when we start to kind of hit this point in
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  Speaker 3: the football calendar where... you can't excuse week one, week two,
• 2:03
  Speaker 3: week three anymore. You're starting to get to that point
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  Speaker 3: where you are who you are and, and you better
• 2:07
  Speaker 3: start getting better. You better start improving because at this
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  Speaker 3: point it's, you know, all these games matter and they,
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  Speaker 3: and they start coming very quickly.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's for sure. Wes and a double B. I
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  Speaker 2: know you're joining us now too, from the South side
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: there for practice today. You know, the Steelers first season,
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  Speaker 2: A few games into the season, a mixed bag, if
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: you will, up and down. They haven't been able to
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: stack wins. They're going to try to do that this
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: week against the Tampa Bay Bucks, Wes. But your analysis
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: so far, five games into the season for the black
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: and gold, and, of course, a nice win on Sunday
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  Speaker 2: against the Colts.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, and maybe this is just the recency here from
• 2:44
  Speaker 3: that win Sunday against the Colts, but I think it's
• 2:45
  Speaker 3: kind of what I just touched on with you, Ed.
• 2:47
  Speaker 3: I understand it. We all react so much. We overreact
• 2:51
  Speaker 3: to every NFL game. Sunday, Monday, Thursday, whenever it's played.
• 2:55
  Speaker 3: If you win, you're going to the Super Bowl.
• 2:57
  Speaker 2: You're great.
• 2:58
  Speaker 3: You're never going to have any injuries. You're never going
• 3:00
  Speaker 3: to have any setbacks. It's yellow brick road. If you lose,
• 3:03
  Speaker 3: it's fire up the mock drafts. We're picking in the
• 3:06
  Speaker 3: top 10. It's fire everybody. That's life in the National
• 3:08
  Speaker 3: Football League when you only get 17 games. But again,
• 3:11
  Speaker 3: when you start to get to this point, mid-October to Halloween,
• 3:15
  Speaker 3: is I think when you can't run, you can't hide.
• 3:17
  Speaker 3: You are who you are at that point in the season.
• 3:19
  Speaker 3: Explanations start to become excuses. Yes, teams deserve time to
• 3:24
  Speaker 3: get together and get on the same page. We know
• 3:26
  Speaker 3: preseason means less than ever before training camp. is less
• 3:29
  Speaker 3: physical than ever before. I think it's taken the Steelers
• 3:32
  Speaker 3: time to figure some things out, but I think what's
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  Speaker 3: undeniable guys now is they're just a big team. They're
• 3:38
  Speaker 3: a physical team. They're a big offense with a lot
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  Speaker 3: of mean, nasty guys on the offensive line at the
• 3:44
  Speaker 3: tight end group. in the backfield, at wide receiver. They're
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  Speaker 3: a physical defense. They, I think, have not necessarily taken
• 3:53
  Speaker 3: the steps forward on defense yet that they have on offense,
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  Speaker 3: but we know the style that they can play, and
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  Speaker 3: I think hopefully getting Deshaun Elliott back sooner rather than later,
• 4:01
  Speaker 3: getting Derek Harmon back, Back here in a couple of weeks,
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  Speaker 3: we'll go a long way in that regard. But it's
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  Speaker 3: starting to me to feel to me, Ed, like this,
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  Speaker 3: like this team, the identity is going to be we're
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  Speaker 3: bigger than you. We're more physical than you try and
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  Speaker 3: match up with Darnell Washington and DK Metcalf and Jalen
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  Speaker 3: Warren and all these guys come see our young offensive
• 4:21
  Speaker 3: line that just wants to maul you and talk trash
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  Speaker 3: to you. for three hours every single Sunday. And if
• 4:27
  Speaker 3: we get those leads, then you see what the defense
• 4:29
  Speaker 3: is going to do. They're going to make plays on
• 4:31
  Speaker 3: the ball. They're going to get after quarterbacks. They're going
• 4:32
  Speaker 3: to limit your run game and really make you one dimensional. I, again,
• 4:36
  Speaker 3: a lot of that is kind of piggybacking off of
• 4:39
  Speaker 3: what we just saw a couple of days ago and
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  Speaker 3: kind of the most recent data point there. But I
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  Speaker 3: do think that that's what the Steelers have been building too.
• 4:45
  Speaker 3: And I do think that has to be the identity
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  Speaker 3: moving forward.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah.
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  Speaker 4: Wes, I mean, I, I don't know that the, I
• 4:51
  Speaker 4: think the guards talk a lot of trash. I don't
• 4:52
  Speaker 4: know that your guy, Zach Frazier is talking too much
• 4:54
  Speaker 4: trash or he's locked in or Maxi Hanachor, but yeah, yeah.
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  Speaker 4: He's a, he's more of the stoic, the strong silent type,
• 5:02
  Speaker 4: but yeah, no, I I'm, I'm with you kind of
• 5:05
  Speaker 4: on a, you know, sometimes I don't love the word
• 5:07
  Speaker 4: identity because it just feels like, you know, you, you
• 5:10
  Speaker 4: can't be pigeonholed into doing one thing, but I look
• 5:13
  Speaker 4: at it more as, you know, the strengths of your,
• 5:15
  Speaker 4: your team and what you can go to your calling card.
• 5:18
  Speaker 4: I think it's going to be that even more now
• 5:19
  Speaker 4: that they lose kind of their best speed threat in
• 5:22
  Speaker 4: Roman Wilson, at least for the short term, temporarily. But
• 5:25
  Speaker 4: the way Aaron Rodgers is slinging the ball right now,
• 5:28
  Speaker 4: it lets you know that teams can't make them one-dimensional necessarily.
• 5:33
  Speaker 4: And when it comes to the Bucs, one matchup that
• 5:35
  Speaker 4: I'm really looking forward to is Maxi Honichor against Reuben Bain,
• 5:39
  Speaker 4: a couple of first-round rookies this year. Bain's still looking.
• 5:43
  Speaker 4: for his first sack and the Bucs still looking for
• 5:45
  Speaker 4: their first home win while the Steelers are looking for
• 5:47
  Speaker 4: their first road win. Something's got to give.
• 5:49
  Speaker 3: Something certainly has to give. And you know what, guys,
• 5:52
  Speaker 3: I think we were just doing this heading into Indianapolis
• 5:54
  Speaker 3: last week. It talking about rest advantage and how big
• 5:58
  Speaker 3: that feels in modern football. A lot of these, you know,
• 6:01
  Speaker 3: Warren Sharps and people who have analyzed the game forever
• 6:05
  Speaker 3: and do so at times from an analytical perspective are
• 6:09
  Speaker 3: they will tell you kind of the thing that we
• 6:11
  Speaker 3: don't discuss enough is rest advantage and disadvantage on a
• 6:15
  Speaker 3: week-to-week basis in the NFL season. You saw that last
• 6:18
  Speaker 3: week for the Steelers, I think, right? They played Thursday
• 6:21
  Speaker 3: and on the road and in Cleveland, and that's a
• 6:22
  Speaker 3: detriment and that's a really hard situation. That's a tough
• 6:26
  Speaker 3: spot for anybody in the NFL to win when you
• 6:28
  Speaker 3: have to go on the road on a Thursday night.
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  Speaker 3: But then you get the long break. Then you get
• 6:32
  Speaker 3: the time to rest. You get the time to self-scout,
• 6:34
  Speaker 3: do all that stuff. You get the rest advantage against Indianapolis,
• 6:37
  Speaker 3: and I think that showed. Now you get the Bucs
• 6:39
  Speaker 3: team who hasn't played since last Thursday. They're the ones
• 6:43
  Speaker 3: with the rest advantage. They actually found a way to
• 6:46
  Speaker 3: be the rare team, the exception that goes on the
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  Speaker 3: road and wins on Thursday night football. So they're going
• 6:51
  Speaker 3: to be feeling good about themselves. Jalen Daniels is going
• 6:53
  Speaker 3: to be feeling good about himself. They've got some guys
• 6:56
  Speaker 3: on that defense that are certainly going to want to
• 6:57
  Speaker 3: test that young Steelers offensive line. So you're right, Brian.
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  Speaker 3: something has to give. And I know this is not,
• 7:03
  Speaker 3: you know, this is not Neil Armstrong landing on the
• 7:06
  Speaker 3: moon type analysis here, but I think it's going to
• 7:08
  Speaker 3: be very similar to last Sunday between the bucks and
• 7:11
  Speaker 3: the Steelers, which one can run the football more successfully,
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  Speaker 3: which one can stop the run more successfully. That's going
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  Speaker 3: to kind of be item number one on grease board.
• 7:20
  Speaker 3: And you're right back. Oh, it's a real test for
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  Speaker 3: maxi Hauna tour. I think it's a real test for
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  Speaker 3: those interior guys. When you look at what the bucks
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  Speaker 3: have on the interior of their defensive line, If you
• 7:29
  Speaker 3: want to continue to grow and take steps forward as
• 7:31
  Speaker 3: an offense, this is a good opponent to do so
• 7:34
  Speaker 3: against on the road. And what should be at least
• 7:36
  Speaker 3: maybe more of a neutral atmosphere down there with what
• 7:39
  Speaker 3: I'm sure is going to be plenty of Steelers and
• 7:41
  Speaker 3: Steelers nations always invading those road games, particularly in Florida,
• 7:46
  Speaker 3: like they love to do.
• 7:47
  Speaker 2: No doubt, big retirement spot for the southwestern Pennsylvania folks
• 7:51
  Speaker 2: going down to Florida, that's for sure. We are talking
• 7:55
  Speaker 2: with Wes Euler, who is the host of SNR's Drive,
• 7:58
  Speaker 2: which you can hear each and every day right here
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: on Steelers Nation Radio, following Brian and I here on
• 8:03
  Speaker 2: the Steelers Report, along with our good friend Brian. Matt Williamson. Wes,
• 8:07
  Speaker 2: let's talk about Jalen Warren. He's the big hot topic
• 8:10
  Speaker 2: this week in and around the black and gold and
• 8:12
  Speaker 2: has been the last three games. You look at his
• 8:14
  Speaker 2: total offensive output, 176 against Cincinnati two weeks ago, 126
• 8:20
  Speaker 2: against the Browns on that Thursday night, and then this
• 8:22
  Speaker 2: past Sunday, 188 total offensive yards. Jalen Warren playing at
• 8:27
  Speaker 2: a big, high level right now for the black and gold.
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  Speaker 3: He certainly is, and I think for a long time, heck, guys,
• 8:33
  Speaker 3: even amongst Steeler Nation, I think Jalen Warren was kind
• 8:36
  Speaker 3: of the best kept secret. I, I think he's been
• 8:39
  Speaker 3: so underrated throughout his career, especially the past couple of years.
• 8:42
  Speaker 3: Every time he gets more opportunity, every time he gets
• 8:45
  Speaker 3: more on his plate, every time he gets a bigger role,
• 8:47
  Speaker 3: quite literally, he takes it and runs with it. And
• 8:48
  Speaker 3: we saw that again on Sunday. We've seen that in
• 8:50
  Speaker 3: the absence of Rico Dowdle. I think this would shock
• 8:53
  Speaker 3: a lot of Steelers fans, but he's right behind Bijan
• 8:56
  Speaker 3: Robinson and Jameer Gibbs at the top of the league
• 8:58
  Speaker 3: for running backs in all purpose yards. Even, you know,
• 9:02
  Speaker 3: I think we talk a lot about on the drive
• 9:04
  Speaker 3: and I, I don't know if there's a bigger Jalen
• 9:06
  Speaker 3: Warren fan outside of maybe his friends and family than
• 9:08
  Speaker 3: my co-host Matt Williamson, but I don't think even we
• 9:11
  Speaker 3: saw this. I don't think even he saw this coming
• 9:14
  Speaker 3: the last couple of weeks. And sometimes guys, you know,
• 9:17
  Speaker 3: what's that old, that old slogan, that old cliche that,
• 9:20
  Speaker 3: you know, necessity is the mother of invention sometimes in
• 9:24
  Speaker 3: a weird way. I don't want to say injuries can
• 9:26
  Speaker 3: be a blessing because I think we would all still
• 9:29
  Speaker 3: want to get Rico Dowdle out there and have him back.
• 9:32
  Speaker 3: But at the same time, sometimes injuries can kind of
• 9:34
  Speaker 3: force your hand and the Steelers were forced to just
• 9:37
  Speaker 3: rely on Jalen Warren, almost exclusively couple carries for Travis
• 9:41
  Speaker 3: Homer in Cleveland, right? One, I think for Lou Nichols.
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 9:44
  Speaker 3: And they did some different, you know, give the ball
• 9:47
  Speaker 3: to DK, give the ball to Jeremy Bernard type creative things. But,
• 9:50
  Speaker 3: it was Jalen Warren, Jalen Warren, and some more Jalen
• 9:53
  Speaker 3: Warren in these past two games, especially. And I hope
• 9:56
  Speaker 3: that again, kind of what we talked about at the beginning,
• 9:59
  Speaker 3: new coaching. staffs, taking some time to get on the
• 10:01
  Speaker 3: same page. Now is when you're really finding out who
• 10:04
  Speaker 3: you truly are and going from there. I hope that
• 10:07
  Speaker 3: part of that kind of finding out who they truly
• 10:08
  Speaker 3: are is, holy cow, this guy Jalen Warren is one
• 10:11
  Speaker 3: of the better running backs in the National Football League.
• 10:13
  Speaker 3: He's got the well-rounded skill set to do everything.
• 10:16
  Speaker 2: You can hand it to him.
• 10:17
  Speaker 3: Throw it to him you can ask him to pass
• 10:19
  Speaker 3: protect he can do it all at a high level
• 10:22
  Speaker 3: and he's just he is similar to Darnell Washington in
• 10:26
  Speaker 3: the sense that nobody wants to tackle them but for
• 10:28
  Speaker 3: different reasons Jalen Warren just doesn't like to be tackled
• 10:31
  Speaker 3: he just bounces off of you like a pinball and
• 10:33
  Speaker 3: has a crazy center of gravity of all the things
• 10:36
  Speaker 3: to be excited about this season I think he has
• 10:38
  Speaker 3: to be at the top of the list I believe
• 10:40
  Speaker 3: it was Aaron Rodgers who said we go as he
• 10:43
  Speaker 3: goes It might have been somebody else on that offense,
• 10:46
  Speaker 3: but I think it was Aaron. Maybe Baku could back
• 10:48
  Speaker 3: me up on that one as he's the real boots-on-the-ground journalist.
• 10:51
  Speaker 3: But I think that's undeniable at this point. Yeah, Aaron
• 10:53
  Speaker 3: Rodgers played well. Yeah, you love what you're seeing from
• 10:56
  Speaker 3: Pat Friermuth and Darnell Washington. But I think this offense
• 10:59
  Speaker 3: is going as Jalen Warren's been going, and I think
• 11:01
  Speaker 3: you can draw a direct correlation to, I mean, one
• 11:04
  Speaker 3: of the Steelers scored 27-plus points in their last three games.
• 11:08
  Speaker 3: I think there's no doubt that a lot of that
• 11:11
  Speaker 3: has been directly correlated to the uptick in usage and
• 11:14
  Speaker 3: share for number 30.
• 11:16
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, the interesting thing about them figuring out
• 11:18
  Speaker 4: maybe what exactly they are and who they need to be,
• 11:23
  Speaker 4: they are going to have to change by necessity a
• 11:26
  Speaker 4: little bit right now because of the injuries in the
• 11:28
  Speaker 4: receiving core. I suppose they can live in 12 personnel,
• 11:32
  Speaker 4: as Aaron Rodgers put it, after the game, but it's
• 11:35
  Speaker 4: also be realistic in the NFL. You generally don't have
• 11:38
  Speaker 4: your skill position guys play a hundred percent of the snaps.
• 11:41
  Speaker 4: So Wes, how do you see them making up for
• 11:43
  Speaker 4: the loss of Roman Wilson? And even Ben Skoranek was
• 11:45
  Speaker 4: doing some dirty work. And now we know that it's
• 11:48
  Speaker 4: going to be life without Michael Pittman Jr. for at
• 11:50
  Speaker 4: least another few games.
• 11:52
  Speaker 3: Yeah. It's a, it's not an ideal situation. I mean,
• 11:54
  Speaker 3: it's guys, it's, it's almost kind of unfair. It's almost
• 11:58
  Speaker 3: kind of like a gut punch, the way that we
• 12:00
  Speaker 3: spent so much time in training camp in the preseason
• 12:03
  Speaker 3: talking about wow, you finally got depth at cornerback and
• 12:06
  Speaker 3: defensive back. Wow, you finally got some depth in that
• 12:08
  Speaker 3: wide receiver room. And now Joey Porter's gone and Jamel
• 12:11
  Speaker 3: Dean's hurt and you still haven't seen Deshaun Elliott and
• 12:14
  Speaker 3: you've got a trio of injuries at wide receiver. I
• 12:19
  Speaker 3: think you're going to have to live in 12 personnel
• 12:21
  Speaker 3: more often. I do think that that's a huge part
• 12:23
  Speaker 3: of it, but obviously you can't do that 100% of
• 12:25
  Speaker 3: the time. DK Metcalf's not going to leave the field.
• 12:28
  Speaker 3: I would expect Jeremy Bernard to be out there a bunch.
• 12:32
  Speaker 3: And so I think that's kind of how you delegate it.
• 12:36
  Speaker 3: Jeremy and DK are on the field a ton. Mount
• 12:40
  Speaker 3: Warsh and Fryermuth are on the field a ton. And
• 12:42
  Speaker 3: then you can kind of fill the gaps in there
• 12:44
  Speaker 3: where you have to with a couple snaps for some
• 12:46
  Speaker 3: other guys. But it's not a great situation at the
• 12:49
  Speaker 3: wide receiver position right now.
• 12:50
  Speaker 4: You are.
• 12:51
  Speaker 3: You are down three of your kind of five legit
• 12:55
  Speaker 3: wide receivers. That's no disrespect to Caden Weegean, but I
• 12:58
  Speaker 3: think the fact that you were already down Pittman and
• 13:01
  Speaker 3: then you lose two more wide receivers on Sunday and
• 13:03
  Speaker 3: we still didn't see Weegean run a route, I think
• 13:05
  Speaker 3: that tells you everything that they think and know about
• 13:09
  Speaker 3: how they're going to use him. You're going to have
• 13:11
  Speaker 3: to live in more 12 personnel. You're going to have
• 13:13
  Speaker 3: to just rely on DK Metcalf and Jeremy Bernard and
• 13:15
  Speaker 3: ask them to have a large snap count and a
• 13:17
  Speaker 3: larger target share. And then obviously, hopefully you get Rico
• 13:21
  Speaker 3: Dowdle back. You can continue to lean on Jalen Warren
• 13:24
  Speaker 3: and supplement that run game a little bit with Rico
• 13:26
  Speaker 3: as well. I think that's kind of got to be
• 13:29
  Speaker 3: the plan going forward here and what's going to be
• 13:31
  Speaker 3: a tough couple weeks to navigate, certainly in terms of
• 13:33
  Speaker 3: that wide receiver room.
• 13:35
  Speaker 2: We're talking with Wes Euler, host of SNR's The Drive,
• 13:38
  Speaker 2: which you can hear each and every day, as we said,
• 13:40
  Speaker 2: right here on Steelers Nation Radio, following Brian and I
• 13:43
  Speaker 2: here at 4 o'clock, along with Matt Williamson. Wes, we
• 13:46
  Speaker 2: have a few minutes left with you. I'll get you
• 13:48
  Speaker 2: one more question here. We'll let Double B get one
• 13:50
  Speaker 2: more to you, and then we'll let you go. Let
• 13:52
  Speaker 2: me ask you about Patrick Graham, because Brian and I
• 13:55
  Speaker 2: are big Patrick Graham guys. We play his audio every
• 13:57
  Speaker 2: week here on the show. I love hearing from him.
• 14:00
  Speaker 2: I think he's a future head coach in the making.
• 14:03
  Speaker 2: But through these first five games, the defense has been
• 14:06
  Speaker 2: up and down a bit. One thing that is missing
• 14:09
  Speaker 2: right now are the sack totals. Cam Hayward got one
• 14:12
  Speaker 2: this past week against Indianapolis, but the edge rushers outside
• 14:15
  Speaker 2: of TJ Watt have been a bit slow to get home.
• 14:18
  Speaker 2: But your thoughts overall on this new Patrick Graham defense
• 14:21
  Speaker 2: that we are now five games in?
• 14:23
  Speaker 3: Yeah, well, I think right off the bat, he's had
• 14:25
  Speaker 3: certainly some curveballs thrown at him again in that secondary,
• 14:29
  Speaker 3: in that defensive back. you know, those rooms corner and
• 14:33
  Speaker 3: safety due to trades due to injuries and unavailability. And
• 14:38
  Speaker 3: I think he's kind of had to patch that thing together,
• 14:41
  Speaker 3: which is a challenge when you consider guys, I don't
• 14:45
  Speaker 3: think there's a, I don't think there's a defense in
• 14:47
  Speaker 3: the league that offensive coordinators game plan more for. We
• 14:52
  Speaker 3: have to get the ball out quickly than the Pittsburgh Steelers.
• 14:55
  Speaker 3: I mean that, that, that dates back a couple of
• 14:56
  Speaker 3: years now, everybody knows the numbers, but, They're getting that
• 15:02
  Speaker 3: ball out 2.3, 2.4, 2.5, 2.6 seconds against the Steelers.
• 15:05
  Speaker 3: That's much easier to do when you have a secondary
• 15:07
  Speaker 3: that's not completely healthy and not completely intact and kind
• 15:11
  Speaker 3: of waiting for some reinforcements hopefully coming down the line.
• 15:15
  Speaker 3: But at the same time, when you are stymieing the
• 15:18
  Speaker 3: run game like we saw against Indianapolis, I mean, I
• 15:20
  Speaker 3: think we all would have signed in blood ahead of
• 15:23
  Speaker 3: kickoff for what they were able to do in limiting
• 15:24
  Speaker 3: Jonathan Taylor. That was... fantastically done. You've got to be
• 15:28
  Speaker 3: able to get after the quarterback more than just one time. Um,
• 15:31
  Speaker 3: it is, it's, there is some rhyme and reason there
• 15:34
  Speaker 3: that they're always going to be the defense that opposing
• 15:37
  Speaker 3: offensive coordinators are screaming all week. We have to get
• 15:39
  Speaker 3: rid of this ball. You can't hold onto it. You
• 15:41
  Speaker 3: can't pat the football. Um, First read, maybe your second
• 15:44
  Speaker 3: read real quick, and then that thing has to be out.
• 15:47
  Speaker 3: But at the same time, when you're having success against
• 15:49
  Speaker 3: the run, you've got to find ways to win more one-on-ones.
• 15:52
  Speaker 3: I thought TJ came out of the gates gangbusters the
• 15:55
  Speaker 3: first couple games, but he's been a little quiet since then.
• 15:59
  Speaker 3: If you look at some of these advanced metric websites,
• 16:03
  Speaker 3: sharp football, PFF, he doesn't have as many pure pass
• 16:07
  Speaker 3: rush attempts this season as you would think. I think
• 16:09
  Speaker 3: it's only like 51 or 52. It's something like 10,
• 16:12
  Speaker 3: 10 and a half a game for Herbig. Get him
• 16:15
  Speaker 3: out there more in those situations. All three of those
• 16:18
  Speaker 3: edge rushers have been very good against the run. I
• 16:21
  Speaker 3: don't think that should be lost in this equation. But
• 16:25
  Speaker 3: this is a defense predicated upon sacks. Those three are
• 16:27
  Speaker 3: paid that big money to get those sack totals, to
• 16:30
  Speaker 3: get those forced fumbles, to set offenses back. And it
• 16:34
  Speaker 3: hasn't happened enough yet. And you've got to imagine from
• 16:36
  Speaker 3: Tampa Bay's standpoint, it's going to be the same thing.
• 16:38
  Speaker 3: They're going to want to run the football with Bucky Irving.
• 16:40
  Speaker 3: They're going to want Jalen Daniels to get that thing
• 16:42
  Speaker 3: out in two and a half seconds tops. It's a
• 16:45
  Speaker 3: tall task, but you've got to find ways to just
• 16:47
  Speaker 3: win more of your individual one-on-ones and get home quicker.
• 16:50
  Speaker 3: I know that's easier said than done, but we also
• 16:53
  Speaker 3: know that there's a lot of guys. I would even
• 16:54
  Speaker 3: throw Cam Hayward and Keanu Benton into that equation, too.
• 16:57
  Speaker 3: A lot of guys that are capable, and you just
• 16:59
  Speaker 3: need a little bit more in that department.
• 17:01
  Speaker 4: Yeah, that's the interesting thing about facing Jalen Daniels, who
• 17:04
  Speaker 4: I'm sure you watched quite a bit over the years
• 17:05
  Speaker 4: in the big world, WVU versus KU. I mean, he
• 17:09
  Speaker 4: was accurate in that Cowboys game, so if you just
• 17:11
  Speaker 4: sit in the zone, I mean, he could probably make
• 17:13
  Speaker 4: some throws to move the chains if you man it up. Uh, he's,
• 17:17
  Speaker 4: he's got a quick first step and he's got some
• 17:18
  Speaker 4: wiggle to get out there and make you pay on
• 17:21
  Speaker 4: the ground. Uh, I mean, the only other question I
• 17:23
  Speaker 4: have for you, Wes is what are we doing in
• 17:24
  Speaker 4: Tampa Saturday night, my man? Well, I was, I was, uh,
• 17:29
  Speaker 4: determined by West Virginia earlier in the day.
• 17:32
  Speaker 2: Correct. That's right.
• 17:33
  Speaker 3: We play TCU at noon, which means we'll be, you know,
• 17:36
  Speaker 3: taking another, uh, sorry. No Cincinnati at noon. So that
• 17:39
  Speaker 3: means we'll be taking another loss by about three 30.
• 17:42
  Speaker 3: So I'll be ready to go out and drown my
• 17:44
  Speaker 3: sorrows as soon as we land. Uh, You know, Mr. Backo,
• 17:47
  Speaker 3: it's not a home game in Tampa, unfortunately, but the
• 17:50
  Speaker 3: Rays and the Guardians will be playing game unless there's
• 17:53
  Speaker 3: a sweep. The Rays and the Guardians will be playing
• 17:56
  Speaker 3: game five there in that NLCS series. So the game
• 18:00
  Speaker 3: will be in Cleveland. It won't be in Tampa, unfortunately,
• 18:02
  Speaker 3: or else I'd say let's try and find our way
• 18:04
  Speaker 3: in there. But I'm sure we can find some. some place,
• 18:06
  Speaker 3: watch some college football, watch some baseball. And I mean, dude,
• 18:10
  Speaker 3: it's just going to be like 80 degrees. So why,
• 18:11
  Speaker 3: you know, maybe we could just hold hands and frolic
• 18:14
  Speaker 3: along the water down there in some warm Florida weather.
• 18:18
  Speaker 4: Oh, I'll frolic with you. And yeah, there's probably gonna
• 18:19
  Speaker 4: be a lot of yinzers there too. It's going to
• 18:21
  Speaker 4: be Tampa Berg for the weekend. I'm looking forward to it.
• 18:23
  Speaker 2: Yeah, me too.
• 18:24
  Speaker 3: Always, always a fun road trip to Tampa, especially, you know,
• 18:27
  Speaker 3: I don't, I don't, I don't want to go to
• 18:29
  Speaker 3: the Florida. I don't want to go to Miami or
• 18:30
  Speaker 3: Tampa or any of these places, Jacksonville in September and August,
• 18:35
  Speaker 3: right around this time. And later when the weather starts
• 18:38
  Speaker 3: to turn cold here in Pittsburgh, that's when you want
• 18:40
  Speaker 3: to be heading South. So we get, we get Tampa.
• 18:42
  Speaker 3: Now we get Jacksonville in December. I'm very happy how that,
• 18:46
  Speaker 3: how that worked out.
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 18:47
  Speaker 2: That one in December will be a lot better. My friends, uh,
• 18:51
  Speaker 2: Because of the weather here in Pittsburgh, we know what
• 18:53
  Speaker 2: it'll be by that point. Hey, Wes Shuler, thank you
• 18:56
  Speaker 2: so much. You're one of our favorites. You know that.
• 18:58
  Speaker 2: Keep doing the good work you're doing here on the network.
• 19:01
  Speaker 2: And again, you can hear Wes just in about a
• 19:03
  Speaker 2: half hour from now with Matt Williamson on SNR's Drive.
• 19:07
  Speaker 2: Thank you, Wes.
• 19:08
  Speaker 3: Boys, always fun.
• 19:09
  Speaker 4: See you, pal.
• 19:09
  Speaker 2: All right, Brian and I will be back here on
• 19:11
  Speaker 2: Steelers Nation Radio, part of the Steelers Audio Network.
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: This is the Steelers Report with Brian Batko and Ed
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: Troup on Steelers Nation Radio, a part of the Steelers
• 19:30
  Speaker 1: Audio Network.
• 19:32
  Speaker 2: Great stuff from Wes Euler. Again, you can catch Wes
• 19:35
  Speaker 2: coming up here today at 4 o'clock with Matt Williamson
• 19:37
  Speaker 2: on SNR's The Drive. Always enjoy catching up with Wes. Brian,
• 19:41
  Speaker 2: you've known Wes for a number of years. You guys
• 19:43
  Speaker 2: are on the road together covering the black and gold,
• 19:45
  Speaker 2: and as we heard there during the interview, you have
• 19:48
  Speaker 2: some plans this weekend to get together, but this is
• 19:50
  Speaker 2: your first trip to Tampa this weekend, right?
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: Yes, it is.
• 19:54
  Speaker 4: I'll get to check off a new stadium on my
• 19:57
  Speaker 4: list of NFL venues, which is always fun to do.
• 20:00
  Speaker 4: I think this is actually going to be the only
• 20:01
  Speaker 4: one that I do get to cross off this year. Oh, well,
• 20:05
  Speaker 4: I mean, you count the Stade de France in Paris.
• 20:08
  Speaker 4: No one has ever crossed into an NFL game there.
• 20:11
  Speaker 4: But as far as the 30 that are in use
• 20:14
  Speaker 4: for NFL teams, this will be the only new one
• 20:17
  Speaker 4: for me in 2026.
• 20:19
  Speaker 2: And you're already starting to get your plans together for
• 20:22
  Speaker 2: Paris for next week, too. You'll be heading over and
• 20:24
  Speaker 2: you'll be there well in advance of the game on Sunday, right?
• 20:29
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, the team can't look ahead, but those
• 20:31
  Speaker 4: of us who have to work through the logistics, we can.
• 20:36
  Speaker 4: And yeah, I'll be heading over there midweek, next week
• 20:40
  Speaker 4: uh much like i did last year in dublin arrive
• 20:44
  Speaker 4: actually probably before the team but yeah i'm looking forward
• 20:47
  Speaker 4: to it but i am trying to stay in the
• 20:50
  Speaker 4: moment because i've never been to tampa either i think
• 20:52
  Speaker 4: it's ironic i've been to paris i've never been to
• 20:54
  Speaker 4: tampa bay florida um so i i'm kind of relieved
• 20:58
  Speaker 4: though that i have been to paris and that this
• 21:01
  Speaker 4: would just be simply a a work trip whatever amount
• 21:04
  Speaker 4: of leisure and sightseeing i i get to do will
• 21:07
  Speaker 4: be uh a bonus. I'll be playing with house money
• 21:11
  Speaker 4: considering my wife and I spent, I think five nights
• 21:13
  Speaker 4: there like a decade ago.
• 21:15
  Speaker 2: That's great, man. You're going to have a great time now.
• 21:17
  Speaker 2: You know, it will be interesting to see and you'll
• 21:19
  Speaker 2: have to report back whenever you get back. And again,
• 21:21
  Speaker 2: we'll have double B with us a little bit during
• 21:24
  Speaker 2: the trip over to Paris, but we'll also be without
• 21:26
  Speaker 2: him as well as he has some Steelers.com duties and
• 21:29
  Speaker 2: some other video and audio duties as well in and
• 21:32
  Speaker 2: around the black and gold. But Brian, you'll have to
• 21:34
  Speaker 2: report back when you come, come back. You were in
• 21:37
  Speaker 2: Ireland last year, And there was a huge, you know,
• 21:41
  Speaker 2: attendance by Steeler Nation for that one. I'll be curious
• 21:44
  Speaker 2: to see if it'll be the same in Paris this
• 21:47
  Speaker 2: week or this. Well, not this week. It'll be next week.
• 21:50
  Speaker 4: Yeah, me too. We'll be doing some shows from out
• 21:52
  Speaker 4: there on SNR. So that'll be a lot of fun.
• 21:55
  Speaker 4: And yeah, I mean, just simply the travel alone will
• 21:59
  Speaker 4: come up the works for me a little bit as
• 22:01
  Speaker 4: far as being on the Steelers report next week. But hey,
• 22:04
  Speaker 4: only international game of the season.
• 22:06
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 22:06
  Speaker 4: You make special arrangements when these things pop up and
• 22:10
  Speaker 4: it's going to be a lot of fun. But first,
• 22:11
  Speaker 4: it's going to be a lot of fun to be
• 22:13
  Speaker 4: near the ocean. Well, yeah, near the Gulf, near the both.
• 22:17
  Speaker 4: I get near the water in Tampa, somewhere warmer than this.
• 22:20
  Speaker 4: How about that?
• 22:21
  Speaker 2: Yeah. And you're picking a good weekend to go there
• 22:23
  Speaker 2: because it's going to be chilly in and around Pittsburgh.
• 22:25
  Speaker 2: But I'm OK with that. I'm a seasonal guy. So
• 22:26
  Speaker 2: it's now that time of the year, mid to late October.
• 22:30
  Speaker 2: Let's start getting into some football weather. some cooler weather
• 22:33
  Speaker 2: in and around Pittsburgh, and it could be damp and
• 22:35
  Speaker 2: dark too. I'm okay with that. Like I said, it
• 22:38
  Speaker 2: just feels like football. Okay, let's get into our power
• 22:40
  Speaker 2: rankings for the week. We'll start with offense. For me,
• 22:43
  Speaker 2: at number five, I have the Detroit Lions double B
• 22:46
  Speaker 2: at three and two on the season. They have averaged
• 22:50
  Speaker 2: 164 points. Not averaged, excuse me. They have a total
• 22:54
  Speaker 2: of 164 points scored. on the season. Jameer Gibbs being
• 22:59
  Speaker 2: a big part of that so far this season, leading
• 23:01
  Speaker 2: the lines. Yes, they're only 3-2, but they do have
• 23:03
  Speaker 2: one of the top offenses in the league. I have
• 23:06
  Speaker 2: them at No. 5. How about you?
• 23:07
  Speaker 4: I'm going to go with the Baltimore Ravens at 5,
• 23:12
  Speaker 4: assuming that this absence for Lamar Jackson is not too long-term,
• 23:17
  Speaker 4: which I'm guessing it's not because he hasn't been placed
• 23:21
  Speaker 4: on ir or anything and tyler huntley you know he
• 23:24
  Speaker 4: kept the ship rolling as he often does barely uh
• 23:27
  Speaker 4: the other night in atlanta but i think as long
• 23:30
  Speaker 4: as lamar gets healthy i still think that's a really
• 23:33
  Speaker 4: good one-two punch at quarterback running back and um you
• 23:37
  Speaker 4: know the receivers zay flowers rashad bateman you know not
• 23:41
  Speaker 4: as good as some teams around the league but you're
• 23:43
  Speaker 4: not going to need them as much probably once the
• 23:45
  Speaker 4: weather turns so i've got the baltimore ravens slotting back
• 23:48
  Speaker 4: in at five for me I have.
• 23:49
  Speaker 2: The Ravens at number four on my list at four
• 23:52
  Speaker 2: and one on the season, 146 points scored. Now, there
• 23:56
  Speaker 2: was just some breaking news this morning that popped up here, Brian,
• 23:59
  Speaker 2: that it looks like the Ravens have said that they're
• 24:01
  Speaker 2: going to try to get Lamar Jackson back as early
• 24:04
  Speaker 2: as this week. They want to see him play this week,
• 24:07
  Speaker 2: and of course they want to see him play. It's
• 24:08
  Speaker 2: a matter of will he be able to play, but
• 24:10
  Speaker 2: that report just came across earlier today that they're going
• 24:14
  Speaker 2: to try to get Lamar going in practice this week
• 24:17
  Speaker 2: so he can be back as early as this weekend
• 24:20
  Speaker 2: so we'll see but yes this Ravens offense and look
• 24:22
  Speaker 2: Derrick Henry can't go wrong there either in the backfield
• 24:25
  Speaker 2: as you said just such a good combination of quarterback
• 24:27
  Speaker 2: and running back and like I said they're four and
• 24:30
  Speaker 2: one they're atop the AFC North and their offense has
• 24:32
  Speaker 2: a big reason to do to do with that because
• 24:34
  Speaker 2: their defense has struggled we'll get into our defensive rankings
• 24:38
  Speaker 2: when we come back on the other half in this
• 24:40
  Speaker 2: hour but for now I have the Ravens offense at
• 24:42
  Speaker 2: number four how about for you at number four I'm.
• 24:46
  Speaker 4: Finally going to move the San Francisco 49ers into my
• 24:50
  Speaker 4: top five offenses here, putting up 32 points in Seattle. Man,
• 24:55
  Speaker 4: is that impressive? You know, even though the injuries seemingly
• 25:00
  Speaker 4: always bite the Niners, Mike Evans found the fountain of
• 25:04
  Speaker 4: youth in that game, seven grabs for 113 and a touchdown.
• 25:10
  Speaker 4: Debo Samuel is hurt now for them. So it's basically
• 25:13
  Speaker 4: just down to Mike Evans and George Kittle, two guys
• 25:17
  Speaker 4: who have seen a lot more football than they're going
• 25:19
  Speaker 4: to see. But obviously Brock Purdy and Christian McCaffrey are
• 25:23
  Speaker 4: playing at a very high level. So give me the
• 25:26
  Speaker 4: Niners on that one. And, you know, I know they
• 25:29
  Speaker 4: scored a defensive touchdown in that game, too. But I
• 25:31
  Speaker 4: can't continue to deny this offense, which actually ended up
• 25:34
  Speaker 4: getting Brandon Cooks involved out of nowhere, too, last week.
• 25:38
  Speaker 2: How about that? He got involved in a big way there. Listen,
• 25:43
  Speaker 2: I have the 49ers on my list, but not quite yet.
• 25:46
  Speaker 2: So I will hold off on my feedback on that
• 25:49
  Speaker 2: 49ers offense. At number three for me, we're in our
• 25:51
  Speaker 2: top three power rankings of offenses for this week. Going
• 25:54
  Speaker 2: into week five, I have the Kansas City Chiefs at
• 25:57
  Speaker 2: 4-0 on the season. Yes, they've scored a total of
• 26:00
  Speaker 2: 77 points on the season, but they did have a
• 26:02
  Speaker 2: bye week last week. They are currently sitting as one
• 26:05
  Speaker 2: of the three undefeated football teams at 4-0, and as
• 26:07
  Speaker 2: we've talked on the program, Patrick Mahomes looks like the
• 26:10
  Speaker 2: old Patrick Mahomes. Before the injury last year, Kenneth Walker
• 26:16
  Speaker 2: looks like the Super Bowl MVP from last year, picked
• 26:18
  Speaker 2: up right where he left off. Even Travis Kelsey has
• 26:21
  Speaker 2: gone into the act. He looks like a young Travis Kelsey.
• 26:23
  Speaker 2: Now that he's married to Taylor Swift, he has gotten
• 26:26
  Speaker 2: his career back to looking like it was at the beginning,
• 26:29
  Speaker 2: rather at more where it is like at the end.
• 26:33
  Speaker 2: So the Kansas City Chiefs, my number three offense going
• 26:35
  Speaker 2: into this week.
• 26:37
  Speaker 4: My number three are the Detroit Lions. Wake me up
• 26:40
  Speaker 4: when they score under 26 points in a game. I
• 26:43
  Speaker 4: know they're three and two, but the offense just continues
• 26:46
  Speaker 4: to roll along. I'm not moving them up, though, because
• 26:49
  Speaker 4: they put up 45 at Arizona. I think the Cardinals
• 26:53
  Speaker 4: are kind of a mess at this point. But still,
• 26:57
  Speaker 4: there's got to be a crispness to your game. If
• 27:00
  Speaker 4: you're going to put up 45 on anybody in the NFL,
• 27:02
  Speaker 4: particularly away from home, Jamison Williams got more involved this
• 27:07
  Speaker 4: week for them. They've got a plethora of weapons out
• 27:11
  Speaker 4: there who can hurt you, and Jared Goff is getting
• 27:14
  Speaker 4: the ball distributed at least, 12 touchdowns to zero interceptions
• 27:19
  Speaker 4: this season for Jared Goff. Nobody really knew what it
• 27:21
  Speaker 4: was going to look like with a new OC in
• 27:23
  Speaker 4: Drew Petzing, but so far, so very good for the
• 27:26
  Speaker 4: Lions offense.
• 27:28
  Speaker 2: Brian, we're a bit closer on our top five power
• 27:30
  Speaker 2: rankings here. If anyone's been listening the last handful of weeks,
• 27:34
  Speaker 2: usually we have one or two that we're off. Maybe
• 27:37
  Speaker 2: this is the week where we align more with our
• 27:39
  Speaker 2: one through five. For number two for me are the
• 27:42
  Speaker 2: San Francisco 49ers. You had them at number four. I
• 27:44
  Speaker 2: have them at number two, 5-0. Again, one of those
• 27:47
  Speaker 2: three undefeated teams on the season, 154 points scored on
• 27:51
  Speaker 2: the season. That's an average score. of 30.8 per game,
• 27:57
  Speaker 2: an offense that's generating 365 total yards on an average,
• 28:00
  Speaker 2: 236 passing with Brock Purdy and McCaffrey out of the
• 28:04
  Speaker 2: backfield averaging about $ 1. 28 so far this season. Put that
• 28:09
  Speaker 2: all together, they're undefeated, and they're my number two offense
• 28:12
  Speaker 2: going into week five.
• 28:14
  Speaker 4: My number two are the Kansas City Chiefs. They were
• 28:18
  Speaker 4: idle this past week, so they stay in the same
• 28:21
  Speaker 4: spot on my board here. We'll see what they do
• 28:24
  Speaker 4: to replace the Taekwon Thornton speedy receiver who went down.
• 28:31
  Speaker 4: But they've got speed, speed, and more speed on that team.
• 28:33
  Speaker 4: Xavier Worthy is still there. Kenneth Walker III out of
• 28:37
  Speaker 4: the backfield, really tough. And, yeah, Travis Kelsey, like you said,
• 28:41
  Speaker 4: looking like the Travis Kelsey of old. He and George
• 28:43
  Speaker 4: Kittle still going strong, manning the tight end position in
• 28:46
  Speaker 4: the NFL. Brock Bowers, Trey McBride, they've got next. But
• 28:49
  Speaker 4: Kittle and Kelsey aren't going away just yet.
• 28:52
  Speaker 2: That's good that you mentioned George Kittle. I had the
• 28:54
  Speaker 2: Niners at two, and you have them at four. I
• 28:57
  Speaker 2: went through the Purdy and McCaffrey part of the conversation,
• 29:00
  Speaker 2: but I didn't mention George Kittle, and I should have
• 29:03
  Speaker 2: because he is off to a good start through the
• 29:05
  Speaker 2: first five weeks of the season, and he's healthy too.
• 29:08
  Speaker 2: That's been something that has hurt George Kittle throughout his
• 29:11
  Speaker 2: NFL career has been the health part of it. We
• 29:13
  Speaker 2: know the 49ers are offense and defense. That is what
• 29:16
  Speaker 2: has stopped them from making it to the NFC title
• 29:20
  Speaker 2: game or the Super Bowl. It's been their health. And
• 29:22
  Speaker 2: so far through the first four weeks of the season
• 29:24
  Speaker 2: going here into week five, or excuse me, going through
• 29:29
  Speaker 2: the first five weeks, I should say, they have remained
• 29:31
  Speaker 2: relatively very healthy. Okay, number one. So you have the
• 29:35
  Speaker 2: Chiefs at two, Lions at three, Niners at four, Ravens
• 29:38
  Speaker 2: at five. I have the Niners at two, Chiefs at three,
• 29:41
  Speaker 2: Ravens at four, Lions at five. So we have the
• 29:44
  Speaker 2: same four teams, two through five. So do we have
• 29:48
  Speaker 2: the same number one team? I have the Buffalo Bills.
• 29:51
  Speaker 2: How about you, Brian?
• 29:53
  Speaker 4: Yes, I do as well. Josh Allen was kind of
• 29:57
  Speaker 4: at his best again. Sunday night or Monday night football
• 30:02
  Speaker 4: against the L.A. Rams. I mean, he just seems like
• 30:04
  Speaker 4: a cheat code with his legs. I mean, anytime something
• 30:07
  Speaker 4: breaks down, something goes wrong, you can just take off
• 30:09
  Speaker 4: and run and make people miss. And he's just he's
• 30:14
  Speaker 4: a bulldozer with the football in his hands. He's he's
• 30:17
  Speaker 4: getting older, but he's still playing that way. And it's
• 30:20
  Speaker 4: it's a sight to behold. So, you know, he's tough
• 30:23
  Speaker 4: to stop. And James Cook, as long as he can
• 30:25
  Speaker 4: stop fumbling and will be another nice piece for the
• 30:29
  Speaker 4: Bills going forward, of course, again. And I like the
• 30:31
  Speaker 4: tight end tandem, Dalton Kincaid and Dawson Knox. Knox made
• 30:35
  Speaker 4: a big catch in that game. So, yeah, if they
• 30:37
  Speaker 4: get DJ Moore back, that should only boost them too.
• 30:40
  Speaker 2: The Buffalo Bills, also my number one team, as I said,
• 30:43
  Speaker 2: 164 total points scored. Brian just went through some of
• 30:45
  Speaker 2: the players. Here's some of their overall stats so far
• 30:49
  Speaker 2: this season through five weeks. 396.2 yards per game average.
• 30:55
  Speaker 2: Josh Allen averaging 238 yards passing. The running game has
• 30:59
  Speaker 2: generated an average of 158 yards per game and points,
• 31:03
  Speaker 2: as I said, 164 scored. That's an average of 32.8
• 31:06
  Speaker 2: points per game. The Bills are dangerous, and we have
• 31:10
  Speaker 2: the Bills and Chiefs both in our top three offenses
• 31:14
  Speaker 2: for this week. You also, well, let's go. Brian has
• 31:17
  Speaker 2: the Bills, Chiefs, Lions, Niners, Ravens. I have Bills, Niners,
• 31:21
  Speaker 2: Kansas City. Lions for my top five. But Brian, my
• 31:25
  Speaker 2: point is we both have the Bills and the Chiefs
• 31:28
  Speaker 2: in our top three offenses for this week, and it's
• 31:30
  Speaker 2: a big reason why they're on top of their divisions
• 31:33
  Speaker 2: for five weeks.
• 31:35
  Speaker 4: Yeah, and even Keon Coleman's playing better lately for the Bills.
• 31:38
  Speaker 4: He's one of those receivers who was drafted highly and
• 31:43
  Speaker 4: touted when they brought him in. Then he had fallen
• 31:46
  Speaker 4: out of favor, and they sort of publicly threw him
• 31:49
  Speaker 4: under the bus at one point, but he had a
• 31:51
  Speaker 4: big touchdown catch. In that game, everything's coming up Josh
• 31:54
  Speaker 4: Allen and the Bills other than when they play the
• 31:56
  Speaker 4: New England Patriots, obviously.
• 31:59
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's been one team. We'll see how that plays
• 32:01
  Speaker 2: out later this year, the second time around. First time around,
• 32:05
  Speaker 2: went to the Patriots. We'll see what happens the second
• 32:07
  Speaker 2: time around. Whenever we come back, our top five defenses,
• 32:11
  Speaker 2: that was our offenses, coming back our power rankings after
• 32:14
  Speaker 2: five weeks for our top defensive units. I'm Ed Troop.
• 32:17
  Speaker 2: He's Brian Backo. It is the Steelers Report right here
• 32:20
  Speaker 2: on Steelers Nation Radio, part of the Steelers Audio Network.
• 32:32
  Speaker 1: This is the Steelers Report with Brian Backo and Ed
• 32:36
  Speaker 1: Troop on Steelers Nation Radio, a part of the Steelers
• 32:40
  Speaker 1: Audio Network.
• 32:42
  Speaker 2: Coming up on the show tomorrow, we will get to
• 32:44
  Speaker 2: our 10 terrible takes for this week. We'll also check
• 32:48
  Speaker 2: in on some stat leaders in and around the NFL.
• 32:50
  Speaker 2: And we'll also hear from Nick Farabaugh from PennLive that
• 32:54
  Speaker 2: will be joining us. Nick has been on the show
• 32:56
  Speaker 2: a few times. We'll catch up with him. We caught
• 32:58
  Speaker 2: up with Wes today. We'll catch up with Nick tomorrow.
• 33:01
  Speaker 2: And then coming up on Friday's show, Brian, we'll also
• 33:05
  Speaker 2: have our peek behind the scenes, if you will, from
• 33:08
  Speaker 2: across the way, enemy territory from Tampa Bay.
• 33:13
  Speaker 4: Bucs reporter Casey Phillips is set to join the show.
• 33:16
  Speaker 4: On Friday, give us a little bit more detail of
• 33:18
  Speaker 4: what's going on down there in Tampa. Always one of
• 33:22
  Speaker 4: those weird things. When I was growing up, I thought
• 33:24
  Speaker 4: Tampa Bay was a place, but then you realize, I mean,
• 33:27
  Speaker 4: it is, but it's not a city name. And then
• 33:29
  Speaker 4: you get older and you realize, oh, the Bucks and
• 33:31
  Speaker 4: the Rays and the Lightning, they just, they go by
• 33:33
  Speaker 4: the phrase Tampa Bay. It's different than Green Bay, which
• 33:37
  Speaker 4: is obviously an actual city name. This one's more of
• 33:40
  Speaker 4: a region, I suppose you could say.
• 33:43
  Speaker 2: They've had some success in Tampa Bay when it comes
• 33:45
  Speaker 2: to their sports franchises. The Lightning have won, what, a
• 33:48
  Speaker 2: couple Stanley Cups over the course of time. The Rays
• 33:51
  Speaker 2: right now are in the AL Championship Series in a dogfight.
• 33:56
  Speaker 2: So too bad they're not in town this weekend. I
• 33:58
  Speaker 2: don't think they'll be there for you, right?
• 34:00
  Speaker 4: No, like Wes said, now there is guaranteed to be
• 34:04
  Speaker 4: a Game 5 because the Rays won last night, which
• 34:08
  Speaker 4: means that no one's going to sweep that series. But, yeah,
• 34:12
  Speaker 4: Game 5. five Saturday will be in Cleveland and I
• 34:16
  Speaker 4: don't know I mean I always kind of liked the
• 34:17
  Speaker 4: Rays growing up they had kind of a cool logo
• 34:20
  Speaker 4: and cool jerseys and they were like the underdog always
• 34:23
  Speaker 4: to the Yankees and Red Sox villain in that division
• 34:26
  Speaker 4: but my dear sister-in-law Taylor is a Cleveland native and
• 34:30
  Speaker 4: a big Guardians fan so I might be might be
• 34:33
  Speaker 4: pulling for them and I don't think I'm gonna like
• 34:37
  Speaker 4: really care if we're out watching the game somewhere I
• 34:39
  Speaker 4: don't think I'm gonna be vociferously rooting or wearing Cleveland
• 34:43
  Speaker 4: stuff but I don't know would Tampa fans even care
• 34:45
  Speaker 4: they seem like a they seem like a chill fan
• 34:47
  Speaker 4: base for all the sporting success that you just alluded
• 34:50
  Speaker 4: to there Ed like I don't think I know anybody
• 34:52
  Speaker 4: who lives in Tampa I don't think I know I
• 34:54
  Speaker 4: don't think there's a diehard Rays or Lightning fan in
• 34:58
  Speaker 4: my life so that's that's kind of odd but obviously
• 35:01
  Speaker 4: a lot of people live there and I'm sure they're
• 35:03
  Speaker 4: passionate just like we are here in Pittsburgh A.
• 35:05
  Speaker 2: Lot of Pittsburgh folks retire to that area, right, on
• 35:09
  Speaker 2: the Gulf Shore of Florida. So, you know, you'll probably
• 35:12
  Speaker 2: have more. You might have more Steeler fans there on Sunday.
• 35:15
  Speaker 2: That'll be another interesting thing to check out. But I'm
• 35:18
  Speaker 2: with you on the Cleveland thing. I've said many times
• 35:20
  Speaker 2: here on the show, the Browns are the only Cleveland
• 35:21
  Speaker 2: team that I don't root for or like, obviously, here
• 35:24
  Speaker 2: being in Steeler Nation. But we go up to a
• 35:26
  Speaker 2: bunch of Cavs games. I enjoy watching the Cavs play.
• 35:29
  Speaker 2: My good friend John Michael is an Aliquippa, Pittsburgh native.
• 35:34
  Speaker 2: He's the play-by-play guy up there, so I have a
• 35:36
  Speaker 2: rooting interest there in the Cavs. And then on the
• 35:38
  Speaker 2: other side with the Guardians, I'm with you, Brian. Cleveland
• 35:41
  Speaker 2: has never bothered me from a baseball standpoint either. I've
• 35:44
  Speaker 2: enjoyed watching the Guardians play, and I'll be rooting for them, actually,
• 35:46
  Speaker 2: quite frankly, in that series against the Tampa Bay Cavs.
• 35:50
  Speaker 1: Lightning.
• 35:50
  Speaker 2: But yeah, you should have a fun weekend in Tampa.
• 35:52
  Speaker 2: Hopefully you'll have some good weather and hopefully some good
• 35:54
  Speaker 2: weather on Sunday for Steelers Bucks at one o'clock. Let's
• 35:58
  Speaker 2: get to our top five defensive rankings for the week.
• 36:01
  Speaker 2: I will start out at number five and Brian Bacco,
• 36:04
  Speaker 2: do not get up and leave the room because the
• 36:06
  Speaker 2: Jets are back on my list. They're the only losing team.
• 36:09
  Speaker 2: That's on either of my top five defenses or offenses.
• 36:13
  Speaker 2: But the Jets check in because of these following stats
• 36:16
  Speaker 2: for you. So before you throw me under the bus,
• 36:18
  Speaker 2: they have averaged 293 total yards given up per game,
• 36:22
  Speaker 2: 175 for passing, 118 for rushing, and 19.2 points per game,
• 36:28
  Speaker 2: 96 total points given up on the season. There's your stats.
• 36:32
  Speaker 2: Jets are back on my list at number five.
• 36:36
  Speaker 4: I know. They've actually played some. Some good teams, you know,
• 36:39
  Speaker 4: the Packers, Lions, and Bears in this past week. They
• 36:42
  Speaker 4: handed a big old L to the Browns, which is
• 36:44
  Speaker 4: appreciated always in Pittsburgh. But, you know, a lot of
• 36:49
  Speaker 4: the numbers there for them have been propped up a
• 36:52
  Speaker 4: bit by their games against the Titans and the Browns. However,
• 36:55
  Speaker 4: I will say, for the first time all season, I
• 36:58
  Speaker 4: did at least consider them. They're at least in the
• 36:59
  Speaker 4: receiving votes category if Brian Batko was split into 25
• 37:04
  Speaker 4: voters for this exercise game. Some part of me was
• 37:08
  Speaker 4: willing to put the Jets at number five. However, despite
• 37:12
  Speaker 4: the nature of power rankings being sort of recency biased based,
• 37:17
  Speaker 4: I'm still going to put the Seattle Seahawks at number
• 37:19
  Speaker 4: five on my list as long as Mike McDonald's the
• 37:22
  Speaker 4: head coach there and they've got the pieces that they do.
• 37:24
  Speaker 4: I mean, they just gave up 32 to the Niners,
• 37:26
  Speaker 4: but that was kind of a weird game. The Niners
• 37:28
  Speaker 4: scored a defensive touchdown. I think they held the Niners
• 37:32
  Speaker 4: under 300 total yards. So it hasn't been as smooth
• 37:35
  Speaker 4: as you'd like to see from Seattle coming off that
• 37:37
  Speaker 4: Super Bowl win, but I still got them good enough
• 37:40
  Speaker 4: here to be in my top five and rounded out
• 37:42
  Speaker 4: on defense.
• 37:44
  Speaker 2: Speaking of the Niners, they check in at number four
• 37:46
  Speaker 2: on my list for our top five power ranking defensive
• 37:49
  Speaker 2: units of the week. 5-0 undefeated. They're my number two offense.
• 37:53
  Speaker 2: They're my number four defense going into this week. 93
• 37:57
  Speaker 2: points scored against them so far this season. That's an
• 37:59
  Speaker 2: average of 18.8 points per game. But more impressively is
• 38:03
  Speaker 2: what they've done against the run so far this season, Brian.
• 38:06
  Speaker 2: Averaging 97.6 yards per game given up on the ground.
• 38:10
  Speaker 2: Niners defense number four for me.
• 38:13
  Speaker 4: I have them number four too. They continue to play
• 38:17
  Speaker 4: at a high level and They gave up 29 to
• 38:20
  Speaker 4: the Seahawks, but this is a group that seems like
• 38:23
  Speaker 4: it is fully back off of a dismal playoff performance there.
• 38:30
  Speaker 4: So yeah, the Niners have the Commanders on Monday night football.
• 38:34
  Speaker 4: The Seahawks have the Broncos on Thursday night football. So
• 38:37
  Speaker 4: both of my four and five teams will be in
• 38:39
  Speaker 4: primetime this week, and I've got a little better feeling
• 38:43
  Speaker 4: about the Niners against the Commanders, and that's at home
• 38:47
  Speaker 4: in San Fran, but I think the Seahawks' defense might
• 38:50
  Speaker 4: get the Bo Nicks as well. That'll be what could
• 38:52
  Speaker 4: have been a Super Bowl matchup there.
• 38:55
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and who knows? Maybe it'll be another one coming up.
• 38:58
  Speaker 2: You never know. Hey, the Chiefs, Brian, have checked in
• 39:02
  Speaker 2: at No. 3 for my offense, and they have now
• 39:05
  Speaker 2: checked in at No. 3 for my defense. 4-0 on
• 39:08
  Speaker 2: the season coming off of a bye week. They've gotten
• 39:11
  Speaker 2: a total of 77 points on offense and also on
• 39:14
  Speaker 2: defense as well so far this season. That's a 19.3
• 39:15
  Speaker 2: average overall. game but 92.8 yards against the run as
• 39:21
  Speaker 2: well on the ground I talked about the Niners being
• 39:24
  Speaker 2: very good against the run under 100 yards so far
• 39:26
  Speaker 2: on an average given up this season Chiefs right with
• 39:29
  Speaker 2: the Niners number three on my list.
• 39:32
  Speaker 4: I've got the New England Patriots, number three. They really
• 39:36
  Speaker 4: impressed me this past week with at home in Foxborough,
• 39:40
  Speaker 4: they seem to be even better. We witnessed that, unfortunately,
• 39:43
  Speaker 4: firsthand in week two when the Steelers made the trek
• 39:47
  Speaker 4: up there, but they just smashed the Raiders 45 to 17.
• 39:50
  Speaker 4: And that was a three and one Raiders team that
• 39:52
  Speaker 4: had some stuff working offensively, but stuff seems to dry
• 39:56
  Speaker 4: up when you go to new England and now they
• 39:59
  Speaker 4: get the jets at home. They, they stunk it up
• 40:02
  Speaker 4: in Jacksonville the week before, you know, holding the bills
• 40:06
  Speaker 4: to 26 in Buffalo is actually pretty impressive too. So
• 40:08
  Speaker 4: I'd consider that back to back strong games from the
• 40:12
  Speaker 4: Patriots strong enough that I'm going to vault them up
• 40:14
  Speaker 4: to number three.
• 40:15
  Speaker 2: I thought about the Pats. They didn't make my list,
• 40:17
  Speaker 2: so that'll be one team that'll be different for us.
• 40:20
  Speaker 2: We had the same five, just in a little bit
• 40:22
  Speaker 2: of a different order for our top five offenses, but
• 40:24
  Speaker 2: our defenses will be at least one team different. I
• 40:28
  Speaker 2: did not have the Pats, but I thought about them.
• 40:29
  Speaker 2: If I were to do a sixth or seventh team,
• 40:31
  Speaker 2: they'd probably be sitting right there. I'm with you, Brian.
• 40:33
  Speaker 2: I thought they did a nice job last week. Number
• 40:36
  Speaker 2: two on my list are the Jacksonville Jaguars at 4-1
• 40:39
  Speaker 2: on the season. 70 points scored against them so far
• 40:42
  Speaker 2: this year. This unit's been very good against the run.
• 40:44
  Speaker 2: In fact, they're the best in the NFL against the run,
• 40:47
  Speaker 2: only averaging 63.8 yards per game given up on the ground.
• 40:52
  Speaker 2: Passing-wise at 266 per game, 330 total yards per game
• 40:57
  Speaker 2: given up. But again, that 14 points per game average,
• 41:01
  Speaker 2: only 70 on the season, has been impressive. All of
• 41:03
  Speaker 2: those categories, they are in the top 10. in the NFL.
• 41:08
  Speaker 4: I'm with you Jags. Number two for me, uh, the
• 41:12
  Speaker 4: Eagles obviously didn't have Saquon Barkley in that game. They
• 41:14
  Speaker 4: didn't even have tank Bigsby in that game. And their
• 41:17
  Speaker 4: offensive line is kind of in shambles right now, unfortunately
• 41:21
  Speaker 4: for Philly, not unfortunate if you're not an Eagles fan, but, um,
• 41:25
  Speaker 4: cause that offensive line has been kind of annoyingly good
• 41:29
  Speaker 4: in recent years with the push push and all of that.
• 41:31
  Speaker 4: So if that, uh, if that's going to come crashing
• 41:33
  Speaker 4: down at least temporarily until they get some younger different
• 41:36
  Speaker 4: pieces in there, I think the entire football world would,
• 41:39
  Speaker 4: would welcome that development. But yes, certainly the Jags made
• 41:43
  Speaker 4: them look rather impotent in the run game. They held
• 41:47
  Speaker 4: the Eagles to 22 yards rushing, did not allow a
• 41:50
  Speaker 4: run longer than six yards. Goodness gracious.
• 41:54
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 41:54
  Speaker 4: The Jaguars have been stout week in and week out. It's,
• 41:58
  Speaker 4: it's kind of surprising that they lost week two at Denver,
• 42:01
  Speaker 4: but even in that game, They only allowed 20 points.
• 42:03
  Speaker 4: So they've been, they've been a hole that's greater than
• 42:06
  Speaker 4: the sum of its parts. Let's see if they can
• 42:07
  Speaker 4: keep it going because we'll get a chance to watch
• 42:10
  Speaker 4: them as a viewing football country again on Sunday morning.
• 42:13
  Speaker 4: They've got another London game, 930 against the, I just
• 42:17
  Speaker 4: lost it. Who are they playing this week? The Jaguars, no,
• 42:21
  Speaker 4: the Texans.
• 42:22
  Speaker 2: Yeah. Brian, I'm guessing we have the same number one
• 42:26
  Speaker 2: team this week. Looking at our list, I do not
• 42:28
  Speaker 2: have the Seahawks in my top five. You had them
• 42:30
  Speaker 2: at number five. You had the 49ers at number four,
• 42:33
  Speaker 2: as did I. By the way, I had the Jets
• 42:34
  Speaker 2: at five. You do not have the Jets on your
• 42:36
  Speaker 2: list unless you put them at number one, which I'd
• 42:38
  Speaker 2: be shocked. I'd actually get up and leave the room
• 42:40
  Speaker 2: in that sequence. Number three for you, New England Patriots.
• 42:43
  Speaker 2: I don't have them on my list. I have the
• 42:44
  Speaker 2: Chiefs at number three. You have the Jags at number two.
• 42:48
  Speaker 2: I have the Jags at number two. So you either
• 42:49
  Speaker 2: have the Vikings at one like I do, or you
• 42:52
  Speaker 2: have the Kansas City Chiefs at number one or another
• 42:54
  Speaker 2: team that I might be missing. The Vikings are 5-0.
• 42:58
  Speaker 2: They've given up a league best, only 64 points total
• 43:02
  Speaker 2: on the season. That is an average of 12.8, also
• 43:06
  Speaker 2: the best in the NFL.
• 43:08
  Speaker 4: No Chiefs for me. Minnesota staying in my top spot
• 43:11
  Speaker 4: where I think they've been since week two or three,
• 43:14
  Speaker 4: I guess. They just wrecked. Tyler shuck in that saints offense.
• 43:18
  Speaker 4: And that's a banged up saints team too, but 96
• 43:21
  Speaker 4: yards passing two picks. Oh, and by the way, they
• 43:26
  Speaker 4: ran for just 55 yards, did the saints. So that
• 43:30
  Speaker 4: was a, a complete whitewash pretty much of new Orleans.
• 43:34
  Speaker 4: You know, they managed to get one, two yard touchdown
• 43:37
  Speaker 4: and a couple of field goals. I think, no, they
• 43:40
  Speaker 4: actually got a defensive touchdown. So really the Vikings allowed six,
• 43:44
  Speaker 4: seven points. in that game. They've just been, they've been incredible.
• 43:50
  Speaker 4: You really have to give it up to Brian Flores
• 43:52
  Speaker 4: and everybody who's, who's got things working for that Minnesota
• 43:56
  Speaker 4: defense there. They, now they, they get a bye week.
• 43:59
  Speaker 4: So I, I suppose we should keep them number one
• 44:02
  Speaker 4: next week. I mean, what could happen otherwise? Maybe if
• 44:05
  Speaker 4: the Jaguars shut out the Texans and hold them to
• 44:08
  Speaker 4: negative 20 yards, we'd have to jump them up to
• 44:10
  Speaker 4: number one.
• 44:11
  Speaker 2: I think with the Vikings stay number one, they don't
• 44:13
  Speaker 2: get penalized from a bye week. And because of how
• 44:16
  Speaker 2: impressive this has been, I mean, 12.8 points per game,
• 44:19
  Speaker 2: 64 total given up. Passing-wise, they're averaging just 173 yards
• 44:23
  Speaker 2: given up there. 86.6 on the ground is their average
• 44:25
  Speaker 2: per game. 259 total yards on an average per game.
• 44:33
  Speaker 2: Brian Flores, yeah. I mean, he's doing a great job
• 44:35
  Speaker 2: with this unit. And again, as I've said, the Minnesota
• 44:37
  Speaker 2: offense is not that great, but who needs an offense
• 44:40
  Speaker 2: when your defense are putting up these types of numbers, Brian?
• 44:43
  Speaker 4: Dallas Turner leads them in sacks. Byron Murphy, cornerback on
• 44:48
  Speaker 4: the back end. He already has three interceptions this season.
• 44:53
  Speaker 4: I imagine that's more than a lot of teams to
• 44:55
  Speaker 4: this point in the year. And they play that attacking,
• 44:58
  Speaker 4: blitzing defense up front, and they kind of sit back
• 45:01
  Speaker 4: and zone and Obviously, quarterbacks are making a lot of
• 45:04
  Speaker 4: mistakes against them. Checking in on our old friend James
• 45:08
  Speaker 4: Pierre from the Steelers. He's been a part-time player for
• 45:11
  Speaker 4: the defense. He's right around 37% of the defensive snaps,
• 45:15
  Speaker 4: but he's a piece of that puzzle too.
• 45:18
  Speaker 2: So both Brian and I have the Vikings at one.
• 45:20
  Speaker 2: We both have the Jags at two. I have the
• 45:21
  Speaker 2: Chiefs at three. Brian has the Pats at three. I
• 45:24
  Speaker 2: have the Niners at four. He has the Niners at four.
• 45:27
  Speaker 2: And I have the Jets at number five, and he
• 45:29
  Speaker 2: has the Seahawks at number five. That's going to do
• 45:32
  Speaker 2: it for our show for today. We'll be back at
• 45:34
  Speaker 2: it tomorrow with our 10 terrible takes. Ahmed Troop alongside
• 45:37
  Speaker 2: Brian Bacco. Thanks for listening to the Steelers report. Up next,
• 45:40
  Speaker 2: it's Wes Shuler and Matt Williamson on SNR's The Drive
• 45:44
  Speaker 2: right here on Steelers Nation Radio, part of the Steelers
• 45:47
  Speaker 2: Audio Network.