Latest / In the Locker Room presented by Neighborhood Ford Store (Pittsburgh Steelers) / Hour 2: Balanced Attack

Transcript

Hour 2: Balanced Attack · In the Locker Room presented by Neighborhood Ford Store (Pittsburgh Steelers)

0:19
Speaker 1: This is In the Locker Room with Rob King, Max Starks,
0:23
Speaker 1: and Willie Colon on Steelers Nation Radio, brought to you
0:26
Speaker 1: in part by the Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
0:29
Speaker 1: from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop.steelers.com.
0:34
Speaker 1: And by your neighborhood Ford store. The F-150 is the
0:38
Speaker 1: official truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
0:48
Speaker 2: That's right. We're going to keep on trucking here into
0:52
Speaker 2: the power hour as Optimus makes his way through and
0:56
Speaker 2: lets us know it is time to kick it up
0:59
Speaker 2: to another gear here inside the locker room as we
1:02
Speaker 2: continue to talk about the just phenomenal victory in Paris, France.
1:10
Speaker 2: That's right. I said it on the broadcast. I'm going
1:13
Speaker 2: to say it again, Rob. In the game of NFL Risk,
1:17
Speaker 2: we have now conquered another country. We can now plant
1:21
Speaker 2: the Steeler flag in Paris, France. So we own, we
1:26
Speaker 2: own France. And of course we already, we already owned Ireland.
1:30
Speaker 2: So onto the next conquest next season, as we continue
1:35
Speaker 2: our game of global domination of the sports and football world.
1:40
Speaker 3: Yeah, it works for me.
1:41
Speaker 4: You know, uh, Willie, I'm going to start with you
1:44
Speaker 4: on this one because, uh, The Steelers have got a
1:48
Speaker 4: couple of guys to me that are starting to get
1:52
Speaker 4: some national recognition. One is obviously Jalen Warren, another 100-yard game.
1:57
Speaker 4: You know, that's the only game on in TV. Everybody
1:59
Speaker 4: that's watching the NFL is watching the 930 game. They're
2:02
Speaker 4: all seeing what a great player he is. You got
2:05
Speaker 4: Jim Nance and J.J. Watt talking him up on football,
2:08
Speaker 4: and then you just look at his stats, right? So
2:11
Speaker 4: all those things, he's starting to garner that national attention.
2:16
Speaker 3: It just feels like.
2:17
Speaker 4: Maybe this week, really, somebody said, somebody came out and
2:22
Speaker 4: I don't know if it was a PFF grade or
2:25
Speaker 4: something that said, Zach Frazier might be the best center
2:29
Speaker 4: in the NFL right now. And now we're seeing all
2:32
Speaker 4: these clips of him just destroying people.
2:36
Speaker 3: And I love it.
2:37
Speaker 4: We see this momentum happening with other players around the
2:40
Speaker 4: league and sometimes it happens with Steelers too. But I
2:43
Speaker 4: get the sense that Zach Frazier is headed towards his
2:46
Speaker 4: first Pro Bowl season.
2:49
Speaker 5: It definitely looks like it. I think, you know, I wasn't,
2:52
Speaker 5: to be totally frank and honest, I wasn't really big
2:54
Speaker 5: on Zach Frazier, and it wasn't nothing personal. I thought
2:59
Speaker 5: his game just lacked some consistency. I think over the
3:01
Speaker 5: last two games, we've seen him pick it up, and
3:05
Speaker 5: he's had some big-time matchups in which you're starting to
3:07
Speaker 5: see not only the game slow down for him, but
3:10
Speaker 5: he's also playing with his with his own touch, I
3:13
Speaker 5: think his ability to get to the second level, lock
3:17
Speaker 5: on the guys, run his feet, and impose his will,
3:20
Speaker 5: it's starting to pop off the tape a little bit.
3:23
Speaker 5: I do think, you know, when you start, it's tough
3:26
Speaker 5: because when you, the Steelers have such a deep legacy
3:32
Speaker 5: when it comes to the center position, right? We know
3:34
Speaker 5: about the great Mike Webster's and Demonte Dawson's and the
3:38
Speaker 5: Jeff Harding's and you go to Marquis Pouncey and And
3:41
Speaker 5: so there's this kind of elite standard that if you
3:44
Speaker 5: play center for the Steelers, you have to not only
3:48
Speaker 5: be good, you have to be elite because that's always
3:51
Speaker 5: been the pedigree at that position. We're starting to see
3:56
Speaker 5: him knock on the elite door. And it's because of
3:59
Speaker 5: how much he's starting to command the line, the chemistry
4:03
Speaker 5: between Hoffman and McCormick. his ability to win his one-on-ones,
4:07
Speaker 5: his ability to get to the second level with speed
4:09
Speaker 5: and power and win at the point of contact. And
4:12
Speaker 5: he's starting to do that on a consecutive basis. And
4:15
Speaker 5: so my issue with Zach moving forward prior to this game,
4:19
Speaker 5: excuse me, was that he wasn't doing it at a
4:22
Speaker 5: consistent basis. And now you have a game against the
4:27
Speaker 5: Browns coming up and a defensive line, let's be frank,
4:31
Speaker 5: own their Steelers offensive line. This is how you start
4:35
Speaker 5: to really kind of put yourself in those categories. Like, no,
4:39
Speaker 5: I'm starting to lock on. I can walk through this
4:41
Speaker 5: elite door because, valid, there's a lot of ball left.
4:43
Speaker 5: But this is a defensive line that owned you and
4:47
Speaker 5: owned the interior of the offensive line led by Zach Frazier. So, yes,
4:51
Speaker 5: the Colts were great. The Saints were good. But now
4:55
Speaker 5: you've got a Browns defensive line, especially the interior line,
4:58
Speaker 5: that you have to now, once again, step into those
5:01
Speaker 5: shoes as prior– Steelers centers have and play at an
5:05
Speaker 5: elite level. So I think the recognition he's getting is, is,
5:10
Speaker 5: is valiant. But also I think there's some matchups that
5:14
Speaker 5: he has to continue to dominate and win. And like
5:17
Speaker 5: you said, he's definitely in the conversation and the national
5:21
Speaker 5: recognition and people like me, Max and guys who played
5:24
Speaker 5: in the trenches can also attest to that. You start
5:26
Speaker 5: to see growth and you start to see this guy
5:29
Speaker 5: separate himself from other centers around the league, which is always.
5:33
Speaker 2: A good thing.
5:34
Speaker 4: Do you think right now, Willie, this offensive line, and
5:39
Speaker 4: we're talking about the success Jalen Warren is having. We're
5:41
Speaker 4: also talking about some of the sacks that have been allowed.
5:44
Speaker 4: Is this an offensive line, and this would not be
5:46
Speaker 4: atypical with the amount of young guys you have, but
5:49
Speaker 4: is it better run blocking than pass blocking right now?
5:55
Speaker 5: So for me, it's probably the run block is doing
5:57
Speaker 5: better than the pass blocking, and I think the only
5:59
Speaker 5: reason the pass blocking is kind of, taking a step
6:01
Speaker 5: back is only because we're dealing with two tackles who
6:05
Speaker 5: are going through separate journeys. Obviously, Max Ahanachua is a rookie.
6:09
Speaker 5: You've got to grade him on a curve. He's learning NFL,
6:11
Speaker 5: the NFL in real time, going against some very good
6:14
Speaker 5: pass rushers. So there's still some fine-tuning with his game,
6:17
Speaker 5: and he's a rookie, so you've got to give him
6:19
Speaker 5: some grace in that aspect. I think the interesting thing
6:21
Speaker 5: with Troy is we don't realize that Valet, he was
6:27
Speaker 5: hurt his first year, came back, played right tackle, played
6:31
Speaker 5: better towards the end of the season, and now he's
6:33
Speaker 5: at left tackle, which me and Max have talked about.
6:37
Speaker 5: I know I've talked about this. I'm going to keep
6:39
Speaker 5: throwing Max in there as I'm speaking for him. Troy
6:42
Speaker 5: plays with a natural aggression. He has that kind of
6:45
Speaker 5: dogmatic approach to him, and he's an athlete at that.
6:49
Speaker 5: The issues that Troy deals with is mechanics and balance,
6:53
Speaker 5: and those are all things that he can tune up
6:56
Speaker 5: in the offseason or just tune up right now And
7:00
Speaker 5: there's different things that gets him in trouble because he
7:03
Speaker 5: is strong enough. He is quick enough. He is fast enough.
7:06
Speaker 5: He has everything that you want at the tackle position.
7:10
Speaker 5: I think sometimes he just doesn't know when to use
7:12
Speaker 5: what he has in his arsenal or what things to
7:15
Speaker 5: put in his bag to use for those type of weeks.
7:17
Speaker 5: Because you can't bring the same type of game Sunday
7:20
Speaker 5: after Sunday. There's different things you're going to have to
7:22
Speaker 5: pull out your bag because of the opponent. That's what
7:25
Speaker 5: requires you to stop your opponent.
7:28
Speaker 2: And so.
7:29
Speaker 5: And I think he deals with some balance issues. I
7:31
Speaker 5: definitely think he deals with some things that just he's
7:34
Speaker 5: going to have to work out in the offseason. But overall, man,
7:39
Speaker 5: that's why the pass game is, I guess, taking a
7:41
Speaker 5: step back. But collectively, the run game has been awesome.
7:46
Speaker 5: If you look at the left side of the offensive
7:48
Speaker 5: line between McCormick and Troy, they're mashing dudes, especially you
7:52
Speaker 5: saw it in the Saints game. they're washing dudes out.
7:55
Speaker 5: They're winning their one-on-ones. They're solid at the point of attack.
7:57
Speaker 5: They're putting grown man hands on other grown men and
8:01
Speaker 5: moving them from A to B. So they're sufficient in
8:04
Speaker 5: that regard. And I think Brock Hoffman has done a
8:06
Speaker 5: great job of stepping in and being a stabilizer as well.
8:10
Speaker 5: So I think the running game is doing a lot better.
8:12
Speaker 5: And I think we can continue to show more range.
8:15
Speaker 5: I think we're on a way more athletic line than
8:18
Speaker 5: we show at times. I would like to see more
8:20
Speaker 5: pull and counters and more things where we're getting our
8:23
Speaker 5: guards on the run, especially as we kind of attack
8:26
Speaker 5: the second level and get on top of linebackers because
8:28
Speaker 5: we got guys that can do that. So with all
8:32
Speaker 5: that said, you know, not to be too long-winded, the
8:35
Speaker 5: run game is definitely ahead of the passing game from
8:37
Speaker 5: a pass protection standpoint.
8:39
Speaker 3: Max, you know, as you.
8:42
Speaker 4: Look at this offensive line for the Steelers, and again,
8:46
Speaker 4: we harp on this a lot in the defensive line too,
8:48
Speaker 4: and I want to get to the defensive line in
8:49
Speaker 4: a moment.
8:49
Speaker 3: But because.
8:51
Speaker 4: The Steelers are investing a lot of it. They're investing
8:54
Speaker 4: their draft picks in the offensive line. They're going out
8:58
Speaker 4: and getting a quality guy like Brock Hoffman, who is
9:01
Speaker 4: a guy who started games that if things don't work out,
9:03
Speaker 4: you can insert him. You have another third-round pick in
9:05
Speaker 4: Jennings Dunker, who they traded up, don't forget to get,
9:08
Speaker 4: because they liked him. He's waiting in the wings when
9:12
Speaker 4: he gets back from his injury issue. Even Broderick Jones,
9:15
Speaker 4: who didn't make it, you still spent a first-round pick
9:18
Speaker 4: on him. It's clear they want this unit to be good,
9:21
Speaker 4: And one of the things that I like about the
9:23
Speaker 4: Steelers team right now, one of the reasons I'm kind
9:26
Speaker 4: of bullish on them right now is I still think
9:28
Speaker 4: there's upside. And for me, a lot of that upside
9:31
Speaker 4: comes with what they're capable of doing on the offensive
9:34
Speaker 4: and defensive lines.
9:35
Speaker 3: But talk about the offensive line first, if you could.
9:39
Speaker 2: Yeah. No, and you're right. You've spent a lot of
9:42
Speaker 2: capital over the last three years bolstering your line. Oh, well,
9:45
Speaker 2: I should say, offensively specifically, four years. bolstering this offensive
9:51
Speaker 2: line to get it to this point and you know
9:56
Speaker 2: those resources have to start making hay and I think
9:59
Speaker 2: they have made that hay in the run game finally.
10:03
Speaker 2: Early on in the season, first two games wasn't as clean.
10:06
Speaker 2: You made the appropriate adjustments, and now you're starting to
10:09
Speaker 2: see a tenacious team that can go forward. We talked
10:12
Speaker 2: about what's the easiest way to make a group gel,
10:14
Speaker 2: run the ball. Let guys go north, don't have them retreat.
10:19
Speaker 2: and they'll figure it out. And you're starting to see
10:22
Speaker 2: that balance start to come up. And Willie pointed out
10:25
Speaker 2: all the issues and nuances and intricacies of why the
10:28
Speaker 2: pass game isn't working as efficiently. It's still got some
10:34
Speaker 2: good moments, but like you said, it's not as consistent
10:36
Speaker 2: as we'd like it to be. And that comes with
10:39
Speaker 2: time and refinement. When you shake up an entire group,
10:42
Speaker 2: four out of five positions, it's tough to get everybody
10:46
Speaker 2: to gel on the same page consistently. especially when you're
10:48
Speaker 2: at different points in your careers.
10:51
Speaker 5: But I will say this.
10:52
Speaker 2: I did like this, Willie. I don't know if you
10:54
Speaker 2: noticed this. The jumbo lineman came back into the game.
10:57
Speaker 5: I saw that. Yeah, I did see that.
11:01
Speaker 2: Yeah, a little Spencer Anderson, a little Swiss Army.
11:03
Speaker 5: Knife, you know.
11:06
Speaker 2: That little quick hitter, 7-4. 7-4 is back on the
11:10
Speaker 2: line again. And I thought that was a perfect thing.
11:13
Speaker 2: And I liked how they used him. Now, I would
11:14
Speaker 2: like to see a little more creativity here. Because they
11:17
Speaker 2: had him on the right side, they ran to the right.
11:19
Speaker 2: They had him on the left side, they ran to
11:21
Speaker 2: the left. Let's see a little play action.
11:23
Speaker 3: You know what?
11:23
Speaker 2: Run a little hide route with Spencer Anderson. You know
11:26
Speaker 2: what I'm saying?
11:27
Speaker 5: Just control.
11:28
Speaker 2: I'm off the sink. Get Big Ben the ball. I
11:31
Speaker 2: guarantee you, if you got Spencer the ball, now he's
11:33
Speaker 2: not going to be Mount Washington, but, I mean, he
11:36
Speaker 2: could still be North Hill. You know what I'm saying? Like,
11:39
Speaker 2: he could be a little foothill out there. So, I
11:44
Speaker 2: liked it. You know, like the SNL skit, right, with
11:49
Speaker 2: Blue Oyster Coat. I need more cowbell. I need more 7-4.
11:51
Speaker 5: More cowbell.
11:52
Speaker 2: I love the jumbo lineman. Give that man a move out.
11:55
Speaker 2: That was funny.
11:58
Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm all for it, guys. I like it. I
12:02
Speaker 3: like what they're doing. I do think there's upside.
12:05
Speaker 4: I do think that, you know, one of the reasons
12:09
Speaker 4: I'm encouraged by that is that one of the other
12:11
Speaker 4: things that I like, guys, I have to say this,
12:14
Speaker 4: I loved– balance on offense.
12:16
Speaker 3: 52% throws, 48% run. I love that.
12:21
Speaker 4: And, you know, I think that more of that will
12:25
Speaker 4: be good. I think more of that will help this team,
12:28
Speaker 4: and it'll help this offensive line.
12:31
Speaker 3: Get better quicker. It'll help the passing game.
12:33
Speaker 5: Go ahead. Well, Rob, I want to say this. I
12:36
Speaker 5: think they've found their identity on third down. I think
12:41
Speaker 5: anything between third and sixth in management, they're running the ball.
12:44
Speaker 5: which is huge because when you're able to do that,
12:49
Speaker 5: I think I'm looking at it right here. It says
12:50
Speaker 5: Pittsburgh converted 10 of 16 third down attempts, which is 62.5%.
12:54
Speaker 5: So you're like, yeah, that's it. Just because it's third
12:58
Speaker 5: and medium, we got to now put it on Aaron's
13:01
Speaker 5: shoulders to figure it out. No, if we're able to
13:04
Speaker 5: run the ball third down, man, that's daunting to a defense, right?
13:09
Speaker 5: Because now it really puts them on the heels. Because
13:12
Speaker 5: now you're not saying, well, you know it's third and medium.
13:14
Speaker 5: It's tending to a third and long. You know what
13:16
Speaker 5: they're going to do. Now we can draw up a
13:18
Speaker 5: defense to kind of stop their path because that's the
13:20
Speaker 5: only thing they can do.
13:21
Speaker 2: That's not happening.
13:22
Speaker 5: The Steelers are now able to convert on third and
13:24
Speaker 5: medium by running the ball. And so I'm happy that
13:27
Speaker 5: we have the jumbo package. I'm happy that our office
13:30
Speaker 5: line is able to run the ball and be efficient
13:32
Speaker 5: in that matter. You always want to keep a defense
13:34
Speaker 5: on his heels and make him think, man, the what if.
13:37
Speaker 2: Right.
13:38
Speaker 5: And so the fact that we have legit two options
13:40
Speaker 5: that can both be effective in that situation of football is.
13:43
Speaker 5: It just makes us a more dangerous team. So I
13:46
Speaker 5: think when you talk about the Steelers' offense being balanced,
13:48
Speaker 5: one of the reasons why it was able to be
13:50
Speaker 5: balanced is their ability on third and medium to run
13:53
Speaker 5: the ball. And like I said, we have a lot
13:56
Speaker 5: of athleticism on that offense line. Adding Spencer Anderson into
13:59
Speaker 5: that makes– it just makes us– it makes us a
14:02
Speaker 5: lot more– we provide a lot more substance than I
14:05
Speaker 5: think the stat sheet will give us or people will
14:06
Speaker 5: give us credit for. But that's fine, man. As long
14:09
Speaker 5: as we're doing the damn thing when it counts, that's
14:11
Speaker 5: all that matters.
14:12
Speaker 4: Yeah, you know, for– I think we all, I think
14:16
Speaker 4: I recollect this properly, we were all at least mildly
14:22
Speaker 4: dismayed by the, after the Jamel Dean interception against Tampa Bay,
14:27
Speaker 4: that the Steelers didn't try to run the ball into
14:28
Speaker 4: the end zone and threw the ball, didn't use up
14:31
Speaker 4: the clock, didn't, you know, try to run the ball.
14:36
Speaker 3: Well, I think what Willie said, I think it was.
14:38
Speaker 4: Four or five, it might have been five times where
14:40
Speaker 4: the Steelers were facing third and three, third and four,
14:43
Speaker 4: and Mike McCarthy said, hey, Aaron Rodgers, he's the eyes
14:48
Speaker 4: of this offense. And he decided to– so I'm sure
14:52
Speaker 4: he has the ability to change out of those plays.
14:54
Speaker 4: He decided to run the ball. I thought Aaron Rodgers
14:57
Speaker 4: quietly had a really good game. You know, he stuck
15:00
Speaker 4: with the run. He had that big scramble late, showed
15:03
Speaker 4: how athletic he still is, was, you know, efficient enough
15:07
Speaker 4: with the football, didn't turn it over once again. You know,
15:11
Speaker 4: but those decisions, too– in a game in which you
15:16
Speaker 4: knew they didn't stop the run very well and you
15:18
Speaker 4: knew you could run it on them, I thought those
15:20
Speaker 4: decisions were big by him. If we're going to criticize
15:23
Speaker 4: him the week before, whether it's him or Mike McCarthy, again,
15:27
Speaker 4: in this game, we should praise both those guys for
15:30
Speaker 4: just those plays. And by the way, they worked every
15:34
Speaker 4: single time the Steelers picked up those first downs.
15:38
Speaker 5: They called six third-down design runs, which shows you– That
15:46
Speaker 5: what was some of the conversation that was talked to
15:49
Speaker 5: that was talked about after that Browns loss is that
15:52
Speaker 5: Aaron had to be able to go to Mike McCarthy
15:54
Speaker 5: and talk about what was working and what's not working
15:56
Speaker 5: in game. So the fact that Aaron said, listen, you know.
16:00
Speaker 5: We're going to do whatever it takes. If the edge
16:02
Speaker 5: is for us to run the ball, let's run the
16:04
Speaker 5: ball and let's be damn good at it. Let's start
16:06
Speaker 5: drawing up and building packages where if we get to
16:08
Speaker 5: third and fourth, third and five, third and six, we're
16:11
Speaker 5: not looking for Jeremy Bernard or Fairmouth or Mount Washington or,
16:16
Speaker 5: you know, how these quick hitters where we can try
16:18
Speaker 5: to get the yardage where we can say, let's lean
16:20
Speaker 5: on our offensive line. Because we also know me and Max,
16:23
Speaker 5: we'll talk about this, too. When you know as an
16:25
Speaker 5: offensive line, when you're called upon to respond, when you know,
16:30
Speaker 5: because we used to have, you know, we've talked about
16:31
Speaker 5: this play in the nauseam. We'll probably talk about it
16:33
Speaker 5: for the rest of the season. But we used to
16:35
Speaker 5: have 22 and 23 double, right? And sometimes B.A. will
16:38
Speaker 5: call that thing. Sometimes I feel like third and eight.
16:40
Speaker 5: We'd be like, oh, hell, you know, we'll see what
16:42
Speaker 5: happens now. But he would call it. But collectively as
16:44
Speaker 5: a group, we responded to it because we knew that
16:47
Speaker 5: was like somebody pressing the button for us, like, all right.
16:50
Speaker 5: We're dialing you boys up. Go get it for us.
16:52
Speaker 5: So if they're starting to have that type of consistency,
16:56
Speaker 5: when we're drawing up plays that we're singly focused on
16:59
Speaker 5: this offensive line to make hay and get it done,
17:01
Speaker 5: that builds confidence for our offensive line. So I like it.
17:05
Speaker 5: I like the fact that Rodgers continues to lean into
17:07
Speaker 5: it and that McCarthy's leaning into it. And now, collectively,
17:11
Speaker 5: the offensive outfit looks more dangerous because of what they
17:15
Speaker 5: can do on third down. It's not just being one-sided
17:18
Speaker 5: by passing the football. Yeah, it's about hitting the bat signal, Willie.
17:26
Speaker 2: You know? That's what it comes down to. When you
17:29
Speaker 2: get that call, it's third and medium, and we're midway
17:33
Speaker 2: through the game, and the other ones ain't work. It's like,
17:36
Speaker 2: you got to make it work.
17:38
Speaker 5: Correct.
17:39
Speaker 2: That's all you can ask for is our offensive line.
17:41
Speaker 2: Just call our number. We got you. He ain't heavy.
17:43
Speaker 2: He's my brother. We going to get this first down.
17:45
Speaker 2: By any means necessary. Buttholes and elbows. We going to
17:47
Speaker 2: get there. And that's what you're seeing. And that also...
17:51
Speaker 2: instills confidence into that offensive line that the team trusts me,
17:56
Speaker 2: that the team trusts us to go out and do this.
17:59
Speaker 2: They wouldn't call this play if they didn't have faith
18:02
Speaker 2: that we could execute it, right? You're always looking for
18:05
Speaker 2: the highest possible play call. So I'm right there with Willie.
18:10
Speaker 2: They've now realized, okay, we need to let these dogs hunt.
18:12
Speaker 2: Sometimes you got to take the leash off the collar, right,
18:17
Speaker 2: and let these boys just go out there and do it.
18:19
Speaker 2: And that's what they're doing. That's why you're seeing– Zach
18:21
Speaker 2: Frazier be the Morgantown mauler in those moments. Because it's
18:24
Speaker 2: a gotta-have-it moment, and you're seeing him rise to the occasion.
18:28
Speaker 2: You know that the right side has a propensity to
18:31
Speaker 2: go forward and backwards.
18:32
Speaker 5: You know that for Troy, whatever.
18:34
Speaker 2: The issues are, there is no issue when it comes
18:36
Speaker 2: to saying, hey, we gotta double up to the mic.
18:39
Speaker 2: He has no problem with that. He's gonna smash and crash.
18:42
Speaker 2: And that's what you want to see. And you're seeing
18:44
Speaker 2: them have fun, and you're seeing the personality come out
18:47
Speaker 2: because there is a propensity to want to run the
18:51
Speaker 2: ball in key situations because you know that this group
18:54
Speaker 2: can go get it for us you know the 30s
18:56
Speaker 2: back there we gonna be all right and they're executing
19:00
Speaker 2: and dominating and that's what also slows this game down
19:03
Speaker 2: time possessions huge I mean that third quarter that game
19:06
Speaker 2: I think what they had what to put a possession
19:10
Speaker 2: each in the third quarter because they were just driving
19:12
Speaker 2: like it was the fastest third quarter because running the
19:16
Speaker 2: ball grinding it down and just taking time off the
19:19
Speaker 2: clock and I think That's what those big moments are.
19:21
Speaker 2: And Tampa Bay was that turning point where they didn't
19:23
Speaker 2: do it on the goal line when they should have
19:24
Speaker 2: ran three straight times for three yards. They knew they
19:27
Speaker 2: would have hit their head on the goal post. But
19:30
Speaker 2: there wasn't quite as much trust with Aaron and with
19:36
Speaker 2: the offense and the offensive line and Mike McCarthy. However,
19:39
Speaker 2: that synergy worked. And now they're like, okay, if we
19:42
Speaker 2: get in this situation again, I know what I'm doing.
19:44
Speaker 2: Put it in the gut. Let them go forward.
19:46
Speaker 3: Eight, by the way, thanks for the holly shot.
19:50
Speaker 5: Out.
19:50
Speaker 4: Max going with a little hip hop earlier. Max era
19:56
Speaker 4: hip hop in France and now bringing up the Hollies.
20:00
Speaker 5: Well done.
20:01
Speaker 3: Wide musical range from Max Starks. He ain't heavy. He's
20:04
Speaker 3: my brother. Is that where you're going? The Holly song? Oh, yeah.
20:07
Speaker 3: All right. Okay.
20:08
Speaker 2: Absolutely. Eight.
20:09
Speaker 3: Eight drives.
20:10
Speaker 4: I heard this on Matt Williamson said this. Eight drives
20:15
Speaker 4: of 11 or more plays between the two teams. The
20:19
Speaker 4: first time since at least 2000 that that's happened.
20:23
Speaker 3: So you're right, Max. There are a lot of long
20:25
Speaker 3: drives in this game. All right, stick around. Much more
20:27
Speaker 3: to come. Much more to talk about.
20:29
Speaker 4: I want to talk about those other guys on the
20:31
Speaker 4: other side of the trenches when we continue in the
20:33
Speaker 4: locker room here on the Steelers Audio Network.
20:42
Speaker 1: With Rob King, Max Starks, and Willie Colon on Steelers
20:46
Speaker 1: Nation Radio. Brought to you in part by the Steelers
20:49
Speaker 1: Pro Shop. Get it direct from the team at the
20:51
Speaker 1: Steelers Pro Shop at shop.steelers.com. And by your neighborhood Ford store.
20:57
Speaker 1: The F-150 is the official truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
21:03
Speaker 4: And we thank you for being with us on this
21:05
Speaker 4: day as we are looking back at a 5-2 Steelers time.
21:11
Speaker 5: I mean, come on.
21:12
Speaker 4: How good is that? 5-2 at this stage of the season?
21:15
Speaker 4: You've got to like it. And we've been talking a
21:18
Speaker 4: lot about the trenches, particularly on the offensive lines. We've
21:21
Speaker 4: been talking about starting with Zach Frazier starting to get
21:26
Speaker 4: more and more national attention.
21:27
Speaker 3: But, guys, the defensive line, good.
21:29
Speaker 4: And I thought, again, for a second consecutive game, Max
21:34
Speaker 4: at Keanu Benton was really good in this one. I mean,
21:37
Speaker 4: everybody up front, they just dominated defensively. The Saints could
21:40
Speaker 4: not run the ball at all. Not a great running team.
21:42
Speaker 4: They had 175 against the Giants the week before. But
21:45
Speaker 4: they just shut them down, and I thought Keanu was
21:48
Speaker 4: great again.
21:49
Speaker 2: No, Keanu was a wrecking ball. And I think he's
21:53
Speaker 2: starting to come into his own now with the advent
21:57
Speaker 2: of having kind of some of those nose responsibilities kind
22:00
Speaker 2: of alleviated. He can play more of that knifing three technique.
22:04
Speaker 2: And you're seeing that start to pay off. And I thought,
22:08
Speaker 2: you know, when you talk about, hey, you know, people
22:11
Speaker 2: always want to say, oh, there's a guy earning his contract, right?
22:15
Speaker 2: And was he deserving of this? Now, he is definitely
22:19
Speaker 2: deserving of this contract that he got because he's playing
22:23
Speaker 2: at a level that's empowering and helping everybody else, right?
22:28
Speaker 2: When he draws the double team, guess what?
22:30
Speaker 4: Y.A.
22:30
Speaker 2: Black gets a single block. And guess what happens when
22:32
Speaker 2: Baby Huey gets a single block? He's going to make
22:34
Speaker 2: a play, too. So you see it starting to benefit
22:37
Speaker 2: others around him. He's starting to be a guy who
22:41
Speaker 2: is a multiplier and not just an addition to a team.
22:44
Speaker 2: And a multiplier is meaning you bring more than one
22:46
Speaker 2: with you. And I think that's what you're seeing with Y.A.
22:49
Speaker 2: Black playing as well. Cam is having an easier time
22:53
Speaker 2: on his side. and everything kind of falls into order
22:58
Speaker 2: with everyone. So I really like what 95 is doing
23:02
Speaker 2: and has been doing the last couple of weeks.
23:06
Speaker 5: Ian, I think you said a guy's name who I
23:09
Speaker 5: think is the bell, kind of the catalyst of all this.
23:13
Speaker 5: That's Cam Haywood, man. Cam, you tell us, making this
23:16
Speaker 5: defensive line grow up in real time. You can also attest,
23:21
Speaker 5: you know, I don't think he's gotten enough credit is
23:25
Speaker 5: Dominic Pecco, the defensive line coach for the Steelers, man.
23:29
Speaker 5: Like people understand Pecco was a real ball player, man.
23:32
Speaker 5: He was a good one. He was solid. And you
23:35
Speaker 5: tell the respect they have for him, that room has
23:38
Speaker 5: for him. And not only his resume and what he's
23:40
Speaker 5: been able to do in his career while he was
23:42
Speaker 5: in cleats. But now that he's a coach, man, you
23:44
Speaker 5: can start to see the way he plays as far
23:46
Speaker 5: as being a technician, using his hands, reading hats, getting
23:50
Speaker 5: off the ball, owning your man at the line of scrimmage,
23:53
Speaker 5: being able to penetrate and also be disruptive at the
23:57
Speaker 5: same time. All those guys are starting to have those
24:01
Speaker 5: aspects of their game and. You know, Keanu is one
24:05
Speaker 5: of those guys and we know he can rush the passer,
24:08
Speaker 5: but you start to see his ability to stop the
24:10
Speaker 5: run show up a little bit more. And like you said, Max,
24:13
Speaker 5: Cam is being Cam. But I think what we're starting
24:16
Speaker 5: to see Cam take on a lighter role because everybody
24:19
Speaker 5: around him starting to eat. And when you have linebackers
24:21
Speaker 5: like we have. when Patrick and Peyton are playing at
24:24
Speaker 5: the level they're playing at right now, it makes everybody's
24:27
Speaker 5: job a little bit easier. And so collectively, you're starting
24:30
Speaker 5: to see this defensive line figure it out when they
24:33
Speaker 5: didn't have Derek Harmon and they didn't have– what's the
24:35
Speaker 5: other kid's name? Jacoby? No, who's the other one? Yeah,
24:40
Speaker 5: Joby got in there. Yeah, so you start to see that.
24:44
Speaker 2: We were missing Joseph Day.
24:45
Speaker 5: Sebastian, right?
24:47
Speaker 2: Yeah, Sebastian Joseph Day, yeah.
24:50
Speaker 5: Right, so not having him and those two guys, man,
24:53
Speaker 5: and still have our defensive line have an impact, man.
24:55
Speaker 5: It was good. It's good to see our guys, especially
24:59
Speaker 5: the depth, as I mentioned earlier in the show, come
25:01
Speaker 5: alive and have an impact.
25:03
Speaker 4: You know, when you spend what the Steelers spent on
25:08
Speaker 4: a couple of these defensive linemen, right? Like, you take Y.A.
25:12
Speaker 4: Black in the fifth round. You take Gabe Rubio in
25:16
Speaker 4: the sixth round. And they look like You know, again,
25:21
Speaker 4: earlier days for Gabe than it is for Y.A.
25:24
Speaker 2: Black.
25:24
Speaker 4: But, I mean, if you get guys who are solid
25:27
Speaker 4: rotational contributors at the fifth and sixth round of the
25:29
Speaker 4: defensive line, you're thrilled. If they can be a little
25:32
Speaker 4: bit more than that, you have hit a home run
25:37
Speaker 4: with your two draft picks in those subsequent rounds. That
25:41
Speaker 4: would be nice if these guys continue to progress and
25:43
Speaker 4: show you that they– look, you expect Derek Harmon to
25:46
Speaker 4: be a star. You picked him in the first round.
25:48
Speaker 4: You expect Keanu Benton. You picked him in the second round,
25:51
Speaker 4: you just signed him to do a contract extension. But
25:53
Speaker 4: if these other guys come along, now all of a
25:55
Speaker 4: sudden you've got a formidable group. They just shut down
25:57
Speaker 4: Jonathan Taylor, they shut down Bucky Irving, and they shut
26:01
Speaker 4: down the Saints running attack.
26:04
Speaker 5: That's good work.
26:07
Speaker 2: Yeah, and stacking those. That wasn't like we were quoting
26:11
Speaker 2: this over the season trying to piecemeal the best performances.
26:16
Speaker 2: It's been consecutive performances, and I think that's what the
26:18
Speaker 2: most important thing is. they're building on those things. And
26:23
Speaker 2: it's going to come to a nice crescendo this weekend
26:26
Speaker 2: because Quinn Sean Jenkins is also figuring himself out. And
26:30
Speaker 2: so you're going to get a real big boy test on,
26:33
Speaker 2: are we as good as we think we are on Sunday?
26:37
Speaker 2: So I'm glad that they're having this because this now
26:40
Speaker 2: builds that momentum to say, Hey, Look what we've done
26:44
Speaker 2: so far. We can go do it even further as
26:47
Speaker 2: we get deeper into division play. And this will be
26:51
Speaker 2: the last time we see the Browns potentially for a while.
26:55
Speaker 2: Maybe we see them in the playoffs.
26:56
Speaker 5: Who knows?
26:58
Speaker 2: But this will be the last time you have a
26:59
Speaker 2: chance to kind of exact revenge and make good on
27:04
Speaker 2: where you're at now versus where they met you a
27:06
Speaker 2: couple of weeks ago.
27:07
Speaker 5: I'll also say this too, Max. I apologize, Rob. I'll
27:12
Speaker 5: also say this. This has to be a game against
27:15
Speaker 5: the Browns where we out-physical the Browns. You get what
27:18
Speaker 5: I'm saying? Like, this has to be a game where
27:22
Speaker 5: there's no question from the first quarter to the fourth
27:24
Speaker 5: quarter that we were the most physical team. And I
27:28
Speaker 5: don't think we were against a Thursday night matchup that
27:32
Speaker 5: kind of, you know, sent Steeler Nation into a spiral.
27:37
Speaker 5: You know, this has to be a game where we
27:40
Speaker 5: I think if you're, you know, we talk about players meetings,
27:42
Speaker 5: which I'm, you know, I'm 50-50 on. I think they,
27:45
Speaker 5: I don't know if they serve a purpose other than.
27:48
Speaker 5: just a round circle of guys complaining about what they
27:51
Speaker 5: should have, could have, instead of just going out and
27:53
Speaker 5: doing it. But I think this is a week where
27:57
Speaker 5: if you're Haywood, if you're Zach Frazier, you're getting both
28:00
Speaker 5: lines together and say, this game's on us. This is
28:03
Speaker 5: the game where we pull out the brass knuckles and
28:08
Speaker 5: we make our opposition hurt. And they don't get that hurt.
28:13
Speaker 5: And I'm talking about the type of game where the
28:16
Speaker 5: type of week where you maybe go to Mike McCarthy, like, Hey,
28:18
Speaker 5: let's put on the pads. Let's put on the pads Wednesday. Let's,
28:21
Speaker 5: let's really sharpen our iron and let's really get after
28:23
Speaker 5: these boys on a physical level. I know we don't
28:26
Speaker 5: wear the pads and I know we try to take
28:27
Speaker 5: care of our guys. And, but this is a game
28:29
Speaker 5: where you, you want the smoke and you want it
28:31
Speaker 5: early because if you watch the Browns as of late,
28:36
Speaker 5: your defense has been playing well, but now there's some
28:38
Speaker 5: of the young guns have continued to pop off the
28:40
Speaker 5: tape and, They've won games not just by attrition, but
28:44
Speaker 5: by playing a brand of football that they're proud of.
28:46
Speaker 5: And sure, they got out the building with an easy
28:48
Speaker 5: one against, not an easy one, a scrappy one against
28:50
Speaker 5: the Titans. But they feel good about that, right? Because
28:53
Speaker 5: they did win. And they wanted to carry that momentum
28:55
Speaker 5: into a Steeler game, just like the Steelers wanted to
28:58
Speaker 5: carry a win with momentum going into the Browns game.
29:02
Speaker 5: So you got both teams coming into Sunday with wins.
29:06
Speaker 5: And so this game means more, not just because of
29:09
Speaker 5: how the Steelers lost prior to playing the Browns, but
29:12
Speaker 5: because you have an opportunity to go six and two
29:15
Speaker 5: and where teams start to separate themselves. And at this point,
29:18
Speaker 5: you know, Max, you have made a statement and said, like,
29:20
Speaker 5: at this point, your record tells us who you are.
29:24
Speaker 5: On top of that, you know, it's another division game
29:29
Speaker 5: that you have to win because division right now is
29:32
Speaker 5: up in the air and everybody's beating everybody. And you
29:34
Speaker 5: want to make sure when it's time to have a
29:36
Speaker 5: place at the table, yours is cemented. So this is
29:38
Speaker 5: a big game. It's a guy to have a game
29:41
Speaker 5: but I want this I want this Steeler Nation and
29:44
Speaker 5: the Steeler team to really you know put the boots
29:46
Speaker 5: to the Browns and make them feel.
29:47
Speaker 4: It so a couple things first of all Max I
29:52
Speaker 4: love the fact that Willie is stoked now he wants
29:55
Speaker 4: to play the Browns right now love that love it
29:58
Speaker 4: yeah but but the other thing you see you know
29:59
Speaker 4: we Going back a little bit and talking about Cam
30:02
Speaker 4: Hayward getting guys together, you know, and different guys, you know,
30:08
Speaker 4: what I'm hoping we're going to see, what we're seeing
30:10
Speaker 4: here is sort of the rebirth of the Steelers that
30:13
Speaker 4: you guys grew up with, that handed down tradition, that
30:17
Speaker 4: handed down.
30:18
Speaker 3: Their excellence to the next generation of players.
30:21
Speaker 4: And I think because the Steelers have had to go
30:24
Speaker 4: young and because they've, by the way, because they've had
30:28
Speaker 4: really good picks Peyton Wilson in the third round, Mason
30:31
Speaker 4: McCormick in the fourth round. We just talked about why
30:33
Speaker 4: a black, hopefully Gabe Rubio is going to be one
30:35
Speaker 4: of those kinds of guys. You know, Robert Spears Jennings,
30:38
Speaker 4: you want the veteran guys to be able to pass
30:41
Speaker 4: onto them. Now the offensive line group, maybe this is
30:43
Speaker 4: the group that turns around. I extend some of these
30:46
Speaker 4: guys and they can begin passing down to the next group.
30:49
Speaker 4: Cam Hayward, you know, um, I, I just am, am, uh,
30:54
Speaker 4: I think that Jalen Warren deserves a nod here, too,
30:57
Speaker 4: because he is so unbelievably unselfish and such a team player,
31:02
Speaker 4: never griping about how many carries he's going to get,
31:05
Speaker 4: always the most supportive guy of Kenny Gamewell, the most
31:08
Speaker 4: supportive guy of Rico Dowdle. I just like what I'm
31:11
Speaker 4: seeing kind of happening maybe behind the scenes. Now, it
31:15
Speaker 4: still has to play out. You still have to win games.
31:17
Speaker 4: You're still trying to pass down a legacy of winning.
31:21
Speaker 4: But I think some of the things that Willie was
31:22
Speaker 4: alluding to, Max– with Cam Hayward is hopefully happening in
31:26
Speaker 4: other position groups around the roster as well.
31:29
Speaker 2: Yeah, no, and I think, you know, it is. You're
31:33
Speaker 2: starting to see leadership take hold at a lot of
31:36
Speaker 2: different levels. I mean, we talked about this a couple
31:38
Speaker 2: years ago, Rob.
31:40
Speaker 5: You know, who are the leaders?
31:41
Speaker 2: Where are the leaders? Well, now we can clearly identify
31:45
Speaker 2: who the leaders are at every level of this team,
31:48
Speaker 2: and I think that's the most important thing. You know,
31:52
Speaker 2: Aaron obviously is the leader of the offense and especially
31:54
Speaker 2: the quarterback room. In fact, it even went into their
31:58
Speaker 2: matching ensembles as they went to the stadium on Sunday, right?
32:03
Speaker 2: They look like extras in a Peaky Blinders, you know, musical.
32:09
Speaker 2: You know, you look at that offensive line, you're starting
32:11
Speaker 2: to see Zach and Mason that are really coming alive
32:15
Speaker 2: as leaders of that offensive line. And the receiving room,
32:18
Speaker 2: DK's obviously... the big dog and guys listen to him
32:22
Speaker 2: and follow him. So you're seeing those levels and we
32:26
Speaker 2: already know what TJ and cam mean to the defense
32:28
Speaker 2: and what Jalen Ramsey means to the defense. So we
32:31
Speaker 2: can now, I can now point these names out. I
32:34
Speaker 2: couldn't point these names out a couple of years ago
32:35
Speaker 2: outside of TJ and cam. Right. And there was no
32:38
Speaker 2: offensive leader. There was no offensive identity or a leader
32:42
Speaker 2: that I could talk to about the identity of the team.
32:45
Speaker 2: So I, When you see that and you know that
32:48
Speaker 2: there's a clear hierarchy that's being built and guys are
32:51
Speaker 2: trusting each other, that's what makes your team flow to
32:56
Speaker 2: the best of its abilities. That's why I think we're
33:00
Speaker 2: seeing the synergy. Guys are learning to play off of
33:02
Speaker 2: each other, learning to follow each other, and learning to
33:06
Speaker 2: depend on each other. It's not all for yourself. It's
33:11
Speaker 2: all for one and one for all in these moments.
33:14
Speaker 2: I'm really excited about how they're coming together. And like
33:17
Speaker 2: you said, five and two, it's a heck of a
33:20
Speaker 2: thing in a very hotly contested division. Everybody has two losses.
33:26
Speaker 2: And so you wouldn't want it any other way. I
33:29
Speaker 2: would say we're probably, you know, the best division top
33:33
Speaker 2: to bottom that's out there right now. You know, for
33:36
Speaker 2: a while it was, it was NFC West. But you know,
33:40
Speaker 2: the Cardinals are sliding backwards and the Rams have definitely
33:43
Speaker 2: slid backward or the, the Alabama Rams or the Los
33:48
Speaker 2: Angeles Crimson Tide, however you want to call them, kind
33:50
Speaker 2: of taking a step back. So, you know, the NFC
33:53
Speaker 2: North is tough.
33:54
Speaker 3: That's the other one.
33:56
Speaker 2: I think still AFC North. The Norths for both conferences
34:00
Speaker 2: are showing to be the cream of the crop.
34:03
Speaker 3: Winter is coming, baby. Get those Norths.
34:06
Speaker 2: Winter is coming.
34:07
Speaker 3: AFC North, NFC North.
34:08
Speaker 2: I don't live in Winterfell, but I have a Starks.
34:12
Speaker 3: Yes, you are.
34:13
Speaker 5: Yes, you are.
34:14
Speaker 3: All right. Stick around.
34:16
Speaker 4: Willie mentioned a couple other guys that I really want
34:18
Speaker 4: to get to before the conclusion of the show that
34:20
Speaker 4: I thought were outstanding again, particularly again for one of
34:24
Speaker 4: the Steelers as well. But we're going to talk about
34:27
Speaker 4: that when we continue in the locker room here on
34:29
Speaker 4: the Steelers Audio Network.
34:38
Speaker 1: This is In the Locker Room with Rob King, Max Starks,
34:42
Speaker 1: and Willie Colon on Steelers Nation Radio. Brought to you
34:45
Speaker 1: in part by the Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
34:49
Speaker 1: from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop.steelers.com.
34:53
Speaker 1: And by your neighborhood Ford store. The F-150 is the
34:57
Speaker 1: official truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
35:02
Speaker 2: We are here in the final segment of And as
35:07
Speaker 2: you all know, it is time to kind of lay
35:10
Speaker 2: down the last facts of this broadcast day. And we
35:16
Speaker 2: start that off with, of course, the King's Decree. That
35:24
Speaker 2: sounded even better that time. I don't know why.
35:27
Speaker 5: That was the best I've ever heard it, actually. That
35:29
Speaker 5: was outstanding.
35:30
Speaker 2: I mean, I don't know. I guess coming back from Paris,
35:33
Speaker 2: you know, they got some tips on it. what a
35:36
Speaker 2: Royal horn sounds.
35:37
Speaker 5: Like, I guess, but, but no, you know, just continuing.
35:41
Speaker 2: The conversation, you know, Rob, I think, you know, we've
35:45
Speaker 2: seen this kind of maturation of this team kind of
35:49
Speaker 2: live to a degree. It's now still a lot of
35:52
Speaker 2: room to go, but I think as we're talking about
35:55
Speaker 2: the deepest side of the ball, you got to point
35:57
Speaker 2: to some of the leadership there at linebacker guys who
36:00
Speaker 2: are playing, who are doing it in a physical sense
36:03
Speaker 2: might not be as much verbal as as you would think,
36:07
Speaker 2: but I would say from a physical lead-by-example approach, Peyton
36:10
Speaker 2: Wilson's been doing a hell of a job. And Patrick
36:12
Speaker 2: Queen was very animated this Sunday playing against, I guess,
36:17
Speaker 2: the home crowd from where he's from, from Louisiana.
36:21
Speaker 3: I thought, Willie, this was Patrick Queen's best game of
36:24
Speaker 3: the season.
36:25
Speaker 2: My fault.
36:26
Speaker 3: I think Peyton Wilson is....
36:31
Speaker 4: He's just ascending. I thought he was pretty solid last year.
36:35
Speaker 4: I think he's just gotten– I think he's taken another
36:37
Speaker 4: step forward this year. I think he– to me, he's
36:40
Speaker 4: getting into that conversation of being among the better inside
36:44
Speaker 4: linebackers in the game. I just– again, you guys are
36:48
Speaker 4: the experts, but that's what it looks like to me
36:50
Speaker 4: calling the games. He's all over the field and doing
36:52
Speaker 4: the things they want him to be able to do.
36:55
Speaker 5: Well, part of it is because you got guys like
36:57
Speaker 5: Wyatt eating the middle of the interior lineup looking for–
37:00
Speaker 5: You get what I'm saying?
37:02
Speaker 1: Yes.
37:03
Speaker 5: It goes hand-in-hand when you see the linebackers play well
37:06
Speaker 5: and have space to roam and hit and come downhill
37:09
Speaker 5: and tackle and make plays because when you have the
37:12
Speaker 5: defensive line really holding up on that end of the bargain,
37:16
Speaker 5: all these boys got to do is hit and hit
37:18
Speaker 5: and see ball and get ball.
37:22
Speaker 3: It falls in line, too.
37:24
Speaker 5: It's so funny that this Steelers team is starting to
37:28
Speaker 5: fall in line with other groups that played before them.
37:33
Speaker 5: Like when I see Peyton and I see Patrick, you know, they,
37:37
Speaker 5: the history of our linebacker legacy of our linebacker group
37:41
Speaker 5: has always been historic. And so those guys playing well
37:46
Speaker 5: and playing at a level that's already been set just
37:49
Speaker 5: elevates the defense. And I don't even think this defense
37:51
Speaker 5: has even gotten close to remotely close to being as
37:55
Speaker 5: good as they can be. I think there's still so
37:57
Speaker 5: much there. So we still have to be able to
37:59
Speaker 5: get after the quarterback. Patrick Graham is still learning what
38:02
Speaker 5: he has from a personnel standpoint. I think the guys
38:05
Speaker 5: on his defense are still trying to figure out how
38:06
Speaker 5: to get comfortable within his system, in his scheme. I
38:10
Speaker 5: think we're learning week to week how good this group
38:13
Speaker 5: can be as long as they continue to invest in
38:18
Speaker 5: this scheme. And so I think Patrick and Peyton, those guys,
38:23
Speaker 5: played one of their best games collectively. And I think
38:27
Speaker 5: it has to do with how well that defensive line
38:30
Speaker 5: played as well.
38:31
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's all coming together for sure. And also, just
38:36
Speaker 4: one more dollar for the cap. I don't think he
38:38
Speaker 4: played a lot of snaps, but boy, I like seeing
38:41
Speaker 4: 25 out there. I like seeing Deshaun Elliott back on
38:43
Speaker 4: that defense. You talk about upside and playing better. You
38:47
Speaker 4: get Deshaun back up, hopefully to full strength. You get
38:50
Speaker 4: Derek Harmon back in on that defensive line. I think
38:54
Speaker 4: there's upside on the offense with the offensive line improving
38:58
Speaker 4: because it's a young group. Getting Roman Wilson back. who
39:01
Speaker 4: I think can help you, particularly in man-to-man, give you
39:05
Speaker 4: a guy that can get open, maybe get Pittman back,
39:07
Speaker 4: hopefully with a foot. But I just think there's– I
39:11
Speaker 4: think there's some upside there, and I think Deshaun Elliott's
39:14
Speaker 4: part of that upside. You know, veteran guy who I
39:16
Speaker 4: would love to see him back getting more and more snaps.
39:24
Speaker 5: Yeah, I think anytime you come off an injury and
39:26
Speaker 5: you continue to try to get the injury bug off you,
39:29
Speaker 5: I've been through, enough injuries in my career. The first
39:33
Speaker 5: thing you want to do is just get out there, right?
39:34
Speaker 5: You just want to get out there, get comfortable. And
39:37
Speaker 5: when you start watching other guys around you, like Peyton
39:40
Speaker 5: Wilson and Patrick Queen, you start seeing the deepest of lines.
39:44
Speaker 5: You start seeing guys make plays around you. It gives
39:47
Speaker 5: you more incentive. It gives you the itch to play
39:49
Speaker 5: at a high level and I think, you know, Robert Spears,
39:52
Speaker 5: Jenning being a guy that continues to play well, having
39:55
Speaker 5: a young corner show up and Jamel Dean and ever.
39:57
Speaker 5: And it makes you say, all right, you know, it's
40:00
Speaker 5: one thing being out here, but I gotta, I gotta
40:02
Speaker 5: own my weight. And I think the more you have
40:06
Speaker 5: Elliot out there, it makes guys around and play faster,
40:09
Speaker 5: especially younger guys, because you know, whatever's coming out of
40:11
Speaker 5: his mouth. He's a communicator. He's an impact player and
40:15
Speaker 5: he's somebody you can lean on in big situations. So,
40:18
Speaker 5: It's just another key piece, another guy that can help
40:21
Speaker 5: this defense get to where they want to be. And sure,
40:23
Speaker 5: they're in the top ten category, but they want to
40:26
Speaker 5: be in top five across all major categories when it
40:30
Speaker 5: comes to grading a defense, and they're not far from it.
40:35
Speaker 2: Yeah, and I think with Deshaun being back, that's that
40:39
Speaker 2: other kind of veteran leader to go alongside Jalen Ramsey
40:42
Speaker 2: and a group that's had its injuries, that's had its setbacks,
40:47
Speaker 2: you're not starting to see it come back into health.
40:49
Speaker 2: Like Jalen's playing into form. Didn't really participate in training camp.
40:54
Speaker 2: Deshaun tried to come back at the end of training camp,
40:57
Speaker 2: takes a setback. Jamel Dean's gets injured. Joey Porter Jr.
41:01
Speaker 2: gets traded. All this kind of upheaval. Now you're starting
41:04
Speaker 2: to see them settle. And now you insert a guy
41:08
Speaker 2: like a Deshaun Elliott, who is a great communicator, who
41:12
Speaker 2: is kind of a captain of that back half of
41:15
Speaker 2: the field. Um, start to help bring along Robert Spears, Jenny,
41:20
Speaker 2: even further than he's already come. And you see Jamel
41:23
Speaker 2: Dean settling down and looking Daylon Everett and Asante Samuel
41:26
Speaker 2: kind of worry about the other side of the ball.
41:28
Speaker 2: We saw Sean Murphy bunting get activated for the first time.
41:31
Speaker 2: His first kind of reps, mainly at special teams, but
41:35
Speaker 2: just to get him back on the field, moving full
41:36
Speaker 2: speed and catching the game, you know, back up to
41:40
Speaker 2: his level and knowing where he also needs to get.
41:43
Speaker 2: So I think when you look at that, like some
41:47
Speaker 2: pieces coming back at the right time can also make
41:50
Speaker 2: all the difference in the world. So happy to see
41:52
Speaker 2: 25 and happy to see his pitch count kind of
41:55
Speaker 2: steadily increase to where he is the starter on game
41:59
Speaker 2: day and playing a majority of the snaps.
42:01
Speaker 4: Yeah, there's just a lot to like, you know, Chris Boswell.
42:06
Speaker 4: But I'm going to throw one more thing out there, guys.
42:10
Speaker 4: I mentioned this in the DV morning show today. I said,
42:12
Speaker 4: remember this. Remember what I said. if I'm right, and
42:16
Speaker 4: please forget it if I'm wrong. But I really like
42:19
Speaker 4: where I think Caden Weege in the last couple weeks
42:22
Speaker 4: has hit it. He had a long return callback last
42:26
Speaker 4: week due to a penalty. He had his career-long kick
42:30
Speaker 4: return this week. I think that that– now, I'm not
42:35
Speaker 4: talking about the kick coverage. That still is concerning. But
42:38
Speaker 4: I think the kick return game, we might be ready
42:41
Speaker 4: to have that be a factor. And it only has
42:44
Speaker 4: to be a factor a couple of times for it
42:47
Speaker 4: to be a real plus for you. And I think
42:49
Speaker 4: that they might be close there, guys.
42:54
Speaker 3: Anyone with me?
42:57
Speaker 5: Yeah, I'm sorry. My connection was going out. I was
42:59
Speaker 5: heard your response. I apologize, Rob.
43:01
Speaker 3: We're looking at the finish line, guys.
43:03
Speaker 2: Yeah.
43:05
Speaker 5: No, go ahead.
43:06
Speaker 2: I'm sorry.
43:06
Speaker 5: My connection.
43:11
Speaker 2: Well, I'll jump in. I'll jump in. Yeah, I mean,
43:14
Speaker 2: this is– when you get to the midpoint of the season, Rob,
43:18
Speaker 2: you know, we talk about teams who are thriving and
43:21
Speaker 2: surviving and teams that kind of plateau, right? You know,
43:24
Speaker 2: where we think we've seen their best punch. We know
43:26
Speaker 2: what to expect, and there's nothing new that they're creating
43:31
Speaker 2: as we get to this point. I think for the Steelers,
43:33
Speaker 2: what makes them so good is we still haven't seen
43:36
Speaker 2: them peak. We haven't seen a full four-quarter– Offense, defense,
43:40
Speaker 2: and special teams all hands in together, right? Three-muster tier
43:43
Speaker 2: style going into a fight. We've seen segments that take
43:48
Speaker 2: over and other parts that pick up when the other
43:49
Speaker 2: ones start to fall off. And it's kind of like
43:53
Speaker 2: a relay race where you just pass the baton on.
43:56
Speaker 2: But that's what I think is a benefit to them
43:59
Speaker 2: is that we haven't seen the ceiling. Like, we've seen
44:02
Speaker 2: great performances by Jalen Warren, but we always feel like
44:05
Speaker 2: there's a little bit more in the tank, right? We
44:07
Speaker 2: leave every game... The last couple of weeks, like, man,
44:10
Speaker 2: if Jalen would have got like seven more touches, man,
44:12
Speaker 2: what could he have done? And I was banging the
44:16
Speaker 2: table for him to get that 100 yards rushing. Yep,
44:18
Speaker 2: you were. And made sure that he got it because
44:22
Speaker 2: I felt like it was a payoff for what he'd
44:24
Speaker 2: been doing and also a payoff for the offensive line
44:26
Speaker 2: and how they were blocking. That's our only kind of
44:30
Speaker 2: real badge of honor is the rushing stats because we
44:34
Speaker 2: know we have a direct impact on that. Passing stats, yes,
44:38
Speaker 2: we have an impact given the quarterback time, but we
44:40
Speaker 2: don't affect anything really downfield unless it's a screenplay. So
44:45
Speaker 2: when you see that start to kind of take hold,
44:48
Speaker 2: and Willie talked about it, getting your number called in
44:51
Speaker 2: third and medium is a confidence builder. And I want
44:55
Speaker 2: to see more of five-minute, six-minute offense into the game
45:00
Speaker 2: fourth quarter, shut the game down, grind the game to
45:03
Speaker 2: a halt. and just take the will of the other team.
45:08
Speaker 2: I don't want defense ending the game on the field.
45:11
Speaker 2: That's when we know we're still cooking. We still haven't
45:13
Speaker 2: gotten there yet. There's still milestones to achieve in that respect.
45:19
Speaker 2: So as I kind of look at this, I'm glad
45:21
Speaker 2: we are where we are, and I feel like we're
45:23
Speaker 2: hitting our ascension at the right time. And the good
45:27
Speaker 2: thing is our last loss, we get to go exact
45:29
Speaker 2: that revenge, you know, within a month of it happening. And, oh,
45:34
Speaker 2: by the way, we've always done as one since then.
45:37
Speaker 2: So it'll be nice to kind of have that momentum
45:40
Speaker 2: on your side.
45:41
Speaker 3: Agreed 100%.
45:42
Speaker 4: Tomorrow we're going to see where the rest of the NFL,
45:46
Speaker 4: the people that cover the NFL, perceive the Steelers as
45:49
Speaker 4: we dash through our power rankings.
45:51
Speaker 3: Jim Wexel joins us.
45:53
Speaker 4: We also have to compare report cards. How did we
45:56
Speaker 4: do with our predictions over the course of the weekend?
45:59
Speaker 4: We didn't get to that today. We'll get to that tomorrow.
46:02
Speaker 4: A little bit of a shorter week because of the
46:05
Speaker 4: travel on Monday. But Gino Annamarino with the step-in for
46:10
Speaker 4: Justin Miller. And we want to thank Gino. We want
46:13
Speaker 4: to thank Willie Colon, Max Starks. I'm Rob King. Most
46:16
Speaker 4: of all, we want to thank you for being with
46:18
Speaker 4: us in the locker room here on the Steelers Audio Network.