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HR 1: Steelers 10 Terrible Takes or Not: Week 2 · The Steelers Report

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: This is the Steelers Report with Brian Batko and Ed
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: Troup on Steelers Nation Radio, a part of the Steelers
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: Audio Network.
• 0:19
  Speaker 2: The Steelers and Bengals began play all the way back
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: in 1970. And the Steelers lead the series 72-41. Two
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: of those games have occurred in the postseason in 2006
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: and 2016, most recently. With the Steelers winning both of
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: those postseason games, and they were both very memorable, we'll
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: get into that as we continue to navigate through Steelers'
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: bangles for this upcoming Sunday. The Steelers were on an
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: 11-game winning streak between December of 2015 and November of 2020.
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: That was 11 straight wins during that time period, and
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: then Joe Burrow and the Bengals began to heat up,
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: and it's been a lot closer the last few years,
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: including last year.
• 1:06
  Speaker 3: The team split 1-1.
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: The Steelers losing the game on Thursday night in October
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: before getting their revenge last November. at Accushore Stadium. Brian
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: Bacco won him one last year, but that was against
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: Joe Flacco. Joe Burrow returns this year, and he will
• 1:23
  Speaker 2: return to Accushore Stadium this Sunday.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, Ed, absolutely. I mean, it's easy to forget that
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  Speaker 4: last year the Steelers missed Joe Burrow twice. They've missed
• 1:32
  Speaker 4: Joe Burrow a lot over the years in this series,
• 1:34
  Speaker 4: which is kind of an odd little thing, an odd
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  Speaker 4: little quirk. And they've missed Lamar Jackson at times, too,
• 1:41
  Speaker 4: in their clashes last with Baltimore. But the Steelers, they've
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  Speaker 4: had good moments against Joe Burrow. They've had rough moments
• 1:49
  Speaker 4: against Joe Burrow. They've had good moments against Joe Flacco
• 1:51
  Speaker 4: and had rough moments against Joe Flacco. They've had good
• 1:54
  Speaker 4: moments against Jake Browning and rough moments against, who was it?
• 1:59
  Speaker 4: Ryan Finley was the one in 2020, I think. So
• 2:02
  Speaker 4: that's kind of just the vibe of divisional games you
• 2:07
  Speaker 4: know regardless of who's out there I don't do the
• 2:10
  Speaker 4: old cliche of throw out the record books but you've
• 2:13
  Speaker 4: seen it in this series you've seen it in really
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  Speaker 4: all of the the AFC North matchups I don't think
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  Speaker 4: anyone's been overly dominant and sometimes strange things happen regardless
• 2:24
  Speaker 4: of who's that quarterback and head coach and who's healthy
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  Speaker 4: and who's not. I can't call them the bungles really
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  Speaker 4: these days because they're 2-0 and things are looking up
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  Speaker 4: for Cincinnati. But yeah, as you outlined, a lot of
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  Speaker 4: success for the Steelers in the history of this series.
• 2:40
  Speaker 4: And a lot of that has to do with the
• 2:41
  Speaker 4: man whose birthday is today. Happy 80th to Mean Joe Green.
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  Speaker 4: That is a big one for a big, big legend
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  Speaker 4: in franchise history.
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  Speaker 2: No doubt he's one of the best of all time.
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  Speaker 2: Mean Joe Green, no doubt the best stealer throughout the
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  Speaker 2: history of this franchise, and he was the key piece
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  Speaker 2: in the 1970s. So, yeah, happy birthday to Mean Joe.
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: Nice shout-out there, Double B. The Cincinnati Bengals. Go ahead, Brian,
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  Speaker 2: jump in for a second.
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  Speaker 4: And I regret to say we missed a big one yesterday, too.
• 3:14
  Speaker 4: Happy heavenly birthday to Tunch Oken, former stealer and former
• 3:19
  Speaker 4: Steelers audio network friend. Everybody misses Tunch. September 23rd. We
• 3:27
  Speaker 4: missed him yesterday, but absolutely can't. Some days we're in
• 3:31
  Speaker 4: tune with the birthdays, Ed, and some days they slip
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  Speaker 4: past us, but me and Joe didn't slip past today,
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  Speaker 4: and it jogged my memory that I don't think we
• 3:40
  Speaker 4: gave Tunch a shout out yesterday. I know the guys
• 3:42
  Speaker 4: on the drive certainly did. And, you know, you'd be
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  Speaker 4: missing Tunch even more at the Hall of Honor ceremonies
• 3:50
  Speaker 4: and everything, all the proceedings that are going on with
• 3:52
  Speaker 4: that this weekend with his old pal and line mate
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  Speaker 4: and broadcast mate, Craig Wolfley, being inducted posthumously as well.
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  Speaker 4: So happy belated to Tunch. Happy 80th, the mean joke.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, we're going to talk about Wolf a lot tomorrow
• 4:08
  Speaker 2: on Friday's show leading up to the 4.30 to 9 p.m.
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  Speaker 2: event at AccuShore Stadium. Inductees Kevin Colbert, JT Thomas, and
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: Craig Wolfley into the Hall of Honor this weekend. And
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  Speaker 2: also at halftime on Sunday during the Bengals game, they
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  Speaker 2: will be out on the field.
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  Speaker 3: Kevin Colbert, JT Thomas, and Craig Wolfley's family.
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  Speaker 2: We will have a live broadcast here on SNR this
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  Speaker 2: Friday night from 5.30 to 7 with Mike Persuta and
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  Speaker 2: Wes Euler, too.
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  Speaker 3: So make sure you stay tuned for that.
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  Speaker 2: But on tomorrow's show on Friday here on the Steelers Report,
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  Speaker 2: Brian and I are going to spend some time looking
• 4:44
  Speaker 2: back at our good friend Craig Wolfley on tomorrow's show
• 4:48
  Speaker 2: leading up to the.
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  Speaker 3: Wall of Honor.
• 4:50
  Speaker 2: Hall of Honor, Wall of Honor, Hall of Honor, whatever
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  Speaker 2: you want to call it. Brian Bacco, it's an honor
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  Speaker 2: to be involved with that this weekend. It's an exciting time.
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  Speaker 2: for the Pittsburgh Steelers as they do this each and
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  Speaker 2: every season.
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  Speaker 4: No doubt, and it's a huge game on the field
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  Speaker 4: Sunday beyond the special ceremonial things to honor three pillars
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  Speaker 4: of the organization's history. Big, big game coming up, obviously,
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  Speaker 4: 1 o'clock Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals. We had a
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  Speaker 4: little bit of injury news come out Wednesday, I suppose
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  Speaker 4: it was, after we got off the air. From the
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  Speaker 4: Steelers side of things, and not exactly a clean injury report, Ed,
• 5:31
  Speaker 4: to start the week. Now, sometimes you never know if
• 5:34
  Speaker 4: they're just managing various guys, but I'll go ahead and
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  Speaker 4: simply read through it in jersey number order. Number five,
• 5:43
  Speaker 4: Jalen Ramsey. not injury related, just a rest day, maintenance
• 5:47
  Speaker 4: day for him. He didn't practice. Michael Pittman Jr., the foot,
• 5:52
  Speaker 4: he was limited with that. But I actually thought from
• 5:54
  Speaker 4: listening to Mike McCarthy pre-practice yesterday that the arrow was
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  Speaker 4: pointing up for Pittman. He said he'd be in the
• 6:01
  Speaker 4: limited capacity, but it's just good that he's getting any
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  Speaker 4: work out there. And then we've got Rico Dowdle. He
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  Speaker 4: did not practice at all with that toe injury. And
• 6:11
  Speaker 4: I don't know about you, Ed, but like, I feel
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  Speaker 4: bad for football players when they get to or any
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  Speaker 4: athlete when you get the toe injury designation, because I'm
• 6:19
  Speaker 4: sure it hurts and it can mess up your whole gait,
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  Speaker 4: your whole walk. But like, I don't know if this
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  Speaker 4: is what it is for Dowdle, but you always hear
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  Speaker 4: turf toe. And yeah, I just can't get over the
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  Speaker 4: mental hurdle of I just picture a brush burn on
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  Speaker 4: the top of someone's toe, even though I know it's
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  Speaker 4: a lot worse than that.
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  Speaker 1: Oh, man.
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  Speaker 2: Listen, Double B, any type of injury with a foot,
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  Speaker 2: especially when you're a football player, is not going to
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  Speaker 2: be fun.
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  Speaker 3: So I'm with you on that.
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  Speaker 2: Any other updates from day one this week for practice
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  Speaker 2: from the south side? And by the way, Brian is
• 6:49
  Speaker 2: on the south side for day number two today, so
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: we'll have that update tomorrow on the show.
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  Speaker 3: But you were definitely there yesterday.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, that was only– we're not even halfway through the
• 6:59
  Speaker 4: Wednesday injury report, which we'll obviously keep an eye on
• 7:03
  Speaker 4: later today. Wes and Matt will give you the latest
• 7:06
  Speaker 4: Thursday update when the drive comes on with these guys.
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  Speaker 4: Joey Porter Jr., not injury-related slash conditioning is his designation
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  Speaker 4: for limited practice. So that situation continues to drag on, progress, persist, subsist, whatever–
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  Speaker 4: verb you want to use. Jalen Warren, with a shoulder,
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  Speaker 4: he was limited, but Jalen Warren is an absolute tank,
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  Speaker 4: so I'd be surprised if that's not just being smart
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  Speaker 4: with him. Jamel Dean, ankle injury, did not participate. That
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  Speaker 4: is a little bit worrisome. He came out of that
• 7:45
  Speaker 4: game at the end in Foxborough. Wasn't sure if it
• 7:48
  Speaker 4: was just, hey, this one's out of reach. Let's get
• 7:51
  Speaker 4: Daylon Everett some reps. But now this makes me think, no,
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  Speaker 4: it actually was health related with Dean. Hopefully it's a
• 7:57
  Speaker 4: minor deal. And then the last one, Cole Holcomb did
• 8:02
  Speaker 4: not practice personal reasons. So hopefully all is well for
• 8:06
  Speaker 4: Cole Holcomb, but he wasn't out there on the practice field.
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  Speaker 2: My initial reaction, Double B, to that injury report that
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  Speaker 2: you just went through, and thank you for that, is
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  Speaker 2: that's a lot of names, but Not too much anything
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  Speaker 2: of significance on there for the most part. I mean,
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  Speaker 2: a lot of it was personal, a couple bumps and bruises,
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  Speaker 2: as they always like to say, associated with play, the
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  Speaker 2: old Mike Tomlin-ism. So hopefully a lot of those guys,
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  Speaker 2: the majority of those guys, can get back on the
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  Speaker 2: practice field as early as today or even tomorrow ahead
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  Speaker 2: of this game against the Bengals.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, hopefully, Ed, and we'll see what happens with Joey
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  Speaker 4: Porter Jr. 's availability. Obviously, that's one that We've been watching,
• 8:43
  Speaker 4: and don't be surprised if a Cam Hayward or TJ
• 8:47
  Speaker 4: Watt maintenance day is in the offing as well.
• 8:50
  Speaker 2: Brian, we are going to have our terrible takes coming
• 8:53
  Speaker 2: up at 220 today and 240. I know you always
• 8:56
  Speaker 2: look forward to that, especially coming off of a loss.
• 8:59
  Speaker 2: The terrible takes are always... entertaining and then the kickoff
• 9:02
  Speaker 2: the three o'clock hour chris carter your old buddy from
• 9:05
  Speaker 2: the pittsburgh post gazette will be joining us here on
• 9:07
  Speaker 2: the program to talk steelers bangles and then at 320
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  Speaker 2: we will have some leftover nfl terrible takes 340 to
• 9:14
  Speaker 2: wrap up here the thursday show the nfl stat leaders
• 9:19
  Speaker 2: We'll take a look quickly around the NFL to see
• 9:21
  Speaker 2: after two weeks who is ahead of all the statistical categories. But, Brian,
• 9:25
  Speaker 2: I just want to spend a few minutes on a
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  Speaker 2: key statistic that came out. Our good friend Matt Williamson
• 9:29
  Speaker 2: has Matt's stats up on Steelers.com, along with all of
• 9:32
  Speaker 2: your great articles, too.
• 9:33
  Speaker 3: Make sure you check out Brian Batko's.
• 9:35
  Speaker 2: Excellent coverage of the Pittsburgh Steelers on Steelers.com each and
• 9:39
  Speaker 2: every day.
• 9:40
  Speaker 3: But Matt's stats are up.
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  Speaker 2: And one of the big takeaways I looked at were
• 9:45
  Speaker 2: the Steelers' run game against the Bengals' run defense. And
• 9:49
  Speaker 2: we know the Steelers have had their struggles with running
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  Speaker 2: the football through the first two weeks. And Cincinnati has
• 9:53
  Speaker 2: been everything and that and more when it comes to
• 9:58
  Speaker 2: stopping the run so far. and a lot it has
• 10:01
  Speaker 2: to do with big decks Dexter Lawrence so let me
• 10:03
  Speaker 2: give you these stats and I want to get your
• 10:04
  Speaker 2: takeaways with it the Steelers have averaged 2.7 yards so
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  Speaker 2: far this year when it comes to passing the football.
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  Speaker 2: That was at least against New England last week. But
• 10:14
  Speaker 2: when you look at running the football, they are 0.23
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  Speaker 2: rushing yards before first contact. That is only better than Cleveland.
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  Speaker 2: So they are 31st in the National Football League. That
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  Speaker 2: is less than a half a yard when they someone
• 10:29
  Speaker 2: makes contact with the Pittsburgh Steelers up front. So they're
• 10:32
  Speaker 2: getting hit at the line of scrimmage and pushed back
• 10:34
  Speaker 2: in the other direction. And they are one of five
• 10:36
  Speaker 2: offenses so far this year without a rushing touchdown. That.
• 10:41
  Speaker 2: 23 yards per rush, Brian, is a big, big struggle.
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  Speaker 2: It's something that they have to turn around.
• 10:48
  Speaker 4: Yeah, it is. And we'll see the other storyline that
• 10:51
  Speaker 4: kind of came out of Wednesday's practice was possibly some
• 10:55
  Speaker 4: changes coming on the offensive line. I know that there
• 10:58
  Speaker 4: were lineup tweaks visible to the media during the portion
• 11:04
  Speaker 4: of practice that is allowed to be visible to the
• 11:06
  Speaker 4: media and reported on by the media. So you have
• 11:09
  Speaker 4: to take it with a grain of salt a little bit.
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  Speaker 4: We're generally not seeing under the Mike McCarthy regime anything
• 11:15
  Speaker 4: akin to team periods like we observe every day out
• 11:18
  Speaker 4: in Latrobe during training camp at St. Vincent. But it
• 11:21
  Speaker 4: looks like there's at least a chance that Brock Hoffman
• 11:23
  Speaker 4: and Maxi Honachor might slot in there sooner than later.
• 11:27
  Speaker 4: Would it help the run game? I don't know. Would
• 11:28
  Speaker 4: it help the pass protection? I don't know. But at
• 11:31
  Speaker 4: least through two games, I mean, it seems like there's
• 11:33
  Speaker 4: some urgency. And Aaron Rodgers used that word after the game, too.
• 11:38
  Speaker 4: I think he said no one's going to panic, but
• 11:42
  Speaker 4: there will be an added sense of urgency. And I
• 11:45
  Speaker 4: don't blame them, considering it's an AFC North game in
• 11:48
  Speaker 4: week three and huge for divisional purposes, Ed.
• 11:51
  Speaker 2: Talked about the Steelers' run offense struggling while the Cincinnati Bengals'
• 11:55
  Speaker 2: run defense has looked like this. The Texans didn't have
• 11:58
  Speaker 2: a running back rush for more than 10 yards last
• 12:01
  Speaker 2: week against the Bengals. They finished the day with just
• 12:05
  Speaker 2: 60 total rushing yards. That run game that Houston had
• 12:08
  Speaker 2: averaged eight point yards per carry when Big Dexter Lawrence
• 12:12
  Speaker 2: was off the field compared to just a yard when
• 12:15
  Speaker 2: he was on the field. So the Bengals have allowed
• 12:17
  Speaker 2: a league low 78 yards per game to running backs.
• 12:21
  Speaker 2: But when Big Dex was on the field, it was
• 12:23
  Speaker 2: only one yard per rush as opposed to eight when
• 12:26
  Speaker 2: he's off. I'm sure the Cincinnati Bengals will have Lawrence
• 12:29
  Speaker 2: and also Jonathan Allen, who's played very well up front
• 12:31
  Speaker 2: for the Bengals so far this year. Allen, and Lawrence
• 12:34
  Speaker 2: combined for four tackle for losses last week against the Texans,
• 12:38
  Speaker 2: and Allen has four tackles for loss so far this
• 12:41
  Speaker 2: season himself. 32.3% of opponents' rushes have gone for no
• 12:46
  Speaker 2: gain or a tackle for loss against Cincinnati.
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  Speaker 3: That's second best in the league.
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  Speaker 2: Brian, that's one-third of the time through the first two
• 12:54
  Speaker 2: games of the season when there's been a running play
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  Speaker 2: against this Cincinnati defense.
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  Speaker 3: It's gone for no gain or a loss.
• 13:02
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, Dexter Lawrence is the acquisition that everybody
• 13:04
  Speaker 4: talks about, but maybe people are sleeping on Jonathan Allen
• 13:08
  Speaker 4: and formerly of Washington and Minnesota. He's a high-pedigree guy,
• 13:13
  Speaker 4: first-round pick once upon a time out of Alabama, getting
• 13:16
  Speaker 4: a little bit long in the tooth now. Please, someone
• 13:19
  Speaker 4: let me know if you understand what that phrase means,
• 13:22
  Speaker 4: but he's getting up there in age and obviously still productive,
• 13:25
  Speaker 4: and maybe he's found a good fit for him defensively
• 13:28
  Speaker 4: with what he does on the interior. So, yeah, combine
• 13:31
  Speaker 4: him and Lawrence, and that makes life easy on the
• 13:34
  Speaker 4: linebackers behind you, and it makes life easy on the
• 13:37
  Speaker 4: defensive coordinator drawing up the scheme and making the play
• 13:40
  Speaker 4: calls when you've got people who are carrying their weight
• 13:45
  Speaker 4: literally and figuratively up front.
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  Speaker 3: Just an amazing stat, Brian.
• 13:49
  Speaker 2: One-third of the time that either the Buccaneers in Week
• 13:53
  Speaker 2: 1 or the Texans in Week 2 against the Cincinnati
• 13:56
  Speaker 2: defense ran the football against and they were stopped at
• 13:59
  Speaker 2: the line of scrimmage or for a loss. Just an
• 14:02
  Speaker 2: amazing start to that Cincinnati defense. And with the Steelers, again,
• 14:06
  Speaker 2: on first contact, averaging. 23 yards per carry. That's not
• 14:11
  Speaker 2: even a half a yard per carry, Brian, when they
• 14:14
  Speaker 2: are making the first contact against them at the line
• 14:16
  Speaker 2: of scrimmage. So you're either just getting back to the
• 14:18
  Speaker 2: line or taking a loss. That has to change. That
• 14:22
  Speaker 2: offensive line, that run game has to improve this week.
• 14:26
  Speaker 4: Yeah, and, you know, on the flip side, I'm always
• 14:29
  Speaker 4: trying to be glass half full when possible. I'm an
• 14:31
  Speaker 4: optimist by nature, Ed. Jalen Warren's numbers after contact are
• 14:35
  Speaker 4: still pretty good through two games. They are. You know
• 14:38
  Speaker 4: that the first guy is not going to bring down
• 14:40
  Speaker 4: Jalen Warren, or at least very rarely. Find ways to
• 14:43
  Speaker 4: lean into that as an offense. And, you know, you
• 14:47
  Speaker 4: can't just J and pray, dump it down to 30,
• 14:50
  Speaker 4: and hope he runs through all 11 guys, which he's
• 14:52
  Speaker 4: capable of doing, and he has done. more than once
• 14:55
  Speaker 4: in his nfl career but you know utilize him and
• 15:00
  Speaker 4: get him the ball in space and let him spark
• 15:03
  Speaker 4: the offense when you feel like you're stuck in.
• 15:04
  Speaker 2: A rut double b is on the south side for
• 15:07
  Speaker 2: day number two of the pittsburgh steelers practice ahead of
• 15:10
  Speaker 2: steelers bangles for this upcoming sunday and whenever we come
• 15:13
  Speaker 2: back we will get into our 10 terrible takes steelers
• 15:17
  Speaker 2: hot takes Overreactions or not after week two?
• 15:21
  Speaker 3: There's a bunch. Anxious to get Brian's reactions to those.
• 15:23
  Speaker 2: And again, coming up at 3 o'clock today, Chris Carter
• 15:26
  Speaker 2: from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. It's Troop and Backo on the
• 15:30
  Speaker 2: Steelers Report on Steelers Nation Radio, part of the Steelers
• 15:33
  Speaker 2: Audio Network.
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: This is the.
• 15:45
  Speaker 5: Steelers Report with Brian Batko and Ed Troop on Steelers
• 15:49
  Speaker 5: Nation Radio, a part of the Steelers Audio Network.
• 15:55
  Speaker 2: One of the big matchups of many this upcoming Sunday
• 15:57
  Speaker 2: between the Steelers and the Bengals will be.
• 16:01
  Speaker 3: Bengals right tackle Amarius Mims.
• 16:05
  Speaker 2: The massive former first-round draft pick from Georgia has become
• 16:09
  Speaker 2: one of the best right tackles in the NFL. And
• 16:13
  Speaker 2: he will most likely be going up against edge rusher
• 16:16
  Speaker 2: TJ Watt on those plays.
• 16:19
  Speaker 3: So we will see if Mims and Watt.
• 16:21
  Speaker 2: Who will get the best of the two of them
• 16:22
  Speaker 2: this upcoming Sunday when the Bengals and Steelers start the
• 16:27
  Speaker 2: AFC North battles. That all these are entertaining between the Bengals, Steelers, Ravens,
• 16:33
  Speaker 2: and Browns. That is one of many matchups, Double B,
• 16:36
  Speaker 2: that we will be keeping a close eye on.
• 16:38
  Speaker 4: No, I mean, I think Amarius Mims. Amarius? Amarius? I'll
• 16:41
  Speaker 4: have to look that one up. But I don't know
• 16:43
  Speaker 4: that I'm ready to put him best among the NFL's
• 16:46
  Speaker 4: best right tackles just yet. But I think he is
• 16:49
  Speaker 4: on that trajectory if he keeps playing the way he
• 16:51
  Speaker 4: has to start this season. And I remember I was
• 16:54
  Speaker 4: pretty high on him coming out of Georgia, not that
• 16:56
  Speaker 4: I'm a an offensive line guru by any stretch of
• 16:59
  Speaker 4: the imagination. But, you know, I can look at six
• 17:02
  Speaker 4: foot seven, three hundred thirty pounds, whatever he is. And
• 17:06
  Speaker 4: he was a five star, all everything recruit. I believe
• 17:09
  Speaker 4: that's generally how and why you end up with the
• 17:12
  Speaker 4: Bulldogs under Kirby Smart and was a buzz with Broderick
• 17:16
  Speaker 4: Jones and Darnell Washington and all those guys, and he
• 17:20
  Speaker 4: ends up coming out. I think he replaced Broderick Jones
• 17:23
  Speaker 4: on Georgia's offensive line to some extent and comes out
• 17:26
  Speaker 4: in the following year's draft. Same draft as Troy Fatanu.
• 17:31
  Speaker 4: You can look it up, Ed. I don't have my
• 17:33
  Speaker 4: laptop in front of me at the moment, but I
• 17:35
  Speaker 4: think he went one or two picks ahead of Troy Fatanu,
• 17:39
  Speaker 4: and there was five or six tackles alone who went
• 17:43
  Speaker 4: in the, I don't know, first 20 to 25 picks
• 17:47
  Speaker 4: of that 2024 draft.
• 17:50
  Speaker 3: No, you're exactly right, Brian. That is where he went.
• 17:53
  Speaker 2: And there was that, as you said, that draft class
• 17:55
  Speaker 2: just was loaded with offensive tackles and offensive talent. And
• 17:59
  Speaker 2: you knew the Steelers were going to go there. It
• 18:00
  Speaker 2: was just a matter of who that tackle would be.
• 18:03
  Speaker 2: And as you said, it ended up being Troy Fontanou. And,
• 18:06
  Speaker 2: you know, he Fontanou also has to make some adjustments
• 18:09
  Speaker 2: this week, Brian, going into this game. You know, we've
• 18:11
  Speaker 2: been talking about that right side so much all week
• 18:14
  Speaker 2: long and between, you know, Spencer Anderson and Dylan Cook
• 18:18
  Speaker 2: and whether Max Yonachor or Brock Hoffman will be part
• 18:22
  Speaker 2: of that mix. But on the other side, Troy Fontano,
• 18:25
  Speaker 2: that game against the New England Patriots, he was one
• 18:27
  Speaker 2: of the ones that was going back the 43 yards
• 18:30
  Speaker 2: on that play on third down chasing the football. And
• 18:33
  Speaker 2: it's because he got beat. And from what I saw,
• 18:36
  Speaker 2: and again, you were at practice on Wednesday. You're there
• 18:39
  Speaker 2: today here on Thursday. From what I saw that was
• 18:41
  Speaker 2: put out there on social media after Wednesday's practice, he
• 18:44
  Speaker 2: was getting some extra work in before and after practice.
• 18:47
  Speaker 3: So obviously he knows he has to make some adjustments too.
• 18:51
  Speaker 4: Yeah, that sounds right for Troy Fautano. He's a hard worker.
• 18:54
  Speaker 4: I mean, you don't have to worry about him character-wise
• 18:57
  Speaker 4: or anything like that. I mean, I can remember the
• 19:00
  Speaker 4: first couple years of his career early on when he
• 19:02
  Speaker 4: was making it initially the move from left tackle to
• 19:05
  Speaker 4: right tackle. If you remember, he was left tackle in
• 19:08
  Speaker 4: college at Washington. He was a little down on himself,
• 19:11
  Speaker 4: I think, and I don't know that he ever lost
• 19:13
  Speaker 4: confidence necessarily, but I think he was honestly pretty candid
• 19:17
  Speaker 4: and open about how it wasn't all that easy at
• 19:20
  Speaker 4: the beginning, and he wasn't real happy with the way
• 19:22
  Speaker 4: he was playing in preseason initially. Didn't take him long
• 19:26
  Speaker 4: to kind of snap into place, and then just the
• 19:29
  Speaker 4: unfortunate loss knee injury his rookie year and only got
• 19:33
  Speaker 4: to play in one game. But I thought he was
• 19:37
  Speaker 4: fantastic last year, and one of the things that's always
• 19:40
  Speaker 4: going to kind of linger over Troy, I think, because
• 19:43
  Speaker 4: of his relative lack of size, mainly lack of height.
• 19:47
  Speaker 4: His length is good, but there's always going to be
• 19:49
  Speaker 4: people questioning whether he should be on the interior, if
• 19:53
  Speaker 4: he should be playing guard instead of tackle. And I'm
• 19:57
  Speaker 4: sure I remember him saying that. it was this offseason
• 19:59
  Speaker 4: that he feels like he can hang out with those
• 20:01
  Speaker 4: guys on the edge, and he's got the quick feet. Again,
• 20:04
  Speaker 4: he's got the length to do that, and it's easier
• 20:07
  Speaker 4: said than done. It hasn't been good so far these
• 20:10
  Speaker 4: first couple games, but this will be another good chance
• 20:13
  Speaker 4: for him because the Bengals have all sorts of different rushers,
• 20:16
  Speaker 4: and what I find interesting about this matchup too, Ed,
• 20:19
  Speaker 4: and Well, we can get into this more tomorrow, but
• 20:22
  Speaker 4: I'll leave it at this, because I do want to
• 20:24
  Speaker 4: leave some meat on the bone for Friday's show, get
• 20:27
  Speaker 4: more into the nitty-gritty, the minutiae, if you will. I mean,
• 20:30
  Speaker 4: they are leading the league in sacks, or they're tied
• 20:32
  Speaker 4: with the Raiders with eight, and we mentioned that earlier
• 20:35
  Speaker 4: in the week, but no rest for the weary when
• 20:38
  Speaker 4: you talk about this offensive line and pass pro.
• 20:41
  Speaker 2: No doubt the Steelers will have their challenges with The
• 20:43
  Speaker 2: Bengals up front, and if the Steelers defensively do their
• 20:47
  Speaker 2: job correctly, Joe Burrow and that offense will also have
• 20:49
  Speaker 2: their hands full with T.J. Watt, Alex Highsmith, the edge
• 20:53
  Speaker 2: rushers that are off to a great start here in 2026,
• 20:57
  Speaker 2: along with Nick Herbig, as you've talked about a lot
• 20:59
  Speaker 2: here this week. Double B, Steelers, Bengals, Sunday, 1 o'clock
• 21:04
  Speaker 2: at AccuShore Stadium. But before that, we are getting you
• 21:07
  Speaker 2: all set and ready, and it's our weekly segment of
• 21:10
  Speaker 2: 10 Terrible Takes, where I give Brian Bacco a Steeler
• 21:14
  Speaker 2: Hot Take, and he lets me know if I'm overreacting
• 21:17
  Speaker 2: or not after week two. And again, some of these
• 21:20
  Speaker 2: are built in purposely to throw Double B off, to
• 21:23
  Speaker 2: get him to either agree or disagree with some of
• 21:26
  Speaker 2: these Hot Takes. And we are going to start with
• 21:28
  Speaker 2: our first hot, excuse me, Brian, our first hot take
• 21:31
  Speaker 2: of the week. Jeremy Bernard is the best option the
• 21:34
  Speaker 2: Steelers have if Michael Pittman Jr.
• 21:37
  Speaker 3: Is not active on game day.
• 21:40
  Speaker 4: That's a terrible take. No offense to Jeremy Bernard, but
• 21:44
  Speaker 4: let's not completely write off DK Metcalf after two rough games.
• 21:49
  Speaker 4: In fact, Mike McCarthy was asked about him this morning
• 21:53
  Speaker 4: before Thursday's practice and basically said, you know, We're going
• 21:57
  Speaker 4: to throw the ball to DK. I'll just tell you
• 21:58
  Speaker 4: that straight up. We're not going away from him just
• 22:01
  Speaker 4: because it's been a bumpy start to the 2026 campaign.
• 22:05
  Speaker 4: So no, when you phrase the question that way or
• 22:07
  Speaker 4: the take that way, I should say, Ed, I don't
• 22:11
  Speaker 4: think Bernard is the best option, and I don't think
• 22:14
  Speaker 4: Pittman is the best option as long as DK Metcalf
• 22:16
  Speaker 4: is still on the field. He is still in a
• 22:20
  Speaker 4: class of his own, I think, in this receiving core
• 22:21
  Speaker 4: when it comes to the pure talent and physical attributes
• 22:26
  Speaker 4: and traits. Do we go back in previous weeks and
• 22:29
  Speaker 4: score whether the takes were terrible? Do you have the archives,
• 22:32
  Speaker 4: or do we not even want to go down that road, Ed?
• 22:35
  Speaker 3: Man, now I'm going to have to dig through the archives.
• 22:37
  Speaker 3: I'm not too sure, WB. That's a good idea.
• 22:39
  Speaker 2: I think last week's sheet, you know, I keep the
• 22:41
  Speaker 2: sheets active for the week, but then once the game
• 22:44
  Speaker 2: is put in the rearview mirror, I put the takes
• 22:46
  Speaker 2: and the shots of hits and misses, all the good
• 22:49
  Speaker 2: stuff we do each week here on the show, I
• 22:51
  Speaker 2: put it in the past. Maybe I need to start
• 22:54
  Speaker 2: keeping tabs on whether we're correct or not on some
• 22:56
  Speaker 2: of these takes because who knows? Jeremy Bernard could go
• 22:58
  Speaker 2: off and he could end up being the Steelers' best
• 23:01
  Speaker 2: receiver by the end of the season.
• 23:02
  Speaker 3: Anything is possible.
• 23:04
  Speaker 4: I just I feel like I remember one from last
• 23:06
  Speaker 4: week of you saying that this is going to be
• 23:08
  Speaker 4: a big bounce back breakout performance for DK Metcalf at
• 23:12
  Speaker 4: Gillette Stadium against the Patriots. And I said that was
• 23:15
  Speaker 4: probably a terrible take. And well, unfortunately, I guess I
• 23:19
  Speaker 4: was correct on that front, but I did not foresee
• 23:22
  Speaker 4: the rest of the offense shaking out the way that
• 23:24
  Speaker 4: it did.
• 23:25
  Speaker 2: You are correct on that DK Metcalf take. Now, again,
• 23:28
  Speaker 2: some of these aren't my personal takes. These are ones
• 23:30
  Speaker 2: to throw you off, so don't throw me into the
• 23:32
  Speaker 2: fire and say.
• 23:33
  Speaker 3: You said DK was going to do this.
• 23:35
  Speaker 2: No, I did say that last week multiple times that
• 23:38
  Speaker 2: DK Metcalf was going to have a bounce-back week against
• 23:40
  Speaker 2: the Patriots, and he fell well short of that.
• 23:44
  Speaker 4: But you're putting some red herrings in here, and I
• 23:46
  Speaker 4: like that. It's misdirection, it's play-action, RPO takes just to
• 23:51
  Speaker 4: see if I bite.
• 23:52
  Speaker 3: Yes, exactly.
• 23:53
  Speaker 2: A lot of this is designed for you, my friend,
• 23:55
  Speaker 2: not so much me. Okay, let's see if we can
• 23:56
  Speaker 2: get you for another one here. The Steelers' run defense
• 23:59
  Speaker 2: is the only thing keeping them from being the top
• 24:02
  Speaker 2: defensive unit in the NFL right now.
• 24:08
  Speaker 4: Terrible. I mean, I get what you're saying, but it's
• 24:11
  Speaker 4: not like the past defense was completely smothering the Patriots
• 24:14
  Speaker 4: the other day. You know, a couple big, two or
• 24:16
  Speaker 4: three big plays downfield. I think they can be one
• 24:19
  Speaker 4: of the top defenses in the NFL, but I think
• 24:21
  Speaker 4: you need to clean up more than just the run defense,
• 24:24
  Speaker 4: and I think they absolutely can do that, but this
• 24:27
  Speaker 4: will be an ultimate test of that come Sunday 1 p.m. because, yes,
• 24:32
  Speaker 4: the Bengals are known for their high-flying passing game, but
• 24:37
  Speaker 4: do not sleep on Chase Brown. I view him as
• 24:39
  Speaker 4: a fairly similar player and runner. to Travion Henderson for
• 24:43
  Speaker 4: the Patriots where he's not going to be as shifty
• 24:47
  Speaker 4: as Bajon Robinson and leave you grasping for air all
• 24:51
  Speaker 4: the time. But if you give him a seam or
• 24:53
  Speaker 4: you give him a crease, Chase Brown's straight line speed
• 24:56
  Speaker 4: is pretty frightening.
• 24:59
  Speaker 2: Back to DK Metcalf for our third terrible take. DK
• 25:03
  Speaker 2: Metcalf will be just fine, and the Steelers will make
• 25:06
  Speaker 2: sure to get him some deep looks this weekend against
• 25:09
  Speaker 2: the Bengals, and he will prove that he is still
• 25:11
  Speaker 2: one of the elite wide receivers in the NFL.
• 25:16
  Speaker 4: I don't think that's a terrible take. I don't know
• 25:18
  Speaker 4: that I would predict it based on what we've seen,
• 25:22
  Speaker 4: but I could absolutely envision that coming to fruition because
• 25:26
  Speaker 4: I'd We talked to Ben Baby earlier in the week
• 25:28
  Speaker 4: about DJ Turner embracing and relishing that one-on-one matchup, DJ
• 25:32
  Speaker 4: versus DK, initials bowl. But I just think in general,
• 25:37
  Speaker 4: this secondary is a lot more exploitable than New England's was. Now,
• 25:42
  Speaker 4: that being said, we opened this segment talking about the Bengals'
• 25:45
  Speaker 4: pass rush, which has been feasting so far against Tampa
• 25:48
  Speaker 4: and Houston. So now if they're getting home quick, that
• 25:52
  Speaker 4: secondary is not going to have to plaster as much
• 25:54
  Speaker 4: on the back end, and their life will be a
• 25:57
  Speaker 4: little bit easier, but I view this as a spot
• 25:59
  Speaker 4: where really anybody in the Steelers passing game could break
• 26:03
  Speaker 4: out and have a big day. And I'll put DK
• 26:05
  Speaker 4: in that mix, of course, too.
• 26:08
  Speaker 3: I'm with you.
• 26:08
  Speaker 2: But then again, I said this last week that he
• 26:10
  Speaker 2: was going to have this big turnaround game and it
• 26:12
  Speaker 2: didn't happen, but they need the splash plays. They need
• 26:15
  Speaker 2: to connect on some of these long shots, Brian, and
• 26:17
  Speaker 2: no one better to do that than DK.
• 26:20
  Speaker 4: But the opponents are different to me. And I know
• 26:22
  Speaker 4: the Bengals' defense looks good on paper. And I shouldn't
• 26:25
  Speaker 4: even say on paper. They've been good through two games.
• 26:27
  Speaker 4: Just no qualifiers, point blank, period. They've been good. But
• 26:31
  Speaker 4: it's more than two games a season makes. Maybe I
• 26:36
  Speaker 4: butchered that turn of phrase. But you need to do
• 26:39
  Speaker 4: it for more than two games. And the Patriots, we knew,
• 26:41
  Speaker 4: had a lengthy track record dating the last season of
• 26:45
  Speaker 4: being solid defensively and taking away Top flight option. So
• 26:49
  Speaker 4: that's why I was not as optimistic last week, particularly
• 26:52
  Speaker 4: on the road with weather. I think the weather looks
• 26:54
  Speaker 4: good here in Pittsburgh on Sunday. And I need to
• 26:57
  Speaker 4: see more from the Bengals defense before I'm fully believing
• 27:00
  Speaker 4: in them.
• 27:01
  Speaker 2: By the way, just like my all-time favorite WWE wrestler,
• 27:04
  Speaker 2: The Rock, we smell what you're cooking with the phrases
• 27:07
  Speaker 2: that you put out there, man.
• 27:08
  Speaker 3: We know what you mean here during our Terrible Takes segment.
• 27:11
  Speaker 2: By the way, Brian, we got two of three so
• 27:13
  Speaker 2: far of Terrible Takes that you agree with that are
• 27:16
  Speaker 2: terrible and one that not so much with DK on
• 27:18
  Speaker 2: that last one. Let's go through two more before we
• 27:20
  Speaker 2: get to break, and then we'll do the other five
• 27:22
  Speaker 2: on the other side.
• 27:23
  Speaker 3: Of the break.
• 27:23
  Speaker 2: The Steelers made a mistake with trading Broderick Jones to
• 27:27
  Speaker 2: the Cowboys before the start of the season.
• 27:29
  Speaker 3: This is something that we brought up yesterday on the show.
• 27:35
  Speaker 4: Charles Barkley just joined me here on the south side
• 27:39
  Speaker 4: for the show and says, man, that's terrible. That's a
• 27:42
  Speaker 4: terrible take. Yeah, I mean, no, I'm I am not
• 27:48
  Speaker 4: feeling that way whatsoever. I'm not saying the O-line hasn't struggled.
• 27:53
  Speaker 4: It has. But I don't feel like Broderick Jones was
• 27:56
  Speaker 4: even necessarily in that top nine O-linemen or top three tackles.
• 28:02
  Speaker 4: coming out of training camp in the preseason at the
• 28:05
  Speaker 4: time that the Steelers dealt him to Dallas. I'm absolutely
• 28:09
  Speaker 4: not second-guessing that at this point. I think it was
• 28:12
  Speaker 4: probably best in time for all to move on there
• 28:15
  Speaker 4: and get a fresh start and a change of scenery.
• 28:18
  Speaker 4: It's cold comfort. That's not to say that the Steelers'
• 28:23
  Speaker 4: O-line will thrive without him, but I think it's probably
• 28:27
  Speaker 4: a terrible take to say that they'd be thriving with him.
• 28:31
  Speaker 2: I like your Charles Barkley impression there. Do you have
• 28:33
  Speaker 2: a Shaquille O'Neal one?
• 28:37
  Speaker 4: No, I don't think I have a Shaq in my bag.
• 28:40
  Speaker 4: I don't know if I have a deep enough voice,
• 28:43
  Speaker 4: but at least I can do. Man, that's terrible. That's
• 28:45
  Speaker 4: a terrible take.
• 28:47
  Speaker 2: I like it, my friend. It's good with Charles. Shaq's
• 28:50
  Speaker 2: a pretty easy one. He just kind of mumbles. I
• 28:54
  Speaker 2: think you look more at Shaq when he's on camera
• 28:56
  Speaker 2: just because he's so massive in.
• 28:58
  Speaker 3: He's Shaquille O'Neal. He stands out.
• 29:00
  Speaker 2: All right, let's get to our last terrible take before break.
• 29:02
  Speaker 2: The Steelers defensive line of Harmon Benton, why you black
• 29:07
  Speaker 2: and cam Hayward is a top five defensive line in
• 29:10
  Speaker 2: the NFL right now.
• 29:11
  Speaker 4: Oh, Ooh, put me on the spot a little bit there. Um,
• 29:19
  Speaker 4: I won't say terrible because I'd have to look at
• 29:21
  Speaker 4: kind of every depth chart and assess how they're playing
• 29:24
  Speaker 4: through two weeks. But I think, I think they very
• 29:26
  Speaker 4: well could be put it that way. I, I don't
• 29:29
  Speaker 4: think it's far off off the top of my head,
• 29:32
  Speaker 4: but obviously the numbers wouldn't quite suggest that yet. But
• 29:35
  Speaker 4: Steelers defense has been really good through two games and
• 29:38
  Speaker 4: wreaking having a havoc up front is a big part
• 29:42
  Speaker 4: of that.
• 29:43
  Speaker 3: Okay, we're back on track.
• 29:44
  Speaker 2: We started out a little bit rough, but three out
• 29:46
  Speaker 2: of two of the first five, you said, are terrible takes,
• 29:49
  Speaker 2: but two that were not.
• 29:50
  Speaker 3: Last week, this is kind of how it went, Brian.
• 29:52
  Speaker 2: I think it was like 60-40, 70-30 maybe by the end,
• 29:55
  Speaker 2: so we're on track for that right now, but we have.
• 29:57
  Speaker 3: Five more to go.
• 29:58
  Speaker 2: Where will Brian Bacco come in on our 10 terrible takes?
• 30:02
  Speaker 2: We'll go through the home stretch and wrap up our
• 30:04
  Speaker 2: number one.
• 30:06
  Speaker 3: I'm E, he's B.
• 30:07
  Speaker 2: It's the Steelers Report here on Steelers Nation Radio, part
• 30:10
  Speaker 2: of the Steelers Audio Network.
• 30:25
  Speaker 5: This is the Steelers report with Brian Backo and Ed
• 30:29
  Speaker 5: Troup on Steelers Nation.
• 30:31
  Speaker 3: Radio, a part of the Steelers Audio Network.
• 30:36
  Speaker 2: We talked about the Mims versus TJ Watt matchup on Sunday. Well,
• 30:42
  Speaker 2: on the Steelers offensive side of things and the Bengals
• 30:44
  Speaker 2: defensive side of things, one matchup to the pay close
• 30:49
  Speaker 2: attention to is the steelers starting center zach frazier against
• 30:53
  Speaker 2: the bangles defensive tackle big decks dexter lawrence the bangles
• 31:02
  Speaker 2: acquired dexter lawrence in the offseason via trade they sent
• 31:06
  Speaker 2: a 10th round draft pick to the New York Giants,
• 31:09
  Speaker 2: and Dexter Lawrence has been very good through the first
• 31:12
  Speaker 2: two games. We went over some of those big numbers
• 31:14
  Speaker 2: during our last segment. But Zach Frazier coming into the season,
• 31:18
  Speaker 2: Double B, I had talked to, and as did you,
• 31:20
  Speaker 2: about him getting to a potential All-Pro status in 2026,
• 31:25
  Speaker 2: taking that next step in his career. Well, he'll have
• 31:28
  Speaker 2: a big test this upcoming Sunday to be part of
• 31:30
  Speaker 2: that big test if he has to go up against
• 31:32
  Speaker 2: Dexter Lawrence.
• 31:35
  Speaker 4: Well, first, Ed, I got to say you had a
• 31:37
  Speaker 4: verbal version of a typo. You said a 10th round pick,
• 31:40
  Speaker 4: which would have made Dexter Lawrence the steal of all
• 31:43
  Speaker 4: steals in the history of the NFL, considering there are
• 31:47
  Speaker 4: seven throughout. That was there was that was the 10th
• 31:49
  Speaker 4: overall pick.
• 31:50
  Speaker 3: Yes.
• 31:50
  Speaker 4: Yes.
• 31:51
  Speaker 5: Yes.
• 31:52
  Speaker 2: 10th overall, not 10th round. I my apologies to the
• 31:55
  Speaker 2: listening audience. I'm glad we have our copy editor over
• 31:58
  Speaker 2: there on the south side to keep to keep me
• 32:00
  Speaker 2: straight so far.
• 32:03
  Speaker 4: Nothing gets past me. By the way, in case you're curious,
• 32:06
  Speaker 4: 10th overall pick for the G-Men turned into Francis Mawanoa,
• 32:11
  Speaker 4: offensive lineman from Miami. I guess he's not having a
• 32:16
  Speaker 4: great time at the moment considering Jackson Dart is potentially
• 32:20
  Speaker 4: out for the season. Is that confirmed? Has that been
• 32:22
  Speaker 4: officially announced yet by the team that Dart won't be back?
• 32:26
  Speaker 2: I don't know if the New York Giants have officially
• 32:29
  Speaker 2: put it out there quite yet, Brian, but it's but
• 32:31
  Speaker 2: it's being reported pretty much everywhere.
• 32:35
  Speaker 4: Yeah, that's a rough one for New York. I'm generally
• 32:39
  Speaker 4: not on the train of teams trading for QBs in
• 32:44
  Speaker 4: season because there's so much I think you have to
• 32:46
  Speaker 4: learn for that position specifically. I think it's difficult for
• 32:49
  Speaker 4: any position to get traded midseason and come in, learn
• 32:53
  Speaker 4: the playbook, learn the people around you, make an impact.
• 32:56
  Speaker 4: But I think it's doubly or triply so for a quarterback.
• 33:00
  Speaker 4: But I do wonder, you know, Jameis Winston was not
• 33:04
  Speaker 4: very good for much of the rest of that game.
• 33:06
  Speaker 4: And it is only week three. And I thought the
• 33:08
  Speaker 4: Giants looked frisky week one in their win over the Cowboys.
• 33:12
  Speaker 4: Will they look into making a move? Just some food
• 33:16
  Speaker 4: for thought. NFL wide, not necessarily Steelers specific, although they
• 33:20
  Speaker 4: do have a lot of assets in the quarterback room. And, well,
• 33:24
  Speaker 4: a lot of teams have lost their top assets at
• 33:27
  Speaker 4: quarterback through two weeks of this season, unfortunately, but it's
• 33:31
  Speaker 4: a rough game.
• 33:32
  Speaker 3: It sure is.
• 33:33
  Speaker 2: And, you know, there was a lot of buildup going
• 33:35
  Speaker 2: into this season for Jackson Dart and that offense for
• 33:37
  Speaker 2: the New York Giants. Now they're going to have to
• 33:40
  Speaker 2: do it pretty much the rest of the season. Without him,
• 33:43
  Speaker 2: new head coach John Harbaugh, I believe, said, Double B,
• 33:46
  Speaker 2: that he is out for the regular season, but if
• 33:50
  Speaker 2: they make it to the postseason, there's an outside chance
• 33:52
  Speaker 2: that he could potentially... become the starting quarterback again for
• 33:56
  Speaker 2: the New York Giants. But they've got to get to
• 33:57
  Speaker 2: the postseason first. And for a team that has struggled
• 33:59
  Speaker 2: the last handful of years, that's a big take for them.
• 34:03
  Speaker 2: Speaking of takes, we're in our Terrible Takes segment. Ten
• 34:06
  Speaker 2: terrible takes. Steelers hot takes, overreactions or not, after week two.
• 34:10
  Speaker 2: We got through our first five before break with Brian Bacco,
• 34:13
  Speaker 2: and he agreed with three out of the first five
• 34:16
  Speaker 2: that they are terrible takes and two others that were not.
• 34:18
  Speaker 2: So we've got five more to go. And just a reminder,
• 34:21
  Speaker 2: coming up to kick off our 3 o'clock hour will
• 34:23
  Speaker 2: be Chris Carter from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
• 34:25
  Speaker 3: We'll be joining Double B and myself.
• 34:27
  Speaker 2: And then coming up at 3.20, we're going to actually
• 34:29
  Speaker 2: hear from head coach Mike McCarthy. Double B is on
• 34:33
  Speaker 2: the south side for day number two this week. of
• 34:35
  Speaker 2: Pittsburgh Steelers practice and coach McCarthy spoke to double B
• 34:39
  Speaker 2: and the media ahead of practice today.
• 34:41
  Speaker 3: So we will hear that.
• 34:42
  Speaker 2: And then coming up at three 40, we'll wrap up
• 34:45
  Speaker 2: today's show with some more NFL hot takes, not just
• 34:48
  Speaker 2: the Steelers, but across the NFL, as well as some
• 34:51
  Speaker 2: stat leaders, but back to our 10 terrible takes that
• 34:54
  Speaker 2: will be, I'm going to throw three of these next
• 34:56
  Speaker 2: five at you with three different scenarios.
• 34:59
  Speaker 4: Okay.
• 34:59
  Speaker 2: And it involves the Steelers record by next Thursday night,
• 35:02
  Speaker 2: one week from today, The Pittsburgh Steelers will have played
• 35:05
  Speaker 2: four football games. So the first terrible take or not,
• 35:09
  Speaker 2: and we'll get to the other two a bit later
• 35:10
  Speaker 2: on here is this, the Steelers will be one and
• 35:14
  Speaker 2: three by next Thursday night after the Browns game on
• 35:18
  Speaker 2: Thursday night football.
• 35:21
  Speaker 4: Oh man. I think that's a terrible take because I
• 35:27
  Speaker 4: said that two games does not a season make for
• 35:29
  Speaker 4: the Bengals defense and it, I don't think one game
• 35:33
  Speaker 4: makes me suddenly believe in the Browns turning things around immensely,
• 35:37
  Speaker 4: although I very well may pick them this week to
• 35:41
  Speaker 4: beat the Panthers at home in Cleveland, and then they'd
• 35:43
  Speaker 4: really be riding high and having some momentum going into
• 35:46
  Speaker 4: that Thursday night game, but at a certain point, I
• 35:50
  Speaker 4: think you need to believe for the Steelers where you
• 35:52
  Speaker 4: are as a franchise, and where you are in your
• 35:55
  Speaker 4: trajectory should be further along and further ahead of a team.
• 35:59
  Speaker 4: Like it's rebuilding the way that the Browns are with the,
• 36:03
  Speaker 4: you know, they also have a first year coach to
• 36:05
  Speaker 4: be fair, but I'd just be surprised if, if the
• 36:08
  Speaker 4: Steelers dropped both of these divisional games here in a,
• 36:13
  Speaker 4: but it's not easy playing two in a 10 game span.
• 36:15
  Speaker 4: And I think it's always a 10 day span. And
• 36:18
  Speaker 4: I think it's always easier to a 10 day span.
• 36:21
  Speaker 4: I guess it's like a, five-day span, Sunday to Thursday,
• 36:25
  Speaker 4: three games in a 10-day span, more like that. But
• 36:28
  Speaker 4: the Browns have to do it too. Now, I think
• 36:30
  Speaker 4: it's always a little bit easier to be the home
• 36:32
  Speaker 4: team on Thursday night football. In fact, I think the
• 36:35
  Speaker 4: numbers bear that out if you want to crunch those
• 36:37
  Speaker 4: and get into it. But no, I don't think they're
• 36:39
  Speaker 4: going to be one and three. I'd be surprised by that.
• 36:41
  Speaker 4: So I'll say terrible take.
• 36:43
  Speaker 3: All right, we'll get to two other scenarios here upcoming.
• 36:47
  Speaker 2: So We'll lock you in first on the Steelers will
• 36:51
  Speaker 2: be one in three by next Thursday night after that
• 36:53
  Speaker 2: Browns game as a terrible take. The next one is
• 36:57
  Speaker 2: TJ Watt and Alex Highsmith will battle for the top
• 37:01
  Speaker 2: two spots in the NFL for sacks all season long
• 37:04
  Speaker 2: and not just with the Pittsburgh Steelers. So going into
• 37:07
  Speaker 2: week three, TJ Watt is number two and Alex Highsmith
• 37:10
  Speaker 2: is number three. And the terrible take or not for you, Brian,
• 37:13
  Speaker 2: is that will remain in play, but we're going to
• 37:16
  Speaker 2: bump that up to one and two.
• 37:17
  Speaker 3: Throughout the rest of the season.
• 37:20
  Speaker 4: That is a little too rich for my blood, especially
• 37:23
  Speaker 4: when Aiden Hutchinson is already up there. Gregory Rousseau is
• 37:29
  Speaker 4: actually leading the way from the Bills. We mentioned him
• 37:31
  Speaker 4: on the show the other day. Dallas Turner from the
• 37:34
  Speaker 4: Vikings seems to be in the midst of a breakout.
• 37:38
  Speaker 4: And I would expect some of these other edge rushers
• 37:41
  Speaker 4: who haven't been heard from as much yet to get
• 37:44
  Speaker 4: in there, whether it's Will Anderson or Houston or Josh
• 37:47
  Speaker 4: Hines from Jacksonville, Max Crosby, you know, they all have
• 37:51
  Speaker 4: a sack and a half. I think they'll be heard
• 37:53
  Speaker 4: from before long. I think TJ Watt and Alex Highsmith
• 37:56
  Speaker 4: are already on track to have very, very productive seasons
• 38:00
  Speaker 4: getting after the quarterback, but that would probably be historic
• 38:03
  Speaker 4: if they do what that take just laid out.
• 38:06
  Speaker 2: Is there enough to eat for both of those guys
• 38:08
  Speaker 2: this year, you think, Double B, just to go off
• 38:10
  Speaker 2: the terrible take segment here? And when I say enough
• 38:12
  Speaker 2: to eat, I mean, can these guys get both up
• 38:14
  Speaker 2: to 15, 20 sacks each?
• 38:16
  Speaker 3: I mean, that's a lot.
• 38:18
  Speaker 4: Yeah, it is. I don't know what the record is
• 38:20
  Speaker 4: for sacks by teammates off the top of my head.
• 38:23
  Speaker 4: I wouldn't be surprised if two Steelers hold it based
• 38:26
  Speaker 4: on the Blitzburg history around here and the defenses that
• 38:30
  Speaker 4: we've been lucky and fortunate and blessed to have in Pittsburgh,
• 38:34
  Speaker 4: but I don't know, in today's NFL, I think that
• 38:38
  Speaker 4: would be tough. And also, oh, by the way, there's
• 38:40
  Speaker 4: a guy by the name of Nick Herbig, who's a
• 38:42
  Speaker 4: not-so-bad third fiddle, and Jack Sawyer, I think, will still
• 38:46
  Speaker 4: continue to get some snaps as well. So I think
• 38:48
  Speaker 4: that will eat into the overall counting numbers for those
• 38:51
  Speaker 4: top two at the end of the day. So yeah,
• 38:53
  Speaker 4: I'm going to say that's, I guess, a terrible take.
• 38:56
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm with you there, too.
• 38:58
  Speaker 2: Only because it's just tough from a numbers standpoint for
• 39:01
  Speaker 2: both those guys to produce at that level. And as
• 39:03
  Speaker 2: you said, I'm I'm not sure that's been done across
• 39:05
  Speaker 2: the NFL at any time when you've had two, you know,
• 39:08
  Speaker 2: number one, number two, or even top three for that matter. Edge,
• 39:12
  Speaker 2: you know, not edge rushers, but just overall sack numbers
• 39:15
  Speaker 2: throughout the season. Okay, next up are, let's see, where
• 39:18
  Speaker 2: are we at here? We're at number eight already, if
• 39:20
  Speaker 2: you can believe that. Our eighth terrible take of the
• 39:24
  Speaker 2: segment is this. The Steelers will be two and two
• 39:27
  Speaker 2: by next Thursday night after the Browns. game on Thursday
• 39:31
  Speaker 2: night football so we already did one and three double
• 39:34
  Speaker 2: B and you said that was a terrible take so
• 39:35
  Speaker 2: now I'll give you the next scenario they will be
• 39:37
  Speaker 2: two and two by next Thursday night.
• 39:41
  Speaker 4: I don't think that's a terrible take at all in
• 39:42
  Speaker 4: fact that's probably what I would Put my chips on
• 39:47
  Speaker 4: if I had to guess. I mean, we did our
• 39:48
  Speaker 4: preseason game by game predictions. And, you know, we I'm
• 39:52
  Speaker 4: sure our outlooks change somewhat after what we've seen the
• 39:56
  Speaker 4: first two weeks. I've said this before. I'll say it
• 39:59
  Speaker 4: again probably a million times. You don't want to overreact
• 40:03
  Speaker 4: to what you see, but you do need to react.
• 40:05
  Speaker 4: I think we're still learning things with each time that
• 40:08
  Speaker 4: the Steelers take the field and win or lose one win,
• 40:10
  Speaker 4: one loss thus far. against the Falcons and Patriots. But,
• 40:14
  Speaker 4: you know, even before the season started, I think I
• 40:16
  Speaker 4: had them starting one and two and then, you know,
• 40:20
  Speaker 4: moving to two and two after that. So I think
• 40:22
  Speaker 4: here's how I would rank the possibilities in my mind, Ed.
• 40:26
  Speaker 4: Two and two, number one. Three and one, actually, number two.
• 40:30
  Speaker 4: And then, again, to go back to a previous terrible take,
• 40:36
  Speaker 4: I'd be pretty surprised if they're one and three.
• 40:39
  Speaker 3: Well, we're going to get to that last scenario. In fact,
• 40:41
  Speaker 3: we might as well just do it. I was going
• 40:42
  Speaker 3: to save it for the end.
• 40:43
  Speaker 2: So the Steelers will be 3-1 by next Thursday night
• 40:47
  Speaker 2: after the Browns game on Thursday Night Football. So you
• 40:50
  Speaker 2: basically just said that's– is that the best-case scenario or.
• 40:53
  Speaker 3: Is that your prediction?
• 40:56
  Speaker 4: No, that's obviously the best-case scenario. You can't be better
• 40:59
  Speaker 4: than 3-1 after four games.
• 41:00
  Speaker 3: Well, yeah, I know that.
• 41:01
  Speaker 4: Not necessarily my prediction either. I'd be surprised by– I'd
• 41:07
  Speaker 4: be shocked by 1-3. I'd be mildly surprised by 3-1,
• 41:11
  Speaker 4: and I'd say my prediction is 2-2. But where that
• 41:16
  Speaker 4: falls on the spectrum of terribleness, that I'm not sure.
• 41:21
  Speaker 4: So how about this? You get a home game. Let
• 41:25
  Speaker 4: me just boil it down. You get a home game.
• 41:27
  Speaker 4: You're back at home in Pittsburgh with the wind at
• 41:29
  Speaker 4: your back, the wind in your sails, and then you
• 41:33
  Speaker 4: go on the road against a Cleveland team that not
• 41:37
  Speaker 4: many people had very high hopes for coming into this season.
• 41:40
  Speaker 4: I know it's been tough for the Steelers to win there, but, um,
• 41:43
  Speaker 4: what's more likely to me, you, you win your home
• 41:46
  Speaker 4: game and you beat the Browns as opposed to you
• 41:48
  Speaker 4: lose at home to the Bengals and you lose to
• 41:51
  Speaker 4: the Browns, regardless of where that game would be.
• 41:54
  Speaker 2: I'm with you again, good to go back to my
• 41:56
  Speaker 2: favorite WWE wrestler. I, I smell what you're cooking there. Um,
• 42:01
  Speaker 2: just just to keep score at home our preseason predictions
• 42:04
  Speaker 2: were two for two so far so both of us
• 42:06
  Speaker 2: had the Steelers beating Atlanta and we both had them
• 42:08
  Speaker 2: losing at New England but this is where the next
• 42:11
  Speaker 2: two games differ for uh well at least one of
• 42:13
  Speaker 2: them the upcoming game against Cincinnati you have them for
• 42:16
  Speaker 2: a loss I have them for a win and we
• 42:18
  Speaker 2: both had them winning in Cleveland so we both got
• 42:21
  Speaker 2: to uh well actually I had them at three and
• 42:23
  Speaker 2: one after four games you had them at two and
• 42:25
  Speaker 2: two and I'm with you, Brian. If I were to
• 42:28
  Speaker 2: make a prediction, I think the Steelers split these next two.
• 42:31
  Speaker 2: That's why I think it's very important that they win
• 42:33
  Speaker 2: this Sunday against the Bengals because it takes the pressure
• 42:36
  Speaker 2: off of a potential hiccup Thursday night in Cleveland against
• 42:41
  Speaker 2: a Browns team, at least after last week. Looks like
• 42:43
  Speaker 2: it's on the uppity up, up, up. And the Steelers
• 42:46
  Speaker 2: not so much after that game against New England. And
• 42:48
  Speaker 2: as we've said, playing on a divisional game on the
• 42:51
  Speaker 2: road on Thursday nights across the board, not just with
• 42:54
  Speaker 2: the Steelers, across the board.
• 42:56
  Speaker 3: Can be very difficult.
• 42:59
  Speaker 4: Yeah, but again, you know, it's such a week-to-week league,
• 43:01
  Speaker 4: and I wouldn't be surprised if the Browns look more
• 43:04
  Speaker 4: like the Browns again in week three with the Panthers
• 43:07
  Speaker 4: coming in there. Wouldn't be surprised if they win either.
• 43:10
  Speaker 4: I mentioned that earlier, but I still think the Steelers
• 43:13
  Speaker 4: have a better roster from top to bottom than Cleveland does.
• 43:16
  Speaker 4: I think they have a better quarterback than Cleveland does,
• 43:20
  Speaker 4: and I guess we don't need to, we'll get more
• 43:22
  Speaker 4: into that game next week, but we'll make our official
• 43:24
  Speaker 4: predictions for Steelers-Bengals tomorrow. We won't spoil that. Maybe I
• 43:28
  Speaker 4: will change my mind based on new information that comes up,
• 43:32
  Speaker 4: at least for right now. Wednesday's injury report for Cincy,
• 43:36
  Speaker 4: they had three guys who didn't practice. That was Jonathan Allen,
• 43:39
  Speaker 4: who we talked about glowingly earlier today, BJ Hill and
• 43:43
  Speaker 4: other veteran D-tackle and wide receiver Andre Yoshibas. He's their
• 43:49
  Speaker 4: number three. He had a couple big catches last year,
• 43:52
  Speaker 4: I think, in that Thursday night barn burner. Flacco versus Rogers.
• 43:58
  Speaker 4: He did not practice with a thumb injury. And we'll
• 44:02
  Speaker 4: see if they have that trio of guys out there.
• 44:05
  Speaker 4: It doesn't seem like there's too much concern out of
• 44:08
  Speaker 4: Cincy when it comes to Allen and Yoshi, Yoshi boss.
• 44:14
  Speaker 4: So the BJ Hill, that's a tough name, Andre Yoshi boss,
• 44:17
  Speaker 4: but BJ Hill did not play these first couple of games.
• 44:20
  Speaker 4: He's coming off of an Achilles injury to some extent.
• 44:23
  Speaker 4: So even if he's not there, this defense hasn't needed
• 44:27
  Speaker 4: him the first two weeks either.
• 44:28
  Speaker 3: Great name.
• 44:29
  Speaker 2: Better you to pronounce it than me. Cause we know
• 44:31
  Speaker 2: I butcher every name when given the opportunity double B,
• 44:34
  Speaker 2: but you did good there.
• 44:35
  Speaker 3: You did good there.
• 44:35
  Speaker 4: Okay.
• 44:36
  Speaker 2: Let me give you one more terrible take before the break.
• 44:38
  Speaker 3: And we wrap up our number one here on the show.
• 44:40
  Speaker 2: And by the way, you've clinched, we've clinched the terrible
• 44:43
  Speaker 2: takes for the terrible take fans out there. We got
• 44:45
  Speaker 2: six that you've agreed with that are terrible takes out
• 44:48
  Speaker 2: of the nine that we've done. So the clinch has
• 44:51
  Speaker 2: been made, but let's see if we can at least
• 44:52
  Speaker 2: make it a bit closer here at the end of
• 44:55
  Speaker 2: or if it's just a big sweep for the terrible
• 44:58
  Speaker 2: takes for this week.
• 44:58
  Speaker 3: Jalen Warren is the true.
• 45:00
  Speaker 2: Number one running back on the roster and should get
• 45:03
  Speaker 2: the bulk of the carries for the rest of the
• 45:05
  Speaker 2: 2026 season.
• 45:08
  Speaker 4: Oh, well, that's a two-pronged take, and I think the
• 45:14
  Speaker 4: first is not terrible, but I think the second is terrible.
• 45:20
  Speaker 4: I'm not ready to be done with the Rico Dowdle
• 45:23
  Speaker 4: experiment just yet. Um, you know, I do think Jalen
• 45:26
  Speaker 4: Warren has looked better through two games and I was,
• 45:30
  Speaker 4: I was kind of one of those people. I mean,
• 45:32
  Speaker 4: let me know if you recall it this way at
• 45:35
  Speaker 4: even in the off season where there was a lot
• 45:37
  Speaker 4: of hype and excitement for Dowdle and rightfully so coming
• 45:40
  Speaker 4: off back to back thousand yard seasons. And you know,
• 45:43
  Speaker 4: I can see that, but I feel like I was
• 45:45
  Speaker 4: one of the people saying, Hey, don't Don't forget about
• 45:47
  Speaker 4: Jalen Warren just yet. Like, let's remember what this guy
• 45:50
  Speaker 4: can do when he gets touches and how efficient he
• 45:54
  Speaker 4: can be. So I do feel like he's the Steelers.
• 45:58
  Speaker 4: Number one and number two is maybe arbitrary in this case,
• 46:01
  Speaker 4: because you do have two guys who have such similar resumes.
• 46:03
  Speaker 4: But put it this way, I think he's the Steelers
• 46:06
  Speaker 4: best running back. And I think Rico Dowdle can be
• 46:08
  Speaker 4: a really good compliment to him as long as he's healthy.
• 46:12
  Speaker 3: You are absolutely correct.
• 46:13
  Speaker 2: When we were up at Steelers training camp, the three
• 46:15
  Speaker 2: of us, you and I and Chris Adamski, were talking
• 46:18
  Speaker 2: about this. And Chris and I kept pushing on you
• 46:20
  Speaker 2: to say Rico is going to get the majority of
• 46:22
  Speaker 2: the carries this year. And you kept saying, I don't
• 46:24
  Speaker 2: think so. I think it's going to be more of
• 46:25
  Speaker 2: a 50-50 split. And so far, Double B, you may
• 46:29
  Speaker 2: even be more than right on that call. He may
• 46:32
  Speaker 2: be getting the majority as we head out.
• 46:34
  Speaker 3: Okay, 7-3. Terrible takes takes it this week.
• 46:38
  Speaker 4: I don't know.
• 46:38
  Speaker 3: I think last week was about the same, 7-3.
• 46:40
  Speaker 2: So I think we've got two weeks in a row
• 46:41
  Speaker 2: with that.
• 46:42
  Speaker 3: But we'll keep track of that as we go on.
• 46:44
  Speaker 3: That's going to do it for our number one.
• 46:45
  Speaker 2: Whenever we come back, Chris Carter of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
• 46:49
  Speaker 2: will be joining the show to talk Steelers-Bengals for this
• 46:52
  Speaker 2: upcoming Sunday. This is the Steelers Report with Troop and
• 46:54
  Speaker 2: Backo here on Steelers Nation Radio, part of the Steelers
• 46:58
  Speaker 2: Audio Network.