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HR 1: Steelers Coordinators, Early NFL Playoff Picture, Patrick Graham Sound · The Steelers Report

• 0:04
  Speaker 1: Here's a handoff to Dowdle, starts left, cuts back right,
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: inside the five, and into.
• 0:08
  Speaker 2: The end zone! Touchdown, Pittsburgh Steelers!
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: They're set up for the Steel City shove.
• 0:14
  Speaker 3: Here's Friar moves straight ahead, and the pushing, and the shoving,
• 0:18
  Speaker 3: and the touchdown, Pittsburgh Steelers!
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: Rodgers, under center, tightly bunched formation, turns, gives, and this
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: is Jalen Warren, and Jalen.
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: Warren is in.
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: For a Pittsburgh Steelers touchdown!
• 0:33
  Speaker 4: This is the Steelers Report with Brian Batko and Ed
• 0:37
  Speaker 4: Troop on Steelers Nation Radio, a part of the Steelers
• 0:41
  Speaker 4: Audio Network.
• 0:42
  Speaker 3: Those were the three touchdowns from this past Sunday's big
• 0:46
  Speaker 3: Steeler victory against the Cleveland Browns, 27-6. Steelers in their
• 0:51
  Speaker 3: bye week sit atop the AFC North and have a
• 0:55
  Speaker 3: four-game win streak to help get through these next two weeks.
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: Brian, it's a lot better than the flip side of
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: all this, right?
• 1:03
  Speaker 3: We said during those four games, if they went 3-1,
• 1:05
  Speaker 3: they'd be 5-3. If they do worse, 2-2, they'd be
• 1:10
  Speaker 3: at 500 at this point. But best case scenario is
• 1:13
  Speaker 3: what we just saw these last couple of weeks. 4-0
• 1:16
  Speaker 3: stretch of games, 6-2, and atop the AFC North.
• 1:20
  Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean, it feels probably like a long time
• 1:22
  Speaker 5: ago that the Steelers were 2-2 coming off of that
• 1:25
  Speaker 5: loss to the Browns and I think even optimistic fans
• 1:28
  Speaker 5: weren't entirely sure where they would go from there. Not
• 1:31
  Speaker 5: to mention the defeat in Foxborough against the Patriots that
• 1:34
  Speaker 5: was so disconcerting at the time. But clearly, Mike McCarthy
• 1:40
  Speaker 5: and this team have a lot of resolve. And right
• 1:44
  Speaker 5: now they're doing it. I thought I was listening to
• 1:47
  Speaker 5: our pals on the Blitz, Tom Offerman and Vince Williams
• 1:49
  Speaker 5: this morning, driving around on my way to go vote.
• 1:52
  Speaker 5: You know, happy election day out there to people. Good
• 1:55
  Speaker 5: day for democracy.
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: Make sure you get out and vote.
• 1:57
  Speaker 5: Also National Sandwich Day. Okay. But we're not eating sandwiches
• 2:01
  Speaker 5: because we've got a nice little Mediterranean spread here at
• 2:04
  Speaker 5: the iHeart Studios. Maybe I'll have to have a sandwich
• 2:07
  Speaker 5: for dinner. Just in observance of National Sandwich Day. You've
• 2:11
  Speaker 5: got to be able to celebrate it. Correct.
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: What's your favorite sandwich?
• 2:14
  Speaker 5: You have a go-to? Italian hoagie is tough to beat
• 2:18
  Speaker 5: in my mind, but so is a Philly cheesesteak.
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: Oh, man.
• 2:21
  Speaker 5: Technically a sandwich. It's a hoagie, but there's a Two
• 2:25
  Speaker 5: good ones.
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: I'm with you.
• 2:27
  Speaker 5: Yeah, I know there's a groundswell of support for the
• 2:30
  Speaker 5: Reuben and things of that nature, but that's more of
• 2:32
  Speaker 5: like a... That's not like your everyday sandwich. I was
• 2:35
  Speaker 5: going to say, I'd have a Reuben twice a year.
• 2:37
  Speaker 3: Yeah, that's a project, especially if you make it at home.
• 2:40
  Speaker 3: There's a lot going on there.
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: Right.
• 2:41
  Speaker 5: But good. It's heavy.
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and heavy.
• 2:44
  Speaker 5: That sticks to your ribs. But as far as the
• 2:46
  Speaker 5: everyday or once-a-week sandwich, I think you can't go wrong
• 2:49
  Speaker 5: with a cold-cut Italian, something along those lines.
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: I'm a salami guy. Give me like a salami and
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: provolone or something.
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: Prosciutto.
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: Oh, prosciutto. Yeah. Mike, not to be confused with Mike Prosciutto.
• 3:00
  Speaker 5: Prosciutto.
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: Prosciutto, prosciutto.
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: Yep, yep.
• 3:03
  Speaker 5: But yeah, and also, you know, like a, chicken chicken
• 3:08
  Speaker 5: breast sandwich or something along those lines too I'm not
• 3:10
  Speaker 5: a big are you big chicken salad or tuna salad.
• 3:12
  Speaker 3: No I don't like mayo I don't either yeah uh
• 3:15
  Speaker 3: don't even get me started oh my god see Brian
• 3:17
  Speaker 3: Beckett why we get along so well don't even get
• 3:19
  Speaker 3: me started on the mayo um no I'm with you
• 3:22
  Speaker 3: there absolutely uh with where the stewards currently sit and
• 3:25
  Speaker 3: you and I were talking a bit off the air
• 3:27
  Speaker 3: before we started the show today about where they truly
• 3:30
  Speaker 3: are after eight games and Well, we know they're in
• 3:32
  Speaker 3: first place. We know they're 6-2. We know that they
• 3:35
  Speaker 3: just split with the Cleveland Browns. But this game coming
• 3:39
  Speaker 3: out of the break, and we'll talk about it even
• 3:40
  Speaker 3: more next week when we lead up to the Sunday
• 3:43
  Speaker 3: night game in Cincinnati.
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: Another big AFC.
• 3:46
  Speaker 3: All the AFC North matchups are always big, Brian, but
• 3:48
  Speaker 3: this will be another key one in both the Steelers
• 3:50
  Speaker 3: and Bengals season, because now the Bengals are in the
• 3:52
  Speaker 3: Steelers spot.
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: They don't want to get swept by the Steelers.
• 3:56
  Speaker 3: They're the Steelers of the Browns matchup that we just
• 3:59
  Speaker 3: went through. They can't get swept by the Steelers if
• 4:00
  Speaker 3: they want any chance in the AFC North.
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: True.
• 4:03
  Speaker 5: I just realized, though, I got derailed by the sandwich talk.
• 4:06
  Speaker 5: I was about to say I was listening to Tom
• 4:08
  Speaker 5: and Vince.
• 4:08
  Speaker 2: That's right.
• 4:09
  Speaker 5: You did have a point. I was driving around, going
• 4:11
  Speaker 5: to vote.
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: All right.
• 4:12
  Speaker 5: We'll figure out how we even got here, but I
• 4:15
  Speaker 5: thought they were making a really salient point that this
• 4:20
  Speaker 5: team is kind of getting these wins done with lesser
• 4:24
  Speaker 5: parts than we expected. I mean, no Derek Harmon, no
• 4:27
  Speaker 5: Sebastian Joseph Day, no Michael Pittman Jr., no Roman Wilson.
• 4:31
  Speaker 5: And yet they're still finding– and Deshaun Elliott has barely played.
• 4:34
  Speaker 5: He's been back for, what, two games. And yet they're
• 4:37
  Speaker 5: still finding a way to keep their head above water,
• 4:41
  Speaker 5: take care of business. win the quote-unquote games you're supposed
• 4:44
  Speaker 5: to win, which I'm not even really sure what that
• 4:46
  Speaker 5: means anymore in today's NFL. So I think that is
• 4:50
  Speaker 5: a testament to Mike McCarthy, the coaching staff, the veteran
• 4:53
  Speaker 5: leadership of this group.
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: I agree.
• 4:57
  Speaker 5: I mean, I think there's just when you bring back
• 4:58
  Speaker 5: an Aaron Rodgers at quarterback and you continue to employ
• 5:03
  Speaker 5: stalwarts such as Cam Hayward, TJ Watt, you bring back
• 5:07
  Speaker 5: Jalen Ramsey, I think what should be baked into that
• 5:10
  Speaker 5: is a certain floor. And this team is playing well
• 5:14
  Speaker 5: above the floor right now at 6-2. They're already setting
• 5:17
  Speaker 5: themselves up for a nice floor for the entirety of
• 5:21
  Speaker 5: this season. Knock on wood, of course. But, yeah, I mean,
• 5:25
  Speaker 5: it is impressive that they're doing this while, yes, injuries
• 5:28
  Speaker 5: have ravaged teams on their schedule and around the league.
• 5:31
  Speaker 5: But it's not like the Steelers have kept a clean sheet.
• 5:33
  Speaker 5: So kudos to them. And the vision has been coming
• 5:37
  Speaker 5: together for the most part thus far, highlighted today. significantly
• 5:42
  Speaker 5: by this four game stretch here this unbeaten four game stretch.
• 5:44
  Speaker 3: Here coming up on the show today we got a
• 5:47
  Speaker 3: lot of good things planned for you on our next
• 5:50
  Speaker 3: segment we will hear from Steelers defensive coordinator Patrick Graham
• 5:54
  Speaker 3: And also to wrap up our number one today, we'll
• 5:56
  Speaker 3: hear from Steelers offensive coordinator Brian Angelico. Hour two, our
• 6:00
  Speaker 3: top ten moments and plays from this past Sunday. And
• 6:03
  Speaker 3: we'll finish up the show with Chris Adamski from Trib Live.
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: Steelers beat reporter. Will join us to close out the show.
• 6:10
  Speaker 3: Chris, a reunion of such was with Brian Bacco in
• 6:13
  Speaker 3: the booth at Chuck Knoll Field in Latrobe over this
• 6:15
  Speaker 3: past summer.
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: We had a great time.
• 6:17
  Speaker 3: Two-and-a-half-week stretch, bringing live training camp action here on SNR
• 6:21
  Speaker 3: each and every day, Chris, myself, and Double B. But, Brian,
• 6:24
  Speaker 3: I want to talk about the coordinators, and we will
• 6:27
  Speaker 3: hear from them coming up next. But before that, you
• 6:29
  Speaker 3: have an article up on Steelers.com, a well-coordinated and connected front,
• 6:34
  Speaker 3: and you led with Brian Angelico in your article after
• 6:37
  Speaker 3: the coordinator spoke yesterday.
• 6:39
  Speaker 5: Yeah, Brian Angelico, offensive coordinator. Obviously, he's not calling the
• 6:42
  Speaker 5: plays on a daily basis or weekly basis for the Steelers,
• 6:46
  Speaker 5: but his job is to coordinate the offense that's in
• 6:49
  Speaker 5: the description for Angelico and I think it's hard to
• 6:51
  Speaker 5: argue with this thing looks pretty well coached right now
• 6:55
  Speaker 5: and sure you can focus on the big stuff like
• 6:58
  Speaker 5: the you know Jalen Warren's explosive start to this season
• 7:03
  Speaker 5: the running game just mauling people the last couple weeks
• 7:06
  Speaker 5: specifically but really they've they've been efficient all year to
• 7:09
  Speaker 5: be honest that happened even those first couple games where
• 7:12
  Speaker 5: the offense was moving in fits and starts I It's
• 7:15
  Speaker 5: easy to forget that against the Falcons, they had a
• 7:17
  Speaker 5: defensive touchdown that propped them up somewhat. Seems like ages ago,
• 7:21
  Speaker 5: by the way.
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: It does.
• 7:21
  Speaker 5: It really does. But even in those games, Jalen Warren
• 7:25
  Speaker 5: had been a bright spot. The run game at times
• 7:27
  Speaker 5: had been a bright spot. It was more so Warren,
• 7:30
  Speaker 5: I guess, pass catching out of the backfield than lining
• 7:32
  Speaker 5: it up and running it. But since week three, when
• 7:35
  Speaker 5: that new look O-line stepped in, I think by and large,
• 7:38
  Speaker 5: they've run it pretty efficiently. That's all the major... and subplots,
• 7:45
  Speaker 5: but even the little things, I think they've been on
• 7:48
  Speaker 5: their P's and Q's. Lack of false starts is really good. Pre-snap,
• 7:55
  Speaker 5: you know, illegal shift, I think there's been one called
• 7:58
  Speaker 5: on them all season. Illegal formation, I think there's been
• 8:01
  Speaker 5: one called on them all season.
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: Here's your stats from your article.
• 8:04
  Speaker 3: For the season, the Steelers have just four false starts,
• 8:07
  Speaker 3: two illegal shifts, one illegal formation penalty, and one ineligible
• 8:11
  Speaker 3: man downfield. which highlights, as you wrote, Brian, and you're right,
• 8:15
  Speaker 3: the attention to detail and execution from this offensive group.
• 8:18
  Speaker 5: That's focus. That's preparation. Playing out in-game. Now that's on
• 8:22
  Speaker 5: the players, obviously, to execute and have that awareness when
• 8:26
  Speaker 5: you're on the field, but it's absolutely on the coaching
• 8:29
  Speaker 5: as well to have those guys so honed in on
• 8:33
  Speaker 5: what they're trying to do offensively within the scheme, but
• 8:37
  Speaker 5: also just the finer points, the nuances of playing offensive
• 8:41
  Speaker 5: football at a high level. it's adding up to big
• 8:44
  Speaker 5: things is, is really the, the bottom line there.
• 8:47
  Speaker 3: And you and I mentioned this yesterday on the show,
• 8:49
  Speaker 3: but you know, there's, there are two clear events that
• 8:52
  Speaker 3: took place in these first eight weeks of the regular
• 8:54
  Speaker 3: season that have turned the tides for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
• 8:57
  Speaker 3: One was the week three offensive line shift, the Brock
• 9:01
  Speaker 3: Hoffman and Maxi on a chore on that right side,
• 9:03
  Speaker 3: no doubt, clear difference. If you look at the numbers
• 9:06
  Speaker 3: and we will break down the numbers, we're out of
• 9:07
  Speaker 3: our hits and misses tomorrow. And I can tell you,
• 9:09
  Speaker 3: it's going to be a big part of our hits tomorrow.
• 9:11
  Speaker 3: this Steeler offense since that change has been made in
• 9:13
  Speaker 3: the last four games and the other is Patrick Graham
• 9:16
  Speaker 3: coming down from the booth to the field which happened
• 9:18
  Speaker 3: after the Thursday night game in Cleveland when there was
• 9:21
  Speaker 3: a lot of miscommunication going on with the defense the
• 9:24
  Speaker 3: following week he's on the field he's there with that
• 9:28
  Speaker 3: Indianapolis Colts game and since the Steelers have won four
• 9:30
  Speaker 3: straight no doubt those two events on defense and offense
• 9:34
  Speaker 3: in the first half of the season have made all
• 9:35
  Speaker 3: the world of difference.
• 9:37
  Speaker 5: Yeah I've made this point before I think it bears
• 9:40
  Speaker 5: repeating You've got to give credit to Mike McCarthy, who's ultimately,
• 9:44
  Speaker 5: you know, I'm sure a lot of people in his
• 9:45
  Speaker 5: year make suggestions, whether that's for staying on the field
• 9:50
  Speaker 5: with a second left in the first half in Sunday's
• 9:53
  Speaker 5: win against the Browns, which apparently Aaron Rodgers was advocating for.
• 9:56
  Speaker 5: He wasn't coming off the field.
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: It was a big roll of a dice, but it
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: worked out.
• 10:00
  Speaker 5: Ultimately, it's Mike McCarthy's call. Danny Smith, the old special
• 10:04
  Speaker 5: teams coordinator, always used to say, assistants make suggestions, head
• 10:08
  Speaker 5: coaches make decisions. Those were big decisions to switch up
• 10:13
  Speaker 5: the personnel on the offensive line after just two games.
• 10:16
  Speaker 5: I'm more of the patient type. I probably would have
• 10:18
  Speaker 5: let it play out, but maybe you don't uh maybe
• 10:22
  Speaker 5: you don't win one of those two games if you
• 10:24
  Speaker 5: don't make that switch or maybe you aren't gelling the
• 10:26
  Speaker 5: way you are now if you don't make that switch
• 10:28
  Speaker 5: at that time so i i give a ton of
• 10:30
  Speaker 5: credit to mccarthy for having that feel for it and
• 10:32
  Speaker 5: just going for it and there's there's no role against
• 10:34
  Speaker 5: switching back you know it's not this isn't soccer you
• 10:37
  Speaker 5: sub somebody out and you can't sub them back in
• 10:40
  Speaker 5: so yeah i mean i i think that that was
• 10:42
  Speaker 5: huge and i know um you know, you could probably,
• 10:46
  Speaker 5: it's a double-edged sword. You could criticize it. Like, why
• 10:48
  Speaker 5: didn't they have Graham on the field from the beginning? Yeah.
• 10:52
  Speaker 5: And yet I give them credit for recognizing that that
• 10:55
  Speaker 5: was something that could easily be changed and was changed.
• 10:59
  Speaker 5: And I think it's made a world of difference. We'll
• 11:01
  Speaker 5: hear more from Graham about that. Not necessarily that specific
• 11:05
  Speaker 5: mechanism to the defense playing better, but just the overall
• 11:09
  Speaker 5: tonal shift, turning point, pivot, whatever you want to call
• 11:13
  Speaker 5: it coming out of that first Cleveland game but yeah
• 11:16
  Speaker 5: I mean ultimately those things are under the purview of
• 11:19
  Speaker 5: the head coach and Mike McCarthy had a sense of
• 11:22
  Speaker 5: urgency here he obviously wasn't just changing for the sake
• 11:24
  Speaker 5: of change he saw some room to grow and improve
• 11:28
  Speaker 5: and it has happened hence the four game win streak you.
• 11:31
  Speaker 3: Know when Mike McCarthy put this coaching staff together and
• 11:34
  Speaker 3: listen Brian I'm I'm a firm believer in in all
• 11:37
  Speaker 3: of sports and football especially being a head coach and
• 11:40
  Speaker 3: even outside of sports even in an organization when you're
• 11:43
  Speaker 3: in a management position you surround yourself with good quality folks.
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: In football, it's coaches.
• 11:49
  Speaker 3: When you're able to do that, the results will follow.
• 11:52
  Speaker 3: The coaches that are great in this game, when you
• 11:55
  Speaker 3: look back through the history of the NFL, have had
• 11:57
  Speaker 3: really good assistants who, by the way, have most likely
• 11:59
  Speaker 3: gone on to become good head coaches themselves. I think
• 12:02
  Speaker 3: Mike McCarthy has found some good ones. I talked about
• 12:05
  Speaker 3: this yesterday on the show towards the tail end when
• 12:07
  Speaker 3: we were listening to some of the post-game sound. When
• 12:11
  Speaker 3: you look at Patrick Graham, the defensive coordinator, Even Coach
• 12:15
  Speaker 3: Angelico that we're going to hear from here in this
• 12:17
  Speaker 3: first hour as well. Coach Campy on that offensive line.
• 12:20
  Speaker 3: Even Tom Arth, the quarterback's coach. They truly do have
• 12:23
  Speaker 3: a really good coaching staff that they've put together here
• 12:26
  Speaker 3: throughout this 2026 season. It's the first season, so back
• 12:29
  Speaker 3: to your point. With Patrick Graham coming down from the
• 12:31
  Speaker 3: booth to the field, we didn't know that.
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: They didn't know that.
• 12:34
  Speaker 3: Because it's the first year. It's a first-year coaching staff,
• 12:36
  Speaker 3: but so far the results have been good.
• 12:38
  Speaker 5: I remember looking into that when the Steelers first hired
• 12:42
  Speaker 5: Mike McCarthy, he does have a pretty nice coaching tree
• 12:44
  Speaker 5: from guys who branched out from working under him in,
• 12:48
  Speaker 5: in both green Bay and Dallas. I mean, just looking
• 12:50
  Speaker 5: around the league right now, Brian Schottenheimer is the head
• 12:53
  Speaker 5: coach of the Cowboys. Now that's, you know, they promoted
• 12:56
  Speaker 5: him from within, but still Kellen Moore over with the saints,
• 13:00
  Speaker 5: the Steelers just another one worked under McCarthy worked other
• 13:03
  Speaker 5: places too, but it's, it's all part of the, you know,
• 13:06
  Speaker 5: the nurturing of a coach, Dan Quinn, you know, he,
• 13:10
  Speaker 5: had been a head coach i think and then comes
• 13:12
  Speaker 5: back to dallas to coordinate the cowboys defense and springboards
• 13:16
  Speaker 5: right back to being the commander's head coach so uh
• 13:19
  Speaker 5: yeah i mean i i liked what he did with
• 13:21
  Speaker 5: that staff right away it was it was a big
• 13:25
  Speaker 5: undertaking because not only do the steelers rarely ever change
• 13:29
  Speaker 5: head coaches but that means they also rarely have full
• 13:32
  Speaker 5: sale or whole wholesale uh changes full staff changes like
• 13:36
  Speaker 5: that so I mean that was a yes that was
• 13:39
  Speaker 5: a big endeavor he kept two coaches one on each
• 13:41
  Speaker 5: side of the ball Tom Arth uh the QB's coach
• 13:43
  Speaker 5: and um Scott McCurley the inside linebackers coach how's that
• 13:47
  Speaker 5: unit playing so far he in McCurley they they both
• 13:50
  Speaker 5: had experience uh playing under or working under Mike McCarthy
• 13:55
  Speaker 5: so that continuity there's probably some value in that as
• 13:58
  Speaker 5: well but That's a that's kind of a random aside
• 14:01
  Speaker 5: to start today's show. Shout out to Scott McCurley and
• 14:03
  Speaker 5: what Patrick Queen and Peyton Wilson are doing in a
• 14:07
  Speaker 5: new scheme, how they've looked, how they're playing. Talked about
• 14:09
  Speaker 5: that on the Blitz this morning with Vince and Tom
• 14:12
  Speaker 5: to those two guys. Just the change of scenery and
• 14:15
  Speaker 5: the fresh start seems to have done them very well.
• 14:18
  Speaker 5: And there was a lot of hand wringing from the
• 14:20
  Speaker 5: outside about the Steelers not trying to upgrade or change
• 14:24
  Speaker 5: things at that spot.
• 14:25
  Speaker 3: Another tease for tomorrow's show with our hits and misses
• 14:27
  Speaker 3: for the week, the inside linebacker spot with Patrick Queen
• 14:31
  Speaker 3: and Peyton Wilson could also be a big part of
• 14:34
  Speaker 3: our hits so far for the Pittsburgh Steelers this season.
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: They've played very well. in that inside.
• 14:38
  Speaker 3: Like I said, I've come on this program throughout the
• 14:41
  Speaker 3: last few weeks, Brian, and I've talked about Peyton Wilson
• 14:44
  Speaker 3: being one of the most important and best defensive players.
• 14:46
  Speaker 3: And that says a lot because the edge rushers and
• 14:48
  Speaker 3: TJ Watt and company, they're the ones that put up
• 14:50
  Speaker 3: the stats. But if you're watching Steelers football week in
• 14:52
  Speaker 3: and week out, Peyton Wilson has been a big reason why.
• 14:56
  Speaker 3: this defense has played as well as they have. Whenever
• 14:58
  Speaker 3: we come back, we're going to hear from Patrick Graham,
• 15:01
  Speaker 3: one of our favorites here on the show that we
• 15:03
  Speaker 3: listen to each and every week, the Pittsburgh Steelers, and
• 15:07
  Speaker 3: we stay awake.
• 15:08
  Speaker 1: During that too.
• 15:08
  Speaker 3: So each and every week here on the show, Patrick
• 15:11
  Speaker 3: Graham up next.
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: He's back. Oh, I'm Troop.
• 15:14
  Speaker 3: It's the Steelers report right here on Steelers Nation Radio,
• 15:17
  Speaker 3: part of the Steelers Audio Network.
• 15:20
  Speaker 2: We'll be right back.
• 15:27
  Speaker 4: This is the Steelers report with Brian Bacco and Ed
• 15:31
  Speaker 4: Truth on Steelers Nation Radio, a part of the Steelers
• 15:35
  Speaker 4: Audio Network.
• 15:36
  Speaker 3: Brian Bacco opens up the show today about National Sandwich Day.
• 15:41
  Speaker 3: So we diverted for a few minutes and I thought
• 15:43
  Speaker 3: to myself, we could probably spend a whole segment talking
• 15:46
  Speaker 3: about sandwiches. One of our favorites, one of our least favorites.
• 15:51
  Speaker 3: Yesterday after the show, Brian, on my way home, uh,
• 15:54
  Speaker 3: My sons were off of school yesterday and today. A
• 15:56
  Speaker 3: little two-day mini fall break before they go back tomorrow.
• 16:00
  Speaker 3: And I brought Primanti Brothers. Now, there's a Primanti's right
• 16:02
  Speaker 3: over the hill from our studios here. So, popped in
• 16:05
  Speaker 3: real quick, brought them some sandwiches home. Maybe I should
• 16:08
  Speaker 3: do that again today. But my youngest son, Brendan, his
• 16:11
  Speaker 3: go-to is pastrami and cheese, which is also my go-to. So,
• 16:14
  Speaker 3: I guess he gets it from me. I love pastrami
• 16:16
  Speaker 3: and cheese. That's my favorite Primanti's.
• 16:18
  Speaker 5: I switch back and forth. Sometimes that, sometimes cap and cheese.
• 16:23
  Speaker 5: Sometimes I go with the OG steak and cheese, and
• 16:25
  Speaker 5: sometimes the Cajun chicken is also pretty good. How about
• 16:29
  Speaker 5: pit beef sandwiches? Have you ever had one of those?
• 16:32
  Speaker 5: That's like a Chicago delicacy on my mind.
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: That's not the beef on whack buffalo.
• 16:37
  Speaker 5: No, that's buffalo. Pit beef is more like beef in
• 16:41
  Speaker 5: a hoagie roll, and it's just sopping wet with peppers.
• 16:45
  Speaker 5: It's coming to mind because I'm getting hungry. because the
• 16:48
  Speaker 5: Bears cooked the Seahawks last night on Monday Night Football.
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: That's why you're the award-winning journalist.
• 16:53
  Speaker 5: Did you stay up for it? Did you watch? I
• 16:55
  Speaker 5: won the battle against the Couch last night.
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: I did not.
• 16:58
  Speaker 2: Okay. It was a good game.
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: I made it to halftime.
• 17:00
  Speaker 5: I mean, the Bears pulled away, but those are two
• 17:03
  Speaker 5: really good teams.
• 17:04
  Speaker 2: They are.
• 17:05
  Speaker 5: Playmaking all over the place on offense and defense. I
• 17:09
  Speaker 5: think those two teams are– it's kind of– it's a
• 17:13
  Speaker 5: shame because– I think there's a good chance that the
• 17:16
  Speaker 5: seven best teams in the NFC are from two divisions.
• 17:19
  Speaker 5: The entire NFC North and then Niners, Seahawks, and I'm
• 17:23
  Speaker 5: still not counting out the Rams in the NFC West.
• 17:26
  Speaker 5: On a neutral field, I'm taking all seven of those
• 17:28
  Speaker 5: teams over anybody from the NFC East and anybody from
• 17:32
  Speaker 5: the NFC South. However, the Bucs seem like they're trending
• 17:36
  Speaker 5: in the right direction.
• 17:37
  Speaker 3: There is absolutely a scenario at the end of this season.
• 17:40
  Speaker 3: There's only seven playoff spots, right? Four of those seven
• 17:44
  Speaker 3: go to division winners, so you will have a winner
• 17:46
  Speaker 3: from the North and you'll also have a winner from
• 17:47
  Speaker 3: the West. But the other teams, you're going to give
• 17:50
  Speaker 3: up two spots for the East winner and the South winner,
• 17:53
  Speaker 3: which means out of those seven teams, the four from
• 17:55
  Speaker 3: the North and three, we're not going to count the
• 17:56
  Speaker 3: Cardinals in the West. that there's going to be two
• 17:59
  Speaker 3: of those teams, Brian, that are going to miss the playoffs,
• 18:01
  Speaker 3: and they'll probably have 10 or more wins, and the
• 18:04
  Speaker 3: two winners from the East and the South potentially could
• 18:07
  Speaker 3: be 8-9 and have a losing.
• 18:09
  Speaker 1: Record making the playoffs.
• 18:11
  Speaker 3: It's wild, but it's the NFL and it's the playoff
• 18:13
  Speaker 3: scenarios that unfortunately in this situation take place sometimes.
• 18:17
  Speaker 5: Things are a lot more balanced in the AFC as
• 18:19
  Speaker 5: I look at this.
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: A lot more.
• 18:22
  Speaker 5: It's the AFC North that is at the head of
• 18:25
  Speaker 5: the class right now with the Steelers. Bengals and Browns
• 18:28
  Speaker 5: in the three six and eight spots uh current respectively
• 18:33
  Speaker 5: but then you've got the Bills and Pats are both
• 18:35
  Speaker 5: in the playoffs if it started today from the AFC
• 18:37
  Speaker 5: East the Broncos and Chiefs from the AFC West who
• 18:41
  Speaker 5: I realize they've already met twice this season too so
• 18:44
  Speaker 5: they're kind of like the Steelers and the Browns and
• 18:46
  Speaker 5: it was inverse though because season opener Chiefs demolished them
• 18:51
  Speaker 5: and then on the flip side on the way back
• 18:53
  Speaker 5: here Broncos won a close one uh to even that
• 18:56
  Speaker 5: series so Yeah, I mean, I think that you've got
• 19:00
  Speaker 5: the Jaguars obviously way out in front in the AFC South,
• 19:03
  Speaker 5: but that's just one division that isn't pulling its weight. Otherwise,
• 19:07
  Speaker 5: the AFC is fairly balanced. And when I say balanced,
• 19:11
  Speaker 5: I mean from top to bottom pretty much because you've
• 19:14
  Speaker 5: got the dregs in each division as well with the
• 19:17
  Speaker 5: Chargers bringing up the rear of the AFC West, only
• 19:19
  Speaker 5: winless teams still remaining. The Titans and the Colts going
• 19:23
  Speaker 5: nowhere fast, actually selling off assets left and right in
• 19:27
  Speaker 5: the AFC South. And then, of course, the Dolphins and
• 19:30
  Speaker 5: Jets going nowhere fast. I don't know what to make
• 19:32
  Speaker 5: of the Ravens because, you know, Joe Fagnano apparently is
• 19:38
  Speaker 5: going to start at QB for them. If he's healthy,
• 19:41
  Speaker 5: they might have to go vintage Miami Dolphins and run
• 19:44
  Speaker 5: the Wildcat. Where's Jalen Samuels right now? Is Jalen Samuels
• 19:48
  Speaker 5: around and available to help out?
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: There's a good call right there. I don't have much faith.
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: A Steelers callback, yeah. I don't have.
• 19:55
  Speaker 3: Much faith in the Ravens from a couple different standpoints.
• 19:58
  Speaker 3: Even before the Lamar Jackson injury, that defense has given up, what,
• 20:02
  Speaker 3: 70-plus points in the last two weeks? Just incredible. Now
• 20:05
  Speaker 3: they've faced two very good offenses in the last two weeks.
• 20:07
  Speaker 3: I get that part of it. But that defense has
• 20:09
  Speaker 3: not been like the old school Ravens defense you see
• 20:11
  Speaker 3: year after year. Now you take the quarterback part of
• 20:13
  Speaker 3: this out. You have a first-year head coach in Jesse Minner.
• 20:17
  Speaker 3: How's he going to respond? I mean, if John Harbaugh's there, Brian,
• 20:20
  Speaker 3: and listen, Mike McCarthy, I know he's a first-year Steeler
• 20:23
  Speaker 3: head coach, but he has 15-plus head coaching years of experience.
• 20:27
  Speaker 3: Mike Tomlin did this many years here in Pittsburgh where
• 20:31
  Speaker 3: he didn't lose the locker room ever despite injuries and
• 20:33
  Speaker 3: what was going on. And heck, you know, I know
• 20:35
  Speaker 3: you can make that nine and eight argument and, you know,
• 20:38
  Speaker 3: above 500, but he never lost the locker room. Can
• 20:40
  Speaker 3: Jesse Minner, a first year head coach, can he still
• 20:43
  Speaker 3: keep that locker room together and be competitive the second
• 20:45
  Speaker 3: half of the season with everything else going on there?
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: I don't know. We're going to find out.
• 20:48
  Speaker 5: It's yeah, that's a tough one. I just, the trade
• 20:52
  Speaker 5: deadline is approaching rapidly and pretty bad timing for their
• 20:56
  Speaker 5: QB room to go down in a heap because if
• 20:58
  Speaker 5: it would have happened later or if I mean if
• 21:01
  Speaker 5: it would have happened earlier you'd have had a little
• 21:03
  Speaker 5: bit more time to assess your options and I guess
• 21:05
  Speaker 5: they still do have some time but don't don't envy
• 21:08
  Speaker 5: Eric DaCosta their GM at the moment and there's a
• 21:11
  Speaker 5: lot of chatter from the outside I don't I haven't
• 21:14
  Speaker 5: entirely like traced this speculation back to the origin just
• 21:17
  Speaker 5: yet but so much noise and hubbub about whether Lamar
• 21:21
  Speaker 5: has played his last down for the Ravens I guess
• 21:23
  Speaker 5: because of contract issues and obviously persistent injuries man that
• 21:28
  Speaker 5: would uh that'd be pretty crazy if that's the case
• 21:32
  Speaker 5: it's tough when you get a mobile quarterback like a
• 21:33
  Speaker 5: lamar jackson later on in his career um and that's
• 21:36
  Speaker 5: where he is right now you know to be able
• 21:38
  Speaker 5: to stay healthy through the second half of his nfl
• 21:40
  Speaker 5: career it's tough um patrick mahomes i mean even mahomes
• 21:43
  Speaker 5: got hurt last year you know he's he's kind of
• 21:45
  Speaker 5: been the exception to that rule brian But he even
• 21:48
  Speaker 5: got banged up last year and missed the second half
• 21:49
  Speaker 5: of the season.
• 21:50
  Speaker 3: So it does happen. We'll have to see how that
• 21:52
  Speaker 3: plays out.
• 21:52
  Speaker 1: But I'm with you.
• 21:53
  Speaker 3: I think there's seven playoff teams in the AFC, and
• 21:55
  Speaker 3: they're pretty much set. I think you're going to have
• 21:57
  Speaker 3: the Bills and Patriots in the east. I think you're
• 21:59
  Speaker 3: going to have the Steelers and Bengals in the north.
• 22:02
  Speaker 3: I think you'll have the winner of the south, which
• 22:05
  Speaker 3: right now, no doubt that it's going to be the Jaguars.
• 22:08
  Speaker 3: And then out in the West, I think you're going
• 22:10
  Speaker 3: to have the Broncos or the Chiefs. Whoever wins the division,
• 22:12
  Speaker 3: who doesn't, will also get in. Maybe the Raiders sneak
• 22:15
  Speaker 3: in in that conversation. Maybe the Browns aren't completely dead yet.
• 22:18
  Speaker 3: I don't know, but I would say the two of
• 22:19
  Speaker 3: them are probably on their way out.
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: Hold up.
• 22:21
  Speaker 5: Let me stop you right there. Have you seen the Raiders'
• 22:23
  Speaker 5: upcoming schedule?
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: Is it brutal or easy?
• 22:25
  Speaker 5: At Niners, home to the Seahawks.
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: Oh, they're done.
• 22:28
  Speaker 5: At Broncos.
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: They're done.
• 22:30
  Speaker 5: At Browns is the next four games.
• 22:32
  Speaker 1: Yeah, forget it.
• 22:33
  Speaker 5: Yeah, because the only reason that I knew that they
• 22:36
  Speaker 5: had such a grind coming up, Ed, was because– I
• 22:39
  Speaker 5: was listening to somebody, I forget who it was, but
• 22:41
  Speaker 5: they were just discussing when's the time to get Fernando
• 22:44
  Speaker 5: Mendoza in there, and they're like, well, if you don't
• 22:46
  Speaker 5: get him in soon, he's going to be running into
• 22:48
  Speaker 5: a buzzsaw, and that ain't going to be great for
• 22:50
  Speaker 5: a rookie's confidence to start his NFL career. It actually
• 22:53
  Speaker 5: reminded me of when the Steelers ran Kenny Pickett out
• 22:56
  Speaker 5: there against, I think it was the Bills on the
• 22:58
  Speaker 5: road in Buffalo was his first start, if I'm not mistaken,
• 23:02
  Speaker 5: and then he had the Eagles pretty quick after that.
• 23:05
  Speaker 5: I'm not saying that's why it didn't turn out well,
• 23:07
  Speaker 5: but That's quite a digression on Election Day and Sandwich Day,
• 23:11
  Speaker 5: Kenny Pickett's rookie year.
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: Well, I'm going to call an audible here, Brian.
• 23:14
  Speaker 3: We're about halfway through this segment before break, so let's
• 23:16
  Speaker 3: keep the playoff conversation going.
• 23:17
  Speaker 5: Yeah, at this point, we might as well.
• 23:19
  Speaker 3: When we come back after break, we'll hear from Patrick Graham,
• 23:21
  Speaker 3: because Patrick Graham had a lot to say, so I
• 23:22
  Speaker 3: don't want to shortchange him here before break.
• 23:24
  Speaker 5: We can do the rest of the show listening to
• 23:26
  Speaker 5: Patrick Graham's comments. First of all, quantity and quality. I mean,
• 23:29
  Speaker 5: he talked for, what, 16 minutes or so here?
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: He did, a lot.
• 23:32
  Speaker 5: And there's just a lot of... Good stuff. What's the cliche?
• 23:36
  Speaker 5: There's a lot to unpack from everything that he gets
• 23:38
  Speaker 5: to here.
• 23:38
  Speaker 2: A lot.
• 23:38
  Speaker 5: So, yeah, let's table it.
• 23:39
  Speaker 3: By the way, Patrick Graham's dress, you know, he cuts
• 23:43
  Speaker 3: the sleeves off of everything.
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: My man. I mean, I have that look. I mean,
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: today I didn't cut off my Steelers.
• 23:48
  Speaker 5: No, you've got a great look going on today. You've
• 23:50
  Speaker 5: got a layer combination that I couldn't even fathom and
• 23:55
  Speaker 5: I would have never come up with on my own.
• 23:57
  Speaker 5: It's a first layer of a shorter long-sleeve T-shirt and
• 24:00
  Speaker 5: then a hoodie and then a polo over it. It's remarkable, Ed.
• 24:04
  Speaker 5: I've got to do that.
• 24:05
  Speaker 3: When you go from being 300 pounds most of your
• 24:07
  Speaker 3: life where you're always sweaty and hot to losing 100 pounds,
• 24:10
  Speaker 3: you're always cold, Brian.
• 24:11
  Speaker 5: No, I don't even think it has anything to do
• 24:12
  Speaker 5: with the temperature. I just admire the ingenuity. I wouldn't
• 24:15
  Speaker 5: have thought of that outside the box thinking. It looks cool, though.
• 24:19
  Speaker 1: It's always 30 degrees outside.
• 24:20
  Speaker 3: With an with a chance of snow in the studio
• 24:23
  Speaker 3: when we do the game all year long so we
• 24:25
  Speaker 3: got a heater on but you always got to dress
• 24:26
  Speaker 3: warm you've come in with the tassel.
• 24:28
  Speaker 5: Hat oh yeah i was wearing a beanie for the
• 24:30
  Speaker 5: game on sunday too in the press box and then
• 24:33
  Speaker 5: down in the locker room and Will Graves from the
• 24:36
  Speaker 5: Associated Press says, isn't it too early for beanie season?
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: No, never.
• 24:39
  Speaker 5: Check my watch. I'm like, well, it's November 1st, so no.
• 24:42
  Speaker 5: But also, I'm always cold, and my head is always cold.
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: I'm not a hat guy in the summer, but I'm
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: a beanie guy in the winter. You'll find that out.
• 24:47
  Speaker 5: I've got my pit hat on today.
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: I like that. It's a nice one.
• 24:49
  Speaker 5: Huge win last night over the Ryder.
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: How about that?
• 24:52
  Speaker 5: You know Ryder's nickname?
• 24:55
  Speaker 2: I do not.
• 24:55
  Speaker 5: The Bronx.
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: Not the Broncos. Just the Bronx. The Bronx. Like the Bronx,
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: New York?
• 25:01
  Speaker 5: B-R-O-N-C-S.
• 25:03
  Speaker 3: What's a Bronx?
• 25:04
  Speaker 5: It's Broncos without an O at the end.
• 25:07
  Speaker 2: I don't know.
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: Where are they located?
• 25:08
  Speaker 5: New York? Yeah, they're in New Jersey or New York.
• 25:12
  Speaker 3: Okay.
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: Well, all right. Not a bad guess.
• 25:16
  Speaker 5: I don't know why they don't have the second O
• 25:18
  Speaker 5: in Broncos, but they're just the Bronx.
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: They're trying to be a bit different.
• 25:21
  Speaker 5: Yeah, they're not even in the Bronx, New York. They're
• 25:23
  Speaker 5: in the Lawrence Township.
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: New Jersey. Let me reel you back in, my friend.
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: AFC playoff pitcher.
• 25:29
  Speaker 5: Sorry, I'm getting into college basketball season. Pitt 95, Ryder
• 25:32
  Speaker 5: 57 to kick off the season.
• 25:35
  Speaker 1: So do you think, and I'm with you on Pitt basketball.
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: I love Pitt hoops. Boy, I've really missed the Big
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: East days. I'll just leave it there.
• 25:41
  Speaker 3: But when you look at these playoff teams in the AFC,
• 25:44
  Speaker 3: Do you see any other team cracking into that seven?
• 25:47
  Speaker 1: For instance, pretty much we both just said to heck
• 25:49
  Speaker 1: with the Raiders, right?
• 25:50
  Speaker 3: Do the Texans, they're 2-5, but they have so much
• 25:53
  Speaker 3: talent on offense and defense. Remember last year they made
• 25:56
  Speaker 3: a run halfway through the season towards the end and
• 25:58
  Speaker 3: got into the playoffs and beat the Steelers in that
• 26:00
  Speaker 3: wild card game. Is there any life left maybe to
• 26:02
  Speaker 3: the Texans? I can't see, after what I just saw
• 26:04
  Speaker 3: this past week against the Browns, I think they're going
• 26:07
  Speaker 3: the other direction. The Ravens, because of the injuries and
• 26:09
  Speaker 3: the defense, I think they're going the other direction. We
• 26:11
  Speaker 3: already talked about the East. I don't know, Brian. I
• 26:13
  Speaker 3: think the Texans might be the only team that might
• 26:16
  Speaker 3: work their way back into that conversation.
• 26:18
  Speaker 2: Maybe.
• 26:19
  Speaker 5: The Texans can make some hay coming up here. They
• 26:21
  Speaker 5: just had their bye week. Now they're going to go
• 26:24
  Speaker 5: to the Chargers, which is not a formidable opponent. Before
• 26:28
  Speaker 5: the season, I would have told you it is. Now
• 26:29
  Speaker 5: it certainly is not.
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: Not now.
• 26:31
  Speaker 5: Then they go to Cleveland against the Browns. You're down
• 26:34
  Speaker 5: on them. I'm going to get to them in a second.
• 26:36
  Speaker 5: But first, what the Texans have coming up. Thursday night
• 26:39
  Speaker 5: football at home against the Colts. Can we just sharpie
• 26:42
  Speaker 5: a W for the Texans in that one? I mean, geez.
• 26:44
  Speaker 5: And then the Ravens at home.
• 26:46
  Speaker 2: I hope so.
• 26:46
  Speaker 5: That's not looking like a very difficult opponent.
• 26:50
  Speaker 2: Nope.
• 26:50
  Speaker 5: And then December 6th, Sunday night football in Pittsburgh at
• 26:56
  Speaker 5: Accresure Stadium.
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: Mike Tomlin's return to Pittsburgh.
• 26:59
  Speaker 5: If the Texans can rattle off four straight wins against
• 27:02
  Speaker 5: that quartet of uninspiring foes that I just named there,
• 27:08
  Speaker 5: they would be six and five coming in here.
• 27:11
  Speaker 1: Very much alive.
• 27:12
  Speaker 5: And they would be very much alive.
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: They're back, baby.
• 27:14
  Speaker 5: And they would be needing a huge win on primetime
• 27:17
  Speaker 5: on the road. That would be fascinating. But hold your
• 27:22
  Speaker 5: horses not so fast on the Browns, in my opinion.
• 27:25
  Speaker 5: I know the Steelers just took it to them, wiped
• 27:28
  Speaker 5: the floor with them. But they've got to go to
• 27:30
  Speaker 5: New Orleans this upcoming week. Winnable game for Cleveland.
• 27:35
  Speaker 2: Yes.
• 27:35
  Speaker 5: Good way to put it. Winnable game. Then the flip
• 27:37
  Speaker 5: side of what I just said there, they've got the
• 27:39
  Speaker 5: Texans at home. That could be one of those. Yeah,
• 27:42
  Speaker 5: it's in Cleveland. So that could be one of those, like,
• 27:45
  Speaker 5: whoever loses that game is probably done for. But then
• 27:49
  Speaker 5: they get a bye, and then they come out of
• 27:51
  Speaker 5: their bye with three consecutive home games against the Raiders, Bengals,
• 27:54
  Speaker 5: and Falcons.
• 27:55
  Speaker 2: Oh, boy.
• 27:56
  Speaker 5: So their Bengals games are going to be huge for them.
• 27:58
  Speaker 5: They haven't played since yet. They've already beaten the Ravens once.
• 28:01
  Speaker 2: So.
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: They're still very much alive.
• 28:07
  Speaker 5: Yeah, and then they go to the Giants, to the Ravens,
• 28:10
  Speaker 5: and they get the Colts still.
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: Giants, Ravens, Colts.
• 28:13
  Speaker 2: Okay.
• 28:14
  Speaker 1: Well, their schedule's very favorable.
• 28:16
  Speaker 5: Yeah, the Browns aren't out of it by any stretch
• 28:18
  Speaker 5: in my mind.
• 28:19
  Speaker 3: So there still could be three playoff teams potentially coming
• 28:22
  Speaker 3: out of the AFC North.
• 28:23
  Speaker 5: I think so.
• 28:24
  Speaker 2: I think so.
• 28:25
  Speaker 5: And I just talked myself into the Texans battling back, evidently.
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: You talked me into the Browns, and I talked you
• 28:31
  Speaker 1: into the Texans.
• 28:31
  Speaker 5: No, I think the Texans, they've been... Way less competitive
• 28:36
  Speaker 5: than anticipated coming into this year. But they did find
• 28:38
  Speaker 5: a way to beat Jacksonville in London. They got better
• 28:42
  Speaker 5: over the course of the season a year ago, so
• 28:44
  Speaker 5: there's some credence to that. There's precedent for that under
• 28:49
  Speaker 5: D'Amico Ryans and even C.J. Stroud as well. But 2-5,
• 28:54
  Speaker 5: that's a tough hole to climb out of.
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: Very tough hole to climb out of. It has not
• 28:58
  Speaker 1: been done very much throughout.
• 28:59
  Speaker 5: The course of the history. I think the Chargers are
• 29:00
  Speaker 5: about to run the table.
• 29:02
  Speaker 2: 10-7.
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: Chargers!
• 29:02
  Speaker 2: Still.
• 29:03
  Speaker 5: Still a possibility.
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: Playoffs?
• 29:05
  Speaker 5: Still a possibility for Jim Harbaugh and Mike McDaniel and company, 10-7.
• 29:08
  Speaker 5: I don't know, man. Just got to win 10 straight.
• 29:11
  Speaker 1: Win them all. You want to talk about a tall order. Well,
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: you know what? Hey, it'd be historic. That's for sure.
• 29:18
  Speaker 3: When Brian and I come back, we will indeed finally
• 29:20
  Speaker 3: hear from Pittsburgh Steelers defensive coordinator Patrick Graham.
• 29:24
  Speaker 1: What did he have to say yesterday?
• 29:25
  Speaker 3: We always love hearing from Coach Graham.
• 29:27
  Speaker 1: We'll have that.
• 29:28
  Speaker 3: And also coming up in the second hour today at
• 29:30
  Speaker 3: 3 o'clock and in and around 320, our top 10
• 29:34
  Speaker 3: moments and plays from this past Sunday between the Pittsburgh
• 29:37
  Speaker 3: Steelers and the Browns. Brian, there were 20 to pick from.
• 29:39
  Speaker 3: I had an it down to 10. We got there,
• 29:41
  Speaker 3: but we could have probably done... We probably could have
• 29:43
  Speaker 3: doubled up on it. Some weeks, we've had to stretch
• 29:45
  Speaker 3: to get to 10. This week, we probably could have
• 29:47
  Speaker 3: gave you 20.
• 29:47
  Speaker 1: Gosh, there were eight sacks alone. And then Chris.
• 29:50
  Speaker 3: Adamski wraps up the show from the Tribune Review later
• 29:53
  Speaker 3: on today.
• 29:54
  Speaker 1: He's back. I'm Troop.
• 29:55
  Speaker 3: It is the Steelers Report right here on Steelers Nation Radio,
• 29:58
  Speaker 3: part of the Steelers Audio Network.
• 30:06
  Speaker 4: This is the Steelers Report with Brian Batko and Ed
• 30:10
  Speaker 4: Truth on Steelers Nation Radio, a part of the Steelers
• 30:14
  Speaker 4: Audio Network.
• 30:15
  Speaker 3: Wrapping up our first hour here on the Report. We
• 30:18
  Speaker 3: will hear from defensive coordinator Patrick Graham in just a
• 30:22
  Speaker 3: few minutes. We'll also have our top ten moments and
• 30:25
  Speaker 3: plays in the 3 o'clock hour from Steelers Browns and
• 30:29
  Speaker 3: then Chris Adamski from Trib Live joins us to wrap
• 30:32
  Speaker 3: up the show here today. Brian, hard to believe the
• 30:36
  Speaker 3: first half of the season, just about, you know, we
• 30:38
  Speaker 3: turned the corner to week nine, going to be behind us,
• 30:41
  Speaker 3: but that's where we currently are. Steelers bye week at
• 30:44
  Speaker 3: a good time. What's your thoughts on the bye week?
• 30:46
  Speaker 1: Good timing halfway through.
• 30:48
  Speaker 3: I think this is about the perfect time to have
• 30:50
  Speaker 3: a bye week.
• 30:51
  Speaker 5: Yeah, I never really get too into the weeds on that.
• 30:53
  Speaker 5: I mean, I think it is just, if you ask
• 30:57
  Speaker 5: me before the season, yeah, midway through the year is
• 31:00
  Speaker 5: the best way to go because you just split your
• 31:02
  Speaker 5: season in two, but I think after that, a late
• 31:06
  Speaker 5: season bye sometimes can help as long as you're peaking
• 31:09
  Speaker 5: at the right time and you didn't get worn down
• 31:12
  Speaker 5: playing so many games in a row. I think the
• 31:14
  Speaker 5: early bye is never good, but some teams have to
• 31:17
  Speaker 5: take them. It is what it is.
• 31:19
  Speaker 1: Yeah, that bye week in, like, what, week four, week five?
• 31:22
  Speaker 3: That's probably the worst because then you've got a lot
• 31:24
  Speaker 3: of season up on the other side.
• 31:26
  Speaker 1: I will say this.
• 31:28
  Speaker 3: Steelers have a lot of momentum right now, so you
• 31:30
  Speaker 3: can look at it from two different angles, one being
• 31:33
  Speaker 3: you'd rather have that momentum going into the break than
• 31:35
  Speaker 3: on the flip side and have to think about a
• 31:37
  Speaker 3: loss to the Browns and being swept for two weeks.
• 31:40
  Speaker 3: But on the other hand, you've got the momentum. Things
• 31:42
  Speaker 3: are cooking in the right direction. Why stop now? Keep
• 31:46
  Speaker 3: the train moving.
• 31:47
  Speaker 5: If anything, I would have said– Give me the bye
• 31:49
  Speaker 5: right after the Paris game. But now that we've pushed
• 31:52
  Speaker 5: through an extra week, although I have been a little fatigued,
• 31:55
  Speaker 5: I'm going to have to ask Adamski later on the
• 31:57
  Speaker 5: show about that if he's feeling the same way. But
• 31:59
  Speaker 5: now that we've pushed through it, this is a nice
• 32:01
  Speaker 5: time to level set, take a bit of a breather,
• 32:05
  Speaker 5: get ready for the second half. It's actually second half
• 32:07
  Speaker 5: plus a game. And we hope more games in the postseason.
• 32:11
  Speaker 3: Well, I didn't go to Paris, but I will tell
• 32:13
  Speaker 3: you this. My wife and I had this conversation last night.
• 32:16
  Speaker 1: Daylight savings. Yeah, it's messy.
• 32:18
  Speaker 3: You know, and it's funny because when you spring ahead
• 32:20
  Speaker 3: in the spring, that always affects me.
• 32:22
  Speaker 5: It's brutal, man.
• 32:23
  Speaker 1: Because you lose an hour.
• 32:24
  Speaker 3: But in the fall, this is the first time I
• 32:26
  Speaker 3: could ever remember where it's affected me. Normally, I'm fine.
• 32:29
  Speaker 3: It's like a bonus. But last night, it's 530.
• 32:31
  Speaker 1: It's dark out.
• 32:32
  Speaker 3: And I was done for the night.
• 32:33
  Speaker 2: Like, I was it.
• 32:34
  Speaker 1: I was sitting on the couch, and I'm like.
• 32:36
  Speaker 5: I'm ready to go to bed. I can't stand it.
• 32:38
  Speaker 5: I wish we didn't do it. I don't think that
• 32:40
  Speaker 5: was on my ballot to vote for today.
• 32:42
  Speaker 1: It almost was, I think. I think that was almost
• 32:46
  Speaker 1: going to be something to vote on there.
• 32:48
  Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean, I was driving home. I had dinner
• 32:49
  Speaker 5: with my parents last night with the kids, and we're
• 32:51
  Speaker 5: driving home, and it's like 545 pitch black. I'm like, buddy,
• 32:56
  Speaker 5: if you were still playing fall ball, your game wouldn't
• 32:58
  Speaker 5: have even started yet because those games were usually at 6.
• 33:00
  Speaker 5: So he was confused. I was perturbed. Yeah, I don't
• 33:06
  Speaker 5: like it. But anyway, Patrick Graham.
• 33:08
  Speaker 1: Yeah, Patrick Graham.
• 33:09
  Speaker 5: I wonder what he thinks of daylight savings.
• 33:10
  Speaker 1: Did you guys ask him that yesterday? Oh, come on. Well,
• 33:13
  Speaker 1: next week. Next week I'll ask Coach. But by then
• 33:14
  Speaker 1: it'll be too late. It won't matter.
• 33:16
  Speaker 3: Patrick Graham, Pittsburgh Steelers defensive coordinator, spoke yesterday, and here
• 33:20
  Speaker 3: is what Coach Graham had to say.
• 33:21
  Speaker 2: It's definitely a big part of any unit on the
• 33:25
  Speaker 2: football field, I think, offense, defense, special teams. And the
• 33:29
  Speaker 2: thing that's been great, just we harp on communication, we
• 33:33
  Speaker 2: harp on spending time together, getting to know each other,
• 33:35
  Speaker 2: And as we go through that process, I think the
• 33:38
  Speaker 2: trust just starts to build. Trust starts to build. But
• 33:41
  Speaker 2: it also comes from having success. They're not going to
• 33:45
  Speaker 2: trust me if I can't give them nuggets. They're not
• 33:47
  Speaker 2: going to trust me if I'm not putting them in
• 33:49
  Speaker 2: the right spots. The coaches won't trust me if I'm
• 33:51
  Speaker 2: not giving them the tools or the time to go
• 33:53
  Speaker 2: over the stuff. So it's all like trying to learn
• 33:56
  Speaker 2: how to work together, and then the trust gets built
• 33:58
  Speaker 2: from there. But when you get results from the process,
• 34:01
  Speaker 2: it definitely helps there. But– I told him right from
• 34:06
  Speaker 2: the jump, I said, I want you to trust me.
• 34:08
  Speaker 2: I understand I'm going to have to earn that trust.
• 34:10
  Speaker 2: I'm asking you to blindly trust me, and I know
• 34:12
  Speaker 2: that's not going to be the case, so you have
• 34:14
  Speaker 2: to earn it. And right now it's trending in the
• 34:16
  Speaker 2: right direction. And most importantly, and this is why I
• 34:20
  Speaker 2: think it's so important as a coach to keep growing,
• 34:23
  Speaker 2: and I had to learn how to trust them more.
• 34:26
  Speaker 2: And it was from the input, from the voices, like
• 34:30
  Speaker 2: the veteran players, like Pat, you can trust us on this.
• 34:34
  Speaker 2: And sometimes you don't want to hear that, you know,
• 34:37
  Speaker 2: sometimes you don't want to hear like where are you
• 34:38
  Speaker 2: falling short and stuff. But I think any sign of
• 34:40
  Speaker 2: a good coach or just a good teacher, when you
• 34:42
  Speaker 2: get feedback from your students and that's, that's basically what
• 34:45
  Speaker 2: we're talking about. And I got really good feedback from them.
• 34:50
  Speaker 2: And that bus ride back from Cleveland was a tough one.
• 34:52
  Speaker 2: And I sat there and thought about it all day.
• 34:53
  Speaker 2: And I said, you know what? I got to reflect
• 34:56
  Speaker 2: on myself and make sure I'm doing that. And, and
• 34:59
  Speaker 2: the open discussions we've had, um, It's been good. It's
• 35:03
  Speaker 2: been good. It's been good.
• 35:04
  Speaker 3: Can you put your finger on kind of when the
• 35:08
  Speaker 3: turning point came, whether it was from that trust and
• 35:11
  Speaker 3: just really when things started to start clicking?
• 35:13
  Speaker 2: God, dude, now the headline is going to be trust
• 35:15
  Speaker 2: for everything. Okay. It's about production. I know. It's about production.
• 35:20
  Speaker 2: The guys, it's what they do on the field. I
• 35:21
  Speaker 2: have very little to do with what the success they're
• 35:24
  Speaker 2: having out there. But speaking from a personal standpoint– A
• 35:30
  Speaker 2: big turning point for me was the bus ride back
• 35:32
  Speaker 2: from Cleveland. I'll be honest. I mean, I just sat
• 35:34
  Speaker 2: there staring out the window listening to Amy Winehouse. Like
• 35:38
  Speaker 2: I do when we have a bad loss. I'm like
• 35:40
  Speaker 2: sitting there listening to Amy Winehouse. And, you know, she's
• 35:43
  Speaker 2: depressed on the song. I'm depressed that day. And just
• 35:46
  Speaker 2: thinking about what I could do better. And that was
• 35:50
  Speaker 2: a turning point for me. And I'm glad it happened.
• 35:53
  Speaker 2: What was going through your mind? Back to black.
• 35:58
  Speaker 3: Internally, what was going through your mind of what you
• 36:00
  Speaker 3: did need to.
• 36:00
  Speaker 2: Reflect on and change? It was really.
• 36:04
  Speaker 5: Patrick Graham's a ball-knower, and I'm not using that in
• 36:07
  Speaker 5: the athletic or football sense. That's in the slang term
• 36:10
  Speaker 5: sense because Amy Winehouse, first of all, we heard way
• 36:14
  Speaker 5: back in OTAs that he has players present on old-school hip-hop,
• 36:19
  Speaker 5: so like 80s and 90s rap that he wanted to
• 36:21
  Speaker 5: hear from some players about.
• 36:22
  Speaker 1: That's a deep cut there.
• 36:23
  Speaker 5: So we know he's got that preference and taste.
• 36:26
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 36:26
  Speaker 5: Now the Amy Winehouse is coming out. Patrick Graham's at
• 36:30
  Speaker 5: the top of my list of coaches I'd want to
• 36:32
  Speaker 5: have a drink with, I think, and listen to some tunes.
• 36:36
  Speaker 5: Ball knower, for sure. Although, now that I think about it,
• 36:40
  Speaker 5: I think that album, which I believe is critically acclaimed,
• 36:43
  Speaker 5: the late Amy Winehouse, of course, starts with the song Rehab,
• 36:46
  Speaker 5: which was probably her most famous song.
• 36:48
  Speaker 1: That's the one I know.
• 36:48
  Speaker 5: But that's a very upbeat, chipper song, really. The content
• 36:52
  Speaker 5: of it is obviously dark, but the... The melody and
• 36:56
  Speaker 5: everything is pretty chipper. But obviously he was getting more
• 37:01
  Speaker 5: into the middle part of the album with some more,
• 37:06
  Speaker 5: what's the word I'm looking for? Some more morose tracks.
• 37:09
  Speaker 5: But hey, whatever it took for them to right the
• 37:12
  Speaker 5: ship after the game in Cleveland, shout out to Amy
• 37:15
  Speaker 5: Winehouse for pitching into this Steelers season posthumously.
• 37:19
  Speaker 3: I just picture an NFL Films shot of, Coach Graham
• 37:23
  Speaker 3: with his headphones on looking out the window.
• 37:25
  Speaker 1: It's raining and he's listening.
• 37:27
  Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean, I even like I had a few
• 37:28
  Speaker 5: things to do around the house yesterday. And after listening
• 37:31
  Speaker 5: to Patrick Graham, I was like, I'm putting on some
• 37:32
  Speaker 5: Back in Black by Amy Winehouse.
• 37:34
  Speaker 3: There you go.
• 37:34
  Speaker 5: Was it good?
• 37:35
  Speaker 1: You liked it?
• 37:36
  Speaker 2: Yes.
• 37:36
  Speaker 5: I forgot how many of the songs that I'd known.
• 37:38
  Speaker 3: I'm a very diverse music person. I listen to a
• 37:40
  Speaker 3: lot of different types of music, old school and new school.
• 37:43
  Speaker 3: And that's but that's one I can't speak to other
• 37:45
  Speaker 3: than the rehab song. I don't know much of her music,
• 37:47
  Speaker 3: but a lot of fans out there, including Coach Graham.
• 37:51
  Speaker 2: Listen, again, I said this from jump, you know, the
• 37:54
  Speaker 2: best thing I learned from Bill, I mean, I learned
• 37:56
  Speaker 2: a lot from, sorry, Coach Belichick, I can't believe I
• 37:58
  Speaker 2: said that, the best I learned from Coach Belichick, just
• 38:02
  Speaker 2: being the quality control coach, being a position coach, he
• 38:04
  Speaker 2: was the best listener I've ever been around, by far,
• 38:07
  Speaker 2: I mean, best football coach ever, but like, best listener
• 38:09
  Speaker 2: by far, and there's a reason why something's getting said,
• 38:14
  Speaker 2: and I'm like, okay, get out of your feelings, why
• 38:17
  Speaker 2: is it being said, and like, how can I do better,
• 38:19
  Speaker 2: and it was just, Going through that, because I have
• 38:21
  Speaker 2: emotions too. I'm sitting there like, you know, no, I
• 38:25
  Speaker 2: don't think that's right. But I'm like, okay, why did
• 38:26
  Speaker 2: somebody say that? Think about it. And I'm trying to
• 38:29
  Speaker 2: be the example. I talk to them all the time, like,
• 38:31
  Speaker 2: you know, whether it's in the game, trying to have poise,
• 38:34
  Speaker 2: whether it's, you know, learning from mistakes, trying to show poise. Like,
• 38:37
  Speaker 2: I'm like, I'll be the example. I think that's a
• 38:39
  Speaker 2: big part of being a good leader. So trying to
• 38:42
  Speaker 2: do that.
• 38:42
  Speaker 6: After the game, PQ was talking about how, during the
• 38:47
  Speaker 6: week you got up and kind of gave an impassioned
• 38:49
  Speaker 6: speech and told the guys, like, hey, trust me, I
• 38:52
  Speaker 6: know what I'm doing here, I got a plan in place.
• 38:54
  Speaker 5: What were you trying to, no, I won't put the
• 38:56
  Speaker 5: words in your mouth, I guess just, what were you
• 38:58
  Speaker 5: trying to basically pass along or.
• 39:01
  Speaker 2: Illustrate to those guys? That's kind of, you know, I
• 39:03
  Speaker 2: don't know, they're paraphrasing that or whatever the word, I mean,
• 39:06
  Speaker 2: I didn't say trust me, I wanted them to, God,
• 39:09
  Speaker 2: this is going to be trust, the headlines will be
• 39:11
  Speaker 2: trust for everything, Jesus. All right. I just was trying
• 39:15
  Speaker 2: to tell them, I said, Because when I first met him,
• 39:19
  Speaker 2: I said, there's a lesson planned for the season. Again,
• 39:22
  Speaker 2: talk about being a teacher. So there's a lesson planned
• 39:24
  Speaker 2: for the season. So everything, you know, Coach talks about
• 39:26
  Speaker 2: the season being in quarters. Like, we're building towards something.
• 39:30
  Speaker 2: and making sure I'm explaining that process like not getting
• 39:33
  Speaker 2: caught up in the results making sure explaining that process
• 39:36
  Speaker 2: and then as we get to week eight I said
• 39:38
  Speaker 2: now listen this is part of the process right here
• 39:41
  Speaker 2: this is where we're at and I get into okay
• 39:43
  Speaker 2: we got seven games on them already of tape to
• 39:45
  Speaker 2: watch You guys have stopped the run three weeks in
• 39:48
  Speaker 2: a row. It's time to start putting that in our
• 39:50
  Speaker 2: back pocket. That's what we know how to do. Now
• 39:52
  Speaker 2: we have to tighten down the coverage and just keep
• 39:55
  Speaker 2: building so that when we get to after Thanksgiving, some
• 39:58
  Speaker 2: of those stuff on the checklist that we're rocking and rolling,
• 40:00
  Speaker 2: and now you start to see this. Again, six games
• 40:03
  Speaker 2: is not going to win us anything. We all understand that.
• 40:05
  Speaker 2: But you want to be ascending, and then once it
• 40:07
  Speaker 2: gets to Thanksgiving, when real football starts, what do you
• 40:10
  Speaker 2: have that's in your back pocket? We could defend the run.
• 40:14
  Speaker 2: We're not there yet. We're doing a pretty good job,
• 40:16
  Speaker 2: but like yesterday was a big test because the junk is,
• 40:19
  Speaker 2: I mean, this guy can run the ball. I mean, coach,
• 40:22
  Speaker 2: they know how to run the ball. They have a
• 40:23
  Speaker 2: good old line. They got good blockers. I said, okay,
• 40:26
  Speaker 2: can we do it now when we need it, you know?
• 40:28
  Speaker 2: And okay, can we tighten the coverage down? Like, okay,
• 40:30
  Speaker 2: now we've got to start building off of that. So,
• 40:32
  Speaker 2: and then, you know, when we come back in two weeks,
• 40:33
  Speaker 2: we got Cincinnati, I mean, best quarterback in the league
• 40:36
  Speaker 2: and they got all those types of receivers and we
• 40:38
  Speaker 2: got to be able to defend the pass game there.
• 40:40
  Speaker 2: And like, can we put it in our back pocket? Cause,
• 40:42
  Speaker 2: Once it gets after Thanksgiving, the weather starts to change.
• 40:45
  Speaker 2: Hopefully where we're at with our record and if we're
• 40:47
  Speaker 2: fortunate enough to be in January in the dance, they
• 40:50
  Speaker 2: got to come here and play. If you could defend
• 40:51
  Speaker 2: the run and you could defend the inside part of
• 40:53
  Speaker 2: the field in the passing game, throw the ball outside
• 40:56
  Speaker 2: if you want to. I'm sure the wind's going to
• 40:58
  Speaker 2: be up to 25, 30. Do it if you want to.
• 41:00
  Speaker 2: I'll take those chances. So it's just explaining that whole
• 41:04
  Speaker 2: process and then making sure they know all the hours
• 41:08
  Speaker 2: that we put in in the office, there's a reason.
• 41:11
  Speaker 2: There's a reason. and trying to find those nuggets for
• 41:14
  Speaker 2: those guys. And, but they know that, but I just,
• 41:17
  Speaker 2: I took a little bit of time just to explain it.
• 41:20
  Speaker 3: It's a long NFL season, Brian, that's for sure. It's
• 41:23
  Speaker 3: the old adage that it's a marathon, not a race.
• 41:26
  Speaker 3: And you got to look at the big picture of things.
• 41:27
  Speaker 3: And that's why I think early on in the NFL seasons,
• 41:30
  Speaker 3: you can't, you know, get in your feelings, if you will,
• 41:33
  Speaker 3: about things.
• 41:33
  Speaker 1: When they're not going exactly right.
• 41:34
  Speaker 3: You kind of stick to the game plan, you stick
• 41:36
  Speaker 3: to what's working, you make your adjustments. And it seems
• 41:39
  Speaker 3: like That is exactly what Coach Graham has done so
• 41:41
  Speaker 3: far this season with this defense.
• 41:43
  Speaker 5: Marathon, not a sprint. Because a marathon is still a race.
• 41:47
  Speaker 2: Correct.
• 41:48
  Speaker 1: The journalist in you. Thank you for the typo and edit,
• 41:51
  Speaker 1: my friend.
• 41:51
  Speaker 5: Great humility, though, shown by Patrick Graham here. I mean,
• 41:54
  Speaker 5: all that stuff. And it seemed like it was wearing
• 41:57
  Speaker 5: on him a little bit that the trust discussion kept
• 42:03
  Speaker 5: coming up. You know how the Steelers media is. Hand up,
• 42:06
  Speaker 5: myself included. I'm a part of it. Like, We're like
• 42:09
  Speaker 5: a dog with a bone sometimes. We're just digging, getting
• 42:12
  Speaker 5: the shovel out, and we're just going to dig until
• 42:15
  Speaker 5: that hole is down to the ground and all the
• 42:18
  Speaker 5: way to China. But, yeah, I mean, I think it
• 42:21
  Speaker 5: is an interesting glimpse inside of what was going on
• 42:24
  Speaker 5: with the defense at the time. I mean, Jalen Ramsey
• 42:27
  Speaker 5: had some comments both in person and on social media
• 42:30
  Speaker 5: that muddied the waters a little bit, and now we
• 42:32
  Speaker 5: get to hear some continued perspective from Patrick Graham albeit
• 42:37
  Speaker 5: four weeks later after a really nice run of performances
• 42:40
  Speaker 5: by the defense. But I applaud him for whatever he
• 42:45
  Speaker 5: did to kind of come together with the veterans on
• 42:48
  Speaker 5: this unit and also for peeling back the curtain a
• 42:51
  Speaker 5: little bit for people at home. I mean, you can't
• 42:52
  Speaker 5: always do that. That's not always conducive to your message
• 42:58
  Speaker 5: or what's best for your team, but I think it
• 43:00
  Speaker 5: is appreciated sometimes by people when they want to know
• 43:02
  Speaker 5: the why to how things have been turned around.
• 43:04
  Speaker 1: Sprint, not a race.
• 43:06
  Speaker 2: Yes.
• 43:06
  Speaker 1: I got you. Now we got it.
• 43:08
  Speaker 3: You talked about how there was an emphasis.
• 43:10
  Speaker 2: That you guys didn't need to change what you did
• 43:13
  Speaker 2: from the first time.
• 43:14
  Speaker 5: It was about tightening things up and not beating yourselves.
• 43:17
  Speaker 2: What did you see from.
• 43:18
  Speaker 5: Your guys that allowed them to kind of channel that system?
• 43:22
  Speaker 2: The first third down stop, my favorite play of the game.
• 43:26
  Speaker 2: You just watch that and juxtapose that with what happened. Sorry,
• 43:30
  Speaker 2: it's two parts. The first third down stop, There's like
• 43:34
  Speaker 2: six guys, six or seven guys by the ball. I mean,
• 43:36
  Speaker 2: you watch the first game. I didn't want anybody to
• 43:38
  Speaker 2: be late to the party. I mean, I say the
• 43:41
  Speaker 2: first game, we had people outside the club waiting in line.
• 43:44
  Speaker 2: We didn't want to be late to the party. And
• 43:46
  Speaker 2: then the thing that, again, I was talking about on
• 43:49
  Speaker 2: the sideline, big plays are going to happen in the game.
• 43:52
  Speaker 2: Coach talks about there's like 36 big plays that happen
• 43:56
  Speaker 2: on the average in the NFL football game. Big plays happen.
• 43:59
  Speaker 2: They got down to the red area. We didn't panic.
• 44:02
  Speaker 2: We held them to a field goal. We stopped them.
• 44:04
  Speaker 2: I said, to me, and B-Flo used to say this
• 44:06
  Speaker 2: all the time, like when you're trying to judge or
• 44:09
  Speaker 2: you're trying to gauge the mental toughness of your defense,
• 44:12
  Speaker 2: something messed up happened if you're in the red area.
• 44:15
  Speaker 2: Can you get a stop? That's what I'm gauging, the
• 44:17
  Speaker 2: mental toughness. So, like, to me, all those red area stops,
• 44:20
  Speaker 2: I'm like, guys, that's what I'm talking about. It was
• 44:22
  Speaker 2: no different than being down 21-3 in the first game.
• 44:25
  Speaker 2: We came in at halftime the first time. I said,
• 44:27
  Speaker 2: if they score 21 points, is that all they score?
• 44:29
  Speaker 2: We're going to win the game. and we let them score,
• 44:32
  Speaker 2: I think it was 27. I mean, but if we
• 44:34
  Speaker 2: would have held them to 21, we would have won
• 44:35
  Speaker 2: the game. You know, so there's a lot of good
• 44:38
  Speaker 2: stuff going on, but we got this bye week is
• 44:40
  Speaker 2: coming at the right time. We got a good opponent
• 44:42
  Speaker 2: coming up next, and that's where my focus will be.
• 44:46
  Speaker 3: Coach Patrick Graham speaking with the media yesterday about the
• 44:49
  Speaker 3: Pittsburgh Steelers' eight games so far into the season, going
• 44:52
  Speaker 3: into the bye week at 6-2. That'll do it for
• 44:56
  Speaker 3: our number one. Up next, we'll kick off the 3
• 44:57
  Speaker 3: o'clock hour with our top ten moments and plays from
• 45:00
  Speaker 3: this past Sunday between the Steelers and the Browns. But first,
• 45:04
  Speaker 3: this is the Steelers' report on SNR, part of the Steelers'
• 45:08
  Speaker 3: audio network.