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Hour 1: NFL News and Steelers' Upcoming Matchup · In the Locker Room presented by Neighborhood Ford Store (Pittsburgh Steelers)

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: This is In the Locker Room with Rob King, Max Starks,
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: and Willie Colon on Steelers Nation Radio, brought to you
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: in part by the Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop.steelers.com.
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: And by your neighborhood Ford store, the F-150 is the
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: official truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: And thank you very much for being with us today
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: in the locker room with Max Starks and Willie Colon,
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: and Gino Annamarino on the controls in our studio.
• 0:36
  Speaker 3: I'm Rob King. Much to get to today.
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: We have Jerry Dulac, who's going to be joining us,
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: coming up to talk all things Steelers. We're also going
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: to be hearing from the Cleveland Browns play-by-play man, a
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: name that you'll know if you watch national sporting events,
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: Andrew Siciliano. He'll be with us to give you the
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: Browns perspective on things. But let's begin with the big
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: trade today, guys.
• 0:59
  Speaker 3: You know.
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: I know, Max, you were well aware of this because
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: you texted it to the group as we were over
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: on the south side talking about this deal that sends
• 1:06
  Speaker 2: Jeffrey Simmons, outstanding defensive tackle, maybe the best defensive tackle
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: in the league, some would say, certainly in that small
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: group of great players, with a fifth-round pick to the
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: Chicago Bears for a first-round pick in next year's draft,
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: the following year's draft, and a fourth-round selection.
• 1:25
  Speaker 3: Your thought on that trade from both teams' perspectives?
• 1:29
  Speaker 4: This is a clear signal that the Titans are not
• 1:35
  Speaker 4: interested in competing this year. And it says the Bears
• 1:40
  Speaker 4: are absolutely all about competing this year. To trade a
• 1:46
  Speaker 4: player of this ilk, Jeffrey Simmons is an absolute beast.
• 1:51
  Speaker 4: I mean, this is Dexter Lawrence-esque as far as, but
• 1:55
  Speaker 4: more prime Dexter Lawrence than kind of where Dexter Lawrence
• 1:59
  Speaker 4: is right now in his career. So I'm like, man,
• 2:03
  Speaker 4: this is a huge thing. And to give up two
• 2:04
  Speaker 4: first-round picks, that means they're assuming they're going to be
• 2:07
  Speaker 4: in the back of the first round for the next
• 2:10
  Speaker 4: couple years. That's why they're willing to trade those two
• 2:13
  Speaker 4: picks for consecutive years. We've seen these similar deals done
• 2:17
  Speaker 4: more so around draft time. This is a little late
• 2:20
  Speaker 4: in the year for this type of trade, this big
• 2:23
  Speaker 4: of a trade, but It just goes to show you
• 2:26
  Speaker 4: that the Bears smell blood in the water in the
• 2:29
  Speaker 4: NFC North, and they want to attack.
• 2:31
  Speaker 3: Willie?
• 2:33
  Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean, this is a blockbuster trade if we've
• 2:37
  Speaker 5: ever seen one, considering one of the needs for the
• 2:40
  Speaker 5: Chicago Bears going into the season was defensive line help to.
• 2:44
  Speaker 6: Join Montez Sweat.
• 2:46
  Speaker 5: They needed not only somebody who was good against the run,
• 2:49
  Speaker 5: but good against the pass, and that's what Jeffrey Simmons
• 2:51
  Speaker 5: is able to do from The interior of the defensive line,
• 2:54
  Speaker 5: you talk about a guy who had 11 sacks last season,
• 2:57
  Speaker 5: and the Titans weren't good. I mean, he was the end-all,
• 3:00
  Speaker 5: be-all for them defensively, and he's been the face of
• 3:02
  Speaker 5: that franchise for quite some time. Now they're getting a
• 3:05
  Speaker 5: guy who not only has leadership skills, who's not only productive,
• 3:09
  Speaker 5: but also he's in immediate need for a team who
• 3:11
  Speaker 5: feels like they can make a run and have a
• 3:13
  Speaker 5: legitimate shot of being in the NFC Championship last year,
• 3:16
  Speaker 5: considering what they did this year, considering about what they
• 3:19
  Speaker 5: did last year. Overall, man, he's arguably the best defensive
• 3:22
  Speaker 5: tackle in the NFL right now.
• 3:24
  Speaker 6: When you talk about some.
• 3:25
  Speaker 5: Of the premier defensive tackles in the league, he's top five.
• 3:30
  Speaker 5: The Bears continue to say, hey, man, we're not going
• 3:33
  Speaker 5: to continue to wait to see how long we can
• 3:37
  Speaker 5: keep this window open.
• 3:38
  Speaker 6: We're going to jump right through it. This is a
• 3:41
  Speaker 6: home run move.
• 3:42
  Speaker 5: By the Bears, and I think Jeffrey Simmons is a
• 3:45
  Speaker 5: hell of a ball player. So I know his father,
• 3:47
  Speaker 5: not his father, his uncle, if you will, Jason Hatcher,
• 3:49
  Speaker 5: who used to play for the Cowboys and the Redskins.
• 3:53
  Speaker 5: And Jeffrey's been to my golf island a couple times,
• 3:57
  Speaker 5: and I'll see the pride of Mississippi State. A good dude,
• 4:00
  Speaker 5: good brother, plays really hard, and he's a fighter. So
• 4:05
  Speaker 5: it's evident right now that The Bears feel like, man,
• 4:10
  Speaker 5: with this NFC North division continuing to thrive in between
• 4:14
  Speaker 5: all the teams we talked about yesterday, they feel like
• 4:17
  Speaker 5: they need more ammunition, and they went out on that.
• 4:21
  Speaker 3: It is an interesting trade.
• 4:22
  Speaker 2: Willie, in hearing you describe his uncle, I also get
• 4:25
  Speaker 2: the sense, not that the Bears have a bad culture,
• 4:29
  Speaker 2: but you always want to add, there's not a team
• 4:31
  Speaker 2: in a league that wouldn't love to have, say, Cam
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: Hayward on their team, right?
• 4:35
  Speaker 3: Somebody you know was a high-character guy.
• 4:37
  Speaker 2: We were talking about that with DeForest Buckner yesterday. That
• 4:39
  Speaker 2: can't hurt that Jeffrey Simmons has got that as well
• 4:42
  Speaker 2: as being a great player, obviously, in his own right.
• 4:47
  Speaker 5: Yeah, you know, the thing about Jeffrey, man, when he
• 4:49
  Speaker 5: got to the league, you know, there was so much
• 4:51
  Speaker 5: talk about what if he was limited, right, because, you know,
• 4:57
  Speaker 5: he plays with a chip on.
• 4:57
  Speaker 6: His shoulder and he's explosive all.
• 5:00
  Speaker 5: The ball, but how much impact can he really do?
• 5:03
  Speaker 5: And I mean, you know, they tried to build other
• 5:05
  Speaker 5: guys around. They brought in Jermaine Johnson. They brought in,
• 5:07
  Speaker 5: you know, Bud Dupree was there at one time. They
• 5:10
  Speaker 5: tried to bring some guys around where they collectively, they
• 5:13
  Speaker 5: wanted to be able to get after the passer. And
• 5:15
  Speaker 5: you got to say, Robert Sala's defense, they like to
• 5:19
  Speaker 5: get home with their front. You know, they don't like
• 5:21
  Speaker 5: to do a whole lot of blitzing. If they do,
• 5:24
  Speaker 5: if they choose to, it's not something you see a lot.
• 5:27
  Speaker 5: But What they do, they want to allow the front
• 5:29
  Speaker 5: four to get after the quarterback. And he was the
• 5:31
  Speaker 5: bell cow. He was the guy that kind of spearheaded
• 5:34
  Speaker 5: all that. He comes from good pedigree. He's always been
• 5:38
  Speaker 5: a solid dude. Somebody in the community that really thrives
• 5:41
  Speaker 5: in the community as far as doing.
• 5:43
  Speaker 6: His work off the field. Listen, this is the business.
• 5:48
  Speaker 5: I said earlier this week, this is going to be
• 5:50
  Speaker 5: the week where we see a lot of teams either
• 5:51
  Speaker 5: hold them or fold them. And we're watching it in
• 5:54
  Speaker 5: real time. It started with the Colts. They let go
• 5:57
  Speaker 5: of Quentin Nelson and DeForest Bruckner, and now the Tennessee
• 6:00
  Speaker 5: Titans are doing the same. They let go of their
• 6:03
  Speaker 5: captain on the defense in Jeffrey Simmons. They sent him
• 6:05
  Speaker 5: up the Mississippi River to Chicago.
• 6:09
  Speaker 2: So, look, Max, it's hard to fully evaluate a trade.
• 6:15
  Speaker 2: I mean, obviously you can see the results of the trade, right?
• 6:18
  Speaker 2: Like who is Tennessee going to get with their two
• 6:21
  Speaker 2: first-round picks? We won't know that for quite some time.
• 6:24
  Speaker 2: You know, we won't know, like, if the Bears don't
• 6:26
  Speaker 2: win the Super Bowl, is this a bust trade for
• 6:29
  Speaker 2: the Chicago Bears? Well, it depends upon what else you
• 6:31
  Speaker 2: do in the draft, what other players you have, what
• 6:33
  Speaker 2: your own cap situation is, all that sort of other thing.
• 6:37
  Speaker 3: There's a lot. It's difficult to.
• 6:39
  Speaker 2: Evaluate a trade of this magnitude right out of the chute,
• 6:42
  Speaker 2: or really, frankly, any trade. You can understand it from
• 6:45
  Speaker 2: the Titans' perspective, but, you know, as we say in
• 6:49
  Speaker 2: the locker room here, we all know that what is banished?
• 6:52
  Speaker 3: Draft what is banished? Draft capital.
• 6:55
  Speaker 6: Draft capital.
• 6:56
  Speaker 3: They're draft picks, right?
• 6:58
  Speaker 2: You know, the one thing you know you're getting when
• 7:01
  Speaker 2: you're the Bears is you know you're getting a great player.
• 7:04
  Speaker 2: The Titans, hey, I applaud them for getting what they
• 7:06
  Speaker 2: were getting, but I think people want to overthink this
• 7:09
  Speaker 2: thing and be a little too smart with it sometimes.
• 7:11
  Speaker 3: Did they give up a lot? Yeah, potentially. Did they
• 7:14
  Speaker 3: get a lot? Definitely. They definitely got a lot.
• 7:18
  Speaker 4: Yeah, they definitely got a lot, and like you said,
• 7:21
  Speaker 4: it will remain to be seen because– A lot of
• 7:24
  Speaker 4: things hinge on the value of what those first-round picks are. Obviously,
• 7:28
  Speaker 4: for the Bears, where they finish is going to matter
• 7:32
  Speaker 4: over the next two years to determine how high or
• 7:35
  Speaker 4: how low that first-round pick is going to be. And
• 7:39
  Speaker 4: in the Bears' mind, you're taking a calculated guess and saying,
• 7:42
  Speaker 4: if we're going to be in the back half of
• 7:43
  Speaker 4: this draft because we're going to be competitive the next
• 7:45
  Speaker 4: two years, then, okay, this is like a second-round pick
• 7:48
  Speaker 4: plus that we're giving away, but we're getting a bona
• 7:51
  Speaker 4: fide top 10 worthy first round draft pick. So this
• 7:55
  Speaker 4: is what we would have had to have traded to
• 7:57
  Speaker 4: jump up and to steal a guy who's unproven in
• 8:00
  Speaker 4: next year's draft. So you kind of take that calculated
• 8:03
  Speaker 4: risk on getting there, but you know, at the same time,
• 8:08
  Speaker 4: it could turn into where a guy dips and there's
• 8:10
  Speaker 4: a need there. And listen, the Tennessee Titans have a.
• 8:12
  Speaker 3: Lot of needs.
• 8:14
  Speaker 4: So for them to be able to take multiple bites
• 8:16
  Speaker 4: at the Apple quote unquote with, with picks the better.
• 8:20
  Speaker 4: Because this is a team that you look at Cam Ward,
• 8:23
  Speaker 4: through his first 24 starts, he's 4-20. So there's a
• 8:27
  Speaker 4: reason why you've had two head coaches. And now you're
• 8:30
  Speaker 4: on Robert Sala. So they have a lot of things
• 8:33
  Speaker 4: that they need to fix. So this just blowing up.
• 8:36
  Speaker 4: And also, you know, kind of tipping the cap to
• 8:38
  Speaker 4: a player of Jeffrey Simmons' ilk and saying, here, we
• 8:42
  Speaker 4: want you to go be competitive. You've done a lot
• 8:43
  Speaker 4: for us. So we can let you go. and we've
• 8:48
  Speaker 4: got to build this franchise because it's not going to
• 8:50
  Speaker 4: be built in the next two years. So, you know,
• 8:52
  Speaker 4: go on and play while you're still at your prime.
• 8:55
  Speaker 6: Well, I mean, Max, you also hit a good point. Like,
• 8:57
  Speaker 6: let's be honest.
• 8:58
  Speaker 5: Cam Ward has been– you can blame the roster, you
• 9:02
  Speaker 5: can blame a lot of different things, but you have
• 9:04
  Speaker 5: an opportunity to go into this draft and possibly go
• 9:06
  Speaker 5: get a quarterback. If you feel like he's not the
• 9:09
  Speaker 5: guy for you for the future or he's simply not
• 9:12
  Speaker 5: a kid that you can pretty much put the franchise on, Now,
• 9:15
  Speaker 5: a lot of people may even say, Willie, you know, listen,
• 9:18
  Speaker 5: the team's been bad, not a lot of help. They just,
• 9:21
  Speaker 5: you know, there's been deficiencies up and down our roster.
• 9:25
  Speaker 5: But this is a big quarterback draft, right? And this
• 9:27
  Speaker 5: is a big draft for quarterback and defensive players. You
• 9:30
  Speaker 5: can invest now and potentially get your guy. Or you
• 9:34
  Speaker 5: can also say, listen, you got Malachi Toney that could
• 9:36
  Speaker 5: fall to you. You got Jeremiah Smith. I mean, he'll
• 9:40
  Speaker 5: probably be one or two, so I don't know if
• 9:41
  Speaker 5: they have a shot to get that. But there's some
• 9:43
  Speaker 5: guys that can fall that can really change the trajectory
• 9:47
  Speaker 5: of your organization. And so I respect what the Titans did.
• 9:53
  Speaker 5: The thing right now is, to be honest, you just
• 9:55
  Speaker 5: can't miss, right?
• 9:56
  Speaker 6: You just can't.
• 9:57
  Speaker 5: And that's that's the hardest part where you because i've
• 10:00
  Speaker 5: seen multiple teams go through this especially obviously me covering
• 10:03
  Speaker 5: the jets jets have been in this predicament multiple times
• 10:06
  Speaker 5: and they necessarily didn't miss in in certain ads i
• 10:09
  Speaker 5: mean the one of the biggest was zach wilson that's
• 10:12
  Speaker 5: obviously the biggest one but overall man a lot of
• 10:15
  Speaker 5: guys that had landed there they weren't They weren't problem picks.
• 10:18
  Speaker 5: The problem was the roster wasn't built around collectively, wasn't
• 10:22
  Speaker 5: built well together. So, obviously, you talk about Quentin Williams
• 10:25
  Speaker 5: going to the Dallas Cowboys, going to the Indianapolis Colts. So,
• 10:30
  Speaker 5: if you're the Titans, that's what you're trying to avoid, right?
• 10:32
  Speaker 5: You don't want to get these guys who you feel
• 10:34
  Speaker 5: like can be– change the trajectory of the organization, but
• 10:38
  Speaker 5: you also want to continue to build this roster up
• 10:40
  Speaker 5: where those guys complement each other.
• 10:42
  Speaker 2: So, I think you misspoke there, Willie, because– Every time
• 10:47
  Speaker 2: you're terrible and you tear your team down, you're guaranteed
• 10:50
  Speaker 2: of winning a Super Bowl, aren't you?
• 10:52
  Speaker 3: I mean, that's what fans around here want. Let's tear
• 10:54
  Speaker 3: it down, man. Are you sure you're right about that?
• 10:57
  Speaker 3: The Jets have struggled? Sorry.
• 11:03
  Speaker 2: But that one drives me nuts, especially in football, man.
• 11:07
  Speaker 2: I mean, come on, man. What are you supposed to do?
• 11:09
  Speaker 2: I think Jim Wexler brought up a great point, too. Like,
• 11:11
  Speaker 2: what's the culture in Tennessee? You know, a new head
• 11:14
  Speaker 2: coach comes in. What do they talk about doing? We're
• 11:16
  Speaker 2: trying to change the culture.
• 11:18
  Speaker 3: Why?
• 11:18
  Speaker 2: Because you've been lousy, and you haven't found a way
• 11:21
  Speaker 2: to get back there.
• 11:23
  Speaker 3: If it works, fantastic.
• 11:25
  Speaker 2: But I was overhearing some guys talking here, well, you
• 11:28
  Speaker 2: go out and get the next Jeffrey Simmons in this
• 11:30
  Speaker 2: year's draft.
• 11:31
  Speaker 3: Really?
• 11:31
  Speaker 2: Is that what you just do with a 24th pick
• 11:34
  Speaker 2: that you just picked up from the Chicago Bears? I mean, okay,
• 11:37
  Speaker 2: Simmons went 19th. Cam Hayward went late. But there's lots
• 11:41
  Speaker 2: of guys who went earlier who are not Jeffrey Simmons,
• 11:43
  Speaker 2: and they're not Cam Hayward. I think that this is
• 11:45
  Speaker 2: a trade, as I'm looking at it, I think it's
• 11:48
  Speaker 2: a trade that's good for both teams. I think both teams,
• 11:50
  Speaker 2: you know, did what they wanted to do, did what they,
• 11:53
  Speaker 2: you know, Tennessee's got to rebuild. Okay, that means get
• 11:55
  Speaker 2: picks and try to get younger and hope you hit
• 11:58
  Speaker 2: on those picks. And Chicago's saying we're trying to get
• 12:00
  Speaker 2: a great guy. So I kind of like the trade
• 12:02
  Speaker 2: for both teams.
• 12:03
  Speaker 6: I really do.
• 12:06
  Speaker 5: Yeah, I like it more for Chicago because of, The
• 12:11
  Speaker 5: momentum and how we view this team right now, they've
• 12:13
  Speaker 5: played some big-time games and they've obviously succeeded, especially with
• 12:16
  Speaker 5: Caleb Williams, our quarterback. I think the biggest thing for
• 12:19
  Speaker 5: the Bears right now, you obviously right now look like
• 12:22
  Speaker 5: a playoff contender. Once you land in the playoffs, how
• 12:26
  Speaker 5: much can that defense arise? Because we know what the
• 12:28
  Speaker 5: offense can do. You know what Caleb Williams and the
• 12:30
  Speaker 5: weapons they have with the tight ends and running backs
• 12:32
  Speaker 5: and the offensive line. Offensively, you know what you can do,
• 12:35
  Speaker 5: but defensively, you're going to have to be able to
• 12:37
  Speaker 5: stand up in pivotal situations.
• 12:39
  Speaker 6: You have to be able to stop the run.
• 12:41
  Speaker 5: We know one thing that's possible in the AFC North.
• 12:46
  Speaker 6: And I'm glad I got that right. By the way,
• 12:47
  Speaker 6: I got a bone to pick with you guys. We'll
• 12:49
  Speaker 6: pick it up later.
• 12:49
  Speaker 3: Okay. All right. I love it.
• 12:54
  Speaker 5: One of the things we do know is that in
• 12:56
  Speaker 5: the NFC North, they can run the ball. And so
• 12:59
  Speaker 5: it's going to be pivotal to have a defensive line
• 13:01
  Speaker 5: that can stand up. Because, you know, listen, one thing
• 13:03
  Speaker 5: that travels and has to travel well for you to
• 13:05
  Speaker 5: be a successful team is is a defense and.
• 13:07
  Speaker 6: A run game. And I would like the Bears to
• 13:09
  Speaker 6: have both.
• 13:11
  Speaker 3: Max, I don't think I want to wait any longer
• 13:12
  Speaker 3: for the bone that needs to be picked. I know, right?
• 13:15
  Speaker 4: I mean, that was a heck of a tease, but
• 13:17
  Speaker 4: we still got four minutes left in this segment.
• 13:20
  Speaker 5: Yesterday, I went on this tangent about the NFC East
• 13:24
  Speaker 5: having this run game and the lack of run game,
• 13:27
  Speaker 5: and I'm watching Rob and you stare at me. I
• 13:29
  Speaker 5: went on this big tangent how the NFC East doesn't
• 13:32
  Speaker 5: have a run game for Rob to go Oh, yeah,
• 13:35
  Speaker 5: we were really talking about the NFC North.
• 13:37
  Speaker 6: But anyway, back to you and the studios.
• 13:39
  Speaker 5: I'm just like, okay. Now, at one point you said, Willie,
• 13:44
  Speaker 5: let's stop you for a second.
• 13:46
  Speaker 6: We know where you're going, big fella.
• 13:48
  Speaker 5: And, Rob, you're the captain of the ship.
• 13:50
  Speaker 3: Well, I thought you were coming back. I was giving you–
• 13:52
  Speaker 3: You were so passionate. You know what the captain's got
• 13:54
  Speaker 3: to do sometimes? Give you some rope. Give you some
• 13:57
  Speaker 3: rope to.
• 13:58
  Speaker 2: Swim back to the ship.
• 14:01
  Speaker 3: I didn't know you were going to hang yourself with it.
• 14:03
  Speaker 5: I said, these men done watched me sit here and
• 14:05
  Speaker 5: talk about the NFC East, knowing damn well we was
• 14:07
  Speaker 5: supposed to be talking about the NFC North.
• 14:08
  Speaker 6: I was on a three-minute tangent. And I get it.
• 14:11
  Speaker 6: Sometimes I can swerve around the road.
• 14:13
  Speaker 3: That's what I thought you were doing.
• 14:15
  Speaker 6: And it's just like, it's fine. But you think you
• 14:20
  Speaker 6: know that. Hey, listen.
• 14:23
  Speaker 3: Hey, listen.
• 14:23
  Speaker 4: Hey, I was sitting there.
• 14:25
  Speaker 3: Because I was like, wait a second.
• 14:25
  Speaker 6: Rob cleaned it up real quick. He was just like. Yeah, yeah.
• 14:28
  Speaker 6: Rob cleaned it up. Because I was sitting there.
• 14:30
  Speaker 3: I was like, did I say the wrong team?
• 14:31
  Speaker 4: I was like, did I say the wrong division?
• 14:34
  Speaker 6: Oh, man.
• 14:35
  Speaker 3: I'm confused.
• 14:37
  Speaker 6: Yeah. Yep.
• 14:38
  Speaker 2: You know what? One of the things I've learned in life,
• 14:43
  Speaker 2: that life has taught me. And when you're a young man,
• 14:47
  Speaker 2: you say, if something's going down, you're looking for a
• 14:51
  Speaker 2: finger to blame.
• 14:52
  Speaker 3: You're looking for a finger to point and blame.
• 14:54
  Speaker 2: The older I've gotten, the more I've come to the
• 14:56
  Speaker 2: conclusion it's probably my fault.
• 14:58
  Speaker 3: So that was in the back of my mind too.
• 15:01
  Speaker 3: Maybe I said the wrong teams.
• 15:03
  Speaker 6: I don't know. No.
• 15:04
  Speaker 5: My wires definitely got crossed. My listening skills weren't up
• 15:10
  Speaker 5: to par at the time. But you know what? You
• 15:13
  Speaker 5: know what cut me out of that movie?
• 15:16
  Speaker 2: Fans know there's no running game in the NFC East.
• 15:20
  Speaker 2: Nobody's got a running game.
• 15:21
  Speaker 6: They know that.
• 15:22
  Speaker 3: Not at all.
• 15:23
  Speaker 4: It sucks.
• 15:24
  Speaker 5: But you know what killed me? As we're sitting here
• 15:27
  Speaker 5: looking at each other through the Zoom, I was looking
• 15:29
  Speaker 5: at Rob, and Rob was kind of listening, but I
• 15:32
  Speaker 5: know he was occupied. Max is staring into my mouth
• 15:35
  Speaker 5: like if I'm speaking another language.
• 15:38
  Speaker 6: He was like this. He's like... What?
• 15:40
  Speaker 5: Like, at one point, you know, Max was like, bro,
• 15:43
  Speaker 5: I think you're getting yourself confused.
• 15:45
  Speaker 6: I'm looking at Max, look at me.
• 15:46
  Speaker 5: He's like, if I was speaking Japanese on air, I
• 15:49
  Speaker 5: was like, you know.
• 15:51
  Speaker 4: Bro, I was, because I was like, it had me confused.
• 15:55
  Speaker 4: I'm sitting there, I'm like, is he going to come back?
• 15:57
  Speaker 4: I'm like, or did I say NFC East and not North?
• 15:59
  Speaker 3: I'm like, did I?
• 16:01
  Speaker 4: Like, I was really questioning my life decisions at that point.
• 16:05
  Speaker 6: So. God, man.
• 16:07
  Speaker 3: All good. Just that's additional knowledge on top. That's all.
• 16:11
  Speaker 2: That's all it is, Willie, knowledge on top. So we're
• 16:14
  Speaker 2: going to take a break. We have much to get to.
• 16:17
  Speaker 2: AFC North matchups, obviously the biggest one is right here
• 16:19
  Speaker 2: in Pittsburgh, but we'll take a look at the rest
• 16:21
  Speaker 2: of the division as well. We have Jerry Dulac coming
• 16:23
  Speaker 2: up to talk about some of the big matchups in
• 16:25
  Speaker 2: the game and the big news coming out of the
• 16:28
  Speaker 2: Steelers camp here on the south side at 1240. And
• 16:32
  Speaker 2: then Andrew Siciliano. The play-by-play man of the Cleveland Browns
• 16:35
  Speaker 2: is going to be joining us at 140 today to
• 16:37
  Speaker 2: talk about this game from the Browns' perspective. That's still
• 16:40
  Speaker 2: all on the docket when we continue in the locker
• 16:42
  Speaker 2: room here on the Steelers Audio Network.
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: This is In the Locker Room with Rob King, Max Starks,
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: and Willie Colon on Steelers Nation Radio, brought to you
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: in part by the Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop.steelers.com.
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: And by your neighborhood Ford store, the F-150 is the
• 17:08
  Speaker 1: official truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
• 17:11
  Speaker 2: And thanks for being with us back in the locker
• 17:13
  Speaker 2: room here on the Steelers Audio Network.
• 17:15
  Speaker 3: In case you're joining us, just recapped.
• 17:18
  Speaker 2: The trade between the Bears and the Titans that sent
• 17:21
  Speaker 2: Jeffrey Simmons from the Titans to the Bears, along with
• 17:24
  Speaker 2: a fifth-round pick in exchange for first-round picks in each
• 17:27
  Speaker 2: of the next two drafts, and also a fourth-round pick.
• 17:30
  Speaker 2: So the Bears giving up a lot, but also getting
• 17:32
  Speaker 2: a lot back. And it's time now to look at
• 17:34
  Speaker 2: the AFC North, brought to you by your neighborhood Ford store.
• 17:37
  Speaker 2: The F-150 is the official truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers,
• 17:41
  Speaker 2: and a couple of games. To me, the most intriguing, Willie,
• 17:45
  Speaker 2: is the Ravens at the Bills, and You know, the
• 17:48
  Speaker 2: Bills right now might be the best team in football,
• 17:51
  Speaker 2: might be playing like the best team in football. They're 5-1.
• 17:53
  Speaker 2: Looks like Lamar Jackson is coming back. They're on the road.
• 17:58
  Speaker 2: You know, Lamar's come under some criticism for not playing,
• 18:02
  Speaker 2: some for not playing with a high ankle sprain. I
• 18:04
  Speaker 2: can understand wanting to hold them back because if anybody's
• 18:07
  Speaker 2: ever had a high ankle sprain, you know that you've
• 18:10
  Speaker 2: got to let it heal.
• 18:12
  Speaker 3: If you don't, you could be playing on it all year.
• 18:15
  Speaker 2: And no offense, but it's one thing if you're an
• 18:17
  Speaker 2: offensive and defensive lineman, a fullback, maybe even a tight end.
• 18:21
  Speaker 2: It's another thing if you're Lamar Jackson relying so much
• 18:24
  Speaker 2: on your ability to run.
• 18:25
  Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean, if you've been paying attention to the
• 18:28
  Speaker 5: Baltimore Ravens, you understand that their offense has been pretty
• 18:31
  Speaker 5: much one-dimensional and the people have been able to hone
• 18:33
  Speaker 5: in and focus on stopping Derrick Henry. Snoop Huntley is
• 18:36
  Speaker 5: who he is. I mean, expecting him to be a
• 18:38
  Speaker 5: world-beater is just not who he is. He's a guy
• 18:40
  Speaker 5: who pretty much can plug a hole when the ship
• 18:42
  Speaker 5: is underwater, but nevertheless, he's not somebody you can figure
• 18:46
  Speaker 5: he can thrive and win with. Overall, if you're– sorry.
• 18:53
  Speaker 3: My– We had you and we lost you.
• 18:57
  Speaker 6: There we go. Yeah, I apologize.
• 18:59
  Speaker 5: Yeah, but if you're the Ravens right now, your goal
• 19:02
  Speaker 5: is just to try to not get injured. I mean,
• 19:06
  Speaker 5: week after week, they're suffering some significant injuries in the defense.
• 19:11
  Speaker 6: Hasn't lived up to par, right?
• 19:12
  Speaker 5: We know the Ravens defense to be one way, and
• 19:14
  Speaker 5: they just haven't been able to be that guy. One
• 19:16
  Speaker 5: of the guys that's been able to be a sore
• 19:19
  Speaker 5: spot for that Ravens defense.
• 19:20
  Speaker 6: Is Marlon Humphreys.
• 19:21
  Speaker 5: He hasn't played necessarily well. With all that said, man,
• 19:24
  Speaker 5: Lamar Jackson obviously elevates the offense and forces the defense
• 19:29
  Speaker 5: to not only defend the pass, but also defend the run. Now,
• 19:32
  Speaker 5: who knows how much he's going to be willing to
• 19:34
  Speaker 5: run with that sore and with the ankle, but nevertheless, man,
• 19:39
  Speaker 5: he's still a threat, so The Ravens offensively just want
• 19:42
  Speaker 5: to get back to playing a Ravens-style football. Mark Andrews
• 19:46
  Speaker 5: simply isn't the same guy. Zay Flowers, nevertheless, has been
• 19:49
  Speaker 5: the brother. spot for them. He's been one of those
• 19:52
  Speaker 5: guys that you can say, man, he's– you know, think
• 19:54
  Speaker 5: about it. Over the last four games, man, he's had
• 19:57
  Speaker 5: over 80 yards in each of those games. So he's
• 20:01
  Speaker 5: definitely humming at a high level. But he's technically all
• 20:04
  Speaker 5: they got. So– It's going to be interesting. We know
• 20:07
  Speaker 5: who the Bills are. You know they're dominant. I credit
• 20:10
  Speaker 5: Jim Leonard, who's now the defensive coordinator for the Bills,
• 20:12
  Speaker 5: who's done a hell of a job with that defense
• 20:16
  Speaker 5: against the run, rather. His past defense, I think they're
• 20:18
  Speaker 5: ranked 31st against the past, so they've got to do
• 20:21
  Speaker 5: better in that regard. But he's still trying to construct
• 20:24
  Speaker 5: his defense on the fly, and I think it's going to.
• 20:27
  Speaker 6: Be a good game.
• 20:27
  Speaker 5: I don't think it's going to be a game where
• 20:28
  Speaker 5: you can fall asleep and say, oh, the Bills are
• 20:30
  Speaker 5: just more dominant. I think the Ravens will put up
• 20:33
  Speaker 5: a fight, especially I think Lamar Jackson will add a
• 20:35
  Speaker 5: lift But we should see. But the Ravens understand what's
• 20:39
  Speaker 5: at stake. They got to try to stay in the
• 20:42
  Speaker 5: mix in this division because everybody's kind of fighting the corner.
• 20:46
  Speaker 6: And trying to get to the top.
• 20:48
  Speaker 2: I always believe, Max, that a team that's backed into
• 20:50
  Speaker 2: a corner is a dangerous team. And if the Ravens
• 20:53
  Speaker 2: aren't backed into the corner, they know what's behind them.
• 20:57
  Speaker 2: They know that they're not far from being in that corner.
• 20:59
  Speaker 2: I think it makes them dangerous. Lamar Jackson coming back
• 21:03
  Speaker 2: is certainly going to give them you know, a boost.
• 21:07
  Speaker 2: But they're going against the Buffalo Bills team that has
• 21:09
  Speaker 2: been taking on all comers and is sitting here with
• 21:12
  Speaker 2: a 5-1 record. So I think one of the more
• 21:15
  Speaker 2: intriguing games of the weekend for sure is this Ravens
• 21:18
  Speaker 2: at the Bills game, especially with Lamar coming back.
• 21:22
  Speaker 5: It is. It is.
• 21:23
  Speaker 4: And I think the other thing you have to remember
• 21:25
  Speaker 4: is also the Bills are 36-4 at home over the
• 21:29
  Speaker 4: last five years. So it's a daunting place to go to–
• 21:33
  Speaker 4: High mark, new high mark, whatever you want to call it, Mark.
• 21:37
  Speaker 4: Just going up there to Western New York is a
• 21:39
  Speaker 4: problem for any team. And this is a team that
• 21:42
  Speaker 4: is humming offensively. Willie talked about it defensively. I was
• 21:45
  Speaker 4: there for their only loss, that Bills-Patriots game. And, you know,
• 21:51
  Speaker 4: they were able to apply pressure. So can this Ravens
• 21:54
  Speaker 4: defense do enough to fluster Josh Allen? And that's going
• 21:59
  Speaker 4: to be really the key in this game because– Like
• 22:02
  Speaker 4: you said, a mobile-less Lamar Jackson isn't necessarily going to
• 22:08
  Speaker 4: be that threat unless you get him on some rollout
• 22:12
  Speaker 4: stuff and you just give the threat, the illusion. Even
• 22:14
  Speaker 4: if he doesn't want to run, you're going to have
• 22:16
  Speaker 4: to put him on the move because I don't think
• 22:18
  Speaker 4: you can just sit him back there in the pocket
• 22:19
  Speaker 4: and make him Statue of Liberty with that high ankle sprain.
• 22:22
  Speaker 4: And I will say this, a high ankle sprain ended
• 22:24
  Speaker 4: my career.
• 22:26
  Speaker 6: Wow.
• 22:27
  Speaker 4: I get it. It was the third preseason game. We
• 22:29
  Speaker 4: were actually playing the Bengals when I was with the Cardinals.
• 22:31
  Speaker 4: And I took a high ankle sprain in Minnesota the
• 22:33
  Speaker 4: week before, and they were like, hey, man, you know,
• 22:37
  Speaker 4: can you go on it and you'll make the team?
• 22:39
  Speaker 4: And four plays in, I had to tap out. So
• 22:42
  Speaker 4: I understand how bad that high ankle sprain can be.
• 22:45
  Speaker 4: And so it's nothing to mess with. I mean, that's
• 22:48
  Speaker 4: a three- to four-week injury, and that's for an offensive lineman,
• 22:52
  Speaker 4: not to mention a guy who actually, you know, is
• 22:55
  Speaker 4: actually running at a high speed and moving and cutting laterally.
• 22:59
  Speaker 4: I'm going on a diagonal at the most. So, yeah,
• 23:02
  Speaker 4: so it is something to keep monitoring. And like you said,
• 23:04
  Speaker 4: it never gets better. You just learn how to manage
• 23:08
  Speaker 4: it better. And so that's going to be very interesting
• 23:10
  Speaker 4: to see what they allow Lamar to do and not do.
• 23:16
  Speaker 2: The other game in the AFC North is the Titans
• 23:20
  Speaker 2: at the Bengals. And, you know, when you think about
• 23:23
  Speaker 2: this game, Titans at Bengals, if you're the Bengals, could
• 23:27
  Speaker 2: you be catching the Titans at a better time? The
• 23:29
  Speaker 2: only thing I would say about that, you know, they
• 23:32
  Speaker 2: just traded Jeffrey Simmons. And I'm going to speak out
• 23:34
  Speaker 2: of both sides of my mouth here. But if there's
• 23:37
  Speaker 2: pride in that locker room, sometimes a team stiffens. You know,
• 23:42
  Speaker 2: sometimes I feel like the best time in general to
• 23:48
  Speaker 2: play a team is when they are convinced they're not good.
• 23:52
  Speaker 3: You know what I mean?
• 23:53
  Speaker 2: Like the beginning of the year, You know, you're facing,
• 23:55
  Speaker 2: whether it's the New York Jets or the Kansas City Chiefs,
• 23:58
  Speaker 2: everybody thinks they're good, right? When the preponderance of evidence
• 24:03
  Speaker 2: really lets you know you're not good, that's when I
• 24:06
  Speaker 2: want to face you. So right now, a little pride
• 24:08
  Speaker 2: on the line, a little maybe rallying. If you're facing
• 24:11
  Speaker 2: the Colts or the Titans, if you have a good
• 24:16
  Speaker 2: locker room, if you have good leadership. Now, of course,
• 24:18
  Speaker 2: the Titans just traded their defensive leader. But if you
• 24:21
  Speaker 2: have that, sometimes a team can rally well. under these circumstances.
• 24:25
  Speaker 2: Having said that, you know, the Bengals are massive favorites,
• 24:29
  Speaker 2: and I would be shocked if they don't win this game.
• 24:31
  Speaker 6: Shocked. Yeah, I'm going to be.
• 24:34
  Speaker 5: Honest with you, Rob. The Tennessee Titans are dead. I mean, they're–
• 24:39
  Speaker 5: this is it. I mean, we– It was.
• 24:42
  Speaker 6: A good speech.
• 24:43
  Speaker 4: It was a good speech. It was a great speech.
• 24:44
  Speaker 5: I mean– for the casual football fan, you may have
• 24:50
  Speaker 5: rallied some folks to put some money on the Titans,
• 24:53
  Speaker 5: but those who do pay attention, we know this game is,
• 24:57
  Speaker 5: this is a casket game. You know, this is where
• 25:00
  Speaker 5: you pretty much say, you know what, lay in here,
• 25:01
  Speaker 5: let's bury it, let's move on because Tennessee Titans don't
• 25:04
  Speaker 5: have a shot. I thought a lot of whatever gusto
• 25:06
  Speaker 5: and momentum they were trying to build up, it ended
• 25:11
  Speaker 5: last week against the Browns when they went on that,
• 25:14
  Speaker 5: you know, walk-off field goal. So, And now that you
• 25:16
  Speaker 5: lost your defensive captain and Jeffrey Simmons, it's tough, man.
• 25:21
  Speaker 5: It's been a turbulent, ugly season for much of the
• 25:28
  Speaker 5: season for the Cincinnati Titans. I think right now they're
• 25:32
  Speaker 5: looking at the depth, if you will, of some of
• 25:34
  Speaker 5: the younger players and see what they have and if
• 25:36
  Speaker 5: there are any guys who they feel like, man, they
• 25:38
  Speaker 5: maybe put some potential there. They'll throw them out there
• 25:40
  Speaker 5: against the Bengals. But the Bengals know what type of
• 25:42
  Speaker 5: game this is. They don't want to make it a dogfight.
• 25:44
  Speaker 5: They want to get this thing over and early. They
• 25:46
  Speaker 5: want to have Joe Burrow sitting down by the third quarter.
• 25:48
  Speaker 5: This is the type of game they're trying to play.
• 25:50
  Speaker 5: So it's tough, but it is what it is, you know.
• 25:54
  Speaker 5: That's why you give away your top dog so next
• 25:58
  Speaker 5: year you're not in this predicament, right? You have a
• 26:00
  Speaker 5: more competitive outfit rolling out there next year.
• 26:06
  Speaker 4: So, you know, I was watching Karate Kid the other day, right, guys?
• 26:14
  Speaker 7: Willie, do we jump in now or is he going
• 26:16
  Speaker 7: to switch it back?
• 26:17
  Speaker 4: And there's a phrase that came in.
• 26:22
  Speaker 3: Put him in a body bag, Johnny.
• 26:25
  Speaker 4: That's the Tennessee Titans right now. Just put him in
• 26:28
  Speaker 4: a body bag. Toe tag him. They are DOA. And
• 26:32
  Speaker 4: Willie put it in perfect sequence. I just had to
• 26:36
  Speaker 4: button it up because I was like, there is no
• 26:39
  Speaker 4: way in hell that this is. that these Titans are
• 26:42
  Speaker 4: going to be fine for anything except for the number
• 26:44
  Speaker 4: one overall pick.
• 26:45
  Speaker 6: Yeah. They're fine for a sandals vacation.
• 26:48
  Speaker 2: What a discouraging thing to be part of a team
• 26:53
  Speaker 2: and a fan base. If you're a Tennessee Titans fan
• 26:55
  Speaker 2: right now, you're actively hoping that they lose. I mean,
• 27:01
  Speaker 2: that's what you're hoping for. There's no chance. They're done.
• 27:04
  Speaker 2: Their season is finished. What an awful spot to be in. Again,
• 27:10
  Speaker 2: you know, I kind of, A little bit tongue-in-cheek, but,
• 27:14
  Speaker 2: you know, took a jab at some of the fans
• 27:15
  Speaker 2: that want that for the Steelers. I just can't imagine that.
• 27:18
  Speaker 2: And then trying to resurrect the, you know, any kind
• 27:22
  Speaker 2: of culture. Look, that's what Todd Munkin's trying to do
• 27:25
  Speaker 2: in Cleveland, you know. And I think that's why this
• 27:29
  Speaker 2: is a really big game.
• 27:30
  Speaker 3: For the Browns. Now, it's not make or break, but
• 27:32
  Speaker 3: it could wind up being an important game for them.
• 27:34
  Speaker 2: But, I mean, you know, guys, you've spent time with
• 27:39
  Speaker 2: other organizations.
• 27:40
  Speaker 3: Other than the Steelers.
• 27:42
  Speaker 2: Those situations have got to be discouraging for the fans
• 27:45
  Speaker 2: and the players.
• 27:49
  Speaker 6: Yeah.
• 27:49
  Speaker 5: I mean, trust me, it's not good. It's not good
• 27:53
  Speaker 5: from a mental standpoint, a locker room standpoint, organizational standpoint.
• 27:58
  Speaker 5: Because when you lose, it just puts a lot of
• 28:00
  Speaker 5: strain on everybody in the building to get it right.
• 28:03
  Speaker 5: And sometimes you can't acquire or get the answers in
• 28:08
  Speaker 5: real time. All you can do is go out there
• 28:10
  Speaker 5: and put your best foot forward, put the best game
• 28:13
  Speaker 5: plan forward, and hopefully collectively everybody's in alignment on what
• 28:16
  Speaker 5: they should do on Sunday and hopefully come out.
• 28:18
  Speaker 6: With a win.
• 28:19
  Speaker 5: When you look at a lot of teams who are
• 28:20
  Speaker 5: struggling right now, it's not necessarily a talent issue. It's
• 28:25
  Speaker 5: a structure issue, right? And they necessarily don't have the
• 28:28
  Speaker 5: right structure or the pieces of the place to go
• 28:30
  Speaker 5: out there and be competitive.
• 28:31
  Speaker 6: If you don't have a quarterback.
• 28:33
  Speaker 5: Who can be that guy for you week in, week out,
• 28:37
  Speaker 5: it's tough.
• 28:42
  Speaker 4: Yeah, and I think that's where you're at, right? You know,
• 28:46
  Speaker 4: you see that the front office is kind of throwing
• 28:50
  Speaker 4: up the white flag, but yet your coach is still
• 28:52
  Speaker 4: trying to rally, right? Your teammates are still trying to rally.
• 28:56
  Speaker 4: And that's where the structure and the disconnect happens from
• 28:59
  Speaker 4: upstairs to downstairs, as we like to call it. Yeah,
• 29:03
  Speaker 4: but this one, this is like, all right, guys, we're
• 29:06
  Speaker 4: not even halfway through the season.
• 29:09
  Speaker 6: Right.
• 29:09
  Speaker 4: Seriously. Yeah, you're looking to your left or your right.
• 29:12
  Speaker 4: You're like, well, who's going to do it? Who's going
• 29:15
  Speaker 4: to do it? Everybody's looking. Everybody's in the cart, and
• 29:18
  Speaker 4: they're looking for somebody to push, right? Somebody has to
• 29:20
  Speaker 4: get out of the cart and push. And, you know,
• 29:23
  Speaker 4: this can be a turning point for Robert Sala to
• 29:25
  Speaker 4: see who he can fight with and who's worth being
• 29:29
  Speaker 4: here versus who he kind of needs to unload and
• 29:32
  Speaker 4: figure it out going forward as he tries to rebuild
• 29:35
  Speaker 4: this team. But, I mean, right now, if you're a
• 29:38
  Speaker 4: Titans fan, get ready for Nashville Predators.
• 29:40
  Speaker 6: Season.
• 29:40
  Speaker 4: You know, just go all in on the Preds, you know,
• 29:43
  Speaker 4: or go to Vanderbilt. I mean, they could use some fans.
• 29:46
  Speaker 4: They just got a nice new stadium.
• 29:48
  Speaker 3: So, Max, go ahead. Go ahead, Willie.
• 29:51
  Speaker 5: No, I was going to say, quickly, I was like,
• 29:52
  Speaker 5: that's the hardest thing for a head coach, man, and
• 29:54
  Speaker 5: Max kind of summed it up. you got to figure
• 29:57
  Speaker 5: out who's going to continue to fight and who's ready
• 29:59
  Speaker 5: to lay down because a lot of guys right now
• 30:02
  Speaker 5: start thinking about themselves and they start thinking about not
• 30:05
  Speaker 5: being injured, potentially leaving the team, going somewhere else. Some guys,
• 30:09
  Speaker 5: you know, a lot of guys have their own agenda
• 30:13
  Speaker 5: starts to come into play. And it's tough because, you know,
• 30:17
  Speaker 5: if you don't have the right guys in a locker room,
• 30:19
  Speaker 5: meaning saying, hey, man, it's still a privilege to play
• 30:22
  Speaker 5: in the NFL. still privileged to put on an NFL jersey,
• 30:25
  Speaker 5: still privileged to play a child's game. You know, we
• 30:30
  Speaker 5: got to still go out there and do what's right
• 30:32
  Speaker 5: for the sake of the brand and for our dreams.
• 30:35
  Speaker 5: You're playing for the name on the back of the jersey,
• 30:38
  Speaker 5: but the name in front of the jersey is what's
• 30:40
  Speaker 5: paying you. So the front office is going to be
• 30:42
  Speaker 5: paying attention to guys who are tanking, loafing, lack of effort, being.
• 30:47
  Speaker 6: Late to practice.
• 30:48
  Speaker 5: They mark all that down. So you can think you're
• 30:51
  Speaker 5: getting away or you can think you're bypassing everything, but
• 30:54
  Speaker 5: when they have those end-of-the-meeting, end-of-the-year meetings, and they sit
• 30:57
  Speaker 5: you down in that room and you start asking about
• 31:01
  Speaker 5: contracts and money and all that stuff, they're like, well,
• 31:03
  Speaker 5: you know, week eight, you know, we was trying to
• 31:06
  Speaker 5: see what you can do and it looked like you
• 31:07
  Speaker 5: turned it down. So we're going to turn it off
• 31:09
  Speaker 5: and ship you down the road or maybe draft somebody
• 31:12
  Speaker 5: ahead of you and really get some high-quality guys in there.
• 31:15
  Speaker 5: So you got to be careful because you can give
• 31:17
  Speaker 5: an organization ammo on why you shouldn't be a part
• 31:20
  Speaker 5: of that team.
• 31:21
  Speaker 6: For next year.
• 31:21
  Speaker 5: So a lot of guys don't understand that. And believe
• 31:25
  Speaker 5: it or not, I've been a part of those type
• 31:27
  Speaker 5: of teams. When I was at Jet, I went through
• 31:29
  Speaker 5: a 4-12 season, which is absolutely brutal. And one of
• 31:35
  Speaker 5: the things, as one of the leaders in that locker room,
• 31:37
  Speaker 5: I kept telling guys, listen, all you can do is
• 31:40
  Speaker 5: control what you control. But at the end of the day,
• 31:43
  Speaker 5: whatever you put on tape, understand it is still being
• 31:45
  Speaker 5: evaluated despite whatever is going on with the team. So
• 31:49
  Speaker 5: if you go out there and lay it down and
• 31:51
  Speaker 5: loaf and play like dog poop, then that's how the
• 31:54
  Speaker 5: league is going to view you because it's not just
• 31:56
  Speaker 5: that one GM looking at you. 31 other GMs are
• 31:58
  Speaker 5: going to be looking at you too. So, you know,
• 32:02
  Speaker 5: you just hopefully guys understand that.
• 32:05
  Speaker 3: Yeah, there were very few players.
• 32:10
  Speaker 2: You know, we talked yesterday about Jimmy Johnson and Bill Parcells,
• 32:15
  Speaker 2: Chuck Knoll was one of those guys, obviously a great
• 32:18
  Speaker 2: example here locally, of teams that were really bad, and
• 32:22
  Speaker 2: they were really bad in their coaches' first year, but
• 32:25
  Speaker 2: those coaches were able to set a standard and an
• 32:28
  Speaker 2: expectation and a way of doing things. I think there
• 32:33
  Speaker 2: were four guys when Chuck Knoll inherited the team that
• 32:35
  Speaker 2: were on their first Super Bowl championship team.
• 32:37
  Speaker 3: So he weeded out a lot of guys.
• 32:39
  Speaker 2: But to be able to build that culture, I think
• 32:41
  Speaker 2: that's a little bit harder in today's NFL, Max, for
• 32:46
  Speaker 2: a couple reasons. One, a lot of teams don't have
• 32:49
  Speaker 2: the patience to stick with it. And then, two, you
• 32:54
  Speaker 2: have free agency. Like, when you drafted Joe Green, Joe
• 32:58
  Speaker 2: Green spent his entire career with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
• 33:02
  Speaker 3: L.C. Greenwood.
• 33:03
  Speaker 2: You know, Dwight White. Franco Harris, of course, wound up
• 33:06
  Speaker 2: playing one year for Seattle. But, I mean, these guys–
• 33:09
  Speaker 2: Once you drafted them, your team was put together. Your
• 33:11
  Speaker 2: culture was put in place. I think for those reasons,
• 33:14
  Speaker 2: it makes it much harder in today's NFL to build
• 33:19
  Speaker 2: a sustainable winter and to change the culture and to
• 33:21
  Speaker 2: be around to see the fruits of your labor.
• 33:25
  Speaker 4: And that's why it's so celebrated when teams go on
• 33:27
  Speaker 4: a run, right? You see the dynasty. You see the Patriots.
• 33:31
  Speaker 4: You see the Chiefs. And even for us, for that matter,
• 33:37
  Speaker 4: you go through it and you're like, Man, we can
• 33:40
  Speaker 4: keep this going, but it's like, no. Every year, there's turnover.
• 33:43
  Speaker 4: Every year, there are guys who are coming up on
• 33:45
  Speaker 4: their contracts, and there's teams who want a little bit.
• 33:48
  Speaker 4: They want to just take a little bit of that
• 33:50
  Speaker 4: essence from your team. Like, what made you special? You know,
• 33:54
  Speaker 4: I think about our first Super Bowl, right? Super Bowl 40.
• 33:58
  Speaker 4: Antoine Rendell leaves and goes to Chicago. Chris Hope goes
• 34:00
  Speaker 4: to the Titans, right? Guys, you know, go on. Jerome
• 34:04
  Speaker 4: Bettis retires, and you're just like, okay, well, what are
• 34:09
  Speaker 4: we going to do next? Well, we got a draft.
• 34:11
  Speaker 4: We got free agency, right? Insert a Willie Colon getting
• 34:14
  Speaker 4: drafted into a room. And now we're starting to move
• 34:17
  Speaker 4: in a different direction. And you're still trying to keep
• 34:20
  Speaker 4: that nucleus together. It's so tough to keep that special
• 34:24
  Speaker 4: fire of a team burning. Because you have to keep
• 34:28
  Speaker 4: taking logs out and putting logs in. Keep taking logs out,
• 34:31
  Speaker 4: putting logs in every single year. And so, you know,
• 34:34
  Speaker 4: I look at, teams that never get to start because
• 34:37
  Speaker 4: they've never had that success. They've never seen it, right?
• 34:40
  Speaker 4: There's no Lombardi sitting in their building, right? Tennessee has
• 34:44
  Speaker 4: gotten to it, but then there was a Tom Brady
• 34:49
  Speaker 4: that extinguishes that hope. You look at a Rams team
• 34:54
  Speaker 4: that will take them out as well. So you've got
• 34:58
  Speaker 4: teams who get close, right? We talk about the get
• 35:00
  Speaker 4: near and the get here guys. They get near, but
• 35:03
  Speaker 4: they don't have that sustained success. And that's why you
• 35:07
  Speaker 4: see coaches kind of like a turnstile, you know, coming
• 35:10
  Speaker 4: through the league, coming through. We know that every single year,
• 35:13
  Speaker 4: a third of the league is going to turn over.
• 35:16
  Speaker 4: That's crazy to think, right?
• 35:17
  Speaker 6: That's crazy.
• 35:18
  Speaker 4: How do you build systemic success when a third of
• 35:23
  Speaker 4: your teams have to turn over every single year? So
• 35:27
  Speaker 4: that's what makes Pittsburgh an exceptional place and why you
• 35:30
  Speaker 4: do see the culture here and why there is a belief.
• 35:32
  Speaker 4: And I don't know why people think You're going to
• 35:35
  Speaker 4: tear it down when they've never really had a teardown since, what, 1969?
• 35:40
  Speaker 4: But that was when they were still getting near guys,
• 35:42
  Speaker 4: and actually they weren't even getting close back then. And
• 35:45
  Speaker 4: then you had to have that teardown, and since then
• 35:47
  Speaker 4: there's been a standard that's been set. And there's trophies
• 35:51
  Speaker 4: to go walk by and say, okay, this is what
• 35:54
  Speaker 4: it looks like to be here. You've created a culture
• 35:58
  Speaker 4: naturally inside of it.
• 35:59
  Speaker 2: Well, I do think there's one thing, and this is why–
• 36:04
  Speaker 2: players or why fans say we need to have a
• 36:09
  Speaker 2: bad year because that one bad year allowed you to
• 36:12
  Speaker 2: get Ben Roethlisberger, right? But there was still a good
• 36:17
  Speaker 2: team in place. That's what people, that's what fans sometimes
• 36:20
  Speaker 2: fail to realize, that the Chiefs were a good team
• 36:24
  Speaker 2: who traded up and got Patrick Mahomes. That's why they
• 36:27
  Speaker 2: have a dynasty. Tom Brady was obviously a six-round pick,
• 36:30
  Speaker 2: but even he jumped into a team that was 8-8
• 36:33
  Speaker 2: the year before. I think that the two have to–
• 36:36
  Speaker 2: the best way to do it is for the two
• 36:38
  Speaker 2: to get together.
• 36:40
  Speaker 3: Have that good team in place.
• 36:41
  Speaker 2: And Ben Roethlisberger said as much, Willie, to Max and
• 36:44
  Speaker 2: I last year on this show. He said the best
• 36:46
  Speaker 2: thing that happened to him was being dropped into a
• 36:48
  Speaker 2: good team. And he goes on to– he's going to
• 36:51
  Speaker 2: wind up in Canton, two Super Bowl championships, another trip
• 36:55
  Speaker 2: to the big dance, going head-to-head with Tom Brady in
• 36:58
  Speaker 2: that time with all the Super Bowls he's won. You've
• 37:01
  Speaker 2: got to get that guy, man. You've got to get that.
• 37:03
  Speaker 2: So I understand– Why fans want that. But I don't
• 37:06
  Speaker 2: think getting the guy matters that much. Our buddy Matt
• 37:10
  Speaker 2: Williamson says he thinks it's just as much about where
• 37:14
  Speaker 2: a guy goes as who that quarterback is.
• 37:18
  Speaker 3: You know, what situation are they stepping into? So, anyway,
• 37:21
  Speaker 3: we've got to take a break. I'm way over. Jerry Dulax,
• 37:23
  Speaker 3: we're going to push him to 1 o'clock.
• 37:25
  Speaker 2: We also have coming up next hour Andrew Ciliano, play-by-play
• 37:29
  Speaker 2: guy at the Cleveland Browns. We continue in the locker
• 37:31
  Speaker 2: room here on the Steelers Audio Network.
• 37:38
  Speaker 1: This is In the Locker Room with Rob King, Max Starks,
• 37:42
  Speaker 1: and Willie Colon on Steelers Nation Radio. Brought to you
• 37:45
  Speaker 1: in part by the Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
• 37:49
  Speaker 1: from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop.steelers.com.
• 37:53
  Speaker 1: And by your neighborhood Ford store. The F-150 is the
• 37:57
  Speaker 1: official truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
• 38:01
  Speaker 2: And welcome back here as we're continuing to get you
• 38:04
  Speaker 2: ready for the Steelers and the Browns. We have Jerry
• 38:06
  Speaker 2: Dulac here. Had to push him back to 1 o'clock.
• 38:09
  Speaker 2: He's going to be joining us as well as Andrew Celiano,
• 38:12
  Speaker 2: the play-by-play man for the Cleveland Browns. Interesting to get
• 38:16
  Speaker 2: their perspective. New head coach looking for a fresh start
• 38:19
  Speaker 2: against the Pittsburgh Steelers. You know, Matt Williamson has his
• 38:23
  Speaker 2: statistics out there. And Matt Statz, Matt Statz Packett, and
• 38:28
  Speaker 2: talked to him this morning as we taped the matchup
• 38:30
  Speaker 2: with Missy Matthews. And I thought this was really fascinating
• 38:36
  Speaker 2: when you think about Max, the Steelers defense, they have
• 38:40
  Speaker 2: the second best second half defense in the NFL. They
• 38:44
  Speaker 2: have allowed zero trips inside the red zone in the
• 38:49
  Speaker 2: second half. Now, is that something that speaks to, in
• 38:53
  Speaker 2: your opinion, kind of the quality of the defense? Is
• 38:57
  Speaker 2: it a little bit of the opposition you're playing or
• 38:59
  Speaker 2: game situations? Are they doing something, say, in the high
• 39:03
  Speaker 2: red zone that eventually is a bend but don't break defense?
• 39:07
  Speaker 2: type of thing I mean that's a great number if
• 39:08
  Speaker 2: you could keep that up all year long a great
• 39:11
  Speaker 2: second half defense and not letting him in the red
• 39:13
  Speaker 2: zone you're going to be really really successful I mean
• 39:15
  Speaker 2: look it's probably a combination of all those things but
• 39:18
  Speaker 2: I'd love to hear what you had to think about.
• 39:19
  Speaker 7: That well I think you kind of answered it Rob
• 39:23
  Speaker 7: you know with it I I think it is a
• 39:25
  Speaker 7: combination just because the quality of the teams you're playing
• 39:29
  Speaker 7: seven half adjustments that Patrick Graham's able to make, and
• 39:34
  Speaker 7: they come out and they say, okay, well, this team
• 39:36
  Speaker 7: can only do really this, this, this, and this.
• 39:38
  Speaker 4: Like, we saw their top 15. We saw what they
• 39:41
  Speaker 4: really felt was their bread and butter, and let's adjust
• 39:43
  Speaker 4: to it. And I think also the way that they've
• 39:46
  Speaker 4: stopped the run game also eliminates a lot of those
• 39:50
  Speaker 4: big plays and they play a defensive structure in that
• 39:53
  Speaker 4: quarters and kind of soft zone where they keep everything
• 39:57
  Speaker 4: in front of them so they're going to defend tooth
• 40:00
  Speaker 4: and nail everything in front of them and they're not
• 40:02
  Speaker 4: going to let you beat them deep they're going to
• 40:04
  Speaker 4: try and eliminate those explosive plays so all of that
• 40:08
  Speaker 4: maturates into a number two second half defense and you
• 40:13
  Speaker 4: know and your guys start to heat up you know
• 40:16
  Speaker 4: once you kind of know what the route is that
• 40:19
  Speaker 4: the guy's going to run or how he sets it up.
• 40:22
  Speaker 4: You know, our defensive backs have a high enough IQ
• 40:24
  Speaker 4: that they can adjust to that and they can pick
• 40:26
  Speaker 4: that up. You know, you look at what Robert Spears
• 40:28
  Speaker 4: Jennings able to do covering on the back half to
• 40:31
  Speaker 4: Quan Brisker. And now you add to Sean Elliott back there.
• 40:33
  Speaker 4: You have some high IQ safeties who know how to
• 40:36
  Speaker 4: cover up some of the, some of the, some of
• 40:37
  Speaker 4: the bugaboo spots. And then of course you put Jalen
• 40:39
  Speaker 4: Ramsey there and then you can start being a little
• 40:41
  Speaker 4: more aggressive with him as he plays closer to the
• 40:43
  Speaker 4: line of scrimmage. So there's a lot of good, things
• 40:47
  Speaker 4: I feel like that are that are mismatched in there
• 40:50
  Speaker 4: that allow for this defense to kind of thrive the
• 40:52
  Speaker 4: way that it does.
• 40:53
  Speaker 2: You know, Willie, when I look at the Steelers defense
• 40:56
  Speaker 2: and it's clear they've played what appears to be a
• 41:03
  Speaker 2: lot of bend but don't break. I thought they were
• 41:05
  Speaker 2: more aggressive with that against Cleveland. I thought they were
• 41:07
  Speaker 2: up closer. You know, that's what it looks like to me.
• 41:12
  Speaker 2: But I started to think about this in terms of
• 41:17
  Speaker 2: going back to baseball and thinking of center fielders, right?
• 41:22
  Speaker 2: Some people say we want a center fielder to play shallow,
• 41:24
  Speaker 2: which is kind of like playing press coverage. Well, sometimes
• 41:27
  Speaker 2: the center fielder doesn't feel good about going back over
• 41:30
  Speaker 2: his head for a baseball. They have a hard time
• 41:31
  Speaker 2: tracking or whatever. They feel like they can be more
• 41:34
  Speaker 2: aggressive on everything by moving forward all the time. And
• 41:38
  Speaker 2: so if you're playing back a little bit, that means
• 41:41
  Speaker 2: almost by definition that you're always moving forward. You know,
• 41:44
  Speaker 2: there's a short completion. Now you're moving forward to try
• 41:47
  Speaker 2: to tackle that guy. I don't know whether that– I'm
• 41:50
  Speaker 2: just spitballing. I don't know whether that sets a mentality
• 41:53
  Speaker 2: for you of coming up and playing physical. But regardless
• 41:57
  Speaker 2: of whether it does or doesn't, it's working right now
• 41:59
  Speaker 2: for the Steelers.
• 42:02
  Speaker 5: Yeah, I think right now for the Steelers, it's a
• 42:05
  Speaker 5: matter of, one, you know, like I said, I mentioned
• 42:10
  Speaker 5: it the other day, it was hard to tell if
• 42:12
  Speaker 5: the Saints were able to have– were able to be
• 42:15
  Speaker 5: productive due to the structure in which the Steelers were playing,
• 42:18
  Speaker 5: or was it a one-on-one situation? The Saints were able
• 42:23
  Speaker 5: to beat the Steelers' structure. It wasn't the guys getting
• 42:25
  Speaker 5: beat up. I know Jamel Dean gave up that one
• 42:27
  Speaker 5: big pass down the middle of the field that Tyler
• 42:29
  Speaker 5: Shuck was able to hit. But collectively, I thought the
• 42:32
  Speaker 5: defense played strong and it was able to tackle. There's
• 42:34
  Speaker 5: been a running clip of Jalen Ramsey smashing Alvin Kamara
• 42:39
  Speaker 5: as he was trying to get into the end zone.
• 42:41
  Speaker 5: And that's the type of physicality that the Steelers want
• 42:43
  Speaker 5: to play in this game. And I talk about it
• 42:45
  Speaker 5: all week. The Steelers can somehow figure it out that, listen, man,
• 42:48
  Speaker 5: for us to be effective, it's not so much what
• 42:50
  Speaker 5: we can do from a schematic standpoint. It's how much
• 42:52
  Speaker 5: we can oppose our will. So that means playing more press.
• 42:56
  Speaker 5: And obviously they like to play a lot of zone.
• 42:59
  Speaker 5: But we have to put– I think one of the
• 43:00
  Speaker 5: keys going into this game, Rob, we got to put
• 43:03
  Speaker 5: stress on their offensive line. Like go to that Thursday
• 43:07
  Speaker 5: game against Steelers versus Browns, that Thursday night game, man.
• 43:10
  Speaker 5: you will see how much that defense line calls that
• 43:13
  Speaker 5: offensive line of stress. We have to be able to
• 43:15
  Speaker 5: do the same thing to that Browns offensive line solely
• 43:18
  Speaker 5: because at the end of the day, man, we know
• 43:22
  Speaker 5: Deshaun Watson is capable of throwing you one if he's
• 43:24
  Speaker 5: sped up. But you also know when he's in a panic,
• 43:26
  Speaker 5: what does he do?
• 43:27
  Speaker 6: He uses his legs.
• 43:29
  Speaker 5: And he's also turnover prone. Like, you can get him
• 43:31
  Speaker 5: to fumble. So I think right now it doesn't matter schematically.
• 43:35
  Speaker 5: I think the Steelers are who they are. You know
• 43:36
  Speaker 5: Patrick Graham is going to play zone up to 70%
• 43:39
  Speaker 5: of the time. I think moving outside linebackers around where
• 43:43
  Speaker 5: Herbig and Watt and all those guys are able to
• 43:45
  Speaker 5: come off the edge. But I also think right now
• 43:48
  Speaker 5: if we can get the interior pass rush of Keanu
• 43:50
  Speaker 5: Bittner to come alive and be more effective, man, we
• 43:52
  Speaker 5: got a legit shot in shutting this offensive down because
• 43:55
  Speaker 5: they've been living off explosive plays. They've been able to
• 43:57
  Speaker 5: run the ball with Junkins. Harold Fann has been a
• 44:00
  Speaker 5: big factor for them. You know what Casey and Boston
• 44:03
  Speaker 5: and those guys are able to do. But if we
• 44:05
  Speaker 5: can put stress on their offensive line where they're seeing ghosts,
• 44:08
  Speaker 5: if you will, that's going to speed up Deshaun Watson.
• 44:11
  Speaker 5: It's going to make him feel uncomfortable in the pocket.
• 44:12
  Speaker 5: So this is more or less about being a more
• 44:16
  Speaker 5: physical outfit come Sunday than scheme to me.
• 44:19
  Speaker 3: All right, we have much, much, much to get to.
• 44:21
  Speaker 2: I think that's a really fascinating topic about how to
• 44:23
  Speaker 2: attack Deshaun Watson. We're going to maybe get into a
• 44:26
  Speaker 2: little bit of that with our next guest.
• 44:28
  Speaker 3: He's going to be
• 44:28
  Speaker 2: Jerry Dulac, going to be joining us when we continue
• 44:30
  Speaker 2: in the locker room here on the Steelers Audio Network.