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Must Win: Buffalo Bills Game Preview · The Irish Steelers Podcast

0:06
Speaker 1: Welcome into the Irish Steelers podcast. But in BERLINGUS we
0:09
Speaker 1: are looking ahead two week thirteen of the NFL season.
0:13
Speaker 1: It's hard to believe that we're thirteen weeks in and
0:16
Speaker 1: really hard to believe that it's almost ten weeks since
0:18
Speaker 1: the Steelers played in Dublin. Delighted to be joined with
0:21
Speaker 1: Jimmy English and Jimmy good to have you on again.
0:23
Speaker 1: How are you doing to you find the season is
0:25
Speaker 1: just flying in at this point. It's crazy, isn't it.
0:28
Speaker 2: It's crazy that you say week thirteen, Mmichael, we are
0:31
Speaker 2: now officially over two thirds of the way through the
0:34
Speaker 2: season and it's actually it's so strange being back in
0:36
Speaker 2: Ireland watching football on TV because, same as yourself, we've
0:40
Speaker 2: been all over the We've been all over Mainland, neuor
0:43
Speaker 2: covering the NFL since since that game in Dublin. I'm
0:46
Speaker 2: just back. I would like yourself from Madrid. We have Berlin,
0:49
Speaker 2: we had London, so it's it was a nice change
0:53
Speaker 2: of scenery watching the Steelers against the Bears from the
0:55
Speaker 2: comfort of my couch there on Sunday evening and looking
0:58
Speaker 2: forward to it as the evening's raw in and you know,
1:01
Speaker 2: the nice yet a little bit chittier. It's nice having
1:03
Speaker 2: the fire on and the TV and the big screen
1:05
Speaker 2: at the game on the big screen. So yeah, I
1:08
Speaker 2: mean week thirteen, it's absolutely crazy. Christmas is only around
1:11
Speaker 2: the corner and hopefully come January the Steers will be
1:16
Speaker 2: in the playoffs. That remains to be seen at this page.
1:18
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's it's a really interesting time for Steelers fans,
1:21
Speaker 1: Jimmy and like it's something that we'll probably get into
1:23
Speaker 1: on this podcast and obviously hear from from coach Tomlin
1:26
Speaker 1: and to hear from some players as well, and there
1:29
Speaker 1: has been a change in the AFC North, there's been
1:32
Speaker 1: different things. Just before we start off, just let people
1:34
Speaker 1: know if they are listening to this very quickly this
1:36
Speaker 1: week if you're like regardless of where you are on
1:40
Speaker 1: the island of Ireland, so if you're in Northern Arden
1:42
Speaker 1: this week and if you don't have Sky Sports, the
1:44
Speaker 1: Steelers Bills game is on five Action on Sunday at
1:47
Speaker 1: nine thirty in Northern Ireland on Sky Sports NFL as
1:50
Speaker 1: well on Sunday evening, so loads of different options. Obviously
1:53
Speaker 1: the UCB Sports app as well. If you're in the
1:55
Speaker 1: car and you want to listen to it very quickly.
1:57
Speaker 1: On that you mentioned Madrid. It was a good weekend,
2:00
Speaker 1: bueno as we would say.
2:01
Speaker 2: But I think.
2:04
Speaker 1: I I think we're both in agreement Jimmy that you know,
2:08
Speaker 1: great to get the Steelers getting the victory that evening
2:10
Speaker 1: as well when we were heading home, but really really
2:13
Speaker 1: good to see. It's quite obvious to me that that
2:15
Speaker 1: Ireland stot out and Ireland was the best, and I
2:17
Speaker 1: think that weekend with the Steelers was the best of all.
2:20
Speaker 1: That the largest audience internationally for NFL Network watched the
2:24
Speaker 1: Steelers Vikings game, which is great for any Irish fan.
2:27
Speaker 1: Whe you're a Steeers fan now, isn't it. Yeah.
2:29
Speaker 2: I mean I said on this podcast before Michael, I
2:32
Speaker 2: think Dublin set the standard for NFL games internationally this season,
2:35
Speaker 2: and kind of I think Dublin almost spoiled the rest
2:38
Speaker 2: of the games that I went to because it was
2:40
Speaker 2: just and obviously it was a special moment for me
2:43
Speaker 2: and a special weekend as a Steelers fan, but it
2:45
Speaker 2: was just so so well done in Dublin. It genuinely
2:49
Speaker 2: did feel like a real life, proper NFL game had
2:52
Speaker 2: transplanted itself onto the North Side of Dublin City and
2:56
Speaker 2: it was great to see, you know, the different locations. Well,
2:59
Speaker 2: I mean Madrid. Madrid was fantastic, the way it was
3:01
Speaker 2: all said up the Bernabelt was incredible. It was electric
3:04
Speaker 2: having that roof closed. There was so much amazing atmosphere
3:07
Speaker 2: there as well. So you know, it really bodes well
3:10
Speaker 2: for the growth of the NFL internationally. I'm this sided
3:13
Speaker 2: of the Atlantic and I think, you know, I mean,
3:16
Speaker 2: the Saints have teas the potential game in Paris as
3:19
Speaker 2: soon as next season, which would be great, another major
3:22
Speaker 2: European city and another passionate fan base there in France.
3:25
Speaker 2: But I think we are going to see more and
3:28
Speaker 2: more and more NFL international games in the future, and
3:31
Speaker 2: hopefully our steeiers will be back on Irish shore sooner
3:34
Speaker 2: than later.
3:35
Speaker 1: Hopefully you've said the exact pr correct sentence there, Jimmy,
3:39
Speaker 1: That's exactly what I want as well. I know everyone
3:42
Speaker 1: listening to the podcast, hopefully at some point in the
3:43
Speaker 1: future we see that again. And I know, not just yourself,
3:47
Speaker 1: but you know, obviously Irish Americans listening. We've maybe a
3:50
Speaker 1: lot of people in North America listening hobby Thanksgiving. I
3:53
Speaker 1: believe this is going to go out on Thanksgiving mornings.
3:55
Speaker 1: So Hobby, Thanksgiving to yourself and everyone listening as well. Jimmy,
3:57
Speaker 1: it's one of the best times of the year for
3:59
Speaker 1: NFL fans. It's mad because when I actually looked at this, right,
4:02
Speaker 1: you know, I love the Thanksgiving Thursday, right, but the
4:05
Speaker 1: Steelers have not play on Thanksgivings to twenty sixteen. It
4:08
Speaker 1: would be nice at some point, whether it's next year,
4:11
Speaker 1: the year after, if we got that maybe one off again,
4:13
Speaker 1: maybe they do it every decade or something, but it
4:15
Speaker 1: would be cool to see. I know there's a lot
4:16
Speaker 1: of a lot of great tradition there, but I think
4:19
Speaker 1: year on year and you're seeing it as well, there
4:21
Speaker 1: is a lot of growth. We're seeing a lot of
4:22
Speaker 1: the games on TV on the Thursday evening. A lot
4:24
Speaker 1: of I guess part time fans are realizing, oh god,
4:27
Speaker 1: there's actually games during the week here.
4:29
Speaker 2: Yeah, you'll be cool to that. Happy Thanksgiving indeed, Happy
4:33
Speaker 2: Thanksgiving to our to all our listeners on this side
4:35
Speaker 2: of the pond or over in the States. So it
4:38
Speaker 2: really is a fantastic time of year. Michael. I think
4:39
Speaker 2: it kind of marks the It marks a nice kind
4:42
Speaker 2: of point between the kind of early part of the
4:45
Speaker 2: season and when we get down to the business end
4:46
Speaker 2: of the season. You often hear coaches and players talk about,
4:50
Speaker 2: you know, the season doesn't really start until November, December.
4:53
Speaker 2: December football is so important because that's when the seaton
4:56
Speaker 2: comes down to the business end of the season, wins
4:58
Speaker 2: and losses really start to cat especially in divisional play.
5:02
Speaker 2: So it really is a crucial period of the year
5:04
Speaker 2: to get to kind of make a push for the postseason.
5:07
Speaker 2: And I think, you know the obviously, we have a
5:10
Speaker 2: triple header on Thanksgiving starting you know, three three really
5:14
Speaker 2: really great games to look forward and it's a great
5:17
Speaker 2: way for, as you say, the kind of casual part
5:18
Speaker 2: time fan to watch more football than they'd ever have
5:21
Speaker 2: access to. I mean, the first game is six o'clock
5:23
Speaker 2: Irish time, dinner time. It's perfect. You sit down, you
5:26
Speaker 2: have your if you if you're partaking in the in
5:29
Speaker 2: the the traditional Thanksgiving dinner a bit like Irish Christmas dinner.
5:33
Speaker 2: You have your turkey or gravy or whatever you have,
5:35
Speaker 2: You have your your couple of drinks as well, and
5:37
Speaker 2: then you have an entire night of football ahead of you,
5:40
Speaker 2: and then bonus football on Friday with Black Friday Football
5:42
Speaker 2: as well, which is a recent enough addition, so I
5:45
Speaker 2: mean it, we're just going to be absolutely spoiled for
5:47
Speaker 2: choice with games. The last time the Steelers played, as
5:50
Speaker 2: you say, on Thanksgiving was twenty sixteen. It was against
5:52
Speaker 2: the Colts. We bet, we bet the Colts twenty eight
5:56
Speaker 2: to seven. Ben Roethlisberger and Antonio Brown had a hat
5:59
Speaker 2: trick of touchdowns the Killer Bees. We also had a
6:02
Speaker 2: touchdown from the other Killer Bee, Leveon Bells, So that
6:05
Speaker 2: just kind of shows you how long ago it was
6:07
Speaker 2: since they played it.
6:08
Speaker 1: Really.
6:08
Speaker 2: I mean, anytime the Steelers are playing in a kind
6:11
Speaker 2: of prime time spot, it's it's fantastic. So we might
6:16
Speaker 2: we might get them back into the rotation in a
6:18
Speaker 2: couple of years hopefully. Like I always said, the more
6:23
Speaker 2: Steeters football that we get to watch, the better. But
6:25
Speaker 2: I am really looking forward. My entire evening is blocked
6:28
Speaker 2: out tomorrow for for football and on Black Friday on
6:30
Speaker 2: a Friday evening, So it's it's going to be fantastic.
6:35
Speaker 1: Yeah, as a football fan like yourself, to have the
6:38
Speaker 1: equivalent of first and Night football, the crew doing a
6:40
Speaker 1: game on Friday is really really cool as well. And yeah,
6:42
Speaker 1: hopefully it's some of those names are wrangling up there.
6:44
Speaker 1: It really really brings back to memories. Hopefully we get
6:47
Speaker 1: that chance. I'd love us to even go into like
6:49
Speaker 1: Dollars or something and play a game. It will be
6:51
Speaker 1: really really another day, well, probably one to touch on,
6:55
Speaker 1: and we have to touch on it. Steelers obviously lose
6:59
Speaker 1: the lead in the AFC nor last week. We know
7:00
Speaker 1: the Ravens are starting to bounce back, Jimmy, we know
7:03
Speaker 1: quote unquote Joe Joe Burrows coming back for the Bengals
7:05
Speaker 1: this week. There is no other way of looking at
7:07
Speaker 1: it than saying it was a disappointing result in Soldier
7:10
Speaker 1: Field last week. And while there are I think there's
7:12
Speaker 1: many things we can say. Actually, if you look at
7:15
Speaker 1: it from a neutral reviewpoint, the game was actually full
7:18
Speaker 1: of action. It wasn't the most perfect performance in the
7:22
Speaker 1: first half, but you're sitting had halftime going do you
7:24
Speaker 1: know what? You know this could be one of those
7:26
Speaker 1: grind wins. Get through and just get out and get
7:28
Speaker 1: the win. But we also know how good and frankly,
7:32
Speaker 1: I think I myself will say not just on this podcast,
7:35
Speaker 1: but just just publicly for Bears fans as well. You know,
7:38
Speaker 1: this Spars defense is definitely up there. That being said, Jimmy,
7:43
Speaker 1: it's disappointing to lose, like there's no point in going
7:45
Speaker 1: around that we obviously seen and at the time of
7:47
Speaker 1: recording last week when I was chatting on the podcast,
7:50
Speaker 1: we weren't aware it was going to happen to Aran Rodgers.
7:52
Speaker 1: Turns out miss Rudoff comes in. The team definitely struggled
7:56
Speaker 1: more in the second half, and you know, when you
7:58
Speaker 1: don't score any points in the third, or when you're
8:00
Speaker 1: giving the ball up, when you're letting the Bears get
8:02
Speaker 1: back in the field again, it's not going to be
8:04
Speaker 1: easy and you are going to shoot yourself on the fund.
8:06
Speaker 1: What do you take away from last week if you
8:07
Speaker 1: had someone that because it's one of those ones where
8:09
Speaker 1: we hope that this is the last defeat for a while.
8:12
Speaker 1: And frankly, Jimmy, like this is not being negative at all.
8:15
Speaker 1: It has to be like that was a really important
8:18
Speaker 1: win two weeks ago after the time we were in
8:19
Speaker 1: Madrid at home and acreture they need to get back
8:23
Speaker 1: on at night this week.
8:26
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean I was cautiously optimistic Michael about going
8:28
Speaker 2: into this game that we would build a little bit
8:31
Speaker 2: of a win street back up. Obviously, we had a
8:33
Speaker 2: great game against the Bengals there last Sunday evening while
8:36
Speaker 2: we were in Madrid. I was watching that came on
8:38
Speaker 2: game pass after the excitement of the burnabout. Obviously, you know,
8:43
Speaker 2: you lose your starting quarterback to an injury, you're always
8:46
Speaker 2: going to have struggles on offense and crowds. To Mason Rudolph,
8:49
Speaker 2: I think you did a commendable job coming in. Obviously,
8:52
Speaker 2: he has some great experience as a starter there in Pittsburgh,
8:55
Speaker 2: a winning record as a starter in Pittsburgh. But I
8:58
Speaker 2: think it was it was more so the defense that
9:01
Speaker 2: led us down a little bit. I mean, you know,
9:03
Speaker 2: we had that really big splash play in the first
9:05
Speaker 2: quarter whereas t J. Watt stripsacked to get Kay gives
9:09
Speaker 2: in the end zone, Nick Herbert gets the fumble recovery.
9:11
Speaker 2: I jumped out of my seat, scared the crap out
9:13
Speaker 2: of my girlfriend, screaming the house down. But that that
9:16
Speaker 2: was the only sack we had on that in that game.
9:18
Speaker 2: We never got near Caleb Williams again. So that's going
9:21
Speaker 2: to be a cruise that and that was a crucial
9:23
Speaker 2: factor that we were We weren't able to really get
9:26
Speaker 2: any sort of pressure on Kayley Williams apart from that,
9:28
Speaker 2: and then through the air as well, we really struggled
9:32
Speaker 2: struggle to cover some of the the the the receiving
9:35
Speaker 2: weapons that Kayleb Williams had has has it as at
9:38
Speaker 2: his disposal. Obviously, Coulson Loveland had a great game and
9:41
Speaker 2: a touchdown where he went one on one with Kyle
9:43
Speaker 2: dug or On scored on a little kind of tight
9:45
Speaker 2: end angle route and Dj Moore had a couple of
9:50
Speaker 2: scores as well. We didn't really contain them on the ground,
9:53
Speaker 2: so I mean, defensively, it was disappointing. I mean, anytime
9:56
Speaker 2: you put up thirty one point let you let thirty
9:58
Speaker 2: one points we scored on you, it's always going to
10:01
Speaker 2: be a struggle to win. And and in fairness, it
10:03
Speaker 2: came down to the to the very last kind of
10:06
Speaker 2: play of the game. The Steelers, you know that they
10:09
Speaker 2: held that they forced two three and outs, and the
10:11
Speaker 2: Bears they're late in the fourth quarter, we get the
10:13
Speaker 2: ball back. Unfortunately we had no timeouts, so we were
10:16
Speaker 2: driving down the field and then you're almost within the
10:19
Speaker 2: range of Chris Boswell. But windy's a windy kind of
10:24
Speaker 2: day in Soldier Field, you're never really going to attempt
10:27
Speaker 2: that sort of long field goal, so you can understand
10:30
Speaker 2: what they went for there and fourth down to try
10:31
Speaker 2: and get the try and get the first down and
10:33
Speaker 2: give give that, get the ball out of bounds as
10:36
Speaker 2: well to bring the kicking ball in. So look, yeah,
10:40
Speaker 2: it is disappointing, especially disappointing that the way that it
10:43
Speaker 2: ended on that broken up Mason Rudolph pass when we
10:45
Speaker 2: were driving down to try and force overtime. So with
10:48
Speaker 2: the Bills coming into into Pittsburgh now and Sunday a
10:52
Speaker 2: half nine Irish time, it's two teams, you know, squaring
10:56
Speaker 2: off have who have struggled, two teams that badly need
10:59
Speaker 2: a win. So it is to be very interesting to
11:01
Speaker 2: see what happens.
11:02
Speaker 1: Yeah, let's look ahead of that in a wee second,
11:04
Speaker 1: Jimmy and sort of go into that there. I guess
11:06
Speaker 1: the one thing I will say is it's one thing
11:07
Speaker 1: looking at the numbers when you have just on the
11:10
Speaker 1: ground one hundred and one hundred and sixty odd rushing yards,
11:13
Speaker 1: But when Galen's getting eighteen carries, there needs to be
11:17
Speaker 1: a little bit more production there. I do agree. I
11:19
Speaker 1: think missing Rudolph done a really commendable job under center,
11:22
Speaker 1: especially in the timing of it. I think it was
11:24
Speaker 1: coach Tomlin talking to CBS about an r before confirming
11:27
Speaker 1: Aron Rodgers was not going to start, and just need
11:29
Speaker 1: to say a bit more production really on just on
11:31
Speaker 1: that wide out. I mean the highest the highest yardage
11:34
Speaker 1: was Calvin Austin under forty yards, so a bit more
11:37
Speaker 1: needed and just going to that next level, but still
11:39
Speaker 1: being able to put twenty eight points up the defense.
11:42
Speaker 1: I think we know that the defense is going to
11:44
Speaker 1: be really rolling from that and just trying to trying
11:47
Speaker 1: to do better. And I think, look, we will talk
11:50
Speaker 1: about in the second they need to do better. They're
11:51
Speaker 1: going up against the phenom here in the Buffalo Bills. Well,
11:54
Speaker 1: on this Thanksgiving weekend, we're not just going to look
11:56
Speaker 1: ahead of the game. We're going to hear from two
11:58
Speaker 1: very very important people on this podcast, and hear from
12:00
Speaker 1: head coach Mike Tumlin, and now we're going to hear
12:02
Speaker 1: from Steeters quarterback Aran Rodgers, who spoke to media earlier
12:06
Speaker 1: on Weapons Day.
12:07
Speaker 3: As I mentioned, after the game, certainly a tough game
12:11
Speaker 3: and close game, and oftentimes when it's good on good Man,
12:15
Speaker 3: it comes down to a handful of potential plays. But
12:18
Speaker 3: how do you identify those plays as the singular significant ones? Really,
12:23
Speaker 3: from a leader's perspective, you don't. You put a bunch
12:26
Speaker 3: of irons in the fire. You understand that any of
12:28
Speaker 3: those plays in any of those areas can be the
12:31
Speaker 3: significant difference. And I thought there were some specific areas
12:34
Speaker 3: in all three phases of the game that contributed us
12:37
Speaker 3: to not winning the game on special teams. As I
12:41
Speaker 3: mentioned after the game, I got to give a lot
12:44
Speaker 3: of credit to their kicker in the kickoff game. He
12:48
Speaker 3: delivered some challenging dirty balls in the kickoff game, balls
12:51
Speaker 3: that land just barely inside the landing zone and bounce
12:55
Speaker 3: around that are difficult to feel in advance. That's the
12:59
Speaker 3: new time and the new dynamic kickoff, and so soon
13:02
Speaker 3: as that ball hits the ground, people can start covering.
13:05
Speaker 3: I thought it, you know, certainly challenged us from a
13:07
Speaker 3: field positioning standpoint. I think his first three were really
13:10
Speaker 3: really successful in that space. And I thought in the
13:14
Speaker 3: latter part of the game, Man, we needed better timely punting,
13:18
Speaker 3: particularly in the waning moments of the game. I think
13:21
Speaker 3: our last punt was thirty three yards and certainly been
13:24
Speaker 3: pleased with Corlis's body of work over the greater portion
13:29
Speaker 3: of the season, but we needed a little bit more
13:32
Speaker 3: last Sunday, and so I'm excited about him bouncing back
13:35
Speaker 3: from that. As we lead in on this week's opportunity
13:38
Speaker 3: on offense, we talked about a couple of specific things.
13:42
Speaker 3: They were number two in the league and third downs,
13:45
Speaker 3: and so we talked about we had to be in
13:47
Speaker 3: very manageable third downs. I thought we were successful in
13:49
Speaker 3: doing so. From an injury standpoint, Man, we got a
13:52
Speaker 3: couple of things to talk about. Roderick Jones has a
13:55
Speaker 3: neck injury. He'll be classified as out this week. I'll
13:59
Speaker 3: have more information for you the next time we get together,
14:02
Speaker 3: but certainly he'll be classified as out this week. Same
14:05
Speaker 3: thing goes for Derek Harmon. He sustained the knee injury
14:08
Speaker 3: in play, was able to finish the game, but he'll
14:12
Speaker 3: be characterized as out this week. Optimistic about a couple returns.
14:17
Speaker 3: Aaron obviously man worked his tail off to get to
14:20
Speaker 3: us last week, but as I mentioned over the course
14:23
Speaker 3: of the weekend, it was the prudent and appropriate decision.
14:27
Speaker 3: We'll start this week with great optimism, although we certainly
14:31
Speaker 3: will limit him at the early portions of the week
14:33
Speaker 3: provide opportunities. Man really excited about this AFC matchup and
14:38
Speaker 3: at Akashure Stadium. You know, it starts upfront for them.
14:41
Speaker 3: They've they've always been a four down group and they've
14:44
Speaker 3: always allocated a lot of resources there. It seems every
14:47
Speaker 3: year they're acquiring some really established rusher to round out
14:52
Speaker 3: their depth in that space. It's been you know, Leonard
14:55
Speaker 3: Floyd over the years, has been von Miller. This year
14:58
Speaker 3: obviously is Bosa, and they certainly already have enough talent
15:03
Speaker 3: in that space. But I think it just speaks to
15:05
Speaker 3: their commitment to fortifying their talent and depth up front.
15:08
Speaker 3: They play behind their rush those guys havoc they do.
15:14
Speaker 3: They're challenging in the C and D gap area in
15:16
Speaker 3: the run game because oftentimes those guys are a lot
15:19
Speaker 3: bigger than the tight ends and so forth that they're
15:21
Speaker 3: generally playing that space. That's one of the reasons why
15:24
Speaker 3: we deploy some of the schematics that we deploy out
15:27
Speaker 3: in that C and D gap area with Darnelle Washington
15:30
Speaker 3: and Spencer Anderson for example, because guys like Russo are
15:35
Speaker 3: just you know, oftentimes too big and long to block
15:39
Speaker 3: it in the running game for quote unquote normal tight ends.
15:43
Speaker 3: And so, man, we got a lot to be excited about.
15:46
Speaker 3: We got a lot obviously from a challenge perspective. It's
15:48
Speaker 3: a big ball weekend. We show our respect to that
15:52
Speaker 3: with how we prepare. We're doing so right now as
15:54
Speaker 3: a staff and looking forward to continuing that with the
15:57
Speaker 3: players tomorrow as we lean in on prep.
16:02
Speaker 4: Do you anticipate a big difference between how you would
16:06
Speaker 4: have been able to go last week versus this week?
16:08
Speaker 5: Well, I wasn't able to go last week, so I'm
16:11
Speaker 5: hoping for a different outcome this week.
16:12
Speaker 4: What's the biggest different difference there that would make you
16:16
Speaker 4: able to go this week versus last week?
16:20
Speaker 5: Time, time, time for healing.
16:23
Speaker 2: At what point were you did you know you weren't
16:26
Speaker 2: be able to go and were you optimistic?
16:28
Speaker 5: Kind of heading at the subject, I'm not going to
16:32
Speaker 5: get into that. Yeah, I mean I was trying to
16:36
Speaker 5: see where I was at Thursday and Friday, and that's
16:39
Speaker 5: all I'm gonna say about that. So about this week
16:41
Speaker 5: as far relating to last week, Yeah, well, I've had
16:47
Speaker 5: more days for the callous to form and more healing,
16:53
Speaker 5: especially you know, Monday and Tuesday. Just when we am today,
16:57
Speaker 5: I did a little bit more tomorrow. I'll do a
16:59
Speaker 5: little bit more and see why I'm at come Friday.
17:01
Speaker 4: Is that you're understanding you have to have a doctor's
17:03
Speaker 4: clearance to play on Sundays.
17:06
Speaker 5: No, I've never had that understanding.
17:08
Speaker 4: What changes for you or does it change in terms
17:11
Speaker 4: of the prorections.
17:14
Speaker 5: I prepared to start last week, just like I'll prepare
17:16
Speaker 5: to start this week.
17:18
Speaker 2: How come everybody deal with the race or cast or
17:20
Speaker 2: whoever it is that you're wearing, or there are certain
17:22
Speaker 2: limitations you have with that device.
17:26
Speaker 5: With the cast you mean, Uh, there's limitations for sure,
17:30
Speaker 5: but that's for safety.
17:33
Speaker 4: Last week you talked about wanting to be able to
17:35
Speaker 4: teach snaps under center. Where are you kind of in
17:37
Speaker 4: that process. Do you feel more ready to do that
17:40
Speaker 4: this week?
17:40
Speaker 5: Not today? Not today, We'll see about later in the weeks.
17:46
Speaker 2: Pretty frustration all that you didn't get to go in
17:49
Speaker 2: that game.
17:50
Speaker 5: Yeah, for sure, I'm always wanting to play, and there's
17:54
Speaker 5: been very few times that an injury has been significant
17:57
Speaker 5: enough to keep me off the field, So that was
18:00
Speaker 5: definitely disappointing. But you also being in Chicago, that's what
18:05
Speaker 5: it is.
18:06
Speaker 4: You played with Roderick Hall season. You obviously can't go
18:09
Speaker 4: on Sunday. What's your comfort level with Calvin or Andrews.
18:12
Speaker 2: Which starting there.
18:14
Speaker 5: Yeah, a lot of a lot of comfort with those guys.
18:16
Speaker 5: I mean, obviously, Broads has played really well for us,
18:20
Speaker 5: uh Ap has played a lot of football for us.
18:23
Speaker 5: You know, a lot of confidence in cal coming in.
18:26
Speaker 5: Uh He's been a great swing for us and he
18:29
Speaker 5: practice with us all the time during the week, So
18:32
Speaker 5: we have a lot of confidence about those guys.
18:39
Speaker 1: Good year from the guys and Jimmy, if it's coach Thomlan,
18:41
Speaker 1: if it's the players, it's you know, it's quite clear
18:43
Speaker 1: that the accountability is there and that these guys want
18:47
Speaker 1: to obviously improve and to try and work the seven
18:49
Speaker 1: and five in the season. Like this is now the
18:51
Speaker 1: final sort of period I guess in the season where
18:56
Speaker 1: different teams are going to come up. But I spoke
18:57
Speaker 1: at the start of the podcast about the Ravens coming back.
19:00
Speaker 1: They're really starting to impress their grinding that results. We
19:02
Speaker 1: know Joe Burrows, it could be a bit late for
19:04
Speaker 1: the Bengals. But at the same time, Steelers aren't that
19:07
Speaker 1: far off the Bengals in terms of the record. They
19:09
Speaker 1: drop a few more games, So it's very, very important
19:11
Speaker 1: to get these wins up. You know, we have a
19:14
Speaker 1: lot of optimism at the time of recording that we
19:16
Speaker 1: expect to see Aaron Rodgers under center on Sunday in accrossurer.
19:19
Speaker 1: As you've mentioned the games at home. You know that
19:21
Speaker 1: being said, we've seen on different occasions this year this
19:24
Speaker 1: Bill's defense can do a very very good job of
19:27
Speaker 1: stopping a quarterback getting the rhythm going. And if we
19:31
Speaker 1: look at even that game, I mean, I think of
19:32
Speaker 1: that game against was two weeks ago, the Bills played
19:35
Speaker 1: the Chiefs at home in Upstate New York and really
19:40
Speaker 1: found a way to shoot down Mahomes. And if Mahomes
19:42
Speaker 1: is finding the difficult you know that Rogers and the
19:44
Speaker 1: offense is going to find a difficult man in terms
19:46
Speaker 1: of getting points on the board.
19:48
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think it's absolutely essential that if Aaron Rodgers
19:51
Speaker 2: is physically able to go, that he plays in this
19:55
Speaker 2: game because I think the deep pass is what it
19:58
Speaker 2: was a big component of what was lacking last week
20:00
Speaker 2: against against the against the Bears. I mean, we saw
20:04
Speaker 2: Mason Rudolph. He did it. He was comfortable with the
20:08
Speaker 2: short intermediate kind of passing. He had reasonable success there,
20:12
Speaker 2: but when he took his deep shots, I think he
20:14
Speaker 2: only connected on one to five or one of six
20:16
Speaker 2: of his deep shots and that was to Defensekronic over
20:21
Speaker 2: the middle for for a nice catch, So, you know,
20:24
Speaker 2: and having the the ability in Aaron Rodgers, you know,
20:27
Speaker 2: his ability to the deep pass and getting some big
20:29
Speaker 2: chunk plays down the field stretches the field. But then
20:32
Speaker 2: it also gives you an extra element to your to
20:34
Speaker 2: your offense because while the run game did it, you know,
20:37
Speaker 2: did A, did A, got some good games on the ground,
20:40
Speaker 2: good gains on the ground, and kend of game. Will
20:41
Speaker 2: had a fantastic game as well, and he's really come
20:44
Speaker 2: into his own, as you know, a key contributor on
20:47
Speaker 2: the offense to the Steelers. Having that deep passing game
20:50
Speaker 2: you know, available to you and working well, it kind
20:53
Speaker 2: of keeps it keeps the defense off balance a little
20:56
Speaker 2: bit as well. So and then defensively, I mean, we
21:00
Speaker 2: all saw what the Texans did to the Bills last
21:03
Speaker 2: Thursday night, sacking sacking Josh Allen at eight times getting
21:08
Speaker 2: out really really crucial win twenty three to nineteen and
21:11
Speaker 2: potentially even putting themselves into playoff contention. So if the
21:15
Speaker 2: Steelers can replicate that sort of defensive performance, and we
21:21
Speaker 2: all know how how important Josh Allen is to this offense.
21:24
Speaker 2: The entire offense runs through him, and he is capable
21:27
Speaker 2: and has shown many many times how he can put
21:29
Speaker 2: the offense on his back and will the game, you know,
21:32
Speaker 2: make his make opponents defense ben to who's ben to
21:36
Speaker 2: his will, and single handedly win games. So it's going
21:39
Speaker 2: to be absolutely crucial that the defense does a much
21:41
Speaker 2: better job as shutting him down, shutting down the run,
21:45
Speaker 2: taking away his running lanes, and then when he does
21:47
Speaker 2: get loose and get passes off, stick to much higher coverage.
21:52
Speaker 2: I'm just trying to try and contain the offense as
21:54
Speaker 2: much as we can.
21:56
Speaker 1: You mentioned Josh Allen there. We know how good he is,
21:59
Speaker 1: We know that he probably for the rest of his
22:02
Speaker 1: time in the league, will be an MVP candidate every season.
22:04
Speaker 1: He can change games, he can turn games on his head,
22:07
Speaker 1: and frankly, the thing that's really impressed me this year
22:09
Speaker 1: is his rushing and his ability to score and also
22:12
Speaker 1: get the ball down the field on those third and
22:13
Speaker 1: long situations or situations where you think he can get
22:15
Speaker 1: a first down. That is going to be a key
22:17
Speaker 1: to really find the way to stop him. You've been
22:19
Speaker 1: there this year, You've been there last year, You've been
22:21
Speaker 1: there many times. Do you factor the crowd and Atrosher
22:25
Speaker 1: into this, because as disappointing as some of the last
22:27
Speaker 1: few weeks have been in in terms of close losses, Jimmy,
22:31
Speaker 1: this home crowd is really going to have to get
22:33
Speaker 1: in the back of the Buffalosian big time.
22:35
Speaker 5: Yeah.
22:35
Speaker 2: Absolutely, I mean and we saw that they We saw
22:38
Speaker 2: the effect of the crowd had when the when the
22:40
Speaker 2: Coats came to town a few weeks ago, Michael and
22:44
Speaker 2: I think there was there was one point during the
22:46
Speaker 2: game was their third and long and the crowd nowise
22:48
Speaker 2: actually forced the Coast to take a time out. Dane
22:50
Speaker 2: Jones had to go to the sideline because he couldn't
22:52
Speaker 2: hear to play Collins helmet. So we all know how
22:55
Speaker 2: loud Akrosher can get, how much that the fan it's
23:00
Speaker 2: gonna can affect the flow of the game and the
23:02
Speaker 2: the the opposing offenses. I think it's going to be
23:05
Speaker 2: crucial that they did the team no matter even if
23:08
Speaker 2: the team aren't playing, you know, aren't playing to their
23:10
Speaker 2: best ability. And there are kind of periods of lulls
23:14
Speaker 2: that that the the energy has to be high, the
23:16
Speaker 2: crowd have to be bought in, those unsers need to
23:18
Speaker 2: be angry, those towels need to be twirling, and we
23:21
Speaker 2: have to give our team every advantage that we that
23:24
Speaker 2: we can, because it doesn't really matter that the Bills
23:28
Speaker 2: have lost a couple of questionable games this year. Obviously
23:31
Speaker 2: they lost to the Dolphins earlier this season as well.
23:34
Speaker 2: It's so you can never count out Josh Allen and
23:37
Speaker 2: its ability to to to to get past tough tests.
23:40
Speaker 2: Is a tough tests and like the said, to put
23:42
Speaker 2: this offense on his back and will the team to win.
23:45
Speaker 2: So it's going to be very interesting to see what
23:47
Speaker 2: happens in Acroeshur Stadium the Sunday.
23:50
Speaker 1: It is. We were talking about it on just before
23:53
Speaker 1: we hit the button here to record this podcast this
23:55
Speaker 1: week in regards to what we think is going to
23:56
Speaker 1: go easily, do a little game pick at the end,
23:59
Speaker 1: and I don't believe we're in agreement, which is interesting
24:02
Speaker 1: in a funny mat because we can give different points
24:04
Speaker 1: of view here. I look at Jimmy some of these games,
24:08
Speaker 1: like yes, Steels los against the Packers, they still put
24:11
Speaker 1: twenty five on the board. Yes, the Steelers beat the Colts.
24:14
Speaker 1: They put twenty seven on the board against the team. Frankly,
24:17
Speaker 1: and the Colts didn't have a great day, And I
24:18
Speaker 1: do believe the crowd had a factor of playing that game.
24:21
Speaker 1: We know they could take up thirty four points up
24:22
Speaker 1: against the Bengals team which has struggled this year in
24:24
Speaker 1: certain games, especially when you have having go Joe Burrow
24:26
Speaker 1: there and there's a lot of flucks on both sides
24:28
Speaker 1: of the ball. There a lot of things going on.
24:31
Speaker 1: I think, first off, I think the Steelers win this
24:33
Speaker 1: game if Aaron Rodgers is playing. But what I would
24:35
Speaker 1: say is if that is the case, you're looking at
24:38
Speaker 1: like almost going into Rowhead, you need to put up
24:40
Speaker 1: thirty thirty five points on the board. You need to
24:42
Speaker 1: find a way on both the run game and getting
24:44
Speaker 1: the ball down the guys like Pat Farron with getting
24:46
Speaker 1: the ball guys at Calvin Austin, DK. You need to
24:49
Speaker 1: find a way to start this game strong of up
24:50
Speaker 1: to fourteen to seventeen points in the first half and
24:53
Speaker 1: pull away from that there because we know one thing
24:55
Speaker 1: what's going to happen is that Bills are going to
24:58
Speaker 1: come in. As you've mentioned there correctly. With the Texans,
25:00
Speaker 1: they are going to be reeling from that prime time defeat.
25:03
Speaker 1: They've had a few more days off as well. I
25:05
Speaker 1: just hope that the time off, the conservative approach with
25:08
Speaker 1: Aaron Rodgers pays off. And I mean, it's not good
25:12
Speaker 1: for the Hearts, but I will take a thirty five
25:15
Speaker 1: to thirty two win. Probably know my look in overtime
25:18
Speaker 1: Jimmy for the Steelers, but definitely it's hard to believe
25:22
Speaker 1: after this game. Five regular seasons games left, and especially
25:25
Speaker 1: when you look at that last game of the year,
25:27
Speaker 1: the Ravens coming up twice, the Lions as well. This
25:32
Speaker 1: it's easy to say as the must win game. This
25:34
Speaker 1: is a must win game, so give me a win.
25:36
Speaker 1: I feel like you're less confident, and that's fine as well.
25:39
Speaker 1: It's been a hard few weeks.
25:42
Speaker 2: Every game with this point, Michael, is a must win game.
25:44
Speaker 2: If we want to get to the playoffs and actually
25:46
Speaker 2: win a game. We can't have the standard anymore being
25:51
Speaker 2: you know, skidding in the last spot into the playoffs
25:54
Speaker 2: and going one and down in the World Card Round.
25:56
Speaker 2: I'm over those days. I think the entirety of Steeter
25:59
Speaker 2: Nation is over those days. And somewhat, you know, the
26:01
Speaker 2: mediocre to give this team when it comes to playoffs
26:03
Speaker 2: in recent years. The Steelers have only exceeded thirty points
26:07
Speaker 2: twice this season so far, in against the Jets and
26:10
Speaker 2: the opening week and against the Bengals last weekend in
26:13
Speaker 2: pay Court Stadium. That has to change this weekend. Aaron
26:17
Speaker 2: Rodgers needs to come out absolutely swinging. His play has
26:19
Speaker 2: kind of dropped off in previous weeks to a certain extent.
26:23
Speaker 2: He needs he needs to get DK. DK needs to
26:25
Speaker 2: find a way to get cast those double teams and
26:27
Speaker 2: stretch the field. I want to see Roman Wilson more involved.
26:30
Speaker 2: He's had some flashes this year as a potential wide
26:33
Speaker 2: receiver two moving forward to kind of true number two
26:36
Speaker 2: wide receiver. And you know, it's just, honestly, I said
26:43
Speaker 2: it before we hit the button here as well, I
26:45
Speaker 2: am not overly confident about this game, just because the
26:47
Speaker 2: way things have kind of, you know, we have. We
26:49
Speaker 2: had a great start of the season. Things were up
26:50
Speaker 2: and down with a fantastic win against the Colts there
26:53
Speaker 2: a few weeks ago, so then we thought off against
26:57
Speaker 2: the Charges a week later on our offense when he
26:59
Speaker 2: scored ten. So look, I'm not overly confident. I do
27:03
Speaker 2: think this is gonna be a loss. I think this
27:05
Speaker 2: is the first time that I've ever predicted a loss
27:07
Speaker 2: in this podcast. That breaks my heart to do it,
27:09
Speaker 2: but I just I just do not see the offensive
27:12
Speaker 2: defense performing at a high enough level. Because the Bills
27:15
Speaker 2: are gonna come absolutely charging into this game. They're very
27:18
Speaker 2: conscious of what the Patriots are doing in the AFC East.
27:21
Speaker 2: They want to get into the again. We both want
27:23
Speaker 2: to get into the playoffs. I do think we will
27:26
Speaker 2: exceed I do think we will exceed thirty points. But
27:30
Speaker 2: I do think it's gonna be Steelers scoring thirty two
27:33
Speaker 2: points and the Bills scoring thirty five points. And I
27:36
Speaker 2: think we're gonna lose in absolutely agonizing fashion on a
27:39
Speaker 2: last myth, because there seems to be a lot of
27:43
Speaker 2: that going around this season, dramatic finishes, dramatic wins, more so,
27:47
Speaker 2: I think than previous seasons, and I do think the Steelers, unfortunately,
27:50
Speaker 2: will be on the receiving end of such a loss
27:53
Speaker 2: this weekend, as much as it kills him to say it,
27:55
Speaker 2: but I have to be a bit realistic for a
27:58
Speaker 2: change as well.
28:01
Speaker 1: You know, obviously borring and tie all of us is right,
28:04
Speaker 1: so we will take it. And we've got we've got
28:06
Speaker 1: the exact same.
28:08
Speaker 2: I really hope you're right.
28:09
Speaker 6: Well, you know, if you're watching this game, we finish
28:12
Speaker 6: it at half past twelve and on on Monday morning
28:15
Speaker 6: NEPs and coming down to a last second field, and look,
28:18
Speaker 6: if we win, and I should I shout the house
28:20
Speaker 6: then and I get I get in trouble, so be
28:22
Speaker 6: it would it would be worth it.
28:23
Speaker 2: But it's it's just gonna be. It's gonna be so
28:27
Speaker 2: so close.
28:28
Speaker 1: And like if if it is a situation where and
28:30
Speaker 1: look hopefully it's not a loss, but if if if
28:33
Speaker 1: it was a loss, you know, you look at that
28:35
Speaker 1: last five games, that that that last stretch of five
28:38
Speaker 1: games where in some situations, it's like I'm looking at
28:42
Speaker 1: that game against Detroit, for example, in Detroit, they are
28:45
Speaker 1: going to have to go and upset teams or not
28:47
Speaker 1: upset teams, but they're gonna have to go in somewhere
28:49
Speaker 1: where usually you would expect the home team to have
28:51
Speaker 1: a way upper hand and do it. They're gonna have
28:53
Speaker 1: to do it anyway, but it certainly makes it a
28:54
Speaker 1: lot a lot harder if you don't win this game.
28:57
Speaker 1: Just for fans before we go, it'll be interesting to seeing. Again,
29:00
Speaker 1: this is just my own opinion, it's not the team's opinion.
29:02
Speaker 1: We will wait to see what happens when you get
29:03
Speaker 1: closer to the end of the season. The NFL itself
29:06
Speaker 1: my flex games out. I'm looking to that the Monday
29:08
Speaker 1: night football game. We know the Dolphins are struggling. It'll
29:10
Speaker 1: be interesting and see if that remains. You hope you
29:12
Speaker 1: hope that's well. You would hope it doesn't get flexed
29:16
Speaker 1: because it gives a team more time. But if it
29:18
Speaker 1: is flexed a bit more time to prepare for that
29:20
Speaker 1: Lion's game time will tell. Jimmy, I'm sure we'll get
29:22
Speaker 1: a chance to chat before that. But I hope everybody
29:24
Speaker 1: enjoys the game. This weekend game is in SkySports NFL
29:27
Speaker 1: off the Ball on the app as well if you're
29:28
Speaker 1: around Ireland, and if you're in Northern Ireland, the game
29:31
Speaker 1: is for free. It's free on freeview. The Bills against
29:34
Speaker 1: the Staders this weekend, so no excuses this weekend, especially
29:37
Speaker 1: if you're up there Rooney Territory in nearing Jimmy. Appreciate
29:40
Speaker 1: your time, sir, and I will chat to you soon.
29:41
Speaker 1: Thank you very much for coming up