Latest / The Steelers Report / HR 1: Steelers 30, Bengals 27 Week 3 Game Recap

Transcript

HR 1: Steelers 30, Bengals 27 Week 3 Game Recap · The Steelers Report

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Burrow gets the snap.
• 0:06
  Speaker 2: Play action pass.
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: Rolling back.
• 0:08
  Speaker 2: Some pressure coming.
• 0:09
  Speaker 3: Derek Harmon gets it. Tracks it down.
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: Ball is loose. A foul for it along the ground.
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: Who's got it?
• 0:15
  Speaker 3: Does Sebastian Joseph Day have it? The Steelers think they
• 0:20
  Speaker 3: have it. The crowd certainly thinks they have it. Waiting
• 0:23
  Speaker 3: for the official signal. And it is Pittsburgh Steelers football.
• 0:28
  Speaker 3: What a play by Derek Harmon.
• 0:32
  Speaker 4: This is the Steelers report with Brian Bacco and Ed
• 0:36
  Speaker 4: Truth on Steelers Nation Radio.
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: A part of the Steelers Audio Network. What a finish.
• 0:45
  Speaker 5: The Steelers and Bengals went toe-to-toe for 60 minutes.
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: And when it came down to the final possession, you
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: just heard it.
• 0:54
  Speaker 5: It was the Steelers' defense that made the play that mattered.
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: Aaron Rodgers threw for three touchdowns.
• 1:00
  Speaker 5: Jalen Warren exploded for 176 total offensive yards.
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: Chris Boswell, three field goals.
• 1:05
  Speaker 5: But, Brian, it was that final 44 seconds remaining that
• 1:09
  Speaker 5: Derek Harmon ripped the ball away from Joe Burrow. Sebastian
• 1:13
  Speaker 5: Joseph Day recovered. And the Steelers slammed the door shut
• 1:17
  Speaker 5: on the Bengals.
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: It's a walk-off game. Blouses. Well, I guess it wasn't
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: a walk off. They had to kneel it out. But
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: TJ Watt joked that it was felt like a 20
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: minute long celebration for Derek Harmon as he was hooting
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: and hollering his way off the field. But you earned it.
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: Big fella. A heck of a play to slam the
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: door shut of what was a very entertaining back and
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: forth affair. Steelers are still kings in the north until
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: proven otherwise. First AFC North game of the season for anybody.
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: The Steelers are the first one in the division to
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: with a W on their ledger for intra-division play, and
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: couldn't have started in a better way for them than
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: bringing the 2-0 previously unbeaten Bengals to town and sending
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: them out with their first L of the year, all
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: the while bouncing back from a miserable defeat up in
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: New England. There's still some resiliency, some resolve, some get-back
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: in this team, even with a new regime calling the shots, Ed.
• 2:18
  Speaker 5: Steelers win 30-27 against the Bengals, and as Double B
• 2:22
  Speaker 5: just alluded to, it's the first AFC North win. It's
• 2:25
  Speaker 5: also the AFC North first victory for head coach Mike McCarthy,
• 2:30
  Speaker 5: who I thought put together a very good game plan
• 2:33
  Speaker 5: coming into this game, Brian, coming out and really taking
• 2:37
  Speaker 5: a left-handed hook or right-handed hook, whatever boxing analogy you
• 2:40
  Speaker 5: want to leave. We were, what, just a minute and
• 2:43
  Speaker 5: a half into the game, and it was 7-0 Pittsburgh Steelers.
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: For sure. And that was a sight for sore eyes
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: after the way that it went out in Foxborough. Fast start,
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: broke that long streak, whatever it was, 60 some games
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: of not scoring more than seven points in the first quarter. Obviously,
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: it helps when you get the ball first. But that
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: was that was fantastic. And, you know, Roman Wilson beating
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: Jaden Davis off the line probably didn't make enough of
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: that matchup last week. I mean, Looked for some of
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: the weaker spots on the Bengals' defense, and Jaden Davis
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: is a veteran slot corner who probably can't run as
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: well as he used to and certainly couldn't keep up
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: with Roman Wilson on that play. But, yes, good play call,
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: good pass pro, good ball, good catch by Roman. It
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: was a little iffy in the moment. He kind of, like,
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: double caught it, slightest of bobbles or juggles, but he
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: looked it in and made that grab. Yeah, I mean,
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: that was an excellent one, and then dialing up the–
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: The touchdown pass to Ben Skoranek couldn't have been prettier.
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: They ran that concept more than once last year with
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: Arthur Smith as the OC. So Mike McCarthy knows what
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: works for this group and knew that Aaron Rodgers was
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: going to recognize it and had a feel for when
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: to run it. Rodgers praised him for that. And, you know,
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: Rodgers was asked about McCarthy taking so much blame after
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: the Patriots game, much of itself inflicted. as he stood
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: behind that podium at Gillette stadium. And Roger said, that's
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: just something you do sometimes when you're the leader of
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: a team and that Mike brings it every week. So
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: it wasn't a, we weren't prepared well enough problem. Looking back,
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: they were mighty prepared for this challenge against the Bengals.
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: And technically they're in first place in the AFC North.
• 4:32
  Speaker 2: That's right. How about that?
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: Fewest points scored, but also the fewest points allowed thus
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: far through three games.
• 4:37
  Speaker 2: We will take it.
• 4:38
  Speaker 5: The AFC North is a battle already just three weeks
• 4:41
  Speaker 5: into the season. Steelers 2-1. Bengals 2-1 now. Browns 2-1.
• 4:45
  Speaker 5: Ravens 2-1. They both went thrillers right at the end.
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I was watching some of that.
• 4:51
  Speaker 2: All three of these games, right? I mean, they all
• 4:52
  Speaker 2: came down to the wire.
• 4:54
  Speaker 5: Yeah.
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: You know, the Ravens getting that field goal from Tyler Loop.
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: Maybe the The voodoo's off for him after the way
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: that game ended last year in Week 18 at Akershire Stadium. But, yeah,
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: the Steelers keeping pace here. They don't fall into a
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: 1-2 hole or an 0-1 hole in the north. They
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: come out there swinging against the Bengals. Plenty of contributions
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: up and down the line. I mean, first of all,
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: you want to talk about Omar Khan and Andy Weidel
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: draft investments paying off. Maxi Honachor making his first NFL start.
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: You barely notice them in a good way, and when
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: you watch back on the film, which I'm kind of
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: doing as we speak here and will continue to do
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: throughout the next couple days, I thought he was impressive.
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: He held up and held his own. The moment wasn't
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: too big for him. Derek Harmon, the previous year's first-round pick,
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: made a stud type of play there to seal it.
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: Troy Faltanu played a lot better at left tackle the previous,
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: previous year's. First round pick. And oh, by the way,
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: every team needs some grinders and some dogs. The undrafted
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: or seventh round type of guys. Let's give it up
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: a little bit for Brock Hoffman at right guard. Ben
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: Skoranek and then Jalen Warren, the ultimate chip on the
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: shoulder guy. Just a bowling ball out there. Couldn't be
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: tackled by one man. That was one of the best
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: running back performances I've seen live in some time. And
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: I don't know about you.
• 6:18
  Speaker 5: I had the binoculars on yesterday, and I was watching
• 6:22
  Speaker 5: up front with that offensive line, in.
• 6:23
  Speaker 2: Particular early on in the game, Brian, and here's what
• 6:26
  Speaker 2: I liked.
• 6:27
  Speaker 5: I liked the fact that Jalen Warren went left on
• 6:29
  Speaker 5: a lot of those plays, so that compliments Troy Fontano
• 6:32
  Speaker 5: that you just spoke to, Mason McCormick, and even Zach
• 6:35
  Speaker 5: Frazier for that matter, and then he would cut it
• 6:37
  Speaker 5: back to the right, and when he cut it back
• 6:38
  Speaker 5: to the right, who was picking up the block?
• 6:40
  Speaker 2: Brock Hoffman and also Max Iannichor.
• 6:42
  Speaker 5: It was a collective, all five up front, who had
• 6:44
  Speaker 5: struggled through the first two weeks, well, outside of Iannichor,
• 6:48
  Speaker 5: And Brock Hoffman on that right side. But they had
• 6:51
  Speaker 5: struggled to run the football the first couple of weeks.
• 6:53
  Speaker 2: You mentioned it. Huge game for Jalen Warren yesterday.
• 6:56
  Speaker 5: 176 total offensive yards. In the backfield, though, that was
• 7:01
  Speaker 5: probably the most impressive stat of the day. 17 carries
• 7:04
  Speaker 5: for 127 yards. an average of seven and a half
• 7:07
  Speaker 5: yards per carry longest run of 35, but he also
• 7:10
  Speaker 5: had the 85 plus yard run at the end that
• 7:13
  Speaker 5: if it wasn't for a holding call, he would have
• 7:15
  Speaker 5: been close to what? 160, 170 yards rushing on the day.
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: And it was from the start too. I mean, we
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: mentioned the Roman Wilson touchdown catch, but I mean, you
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: think even back before that, that drive begins with the,
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: check down to Jalen Warren and let him do his thing.
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: Pat Friermuth had a huge block on that play. So,
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: I mean, everybody was just fired up for that game. And,
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: you know, give Mike McCarthy and the coaching staff credit.
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: And the players. Let's not forget that it also takes
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: mental toughness from a player standpoint when you lose a
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: game like they did last week against the Patriots to
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: get right back on the horse and not dwell on it,
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: but make the corrections, turn the page, and move on.
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: And I'll tell you what, Ed, I mean, you had
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: the binoculars– in the press box as well that was
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: a chippy game yesterday I mean that was AFC North
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: it wasn't AFC North football in the sense of it
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: was 30 to 27 yeah there were a lot of
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: offensive fireworks which is cool but it was AFC North
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: football in terms of the bad blood boiling over at
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: times it was chippy in the trenches It was chippy
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: on the perimeter with receivers and cornerbacks and safeties getting
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: in on the act. It was fun to watch, but
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: I'm not going to lie. There were a few times
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: where I was like, all right, everybody keep your head.
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: I don't want this to devolve into a flag fest.
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: And to be fair, it didn't. I think it was
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: six ends up being six penalties on the Bengals, five
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: on the Steelers. I guess I kind of credit to
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: the refs for letting them play. You know, we always
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: crush the officials if they throw one of those kind
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: of soft taunting calls or whatever but not yesterday the
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: Bengals and the Steelers do not like each other they
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: were allowed to go on the field and not like
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: each other and it made for an enthralling game of
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: football from start to finish I.
• 8:55
  Speaker 2: Was watching the exchange during a timeout it might have
• 8:57
  Speaker 2: been a TV timeout in between possessions but it was
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: Brock Hoffman and Dexter Lawrence chirping back and forth at
• 9:03
  Speaker 2: each other across the line of scrimmage. Now, they were
• 9:05
  Speaker 2: both in their huddles, right? But they were both looking
• 9:07
  Speaker 2: at each other, and you could see clearly, and I
• 9:10
  Speaker 2: can't read lips, but they were very vocal going back
• 9:13
  Speaker 2: and forth. And Dex Lawrence, listen, he had a big game.
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: He had two sacks in the end, but it was
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: a quiet two sacks, I think.
• 9:20
  Speaker 4: Right.
• 9:20
  Speaker 5: It wasn't the splash play that Derek Harmon did at
• 9:24
  Speaker 5: the end of the game, right? It wasn't any type
• 9:26
  Speaker 5: of situation where Aaron Rodgers coughed the ball up and
• 9:28
  Speaker 5: it cost him the game.
• 9:30
  Speaker 2: Um it was not impactful.
• 9:32
  Speaker 5: They limited the impact of the play of Dex Lawrence
• 9:35
  Speaker 5: four tackles two sacks three tackle for losses two quarterback
• 9:38
  Speaker 5: hits on paper that looks great but as you just
• 9:40
  Speaker 5: said Brian I completely agree with you it didn't impact
• 9:43
  Speaker 5: the game for the overall score at the end of.
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: The day yeah I mean he had two third down
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: sacks in in field goal range so the Steelers still
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: got points off those plays they'd obviously rather finish those
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: drives and then he had a tackle for loss that
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: you know they got it right back a couple of
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: plays later with a, I think a 14 yard catch
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: by Roman Wilson. He's a great player. Don't get me wrong.
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: They'll see him again in the regular season. But it's
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: funny you mentioned that because I talked to Brock Hoffman
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: after the game, along with some other reporters, and this
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: didn't make it into Steelers.com, my Batco's quick six column,
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: but Hoffman had faced Lawrence a couple of times when
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: he was with the Cowboys and Dexter was with the
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: Giants and And Hoffman had seen last week the mic'd
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: up segment of Lawrence against the Texans in week two
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: and all the smack talk that he was throwing at
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: Houston rookie center Keelan Rutledge, calling him soft, telling him
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: he was going to own the game and it was
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: him all day. Hoffman said, yeah, we knew that that's
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: his game to play those mental warfare tricks. He's like,
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: but that's my game, too. And I like to talk
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: and I like to get chippy. And I said, what
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: about Zach Frazier? Was he talking a lot of junk
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: to Zach Frazier? And did Zach talk back? And Hoffman
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: just smiled and said, no, you'd think with the way
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: Zach plays that he would. But no, he doesn't engage
• 10:53
  Speaker 1: in that. Obviously, he let his play do the talking.
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: I thought Zach was fantastic. He was in what was
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: a very difficult task. I mean, it was fantastic. from
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: the start, from the jump, Dexter Lawrence, from me to
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: you right now, head up. I want to try to
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: take your lunch money, young buck. And I mean, I'm
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: sure Lawrence had his fair share of wins, but so
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: did Zach Frazier. I mean, no, no doubt about it.
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: He had some plays where he just stonewalled Lawrence and
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: kept him in neutral. And that was huge for a
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: clean pocket for Aaron Rogers.
• 11:20
  Speaker 5: He held his own double Bs. He held his own
• 11:22
  Speaker 5: and that's, that's all you want going in. And we
• 11:24
  Speaker 5: talked about last week on the show. Look, we were
• 11:27
  Speaker 5: talking Zach Frazier up before the start of the season.
• 11:30
  Speaker 5: to maybe that all-pro type of conversation. He was potentially
• 11:33
  Speaker 5: going to get there, and I still think he will.
• 11:35
  Speaker 5: Yesterday was that test. It was an early test in
• 11:37
  Speaker 5: the season against a guy like Dexter Lawrence to see
• 11:40
  Speaker 5: how far Zach Frazier has come and where he's projecting
• 11:43
  Speaker 5: to go, and I'm with you.
• 11:45
  Speaker 2: I think so far so good for Zach Frazier.
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: And yesterday showed that. We'll have a chance to ask
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: Mike McCarthy about him in a little bit here. Matt,
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: or excuse me, Wes Euler will be on the air
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: for it with Jerry Dulac, but I'll be in the
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: room I looked like from some of the images coming
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: out of the locker room that he may have gotten
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: a team game ball there did Frazier. So I'll be
• 12:07
  Speaker 1: curious to see what.
• 12:09
  Speaker 2: I saw that too.
• 12:10
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 12:10
  Speaker 2: Some of the photos from the team.
• 12:11
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: And I, and I wanted to get a question into
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: Aaron Rogers about Frazier too afterward, but those Rogers postgame
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: pressers are like white house state of the union or
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: no state of the unions where the president just gets
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: up there. They're like white house press briefings. I mean, it's,
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: 18 voices at a time trying to get him, and
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: he has to play maestro up there where he's like,
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: all right, you first, and then you. No, not you. No, you, you, you,
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: and then you. It's a strange sight to behold, but
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: it's life as being Aaron Rodgers, I guess, in the
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: NFL with this voracious Steelers beat.
• 12:44
  Speaker 5: The Steelers, 17 points on their first three offensive possessions yesterday,
• 12:49
  Speaker 5: double B. The four-play 73-yard drive that ate up just
• 12:53
  Speaker 5: a minute 50. to start the game that we spoke
• 12:55
  Speaker 5: to at the start of the show here today. The
• 12:57
  Speaker 5: second offensive drive was one of their longest of the day.
• 13:01
  Speaker 5: From a play standpoint, 11 plays, 86 yards, results in
• 13:05
  Speaker 5: the second Steeler touchdown.
• 13:07
  Speaker 2: Ate up four minutes and 58 seconds.
• 13:09
  Speaker 5: And then that last one, just three minutes and 11 seconds.
• 13:12
  Speaker 2: Off the play clock. Well, not the play clock, but
• 13:15
  Speaker 2: the overall clock.
• 13:17
  Speaker 5: Six plays, 55 yards, results in a field goal. 17 points,
• 13:20
  Speaker 5: first three possessions for a team that only had one
• 13:22
  Speaker 5: offensive touchdown coming in.
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: Excellent. Yeah. You know, it was all working for the
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: Steelers offense. There were some nits to pick for sure.
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: I mean, you look at the penalties that were deflating
• 13:33
  Speaker 1: at times, a drop or two. But otherwise, I mean,
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: and Aaron Rodgers had a couple errant throws. But overall,
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: I mean, no quarterback's going to be perfect. Joe Burrow
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: had some errant throws as well from the Cincinnati side.
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: But overall, I mean, I think that's what Mike McCarthy
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: has in mind. That's what it's supposed to look like.
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: Everybody made a big deal about him saying, He doesn't
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: want to just dink and dunk all day after the
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: Patriots loss. Well, there's a place for both in this
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: offense because you've got guys who can stretch the field
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: and DK Metcalf and Roman Wilson, but you've got guys who,
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: and you've got guys who can make tough catches in
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: the intermediate over the middle. Michael Pittman, Jr. Jeremy Bernard
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: has already shown that Pat Fryer move. That is his
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: bread and butter. But yesterday was another great reminder that
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: you've got some incredible yards after catch monsters on this team,
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: whether it's, Jalen Warren, Darnell Washington, DK Metcalf hasn't even
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: really had a chance yet in the open field or
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: in space to make people miss. I'm wearing my NFL
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: Dublin game hat right now because it was a year
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: ago today that the Steelers went out there, took over
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: in Ireland, turned the Emerald Isle from green to black
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: and gold, and DK Metcalf was a big part of
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: that victory. So you've got a lot of pieces to
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: work with on offense. Sunday's win against the Bengals was
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: a great reminder of that.
• 14:48
  Speaker 2: Look at you, planning out your outfit due to the
• 14:50
  Speaker 2: calendar and the anniversary.
• 14:52
  Speaker 1: I almost wore my draft hat because Maxi Honachor stepped
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: up in such a way, but maybe tomorrow.
• 14:58
  Speaker 2: Whenever we come back, we're going to get into— It
• 15:00
  Speaker 2: is a tough call. You've got to figure that out.
• 15:02
  Speaker 5: Brian Bacco always looking good after a win or a
• 15:05
  Speaker 5: loss when he comes into the studio after Steelers in
• 15:09
  Speaker 5: this past week. The Steelers, 30, Bengals, 27. Whenever we
• 15:12
  Speaker 5: come back, we're going to get into Bacco's quick six.
• 15:15
  Speaker 5: Steelers versus Bengals from yesterday. We'll also talk about the
• 15:17
  Speaker 5: turning point of the game. It all leads up to
• 15:20
  Speaker 5: the 3 o'clock Mike McCarthy press conference today from the Southside,
• 15:24
  Speaker 5: and we will have live coverage right here on SNR
• 15:26
  Speaker 5: with Wes Euler and Jerry Dulac.
• 15:29
  Speaker 2: I'm Troop.
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: He's back.
• 15:30
  Speaker 5: It's the Steelers Report on Steelers Nation Radio, part of
• 15:32
  Speaker 5: the Steelers Audio Network.
• 15:39
  Speaker 6: It starts up front, and our offense started up front today.
• 15:42
  Speaker 6: I mean, we had some things early that We felt
• 15:45
  Speaker 6: we were working for us, and then we got to
• 15:46
  Speaker 6: some things that were back burner type runs, and that
• 15:49
  Speaker 6: was really the communication of the offensive line and the coaches.
• 15:53
  Speaker 6: So I thought the coaches did a really good job.
• 15:56
  Speaker 6: And the quarterbacks, just the in-game communication was better. I mean,
• 16:01
  Speaker 6: I think it's a product of our third game together, too.
• 16:05
  Speaker 6: But we definitely took a step in the right direction there.
• 16:09
  Speaker 4: This is the Steelers Report with Brian Batko and Ed
• 16:13
  Speaker 4: Troup on Steelers Nation Radio, a part of the Steelers
• 16:16
  Speaker 4: Audio Network.
• 16:18
  Speaker 2: Mike McCarthy speaking after Steelers 30, Bengals 27, the big
• 16:24
  Speaker 2: week three victory. And Coach McCarthy will speak.
• 16:28
  Speaker 5: With Brian Bacco and the rest of the media here
• 16:30
  Speaker 5: shortly from the south side. 3 o'clock today, the Mike
• 16:33
  Speaker 5: McCarthy press conference with Wes Euler and Jerry Dulac right
• 16:37
  Speaker 5: here on SNR. But Brian, you heard Coach McCarthy speak
• 16:41
  Speaker 5: about it. We spoke about it last week. You had
• 16:43
  Speaker 5: to get better up front.
• 16:44
  Speaker 2: You had to control the game, and the Steelers did
• 16:46
  Speaker 2: that yesterday.
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: And the part of that answer from McCarthy after the
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: game yesterday that I really want to hit on is
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: what he said about the communication and that they got
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: to some back burner type of runs, which... I guess
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: it's kind of like stuff that you haven't drilled quite
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: as much. It's maybe a bit of an afterthought in
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: the playbook. And remember there was all that chatter last
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: week about too much volume, maybe bogged them down and
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: he wanted to make it simpler, but also be more creative. However,
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: if there was some back burner type stuff that the
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: offensive lineman told Mike McCarthy, Hey, we think this might
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: be able to work. We think we can block this
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: up well, or it's going to work against this guy
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: or that guy for whatever reason, because they have the
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: in helmet perspective. That sort of spikes the whole negative
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: Nancy theory from last week that Aaron Rodgers was too
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: critical of McCarthy with what he said about letting him
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: know what calls are working or whatever the answer was.
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: I mean, do you mean to tell me that maybe
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: the players and the coaches can talk sometimes about what's
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: going on on the field and what the guys in
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: the helmets are seeing versus what the guys with the
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: headsets are seeing and how they can mesh all that
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: together and make it work? Wow. I mean, what a concept,
• 17:58
  Speaker 1: what a thought. And Mike McCarthy seemed pretty proud of
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: it yesterday with that answer. So yeah, I mean, he
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: mentioned the, the in-game communication flowing from, I don't even
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: know you guys can talk about how it flows literally
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: physically from the press box to the sideline. And then
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: you've got your position coaches in there. You've got Brian
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: Angelico as a offensive coordinator coordinating and making sure everyone's
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: on the same page, but then yeah, the players are,
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: are part of that too. They're watching the surface tablets and,
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: You know, Aaron Rodgers, it's kind of funny. Like, I've
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: done enough of these postgame interviews now in seven-odd years
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: covering the NFL. Some players tell you, I need to
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: watch the film. It's usually the big fellas, the O-line.
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: They want to go back and look at their past
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: sets and their hand placement and all that before they
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: can really evaluate what went right or what went wrong.
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: But Rodgers, I mean, he says that sometimes, but... By
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: and large, after the game, I mean, he's given you
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: every little detail of who went where, who was covered,
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: who was on the backside, who was blocking and clearing
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: out space here. Because one, he's smart and he probably
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: has like a photographic memory to some extent. But two,
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: I mean, he's on the sideline watching it afterward and
• 19:03
  Speaker 1: he's processing it. And McCarthy's doing the same thing because
• 19:06
  Speaker 1: he's got to sequence his next play calls for the
• 19:08
  Speaker 1: upcoming drive. So there's a lot going on there when
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: you're a play calling head coach. But it works out
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: for a lot of head coaches and a lot of teams.
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: Mike McDonald does it. defensively for the Seahawks. They won
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: the Super Bowl. Sean McVay does it for the Rams,
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: Kyle Shanahan, so on and so forth. And, you know,
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: I thought yesterday flowed really, really well. And Mike McCarthy
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: was he was getting it done for sure. And who
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: cares where those ideas come from, whether they come from
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: the coaches or the players or both or his own brain.
• 19:37
  Speaker 5: If the result is 17 points on your first three
• 19:39
  Speaker 5: offensive possessions.
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: It's a winning cures all kind of discussion.
• 19:42
  Speaker 2: Who cares where it comes from? I'm with you on
• 19:43
  Speaker 2: that one. Great game plan by that staff coming in. And,
• 19:47
  Speaker 2: you know, Brian, I was up in the Bengals. radio
• 19:50
  Speaker 2: booth yesterday. Yes, I was helping.
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: Behind enemy lines. You were in the jungle.
• 19:53
  Speaker 5: I was in the jungle. I was helping those guys out.
• 19:55
  Speaker 5: Great crew, by the way. Can't say enough good things
• 19:58
  Speaker 5: about them yesterday. I was helping them out during the
• 20:00
  Speaker 5: broadcast yesterday. But they were talking about how surprised they
• 20:03
  Speaker 5: were with the game plan offensively that the Steelers came
• 20:06
  Speaker 5: out and especially running the football with Jalen Warren, the
• 20:09
  Speaker 5: way they did. And if they thought that I'm thinking
• 20:12
  Speaker 5: Zach Taylor and his staff on that sideline was probably
• 20:14
  Speaker 5: thinking that as well yesterday. I'm sure it trickled over
• 20:17
  Speaker 5: there that, wow, we got punched in the gut a
• 20:19
  Speaker 5: little bit here early on. We didn't see this the
• 20:21
  Speaker 5: first two weeks of the season. Steelers made adjustments. Maybe
• 20:24
  Speaker 5: it was Maxi on a chore. Maybe it was Brock Hoffman.
• 20:26
  Speaker 5: Maybe it was a game planning situation by Mike McCarthy
• 20:29
  Speaker 5: and that staff.
• 20:29
  Speaker 2: But again, the results were right there. They did an
• 20:32
  Speaker 2: excellent job early on in that football game and throughout.
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: And I think I said on the show last week,
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: even though, hey, I'm happy to be wrong that I
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: thought the Bengals might come in and win a close one,
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: but I said that I'm not totally buying that defense
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: just yet after two games. They had some promise. They
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: were leading the league in sacks, came in with eight,
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: left with only two more. So that was obviously off
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: of their average by half. And, I mean, I still
• 20:56
  Speaker 1: think you saw up the spine of that Bengals defense,
• 20:59
  Speaker 1: the inside linebacker play. the safety tackling leaves a lot
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: to be desired. And I'll say this much. I mean,
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: you know, going back, revisiting our chat with Ben baby
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: from ESPN.com last week, DJ Turner did a pretty solid
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: job on DK Metcalf. DK didn't go off, but the
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: wheels are turning. He's moving in the right direction. I think,
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: I mean, it was a, it was a low key
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: sort of three for 31 in a touchdown effort. And
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: Rogers didn't make too much of the touchdown. He was
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: asked about that and said, he, I like when guys
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: are wide open, he was wide open, but yes, it's
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: good to get DK in the end zone. And there
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: was that collision. Yeah. That pick rubber out, whatever you
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: want to call it, but it worked. Just the fact
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: of six is six.
• 21:40
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: Six is six. And for, for DK, I mean, just
• 21:43
  Speaker 1: getting him back on track a little bit, maybe that's
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: moving in the right direction going into a big Thursday
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: night game. against the Browns but yeah I mean Turner
• 21:52
  Speaker 1: did a solid job otherwise though I think they exploited
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: some of those other you know back seven players for
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: the Bengals and that was a that was a sight
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: to see Darnell Washington is majestic with the ball in
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: his hands and Jalen Warren I mean I don't really
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: understand how he does it it was kind of funny
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: after the game like he pointed out he's like Most
• 22:13
  Speaker 1: of the time you watch me breaking tackles, I'm not
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: like trying to juke people out. I'm not like spinning
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: or cutting or sidestepping or whatever. They just fall off
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: of them. And he was like, yeah, it's been like
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: that since I was eight years old playing football. People
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: just couldn't tackle me. They bounced off me. I'm like,
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: I wish I had that. That would be nice. Because
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: he and I are about the same height. Well, I
• 22:33
  Speaker 1: think he's a little quicker, faster, and stronger than me.
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: The Bengals sure had issues dealing with him. He said
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: he takes pride in never getting down. by the first guy,
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: and sometimes that means three more guys have to come
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: over and help tackle, and sometimes it means he's off
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: to the races because he makes that first defender miss,
• 22:53
  Speaker 1: and he's into broad daylight.
• 22:56
  Speaker 5: And, you know, Double B, if you look across the NFL,
• 22:59
  Speaker 5: there's only really a handful of playmakers. Now, when I
• 23:03
  Speaker 5: say playmakers, I'm talking running backs, wide receivers, tight ends
• 23:07
  Speaker 5: that have that ability just to be that bowling ball
• 23:09
  Speaker 5: type of player, that they're just going to bounce off
• 23:11
  Speaker 5: players And the Steelers have two of them, two, with
• 23:15
  Speaker 5: Jalen Warren and Darnell Washington. What a fortunate place to
• 23:19
  Speaker 5: be for that offensive staff to be able to game
• 23:21
  Speaker 5: plan each week and have the two of them included
• 23:24
  Speaker 5: in that game plan. And, you know, Darnell Washington, 6'7,
• 23:26
  Speaker 5: 300-some pounds.
• 23:28
  Speaker 2: And, of course, I'm just kind of guesstimating.
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: Oh, yeah, I think that's about right.
• 23:31
  Speaker 5: You know, and there's not many 6'7, 300-pounders out there
• 23:36
  Speaker 5: that have the athletic ability and agility and speed that
• 23:40
  Speaker 5: Darnell Washington has.
• 23:41
  Speaker 2: That's what makes him different.
• 23:42
  Speaker 5: Look, there are plenty of guys that play offensive line
• 23:45
  Speaker 5: and defensive line in the NFL that have that size,
• 23:47
  Speaker 5: but they don't have that athletic agility and that ability. Yes,
• 23:51
  Speaker 5: agility and ability, both combined, and the speed that goes
• 23:54
  Speaker 5: along with it that Darnell Washington has. And yesterday on
• 23:57
  Speaker 5: that big 47-yard, and Rob King here, I'll just go
• 24:00
  Speaker 5: ahead and play it for you here. Listen to him
• 24:02
  Speaker 5: describe the tiptoe of the play.
• 24:05
  Speaker 2: Rodgers play action pass, rolling out, throws to the right flat,
• 24:08
  Speaker 2: complete to Darnell Washington, steps out of a would-be tackle,
• 24:11
  Speaker 2: races down the right sideline, lumbering down, still on his feet, inside.
• 24:15
  Speaker 3: Bengals territory, all the way down to the 33-yard line,
• 24:21
  Speaker 3: tiptoeing the big man down the sideline.
• 24:24
  Speaker 2: That last part tiptoeing. I mean, what guy that big
• 24:27
  Speaker 2: has the ability to tiptoe?
• 24:29
  Speaker 1: I mean, and also just logistically, he probably wears like
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: a size 16 shoe or more. So easily tough to
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: get that cleat in between the, the, the green and
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: the white there so that you can stay in bounds.
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: But no, I mean, that was, that was a excellent
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: work by Darnell. And he's kind of like Jalen Warren
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: in that nothing overly sophisticated about it. Just catches the ball.
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: First guy who hits him, nope, that's not going to
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: take him down. Second guy comes in, nope. There was
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: a funny photo out there. I think I saw it
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: on social media of, like, he's running, and there's just, like,
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: a Bengals dude laying there. There's, like, two others just
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: kind of chasing after him, and he just leaves a
• 25:05
  Speaker 1: trail of destruction in his wake.
• 25:08
  Speaker 2: And one of the Bengal players after that play got hurt,
• 25:10
  Speaker 2: had to come out. Was it battle maybe?
• 25:11
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I think it was. Yeah, he got hurt.
• 25:13
  Speaker 2: He had to come off the field. And he wasn't
• 25:14
  Speaker 2: hurt permanently, but maybe the air not.
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: Collisions with Darnell Washington generally don't end well. Sometimes he
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: even takes the brunt of it because guys are launching
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: their helmet into him like a missile, and you can't
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: really blame him because your job is to get the
• 25:28
  Speaker 1: guy on the ground, and he's an aircraft carrier lumbering
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: around out there. But, yeah, and then when he's no
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: longer lumbering and he's moving swiftly– In space, I mean,
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: that's a scary sight.
• 25:39
  Speaker 2: Incredible Darnell Washington, game in, game out. When they get
• 25:42
  Speaker 2: him in the open field, look out.
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: Nine pass catchers with a reception yesterday, and Rodgers was
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: asked about that, what that says about the offense, and
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: he said, well, it says that nine times a guy
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: was running his route correctly, and the defense didn't cover him,
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: and he was open. So I threw it to him. Obviously,
• 26:00
  Speaker 1: he's overly exaggerating a little bit, but his point is,
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: doesn't matter if there's if they leave one guy open
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: on every play then he will throw to one guy
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: in that game if there's two or three or four
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: they'll be funneling the targets that way it's just the
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: flow of the offense is what it is he's taking
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: what the defense gives him and he's going to the
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: open man so yesterday that happened to be nine different
• 26:20
  Speaker 1: dudes depending on the play and it all added up
• 26:23
  Speaker 1: to a sweet sweet 30 point outburst.
• 26:25
  Speaker 2: They really spread the ball around did the Steelers uh
• 26:28
  Speaker 2: very well and they did that week one against Atlanta
• 26:30
  Speaker 2: too Brian I think they had seven different pass catchers.
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: Yeah hey It's good stuff for fantasy football purposes, but
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: it makes it good for, for watching football.
• 26:39
  Speaker 2: We're going to get to back.
• 26:40
  Speaker 5: It was quick six, whenever we come back from break,
• 26:42
  Speaker 5: but we have a few more minutes before we get
• 26:43
  Speaker 5: to that break, Brian. So I'm going to call an
• 26:45
  Speaker 5: audible here at the line of scrimmage. Let's do the
• 26:47
  Speaker 5: turning point of the game now. And it was a
• 26:50
  Speaker 5: Keyshawn Williams who muffed the cam Johnston's punt early in
• 26:54
  Speaker 5: the fourth quarter. Ben's chronic recovers for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
• 26:58
  Speaker 5: They were back in business at the 14 yard line last,
• 27:01
  Speaker 5: suddenly giving the Steelers a short field.
• 27:03
  Speaker 3: Former Pittsburgh Steeler Keyshawn Williams, the former Indiana Hoosier who
• 27:09
  Speaker 3: was on the team last.
• 27:11
  Speaker 5: Year, was put on the practice squad in December, and
• 27:30
  Speaker 5: the Bengals scooped him up towards the end of the
• 27:31
  Speaker 5: season quickly. He's been a playmaker for them since, but
• 27:35
  Speaker 5: yesterday on that play, not so good as the Pittsburgh
• 27:38
  Speaker 5: Steelers come up with a huge turnover, only resolved in
• 27:41
  Speaker 5: three points at that point. Brian, Chris Boswell, a 36-yard
• 27:47
  Speaker 5: field goal to tie at 27-27, but the Bengals had
• 27:49
  Speaker 5: forced the Steelers' offense off the field. They were getting
• 27:52
  Speaker 5: the ball back, and they were protecting the lead. All
• 27:54
  Speaker 5: of a sudden, 8.45 left, and it was tied.
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: Former Steeler Keyshawn Williams, who, yeah, I mean, he's there
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: to return punts for the Bengals. He's there to be
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: a return man, special teams. And I didn't get a
• 28:07
  Speaker 1: chance to chat with Cam Johnston or anything after the game.
• 28:10
  Speaker 1: I don't know that he tried to do anything different
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: with that kick or just it was a windy day
• 28:14
  Speaker 1: out there on the North Shore. And it was Williams
• 28:17
  Speaker 1: may have just taken his eyes off of it. And because, like,
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: I mean, even watching it back at, you know, Brandon Echols,
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: I think, was was doubled by the jammers there on
• 28:25
  Speaker 1: the outside. And he's fantastic. he's really good at getting
• 28:27
  Speaker 1: down there, but he wasn't really in his face. I mean,
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: that was just lack of concentration there and Steelers took advantage.
• 28:33
  Speaker 1: And I also think, I mean, you talk about wanting
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: to win a divisional game, two balls on the ground
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: there in pivotal moments and the Steelers find a way to,
• 28:43
  Speaker 1: to get on both of them. You know, it, it
• 28:45
  Speaker 1: sort of happened last week in new England, albeit 33
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: yards later after that sack, the Troy Faltano went down
• 28:52
  Speaker 1: to the ground to get one, but, You've got to
• 28:54
  Speaker 1: make those plays to pull out games like this, especially
• 28:57
  Speaker 1: when it's a three-point win and can't undersell that whatsoever.
• 29:01
  Speaker 5: And it was big because the Bengals had just taken
• 29:04
  Speaker 5: a 27-24 lead before the Steelers were forced to punt
• 29:07
  Speaker 5: the football away. So they had momentum back on their side.
• 29:10
  Speaker 5: And then the Steelers, well, they came back as well
• 29:13
  Speaker 5: on that big run by Jalen Warren on their next
• 29:16
  Speaker 5: offensive series. It got wiped out because of a hold,
• 29:19
  Speaker 5: but the Steelers didn't fold in that situation.
• 29:21
  Speaker 2: Rodgers hit DK for 14.
• 29:22
  Speaker 5: Darnell Washington, as we just heard earlier in this segment,
• 29:25
  Speaker 5: the big 47-yard reception. Warren, 26 more yards down to
• 29:29
  Speaker 5: the Bengals' 6. Boswell hits the 33-yard field goal to
• 29:33
  Speaker 5: go ahead, 30-27 with just 2.15 left. And, of course,
• 29:37
  Speaker 5: we know how it finishes the game out with Derrick
• 29:40
  Speaker 5: Harmon and Sebastian Joseph Day with the big fumble recovery
• 29:43
  Speaker 5: but again just to go back to that turning point
• 29:46
  Speaker 5: Brian who knows there's eight minutes left Cincinnati has been
• 29:49
  Speaker 5: known to have a lot of time of possession in
• 29:51
  Speaker 5: their favor throughout their first two weeks of the season
• 29:54
  Speaker 5: but they potentially have ran out the clock that's a
• 29:55
  Speaker 5: lot of clock to run out but who knows they
• 29:57
  Speaker 5: go down score another touchdown and this game's over For sure.
• 30:01
  Speaker 1: It is kind of funny. I mean, we're going to
• 30:02
  Speaker 1: talk so much about, you know, the offense and defense
• 30:05
  Speaker 1: this week. And obviously we'll do the same through the
• 30:08
  Speaker 1: prism of the Browns and playing that game up in Cleveland.
• 30:10
  Speaker 1: But it was two punts that ended up being huge
• 30:15
  Speaker 1: for the Steelers. One with the penalty that preserved that
• 30:18
  Speaker 1: drive for them. And they came back and made good
• 30:20
  Speaker 1: use of it. And then the other one, yeah, where
• 30:22
  Speaker 1: it's just kind of a mistake by the other team. And,
• 30:25
  Speaker 1: you know, it happens to your team sometimes and the other,
• 30:28
  Speaker 1: you know, No one feels bad for you, so it
• 30:31
  Speaker 1: is what it is. The Steelers, they turned that into points,
• 30:35
  Speaker 1: which is huge, and they needed every bit of it yesterday. Because, hey,
• 30:39
  Speaker 1: I don't know about you, but I felt like going
• 30:41
  Speaker 1: into halftime, momentum was squarely on Cincy's side. Oh, no doubt.
• 30:46
  Speaker 1: After the interception. Yeah, and credit the Steelers for standing tall.
• 30:50
  Speaker 2: Yeah, we're alluding to the Aaron Rodgers. Well, it wasn't
• 30:53
  Speaker 2: on him.
• 30:53
  Speaker 5: It was more on Roman Wilson, who should have come
• 30:56
  Speaker 5: down with the ball, went off his fingertips. Since he
• 30:58
  Speaker 5: intercepts it, they go down, they score, they tie the
• 31:01
  Speaker 5: game 17-17 before halftime. Absolutely, the Bengals had all momentum
• 31:06
  Speaker 5: going into the halftime locker room. Whenever we come back,
• 31:09
  Speaker 5: it's Backo's quick six from the Steelers-Bengals game. It's all
• 31:12
  Speaker 5: leading up today to 3 o'clock, the Mike McCarthy press
• 31:15
  Speaker 5: conference on the South Side. We will have live coverage
• 31:18
  Speaker 5: right here on SNR with Wes Euler and Jerry Dulac.
• 31:22
  Speaker 2: You got ET and BB. Until then, here on.
• 31:24
  Speaker 5: The Steelers Report on Steelers Nation Radio, part of the
• 31:27
  Speaker 5: Steelers Audio Network.
• 31:38
  Speaker 4: This is the Steelers Report with Brian Batko and Ed
• 31:42
  Speaker 4: Truth on Steelers Nation Radio, a part of the Steelers
• 31:46
  Speaker 4: Audio Network.
• 31:48
  Speaker 2: We will celebrate Steelers 30, Bengals 27 for one more
• 31:56
  Speaker 2: segment here, Double B.
• 31:57
  Speaker 5: But quickly, we will turn our attention this week to
• 32:00
  Speaker 5: the Cleveland Browns because in just a few days, the
• 32:03
  Speaker 5: Steelers will head to Lake Erie, Mistake by the Lake.
• 32:07
  Speaker 2: Do they still call it that?
• 32:09
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I guess some people do.
• 32:11
  Speaker 2: At least in Pittsburgh.
• 32:12
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I was going to say.
• 32:13
  Speaker 2: Probably not in Cleveland.
• 32:13
  Speaker 1: Clevelanders probably would rather not.
• 32:17
  Speaker 2: Steelers.
• 32:19
  Speaker 1: There's been mistakes, by the way, in recent years for
• 32:21
  Speaker 1: the Steelers. There's no doubt about that. They're sugarcoating that one.
• 32:25
  Speaker 2: Steelers and the Browns. Thursday night football. Yep, just in
• 32:29
  Speaker 2: a few days.
• 32:30
  Speaker 5: A place in which the Steelers have, you just alluded to,
• 32:34
  Speaker 5: Double B, have struggled on Thursday nights. Now, look, last
• 32:37
  Speaker 5: year it wasn't Cleveland. It was Cincinnati on a Thursday
• 32:39
  Speaker 5: night in October.
• 32:40
  Speaker 1: Right, but they also lost in Cleveland last year, too.
• 32:43
  Speaker 5: Really, I think since the Big Ben era. I mean,
• 32:46
  Speaker 5: when Big Ben... was the Steelers' starting quarterback. He kind
• 32:49
  Speaker 5: of owned the state of Ohio in Ohio.
• 32:51
  Speaker 1: Speaking of Ben, just got tied by Aaron Rodgers for
• 32:54
  Speaker 1: most regular season wins by a quarterback in NFL history.
• 32:57
  Speaker 1: I think they're tied at five now, correct?
• 33:00
  Speaker 2: I think they are.
• 33:01
  Speaker 1: I don't know where the postseason wins would stack up,
• 33:03
  Speaker 1: but that's actually a good trivia question. Who do you
• 33:05
  Speaker 1: think has more postseason wins? Probably Ben, right? I mean,
• 33:08
  Speaker 1: he has two Super Bowl victories and went to a third.
• 33:11
  Speaker 1: where his team lost a Rogers team.
• 33:13
  Speaker 2: I'd give him the edge over Rogers. It's probably pretty close.
• 33:15
  Speaker 1: Part of the story for the Packers was they fell
• 33:19
  Speaker 1: short too often in the playoffs. Now it's funny that
• 33:22
  Speaker 1: we're talking this through live where we just look this
• 33:26
  Speaker 1: up and I will, I will look it up, but
• 33:28
  Speaker 1: Rogers has played more seasons now at this point than Ben. Now,
• 33:32
  Speaker 1: mind you though, the last few years, he missed one
• 33:35
  Speaker 1: entire season and then he was with the jets and
• 33:38
  Speaker 1: then the Steelers obviously didn't win a playoff game last year,
• 33:40
  Speaker 1: but All right, Ed, you filibuster. I'm going to look
• 33:43
  Speaker 1: this up. Actually, in the meantime, birthday shout out to
• 33:46
  Speaker 1: Dante Kent, Steelers injured reserve cornerback, seventh round pick out
• 33:51
  Speaker 1: of Central Michigan by way of Harrisburg a couple years ago.
• 33:56
  Speaker 1: I think that's the only Steelers birthday shout out to give.
• 33:59
  Speaker 1: Some other good celebrities, though. Hilary Duff today.
• 34:02
  Speaker 2: Okay, that's a good one.
• 34:03
  Speaker 1: Jeezy, one of my favorite rappers. He's no longer young
• 34:05
  Speaker 1: Jeezy because he's turning.
• 34:06
  Speaker 2: 49, but They got rid of the young part of that.
• 34:10
  Speaker 1: Middle-aged Jeezy.
• 34:11
  Speaker 5: Be careful with that old Jeezy at 49. Some of
• 34:14
  Speaker 5: us aren't that far away from 49. Brian, let's get
• 34:17
  Speaker 5: to our three stats to victory, and then we'll have
• 34:19
  Speaker 5: the back goes quick six here in just a second.
• 34:22
  Speaker 5: Total yards, Steelers 4-11 to the Bengals 3-52. Time of
• 34:26
  Speaker 5: possession just about even. In fact, it was only a
• 34:29
  Speaker 5: six-second separation from being completely even. Bengals 30 minutes, six
• 34:33
  Speaker 5: seconds to the Steelers 29 minutes and 54 seconds. And
• 34:38
  Speaker 5: then turnovers, Bengals with two fumbles, Steelers with one interception.
• 34:43
  Speaker 1: 13, 13, lucky 13 postseason victories for Big Ben. 11
• 34:47
  Speaker 1: for Aaron Rodgers.
• 34:49
  Speaker 2: So he does edge him out.
• 34:50
  Speaker 1: He'll need a few more wins to pass him all time.
• 34:54
  Speaker 1: Or two more, three more to pass him all time,
• 34:56
  Speaker 1: I guess.
• 34:57
  Speaker 2: Wouldn't that be a storyline, right? Maybe a wildcard divisional
• 35:00
  Speaker 2: championship or divisional.
• 35:02
  Speaker 1: Well, I was talking like if you combine regular season
• 35:04
  Speaker 1: and postseason, but I like where you're headed at better.
• 35:06
  Speaker 1: I mean, how about pass him in postseason victories this year, too,
• 35:10
  Speaker 1: in your final rodeo?
• 35:11
  Speaker 2: I'm thinking postseason.
• 35:12
  Speaker 1: Wouldn't that be a way to go out? And after
• 35:14
  Speaker 1: a Steelers win over the Bengals at home, we're all
• 35:17
  Speaker 1: thinking Super Bowl again, right?
• 35:19
  Speaker 2: Last week at this time, we're thinking top five draft pick.
• 35:22
  Speaker 1: Well, we know that's how it goes. The reactions, the overreactions,
• 35:26
  Speaker 1: of course.
• 35:26
  Speaker 2: I had to laugh because— The NFL's goofy.
• 35:29
  Speaker 1: We know this. I mean, again, there were results this
• 35:31
  Speaker 1: week that you're just like, what the heck is going on?
• 35:34
  Speaker 5: I was listening to the postgame show with Mike Pursuta
• 35:37
  Speaker 5: and Charlie Batch.
• 35:38
  Speaker 2: I usually try to catch it each and every week.
• 35:40
  Speaker 2: Last week, after the Patriots game, it's exactly what you
• 35:43
  Speaker 2: just described, Brian. It was Steelers nation was crumbling.
• 35:46
  Speaker 5: Yesterday, it was like, hey, look, this is the best
• 35:49
  Speaker 5: Steeler victory we've had at home in years.
• 35:52
  Speaker 1: Gene Collier, my former Post Gazette colleague, co-worker, used to
• 35:57
  Speaker 1: do a bit where every win he would tweet Super
• 35:59
  Speaker 1: Bowl and every loss he would tweet no Super Bowl.
• 36:02
  Speaker 1: Sometimes I think he would even do it. depending on
• 36:04
  Speaker 1: the play in a game. Gene's very smart. A punt,
• 36:07
  Speaker 1: no Super Bowl. Touchdown, Super Bowl.
• 36:10
  Speaker 2: Let's get to Backo's quick six.
• 36:12
  Speaker 5: Make sure you log on to Steelers.com every day. But
• 36:16
  Speaker 5: last night, it was about 8, 8.30 at night, and
• 36:18
  Speaker 5: on my phone, I get my notification from the Steelers,
• 36:20
  Speaker 5: and it says, check out Backo's quick six.
• 36:24
  Speaker 2: So I did. I jumped on.
• 36:25
  Speaker 1: Love those push alerts on the app.
• 36:27
  Speaker 2: That was kind of nice. Yeah, and I see your
• 36:29
  Speaker 2: name come up too, Brian. I'm like, hey, I know
• 36:30
  Speaker 2: this guy. First-round pedigrees was your first quick six.
• 36:35
  Speaker 1: Derek Harmon gets the exclamation point, but Maxi Honachor was
• 36:41
  Speaker 1: the capital letter at the start of that sentence yesterday.
• 36:43
  Speaker 1: I mean, we knew making his first NFL start, for
• 36:46
  Speaker 1: better or worse, he was going to be in the spotlight,
• 36:49
  Speaker 1: and I thought he did very well. These are two
• 36:55
  Speaker 1: guys with a lot of expectations on them. That just
• 36:57
  Speaker 1: is what it is. When you get taken in the
• 36:59
  Speaker 1: first round, you know, players don't ask for that. They're
• 37:02
  Speaker 1: usually happy to be there, but heavy lies the crown essentially.
• 37:06
  Speaker 1: And Ihanachor, he doesn't, he's a, they're both a men
• 37:09
  Speaker 1: of few words. They're, they're both men of few words,
• 37:12
  Speaker 1: I should say. Steelers didn't draft them for their disposition though,
• 37:16
  Speaker 1: to quote the old Greg Lloyd line.
• 37:18
  Speaker 2: My favorite shirt.
• 37:19
  Speaker 1: They drafted them to, to control the line of scrimmage.
• 37:22
  Speaker 1: And Ihanachor did that for most of the game. Harmon
• 37:25
  Speaker 1: did that never more than he, did on that final
• 37:29
  Speaker 1: snap for the Bengals. And pretty cool, too, for Ihanichor
• 37:32
  Speaker 1: announced running out of the tunnel. I don't know if
• 37:34
  Speaker 1: you could hear it from where you were in the
• 37:35
  Speaker 1: press box, but loud pop from the crowd to welcome
• 37:38
  Speaker 1: him into a starting role.
• 37:39
  Speaker 2: For sure. And I think he was the last one. Well, no,
• 37:42
  Speaker 2: no last offensive lineman. He was always last, right? Yeah,
• 37:44
  Speaker 2: I think he was the last offensive lineman.
• 37:45
  Speaker 1: He might have been the last lineman.
• 37:46
  Speaker 2: I think he was. I think they went left to right. But, yeah, no,
• 37:50
  Speaker 2: huge pop with that. And you mentioned it in your article,
• 37:53
  Speaker 2: Double B.
• 37:54
  Speaker 5: Ihanichor afterwards said it was incredible. And jogging out of
• 37:58
  Speaker 5: that tunnel for the pre-game introductions. My first time ever
• 38:01
  Speaker 5: doing that. I was just in another world for a
• 38:04
  Speaker 5: minute just running out there. It felt good. I was
• 38:06
  Speaker 5: trying to take it all in. I'm guessing in college,
• 38:08
  Speaker 5: I guess, yeah, they don't do individual positions. At least
• 38:10
  Speaker 5: at Arizona State, I guess they didn't.
• 38:12
  Speaker 1: Yeah, maybe he just meant first time in the pros. But, yeah,
• 38:14
  Speaker 1: I don't know if they do that in Tempe.
• 38:15
  Speaker 2: I'm not sure. I'm not sure. Number two is the
• 38:18
  Speaker 2: veteran savvy.
• 38:20
  Speaker 1: Sebastian Joseph day.
• 38:21
  Speaker 4: Nice.
• 38:22
  Speaker 1: We're all talking about the Harmon strip, but someone had
• 38:24
  Speaker 1: to hustle and get on that ball. And Joseph day,
• 38:27
  Speaker 1: I mean, big battle too, right. And he's, he's won
• 38:30
  Speaker 1: a lot of big games in his career as a,
• 38:32
  Speaker 1: as a role player through the years for the Rams mostly,
• 38:35
  Speaker 1: but he's been in some battles. He was with the
• 38:38
  Speaker 1: Titans the last, last season and probably wasn't a real
• 38:42
  Speaker 1: fun situation. You didn't have many days like you did
• 38:44
  Speaker 1: yesterday in Tennessee. He came to Pittsburgh with the hope
• 38:48
  Speaker 1: and ambition of, of being a part of some big
• 38:51
  Speaker 1: victories like that. And he was the one who, managed
• 38:54
  Speaker 1: to get that ball at the bottom of the pile.
• 38:56
  Speaker 1: I don't know what all happened down there because he
• 38:58
  Speaker 1: said he laughed. He was like, the easy part was
• 39:00
  Speaker 1: outrunning that O-lineman and getting on the ball. The not-so-fun
• 39:03
  Speaker 1: part was being at the bottom of that pile under
• 39:05
  Speaker 1: all those big fellas.
• 39:06
  Speaker 2: Well, it was interesting, too, Brian. They almost immediately... Took
• 39:10
  Speaker 2: a while to sort it out, though.
• 39:11
  Speaker 5: Well, the one official came over, because I watched the
• 39:13
  Speaker 5: replay last night. He signaled Steelers football, and then there
• 39:16
  Speaker 5: was a pause. And as you said, it was like
• 39:18
  Speaker 5: almost two or three minutes went by. They were wrestling with.
• 39:21
  Speaker 1: The football, and then they confirmed it. You're right. Yeah,
• 39:22
  Speaker 1: they initially did the.
• 39:23
  Speaker 2: Right, but then they waited, and then they confirmed it
• 39:26
  Speaker 2: eventually a few minutes.
• 39:27
  Speaker 1: They were pulling bodies off the pile and you know
• 39:29
  Speaker 1: 66 was right there for the bangles and joseph they
• 39:33
  Speaker 1: beat him to it being ball aware too that matters
• 39:36
  Speaker 1: i mean if he would have just checked out of
• 39:38
  Speaker 1: that play and said uh agreed i'm double teamed i'm
• 39:41
  Speaker 1: just gonna loaf it and do whatever then you know,
• 39:44
  Speaker 1: you're up, you know what, creek without a paddle. Instead,
• 39:46
  Speaker 1: he kept his head in it, and again, he was
• 39:49
  Speaker 1: situational aware, ball aware, peripheral vision, sees it pop out,
• 39:53
  Speaker 1: and there he goes. He's falling on it.
• 39:56
  Speaker 5: And the Bengals weren't willing to give up the game
• 39:58
  Speaker 5: that quickly either. Their offense stayed on the field the
• 40:01
  Speaker 5: entire time until they were told to get off.
• 40:03
  Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely.
• 40:04
  Speaker 5: Your next, let's see, we're going to go down the
• 40:07
  Speaker 5: list here. Your next quick six. I was ready to
• 40:09
  Speaker 5: say pick six, but you don't have a pick six.
• 40:10
  Speaker 2: You have a quick six.
• 40:12
  Speaker 1: Want it more. I mean, it goes I think it
• 40:15
  Speaker 1: goes in line with Joseph Day's fumble recovery there. He
• 40:18
  Speaker 1: wanted it more than Dalton Reisner on that player, at
• 40:21
  Speaker 1: least had the athletic capabilities to get to it quicker.
• 40:24
  Speaker 1: Same thing with Ben Skoranek on the fumble recovery. You know,
• 40:28
  Speaker 1: that's that's what he's known for. Skoranek, since he burst
• 40:32
  Speaker 1: onto the scene a few years ago, he was initially
• 40:35
  Speaker 1: on the practice squad because, you know, it stunk for him.
• 40:38
  Speaker 1: He got cut by the Texans after winning a Super
• 40:40
  Speaker 1: Bowl with the Rams. So he's someone who. I think
• 40:44
  Speaker 1: he's kind of mad at the world a little bit,
• 40:45
  Speaker 1: and he mentioned this postgame like he was a seventh-round pick.
• 40:48
  Speaker 1: He even went back to high school and said he
• 40:50
  Speaker 1: was like a three-star recruit, goes to Northwestern, but eventually
• 40:54
  Speaker 1: transferred up to Notre Dame, seventh-rounder, wins a Super Bowl
• 40:58
  Speaker 1: with the Rams. He's a part of a great program there.
• 41:01
  Speaker 1: But then he gets traded to a team that didn't
• 41:03
  Speaker 1: value special teams maybe quite as– or from a team
• 41:07
  Speaker 1: that didn't value special teams quite as much, doesn't make
• 41:09
  Speaker 1: the roster in Houston.
• 41:10
  Speaker 6: Yeah.
• 41:11
  Speaker 1: Probably had to swallow his pride, come to Pittsburgh, and
• 41:13
  Speaker 1: be on the practice squad initially. But his dad's whole
• 41:16
  Speaker 1: side of the family is from Connellsville, PA, down there
• 41:19
  Speaker 1: in Fayette County. So they're Steelers in his blood. He
• 41:21
  Speaker 1: grew up watching this organization. Troy Polamalu was his favorite player.
• 41:25
  Speaker 1: They'd come to Kennywood and Pirates games every summer. So
• 41:28
  Speaker 1: he's kind of living the dream in that way. And
• 41:31
  Speaker 1: he's just been nails on special teams every once in
• 41:33
  Speaker 1: a while. Pops up out of a hole and catches
• 41:36
  Speaker 1: a touchdown pass. He did both yesterday. on a day
• 41:39
  Speaker 1: that he was the weekly special teams captain. So what
• 41:41
  Speaker 1: a night for the Skorodniks.
• 41:43
  Speaker 2: I never knew the Connellsville connection.
• 41:45
  Speaker 1: You didn't?
• 41:45
  Speaker 2: I did not know that. You just taught me something,
• 41:47
  Speaker 2: Double B.
• 41:48
  Speaker 5: Well, you teach me every day and every week, but
• 41:51
  Speaker 5: I didn't know about the hometown connection with Connellsville.
• 41:53
  Speaker 1: Very cool. Yeah, his pops went to, I think, Connellsville
• 41:56
  Speaker 1: High School and played at Penn State Fayette for basketball,
• 41:59
  Speaker 1: and there's still a lot of Skorodniks down in that
• 42:01
  Speaker 1: neck of the woods.
• 42:01
  Speaker 2: Very cool. Not too far from where I grew up, either.
• 42:03
  Speaker 1: Not at all.
• 42:04
  Speaker 2: In Bell Vernon. All right, back goes Quick Six. The
• 42:06
  Speaker 2: next one is Take the J Train.
• 42:08
  Speaker 1: Jalen Warren, man. I mean, what else can you say?
• 42:11
  Speaker 1: I know we were, especially you, but we both were
• 42:14
  Speaker 1: high on the Rico Dowdle edition and I'm not ready to,
• 42:18
  Speaker 1: you know, throw dirt on him yet. He missed the
• 42:20
  Speaker 1: game with a toe injury, but I think at this point,
• 42:24
  Speaker 1: at this point, you don't want to be taking Jalen
• 42:26
  Speaker 1: Warren off the field all that much. Now the flip
• 42:28
  Speaker 1: side of it, you don't want to run them into
• 42:29
  Speaker 1: the ground. You don't want to run all the tread
• 42:31
  Speaker 1: off the tires. And it's, it's great to have a
• 42:33
  Speaker 1: committee that backfield to keep guys fresh and Warren is
• 42:37
  Speaker 1: not the biggest dude he's kind of indestructible though knock
• 42:42
  Speaker 1: on wood he hasn't had too many injury issues in
• 42:44
  Speaker 1: his career despite rolling around at that size but yeah
• 42:49
  Speaker 1: the Jalen Warren train often gets you to your destination
• 42:52
  Speaker 1: now it it stopped a little bit short of the
• 42:54
  Speaker 1: station a couple times against the Bengals and he couldn't
• 43:00
  Speaker 1: really explain what happened there. Like his body just gave out,
• 43:03
  Speaker 1: his feet were moving too fast, whatever it was, but we'll, we'll,
• 43:08
  Speaker 1: we'll give him a pass because he put the steam
• 43:10
  Speaker 1: on his back.
• 43:11
  Speaker 2: I like this quote after the game. He goes, I
• 43:12
  Speaker 2: didn't get tired. My body got tired. Yeah.
• 43:15
  Speaker 1: It's a mental battle.
• 43:16
  Speaker 2: That's right. Big Darnell up next.
• 43:19
  Speaker 1: Darnell Washington. I mean, when he plays a lot, the
• 43:23
  Speaker 1: Steelers tend to win. And some of that is just contextual.
• 43:27
  Speaker 1: He plays a lot in the run game. And if
• 43:29
  Speaker 1: you're running the football, that usually means you've got a lead.
• 43:31
  Speaker 1: So it's, it can be a little bit circular logic
• 43:34
  Speaker 1: to that extent, but you also want to dictate terms
• 43:36
  Speaker 1: to the defense. And when big number 80 is in there,
• 43:39
  Speaker 1: you can do that. So, I mean, 67 yards, obviously
• 43:43
  Speaker 1: the high for him this season, that was the longest
• 43:46
  Speaker 1: touchdown catch of his career, even going back to college, Georgia.
• 43:49
  Speaker 1: I don't know what Darnell did in high school out
• 43:51
  Speaker 1: in Las Vegas at Desert Pines but not even in
• 43:56
  Speaker 1: college for the Bulldogs did he have a catch and
• 43:58
  Speaker 1: run that long and that was uh that was something
• 44:02
  Speaker 1: we'd all kind of been waiting to see from Darnell
• 44:04
  Speaker 1: Washington ties his career high in the NFL with 67
• 44:09
  Speaker 1: yards receiving Look.
• 44:10
  Speaker 2: I said it earlier. When you're 6'7, 300 pounds, you're
• 44:13
  Speaker 2: just not supposed to move like that. You're just not
• 44:15
  Speaker 2: supposed to. You're not supposed to tiptoe.
• 44:17
  Speaker 1: And Rodgers brought up to the play earlier in the
• 44:20
  Speaker 1: game where he caught a pass, and he was just
• 44:22
  Speaker 1: standing there, and the dude tried to come in from
• 44:24
  Speaker 1: behind and hit him and had no chance. Didn't have
• 44:27
  Speaker 1: a prayer. You know what?
• 44:29
  Speaker 5: I don't know if it would ever happen, but I
• 44:30
  Speaker 5: would love to see him take a handoff out of
• 44:32
  Speaker 5: the backfield one time just to see what would happen.
• 44:34
  Speaker 2: I mean, Jerome Bettis like.
• 44:36
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I don't know that he's got the quicks or
• 44:37
  Speaker 1: the shiftiness to hit the hole, put him in that spot.
• 44:40
  Speaker 1: But good call. Yeah. I mean, he just once he
• 44:42
  Speaker 1: turns and gets going, it's over for the defense.
• 44:45
  Speaker 2: Your last back goes quick six from Steelers 30.
• 44:49
  Speaker 1: Steelers 27 NFL breaking news. The Vikings trading J.J. McCarthy
• 44:54
  Speaker 1: to the Giants for a 2027 fifth-round pick. Look at that.
• 44:59
  Speaker 1: Jackson dart out for the regular season. McCarthy was the, what,
• 45:02
  Speaker 1: number six pick just a few years ago? He was.
• 45:05
  Speaker 1: His time is up in Minnesota.
• 45:06
  Speaker 2: I kind of felt that was coming from Minnesota.
• 45:08
  Speaker 1: Yeah, but it's always seismic when there's a QB trade
• 45:10
  Speaker 1: like that, especially a former top-ten pick.
• 45:13
  Speaker 5: And just to circle back around to the Steelers, it
• 45:17
  Speaker 5: was rumored for over a week now– since that Jackson
• 45:20
  Speaker 5: Dart injury that the Giants were looking to make a move. And,
• 45:22
  Speaker 5: you know, the Mason Rudolph name came up.
• 45:24
  Speaker 2: Will Howard's name came up in that conversation.
• 45:26
  Speaker 5: Not like with any substance to it, Brian, but, you know,
• 45:29
  Speaker 5: everybody loves to talk about the Steelers quarterbacks and they
• 45:31
  Speaker 5: got four.
• 45:32
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, it's just it's what we do as
• 45:33
  Speaker 1: football fans. I get it. This is kind of interesting, though, because,
• 45:36
  Speaker 1: you know, Darts younger than McCarthy, at least in terms
• 45:39
  Speaker 1: of NFL experience. So I imagine they're setting this up
• 45:41
  Speaker 1: to be a situation where if Jameis Winston struggles, they
• 45:44
  Speaker 1: get McCarthy up to speed. hey, this is your audition
• 45:47
  Speaker 1: for other teams the rest of the season, and we'll
• 45:49
  Speaker 1: get Dart back, and we'll see where you end up.
• 45:51
  Speaker 2: Last quick six, more than Max.
• 45:52
  Speaker 1: Because you know the Steelers don't have a starting quarterback
• 45:54
  Speaker 1: for next year either, Ed.
• 45:55
  Speaker 2: Oh, they don't. Oh, I wasn't thinking about that yet.
• 45:58
  Speaker 1: Maybe the draft.
• 45:59
  Speaker 2: Well, let's talk the draft.
• 46:00
  Speaker 1: Last one. Last one. Brock Hoffman stepping in. It wasn't
• 46:03
  Speaker 1: just Maxi Honature on that right side. Brock Hoffman slid
• 46:06
  Speaker 1: in for Spencer Anderson, and he's another one who is chippy,
• 46:10
  Speaker 1: plays physical, likes to chatter, and I thought he held
• 46:14
  Speaker 1: his own as well. I'm sure there's going to be
• 46:16
  Speaker 1: a lot of second guessing from people. Hey, why weren't
• 46:18
  Speaker 1: these two starting from week one? Well, Spencer Anderson and
• 46:21
  Speaker 1: Dylan Cook were incumbents. They were no slouches last year,
• 46:24
  Speaker 1: but onward and upward now for the Steelers O-line with
• 46:27
  Speaker 1: those two. Great stuff.
• 46:28
  Speaker 2: Back goes quick six. Check it out on Steelers.com.
• 46:32
  Speaker 5: It's the Mike McCarthy press conference up next live from
• 46:35
  Speaker 5: the South side with Wes Shuler and Jerry Dulac.
• 46:37
  Speaker 1: I'm true.
• 46:38
  Speaker 2: He's back.
• 46:39
  Speaker 5: Oh, it is the Steelers report here on Steelers nation radio,
• 46:41
  Speaker 5: part of the Steelers audio network.