Latest / The Steelers Report / HR 2: Ashley Bastock Joins the Show, Top 5 NFL Offenses & Defenses: Week 4

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HR 2: Ashley Bastock Joins the Show, Top 5 NFL Offenses & Defenses: Week 4 · The Steelers Report

• 0:07
  Speaker 1: This is the Steelers Report with Brian Batko and Ed
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: Troup on Steelers Nation Radio, a part of the Steelers
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: Audio Network.
• 0:17
  Speaker 2: The fourth week of the NFL season will start tomorrow night.
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: Thursday night football from Cleveland. The Pittsburgh Steelers 2-1. The
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: Cleveland Browns also 2-1 in a battle. for first place
• 0:31
  Speaker 2: in the AFC North will take place. And with that,
• 0:34
  Speaker 2: we welcome in Ashley Bastok, who is a Browns reporter
• 0:38
  Speaker 2: for Steelers. My goodness, I messed it up already, Ashley.
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: How about Cleveland.com? She's also on the Orange and Brown
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: Talk podcast, so make sure you check that out. Ashley,
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: welcome into the program. Thank you for having me.
• 0:53
  Speaker 3: Thanks for having me, guys.
• 0:55
  Speaker 4: We're just saying before this, it always feels like these
• 0:57
  Speaker 4: teams end up in a game that just feels like
• 0:59
  Speaker 4: a Thursday.
• 1:00
  Speaker 3: Night football game, even if it's not.
• 1:01
  Speaker 4: So very fitting that the first time this year, it's
• 1:04
  Speaker 4: going to actually be one of those games.
• 1:06
  Speaker 5: And obviously, other than decades long overall franchise success, which
• 1:13
  Speaker 5: Browns fans need not be reminded of, these are kind
• 1:16
  Speaker 5: of mirror images of each other in terms of teams
• 1:19
  Speaker 5: built on the grittiness of the cities they're from and
• 1:21
  Speaker 5: that jogged my memory that you're in Barea right now,
• 1:25
  Speaker 5: I think where there's train tracks nearby.
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: Yes.
• 1:27
  Speaker 5: Trains going by the Browns practice facility. There's trains that
• 1:30
  Speaker 5: go by the Steelers practice facility at all hours of
• 1:34
  Speaker 5: the day. So if they weren't so different, they'd be
• 1:37
  Speaker 5: very similar. But right now what's similar about these two teams,
• 1:39
  Speaker 5: new head coaches, the Mike McCarthy era is off and
• 1:42
  Speaker 5: running in Pittsburgh. Ashley, what can you tell us so
• 1:44
  Speaker 5: far about the Todd Munkin era in Cleveland? I don't
• 1:48
  Speaker 5: know how many people expected to be two and one.
• 1:50
  Speaker 5: going into this game but I'm sure that the the
• 1:52
  Speaker 5: natives are fired up that they are.
• 1:54
  Speaker 4: They are you know I certainly didn't expect that especially
• 1:57
  Speaker 4: the way the Browns just kind of came out and
• 1:59
  Speaker 4: laid an egg against the Jacksonville Jaguars in week one
• 2:02
  Speaker 4: on the road they lost that 34 to 10 and
• 2:04
  Speaker 4: it was like oh goodness what are we in for
• 2:06
  Speaker 4: there were talks about is Deshaun Watson actually going to
• 2:09
  Speaker 4: get benched after the second week in Tampa and since
• 2:14
  Speaker 4: then they've turned things around they've won a couple of
• 2:16
  Speaker 4: games I think The Todd Munkin era in Cleveland has
• 2:19
  Speaker 4: kind of gotten off to the start that I assumed
• 2:21
  Speaker 4: it was in the sense that Todd Munkin was not
• 2:23
  Speaker 4: a guy that I think a lot of Browns fans
• 2:25
  Speaker 4: had on their radar during the head coach hiring process
• 2:29
  Speaker 4: that took really, I think, the longest of any head
• 2:33
  Speaker 4: coach hiring process this past offseason. But I had a
• 2:37
  Speaker 4: feeling that they would gravitate towards Todd Munkin very quickly
• 2:40
  Speaker 4: because he's very old school.
• 2:41
  Speaker 3: I think he fits the city. Some of these things
• 2:43
  Speaker 3: they're talking about.
• 2:45
  Speaker 4: One of the things he won fans with over early
• 2:47
  Speaker 4: was talking about how he doesn't do veteran days off
• 2:50
  Speaker 4: for practices. And I think there was kind of this
• 2:53
  Speaker 4: belief among Browns fans that there was a lack of accountability.
• 2:56
  Speaker 3: They needed that.
• 2:57
  Speaker 4: And they feel like Todd Munkin has brought that back.
• 3:01
  Speaker 4: So they've shown some interesting things on offense, still a
• 3:03
  Speaker 4: lot to clean up, but So far, Todd Munkin has
• 3:06
  Speaker 4: certainly managed to build goodwill with this fan base by
• 3:09
  Speaker 4: getting them two wins in.
• 3:11
  Speaker 3: The first three weeks.
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: And one thing, Ashley, we've noticed here in Pittsburgh is
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: the excitement in and around the new head coach from
• 3:17
  Speaker 2: the fan base. He's going around high-fiving fans in Tampa
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: Bay after they beat the Bucs last week, the big
• 3:24
  Speaker 2: win against the Panthers in their home opener. Same type
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: of reaction. We know Mike Tomlin kind of called out
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: the Browns organization on national TV. And then he reacted
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: to that at his press conference after they beat the bucks. So,
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: so far so good. And I know Brian and I
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: have talked about it here on the program too. We've
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: been impressed with coach Munkin and we, and we like
• 3:43
  Speaker 2: him so far, at least from our standpoint that he's
• 3:45
  Speaker 2: firing up the fan base.
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: Yeah. You know what?
• 3:48
  Speaker 4: I like him as well. I think he's a great
• 3:51
  Speaker 4: coach to cover. You know, I think Kevin Stefanski, who,
• 3:54
  Speaker 4: you know, had been here since 2020. I think what
• 3:57
  Speaker 4: kind of graded the fan base with Kevin was this
• 4:00
  Speaker 4: sort of unwillingness to say anything, but Todd Munkin is
• 4:04
  Speaker 4: just going to come out there and say what's on
• 4:06
  Speaker 4: his mind during these media availabilities. He'll answer questions. I
• 4:09
  Speaker 4: think even when things are going wrong for the most part,
• 4:12
  Speaker 4: like today here on Tuesday, the only in-person practice day,
• 4:16
  Speaker 4: for example, The Browns on their injury report, the estimated
• 4:20
  Speaker 4: injury report on Monday had starting center Elton Jenkins in
• 4:23
  Speaker 4: the concussion protocol, which was a surprise. And Todd Munkin
• 4:26
  Speaker 4: just comes out in his press conference and says, yeah,
• 4:29
  Speaker 4: if Elton can't clear the protocol in a short week,
• 4:31
  Speaker 4: Luke Whipler is going to be our starting center. So
• 4:34
  Speaker 4: little things like that, I think, have really made it enjoyable.
• 4:37
  Speaker 4: And yeah, I mean, I've been joking for the last
• 4:39
  Speaker 4: couple of weeks that infamous Juju Smith Schuster quote about
• 4:43
  Speaker 4: the Browns is the Browns is now inspiring a whole
• 4:46
  Speaker 4: new generation of Browns players and coaches after Mike Tomlin
• 4:51
  Speaker 4: said it again. So it was kind of fun to
• 4:54
  Speaker 4: see Todd Munkin have some fun with that one after
• 4:56
  Speaker 4: that Tampa Bay win. And I liked Mike Tomlin's reply
• 4:59
  Speaker 4: that even though he's not coaching right now, he can
• 5:01
  Speaker 4: still motivate like a coach.
• 5:03
  Speaker 3: I thought it was pretty cool.
• 5:05
  Speaker 5: Yeah, it's fun. It adds the juice to these games.
• 5:08
  Speaker 5: I don't think we all have to take this too seriously.
• 5:10
  Speaker 5: I mean, I know sometimes quote unquote bulletin board material
• 5:13
  Speaker 5: can can become serious business in in this high stakes
• 5:17
  Speaker 5: game but i don't know if i ever told you
• 5:18
  Speaker 5: this actually you're talking to the the writer who uh
• 5:21
  Speaker 5: asked that question.
• 5:22
  Speaker 4: Of juju i didn't know that yeah so oh my gosh.
• 5:26
  Speaker 5: It was uh it was honestly a wild thing where
• 5:28
  Speaker 5: i didn't think much of his answer in the moment
• 5:30
  Speaker 5: because this is like the clip culture that we're in
• 5:33
  Speaker 5: people snip that and show it but like it was
• 5:35
  Speaker 5: a much longer answer he still said what he said
• 5:38
  Speaker 5: and he may have meant what people assumed he meant
• 5:41
  Speaker 5: but there was more to it and we all just
• 5:42
  Speaker 5: kind of moved on with our day and Next thing
• 5:45
  Speaker 5: we know, like I heard, my voice is on SportsCenter
• 5:47
  Speaker 5: because they're making a big deal.
• 5:48
  Speaker 2: Out of it.
• 5:49
  Speaker 5: It's on Miles Garrett's hype-up video, I think, after that game.
• 5:53
  Speaker 5: So that's a bit of an aside, but that was
• 5:56
  Speaker 5: a wild time, and you're right. It came back to
• 5:57
  Speaker 5: the forefront this year. We'll see if these Browns is
• 6:01
  Speaker 5: or are the Browns, but right now, I mean, what's
• 6:04
  Speaker 5: been working for them these past two weeks? It seems
• 6:06
  Speaker 5: like from the outside looking in that it's still been
• 6:09
  Speaker 5: kind of a defensive-led team, even with Garrett gone and
• 6:12
  Speaker 5: Jared Burst stepping in there on the edge.
• 6:15
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I really think that's the case.
• 6:17
  Speaker 4: And it kind of feels like right now this is
• 6:19
  Speaker 4: still very much a team that has certain things they
• 6:22
  Speaker 4: need to work out with their offense. So the game
• 6:24
  Speaker 4: plan largely to me feels like, can we hold this
• 6:26
  Speaker 4: team to under 20 points and give our offense a chance?
• 6:29
  Speaker 4: Which I think, quite honestly, is a lot of what
• 6:31
  Speaker 4: they tried to do last year as well. And it
• 6:34
  Speaker 4: just didn't work, like largely because I think they didn't
• 6:36
  Speaker 4: have the right pieces in place, particularly in their pass
• 6:39
  Speaker 4: catching core. But, you know, on the offensive side, we've
• 6:43
  Speaker 4: seen some things starting to get moving. I think Deshaun
• 6:46
  Speaker 4: Watson and Denzel Boston, who's the rookie they took at
• 6:49
  Speaker 4: number 39 in the second round, have gotten off to
• 6:52
  Speaker 4: a really strong start. The flip side of that, Casey Concepcion,
• 6:55
  Speaker 4: who was one of their two first round draft picks,
• 6:58
  Speaker 4: him and Deshaun are struggling right now. Chemistry wise, he
• 7:00
  Speaker 4: had nine targets on Sunday. and only had two catches,
• 7:05
  Speaker 4: so they need to get going a little bit. This
• 7:07
  Speaker 4: offensive line has also struggled. The Browns have five new
• 7:10
  Speaker 4: starters on the offensive line, so Steelers fans, you know,
• 7:13
  Speaker 4: probably familiar to seeing some of those faces in a
• 7:16
  Speaker 4: lot of those matchups, particularly like Jack Conklin and TJ Watt.
• 7:19
  Speaker 4: You're not going to see any of the same faces anymore.
• 7:22
  Speaker 4: Ricky left tackle in Spencer Fano, a veteran right tackle
• 7:26
  Speaker 4: in Titus Howard, who they got from the Texans, so
• 7:29
  Speaker 4: things look a lot different, but this defense, I mean,
• 7:31
  Speaker 4: Jared versus a very different rusher than miles Garrett, where
• 7:34
  Speaker 4: miles Garrett could do it all. Like the best part
• 7:37
  Speaker 4: of his game, I think was his bend coming off
• 7:39
  Speaker 4: the edge. Jared versus more of that power rusher. He's
• 7:43
  Speaker 4: actually still looking for his first sack, but, I mean,
• 7:45
  Speaker 4: the guy to watch for me in this game is
• 7:47
  Speaker 4: going to be Mason Graham on the interior. He's leading
• 7:51
  Speaker 4: D tackles in the NFL right now with four sacks.
• 7:53
  Speaker 4: He got two more this past weekend against the Panthers.
• 7:57
  Speaker 4: And also in the secondary, the Browns under new coordinator
• 8:00
  Speaker 4: Mike Rutenberg are really throwing a lot of different disguises
• 8:04
  Speaker 4: out there. They're playing more zone than fans have been
• 8:07
  Speaker 4: used to seeing under Jim Schwartz, their previous coordinator over
• 8:10
  Speaker 4: the last three years. And Panthers players on Sunday were
• 8:13
  Speaker 4: actually talking about some coverages that the Browns threw at
• 8:16
  Speaker 4: them they hadn't seen on film at all through their
• 8:19
  Speaker 4: first two games. So really doing some cool stuff based
• 8:22
  Speaker 4: on matchups. But it definitely, to me right now, still
• 8:25
  Speaker 4: feels like a defense first team. Give your offense a
• 8:28
  Speaker 4: fighting chance.
• 8:29
  Speaker 5: Yeah, and real quick, Ashley, I'm sure Denzel Ward will
• 8:31
  Speaker 5: probably follow DK Metcalf, and that allows all sorts of
• 8:34
  Speaker 5: other bells and whistles to get cooked up there by Rudy,
• 8:37
  Speaker 5: as they call him, the DC on the back end.
• 8:40
  Speaker 5: Are Verst and Mason Graham, are they moving around the
• 8:42
  Speaker 5: different sides or are they kind of staying in one
• 8:44
  Speaker 5: place when they rush?
• 8:45
  Speaker 4: Yeah, it's so interesting because we talked to Jared Verst
• 8:48
  Speaker 4: last Thursday and he talked about, well, like I normally
• 8:51
  Speaker 4: stay on my side. I don't move around a lot.
• 8:53
  Speaker 4: But then against the Panthers, we saw them doing all
• 8:54
  Speaker 4: this crazy stuff we've never seen, which on third down
• 8:58
  Speaker 4: looks included Verst lining up as basically a middle linebacker
• 9:01
  Speaker 4: and rushing from over the top. And they were moving
• 9:04
  Speaker 4: Mason Graham to this edge a little bit. They've also
• 9:07
  Speaker 4: been moving Mike Hall Jr. to the edge a little bit.
• 9:09
  Speaker 4: Fans may remember him, the Ohio State draft pick from
• 9:11
  Speaker 4: a few years ago. He's had a handful of injuries
• 9:15
  Speaker 4: over his first two years in the league, but he's
• 9:17
  Speaker 4: been playing well in the preseason especially. I know they
• 9:20
  Speaker 4: were really happy with him with some looks they were
• 9:22
  Speaker 4: doing on the edge.
• 9:23
  Speaker 3: But, yeah, they moved those guys.
• 9:25
  Speaker 4: Around last week, so I'm curious to see if we're
• 9:28
  Speaker 4: going to see any of that this week because when
• 9:31
  Speaker 4: I was asking them about that after the Panthers game,
• 9:34
  Speaker 4: they all kind of alluded to it being something about
• 9:37
  Speaker 4: that specific matchup that they were seeking out. And that
• 9:41
  Speaker 4: strikes me that I don't know if we'll see it repeated,
• 9:44
  Speaker 4: but I know they're not afraid to move.
• 9:46
  Speaker 3: These guys around if they see something.
• 9:47
  Speaker 5: What's his side normally, left or right?
• 9:51
  Speaker 4: I think he's normally coming off of the right side,
• 9:54
  Speaker 4: his right side, I think.
• 9:55
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 9:56
  Speaker 4: I get confused with left and right when we start
• 9:58
  Speaker 4: talking about these lines and I don't have it in
• 10:00
  Speaker 4: front of me. So if I'm wrong, I apologize.
• 10:03
  Speaker 3: But I think that's his usual side.
• 10:05
  Speaker 2: We're talking with Ashley Bastock, Browns reporter for Cleveland.com. Also,
• 10:09
  Speaker 2: you can catch Ashley on the Orange and Brown Talk podcast.
• 10:12
  Speaker 2: Check that out with the Cleveland Browns. Ashley, I want
• 10:15
  Speaker 2: to ask you about Miles Garrett. Of course, that was
• 10:17
  Speaker 2: the big move in the offseason for the Browns organization.
• 10:20
  Speaker 2: He goes to L.A., and then all of a sudden,
• 10:22
  Speaker 2: he's on the I.R. The Browns are 2-1 after three weeks.
• 10:26
  Speaker 2: What's the reaction in Cleveland been with Miles Garrett moving
• 10:30
  Speaker 2: on and the result, at least so far?
• 10:32
  Speaker 4: Yeah, the reaction in Cleveland, on social media at least,
• 10:35
  Speaker 4: has been a lot of photos of GM Andrew Barry
• 10:38
  Speaker 4: shared in, we call them the laser eye meme photos.
• 10:42
  Speaker 4: So fans have been pretty happy so far with how
• 10:46
  Speaker 4: this trade has played out. You know, you don't hear
• 10:49
  Speaker 4: a lot of griping about, oh my gosh, why did
• 10:51
  Speaker 4: they get rid of Miles Garrett? I actually think Browns
• 10:53
  Speaker 4: fans are so used to, just from the years of losing,
• 10:57
  Speaker 4: thinking in terms of the draft and what's next and
• 11:00
  Speaker 4: like thinking about those sort of assets. So I think
• 11:03
  Speaker 4: even initially when the trade happened, there wasn't much pushback
• 11:06
  Speaker 4: just because most people saw those picks. And they also
• 11:09
  Speaker 4: were considering the age of Miles Garrett, that he's 30
• 11:12
  Speaker 4: years old, right? So I think a lot of Browns
• 11:14
  Speaker 4: fans were optimistic when it first sort of.
• 11:17
  Speaker 3: Started out like that.
• 11:19
  Speaker 4: And then also when they didn't trade any other cornerstone
• 11:21
  Speaker 4: pieces away like a Denzel Ward.
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: So.
• 11:24
  Speaker 4: That's pretty much, to me, been the reaction is it's
• 11:27
  Speaker 4: like Miles who? And I think a lot of times
• 11:30
  Speaker 4: now Browns fans are saying that with Mason Graham as
• 11:33
  Speaker 4: well and the way he's sort of emerged these first
• 11:35
  Speaker 4: few games. I've gotten so many variations of that on
• 11:39
  Speaker 4: social media. I mean, I think there's certain things Miles
• 11:41
  Speaker 4: Garrett does where he is one of one. And I'm
• 11:44
  Speaker 4: sure there's going to be moments this year where you're
• 11:46
  Speaker 4: going to look at it and maybe it'll even be
• 11:48
  Speaker 4: this week because, I mean, we all remember how quickly
• 11:50
  Speaker 4: Aaron Rodgers tried to get that ball out against him
• 11:53
  Speaker 4: in Week 17 last year. I think there will be
• 11:56
  Speaker 4: moments when you miss Miles as a Browns fan or
• 11:58
  Speaker 4: you're like, what would this have looked like if he
• 12:00
  Speaker 4: was here? But right now the reaction has mostly been,
• 12:03
  Speaker 4: I think, full steam ahead and very positive from the
• 12:06
  Speaker 4: fan base.
• 12:08
  Speaker 5: I always imagine, too, and you know this, my sister-in-law
• 12:11
  Speaker 5: is a Cleveland native and she's a Browns fan. Just
• 12:14
  Speaker 5: through osmosis from talking to her, I feel like people
• 12:18
  Speaker 5: were probably kind of ready to be done with the never-ending–
• 12:20
  Speaker 5: saga to you know it's kind of a distraction at
• 12:23
  Speaker 5: times with him wanting out then coming back and so
• 12:26
  Speaker 5: on and so on speaking of sagas and distractions the
• 12:29
  Speaker 5: last one i've got for you ashley is how's the
• 12:31
  Speaker 5: sean watson played through three games i know that that
• 12:34
  Speaker 5: getting that home win in the home opener only counts
• 12:37
  Speaker 5: for one in the standings but in a lot of
• 12:39
  Speaker 5: ways it probably felt like it counted for two three
• 12:41
  Speaker 5: four or five uh just to get that out of
• 12:44
  Speaker 5: the way for him and get some goodwill from the fan.
• 12:47
  Speaker 3: Base back on his side.
• 12:48
  Speaker 5: I mean, from what I've seen, it looks like he's
• 12:50
  Speaker 5: actually moving around pretty well for someone who had the
• 12:53
  Speaker 5: major Achilles issues in the past.
• 12:56
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I'm laughing that it took us 15 or so
• 12:58
  Speaker 4: minutes to get to Deshaun Watson here, right? I mean,
• 13:01
  Speaker 4: because it has been so much of the focus for
• 13:04
  Speaker 4: Browns fans this offseason, obviously coming into the season, the
• 13:08
  Speaker 4: start of the season. After a real clunker in week one,
• 13:11
  Speaker 4: it seemed like against the Bucs in week two that
• 13:14
  Speaker 4: we were kind of in for a similar thing. Like
• 13:17
  Speaker 4: in week one, he threw an interception on the very
• 13:19
  Speaker 4: first scripted drive. Week two, they struggled to get the
• 13:21
  Speaker 4: offense going, but it felt like he was finding some
• 13:24
  Speaker 4: things in the second half of that game. And then
• 13:27
  Speaker 4: obviously they pull it out and win, thanks in large
• 13:30
  Speaker 4: part to a defensive stop at the end. But they
• 13:32
  Speaker 4: did just enough. And Brian, I agree with you about
• 13:35
  Speaker 4: this week. against the Panthers because I think he got
• 13:37
  Speaker 4: off to a stronger start. And he didn't get booed.
• 13:40
  Speaker 4: And fans who haven't been following that whole saga, that
• 13:43
  Speaker 4: was a whole thing in the second preseason game against
• 13:46
  Speaker 4: the Buffalo Bills. Deshaun Watson played the third quarter in
• 13:49
  Speaker 4: that game, got booed by the home crowd, and afterwards
• 13:53
  Speaker 4: kind of went off in his press conference. And he
• 13:57
  Speaker 4: had some things to get off his chest is how
• 13:59
  Speaker 4: Todd Munkin termed it. But that was one of those
• 14:01
  Speaker 4: press conferences where I'm never going to forget in my
• 14:03
  Speaker 4: time covering the team. I mean, it was very jarring
• 14:06
  Speaker 4: to hear a player talk about their own fan base
• 14:07
  Speaker 4: like that. And it got to the point where I'm like,
• 14:10
  Speaker 4: can you even start this guy in week one, even
• 14:12
  Speaker 4: though it felt like he had been winning the competition? Like,
• 14:14
  Speaker 4: are you just going to have to go with Shador Sanders?
• 14:17
  Speaker 4: Because it seems like mentally there were so many questions
• 14:19
  Speaker 4: with him. So if you would have told me a
• 14:21
  Speaker 4: month ago, we would be at where we were after
• 14:23
  Speaker 4: that Panthers game with fans in that stadium chanting his name.
• 14:27
  Speaker 4: I never would have believed you based on that alone, but,
• 14:30
  Speaker 4: I mean, I certainly believe him when he says he's
• 14:32
  Speaker 4: in a better headspace than he has been in his
• 14:35
  Speaker 4: time here. And the movement end of things against the Panthers,
• 14:40
  Speaker 4: I think, really allowed him to get more comfortable. I
• 14:43
  Speaker 4: was shocked kind of seeing him look like that because
• 14:45
  Speaker 4: I quite honestly don't think we've ever seen him move
• 14:48
  Speaker 4: like that in any of these prior starts with the Browns.
• 14:51
  Speaker 4: So he's getting more comfortable on the ground. I think
• 14:53
  Speaker 4: he needs to diversify the pass catchers a lot because
• 14:56
  Speaker 4: right now it's a lot of Denzel Boston and Harold
• 14:59
  Speaker 4: Fannin Jr. was his main guy on Sunday against the Panthers.
• 15:03
  Speaker 4: He caught both those touchdowns. So like I said, it's
• 15:06
  Speaker 4: not by any means perfect. They need to get more
• 15:08
  Speaker 4: guys involved. But he just overall to me looks the
• 15:12
  Speaker 4: most confident and comfortable that he has looked since the
• 15:15
  Speaker 4: Browns traded for him back in 2022.
• 15:18
  Speaker 2: And Fannin is off to a great start at tight
• 15:20
  Speaker 2: end for the Browns so far this season, that is
• 15:22
  Speaker 2: for sure. Hey, listen, Ashley, we thought it was too
• 15:25
  Speaker 2: obvious to start with Deshaun Watson, so we had to
• 15:27
  Speaker 2: work up to it here towards the tail end. Last question,
• 15:30
  Speaker 2: and then we'll let you go, and we appreciate you
• 15:31
  Speaker 2: coming on. How's Shador Sanders reacting so far to all
• 15:34
  Speaker 2: this in Cleveland?
• 15:36
  Speaker 3: I mean, it seems like pretty decent, right?
• 15:39
  Speaker 4: I mean, we're not really seeing or hearing a lot
• 15:41
  Speaker 4: from Shador just by nature of him being the backup.
• 15:43
  Speaker 4: I know There's a segment, obviously, of Shador Sanders fans
• 15:47
  Speaker 4: who want to see him start. I mean, I do
• 15:50
  Speaker 4: still tend to believe we are going to see him
• 15:52
  Speaker 4: start at some point this season. Like, it just kind
• 15:54
  Speaker 4: of makes too much sense. We've seen that this team
• 15:57
  Speaker 4: have a lot of quarterback turnover due to injuries in
• 16:00
  Speaker 4: recent years. For one, you have to consider Deshaun Watson's
• 16:02
  Speaker 4: injury history, where not only did he have those two
• 16:05
  Speaker 4: Achilles surgeries, He also, in 2023, had this shoulder fracture that,
• 16:11
  Speaker 4: I mean, is so rare. I was never able to
• 16:14
  Speaker 4: even find another quarterback that suffered this glenoid fracture and
• 16:17
  Speaker 4: came back and played with one after a recovery. So
• 16:21
  Speaker 4: I think, I mean, Shador's handling his duties as that
• 16:23
  Speaker 4: backup quarterback well, but it's been pretty quiet from his end.
• 16:27
  Speaker 4: I know there's the very passionate fans that want to
• 16:29
  Speaker 4: see him, and my message to them is always, we're
• 16:31
  Speaker 4: going to probably see him still at some point, even
• 16:33
  Speaker 4: though this team is off to a good start.
• 16:36
  Speaker 2: Ashley, great stuff. Thank you so much for joining us.
• 16:39
  Speaker 2: Ashley Bastock, Browns reporter, Cleveland.com. Check her out also on
• 16:44
  Speaker 2: the Orange and Brown Talk podcast.
• 16:47
  Speaker 3: Thanks, Ashley.
• 16:48
  Speaker 5: Appreciate it. I'll see you in the press box Thursday.
• 16:50
  Speaker 3: See you guys Thursday night.
• 16:51
  Speaker 2: Awesome stuff, Ashley, helping us preview Steelers-Browns Thursday night football.
• 16:56
  Speaker 2: It is the Steelers Report right here on Steelers Nation Radio,
• 16:59
  Speaker 2: part of the Steelers Audio Network.
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: This is the Steelers Report with Brian Bacco and Ed
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: Troop on Steelers Nation Radio, a part of the Steelers
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: Audio Network.
• 17:19
  Speaker 2: Great stuff from Ashley Bastock, Browns reporter. at Cleveland.com and
• 17:26
  Speaker 2: also on the Orange and Brown Talk podcast. Interesting stuff
• 17:30
  Speaker 2: about head coach Todd Munkin and the reaction he's gotten
• 17:34
  Speaker 2: at Cincinnati. See, I'm still on the Bengals, Double B. No, Cleveland.
• 17:38
  Speaker 2: I'm sure Cincinnati has a reaction to him, too, or
• 17:40
  Speaker 2: they will at least twice this season.
• 17:42
  Speaker 5: Todd Munkin's coached a lot of places. Maybe he's coached
• 17:44
  Speaker 5: in Cincinnati at some point in his career. Let me
• 17:47
  Speaker 5: pull up his.
• 17:48
  Speaker 2: He was with the Ravens last, right? Offensive coordinator. You
• 17:50
  Speaker 2: said that during the interview.
• 17:51
  Speaker 5: He was actually the Browns OC in 2019. That kind
• 17:55
  Speaker 5: of slipped through the cracks. So 2019 game, they split
• 17:58
  Speaker 5: with the Steelers. I don't think their offense was overly
• 18:03
  Speaker 5: explosive at that time. I guess, yeah, they had Baker
• 18:06
  Speaker 5: Mayfield in 19. He was with the Bucs as their
• 18:10
  Speaker 5: OC for a few years prior to that. Southern Miss
• 18:14
  Speaker 5: head coach. OK State, Jacksonville. Let's see here. Nope, no Cincinnati.
• 18:20
  Speaker 5: A couple other college, a few other college stops, but
• 18:23
  Speaker 5: no Cincy.
• 18:24
  Speaker 2: He would have faced the Bengals several times and with
• 18:28
  Speaker 2: the Browns and the Ravens.
• 18:29
  Speaker 5: Yeah.
• 18:29
  Speaker 2: And we'll this year as a head coach for the
• 18:30
  Speaker 2: first time. Um, and interesting also the Shador Sanders take
• 18:35
  Speaker 2: from Ashley saying that she thinks that he'll be the
• 18:38
  Speaker 2: quarterback at some point.
• 18:39
  Speaker 5: At first I was, at first I wasn't really picking
• 18:41
  Speaker 5: up what she was putting down, but yeah, I mean
• 18:42
  Speaker 5: the Deshaun Watson injury woes go way back and you know, it's,
• 18:47
  Speaker 5: it's a small sample size thus far. That was a
• 18:50
  Speaker 5: big hump for him to get over winning at home and,
• 18:53
  Speaker 5: Week three and playing okay enough to do it. He
• 18:59
  Speaker 5: didn't play well at all in the third quarter. I
• 19:00
  Speaker 5: think there was a stat out there that he threw
• 19:02
  Speaker 5: for zero yards in the third quarter in that game
• 19:04
  Speaker 5: against Carolina. But some fourth quarter magic. And say what
• 19:08
  Speaker 5: you will about Deshaun Watson, but if you think back
• 19:10
  Speaker 5: to his Clemson days and if you watched any of
• 19:13
  Speaker 5: those games, I mean, he was pretty clutch for the
• 19:15
  Speaker 5: Clemson Tigers.
• 19:16
  Speaker 2: He was real good against the Pitt Panthers.
• 19:18
  Speaker 5: Well, the Pitt Panthers beat him, though. Did I ever
• 19:21
  Speaker 5: tell you I was there for that game? No, you
• 19:22
  Speaker 5: were in Clemson? I was in Clemson.
• 19:23
  Speaker 2: Look at you. Were you covering the team?
• 19:25
  Speaker 5: Well, here's the thing, not to make this too much
• 19:28
  Speaker 5: about me, but... That was a great game, though. It
• 19:30
  Speaker 5: was a fantastic game in college football that year, not
• 19:33
  Speaker 5: just for Pitt fans, but that was 2016, and I
• 19:36
  Speaker 5: was covering high schools for the Post-Gazette, but our Pitt
• 19:38
  Speaker 5: writer at the time was, like, I think in the
• 19:41
  Speaker 5: process of leaving the paper and couldn't make it to
• 19:44
  Speaker 5: that game, so they asked me, would you want to
• 19:46
  Speaker 5: go cover... You got called up? like what go cover
• 19:49
  Speaker 5: pit at the number was clemson number they were one
• 19:52
  Speaker 5: two or three yeah and go cover that at clemson
• 19:55
  Speaker 5: when i've never covered a college football game for the
• 19:58
  Speaker 5: the pg other than like duquesne iup no offense but
• 20:01
  Speaker 5: yeah but it's not at clemson i was like yeah
• 20:03
  Speaker 5: how sign me up let's go let's do it and
• 20:06
  Speaker 5: little did we know that I mean, I'm sure most
• 20:09
  Speaker 5: people thought they were going to get blown out that day.
• 20:11
  Speaker 5: But that was such a memorable game. It's a great atmosphere, too.
• 20:15
  Speaker 5: Let me see if I can dial up the score
• 20:17
  Speaker 5: off the top of my head.
• 20:18
  Speaker 2: 43-42.
• 20:18
  Speaker 5: Sounds about right. Maybe. Chris blew it. Field goal to
• 20:22
  Speaker 5: win it. Shoot out back and forth. It absolutely was.
• 20:25
  Speaker 5: And that was a great trip.
• 20:26
  Speaker 2: Boy, one of the biggest wins for Pitt football in
• 20:28
  Speaker 2: a long time. And I ended up covering.
• 20:29
  Speaker 5: Pitt full time for the rest of that season and
• 20:31
  Speaker 5: then the next couple seasons. But nothing... howard's rock could
• 20:34
  Speaker 5: really top that game yeah i went to see howard's
• 20:36
  Speaker 5: rock it was a cool scene tough place to get
• 20:38
  Speaker 5: to though i think i flew into charlotte and drove
• 20:40
  Speaker 5: down to clemson from there i'm sure we've got some
• 20:42
  Speaker 5: carolina listeners out there who know that territory well but
• 20:47
  Speaker 5: it was yeah it was a cool scene with all
• 20:48
  Speaker 5: the tailgaters and you get the uh the sponsors that
• 20:51
  Speaker 5: you don't really see up here like bojangles and places
• 20:55
  Speaker 5: like that uh but yeah it was.
• 20:56
  Speaker 2: Awesome that campus at Clemson is beautiful, though. That's a
• 21:00
  Speaker 2: beautiful campus. Most of the schools down south.
• 21:03
  Speaker 5: And I remember, yeah, it was 43-42, so I had
• 21:05
  Speaker 5: that part right. The other thing that I remember about
• 21:07
  Speaker 5: that game, too, is we were all coming away from
• 21:10
  Speaker 5: a thing like, this is the modern 13-9. Shout out
• 21:12
  Speaker 5: Wes Euler. Uh-oh. That, like, Pitt just ruined another team's
• 21:18
  Speaker 5: chances at a national championship. But, like, I think the
• 21:21
  Speaker 5: 2-3 teams lost that night, too. So Clemson didn't lose
• 21:25
  Speaker 5: much ground, and then As it turned out, they did
• 21:29
  Speaker 5: not ruin their chances of playing for a national championship.
• 21:32
  Speaker 5: They went to the national championship and won it that year,
• 21:36
  Speaker 5: I'm pretty sure.
• 21:37
  Speaker 2: One of the cool things at Clemson, if you're a
• 21:39
  Speaker 2: college football fan, whether you're a Pitt fan or not.
• 21:41
  Speaker 5: They beat Alabama in the final to Sean Watson.
• 21:43
  Speaker 1: Yep.
• 21:43
  Speaker 2: Well, to go along with that, when you walk up
• 21:46
  Speaker 2: to the stadium on the other side of Howard's Rock,
• 21:48
  Speaker 2: by the way, the main walkway, they have all their
• 21:51
  Speaker 2: national championship teams engraved in the sidewalk as you walk
• 21:56
  Speaker 2: up and They have the records. They have the rosters.
• 21:58
  Speaker 2: They have the coaching staff. They have everything. It's really
• 22:00
  Speaker 2: a cool piece of college football history.
• 22:02
  Speaker 5: There's a sweet atmosphere up there. I don't know if
• 22:05
  Speaker 5: Clemson's losing it a little bit right now as we
• 22:08
  Speaker 5: digress into college football talk. They're 2-0 in the ACC,
• 22:11
  Speaker 5: but they're 3-1 after getting their doors blown off by
• 22:14
  Speaker 5: that LSU 51-10 in the season opener. Some Dabo Sweeney,
• 22:19
  Speaker 5: Lane Kiffin, verbal jousting back and forth, but since then
• 22:24
  Speaker 5: they took care of, actually they I shouldn't say took
• 22:27
  Speaker 5: care of. They came back and beat Bill Belichick's UNC
• 22:30
  Speaker 5: Tar Heels. Now they have a huge game Saturday against
• 22:33
  Speaker 5: Miami at home, 7.30 p.m. So they'll have that stadium
• 22:38
  Speaker 5: rocking for that with the number four ranked Hurricanes coming
• 22:40
  Speaker 5: to town. It's a good weekend of college football. And yeah,
• 22:45
  Speaker 5: we talked on yesterday's show with Missy about Pitt going
• 22:47
  Speaker 5: down to virginia tech they got that gobbler noise in
• 22:50
  Speaker 5: blacksburg whatever it is like on third downs and stuff
• 22:54
  Speaker 5: so yeah enter sandman cool gobbler noise not for me.
• 22:57
  Speaker 2: Annoying yes unless you're a virginia tech fan uh listen
• 23:01
  Speaker 2: it'll be a good weekend to watch college football on
• 23:03
  Speaker 2: saturday and nfl on sunday because the steelers will have
• 23:07
  Speaker 2: their week four game in the bag by then that's
• 23:10
  Speaker 2: right thursday night football that's one advantage brian from a
• 23:13
  Speaker 2: uh coverage standpoint if you're in the media like you
• 23:15
  Speaker 2: and i or you're a fan well you get the
• 23:17
  Speaker 2: game behind you and you can enjoy the rest of
• 23:19
  Speaker 2: the weekend do some fall activities or watch some uh
• 23:22
  Speaker 2: other nfl games on sunday not have to worry about
• 23:25
  Speaker 2: watching the pittsburgh steelers or you know i don't know
• 23:28
  Speaker 2: i'm a traditionalist i like sunday football.
• 23:31
  Speaker 5: Well yeah i was gonna say worry but also like
• 23:34
  Speaker 5: you enjoy it i understand but there's also an anxiety
• 23:36
  Speaker 5: that comes with it your heart rate will be We'll
• 23:39
  Speaker 5: be a lot calmer at the pumpkin patch than it
• 23:41
  Speaker 5: would be watching Stillers, whoever.
• 23:44
  Speaker 2: And you'll be a lot happier at that pumpkin patch
• 23:46
  Speaker 2: if the Steelers get the 3-1.
• 23:48
  Speaker 1: Yes.
• 23:49
  Speaker 5: Yes, you will.
• 23:49
  Speaker 2: If they're 2-2, eh.
• 23:50
  Speaker 5: The pumpkins won't smell as sweet.
• 23:54
  Speaker 2: Yeah, they won't. Fill in the blank. All right, let's
• 23:56
  Speaker 2: get to our power rankings. So listen, any NFL talk
• 23:59
  Speaker 2: show out there, You can get power rankings every week.
• 24:02
  Speaker 2: They all do it, including ours here on SNR. It's
• 24:04
  Speaker 2: great stuff. But Brian and I have decided this season
• 24:07
  Speaker 2: to do our top five offensive power rankings and our
• 24:10
  Speaker 2: top five defensive power rankings, which we'll get to here
• 24:13
  Speaker 2: at 340. But first, let's go through our top five. Brian,
• 24:17
  Speaker 2: I'm going to start things off with a team in
• 24:20
  Speaker 2: which has now had three different quarterbacks to get the
• 24:22
  Speaker 2: two and one on the season, and that's the Chicago Bears.
• 24:25
  Speaker 2: They're my number five offense. They rank third overall in
• 24:28
  Speaker 2: total offense in the NFL with an average of 408
• 24:31
  Speaker 2: yards per game. They've done a nice job on the
• 24:33
  Speaker 2: ground with 184 yards per game rushing, and they've averaged
• 24:38
  Speaker 2: 29.7 points per game. The Chicago Bears, my No. 5 offense.
• 24:42
  Speaker 5: I have them knocking on my door. I'm not putting
• 24:44
  Speaker 5: them in the top five, but that performance on Monday
• 24:46
  Speaker 5: Night Football, I think with Ben Johnson now as the
• 24:49
  Speaker 5: head coach, I'm going to kind of put them in
• 24:52
  Speaker 5: that category of a team where it's like it almost
• 24:55
  Speaker 5: doesn't matter who the QB is. He's going to cook
• 24:57
  Speaker 5: something up. and put guys in the right places. And
• 25:00
  Speaker 5: it's almost more scheme driven. I'm not trying to take
• 25:03
  Speaker 5: anything away from Caleb Williams, loyal listeners. And you had
• 25:06
  Speaker 5: know that I'm a big Caleb Williams believer.
• 25:08
  Speaker 2: Yes.
• 25:08
  Speaker 5: But case Keenum stepped in there, not quite off the couch,
• 25:11
  Speaker 5: but pretty close to it. And I mean, if you
• 25:14
  Speaker 5: seen some of the clips or some of the film
• 25:16
  Speaker 5: breakdowns and analysis of what they've been doing, it was
• 25:20
  Speaker 5: darn impressive from a play calling and schematic standpoint. So yeah,
• 25:25
  Speaker 5: I guess I'm, I'm putting them in a category of,
• 25:27
  Speaker 5: with some of the teams that are going to be
• 25:28
  Speaker 5: in my top five of like the head coach is
• 25:30
  Speaker 5: so good at drawing things up that you just kind
• 25:35
  Speaker 5: of have an inherent trust regardless of who's under center.
• 25:39
  Speaker 5: But my number five, Ed, I'm going to go with
• 25:42
  Speaker 5: another team that I would consider in that same vein,
• 25:44
  Speaker 5: sort of the San Francisco 49ers. They did it last
• 25:46
  Speaker 5: year with Mac Jones stepping in and not really missing
• 25:49
  Speaker 5: a beat. I always have arguments with one of my
• 25:52
  Speaker 5: basketball buddies, Julio, who's a diehard Niners fan. He's from,
• 25:56
  Speaker 5: the Bay Area originally. I tell him Brock Purdy's a
• 26:00
  Speaker 5: system QB, mostly joking, but a little bit not. He
• 26:04
  Speaker 5: comes back at me, and it's been tough to support
• 26:06
  Speaker 5: my anti-Brock Purdy agenda. with the way he's playing this year,
• 26:10
  Speaker 5: the Niners are humming. I've got them number five on
• 26:12
  Speaker 5: my offensive list.
• 26:13
  Speaker 2: Shout out to Julio and his Niners. I got them
• 26:15
  Speaker 2: a bit further up on my list. This is always
• 26:17
  Speaker 2: fun when you and I go back and forth and
• 26:19
  Speaker 2: we see which teams you have and I don't or
• 26:20
  Speaker 2: vice versa. Number four for me, the Baltimore Ravens offense.
• 26:24
  Speaker 2: They're two and one on the season, an average of
• 26:26
  Speaker 2: 231 yards passing per game, 167 rushing. Well, when you
• 26:31
  Speaker 2: have Derrick Henry running the ball and Lamar Jackson back there,
• 26:34
  Speaker 2: You better have some rushing numbers like that. But overall,
• 26:36
  Speaker 2: this offense ranks sixth for total yards per game with 398,
• 26:40
  Speaker 2: and they've averaged over 30 points per game through three weeks.
• 26:44
  Speaker 5: All right, that's fair. I don't have the Ravens in mind,
• 26:47
  Speaker 5: but they would absolutely deserve consideration, as would a few others.
• 26:52
  Speaker 5: I'm not going to have the Jags or the Cowboys
• 26:53
  Speaker 5: in mind, but I think that.
• 26:55
  Speaker 2: I don't either, so we're good there.
• 26:56
  Speaker 5: They've been piling up points. The Cowboys did so in
• 26:58
  Speaker 5: a loss to the Ravens the other day in Brazil.
• 27:01
  Speaker 5: My number four is the Detroit Lions.
• 27:03
  Speaker 2: Just.
• 27:03
  Speaker 5: Bajon Robinson is one of one, but he's also kind
• 27:07
  Speaker 5: of one of two because what Jameer Gibbs has been
• 27:09
  Speaker 5: doing already this season is also bonkers. 99 yards and
• 27:12
  Speaker 5: two touchdowns on the ground. Oh, and by the way,
• 27:15
  Speaker 5: seven catches for 65. Pretty good. And another touchdown. They're
• 27:20
  Speaker 5: tough to stop, even with Jared Goff being a bit
• 27:22
  Speaker 5: of a statue in there. I think Ben Johnson's current
• 27:26
  Speaker 5: team is really good, but I think his former team's
• 27:29
  Speaker 5: got a little bit more pieces right now, too.
• 27:31
  Speaker 2: So... Much like how you had the Bears just on
• 27:34
  Speaker 2: the outside looking in, I have the Lions just on
• 27:36
  Speaker 2: the outside looking in as well. I was just about
• 27:38
  Speaker 2: to sneak them into my top five, but I did not.
• 27:40
  Speaker 2: Let's get to our top three this week. And for me,
• 27:43
  Speaker 2: it's the Kansas City Chiefs at number three. Second overall
• 27:47
  Speaker 2: in offensive yardage with an average of 416 per game.
• 27:48
  Speaker 2: They're just averaging 29.3 points per game and 153 yards rushing.
• 27:51
  Speaker 2: Kenneth Walker III. has been the top running back so
• 27:59
  Speaker 2: far this season, it seems.
• 28:00
  Speaker 5: I don't think he's quite as dynamic as Robinson and
• 28:03
  Speaker 5: Gibbs in the open field and with pass catching.
• 28:05
  Speaker 2: Number three, then, on you?
• 28:06
  Speaker 5: But I think he's more, yeah, that between-the-tackles type of guy,
• 28:09
  Speaker 5: a little bit more of an old-school running back.
• 28:11
  Speaker 2: He's bigger, yeah.
• 28:13
  Speaker 5: Yeah, and he just runs that way and harder, too.
• 28:16
  Speaker 5: It'd be a good discussion to have on the show.
• 28:17
  Speaker 5: Maybe tomorrow, where is Jalen Warren right now among your
• 28:22
  Speaker 5: NFL power rankings of running backs? Because I just named
• 28:25
  Speaker 5: a few really good ones, but Jalen Warren's coming off
• 28:27
  Speaker 5: the game of his life, too. I've got the Chiefs
• 28:30
  Speaker 5: in my number three spot as well, I think, for
• 28:32
  Speaker 5: the second week in a row. Putting up 24 in
• 28:37
  Speaker 5: Miami just feels like a status quo kind of game
• 28:40
  Speaker 5: to me. Don't move up, don't move down for doing that.
• 28:43
  Speaker 2: Kind of boring.
• 28:43
  Speaker 5: Right, but I still believe in the back trick Mahomes.
• 28:48
  Speaker 2: What is that again?
• 28:49
  Speaker 5: Backtrick Mahomes. He's Backtrick Mahomes. Oh, he's Backtrick Mahomes.
• 28:52
  Speaker 2: Very nice. I see what you did there.
• 28:53
  Speaker 5: And Travis Kelsey's looking pretty good, too.
• 28:55
  Speaker 2: I'm looking down at my paper trying to get prepared
• 28:57
  Speaker 2: for my number two, and then you caught my attention.
• 28:59
  Speaker 2: I looked up, and I'm like, wait a minute. What
• 29:00
  Speaker 2: did he just say? I like that. Good job, Double B.
• 29:02
  Speaker 2: All right, number two for me is your number five team.
• 29:05
  Speaker 2: I have the San Francisco 49ers. They're undefeated. They've been
• 29:09
  Speaker 2: averaging 32.7 points per game, just shy of 400 yards
• 29:12
  Speaker 2: per game and 263 yards per game when it comes
• 29:16
  Speaker 2: to passing. Hey, the San Francisco 49er offense is no
• 29:20
  Speaker 2: joke to your boy, Julio. Listen, if they stay healthy,
• 29:23
  Speaker 2: they could be in the conversation to be the top
• 29:26
  Speaker 2: team in the NFC all season long.
• 29:28
  Speaker 5: No doubt about it. It's impressive. Maybe I'm too low
• 29:32
  Speaker 5: on them at number five. I've just been I've been
• 29:34
  Speaker 5: somewhat hesitant to move people up and down a lot
• 29:37
  Speaker 5: just three weeks into the season. And speaking, of which
• 29:40
  Speaker 5: my number two team is my number two team. Again,
• 29:43
  Speaker 5: at least for the second week in a row, maybe
• 29:44
  Speaker 5: the third Cincinnati Bengals, even though they lost here in
• 29:47
  Speaker 5: Pittsburgh on Sunday, I don't think it was really the
• 29:49
  Speaker 5: fault of the offense.
• 29:50
  Speaker 2: Yes.
• 29:50
  Speaker 5: You can always score more. You can always do more
• 29:53
  Speaker 5: such as block Derek Harmon in the fourth quarter on
• 29:57
  Speaker 5: your two minute drill. But, you know, I think that
• 29:59
  Speaker 5: was kind of a, a blip on the radar and
• 30:01
  Speaker 5: just more of a fantastic play by Harmon than anything else.
• 30:05
  Speaker 5: They put up 27. Chase and Higgins look like they
• 30:08
  Speaker 5: aren't going away anytime soon. Even Mike Gesicki as a
• 30:11
  Speaker 5: third option is still a problem to deal with, and
• 30:14
  Speaker 5: Chase Brown is a problem to deal with. I think
• 30:19
  Speaker 5: they're going to be a force to be reckoned with
• 30:20
  Speaker 5: still offensively, even though, hey, Steelers offense outplayed them for
• 30:24
  Speaker 5: one game. They got the win. That's all that matters.
• 30:26
  Speaker 2: Hey, they scored 27 points.
• 30:27
  Speaker 5: Our rankings don't matter.
• 30:29
  Speaker 2: No, they don't.
• 30:29
  Speaker 5: Winning the games matter.
• 30:30
  Speaker 2: I don't think. I mean, I hope. I hope offensive
• 30:33
  Speaker 2: staffs across the NFL are listening to us double B
• 30:36
  Speaker 2: and seeing where we put their offenses so far this year.
• 30:39
  Speaker 2: But Bengals, just to end that point by what you
• 30:41
  Speaker 2: just said, I don't have them in my top five. However, listen,
• 30:45
  Speaker 2: Jamar Chase, T. Higgins, Chase Brown, Joe Burrow, we just
• 30:48
  Speaker 2: had a healthy dose of it all. I mean, if
• 30:51
  Speaker 2: they don't fumble that ball at the end, there's a
• 30:52
  Speaker 2: good chance they're at midfield. They kick a field goal.
• 30:55
  Speaker 2: They tie the game. Who knows if they get one
• 30:57
  Speaker 2: in the end zone. That's why how important it was
• 31:00
  Speaker 2: for the Steelers to have Derek Harmon make that big,
• 31:02
  Speaker 2: big play. Okay, number one, offense. Probably we both have
• 31:06
  Speaker 2: the Buffalo Bills, right?
• 31:07
  Speaker 3: Yep.
• 31:08
  Speaker 2: Bills 3-0 on the season. They've averaged 33.7 points per game,
• 31:11
  Speaker 2: 401.7 yards per game. That's fourth in the NFL. But listen,
• 31:19
  Speaker 2: this is an offense that Josh Allen has completely taken
• 31:22
  Speaker 2: over as he does every single year. If he doesn't
• 31:24
  Speaker 2: beat you with his arm, he beats you with his legs.
• 31:26
  Speaker 2: Some games, he beats you with both.
• 31:29
  Speaker 5: And they're coming off their worst performance of the season
• 31:32
  Speaker 5: in a 24-16 win against a Chargers team that's backs
• 31:34
  Speaker 5: were against the wall. Well, I guess now they've been
• 31:37
  Speaker 5: put through the wall because the Bills still came back
• 31:39
  Speaker 5: and won that game. But they were down 10-0. Josh
• 31:42
  Speaker 5: Allen threw two, I think, early interceptions. Was sacked four
• 31:46
  Speaker 5: times by what's still a talented Chargers defense, even if
• 31:49
  Speaker 5: they can't get out of their own way. But it
• 31:51
  Speaker 5: doesn't matter. Their offense still found a way to rushed
• 31:54
  Speaker 5: for 176 yards and three touchdowns. So, yeah, I mean,
• 31:58
  Speaker 5: they're good in the sense of they can beat you
• 31:59
  Speaker 5: through the air, or if you want to take that away, well,
• 32:02
  Speaker 5: they'll give it to you on the ground.
• 32:03
  Speaker 2: So you have Bengals and Lions in your top five,
• 32:07
  Speaker 2: and I have the Ravens. I'm trying to look here.
• 32:10
  Speaker 2: And the Bears, I guess. Yeah, you don't have the Bears.
• 32:12
  Speaker 2: So I have the Ravens and Bears. So I have
• 32:13
  Speaker 2: Bears at five, Ravens at four, Chiefs at three, Niners
• 32:17
  Speaker 2: at two, Bills at one. You have Bills at one,
• 32:19
  Speaker 2: Bengals at two, Chiefs at three, Lions at four, and
• 32:22
  Speaker 2: Niners at five. So we're not too far off.
• 32:24
  Speaker 5: The Steelers keep it up. If they light up the
• 32:26
  Speaker 5: scoreboard in Cleveland Thursday night. They might get there.
• 32:29
  Speaker 2: We want that next week whenever we do our power rankings.
• 32:31
  Speaker 2: Up next, our defensive power rankings. Top five incoming. I'm Ed.
• 32:36
  Speaker 2: He's Brian. You're listening to the Steelers Report right here
• 32:38
  Speaker 2: on Steelers Nation Radio, part of the Steelers Audio Network.
• 32:56
  Speaker 1: This is the Steelers Report with Brian Batko and Ed
• 32:59
  Speaker 1: Troup on Steelers Nation Radio, a part of the Steelers
• 33:03
  Speaker 1: Audio Network.
• 33:05
  Speaker 2: We are just about 24 hours away now from the
• 33:10
  Speaker 2: start of our countdown to kickoff. Pre-show with Tom Offerman.
• 33:16
  Speaker 2: And Matt Williamson, 4-6 tomorrow. Then the official countdown to
• 33:20
  Speaker 2: kickoff from 6-8 with our good friends Mike Persuta, Jerry Dulac,
• 33:28
  Speaker 2: and Bob Labriola. I don't think it's quite 6-8 because
• 33:32
  Speaker 2: at some point our other good friends, Rob King and
• 33:35
  Speaker 2: Max Starks and Missy Matthews, jump in there right before kickoff.
• 33:38
  Speaker 2: 8-15 tomorrow night in Cleveland, right, Brian?
• 33:40
  Speaker 5: Yeah.
• 33:41
  Speaker 2: The official kickoff time.
• 33:43
  Speaker 5: That's on Amazon Prime nationally and internationally, but you can
• 33:47
  Speaker 5: watch it locally on WTAE Channel 4.
• 33:49
  Speaker 2: You get the great Al Michaels and Herb Street. I'm
• 33:54
  Speaker 2: a big Herb Street fan, man. The college, NFL, anytime
• 33:57
  Speaker 2: he's on the air, I enjoy him. And programming note tomorrow,
• 34:02
  Speaker 2: Brian and I will be the lead-in to the pregame
• 34:04
  Speaker 2: show that starts things off at 4 o'clock with Tom Offerman.
• 34:08
  Speaker 2: And Matt Williamson will be on from 2 to 4
• 34:11
  Speaker 2: tomorrow to get you ready for that.
• 34:12
  Speaker 5: We'll go pretty heavy on the Brown Steelers breakdowns, I think.
• 34:16
  Speaker 2: Yep, get you all set for that. And tomorrow we
• 34:18
  Speaker 2: will do our guessing of the team captains. We were
• 34:20
  Speaker 2: going to do it today. We figured it would be
• 34:21
  Speaker 2: best to save it until tomorrow. Makes sense.
• 34:25
  Speaker 5: Get all our ducks in a row right before the
• 34:27
  Speaker 5: game is kicked off and a good way to get
• 34:29
  Speaker 5: you hyped up.
• 34:30
  Speaker 2: All of our eggs in one basket.
• 34:32
  Speaker 1: Yes.
• 34:32
  Speaker 5: There you go.
• 34:33
  Speaker 2: Any more you want to throw in there? I can't
• 34:34
  Speaker 2: think of any.
• 34:35
  Speaker 5: I don't think so.
• 34:36
  Speaker 2: You're the one that comes up with that stuff.
• 34:37
  Speaker 5: Is there some, you know, get all of our dogs
• 34:40
  Speaker 5: in the.
• 34:41
  Speaker 2: In the pound.
• 34:42
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 34:42
  Speaker 2: In the dog pound.
• 34:43
  Speaker 5: Plus, you know, the Browns, they've got their name, which
• 34:46
  Speaker 5: they're named after Paul Brown, right?
• 34:48
  Speaker 2: Correct.
• 34:48
  Speaker 5: Founder of the team.
• 34:49
  Speaker 3: Yep.
• 34:50
  Speaker 5: Who also had a hand in founding the Bengals, right? Correct.
• 34:52
  Speaker 5: Because they played at Paul Brown Stadium for a long time.
• 34:55
  Speaker 2: Correct.
• 34:55
  Speaker 5: Which is now Paycor Stadium. Anyway, that's confusing. But then
• 34:58
  Speaker 5: they've got the dog thing going on as a mascot. Correct.
• 35:01
  Speaker 5: Then they've got Brownie the Elf. You've seen that little guy.
• 35:04
  Speaker 2: Who's not anything to do with the dog.
• 35:06
  Speaker 1: Right.
• 35:06
  Speaker 5: And he's kind of creepy. Is he still at midfield?
• 35:09
  Speaker 5: I don't think he is anymore, but he has been
• 35:11
  Speaker 5: for a lot of these Steelers-Browns games over the years.
• 35:14
  Speaker 5: Especially some of these Thursday games. I think he brings
• 35:17
  Speaker 5: some bad juju for the Steelers.
• 35:19
  Speaker 2: I think we should probably have done a top mascot.
• 35:22
  Speaker 2: In the offseason. We won't do it now. That's an offseason.
• 35:24
  Speaker 2: Maybe we'll do it next offseason. We didn't do that,
• 35:26
  Speaker 2: did we? Did we do, like, a top ten?
• 35:28
  Speaker 5: No, that was not one that we did. We did jerseys.
• 35:29
  Speaker 2: Yeah, but we didn't do a mascot. Would the Elf
• 35:32
  Speaker 2: make your cut? Steely McBeam has to.
• 35:35
  Speaker 5: The Elf would not make my cut.
• 35:37
  Speaker 2: We're on Steelers Nation Radio. Steely's got to be, like,
• 35:39
  Speaker 2: in the top five.
• 35:39
  Speaker 5: Steely's number one. If we do that, we'll do what
• 35:42
  Speaker 5: we did with the jerseys and stuff, and we'll just
• 35:44
  Speaker 5: take the Steelers out of it because, you know, obviously...
• 35:48
  Speaker 5: They get top billing.
• 35:50
  Speaker 2: In the offseason, we took the Steelers out of all
• 35:52
  Speaker 2: that because we thought we'd be too nice, which we
• 35:54
  Speaker 2: would be. But I wouldn't put the Elf in my
• 35:56
  Speaker 2: top five.
• 35:57
  Speaker 5: Did we do stadiums? I don't think we did stadiums.
• 35:59
  Speaker 2: I don't think we did stadiums. The Elf would not
• 36:00
  Speaker 2: be in my top five. We're looking at all this
• 36:01
  Speaker 2: creativity in this room right now. And we're in season.
• 36:03
  Speaker 2: We don't even need any of it.
• 36:04
  Speaker 5: Save it for the lean days in... April and May.
• 36:08
  Speaker 2: Yeah. Maybe February.
• 36:11
  Speaker 5: July.
• 36:11
  Speaker 2: Hopefully February we won't have any lean ones. We'll be
• 36:13
  Speaker 2: talking about the Steelers Super Bowl.
• 36:15
  Speaker 5: We'll see.
• 36:15
  Speaker 2: All right, let's get into our top five defenses. Defenses,
• 36:20
  Speaker 2: as some would like to say.
• 36:22
  Speaker 1: Defense.
• 36:23
  Speaker 2: They like to play a lot of good defense in
• 36:25
  Speaker 2: Cleveland and Pittsburgh. That's for sure. Two franchises, especially the
• 36:28
  Speaker 2: black and gold, that have been excellent. in that category.
• 36:32
  Speaker 2: At number five for me, Double B, I'm going to
• 36:34
  Speaker 2: start things off with the Minnesota Vikings defense. 3-0 on
• 36:38
  Speaker 2: the season. They are giving up an average of 85.7
• 36:42
  Speaker 2: yards per game rushing-wise and 319.7 total yards per game
• 36:49
  Speaker 2: and 234 for the passing category. The Vikings, a bit
• 36:52
  Speaker 2: of a surprise. They're 3-0 and their defense has a
• 36:54
  Speaker 2: lot to do with that.
• 36:55
  Speaker 5: I still think you're too low on the Vikings. They
• 36:58
  Speaker 5: were my number one last week and And we'll see
• 37:01
  Speaker 5: if I have them there again, but yeah, they've been,
• 37:03
  Speaker 5: they've been dynamite thus far. My number five new to
• 37:07
  Speaker 5: my list, the Jacksonville Jaguars, you know, 35 to six
• 37:13
  Speaker 5: against the Patriots. I know it was in Duval. Speaking
• 37:18
  Speaker 5: of which, did you know that the, the Jaguars is
• 37:20
  Speaker 5: their last season for a while at home? Cause they're
• 37:23
  Speaker 5: getting like some stadium renovations or something. They're going to
• 37:25
  Speaker 5: be playing a bunch of games next year in Orlando,
• 37:28
  Speaker 5: Orlando and London.
• 37:30
  Speaker 2: Yep.
• 37:30
  Speaker 5: They actually, they're, Their annual London pilgrimage is probably coming
• 37:34
  Speaker 5: up pretty soon when it seems like they spend like
• 37:36
  Speaker 5: two months out there. But, hey, if their defense is
• 37:40
  Speaker 5: playing like this, they're going to win a lot of
• 37:42
  Speaker 5: games in London. They just absolutely demolished Drake May, Travion Henderson,
• 37:48
  Speaker 5: and all those Patriots players. Yeah, they have two London
• 37:51
  Speaker 5: games coming up October 11th and 18th at Tottenham Hotspur
• 37:55
  Speaker 5: Stadium and Wembley Stadium. But regardless, this is about the
• 37:59
  Speaker 5: Jags defense and the Jags defense coming off of a
• 38:02
  Speaker 5: fantastic performance at home. A couple picks. First career pick
• 38:06
  Speaker 5: for Travis Hunter. And Jerry and Jones also picked off
• 38:10
  Speaker 5: a pass. And, oh, by the way, they sacked Drake
• 38:12
  Speaker 5: May three times.
• 38:13
  Speaker 2: I had Jacksonville just on the outside looking into this
• 38:15
  Speaker 2: top five.
• 38:16
  Speaker 5: And they got a fumble from Drake May.
• 38:18
  Speaker 2: Well, they did a lot.
• 38:18
  Speaker 5: Drake May had a rough day.
• 38:19
  Speaker 2: And, you know, Drake May has had a rough start
• 38:22
  Speaker 2: to his season so far through three games, as have
• 38:24
  Speaker 2: the Patriots offense. Maybe not having A.J. Brown. Has a
• 38:28
  Speaker 2: lot to do with that. That certainly has not helped
• 38:29
  Speaker 2: the Patriots, but they are not on our list, so
• 38:31
  Speaker 2: we're not talking Patriots. Let's talk number four for me,
• 38:33
  Speaker 2: the San Francisco 49ers. 3-0 on the season, an average
• 38:37
  Speaker 2: of 313 total yards given up, 207 in the air,
• 38:41
  Speaker 2: and another 105 on the ground.
• 38:43
  Speaker 5: Yeah, the Patriots defense falls out of my list. I
• 38:45
  Speaker 5: had them in there after what I watched firsthand in Foxborough,
• 38:49
  Speaker 5: but well, you give up 35 points and you're going
• 38:52
  Speaker 5: to have to drop out of the top five for me.
• 38:55
  Speaker 5: I try not to be overreactive, but That one's kind
• 38:57
  Speaker 5: of just an easy call. I've got the Chiefs at
• 39:00
  Speaker 5: number four. You know, ho-hum, went to Miami against a
• 39:05
  Speaker 5: team that's rebuilding and held them to 10, and they
• 39:08
  Speaker 5: lost Devon Achan in that game. But I think by
• 39:11
  Speaker 5: and large, the Chiefs are going to be one of
• 39:13
  Speaker 5: those teams that's kind of hovering around my top five
• 39:16
  Speaker 5: all season.
• 39:16
  Speaker 2: Number three for me? the Kansas City Chiefs. I echo
• 39:20
  Speaker 2: everything you just said. I'll give you a couple numbers, though.
• 39:21
  Speaker 2: 278 total yards per game on average, 178 passing, very
• 39:22
  Speaker 2: good there, and 99.7 rushing yards per game given up
• 39:30
  Speaker 2: so far throughout three games the Chiefs I don't know
• 39:33
  Speaker 2: if I want to say the Chiefs have been a
• 39:35
  Speaker 2: surprise I mean the Vikings have been a surprise at
• 39:37
  Speaker 2: 3-0 the Chiefs it was just a matter of what
• 39:39
  Speaker 2: Patrick Mahomes version and I know we're talking defenses not
• 39:42
  Speaker 2: offenses but what version of Mahomes were you going to
• 39:45
  Speaker 2: get was he going to be back to his old
• 39:46
  Speaker 2: form which he has been so now they're 3-0 Or
• 39:49
  Speaker 2: was it going to take them a half a season
• 39:51
  Speaker 2: to get back? Well, it didn't. It didn't take them
• 39:53
  Speaker 2: any time to get back. They're 3-0.
• 39:55
  Speaker 5: All right, so you got the Chiefs at three. My
• 39:58
  Speaker 5: number three team, they just got skewered on the road
• 40:02
  Speaker 5: in Landover, Maryland. But I'm not going to let that
• 40:05
  Speaker 5: sway me off the Seattle Seahawks. I think that's a
• 40:08
  Speaker 5: blip on the radar for them on a day that
• 40:11
  Speaker 5: the commanders played pretty inspired football with Marcus Mariota stepping
• 40:16
  Speaker 5: in for the injured. jayden daniels you know if the
• 40:21
  Speaker 5: seahawks have a performance like that again in week four
• 40:26
  Speaker 5: when they host the chargers then they're probably falling out
• 40:29
  Speaker 5: but i'll uh i'll bank on the team that they've
• 40:32
  Speaker 5: been really for most of last season in the first
• 40:35
  Speaker 5: couple weeks of this season.
• 40:36
  Speaker 2: I wrestled with this team because i don't know was
• 40:39
  Speaker 2: it last week or two weeks ago that you got
• 40:40
  Speaker 2: up and left uh i think it was last was
• 40:43
  Speaker 2: that last week yeah brian was via video from the
• 40:45
  Speaker 2: south side for steelers practice no steelers practice well the
• 40:48
  Speaker 2: steelers practice tonight they practiced last night not open to
• 40:50
  Speaker 2: the media okay not open the media today but how
• 40:52
  Speaker 2: about last night it was a night practice it was
• 40:54
  Speaker 2: a later evening late afternoon early evening now is that
• 40:57
  Speaker 2: just i know i'm getting off subject but while we're
• 40:59
  Speaker 2: on it was that coach mccarthy.
• 41:00
  Speaker 5: Yeah that's a mccarthy thing trying to uh because they're
• 41:03
  Speaker 5: playing tonight yeah and actually he explained it as no
• 41:05
  Speaker 5: no it's not like a try to practice under the
• 41:08
  Speaker 5: lights or anything to get ready for prime time football
• 41:10
  Speaker 5: it's more just On a typical week, these guys, their
• 41:13
  Speaker 5: Tuesdays are pretty regimented of like, all right, it's our
• 41:15
  Speaker 5: off day. I'm going to get my treatment, my body work,
• 41:18
  Speaker 5: whatever you have going on.
• 41:19
  Speaker 2: So he didn't want to disrupt that.
• 41:21
  Speaker 3: Right.
• 41:21
  Speaker 5: He didn't want to disrupt that. Plus, let him get
• 41:23
  Speaker 5: some sleep because it's going to be pretty much pedal
• 41:27
  Speaker 5: to the metal once you get to Tuesday evening. And yeah,
• 41:30
  Speaker 5: he pushed practice back. And he said it actually is
• 41:32
  Speaker 5: good for the coaches, too, because they've got to have
• 41:34
  Speaker 5: all their game plans done by Tuesday afternoon. So they
• 41:38
  Speaker 5: need that time in the morning to get everything prepped.
• 41:40
  Speaker 2: Well, anyhow, when I mentioned the Jets last week on
• 41:42
  Speaker 2: my list, and you did the Mike Tomlin where you
• 41:44
  Speaker 2: ask him, by the way, did you ask Tomlin that
• 41:45
  Speaker 2: question years ago during COVID when he just got up
• 41:47
  Speaker 2: and left? No. I left that highlight.
• 41:49
  Speaker 5: I don't even think that was during COVID. That was
• 41:51
  Speaker 5: like a proper presser, I believe. Oh, yeah, it was.
• 41:54
  Speaker 2: He wasn't on video.
• 41:55
  Speaker 5: But wasn't there a video one, too? You're thinking of
• 41:56
  Speaker 5: the we do not care.
• 41:57
  Speaker 2: That's it. That was the video one. Did you ask
• 41:59
  Speaker 2: that question? No, no.
• 42:00
  Speaker 5: Well, come on, man.
• 42:01
  Speaker 1: I wish.
• 42:02
  Speaker 2: I wish you did, too.
• 42:02
  Speaker 5: Because my son loves that meme. Yeah.
• 42:04
  Speaker 2: I like the one where he just gets up and leaves, right?
• 42:06
  Speaker 2: Just shakes his head and exits.
• 42:08
  Speaker 5: I didn't love that.
• 42:09
  Speaker 2: Jets, I bet you didn't. Jets, number two. They're one
• 42:12
  Speaker 2: and two on the season. They're still my number two
• 42:14
  Speaker 2: defense because the stats don't lie. Still 258 total yards
• 42:18
  Speaker 2: per game, giving up 171 in the air and another
• 42:20
  Speaker 2: 87.3 on the ground. They've been really good against the run.
• 42:24
  Speaker 5: Yeah, I'm still not buying it.
• 42:26
  Speaker 2: I got you.
• 42:26
  Speaker 5: I'm still not there.
• 42:27
  Speaker 2: You don't like fireman Ed.
• 42:29
  Speaker 5: Seahawks are still top five in points allowed, even after
• 42:32
  Speaker 5: giving up 33. to Marcus Mariota and the Commanders. Shout
• 42:35
  Speaker 5: out to Marcus Mariota. I thought he was basically done.
• 42:40
  Speaker 5: I wrote him off for sure.
• 42:42
  Speaker 2: I didn't think he was still in the league.
• 42:44
  Speaker 5: Yeah, maybe I was sitting there saying the Commanders would
• 42:47
  Speaker 5: need to trade for someone to replace Jaden Daniels, but hey,
• 42:50
  Speaker 5: I guess they knew what they had in Marcus Mariota.
• 42:52
  Speaker 5: They sure know a heck of a lot more than
• 42:54
  Speaker 5: I do. Alright, anyway, my number two is the San
• 42:58
  Speaker 5: Francisco 49ers. I know you already had them on your list,
• 43:02
  Speaker 5: and if you've been listening really closely and paying really
• 43:05
  Speaker 5: close attention during this segment. You know who my number
• 43:07
  Speaker 5: one is. That also means I dropped the Steelers out
• 43:10
  Speaker 5: from last week.
• 43:11
  Speaker 2: I did too.
• 43:11
  Speaker 5: Some coverage busts and lapses on the defensive end there against,
• 43:14
  Speaker 5: you know, no shame really in it considering I have
• 43:17
  Speaker 5: the Bengals.
• 43:17
  Speaker 2: I would have them like at six or seven.
• 43:18
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 43:18
  Speaker 2: They're not that far behind.
• 43:19
  Speaker 5: Six, seven. I've got the Bengals number two. So, I mean,
• 43:22
  Speaker 5: it's like on offense, not defense. So, I mean.
• 43:24
  Speaker 2: I was going to say, you put them at number
• 43:25
  Speaker 2: one on defense.
• 43:26
  Speaker 5: Picking nits a little bit there, but I hold the
• 43:27
  Speaker 5: Steelers defense to a high standard. So, I got them
• 43:30
  Speaker 5: out of the top five.
• 43:31
  Speaker 2: Now, wait a minute. I am a bit confused here because.
• 43:33
  Speaker 2: I know who my number one team is. Well, I'm
• 43:35
  Speaker 2: just going to say it's the Seattle Seahawks.
• 43:37
  Speaker 5: The Jets lost their top spot for you. They did.
• 43:39
  Speaker 2: You don't have to walk out of the room this week.
• 43:41
  Speaker 2: Though you could have when I put them at number two.
• 43:43
  Speaker 2: You have Seahawks at three. I have them at one.
• 43:46
  Speaker 2: 228 total yards per game. Passing-wise, they've given up, well,
• 43:50
  Speaker 2: let's see, what, 141 passing yards per game. Wow, I
• 43:53
  Speaker 2: didn't know it was that great. And ground-wise, 87 yards
• 43:56
  Speaker 2: per game rushing. So who's your number one, Double B?
• 43:58
  Speaker 2: Because I'm looking at my list and I'm trying to
• 43:59
  Speaker 2: figure this out. I have no clue.
• 44:01
  Speaker 5: Minnesota Vikings. Minnesota Vikings.
• 44:03
  Speaker 2: Oh, I had the likes at five a week.
• 44:04
  Speaker 5: In a row. Second fewest points allowed. Eighth, I think
• 44:09
  Speaker 5: they're eighth in yards per play allowed. Number one in
• 44:14
  Speaker 5: pressure percentage. Brian Flores said it before, I'll say it again.
• 44:18
  Speaker 5: They're actually number two in missed tackles, according to Pro
• 44:21
  Speaker 5: Football Reference. So they've been fundamentally sound as well. They
• 44:25
  Speaker 5: are getting it done, and we'll see if that can
• 44:28
  Speaker 5: last all season. They're going to be tested a lot
• 44:30
  Speaker 5: in the NFC North, of course, with the Lions. The Bears,
• 44:34
  Speaker 5: I don't know about the Packers, but the Vikings are
• 44:37
  Speaker 5: at home against the Dolphins this week. So it could
• 44:41
  Speaker 5: be weird NFL season or it could be Vikings teeing offseason.
• 44:45
  Speaker 2: So the only difference in our top five for defense
• 44:48
  Speaker 2: is I have the Jets and you have Jacksonville. You
• 44:50
  Speaker 2: have Jacksonville at five, I have the Jets at two,
• 44:53
  Speaker 2: and then we both have the Seahawks, Chiefs, 49ers, and Vikings. Yeah,
• 44:57
  Speaker 2: you have Vikings at one, Niners at two, Seahawks at three.
• 45:00
  Speaker 2: Kansas City at four. Jacksonville at five for your top
• 45:03
  Speaker 2: five defenses for the week. I have Seattle at one.
• 45:05
  Speaker 2: Jets at two. Chiefs at three. 49ers at four. Vikings
• 45:09
  Speaker 2: at five. I'm going to declare something going forward for
• 45:11
  Speaker 2: my list. No more losing records. Make my top five.
• 45:14
  Speaker 2: If you have a losing record, you will not be my... Now,
• 45:17
  Speaker 2: I did that last year. We did power rankings last year.
• 45:19
  Speaker 2: I always gave the benefit to the undefeated teams that
• 45:22
  Speaker 2: were left or the one-loss teams. They were always in
• 45:24
  Speaker 2: the top regardless of what happened that previous week. I
• 45:26
  Speaker 2: think I'm going to put the same rule in place
• 45:28
  Speaker 2: for our For our activity here. So Jets, you got
• 45:31
  Speaker 2: to get the 500 if you want to stay on
• 45:33
  Speaker 2: my list going into next week.
• 45:34
  Speaker 5: Ed's drawing a line in the sand.
• 45:35
  Speaker 2: That's it. I can't put any more losing records in
• 45:38
  Speaker 2: play here. You're not a top five offense or defense
• 45:41
  Speaker 2: if you have a losing record.
• 45:42
  Speaker 5: I got you.
• 45:42
  Speaker 2: All right, very good. All right, that's going to do
• 45:44
  Speaker 2: it for the show for today. Starting here at 4
• 45:47
  Speaker 2: o'clock today, it's Wes Shuler, Matt Williamson. It's SNR's Drive,
• 45:51
  Speaker 2: and this has been the Steelers Report. I'm True Peace Backo.
• 45:54
  Speaker 2: Thank you for listening.
• 45:54
  Speaker 5: Thanks to Ashley Bastock for jumping on.
• 45:56
  Speaker 2: Yeah, thank you, Ashley. Great stuff. Make sure you check
• 45:59
  Speaker 2: her out at Cleveland.com and also the Orange and Brown
• 46:02
  Speaker 2: Talk podcast. The Steelers Report right here on Steelers Nation Radio,
• 46:06
  Speaker 2: part of the Steelers Audio Network.