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HR1: Game Recap · In the Locker Room presented by Neighborhood Ford Store (Pittsburgh Steelers)

• 0:03
  Speaker 1: This is In the Locker Room with Rob King, Max Starks,
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: and Willie Colon on Steelers Nation Radio, brought to you
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: in part by the Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop.steelers.com.
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: And by your neighborhood Ford store, the F-150 is the
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: official truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: Great job battling through the ups and downs of it,
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: playing from behind once they took the lead.
• 0:33
  Speaker 3: After we had to establish the lead early.
• 0:34
  Speaker 2: But, you know, it's a back-and-forth division game, which I
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: think is sometimes– I think sometimes it's really what you
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: would expect. But, you know, the situation of football, I
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: think we've got to be.
• 0:48
  Speaker 3: A little bit better.
• 0:50
  Speaker 4: Yeah, pretty well sums it up. The Steelers just did
• 0:53
  Speaker 4: not do enough to win the game last night. They
• 0:55
  Speaker 4: came close. They looked great at the beginning. They looked
• 0:59
  Speaker 4: better at the end. But in between– Those two slices
• 1:03
  Speaker 4: of bread sandwich didn't taste so good for the Steelers.
• 1:06
  Speaker 4: They lose 27-24 and now dropping their record to 2-2.
• 1:12
  Speaker 4: This was such a big game. Opportunity to move to
• 1:15
  Speaker 4: 3-1 and 2-0 in the division with one of those
• 1:18
  Speaker 4: wins coming on the road. Along with Max Starks and
• 1:21
  Speaker 4: Willie Colon, I'm Rob King. Thanks for being with us
• 1:24
  Speaker 4: in the locker room. I got to spend, Willie, about
• 1:27
  Speaker 4: six or seven hours with Max yesterday calling the game,
• 1:30
  Speaker 4: talking about the game beforehand. talking about the game afterward.
• 1:34
  Speaker 4: What were your impressions of what you saw at Huntington
• 1:37
  Speaker 4: Bank Field last night?
• 1:43
  Speaker 5: First of all, I got to breathe, right? That's what
• 1:45
  Speaker 5: was important before you get all emotional. I think a
• 1:50
  Speaker 5: couple things. One, I've never seen the Steelers look so
• 1:54
  Speaker 5: unhinged through four quarters of football. I think you highlighted
• 1:59
  Speaker 5: the fact that they did have a good opening drive
• 2:01
  Speaker 5: and And then Aaron throws an interception. I think that collectively,
• 2:07
  Speaker 5: the Steelers were still riding the emotional high from the
• 2:12
  Speaker 5: win against the Bengals.
• 2:13
  Speaker 3: And the reason I say that, it.
• 2:14
  Speaker 5: Was partially because, you know, defensively, when you see them
• 2:18
  Speaker 5: give up three touchdowns in the second quarter, you see
• 2:21
  Speaker 5: our offense in line and get bullied through four quarters
• 2:24
  Speaker 5: in the trenches. And it take nothing. I take nothing
• 2:27
  Speaker 5: away from the Browns, man. We talked about it before
• 2:29
  Speaker 5: on this show. They have a really good good young
• 2:32
  Speaker 5: roster uh very talented good young roster um and i
• 2:36
  Speaker 5: also think to some degree we may we as in
• 2:40
  Speaker 5: the steelers who we're talking about may may have underestimated
• 2:45
  Speaker 5: who to bring who the browns are currently meaning you
• 2:49
  Speaker 5: knew you knew they had the ability to run the
• 2:52
  Speaker 5: ball with who by the way the steelers i think
• 2:54
  Speaker 5: kept neutralizing for the rest of the night you knew
• 2:57
  Speaker 5: they had young pieces as far as Concepcion and Boston.
• 3:03
  Speaker 5: But collectively, when you look at their offense, they have
• 3:07
  Speaker 5: layers of depth. There's depth to that roster. And I
• 3:10
  Speaker 5: thought the Browns were able to pepper the ball around.
• 3:13
  Speaker 5: And when you start to look at how the game unfolded, yeah,
• 3:18
  Speaker 5: there was some mismanagement. And it was a back-and-forth battle, 100%.
• 3:23
  Speaker 5: I just think when you have an older roster in
• 3:26
  Speaker 5: the Pittsburgh Steelers, and the game tends to kind of
• 3:29
  Speaker 5: unravel and shake, you would have loved to see this
• 3:32
  Speaker 5: team just seem more cool under pressure. And we seem
• 3:38
  Speaker 5: like we didn't handle that well in all phases, from
• 3:41
  Speaker 5: offense to defense to special teams. And we could talk
• 3:45
  Speaker 5: about the clips that they continue to show viral of
• 3:48
  Speaker 5: Aaron Rodgers going berserk or TJ grabbing the headset or whatever.
• 3:53
  Speaker 3: Yeah, that's glaring and maybe jarring in itself.
• 3:56
  Speaker 5: I think collectively I just expected his team to be
• 4:00
  Speaker 5: more hinged.
• 4:02
  Speaker 3: Um, and it seemed like the further.
• 4:04
  Speaker 5: We got into the game, the further the things kind
• 4:07
  Speaker 5: of unraveled that we started to unravel with it.
• 4:09
  Speaker 3: With that said, we did tie the game up, right? We,
• 4:12
  Speaker 3: we did have an opportunity at.
• 4:14
  Speaker 5: The very end to win the game, but there there's,
• 4:18
  Speaker 5: there's checkpoints and there's things that there's markers along the
• 4:20
  Speaker 5: way that you want to see. Um, And I feel
• 4:24
  Speaker 5: like we kind of failed in some of those categories
• 4:26
  Speaker 5: as far as not being unhinged, handling pressure better. Obviously,
• 4:31
  Speaker 5: Jamel Dean going down with an ankle injury hurt us
• 4:34
  Speaker 5: on the back end. I thought we weren't able to
• 4:38
  Speaker 5: get to Deshaun Watson consistently. And defensively, we got to
• 4:42
  Speaker 5: figure out, even with the zone, a lot of zone
• 4:44
  Speaker 5: we do play, we got to figure out how we
• 4:47
  Speaker 5: can blitz and get to the quarterback.
• 4:50
  Speaker 3: And offensively, man, it is what it is.
• 4:52
  Speaker 5: I thought it was It was a young offensive line
• 4:55
  Speaker 5: learning what it means to play NFL football on the
• 4:58
  Speaker 5: road in hostile territory. There's a lot that goes with it,
• 5:01
  Speaker 5: and I think we witnessed it in real time last night.
• 5:04
  Speaker 3: The offensive line didn't play well. That's an understatement.
• 5:07
  Speaker 5: But me and Max have talked about being a part
• 5:11
  Speaker 5: of those type of games and how those type of
• 5:14
  Speaker 5: games can either make or break an offensive line, and
• 5:16
  Speaker 5: it's really how you respond. moving forward is what is
• 5:20
  Speaker 5: what makes an office in line. Cause I've been in
• 5:22
  Speaker 5: some of them dog fights where, you know, you're getting
• 5:24
  Speaker 5: schemed up collectively. You're not playing well individually and not
• 5:28
  Speaker 5: playing well, but yet you still, you're still in it.
• 5:31
  Speaker 5: And as bad as that office in line played, there's
• 5:33
  Speaker 5: a lot of growth and there's a lot of good
• 5:35
  Speaker 5: in that. Um, but it's for that office in line
• 5:38
  Speaker 5: to figure that out and find that out and collectively
• 5:40
  Speaker 5: be better, uh, you know, against the cults who's coming
• 5:44
  Speaker 5: up and they got a long break. So they got,
• 5:47
  Speaker 5: you know, they, They have the opportunity to lick their
• 5:49
  Speaker 5: wounds and kind of soldier up, if you will. But
• 5:52
  Speaker 5: I just suspected the Steelers to be a lot more
• 5:57
  Speaker 5: hinged than what we saw last night.
• 6:02
  Speaker 4: Max, what do you have to add to that?
• 6:06
  Speaker 6: Well, I mean, listen, Willie kind of gave a nice summation.
• 6:14
  Speaker 6: You know, it comes to maturity, right? You know, and
• 6:20
  Speaker 6: maturity comes with confidence. And you can tell that the
• 6:25
  Speaker 6: confidence was very delicate. Because as great of a first
• 6:30
  Speaker 6: drive that they put together was as bad of a
• 6:35
  Speaker 6: second quarter that you could possibly have. You know, I mean,
• 6:40
  Speaker 6: it's one thing to dominate almost 10 minutes on one drive,
• 6:43
  Speaker 6: 17 plays, and you know, just methodically just move it
• 6:49
  Speaker 6: down to just grinding it out. And then, like you said,
• 6:54
  Speaker 6: just one tap of the elbow and everything falls apart.
• 6:58
  Speaker 6: And that elbow being Aaron Rodgers throwing elbow as he
• 7:02
  Speaker 6: was hit by Barnett and that interception. And it just
• 7:06
  Speaker 6: changed the entire complexion. And like you said, to have
• 7:09
  Speaker 6: that resolve, to have that confidence, you know, we didn't
• 7:14
  Speaker 6: see that in the second and third quarter And, you know,
• 7:18
  Speaker 6: and then in the fourth quarter, really bring it back on.
• 7:20
  Speaker 6: I will say this, you know, for a defense that
• 7:22
  Speaker 6: gave up 21 straight in the second quarter, way to
• 7:27
  Speaker 6: rebound and only give up six in the second half. Like,
• 7:30
  Speaker 6: give your team an opportunity to win, you know, and
• 7:32
  Speaker 6: cut the bleeding off. But it just wasn't enough. And,
• 7:35
  Speaker 6: you know, we lost Jamel Dean and also Derek Harmon.
• 7:40
  Speaker 7: In the game.
• 7:42
  Speaker 6: And that's really where I thought a big matchup was
• 7:44
  Speaker 6: going to be that Austin Barber. Derek Harmon matchup, but we,
• 7:49
  Speaker 6: we didn't get that. And then, you know, Mason Graham and,
• 7:51
  Speaker 6: and Zach Frazier, uh, we didn't get that either. So
• 7:56
  Speaker 6: Zach Frazier did his best human pretzel impersonation, uh, treated, uh, Mason,
• 8:01
  Speaker 6: Mason Graham, like, like, like a balloon animal doll, um, at, at,
• 8:05
  Speaker 6: at a kid's party and got him out the game. But,
• 8:08
  Speaker 6: you know, Derek Harmon also suffered an injury. So, you know,
• 8:11
  Speaker 6: it was just, I just felt like that gotta have
• 8:15
  Speaker 6: it guy. in that moment just came a little bit
• 8:21
  Speaker 6: too late. Cause I thought DK was that guy last night.
• 8:23
  Speaker 6: I thought DK for the first time this season, like said, Hey,
• 8:28
  Speaker 6: combat tough catches got to have at moments. I'm I'm
• 8:31
  Speaker 6: your guy for it. And you know, Jalen Warren was
• 8:34
  Speaker 6: that guy the entire game. So you start to see
• 8:38
  Speaker 6: guys rising to the top after these first four games,
• 8:42
  Speaker 6: but man, it just, it stings. Cause you, you know, we've,
• 8:45
  Speaker 6: we've seen this so many times over the last 10 years.
• 8:49
  Speaker 6: where the sealers are a better team on paper, but
• 8:53
  Speaker 6: it doesn't necessarily show up at that stadium and that stadium,
• 8:57
  Speaker 6: whatever mystique or whatever mystical ward is, is cast over it.
• 9:03
  Speaker 7: That won't allow us to get a victory there.
• 9:07
  Speaker 6: I mean, we need to find somebody to go put, put,
• 9:09
  Speaker 6: put a, put a, put a reverse the hex because
• 9:12
  Speaker 6: we are one and nine in that stadium in the
• 9:15
  Speaker 6: last 10 years.
• 9:16
  Speaker 3: Well, can I say something, Rob, before I let you go? Please, yeah.
• 9:21
  Speaker 5: I also think it's time for the Steelers to grow
• 9:23
  Speaker 5: up in that department, Max. I don't think it's a mystique.
• 9:26
  Speaker 5: I think the Steelers simply don't respect the Cleveland Browns.
• 9:29
  Speaker 5: And every time we've rolled into that stadium, there's an
• 9:31
  Speaker 5: expectation for us to just step all over them. And
• 9:35
  Speaker 5: it doesn't matter how many times they continue to kick
• 9:37
  Speaker 5: us in the stomach and punch us in the face,
• 9:39
  Speaker 5: we seem not to– Respect where they are currently from a.
• 9:44
  Speaker 3: Roster standpoint, an organization standpoint.
• 9:46
  Speaker 5: Year, they may not have the blockbuster quarterback or the
• 9:51
  Speaker 5: decorated quarterback currently. But what we saw last night from
• 9:56
  Speaker 5: the Cleveland Browns was a team who really honestly took it.
• 10:00
  Speaker 3: Personal.
• 10:00
  Speaker 5: Let's call it space bait. When Mike Tomlin went on
• 10:02
  Speaker 5: national television and was like, hey, man, the Browns will brown,
• 10:06
  Speaker 5: whatever the hell he said, right? You could tell that
• 10:08
  Speaker 5: was something they used as their fuel going.
• 10:10
  Speaker 3: Into that game.
• 10:12
  Speaker 5: Two, on top of that, they felt like they had
• 10:14
  Speaker 5: the better, that their defensive line was was better than
• 10:19
  Speaker 5: in our offensive line, right? And they watched our offensive
• 10:21
  Speaker 5: line do the sexy-dexy dance after beating the Bengals. They
• 10:26
  Speaker 5: also watched us time after time, you know, feel like
• 10:30
  Speaker 5: kind of big brother them. So emotionally, they were invested
• 10:34
  Speaker 5: and ready for that fight, and they have been over
• 10:36
  Speaker 5: the last couple years. Now, the problem is they treat
• 10:38
  Speaker 5: the Steelers as their Super Bowl, all right? They play up,
• 10:41
  Speaker 5: and they play strong, and they give us their best shot.
• 10:44
  Speaker 5: When other teams, they kind of fall down, and they
• 10:46
  Speaker 5: struggle to win. And so when we get caught up
• 10:49
  Speaker 5: in emotion, we're like, yeah, they play us well, but
• 10:50
  Speaker 5: they lose to everybody else. I think last night was
• 10:53
  Speaker 5: a turning point. And there's a turning point from this standpoint.
• 10:56
  Speaker 5: We watched the Cleveland Browns defensively put on a masterclass, right?
• 11:03
  Speaker 5: Like they played press man and pretty much won safety.
• 11:08
  Speaker 3: And they said, we dare you to beat us. And
• 11:10
  Speaker 3: we never responded.
• 11:11
  Speaker 5: We lived in 11 personnel, which forever drove me crazy because,
• 11:15
  Speaker 5: You know, one of the things that, Mike McCarthy, we
• 11:17
  Speaker 5: expect with this offense, if we don't have guys that
• 11:22
  Speaker 5: can get open, then we have to scheme them open.
• 11:24
  Speaker 3: The fact that we never had.
• 11:25
  Speaker 5: Any bunch sets or we didn't do anything to kind
• 11:28
  Speaker 5: of pop our guys open where we had to. I mean, DK,
• 11:31
  Speaker 5: by all accounts, you're right, Max. DK had to put
• 11:34
  Speaker 5: on a cape for us to get some catches.
• 11:35
  Speaker 3: Like, Roman didn't play bad. He was able to get open.
• 11:38
  Speaker 5: But I think we continue to ignore the fact that
• 11:40
  Speaker 5: the strength of this offense for the Steelers right.
• 11:42
  Speaker 3: Now is our tight ends.
• 11:43
  Speaker 5: And Washington and Fairmouth and Jalen Watts, like that's the
• 11:47
  Speaker 5: strength of our offense.
• 11:49
  Speaker 3: And so we have to figure out who we are offensively.
• 11:52
  Speaker 5: And I don't think we know right now, but I expected,
• 11:55
  Speaker 5: I expected Mike McCarthy to just be a lot more,
• 11:58
  Speaker 5: if you will, like they say in the streets in
• 12:00
  Speaker 5: his bag to help that offense out because yeah, throwing
• 12:04
  Speaker 5: a ball, we threw the hell out the football, but nevertheless, man,
• 12:08
  Speaker 5: it just, we never got a rhythm and it was
• 12:10
  Speaker 5: clunky and it was hostile and, it was unhinged and
• 12:13
  Speaker 5: I don't mean to be redundant with that word, but
• 12:15
  Speaker 5: it just was. Um, and I also know Max and we, we,
• 12:19
  Speaker 5: we can attest to life in the NFL. You're going
• 12:21
  Speaker 5: to have games like that as an office line. Um,
• 12:24
  Speaker 5: but it's how you respond. And I thought I give
• 12:26
  Speaker 5: a lot of credit to those young fellas when it
• 12:28
  Speaker 5: was time. It's when it was time to tie the
• 12:30
  Speaker 5: game up and, and really, you know, put your foot
• 12:32
  Speaker 5: in the middle of the.
• 12:33
  Speaker 3: Ring and bang it out.
• 12:34
  Speaker 5: I thought we did the best job we could on a,
• 12:36
  Speaker 5: on a, on a clunky night for the office line.
• 12:39
  Speaker 5: So it's, um, offensively, I just don't know who the
• 12:45
  Speaker 5: Steelers are offensively right now. And I think that's the
• 12:48
  Speaker 5: thing I take away from the Steelers, the game against
• 12:52
  Speaker 5: the Browns last night.
• 12:53
  Speaker 4: So I'm ready to weigh in here with some of
• 12:56
  Speaker 4: my thoughts. First of all, you know, look, we've talked
• 12:58
  Speaker 4: about this with the offensive line, and I'm not trying
• 13:01
  Speaker 4: to make excuses, but I have targeted the month as December. Look,
• 13:06
  Speaker 4: in December, I want people to be looking up and saying, hey,
• 13:08
  Speaker 4: this line is really good. You know, Max Ahanator had
• 13:11
  Speaker 4: a phenomenal first game. He and Brock Hoffman. He didn't
• 13:13
  Speaker 4: have a phenomenal game last night. But you know what?
• 13:16
  Speaker 4: It doesn't make me think any less of what he's
• 13:18
  Speaker 4: going to be as a player. I think he's going
• 13:19
  Speaker 4: to be a dominant player for the Steelers. And I hope,
• 13:23
  Speaker 4: and the Steelers frankly need in December people to be
• 13:26
  Speaker 4: looking around and saying, hang on a second now. We
• 13:29
  Speaker 4: got a unit that might be a top 10 unit
• 13:31
  Speaker 4: or ascending toward being a top 10 unit. It's got
• 13:33
  Speaker 4: to be that way because you got two first rounders,
• 13:35
  Speaker 4: a second rounder. We've talked about this a lot. You've
• 13:37
  Speaker 4: invested in it, right? So games like this are going
• 13:40
  Speaker 4: to happen. We said it last week, you know, we said, look,
• 13:43
  Speaker 4: this is great, but bumps are going to come. And
• 13:45
  Speaker 4: a bump came last night. So I'm not worried. I'm
• 13:49
  Speaker 4: not worried about the offensive line. Eventually, you know, I, I,
• 13:54
  Speaker 4: I thought they would perform better. I thought the defensive
• 13:56
  Speaker 4: line was going to dominate and I didn't think they dominated.
• 14:00
  Speaker 4: I didn't think they were, you know, I didn't think
• 14:02
  Speaker 4: they were blown off the ball. I don't think they
• 14:04
  Speaker 4: dominated though. The tackling needs to be better. But I
• 14:07
  Speaker 4: still get back to this, and I think this would
• 14:09
  Speaker 4: help a young offensive line or an offensive line at
• 14:13
  Speaker 4: least trying to gel together. After every game, and I
• 14:17
  Speaker 4: didn't hear it after this game, Mike McCarthy, I think
• 14:19
  Speaker 4: the first three games, said, look, I don't want to
• 14:24
  Speaker 4: have this kind of discrepancy in pass and run. He
• 14:27
  Speaker 4: also said he doesn't want to dink and dunk, and
• 14:29
  Speaker 4: I applaud the fact that the Steelers took some shots
• 14:31
  Speaker 4: down the field and were successful with D.K.
• 14:33
  Speaker 3: Metcalf.
• 14:34
  Speaker 4: Roman Wilson turned in another big play, the longest reception
• 14:36
  Speaker 4: of his career. That's all good. I don't understand. And
• 14:41
  Speaker 4: I know some of this is game related. You fell behind.
• 14:45
  Speaker 4: And so you had 40 pass attempts and Jalen Warren
• 14:48
  Speaker 4: ran the ball 17 times. But part of the reason
• 14:51
  Speaker 4: I think you fell behind was because you were throwing
• 14:54
  Speaker 4: the ball too much and not running the ball enough
• 14:56
  Speaker 4: with Jalen Warren. They're not getting the balance they need.
• 14:59
  Speaker 4: I'm looking up at Jalen Warren. I mean, He's a playmaker, man,
• 15:02
  Speaker 4: 5.5 yards per carry. If you've got a young offensive line, hey,
• 15:07
  Speaker 4: let's get into third and two. That might not be
• 15:10
  Speaker 4: a bad place to live. I don't understand, because Mike
• 15:13
  Speaker 4: McCarthy said it every game, I don't understand why they're
• 15:15
  Speaker 4: not running the ball more. Now, maybe on a short
• 15:17
  Speaker 4: week they wanted to protect Jalen Warren. They didn't have
• 15:20
  Speaker 4: Rico Dowdle backing them up. But, man, oh, man, I
• 15:23
  Speaker 4: would like to see the Steelers run the ball, and
• 15:26
  Speaker 4: I'd like to see them run it between the tackles
• 15:28
  Speaker 4: more with Jalen Warren. They keep saying they want to,
• 15:31
  Speaker 4: and yet we just haven't seen it.
• 15:33
  Speaker 6: No, we haven't, and I think that's one of the
• 15:37
  Speaker 6: things that I look at, and I'm just like, I
• 15:40
  Speaker 6: get there's like this glass ceiling on Jalen Warren, and
• 15:42
  Speaker 6: I get on his career, he has nine career fumbles.
• 15:45
  Speaker 6: I get that you don't want to expose him to
• 15:48
  Speaker 6: those options, but I'm like, but why do you have
• 15:52
  Speaker 6: Lou Nichols and Travis Homer?
• 15:54
  Speaker 7: Travis Homer did touch the ball twice.
• 15:57
  Speaker 6: In the game, but it was like, you know, not
• 15:59
  Speaker 6: so great situations on, on kind of a red zone
• 16:01
  Speaker 6: goal line type of deal.
• 16:04
  Speaker 7: But what, what's wrong with sweet Lou? What's wrong with
• 16:06
  Speaker 7: sweet Lou Nichols.
• 16:08
  Speaker 6: You know, or if you're not using those guys, then
• 16:10
  Speaker 6: why is Eli Heidenreich on the active roster and not dressing?
• 16:15
  Speaker 6: Like I would love to see this evolution of opportunities for.
• 16:19
  Speaker 7: Other guys to run the ball.
• 16:21
  Speaker 6: And I think, you know, that was a pivotal moment
• 16:23
  Speaker 6: when we went the three passes, three and out and
• 16:27
  Speaker 6: I drive that, that just, was a very deflating type
• 16:31
  Speaker 6: of moment that you couldn't trust the run game on
• 16:34
  Speaker 6: first or second down, however you want to cut it.
• 16:38
  Speaker 7: And then at a certain point, a team that's.
• 16:42
  Speaker 6: Young and laterally quick, why are you running outside toss zone?
• 16:47
  Speaker 6: Knowing that the one thing that Carson Schlesinger and company
• 16:51
  Speaker 6: can do is run. You know, that's the one area
• 16:54
  Speaker 6: like if you're looking at like, those type of linebackers,
• 16:58
  Speaker 6: you have to run straight at them. And we had
• 17:00
  Speaker 6: a lot of our good running was right at those guys.
• 17:04
  Speaker 6: And it also eliminates the twist in the stunting when
• 17:06
  Speaker 6: you go north and south because those guys have to
• 17:10
  Speaker 6: lose ground.
• 17:10
  Speaker 7: And you don't want to lose ground in the run.
• 17:12
  Speaker 6: Game because then if you've got two big beefy boys
• 17:14
  Speaker 6: going forward, right, that's just giving us momentum. And you're
• 17:19
  Speaker 6: already on the spin cycle. So I just thought that
• 17:22
  Speaker 6: tactically there were just moments that we just kind of
• 17:26
  Speaker 6: mismanaged in that. And then, you know, we watched the
• 17:29
  Speaker 6: implosion of emotions on a short week. And, you know,
• 17:33
  Speaker 6: guys smelling themselves a little bit. And I think that's
• 17:35
  Speaker 6: what led to kind of this kind of mishmash of
• 17:39
  Speaker 6: middle quarter doldrums.
• 17:43
  Speaker 4: Yeah, there's a lot to investigate. There were a couple
• 17:46
  Speaker 4: of things I liked about the game. Actually, there's quite
• 17:48
  Speaker 4: a few things I liked about the game. But ultimately...
• 17:51
  Speaker 4: you know, that second quarter did them in. I mean,
• 17:54
  Speaker 4: they had a hard time recovering from that second quarter.
• 17:57
  Speaker 4: We're going to talk more about last night's game when
• 17:59
  Speaker 4: we continue in the locker room here on the Steelers
• 18:01
  Speaker 4: Audio Network.
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: This is In the Locker Room with Rob King, Max Starks,
• 18:09
  Speaker 1: and Willie Colon on Steelers Nation Radio. Brought to you
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: in part by the Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop.steelers.com.
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: And by your neighborhood Ford store. The F-150 is the
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: official truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
• 18:27
  Speaker 7: I mean, credit to them.
• 18:28
  Speaker 3: They had a good game plan. I mean, clearly it
• 18:29
  Speaker 3: worked for them. Obviously, they had a good game plan.
• 18:32
  Speaker 7: There's going to be situations where we feel like we
• 18:33
  Speaker 7: could have back or.
• 18:34
  Speaker 3: We could have done better.
• 18:35
  Speaker 4: That's what we'll get in the lab about and watch
• 18:38
  Speaker 4: the film.
• 18:39
  Speaker 3: We have to get better and get better quick.
• 18:41
  Speaker 7: You just can't move the ball that easily. You just can't.
• 18:46
  Speaker 4: TJ Watt talking after the game last night. Max, I
• 18:49
  Speaker 4: think tackling was an issue. Mike McCarthy pointed it out
• 18:52
  Speaker 4: at halftime and talked about it after the game. It
• 18:55
  Speaker 4: just wasn't good enough. It wasn't up to snuff. You're
• 18:59
  Speaker 4: trying to get the ball back. You're playing catch up.
• 19:02
  Speaker 4: which unfortunately they did through a lot of the game.
• 19:05
  Speaker 4: And instead of second and eight with a good open
• 19:08
  Speaker 4: field tackle, you're looking at second and four. I thought
• 19:10
  Speaker 4: they did a good job of stressing out the Steelers
• 19:13
  Speaker 4: and making them make one-on-one tackles. And, you know, as
• 19:16
  Speaker 4: the old saying says, those guys are on scholarship too.
• 19:19
  Speaker 4: But got to get them to the ground more often
• 19:21
  Speaker 4: than the Steelers were able to do last night. Oh, man.
• 19:23
  Speaker 6: Yeah, tackling was– as much as I was doing my
• 19:26
  Speaker 6: next max stats last night and I was counting all
• 19:30
  Speaker 6: the broken tackles by– By Jalen Warren.
• 19:33
  Speaker 3: Yep.
• 19:33
  Speaker 6: I forgot to mention all the missed tackles by the Steelers. So,
• 19:36
  Speaker 6: you know, that's a willful omission on my part because
• 19:40
  Speaker 6: it got ugly. And after like the seventh one, I
• 19:43
  Speaker 6: just had to had to had to close my eyes
• 19:45
  Speaker 6: when it came to counting on it.
• 19:47
  Speaker 7: So, you know, I look at that and you're right.
• 19:50
  Speaker 6: I mean defensively they had moments right they had their
• 19:55
  Speaker 6: moments but the problem is the moments came you know
• 20:01
  Speaker 6: at critical junctures and the offense didn't answer like when
• 20:05
  Speaker 6: we had the first strip fumble by TJ Watt right
• 20:10
  Speaker 6: great field position we didn't get any points off that
• 20:13
  Speaker 6: turnover and we're like okay with all things equal what's
• 20:16
  Speaker 6: the differentiator well they got they got they got a
• 20:19
  Speaker 6: turnover on us with an interception and they put seven
• 20:22
  Speaker 6: on the board and they methodically work down the field
• 20:25
  Speaker 6: we come back with the same opportunity and we don't
• 20:29
  Speaker 6: take advantage of it so that's where offense and defense
• 20:33
  Speaker 6: have to marry together so it just when one group
• 20:36
  Speaker 6: was on the other group kind of missed it after
• 20:39
  Speaker 6: that first quarter like the first quarter was great right
• 20:42
  Speaker 6: rounds get the ball three and out boom boom boom
• 20:45
  Speaker 6: 10 minutes taken off the board oh my god this
• 20:49
  Speaker 6: is dominating and then we started on the next drive.
• 20:54
  Speaker 7: Trying to build build build build build.
• 20:57
  Speaker 6: Boom turnover happens and all the moment it's like all
• 21:01
  Speaker 6: the wind got sucked out of the sails And everybody
• 21:05
  Speaker 6: didn't know how to respond. That's another moment where defense
• 21:07
  Speaker 6: goes for an out to get them the ball. So
• 21:12
  Speaker 6: the defense had two really good drives. Office had one
• 21:14
  Speaker 6: really good drive and was building a second drive. Sudden
• 21:18
  Speaker 6: change happens. And then it just unraveled for the next
• 21:21
  Speaker 6: 30 minutes. And you're just like, what the heck happened here? Like,
• 21:25
  Speaker 6: you know, you're just sitting there shell-shocked. And then they
• 21:28
  Speaker 6: put it together, but they put it together too late.
• 21:30
  Speaker 7: Right.
• 21:31
  Speaker 6: And you'd already built the confidence of Deshaun Watson. You
• 21:36
  Speaker 6: built the confidence of that rookie receiving core. And, you know,
• 21:40
  Speaker 6: Harold Fannin was doing his part. Hell, Jerry Judy even
• 21:44
  Speaker 6: showed up. I hadn't seen Jerry Judy in the first
• 21:46
  Speaker 6: three games of the season. I was surprised he still
• 21:49
  Speaker 6: had a jersey.
• 21:50
  Speaker 7: And then he comes up with big plays. We forget
• 21:51
  Speaker 7: that he's even on the field. Oh, my God.
• 21:54
  Speaker 4: I thought they said he was sure he knocked that ball.
• 21:57
  Speaker 7: Oh, he was celebrating. He was celebrating.
• 22:00
  Speaker 4: I was like, dude, you didn't.
• 22:01
  Speaker 7: Look back to see the ball on the ground?
• 22:02
  Speaker 4: No?
• 22:03
  Speaker 7: No, you just went past and just started looking to
• 22:04
  Speaker 7: your sideline?
• 22:05
  Speaker 4: You know, I have to say, yeah, look, there's so
• 22:10
  Speaker 4: many points in this game, and I don't want to
• 22:12
  Speaker 4: get to them, but, Willie, I just think from a
• 22:14
  Speaker 4: bigger picture standpoint, and I understand these things happen, right?
• 22:18
  Speaker 4: I get it. Momentum happens in a game, but, you know,
• 22:23
  Speaker 4: And a lot of times people, what about how easy
• 22:26
  Speaker 4: now we're in week four, you know, show some caution,
• 22:29
  Speaker 4: but I gotta, I gotta say the inability to, to
• 22:33
  Speaker 4: stem the tide against the Browns. Okay. You throw an interception.
• 22:37
  Speaker 3: Fine. Great.
• 22:38
  Speaker 7: No worry.
• 22:38
  Speaker 4: You know, you took a shot down the field. You know,
• 22:41
  Speaker 4: you don't want to dink and dunk. Fine. Aaron Rogers
• 22:43
  Speaker 4: got his elbow hit and it was an interception. That's
• 22:46
  Speaker 4: going to happen. They come in and they score very quickly.
• 22:49
  Speaker 4: You get the ball back. Now to me, That is
• 22:52
  Speaker 4: another opportunity for you to go right back to it. Okay,
• 22:56
  Speaker 4: you just had a 17-play drive. Let's grind one down
• 22:59
  Speaker 4: the field on them and let them know. You know,
• 23:02
  Speaker 4: and at that point, their defense is still sucking wind.
• 23:05
  Speaker 4: They were on the sideline for like two seconds, you know,
• 23:09
  Speaker 4: because the Browns scored so quickly. So I would have
• 23:13
  Speaker 4: loved to have seen a response drive there. Okay, it
• 23:15
  Speaker 4: doesn't happen. All right, well, then they score again. How
• 23:16
  Speaker 4: about the next one? Nope, doesn't happen. You have a
• 23:19
  Speaker 4: missed field goal in there. I mean, just– The lack
• 23:22
  Speaker 4: of response. When it got rolling downhill, the inability to
• 23:27
  Speaker 4: sort of do anything about it. And again, I'm not
• 23:31
  Speaker 4: trying to... You guys know, the Browns were one of
• 23:34
  Speaker 4: my teams this year. I thought they were a surprise team.
• 23:36
  Speaker 4: I said it last week. I said it at the
• 23:38
  Speaker 4: beginning of the season and thought I was foolish after
• 23:40
  Speaker 4: the Jaguars pummeled them. I think the Browns are pretty decent.
• 23:45
  Speaker 4: But it wasn't like Patrick Mahomes got going on you
• 23:48
  Speaker 4: and that was that. They just scored 21 unanswered.
• 23:50
  Speaker 3: It was.
• 23:51
  Speaker 4: The inability to stem the tide offensively or defensively I
• 23:55
  Speaker 4: found troubling.
• 23:57
  Speaker 3: Yeah, you're right.
• 23:59
  Speaker 5: I think offense, Luke, for me, and I think you
• 24:01
  Speaker 5: kind of alluded to it, there is no rhythm with
• 24:03
  Speaker 5: the Steelers' offense. Aaron Rodgers seems to be our end-all, be-all,
• 24:07
  Speaker 5: and it fails us in crucial situations. And when you're
• 24:12
  Speaker 5: talking about an offense that needs– some balance and stability
• 24:17
  Speaker 5: so this doesn't become our three straight throws and we're done.
• 24:22
  Speaker 3: Now hopefully the defense can save us. That's kind of
• 24:25
  Speaker 3: where we're at right now.
• 24:27
  Speaker 5: And it's troublesome because I think we have enough from
• 24:30
  Speaker 5: a roster standpoint, a personnel standpoint, where we don't have
• 24:33
  Speaker 5: to look like that or be like that. And I
• 24:35
  Speaker 5: agree with what Max kind of alluded to earlier about
• 24:39
  Speaker 5: You know, the strength of this offensive line is our
• 24:42
  Speaker 5: duo scheme, our combination blocking. We were able to do
• 24:45
  Speaker 5: against the Bengals, and for some reason we decided to
• 24:50
  Speaker 5: attack the edges, and we underestimated how good of a fast– one,
• 24:56
  Speaker 5: how fast the Browns are, and two, they're a good
• 24:59
  Speaker 5: tackling team. Nevertheless, man, you know, offensively, we have to
• 25:04
  Speaker 5: find some type of continuity. We're outside of Aaron Rodgers because–
• 25:09
  Speaker 5: I'm sure. I understand that he's able to operate from
• 25:12
  Speaker 5: a PhD.
• 25:13
  Speaker 3: Level when he's at the line of scrimmage. He has
• 25:15
  Speaker 3: all the answers. He knows where to go with the football.
• 25:18
  Speaker 5: But right now, you put a young officer in line
• 25:21
  Speaker 5: in a bind because now they're retreating instead of imposing
• 25:24
  Speaker 5: their will. Now, instead of them coming downhill and playing
• 25:27
  Speaker 5: bully ball, which we're more than capable of doing, now
• 25:30
  Speaker 5: they're trying to get in line.
• 25:34
  Speaker 3: They're trying to communicate. They're trying to do all these
• 25:37
  Speaker 3: things in a hostile.
• 25:38
  Speaker 5: Territory when there was no emphasis in my eyes to
• 25:42
  Speaker 5: kind of cool those guys down. Because even when you
• 25:45
  Speaker 5: see Mason McCormick and a lot of things that happened, man,
• 25:48
  Speaker 5: it was more confusion. And it was more guys, because
• 25:52
  Speaker 5: they were confused, playing out of character, which led to
• 25:56
  Speaker 5: a lot of bad snaps. And so that was troublesome
• 26:00
  Speaker 5: for and that's where Mike McCarthy has to be in
• 26:02
  Speaker 5: my eyes better.
• 26:03
  Speaker 3: When you, you know, you have the quarterback to make
• 26:06
  Speaker 3: every play on the field. Sure.
• 26:07
  Speaker 5: He's not as mobile as it used to be, but
• 26:10
  Speaker 5: you have to, you have to look at your office
• 26:12
  Speaker 5: and line and say, all right, I got to get
• 26:13
  Speaker 5: those guys playing better and feeling better about what they
• 26:17
  Speaker 5: need to do out there. And I don't think that
• 26:20
  Speaker 5: ever happened. And I think defensively, man, second half, they
• 26:24
  Speaker 5: did play a lot better. And obviously, you know, you
• 26:26
  Speaker 5: talk about the tip by Jack sword. I was able to,
• 26:29
  Speaker 5: you know, it came off an interception. Uh, you talking
• 26:32
  Speaker 5: about some of the sacks they were able to acquire.
• 26:34
  Speaker 5: And I damn sure think when you turn on the tape,
• 26:37
  Speaker 5: Deshaun Watson, his second half, he tried to give us
• 26:39
  Speaker 5: the game. I mean, it was multiple opportunities where the
• 26:42
  Speaker 5: ball was, you know, I know TJ had the one
• 26:44
  Speaker 5: strip sack and, you know, he almost fumbled the other
• 26:46
  Speaker 5: one that he ended up recovering. Like Deshaun Watson wasn't
• 26:48
  Speaker 5: the cleanest, uh, towards the end of that game Valley.
• 26:52
  Speaker 5: He had the big drive that was set him up
• 26:54
  Speaker 5: for the go ahead field goal. Um, But there was
• 26:58
  Speaker 5: moments for us to attack. And, you know, defensively, we
• 27:01
  Speaker 5: had a lot to think about because if we're going
• 27:04
  Speaker 5: to be this big zone, this big zone covers team, man,
• 27:09
  Speaker 5: now that we don't have Jamel Dean.
• 27:11
  Speaker 3: Due to injury and JPJ, Joey Porter Jr.
• 27:14
  Speaker 5: Is now a Cowboy, you know, we put a lot
• 27:17
  Speaker 5: of stress on a rookie corner and Daylon Everett and
• 27:21
  Speaker 5: a lot of stress on Zante Samuel.
• 27:23
  Speaker 3: And our safety is already banged up.
• 27:24
  Speaker 5: So, you know, we just– schematically and from an identity standpoint, man, we,
• 27:30
  Speaker 5: we gotta, we gotta, we gotta figure some things out
• 27:32
  Speaker 5: because right now I don't know how do we hold
• 27:36
  Speaker 5: up for the rest of the season? Um, if we're
• 27:38
  Speaker 5: not able to play man, um, because right now we
• 27:41
  Speaker 5: just seem, we seem predictable and that's, and that, and
• 27:44
  Speaker 5: that's troublesome to be honest with you.
• 27:46
  Speaker 7: Yeah.
• 27:47
  Speaker 6: And I think Willie, you know, when I look at this,
• 27:49
  Speaker 6: you know, and, and give me your thoughts, you know,
• 27:52
  Speaker 6: what the Cleveland D line did.
• 27:56
  Speaker 7: So well last night, Movement. Yeah.
• 28:00
  Speaker 3: Slants.
• 28:01
  Speaker 7: Slants.
• 28:02
  Speaker 3: Twist. Stunt.
• 28:03
  Speaker 6: Five-man pressure. Like, you know, there was a couple of
• 28:06
  Speaker 6: times where we had a lineman that was free.
• 28:09
  Speaker 7: And it wasn't in a good way. He was free.
• 28:12
  Speaker 3: Right?
• 28:12
  Speaker 6: It was that he did not track the twist. I mean,
• 28:16
  Speaker 6: everybody on the freaking D-line got a sack last night.
• 28:18
  Speaker 7: Like, five sacks.
• 28:19
  Speaker 3: But, Max, I called it. I told you going into
• 28:22
  Speaker 3: this game.
• 28:22
  Speaker 5: I was like, the biggest issue won't be the Steelers
• 28:25
  Speaker 5: playing a phone booth style game. The biggest issue for
• 28:29
  Speaker 5: the Steelers going into this game is how they adjust
• 28:31
  Speaker 5: and handle movement.
• 28:32
  Speaker 3: And it was right on time. You understand, the Cleveland
• 28:37
  Speaker 3: Browns didn't play a clean game.
• 28:39
  Speaker 5: They were just a more grittier team that showed up
• 28:41
  Speaker 5: in more opportunistic situations. They have 14 penalties on the night, right?
• 28:46
  Speaker 5: So they weren't like this super elite, efficient offense and defense.
• 28:51
  Speaker 3: I mean, they were all over the place as well.
• 28:53
  Speaker 5: But going back to your point as far as offensive
• 28:55
  Speaker 5: line standpoint, when it came down to the movement, Max,
• 28:58
  Speaker 5: you know like I know, when you're dealing with a
• 29:00
  Speaker 5: defensive line who can stunt and twist like that, it
• 29:03
  Speaker 5: comes down to one thing. Identifying who the mic is
• 29:06
  Speaker 5: and telling guys to get back off the line of
• 29:08
  Speaker 5: scrimmage so it can unfold in front of you.
• 29:11
  Speaker 3: They never did that. And I watched our tackles time
• 29:14
  Speaker 3: after time.
• 29:15
  Speaker 5: At times, it seemed like they were out there by themselves.
• 29:19
  Speaker 5: You know what I mean? Like they were setting as if.
• 29:22
  Speaker 5: As if they were just playing, they were having one-on-one.
• 29:24
  Speaker 7: It was the same. Same as Sunday.
• 29:26
  Speaker 3: Yeah, go ahead.
• 29:26
  Speaker 7: No, I was saying same as Sunday.
• 29:27
  Speaker 3: Right, exactly. Yeah. Yep. So, listen, there's a lot of
• 29:31
  Speaker 3: teach tape. There's a lot of teaching moments.
• 29:35
  Speaker 5: But collectively, man, we got to be better on the
• 29:37
  Speaker 5: road because, and this is where if you're Jim Kempman,
• 29:39
  Speaker 5: all the time. of line coach and you're Jahari Evans,
• 29:42
  Speaker 5: who I got a lot of respect for because I
• 29:44
  Speaker 5: love him as a player. And I can't wait to
• 29:46
  Speaker 5: see what his coaching career looks like. This is a
• 29:49
  Speaker 5: great opportunity to allow that young group to watch that
• 29:52
  Speaker 5: tape thoroughly.
• 29:54
  Speaker 3: This is not a throwaway tape.
• 29:56
  Speaker 5: This is not a tape you sit back and say,
• 29:57
  Speaker 5: you know what, they got us, let's move on.
• 30:00
  Speaker 3: No, this is a tape where.
• 30:01
  Speaker 5: You dissect and you tell guys, this is what life
• 30:04
  Speaker 5: in the NFL is like on the road. This is
• 30:07
  Speaker 5: how people attack you. They attack you through communication, by
• 30:10
  Speaker 5: scrambling up your communication and movement. And instead of five
• 30:14
  Speaker 5: guys saying the same thing, they break you up individually
• 30:17
  Speaker 5: and it causes chaos. And that's what the Browns did.
• 30:19
  Speaker 5: So give the Browns a lot of credit. even when
• 30:23
  Speaker 5: Mason Graham went down, those guys were still able to
• 30:26
  Speaker 5: get home and they didn't look good. But they can
• 30:30
  Speaker 5: get better because, like I said, me and Max have
• 30:31
  Speaker 5: been a part of games like that, and this is
• 30:33
  Speaker 5: a pivotal moment. They can't even let this break them,
• 30:36
  Speaker 5: or they can rise up and get better.
• 30:39
  Speaker 4: Two big sacks, too. One sack before the Boswell missed
• 30:43
  Speaker 4: field goal, 48-yarder. I'm sure Chris Boswell will tell you
• 30:46
  Speaker 4: he'd like to make that, but a sack makes it
• 30:48
  Speaker 4: a little bit more difficult of a kick. And then
• 30:50
  Speaker 4: when it's missed, it gives the Browns better field position.
• 30:53
  Speaker 4: They wind up converting that into a score. And then
• 30:55
  Speaker 4: in the second half, you have the ball at the
• 30:57
  Speaker 4: 35-yard line. I mean, Max and I were talking about this.
• 30:59
  Speaker 4: What's the one thing you can't do there? You can't
• 31:01
  Speaker 4: get sacked, can't allow a sack. And so two crucial
• 31:06
  Speaker 4: Brown sacks. And when you look at some of the
• 31:09
  Speaker 4: things that happened in this game, Now, again, we don't know.
• 31:13
  Speaker 4: I mean, maybe the Browns would have been more aggressive
• 31:15
  Speaker 4: if the Steelers had been closer in the game. You know,
• 31:17
  Speaker 4: we don't know what the play calls would have been. But,
• 31:19
  Speaker 4: you know, when you look up and you lose by
• 31:21
  Speaker 4: three and you think that's six points right there, I mean,
• 31:24
  Speaker 4: and it's AFC North road football, I mean, those are mistakes, Max,
• 31:28
  Speaker 4: that the Steelers weren't able to overcome.
• 31:30
  Speaker 7: No, they weren't.
• 31:32
  Speaker 6: And it just– it was one of those things where
• 31:34
  Speaker 6: you just– you felt the impending dread. That's what it
• 31:38
  Speaker 6: came down. Like, as soon as one little thing happened,
• 31:41
  Speaker 6: It was like, oh, no, here we go again. You
• 31:42
  Speaker 6: know what I'm saying? Like you didn't see– and that's
• 31:46
  Speaker 6: where I talked about the maturity of this team. We
• 31:48
  Speaker 6: have an older team, but the maturity of this team
• 31:51
  Speaker 6: in those moments, you have to rally and unify because
• 31:55
  Speaker 6: you've got a lot of young guys playing on this team,
• 31:58
  Speaker 6: and they've got to see the example.
• 32:00
  Speaker 7: And you can't be the grumpy old man, right?
• 32:02
  Speaker 3: Exactly.
• 32:03
  Speaker 7: Offensively and defensively, right?
• 32:05
  Speaker 6: Because we talked about TJ Watt getting the headset and
• 32:07
  Speaker 6: everybody made a big deal of it on TV. I mean,
• 32:09
  Speaker 6: we saw the– And he's yelling. He's got a vein
• 32:12
  Speaker 6: about to pop out the top of his forehead. And then,
• 32:15
  Speaker 6: you know, and then you see air in the way
• 32:16
  Speaker 6: that he was at moments. And then Cam Hayward comes
• 32:21
  Speaker 6: out and then Patrick Queen. I mean, it was just
• 32:23
  Speaker 6: like all the veteran leaders that you needed to just
• 32:25
  Speaker 6: kind of rally the troops and get everybody to stabilize.
• 32:29
  Speaker 6: They got pissed as well. So what do you think
• 32:30
  Speaker 6: a young guy is going to do? The young guy
• 32:32
  Speaker 6: is going to get nervous in those moments. And Daylon Everett,
• 32:35
  Speaker 6: like that big play to Denzel Boston. We've been playing
• 32:38
  Speaker 6: zone all day. The one time we try and run man,
• 32:41
  Speaker 6: for whatever reason, Daylon Everett looks inside thinking it's zone
• 32:44
  Speaker 6: and it's passed off to the safety. And then that's
• 32:47
  Speaker 6: the perfect spot where Deshaun Watson puts the ball and
• 32:50
  Speaker 6: Denzel Watson has a 61-yarder. And it's like, man, that's
• 32:55
  Speaker 6: the moment where you have to be able to nurture...
• 32:58
  Speaker 6: And just rally them. You know, Willie, you talked about this, right?
• 33:01
  Speaker 6: We've had our Alan Fanica stories where you have that
• 33:04
  Speaker 6: veteran that says, hey, listen, you got to settle down.
• 33:07
  Speaker 7: And you're right.
• 33:08
  Speaker 6: Well, there is no sugar call like that was our call,
• 33:11
  Speaker 6: you know, back in the day. I know I come
• 33:13
  Speaker 6: back to it, but that's when things get hairy and
• 33:17
  Speaker 6: you're like, man, I don't know where that goes. It
• 33:19
  Speaker 6: looked like you looked like Chris Tucker at rush hour
• 33:21
  Speaker 6: movie when he got kicked in the face by two
• 33:23
  Speaker 6: different guys. Like which one of y'all did it? You know,
• 33:25
  Speaker 6: they had that moment and you're like, set off the ball.
• 33:28
  Speaker 6: They have to declare. And when in doubt, go forward.
• 33:32
  Speaker 6: Because if guys are twisting, they have to lose ground.
• 33:35
  Speaker 6: That's when you go duo and power, but they don't
• 33:37
  Speaker 6: know what their bread and butter is. They don't know
• 33:39
  Speaker 6: what their bread and butter is. And when in doubt,
• 33:43
  Speaker 6: we know we go to the book of Aaron and
• 33:44
  Speaker 6: we tell him, Hey, Give us inspiration. Make us right.
• 33:49
  Speaker 6: And they don't have that confidence yet, so you're right.
• 33:51
  Speaker 6: It's one that the offensive line has to gain their confidence,
• 33:55
  Speaker 6: and you have to be able to have a checks
• 33:56
  Speaker 6: and balance in the huddle. And that's where Zach Frazier
• 34:01
  Speaker 6: is young but experienced, but he's not Jeff Hardings.
• 34:06
  Speaker 7: He's not Alan Fanica.
• 34:08
  Speaker 6: Mason McCormick can be that combo, but they don't have
• 34:11
  Speaker 6: the years, and frankly, who does have the same years
• 34:14
  Speaker 6: as Methuselah? you know, when it comes to Aaron Rodgers' experience.
• 34:19
  Speaker 6: But you have to have somebody to calm Aaron down
• 34:21
  Speaker 6: because Aaron's going to revert back to what he feels
• 34:24
  Speaker 6: comfortable with as opposed to showing him that you can
• 34:27
  Speaker 6: have a new comfort level.
• 34:29
  Speaker 3: Yeah, but I also say this.
• 34:31
  Speaker 5: You know, we threw rocks at Mike McArthur and Aaron
• 34:33
  Speaker 5: Rodgers as far as what they tried to do week
• 34:36
  Speaker 5: one against the Falcons. And there was a big conversation
• 34:39
  Speaker 5: about this office maybe having too much on their plate.
• 34:44
  Speaker 3: Early on, right?
• 34:45
  Speaker 5: Like they kind of had to dial it back a
• 34:46
  Speaker 5: little bit and kind of simplify things so they can
• 34:48
  Speaker 5: be just more cleaner and have.
• 34:52
  Speaker 3: A better operation.
• 34:54
  Speaker 5: But I think there still has to be a part
• 34:57
  Speaker 5: of where if you're Mike McCarthy, you have to do
• 35:02
  Speaker 5: things in a way where like, all right, yeah, I
• 35:04
  Speaker 5: want to dial it back. But we also have to
• 35:07
  Speaker 5: be smart, right? I felt like we didn't spread the
• 35:09
  Speaker 5: Browns out. When we did run the ball, it was
• 35:13
  Speaker 5: up the middle, and we kind of danced around that.
• 35:17
  Speaker 3: Ballot, we was having an opportunity to win on the
• 35:19
  Speaker 3: outside with DK.
• 35:21
  Speaker 5: But at the same time, man, our tight ends were
• 35:25
  Speaker 5: playing well as well.
• 35:26
  Speaker 3: So I just think, man, there has to be.
• 35:29
  Speaker 5: Moments where, yeah, you want to dial it back, and, yeah,
• 35:32
  Speaker 5: you want Aaron to step up. But Mike McCarthy, you
• 35:34
  Speaker 5: have to be better and adjust because that's what you're
• 35:37
  Speaker 5: here to do, right?
• 35:38
  Speaker 3: You're here to have in-game success.
• 35:40
  Speaker 5: Opportunities where there's answers to the test in real time.
• 35:43
  Speaker 3: And I don't think we ever, we never passed the test.
• 35:45
  Speaker 5: It was always to what we've talked about before, Aaron,
• 35:49
  Speaker 5: you see it, we trust you, you know, make us right.
• 35:52
  Speaker 3: And then we'll figure it out as we go. And
• 35:54
  Speaker 3: that's it.
• 35:55
  Speaker 5: You just put so much stress on him as a,
• 35:57
  Speaker 5: as a ball player, but two as an offense.
• 35:59
  Speaker 4: Right.
• 36:00
  Speaker 5: And so I don't know, man, it was, it was,
• 36:02
  Speaker 5: I think it was a great, last night was a
• 36:04
  Speaker 5: great opportunity for Mike McCarthy to, really show his superpower.
• 36:11
  Speaker 3: And I'm not sure we saw it out last night.
• 36:13
  Speaker 4: Steelers lose 27-24. They drop to 2-2. Disappointing result, 1-1
• 36:18
  Speaker 4: in AFC North play. Much to get to. Haven't talked
• 36:20
  Speaker 4: about the Joey Porter trade yet. That happened on Tuesday night, and,
• 36:24
  Speaker 4: of course, we didn't have shows, or it happened on
• 36:25
  Speaker 4: Wednesday night. We didn't have shows yesterday, so we'll get
• 36:28
  Speaker 4: to that. More analysis of a disappointing loss in Cleveland
• 36:32
  Speaker 4: when we continue in the locker room here on the
• 36:34
  Speaker 4: Steelers Audio Network.
• 36:43
  Speaker 1: This is In the Locker Room with Rob King, Max Starks,
• 36:47
  Speaker 1: and Willie Colon on Steelers Nation Radio. Brought to you
• 36:51
  Speaker 1: in part by the Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
• 36:54
  Speaker 1: from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop.steelers.com.
• 36:58
  Speaker 1: And by your neighborhood Ford store. The F-150 is the
• 37:03
  Speaker 1: official truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
• 37:05
  Speaker 7: Yeah, it wasn't our cleanest game all the way around, uh,
• 37:10
  Speaker 7: They're a good defense, so you've got to give them credit,
• 37:12
  Speaker 7: but they were getting after us.
• 37:15
  Speaker 3: On some of the long-yarded stuff, and we weren't winning
• 37:22
  Speaker 3: a bunch, and.
• 37:23
  Speaker 7: I missed a couple throws I usually hit.
• 37:27
  Speaker 4: Yeah, not the cleanest game offensively for sure for the Steelers.
• 37:31
  Speaker 4: I want to take a step back for a moment
• 37:34
  Speaker 4: in this game, and Max and William, I guess, Max,
• 37:38
  Speaker 4: I'll start with you on this one. I think there's
• 37:41
  Speaker 4: a level of disappointment that Joey Porter is gone. He
• 37:46
  Speaker 4: was traded. Clearly, the Steelers wanted to extend him. They
• 37:51
  Speaker 4: drafted him. They offered him a contract, just as clearly
• 37:55
  Speaker 4: Joey Porter wasn't happy with that contract offer. And so
• 37:59
  Speaker 4: the team moved on from a player they didn't want
• 38:01
  Speaker 4: to move on from. And I think last night was
• 38:03
  Speaker 4: an example of why you don't want to move on
• 38:05
  Speaker 4: from him. I mean, he's a good player, first of all.
• 38:07
  Speaker 4: We know that in his own right. But then Jamel Dean,
• 38:09
  Speaker 4: who plays super hard and because of that has sometimes
• 38:12
  Speaker 4: had some injury issues, he's knocked out of the game.
• 38:15
  Speaker 4: And now you've got Asante Samuel, who's been really good.
• 38:17
  Speaker 4: He should be your next guy up. But now Daylon
• 38:20
  Speaker 4: Everett's the next guy up, a rookie. And so you've
• 38:23
  Speaker 4: gone from a really deep position to one that I
• 38:27
  Speaker 4: think is deep enough as long as everybody's healthy. So, again,
• 38:33
  Speaker 4: clearly they wanted to keep him. And just as clearly
• 38:37
  Speaker 4: he wanted to move on. and so he has moved on,
• 38:40
  Speaker 4: and I don't know whether that had become a distraction
• 38:42
  Speaker 4: to the team. I mean, I can only surmise whether
• 38:44
  Speaker 4: it had an effect or did not have an effect
• 38:46
  Speaker 4: on the team and their performance last night, but just
• 38:49
  Speaker 4: your overall thoughts on Joey Porter being traded.
• 38:52
  Speaker 6: Yeah, it's definitely one of those very frustrating, and I
• 38:55
  Speaker 6: think also, you know, being that it happened literally at
• 39:02
  Speaker 6: midnight that the trade happened, and You know, a lot
• 39:07
  Speaker 6: of those guys woke up Thursday morning on game day
• 39:09
  Speaker 6: to find out that they didn't have a teammate.
• 39:12
  Speaker 7: That was going to be there, regardless of the fashion.
• 39:14
  Speaker 6: I know he didn't play in the first three games, but,
• 39:17
  Speaker 6: you know, he was a guy that was there, visible
• 39:20
  Speaker 6: at practice. He was trending in the right direction. So
• 39:23
  Speaker 6: he had every intent to believe that, man, maybe there's
• 39:25
  Speaker 6: a pitch count. And even Mike McCarthy talked about this
• 39:28
  Speaker 6: in his postgame presser, right? He's like, we were getting
• 39:30
  Speaker 6: to a point where we felt comfortable about giving him
• 39:32
  Speaker 6: a pitch count. And then to not have that guy,
• 39:35
  Speaker 6: like you said, and then the waterfall effect of Jamel
• 39:39
  Speaker 6: Dean going down and being nicked up. You were already
• 39:41
  Speaker 6: down Deshaun Elliott at the safety position. At a position
• 39:46
  Speaker 6: of strength, we can have a position of transition. really quickly.
• 39:51
  Speaker 6: And Asante Samuel, for as great as he is, as
• 39:55
  Speaker 6: hard as he plays, he can't get past 5'10, right?
• 40:00
  Speaker 7: You know, the height is the height.
• 40:02
  Speaker 6: And we saw that at the end of the Cincinnati game.
• 40:04
  Speaker 6: And that's what forced Daylon Everett in there because he's
• 40:06
  Speaker 6: a taller corner, just inexperienced. But you needed the height
• 40:10
  Speaker 6: and the length of him because Asante Samuel, you know,
• 40:13
  Speaker 6: just he can't compete with 6'2 and 6'4.
• 40:15
  Speaker 7: Just natural human you know, biology. You know, and so
• 40:22
  Speaker 7: I think.
• 40:23
  Speaker 4: You like to be able to have both.
• 40:25
  Speaker 6: Yeah, and that's what you thought you were going to have.
• 40:27
  Speaker 6: Joey Porter and then Daylon Everett would come in and
• 40:30
  Speaker 6: kind of be your third other tall kind of corner
• 40:33
  Speaker 6: to match up with what the league might throw at
• 40:36
  Speaker 6: you and what teams might throw at you with their height. And,
• 40:39
  Speaker 6: you know, you're forced into a position where, you know,
• 40:41
  Speaker 6: you had inexperience and you had a short guy. And,
• 40:44
  Speaker 6: you know, it was trying to figure out. That's why
• 40:46
  Speaker 6: you played all that quarter's that they were playing. They
• 40:48
  Speaker 6: were playing quarters and cover two almost the entire game.
• 40:52
  Speaker 6: And the one time they tried to do it, the
• 40:54
  Speaker 6: rookie has a rookie mistake. And so I think that's where,
• 40:58
  Speaker 6: you know, not having JPJ there kind of sucks. And,
• 41:03
  Speaker 6: you know, he's going to end up playing without a
• 41:06
  Speaker 6: new contract for Dallas. And, you know, he had his
• 41:09
  Speaker 6: disparaging remarks. He took his shots. And I won't get
• 41:13
  Speaker 6: completely into those because I think, you know, it's not
• 41:15
  Speaker 6: worth crying over spilled milk at this point because he's
• 41:18
  Speaker 6: no longer a member of this team.
• 41:20
  Speaker 7: But, you know, it does bother me.
• 41:22
  Speaker 6: I know the guy said it didn't bother them, you know,
• 41:25
  Speaker 6: when asked about it because, like, oh, it's just about
• 41:26
  Speaker 6: us and our execution. But, you know, it ticks you off, right?
• 41:30
  Speaker 6: It ticks you off a little bit that, you know,
• 41:33
  Speaker 6: you didn't have this guy. And let's just face it,
• 41:36
  Speaker 6: there's an agent that represents two guys who are still
• 41:39
  Speaker 6: on your roster.
• 41:40
  Speaker 7: You couldn't keep the third one on the roster. So
• 41:42
  Speaker 7: just very frustrating indeed.
• 41:45
  Speaker 3: Willie?
• 41:47
  Speaker 5: Yeah, you know, I think it's tough for me and
• 41:50
  Speaker 5: Max because we know young Joey, right? Young Joey was
• 41:53
  Speaker 5: in the locker room when Max and I was in
• 41:55
  Speaker 5: the locker room, so we watched that young man grow within,
• 42:00
  Speaker 5: literally grow from within the facility that he, you know,
• 42:05
  Speaker 5: a team that he ended up playing for. It's rough
• 42:09
  Speaker 5: because we talked about the campaign of this roster, and
• 42:15
  Speaker 5: That was the old growing the new. And Joey Porter
• 42:19
  Speaker 5: was turning into the middle class in which you need
• 42:23
  Speaker 5: because you need guys who are not long in the
• 42:25
  Speaker 5: tooth but have enough experience to bring up the young guys.
• 42:29
  Speaker 3: And you would have loved to see a young Joey
• 42:31
  Speaker 3: Porter Jr.
• 42:33
  Speaker 5: Not only get the security from a financial standpoint but
• 42:37
  Speaker 5: also help develop Daylon Everett, right?
• 42:42
  Speaker 3: When you see... other guys in.
• 42:44
  Speaker 5: His draft class get paid and signed, like a Keanu
• 42:49
  Speaker 5: Benton and a Nick Herbig. But yet, out of the
• 42:52
  Speaker 5: three of them, Joey's probably the more star-studded. And I
• 42:57
  Speaker 5: get that the Steelers simply didn't see him as an
• 43:01
  Speaker 5: elite player or that guy. They loved him, but they
• 43:06
  Speaker 5: didn't love him that much. And so now you're in
• 43:09
  Speaker 5: a predicament where We don't have a true man corner.
• 43:13
  Speaker 5: We don't have a corner who can shut down an
• 43:16
  Speaker 5: alpha one receiver.
• 43:18
  Speaker 3: And we just let a homegrown talent walk out the door.
• 43:23
  Speaker 5: And so when Max talks about it's okay to say
• 43:26
  Speaker 5: that we're emotional and upset about it, it's layers to it, right?
• 43:31
  Speaker 5: Because one, I think a lot of guys who, a
• 43:33
  Speaker 5: lot of people, personnel and all of the above who
• 43:36
  Speaker 5: grew up and watched that young man grow into a stud,
• 43:39
  Speaker 5: but also become a big factor into the future of
• 43:43
  Speaker 5: the Pittsburgh Steelers defense.
• 43:45
  Speaker 3: Walk out the door, it's rough to see, man, because.
• 43:48
  Speaker 5: You're talking about elite size, a great man corner, press
• 43:55
  Speaker 5: man corner. Yes, he may have had his issues with
• 43:59
  Speaker 5: playing zones, which I think ultimately kind of led to
• 44:02
  Speaker 5: the Steelers saying, hey, this is who we are now
• 44:05
  Speaker 5: from a schematic standpoint because that's what Pratchett Graham loves
• 44:07
  Speaker 5: to run is a lot of zone. And Joey, you know,
• 44:10
  Speaker 5: at times doesn't show up well on tape when it
• 44:13
  Speaker 5: comes to playing zone, but he's the damn good man corner.
• 44:16
  Speaker 5: I think that was part of the pushback. But at
• 44:19
  Speaker 5: the same time, man, you talk about a kid who
• 44:21
  Speaker 5: competed his tail off, who we felt comfortable lining him
• 44:25
  Speaker 5: up with the opposition's best guy on the outside. And
• 44:29
  Speaker 5: when you're going through this influx in this transition of
• 44:32
  Speaker 5: trying to, you know, bring the young up while the
• 44:35
  Speaker 5: old walks out the door, you would have loved for
• 44:37
  Speaker 5: him to be a part.
• 44:38
  Speaker 3: Of that catalyst.
• 44:39
  Speaker 5: And, you know, it is what it is right now.
• 44:43
  Speaker 5: I wish him the best of luck. I hope he
• 44:45
  Speaker 5: kicks a lot of ass down in Dallas. But at
• 44:48
  Speaker 5: the same time, when you look, turn on last night's
• 44:50
  Speaker 5: tape and our inability to, you know, go to man
• 44:55
  Speaker 5: and play zone or mix things up or disguise things.
• 44:59
  Speaker 5: we seem limited right now without him on the field,
• 45:02
  Speaker 5: and that's just the business of the game right now, and.
• 45:06
  Speaker 3: It's tough, man.
• 45:07
  Speaker 5: Because I thought Joey was, I thought all this was
• 45:10
  Speaker 5: going to be done by now, if you will, and
• 45:13
  Speaker 5: it seems like we, you know, it didn't fall into,
• 45:16
  Speaker 5: it didn't come to fruition.
• 45:19
  Speaker 4: Yeah, it's too bad. I mean, it's too bad all
• 45:20
  Speaker 4: the way around. I think, you know, he wanted to
• 45:22
  Speaker 4: stay here, and the Steelers wanted him to be here,
• 45:25
  Speaker 4: and You know, I mean, look, I think you guys
• 45:31
  Speaker 4: both explained it well. There's not much more to add
• 45:33
  Speaker 4: other than it would have been great to see him here. Unfortunately,
• 45:36
  Speaker 4: he's gone. You know, you pick up a second round
• 45:39
  Speaker 4: draft choice and a six if he plays in two games,
• 45:41
  Speaker 4: which it looks like he's going to be able to
• 45:42
  Speaker 4: play in two games. You know, the six can help
• 45:45
  Speaker 4: you move up somewhere, maybe get you a good player back.
• 45:49
  Speaker 4: Maybe they've had some success late in the draft. That second,
• 45:52
  Speaker 4: you can probably get a good player with, but Joey
• 45:54
  Speaker 4: Porter Jr. was a guy that they wanted to keep,
• 45:56
  Speaker 4: and it just didn't work out, and unfortunately he's gone.
• 45:59
  Speaker 4: Coming up next, we're going to talk about a couple
• 46:01
  Speaker 4: of the players. I want to point out a couple
• 46:02
  Speaker 4: of the players that I thought really did have good
• 46:04
  Speaker 4: games for the Steelers. Missy Matthews is going to be
• 46:07
  Speaker 4: joining us. Lots more still to come when we continue
• 46:09
  Speaker 4: in the locker room here on the Steelers Audio Network.