Latest / The Steelers Report / HR 2: Steelers Hits & Misses: Week 9, Tom Opferman Joins the Show

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HR 2: Steelers Hits & Misses: Week 9, Tom Opferman Joins the Show · The Steelers Report

• 0:06
  Speaker 1: This is the Steelers Report with Brian Bacco and Ed
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: Troop on Steelers Nation Radio, a part of the Steelers
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: Audio Network.
• 0:15
  Speaker 2: Welcome into the 3 o'clock hour here on the Steelers Report.
• 0:20
  Speaker 2: Brian Bacco, Ed Troop along with you as we continue
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: to navigate through the Pittsburgh Steelers bye week. Sounded like
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: the players got the rest of the week off, right Brian?
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: Oh yeah.
• 0:31
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 0:31
  Speaker 4: Yeah, there's also, I mean, NFL mandated.
• 0:33
  Speaker 5: I think, four-day break for the bye, but McCarthy gave
• 0:37
  Speaker 5: them some extra given the way they're playing, and that's
• 0:40
  Speaker 5: pretty common.
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: Good chance for them to rest up and get ready
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: for the second half of the schedule. And during the
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: first hour, we were talking about the first half for
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: offense and defense, some MVP early season awards, look back
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: at our picks for the NFL. But let's look at
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: our Steeler picks, Brian, before we get into our hits
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: and misses of the week here on the show. And again,
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: Tom Offerman coming up here to join us in and
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: around 340 today, the host of the Blitz here on SNR.
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: The Atlanta Falcon game, we both had them winning, so
• 1:10
  Speaker 2: we both had wins there. The New England Patriots, we
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: both had losses at the start of the season, so
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: we get that one right. The Cincinnati game, we go
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: a different direction. You had them losing that game at home.
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: I had them winning. So you had them 1-2 starting out.
• 1:23
  Speaker 2: I had them 2-1, so we were right on track there.
• 1:26
  Speaker 2: The Cleveland game, we both... Didn't get that one right.
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: We both had them winning in Cleveland on Thursday night.
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: Of course, the Steelers lost that one. We both had
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: them winning against the Colts, so we got that. We
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: had them both losing at Tampa Bay at the start
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: of the season, so we missed there. We both had
• 1:43
  Speaker 2: them winning in France and New Orleans, and we both
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: had them beating the Cleveland Browns this past week at home.
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: So you had them at 5-3 at the break. I
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: had them at 6-2, so I got them at 6-2. However,
• 1:55
  Speaker 2: the loss against Tampa... I did not get correct. Of course,
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: they won that game. And then the win against Cleveland,
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: I didn't get that one correct. So we're pretty close.
• 2:04
  Speaker 4: Not too far off.
• 2:06
  Speaker 5: When you think back to our state of mind at
• 2:08
  Speaker 5: those times when we were making these predictions, I wasn't
• 2:10
  Speaker 5: sure if the Steelers would have a slow start because
• 2:14
  Speaker 5: of the coaching change and not really sure what to
• 2:17
  Speaker 5: expect in the Mike McCarthy era and some players getting
• 2:20
  Speaker 5: used to him and his assistants, new coordinators, new play callers.
• 2:26
  Speaker 5: Or would they start fast because they are a veteran
• 2:29
  Speaker 5: team and they should be able to adjust to pretty
• 2:34
  Speaker 5: much anything thrown their way? I also thought the schedule
• 2:37
  Speaker 5: was maybe a little lighter in the first half of
• 2:40
  Speaker 5: the season than after the bye. But yeah, I think
• 2:42
  Speaker 5: we've seen them navigate this really well and took a
• 2:47
  Speaker 5: little bit of time for them to win on the road.
• 2:49
  Speaker 5: But they've been spotless at home, which is always good
• 2:53
  Speaker 5: to see that that home field advantage still means something.
• 2:56
  Speaker 4: At Accresure Stadium.
• 2:57
  Speaker 5: They're still a very difficult team to beat, still a
• 3:00
  Speaker 5: tough place to play on the North Shore, and they've
• 3:02
  Speaker 5: managed to stack some wins now after they were up
• 3:05
  Speaker 5: and down, roller coaster, one.
• 3:07
  Speaker 4: Win, one loss, one win, one loss for that first month.
• 3:11
  Speaker 2: They have nine games left on the season, and four
• 3:13
  Speaker 2: of them will be at home. Five of them will
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: be on the road at Cincinnati, at Philadelphia right after
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: the bye, then Denver at home, Houston at home, at Jacksonville, Baltimore,
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: Carolina at home, and then at Tennessee and at Baltimore
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: to finish up. So Two stretches right out of the
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: bye and at the end of the season where they'll
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: have back-to-back road games and then back-to-back home games wedged
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: in between there with Jacksonville wedged in between those two
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: back-to-back home games if you're looking ahead at the Steelers.
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: And again, they do not play a 1 o'clock football
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: game until Sunday, December 20th against the Ravens at home.
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: So it'll be a while until they're back in that
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: 1 o'clock window. They spent a lot of time in
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: that 1 o'clock window at the start of the season,
• 3:50
  Speaker 2: only a One primetime game. It was that Thursday night
• 3:53
  Speaker 2: in Cleveland. If you want to count the Paris game
• 3:55
  Speaker 2: as a primetime type game, it was out by itself here.
• 3:58
  Speaker 4: It was a standalone time slot. Yeah, standalone.
• 3:59
  Speaker 3: Yep.
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: But we will get into the second half of the
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: schedule on Monday's show before the Mike McCarthy press conference
• 4:05
  Speaker 2: here on The Report. So we'll quickly pivot to our
• 4:08
  Speaker 2: Steelers hits and misses of the week. And as we
• 4:11
  Speaker 2: always do here on the show, each and every week
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: we start with a hit. And it's Jalen Warren, who
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: I feel like has been the No. 1 hit for
• 4:17
  Speaker 2: multiple weeks now. He continues to be No. 1 on
• 4:20
  Speaker 2: the Billboard Top 500. There's another radio reference for you.
• 4:24
  Speaker 2: He has 704 rushing yards through the first half of
• 4:27
  Speaker 2: the season, Brian. 294 runs. Receiving yards, that's 998 yards
• 4:32
  Speaker 2: of total offense. Just two yards shy of 1,000 for
• 4:36
  Speaker 2: total offense throughout the first eight games of the season.
• 4:39
  Speaker 2: Three touchdowns. He has been outstanding.
• 4:42
  Speaker 5: And remember, some long runs there that could have been
• 4:47
  Speaker 5: longer if he didn't get.
• 4:48
  Speaker 4: Tripped up in the open field.
• 4:50
  Speaker 2: A couple called back.
• 4:51
  Speaker 5: Yeah, caught from behind. Yeah, and some negated by penalty.
• 4:55
  Speaker 5: So incredible numbers this year.
• 4:57
  Speaker 4: It could be.
• 4:58
  Speaker 5: Even more ridiculous if not for some bad luck for
• 5:01
  Speaker 5: Jalen Warren I mean he has just been uh I
• 5:04
  Speaker 5: don't want to say a revelation because we knew he
• 5:06
  Speaker 5: was good but maybe some people just took him for
• 5:09
  Speaker 5: granted a little bit and there was the excitement of
• 5:12
  Speaker 5: Rico Dowdle as the the hot new name coming in
• 5:15
  Speaker 5: here off a back-to-back 1,000 yard seasons in Dallas and
• 5:20
  Speaker 5: in Carolina Jalen Warren meanwhile as a As a compliment
• 5:25
  Speaker 5: to Najee Harris, his first few seasons has never had
• 5:27
  Speaker 5: a 1,000-yard rushing season. Came close last year with 9.58.
• 5:32
  Speaker 5: He's already got 7.04 this year. So I think 2026
• 5:35
  Speaker 5: is probably a safe bet.
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: If he stays healthy, again, I'll knock on wood every
• 5:41
  Speaker 2: time we say that, he has a great opportunity to
• 5:44
  Speaker 2: get over 2,000 yards of total offense by the end
• 5:48
  Speaker 2: of the season. I'm not sure has that been done yet.
• 5:50
  Speaker 2: In Pittsburgh Steelers history, over 2,000 yards of total offense,
• 5:54
  Speaker 2: maybe Le'Veon Bell.
• 5:55
  Speaker 4: I was going to guess Le'Veon.
• 5:56
  Speaker 2: That would be the only one I would guess that
• 5:58
  Speaker 2: might have got to there. I mean, Steelers have had
• 6:01
  Speaker 2: rushers that have gone well over the 1,000 mark. Le'Veon
• 6:03
  Speaker 2: did in his.
• 6:04
  Speaker 4: Second season, 2014, 2,215 yards from scrimmage, 11 scores. First-team All-Pro.
• 6:13
  Speaker 2: That's the number to beat for Jalen Warren, 2,200. He
• 6:16
  Speaker 2: can get there. I mean, he's going to have an
• 6:17
  Speaker 2: extra game on that back half, too. I said nine
• 6:19
  Speaker 2: games left, not just eight.
• 6:21
  Speaker 5: Obviously, back in the day, you know, Franco Harris, Jerome Bettis,
• 6:26
  Speaker 5: like they weren't thrown to running backs out of the
• 6:28
  Speaker 5: backfield quite as much. And those two guys, the way
• 6:31
  Speaker 5: that they were built, not quite the same. But also, trivia,
• 6:36
  Speaker 5: Le'Veon Bell's not the only player with 2,000 yards from
• 6:38
  Speaker 5: scrimmage in a season for the Steelers.
• 6:40
  Speaker 4: There was one other to do it. What do you
• 6:42
  Speaker 4: got for me, Ed? Putting you on the spot.
• 6:44
  Speaker 2: Does special teams return yardage count towards that or no? Okay,
• 6:48
  Speaker 2: I was going to say maybe Antonio Brown.
• 6:49
  Speaker 4: No. That'd be all-purpose yards.
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: That'd be all-purpose yards, yeah. Total yards on offense. Boy,
• 6:54
  Speaker 2: oh boy, you are putting me on the spot. Najee Harris?
• 6:57
  Speaker 3: No.
• 6:58
  Speaker 2: No, Najee never got there. Wouldn't be Bettis.
• 7:01
  Speaker 5: AB did come within 150 yards of doing it.
• 7:05
  Speaker 4: Basically just catching the football.
• 7:07
  Speaker 2: Receiving-wise, yeah.
• 7:08
  Speaker 4: Speaks to how dominant he was for a while there.
• 7:11
  Speaker 2: Did Hines Ward ever put up? That type of number.
• 7:14
  Speaker 4: He did not.
• 7:14
  Speaker 2: Because I know sometimes they would run him a little
• 7:16
  Speaker 2: bit on jet sweeps and whatnot.
• 7:17
  Speaker 6: Nope.
• 7:18
  Speaker 2: I can't. I'm out of guesses.
• 7:19
  Speaker 4: 1992.
• 7:20
  Speaker 2: Oh, wait a minute. Barry Foster?
• 7:22
  Speaker 4: He did.
• 7:22
  Speaker 2: He ran for over 2,000 yards?
• 7:24
  Speaker 5: No, he had 2,034 yards from scrimmage, and he had
• 7:28
  Speaker 5: 1,690 on the ground.
• 7:29
  Speaker 3: Wow.
• 7:30
  Speaker 4: 344 through the air.
• 7:31
  Speaker 2: Look at that.
• 7:33
  Speaker 5: One of those funky things. One of the best seasons
• 7:35
  Speaker 5: in Steelers history by a guy who only played five
• 7:37
  Speaker 5: seasons in Pittsburgh.
• 7:38
  Speaker 2: My first NFL jersey as a kid was number 29.
• 7:41
  Speaker 2: It was an away jersey. My second, Rod Woodson away jersey.
• 7:44
  Speaker 2: I didn't have any home jerseys my first two.
• 7:45
  Speaker 4: They were white.
• 7:46
  Speaker 2: I don't know. I must have been digging the white
• 7:47
  Speaker 2: jerseys back in the day.
• 7:48
  Speaker 4: It's a clean, crispy look for you. I don't know.
• 7:51
  Speaker 2: And I wish to this day, I've said this many
• 7:53
  Speaker 2: a times, I wish I still had those two jerseys.
• 7:55
  Speaker 2: My goodness. I'd have them framed or I'd be wearing
• 7:57
  Speaker 2: them in here on SNR.
• 7:58
  Speaker 7: All right.
• 7:59
  Speaker 2: Let's go to our first miss of the day, and
• 8:01
  Speaker 2: it's an easy one. And unfortunately, we talked about fortunately,
• 8:04
  Speaker 2: in a good way, Jalen Warren has been our first
• 8:06
  Speaker 2: hit each week. Well, unfortunately, DK Metcalf has been our
• 8:09
  Speaker 2: miss of the week, usually at the start of this.
• 8:12
  Speaker 2: 65 targets through the first eight games, Brian. 33 catches,
• 8:17
  Speaker 2: 378 yards, and a touchdown. So he's on pace right
• 8:19
  Speaker 2: now for 68 receptions, 799 yards, and two touchdowns on
• 8:24
  Speaker 2: the season. 2025 last year, he had 850 yards receiving
• 8:28
  Speaker 2: and six touchdowns. So if the pace stays where it
• 8:31
  Speaker 2: is right now, he would actually underperform last year's numbers
• 8:34
  Speaker 2: his first year with the Steelers.
• 8:36
  Speaker 5: He's still leading the Steelers in targets, catches, receiving yards,
• 8:44
  Speaker 5: but not by much. Jalen Warren and Jeremy Bernard are
• 8:46
  Speaker 5: both within 100 yards of him. Darnell Washington and Pat
• 8:50
  Speaker 5: Fryermuth are both above 230, and they both have more
• 8:56
  Speaker 5: touchdowns than DK Metcalf.
• 8:58
  Speaker 4: So it has.
• 8:59
  Speaker 5: Been a slow start to the year for him. I
• 9:04
  Speaker 5: think they'll get it going eventually.
• 9:05
  Speaker 3: I do.
• 9:05
  Speaker 5: I mean, I think if he starts to bring down
• 9:08
  Speaker 5: some of these 50-50 balls.
• 9:10
  Speaker 2: You have to.
• 9:11
  Speaker 4: That would help, obviously.
• 9:12
  Speaker 5: And, you know, if Bernard can get going down the
• 9:15
  Speaker 5: field a little bit more, I think that would take
• 9:16
  Speaker 5: some attention away from DK because I do think that,
• 9:20
  Speaker 5: you know, one difference is from him and some other
• 9:23
  Speaker 5: receivers around the league. Like Jamar Chase has T. Higgins
• 9:25
  Speaker 5: opposite him. So it's hard to roll too much coverage
• 9:28
  Speaker 5: or cloud or bracket a guy when you'll be leaving
• 9:31
  Speaker 5: the other one on an island. Justin Jefferson's got Jordan Addison,
• 9:37
  Speaker 5: Jackson Smith and Jigba's got Cooper Cup and Rashid Shahid,
• 9:40
  Speaker 5: who do some different things. If Bernard can ascend and
• 9:44
  Speaker 5: take that next step, or if Roman Wilson can come
• 9:46
  Speaker 5: back healthy, maybe that'll allow for some more schematic opportunities
• 9:51
  Speaker 5: for DK Metcalf. But it's also partially on him, and
• 9:55
  Speaker 5: I'm sure he'd be the first to tell you you
• 9:57
  Speaker 5: know he hasn't hasn't played well enough this season I
• 10:00
  Speaker 5: mean pro football reference if you want to go by
• 10:02
  Speaker 5: their metrics has him with four drops he had five
• 10:06
  Speaker 5: all of last season by their metrics.
• 10:09
  Speaker 2: They need to get something going with DK because he's
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: uh he's their number one playmaker he's Big salary, big
• 10:16
  Speaker 2: part of this offense, a lot of expectations, and he's
• 10:18
  Speaker 2: been slow through these first eight games. So hopefully, to
• 10:20
  Speaker 2: your point, Brian, they'll get some of these other playmakers
• 10:23
  Speaker 2: involved in the second half of the season that could
• 10:24
  Speaker 2: free up DK and get him going. Again, not too
• 10:27
  Speaker 2: far off from his 20-25 numbers, which weren't awful, 850
• 10:30
  Speaker 2: yards receiving, but I think we all had expectations of
• 10:33
  Speaker 2: that 1,000 or more mark and maybe double figures for
• 10:36
  Speaker 2: touchdowns coming into this season.
• 10:38
  Speaker 5: Pro football focus, different subjective– evaluations and grading. They have
• 10:44
  Speaker 5: him with six drops this season for.
• 10:47
  Speaker 3: What it's worth.
• 10:48
  Speaker 2: Either way, got to clean it up second half of
• 10:49
  Speaker 2: the season. Our next hit is Rico Dowdle. We'll stay
• 10:53
  Speaker 2: with the running backs. We started with Warren. Let's keep
• 10:55
  Speaker 2: Dowdle in the conversation. Three games back, Brian, 137 yards rushing,
• 10:59
  Speaker 2: 51 yards receiving, 188 yards of total offense in the
• 11:03
  Speaker 2: touchdown this past week against the Brownies. So good job
• 11:06
  Speaker 2: by Rico Dowdle being that counter punch with Jalen Warren.
• 11:09
  Speaker 4: And persevering through that injury.
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: Yes.
• 11:12
  Speaker 4: You know, had to had to take a few games off.
• 11:14
  Speaker 4: I'm sure he didn't like that.
• 11:15
  Speaker 5: And, you know, personally, I think it was a goal
• 11:18
  Speaker 5: for him to go over a thousand again with a
• 11:19
  Speaker 5: third different team in a third consecutive season. Doesn't look
• 11:22
  Speaker 5: like that's going to be on the table now after
• 11:24
  Speaker 5: missing a few games and Jalen Warren doing what he's doing.
• 11:27
  Speaker 5: But Rico Dowdle can still very much help this team.
• 11:29
  Speaker 5: And he has the last couple of games.
• 11:31
  Speaker 2: Our next miss, the No. 2 wide receiver, still a void.
• 11:34
  Speaker 2: Warren's No. 2 on the team in receiving yards. Is
• 11:38
  Speaker 2: that a good thing or a bad thing? I don't know.
• 11:39
  Speaker 2: Bernard is third. 32 receptions for 284 yards and a
• 11:43
  Speaker 2: touchdown so far this season for the rookie. Warren, as
• 11:47
  Speaker 2: wonderful he is and as good as he is on
• 11:49
  Speaker 2: your receiving side of the house, when you look at stats,
• 11:52
  Speaker 2: I think you want all receivers there. It's a compliment
• 11:55
  Speaker 2: to Warren. Great job. But I think you'd rather see
• 11:57
  Speaker 2: a Pittman or... Roman Wilson or someone else in that slot.
• 12:00
  Speaker 2: But again, kudos to Warren because he's put up some
• 12:03
  Speaker 2: big numbers receiving the football too.
• 12:05
  Speaker 5: Speaking of receiving and just kind of looking at news
• 12:08
  Speaker 5: of the day in the NFL, forgot to mention this
• 12:11
  Speaker 5: at the top of the show. Brandon Ayuk has applied
• 12:15
  Speaker 5: for reinstatement to the league. I guess there's some paperwork
• 12:19
  Speaker 5: that you need to fill out there. And this is
• 12:20
  Speaker 5: according to Adam Schefter. Ayuk's agent, Drew Rosenhaus, is working
• 12:26
  Speaker 5: on filing those papers. And I, I apparently, you know,
• 12:32
  Speaker 5: it's the way that Schefter is reporting. This is if
• 12:36
  Speaker 5: he files this officially and he turns in the paperwork,
• 12:40
  Speaker 5: he can report to San Francisco's facility and they can't
• 12:44
  Speaker 5: turn him away.
• 12:46
  Speaker 4: So incredible. Yeah.
• 12:48
  Speaker 5: I guess he's going to be like, just kind of
• 12:50
  Speaker 5: standing outside the door. Like I'm ready. Let me, but
• 12:54
  Speaker 5: obviously I think they'd want to move on from him
• 12:56
  Speaker 5: given how off the rails that relationship went. So their
• 13:02
  Speaker 5: options are they can keep him under his current contract
• 13:05
  Speaker 5: because they still have the rights to him. They didn't
• 13:07
  Speaker 5: let him. This was one of the few situations around
• 13:09
  Speaker 5: the league where a player kind of tried to pull
• 13:12
  Speaker 5: that card and use the leverage of wanting out of town,
• 13:16
  Speaker 5: and they're just like, no, no, we're going to try
• 13:18
  Speaker 5: to trade you.
• 13:18
  Speaker 4: If not, you signed a deal. We have you.
• 13:22
  Speaker 5: We'll do it just to spite you if we need to.
• 13:24
  Speaker 5: I'm not just going to let you force your way out.
• 13:26
  Speaker 5: But they can either keep him under contract, cut him,
• 13:29
  Speaker 5: or try to trade him before the deadline on Tuesday.
• 13:31
  Speaker 2: He was almost a Pittsburgh Steeler a couple training camps ago.
• 13:34
  Speaker 2: They were close.
• 13:35
  Speaker 5: Based on all the reporting, yeah. They were close. I
• 13:38
  Speaker 5: think that was a crisis averted in my mind.
• 13:40
  Speaker 2: Blessing in disguise. Our next hit, the Steelers run defense.
• 13:44
  Speaker 2: Still no 100-yard rusher this season in eight games.
• 13:47
  Speaker 4: One less. I don't know who would want him.
• 13:48
  Speaker 7: Please.
• 13:48
  Speaker 4: I don't know who would want Ayuk at this point.
• 13:49
  Speaker 2: I don't know.
• 13:50
  Speaker 5: It seems like he's a malcontent, obviously defensively, on the field,
• 13:53
  Speaker 5: off the field. Obviously, they're trying to do some damage
• 13:55
  Speaker 5: control there and repair his image, but I don't know
• 13:59
  Speaker 5: if it's worth the trouble.
• 14:00
  Speaker 2: Real quick, Brian, through the first eight games, Bajon held
• 14:03
  Speaker 2: at 83 yards. Henderson in New England, 76 yards. Chase Brown,
• 14:07
  Speaker 2: first time around, 61. Junkins, first time around, 53. Taylor, 45.
• 14:11
  Speaker 2: Bucky Irving, 46. The Saints as a team, 18. Browns
• 14:14
  Speaker 2: as a team this past week, 34 total yards rushing.
• 14:17
  Speaker 2: The Steelers, the number three defense now against the run
• 14:20
  Speaker 2: in the NFL.
• 14:21
  Speaker 5: They are beastly up front. It's a sight to behold. And,
• 14:27
  Speaker 5: you know, you're going to need to keep that same
• 14:29
  Speaker 5: energy because you've got some teams, like the Ravens, that
• 14:33
  Speaker 5: are going to have to lean into running the ball
• 14:35
  Speaker 5: even more with this situation. They might have to go
• 14:39
  Speaker 5: wing T, triple option, full house, backfield for Derrick Henry, wildcat.
• 14:46
  Speaker 2: You might see a Baker Mayfield stat line.
• 14:49
  Speaker 4: You might.
• 14:50
  Speaker 2: Who's our guy in Baltimore now who's getting the start?
• 14:52
  Speaker 4: Finiano.
• 14:52
  Speaker 2: Yeah, he may be an 0-for-3 candidate with a team
• 14:55
  Speaker 2: running for 200-some yards. They're going to have to, like
• 14:57
  Speaker 2: you said.
• 14:58
  Speaker 5: Well, not only that, but the Eagles, too. They're going
• 15:01
  Speaker 5: through stuff quarterback-wise. But at least for right now, they've
• 15:05
  Speaker 5: still got Saquon Barkley. I don't know that he's fully healthy,
• 15:08
  Speaker 5: but Jaguars seems like they run it efficiently. You've got
• 15:11
  Speaker 5: them coming up later on the schedule. But by and large...
• 15:16
  Speaker 5: they've slayed most of the biggest tests that they've had
• 15:20
  Speaker 5: running back wise.
• 15:21
  Speaker 4: Now, who knows?
• 15:22
  Speaker 5: Maybe Jonathan Taylor will pop up somewhere else like whack-a-mole
• 15:25
  Speaker 5: and they'll have to face him again before the end
• 15:28
  Speaker 5: of this season. I don't know who would be the
• 15:29
  Speaker 5: most likely candidate for probably since Cincinnati or Denver, I
• 15:32
  Speaker 5: would think, but maybe Jacksonville might want to try to
• 15:36
  Speaker 5: upgrade their running back situation.
• 15:39
  Speaker 4: I don't know.
• 15:40
  Speaker 5: I think that that would probably be it of teams
• 15:42
  Speaker 5: remaining on the Steelers schedule. That'd be, be mighty interesting
• 15:45
  Speaker 5: but the fact that the Steelers have already reckoned with
• 15:48
  Speaker 5: the likes of Bijan and Jonathan Taylor and Bucky Irving
• 15:52
  Speaker 5: and live to tell about it is uh gives you
• 15:54
  Speaker 5: something uh I guess optimism.
• 15:56
  Speaker 4: Going into the matchups with King Henry.
• 15:58
  Speaker 2: Yeah it's been the big runner It's been quite the run. Yeah, Mr. Henry, right?
• 16:03
  Speaker 2: Or what did they ever, the big runner. That's what
• 16:05
  Speaker 2: Mike Tomlin always said.
• 16:05
  Speaker 4: He's the big runner, and it was Mr.
• 16:07
  Speaker 3: Chubb.
• 16:07
  Speaker 4: Yeah, there you go.
• 16:08
  Speaker 2: Whenever we come back, more hits and misses. But first,
• 16:11
  Speaker 2: this is the Steelers Report on SNR, part of the
• 16:14
  Speaker 2: Steelers Audio Network.
• 16:15
  Speaker 3: This is the Steelers Report with Brian Batko and Ed
• 16:24
  Speaker 3: Troup on Steelers Nation Radio.
• 16:26
  Speaker 4: A part of the Steelers Audio Network.
• 16:29
  Speaker 2: The NFL trade deadline less than a week away. November 10th,
• 16:34
  Speaker 2: next Tuesday.
• 16:36
  Speaker 4: What's going to happen?
• 16:37
  Speaker 2: Will the Steelers be buyers, Brian Batko?
• 16:40
  Speaker 5: Maybe you should save it for the terrible takes tomorrow.
• 16:43
  Speaker 5: You can tee me up with like a terrible take
• 16:45
  Speaker 5: or not. The Steelers need to acquire not just a receiver,
• 16:48
  Speaker 5: not just a receiver in a corner, but a receiver in.
• 16:51
  Speaker 4: A corner and a D lineman. And I'll tell you
• 16:52
  Speaker 4: if it's terrible take or not. Here's your wish list.
• 16:55
  Speaker 2: Potentially maybe you know i'll give you a couple players
• 16:58
  Speaker 2: there you go look at you thinking on the side for.
• 16:59
  Speaker 5: Terrible takes we're multitasking in this way as well we're
• 17:03
  Speaker 5: doing tomorrow's show prep and today's show at the same time.
• 17:06
  Speaker 2: Do you like the terrible take segment i do i
• 17:08
  Speaker 2: think it's fun because you know we kind of see
• 17:10
  Speaker 2: where we come in with whether it was a terrible
• 17:12
  Speaker 2: take or not.
• 17:12
  Speaker 5: Now sometimes we should have called it the terrible takes
• 17:14
  Speaker 5: last week before the paris or two weeks ago before.
• 17:17
  Speaker 4: The paris game but missed opportunity look.
• 17:19
  Speaker 2: At you there yeah But sometimes what I enjoy about
• 17:23
  Speaker 2: it is you have sometimes some controversy in and around
• 17:27
  Speaker 2: it because you're like, oh, Ed, is this a terrible–
• 17:29
  Speaker 2: it's kind of a terrible take. That's when I know
• 17:31
  Speaker 2: I did my job, by the way, when I have
• 17:32
  Speaker 2: that reaction from you.
• 17:34
  Speaker 5: Well, I mean, I am the type of person who
• 17:36
  Speaker 5: I feel like I can always see both sides of things.
• 17:40
  Speaker 5: So that does make me pretty wishy-washy and a fence-sitter.
• 17:45
  Speaker 5: But it's good discussion. It's good to– think through it
• 17:49
  Speaker 5: from all angles.
• 17:49
  Speaker 2: And when you get the hesitation by Brian, you get
• 17:52
  Speaker 2: the pause where he's like, ooh, I don't know, Ed.
• 17:55
  Speaker 2: Let me think about this for a second. But sometimes
• 17:57
  Speaker 2: you've got a quick one.
• 17:58
  Speaker 5: I don't think there have been too many that have
• 17:59
  Speaker 5: just spiked outright, have there? There's been a few where
• 18:02
  Speaker 5: you're like, that's a terrible tip. But I do those
• 18:03
  Speaker 5: on purpose, too. There's a trick to my trade, and
• 18:06
  Speaker 5: I'll put that.
• 18:06
  Speaker 4: Together this evening. It's like a red herring. You're like
• 18:08
  Speaker 4: testing me.
• 18:08
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm like, I wonder if Baku will get this
• 18:10
  Speaker 2: reaction out of him for that.
• 18:11
  Speaker 5: You should just try to sneak one past me one time,
• 18:13
  Speaker 5: see if I'm really listening. It's like, terrible take or not,
• 18:16
  Speaker 5: the Steelers should start Drew Aller this week and give
• 18:18
  Speaker 5: Aaron Rodgers a break.
• 18:20
  Speaker 2: Drew Aller, who hasn't had a hat all year, all
• 18:22
  Speaker 2: of a sudden will. I had someone ask me, by
• 18:25
  Speaker 2: the way, on the street, came up to me, bumped
• 18:27
  Speaker 2: into me, and said, hey, are you Ed Tripp? No,
• 18:28
  Speaker 2: I'm just kidding. This was actually a family member that
• 18:30
  Speaker 2: said to me, hey, do you think Drew Aller will
• 18:32
  Speaker 2: be the starting quarterback next year? And I stopped, and
• 18:35
  Speaker 2: I was ready to say no. And then I'm like,
• 18:36
  Speaker 2: you know what? He looked very good in training camp.
• 18:39
  Speaker 2: He'll definitely, I think, be part of the conversation. I
• 18:41
  Speaker 2: think that was my answer to them. I said, he'll
• 18:43
  Speaker 2: probably definitely be part.
• 18:44
  Speaker 4: He'll probably definitely be?
• 18:46
  Speaker 2: Probably definitely. Anyhow, double yoy! But I think he'll be
• 18:50
  Speaker 2: in the mix.
• 18:51
  Speaker 4: He should.
• 18:51
  Speaker 2: I think they all will.
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: Why not?
• 18:53
  Speaker 7: Yep.
• 18:54
  Speaker 4: I don't think Aaron Rodgers is going to come back.
• 18:56
  Speaker 2: No, Aaron Rodgers will not be in the mix.
• 18:58
  Speaker 5: But yeah, I do think that there's a decent chance
• 19:01
  Speaker 5: of any of the three who are currently on the team.
• 19:04
  Speaker 5: Rudolph is not under contract for next year, but there's
• 19:08
  Speaker 5: those three who should be in the mix, potentially will
• 19:11
  Speaker 5: draft a guy, potentially trade a free agent. But I'd
• 19:15
  Speaker 5: say those three, I mean, they've got the inside track
• 19:17
  Speaker 5: by virtue of being in Mike McCarthy's offense for a year,
• 19:20
  Speaker 5: and we at least know that the Steelers like all
• 19:24
  Speaker 5: three of them to some degree. That's the thing about
• 19:26
  Speaker 5: forecasting dudes who are playing college football right now. We
• 19:30
  Speaker 5: don't know who the Steelers are. Like, I'm sure Andy
• 19:33
  Speaker 5: Weidel is scouring the country right now and doing all
• 19:36
  Speaker 5: of his due diligence scouting and looking at the Arch
• 19:40
  Speaker 5: Mannings and Trinidad Chamblisses of the world. But we don't
• 19:44
  Speaker 5: know what the Steelers think of those guys.
• 19:46
  Speaker 2: Let's jump into some hits and misses here, Brian. we
• 19:49
  Speaker 2: started the show with warren and doddle and the run
• 19:52
  Speaker 2: defense on some hits we talked about dk and the
• 19:54
  Speaker 2: wide receiver room on the misses i'll start with a
• 19:57
  Speaker 2: miss because we always have to end with a hit
• 19:58
  Speaker 2: at the end of the segment so if we're going
• 20:00
  Speaker 2: back and forth that's how you do that uh boss
• 20:03
  Speaker 2: five misses in five games 18 of 23 field goals
• 20:06
  Speaker 2: here in the first half of the season but four
• 20:08
  Speaker 2: of six in the 40s so that's uh 40 through 49.
• 20:12
  Speaker 2: Last year, for the whole season, he missed five total
• 20:15
  Speaker 2: field goals, 27 of 32. But I'm with you. Yesterday
• 20:17
  Speaker 2: we talked about this. You said, regardless of all that,
• 20:20
  Speaker 2: I'm sticking with Boz, and I am too.
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 20:23
  Speaker 2: Lots more hits and misses there.
• 20:25
  Speaker 5: That's like one of those situations where would you really
• 20:29
  Speaker 5: want to tempt fate and go to another kicker?
• 20:31
  Speaker 4: No.
• 20:32
  Speaker 3: No, no.
• 20:33
  Speaker 2: He's been too great for too long.
• 20:34
  Speaker 4: For sure.
• 20:35
  Speaker 2: It's notable, though. There has been some misses in the
• 20:37
  Speaker 2: first half of the season. Yeah.
• 20:38
  Speaker 5: It's definitely worth mentioning, but there, there's been guys who
• 20:42
  Speaker 5: are usually reliable missing, uh, all around the league this season.
• 20:45
  Speaker 2: There has been a lot.
• 20:47
  Speaker 5: I think it just goes to show, you know, nobody's
• 20:51
  Speaker 5: going to be perfect and, and hit them all. I
• 20:54
  Speaker 5: forget what, what coach I was watching the other day
• 20:57
  Speaker 5: was asked about considering a change.
• 21:02
  Speaker 4: Um, shoot, who was it?
• 21:04
  Speaker 2: Um, Kansas City, was it Andy Reid?
• 21:06
  Speaker 5: Oh, no, it was Todd Munkin and Andre Schmidt because
• 21:10
  Speaker 5: I guess he missed a couple kicks before this most
• 21:12
  Speaker 5: recent Steeler game. And he's like, you know, he's human.
• 21:16
  Speaker 5: He's going to miss here and there. How many did
• 21:18
  Speaker 5: he make in a row before that?
• 21:20
  Speaker 2: I mentioned Kansas City because Tucker was signed, right?
• 21:23
  Speaker 4: Yeah, Butker's struggling.
• 21:25
  Speaker 5: Only four kickers who are perfect on the season on
• 21:28
  Speaker 5: field goals are Chase McLaughlin in Tampa. Tyler Bass for Buffalo,
• 21:32
  Speaker 5: Ryan Fitzgerald for Carolina, and Evan McPherson for Cincy, and
• 21:36
  Speaker 5: only two of those four are also perfect on extra points,
• 21:39
  Speaker 5: and that's McPherson and McLaughlin.
• 21:42
  Speaker 2: Let me give you a couple other misses, then we'll
• 21:44
  Speaker 2: just go on a whole bunch of hits, because those.
• 21:47
  Speaker 4: Are easier, right?
• 21:48
  Speaker 5: And Boswell is still, like, I'm looking right now on
• 21:51
  Speaker 5: Pro Football Reference, league average field goal percentage at the moment, 83.7%.
• 21:54
  Speaker 5: Boswell's at 78.3%, so he is below league average, but
• 22:00
  Speaker 5: So is Brandon Aubrey. So is Cam Little.
• 22:04
  Speaker 2: I just think for so long you were just so
• 22:06
  Speaker 2: used to him being Mr. Automatic. It happens.
• 22:09
  Speaker 4: You're right.
• 22:10
  Speaker 5: It is surprising to see him rank 21st in field
• 22:13
  Speaker 5: goal percentage. But the extra points are something that you
• 22:17
  Speaker 5: don't take for granted either.
• 22:18
  Speaker 4: I mean, he's at 100%.
• 22:18
  Speaker 2: I was going to say, knock on wood.
• 22:21
  Speaker 4: Knock on wood.
• 22:23
  Speaker 5: There's only 13, actually 12 active kickers who are perfect
• 22:27
  Speaker 5: on extra points this year, and Boswell is one of them.
• 22:30
  Speaker 2: Brian, our next miss, I'll just do a few more misses,
• 22:32
  Speaker 2: then we'll just go on all the hits, because like
• 22:35
  Speaker 2: I said, when you're in a four-game win streak, a
• 22:36
  Speaker 2: lot easier to talk about the hits. Is it a problem,
• 22:39
  Speaker 2: you think, for the Steelers? They have seven interceptions in
• 22:42
  Speaker 2: the first eight games, but out of those seven interceptions,
• 22:45
  Speaker 2: they're all by seven different players, and only four interceptions
• 22:49
  Speaker 2: by the secondary through those first eight games.
• 22:51
  Speaker 4: I think that's a good thing. Spreading the wealth? Yeah, absolutely.
• 22:56
  Speaker 5: It shows the teams are trying to attack different parts
• 22:58
  Speaker 5: of your defense, and They can't, or at least they're
• 23:02
  Speaker 5: putting the ball in harm's way if they do so.
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: Right.
• 23:04
  Speaker 4: I think that's very encouraging for the Steelers.
• 23:07
  Speaker 2: Steelers' third down offense still stuck at 38% on the season,
• 23:11
  Speaker 2: 39 of 103. They had done well against the Saints,
• 23:14
  Speaker 2: very well. Best they have all season long on third downs.
• 23:17
  Speaker 2: Last week took another step back, though. Four of 13
• 23:19
  Speaker 2: at 30% on Sunday against the Browns.
• 23:22
  Speaker 5: Really good when they run it on short yardage situations,
• 23:26
  Speaker 5: like third and one.
• 23:27
  Speaker 4: Third and two.
• 23:28
  Speaker 2: I think that was a Matt stat last week, wasn't it?
• 23:29
  Speaker 5: Yeah, but not so much in the passing game. I'm
• 23:34
  Speaker 5: sure these are all things that they are going to
• 23:36
  Speaker 5: use because the players are all getting a nice long
• 23:39
  Speaker 5: break here for the bye. The coaches I'm sure are
• 23:42
  Speaker 5: still at it or at least were the last couple
• 23:44
  Speaker 5: days and they're humans too. They also need to go
• 23:46
  Speaker 5: enjoy some time with their families.
• 23:49
  Speaker 2: Friends, their dogs.
• 23:50
  Speaker 5: Not a lot, but this is kind of the one
• 23:52
  Speaker 5: time of year that they do. I'm sure that the
• 23:56
  Speaker 5: work that they did put in during this bye, self-scouting
• 23:59
  Speaker 5: and evaluating the third down struggle is probably a big
• 24:02
  Speaker 5: part of that.
• 24:04
  Speaker 2: Our last miss, and then we'll get to a bunch
• 24:06
  Speaker 2: of these hits that I have lined up for you, Brian.
• 24:08
  Speaker 2: Steelers special team returns. They are No. 28 on kickoff
• 24:12
  Speaker 2: at 23.9 return and punting No. 29 there with 6.8
• 24:18
  Speaker 2: yards per return so far this season. But do you know, Brian,
• 24:21
  Speaker 2: I just looked this up. When I looked up the
• 24:23
  Speaker 2: stats for special teams yesterday to give you those, Across
• 24:26
  Speaker 2: the NFL, there has only been two special team returns
• 24:30
  Speaker 2: for touchdowns. One on kick returns and one on punt.
• 24:33
  Speaker 2: That's it through the first eight weeks. The Vikings have
• 24:36
  Speaker 2: the punt return for a touchdown and the Raiders returned
• 24:38
  Speaker 2: a kickoff for a touchdown. That's it.
• 24:41
  Speaker 4: Did not know that.
• 24:41
  Speaker 2: Kind of surprised by that, aren't you? Usually you see
• 24:43
  Speaker 2: more from punting or kicking. I'm guessing special teams coverages.
• 24:47
  Speaker 4: Are just getting better.
• 24:48
  Speaker 5: I was going to say coverages are getting really good.
• 24:51
  Speaker 5: Managers do not.
• 24:52
  Speaker 4: Managers. Coaches do not. Coordinators do not want to get beat.
• 24:56
  Speaker 5: That way and kickers are getting better too which probably
• 25:00
  Speaker 5: helps you know you're not probably seeing too many guys
• 25:02
  Speaker 5: out kick their coverage and they are making sure that
• 25:06
  Speaker 5: they're angling the balls in in certain ways and there's
• 25:08
  Speaker 5: just been so many i mean we know that the
• 25:10
  Speaker 5: kickoff is very different now than it used to be
• 25:13
  Speaker 5: punters are insane you know it's crazy hang time they.
• 25:16
  Speaker 2: Get i'm gonna get in the weeds for you for
• 25:18
  Speaker 2: a second off the steeler subject you mentioned manager and
• 25:20
  Speaker 2: coach i always wondered why do they call a baseball
• 25:23
  Speaker 2: coach a manager and why does he wear a uniform Yeah,
• 25:26
  Speaker 2: and he's wearing the baseball uniform. And, by the way,
• 25:29
  Speaker 2: I believe colleges like this too, college baseball, high school baseball,
• 25:34
  Speaker 2: I definitely know they are called coaches, not managers. Only
• 25:37
  Speaker 2: Major League Baseball are called managers.
• 25:39
  Speaker 4: That's a good question. And fantasy football are referred to
• 25:42
  Speaker 4: as managers.
• 25:43
  Speaker 2: That's right.
• 25:44
  Speaker 4: Sometimes owners. I don't like that.
• 25:46
  Speaker 2: I just think it's coaches across the board.
• 25:47
  Speaker 5: Fantasy football. How ridiculous would that be? Fantasy football coach
• 25:53
  Speaker 5: is what I'm I'm coaching my team this week, week nine.
• 25:57
  Speaker 2: Colin plays.
• 25:58
  Speaker 4: Big week for us.
• 25:59
  Speaker 2: Let's get to some hits.
• 26:00
  Speaker 5: You do manage your fantasy football team. You don't own it, really,
• 26:04
  Speaker 5: and you don't coach it.
• 26:05
  Speaker 2: I just never understood the baseball major league baseball manager.
• 26:08
  Speaker 4: So, hockey's coach.
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 26:09
  Speaker 4: Yeah, NBA, obviously, basketball coach, football coach.
• 26:12
  Speaker 2: Just baseball. And only major league, because if you look
• 26:14
  Speaker 2: at a college baseball coach, I believe.
• 26:16
  Speaker 5: What do they call them in football, soccer? I think
• 26:19
  Speaker 5: they might be managers.
• 26:20
  Speaker 2: You're asking the wrong cat, buddy. You're the one who has.
• 26:22
  Speaker 2: Don't you have the soccer background? Your son plays soccer, right?
• 26:25
  Speaker 2: But he's little. He's playing.
• 26:26
  Speaker 4: They call them managers.
• 26:27
  Speaker 1: Okay. All right.
• 26:28
  Speaker 2: There you go. All right. Let's go back to the hits.
• 26:30
  Speaker 2: The Steelers offensive line. This is a fun one, Brian,
• 26:33
  Speaker 2: for you. So look at these stats. Troy Fontano, 6'4, 317.
• 26:35
  Speaker 2: Mason McCormick, 6'5, 315. Zach Frazier, 6'3, 310. Brock Hoffman, 6'4, 302.
• 26:37
  Speaker 2: Maxi Onitroy, 6'6. 321. That's an average of 6'4, 313 pounds. Now,
• 26:50
  Speaker 2: when you add in Spencer Anderson, he's 6'5, 305. And
• 26:54
  Speaker 2: Darnell Washington, 6'7. He's listed at 264 still.
• 26:58
  Speaker 1: No way.
• 26:58
  Speaker 2: He has to be 300, right? Or at least close
• 27:00
  Speaker 2: to that. But when you add then, that's 6'4, 313.
• 27:04
  Speaker 2: Jumps to 6'5, 320. Just adding in the two of them.
• 27:08
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I remember us talking about that in the booth
• 27:10
  Speaker 4: at St.
• 27:11
  Speaker 5: Vincent, you know, not one of the biggest offensive lines
• 27:13
  Speaker 5: across the board in the NFL. I mean, Frazier's probably
• 27:17
  Speaker 5: one of the smaller centers, height-wise at least.
• 27:19
  Speaker 4: And, you know, they don't have any of those.
• 27:22
  Speaker 5: And Faltano, definitely one of the shortest tackles in the NFL,
• 27:25
  Speaker 5: but the arm length helps him there. But, yeah, when
• 27:28
  Speaker 5: you start factoring in Anderson and Washington and all those guys, and,
• 27:34
  Speaker 5: you know, not to mention if you've got Friermuth on
• 27:36
  Speaker 5: the field, too.
• 27:37
  Speaker 4: I don't know that they've run any snaps of.
• 27:38
  Speaker 5: That, but that would intrigue me At some point, if
• 27:42
  Speaker 5: they go to that well and try that, that'd be
• 27:44
  Speaker 5: a lot of heft up front.
• 27:47
  Speaker 2: You mean having Washington and Muth double tights and then
• 27:50
  Speaker 2: Anderson as a.
• 27:51
  Speaker 5: 13 personnel. Get Riley Nowakowski in there. I mean, I
• 27:56
  Speaker 5: think the defense knows what's coming.
• 27:58
  Speaker 4: Then you throw it.
• 27:59
  Speaker 5: That's where you throw it, yeah. Now we are managing
• 28:02
  Speaker 5: and coaching. That's when you throw it to Big Spence.
• 28:05
  Speaker 2: Little play action bootleg. Throw it out there in the flat.
• 28:09
  Speaker 2: How about Peyton Wilson and Patrick Queen for our next hit?
• 28:12
  Speaker 2: 129 tackles combined so far this season. Three and a
• 28:15
  Speaker 2: half sacks, ten and a half tackle for losses, seven
• 28:18
  Speaker 2: pass deflections, and two interceptions, a forced fumble, and a
• 28:22
  Speaker 2: fumble recovery. Peyton Wilson, Patrick Queen combined. Very strong at
• 28:26
  Speaker 2: that middle inside linebacker group. We talked about this earlier.
• 28:28
  Speaker 4: No doubt. No doubt.
• 28:30
  Speaker 5: And I think those two guys are playing fast. Playing
• 28:33
  Speaker 5: Fast and Furious, honestly. It's really nice to see.
• 28:37
  Speaker 2: You a fan of those movies?
• 28:39
  Speaker 4: Not really.
• 28:39
  Speaker 2: Me neither. Vin Diesel. Not a big Vin Diesel guy.
• 28:42
  Speaker 4: The late Paul Walker.
• 28:43
  Speaker 2: I did like him because he was in Varsity Blues.
• 28:46
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I was never really into the Fast and Furious series.
• 28:48
  Speaker 2: You liked Varsity Blues, though.
• 28:49
  Speaker 4: Never seen it, actually.
• 28:50
  Speaker 7: Oh, my God.
• 28:51
  Speaker 2: I know. Cutting the show off.
• 28:52
  Speaker 4: I mean, I'm familiar vaguely. I mean, you got the
• 28:54
  Speaker 4: big Billy Bob, right?
• 28:55
  Speaker 2: And you never saw the program either. But that's before
• 28:58
  Speaker 2: your time. That was early, mid-90s. Varsity Blues.
• 29:00
  Speaker 4: I think I wanted to see it when I was
• 29:02
  Speaker 4: like 10 and wasn't allowed.
• 29:03
  Speaker 2: Oh, no, you wouldn't have been allowed. Well, unless you're
• 29:05
  Speaker 2: watching the edited version.
• 29:06
  Speaker 4: It came out in 1999 and I was born in 91. So, yeah.
• 29:08
  Speaker 4: But I guess I should play some catch up on
• 29:10
  Speaker 4: that one.
• 29:10
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 29:10
  Speaker 2: Those are my two recommendations.
• 29:11
  Speaker 4: Should I watch it with my six-year-old, do you think?
• 29:13
  Speaker 3: No.
• 29:13
  Speaker 4: Okay.
• 29:14
  Speaker 2: Well, if there's an edited version. If you watch the
• 29:18
  Speaker 2: edited version.
• 29:18
  Speaker 4: Allie Larder's in that, right?
• 29:20
  Speaker 3: She is.
• 29:22
  Speaker 5: Like I said, I'm pretty familiar with the movie, even
• 29:25
  Speaker 5: though I haven't seen it from start to finish.
• 29:27
  Speaker 4: I think I've seen a couple scenes.
• 29:28
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I bet you have. All right, we'll continue to
• 29:31
  Speaker 2: march on here. Muth and Washington, 64 targets, 44 receptions,
• 29:36
  Speaker 2: 489 yards, and seven touchdowns in eight games. Our two
• 29:38
  Speaker 2: tight ends have... played spectacular.
• 29:41
  Speaker 5: No doubt, and I'm looking at it right now. There
• 29:43
  Speaker 5: have been a few snaps of Friar Muth, Washington, Anderson
• 29:48
  Speaker 5: all out there at the same time. So that's an
• 29:52
  Speaker 5: intriguing amount of poundage up front. But that's what's great
• 29:57
  Speaker 5: about that duo, too, is– I think they've both diversified
• 30:01
  Speaker 5: their games to the point that you don't pigeonhole them
• 30:03
  Speaker 5: and say, ah, Washington's the big blocker, but he doesn't
• 30:06
  Speaker 5: do much else. Friar Muse, the pass catcher, but he's
• 30:08
  Speaker 5: just a glorified receiver. No, Friar Muse throwing his body around.
• 30:11
  Speaker 2: He has, yeah.
• 30:12
  Speaker 5: Washington is catching passes and making plays downfield. That is,
• 30:18
  Speaker 5: you know, can't say enough about how they have made
• 30:23
  Speaker 5: up for the lack of, you know, production in the
• 30:25
  Speaker 5: receiving game. And Aaron Rodgers, you know, clearly likes them both.
• 30:29
  Speaker 5: That All due respect to Jonu Smith, but I think
• 30:32
  Speaker 5: he was gumming up the works a little bit last year,
• 30:34
  Speaker 5: and it's been nice to see those two guys just
• 30:36
  Speaker 5: turned loose. Robert Tunyon's just kind of waiting in the
• 30:39
  Speaker 5: wings in case they need him. I was talking to
• 30:41
  Speaker 5: Robert Tunyon the other day in the locker room because
• 30:45
  Speaker 5: I wanted to point out to him that, have you
• 30:47
  Speaker 5: ever been to Aetna, Pennsylvania?
• 30:49
  Speaker 4: That's in Shaler.
• 30:50
  Speaker 2: I mean, I have, yes. Are you asking me or Bobby? You.
• 30:53
  Speaker 3: Oh, okay, yes.
• 30:53
  Speaker 4: But then him.
• 30:54
  Speaker 1: Of course.
• 30:54
  Speaker 4: Then I also asked him because... Route 8.
• 30:56
  Speaker 5: Right, that's right in my neck of the woods. It's
• 30:58
  Speaker 5: in the Shaler School District. Nice little community.
• 31:00
  Speaker 2: Love Aetna. I like Aetna.
• 31:02
  Speaker 3: It is.
• 31:02
  Speaker 5: Yeah, there's a couple delis. I think there's a brewery,
• 31:06
  Speaker 5: maybe a coffee shop. Anyway, so I saw the other
• 31:08
  Speaker 5: day on a news story, the mayor of Aetna is
• 31:12
  Speaker 5: a man named Robert Tunyon.
• 31:14
  Speaker 2: Oh.
• 31:15
  Speaker 5: T-U-N with the tilde over the top, O-N. And he
• 31:18
  Speaker 5: believed he's Hispanic. So I had to tell Bobby Tunyon.
• 31:21
  Speaker 5: I'm like, you guys should do some sort of partnership. Hi,
• 31:24
  Speaker 5: I'm Robert Tunyon. And I'm Robert Tunyon. I don't know
• 31:27
  Speaker 5: what exactly they would team up to do for the
• 31:30
  Speaker 5: borough of Aetna or the Steelers or Pittsburgh, but I
• 31:33
  Speaker 5: want them to meet, Ed.
• 31:35
  Speaker 2: That sounds like a Steelers.com feature or maybe right here
• 31:39
  Speaker 2: on SNR we get the two of them together.
• 31:40
  Speaker 4: We get Tunyon on.
• 31:41
  Speaker 2: Let's do it. I think it sounds like a future segment,
• 31:44
  Speaker 2: my friend. I like it. That's going to do it
• 31:46
  Speaker 2: for our hits and misses for this week. We hope
• 31:48
  Speaker 2: you enjoy that as we always do. Up next, Tom Offerman,
• 31:51
  Speaker 2: the host of The Blitz with Vince Williams, will be
• 31:54
  Speaker 2: joining us to wrap up the show here for today.
• 31:56
  Speaker 2: He's back on Troop. It is the Steelers Report right
• 31:58
  Speaker 2: here on Steelers Nation Radio, part of the Steelers Audio Network.
• 32:06
  Speaker 1: This is the Steelers Report with Brian Backo and Ed
• 32:10
  Speaker 1: Troop on Steelers Nation Radio, a part of the Steelers
• 32:13
  Speaker 1: Audio Network.
• 32:23
  Speaker 2: I only play that because when i go on tom
• 32:25
  Speaker 2: offerman's show on the blitz with vince williams he has
• 32:29
  Speaker 2: really cool music teed up for me all the time
• 32:32
  Speaker 2: with et because that's my initials so this morning i
• 32:35
  Speaker 2: i went on here at iheart and i tried to
• 32:38
  Speaker 2: cough up something tom and the best i could do
• 32:41
  Speaker 2: is the.
• 32:41
  Speaker 6: Stealer polka i mean i'm honored don't get me wrong
• 32:44
  Speaker 6: i mean Just don't know where the fit is, though.
• 32:46
  Speaker 4: I mean, E.T.
• 32:47
  Speaker 7: Makes a lot of sense. You're invading the studio. But
• 32:50
  Speaker 7: I love a good polka. I'm not even Polish, for
• 32:52
  Speaker 7: God's sake.
• 32:52
  Speaker 2: Well, full disclosure, I had the Top Gun theme song
• 32:56
  Speaker 2: teed up for Tom Cruise.
• 32:57
  Speaker 7: I kind of like that.
• 32:58
  Speaker 2: I like that, too, but I didn't know if I
• 32:59
  Speaker 2: was allowed to play it.
• 33:00
  Speaker 7: You could also just have the clip of T.O. going,
• 33:02
  Speaker 7: it's my quarterback. Because I am T.O.
• 33:05
  Speaker 2: We could definitely do that. That voice you hear, you
• 33:07
  Speaker 2: should know it here on SNR. That is Tom Offerman,
• 33:11
  Speaker 2: who is the host of SNR's The Blitz, that you
• 33:13
  Speaker 2: can hear each and every day with Vince Williams right
• 33:16
  Speaker 2: here on Steelers Nation Radio. Of course, also on the
• 33:19
  Speaker 2: Steeler pregame show on Countdown to Kickoff with Matt Williamson.
• 33:22
  Speaker 2: Four hours ahead of Steeler game days. He will be
• 33:26
  Speaker 2: off this week because the Steelers have a bye.
• 33:28
  Speaker 7: That's right.
• 33:28
  Speaker 2: So that's good. What are you going to do on
• 33:30
  Speaker 2: the day off?
• 33:30
  Speaker 7: We're all off on Friday, too, I saw here at
• 33:32
  Speaker 7: Steelers Nation Radio.
• 33:33
  Speaker 2: Three-day weekend.
• 33:33
  Speaker 5: Love that.
• 33:34
  Speaker 4: Three-day weekend.
• 33:35
  Speaker 7: Any big plans? Sit on my couch and rot.
• 33:38
  Speaker 2: That's it.
• 33:39
  Speaker 4: That's the best.
• 33:39
  Speaker 7: I was going to paint a fence out in my backyard,
• 33:41
  Speaker 7: but I was like, ah.
• 33:42
  Speaker 2: Oh, look at you. Like a little home improvement.
• 33:45
  Speaker 7: Yeah.
• 33:45
  Speaker 4: A little too cold to do that.
• 33:46
  Speaker 3: Yep.
• 33:48
  Speaker 7: It's like 60 out.
• 33:49
  Speaker 2: I know, it's so unsafe, but it's going to be
• 33:51
  Speaker 2: cold this weekend. Tom, let's start with your assessment of
• 33:54
  Speaker 2: the Pittsburgh Steelers. 6-2, four-game winning streak going into the break.
• 33:58
  Speaker 2: A lot of momentum. And hey, look, they're atop the
• 34:01
  Speaker 2: AFC North, and if the playoffs were to start today,
• 34:03
  Speaker 2: they would be the No. 3 seed in the AFC.
• 34:05
  Speaker 6: Yeah, and you know, we've been in this spot in
• 34:08
  Speaker 6: years past as far as a really good start to
• 34:09
  Speaker 6: the season, or the Steelers have seemingly positioned themselves well
• 34:12
  Speaker 6: for a good push into the playoffs, and They've kind
• 34:15
  Speaker 6: of fallen flat towards the second half of the season
• 34:18
  Speaker 6: where they just haven't really improved as the season's gone on.
• 34:20
  Speaker 6: And I think that's completely different this year. I've seen
• 34:23
  Speaker 6: this team improve week after week. I think the coaching
• 34:26
  Speaker 6: has been outstanding. And the main reason for optimism that
• 34:29
  Speaker 6: I have, and when Brian was on my show earlier
• 34:32
  Speaker 6: this week, we were kicking this around, the offensive line
• 34:36
  Speaker 6: and the defensive line, the trenches are so much better
• 34:40
  Speaker 6: than they've been in those previous couple of years. That's
• 34:43
  Speaker 6: why I think you can not only sustain what you've
• 34:45
  Speaker 6: started at 6-2, you can build off of that, get
• 34:48
  Speaker 6: another 5-6 maybe wins in the second half of the
• 34:52
  Speaker 6: season and get past that 9-8, 10-7 threshold that you've
• 34:56
  Speaker 6: been stuck in for years, finally break through to that
• 34:59
  Speaker 6: 11-win mark.
• 35:00
  Speaker 5: It's been a very overlapping bye week on SNR. I
• 35:03
  Speaker 5: was on with you guys yesterday. I'm going to be
• 35:05
  Speaker 5: on the drive. later today so stay tuned for that i.
• 35:08
  Speaker 7: Think et invades the studio tomorrow i do it's i do.
• 35:11
  Speaker 5: And now you're on with us and we had we're
• 35:14
  Speaker 5: having matt williamson on tomorrow oh my gosh and chris
• 35:17
  Speaker 5: adamski was on with us yesterday people helping people.
• 35:20
  Speaker 2: We're just a bunch of friends here it's an snr
• 35:22
  Speaker 2: family we're the we're the three best friends that anyone
• 35:24
  Speaker 2: could ever have.
• 35:25
  Speaker 5: Familial yeah there you go that's a good way to
• 35:28
  Speaker 5: put it but who do you think's gonna get traded
• 35:30
  Speaker 5: around the nfl tom.
• 35:33
  Speaker 4: I mean... Khalil Mack, I guess, is probably one of
• 35:35
  Speaker 4: the bigger names.
• 35:36
  Speaker 7: That's left to get traded, right? Do you think.
• 35:38
  Speaker 6: Well, let me ask a question to you, then. Do
• 35:40
  Speaker 6: you think we will see a bigger trade than the
• 35:43
  Speaker 6: two seismic ones we already have with Nelson and Simmons?
• 35:46
  Speaker 4: No, I think those... Simmons is probably the biggest.
• 35:48
  Speaker 3: One, right?
• 35:48
  Speaker 4: Two first-round picks.
• 35:49
  Speaker 5: Also, where he would rank among most people's top D-linemen
• 35:52
  Speaker 5: in the NFL.
• 35:53
  Speaker 4: Yeah, and Quentin Nelson was a.
• 35:55
  Speaker 5: He basically embodied the Colts in recent years, so that
• 36:00
  Speaker 5: was huge.
• 36:00
  Speaker 4: And even DeForest Buckner was playing... really well.
• 36:03
  Speaker 5: I mean, we saw that against the Steelers in the
• 36:05
  Speaker 5: run-up to that game, and in that game, Khalil Mack
• 36:08
  Speaker 5: is still a big name for sure, and edge rushers
• 36:11
  Speaker 5: always move the needle, but I'd say that's, those are
• 36:14
  Speaker 5: probably the two big, I don't know, I mean, I
• 36:15
  Speaker 5: guess Garrett Wilson being traded would be seismic, and Jonathan Taylor,
• 36:19
  Speaker 5: to be fair.
• 36:20
  Speaker 6: That's the one that we were forgetting, Jonathan Taylor. Glad
• 36:22
  Speaker 6: that you brought that up, because he is probably going
• 36:24
  Speaker 6: to be traded, but the Garrett Wilson and the Brian
• 36:27
  Speaker 6: Thomas Jr.
• 36:28
  Speaker 4: I just have a hard time seeing them get moved.
• 36:31
  Speaker 6: And especially for the Steelers to be the team that
• 36:33
  Speaker 6: gets one of those guys. Wilson seems like it's going
• 36:35
  Speaker 6: to have to be in the first round range as
• 36:37
  Speaker 6: far as a pick that you give for him. And
• 36:38
  Speaker 6: I just don't think the Steelers should be in business
• 36:40
  Speaker 6: for that.
• 36:40
  Speaker 7: No.
• 36:41
  Speaker 6: I'm more open to maybe a second rounder for Brian
• 36:43
  Speaker 6: Thomas Jr., but I cannot wrap my head around why
• 36:46
  Speaker 6: the Jags would want to, A, trade him, because I
• 36:49
  Speaker 6: still think he's got a lot of potential, but say
• 36:51
  Speaker 6: the fit's not working and whatever. B, why in the
• 36:54
  Speaker 6: world would you trade him to the Steelers, to the Chiefs,
• 36:57
  Speaker 6: to anybody that could then turn around in wildcard weekend,
• 37:01
  Speaker 6: come to your stadium, and have Brian Thomas Jr. streaking
• 37:04
  Speaker 6: down the field against your secondary. So, It's tough for
• 37:06
  Speaker 6: me to really wrap my head around that one. You
• 37:09
  Speaker 6: hear the Josh Downs is right being thrown out there.
• 37:11
  Speaker 6: Doesn't he kind of do the same thing that Roman
• 37:13
  Speaker 6: Wilson does, though? It'd be a very similar kind of
• 37:15
  Speaker 6: guy to they already have.
• 37:16
  Speaker 2: So like a lateral move.
• 37:18
  Speaker 7: I would love to get a receiver. I just don't
• 37:20
  Speaker 7: know if the right moves out there for them.
• 37:22
  Speaker 2: It's been the biggest hole so far, Tom. There hasn't
• 37:24
  Speaker 2: been many. That's the good news for Steeler Nation. There's
• 37:26
  Speaker 2: been a lot more ups than downs, but the wide
• 37:28
  Speaker 2: receiver room is a glaring one. And the Steelers, through
• 37:31
  Speaker 2: the first eight games, have gotten away with it with
• 37:32
  Speaker 2: the usage of Muth, Darnell Washington, throw-in to Jalen Warren
• 37:36
  Speaker 2: out of the backfield, Rico Dowdle. DK Metcalf has been
• 37:40
  Speaker 2: up and down, and a lot more downs than ups.
• 37:42
  Speaker 2: So if there is a move to be made, you'd
• 37:43
  Speaker 2: think it might be that wide receiver room. We'll have
• 37:47
  Speaker 2: to find out.
• 37:49
  Speaker 6: I actually have been looking more at the cornerback room
• 37:51
  Speaker 6: as far as a move to make for the Steelers potentially.
• 37:53
  Speaker 6: One guy that's definitely on the block is Reek Woolen
• 37:56
  Speaker 6: in Philadelphia, and I think that he's more of a
• 37:59
  Speaker 6: man-cover corner, more than they have, that's for sure.
• 38:03
  Speaker 7: But the thing that holds me up there is, do
• 38:05
  Speaker 7: they want to play that much man coverage as far
• 38:08
  Speaker 7: as the defense is concerned? They've kind of been doing
• 38:09
  Speaker 7: really well in this zone scheme for Patrick Graham. They have.
• 38:12
  Speaker 6: These guys tackle the catch extremely well. That's one of
• 38:15
  Speaker 6: their greatest strengths as a secondary player. I still think
• 38:18
  Speaker 6: I would pull the trigger on a move like that
• 38:20
  Speaker 6: if the price was right and bring in a more
• 38:22
  Speaker 6: man-capable corner.
• 38:23
  Speaker 4: Because, Brian, you know, just because you're.
• 38:25
  Speaker 6: A man-capable corner doesn't mean you can't play zone. Like,
• 38:27
  Speaker 6: Rick Woolen can play zone if he has to. It
• 38:30
  Speaker 6: just feels like that would be a nice upgrade for them.
• 38:32
  Speaker 5: I think what I worry about with the corner position
• 38:34
  Speaker 5: is just the depth overall. If somebody does go down,
• 38:38
  Speaker 5: you don't want to be scrambling to backfill.
• 38:41
  Speaker 4: So, yeah, I'm not overly pushing for the Steelers to
• 38:46
  Speaker 4: make any moves.
• 38:47
  Speaker 5: I think So far this season, we've seen them probably
• 38:50
  Speaker 5: be intrigued by upgrading from the outside.
• 38:54
  Speaker 4: But the in-house options have done pretty dang well.
• 38:56
  Speaker 5: Like, if you would have gone out and scrambled and
• 38:59
  Speaker 5: traded for a D lineman, a veteran D lineman, you
• 39:02
  Speaker 5: wouldn't be seeing this Gabriel Rubio or Kevin Jobity Jr.
• 39:05
  Speaker 5: taking the bull by the horns. Maybe you wouldn't be
• 39:07
  Speaker 5: seeing Daylon Everett make some of the plays that he's
• 39:09
  Speaker 5: making at corner or Asante Samuel Jr. For that matter,
• 39:13
  Speaker 5: Robert Spears Jennings thriving at safety as well, so... And
• 39:18
  Speaker 5: even Brandon Smith, I mean, I think he's fine to
• 39:20
  Speaker 5: throw in there for a few snaps every game, and
• 39:22
  Speaker 5: he'll block, and Aaron Rodgers seems to have some trust
• 39:26
  Speaker 5: in him. Marquez Valdez-Scantling is hanging out on the practice squad.
• 39:30
  Speaker 4: He is a veteran. He's been there, done that.
• 39:32
  Speaker 5: Maybe you just use him a little bit differently or
• 39:34
  Speaker 5: less than you did last season when you went down
• 39:37
  Speaker 5: the same road. I think the Steelers are okay. By
• 39:40
  Speaker 5: and large, I won't be crushing them if they don't
• 39:42
  Speaker 5: make a move. I wonder if the Baltimore Ravens will
• 39:45
  Speaker 5: make a move for a quarterback to try to salvage
• 39:48
  Speaker 5: their season.
• 39:49
  Speaker 6: I'm interested in that too, and the problem there is
• 39:53
  Speaker 6: it's really got to be the right fit of a quarterback, right?
• 39:55
  Speaker 6: That's why Snoop Huntley was such a great backup because
• 39:58
  Speaker 6: the playbook could mainly stay the same when he came in.
• 40:01
  Speaker 6: Now you've got Joe Fagnano from UConn. He's not that type.
• 40:05
  Speaker 6: They're going to have to cut like 40% of their
• 40:07
  Speaker 6: playbook down, and that's probably the case with any other quarterback.
• 40:10
  Speaker 6: I think the popular quarterback come deadline day is Kirk Cousins, right?
• 40:13
  Speaker 6: Because the Raiders, they're still kind of in it, but
• 40:16
  Speaker 6: they're probably not going to make the playoffs.
• 40:18
  Speaker 7: And you got to get Mendoza out there.
• 40:19
  Speaker 6: I just have a hunch that he's showing enough on
• 40:21
  Speaker 6: the practice field right now where they're like, we got
• 40:23
  Speaker 6: to get this guy out there.
• 40:24
  Speaker 4: He's a one, one.
• 40:25
  Speaker 6: He has that capability. It shouldn't take a lot of
• 40:28
  Speaker 6: seasoning for him to get ready for the NFL. So
• 40:31
  Speaker 6: I just think teams are going to be calling.
• 40:32
  Speaker 7: About Kirk, but cousins can't really go into the Ravens
• 40:35
  Speaker 7: offense and make it work.
• 40:36
  Speaker 6: Like with cousins, it's more like I would be the Vikings.
• 40:39
  Speaker 6: I'd be interested in trying to bring him back. I
• 40:40
  Speaker 6: think he'd be perfect for them. So that's why the
• 40:43
  Speaker 6: Ravens are in such a tough spot. Like, Yes, you
• 40:46
  Speaker 6: should go out and try to make a trade for
• 40:47
  Speaker 6: a quarterback, but there's no quarterback out there that's going
• 40:50
  Speaker 6: to fit your offense. Like, even the Bengals would never
• 40:52
  Speaker 6: do this, but even if you went back and got
• 40:54
  Speaker 6: Flacco again.
• 40:55
  Speaker 2: We joked about that the other day.
• 40:56
  Speaker 7: He wouldn't fit. He wouldn't be a good fit for you.
• 40:59
  Speaker 4: Yeah, who would trade Joe Flacco in the division? I mean,
• 41:02
  Speaker 4: that would never happen.
• 41:02
  Speaker 7: Only one Ohio team team does that, okay?
• 41:04
  Speaker 2: We're talking with Tom Offerman, who's the host of SNR's
• 41:07
  Speaker 2: The Blitz, which in which you can hear each and
• 41:09
  Speaker 2: every day and week right here on SNR with Vince
• 41:12
  Speaker 2: Williams from 10 to noon. You could also catch Tom
• 41:16
  Speaker 2: on game days for Countdown to Kickoff with Matt Williamson. Tom,
• 41:19
  Speaker 2: we just talked about it. The AFC North landscape has
• 41:22
  Speaker 2: changed quickly. The Ravens are now down two quarterbacks with
• 41:25
  Speaker 2: Lamar Jackson most likely out for the rest of the season.
• 41:28
  Speaker 2: Snoop Huntley now officially out for the rest of the season.
• 41:31
  Speaker 2: Deshaun Watson banged up. Concussion protocol. Concussion now. So it
• 41:35
  Speaker 2: looks like Shador Sanders potentially will be teed up this
• 41:38
  Speaker 2: weekend in New Orleans.
• 41:39
  Speaker 6: And by the way, not to jump in on you,
• 41:40
  Speaker 6: a quarterback like Sanders turns the ball over on a
• 41:43
  Speaker 6: Saints defense that sucks, that's a formula for the Saints
• 41:46
  Speaker 6: pulling the upset off because the more possession Shuck has,
• 41:48
  Speaker 6: they'll score on that Browns defense.
• 41:49
  Speaker 2: Especially in New Orleans, too.
• 41:51
  Speaker 1: Exactly.
• 41:51
  Speaker 2: I mean, that's a tough place to play.
• 41:53
  Speaker 4: Coming off a bye.
• 41:53
  Speaker 2: And coming off a bye. There you go.
• 41:55
  Speaker 7: I think we're picking the Saints here on this show.
• 41:56
  Speaker 2: I think we're ready to go for an upset.
• 41:59
  Speaker 4: Would have considered it an upset. Yeah, even with Watson,
• 42:02
  Speaker 4: I might have picked them.
• 42:03
  Speaker 2: But the AFC North is changing quickly, and you've got
• 42:05
  Speaker 2: a Cincinnati team in which the Steelers will face on
• 42:07
  Speaker 2: that Sunday night on November 15th. that defensively has given
• 42:10
  Speaker 2: up 72 points the last two weeks.
• 42:12
  Speaker 1: I know.
• 42:13
  Speaker 7: It's the same old problem, merging its head again for
• 42:15
  Speaker 7: the Bengals, right?
• 42:16
  Speaker 2: Right, exactly. So the Steelers really, truly are in a
• 42:19
  Speaker 2: prime position in the AFC North right now.
• 42:20
  Speaker 6: Yeah, that's what Vince and I were kicking around on
• 42:22
  Speaker 6: the Blitz today, talking about how the Bengals, it's kind
• 42:24
  Speaker 6: of the same old, same old Bengals lately, where Burrow's
• 42:27
  Speaker 6: got to score 40 points for them to get out
• 42:29
  Speaker 6: of Dodge. And it's not even like he did that
• 42:31
  Speaker 6: against a Lamar Jackson-led Ravens or a Josh Allen-led Buffalo Bills.
• 42:36
  Speaker 6: He did it against the worst team, arguably, in the
• 42:37
  Speaker 6: NFL today. and the Tennessee Titans at home in Cincinnati.
• 42:41
  Speaker 6: It's one thing to maybe go to Music City and
• 42:43
  Speaker 6: struggle a little bit on the road, get a little
• 42:45
  Speaker 6: sleepy kind of 1 p.m.
• 42:46
  Speaker 4: Kickoff there.
• 42:47
  Speaker 6: At home in front of your crowd, though, for them
• 42:49
  Speaker 6: to play with their food that way, that's very discouraging
• 42:52
  Speaker 6: if I'm a Bengals fan.
• 42:53
  Speaker 7: This defense was supposed to be fixed.
• 42:55
  Speaker 6: I don't think it's hyperbolic or extreme to say that
• 42:58
  Speaker 6: this is arguably the biggest game of the Steelers' season
• 43:00
  Speaker 6: coming up out of their bye week. I think now
• 43:03
  Speaker 6: that you kind of reassess the second half schedule, this
• 43:05
  Speaker 6: is the toughest opponent that you probably have on the
• 43:07
  Speaker 6: second half schedule, and I don't have to lay out
• 43:10
  Speaker 6: the magnitude of it as far as the meaning is concerned.
• 43:12
  Speaker 6: And I would not be surprised if the winner of
• 43:14
  Speaker 6: this game takes the North's crown. I also wouldn't be
• 43:17
  Speaker 6: surprised if that means you get the home field advantage
• 43:20
  Speaker 6: in round three when the loser of this game comes
• 43:23
  Speaker 6: to your building as the wildcard.
• 43:24
  Speaker 2: In the wildcard game, yep. That's the path they're on.
• 43:26
  Speaker 2: If the playoffs were to start today, it would be Cincinnati.
• 43:28
  Speaker 7: Cincinnati at Pittsburgh, right?
• 43:29
  Speaker 2: At Pittsburgh, yep. Go ahead, Brian.
• 43:31
  Speaker 5: Well, as far as the AFC North goes, the Steelers
• 43:34
  Speaker 5: are done with the Browns. They've put that behind them.
• 43:37
  Speaker 5: They haven't seen the Ravens yet, so the timing works
• 43:39
  Speaker 5: out pretty well on that front. And that first Bengals game,
• 43:43
  Speaker 5: it could have gone either way. There was a Keyshawn
• 43:47
  Speaker 5: Williams took a punt off the face mask and coughed
• 43:50
  Speaker 5: it up. Cam Johnston got obliterated on a running into
• 43:54
  Speaker 5: the punter penalty that kept a drive alive.
• 43:58
  Speaker 4: So I'll ask you this, Tom.
• 43:59
  Speaker 5: I mean, we're getting ahead a little bit, but do
• 44:01
  Speaker 5: you feel that the Bengals are Better.
• 44:04
  Speaker 4: Than you expected? Not as formidable as you expected?
• 44:07
  Speaker 5: Or kind of status quo from what you anticipated they
• 44:11
  Speaker 5: would be coming into the season? Albeit, I think we're
• 44:13
  Speaker 5: all glad that the Steelers at least got one win
• 44:15
  Speaker 5: against them under their belt and they held serve at home.
• 44:17
  Speaker 4: However, they had to do it. Derek Harmon getting it
• 44:20
  Speaker 4: done in the end.
• 44:20
  Speaker 6: Yeah, no, I think that they're in a good spot
• 44:23
  Speaker 6: as far as Cincy is concerned, getting that first game
• 44:25
  Speaker 6: under your belt.
• 44:25
  Speaker 7: You have to split against them this year. As far
• 44:28
  Speaker 7: as where the Bengals are, I kind of expected them
• 44:31
  Speaker 7: to be in this race.
• 44:32
  Speaker 6: I picked them to win the AFC North at the
• 44:33
  Speaker 6: beginning of the season, but I also expected their defense
• 44:37
  Speaker 6: to be a bit better than it's been in the
• 44:39
  Speaker 6: previous couple of weeks. And, and that was what I
• 44:41
  Speaker 6: thought was going to be the main factor for them.
• 44:43
  Speaker 6: So I'm starting to look at them maybe more in
• 44:46
  Speaker 6: a similar light that they've been in, in the past
• 44:48
  Speaker 6: couple of years. The, the difference is this is a
• 44:51
  Speaker 6: healthy borough year, at least so far. And even with
• 44:54
  Speaker 6: abysmal defenses and healthy borough years, they're in the race
• 44:57
  Speaker 6: until the very end, or they do end up making
• 44:59
  Speaker 6: the playoffs.
• 44:59
  Speaker 7: So, I guess I'd say probably about where they're supposed
• 45:03
  Speaker 7: to be. Status quo, three weeks ago you asked me
• 45:05
  Speaker 7: that question. I'd say they're much.
• 45:07
  Speaker 6: Better than we could have anticipated and better than they've been,
• 45:09
  Speaker 6: and they look like a complete Super Bowl team, but
• 45:12
  Speaker 6: not the case after their past couple performances defensively.
• 45:15
  Speaker 2: Tom, we have a couple minutes left with you. Quickly,
• 45:17
  Speaker 2: the Steelers' defense right now just on the edge of
• 45:19
  Speaker 2: being a top-five defense in the NFL. They're certainly trending
• 45:22
  Speaker 2: in that right direction. First year under Patrick Graham. Started
• 45:25
  Speaker 2: a bit slow at the beginning of the season, but
• 45:27
  Speaker 2: the last few weeks, Brian and I have been talking
• 45:29
  Speaker 2: about it on our show this week. I'm sure you
• 45:30
  Speaker 2: and Vince as well. It sure feels like the old
• 45:32
  Speaker 2: days in and around the Pittsburgh Steelers with the number
• 45:35
  Speaker 2: of sacks eight this past week and not giving up
• 45:37
  Speaker 2: a 101 individual record. rusher so far this season.
• 45:41
  Speaker 6: Yeah today's blitz we were kind of doing some self-scouting
• 45:43
  Speaker 6: ourselves at the bye week and saying okay things are
• 45:46
  Speaker 6: looking good but what can the offense and what can
• 45:47
  Speaker 6: the defense improve upon and grow in the second half
• 45:50
  Speaker 6: on and it was tough to find spots in the
• 45:53
  Speaker 6: in the defense like they're doing a lot well i
• 45:56
  Speaker 6: mean i think a couple of weeks ago the main
• 45:59
  Speaker 6: topic of this discussion would be getting pressure on the
• 46:01
  Speaker 6: quarterback how do they figure out how to do that
• 46:03
  Speaker 6: they just had eight sacks last week just figured it
• 46:05
  Speaker 6: out and they did figure it out before the bye
• 46:07
  Speaker 6: week uh The defense is certainly elite. I think that
• 46:12
  Speaker 6: you can say that with your chest out and proud,
• 46:15
  Speaker 6: and you don't have to kind of lie about it.
• 46:17
  Speaker 7: Whereas in the past, we kind of lied about it.
• 46:19
  Speaker 7: It had elite natures to it.
• 46:20
  Speaker 6: You could sack the quarterback, it could get turnovers, but
• 46:23
  Speaker 6: it was not a completely elite defense. This year it is,
• 46:27
  Speaker 6: and the stat, streak, whatever you want to call it,
• 46:31
  Speaker 6: that I'm most proud of is that second-half touchdown stat
• 46:34
  Speaker 6: where You haven't given one up since week three against
• 46:37
  Speaker 6: the Bengals.
• 46:37
  Speaker 7: Yes.
• 46:38
  Speaker 6: And since the Patriots scored theirs via defensive touchdown, that's
• 46:41
  Speaker 6: the only second-half touchdown you've given up all season. Guys,
• 46:44
  Speaker 6: if you're in a playoff game and you don't give
• 46:46
  Speaker 6: up a second-half touchdown, you're going to probably win that
• 46:49
  Speaker 6: playoff game.
• 46:50
  Speaker 2: And potentially maybe the main game at the end of
• 46:52
  Speaker 2: the season. Sure. You're on that path.
• 46:54
  Speaker 7: That is incredible stuff from the defense to keep teams.
• 46:57
  Speaker 6: Up, especially because offenses now have some data against you
• 47:00
  Speaker 6: in that game.
• 47:01
  Speaker 7: They should know how to attack you better. But Graham's
• 47:04
  Speaker 7: got the better counter than all these other offensive coordinators have.
• 47:06
  Speaker 4: All thanks to Amy Winehouse.
• 47:09
  Speaker 7: Back to black, right?
• 47:10
  Speaker 4: Back to black and gold.
• 47:12
  Speaker 2: Fellas, what? 30 seconds, literally. Pitt football. What are we doing?
• 47:16
  Speaker 7: Are we serious? You brought me on here to talk
• 47:17
  Speaker 7: about Pitt football? You're kicking me while I'm down?
• 47:20
  Speaker 2: I got you and Baku in the same room. They're
• 47:21
  Speaker 2: coming off a win. They got a win.
• 47:23
  Speaker 7: I guess we're going bowling, right? Six-win season.
• 47:26
  Speaker 2: They might be in that mayo bowl that Brian and
• 47:27
  Speaker 2: I don't like because we don't like mayo. How about you, Tom?
• 47:29
  Speaker 2: Where do you stand on mayo?
• 47:30
  Speaker 7: I'm a light mayo guy.
• 47:32
  Speaker 1: Ugh.
• 47:32
  Speaker 6: I can't get it. Some of these sandwich places will
• 47:35
  Speaker 6: just put too much mayo on it. I've got to
• 47:36
  Speaker 6: go light mayo, but I do like a little bit
• 47:38
  Speaker 6: of that flavor. I'm a big fan of a Chipotle mayo.
• 47:40
  Speaker 2: Okay. Well, that's kind of what Double B was saying.
• 47:42
  Speaker 4: That's what I said.
• 47:43
  Speaker 5: I'm not a mayo guy, but if you put a
• 47:44
  Speaker 5: fleck of garlic in there and call it an aioli,
• 47:46
  Speaker 5: now I'll probably dip my fries in it until the
• 47:48
  Speaker 5: cows come home.
• 47:49
  Speaker 7: I don't know, Ed.
• 47:50
  Speaker 6: I mean, Pitt football, the season just kind of was
• 47:53
  Speaker 6: like with that blow up a balloon and then let
• 47:54
  Speaker 6: it go and it blew around the room.
• 47:56
  Speaker 7: That's what it was when Heintracht won.
• 47:57
  Speaker 5: Let me inject a dose of optimism for you. By
• 48:00
  Speaker 5: winning that game against Georgia Tech... They clinched bowl eligibility,
• 48:04
  Speaker 5: and I would like to see that bowl game. Let's
• 48:06
  Speaker 5: see that freshman QB who's like 6'6, Corey Daly, the
• 48:10
  Speaker 5: one who started and struggled against Boston College. At least
• 48:13
  Speaker 5: give him a game with nothing to lose, really. See
• 48:16
  Speaker 5: what he's got, if there's anything there.
• 48:18
  Speaker 6: Not to get too super serious into the pit analysis,
• 48:21
  Speaker 6: but you're spot on because who knows if Heintzel's going
• 48:23
  Speaker 6: to be healthy to start the season next season. What's
• 48:25
  Speaker 6: his status even going to be in the landscape of
• 48:27
  Speaker 6: college football now? You want to have Daly ready to
• 48:29
  Speaker 6: go to start that Wisconsin game in Ireland if need
• 48:32
  Speaker 6: be next year because you might need him.
• 48:35
  Speaker 2: You can tell it's the bye week because we're talking
• 48:37
  Speaker 2: about Pitt football here.
• 48:37
  Speaker 3: Hey, Pitt hoops.
• 48:38
  Speaker 2: We can talk about that, too.
• 48:39
  Speaker 7: I'm going to see them play the Buffs tomorrow.
• 48:41
  Speaker 4: Oh, man, enjoy.
• 48:41
  Speaker 7: Buffalo Bulls in town.
• 48:42
  Speaker 3: I love it.
• 48:43
  Speaker 4: UB.
• 48:43
  Speaker 2: I'm a big UB guy. I love it. Tom Offerman.
• 48:46
  Speaker 2: You can hear Tom each and every day from 10
• 48:48
  Speaker 2: to noon with Vince Williams on SNR's The Blitz. You
• 48:51
  Speaker 2: can also hear Tom on Game Days with Matt Williamson
• 48:53
  Speaker 2: on Countdown to Kickoff. Tom, we'll do it again soon.
• 48:55
  Speaker 7: Absolutely, guys. It was fun.
• 48:56
  Speaker 1: Thanks, Tom.
• 48:57
  Speaker 7: All right.
• 48:57
  Speaker 2: That is going to do it for the show for today.
• 48:59
  Speaker 2: I'm Ed Troop with Brian Bacco. Thanks for listening to
• 49:01
  Speaker 2: the Steelers Report. Up next, it's Wes Shuler and Matt
• 49:03
  Speaker 2: Williamson on SNR's The Drive. right here on Steelers Nation Radio,
• 49:07
  Speaker 2: part of the Steelers Audio Network.