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Transcript

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

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: HD2 Pittsburgh is Steelers Nation Radio SNR. This is In
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: the Locker Room with Rob King, Max Starks, and Willie
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: Colon on Steelers Nation Radio, brought to you in part
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: by the Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct from the
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: team at the Steelers.
• 0:23
  Speaker 2: Pro Shop at shop.steelers.com. And by your neighborhood Ford store,
• 0:29
  Speaker 2: the F-150 is the official truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
• 0:35
  Speaker 3: And we thank you very much for being with us
• 0:37
  Speaker 3: today here on Steelers.
• 0:39
  Speaker 4: In the locker room. No Willie Colon today. It's Max
• 0:42
  Speaker 4: Starks and myself going a little old school here. Willie's
• 0:44
  Speaker 4: got some other duties and will be joining us throughout
• 0:46
  Speaker 4: the rest of the week as we get you ready
• 0:48
  Speaker 4: for the Steelers and the Patriots and wrap up this
• 0:51
  Speaker 4: 20-13 victory over the Atlanta Falcons.
• 0:55
  Speaker 3: Max Starks, the Steelers are 1-0 and that is the
• 0:58
  Speaker 3: number one thing.
• 0:59
  Speaker 4: I asked Mike McCarthy before the game, stylistically, what are
• 1:05
  Speaker 4: you trying to put in place in the building blocks
• 1:07
  Speaker 4: and all that stuff and Look, the most important thing is,
• 1:10
  Speaker 4: and he acknowledges, 1-0.
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  Speaker 3: That's what counts, and the Steelers are 1-0.
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  Speaker 5: And that's all that you need to be able to honor, right?
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  Speaker 6: It's the whole point of this game, all of the flash,
• 1:26
  Speaker 6: all of the explosive plays, the big moments, the sacks,
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  Speaker 6: all lead to one road. That's the championship road. And
• 1:37
  Speaker 6: how do you get to championship road? You must win games.
• 1:41
  Speaker 6: And that, at the end of the day, stacks one
• 1:45
  Speaker 6: in the W column and none in the loss column.
• 1:48
  Speaker 6: And that's what it's all about. So you're absolutely right.
• 1:51
  Speaker 6: Get to 1-0. And then next week, get to 1-0 again.
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  Speaker 5: Right. Because each new week just stacks upon it.
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  Speaker 6: We're the ones that are the scorekeepers of the cumulative success.
• 2:04
  Speaker 6: But in their mind, very singular focus is, very much
• 2:08
  Speaker 6: in the now, and that's the present.
• 2:10
  Speaker 5: So, no, I was happy.
• 2:12
  Speaker 6: And, listen, we're going to split hairs here on this show.
• 2:18
  Speaker 6: We're going to do that, but you're absolutely right, Rob.
• 2:21
  Speaker 6: Just win the game. Like, let's be honest. Just win
• 2:25
  Speaker 6: the game. That's all that matters.
• 2:27
  Speaker 4: The Steelers are 1-0. That's what counts. Nothing else matters
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  Speaker 4: as much as that. Other things matter, but they don't
• 2:34
  Speaker 4: matter as much as that. You know, before we kind
• 2:37
  Speaker 4: of dissect the game, I think this is a big
• 2:42
  Speaker 4: one for Mike McCarthy to have behind him, a big
• 2:45
  Speaker 4: one for him to have in the win column as well.
• 2:48
  Speaker 4: You know, he talked about, he used the word heavy
• 2:51
  Speaker 4: to talk about being the head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
• 2:55
  Speaker 4: Talking to Mike Prezuda earlier today on the DV Morning Show,
• 2:58
  Speaker 4: he was talking about how, you know, basically, you know,
• 3:02
  Speaker 4: Andy Weidel came in and said, you don't want to
• 3:04
  Speaker 4: let the city down. You know, and it's Andy Wiedel's
• 3:07
  Speaker 4: a local guy. Casey Wiedel's a local guy. Others who
• 3:10
  Speaker 4: work for this team, they're local guys. Mike McCarthy's a
• 3:13
  Speaker 4: local guy. Mike McCarthy's a bit of the face of it, obviously,
• 3:16
  Speaker 4: as the head coach. More than a bit of a
• 3:18
  Speaker 4: face of it as the head coach. He's the forward-facing part,
• 3:22
  Speaker 4: one of them, of this franchise. And so for him
• 3:25
  Speaker 4: to get that W, and not only that, to have
• 3:30
  Speaker 4: the game behind him would be one thing. To have
• 3:32
  Speaker 4: the game behind him now in the win column, that's
• 3:36
  Speaker 4: got to be breathing a sigh of relief. We talked
• 3:40
  Speaker 4: about the burden, and he's talked about the burden. There's
• 3:43
  Speaker 4: a burden involved with coaching one of these iconic franchises,
• 3:47
  Speaker 4: an extra burden when it's your hometown team. The burden
• 3:53
  Speaker 4: eased maybe a little bit by the fact that he's
• 3:55
  Speaker 4: been part of other iconic franchises, the Packers and the Cowboys,
• 3:59
  Speaker 4: but not eased entirely. I don't think this win will
• 4:01
  Speaker 4: entirely ease the burden of being a head coach and
• 4:05
  Speaker 4: a head coach in your hometown, but it will help
• 4:08
  Speaker 4: that you're 1-0, and a lot of that newness now
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  Speaker 4: is behind Mike McCarthy.
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  Speaker 5: Well, and it also holds the negativity at bay for
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  Speaker 5: the time being.
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  Speaker 3: Right.
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  Speaker 5: That's the other thing.
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  Speaker 6: Because you are in your home neighborhood, guess what you
• 4:26
  Speaker 6: also have to deal with?
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  Speaker 5: Your family and friends from the hometown.
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  Speaker 6: Neighborhood that are going to be calling you if it
• 4:33
  Speaker 6: didn't go well. You know, the people stopping by the
• 4:37
  Speaker 6: house unexpectedly to let you know their coaching critiques and thoughts.
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  Speaker 5: That's what that held at bay.
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  Speaker 6: So, you know, we talk about, yes, it holds back
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  Speaker 6: the negativity of pressure.
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  Speaker 5: But, yeah, it also gets you away from that as well.
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  Speaker 7: Yep.
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  Speaker 3: And, you know, again.
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  Speaker 4: because of the fact that Mike McCarthy is the head
• 5:02
  Speaker 4: coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers. And it's like capitalized head coach,
• 5:06
  Speaker 4: capital H capital C head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers
• 5:09
  Speaker 4: also capitalizes. We know, you know, the fact is that,
• 5:14
  Speaker 4: you know, there's, and I mentioned like Christian Kuntz, Chartier's Valley, right?
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  Speaker 3: Local guy. And, and he's out there and he's long
• 5:21
  Speaker 3: snapping for the team.
• 5:22
  Speaker 4: And, you know, a lot of pressure in that job too.
• 5:24
  Speaker 3: And people, friends and family.
• 5:27
  Speaker 6: Uh, uh, I think we'd lost Rob here for a second.
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  Speaker 6: So with that, I think he was kind of talking
• 5:34
  Speaker 6: about what Coach McCarthy has kind of gone through. And
• 5:39
  Speaker 6: I completely agree. I think when you come into a
• 5:44
  Speaker 6: situation where he has the resume that he has, he
• 5:48
  Speaker 6: has the Cowboys under his belt as a coaching experience,
• 5:52
  Speaker 6: also with Green Bay.
• 5:55
  Speaker 5: And we spoke about this briefly on the broadcast, was...
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  Speaker 5: You know, if.
• 6:00
  Speaker 6: There was anybody that was going to come in and
• 6:02
  Speaker 6: step in and understand the burden of expectations, kind of
• 6:07
  Speaker 6: the word that Rob used, it would have been Mike
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  Speaker 6: McCarthy because of what's been set up for him, because
• 6:14
  Speaker 6: of what he's gone through at other organizations. I mean, listen,
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  Speaker 6: working for Jerry Jones is no small task. And then
• 6:22
  Speaker 6: working for the entire city of Green Bay also is.
• 6:25
  Speaker 6: not a small task. So when you come to the
• 6:27
  Speaker 6: City of Steel, the place that he was born, raised,
• 6:32
  Speaker 6: and hardened in, he understands what that looks like. And
• 6:37
  Speaker 6: maybe that's what made him attracted to the other places
• 6:39
  Speaker 6: was because he was a Pittsburgher.
• 6:42
  Speaker 5: And he did understand what that was.
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  Speaker 6: But coming into this job is not easy.
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  Speaker 5: It's not for everyone.
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  Speaker 6: But I think the way that Mike McCarthy has approached
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  Speaker 6: this job since day one of being hired back in January,
• 6:57
  Speaker 6: has been one of immense pride, expectation, and stewardship. I mean,
• 7:02
  Speaker 6: he talks so much about, you know, you're just carrying
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  Speaker 6: this on, right? And it's a tradition that has been
• 7:11
  Speaker 6: here before him, and it's a tradition that will last
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  Speaker 6: beyond him. So, you know, being a steward of this
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  Speaker 6: job is what, Is going to be required.
• 7:23
  Speaker 5: And I thought he's handled himself well.
• 7:25
  Speaker 6: I mean yes. Does he wish. It was more convincing.
• 7:30
  Speaker 6: And we put up 50 points. And we shut them out.
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  Speaker 6: And everything went awesome.
• 7:36
  Speaker 5: Of course.
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  Speaker 6: Everybody wants that. But at the same time. Is that reality.
• 7:43
  Speaker 6: Is that really something. That you can do. And.
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  Speaker 5: I just think.
• 7:50
  Speaker 6: You have to take it for what it is, right?
• 7:52
  Speaker 6: It is an opportunity to get in front of fans.
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  Speaker 6: This is the first time this unit also, everybody's been
• 7:58
  Speaker 6: together and working in one choreographed team movement. And that
• 8:06
  Speaker 6: was something we kind of saw and we'll kind of
• 8:07
  Speaker 6: break it up, you know, we'll kind of break it
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  Speaker 6: down with the offense in.
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  Speaker 5: A little bit, but.
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  Speaker 6: Those are the things that you also have to kind
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  Speaker 6: of keep in mind. And I thought one of the
• 8:19
  Speaker 6: things that, you know, kind of showed was, you know,
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  Speaker 6: the offense needs some time to gel, especially the offensive line.
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  Speaker 5: I mean, this was.
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  Speaker 6: The real opportunity for them. And as I kind of
• 8:37
  Speaker 6: like further go down the line and I think about
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  Speaker 6: how things started to get in place as the game
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  Speaker 6: went on, and it is going to take roughly, you know,
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  Speaker 6: four to five games.
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  Speaker 5: I mean, I'll back off of it. My number was
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  Speaker 5: five to six yesterday.
• 8:54
  Speaker 6: I'm now on four to five because I thought what
• 8:57
  Speaker 6: happened at the most necessary of times was that they
• 9:03
  Speaker 6: absolutely needed to have that four minute drive at the
• 9:06
  Speaker 6: end of the game. And when they had it at
• 9:10
  Speaker 6: the end of the game, when it came up at
• 9:13
  Speaker 6: the end of the game, they absolutely nailed it at
• 9:16
  Speaker 6: the end of the game. And that's when you see
• 9:18
  Speaker 6: a team working together as a unit. Forcing all of
• 9:22
  Speaker 6: the errors of the day. Throw away the previous 56 minutes. Or, well,
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  Speaker 6: if we want to get specific, it was 4 minutes
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  Speaker 6: and 16 seconds. But, you know, we're talking semantics and
• 9:35
  Speaker 6: I can't do math right now. So, we're going to
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  Speaker 6: go with 56 minutes. That sounds nice and easy.
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  Speaker 5: They did it.
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  Speaker 6: And it looked good. It was what you wanted. You
• 9:45
  Speaker 6: needed to be a hammer in that moment. You needed
• 9:48
  Speaker 6: to bludgeon this team. You needed to be a battering ram.
• 9:52
  Speaker 6: And they did just that. They handled it on the ground.
• 9:55
  Speaker 6: They chewed up the clock. And they got the first
• 9:58
  Speaker 6: downs necessary. to ice this game. Atlanta had two timeouts.
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  Speaker 6: They forced them to burn two timeouts and they had
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  Speaker 6: to deal with a two minute warning. So that's three stoppages.
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  Speaker 6: So they needed at least two to three first downs
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  Speaker 6: to get this underway.
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  Speaker 5: What do they do? They just get it done.
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  Speaker 6: And I thought that was something that was Talking about
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  Speaker 6: the progression chart, that's something you wanted to see on
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  Speaker 6: the progression chart. You wanted to see, can they do it?
• 10:25
  Speaker 6: And the two-minute drill did not, but that's okay. Because
• 10:29
  Speaker 6: guess what? When it mattered the most, we needed the
• 10:30
  Speaker 6: four-minute drill. And that four-minute drill came through, and they
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  Speaker 6: executed to perfection. I thought our defense together, you know,
• 10:40
  Speaker 6: to pitch or not to pitch, that is the question
• 10:41
  Speaker 6: for T.J.
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  Speaker 1: Watt.
• 10:43
  Speaker 5: Well, if that was a pitch count, I love it.
• 10:47
  Speaker 5: I love it.
• 10:48
  Speaker 6: Alex Highsmith looked fresh as well. The duo with the doubles,
• 10:55
  Speaker 6: that's what they were. Alex Highsmith, two sacks. TJ Watt,
• 10:59
  Speaker 6: two sacks. It was a great thing, and I can't
• 11:01
  Speaker 6: wait to break this stuff down further with Rob and
• 11:07
  Speaker 6: just kind of get that good, the bad, the ugly Monday,
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  Speaker 6: the first reaction report that we're going to have when
• 11:15
  Speaker 6: we get him back on the line because I think
• 11:17
  Speaker 6: that's going to be something that we do recurring, and
• 11:20
  Speaker 6: of course, you know, when we have Willie, we'll also
• 11:23
  Speaker 6: go through those.
• 11:25
  Speaker 5: But, you know, as we.
• 11:26
  Speaker 6: Kind of continue this conversation, Rob, I kind of talked
• 11:30
  Speaker 6: about this being kind of the good, the bad, and
• 11:32
  Speaker 6: the ugly, you know, of the day, but at the
• 11:34
  Speaker 6: end of the day, what mattered was the good outweighed
• 11:38
  Speaker 6: the ugly. And the bad was more like, that's a
• 11:44
  Speaker 6: bad man type of bad defensively. So, kind of your
• 11:48
  Speaker 6: thoughts as well I talked about TJ Alex and then
• 11:51
  Speaker 6: I talked about how the offense sputtered but when we
• 11:54
  Speaker 6: needed them the most they answered the call I said
• 11:57
  Speaker 6: we didn't get a two minute drill but I'll take
• 11:59
  Speaker 6: that four minute drill any.
• 12:00
  Speaker 7: Day absolutely the four minute drill at the end of
• 12:03
  Speaker 7: the game was you know again you're looking for I'm
• 12:07
  Speaker 7: looking for what pieces of the puzzle fit into place
• 12:12
  Speaker 7: like you know the Bears scored 59 points yesterday and
• 12:16
  Speaker 7: After the game, DeAndre Swift's like, that's amazing. We're still
• 12:19
  Speaker 7: looking at things to clean up. And we scored 59 points. Well,
• 12:22
  Speaker 7: the Steelers won the game. And there are things to
• 12:25
  Speaker 7: clean up, right? There are things to clean up. But
• 12:27
  Speaker 7: there are things that fell into place. I think when
• 12:30
  Speaker 7: you can put away a game with a four-minute offense,
• 12:33
  Speaker 7: a game that was in doubt. You know, I know
• 12:35
  Speaker 7: the Falcons weren't doing much. That game was still in doubt.
• 12:38
  Speaker 7: And when you can run a four-minute offense and put
• 12:41
  Speaker 7: away a game, I mean, everyone talks about two-minute offenses
• 12:44
  Speaker 7: and can you win a game at the end. Can
• 12:46
  Speaker 7: you put away a game at the end? Can you
• 12:48
  Speaker 7: tell the defense, hey, man, you've done your part, right?
• 12:52
  Speaker 7: You know, when I think of a team, and I
• 12:55
  Speaker 7: wonder if this is the kind of team the Steelers
• 12:57
  Speaker 7: are going to be, you know, few teams are unbelievable
• 13:04
  Speaker 7: on both sides of the ball, right? Usually one side
• 13:07
  Speaker 7: of the ball is better than the other. If I
• 13:10
  Speaker 7: could have my choice, I would have a defense with
• 13:15
  Speaker 7: attitude that and an offense with character. And I thought
• 13:18
  Speaker 7: the Steelers' offense at the end of that game showed character.
• 13:22
  Speaker 7: They showed the winning traits you need, and that's a
• 13:25
  Speaker 7: four-minute offense at the end of the game to say, okay, defense,
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  Speaker 7: you've done your part. You were the stars of the show.
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  Speaker 7: We get it, all right? Take a seat. We're going
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  Speaker 7: to finish this thing off for you because we have
• 13:35
  Speaker 7: the character to do that. And they've got a quarterback
• 13:38
  Speaker 7: who's got the character to do that, and they've got
• 13:40
  Speaker 7: players around him who have the character to do that.
• 13:43
  Speaker 7: And so that is one positive thing to put it charitably,
• 13:48
  Speaker 7: an uneven offensive performance, that's a big building block for me, Max.
• 13:55
  Speaker 6: You're absolutely right. Yes, being charitable, uneven is a nice
• 13:59
  Speaker 6: way to put it. But when it was time, unleash
• 14:04
  Speaker 6: the hounds! And that's what they did. They unleashed the
• 14:07
  Speaker 6: hounds at the end, and those dogs hunted. And I
• 14:09
  Speaker 6: thought that was something that when you're talking about momentum,
• 14:15
  Speaker 6: but more so team building, like relying on each other
• 14:21
  Speaker 6: and putting everything in perspective. Because, listen, on this journey
• 14:26
  Speaker 6: of a season, Rob, there's a time when the defense
• 14:30
  Speaker 6: is going to look at the offense like, hey, hey,
• 14:33
  Speaker 6: we need help. And for the offense, there's going to
• 14:39
  Speaker 6: be a time where they need help. And you have
• 14:40
  Speaker 6: to be able to balance each other out. And I
• 14:42
  Speaker 6: think That's what the biggest thing I'm seeing is, okay,
• 14:45
  Speaker 6: when the gotta have it moment came, offense did its job.
• 14:50
  Speaker 6: And when the gotta have it moment, like, hey, this
• 14:52
  Speaker 6: game's getting a little tight, defense came through with a
• 14:56
  Speaker 6: humongous play. You know, for a team that did not
• 14:59
  Speaker 6: get to score, you know, offensively score in the second half,
• 15:04
  Speaker 6: no problem. TJ said, you know what, I got this
• 15:08
  Speaker 6: thing I've been working on. Not sure if it's going
• 15:11
  Speaker 6: to work or not. But we're going to try it out.
• 15:16
  Speaker 6: And boy, oh boy, the electricity that went through.
• 15:20
  Speaker 5: Yeah, he did.
• 15:21
  Speaker 7: And by the way, look, you know, it's game one.
• 15:27
  Speaker 7: And when you only have 17, every game's under a microscope, right?
• 15:31
  Speaker 7: You know, if it's a baseball game and you win,
• 15:34
  Speaker 7: you know, three to one in the opener and everyone's
• 15:36
  Speaker 7: talking about your pitching, you know, no one's saying– Oh,
• 15:39
  Speaker 7: the offense, it's finished. We don't have any chance. It's
• 15:42
  Speaker 7: done for the year. But, you know, one game in football.
• 15:45
  Speaker 5: The bats are cold.
• 15:46
  Speaker 3: What happened?
• 15:47
  Speaker 5: What happened? The bats are cold.
• 15:49
  Speaker 6: They didn't even pack them in their bags.
• 15:52
  Speaker 7: Yeah, I think that the Steelers' offense is going to
• 15:55
  Speaker 7: have their moments. But, look, Mike McCarthy said after the game,
• 16:00
  Speaker 7: and this isn't just Max and me talking. Mike McCarthy
• 16:03
  Speaker 7: said after the game, hey, we talked about this thing
• 16:06
  Speaker 7: being built on the back of the defense. That's the
• 16:11
  Speaker 7: kind of team we have. And that's the kind of
• 16:13
  Speaker 7: performance the Steelers got in week one. They got a
• 16:16
  Speaker 7: defensive performance in week one. Do I, you know, let's
• 16:19
  Speaker 7: say the Steelers win 11 games, right? Not all 11
• 16:24
  Speaker 7: are going to be because the defense, you know, pitched
• 16:26
  Speaker 7: shutouts and dominated. Some of those games, the offense is
• 16:29
  Speaker 7: going to come out and they're going to put up
• 16:31
  Speaker 7: the points necessary to win a shootout, right? Or, They're
• 16:36
  Speaker 7: going to do more than their part in this game.
• 16:39
  Speaker 7: And again, if you listen to Mike McCarthy, maybe it's
• 16:42
  Speaker 7: going to be a little more on the defense. Maybe
• 16:45
  Speaker 7: more of those 11 wins will come because the defense
• 16:47
  Speaker 7: has played great and the offense is managing the game
• 16:50
  Speaker 7: or doing whatever. Let's not forget, too, I'm not saying
• 16:54
  Speaker 7: that this was part of the game plan, Max, because
• 16:57
  Speaker 7: I think Mike McCarthy wants to be aggressive. He's an
• 17:00
  Speaker 7: aggressive offensive head coach. But what did you not want
• 17:03
  Speaker 7: to do? You didn't want to, and unfortunately the Steelers
• 17:07
  Speaker 7: had a turnover, a jail and warm fumble that led
• 17:09
  Speaker 7: to a touchdown for the Falcons. You didn't want to
• 17:11
  Speaker 7: allow them to have big returns, which almost happened and
• 17:14
  Speaker 7: something we got to talk about. You don't want to
• 17:16
  Speaker 7: turn the ball over two or three times. You don't
• 17:19
  Speaker 7: want to have these plays happen that gives the other
• 17:21
  Speaker 7: team life. You want to make them march it down
• 17:23
  Speaker 7: the field and say, you know what? Our defense is
• 17:26
  Speaker 7: better than Cooper rush in that offense. Now, if you had,
• 17:29
  Speaker 7: you know, two out there and they're playing a different
• 17:32
  Speaker 7: kind of game, I'll bet you the students would have
• 17:34
  Speaker 7: scored more than 20 points. They scored what they needed
• 17:36
  Speaker 7: to score. And look, I think they would have liked
• 17:39
  Speaker 7: to have scored more. It's not that they weren't trying
• 17:41
  Speaker 7: to score more. But they didn't have to play the
• 17:44
  Speaker 7: game in that fashion because of the way it unfolded.
• 17:48
  Speaker 5: No, I completely agree.
• 17:50
  Speaker 6: And I can't wait to break it down more and
• 17:53
  Speaker 6: we'll get behind the numbers and we'll talk about individual performances.
• 17:58
  Speaker 6: But I just thought the way that it started at
• 18:02
  Speaker 6: the end of the day, Rob, a win is a
• 18:06
  Speaker 6: win that is a win when you need it to win.
• 18:13
  Speaker 6: And of course, the great American philosopher DJ Khaled said,
• 18:17
  Speaker 6: all I do is win. So with that, we will
• 18:20
  Speaker 6: step aside and we'll be back with more here inside
• 18:22
  Speaker 6: the locker room here on the Steelers Audio Network and
• 18:24
  Speaker 6: Steelers Nation Radio.
• 18:29
  Speaker 8: This is In the Locker Room with Rob King, Max Starks,
• 18:34
  Speaker 8: and Willie Colon on Steelers Nation Radio. Brought to you
• 18:37
  Speaker 8: in part by the Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
• 18:40
  Speaker 8: from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop.steelers.com.
• 18:45
  Speaker 8: And by your neighborhood Ford store.
• 18:47
  Speaker 2: The F-150 is the official truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
• 18:52
  Speaker 3: Gets a snap. Back to pass. Pump fakes left. Now
• 18:54
  Speaker 3: rolling out to the right. Looking. Fires up the field.
• 18:57
  Speaker 3: And it's picked off.
• 18:59
  Speaker 5: Intercepted.
• 18:59
  Speaker 3: Jaquan Prisker at the 40.
• 19:01
  Speaker 7: At the 35.
• 19:01
  Speaker 4: Out of bounds along the far side of the field.
• 19:05
  Speaker 5: An 11-yard return.
• 19:06
  Speaker 3: And Jaquan Prisker, welcome back to the bird.
• 19:19
  Speaker 5: Yeah.
• 19:20
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 19:21
  Speaker 6: Brisker he is back home and i think that's one
• 19:27
  Speaker 6: of the things when you talk about a homecoming nothing
• 19:30
  Speaker 6: bigger than coming back home and missy matthews told us
• 19:36
  Speaker 6: on the broadcast he was so concerned about.
• 19:41
  Speaker 5: Getting the business of.
• 19:44
  Speaker 6: The game out of the way before getting to the
• 19:48
  Speaker 6: game and i thought he did a great job of that.
• 19:51
  Speaker 5: He ended up with, you know, getting.
• 19:56
  Speaker 6: The 30 tickets, 30 family tickets for this game.
• 20:01
  Speaker 5: That is a crazy number.
• 20:04
  Speaker 6: And then you go and you put on like that.
• 20:07
  Speaker 6: I mean, it doesn't get any better. It does not
• 20:09
  Speaker 6: get any better than that. So, Glad we came back
• 20:12
  Speaker 6: with him on that interception. And then that led to
• 20:16
  Speaker 6: the first big score of the game for the Steelers.
• 20:18
  Speaker 6: That short field, that transition. So, cool moment. Cool moment,
• 20:25
  Speaker 6: to say the least.
• 20:28
  Speaker 7: I will say this, and hopefully you got me.
• 20:31
  Speaker 5: Oh, I got you. Can you hear me?
• 20:33
  Speaker 6: Yep.
• 20:33
  Speaker 5: Okay. So.
• 20:36
  Speaker 3: You know, Quan Brister, the homecoming, we saw him up
• 20:39
  Speaker 3: at camp.
• 20:39
  Speaker 4: You know, he had the whole family around, and he
• 20:42
  Speaker 4: had a big picture taken out in St.
• 20:44
  Speaker 5: Vincent.
• 20:46
  Speaker 4: And, you know, just it was a cool thing. And
• 20:50
  Speaker 4: then Eli Heidenreich, you know, a lot of people didn't
• 20:53
  Speaker 4: expect him to even dress to even.
• 20:56
  Speaker 3: Get a helmet.
• 20:57
  Speaker 5: They expect him on the 53-man roster.
• 20:58
  Speaker 3: On opening day, and he was able to get the helmet.
• 21:01
  Speaker 4: You know, so all that stuff. I mean, those are
• 21:03
  Speaker 4: just really, really– you know, great stories and local guys
• 21:09
  Speaker 4: being able to, you know, to take part and be
• 21:12
  Speaker 4: part of, you know, the team that they.
• 21:14
  Speaker 7: Grew up rooting for.
• 21:15
  Speaker 4: I mean, you know, Mike McCarthy, the big story, I
• 21:17
  Speaker 4: get that. And again, he's the face of things. He's
• 21:20
  Speaker 4: forward facing as far as all this goes. But for
• 21:23
  Speaker 4: those guys, pretty darn cool as well.
• 21:27
  Speaker 6: Oh, pretty darn cool is an understatement. That was a
• 21:33
  Speaker 6: childhood dream realized, Rob. I think that's what we get
• 21:37
  Speaker 6: back to is this is what dreams are made of.
• 21:40
  Speaker 6: This is the opportunity to be in a place that
• 21:46
  Speaker 6: you probably only thought was possible through television.
• 21:50
  Speaker 5: That was only possible through a dream.
• 21:56
  Speaker 6: But you access it because you put in the work
• 22:01
  Speaker 6: and you have a goal in mind. you play a
• 22:05
  Speaker 6: sport passionately and you obtain the skills that are necessary
• 22:11
  Speaker 6: to get the attention, to keep that path and that
• 22:16
  Speaker 6: dream alive. And then it culminates with being on that
• 22:21
  Speaker 6: field in your hometown.
• 22:25
  Speaker 5: It's just, it's a surreal feeling.
• 22:27
  Speaker 6: I mean, I felt those emotions for myself and, when
• 22:33
  Speaker 6: we played Super Bowl XLIII.
• 22:36
  Speaker 5: It wasn't because it was a Super Bowl.
• 22:38
  Speaker 6: Now, the Super Bowl had its own emotions with it,
• 22:40
  Speaker 6: but what made that so special for me and that
• 22:44
  Speaker 6: game was because that was the closest I was ever
• 22:48
  Speaker 6: going to get to playing at home. That was the
• 22:52
  Speaker 6: closest I could physically get to my house with a
• 22:55
  Speaker 6: professional football game because we hadn't played Tampa Bay yet,
• 23:01
  Speaker 6: In Tampa Bay.
• 23:02
  Speaker 5: That came after. So that was like a homecoming for me.
• 23:09
  Speaker 6: And in college, you know, through grace, fortune, a lot
• 23:15
  Speaker 6: of hard work, I never got to play at the
• 23:19
  Speaker 6: home stadium in Orlando because you can't spell citrus without UT,
• 23:22
  Speaker 6: as Coach Spurrier famously coined. And that was the only
• 23:28
  Speaker 6: other way I was going to play a home game
• 23:29
  Speaker 6: was at the Citrus Bowl.
• 23:30
  Speaker 5: Now.
• 23:32
  Speaker 6: Jacksonville is going to be there because, you know, they're
• 23:36
  Speaker 6: getting their stadium redone. So it's like, oh, it only
• 23:39
  Speaker 6: took 26 years from when I left high school to
• 23:42
  Speaker 6: get back home. But I'll be a broadcaster, hopefully, for
• 23:46
  Speaker 6: those games if we get down there to Jacksonville when
• 23:49
  Speaker 6: they're in Orlando.
• 23:51
  Speaker 5: But, yeah, so it is a special moment, Rob.
• 23:54
  Speaker 4: You know, I have to tell you, you know, I'm
• 23:57
  Speaker 4: married into Tennessee fandom. I went to a Division III school.
• 24:03
  Speaker 4: I was not a.
• 24:04
  Speaker 3: Huge college football fan growing up. I enjoyed it.
• 24:06
  Speaker 4: I was always an NFL guy, you know, originally outside
• 24:11
  Speaker 4: of New York city than an upstate New York.
• 24:12
  Speaker 3: It was more, it was more about the pro.
• 24:14
  Speaker 4: Game for me, but I married into that and I
• 24:17
  Speaker 4: had to watch Steve Spurrier out coach Tennessee volunteers for
• 24:25
  Speaker 4: a decade when I was really into it. And, you know,
• 24:28
  Speaker 4: my wife was really into it, you know, and it
• 24:33
  Speaker 4: was frustrating, and he was easy to dislike, Steve Spurrier,
• 24:37
  Speaker 4: if you were on the other side, and just those
• 24:39
  Speaker 4: kind of quotes. So if people don't know what Max
• 24:42
  Speaker 4: is talking about, Spurrier grew up in Tennessee, and I
• 24:45
  Speaker 4: think wanted to go to Tennessee.
• 24:46
  Speaker 3: They didn't offer him a scholarship. He did. He went
• 24:48
  Speaker 3: to Florida. Did he win the Heisman, or did he
• 24:51
  Speaker 3: finish second in voting?
• 24:53
  Speaker 5: He won the Heisman. Yeah, he won the Heisman. Because
• 24:55
  Speaker 5: he was a quarterback and punter. That's right, a punter, too, yeah.
• 25:00
  Speaker 5: It wasn't a great pro, but still made the pros.
• 25:02
  Speaker 4: So, you know, somebody was asking him in Tennessee, because
• 25:05
  Speaker 4: every year it would come down to that game, and
• 25:08
  Speaker 4: Spurrier would find a way. I mean, Tennessee had Peyton
• 25:11
  Speaker 4: Manning and all these superstars.
• 25:14
  Speaker 5: Peyton Manning, I don't think, ever beat the Gators. I
• 25:17
  Speaker 5: don't know if he ever did.
• 25:18
  Speaker 3: I think it was T.
• 25:19
  Speaker 4: Martin who won the national championship.
• 25:21
  Speaker 5: Yeah, and T. Martin won it the year after he left. Yeah,
• 25:24
  Speaker 5: you're right.
• 25:25
  Speaker 3: Right, and by the way, that was it. That was
• 25:29
  Speaker 3: a year.
• 25:30
  Speaker 4: You talk about winning a national championship and everything going right.
• 25:34
  Speaker 4: I was at the game in Syracuse. We're having a
• 25:38
  Speaker 4: long aside here. I was at the game in Syracuse.
• 25:41
  Speaker 4: I believe it was the opener. And fourth and ten,
• 25:43
  Speaker 4: incomplete pass. Seconds left on the clock. Wahoo, you know,
• 25:47
  Speaker 4: Syracuse wins. Well, hang on a second now. Pass interference,
• 25:51
  Speaker 4: kind of a dubious call. Tennessee gets the call, goes on,
• 25:55
  Speaker 4: kicks the game-winning field goal.
• 25:56
  Speaker 5: Florida is.
• 25:58
  Speaker 4: Florida missed a couple of extra points, I think, when
• 26:01
  Speaker 4: Tennessee beat them. Arkansas was running out the game and
• 26:05
  Speaker 4: fumbled at midfield. And Tennessee took it in and won
• 26:09
  Speaker 4: the game. I talk about everything going right. Well, it
• 26:11
  Speaker 4: never went that way against Florida. So so one of
• 26:15
  Speaker 4: the Spurriers, you know, making the rounds at these dinners
• 26:19
  Speaker 4: in the offseason and the Tennessee fan. stands up and says, hey,
• 26:24
  Speaker 4: Coach Spurrier, you think this is the year that finally
• 26:27
  Speaker 4: Tennessee breaks through and we beat? So in those days,
• 26:30
  Speaker 4: the winner of the SEC goes to the Sugar Bowl.
• 26:32
  Speaker 4: Second place team goes to the Citrus Bowl. Guy says, hey, Coach,
• 26:36
  Speaker 4: you think this is the year Tennessee finally breaks through
• 26:38
  Speaker 4: and beats you guys? And Spurrier said, well, all I
• 26:41
  Speaker 4: know is you can't spell citrus without UT.
• 26:44
  Speaker 5: Which was just cold.
• 26:47
  Speaker 4: I mean, they probably went on to the SEC, and
• 26:52
  Speaker 4: Tennessee went to the Citrus Bowl again.
• 26:56
  Speaker 6: But the thing was, and what used to just drive
• 27:01
  Speaker 6: people mad was the wit that Coach Spurrier had. He
• 27:06
  Speaker 6: had these one-liners, these just Spurrier-isms. Back before there were Tomlin-isms.
• 27:15
  Speaker 6: That was my inundation to coaches just having that repartee
• 27:21
  Speaker 6: and that quick comeback and being able to give and take.
• 27:25
  Speaker 6: And it's just one of those things I always appreciated.
• 27:31
  Speaker 6: And like you said, it's easy to dislike him on
• 27:33
  Speaker 6: the other side. But if you're one of his players
• 27:36
  Speaker 6: or you're the fans, you absolutely love it. The visor
• 27:41
  Speaker 6: is going to get slammed in a game. you're going
• 27:44
  Speaker 6: to see the papers fly. And you're going to get
• 27:47
  Speaker 6: the emotion. And he has that little kind of squeaky
• 27:50
  Speaker 6: southern accent that kind of, you know, kind of just
• 27:55
  Speaker 6: rises and falls.
• 27:57
  Speaker 5: So it's one of those things I loved.
• 28:01
  Speaker 6: It was one of the reasons why I went there because,
• 28:03
  Speaker 6: you know, just famously, and I'm not going to try
• 28:06
  Speaker 6: to do his accent, but, you know, he watched my practice.
• 28:10
  Speaker 6: I was practicing basketball back when I was getting recruited.
• 28:14
  Speaker 6: And he just, he said, this is what he said.
• 28:16
  Speaker 6: And then he literally slammed the desk and walked out.
• 28:18
  Speaker 6: He said, Maxie son, your future's in a three point stance,
• 28:24
  Speaker 6: not behind three point line.
• 28:25
  Speaker 5: Come on down to Florida. That was it.
• 28:29
  Speaker 6: And the utter shock of that zinger, but the truth
• 28:34
  Speaker 6: that was behind it was like, gosh, he's absolutely right.
• 28:39
  Speaker 6: Cause I can't shoot threes, you know? And, and, And
• 28:42
  Speaker 6: the three-point stance is easier than the three-point line. It's
• 28:45
  Speaker 6: easier than the three-point shot. Well, by golly, I think
• 28:48
  Speaker 6: I do need to consider going to Florida. Now, there
• 28:52
  Speaker 6: was a lot of prayers when it came down to
• 28:53
  Speaker 6: Siding Day. But just that, I mean, that's just who
• 28:56
  Speaker 6: he was. And he never forgot anything. I mean, I'll
• 29:01
  Speaker 6: never forget, we had a bye week.
• 29:03
  Speaker 5: And this was probably like 07, 2007. And mind you,
• 29:06
  Speaker 5: this was.
• 29:11
  Speaker 5: The memory that he had was from 2000.
• 29:13
  Speaker 6: Now, how much football he's coached, he was still the
• 29:15
  Speaker 6: active University of South Carolina head coach. And they were
• 29:19
  Speaker 6: dedicating the field, you know, Spurrier Field at Ben Hill
• 29:21
  Speaker 6: Griffin Stadium.
• 29:23
  Speaker 5: And so it just happened to be my bye week.
• 29:25
  Speaker 5: I went down for the field naming.
• 29:28
  Speaker 6: And Coach Spurrier had this big tailgate that was in
• 29:33
  Speaker 6: the parking lot.
• 29:33
  Speaker 5: And I'd never really tailgated before.
• 29:35
  Speaker 6: So I was like, man, I'm going to walk around
• 29:37
  Speaker 6: and see former teammates and buddies and other alumni here.
• 29:40
  Speaker 6: Coach Spurrier has this big tailgate. I walk up to
• 29:42
  Speaker 6: Coach Spurrier. He's got a red solo cup with, as
• 29:46
  Speaker 6: any Tennessee boy would do, a little Jack Daniels in there.
• 29:48
  Speaker 5: That's right. Some of the hometown punch. And I said, hey, Coach.
• 29:55
  Speaker 5: He's like, Maxie. good to see you, son. Hey, glad
• 29:58
  Speaker 5: you came down. Thank you for coming out.
• 30:00
  Speaker 6: I was like, my pleasure, coach. He's like, what would
• 30:02
  Speaker 6: you like to drink? I was like, man, you know,
• 30:05
  Speaker 6: dealer's choice, man. Whatever you guys got, I'm drinking. And
• 30:08
  Speaker 6: he was like, Maxie, I just want to tell you,
• 30:13
  Speaker 6: seeing you just reminded me of your very first play
• 30:15
  Speaker 6: as a Gator.
• 30:17
  Speaker 5: I was like, oh. I was like, do you remember that, Max?
• 30:20
  Speaker 6: I said, yes, coach, I do. He's like, well, I
• 30:23
  Speaker 6: do too. He's like, You remember what I said in
• 30:26
  Speaker 6: the meeting? I said, yes, I do, Coach. It's etched
• 30:28
  Speaker 6: into and burned into my mind. Well, I wish I
• 30:31
  Speaker 6: never said that in the meeting, but you gave me
• 30:33
  Speaker 6: all the ammunition too. He said, you were big enough
• 30:36
  Speaker 6: to block two some guns. You couldn't even block one.
• 30:38
  Speaker 6: And I was like, oh, my God. He still remembers
• 30:40
  Speaker 6: the play. So it was a draw play. I'll never
• 30:46
  Speaker 6: forget this. We were running 40 draw. So the draw
• 30:51
  Speaker 6: plays to the right. I come in at left tackle.
• 30:54
  Speaker 6: And we're beating Ball State. I'm at left tackle. Other freshman,
• 30:59
  Speaker 6: Shannon Snell, is at left guard. And we have a fan.
• 31:04
  Speaker 6: I called the fan. We are on the one-yard line.
• 31:06
  Speaker 6: Mind you, you don't throw a freshman for their very
• 31:09
  Speaker 6: first reps in when you're backed up on your own
• 31:12
  Speaker 6: one and you're running a draw play, okay?
• 31:14
  Speaker 5: First of all, I blame you, coach. I blame you,
• 31:17
  Speaker 5: Coach Spurrier.
• 31:18
  Speaker 6: Why put us in that situation? So I called the fan.
• 31:23
  Speaker 6: Shannon is just looking there, confused, as he normally did.
• 31:26
  Speaker 5: I love Shannon. He's Sonny's barbecue pit master down in
• 31:30
  Speaker 5: the state of Florida. Love him. I call Fan. He
• 31:35
  Speaker 5: doesn't come.
• 31:36
  Speaker 2: Uh-uh.
• 31:36
  Speaker 5: He's shaking his head. I said, Fan, there's a guy
• 31:39
  Speaker 5: on me. There's a guy outside. It's a Fan. Ball snaps.
• 31:43
  Speaker 5: Robert Gillespie's in the backfield. Rex Grossman's that quarterback.
• 31:48
  Speaker 6: I set back. I feel zero help. Both guys are coming.
• 31:55
  Speaker 6: So this is a TFL regardless. If I make a decision,
• 31:59
  Speaker 6: I'm wrong. If I don't make a decision, still wrong.
• 32:03
  Speaker 6: So I, with this big brain of mine, decides I'm
• 32:07
  Speaker 6: going to set and I'm going to catch the intersection
• 32:09
  Speaker 6: point and I'm going to put.
• 32:10
  Speaker 5: Both my hands out.
• 32:11
  Speaker 6: And I'm going to just get something on these guys
• 32:15
  Speaker 6: and hopefully Rob gets out of the end zone.
• 32:17
  Speaker 5: Well, best laid plans, Rob.
• 32:21
  Speaker 6: I put both my hands out. I stab him out.
• 32:24
  Speaker 6: I hit nothing. And both of those guys hit Rob.
• 32:28
  Speaker 6: And we have a TFL. It's a safety on my
• 32:32
  Speaker 6: very first play as a gator. My very first snap
• 32:35
  Speaker 6: as a gator was a safety. And, man, we won
• 32:40
  Speaker 6: the game. But when I got in that meeting the
• 32:42
  Speaker 6: next day, I couldn't slink down low.
• 32:44
  Speaker 5: Enough, Rob. I was in there. I was just trying
• 32:46
  Speaker 5: to hide in the back of the room. I'm trying
• 32:48
  Speaker 5: to duck it.
• 32:50
  Speaker 6: The play comes up, and Coach Spurrier loved to, like,
• 32:56
  Speaker 6: watch the play, rewind the play, watch the play again, rewind,
• 33:00
  Speaker 6: watch one more time before he says anything because nobody's talking.
• 33:07
  Speaker 5: And you just hear the grunts and everything. And I'm like, man,
• 33:13
  Speaker 5: this sucks.
• 33:15
  Speaker 6: And Shannon is sitting, like, in front of me to
• 33:18
  Speaker 6: the right because it's, like, stadium-style seating. And he is
• 33:22
  Speaker 6: just chuckling because he's like, I got it right. Max
• 33:26
  Speaker 6: got it wrong. He couldn't wait. So Coach gives that phrase.
• 33:32
  Speaker 6: And then Shannon's laughing with everybody else in the room
• 33:36
  Speaker 6: because it's a funny phrase.
• 33:38
  Speaker 5: And he goes, Shannon, I don't know why you're laughing
• 33:41
  Speaker 5: so hard.
• 33:42
  Speaker 6: Your big behind was supposed to be out there, and
• 33:44
  Speaker 6: you're sitting over there like a rock in the middle
• 33:45
  Speaker 6: of a pond. It's just– Oh, my God. I mean,
• 33:51
  Speaker 6: I love Coach Warrior. He's one of the all-time greats, man.
• 33:54
  Speaker 6: But he had some phrases. But it also kept things
• 33:59
  Speaker 6: light because he was also the one, like, when you
• 34:02
  Speaker 6: did right, it's almost like, you know, I equate him
• 34:05
  Speaker 6: similar to Bruce Arians. You know, Bruce Arians had the
• 34:07
  Speaker 6: same type of, he's going to coach you hard, he's
• 34:09
  Speaker 6: going to get on you hard, but he's also.
• 34:11
  Speaker 5: Going to praise you hard. He would praise you, and he.
• 34:14
  Speaker 6: Would remember stuff from, 10 years ago from other players
• 34:19
  Speaker 6: and relate it to the same situation and then show
• 34:21
  Speaker 6: you film on it looking exactly the same. And so
• 34:24
  Speaker 6: there was a mix of praise and accountability that I appreciated,
• 34:28
  Speaker 6: that type of transparency from a head coach. Anyways, that
• 34:30
  Speaker 6: was a long aside. We just burned a segment.
• 34:32
  Speaker 3: That's all right.
• 34:33
  Speaker 5: Talking about my Florida football days. But it was a
• 34:35
  Speaker 5: fun memory.
• 34:36
  Speaker 4: We started with a homecoming for not only Mike McCarthy,
• 34:40
  Speaker 4: but also for Jaquan Brisker and Eli Heidenreich. I want
• 34:44
  Speaker 4: to talk about Brisker and that Steelers defense. When we
• 34:47
  Speaker 4: continue here in the locker room on the Steelers Audio Network.
• 34:51
  Speaker 5: Max Starks, Florida Gators.
• 34:58
  Speaker 8: This is In the Locker Room with Rob King, Max Starks,
• 35:02
  Speaker 8: and Willie Colon on Steelers Nation Radio. Brought to you
• 35:06
  Speaker 8: in part by the Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
• 35:09
  Speaker 8: from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop.steelers.com.
• 35:13
  Speaker 2: And by your neighborhood Ford store. The F-150 is the
• 35:17
  Speaker 2: official truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
• 35:20
  Speaker 3: The snap comes to Rush looking right under duress.
• 35:22
  Speaker 5: Down he goes.
• 35:23
  Speaker 4: He's sacked with a flag down back at the 16-yard line.
• 35:27
  Speaker 4: And it was Alex Highsmith, the team leader a year
• 35:30
  Speaker 4: ago in sacks, who comes up with his first sack already.
• 35:36
  Speaker 3: And added another one after that. So that was good
• 35:38
  Speaker 3: to see.
• 35:39
  Speaker 4: Alex Highsmith was a dominant force in this game, Max.
• 35:45
  Speaker 4: People forget, you know, 13 games, nine and a half
• 35:48
  Speaker 4: sacks last year. When he's been healthy, he has just
• 35:52
  Speaker 4: been tremendous for this year. There's a knock on wood
• 35:55
  Speaker 4: that he's able to give them 17 games this year.
• 35:59
  Speaker 4: Love the snap count distribution. So 60 defensive snaps. I
• 36:04
  Speaker 4: wanted to say snacks.
• 36:07
  Speaker 3: Snaps. 41 for Highsmith.
• 36:08
  Speaker 5: I know where your mind's at.
• 36:10
  Speaker 3: We're not at the bell lap yet. Not quite ready
• 36:12
  Speaker 3: for the bell lap. 41 for Highsmith.
• 36:14
  Speaker 5: 39.
• 36:18
  Speaker 4: For Herbig, 38 for T.J. Watt, third among pass rushers,
• 36:23
  Speaker 4: and Jack Sawyer got 23.
• 36:25
  Speaker 3: I like that distribution.
• 36:28
  Speaker 4: Mike McCarthy said, I don't want him playing all these
• 36:30
  Speaker 4: different snaps. We sometimes, well, maybe less would be better.
• 36:36
  Speaker 4: More is usually better of a good thing, but I
• 36:39
  Speaker 4: think maybe this will not only keep T.J. Watt fresh
• 36:45
  Speaker 4: in the game itself, but also make him fresher as
• 36:48
  Speaker 4: the season wears on for the Steelers.
• 36:51
  Speaker 5: Absolutely. Absolutely.
• 36:53
  Speaker 6: I think that's what you're talking about. This was the
• 36:56
  Speaker 6: goal and kind of the vision of how they wanted
• 37:00
  Speaker 6: things to go. They wanted TJ to not be worn
• 37:03
  Speaker 6: down by midpoint of the season because he has to
• 37:07
  Speaker 6: be out there, right? Because there is a precipitous drop off,
• 37:13
  Speaker 6: almost like Cam Hayward, right? We talked about run defense
• 37:15
  Speaker 6: when Cam's in versus when Cam's out of the game, right?
• 37:19
  Speaker 5: But that wears on you, right?
• 37:21
  Speaker 6: When you're taking on double teams, you're constantly stressing and straining,
• 37:25
  Speaker 6: you know, 300 pounds versus 600-plus pounds and, you know,
• 37:30
  Speaker 6: the wear that it takes on your body and guys,
• 37:32
  Speaker 6: you know, hitting you low and everything else. So this
• 37:38
  Speaker 6: was one where I kind of looked at it and
• 37:39
  Speaker 6: I said, okay, you know, how do we keep guys fresh?
• 37:43
  Speaker 5: How do we get a good rotation?
• 37:45
  Speaker 6: Well, I think this is good, and I think the
• 37:46
  Speaker 6: maturation of Jack Sawyer also helps that on top of
• 37:51
  Speaker 6: Nick Herbig and what he's done and the contract that
• 37:55
  Speaker 6: he's amassed. So you kind of have to kind of
• 37:58
  Speaker 6: take it pit and parcel, and it was nice to
• 38:01
  Speaker 6: see that because, listen, a fresh TJ is a scary TJ,
• 38:06
  Speaker 6: and we're not even into October yet, right?
• 38:08
  Speaker 4: Yeah. That was a scary performance. I'm saving him as
• 38:13
  Speaker 4: a main course, and we'll get more into him. But,
• 38:15
  Speaker 4: you know, Alex Highsmith, we talked about the sacks he had,
• 38:19
  Speaker 4: and yet TJ definitely stuffed the stat sheet. So did
• 38:23
  Speaker 4: Alex Highsmith. Two tackles for loss, two quarterback hurries, two sacks.
• 38:30
  Speaker 4: I mean, he's a hard guy to run at because
• 38:32
  Speaker 4: he sets the edge. He's so good in the run game.
• 38:34
  Speaker 4: And then, again, nine and a half sacks in 13 games.
• 38:38
  Speaker 4: A year ago, just, you know, an excellent– excellent player,
• 38:43
  Speaker 4: and he is off to an excellent, excellent start after
• 38:45
  Speaker 4: week one. And just that whole rotation, and again, we'll
• 38:49
  Speaker 4: save TJ for a bit here, but that whole rotation
• 38:52
  Speaker 4: and the using, Max, of those three outside linebackers in
• 38:57
  Speaker 4: what appeared to be obvious pass rush situations was also noticeable,
• 39:02
  Speaker 4: and moving those guys around was noticeable as well.
• 39:06
  Speaker 6: It was, it was, and this was one of the
• 39:09
  Speaker 6: things that We kind of were interested to see with
• 39:13
  Speaker 6: Patrick Graham, right?
• 39:14
  Speaker 5: Absolutely.
• 39:15
  Speaker 6: A fresh approach, a different novel way of thinking, different alignments.
• 39:21
  Speaker 5: And, I mean, we got it. We got multiple fronts, right?
• 39:23
  Speaker 6: We had a lot of four down in this game
• 39:25
  Speaker 6: just because of the way they ran their 11.
• 39:29
  Speaker 5: It was... out of your members last year. Remember Arthur Smith?
• 39:32
  Speaker 6: I mean, we're talking about how 12 is 11, 13
• 39:38
  Speaker 6: as 11 and kind of these different ways of bringing
• 39:40
  Speaker 6: multiple tight ends in, but by formation kind of flexing
• 39:45
  Speaker 6: things out. And so it was, do you play base
• 39:49
  Speaker 6: or and you possibly get a mismatch with Kyle Pitts, right?
• 39:52
  Speaker 6: Because that was a guy that was more of the test.
• 39:55
  Speaker 6: A lot of Charlie Warner online, and there was a
• 39:57
  Speaker 6: lot more Charlie Warner than Austin Hooper in that game
• 40:01
  Speaker 6: for how they deployed the second tight end. So we
• 40:06
  Speaker 6: were trying to figure out, is it the four-down look?
• 40:08
  Speaker 6: But then when you go to four-down, you go spread 11,
• 40:10
  Speaker 6: and then they motion Kyle in. It was a nickel box,
• 40:13
  Speaker 6: so that's why they ran so much was because they
• 40:16
  Speaker 6: were running against a light box.
• 40:17
  Speaker 5: If we were in base personnel... And they did that.
• 40:20
  Speaker 6: They probably wouldn't have ran as much and been as successful,
• 40:22
  Speaker 6: but we were trying to match and figure it out
• 40:24
  Speaker 6: early on. And then you're running zone on the backside,
• 40:27
  Speaker 6: but it was fun to see. Then the adjustment, the
• 40:31
  Speaker 6: answer was, well, we'll go a four, three over Eagle look.
• 40:35
  Speaker 6: And it became a four down spacing with the three linebackers.
• 40:40
  Speaker 6: And you had Nick Herbig kind of being almost like
• 40:42
  Speaker 6: an off the ball linebacker that then came on the
• 40:44
  Speaker 6: line at the last second to go with the guys.
• 40:47
  Speaker 6: There was, there was different ways of getting to the
• 40:49
  Speaker 6: three outside linebacker look. And so I appreciated the way
• 40:53
  Speaker 6: that they did that.
• 40:54
  Speaker 5: And that was just a cool thing to see in
• 40:56
  Speaker 5: those moments.
• 40:57
  Speaker 6: And a lot of it was that sub four down
• 41:00
  Speaker 6: package where you just had one D lineman and he
• 41:01
  Speaker 6: had three outside backers. But there was a couple of
• 41:03
  Speaker 6: times where they put them in the game. He got
• 41:07
  Speaker 6: three down linemen, three outside backers, and he still had
• 41:10
  Speaker 6: your inside.
• 41:11
  Speaker 5: So it ended up being that.
• 41:13
  Speaker 6: Kind of four down over look with, with Will on
• 41:17
  Speaker 6: the ball type of spacing. So that was something I
• 41:21
  Speaker 6: was really interested in, and that's something that I appreciated.
• 41:23
  Speaker 6: I was like, yes, was it the right run numbers
• 41:25
  Speaker 6: that we wanted to see?
• 41:26
  Speaker 3: No.
• 41:27
  Speaker 6: But once again, given the circumstances that we knew this
• 41:29
  Speaker 6: was going to be a run-heavy team, they were going
• 41:31
  Speaker 6: to make the run work whether we stopped it or not. Like,
• 41:35
  Speaker 6: just by pure insanity of running the ball, it was
• 41:39
  Speaker 6: going to happen.
• 41:40
  Speaker 3: And let's not forget who their running back is, right?
• 41:44
  Speaker 4: I mean, you know, So Brian Robinson, just as an example,
• 41:51
  Speaker 4: nine carries, 31 yards, 3.4 yards carry. Bijan Robinson, and again,
• 41:57
  Speaker 4: this is against a team you know wants to run
• 41:59
  Speaker 4: the ball. They've got a third-string quarterback in there. They
• 42:02
  Speaker 4: don't want to throw the ball a lot. Bijan, 21
• 42:06
  Speaker 4: for 83, so he's averaging six-tenths more a yard per carry.
• 42:12
  Speaker 4: And when he's in there, you know he's getting it.
• 42:14
  Speaker 4: I mean, he's just a great player. He had a
• 42:17
  Speaker 4: pass along the right sideline when they were moving left
• 42:21
  Speaker 4: to right in front of us. He had one blocker.
• 42:25
  Speaker 4: There were four Steelers out in front of him. He
• 42:27
  Speaker 4: got the pass in the flat and picked up seven yards.
• 42:30
  Speaker 4: And darn near was down the sideline and gone.
• 42:36
  Speaker 5: I mean, he's.
• 42:36
  Speaker 3: Just hard to bring down. He glides. He hits. He accelerates.
• 42:42
  Speaker 3: He jukes. He does everything you could possibly want.
• 42:45
  Speaker 4: I think, Max, for my money, no offense to anybody else,
• 42:49
  Speaker 4: no offense to Gibbs and Cook and the other guys
• 42:51
  Speaker 4: in the conversation, I think he's the best running back
• 42:54
  Speaker 4: in the NFL. I think he might even be the
• 42:57
  Speaker 4: best by, like, a grade. Like, he might be in
• 43:00
  Speaker 4: his own class. I mean, I just think he's a great,
• 43:04
  Speaker 4: great player. And you could see that when he was
• 43:06
  Speaker 4: on the field. It was a different deal. And so
• 43:09
  Speaker 4: sometimes the other guys are getting paid, too. You know,
• 43:12
  Speaker 4: we're always unhappy when, hey, so-and-so didn't have a good game.
• 43:15
  Speaker 3: How can we know?
• 43:16
  Speaker 4: Well, they're trying to stop him. And then so-and-so for
• 43:18
  Speaker 4: the other team had a good game. Well, we got
• 43:19
  Speaker 4: to stop him. Well, you can't have it both ways,
• 43:21
  Speaker 4: you know. And Bijan's going to get Bijan. He's going
• 43:23
  Speaker 4: to get his yards.
• 43:25
  Speaker 6: And they're going to figure out ways to get him yards.
• 43:27
  Speaker 6: And Kevin Stepanski, you have to remember, is a good coach.
• 43:31
  Speaker 6: You know, good, bad, or indifferent, he is a good coach,
• 43:34
  Speaker 6: and he has a good offensive mind. And– He was
• 43:38
  Speaker 6: going to figure out ways to get it. I mean,
• 43:40
  Speaker 6: you know, I made the reference in the game, like,
• 43:42
  Speaker 6: you know, there's a guy who's familiar with having elite talent.
• 43:44
  Speaker 6: He had Nick Chubb. And Nick Chubb was a heck
• 43:46
  Speaker 6: of a back. And his yardage was good. Once again,
• 43:50
  Speaker 6: it comes down to the quarterback position. That's the one
• 43:53
  Speaker 6: thing he has been cursed with. He has not had
• 43:55
  Speaker 6: great quarterback play wherever he's gone. And so that's the
• 44:00
  Speaker 6: thing that still continues to haunt him, right? Like, I mean,
• 44:02
  Speaker 6: you go into a Friday and you're like, I've got Tua.
• 44:07
  Speaker 5: I've got Tua. I've got Tua. Oh, no, I don't
• 44:09
  Speaker 5: have Tua. He has a oblique injury.
• 44:12
  Speaker 6: The franchise quarterback that was drafted that I inherited says
• 44:16
  Speaker 6: he's not ready to play.
• 44:18
  Speaker 5: Well, insert Cooper Rush. Saturday, Cooper Rush is battling back spasms. Right?
• 44:24
  Speaker 1: Right.
• 44:24
  Speaker 6: I'm like, yeah, this was a game plan, and the
• 44:28
  Speaker 6: offensive line knew that. And this is a good offensive line, too.
• 44:30
  Speaker 6: You know, this isn't chopped liver on the offensive line. Now, granted,
• 44:34
  Speaker 6: right tackle. Juwan Taylor, that's a whole different story. But
• 44:38
  Speaker 6: the rest of the guys on there, it's a good
• 44:40
  Speaker 6: offensive line. And so, you know, they were going to
• 44:44
  Speaker 6: have some success. Kyle Pitts is a great player. Charlie
• 44:46
  Speaker 6: Warner is a really good blocker. So if run was
• 44:49
  Speaker 6: the emphasis, unless you loaded eight men in the box
• 44:52
  Speaker 6: and went one-on-one to the outside, which they didn't do,
• 44:55
  Speaker 6: they didn't go man really that much to the outside,
• 44:57
  Speaker 6: a lot of zone, because they knew they had to
• 44:59
  Speaker 6: contain Drake London. I thought they did a great job
• 45:01
  Speaker 6: of containing Drake London and Kyle Pitts. One guy's going
• 45:04
  Speaker 6: to fall through the cracks. It just happened to be
• 45:05
  Speaker 6: the running back.
• 45:06
  Speaker 5: Yep.
• 45:07
  Speaker 4: And, you know, they did a really good job of minimizing.
• 45:10
  Speaker 4: You know, when we were getting ready for this game,
• 45:12
  Speaker 4: the way I looked at it was, you know, B.
• 45:14
  Speaker 4: John Robinson is the best running back in the NFL.
• 45:18
  Speaker 4: Kyle Pitts is the top five receiving tight end. And
• 45:21
  Speaker 4: Drake London is a top ten receiving wide receiver.
• 45:25
  Speaker 3: Right?
• 45:26
  Speaker 4: So, London winds up with two catches for 29 yards.
• 45:30
  Speaker 4: Kyle Pitts, zero catches in the game.
• 45:33
  Speaker 5: Zero.
• 45:35
  Speaker 4: Okay, so Bijan had 173 yards, and that's awfully good.
• 45:40
  Speaker 4: But as a trio, they just had barely over 200, right? So,
• 45:46
  Speaker 4: I mean, someone's going to get his, and Bijan was
• 45:49
  Speaker 4: that guy. He was really effective, but the Steelers were
• 45:52
  Speaker 4: effective on the other guys, and the Steelers were 1-0.
• 45:55
  Speaker 3: They won by the final score of 20-13. Much more
• 45:58
  Speaker 3: to come. Really want to break down.
• 45:59
  Speaker 4: I want to look at the snap count and and
• 46:02
  Speaker 4: evaluate what it might mean on defense. Of course, we
• 46:04
  Speaker 4: want to get to the offense, some things to clean
• 46:07
  Speaker 4: up there. I thought there were some things to clean
• 46:08
  Speaker 4: up on special teams we can get to as well.
• 46:10
  Speaker 4: When we continue in the locker room here on the
• 46:13
  Speaker 4: Steelers Audio Network.