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HR2: Power Rankings · In the Locker Room presented by Neighborhood Ford Store (Pittsburgh Steelers)

• 0:04
  Speaker 1: This is In the Locker Room with Rob King, Max Starks,
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: and Willie Colon on Steelers Nation Radio. Brought to you
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: in part by the Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop.steelers.com.
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: And by your neighborhood Ford store. The F-150 is the
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: official truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
• 0:34
  Speaker 2: All right, hour number two. You know, there's new things,
• 0:38
  Speaker 2: and then some things just don't change.
• 0:41
  Speaker 3: And we are going.
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: To stick with that theme throughout this process. But more importantly,
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: we're jumping in. It's now the power ranking time, Rob.
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: So let's do away with what we thought last week,
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: and now let's deal with what we know.
• 0:57
  Speaker 4: The league has a victory. Half of the league is searching.
• 1:00
  Speaker 3: For a victory.
• 1:00
  Speaker 5: So I will say this.
• 1:03
  Speaker 6: By the way, that means the lowest you should be
• 1:05
  Speaker 6: is 16th if you have a win, in my opinion.
• 1:07
  Speaker 6: But Willie has gone from the look of incredulity. Now
• 1:16
  Speaker 6: just the left nostril is twitching a little bit when
• 1:18
  Speaker 6: he hears it.
• 1:19
  Speaker 5: When he hears it.
• 1:21
  Speaker 6: The optimist coming through the locker room. So I got
• 1:25
  Speaker 6: to call that progress, Max. I got to call that progress.
• 1:28
  Speaker 4: Yeah, we're getting closer to acceptance.
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: We're still a little bit of slight deniability still there.
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: We're still trying to get them to step one on
• 1:37
  Speaker 2: that 12-step process of just acceptance.
• 1:40
  Speaker 4: Acknowledge that there is a problem.
• 1:42
  Speaker 3: Well, listen, we're all married men. And in a marriage, right,
• 1:47
  Speaker 3: there's such thing called being able to meet your partner
• 1:50
  Speaker 3: in where they're at, right? And so yesterday, towards the
• 1:54
  Speaker 3: end of the hour, we changed from a bell to
• 1:57
  Speaker 3: a trumpet. So I can at least, you know, I
• 2:01
  Speaker 3: can breathe a little knowing that my, that HR is listening, right?
• 2:05
  Speaker 3: The comment box is being responded to. And so I'm cool.
• 2:09
  Speaker 3: I'm cool. I can take Optimus since we've changed the bell.
• 2:13
  Speaker 3: I no longer have that kind of traumatic response hearing
• 2:16
  Speaker 3: a bell. Like I'm thinking I'm out of fear and
• 2:18
  Speaker 3: letting the piglets come out the gate. That's what I
• 2:20
  Speaker 3: felt like I was listening to. So it's different. So
• 2:23
  Speaker 3: I'm fine with it. If it's optimists in the first
• 2:26
  Speaker 3: hour and trumpets in the back hour, we're moving. We're
• 2:29
  Speaker 3: moving in the right direction.
• 2:30
  Speaker 6: And you never know when optimists might suddenly grow on you.
• 2:35
  Speaker 6: It might suddenly grow on you, right? So I'll tell
• 2:38
  Speaker 6: you that this is a completely different analogy. I think
• 2:43
  Speaker 6: we're all big music fans here. I was never like
• 2:45
  Speaker 6: a really big Bruce Springsteen fan. I was on the
• 2:48
  Speaker 6: outside of that. I mean, I liked him, but I
• 2:50
  Speaker 6: didn't love him. My wife's a big fan, so I
• 2:53
  Speaker 6: married into that. I married into Tennessee football, and I
• 2:55
  Speaker 6: married into Bruce Springsteen. And then after a while, I
• 3:00
  Speaker 6: was like, you know what, man? He's pretty good, you know?
• 3:03
  Speaker 6: I started to understand the music. But the one song
• 3:06
  Speaker 6: I didn't get was Born to Run, his most famous song.
• 3:11
  Speaker 6: I'm like, I just don't get it. I think he's
• 3:13
  Speaker 6: got 10 songs that are better than that. I don't know,
• 3:15
  Speaker 6: maybe three years ago I'm driving around, I heard a
• 3:17
  Speaker 6: live version of it. And I've seen him 12 times
• 3:20
  Speaker 6: in concert. All of a sudden I was like, you.
• 3:22
  Speaker 3: Know what, man?
• 3:23
  Speaker 5: Born to Run is a pretty good song.
• 3:25
  Speaker 6: So maybe Willie, maybe after 13 years of doing this,
• 3:29
  Speaker 6: you'll be like, you know what? I kind of like
• 3:32
  Speaker 6: that Optimus Prime.
• 3:33
  Speaker 5: You never know.
• 3:36
  Speaker 3: Well, first of all, it's very on brand for Max.
• 3:38
  Speaker 3: I always said, and I used to jokingly say this
• 3:41
  Speaker 3: on the field, Well, Max was fully suited and booted,
• 3:44
  Speaker 3: meaning taped up, gloved up, cleats high, spatted up, and
• 3:48
  Speaker 3: he was in full battle mode. He looked like Optimus
• 3:50
  Speaker 3: Prime walking onto the football. So it's very on par
• 3:54
  Speaker 3: that we chose that sound bite of Optimus Prime to
• 4:00
  Speaker 3: be the kind that would roll into the next hour.
• 4:03
  Speaker 3: So I'm not surprised that Max chose that.
• 4:07
  Speaker 5: Love it. Okay, so here we go.
• 4:09
  Speaker 6: Guys, I'm going to ask you right now before I reveal–
• 4:12
  Speaker 6: So I did say, I said I haven't seen this,
• 4:14
  Speaker 6: but I did see who the number one team is.
• 4:16
  Speaker 6: I'm going to ask you right now, who, after week one,
• 4:19
  Speaker 6: who should be number one in the NFL power rankings?
• 4:25
  Speaker 5: Woo!
• 4:27
  Speaker 3: After week one? Yeah. It's, it's, I'm going to be honest,
• 4:34
  Speaker 3: Kansas City Chiefs. Oh!
• 4:38
  Speaker 4: I was wondering if you was going to do it, Will.
• 4:40
  Speaker 4: I was wondering if you were going to do it.
• 4:43
  Speaker 3: And I'll tell you why. They didn't need Patrick Holmes
• 4:46
  Speaker 3: to carry them over the threshold. They look like a
• 4:48
  Speaker 3: complete team in week one. And I think if you
• 4:52
  Speaker 3: put on that tape against a worthy opponent, a division
• 4:55
  Speaker 3: opponent in the Denver Broncos, a team that came in
• 4:57
  Speaker 3: with a lot of hype and a lot of praise
• 4:59
  Speaker 3: for what they was able to accomplish last year, the
• 5:02
  Speaker 3: head coach of Sean Payton, Bo Nix on the field,
• 5:06
  Speaker 3: I think they returned 19 out of 22 starts. They're
• 5:11
  Speaker 3: pretty much a complete team. And for them to roll
• 5:15
  Speaker 3: into the Chiefs' kingdom, who we thought, listen, what's Patrick
• 5:18
  Speaker 3: Mahomes going to look like? This defense lost a lot
• 5:20
  Speaker 3: of pieces. This offensive line will revamp. If Kenneth Walker
• 5:25
  Speaker 3: can actually sell in this offense. But whatever we thought
• 5:29
  Speaker 3: about the Kansas City Chiefs, forget about it. They are
• 5:33
  Speaker 3: right on par and they are rolling. So If there's
• 5:36
  Speaker 3: a team to be worried about, it is the Kansas
• 5:38
  Speaker 3: City Chiefs. So, for me, I will give them number
• 5:42
  Speaker 3: one right now.
• 5:44
  Speaker 4: Max?
• 5:44
  Speaker 3: No, it's the Seahawks number two.
• 5:46
  Speaker 5: So, yeah.
• 5:48
  Speaker 2: So, that was the end, and you led right into that.
• 5:52
  Speaker 2: I was like, Kansas City, huge vote of confidence, seeing
• 5:57
  Speaker 2: them do it the way they did. But to be
• 6:01
  Speaker 2: the king, you must beat the king. And or the
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: Rob King.
• 6:09
  Speaker 4: For that matter.
• 6:10
  Speaker 2: But I thought what Seattle did first game of the season, they,
• 6:16
  Speaker 2: they lose Sam Darnold in the first quarter and the
• 6:20
  Speaker 2: rest of that team played lights out.
• 6:23
  Speaker 4: Talk about defense.
• 6:25
  Speaker 2: That team looked like a team that had been playing
• 6:27
  Speaker 2: defense for about.
• 6:28
  Speaker 4: Six weeks together.
• 6:30
  Speaker 2: They hit everything and they weathered the storm and, And
• 6:34
  Speaker 2: they beat New England and started the kickoff for the
• 6:39
  Speaker 2: NFL season.
• 6:40
  Speaker 4: So I say reigning Super Bowl champs, still looking like champs.
• 6:44
  Speaker 4: I've got to give them.
• 6:45
  Speaker 5: My number one.
• 6:46
  Speaker 6: So I'd have been with you, Max. I would have
• 6:48
  Speaker 6: voted for Seattle. I think Willie makes an excellent point.
• 6:50
  Speaker 6: Now here's the problem, right? Here's the problem with rankings,
• 6:53
  Speaker 6: and we see this in college football. And I was
• 6:56
  Speaker 6: kind of going in this direction, Willie, which is why
• 6:59
  Speaker 6: I thought it would be Seattle, because Seattle was number
• 7:02
  Speaker 6: two last week, right? and they won a Super Bowl rematch.
• 7:07
  Speaker 6: So to me, that makes them number one. The problem
• 7:09
  Speaker 6: you run into is the preconceived notion. It's the same
• 7:12
  Speaker 6: thing you see in college football. For years, I'm like, man,
• 7:17
  Speaker 6: is it a federal law that Alabama has to be
• 7:20
  Speaker 6: ranked in the top ten?
• 7:21
  Speaker 5: No matter what they do, they're going to be ranked.
• 7:23
  Speaker 3: Why?
• 7:24
  Speaker 5: Because they start out number one, and they lost. They're
• 7:26
  Speaker 5: going to drop to number four. They lose again. They're
• 7:28
  Speaker 5: only going to drop to number nine.
• 7:30
  Speaker 6: Now, if you're a team that's outside of the top 25,
• 7:32
  Speaker 6: Your season's over as far as the rankings are going.
• 7:35
  Speaker 6: So I think that the bias of the pre-rankings, they
• 7:40
  Speaker 6: should probably not do any rankings at all in college
• 7:43
  Speaker 6: football and in this until like the fourth week of
• 7:45
  Speaker 6: the season until we get a lay of the land.
• 7:47
  Speaker 6: And then Kansas City might be number one. But number
• 7:49
  Speaker 6: one is not Kansas City, and it's not Seattle. It is,
• 7:54
  Speaker 6: according to.
• 7:55
  Speaker 5: Where am I here? The Athletic.
• 7:57
  Speaker 6: The San Francisco 49ers moving from sixth to number one.
• 8:02
  Speaker 6: by ponding as they like to say here in pittsburgh
• 8:05
  Speaker 6: ponding the uh that is pound by the way willie
• 8:09
  Speaker 6: as i'm sure you know they ponded the rams 27
• 8:12
  Speaker 6: to 7 i guess i don't have a huge beef
• 8:14
  Speaker 6: with that i don't know how again i don't know
• 8:16
  Speaker 6: how you'd leapfrog seattle um but they looked awfully good
• 8:22
  Speaker 6: can we say that.
• 8:25
  Speaker 3: Well they look good because i think they you know
• 8:28
  Speaker 3: we talk about Representing the brand and playing on brand.
• 8:32
  Speaker 3: And I don't know if I've said this and if
• 8:35
  Speaker 3: I've said it before, I apologize. Turn on the first snap, man.
• 8:39
  Speaker 3: I'm talking about the very first snap of that game.
• 8:42
  Speaker 3: Niners are on a defense. Rams are on offense. And
• 8:46
  Speaker 3: not only does Nick Bosa get off the ball and
• 8:49
  Speaker 3: damn near throw their right tackle straight out of the stadium.
• 8:53
  Speaker 3: And he almost gets a sack. Fred Warner almost gets
• 8:57
  Speaker 3: a pick on the same play. You're talking about being
• 9:00
  Speaker 3: able to spearhead a team. You're talking about playing with
• 9:03
  Speaker 3: a level of intensity right out the gate. And what's crazy,
• 9:07
  Speaker 3: I think it's fair to say at this point that
• 9:11
  Speaker 3: Kyle Shanahan owns Sean McVay. I mean, he just out-schemed
• 9:17
  Speaker 3: Sean McVay through all four quarters. There's nothing that the
• 9:21
  Speaker 3: 49ers couldn't do on offense. Mike Evans was as advertised.
• 9:26
  Speaker 3: They ran the ball with Christian McCafferty. George Kittle, by
• 9:29
  Speaker 3: the way, was coming off an Achilles tear. He was
• 9:31
  Speaker 3: questionable leading up into that game. They didn't know if
• 9:33
  Speaker 3: he was going to be ready for that game. Not
• 9:36
  Speaker 3: only did George Kittle put on a blocking display, but
• 9:38
  Speaker 3: he was effective in the passing game. And so what
• 9:41
  Speaker 3: you see is a team right now who I don't
• 9:45
  Speaker 3: want to say they're flying underneath the radar, but they're
• 9:47
  Speaker 3: flying underneath the radar because there's been so much talk
• 9:49
  Speaker 3: about the Seahawks and the Rams. And now the Cardinals
• 9:53
  Speaker 3: seem like they got something brewing. So for the 49ers,
• 9:56
  Speaker 3: they've been kind of– pushing it back. I think a
• 9:59
  Speaker 3: lot of people looked at their success last year with
• 10:02
  Speaker 3: Robert Sala leading that defense, coaching that defense. He had
• 10:04
  Speaker 3: a duct tape defense that he kind of patched together,
• 10:06
  Speaker 3: and they were able to have a lot of success.
• 10:07
  Speaker 3: But going into Philly and winning that game as Juan
• 10:11
  Speaker 3: Jennings as your number one receiver and Marcus Robinson as
• 10:15
  Speaker 3: your number two and beating the Philadelphia Eagles in the playoffs– Like,
• 10:19
  Speaker 3: forget about it. You know what I mean? Like, as
• 10:22
  Speaker 3: much as they displayed, man, I was like, man, there's
• 10:24
  Speaker 3: something in 49er and Niner country that's just they continue
• 10:30
  Speaker 3: to chug the lug, chug the lug, and when they
• 10:32
  Speaker 3: get in the ring, they're just a tough out. And
• 10:36
  Speaker 3: a lot of that has to do with Kyle Shanahan.
• 10:37
  Speaker 3: A lot of it has to do with Brock Purdy.
• 10:40
  Speaker 3: And now that you have a healthy defense, yeah, I
• 10:44
  Speaker 3: don't disagree. They are number one right now. Because going
• 10:47
  Speaker 3: down to Australia, you understand, the Rams had 11– they
• 10:51
  Speaker 3: have 11 captains. They feel like they're that good of
• 10:53
  Speaker 3: a team to have 11 captains. You talk about having
• 10:57
  Speaker 3: Aaron Donald kind of sitting on his shelf waiting for
• 11:00
  Speaker 3: you with Miles Garrett on the field and all these–
• 11:04
  Speaker 3: Trent McDuffie, Jalen Watson, all these guys. I mean, we
• 11:08
  Speaker 3: labeled them the Avengers going into this season. And now
• 11:11
  Speaker 3: we're saying, uh-oh. There may be trouble here, especially with
• 11:15
  Speaker 3: Myles Garrett now having a meniscus operation. He may be
• 11:18
  Speaker 3: out four to six weeks. So there's been a shift
• 11:22
  Speaker 3: in the tide, man. And I think if you're the
• 11:25
  Speaker 3: Niners right now, you've got to be happy about what
• 11:27
  Speaker 3: you put on tape last Sunday or last Thursday, whatever
• 11:29
  Speaker 3: the hell they played.
• 11:31
  Speaker 6: So a couple comments I want to follow up on there.
• 11:33
  Speaker 6: First of all, they remind me a little bit of
• 11:37
  Speaker 6: the other L.A. team, the Dodgers, in baseball. A really
• 11:41
  Speaker 6: well-run team. with deep pockets that is really becoming increasingly
• 11:47
  Speaker 6: hard for me to root for. You know, and I respect,
• 11:51
  Speaker 6: you know, one of the things, I always bring up
• 11:53
  Speaker 6: the Rams as an example.
• 11:54
  Speaker 3: Robert, who do you cheer for, Rob, baseball-wise?
• 12:01
  Speaker 5: Well, it would probably– Honor that paycheck. Honor that paycheck.
• 12:05
  Speaker 5: I would– so the Pirates are.
• 12:07
  Speaker 6: Pretty much– You should see Justin and Max's face.
• 12:10
  Speaker 3: I know where it was. Both of them was– No.
• 12:13
  Speaker 6: So the Pirates are my team. The Pirates are my team,
• 12:16
  Speaker 6: and it doesn't look like they're going to make the playoffs.
• 12:19
  Speaker 6: And so this is the way I've always been, and
• 12:22
  Speaker 6: this flies into the face of what other people think.
• 12:26
  Speaker 6: I go division and then league. I don't want an
• 12:29
  Speaker 6: American League team to win because I'm a National League guy, right?
• 12:34
  Speaker 6: And so– and in the Central– I have to say,
• 12:39
  Speaker 6: I respect the way the Brewers and the Cubs play
• 12:43
  Speaker 6: the game. I'm probably– people will pull their hair out
• 12:47
  Speaker 6: because they're in their division and they're playing them tonight
• 12:49
  Speaker 6: and tomorrow night. I'm probably going to root for the Brewers.
• 12:52
  Speaker 6: I just like the way they play the game. They're
• 12:54
  Speaker 6: not a big market team. You know, who roots for Goliath,
• 13:00
  Speaker 6: you know? Who gets a ticket and.
• 13:02
  Speaker 3: Says– Me.
• 13:03
  Speaker 5: Goliath. Willie raised his hand. He's rooting for Goliath. Come on, Willie.
• 13:09
  Speaker 4: Yankees, Giants, I mean, growing up, yeah.
• 13:13
  Speaker 5: I have a bad case of underdog-itis.
• 13:16
  Speaker 6: It's why the NCAA tournament, NCAA basketball, I like it.
• 13:21
  Speaker 6: It's not my favorite sport, but I like it. Football
• 13:23
  Speaker 6: is my favorite sport. I like the NCAA. The tournament,
• 13:26
  Speaker 6: the first week of the tournament is generally, now it's
• 13:30
  Speaker 6: changed a little bit. The game has changed. Guys are
• 13:33
  Speaker 6: getting paid. It's a different deal. But that first week
• 13:36
  Speaker 6: of the tournament was my absolute favorite because David beat Goliath.
• 13:43
  Speaker 6: David would beat Goliath five, six times on Thursday and Friday,
• 13:47
  Speaker 6: and then they get to the Sweet 16, and now
• 13:49
  Speaker 6: you're turning on the Sweet 16 because you want to
• 13:51
  Speaker 6: see if Troy State can knock off Duke. By the way,
• 13:55
  Speaker 6: they probably can't. But I have underdogitis. I love to
• 13:59
  Speaker 6: root for the underdog, and so I can't help it. Um,
• 14:02
  Speaker 6: and so I would be rooting for an underdog in baseball.
• 14:06
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I don't, I don't, first of all, I root
• 14:09
  Speaker 3: for Goliath because it's hard to beat Goliath, right? It's
• 14:12
  Speaker 3: hard to walk around with a target on your back.
• 14:14
  Speaker 3: And I think in baseball terms, I always laugh at
• 14:17
  Speaker 3: when people was like, I don't like big market teams.
• 14:19
  Speaker 3: Like the Dodgers do it the best because they defer
• 14:22
  Speaker 3: every contract. Right. And they get away with it. And
• 14:25
  Speaker 3: so if the, and I'm a diehard Yankees fan, I
• 14:28
  Speaker 3: grew up in the Bronx. I grew up literally five
• 14:29
  Speaker 3: minutes away from the stadium. Um, I grew up in
• 14:32
  Speaker 3: the old Yankee Stadium where it literally looked like the
• 14:35
  Speaker 3: Bronx Zoo. It was a mix between baseball and it
• 14:40
  Speaker 3: was like murder unit. It was like the action scene.
• 14:43
  Speaker 3: It was all types of things going on in the park.
• 14:45
  Speaker 3: So I grew up with the craziness of the old stadium.
• 14:48
  Speaker 3: Now the new stadium looks like money threw up in
• 14:50
  Speaker 3: it because it's corporate everywhere. With that said, the Yankees
• 14:54
  Speaker 3: are back in the playoffs. So with that... I'm happy
• 14:57
  Speaker 3: Goliath is in the playoffs, Rob. So I don't, I
• 14:59
  Speaker 3: don't feel, I don't feel that underdog, but I get it.
• 15:03
  Speaker 6: Hey, if David Bednar closed game seven to win it,
• 15:08
  Speaker 6: I'd be super happy. Pittsburgh guy, great guy, great family.
• 15:13
  Speaker 6: I'd absolutely, if he's standing on the mound in game
• 15:16
  Speaker 6: seven with a chance to save it, I'm.
• 15:18
  Speaker 5: A Yankees fan.
• 15:20
  Speaker 3: Okay.
• 15:20
  Speaker 5: That's, that's it. I'll tell you.
• 15:22
  Speaker 6: So, but one of the things I like about the
• 15:25
  Speaker 6: Rams is look, I mean, what have, this narrative we've
• 15:28
  Speaker 6: heard about from, from some Steelers fans and some national
• 15:32
  Speaker 6: fans about the Steelers, they got to rip it down
• 15:34
  Speaker 6: to the studs. They got to get really bad. I
• 15:36
  Speaker 6: don't know what that looks like in football. What are
• 15:37
  Speaker 6: you going to wave everybody? I don't even know how
• 15:39
  Speaker 6: you do that, but you know, it looks like the Browns.
• 15:42
  Speaker 3: Right.
• 15:43
  Speaker 5: Right.
• 15:43
  Speaker 3: Right.
• 15:44
  Speaker 5: Be careful what you wish for.
• 15:46
  Speaker 4: Or what the dolphins did this past off season.
• 15:48
  Speaker 5: Or the 20 years of what the bills just went through.
• 15:51
  Speaker 3: Right.
• 15:51
  Speaker 6: Without making the playoffs or having a winning record for
• 15:54
  Speaker 6: two decades.
• 15:55
  Speaker 3: Right.
• 15:55
  Speaker 5: Yeah. All of the above.
• 15:57
  Speaker 6: But every once in a while, and it works. Like
• 15:59
  Speaker 6: here in Pittsburgh, it's worked a couple times. Penguins got
• 16:02
  Speaker 6: Mario Lemieux in hockey. Penguins got Sidney Crosby in hockey.
• 16:05
  Speaker 6: They got Stanley Cup rings to show for it because
• 16:08
  Speaker 6: that happened. So I understand it can happen. The Pirates
• 16:12
  Speaker 6: finished low down, and they were able to get Paul Skeens.
• 16:14
  Speaker 6: That gives them a chance now to hopefully next year
• 16:18
  Speaker 6: get in the playoffs and win the World Series so
• 16:19
  Speaker 6: we can have this conversation again next year. But I
• 16:23
  Speaker 6: like when a team does it differently. The Vegas Knights
• 16:28
  Speaker 6: have not ripped it down to the studs. By the way,
• 16:30
  Speaker 6: ask the Buffalo Sabres how that's going for them, right?
• 16:32
  Speaker 6: That hasn't worked. They didn't rip it down to the studs.
• 16:35
  Speaker 6: They found a different way. And the Brewers in baseball
• 16:39
  Speaker 6: are finding a different way. And the Rams in football
• 16:43
  Speaker 6: are finding a different way. You know, I was talking
• 16:45
  Speaker 6: to somebody like, man, boy, the Rams are all in.
• 16:47
  Speaker 6: You know, they went out and got down.
• 16:48
  Speaker 5: They're always all in. Always, right? We're going to trade
• 16:51
  Speaker 5: our draft picks. We're going to do it a different way.
• 16:54
  Speaker 3: You know what?
• 16:54
  Speaker 6: Because every year, we're trying to win every single year.
• 16:56
  Speaker 6: The Steelers are trying to win every single year. They're
• 16:59
  Speaker 6: doing it differently and having success. And so I admire that.
• 17:02
  Speaker 6: I admire that you can show everybody. There's not one
• 17:06
  Speaker 6: way to do it. You don't have to rip it, quote, unquote,
• 17:09
  Speaker 6: rip it down to the studs. You don't have to
• 17:10
  Speaker 6: do that. They're showing a different way to do it.
• 17:13
  Speaker 6: But it's too much for me.
• 17:14
  Speaker 3: Now, man.
• 17:15
  Speaker 5: I admire him, but I don't want him to win, man.
• 17:18
  Speaker 5: I really don't. I can't say I'm rooting for him.
• 17:22
  Speaker 4: No, absolutely not.
• 17:23
  Speaker 2: And listen, full disclosure, my last paycheck came from said
• 17:29
  Speaker 2: Rams organization. And they also paid me for seven years
• 17:34
  Speaker 2: afterwards for my retirement. So I can't sit there and
• 17:37
  Speaker 2: dump on them completely, but at the same time, they
• 17:41
  Speaker 2: were the last team to fire me, so I can
• 17:43
  Speaker 2: be mad. But I think that's how I kind of
• 17:46
  Speaker 2: look at it is, We don't like them because they
• 17:49
  Speaker 2: have so many stars on the team. Like Willie said,
• 17:53
  Speaker 2: it's like the Avengers. And it's like, well, who's going
• 17:56
  Speaker 2: to beat the Avengers? You got to go find Thanos, right?
• 17:59
  Speaker 2: You got to go find Galactus. You got to go
• 18:01
  Speaker 2: find this otherworldly thing. So when they take those losses...
• 18:05
  Speaker 2: you feel better about, like, you might not like who
• 18:08
  Speaker 2: gave them the loss, but as long as they lose,
• 18:10
  Speaker 2: and that's kind of what I'm hearing, Rob, is you
• 18:12
  Speaker 2: just want to see them lose. You don't necessarily care
• 18:14
  Speaker 2: who it is because I would also say, am.
• 18:17
  Speaker 4: I a huge Niner fan?
• 18:18
  Speaker 2: No, I don't want the Niners to get six Super Bowls.
• 18:21
  Speaker 2: I don't want them tying us. I already had to
• 18:22
  Speaker 2: deal with New England. So I don't want the Niners
• 18:25
  Speaker 2: being successful, but they're the number one team in the
• 18:27
  Speaker 2: power ranking, so we've got to kind of acquiesce because
• 18:30
  Speaker 2: they did beat that said Avenger squad.
• 18:32
  Speaker 6: By the way, I want to congratulate us. one segment
• 18:36
  Speaker 6: in the Power Rankings. We've got through exactly one team.
• 18:39
  Speaker 6: My math tells me at this pace we'll be finished
• 18:43
  Speaker 6: at 11 o'clock tonight Eastern, guys. So just stick with
• 18:45
  Speaker 6: us another ten and a half hours of doing the
• 18:48
  Speaker 6: Power Rankings.
• 18:49
  Speaker 5: We'll be back with more.
• 18:50
  Speaker 6: We're going to try to get through this a little
• 18:51
  Speaker 6: more quickly when we continue in the locker room here
• 18:54
  Speaker 6: on the Steelers Audio Network.
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: This is In the Locker Room with Rob King, Max Starks,
• 19:06
  Speaker 1: and Willie Colon on Steelers Nation Radio. Brought to you
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: in part by the Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop.steelers.com.
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: And by your neighborhood Ford store. The F-150 is the
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: official truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
• 19:26
  Speaker 6: And welcome back inside the locker room. We're getting through
• 19:28
  Speaker 6: the power rankings at a blistering pace. We got through one.
• 19:32
  Speaker 6: In our first segment.
• 19:33
  Speaker 5: And that was San Francisco. They're number one. Seattle, they're
• 19:37
  Speaker 5: number two. They stayed number two. We're moving on here, guys.
• 19:40
  Speaker 5: You know what, man?
• 19:41
  Speaker 3: NFC West football.
• 19:43
  Speaker 5: What's that?
• 19:43
  Speaker 3: Rob, this is from the Athletic or ESPN?
• 19:46
  Speaker 5: This is from the Athletic. We can vary it up
• 19:49
  Speaker 5: a little bit. Sometimes we vary it up. No, no, no.
• 19:51
  Speaker 3: I just want to make sure because I'm looking at,
• 19:53
  Speaker 3: I have multiples popped up, so I'm trying to figure
• 19:55
  Speaker 3: out what power ranking we're looking at.
• 19:56
  Speaker 5: Okay, good.
• 19:57
  Speaker 6: So when we get to a team that wears black
• 20:00
  Speaker 6: and gold, we can see where they rank in the
• 20:02
  Speaker 6: various areas. Okay, so Seattle is number two. They beat
• 20:06
  Speaker 6: the Patriots 13-10. So obviously the 49ers, impressive win. Seattle,
• 20:11
  Speaker 6: 13-10 over the Patriots. Impressive win. They stay at number two.
• 20:15
  Speaker 6: The Buffalo Bills, they came in at three, and again,
• 20:20
  Speaker 6: they were impressive. You put 36 points up on that
• 20:25
  Speaker 6: Texans defense, that's impressive. That's an impressive number three team
• 20:30
  Speaker 6: right now, guys.
• 20:33
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I think what's interesting about that game, and I
• 20:36
  Speaker 3: said this openly, Josh Allen made the Texans' defense look small,
• 20:41
  Speaker 3: which is– and by the way, he was 0-4 going
• 20:47
  Speaker 3: into Houston. So you talk about getting that monkey off
• 20:50
  Speaker 3: your back, putting up 362-plus yards of offense, and he
• 20:56
  Speaker 3: didn't just hit one guy. Like DJ Moore had a
• 20:59
  Speaker 3: big game. Dalton Kincaid had a big game. Kalua Shakur,
• 21:02
  Speaker 3: they were able to run the ball. And for this Texans'
• 21:04
  Speaker 3: defense that we was all supposed to be afraid of,
• 21:08
  Speaker 3: They look mid, man. That secondary was disposed. And they
• 21:10
  Speaker 3: had Reed Blankenship on the field. They had Lickaster. I
• 21:13
  Speaker 3: forget his last name. They had Derrick Stingley Jr. Will
• 21:18
  Speaker 3: Anderson and Darnell Hunter was both on the field. So
• 21:21
  Speaker 3: credit the Buffalo Bills. They schemed them up. Josh Allen
• 21:25
  Speaker 3: was absolutely phenomenal. And it looked like an open run
• 21:28
  Speaker 3: out of YMCA. He looked like he could do anything
• 21:30
  Speaker 3: and everything he want. And he did, pretty much. So
• 21:34
  Speaker 3: credit Josh Allen, man. He.
• 21:37
  Speaker 3: Yesterday, I don't know if he'll ever play that great again.
• 21:40
  Speaker 3: I mean, from a stat standpoint, because obviously we know
• 21:43
  Speaker 3: he has the capability to put on the cape. But
• 21:46
  Speaker 3: his final stats were through the roof. I mean, he
• 21:48
  Speaker 3: balled out. So, Buffalo is definitely dangerous.
• 21:52
  Speaker 6: They have the Lions coming up on Thursday, by the way. So,
• 21:57
  Speaker 6: those are three top teams with three impressive wins. Then
• 22:00
  Speaker 6: we get to number four, your Chicago Bears.
• 22:03
  Speaker 5: Something's.
• 22:04
  Speaker 6: Something about them is beginning to annoy me. They're not
• 22:07
  Speaker 6: quite Rams category. I can't put a finger on it.
• 22:09
  Speaker 6: 59 points after the game they're all talking about. Man,
• 22:12
  Speaker 6: we left so much out.
• 22:13
  Speaker 5: In the field. Come on, man.
• 22:14
  Speaker 6: You had 59 points for heaven's sakes. And they beat
• 22:18
  Speaker 6: the Panthers 59-37. They moved from 10-4. I guess, Max,
• 22:24
  Speaker 6: that's what scoring a lot of points will do for you.
• 22:27
  Speaker 2: Once again, like you said, are we looking at a
• 22:29
  Speaker 2: college power ranking or are.
• 22:31
  Speaker 5: We looking at the NFL? I'm not ready, man.
• 22:33
  Speaker 3: Right.
• 22:33
  Speaker 2: You know, it's just, yeah, it's a track meet. I get, listen,
• 22:36
  Speaker 2: I get the Panthers were a playoff team. So there's
• 22:41
  Speaker 2: cache from that perspective that they made the playoffs, but
• 22:44
  Speaker 2: I'm like in that NFC South, it looked like at
• 22:48
  Speaker 2: the indices, like nobody wanted to be there. And it
• 22:49
  Speaker 2: was kind of like hot potato on who was going
• 22:51
  Speaker 2: to take that. Who's going to take the division title.
• 22:54
  Speaker 2: So they come in there and do what they did.
• 22:57
  Speaker 4: It's nice.
• 22:58
  Speaker 2: And that's why, you know, I'm sure a lot of
• 22:59
  Speaker 2: people are like, Oh, why aren't they ranked number one?
• 23:01
  Speaker 2: Cause they put up all these points. Who'd they put
• 23:03
  Speaker 2: it up against? And I think that's what we kind
• 23:05
  Speaker 2: of see indicative here. You got to beat some dogs
• 23:09
  Speaker 2: to get up in that list. Kansas City beat Denver, right?
• 23:13
  Speaker 2: The Buffalo Bills beat Houston. What do we know about
• 23:15
  Speaker 2: those two defenses coming into that? Those were game records.
• 23:18
  Speaker 2: Those were top three defenses in the league, respectively one
• 23:21
  Speaker 2: and two from a year ago. And you put on
• 23:24
  Speaker 2: clinics against them. That's why those teams jumped up in there.
• 23:28
  Speaker 2: And like you said, we had L.A. crowned as a champ.
• 23:30
  Speaker 2: That's why San Francisco took them down. That's why they
• 23:33
  Speaker 2: get the top billing. So you kind of see some
• 23:36
  Speaker 2: of that, but now as we start to get a
• 23:37
  Speaker 2: little bit later in this, it's like, come on, man.
• 23:40
  Speaker 2: I'm like, it's like an eighth grader beating up a
• 23:42
  Speaker 2: fourth grader at that point. I mean, that's what the
• 23:45
  Speaker 2: Bears game looked like.
• 23:46
  Speaker 5: Yeah, and we'll see. I'm still not, I mean, I'm
• 23:48
  Speaker 5: not sold on them.
• 23:50
  Speaker 3: I know we're pushing along, but quickly, at the same note,
• 23:53
  Speaker 3: the Bears gave up 37 points. Right. So as much
• 23:57
  Speaker 3: as you want to pack their offense on the back,
• 23:59
  Speaker 3: their defense, what the hell are you doing? You know
• 24:01
  Speaker 3: what I mean? Right.
• 24:02
  Speaker 6: Yeah, I'm, you know, look, man, I know they made
• 24:06
  Speaker 6: the playoffs and all that. I still need to see
• 24:08
  Speaker 6: more of it. Maybe I'm totally wrong on them. I
• 24:10
  Speaker 6: still need to see more of them.
• 24:11
  Speaker 5: The Ravens.
• 24:12
  Speaker 3: Well, you will. They have seven primetime games, Rob.
• 24:14
  Speaker 5: Yeah, that's right.
• 24:15
  Speaker 6: We're going to see a lot of the Bears. And
• 24:16
  Speaker 6: they're fun to watch, for sure. They're fun to watch.
• 24:19
  Speaker 6: So the Ravens, I was more impressed with the Ravens'
• 24:21
  Speaker 6: win over the Colts. And they won 41-23. They move
• 24:25
  Speaker 6: up from 11-5. The Rams drop from 1-6. Here's your Chiefs. With, again,
• 24:33
  Speaker 6: one of the three or four most impressive wins of
• 24:35
  Speaker 6: the season. They move up from 14 to number seven.
• 24:39
  Speaker 6: I think I would have, I think based on that performance,
• 24:42
  Speaker 6: I would have the Chiefs four, guys.
• 24:44
  Speaker 5: Ahead of the Bears.
• 24:45
  Speaker 6: I agree.
• 24:46
  Speaker 5: Ahead of the Ravens.
• 24:47
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 24:48
  Speaker 5: Ahead of the Rams. I'd have them four. I would
• 24:49
  Speaker 5: say so.
• 24:50
  Speaker 3: Yep. Yeah. Okay.
• 24:52
  Speaker 4: And they're going to get there. Here's the thing. They're
• 24:54
  Speaker 4: going to get there. It's a long season. And if
• 24:56
  Speaker 4: they play like they did in week one.
• 24:58
  Speaker 2: They'll be fighting for that top spot if they continue
• 25:00
  Speaker 2: with that.
• 25:01
  Speaker 3: Yeah, the more Patrick Mahomes continues to trust that knee,
• 25:04
  Speaker 3: I'm with you, Max. They'll start climbing.
• 25:06
  Speaker 6: Okay, so number eight, the Detroit Lions. We get to
• 25:09
  Speaker 6: see them taking on the Bills on Thursday. That's going
• 25:12
  Speaker 6: to be a really interesting game. Saints probably should have
• 25:15
  Speaker 6: won that game, guys.
• 25:18
  Speaker 3: Oh, yeah.
• 25:19
  Speaker 5: Oh, yeah.
• 25:20
  Speaker 3: I agree.
• 25:21
  Speaker 2: And if Tyler Shuck takes that– That first look, he
• 25:27
  Speaker 2: looked at it and he double clutched trying to hit
• 25:29
  Speaker 2: the back pile on fade. If he just takes that
• 25:32
  Speaker 2: flare out to the right, that's a walk in and
• 25:34
  Speaker 2: they win the game and the Lions are stunned. So
• 25:38
  Speaker 2: that that Saints team is definitely surprised me when I
• 25:40
  Speaker 2: watched him on Sunday.
• 25:41
  Speaker 4: I'm like, they're gonna be a challenge in Paris.
• 25:43
  Speaker 5: Yeah, that's right.
• 25:44
  Speaker 6: I mean, the one thing you don't know is that
• 25:46
  Speaker 6: say more about the Lions or the Saints.
• 25:48
  Speaker 5: I think it maybe says more about the Saints. that
• 25:51
  Speaker 5: they might be pretty good.
• 25:52
  Speaker 3: Well, yeah. Listen, Kevin Moore has been– he's been in
• 25:55
  Speaker 3: the lab down there. We forget it. We got to
• 25:58
  Speaker 3: remember how the Saints finished the back in the last season.
• 26:00
  Speaker 3: Nobody wanted to see him because they got hot. And
• 26:03
  Speaker 3: I think defensively they figured some things out. Once they
• 26:05
  Speaker 3: get healthy, they continue to get healthy because I think
• 26:07
  Speaker 3: Alvin Kamara got dinged in that game, right? Am I correct?
• 26:10
  Speaker 3: Something happened to him? I could be wrong. Yeah. But
• 26:13
  Speaker 3: as they continue to put that offense together, man, with
• 26:15
  Speaker 3: Chris Alave and then the kid Jordan Tyson from Arizona State,
• 26:19
  Speaker 3: Once he gets back into the fold, I mean, the Saints,
• 26:23
  Speaker 3: by October, November, that's not the team you want to
• 26:26
  Speaker 3: knock on. You don't want to knock on that door
• 26:28
  Speaker 3: because I think they're going to be running hot.
• 26:32
  Speaker 6: So talk about the little things in life that make
• 26:35
  Speaker 6: you interested in a guy. So I was doing, you know,
• 26:39
  Speaker 6: during the draft last year, I was on the south side,
• 26:41
  Speaker 6: and I had to go over to the Stewards facility
• 26:44
  Speaker 6: and to pick up the radio duty. So I was
• 26:46
  Speaker 6: doing something for the sales department there, then go off
• 26:48
  Speaker 6: and do the radio thing. And like a dope, I
• 26:51
  Speaker 6: turned the wrong way. So if you turn the wrong
• 26:53
  Speaker 6: way in Station Square, you're in West Virginia before you
• 26:55
  Speaker 6: can turn around, man. You're just going and going and going.
• 26:58
  Speaker 6: And I got down there. Of course, they have the
• 26:59
  Speaker 6: draft here. And I look back over my building, and
• 27:02
  Speaker 6: I was glad I did it because that was as
• 27:04
  Speaker 6: close as I got to downtown and all the festivities
• 27:07
  Speaker 6: and all the cool stuff. And as I was driving,
• 27:09
  Speaker 6: they were putting up holograms or putting up big images
• 27:13
  Speaker 6: of the guys on one of the buildings when they
• 27:15
  Speaker 6: drafted them. And as I was driving by, I'm like, oh,
• 27:17
  Speaker 6: Jordan Tyson just got drafted. So, it was kind of
• 27:20
  Speaker 6: cool to see him up in part of it. So,
• 27:22
  Speaker 6: I don't know. That doesn't add to anything. Anyway, that's
• 27:26
  Speaker 6: Jordan Tyson interested me because of that. All right, the
• 27:28
  Speaker 6: Texans are nine.
• 27:31
  Speaker 4: Because you saw a 30-foot picture of him.
• 27:33
  Speaker 6: Yeah, it was kind of cool. I mean, it really
• 27:35
  Speaker 6: looked cool. Whoever that was, I would be like, okay, that's,
• 27:37
  Speaker 6: you know, it's stuck in my mind. That's all I'm saying. Okay,
• 27:41
  Speaker 6: Texans number nine. They dropped from seven to nine. Patriots
• 27:45
  Speaker 6: dropped from four to ten. That's a long drop for
• 27:51
  Speaker 6: the Patriots, man.
• 27:53
  Speaker 5: Seriously. That's a long drop.
• 27:55
  Speaker 2: It is.
• 27:56
  Speaker 3: It is.
• 27:58
  Speaker 2: But at the same time, you know, they had the
• 28:02
  Speaker 2: game and then things just went south for them after that.
• 28:05
  Speaker 4: And you also have to remember, other teams are winning
• 28:08
  Speaker 4: along the way, right?
• 28:09
  Speaker 2: We had 16 games that progressed and some teams looked
• 28:13
  Speaker 2: a little bit better. but they're still in the top 10.
• 28:15
  Speaker 2: At the end of the day, you lose a game,
• 28:17
  Speaker 2: you're still in the top 10. So I personally, I
• 28:20
  Speaker 2: don't know if I would definitely say that, but I
• 28:23
  Speaker 2: get it.
• 28:24
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I think it makes total sense. You have your reigning,
• 28:28
  Speaker 3: excuse me, not co-MVP, but like your quarterback in Drake May,
• 28:33
  Speaker 3: who had a chance to win MVP last year, give
• 28:36
  Speaker 3: up three interceptions. Your defense didn't play as stout as
• 28:39
  Speaker 3: you would have liked. Defense let Drew Locke come in
• 28:41
  Speaker 3: there and pretty much win a game, right? And so,
• 28:45
  Speaker 3: and on top of that, I think something else popped
• 28:47
  Speaker 3: out I don't think we talked about. We watched Mike
• 28:50
  Speaker 3: Grable punt before halftime or not, you know, not convert
• 28:53
  Speaker 3: a fourth and five because he decided to punt. And
• 28:56
  Speaker 3: then you watch Mike McDonald go for it on fourth
• 29:00
  Speaker 3: and one with Drew Locke and win the game. You
• 29:02
  Speaker 3: know what I mean? Like, so there's situation in football where,
• 29:05
  Speaker 3: especially in that game that Mike Vrabel just didn't execute
• 29:08
  Speaker 3: very well. We watched Mike McDonald say, you know what,
• 29:11
  Speaker 3: I got a really kick-ass defense. Drew Locke's not throwing
• 29:14
  Speaker 3: this game away. We're going to play free. And they
• 29:17
  Speaker 3: won the game. So one guy played not to lose.
• 29:20
  Speaker 3: The other guy played to win, and he won.
• 29:22
  Speaker 6: You know what, I think we should talk much more
• 29:24
  Speaker 6: about the Patriots over the next couple days.
• 29:26
  Speaker 5: You guys down with that? Let's really dive into this
• 29:29
  Speaker 5: Patriots team.
• 29:29
  Speaker 3: Sure.
• 29:31
  Speaker 5: All right.
• 29:31
  Speaker 3: Next team up.
• 29:32
  Speaker 5: Let's do it.
• 29:33
  Speaker 6: As a service to our listeners, we're going to do that. Quickly, Justin,
• 29:37
  Speaker 6: do I have a couple more minutes?
• 29:38
  Speaker 5: Okay. Number 11. Philadelphia Eagles up from 12 to 11.
• 29:42
  Speaker 6: They beat the Commanders 24 to 22. The Denver Broncos
• 29:47
  Speaker 6: dropped from 5 to 12. We talked about this game.
• 29:50
  Speaker 6: I mean, the Chiefs took it to them, man. They
• 29:54
  Speaker 6: took it to them.
• 29:56
  Speaker 3: Made them tap, too. Made them tap on Monday night,
• 29:58
  Speaker 3: which is worse.
• 29:59
  Speaker 5: Yeah, I didn't see that coming, guys.
• 30:02
  Speaker 2: Guys made business decisions left and right in that fourth quarter.
• 30:06
  Speaker 2: I've never seen a two-hand touch tackle football game before,
• 30:09
  Speaker 2: but I think that's as close as we're ever going
• 30:10
  Speaker 2: to get to watching what we saw on Monday night.
• 30:13
  Speaker 6: By the way, I believe I said it on these airways.
• 30:17
  Speaker 6: I know I said it on another airways. We'll wrap
• 30:20
  Speaker 6: it up with this team. But, you know, everyone's like,
• 30:23
  Speaker 6: you guys, I think it was you guys. Yeah, the
• 30:25
  Speaker 6: Browns are the Browns. I'm like, I don't know, man.
• 30:27
  Speaker 6: I think they might be a little bit better this year.
• 30:30
  Speaker 6: So the Jaguars jumped out to a 31-0 lead against
• 30:36
  Speaker 6: the Browns.
• 30:36
  Speaker 5: 31-0.
• 30:38
  Speaker 6: And then they took the foot off the gas. And
• 30:40
  Speaker 6: you beat them. You were up 31-0. You beat them 34-10.
• 30:44
  Speaker 6: This is how the Browns are viewed. That didn't even
• 30:47
  Speaker 6: nudge the Jaguars up a spot.
• 30:49
  Speaker 3: Right?
• 30:50
  Speaker 6: Other teams are putting up 30, 40 points. You're jumping
• 30:52
  Speaker 6: up five or six spots. Everyone's just like, well, you
• 30:55
  Speaker 6: beat the Browns. Come back to us next week.
• 30:58
  Speaker 3: So. And what's crazy, if you turn on that tape,
• 31:01
  Speaker 3: Trevor Lawrence played out of his skull. I mean, he
• 31:03
  Speaker 3: had some beautiful throws, and you can't find him on SportsCenter.
• 31:07
  Speaker 3: You can't find him on the internet. Nobody cares because
• 31:09
  Speaker 3: it was the Browns.
• 31:10
  Speaker 4: Yeah, nobody cares.
• 31:11
  Speaker 2: Parker Washington played awesome. The defense was electric. And they're like,
• 31:17
  Speaker 2: it's the Browns. You're supposed to do that to the Browns.
• 31:19
  Speaker 6: Man, we have got a bunch of games to circle
• 31:22
  Speaker 6: beginning tomorrow night. But Broncos, Jaguars, man, that is going
• 31:27
  Speaker 6: to be fun. That is going to be a fun game.
• 31:29
  Speaker 6: All right, we're going to stop right there because we're
• 31:31
  Speaker 6: going to get to our second AFC North team coming
• 31:34
  Speaker 6: up when we continue here in the locker room on
• 31:36
  Speaker 6: the Steelers Audio Network.
• 31:44
  Speaker 1: This is In the Locker Room with Rob King, Max Starks,
• 31:49
  Speaker 1: and Willie Colon on Steelers Nation Radio. Brought to you
• 31:52
  Speaker 1: in part by the Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
• 31:55
  Speaker 1: from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop.steelers.com.
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  Speaker 1: And by your neighborhood Ford store. The F-150 is the
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  Speaker 1: official truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
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  Speaker 5: And welcome back inside the locker room. Max, you got
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  Speaker 5: something for us?
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  Speaker 4: Don't you do it. Don't you do it, Rob. We're already–
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  Speaker 4: preseason's over. We're in the regular season now.
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  Speaker 3: All right.
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  Speaker 2: We know what happens on the last segment. It's the
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  Speaker 2: most glorious segment of the day.
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  Speaker 4: It's the bell lap. Oh, royalty.
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  Speaker 6: I got Willie and Max playing air trumpet. So we
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  Speaker 6: have a new sound there.
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  Speaker 5: Well done, Max. Well done, Willie. Guys, thank you very much.
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  Speaker 6: We are trumpeting the arrival of the Pittsburgh Steelers on
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  Speaker 6: the power rankings, but not yet. We're at number 14.
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  Speaker 6: Number 14 is the Cincinnati Bengals. Hey, that was a
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  Speaker 6: good win for them over the Bucs. You got to
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  Speaker 6: give them that.
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  Speaker 3: 33-27.
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  Speaker 5: That's a good win.
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  Speaker 6: After one week, it looks like the Bengals and Ravens
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  Speaker 6: might be as good as people think.
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  Speaker 5: We'll see. It's only one week, but Two quality wins,
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  Speaker 5: I thought. Well, and they jumped off fast.
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  Speaker 4: That was one thing.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, go ahead, Will. No, no, no, you're right. I
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  Speaker 3: think for the Ravens, I think there had to be
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  Speaker 3: some significant sign that Lamar Jackson is in line with
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  Speaker 3: Declan Doyle, the new offensive coordinator, that this offense is
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  Speaker 3: kind of the same thing that the Steelers are going through.
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  Speaker 3: You had to see some signs that This is a
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  Speaker 3: new era. This is a new chapter. And I think
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  Speaker 3: both teams show that. As much as you dislike Aaron
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  Speaker 3: Rodgers throwing the ball 40 times, that's nothing we're used
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  Speaker 3: to seeing the Steelers do. But we got to get
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  Speaker 3: used to it because this is the new look of
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  Speaker 3: the offense. You want to see Lamar Jackson continue to
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  Speaker 3: be Lamar Jackson, but be way more efficient for snap
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  Speaker 3: to snap. Declan Doyle gave him answers. Having a better
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  Speaker 3: screen game, quicker route running, in timing, clean up his footwork.
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  Speaker 3: So I think both teams coming out of the gate
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  Speaker 3: showed you that this is a new era of football
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  Speaker 3: for both organizations.
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  Speaker 6: Number 15, the Minnesota Vikings. This is what happens when
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  Speaker 6: you're ranked 19th. It's hard to move up. You're one
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  Speaker 6: of those teams down your Troy State, right? You started
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  Speaker 6: outside the polls. It's hard to move up in the
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  Speaker 6: top 25. The Vikings were impressive beating the Packers 39-22.
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  Speaker 5: Number 16. Anybody have a guess? It's your Pittsburgh Steelers.
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  Speaker 5: That's right. So I'm going to read you the little rundown.
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  Speaker 4: Pittsburgh Steelers.
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  Speaker 5: So they have a little what we learned thing. Okay,
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  Speaker 5: so what we learned. Things look familiar. Here's the write-up.
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  Speaker 6: Yes, the Steelers have a new coach, but this team
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  Speaker 6: looked much like it has in recent years. The defense
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  Speaker 6: was pretty good. The offense was mostly fine. It's rarely
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  Speaker 6: worth putting too much stock in week one. But this
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  Speaker 6: Mike McCarthy-led squad looks like another roughly 500 team. We
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  Speaker 6: should learn more about the Steelers in week two during
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  Speaker 6: their trip up to New England. That is in the
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  Speaker 6: preconceived notion category as far as I'm concerned, but I
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  Speaker 6: think that's what the Steelers are battling, preconceived notions that
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  Speaker 6: have been preconceived and have been wrong notions for the
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  Speaker 6: last several years.
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  Speaker 3: You want to go next or I'll go next?
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  Speaker 5: Yeah, I'll go real quick.
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  Speaker 2: And you have to understand, we come into this with
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  Speaker 2: the preconceived notions, but we also come in with a
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  Speaker 2: lot of kind of vitriol and fire, right? You have
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  Speaker 2: to remember, this is what people wanted us to be
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  Speaker 2: third place in the division, right? The preseason rankings came out.
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  Speaker 2: We were the third best team. How are we looking
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  Speaker 2: in the power rankings? We're the third best team in
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  Speaker 2: the AFC North in the power rankings. Did we come
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  Speaker 2: out and prove anybody wrong? No, we didn't put 50
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  Speaker 2: points up like we were Chicago. We didn't have this
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  Speaker 2: Fantastic display, but I will say this. Defensively, it looked
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  Speaker 2: a lot different from last year. The team was humming
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  Speaker 2: around the horn. And most importantly, we closed the game out.
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  Speaker 2: And that's something that you have to understand. We looked
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  Speaker 2: at all these other games. Like, other teams had.
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  Speaker 5: Nice, convenient leads.
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  Speaker 2: And I'll say, you know, for the Bills, the Bills
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  Speaker 2: went out and won that game in the fourth quarter
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  Speaker 2: against the Texans, right? Bengals went out and won that
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  Speaker 2: fourth quarter against Tampa Bay. Like, you saw some of
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  Speaker 2: those games. Seattle went out and won that game against
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  Speaker 2: the New England Patriots. The Steelers kind of were in it,
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  Speaker 2: and we kind of controlled it. But when we needed
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  Speaker 2: to do it most, it came in. And I think
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  Speaker 2: that's what people don't like. They wanted us to hopefully fall.
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  Speaker 2: By the third quarter, I'm sure people were like, please
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  Speaker 2: let them lose so I can be right. And that's
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  Speaker 2: what we're going to be fighting all year. We're going
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  Speaker 2: to be fighting people wanting us to lose. They don't
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  Speaker 2: want Aaron Rodgers to succeed. They don't want Mike McCarthy
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  Speaker 2: to succeed either. So we're going to get this kind
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  Speaker 2: of negative type of vitriol for the rest of the year.
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  Speaker 4: Until you go out and beat them.
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  Speaker 2: And like I said, New England will probably go a
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  Speaker 2: long way with doing that, but then they'll probably.
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  Speaker 4: Find some excuse.
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  Speaker 2: Well, now New England, you know, say we win and
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  Speaker 2: we go 2-0 and New England's 0-2. Well, New England's
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  Speaker 2: not as good as we thought. So they did what
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  Speaker 2: they were supposed to. They'll find a way to change
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  Speaker 2: the narrative on us. So it's going to continually be Missouri,
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  Speaker 2: which is our key phrase in here, right?
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  Speaker 4: Just show me.
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  Speaker 2: And that's what the Steelers are going to have to do,
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  Speaker 2: and that's what the Steelers have done always. Just go
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  Speaker 2: out and you just got to show it. And I
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  Speaker 2: think this team will get better and it's going to
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  Speaker 2: look better. But for the first outing, it did what
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  Speaker 2: it needed to do. People just didn't like that. They
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  Speaker 2: don't like they want flashy. They want they want they
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  Speaker 2: want flash in the pan. They don't want the slow cooker.
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  Speaker 2: But yet the slow cooker meal always delivers every time.
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  Speaker 5: Mine is ready to deliver.
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  Speaker 3: I'm going to be to be to be honest and
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  Speaker 3: to be forthright. I think the rankings fair. considering the
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  Speaker 3: Falcons played their third-string quarterback in Cooper Rush. So on
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  Speaker 3: top of that, some may say it took T.J. Watt
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  Speaker 3: to bail us out with that big pick to kind
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  Speaker 3: of capitalize and put this nail in the game. I
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  Speaker 3: think from a guy who played for the Steelers, loved
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  Speaker 3: the brand of football in which we represent, I'm still
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  Speaker 3: frustrated that we only averaged 2.8 yards on the ground
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  Speaker 3: against the Falcons. You know, that's what kind of annoys me.
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  Speaker 3: I would have loved to see us have more explosive plays,
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  Speaker 3: run plays on the ground. I think we had the
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  Speaker 3: better offensive line. I think we got the, you know,
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  Speaker 3: the running back show B. John's a stud. Take nothing
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  Speaker 3: away from him in that regard. But I want to
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  Speaker 3: see Jalen Warren and Rico Dotto just be way more
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  Speaker 3: efficient at their job. You know, I know Jalen fumbled
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  Speaker 3: the ball, you know, kind of got away from him
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  Speaker 3: in one of those plays. But I think the ranking's fair.
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  Speaker 3: We go ahead and we stick it to the Patriots.
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  Speaker 3: I think a lot of people will be saying, oh,
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  Speaker 3: there's something brewing down in Pittsburgh. But if you're a
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  Speaker 3: Steelers fan right now, 16 I think is a fair assessment.
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  Speaker 5: Yep. I don't have any real problem with that, Willie.
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  Speaker 6: But again, my preconceived notion was that they were a
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  Speaker 6: better team than that, and therefore they should be hovering
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  Speaker 6: around that 10th range. But I get it. You know
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  Speaker 6: what the beauty of it is? You go out and
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  Speaker 6: you play. The end of the year, you're in the playoffs,
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  Speaker 6: you're not in the playoffs, right? It doesn't matter. But
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  Speaker 6: it is interesting to see where these teams are and
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  Speaker 6: chat a little bit about them. The Packers, last week
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  Speaker 6: they had them 17. They still have them 17. I'm
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  Speaker 6: sure a lot of Packers fans are saying, wait a minute,
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  Speaker 6: we're better than that. But they got beaten soundly by
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  Speaker 6: the Vikings 39-22.
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  Speaker 3: The Giants have been extreme quarterback.
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  Speaker 5: Yeah, yeah.
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  Speaker 6: Although Wentz is a good– that's a nice guy to
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  Speaker 6: have coming off your bench. The Giants moved from 25
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  Speaker 6: to 18 as they took it to the Cowboys in
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  Speaker 6: the Harbaugh era, off to a good start in New York, Willie.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, you want to see a brand of
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  Speaker 3: football that Harbaugh is familiar playing with. They want to
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  Speaker 3: be gritty. You know, they want– listen, look at who
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  Speaker 3: they acquired. They got Patrick Ricard. They got Isaiah Likely.
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  Speaker 3: They put together a scheme that fits hall ball ball,
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  Speaker 3: which is running the ball, living in 12 personnel, sometimes
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  Speaker 3: 13 personnel. And by the way, give credit to Jackson Dart, man.
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  Speaker 3: He looked good. He looked damn good. And for a
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  Speaker 3: guy who maybe took some hits in the offseason because
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  Speaker 3: of all the reports I was coming out of training
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  Speaker 3: camp that he wasn't looking as polished or seemed to
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  Speaker 3: be kind of clunky with his throne in his passing game.
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  Speaker 3: I mean, the fact that they have elite neighbors on
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  Speaker 3: the field, Isaiah likely popped off the tape. Cam Scadaboo
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  Speaker 3: looked like an old-school 80s running back. I mean, a
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  Speaker 3: lot of things are working for the Giants. And the defense,
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  Speaker 3: they look big out there. I don't know. I think
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  Speaker 3: it was talked on the telecast how big that defense is.
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  Speaker 3: I mean, between Arbel Reese, Edmonds, and I forgot the
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  Speaker 3: other guy they got. Excuse me. But all those guys
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  Speaker 3: are like 6'4, 6'5. So they got a big defense
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  Speaker 3: that played big on a Sunday night.
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  Speaker 5: Okay.
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  Speaker 6: Let me run down these quickly, Justin, just about a
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  Speaker 6: minute or so left.
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  Speaker 5: Okay.
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  Speaker 3: Okay.
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  Speaker 6: So I'm going to run these down quickly here, guys.
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  Speaker 6: We'll talk more about some of these teams. Chargers took
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  Speaker 6: the biggest tumble, 8-19 after they lost. They're 19 now
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  Speaker 6: after their loss to the Cardinals, 26-14. Cowboys dropped from
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  Speaker 6: 15-20 after that loss to the Giants. Saints at 21,
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  Speaker 6: up a spot. Buccaneers at 22, down two spots. Colts
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  Speaker 6: down two spots after their loss. They're 23. Carolina holds
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  Speaker 6: still at 24. Commanders go from 23-25. Arizona moves up
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  Speaker 6: seven spots, 31-26. So, again, those are interesting. It seems
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  Speaker 6: to be more about the bad team's not really that
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  Speaker 6: good and the good team's worse than we thought. That
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  Speaker 6: seems to be the reaction. Raiders at 27, holding steady.
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  Speaker 6: The Jets move up from 29-28. They beat the Titans
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  Speaker 6: by the score of 23-10. The Falcons are 29. They
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  Speaker 6: drop three spots after their loss to the Steelers. Tennessee
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  Speaker 6: drops from 28-30. The Browns are 31. which is remarkable
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  Speaker 6: that there's somebody worse right now, and that would be
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  Speaker 6: the Dolphins, who lost to the Raiders 27-13. They are
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  Speaker 6: number 32. Gentlemen, we're going to dive into Steelers-Patriots tomorrow.
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  Speaker 6: Our thanks to Justin Miller for Willie Colon, Max Starks.
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  Speaker 5: I'm Rob King.
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  Speaker 6: We thank you for being with us in the locker
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  Speaker 6: room here on the Steelers Audio Network.