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

• 0:08
  Speaker 1: This is In the Locker Room with Rob King, Max Starks,
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: and Willie Colon on Steelers Nation Radio. Brought to you
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: in part by the Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop.steelers.com.
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: And by your neighborhood Ford store. The F-150 is the
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: official truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
• 0:29
  Speaker 2: Snap, turns, gives, warrants, starts, left, cuts back to the right,
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: finds a hole.
• 0:33
  Speaker 3: Bursts through the middle, breaks through to the clear!
• 0:36
  Speaker 2: Jalen Warren racing into the end zone for a Pittsburgh
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: Steelers touchdown, a 50-yard gallop for Jalen Warren.
• 0:45
  Speaker 4: He's dynamic in a run game. He's excellent coming out
• 0:49
  Speaker 4: of the backfield, and he's as tough as they come
• 0:51
  Speaker 4: in pass pro. Our protection adjustment packages are, I would say,
• 0:58
  Speaker 4: multiple on a high end of volume, and he does
• 1:01
  Speaker 4: a great job with that too. He's a three-down player,
• 1:05
  Speaker 4: and he can He could beat you inside zone, outside zone. So,
• 1:08
  Speaker 4: I mean, there's nothing, you know, running concept-wise we lean
• 1:12
  Speaker 4: against him.
• 1:13
  Speaker 5: So, you know, I love his game.
• 1:16
  Speaker 6: He is not alone.
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: We are card-carrying members of the Jalen Warren Fan Club.
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: Thanks for being with us in the locker room here
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: in the Steelers Audio Network. And Willie Colon, Max Starks
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: with us. Willie, your thoughts since I got to spend
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: time about five hours or thereabouts with Max before the
• 1:35
  Speaker 2: game and during the game and after the game. Your
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: thoughts on what you saw? Man, it's hard to say.
• 1:43
  Speaker 2: I didn't tell you so, right?
• 1:45
  Speaker 5: We knew that this game was going to have to
• 1:48
  Speaker 5: come down to Jalen Warren getting the ball and his
• 1:51
  Speaker 5: team being able to rely on their tight ends and
• 1:54
  Speaker 5: use that matchup against their Colts linebackers. And we also
• 1:58
  Speaker 5: saw our office line stand up in key moments, but
• 2:01
  Speaker 5: Because of some of the injuries the Steelers suffered, they
• 2:05
  Speaker 5: were forced into heavy personnel. But all along we've been
• 2:07
  Speaker 5: saying that's the Steelers' identity. We all saw it. The
• 2:10
  Speaker 5: ball has to go through Jalen Warren and us living
• 2:14
  Speaker 5: in those three wides and trying to air it out.
• 2:18
  Speaker 5: That's all well and good. But the Steelers are built
• 2:21
  Speaker 5: on bully ball, and we were able to see that
• 2:23
  Speaker 5: in real time. And it looked good. It looked good.
• 2:27
  Speaker 5: It looked efficient. It looked safe. It took some of
• 2:30
  Speaker 5: the bricks off of Aaron Rodgers' shoulders. And I think
• 2:33
  Speaker 5: when you start talking about the combination between Darnell Washington
• 2:36
  Speaker 5: and Pat Fairmouth, and we even had Tunyon out there,
• 2:42
  Speaker 5: which was awesome to see. And I thought the interior
• 2:45
  Speaker 5: of our office in line, especially Mason McCormick, had a
• 2:47
  Speaker 5: big day, man. He was the juggernaut on the line.
• 2:50
  Speaker 5: And it was just good to see it all come together. Now,
• 2:54
  Speaker 5: you know, now, you know, me, Rob, I love I
• 2:57
  Speaker 5: love a scrappy fight and I love a fight that
• 2:59
  Speaker 5: we win. But I also like momentum. And they still
• 3:02
  Speaker 5: have an opportunity to use this game as momentum and
• 3:05
  Speaker 5: respond in a back to back win coming up soon.
• 3:08
  Speaker 5: So that's what I want to see. But also, I
• 3:10
  Speaker 5: got a highlight on both sides of the ball. You know,
• 3:13
  Speaker 5: credit Brandon Smith for coming out there. and playing well
• 3:16
  Speaker 5: and having an impact along with Gabriel Rubio, who I
• 3:19
  Speaker 5: think should be in a serious conversation and maybe possibly
• 3:22
  Speaker 5: our starting nose if we're not going to use Y.A.
• 3:27
  Speaker 5: in that manner. I think the kid has a lot
• 3:30
  Speaker 5: to offer. And, you know, when he's out there, man,
• 3:32
  Speaker 5: he's impactful. But I just got to credit the offense, man,
• 3:34
  Speaker 5: for showing up in a big way. And like I
• 3:37
  Speaker 5: said all along, get the ball to Jalen Warren, good
• 3:39
  Speaker 5: things happen.
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: Yeah, Max, we were looking at the halftime statistics today. And,
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: you know, we knew Jalen Warren didn't have the ball
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: that much. Four rushes in the first half, and we
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: were also calling for more Jalen Warren. When the game ended,
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: 33 passes for the Steelers, 22 rush attempts. That's closer,
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: I think, much closer to the ratio that, you know,
• 4:05
  Speaker 2: Mike McCarthy's looking for.
• 4:06
  Speaker 6: Again, he wants to run more plays than that.
• 4:08
  Speaker 2: But still, that ratio is pretty good, and it just
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: feels like the more they get the ball to Jalen Warren,
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: the more good things happen.
• 4:17
  Speaker 3: Yeah, absolutely. And happy Victory Donut Monday to everybody out there.
• 4:25
  Speaker 3: It is a very, very great day in Steeler Nation.
• 4:29
  Speaker 3: But you're absolutely right, Rob. You would love to see
• 4:32
  Speaker 3: more plays, but I'm not going to argue with the
• 4:37
  Speaker 3: points per production that occurred on the field yesterday, right?
• 4:42
  Speaker 3: You know, to put up 34 points.
• 4:45
  Speaker 3: And you had the ball 28 minutes of that time,
• 4:49
  Speaker 3: you know, in real time, I would say, outside of,
• 4:51
  Speaker 3: you know, going down and taking the knees. But, you know,
• 4:55
  Speaker 3: that was something I thought was very apparent that the
• 5:00
  Speaker 3: Steelers did the most. And the explosive plays that they
• 5:02
  Speaker 3: generated off of those 55 plays, I thought was fantastic.
• 5:08
  Speaker 3: I know we were upset that. You know, Jalen wasn't
• 5:10
  Speaker 3: getting the consistency of touches, but you also look at
• 5:13
  Speaker 3: there wasn't a consistency in flow because, you know, he
• 5:17
  Speaker 3: took a little pop pass 80 yards for a touchdown.
• 5:20
  Speaker 6: Right, right.
• 5:20
  Speaker 3: Oh, and by the way, oh, we're going to grind
• 5:22
  Speaker 3: him in the red zone. You know, when we get
• 5:24
  Speaker 3: on this side of the field, we get to the 50,
• 5:26
  Speaker 3: and he does the rest. 50-yard rush, he pops off
• 5:30
  Speaker 3: for a touchdown. You know, I think that's just kind
• 5:34
  Speaker 3: of the part and parcel thing, but you're right. I
• 5:36
  Speaker 3: love to see those numbers get closer to 50-50. I
• 5:38
  Speaker 3: know they'll never be 50-50, but if you're getting in
• 5:42
  Speaker 3: the 60-40, 55-45 world, that's the victory. That's the win
• 5:49
  Speaker 3: in the situation. But, you know, I kind of echo
• 5:52
  Speaker 3: Willie's sentiments. It was really nice to see Gabe Rubio
• 5:56
  Speaker 3: in the mix in that run game and really halting
• 6:00
  Speaker 3: Jonathan Taylor, yes, They had scores. And yes, you could say, oh,
• 6:04
  Speaker 3: they scored six times. Five of those were field goals.
• 6:07
  Speaker 3: And two of those were from the middle of the field, essentially,
• 6:11
  Speaker 3: with a 56 and a 57 yarder. So it wasn't
• 6:13
  Speaker 3: like the defense was giving up all these touchdowns and
• 6:16
  Speaker 3: they were running roughshod on. Now, Tyler Warren's still probably
• 6:19
  Speaker 3: catching passes right now in their nightmares. But nobody else
• 6:24
  Speaker 3: really beat them. They had one 42-yard play to Joshua Downs.
• 6:27
  Speaker 3: And it wasn't a touchdown play.
• 6:29
  Speaker 6: So I think.
• 6:32
  Speaker 3: When you look at it in totality, they play good
• 6:34
  Speaker 3: team ball in general, and that's kind of what led
• 6:37
  Speaker 3: to the result that we saw. I'm happy to say
• 6:39
  Speaker 3: that it looked good, and I feel good about where
• 6:43
  Speaker 3: the Steelers are at right now. But like Willie said,
• 6:46
  Speaker 3: momentum is a hell of a thing. You do it once,
• 6:49
  Speaker 3: it's an accident. Do it twice, it starts to be
• 6:51
  Speaker 3: a habit.
• 6:52
  Speaker 5: Yep.
• 6:53
  Speaker 2: So let's focus on the offense because I thought the
• 6:57
  Speaker 2: offense was terrific. And in particular– I thought Aaron Rodgers
• 7:02
  Speaker 2: was fantastic in this game. Max, distributing the football, getting
• 7:07
  Speaker 2: it to the open guys as he likes to say,
• 7:10
  Speaker 2: took a pounding on that pass that he threw to
• 7:14
  Speaker 2: Jalen Warren that he took 80 yards for the score.
• 7:17
  Speaker 6: Just directing traffic. We saw him getting.
• 7:19
  Speaker 2: Out of the pocket, rolling left and throwing a big
• 7:23
  Speaker 2: strike to Jeremy Bernard.
• 7:24
  Speaker 6: That was a big play in the game.
• 7:26
  Speaker 2: I just thought overall he looked really, really good at
• 7:29
  Speaker 2: the controls of this Steelers offense?
• 7:34
  Speaker 5: You know, I mean, it came down to this Pittsburgh
• 7:38
  Speaker 5: Steelers looking to clean up their house, and I think
• 7:40
  Speaker 5: they were able to do that. Anytime you have, you know,
• 7:43
  Speaker 5: Aaron was able to throw three touchdown passes, Jalen Warren
• 7:46
  Speaker 5: was able to rush for 100 yards, over 100 yards,
• 7:49
  Speaker 5: the offensive line played efficiently and played strong and played
• 7:51
  Speaker 5: that level of bully-blow. He was able to exploit our
• 7:54
  Speaker 5: tight ends and and we allowed them to, you know,
• 7:57
  Speaker 5: make hay in the middle of the field with big plays.
• 8:00
  Speaker 5: It all came together. And then I think it was
• 8:02
  Speaker 5: good to see our depth stepped up. I already talked
• 8:04
  Speaker 5: about Brandon Smith, but it was also good to see
• 8:07
  Speaker 5: how guys responded to those injuries, right? Looking at Jeremy Bernard,
• 8:11
  Speaker 5: I've said a time of time is a start. We
• 8:13
  Speaker 5: got to start. He has to be a focus of
• 8:16
  Speaker 5: our offense because of what he can do and, how
• 8:18
  Speaker 5: explosive he can be. Whatever packages we need to draw up,
• 8:22
  Speaker 5: like the Niners draw up for Debo Samuel or whatever
• 8:25
  Speaker 5: we can do, man, we need to get the ball
• 8:27
  Speaker 5: in his hands as much as possible. Because I think
• 8:29
  Speaker 5: you also know this is a league that's going to
• 8:32
  Speaker 5: figure you out sooner than later. And so as we
• 8:35
  Speaker 5: continue to find our identity going into week six, we
• 8:39
  Speaker 5: know the Titans is a strength. Jalen Warren's a strength.
• 8:43
  Speaker 5: But I think there's more to this offense that I'm
• 8:45
  Speaker 5: excited to explore. And that's one option. And Jeremy Bernard,
• 8:48
  Speaker 5: I'm excited to see. But Aaron Rodger, man, I'm never
• 8:51
  Speaker 5: surprised with some of his output in production because we
• 8:54
  Speaker 5: know what he's capable of. I mean, he's first ballot
• 8:57
  Speaker 5: Hall of Famer. His ability to have the answers at
• 9:00
  Speaker 5: the line of scrimmage, his ability to orchestrate and be tough.
• 9:05
  Speaker 5: And I think that's one thing we haven't talked about
• 9:07
  Speaker 5: as of late. despite some of the up-and-down play off
• 9:10
  Speaker 5: his line. He's been pretty tough, man. He's been able
• 9:11
  Speaker 5: to pick himself off the mat. I mean, go back
• 9:13
  Speaker 5: to the Patriots game, Cleveland game, and this game. He
• 9:16
  Speaker 5: took some shots. A 4-3-0 man to get up time
• 9:21
  Speaker 5: after time. He may have to bite the bit a
• 9:23
  Speaker 5: little bit, but he's been pretty tough and resilient. So
• 9:26
  Speaker 5: I just got to give him a lot of credit
• 9:27
  Speaker 5: in that regard. It seems like the boys are starting
• 9:30
  Speaker 5: to start. As of right now, it looks like it's
• 9:33
  Speaker 5: in alignment.
• 9:35
  Speaker 6: Your thoughts on what you saw from Aaron Rodgers?
• 9:37
  Speaker 2: By the way, I got to say this, because I
• 9:39
  Speaker 2: do want to get back to Jeremy Bernard. But Max
• 9:42
  Speaker 2: and I both looked at each other when they ran
• 9:43
  Speaker 2: that little reverse, and he got four yards. And we're like,
• 9:47
  Speaker 2: that was for Willie. Willie said he got to get
• 9:49
  Speaker 2: him more involved. We looked at each other. We made
• 9:52
  Speaker 2: eye contact, Willie. I want you to know you're in
• 9:54
  Speaker 2: that booth with us at Accra Stadium.
• 9:56
  Speaker 5: I appreciate it.
• 9:59
  Speaker 6: Yeah.
• 10:00
  Speaker 5: Yeah.
• 10:00
  Speaker 3: We absolutely were. And then, Willie, we appreciate you doing
• 10:02
  Speaker 3: Yeoman's work on Sunday and, you know, whatever voodoo doll
• 10:07
  Speaker 3: you hit with your jets to pull it out against
• 10:10
  Speaker 3: the Browns. We also want to say thank you again
• 10:12
  Speaker 3: for that, for your service.
• 10:14
  Speaker 5: Well, to be honest with you, I think it was
• 10:17
  Speaker 5: full circle voodoo and synergy because– it took Mink and
• 10:20
  Speaker 5: Fitzpatrick to knock out K.C. Concepcion that really altered that game.
• 10:26
  Speaker 5: During that time, they were forced to put in a
• 10:29
  Speaker 5: receiver by the name of Bonds who couldn't catch a cold.
• 10:33
  Speaker 5: If K.C. Concepcion was in that game and Mink and
• 10:37
  Speaker 5: Fitzpatrick didn't knock him out the game, I don't know
• 10:40
  Speaker 5: if the Jets win that game. I guess it was
• 10:42
  Speaker 5: an all-around win for the Steelers on Sunday. Awesome, awesome.
• 10:48
  Speaker 3: But To get back on subject with the offense, I
• 10:54
  Speaker 3: really like what we do right now in kind of
• 10:58
  Speaker 3: our toss-wide zone scheme. I like the vision that it
• 11:03
  Speaker 3: gives Jalen Warren. I also want to shout out Lou
• 11:07
  Speaker 3: Nichols on his one carry to show you that he
• 11:11
  Speaker 3: can run the football, ladies and gentlemen.
• 11:13
  Speaker 5: He can still do it, baby.
• 11:14
  Speaker 3: He is not just a guy that's a decoy down
• 11:17
  Speaker 3: there at the kick return game. If you don't want
• 11:18
  Speaker 3: to kick to Caden Weegean, he can actually run the football.
• 11:22
  Speaker 3: And it was an easy gut dive play, right? Right
• 11:26
  Speaker 3: up the gut. And I was just like, why can't
• 11:30
  Speaker 3: we see more of this? Why can't he be a
• 11:32
  Speaker 3: one-two punch right now? If we don't have a Rico Dowdle,
• 11:35
  Speaker 3: we do have a second back in it. And it
• 11:37
  Speaker 3: can go to further establish our run game. But I
• 11:40
  Speaker 3: was happy to see him do it. so that now
• 11:42
  Speaker 3: you got it on tape, so hopefully he builds confidence
• 11:44
  Speaker 3: with the coaches. But, you know, I loved what the
• 11:48
  Speaker 3: offense did for the most part. I mean, you know,
• 11:50
  Speaker 3: they only gave up one sack, and we knew that
• 11:53
  Speaker 3: this Colts team was going to try and twist and
• 11:55
  Speaker 3: stunt because they also have one of the worst pressure
• 11:58
  Speaker 3: rates in the league, so they had to do something.
• 12:00
  Speaker 3: I feel like they watched the game film from Cleveland
• 12:04
  Speaker 3: and said, hey, we can do that, or, Patriots, we
• 12:06
  Speaker 3: can do that. And they did bring a cover one blitz. Well, no,
• 12:13
  Speaker 3: I'm sorry, not a cover one blitz. They brought a
• 12:15
  Speaker 3: mug up. They brought six, and the Steelers could only
• 12:17
  Speaker 3: block five. That one we're talking about when Jalen popped
• 12:20
  Speaker 3: it down the sideline and DeKalen Metcalf, a.k.a. DK Metcalf,
• 12:25
  Speaker 3: took two defenders to create his own personal bubble wall
• 12:30
  Speaker 3: for Jalen Warren to scoop down the sideline and get
• 12:34
  Speaker 3: that 80-yarder. But that was pre-designed. He knew that that
• 12:37
  Speaker 3: was the hot guy, so Aaron was going to have
• 12:39
  Speaker 3: to take the hot on that one because that would
• 12:41
  Speaker 3: have been Jalen's guy if he would have kept him
• 12:43
  Speaker 3: in to block, but he wanted him out in that
• 12:47
  Speaker 3: route because he knew that was his assignment. So to
• 12:50
  Speaker 3: run that pop pass was having to know that you're
• 12:53
  Speaker 3: going to put your face in the fan at 43
• 12:55
  Speaker 3: years old. You still got to put your face in
• 12:57
  Speaker 3: the fan at times, Will. And he did exactly that,
• 13:01
  Speaker 3: and it paid dividends. So that was one of those
• 13:03
  Speaker 3: where you look at it, yeah, it might have hurt
• 13:05
  Speaker 3: in the moment, but that pride feels great. Pride is
• 13:08
  Speaker 3: a big Band-Aid. overpaying in a lot of those situations.
• 13:11
  Speaker 3: But I thought the team just executed and they looked comfortable, right?
• 13:16
  Speaker 3: I mean, and I think it's also indicative, 3-0 at home,
• 13:18
  Speaker 3: 0-2 on the road. That means that the noise does
• 13:21
  Speaker 3: affect some of their operations, which naturally it should if
• 13:24
  Speaker 3: you go to a good team stadium or a team
• 13:27
  Speaker 3: that has good fans. It's going to affect you, and
• 13:30
  Speaker 3: New England and Cleveland both have good fans. I don't
• 13:33
  Speaker 3: know if Tampa Bay has that because I can remember
• 13:36
  Speaker 3: times when we've gone down to Tampa Bay and we
• 13:38
  Speaker 3: have a better fan environment that pops up in the
• 13:41
  Speaker 3: state of Florida. So that's where I think it really is.
• 13:45
  Speaker 3: When they have the ability to communicate, they do a
• 13:49
  Speaker 3: really good job, and they're on pace and they're on
• 13:52
  Speaker 3: time with everything they do. It's when the communication, I
• 13:55
  Speaker 3: feel like, gets muddied or it's a loud stadium, that's
• 13:57
  Speaker 3: when it suffers, and that's when you get kind of
• 13:59
  Speaker 3: the road results that we've had so far.
• 14:03
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and we'll get to that because we're going to
• 14:05
  Speaker 2: be previewing Tampa Bay and hopefully– that that's going to
• 14:08
  Speaker 2: turn around. But, you know, there are reports, Willie, coming
• 14:12
  Speaker 2: out this morning, you know, obviously during the middle of
• 14:15
  Speaker 2: the game, you mentioned that they went to the three
• 14:17
  Speaker 2: tight end look more. And, you know, Ben Skoranek was
• 14:21
  Speaker 2: knocked out of the game. Roman Wilson was knocked out
• 14:24
  Speaker 2: of the game. You're already without Michael Pittman. Caden Weegeen
• 14:28
  Speaker 2: really is not being used at the wide receiver position.
• 14:31
  Speaker 2: So you had two guys, essentially two wide receivers that
• 14:34
  Speaker 2: had been there as wide receivers, D.K. Metcalf and Jeremy Bernard.
• 14:40
  Speaker 2: And then you brought up Brandon Smith, who did a
• 14:43
  Speaker 2: nice job blocking, had a reception callback.
• 14:46
  Speaker 6: That's a bummer, man. There was a holding penalty on
• 14:48
  Speaker 6: the play.
• 14:48
  Speaker 2: But again, Jeremy Bernard had to be the guy because
• 14:54
  Speaker 2: Sauce Gardner did a nice job on D.K. Metcalf, and
• 14:56
  Speaker 2: I don't know what other coverage they're rolling over the top.
• 14:59
  Speaker 2: I can't see any of that stuff until I go
• 15:01
  Speaker 2: back and look at it.
• 15:02
  Speaker 6: But D.K. wasn't a big factor. I believe.
• 15:06
  Speaker 2: and I think I've said this on these airways, I
• 15:07
  Speaker 2: believe that the Steelers are going to be a week-to-week
• 15:11
  Speaker 2: passing team.
• 15:13
  Speaker 6: I have said this on this air.
• 15:14
  Speaker 5: I know I have.
• 15:16
  Speaker 6: DK is going to get some targets.
• 15:18
  Speaker 2: He got a back shoulder fade one-on-one with Sauce Gardner.
• 15:21
  Speaker 2: It wasn't completed, but he's going to get some of those.
• 15:26
  Speaker 2: When Aaron Rodgers sees him one-on-one, he's going to get
• 15:28
  Speaker 2: some chances. Other than that, Aaron Rodgers is going to
• 15:31
  Speaker 2: get to the line of scrimmage, look at the coverage.
• 15:33
  Speaker 2: and distribute the ball based on that coverage. As he says,
• 15:36
  Speaker 2: throw to the open guy or the anticipated open guy
• 15:39
  Speaker 2: because a lot of times you don't have an opportunity
• 15:41
  Speaker 2: to look around the field that much. That means everybody's
• 15:44
  Speaker 2: got to be capable. I think we all believe the
• 15:46
  Speaker 2: tight ends are capable. I believe Roman Wilson's capable, but
• 15:49
  Speaker 2: he's hurt. Michael Pittman's capable. He's shown that throughout his career,
• 15:52
  Speaker 2: but he's hurt. That means Jeremy Bernard has to step up.
• 15:55
  Speaker 2: So that's my premise. I don't know if you agree
• 15:57
  Speaker 2: with that as far as the distribution of the ball,
• 16:00
  Speaker 2: but that premise then backed up with the fact that
• 16:02
  Speaker 2: Jeremy Bernard This is an opportunity for him, and I'm
• 16:06
  Speaker 2: eager to see him take advantage of it.
• 16:08
  Speaker 5: Yeah, you're right. He did step up. I know he
• 16:10
  Speaker 5: had six passes for 80 yards, and I know he
• 16:13
  Speaker 5: had that big key 25-yard catch on the third down
• 16:18
  Speaker 5: run there. I think a couple things. I think we
• 16:20
  Speaker 5: also was able to see Aaron Rodgers use his legs,
• 16:24
  Speaker 5: which helps. And I also think, you know, as far
• 16:26
  Speaker 5: as DK's production, Valley, he didn't jump off the page
• 16:30
  Speaker 5: as far as stats, man. But just seeing his tenacity
• 16:33
  Speaker 5: and his ability to block was huge, right? I think
• 16:36
  Speaker 5: when he's a willing blocker and he does his part
• 16:39
  Speaker 5: on the outside, it just helps the run game. And
• 16:41
  Speaker 5: it's just a different type of presence that's necessary. So
• 16:45
  Speaker 5: I like it. You know, when it comes down to,
• 16:48
  Speaker 5: you know, some of the guys that were able to
• 16:49
  Speaker 5: step up altogether, like Brandon Smith and, his ability to
• 16:55
  Speaker 5: kind of go in there and have a factor. It
• 16:56
  Speaker 5: was good to see this receiving room just be productive.
• 17:01
  Speaker 5: Jeremy Bernard, not to be redundant, we know he has
• 17:04
  Speaker 5: big star capability he can impact. I think right now
• 17:08
  Speaker 5: we just need to use him in a facet where
• 17:11
  Speaker 5: he adds range and diversity to the offensive portfolio because
• 17:15
  Speaker 5: Aaron has no problem with peppering the ball around. We
• 17:18
  Speaker 5: know he can do that, but with his, with this
• 17:20
  Speaker 5: kid's speed and size and especially one-on-one, man, he's, he's
• 17:23
  Speaker 5: hard to get down and he's hard to stop. I
• 17:26
  Speaker 5: think the Steelers right now really have to really kind of,
• 17:28
  Speaker 5: you know, and I'm glad you said that, Rob, you
• 17:31
  Speaker 5: said week to week, this is going to be a
• 17:33
  Speaker 5: thing if the Steelers are going to be more run
• 17:35
  Speaker 5: dominant or they're going to be passing the ball. And
• 17:38
  Speaker 5: I think right now, yesterday proved that if they can
• 17:40
  Speaker 5: live in heavy personnel and run the ball and pass
• 17:42
  Speaker 5: the ball, because we have legit pass catchers in our,
• 17:46
  Speaker 5: in our Titans and the plays they can make. So,
• 17:49
  Speaker 5: I think, man, this is– it's good to see it
• 17:53
  Speaker 5: start to come together a little bit. And I know
• 17:56
  Speaker 5: some people may feel like, well, you know, the Steelers
• 17:57
  Speaker 5: were forced into that position because of the injuries to
• 18:00
  Speaker 5: the receiving court. But it's still good to see, like, man,
• 18:05
  Speaker 5: our identity is starting to come through our heavy personnel
• 18:08
  Speaker 5: with our tight ends and running backs because that's– essentially
• 18:10
  Speaker 5: that's the deal with football. And we allow our big
• 18:14
  Speaker 5: impact receivers to kind of eat off that. So it's
• 18:16
  Speaker 5: good to see things starting to take shape.
• 18:19
  Speaker 2: Right now, Steelers football is 3-2, and we have much
• 18:22
  Speaker 2: to get to, including our not very good upset predictions
• 18:27
  Speaker 2: of the week, which we'll get to eventually. I don't
• 18:29
  Speaker 2: think we want to rain on the parade yet because
• 18:32
  Speaker 2: we want to talk about 3-2. We don't want to
• 18:34
  Speaker 2: talk about 0-4. We want to talk about 3-2, which
• 18:38
  Speaker 2: we're going to continue to do.
• 18:39
  Speaker 6: We continue in the locker room here on the Steelers
• 18:42
  Speaker 6: Audio Network.
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: This is In the Locker Room with Rob King, Max Starks,
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: and Willie Colon on Steelers Nation Radio. Brought to you
• 18:58
  Speaker 1: in part by the Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop.steelers.com.
• 19:06
  Speaker 1: And by your neighborhood Ford store. The F-150 is the
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: official truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
• 19:13
  Speaker 4: When you get going as a team, your corrections are
• 19:16
  Speaker 4: almost like checking boxes.
• 19:17
  Speaker 5: Everything's not a discussion. Not everything's You know, it's just.
• 19:21
  Speaker 4: Like when you ask someone what time it is, you
• 19:23
  Speaker 4: don't want to hear how the watch was built. But
• 19:25
  Speaker 4: you have to go through some of those conversations. So
• 19:29
  Speaker 4: I just think we're hopefully, you know, hopefully we're starting
• 19:32
  Speaker 4: to hit our stride.
• 19:36
  Speaker 6: That made me howl, by the way. Absolutely made me howl.
• 19:39
  Speaker 6: When you ask what time it is, you don't want
• 19:41
  Speaker 6: to hear how the watch was built.
• 19:44
  Speaker 2: Max victory oh it's a two donut.
• 19:50
  Speaker 6: Two donut i like it max.
• 19:53
  Speaker 3: You can add an s to the end of it
• 19:55
  Speaker 3: if you like but i am enjoying victory donuts.
• 20:01
  Speaker 5: And sound like it.
• 20:04
  Speaker 3: Yeah yeah Yeah, once again, we're on radio. Well, you know,
• 20:06
  Speaker 3: you got to be extra demonstrative with our explanation. I
• 20:10
  Speaker 3: can't just show the donut. You know, the only way
• 20:12
  Speaker 3: people are going to know that I have a donut
• 20:14
  Speaker 3: is if you have to hear me eating the donut.
• 20:16
  Speaker 5: Donuts. Yep. Yep.
• 20:19
  Speaker 3: And, you know, for Mike McCarthy, I mean, it's a
• 20:23
  Speaker 3: great analogy, but I think at the same time, this
• 20:27
  Speaker 3: is also going to show the ebbs and the flows
• 20:29
  Speaker 3: of the game. I mean, I don't know. We talked
• 20:31
  Speaker 3: about on the broadcast, Rob, did you mention it that
• 20:35
  Speaker 3: Patrick Graham on the sidelines on game day.
• 20:37
  Speaker 2: We have not brought that up yet because we have
• 20:39
  Speaker 2: not talked about the defense yet.
• 20:41
  Speaker 6: You know, before we get to the defense, let me
• 20:43
  Speaker 6: ask you this. Can we wait? Go ahead, Max. Make
• 20:46
  Speaker 6: your point. I want to get to the defense in
• 20:48
  Speaker 6: a minute, but go ahead.
• 20:50
  Speaker 3: No, I was just going to say that that's some
• 20:52
  Speaker 3: of the things about the inner workings of the watch
• 20:54
  Speaker 3: that you don't want to know. I don't want to
• 20:56
  Speaker 3: know if it's a Shackleford movement or is it some
• 21:00
  Speaker 3: Swiss movement or is it– japan move i don't care
• 21:03
  Speaker 3: that's one of those things that's the movement aspect of
• 21:06
  Speaker 3: it because at the end of the day what matters
• 21:08
  Speaker 3: is what i see on the field not on the
• 21:10
  Speaker 3: sidelines but that's an inner workings mode that he's kind
• 21:13
  Speaker 3: of talking about so i was just trying to make
• 21:15
  Speaker 3: the correlation of that like subtle changes that lead to
• 21:18
  Speaker 3: kind of that analogy that's all i was trying to make.
• 21:20
  Speaker 2: We're good uh willie i just learned more from max
• 21:23
  Speaker 2: about watches than i care to know um do you
• 21:26
  Speaker 2: have a shackleford movement watch.
• 21:28
  Speaker 3: Uh willie do you know No, I don't. I have
• 21:31
  Speaker 3: no idea. Actually, well, Willie, you did have one, I
• 21:35
  Speaker 3: will say. You did have a Shackleford.
• 21:37
  Speaker 2: Is this related to the Shackleford who went down to
• 21:40
  Speaker 2: explore the South Pole?
• 21:41
  Speaker 3: Because I gave the offensive line all watches, so that
• 21:45
  Speaker 3: means that Willie doesn't like my watch. So I did
• 21:48
  Speaker 3: give him one.
• 21:51
  Speaker 2: Is this related to the Shackleford, Max, who went to
• 21:53
  Speaker 2: the South Pole?
• 21:54
  Speaker 6: Ernest Shackleford, yes. Yeah, got his ship frozen.
• 21:57
  Speaker 7: Yeah.
• 21:58
  Speaker 6: They got a watch named after him before or after?
• 22:00
  Speaker 3: Well, a movement, a movement named after him to help
• 22:02
  Speaker 3: because the watches were freezing at the time, so it
• 22:05
  Speaker 3: was a movement that allowed colder temperatures to still function
• 22:08
  Speaker 3: so they could tell time.
• 22:10
  Speaker 5: Yeah.
• 22:10
  Speaker 2: See, there's the Max Stark's extra G, Willie. I'm familiar
• 22:14
  Speaker 2: with Shackleford and his expedition to the South Pole, but
• 22:18
  Speaker 2: not familiar with why the Shackleford watch movement was named
• 22:21
  Speaker 2: after him.
• 22:22
  Speaker 6: That's that extra layer you get from our friend Max Stark's.
• 22:26
  Speaker 3: It's just UFI until it's not UFI, guys.
• 22:28
  Speaker 6: Yeah.
• 22:30
  Speaker 2: So you never know when that might come up. Cocktail party, whatever.
• 22:33
  Speaker 2: Might have to know about the Shackleford movement. So I
• 22:37
  Speaker 2: kind of lost.
• 22:38
  Speaker 6: No, where were we? Were we talking about it? We
• 22:41
  Speaker 6: were about to go to defense. Oh, okay.
• 22:43
  Speaker 2: No, not defense yet. Not defense yet. Yeah, yeah.
• 22:46
  Speaker 3: We're staying in the office, but I made a comment
• 22:49
  Speaker 3: that triggered defense.
• 22:50
  Speaker 2: Willie, not quite as complex as the Shackleford movement, which
• 22:54
  Speaker 2: is you and I well know. is one of the
• 22:56
  Speaker 2: names for the inner movings of a watch, particularly in
• 22:59
  Speaker 2: cold weather.
• 23:00
  Speaker 6: Willie and I were familiar with that.
• 23:02
  Speaker 2: So, Willie, the offensive line, what did you think of
• 23:06
  Speaker 2: the Shackleford movement of that offensive line unit together?
• 23:10
  Speaker 6: Did it move like clockwork?
• 23:13
  Speaker 7: Yeah.
• 23:14
  Speaker 5: I mean, I'm still trying to enunciate what you're saying.
• 23:19
  Speaker 6: Did it improve? Was it a better performance? Did you
• 23:22
  Speaker 6: like this compared to a week ago?
• 23:25
  Speaker 5: It was, and I thought it was a great way
• 23:28
  Speaker 5: to respond. I thought they, you know, I talked about
• 23:31
  Speaker 5: Mason McCormick and his ability to play bully ball and
• 23:33
  Speaker 5: get to the second level. We knew the Colts linebackers
• 23:36
  Speaker 5: were the issue for them. Their defensive line was the
• 23:43
  Speaker 5: strong point, and I thought our guys did a good
• 23:44
  Speaker 5: job of hanging on to double teams, opposing their will
• 23:47
  Speaker 5: at the line of scrimmage, and also being able to
• 23:50
  Speaker 5: not only move vertically, but get those guys moving laterally,
• 23:54
  Speaker 5: and I think it's imperative, man, that when you see
• 23:57
  Speaker 5: Brock and you see Zach and you see Mason and
• 24:00
  Speaker 5: those guys, the longer those guys continue to play together,
• 24:03
  Speaker 5: you see them start to trust each other. Me and
• 24:05
  Speaker 5: Max talked about the communication, a lot of things that
• 24:08
  Speaker 5: don't need to be said, right? It's that nonverbal communication
• 24:11
  Speaker 5: that happens before the snap and after the snap that
• 24:14
  Speaker 5: makes the offensive line good. And I thought yesterday was
• 24:17
  Speaker 5: a good example of that. And I thought we did
• 24:20
  Speaker 5: a good job of also allowing our guys to um,
• 24:23
  Speaker 5: to use their, their athleticism too. So, uh, you know,
• 24:27
  Speaker 5: going downhill and I, you know, I got credit to
• 24:30
  Speaker 5: Max and Honitore too, man. Max played strong too. I
• 24:32
  Speaker 5: thought he had a solid game. So with all that said, man,
• 24:35
  Speaker 5: I thought collectively the unit played well, they responded better. We, me,
• 24:39
  Speaker 5: me and you, Rob, I think agreed to, if there
• 24:42
  Speaker 5: was a matchup to be had and paid attention to
• 24:44
  Speaker 5: was our office line versus their defensive line. And for
• 24:47
  Speaker 5: the most part, I thought we were scrappy and good,
• 24:49
  Speaker 5: especially in kind of, you know, wet conditions.
• 24:52
  Speaker 2: I'm looking forward to that in the not-too-distant future being
• 24:58
  Speaker 2: something that we look at as strength on strength because
• 25:01
  Speaker 2: I think the Steelers are heading in that direction with
• 25:03
  Speaker 2: the offensive line, and I do.
• 25:04
  Speaker 6: Think that was their strength.
• 25:07
  Speaker 2: Max, I'd like you to talk about the offensive line,
• 25:09
  Speaker 2: but one of the things about, and I think we
• 25:12
  Speaker 2: kind of got to this last week, was that if
• 25:15
  Speaker 2: there was an area to exploit against the Colts, it
• 25:19
  Speaker 2: would have been in the middle of the field, on
• 25:22
  Speaker 2: the second level, second and third level. The inside linebackers,
• 25:27
  Speaker 2: the safety play, they feel really good about their two corners,
• 25:31
  Speaker 2: Sauce Gardner and Charverius Ward as well they should. They
• 25:34
  Speaker 2: feel good about their defensive line led by DeForest Buckner
• 25:38
  Speaker 2: and with the great depth they have as well they should.
• 25:40
  Speaker 2: To this offensive game plan, I think Max took advantage
• 25:44
  Speaker 2: of what was the weakest part of the Colts and
• 25:47
  Speaker 2: exploited it and attacked it. So I'd like you to
• 25:49
  Speaker 2: talk about that while also giving your assessment of what
• 25:52
  Speaker 2: you saw from the offensive line.
• 25:57
  Speaker 3: Fee-fi-fo-fum. Oh, God, it's Mr. Washington. As close as I
• 26:02
  Speaker 3: got to rhyming that phrase I used. It took five
• 26:06
  Speaker 3: guys to tackle him.
• 26:08
  Speaker 6: You know why?
• 26:09
  Speaker 3: Because Akeem Davis Gaither was not ready for it.
• 26:11
  Speaker 6: A.J.
• 26:11
  Speaker 3: Halsey was not ready for it. And it was like
• 26:15
  Speaker 3: summoning all of your friends to the playground for the
• 26:20
  Speaker 3: bully fight. It's like, hey, listen, hide behind the slide.
• 26:24
  Speaker 3: I'm going to try and talk to him at the
• 26:26
  Speaker 3: swings and try and get him towards that area. Then
• 26:27
  Speaker 3: you jump behind, get down in the footstool position. I'm
• 26:32
  Speaker 3: going to push him over the top, and then we're
• 26:34
  Speaker 3: going to run after that. You were making a game
• 26:37
  Speaker 3: plan for Mount Washington because we already didn't have Carlisle.
• 26:41
  Speaker 3: He was the one that was out of the game,
• 26:44
  Speaker 3: ruled out. He was probably your one. They weren't getting
• 26:47
  Speaker 3: a lot. Who was the second-round draft pick, Rob, the linebacker?
• 26:51
  Speaker 3: I'm trying to.
• 26:51
  Speaker 6: Remember his name.
• 26:52
  Speaker 7: C.J.
• 26:52
  Speaker 6: Davis. Yeah, C.J.
• 26:54
  Speaker 3: Davis still can't play, even with a guy missing.
• 26:58
  Speaker 6: So you knew linebacker was going to be.
• 26:59
  Speaker 2: Bryce Boettcher, who was drafted a couple rounds later, is
• 27:01
  Speaker 2: the guy who started and took Carlisle's place.
• 27:05
  Speaker 3: Yeah, so I think when you kind of look at
• 27:07
  Speaker 3: it from that perspective, that's where you had to make hay.
• 27:11
  Speaker 3: And I thought they did a good job of really
• 27:13
  Speaker 3: attacking the middle, some of the crossing routes. And some
• 27:16
  Speaker 3: of the other stuff that they had in that game that,
• 27:20
  Speaker 3: you know, the pop pass, like identifying, hey, if this
• 27:22
  Speaker 3: guy's going to blitz, I definitely need to make sure
• 27:24
  Speaker 3: that I go and attack the middle of the field.
• 27:28
  Speaker 3: And that's how Jalen Warren gets what he gets.
• 27:30
  Speaker 6: C.J.
• 27:31
  Speaker 5: Allen.
• 27:32
  Speaker 6: Gosh darn it.
• 27:32
  Speaker 3: C.J.
• 27:33
  Speaker 5: Allen.
• 27:33
  Speaker 6: I said C.J. Davis played for, yeah, he's wrong C.J. C.J.
• 27:38
  Speaker 7: Allen.
• 27:39
  Speaker 5: I'm sorry.
• 27:39
  Speaker 6: Go ahead, Max. Sorry about that.
• 27:41
  Speaker 3: And the other C.J.
• 27:41
  Speaker 6: Davis is an offense. I knew it didn't sound right
• 27:43
  Speaker 6: coming out of my mouth. Anyway, go ahead.
• 27:44
  Speaker 5: Sorry.
• 27:45
  Speaker 3: Yeah, and so when you have that, you've got to
• 27:49
  Speaker 3: use your tight ends. And I thought Pat Friermuth had
• 27:52
  Speaker 3: a heck of a game, right? Two-touchdown game. You know,
• 27:56
  Speaker 3: Mount Washington had his way in a lot of those situations.
• 28:00
  Speaker 3: So I think that you really went to the weaknesses
• 28:04
  Speaker 3: of this squad. And I was happy to see the
• 28:09
  Speaker 3: game plan kind of be in that intermediate world, kind
• 28:11
  Speaker 3: of be in some of that screen world, and really
• 28:14
  Speaker 3: kind of utilize– what the Steelers do well. And the
• 28:19
  Speaker 3: run game looked like that. I just wish we would
• 28:22
  Speaker 3: have taken more advantage of that run game because I
• 28:24
  Speaker 3: felt like they didn't really do exactly what I would
• 28:29
  Speaker 3: have liked to have seen them do in the run
• 28:31
  Speaker 3: and take advantage of that even further. Probably could have
• 28:32
  Speaker 3: popped a couple more big plays, but the plays were
• 28:35
  Speaker 3: the plays. The efficiency was there, the explosives were there,
• 28:38
  Speaker 3: and that's what I want to see. But I just
• 28:40
  Speaker 3: kind of liked that the O-line was able to handle
• 28:45
  Speaker 3: The D-line. On any four-man pressure, they were there. Now,
• 28:48
  Speaker 3: they had one twist. One twist, Willie and Rob, that
• 28:53
  Speaker 3: Zach missed, and that's what led to the one sack
• 28:56
  Speaker 3: of the game. But other than that, master class. Master
• 29:01
  Speaker 3: class in how to pass off twist recognition. So, as
• 29:05
  Speaker 3: much as I can nitpick, I'm like, hey, if you
• 29:07
  Speaker 3: only give up one sack, and it was a triage
• 29:10
  Speaker 3: unit before that, Listen, there's worse things I could be
• 29:12
  Speaker 3: upset about, and I'm not going to nitpick, and I
• 29:14
  Speaker 3: thought they handled it really well.
• 29:16
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think, Willie, when you go 15 for 101
• 29:19
  Speaker 2: like Jalen Warren did, and yes, a lot, you know,
• 29:23
  Speaker 2: I'm not trying to understate the brilliance of Jalen Warren,
• 29:26
  Speaker 2: but if you do that and you give up one sack, look,
• 29:29
  Speaker 2: if you go through the whole season and you give
• 29:31
  Speaker 2: up 17 sacks, you've had a great season as an
• 29:33
  Speaker 2: offensive line. So you give up one sack, you allow
• 29:36
  Speaker 2: Aaron Rodgers time to throw the ball, I'm sure he
• 29:39
  Speaker 2: moved out of the pocket a couple of times, but
• 29:41
  Speaker 2: all that tells me, without being able to follow that,
• 29:45
  Speaker 2: and I'll look at that more as I watch the
• 29:46
  Speaker 2: game back later this week, all that tells me they
• 29:49
  Speaker 2: had to be pretty good up front, right?
• 29:51
  Speaker 6: Didn't they? And they had to be.
• 29:54
  Speaker 5: Well, I think they were confident, but I think Max
• 29:55
  Speaker 5: also talked about the movement And how could the Steelers'
• 29:58
  Speaker 5: offense line stand up against that? We knew it's a
• 30:01
  Speaker 5: copycat league. We knew what happened Thursday night against the Browns,
• 30:04
  Speaker 5: how that defense line of the Browns really dictated their
• 30:07
  Speaker 5: terms of how they wanted to play that game with
• 30:09
  Speaker 5: chaos and kind of disrupt the Steelers' communication. I thought
• 30:12
  Speaker 5: in this game, the Steelers were on to it. They
• 30:14
  Speaker 5: knew that the Colts were going to come in there
• 30:15
  Speaker 5: and try to twist and stunt and do a bunch
• 30:17
  Speaker 5: of things. But overall, it was collectively how they were
• 30:20
  Speaker 5: going to respond, not only drive after drive, but down
• 30:24
  Speaker 5: after down. And when you start to see teams stunt
• 30:27
  Speaker 5: and twist and blitz and kind of manufacture the rush
• 30:31
  Speaker 5: um if you're able to neutralize it man that that
• 30:33
  Speaker 5: leads to big plays that leads to explosive plays uh
• 30:37
  Speaker 5: and so aaron being who he was was able to
• 30:38
  Speaker 5: exploit that to some degree but i also think from
• 30:41
  Speaker 5: an office line standpoint they needed to get their confidence
• 30:44
  Speaker 5: back up because i think if you turn on the
• 30:45
  Speaker 5: tape prior to the cult game there was a lot
• 30:48
  Speaker 5: talked about how they kind of regressed in certain areas
• 30:50
  Speaker 5: and certain guys regressed i think as a unit they
• 30:52
  Speaker 5: played better now brockman i think brock probably had the
• 30:55
  Speaker 5: Probably out of the five, Brock Huffman had the toughest game.
• 31:00
  Speaker 5: But he's a vet. He's been around. I expect him
• 31:02
  Speaker 5: to play well next week. But it was just good
• 31:04
  Speaker 5: to see the collective five stand up in crucial situations
• 31:08
  Speaker 5: and give Aaron time to deliver the football. And, you know,
• 31:11
  Speaker 5: Aaron's going to do what Aaron does. But, you know,
• 31:14
  Speaker 5: he's damn good at it when he has time to
• 31:16
  Speaker 5: kind of go through his progression, set his feet, and
• 31:18
  Speaker 5: let it fire. So, the Steelers gave him that opportunity.
• 31:20
  Speaker 5: And the run game just balanced everything out. I think
• 31:22
  Speaker 5: you said it. when you're able to throw 30-something times
• 31:25
  Speaker 5: or run the ball 20-something times, that goes to the
• 31:28
  Speaker 5: balance attack that Mike McCarthy wants to get to and
• 31:30
  Speaker 5: to see it in real time, it makes the synergy
• 31:33
  Speaker 5: for next week better. And hopefully I think we can
• 31:37
  Speaker 5: all attest to this too. Hopefully they not only learn
• 31:39
  Speaker 5: from it, but they're humbled by it too, right? They
• 31:42
  Speaker 5: understand that there's a brand and there's a standard now
• 31:44
  Speaker 5: in which they have to play. And it doesn't matter
• 31:47
  Speaker 5: that the Colts had the 29th-ranked defense, right? It's a
• 31:49
  Speaker 5: matter of what they can do when they're all on
• 31:51
  Speaker 5: the same page and they're all humming at a high level.
• 31:53
  Speaker 5: good things can happen. So it was just good to
• 31:56
  Speaker 5: see them play a brand of football that we love
• 31:58
  Speaker 5: to see and that's running the ball and letting Mount
• 32:00
  Speaker 5: Washington go eat.
• 32:01
  Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, Darnell's averaging 11.9 yards per reception, right?
• 32:05
  Speaker 2: So it's not like, you know, it's not like this is,
• 32:10
  Speaker 2: and he's caught, let me see, I'm trying to think, two, five, eight, ten,
• 32:16
  Speaker 2: 11 catches, 11.9 yards per reception, one touchdown. So he's
• 32:21
  Speaker 2: basically on pace to, maybe make 35 receptions, three or
• 32:26
  Speaker 2: four touchdowns. But he's becoming a folk hero in real time.
• 32:30
  Speaker 2: And it kind of reminded both Max and I of
• 32:33
  Speaker 2: when a father walks through the door, a dad comes
• 32:35
  Speaker 2: through the door, and all the kids rush up to
• 32:37
  Speaker 2: see him. And one grabs him around the leg, and
• 32:39
  Speaker 2: he's sitting on one foot. Another grabs him around the other,
• 32:42
  Speaker 2: and dad's walking through. And now here comes another one
• 32:44
  Speaker 2: and jumps on top of him. Here comes a fourth
• 32:47
  Speaker 2: tugging at his shirt. Hey, dad, dad, I want to
• 32:49
  Speaker 2: tell you what happened in science class today, whatever. That's
• 32:51
  Speaker 2: like That's what it is with Darnell. He's going on
• 32:54
  Speaker 2: the field. Guys are hanging all over him, and he just, boom,
• 32:56
  Speaker 2: down he did him. Down the field he marches. He's
• 32:59
  Speaker 2: so much fun to watch. And as Max pointed out,
• 33:02
  Speaker 2: you know, we talked about how much slimmer he looks.
• 33:04
  Speaker 6: Like, we could see that in camp. I wonder if
• 33:07
  Speaker 6: that weight starts at the two now.
• 33:09
  Speaker 2: Wearing a bit of a half shirt to show off
• 33:11
  Speaker 2: the flat stomach in the game on Sunday as well.
• 33:14
  Speaker 5: See that waistline.
• 33:16
  Speaker 3: Yeah, not as much muffin top there. You know, it
• 33:18
  Speaker 3: was just top.
• 33:22
  Speaker 5: But you're right.
• 33:24
  Speaker 6: Yeah, exactly.
• 33:25
  Speaker 3: And I think that's also what it is, you know,
• 33:28
  Speaker 3: having a consistent routine and being able to utilize that
• 33:35
  Speaker 3: if your Darnell was key. And so for him, he's
• 33:40
  Speaker 3: showing that, hey, this athleticism, this size, you know, it's beefy,
• 33:44
  Speaker 3: but it's built for precision.
• 33:48
  Speaker 6: It is.
• 33:50
  Speaker 3: And he's a physical dude. that is going to, you know,
• 33:54
  Speaker 3: continue to be that nuisance, but that's what you kind
• 33:57
  Speaker 3: of need him to be. You need him to be
• 33:59
  Speaker 3: that guy, you know, that kind of enforcer type to
• 34:04
  Speaker 3: make sure that he is, he's at his best and
• 34:07
  Speaker 3: that he's also creating that middle of the field domination.
• 34:11
  Speaker 3: Almost like when you see a true like five technique
• 34:14
  Speaker 3: kind of dominate the paint, you need that enforcer type
• 34:18
  Speaker 3: to do that. And I think that's what he's done
• 34:20
  Speaker 3: so well. is that he has been that consistent middle-of-the-field guy.
• 34:27
  Speaker 6: He has been.
• 34:28
  Speaker 2: Friar moved two touchdowns, so the Steelers are getting production
• 34:31
  Speaker 2: from that tight end position.
• 34:33
  Speaker 6: We want to talk about the Steelers' defense.
• 34:34
  Speaker 2: There's one thing that continues to loom for me as
• 34:38
  Speaker 2: a problem for the Steelers, a potential problem. It didn't
• 34:40
  Speaker 2: cost them in this game, but as we saw this weekend,
• 34:44
  Speaker 2: it can cost a team. Hopefully the Steelers can get
• 34:46
  Speaker 2: that rectified as well. And we will revisit an 0-4 weekend.
• 34:50
  Speaker 2: for the four of us when we continue in the
• 34:52
  Speaker 2: locker room here on the Steelers Audio Network.
• 35:02
  Speaker 1: This is In the Locker Room with Rob King, Max Starks,
• 35:06
  Speaker 1: and Willie Colon on Steelers Nation Radio. Brought to you
• 35:10
  Speaker 1: in part by the Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
• 35:13
  Speaker 1: from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop.steelers.com.
• 35:17
  Speaker 1: And by your neighborhood Ford store. The F-150 is the
• 35:21
  Speaker 1: official truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
• 35:24
  Speaker 5: We hate losing, um, We try to learn from our mistakes.
• 35:28
  Speaker 7: We've got good leadership in a guy like Aaron, and
• 35:31
  Speaker 7: the offense played very well. And then on defense, we
• 35:36
  Speaker 7: understand that we've got to clean up our mistakes, whether
• 35:38
  Speaker 7: it's tackling or execution. And you can always be better
• 35:43
  Speaker 7: at that.
• 35:45
  Speaker 2: Yep, that's Cam here. We're talking about the victory there
• 35:48
  Speaker 2: for the Steelers. Before we get into the Steelers' defense performance.
• 35:54
  Speaker 6: And before we get into....
• 35:57
  Speaker 2: The one thing that I think the biggest thing that
• 36:00
  Speaker 2: continues to trouble me about the Steelers defense that, you know,
• 36:04
  Speaker 2: we've seen signs of positive and negative with the offense
• 36:08
  Speaker 2: and the defense, but something that has been troubling me
• 36:11
  Speaker 2: that I've not seen many positive signs on.
• 36:13
  Speaker 6: We're going to get to that.
• 36:15
  Speaker 2: First, I think it is time to revisit our upset
• 36:19
  Speaker 2: predictions of the week.
• 36:20
  Speaker 6: We decided to keep track. We this, you know, getting.
• 36:23
  Speaker 2: Our feet underneath this first couple weeks of the season.
• 36:26
  Speaker 2: And then this week, we decided to start keeping tabs, right?
• 36:32
  Speaker 2: We have a score sheet. Justin Miller pulling out the
• 36:35
  Speaker 2: score sheet. So, Justin Miller, our esteemed producer, got to
• 36:39
  Speaker 2: make a prediction. Justin, hop on the microphone. Tell us
• 36:42
  Speaker 2: what your prediction was, your upset special for the week was.
• 36:46
  Speaker 8: So, I took the Chargers at home against Denver. That
• 36:50
  Speaker 8: was my choice.
• 36:51
  Speaker 3: We all lost.
• 36:52
  Speaker 6: A bold choice.
• 36:53
  Speaker 3: Easy, easy, easy. Easy.
• 36:56
  Speaker 6: Trying to make myself feel better, Kinger.
• 36:58
  Speaker 3: Easy.
• 36:59
  Speaker 6: How did you do, Justin?
• 37:01
  Speaker 5: I lost.
• 37:02
  Speaker 6: You lost.
• 37:02
  Speaker 7: Okay.
• 37:03
  Speaker 5: We lost.
• 37:03
  Speaker 2: So Justin lost his prediction. It was a bold prediction.
• 37:05
  Speaker 2: It was a bold prediction. It was a bold prediction.
• 37:07
  Speaker 8: Hey, divisional matchup. Chargers were at home. I didn't see 0-5.
• 37:11
  Speaker 8: I don't think any of us saw the Chargers going 0-5, Kinger.
• 37:13
  Speaker 2: So as I recall, Willie, I was on the brink
• 37:18
  Speaker 2: of changing my selection because I hated to pick an
• 37:20
  Speaker 2: AFC North team. And I was going to go Packers
• 37:23
  Speaker 2: over the Bears. I hope you do recall this because
• 37:25
  Speaker 2: this actually happened. Justin's got the tape here to play
• 37:27
  Speaker 2: back for you. I said, you know, I think I'm
• 37:29
  Speaker 2: going to go Packers, Bears. And there's Justin in the
• 37:32
  Speaker 2: control room shaking his head, no.
• 37:34
  Speaker 6: No, no. Oh, no.
• 37:36
  Speaker 3: I wasn't going to let Kinger change his pick.
• 37:37
  Speaker 6: Don't change your mind.
• 37:39
  Speaker 2: Now, now, weak of me to not change my mind? Yes,
• 37:43
  Speaker 2: weak of me to not change my mind. So that's
• 37:46
  Speaker 2: just me throwing a little shade at Justin Miller. Before
• 37:49
  Speaker 2: I own up to the fact that I selected the
• 37:52
  Speaker 2: Browns over the Jets.
• 37:54
  Speaker 6: Justin, did I win that?
• 37:56
  Speaker 7: No.
• 37:57
  Speaker 3: No.
• 37:57
  Speaker 5: Okay.
• 37:58
  Speaker 6: So I lost. Justin lost. I lost.
• 38:01
  Speaker 2: We're now 0-2 on our upset predictions of the week. So,
• 38:05
  Speaker 2: Willie Colon, what was your upset prediction of the week?
• 38:09
  Speaker 5: I had the Raiders over the Patriots.
• 38:12
  Speaker 2: Justin Miller, did Willie win that?
• 38:15
  Speaker 6: No, he did not. Oh, we're 0-3.
• 38:17
  Speaker 7: No.
• 38:18
  Speaker 5: Yeah.
• 38:19
  Speaker 6: 0 for 3. Willie, it was a bold prediction by
• 38:21
  Speaker 6: you as well. A bold prediction.
• 38:23
  Speaker 5: I jumped out there. You did.
• 38:27
  Speaker 2: Do you think, Willie, did that game– the Browns Jets
• 38:31
  Speaker 2: didn't tell me anything I didn't know about the Browns
• 38:32
  Speaker 2: or the Jets.
• 38:33
  Speaker 6: I can't say I learned anything about either one of
• 38:35
  Speaker 6: those teams.
• 38:36
  Speaker 2: Did you learn anything about the Raiders? And they did
• 38:40
  Speaker 2: get worked over. Or are you still– I believe that
• 38:44
  Speaker 2: was just one game.
• 38:46
  Speaker 5: It was one game. It was probably the worst game
• 38:48
  Speaker 5: they've played thus far all season, but it was also
• 38:51
  Speaker 5: a game where, you know, sometimes you fight, you can
• 38:55
  Speaker 5: go up in weight class, you can go down in
• 38:56
  Speaker 5: weight class. The Patriots were just up, they were in
• 39:00
  Speaker 5: the upper class, man. And we just, even with Kirk
• 39:02
  Speaker 5: Cousins and everything that, he's able to do when he
• 39:05
  Speaker 5: has time. Defensively, they just struggle. I mean, Patriots just
• 39:09
  Speaker 5: ran the ball at high clips and was able to
• 39:11
  Speaker 5: kind of pound the rock, and Drake May looks like
• 39:14
  Speaker 5: he's starting to come back in form. I think he
• 39:15
  Speaker 5: has over 600 yards and eight touchdowns in the last
• 39:19
  Speaker 5: three weeks so far in the season. So he looks
• 39:24
  Speaker 5: like he's starting to really pick it up and uh
• 39:26
  Speaker 5: shake some of the uglies off him and and get
• 39:28
  Speaker 5: back into that kind of mvp conversation with his play
• 39:31
  Speaker 5: with all that said man i still have a lot
• 39:34
  Speaker 5: of faith in the raiders um they got to figure
• 39:36
  Speaker 5: a way to continue to get healthy but uh as
• 39:38
  Speaker 5: long as they got kurt cousins in there we did
• 39:40
  Speaker 5: get a mendoza side he ended up finishing the game
• 39:43
  Speaker 5: uh but it's uh it was good to just listen
• 39:46
  Speaker 5: it was a tough it's hard to go in hostile territory.
• 39:49
  Speaker 5: The Steelers lost to the Patriots at home. Now the
• 39:51
  Speaker 5: Raiders lost to the Patriots at home. The Patriots are
• 39:53
  Speaker 5: starting to get their legs a little bit. And, uh,
• 39:55
  Speaker 5: you know, it was, it was, it was a good knock, but, uh,
• 39:58
  Speaker 5: I still got faith in the Raiders. They just happened
• 39:59
  Speaker 5: to lose Sunday.
• 40:00
  Speaker 2: You know, um, I don't want to be BF Skinner, uh,
• 40:03
  Speaker 2: armchair psychologist, although I am sitting in an armchair right now,
• 40:06
  Speaker 2: but I do want to, uh, sociologists, I should say,
• 40:10
  Speaker 2: I do want to say, I do want to ask you, uh,
• 40:12
  Speaker 2: cause I do think about the mentality of the game
• 40:15
  Speaker 2: quite a bit of all games.
• 40:16
  Speaker 6: Again, we, They're still human beings. I've said this many times.
• 40:20
  Speaker 2: It's why they don't put 66,000 people in Accreture Stadium
• 40:26
  Speaker 2: and watch two people run out to midfield with laptops,
• 40:30
  Speaker 2: and after three hours, one raises his arm in triumph.
• 40:32
  Speaker 6: That's not the way it works. The game is played
• 40:35
  Speaker 6: by human beings.
• 40:37
  Speaker 2: So with that in mind, Willie, I was talking about
• 40:41
  Speaker 2: this with Wes Euler before the game started in London.
• 40:44
  Speaker 2: We both thought the Eagles– we're going to give an effort.
• 40:47
  Speaker 2: And they came within inches of upsetting the Jaguars because
• 40:51
  Speaker 2: they see what's happening. It's team pride. It's time to
• 40:53
  Speaker 2: rally together. And if this is another team, a team
• 40:57
  Speaker 2: that hasn't been through the fire, hasn't won Super Bowls together,
• 41:01
  Speaker 2: maybe they crumble.
• 41:03
  Speaker 6: They didn't. They rallied.
• 41:04
  Speaker 2: They put forth an effort of an aging champion, if
• 41:08
  Speaker 2: that's what they are. And they went out on the canvas, man.
• 41:11
  Speaker 2: They gave it all they had. I do worry about
• 41:15
  Speaker 2: you know, a team that's the psychology of the Raiders
• 41:18
  Speaker 2: moving forward, a team that was, you know, hey, we
• 41:20
  Speaker 2: just played the Chiefs tough and maybe eager to prove
• 41:23
  Speaker 2: their mettle and then to get kind of slapped around
• 41:26
  Speaker 2: like that. Do you worry about the, you know, self-doubts
• 41:30
  Speaker 2: creeping in? You know, again, watching this from afar, a
• 41:33
  Speaker 2: team on the outside where that could be a, whoa,
• 41:36
  Speaker 2: maybe we're not as good as we thought, or do
• 41:38
  Speaker 2: you think the team will be able to flush.
• 41:40
  Speaker 5: It and move on? I think they'll be able to
• 41:44
  Speaker 5: flush it and move on. I think you have to
• 41:45
  Speaker 5: as a profession. There's nothing you can continue to hang
• 41:48
  Speaker 5: on to. I think every team in the league has
• 41:50
  Speaker 5: to have that mindset. I mean, there are some tough losses,
• 41:52
  Speaker 5: but I think in reference to the Eagles, man, the
• 41:56
  Speaker 5: biggest problem with the Eagles is that they haven't been
• 42:00
  Speaker 5: able to show up in the second half of football games,
• 42:03
  Speaker 5: but their defense hasn't been able to put them in
• 42:04
  Speaker 5: position to close out games, and the offensively just haven't
• 42:08
  Speaker 5: been able to do it. I think there's a serious disconnect.
• 42:11
  Speaker 5: between Nick Sirianni and Sean Mannion. And what we've seen
• 42:15
  Speaker 5: as of late, we've seen Jalen Hurts kind of regress
• 42:18
  Speaker 5: where he's not using his legs to make plays. He's
• 42:20
  Speaker 5: being real conservative with the football. And, you know, there's
• 42:25
  Speaker 5: this expectation for him to carry the offense, but to
• 42:29
  Speaker 5: carry it with what? I mean, they're depleted in every category.
• 42:32
  Speaker 5: Tight end, Saquon's out, Devontae Smith is down, office line
• 42:35
  Speaker 5: is absolute patchwork job. So, I think right now what
• 42:40
  Speaker 5: they're going through offensively, I don't know how much he
• 42:42
  Speaker 5: can shoulder in putting his legs on the line to
• 42:46
  Speaker 5: sustain drives. I don't think he's necessarily in that business.
• 42:49
  Speaker 5: I think he wants to run due to necessity down
• 42:53
  Speaker 5: as an option. But we know when he's able to
• 42:56
  Speaker 5: use his legs and throw the ball, he's a weapon
• 42:59
  Speaker 5: out there. So that's something they're going to have to
• 43:00
  Speaker 5: figure out. But defensively, man, they're starting to come into form.
• 43:04
  Speaker 5: Jalen Carter had a big-time game, two strip sacks. And
• 43:07
  Speaker 5: I think if you look at the Eagles in all
• 43:08
  Speaker 5: three levels, if you're looking at Cooper Dejean in the secondary,
• 43:12
  Speaker 5: Zach Ron at the second level at linebacker, and Jalen Carter,
• 43:15
  Speaker 5: all three guys pop off the tape for the Eagles,
• 43:18
  Speaker 5: and everybody else kind of corrals around them. So they're
• 43:20
  Speaker 5: starting to figure it out, but offensively they've just been
• 43:22
  Speaker 5: struggling to close. As far as if that's Nick Sirianni's
• 43:26
  Speaker 5: fault with kicking the ball or whatever, I think if
• 43:30
  Speaker 5: you lean on what Mike Thomas said at halftime during
• 43:34
  Speaker 5: the Ravens-Falcons game last night, you just expect your coverage
• 43:38
  Speaker 5: team to go down there and make a play. There's
• 43:39
  Speaker 5: eight seconds left. And I understand the safe way approach
• 43:42
  Speaker 5: is just kick it out of the back of the
• 43:45
  Speaker 5: end zone. A lot of them just try to make
• 43:47
  Speaker 5: a Herculean effort to get down the field and either
• 43:50
  Speaker 5: score or not. I mean, it's schematics at the end
• 43:52
  Speaker 5: of the day. I think, you know, the special teams
• 43:55
  Speaker 5: at some point has to show up and it costs them.
• 43:58
  Speaker 5: And it's something that Nick Sirianni right now has to
• 44:00
  Speaker 5: figure out what he does well. Because if you're an
• 44:02
  Speaker 5: offensive-minded head coach, and your job is to right the
• 44:06
  Speaker 5: ship when your offense is struggling. But at the same time,
• 44:09
  Speaker 5: if you're not going to be calling the offense and
• 44:10
  Speaker 5: you're just going to control the culture and be a
• 44:13
  Speaker 5: game-time manager within games and you let that happen, it
• 44:16
  Speaker 5: is a fair enough question. Well, if you're not going
• 44:18
  Speaker 5: to call the offense and you're not going to manage
• 44:19
  Speaker 5: the game right, then what do you do? And I
• 44:22
  Speaker 5: think that's where Eagle fans are right now. They don't
• 44:24
  Speaker 5: really know what Nick Sirianni is doing, even though he
• 44:26
  Speaker 5: has an outstanding winning record. But it's games like that
• 44:30
  Speaker 5: that you say, all right, we need you to show
• 44:32
  Speaker 5: up somewhere, and you can't find him right now.
• 44:35
  Speaker 2: By the way, that kickoff, maybe we could spend some
• 44:37
  Speaker 2: more time talking about that. It is all, to me,
• 44:41
  Speaker 2: clock dependent. If there's three seconds left, kick it through
• 44:46
  Speaker 2: the end zone. But if there's eight seconds left and
• 44:53
  Speaker 2: you kick it through the end zone and they get
• 44:54
  Speaker 2: the ball to 35 and they've got a timeout left,
• 44:57
  Speaker 2: what do they need to do? With that kicker, complete
• 45:00
  Speaker 2: a 15-yard pass. If they stop him, that return man
• 45:05
  Speaker 2: At the 35-yard line, that 15-yard pass is off the table.
• 45:09
  Speaker 2: All they can do is chuck it deep and pray
• 45:13
  Speaker 2: their quarterback has enough arm to throw it 75 yards
• 45:16
  Speaker 2: in the air and get it to the end zone
• 45:18
  Speaker 2: and make a miraculous catch. So, you know, it's an
• 45:22
  Speaker 2: interesting debate. Like the Steelers opted yesterday to kick it
• 45:25
  Speaker 2: into the end zone after the Boswell field goal. The
• 45:27
  Speaker 2: right choice because the Colts needed two scores. You don't
• 45:30
  Speaker 2: want to give them one quick score and a return.
• 45:32
  Speaker 2: You know, so all these things are clock dependent. That
• 45:35
  Speaker 2: is maybe something we could talk about a little bit.
• 45:37
  Speaker 2: But before we do that, I wanted to ask, so
• 45:41
  Speaker 2: that was a quick diversion as we looked at our
• 45:44
  Speaker 2: upset special predictions. We've gone through them. Justin Miller's prediction, loss.
• 45:50
  Speaker 2: My prediction, loss. Willie Colon's prediction, loss. Max Starks, what
• 45:56
  Speaker 2: was your upset of the week?
• 45:57
  Speaker 3: I don't even remember.
• 46:00
  Speaker 6: Oh, my goodness.
• 46:01
  Speaker 3: That was so many days ago.
• 46:02
  Speaker 6: Holy mack. Wow. Justin, what did I say? Wow.
• 46:06
  Speaker 2: The Shackleford watch. Yeah. Who did I pick for my
• 46:11
  Speaker 2: upset prediction? Wow.
• 46:13
  Speaker 3: Listen, as many games as I had, and you're asking
• 46:16
  Speaker 3: a guy that got in at 2.30 in the morning, hey,
• 46:19
  Speaker 3: what did you do? I have no clue.
• 46:21
  Speaker 6: Okay, let's go to the Justin Millers, writing these down.
• 46:24
  Speaker 3: That's why he wrote them down. Why would I not
• 46:26
  Speaker 3: utilize Justin?
• 46:27
  Speaker 6: Who was his selection for the upset special?
• 46:30
  Speaker 8: Max Starks had the Saints over the Vikings.
• 46:33
  Speaker 3: Yeah, that didn't end well. No, it didn't.
• 46:35
  Speaker 5: Heck no.
• 46:36
  Speaker 6: So, to recap, we are 0 for 4 as a group.
• 46:40
  Speaker 5: Correct.
• 46:40
  Speaker 3: 0 for 4.
• 46:42
  Speaker 2: Okay, I find myself like I'm competing against you guys,
• 46:47
  Speaker 2: but next week I hope one of us gets one right.
• 46:50
  Speaker 2: That's all right now. Right now it's the honor of
• 46:52
  Speaker 2: the locker room's at stake. I'm not even competing anymore.
• 46:56
  Speaker 2: I just want one of us to get it right
• 46:57
  Speaker 2: next week.
• 46:58
  Speaker 6: All right, stick around.
• 46:59
  Speaker 2: We're going to talk about the Steelers defense and a
• 47:01
  Speaker 2: concerning element of the Steelers team that improved to 3-2
• 47:05
  Speaker 2: on Sunday when we continue in the locker room here
• 47:07
  Speaker 2: on the Steelers Audio Network.