Latest / The Steelers Report / HR 2: Nick Farabaugh Joins the Show, NFL Hot Takes & Leaders
Transcript
- 0:08Speaker 1: This is the Steelers Report with Brian Batko and Ed
- 0:12Speaker 1: Troup on Steelers Nation Radio.
- 0:14Speaker 2: A part of the Steelers Audio Network.
- 0:18Speaker 3: Pittsburgh Steelers on the road this week to the Tampa
- 0:22Speaker 3: Bay Bucs.
- 0:22Speaker 2: Mike McCarthy has yet to win a road game.
- 0:25Speaker 3: Little tidbit there, only one away game so far throughout
- 0:29Speaker 3: the early part of the season.
- 0:30Speaker 2: That was in New England.
- 0:32Speaker 3: So he'll try to win his first away game as
- 0:34Speaker 3: a Steeler head coach. He's won many with the Green
- 0:36Speaker 3: Bay Packers and the Dallas Cowboys as the head coach,
- 0:39Speaker 3: but not the black and gold quite yet. Well, let's
- 0:42Speaker 3: welcome in Nick Faribault from PennLive, one of our favorite
- 0:47Speaker 3: guests here on the show.
- 0:48Speaker 2: Nick joining us.
- 0:50Speaker 3: And once again, to talk about the Pittsburgh Steelers going
- 0:53Speaker 3: into this week against the Tampa Bay Bucks.
- 0:55Speaker 2: Nick, first and foremost, how are you?
- 0:58Speaker 4: I'm doing very well, Ed. Thanks for having me on
- 1:00Speaker 4: as always.
- 1:01Speaker 3: Nick, let's talk about the Pittsburgh Steelers through the first
- 1:04Speaker 3: five weeks.
- 1:05Speaker 2: A mixed bag, up and down, up and down.
- 1:07Speaker 3: They're going to try to stack wins for the first
- 1:10Speaker 3: time this season in Tampa Bay against a Bucs team
- 1:13Speaker 3: that just won their first game here in the 2026
- 1:16Speaker 3: season last week.
- 1:18Speaker 4: Yeah, this team has been all over the place. I mean,
- 1:20Speaker 4: the offense started out slow, then got hot. The defense
- 1:23Speaker 4: started out hot, now it's gone a little slower. It's
- 1:26Speaker 4: kind of been a seesaw, and I think that's really
- 1:28Speaker 4: what is indicative of a 3-2 football team. But there's
- 1:31Speaker 4: clearly a lot of talent on this team, right? They found,
- 1:33Speaker 4: you know, things like Jalen Warren, who has become a
- 1:35Speaker 4: breakout star. Fryer Muth and Darnell Washington working on the
- 1:38Speaker 4: offensive side of the ball. On the defensive side of
- 1:40Speaker 4: the ball, you know, they need to get those pass
- 1:42Speaker 4: rush numbers up and kind of figure out how to
- 1:44Speaker 4: work pass rush and their secondary together. I think that's
- 1:46Speaker 4: going to be the biggest thing for them. But this
- 1:48Speaker 4: has been a seesaw of a year. And this Buccaneers team,
- 1:51Speaker 4: despite being, you know, one in, Four, they are a
- 1:53Speaker 4: plucky bunch. You know, they have high-end talent, guys like
- 1:55Speaker 4: Bucky Irving and Vita Vea. Chris Godwin's still doing it.
- 1:59Speaker 4: Emeka Igbuka, a solid young wide receiver over there as well.
- 2:02Speaker 4: So it's a really interesting matchup that they're going to
- 2:04Speaker 4: have here. It's not going to be a cakewalk. And
- 2:06Speaker 4: that environment down in Tampa can certainly get rowdy. Even
- 2:10Speaker 4: if they face, you know, Jalen Daniels or a banged-up
- 2:12Speaker 4: Baker Mayfield, certainly those guys are more than capable of
- 2:16Speaker 4: hurting the Steelers' defense and doing things with the talent
- 2:19Speaker 4: around them.
- 2:21Speaker 5: Where have you seen– Uh, and hello, Nick, thank you
- 2:25Speaker 5: again for coming on. Um, as far as that, that
- 2:27Speaker 5: Steeler secondary goes, uh, one of the guys who seems,
- 2:31Speaker 5: you know, pretty, pretty clearly going to be more in
- 2:34Speaker 5: the mix than we anticipated coming into the years, the
- 2:36Speaker 5: rookie third round corner out of Georgia, Dalen Everett, where
- 2:39Speaker 5: have you seen Dalen Everett make some strides? And, uh,
- 2:42Speaker 5: at what point do you feel like, um, you know, he's,
- 2:45Speaker 5: he's going to be kind of ready for this role that,
- 2:47Speaker 5: you know, he's been thrust into with really no choice.
- 2:51Speaker 4: I think like with any rookie, your head is going
- 2:53Speaker 4: to spin a little bit when you start to play, right?
- 2:55Speaker 4: It just happens. And for him, I think you've seen
- 2:58Speaker 4: it at times, just kind of get a little bit
- 3:00Speaker 4: to him. But I think he's become really more composed
- 3:04Speaker 4: the longer he's been in there. The more he plays,
- 3:07Speaker 4: I think you see his speed. I think you see
- 3:08Speaker 4: the ball skills. I mean, the pass breakup on Deion
- 3:11Speaker 4: Burks last week where he kind of comes back into
- 3:13Speaker 4: the play and basically Superman dives to make the play.
- 3:15Speaker 4: That's all recovery speed. I think you see the athleticism.
- 3:18Speaker 4: You see the size. You see the physicality he plays with.
- 3:21Speaker 4: He made a few really nice plays in the run game,
- 3:22Speaker 4: I thought. He's always been a good tackler. That was
- 3:24Speaker 4: on his scouting report coming out of Georgia. He also,
- 3:27Speaker 4: you know, Brian, when you just talked to him in
- 3:29Speaker 4: the locker room, he's just a very calm, poised player.
- 3:32Speaker 4: He's not a guy that is going to put his
- 3:34Speaker 4: head in the clouds if he does really well, and
- 3:35Speaker 4: he's not a guy that's going to put himself six
- 3:37Speaker 4: feet under if he has a bad play. He has
- 3:40Speaker 4: very much a goldfish memory. He forgets things very easily.
- 3:44Speaker 4: He doesn't harp on something because it just happened positively
- 3:47Speaker 4: or negatively. So I think the mindset part of that's
- 3:49Speaker 4: where I've seen him grow a lot. And I think
- 3:52Speaker 4: that's where he needs to continue to kind of sit
- 3:53Speaker 4: in that pocket because that's really where as a corner,
- 3:56Speaker 4: if you forget about stuff and bounce back, that's where
- 3:58Speaker 4: you as a corner can have a really good game.
- 4:01Speaker 3: We're talking with Nick Faribault from PennLive, Steelers reporter for PennLive.
- 4:06Speaker 3: You can catch out Nick's excellent coverage of the black
- 4:08Speaker 3: and gold there each and every week.
- 4:10Speaker 2: Nick, let's talk about the rookie class so far. They're
- 4:13Speaker 2: making an impact.
- 4:14Speaker 3: You know, for a long time, the Pittsburgh Steelers organization
- 4:16Speaker 3: was set up where you draft players, you let it
- 4:19Speaker 3: go a year or two to develop them. They don't
- 4:21Speaker 3: have to run in and be that dude on day one,
- 4:24Speaker 3: maybe the first-round draft pick, but for the most part,
- 4:27Speaker 3: The other draft class does not have to make an
- 4:29Speaker 3: impact early in the season. Well, at least in 2026,
- 4:32Speaker 3: they're relying a lot on this draft class.
- 4:35Speaker 2: And so far, so good.
- 4:36Speaker 3: A lot of these players in this 2026 draft class
- 4:39Speaker 3: have been making a positive impact. You guys were just
- 4:41Speaker 3: talking about Daylon Everett. You have Maxi Onachor, Jeremy Bernard,
- 4:44Speaker 3: Caden Weijin. Maybe not showing those sparks quite yet on
- 4:47Speaker 3: the return game, but there's a guy like Robert Spears Jennings,
- 4:50Speaker 3: late round draft pick. Gabriel Rubio got a hat this
- 4:53Speaker 3: past week. This draft class so far is making an impact.
- 4:57Speaker 4: They are, and I think to get that much impact
- 4:59Speaker 4: from your year one draft class, a draft class that
- 5:02Speaker 4: was very heavy and very dense in players, and for
- 5:05Speaker 4: all of them to make the roster and then actually
- 5:07Speaker 4: have roles, it says something about your draft. I mean,
- 5:09Speaker 4: Ihanichor has only gotten better as he's played over the
- 5:11Speaker 4: last three games. Jeremy Bernard, with a bigger role because
- 5:14Speaker 4: of the injuries, has stepped up and played pretty well.
- 5:17Speaker 4: I mean, he was their leading target share guy. He
- 5:19Speaker 4: got nine targets against the Browns, I mean, not the Browns,
- 5:23Speaker 4: the Colts, and I think that is kind of indicative.
- 5:25Speaker 1: Yep.
- 5:25Speaker 4: Of the player he is. He just looks like a
- 5:27Speaker 4: veteran sometimes. Now, there were working mistakes, but he made
- 5:30Speaker 4: some plays. He gets open. Aaron Rodgers already trusts him.
- 5:33Speaker 4: That's a big-time thing. You talk about Daylon Everett, but
- 5:35Speaker 4: I really think the late-round picks are where this is
- 5:38Speaker 4: going to be made, right? I think great Steelers teams
- 5:40Speaker 4: in the past have had great late-round picks, and you've
- 5:42Speaker 4: seen the gems. Spears Jennings looks really good already. He
- 5:46Speaker 4: was a great special teamer, and now he's playing well
- 5:48Speaker 4: as a safety. Rubio in his first start, I think
- 5:50Speaker 4: he played 14 snaps. Did a pretty nice job. Made
- 5:52Speaker 4: a few nice stops there on the goal line. in
- 5:54Speaker 4: some of those goal line stands, the Steelers had. And
- 5:57Speaker 4: then you look at, you know, Riley Nowakowski, who's kind
- 5:59Speaker 4: of a fullback, but also a special teamer for them. Yeah.
- 6:02Speaker 4: We didn't the one that needs to going a little bit,
- 6:04Speaker 4: you know, Jennings dunkers, unfortunately dealt with some injuries and
- 6:07Speaker 4: has been behind the depth chart. But I think you
- 6:09Speaker 4: look at really their entire draft class and it has
- 6:13Speaker 4: really paid some dividends already to give them some young depth,
- 6:16Speaker 4: which they have needed to replenish.
- 6:18Speaker 5: Roman Wilson is going to be out for this game,
- 6:21Speaker 5: obviously Nick. And, you know, he was, adding the speed
- 6:24Speaker 5: element for this receiving core. I mean, DK Metcalf, of course,
- 6:26Speaker 5: always adds that element, but, you know, he's that traditional.
- 6:30Speaker 6: X receiver who they're going to use in a lot
- 6:31Speaker 6: of different ways.
- 6:32Speaker 5: I thought Roman was really carving out a niche for himself,
- 6:35Speaker 5: taking the top off of defenses, and now he's out
- 6:37Speaker 5: of the equation, at least temporarily. We just mentioned this
- 6:41Speaker 5: guy among the rookies. I'm not suggesting that Caden Weegin
- 6:45Speaker 5: is going to go out there and replace Roman Wilson's
- 6:47Speaker 5: snaps or even be used much as a traditional receiver,
- 6:51Speaker 5: but could you see... Mike McCarthy and Brian Angelico cooking
- 6:56Speaker 5: up at least a package for him, maybe a gadget
- 6:58Speaker 5: play or something where he lines up in the slot
- 7:00Speaker 5: and you try to just inject some speed or quickness
- 7:04Speaker 5: into your offense when you're losing Wilson?
- 7:06Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, I think you could. And they're going
- 7:09Speaker 4: to be more narrow in who they have. I mean,
- 7:11Speaker 4: Brandon Smith seems like a shoe-in to get more. But,
- 7:14Speaker 4: you know, who else between Brandon Johnson, Isaiah Hodgins, maybe
- 7:17Speaker 4: an external guy, who knows? But I think Weijin is
- 7:19Speaker 4: someone that is known for kind of being great in
- 7:22Speaker 4: short areas. He's able to kind of make moves in
- 7:24Speaker 4: short areas. And so while I don't think it's like
- 7:26Speaker 4: an extensive package, I think back to some of the
- 7:29Speaker 4: other returners and other guys that had dynamite speed. You know,
- 7:32Speaker 4: I'm like talking like Darius Hayward-Bey even back then when
- 7:34Speaker 4: he would just get reverses and jet sweeps. And I
- 7:36Speaker 4: think that could be something you see with Caden Weijin
- 7:39Speaker 4: where he can get those pop passes. He can get
- 7:41Speaker 4: a jet sweep. I mean, we saw Roman Wilson take
- 7:43Speaker 4: a pop pass for a touchdown yesterday. last against the Browns.
- 7:47Speaker 4: So that's the type of play I think you can
- 7:49Speaker 4: definitely see a Caden Weijin taking. I'm not thinking he's
- 7:51Speaker 4: going to have, you know, a ton of snaps or
- 7:54Speaker 4: even an expansive role. But I mean, you talk about
- 7:56Speaker 4: manufactured touches, a screen, you know, to the far side
- 8:00Speaker 4: of the field, something like that, where you just get
- 8:02Speaker 4: the ball in a playmaker's hands and try and let
- 8:03Speaker 4: him make a play. I think it's certainly one way
- 8:05Speaker 4: you can utilize Caden Weijin especially since you're missing Roman Wilson,
- 8:09Speaker 4: who kind of encapsulates the deep threat yak ability into
- 8:12Speaker 4: one player. And they don't really have that anymore without
- 8:15Speaker 4: Roman Wilson.
- 8:15Speaker 3: Nick, let's talk a bit about Rico Dottel. You know,
- 8:18Speaker 3: he's been out the last few weeks. We know Jalen Warren.
- 8:20Speaker 3: We've been talking about it all week here on the
- 8:22Speaker 3: show and his phenomenal numbers as being one of the
- 8:25Speaker 3: top offensive producers in all the NFL, not just for
- 8:27Speaker 3: the Steelers, but the entire NFL Rico Dowdle might be
- 8:31Speaker 3: back as early as this upcoming Sunday against the Tampa
- 8:34Speaker 3: Bay Buccaneers how do you expect or what do you
- 8:37Speaker 3: think the Steelers should do with Rico Dowdle you know
- 8:39Speaker 3: going into the season I won was saying hey look
- 8:42Speaker 3: he should have a 50 50 share if not a
- 8:44Speaker 3: 60 40 share based on what he did in Carolina
- 8:47Speaker 3: and against Dallas well you can throw that out the
- 8:48Speaker 3: window based on what Jalen Warren's done the last three
- 8:51Speaker 3: games but how do you think they should and how
- 8:53Speaker 3: do you think they will use Rico Dowdle back in
- 8:55Speaker 3: this offense especially with Jalen Warren being so.
- 8:57Speaker 4: Hot Well, I would like them to use Rico Dowdle
- 9:00Speaker 4: as kind of that guy that can just give Warren
- 9:02Speaker 4: a breather every now and then. I mean, Warren's played
- 9:04Speaker 4: over 85% of the snaps all the last three weeks, 90%
- 9:08Speaker 4: of the two of the last three. So he's been
- 9:10Speaker 4: taking a beating. And I think you can tell by
- 9:12Speaker 4: end of games, he's just a little gassed. And it's
- 9:15Speaker 4: just naturally going to happen when you play that much.
- 9:17Speaker 4: I think Dowdle can at least give him those breathers
- 9:20Speaker 4: and can be a good running back while doing it.
- 9:22Speaker 4: I mean, people can forget about how Rico Dowdle is
- 9:25Speaker 4: a tough in between the tackles runner and what he
- 9:27Speaker 4: did in Carolina last year. really when he went on
- 9:29Speaker 4: that hot streak, where I think he amassed over 500
- 9:32Speaker 4: rushing yards over three weeks, which is just the type
- 9:35Speaker 4: of player he can be. He's a bell cow type
- 9:37Speaker 4: of back that gets better as you go along. Now, listen,
- 9:39Speaker 4: I think, you know, there should be like a 70-30
- 9:41Speaker 4: split probably. That's most what, that's what most featured backs
- 9:45Speaker 4: do nowadays. You think about like the Jameer Gibbs's, the B.
- 9:47Speaker 4: John Robinson's, they're around a 70-30 split with their running
- 9:50Speaker 4: back too. But I think, you know, Rico Dowdle can
- 9:53Speaker 4: very much be, and this is kind of the comparison
- 9:55Speaker 4: I'll use. I think he can be the Brian Robinson,
- 9:58Speaker 4: to Warren's Bichon. That's kind of what I would think
- 10:01Speaker 4: is a pretty good comparison here is bring in the hammer,
- 10:04Speaker 4: make sure you keep Jalen Warren fresh. Jalen Warren can
- 10:06Speaker 4: easily play 70% of the snaps and still get over
- 10:08Speaker 4: 20 touches. Like that is not a crazy thing to do.
- 10:11Speaker 4: Just make him fresher. And if he's fresher, does he
- 10:14Speaker 4: even become a better tackle breaker in space and more efficient?
- 10:17Speaker 4: So Dowdle should just be a guy, I think, that
- 10:19Speaker 4: comes in and gives Jalen Warren breathers, but he can
- 10:21Speaker 4: be a really, really solid player while doing that. He's
- 10:24Speaker 4: got good hands out of the backfield. I think we've
- 10:26Speaker 4: seen that happen. He's good in space, too. Rico Dowdle's
- 10:28Speaker 4: always been a good tackle breaker, so he can certainly
- 10:31Speaker 4: give you a nice changeup to Jalen Warren and bring
- 10:33Speaker 4: in a heavier guy that can maybe get you in
- 10:36Speaker 4: short yardage areas, the goal line, things like that, where
- 10:39Speaker 4: Rico can give Jalen Warren a little bit of a breather.
- 10:41Speaker 5: I like the comparison to the Robinsons in Atlanta, Nick,
- 10:45Speaker 5: and Kind of makes me think, if only they had
- 10:47Speaker 5: another big former Alabama back who could be the number
- 10:52Speaker 5: two to Jalen Warren. The irony there, if Najee Harris
- 10:55Speaker 5: were back, but in the backup role. I don't know
- 10:58Speaker 5: that the team dynamics ever would have allowed for that.
- 11:01Speaker 5: But sticking with the offense real quick, I think any
- 11:07Speaker 5: time you watch Tampa's defense, your eyes naturally go to
- 11:09Speaker 5: the big man in the middle, Vito Vea, the Steelers.
- 11:13Speaker 5: They dealt with DeForest Buckner and Grover Stewart last week.
- 11:18Speaker 5: A few weeks ago, it was Dexter Lawrence and the
- 11:20Speaker 5: Cincinnati Bengals. Do you feel more confident in Mason McCormick,
- 11:25Speaker 5: Zach Frazier, Brock Hoffman being up for that task than
- 11:28Speaker 5: you did before the Cincinnati game? And will McCormick be
- 11:32Speaker 5: up to his old tricks again on the interior dealing
- 11:34Speaker 5: with a big fella in there?
- 11:36Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, I think you have to. The combo
- 11:38Speaker 4: blocks are better. The timing's better. They're playing with a tenacity.
- 11:41Speaker 4: What I like about the five guys they have, and
- 11:43Speaker 4: I'll throw Darnell Washington in here too, is these guys
- 11:46Speaker 4: play mean and they want to put you in the ground.
- 11:49Speaker 4: I think that mentality has just carried over to that
- 11:51Speaker 4: run game. Now, this is one of the better rushing
- 11:54Speaker 4: defenses in football. I think the Bucs right now are
- 11:56Speaker 4: the fifth best rushing defense in football. It's not just
- 11:58Speaker 4: Vita Veya. A'shaun Robinson has been an underrated run defender
- 12:01Speaker 4: for years in the National Football League. So a lot
- 12:03Speaker 4: of mass, a lot of size, a lot of strength
- 12:05Speaker 4: on that interior. So this is going to be an
- 12:07Speaker 4: interesting test. It's going to be a different test. Vita Veya,
- 12:10Speaker 4: is very much similar to how Dexter Lawrence is, but
- 12:12Speaker 4: A'shaun Robinson is a completely different player than anyone they've
- 12:16Speaker 4: really faced on their schedule yet in that regard. So
- 12:18Speaker 4: I am interested, but I think you have to say
- 12:20Speaker 4: you have to be more confident in them. How have
- 12:23Speaker 4: they played over the last three weeks? They've all played
- 12:25Speaker 4: really well, and the interior has been a big part
- 12:27Speaker 4: of clearing lanes. I mean, I can't count the amount
- 12:30Speaker 4: of runs the Steelers had. They went right at the
- 12:32Speaker 4: teeth of the Colts' defense, right up the A and
- 12:34Speaker 4: the B gaps, and they just had room to run.
- 12:36Speaker 4: It was six, seven yards all day for them. And
- 12:39Speaker 4: so you have to be confident in this because this
- 12:41Speaker 4: O-line right now, good Lord, Batco. I did the.
- 12:46Speaker 6: 6-7 thing for people who can't see it.
- 12:49Speaker 4: What else was I.
- 12:51Speaker 6: Supposed to do? You walked right into that, Nick.
- 12:53Speaker 4: I did. That's my bad. That's my bad. But either way, yeah,
- 12:56Speaker 4: the O-line's playing really well. And I think Darnell Washington
- 12:59Speaker 4: and Pat Farmer, they're helping that. And one other thing
- 13:01Speaker 4: I do want to shout out, the in-space blocking from
- 13:03Speaker 4: the wide receivers, guys like DK Metcalf, Jeremy Bernard, Brandon
- 13:07Speaker 4: Smith last week even. have done a really nice job
- 13:09Speaker 4: to help spring those runs from six, seven yarders to
- 13:12Speaker 4: the 50 yarder, for example, that Jalen Warren had.
- 13:15Speaker 5: Quick Ed, Nick's one of the perfect people to ask
- 13:18Speaker 5: about this because he and I were both there. What
- 13:20Speaker 5: do you remember about the joint practice last year with
- 13:22Speaker 5: the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Accresure Stadium? Because a lot
- 13:25Speaker 5: of those same faces return, particularly on the perimeter. I
- 13:29Speaker 5: don't know if there's a statute of limitations as far
- 13:31Speaker 5: as relaying what you saw in a practice more than
- 13:35Speaker 5: a year ago, but the floor is yours.
- 13:38Speaker 4: Yeah. I'll give kind of my opinions. I thought that the,
- 13:41Speaker 4: the Buccaneers receivers gave their corners a lot of trouble
- 13:43Speaker 4: last year. That was one thing that.
- 13:45Speaker 6: And very few of those corners are even back in Pittsburgh.
- 13:48Speaker 2: Right.
- 13:49Speaker 4: I believe that is true. I also remember Jamel Dean
- 13:52Speaker 4: being fairly good in that practice. So there's that.
- 13:55Speaker 6: So was Jacob Parrish.
- 13:56Speaker 5: Jacob Parrish got matched up on DK Metcalf once or
- 13:59Speaker 5: twice in certainly held his own and he's a smaller
- 14:02Speaker 5: guy out there at corner, but Tampa likes him.
- 14:04Speaker 6: And Zion McCollum has been playing really well for them too. Yeah.
- 14:07Speaker 4: I mean, I think Tampa's a really fun team in
- 14:10Speaker 4: that they have a good collection of skill talent. They
- 14:14Speaker 4: have big hogs up front. I also remember the Steelers
- 14:17Speaker 4: in that practice. It was like seesaw back and forth.
- 14:20Speaker 4: It was like one time you would have the Steelers
- 14:23Speaker 4: wide receivers making a big play like Calvin Austin. I'm
- 14:25Speaker 4: pretty sure had a really good practice that day. with
- 14:28Speaker 4: how he was. And that was where he emerges like
- 14:29Speaker 4: their widest. You were too. It was a pretty competitive.
- 14:33Speaker 4: My goodness. That's my dog, by the way.
- 14:34Speaker 2: So you're a good buddy.
- 14:36Speaker 6: Big Calvin Austin.
- 14:37Speaker 2: Yeah.
- 14:38Speaker 4: Calvin Austin fan. But, but yeah, I mean, it was
- 14:41Speaker 4: a really competitive practice that was like pretty evenly matched
- 14:43Speaker 4: by the end of it. But one thing that stood
- 14:45Speaker 4: out was, the Buccaneers wide receivers were just really talented.
- 14:48Speaker 4: And I think you see that even now when you
- 14:50Speaker 4: have like Buka and Godwin, even, you know, in non-prime
- 14:52Speaker 4: form is still a really good chain mover. So it's
- 14:55Speaker 4: going to be a challenge for them.
- 14:56Speaker 2: Hey, Nick, get that dog back on with us.
- 14:58Speaker 3: Let's see what, let's see what he or she thinks
- 15:00Speaker 3: about this Buccaneers game this week.
- 15:04Speaker 4: No, he needs to go to the bathroom, so he's
- 15:06Speaker 4: going to the bathroom, guys.
- 15:08Speaker 2: We'll leave it at that.
- 15:09Speaker 3: Nick Faribault from PennLive, thank you so much for joining us, Nick.
- 15:12Speaker 3: Have a good trip to Tampa and Paris if we
- 15:15Speaker 3: don't talk to you, but we'll definitely have you back
- 15:16Speaker 3: on the show here again soon enough.
- 15:18Speaker 4: All right, thanks, guys. Thanks for having me on.
- 15:19Speaker 1: Thanks, Nick.
- 15:20Speaker 6: See you, dude.
- 15:20Speaker 2: All right, Nick Faribault from PennLive.
- 15:22Speaker 3: Make sure you check out Nick's excellent coverage of the
- 15:24Speaker 3: black and gold each and every day and each week
- 15:27Speaker 3: in and around the team. We'll be back more right
- 15:29Speaker 3: here on the Steelers report on Steelers nation radio, part
- 15:33Speaker 3: of the Steelers audio network.
- 15:43Speaker 1: This is the Steelers report with Brian Bacco and Ed
- 15:46Speaker 1: Troup on Steelers nation radio, a part of the Steelers
- 15:50Speaker 1: audio network.
- 15:52Speaker 3: Great stuff as always from our good friend, Nick Faribault
- 15:55Speaker 3: from Penn live.com. And Double B, you know, the audio
- 15:59Speaker 3: is what we just heard, but we do have videos.
- 16:01Speaker 3: So make sure you check out all of our Steelers
- 16:03Speaker 3: Nation Radio social media handles on Instagram, X, Facebook. We'll
- 16:10Speaker 3: have some video up from that interview. And you'll see
- 16:13Speaker 3: Nick Faribault. I've told Nick before, he looks like he
- 16:16Speaker 3: could still play football. I don't think he played beyond
- 16:19Speaker 3: high school, but my man's ready to go.
- 16:23Speaker 2: Just put a helmet on Nick Faribault. Get him on
- 16:25Speaker 2: the field.
- 16:26Speaker 3: He can contribute as early as this Sunday in Tampa Bay.
- 16:31Speaker 5: Our guy definitely knows ball. That's for sure. I don't
- 16:34Speaker 5: know about playing ball in 2026, but always happy to
- 16:37Speaker 5: have Nick on the show. Circling back on something I
- 16:40Speaker 5: brought up to him at the end, I do remember
- 16:42Speaker 5: that being a pretty spirited joint practice last year between
- 16:45Speaker 5: the Steelers and the Bucs. I remember being pretty impressed
- 16:49Speaker 5: by Bucky Irving as a pass catcher. A lot of
- 16:52Speaker 5: the times with these NFC players, especially NFC South. They're
- 16:55Speaker 5: not really on your radar too much. Irving impressed me
- 16:59Speaker 5: as a pass catcher. Mike Evans was there that day, though,
- 17:01Speaker 5: and he's obviously not with Tampa anymore. He was difficult
- 17:04Speaker 5: to stop. Emeka Igbuka looked really good. Chris Godwin, I
- 17:08Speaker 5: think Chris Godwin was out there that day. But I
- 17:11Speaker 5: think the Steelers made their share of plays, too. Jacob Parrish, though,
- 17:15Speaker 5: Buck's corner, he's small but feisty. He was giving people
- 17:18Speaker 5: a tough time. So I was really enjoying watching the
- 17:22Speaker 5: The wide receiver DB matchups that day and throw tight
- 17:26Speaker 5: ends in that mix, too. I think I remember Pat
- 17:28Speaker 5: Fryermuth having a solid day at the joint practice at
- 17:33Speaker 5: Accresure Stadium with Mike Tomlin Steelers against Todd Bowles, Buccaneers,
- 17:37Speaker 5: and then they played in the preseason game. Jalen Daniels
- 17:41Speaker 5: obviously wasn't a part of that. Baker Mayfield was the starter.
- 17:43Speaker 5: I think Ben DiNucci was actually maybe a Bucs quarterback
- 17:47Speaker 5: at the time, or maybe that was the year before
- 17:48Speaker 5: when the Bills played. We're here for a joint practice.
- 17:51Speaker 5: I can't remember. But a lot of familiarity on this
- 17:54Speaker 5: Bucs team. Kalijah Canty from Pitt. Servosier Dennis from Pitt.
- 17:59Speaker 5: Two guys who I think I may have covered their
- 18:00Speaker 5: recruiting way back in the day, if not them, on
- 18:03Speaker 5: the field for the Panthers before I started covering the Steelers.
- 18:07Speaker 5: And then, yeah, Larry Foote on the Buccaneers coaching staff.
- 18:10Speaker 5: Kenny Gainwell, Danny Smith, Myles Killebrew. kind of been talking
- 18:14Speaker 5: about it all week but yeah there's a lot a
- 18:16Speaker 5: lot of faces and names that Steelers and Pittsburgh fans
- 18:19Speaker 5: will recognize.
- 18:20Speaker 3: Yeah absolutely and it'll be a good matchup come this
- 18:23Speaker 3: Sunday you know one thing I wanted to mention to
- 18:25Speaker 3: you too Double B we'll get into the NFL stat
- 18:28Speaker 3: leaders here in a second but when I pulled Aaron
- 18:31Speaker 3: Rodgers numbers we went over that during our terrible take
- 18:33Speaker 3: segment Man, the Steelers offense really humming right now. I mean,
- 18:37Speaker 3: Rodgers has thrown, of course, those three touchdown passes in
- 18:40Speaker 3: three consecutive games, but the Steelers are averaging 29.3 points
- 18:45Speaker 3: and 375 yards per game over those three games. It
- 18:49Speaker 3: really seems like Rodgers and this offense is clicking at
- 18:52Speaker 3: a high level.
- 18:52Speaker 2: It all started against the Bengals.
- 18:54Speaker 3: It carried over into Cleveland the first and fourth quarter.
- 18:57Speaker 2: We know the second and third not so much on
- 18:58Speaker 2: that Thursday night.
- 18:59Speaker 3: And then last week against the Colts, Now they face
- 19:02Speaker 3: a Bucs defense that they're going to have some opportunities
- 19:04Speaker 3: to continue to put that type of work in and
- 19:06Speaker 3: produce those types of numbers that he's been putting up.
- 19:09Speaker 3: But I was very surprised when I saw the last
- 19:11Speaker 3: three games, 29.3 points per game and 375, almost 400
- 19:17Speaker 3: yards per game this offense is putting up. And look,
- 19:19Speaker 3: they did this last year too. If you remember, they
- 19:22Speaker 3: had averaged close to 26, 27 points per game with
- 19:25Speaker 3: Aaron Rodgers, a quarterback throughout most of the season. And
- 19:28Speaker 3: that was the first time in a long time we've
- 19:30Speaker 3: seen that here in Pittsburgh because for a long time
- 19:33Speaker 3: towards the end of Big Ben's career and post-Ben for
- 19:36Speaker 3: a handful of years, this offense was averaging like 18
- 19:39Speaker 3: or 19 points per game. They struggled to put up
- 19:41Speaker 3: points for a long time.
- 19:43Speaker 5: They did, and you know, it's also been really nice
- 19:45Speaker 5: to see the fast starts too. I mean, because all
- 19:48Speaker 5: those seasons where it seemed like the Steelers just couldn't
- 19:50Speaker 5: get out of their own way early in games. I mean,
- 19:53Speaker 5: I say that and they had a three and out
- 19:55Speaker 5: that was just completely miserable to start that Colts game.
- 19:58Speaker 5: But then next time they get the ball back, they
- 20:00Speaker 5: kind of wash that away quickly. It didn't linger. It
- 20:03Speaker 5: didn't fester. So there's a lot of good things to,
- 20:06Speaker 5: you know, to bank on right now.
- 20:09Speaker 2: With Rodgers.
- 20:09Speaker 5: Wasn't sure how it was going to look bringing him
- 20:11Speaker 5: back and reuniting him with McCarthy. But I think the
- 20:15Speaker 5: shared experience between those two is paying dividends so far
- 20:18Speaker 5: in the early portion of the season. And hopefully that
- 20:21Speaker 5: will continue throughout the year. They've been really good at
- 20:25Speaker 5: throwing the ball too when they get in close. We
- 20:27Speaker 5: know that some of those past Steelers teams, the field
- 20:30Speaker 5: would shrink. And so would their chances of scoring via
- 20:33Speaker 5: the air and teams could really load up and gear
- 20:36Speaker 5: up to stop the run and get a stand at
- 20:38Speaker 5: the goal line or just in the red zone and
- 20:41Speaker 5: hold them to one of the many Chris Boswell field
- 20:44Speaker 5: goals that has him on the precipice of passing Gary
- 20:46Speaker 5: Anderson for most in team history. A lot, a lot
- 20:50Speaker 5: to like a lot to hang your hat on right
- 20:52Speaker 5: now with the Steelers offense.
- 20:53Speaker 6: I know they're not on a winning.
- 20:54Speaker 5: Streak or anything, but the offense is on a nice
- 20:57Speaker 5: streak of production.
- 20:58Speaker 2: Yeah, they sure are. Tampa Bay's defense. That will be
- 21:01Speaker 2: just one other note.
- 21:01Speaker 3: And then we will get into these NFL stats, the
- 21:04Speaker 3: Bucks blitz, at the NFL's third highest rate, but yet
- 21:08Speaker 3: they have just six sacks all season and none, none
- 21:12Speaker 3: in their last two games. Look, if Aaron Rodgers can
- 21:15Speaker 3: get some time to throw the football, boy, the Steelers
- 21:18Speaker 3: can find some big opportunities downfield if, if, and it
- 21:21Speaker 3: looks like at least on paper, third highest blitz rate
- 21:24Speaker 3: in the NFL.
- 21:25Speaker 2: Tampa Bay brings the blitz.
- 21:26Speaker 3: Maybe Rodgers can exploit that and take some shots downfield
- 21:29Speaker 3: and connect with guys like DK Metcalf. Jeremy Bernard, more
- 21:32Speaker 3: of your playmaker that comes across the middle and then
- 21:34Speaker 3: picks up more yards after catch, but maybe this is
- 21:37Speaker 3: the game this year where DK really takes off.
- 21:41Speaker 5: Potentially, but I know the Bucs are pretty high on
- 21:43Speaker 5: their young corners. Zion McCollum, they're saying he's playing really,
- 21:49Speaker 5: really well. We can ask Casey Phillips about him tomorrow
- 21:52Speaker 5: when we're joined by the Buccaneers reporter. Jacob Parrish, I
- 21:56Speaker 5: mentioned him standing out to me in that joint practice
- 21:59Speaker 5: a year ago as someone who kind of like Asante
- 22:01Speaker 5: Samuel Jr. He's not a real big guy, but he
- 22:04Speaker 5: plays big. You know, he's listed at 5'10, 198. I
- 22:09Speaker 5: think he was a shade under that at the Combine.
- 22:11Speaker 5: He was on the PFWA All-Rookie Team last year and
- 22:15Speaker 5: ran a 4.35. So a lot to work with there
- 22:18Speaker 5: for the former third rounder out of Kansas State. Probably
- 22:22Speaker 5: knows Will Howard, I would think.
- 22:24Speaker 6: But yeah, I mean, he'll.
- 22:26Speaker 5: Get his chances probably against DK Metcalf as will Zion McCollum.
- 22:29Speaker 5: And I'm sure there will be safety help as there
- 22:31Speaker 5: tends to be against No. 4.
- 22:33Speaker 2: Let's get into some NFL stat leaders.
- 22:36Speaker 3: Now we are five weeks into the season, heading into
- 22:39Speaker 3: Week 6, which will kick off tonight, by the way, Brian.
- 22:42Speaker 3: Good Thursday night football matchup tonight as the Seattle Seahawks
- 22:45Speaker 3: and Denver Broncos dance.
- 22:47Speaker 2: That should be a pretty good one. That's in Denver,
- 22:49Speaker 2: I believe.
- 22:51Speaker 5: Yeah, it's at the Mile High Stadium. Seahawks, they do
- 22:56Speaker 5: have Jackson Smith and Jigba. I think he was banged
- 22:58Speaker 5: up a little bit. earlier in the week, but he'll
- 23:01Speaker 5: be out there. He's always a threat to, to break
- 23:04Speaker 5: a game wide open. Bo Nix is going through it
- 23:07Speaker 5: a little bit lately. Jalen Waddle, who was my preseason
- 23:10Speaker 5: offensive player of the year selection. Well, not much to
- 23:15Speaker 5: write home about thus far. I mean, just this comparison alone,
- 23:18Speaker 5: JSN coming off of his actual AP offensive player of
- 23:22Speaker 5: the year award, 583 yards on 37 catches in seven
- 23:26Speaker 5: touchdowns already. That's just bonkers. Jalen Waddell, 18 catches, 204 yards,
- 23:32Speaker 5: one score. But both teams, 3-2, jockeying for position in
- 23:37Speaker 5: their respective conferences.
- 23:38Speaker 3: Yeah, I know about Jalen Waddell because he's on a
- 23:40Speaker 3: couple of my fantasy football teams, and I keep debating
- 23:43Speaker 3: whether I should drop him and go in a different direction.
- 23:47Speaker 3: Who knows? Okay, Brian, who do you think is the
- 23:49Speaker 3: NFL pass leader, as we always like to try to
- 23:51Speaker 3: get you to guess this in each statistical category going
- 23:54Speaker 3: into tonight here in Week 6?
- 23:58Speaker 5: I think it was Bryce Young last year, or excuse me,
- 24:00Speaker 5: last week, but the Panthers were off, so I guess
- 24:03Speaker 5: he's no longer at the top of that list. Tyler
- 24:06Speaker 5: Shuck had a really bad passing game, so who's even
- 24:08Speaker 5: stayed healthy?
- 24:11Speaker 6: Give me Matthew Stafford.
- 24:13Speaker 2: Matthew Stafford is correct.
- 24:14Speaker 3: 1,572 yards, your passing leader, followed by Jarrett Goff, Jordan Love,
- 24:20Speaker 3: CJ Strout, now No. 4, and Dak is No. 5.
- 24:24Speaker 3: Your top five passing leaders, who do you think is
- 24:26Speaker 3: the top touchdown passer? We haven't done that one yet,
- 24:29Speaker 3: but I'm going to throw a new one at you.
- 24:30Speaker 3: Who has thrown the most touchdowns so far through the
- 24:34Speaker 3: first five weeks?
- 24:36Speaker 5: Rodgers is getting close, I know. Three straight with three.
- 24:40Speaker 5: But I'll take Stafford for that one as well.
- 24:45Speaker 3: Stafford has thrown, let me see here, nine. So he's
- 24:49Speaker 3: actually behind Aaron Rodgers. Rodgers checks in at number five
- 24:53Speaker 3: with the 10 that we talked about.
- 24:54Speaker 2: He's actually tied with Jordan Love and Trevor Lawrence.
- 24:57Speaker 3: All three of them have 10 touchdown passes so far.
- 25:00Speaker 3: Joe Burrow, number four with 11. Jared Goff is number
- 25:04Speaker 3: three with 12. He's tied with Kirk Cousins, who has 12.
- 25:07Speaker 3: And your leader with 13, lucky 13, Brock Purdy, who
- 25:11Speaker 3: I believe also wears number 13, doesn't he?
- 25:15Speaker 4: Does Purdy wear 13?
- 25:16Speaker 5: I don't have to check.
- 25:18Speaker 6: He might.
- 25:20Speaker 5: But it popped into my mind as soon as I
- 25:22Speaker 5: said it. Yeah, I know Purdy's having a ridiculous year
- 25:26Speaker 5: thus far. And yes, he does wear 13.
- 25:28Speaker 6: Good call.
- 25:29Speaker 2: I know we're a numbers guy. Both you and I are.
- 25:31Speaker 3: We like to always point out our numbers when we
- 25:34Speaker 3: do our Steelers by the numbers.
- 25:35Speaker 2: That was in the offseason. But yeah, Brock Purdy, number 13.
- 25:39Speaker 3: Is your leader for touchdowns and the number that he
- 25:41Speaker 3: wears on the back of his jersey okay let's move
- 25:43Speaker 3: on to rushing who is your top rusher pick so
- 25:45Speaker 3: far for most yards through the first five weeks.
- 25:50Speaker 5: Well it's kind of similar to bryce young i mean
- 25:52Speaker 5: kenneth walker the third was uh was really rolling and
- 25:55Speaker 5: then he missed a game so i'm gonna say bijan.
- 25:59Speaker 3: Robinson You are correct, my friend. He is at number
- 26:02Speaker 3: one with 580. Now listen, Kenneth Walker III is second
- 26:08Speaker 3: in the NFL despite coming off of a bye week.
- 26:10Speaker 3: That just goes to show you how good he was
- 26:11Speaker 3: for those first four weeks. He has 537 yards rushing.
- 26:15Speaker 3: James Cook, number three, with 532 yards. Jameer Gibbs, number four,
- 26:20Speaker 3: at 504. And Derrick Henry from the Ravens is number
- 26:24Speaker 3: five at 476. Aaron Jones is number six, and he's
- 26:27Speaker 3: tied with... Well, that's right, Jalen Warren also checks in
- 26:32Speaker 3: at No. 6. Both Aaron Jones from Minnesota and Jalen
- 26:36Speaker 3: Warren each have 410 yards rushing so far.
- 26:40Speaker 5: Yeah, and I guess Jameer Gibbs is doing it a
- 26:42Speaker 5: lot through the air because it seems like he's still
- 26:44Speaker 5: been very productive. But, yeah, he's not in that upper
- 26:47Speaker 5: echelon just yet with the top few guys. But, yeah,
- 26:50Speaker 5: Bijan Robinson, he's a cheat code.
- 26:53Speaker 3: Your top touchdown producer from a rushing standpoint, And we
- 26:57Speaker 3: talked about this earlier in the week. We'll see if
- 26:59Speaker 3: you remember Double B. I'm not sure if you're cheating.
- 27:01Speaker 3: You're on the south side right now. There's lots of,
- 27:03Speaker 3: I'm sure, NFL statistics in and around the facility. But
- 27:06Speaker 3: who do you think is the top touchdown producer on
- 27:10Speaker 3: the ground?
- 27:10Speaker 2: These are rushing touchdowns so far, five weeks in. Josh Allen.
- 27:16Speaker 5: Josh Allen's leading the league in rushing touchdowns. I think
- 27:19Speaker 5: we mentioned that after that Monday night football game, right?
- 27:21Speaker 2: We did. He has eight.
- 27:22Speaker 3: He's your leader, followed by Derrick Henry with seven, Jameer
- 27:25Speaker 3: Gibbs with seven, Jonathan Taylor, who the Steelers just saw.
- 27:28Speaker 3: He has six, and Javante Williams has six. That's your
- 27:32Speaker 3: top five. But, yeah, kind of a weird statistic when
- 27:36Speaker 3: you look at these top rushers and then you pull
- 27:38Speaker 3: up the top touchdown producers on the ground and Josh Allen,
- 27:41Speaker 3: number one.
- 27:42Speaker 2: But we shouldn't be surprised.
- 27:43Speaker 3: He's so good whenever he takes off with the football
- 27:46Speaker 3: as well as sneaking just that big frame, so hard
- 27:48Speaker 3: to tackle.
- 27:50Speaker 6: Yeah, that's what I would do.
- 27:52Speaker 3: I said B.
- 27:53Speaker 5: John Robinson's a cheat code. Well, Josh Allen at the
- 27:56Speaker 5: goal line is basically unfair. As I said the other day,
- 27:59Speaker 5: you might as well just don't even run the play.
- 28:01Speaker 5: Save everybody from a collision and just say, all right,
- 28:04Speaker 5: we'll give you six points. Kick the ball off.
- 28:06Speaker 6: It's like a gimme putt in golf.
- 28:08Speaker 3: So let's do the receiving here. We have a few
- 28:10Speaker 3: more minutes before break. I think you already have this one.
- 28:13Speaker 3: You mentioned it earlier in the show, but Jackson Smith
- 28:17Speaker 3: and Jigba, I'll just say it for you, is your
- 28:18Speaker 3: top receiver so far with 583 total yards receiving.
- 28:24Speaker 5: I don't know that I would have said that had
- 28:25Speaker 5: I not pulled up the side-by-side of Seahawks Broncos because
- 28:28Speaker 5: I feel like he always kind of does it quietly.
- 28:30Speaker 5: But yeah, I mean, he's just, he's off to a
- 28:32Speaker 5: torrid start yet again. And torrid is also a potential
- 28:36Speaker 5: Uncle Tommy word of the week, but we never use
- 28:38Speaker 5: it for anything other than saying, Torrid start or torrid
- 28:42Speaker 5: pace in sports.
- 28:43Speaker 6: Have you ever noticed that?
- 28:45Speaker 2: I have not, but I want to get this straight
- 28:47Speaker 2: with you.
- 28:47Speaker 3: Are we doing an Uncle Tommy word of the day
- 28:49Speaker 3: or are we doing an Uncle Tommy word of the week?
- 28:52Speaker 3: Maybe we do both. I mean, there's always so many
- 28:54Speaker 3: good usage of words. It's kind of like Pee Wee
- 28:57Speaker 3: Herman's word of the day. Brian, you're a little younger
- 28:59Speaker 3: than me. I grew up watching Pee Wee Herman back
- 29:01Speaker 3: in the day. peewee's big playhouse and there was a
- 29:04Speaker 3: word of the day and they would say plant and
- 29:06Speaker 3: then everybody would go crazy i said plant somebody said
- 29:09Speaker 3: it during the show but uncle tommy word of the
- 29:11Speaker 3: day i like that one better than the one we
- 29:13Speaker 3: used earlier which i've already forgotten by the way my
- 29:15Speaker 3: short memory.
- 29:17Speaker 5: Yeah i have to we're like we're like goldfish we're
- 29:19Speaker 5: like cornerbacks we got to have a short memory.
- 29:21Speaker 3: That's exactly it chris olave is number two with 537
- 29:24Speaker 3: yards receiving cd lamb third at 507 drake london fourth
- 29:31Speaker 3: And Christian Watson from Green Bay is fifth with 474.
- 29:36Speaker 3: One final guess here, Brian, on the touchdown leaders from
- 29:39Speaker 3: a reception standpoint.
- 29:40Speaker 5: So far I'll go JSN on that too I mean
- 29:43Speaker 5: seven touchdown catches through five games I can't imagine anybody
- 29:46Speaker 5: else is at that pace although Aaron Rodgers former teammate
- 29:50Speaker 5: and Jeremy Bernard's idol growing up Devante Adams is probably right.
- 29:54Speaker 3: In that mix Devontae Adams, I am going to scroll
- 29:58Speaker 3: down here.
- 29:59Speaker 2: Yeah, he is actually. I don't have to scroll very far.
- 30:01Speaker 3: I thought you were going to say Christian Watson from
- 30:03Speaker 3: Green Bay with that Aaron Rodgers connection.
- 30:06Speaker 2: He has six touchdowns. He's second.
- 30:09Speaker 5: St.
- 30:09Speaker 2: Brown is third with five. Then Devontae Adams. Yep, there
- 30:12Speaker 2: you go. He has four.
- 30:13Speaker 3: He's tied with a bunch of guys with four. Holy smokes.
- 30:15Speaker 3: Pat Fryermuth is on this list with four. He's also
- 30:18Speaker 3: tied for fourth place. CeeDee Lamb, George Kittle, a bunch
- 30:21Speaker 3: of tight ends here tied with Devontae Adams, who's a receiver.
- 30:25Speaker 2: With Ford around that out.
- 30:27Speaker 5: And Darius Cooper, who Eagles wide receiver, Darius Cooper out
- 30:33Speaker 5: of Tarleton state. I don't even know if I'm saying
- 30:36Speaker 5: that right, but man, as he stepped up for an
- 30:38Speaker 5: Eagles team that has been dealing with, with injuries everywhere
- 30:43Speaker 5: and obviously traded away, AJ Brown to the Patriots in
- 30:45Speaker 5: the off season. So good on Darius Cooper.
- 30:49Speaker 3: Nine different NFL players, tight ends and receivers alike are
- 30:53Speaker 3: tied for, fourth place in the NFL with four touchdowns.
- 30:57Speaker 2: So there you go.
- 30:58Speaker 3: Whenever Double B and I come back, we'll wrap up
- 31:00Speaker 3: the show today with some leftovers.
- 31:02Speaker 2: That's right.
- 31:02Speaker 3: We've got some leftover terrible takes, but they're NFL terrible takes.
- 31:05Speaker 3: We'll get Double B's feedback on that and more.
- 31:09Speaker 2: He's back. Oh, I'm Troop.
- 31:10Speaker 3: It's the Steelers Report right here on Steelers Nation Radio,
- 31:12Speaker 3: part of the Steelers Audio Network.
- 31:20Speaker 1: This is the Steelers Report with Brian Batko and Ed
- 31:24Speaker 1: Troop on Steelers Nation Radio, a part of the Steelers
- 31:28Speaker 1: Audio Network.
- 31:30Speaker 3: Wrapping up our number two before we turn things over
- 31:34Speaker 3: to Wes Shuler and Matt Williamson on SNR's The Drive.
- 31:37Speaker 2: We had Wes on. the Steelers report with us yesterday.
- 31:40Speaker 3: We had Nick Faribault today, and then Brian already mentioned it,
- 31:44Speaker 3: but coming up on tomorrow's show, we'll get you set
- 31:46Speaker 3: for Steelers bucks on Sunday. We'll have our five keys
- 31:49Speaker 3: to the game on offense, five keys to the game on.
- 31:53Speaker 2: Defense for your Pittsburgh Steelers.
- 31:55Speaker 3: And we'll also have Casey Phillips, who's a bucks reporter
- 31:58Speaker 3: in Tampa Bay on with us tomorrow. As we continue
- 32:01Speaker 3: to take a peek behind the scenes, as we do
- 32:04Speaker 3: each and every week, we've got some really good reporters, um,
- 32:09Speaker 3: from the other side brian throughout the season we'll continue
- 32:11Speaker 3: to do that i don't know we'll try next week
- 32:13Speaker 3: to get a new orleans person on with the saints
- 32:16Speaker 3: but there's a lot of yeah i could see your
- 32:18Speaker 3: hesitation i have the same hesitation there's a lot of
- 32:20Speaker 3: travel involved not just with our pittsburgh media team including
- 32:23Speaker 3: yourself double b but i'm sure in new orleans so
- 32:26Speaker 3: we may have to punt on next week but we'll
- 32:28Speaker 3: see what we.
- 32:28Speaker 5: Can do next week's going to be a bit of
- 32:30Speaker 5: a whirlwind in general and some of our usual stuff
- 32:33Speaker 5: might have to fall by the wayside but you you
- 32:36Speaker 5: make some sacrifices when you go international and I do
- 32:40Speaker 5: I believe the Saints are leaving as a like the
- 32:43Speaker 5: team are leaving pretty early in the week so and
- 32:46Speaker 5: I've got some good friends uh you know relatively speaking
- 32:49Speaker 5: to the other beats who cover the Saints even though
- 32:51Speaker 5: we're we're not very familiar with them but that's because
- 32:55Speaker 5: my former boss at the Post Gazette who's also one
- 32:58Speaker 5: of my best friends Tyler Batiste he's a Louisiana native
- 33:03Speaker 5: he now works for the Athletic he's one of their
- 33:05Speaker 5: NBA editors he's a big wig there but he he
- 33:08Speaker 5: was with us at the Post-Gazette for a long time,
- 33:10Speaker 5: and I was the sports editor there. He's a Louisiana native,
- 33:14Speaker 5: went to LSU, biggest LSU fan you'll ever meet.
- 33:16Speaker 6: Not a Saints fan, though. He's actually an Eagles fan
- 33:19Speaker 6: for some reason.
- 33:19Speaker 5: But anytime we would interact with the Saints in any way,
- 33:24Speaker 5: he would introduce me to people like Luke Johnson, who's
- 33:27Speaker 5: at the newspaper down there, and Kat Terrell, who covers
- 33:30Speaker 5: them for ESPN. So I don't know that we'll get
- 33:32Speaker 5: a chance to chop it up with any of my
- 33:34Speaker 5: Saints pals, but I'll at least get to see them
- 33:36Speaker 5: in Paris, I think.
- 33:37Speaker 6: So that'll be fun.
- 33:38Speaker 3: Yeah, that will be good for you, Double B, and
- 33:40Speaker 3: it'll be fun to be over there for that game,
- 33:42Speaker 3: the international game taking place.
- 33:44Speaker 2: Next Sunday, not this Sunday. And a special note on that, too.
- 33:47Speaker 3: Remember, it'll be played at 9.30 a.m. here back in
- 33:51Speaker 3: the States. So we were talking earlier in the show
- 33:53Speaker 3: about planning your Steeler Sunday with family and friends and traveling.
- 33:58Speaker 2: Well, make sure you keep that in mind. You'll have
- 34:00Speaker 2: to have breakfast, coffee, who knows?
- 34:03Speaker 3: Here in Steeler Nation, Double B, you may be cracking
- 34:06Speaker 3: open some Iron Cities that early in the morning, even
- 34:08Speaker 3: on a regular 1 o'clock game day.
- 34:10Speaker 2: So maybe on that day you even go earlier. I'm
- 34:12Speaker 2: not sure.
- 34:13Speaker 5: I'd say break out the champagne since it's Paris and
- 34:17Speaker 5: maybe some orange juice. Make a mimosa or two. Go
- 34:20Speaker 5: to your local French bakery, of which there are many, actually,
- 34:24Speaker 5: in Pittsburgh.
- 34:24Speaker 6: Well, I don't know about many.
- 34:25Speaker 5: I guess people in bigger cities might say there's not
- 34:27Speaker 5: that many, but I love a good French bakery, whether
- 34:30Speaker 5: it's in Paris or here in Pittsburgh. One of my
- 34:34Speaker 5: favorites actually ended after a long run down in Millville,
- 34:38Speaker 5: the Jean-Marc Châtelier Bakery.
- 34:41Speaker 6: That was my go-to. It's not there anymore.
- 34:44Speaker 5: I'll be in the real deal, obviously, next weekend, but
- 34:47Speaker 5: for those who aren't, go hit up a local French bakery,
- 34:50Speaker 5: get some croissants, a baguette, macarons are my favorite cookie.
- 34:55Speaker 5: I don't know that I'd want to eat them for breakfast.
- 34:56Speaker 5: That's a bit, you know, what's the word I'm looking for?
- 35:00Speaker 5: That's a little bit overdoing it or overzealous, but save
- 35:04Speaker 5: some macarons for post-game desserts.
- 35:07Speaker 2: No doubt about that, my friend.
- 35:08Speaker 3: That will be fun starting up next week whenever The
- 35:12Speaker 3: Steelers go to Paris. There will be lots to do
- 35:15Speaker 3: for you, the other folks in and around the media,
- 35:18Speaker 3: and the organization in a whole. I know last year
- 35:22Speaker 3: in Ireland there was a lot to do there, but
- 35:24Speaker 3: I'm sure there will be plenty to do in Paris
- 35:26Speaker 3: as well.
- 35:26Speaker 6: Is Tampa known for any food?
- 35:28Speaker 5: I mean, it's like a lot of transplants there, I guess.
- 35:32Speaker 5: So I feel like there's nothing that stands out to
- 35:35Speaker 5: me as like, oh, yeah, that's kind of the delicacy
- 35:37Speaker 5: of Tampa or the Tampa Bay region. I'm sure seafood is– Yeah,
- 35:42Speaker 5: probably pretty big, you know, shrimp and stuff. But I
- 35:45Speaker 5: don't like nothing really comes to mind. I think there's
- 35:47Speaker 5: some like some major beer brands.
- 35:51Speaker 6: Down there, but I don't know. Maybe we might have
- 35:53Speaker 6: to ask Casey Phillips that, too, when we get her on.
- 35:56Speaker 3: Well, I do know when you go down more south
- 35:59Speaker 3: into Clearwater and Bradenton, Florida, where the Pirates, of course,
- 36:02Speaker 3: have their spring training. That is where they're known for
- 36:05Speaker 3: orange juice, Tropicana in particular. And Tropicana, that's the name
- 36:08Speaker 3: of the baseball, right? The stadium right there, Tropicana Field
- 36:12Speaker 3: in Tampa Bay. So if nothing else, Brian Backo, you
- 36:15Speaker 3: can go get some orange juice, get some oranges. You're
- 36:17Speaker 3: in the state of Florida.
- 36:18Speaker 6: Some oysters, maybe. I'm not really an oysters eater.
- 36:21Speaker 5: I like seafood, but I don't mess too much with
- 36:24Speaker 5: the shellfish, like oysters and clams.
- 36:27Speaker 6: If they're in a chowder or something, that's fine.
- 36:30Speaker 5: But I'm sure I'll get some good eating out there
- 36:32Speaker 5: with Wes Euler. And who knows, maybe Nick Farabaugh will
- 36:36Speaker 5: pop his head in. Some of our other friends of
- 36:40Speaker 5: the show, Mike DeFabo, might pop his head in at
- 36:43Speaker 5: some point. It'll be a good weekend, even if we're
- 36:45Speaker 5: just hanging out, watching some ball, hopefully doing so outside.
- 36:48Speaker 3: Yeah, that's for sure. You guys are, like I said,
- 36:51Speaker 3: you're going to. You're going to have fun in Tampa
- 36:52Speaker 3: this week and Paris next week. I'll be back here
- 36:54Speaker 3: in Pittsburgh holding the fort down for you, though, my friend,
- 36:57Speaker 3: here on the Steelers Report and at SNR. We'll have
- 36:59Speaker 3: some good programming into next week. We will miss you,
- 37:01Speaker 3: Brian Bacco, but we'll see. Maybe you can even call
- 37:04Speaker 3: in maybe for a segment over in Paris next week.
- 37:07Speaker 2: We'll see.
- 37:08Speaker 5: Go ahead. I'm going to say I'm going to have
- 37:09Speaker 5: to pack two bags, I guess, because get back Sunday
- 37:12Speaker 5: night after the game and then two nights later, it's
- 37:15Speaker 5: off to it.
- 37:16Speaker 6: Well, I guess three nights later, but. hey, you know,
- 37:19Speaker 6: packing is a pain. I hate packing, but these back-to-back.
- 37:23Speaker 5: We got like a road game and then a super
- 37:24Speaker 5: road game to get to. So it's coming fast and
- 37:27Speaker 5: furious now, at least up until the bye week.
- 37:30Speaker 3: Yeah, you'll have a quick turnaround, as will the rest
- 37:33Speaker 3: of the organization, getting back from Tampa and then heading
- 37:36Speaker 3: overseas for the Paris game.
- 37:38Speaker 2: The following Sunday.
- 37:39Speaker 3: All right, let's get into some NFL leftover terrible takes
- 37:42Speaker 3: for you, Double B. The Kansas City Chiefs will be
- 37:45Speaker 3: the last unbeaten team in the NFL this season. So
- 37:48Speaker 3: you have the 49ers, the Vikings, and the Chiefs all
- 37:51Speaker 3: currently undefeated on the year. Niners and Vikings are 5-0.
- 37:55Speaker 3: Vikings on a bye this week. The Chiefs coming off
- 37:57Speaker 3: of a bye. They're still 4-0. But the Chiefs, is
- 38:00Speaker 3: it a terrible take or not that they will be
- 38:02Speaker 3: the last unbeaten team out of those three?
- 38:03Speaker 5: I think I predicted it to be the Niners the
- 38:05Speaker 5: other day on the show, but I'm not going to
- 38:08Speaker 5: say that's terrible simply because it's the Chiefs, it's Patrick Mahomes,
- 38:11Speaker 5: Andy Reid, Travis Kelsey. They've just found ways to win
- 38:14Speaker 5: so often in the past, even in the regular season.
- 38:17Speaker 5: It seemed like they maybe let their guard down on
- 38:19Speaker 5: that a little bit a year ago and some injuries
- 38:21Speaker 5: set in, but it seems like they're back to that
- 38:23Speaker 5: this year, so I wouldn't be shocked if they are
- 38:25Speaker 5: the last team standing unbeaten.
- 38:28Speaker 3: Yeah, and, you know, again, it's tough to stay unbeaten
- 38:31Speaker 3: in 2026 in the NFL. Really, you know, we know
- 38:35Speaker 3: the Dolphins did. We know the Patriots did it a
- 38:37Speaker 3: handful of years back. They didn't get to the complete.
- 38:39Speaker 3: season regular season undefeated we should say but it's it's
- 38:42Speaker 3: very challenging to do that and you know you you're
- 38:45Speaker 3: talking about talking to your uh your young son Dawson
- 38:47Speaker 3: about the uh Barry Sanders highlights I was talking to
- 38:51Speaker 3: my son Brendan on the way to school today about
- 38:53Speaker 3: repeat Super Bowl champs because he said boy dad the
- 38:55Speaker 3: Seahawks don't look as good as they did last year
- 38:57Speaker 3: so far and I said well buddy they're still a
- 38:59Speaker 3: pretty good team but you just got to understand that
- 39:01Speaker 3: it's very hard and challenging in today's NFL to repeat
- 39:05Speaker 3: as Super Bowl champs.
- 39:07Speaker 2: Chiefs were the last to do it a number of
- 39:09Speaker 2: years ago.
- 39:10Speaker 3: But it's set up, the NFL is, and that's what
- 39:12Speaker 3: makes it so great for a lot of these storylines
- 39:15Speaker 3: each and every NFL season to go from worst to first.
- 39:18Speaker 3: But it's very hard to repeat as champs, and it's
- 39:20Speaker 3: also very hard to stay undefeated.
- 39:22Speaker 5: There's so much inherent randomness with a 17-game regular season schedule. Obviously, baseball, hockey, basketball,
- 39:28Speaker 5: they're playing 162.
- 39:29Speaker 6: 82, 82 games. You know, the, the.
- 39:33Speaker 5: The talent or the, you know, quality of teams is
- 39:36Speaker 5: going to level off a lot more in those sports. Football, as,
- 39:40Speaker 5: as I always say, a funny shaped ball bounces in
- 39:43Speaker 5: odd ways. It can be the difference between 12 and
- 39:46Speaker 5: five and, 5-12, that's an exaggeration, but a lot of
- 39:50Speaker 5: teams play those one-possession games. Steelers and Bucs both play
- 39:53Speaker 5: a lot of one-possession games. That was highlighted in this
- 39:56Speaker 5: week's Matt's Stats from our guy Matt Williamson on Steelers.com.
- 40:00Speaker 5: I'm sure he and Wes Euler will break down the
- 40:02Speaker 5: stat packet coming up after.
- 40:04Speaker 6: Us today on SNR.
- 40:06Speaker 3: Stay tuned for that just here in about less than
- 40:09Speaker 3: 10 minutes. We'll get to SNR's The Drive. All right,
- 40:12Speaker 3: next up, the Vikings are the best team in the NFL, Brian,
- 40:15Speaker 3: and they will ride their defense to the Super Bowl
- 40:18Speaker 3: this year. Is that a terrible take or not? We
- 40:20Speaker 3: did our power rankings for top five offenses and defenses.
- 40:24Speaker 3: The offense wasn't on there, but the defense for both
- 40:26Speaker 3: of us was number one. You've had them for multiple
- 40:28Speaker 3: weeks at number one.
- 40:29Speaker 2: Kudos to you.
- 40:30Speaker 3: I bought onto the Vikings defense just a couple weeks ago,
- 40:32Speaker 3: but that defense is very good, the best in the
- 40:35Speaker 3: NFL right now. Can the Vikings ride that all the
- 40:37Speaker 3: way to the Super Bowl this season?
- 40:39Speaker 6: I'm going to go terrible take on that one.
- 40:40Speaker 5: I think they're the best defense right now based on
- 40:43Speaker 5: our rankings week in and week out, but I don't
- 40:45Speaker 5: think they're the best team.
- 40:46Speaker 6: I think the offense holds them back.
- 40:48Speaker 5: I know Kyler Murray missed a game with injury, but
- 40:51Speaker 5: it seems like that hasn't been a super successful pairing
- 40:56Speaker 5: just yet with Kevin O'Connell, and that could certainly turn around.
- 40:59Speaker 5: He's really good at getting the most out of his quarterbacks,
- 41:02Speaker 5: but no, I'm not going to go that.
- 41:03Speaker 6: Far, Ed.
- 41:05Speaker 3: Yeah, it's tough to, again, ride the Vikings all the
- 41:08Speaker 3: way to the Super Bowl just because of that NFC West, Brian,
- 41:12Speaker 3: that is so good with the 49ers, the Rams, and
- 41:16Speaker 3: even the Seahawks. I guess I was talking to my
- 41:17Speaker 3: son this morning about the Seahawks have taken a step
- 41:20Speaker 3: back so far this season, but they're still pretty darn
- 41:22Speaker 3: good and no doubt can still make it back to
- 41:24Speaker 3: the Super Bowl still early in the season. So we
- 41:27Speaker 3: gave you the best option. Let's go to our next
- 41:29Speaker 3: terrible take or not in the NFL. The Miami Dolphins
- 41:33Speaker 3: will go 0-17 this season and will not win a game.
- 41:36Speaker 3: Terrible take or not?
- 41:40Speaker 5: Terrible, terrible take. I'm too much of a believer in
- 41:43Speaker 5: Jeff Halfley and to some extent Malik Willis that I
- 41:47Speaker 5: think they'll find a way to pull out. a win,
- 41:50Speaker 5: even if it's just a game or two. I don't
- 41:52Speaker 5: think they go 0 for here, Ed.
- 41:54Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm with you there. I think there's too much
- 41:56Speaker 3: talent on Miami. They may not win more than one game,
- 41:58Speaker 3: Double B. That may be it. They may just be
- 42:00Speaker 3: a one-win team here in 2026, but I don't think
- 42:04Speaker 3: they'll go 0 for 17 for the entire season. All right,
- 42:08Speaker 3: next up, Bills quarterback Josh Allen is currently the frontrunner
- 42:12Speaker 3: for NFL MVP.
- 42:14Speaker 2: Terrible take or not?
- 42:15Speaker 6: Yeah, I think so.
- 42:16Speaker 5: He's managing injuries right now, and the Bills... pass catching core.
- 42:20Speaker 5: He's getting it done on the ground. That team just,
- 42:23Speaker 5: it goes as he goes. You can say that about
- 42:25Speaker 5: a lot of quarterbacks, but I think Allen probably takes
- 42:29Speaker 5: the cake in that regard. Although Brock Purdy's doing a
- 42:33Speaker 5: lot of what I just said, you could say the
- 42:34Speaker 5: same for Purdy, but I'll say not a terrible take
- 42:39Speaker 5: at all to just hit your wagon to big number 17, right,
- 42:42Speaker 5: Josh Allen?
- 42:43Speaker 3: Yeah, you got it, number 17. Okay, we're two for two.
- 42:46Speaker 3: We have two terrible takes. and two non-terrible takes. We've
- 42:49Speaker 3: got our last one here, so this will decide the
- 42:51Speaker 3: NFL terrible take. We were five for five on the Steelers'
- 42:54Speaker 3: ten terrible takes when we wrapped up our number one
- 42:57Speaker 3: here on the show today. So let's see what we
- 42:59Speaker 3: do here in the NFL with you, Double B.
- 43:00Speaker 2: The last one is.
- 43:02Speaker 3: The Jacksonville Jaguars are the best team in the AFC.
- 43:06Speaker 3: So I gave you the Vikings in the NFC, and
- 43:08Speaker 3: you said that was a terrible take. How about the
- 43:10Speaker 3: Jacksonville Jaguars? They are the best team in the AFC.
- 43:13Speaker 3: Terrible NFL take or not?
- 43:15Speaker 4: No.
- 43:15Speaker 5: Terrible I think you can make the case at least
- 43:17Speaker 5: I'll give you the the benefit of the doubt there
- 43:20Speaker 5: a little bit Ed I don't think they'd be my
- 43:23Speaker 5: best but hey you can't really argue with some of
- 43:26Speaker 5: the numbers they're supporting Jacksonville and Trevor Lawrence is you
- 43:31Speaker 5: know he's a dude who seems to get better better
- 43:33Speaker 5: and better every year and tapping into that vast potential
- 43:36Speaker 5: that he had as the number one pick and you
- 43:38Speaker 5: know you got to like the skill guys they haven't
- 43:40Speaker 5: really even utilized Brian Thomas Jr., their first round wide
- 43:43Speaker 5: out from LSU a couple years ago. But Parker Washington
- 43:47Speaker 5: has really stepped up. I don't think it's a terrible take.
- 43:50Speaker 5: It's in that gray area of I don't necessarily agree,
- 43:52Speaker 5: but I can't say it's.
- 43:53Speaker 6: Terrible, Ed.
- 43:54Speaker 3: Yeah, Jacksonville definitely out to a great start, 4-1 for
- 43:58Speaker 3: the first five weeks. They've looked strong at times, that's
- 44:00Speaker 3: for sure. And, well, that takes it to 3-2. Three
- 44:05Speaker 3: of the five terrible takes we just gave were not
- 44:08Speaker 3: terrible takes, only two terrible takes.
- 44:10Speaker 2: So that is how we go there.
- 44:12Speaker 3: It was 5-5 earlier today when we did the 10
- 44:15Speaker 3: terrible takes. Well, that's going to do it for the
- 44:17Speaker 3: show for today. We thank you for listening to the
- 44:19Speaker 3: Steelers Report. I'm Ed Troop alongside Brian Bacco. Up next,
- 44:23Speaker 3: it's Wes Euler and Matt Williamson on SNR's The Drive
- 44:27Speaker 3: right here on Steelers Nation Radio, part of the Steelers
- 44:30Speaker 3: Audio Network.