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

• 0:09
  Speaker 1: This is In the Locker Room with Rob King, Max Starks,
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: and Willie Colon on Steelers Nation Radio. Brought to you
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: in part by the Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop.steelers.com.
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: And by your neighborhood Ford store. The F-150 is the
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: official truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: Woo!
• 0:45
  Speaker 3: Per request.
• 0:54
  Speaker 4: How about that one right there? That is what I'm
• 0:58
  Speaker 4: talking about. That's coming back with a bang into hour
• 1:01
  Speaker 4: number two, Will. No optimist horn.
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: Until now.
• 1:09
  Speaker 5: He's still pulled up.
• 1:12
  Speaker 6: Hey, he spun the block on us.
• 1:14
  Speaker 3: Optimus spun the block on us.
• 1:15
  Speaker 7: He's taking Ronnie Ise to the next tour stop.
• 1:18
  Speaker 3: That's what he's doing.
• 1:19
  Speaker 6: It's going to take a semi-truck to get him there.
• 1:24
  Speaker 3: Justin found the live version of that, too. That was
• 1:27
  Speaker 3: good stuff right there.
• 1:28
  Speaker 7: That's my favorite Ise Brother song, by the way. Just
• 1:32
  Speaker 7: thought we'd bring that back. That was by request here.
• 1:35
  Speaker 6: Yeah, good job, Rob.
• 1:36
  Speaker 3: In the locker room. By the way, again, because I'm
• 1:40
  Speaker 3: in that.
• 1:41
  Speaker 7: Mood today, very briefly playing guitar for the Isley Brothers
• 1:46
  Speaker 7: on tour, Jimi Hendrix.
• 1:49
  Speaker 3: That's right. One year.
• 1:50
  Speaker 5: I think I did know that.
• 1:52
  Speaker 3: How about that? Okay, so here we go.
• 1:57
  Speaker 7: We are going through our power rankings and we're going
• 2:00
  Speaker 7: to be joined by Jim Wexler coming up in a
• 2:01
  Speaker 7: little bit. So here's our Weekly look at the power
• 2:03
  Speaker 7: rankings using the athletic. I'm going to recap in case
• 2:06
  Speaker 7: you're joining us now. 49ers 1, Chiefs 2, Seahawks 3,
• 2:10
  Speaker 7: Buffalo 4, Rams 5, Jacksonville 6. We all think Jacksonville
• 2:17
  Speaker 7: could be a couple spots higher. The Vikings 7. We're
• 2:20
  Speaker 7: all standing around that balloon with a pin waiting for
• 2:23
  Speaker 7: it to happen, but we'll see.
• 2:24
  Speaker 3: They're at the Saints. Chance to go 5-0. The Bears
• 2:27
  Speaker 3: at 8.
• 2:29
  Speaker 7: I could personally see them nudge the spot or two higher.
• 2:32
  Speaker 7: The Broncos at 9. The Ravens, 10. The Patriots, 11.
• 2:38
  Speaker 7: My pick for the overrated team of the week, the
• 2:41
  Speaker 7: Lions at 12. The Raiders at 13. We are caught up.
• 2:45
  Speaker 7: Here we go. Dallas Cowboys, number 14 at 2-2, up
• 2:50
  Speaker 7: from 17. The Bengals at 15, also 2-2, holding steady
• 2:55
  Speaker 7: after losing to the Jaguars by 5. And the Philadelphia Eagles...
• 3:01
  Speaker 7: at number 16, also 2-2, and sounds of some grumbling
• 3:05
  Speaker 7: going on in Philadelphia, not enjoying being 2-2. Max, why
• 3:09
  Speaker 7: don't you take first chomp at this? Cowboys 14, Bengals 15,
• 3:14
  Speaker 7: Eagles 16.
• 3:17
  Speaker 4: The Eagles, you know, I think this is about where
• 3:20
  Speaker 4: the Eagles should be, and now they're going to be
• 3:22
  Speaker 4: Saquon Barkley-less for the foreseeable future, and they were kind
• 3:26
  Speaker 4: of already a teetering team, so I feel like they're
• 3:29
  Speaker 4: They're in the middle class right now of the NFL. Bengals,
• 3:34
  Speaker 4: I mean, they can put up points, but like you said,
• 3:37
  Speaker 4: I mean, you know, defensively there's going to be some questions.
• 3:39
  Speaker 4: I mean, when you think about just how they've lost
• 3:41
  Speaker 4: two of their games, one against us and also against
• 3:45
  Speaker 4: the Jaguars, they do have to have, you know, they
• 3:48
  Speaker 4: still have some questions to answer.
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: They can put up points and gobs at times. So
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: I'm not really worried. The Cowboys won.
• 3:58
  Speaker 4: TBD, I feel like that might be a little rich
• 4:01
  Speaker 4: for them at 2-2. I'd probably reshuffle that and throw
• 4:03
  Speaker 4: them at the end of that list versus them being
• 4:06
  Speaker 4: at the beginning of that list. It's just I still
• 4:08
  Speaker 4: don't trust their defense. I still don't really trust it.
• 4:12
  Speaker 4: And even their offense, their offense is good, but that defense,
• 4:17
  Speaker 4: it still gives me tinges of last year. I just
• 4:21
  Speaker 4: think when it comes to the big games, I don't
• 4:23
  Speaker 4: know if they can compete. And right now I'm looking
• 4:25
  Speaker 4: at what Philly's doing.
• 4:29
  Speaker 6: Philly, I think, is still a better team in that division.
• 4:30
  Speaker 4: That's why, you know, I feel like, you know, they're
• 4:33
  Speaker 4: in the position that they're in. Washington, we'll see what
• 4:37
  Speaker 4: happens with Jaden Daniels supposedly coming back this week, if
• 4:40
  Speaker 4: they can do things. I mean, that's going to be
• 4:43
  Speaker 4: a challenge for them as well. And then the Giants.
• 4:45
  Speaker 4: I mean, I think we haven't heard the Giants yet. Yeah,
• 4:49
  Speaker 4: and the Giants, I feel like, yeah, top.
• 4:51
  Speaker 5: Of the division.
• 4:52
  Speaker 7: We got some news here for you guys. It involves
• 4:55
  Speaker 7: the team you were just talking about, the Eagles. They just,
• 4:58
  Speaker 7: and thanks for Justin Miller for catching this, they just
• 5:00
  Speaker 7: traded Cam Juergens, two-time All-Pro center, to the Ravens. That
• 5:08
  Speaker 7: moves Vega from center back to guard, where he was
• 5:12
  Speaker 7: starting at the beginning of the season.
• 5:14
  Speaker 3: That's his natural position. That's a massive trade. They give
• 5:19
  Speaker 3: up a.
• 5:22
  Speaker 7: Seventh, and they get back a second and a fifth,
• 5:25
  Speaker 7: I believe, is the second pick coming back. That is a,
• 5:29
  Speaker 7: and he's 27 years old, two-time Pro Bowl center for Juergens.
• 5:32
  Speaker 7: That is a big pickup by the Baltimore Ravens.
• 5:36
  Speaker 3: And I don't know.
• 5:38
  Speaker 7: The Eagles depth chart well enough to know if they
• 5:40
  Speaker 7: have somebody that's waiting in the wings there. But that
• 5:43
  Speaker 7: is a very interesting trade from the Eagles' perspective and
• 5:47
  Speaker 7: an apparent home run deal for me for the Ravens.
• 5:51
  Speaker 5: Well, you got to understand this too, Rob. You got
• 5:53
  Speaker 5: to understand this too, Rob.
• 5:54
  Speaker 8: The Eagles are also dealing with their All-world right tackle
• 5:58
  Speaker 8: Lane Johnson.
• 5:59
  Speaker 5: I think, announcing retirement.
• 6:01
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 6:02
  Speaker 8: He talked about it Sunday that he just wasn't in
• 6:04
  Speaker 8: the right mind space to play Sunday, and now it
• 6:09
  Speaker 8: looks like he has one hand on the door.
• 6:12
  Speaker 5: Looking to push himself out.
• 6:14
  Speaker 8: So if you're the Eagles right now who weren't spectacular
• 6:18
  Speaker 8: at all Sunday, who struggled offensively, and now– They have
• 6:23
  Speaker 8: a bevy of injuries between Devontae Smith and Saquon.
• 6:28
  Speaker 5: And now Lane Johnson being out.
• 6:29
  Speaker 2: Dallas Goddard.
• 6:31
  Speaker 5: Dallas Goddard.
• 6:32
  Speaker 8: So, you know, they're in terrible waters, man. And, you know,
• 6:37
  Speaker 8: now this, you wonder if this is where they're kind
• 6:41
  Speaker 8: of blowing it up without actually blowing it up in
• 6:43
  Speaker 8: the offseason where they're saying, listen, this is who we are.
• 6:46
  Speaker 5: It's been a great run.
• 6:48
  Speaker 8: Let's start front-loading and start seeing what we can get. Listen,
• 6:53
  Speaker 8: the Giants are winning the division right now. They're at
• 6:55
  Speaker 8: the top of the division. So I think the Eagles
• 6:58
  Speaker 8: know who they are right now and maybe not playoff worthy.
• 7:01
  Speaker 8: So they may start setting this thing off. It's going
• 7:06
  Speaker 8: to be an interesting move.
• 7:08
  Speaker 3: I think I'm ready to downgrade the Eagles.
• 7:11
  Speaker 7: Lane Johnson retired and they just traded their center camp.
• 7:15
  Speaker 3: They're overrated.
• 7:16
  Speaker 7: You know, that is, but man, that is some bold
• 7:21
  Speaker 7: stuff from the Eagles. Willie, I think you're reading it
• 7:24
  Speaker 7: exactly right. I think that's exactly what they're doing. Go ahead, Will.
• 7:30
  Speaker 4: I was going to say, they do have Willie Lampkin,
• 7:35
  Speaker 4: a guy they brought in last year. And Willie's been fighting,
• 7:39
  Speaker 4: and Nick Sirianni's been talking about him glowingly. I was
• 7:42
  Speaker 4: watching him during training camp kind of talking about Willie
• 7:45
  Speaker 4: Lampkin and, you know, I have, I guess I have
• 7:47
  Speaker 4: a soft spot. He's a, he's a OLP guy and
• 7:51
  Speaker 4: I've kind of watched him from his training days. And, uh,
• 7:54
  Speaker 4: I mean, the kid can fight. He he's, he's undersized
• 7:57
  Speaker 4: for the position, but I think that's kind of what
• 7:59
  Speaker 4: the Eagles have always gone a little bit undersized, untraditional.
• 8:02
  Speaker 4: I mean, Jason Kelsey, wasn't the biggest dude ever, um,
• 8:05
  Speaker 4: either playing center. So they don't mind the undersized, but
• 8:08
  Speaker 4: like you said, the Lane Johnson issue is one that's bigger.
• 8:11
  Speaker 4: Cause that's now Markel bell. that's been playing there. And
• 8:13
  Speaker 4: then your swing guy is Fred Johnson, but Fred Johnson's injured.
• 8:16
  Speaker 4: The reason why I know that, he's a former Gator.
• 8:19
  Speaker 4: And we used to see him all the time in Cincinnati.
• 8:23
  Speaker 4: So Fred Johnson is their swing guy that might potentially
• 8:27
  Speaker 4: probably battle Markel Bell, but Markel Bell is your guy. So,
• 8:31
  Speaker 4: you know, for the Eagles, yeah, they've wheeled and dealed
• 8:33
  Speaker 4: for about six, seven years where Howie Roseman's kind of
• 8:37
  Speaker 4: just been able to kind of do a Mickey Loomis, right?
• 8:39
  Speaker 4: You know, kick the can down the road. But eventually,
• 8:43
  Speaker 4: your talent has to kick in. And they spent so
• 8:46
  Speaker 4: many resources defensively. And now guys are gone. You're having
• 8:50
  Speaker 4: to trade guys. And now you're having to refill the cupboard.
• 8:52
  Speaker 4: So it wouldn't surprise me if in this mode, they're like, hey,
• 8:55
  Speaker 4: we got to blow up. We got to get this
• 8:56
  Speaker 4: offensive line young again. Because our offensive line is getting
• 8:59
  Speaker 4: old at the tooth. And if we can get a
• 9:01
  Speaker 4: resource back to get another stab at it for next year,
• 9:05
  Speaker 4: because we don't plan on going too far, that's why
• 9:07
  Speaker 4: you trade away a Cam Juergens type player and move
• 9:10
  Speaker 4: into the right direction.
• 9:11
  Speaker 3: That is a Bold move.
• 9:14
  Speaker 8: They simply can't run the ball, and Jalen Hurst is
• 9:16
  Speaker 8: getting exposed. So I think since they can't unload him
• 9:20
  Speaker 8: right away, I think right now.
• 9:21
  Speaker 5: Well, they can, honestly, at the end of the season,
• 9:23
  Speaker 5: see what happens.
• 9:24
  Speaker 8: But nevertheless, man, they have no rhythm or continuity, and
• 9:31
  Speaker 8: their whole offense is built around running the football, and
• 9:34
  Speaker 8: they simply can't do it. So this may be a
• 9:36
  Speaker 8: direction they have to head in to get to greater pastures.
• 9:39
  Speaker 3: Wow, crazy.
• 9:40
  Speaker 7: That's some wild news. Number 17 is the Cleveland Browns. Listen,
• 9:50
  Speaker 7: to the victor goes the spoils. I mean, hey, listen,
• 9:53
  Speaker 7: they beat us.
• 9:55
  Speaker 3: They beat us.
• 9:55
  Speaker 5: That's what it is, Jack.
• 9:57
  Speaker 2: And it's funny that they're third in the power ring.
• 10:00
  Speaker 6: But number one in our division.
• 10:01
  Speaker 7: Yeah, that is. You're right, that is. And they've got
• 10:06
  Speaker 7: the Jets at the Jets. Willie, I'm sure you're going
• 10:09
  Speaker 7: to have an interest in that game.
• 10:11
  Speaker 6: God bless you, Willie.
• 10:13
  Speaker 7: It's– I don't know, man. Again, they were one of
• 10:19
  Speaker 7: my teams at the beginning of the year that I
• 10:21
  Speaker 7: thought was going to be better. I think that's about right.
• 10:23
  Speaker 7: I think 17 is about right.
• 10:26
  Speaker 6: They're 3-1, correct?
• 10:27
  Speaker 3: Yeah, they're 3-1.
• 10:30
  Speaker 6: And you had the Lions at what number?
• 10:31
  Speaker 3: 12.
• 10:34
  Speaker 6: And they're what?
• 10:34
  Speaker 4: 2-2.
• 10:35
  Speaker 7: A lot of 2-2 teams. Every team in the league
• 10:39
  Speaker 7: is 2-2, it feels like. It's just a crazy amount
• 10:41
  Speaker 7: of 2-2 teams.
• 10:42
  Speaker 4: So you would think the 3-1s would kind of have
• 10:44
  Speaker 4: a little bit better say on that, like the Raiders
• 10:47
  Speaker 4: as well.
• 10:47
  Speaker 3: Setting aside the Rams, of course, everybody else maybe.
• 10:52
  Speaker 6: Stop it, stop it, stop it. Yes, they are the
• 10:54
  Speaker 6: Alabama Crimson Tide.
• 10:55
  Speaker 3: I get it. Okay, Carolina is 18. They're up from 24.
• 11:00
  Speaker 7: They kind of took it to the Lions this week,
• 11:03
  Speaker 7: so that is interesting.
• 11:06
  Speaker 3: And where are the Lions again?
• 11:07
  Speaker 6: Where are the Lions again?
• 11:09
  Speaker 3: They're 12.
• 11:10
  Speaker 6: And who beat the Lions?
• 11:12
  Speaker 3: Yes, I know.
• 11:13
  Speaker 7: I know the Carolina Panthers have a bye coming up
• 11:16
  Speaker 7: this week, by the way. But that whole NFC South, man. Look,
• 11:20
  Speaker 7: I'm glad the Falcons are out of the way because
• 11:22
  Speaker 7: all of a sudden they look like they're really good. Carolina,
• 11:24
  Speaker 7: I mean, who knows what you're going to get week
• 11:26
  Speaker 7: to week with these teams. Number 19. That was where
• 11:29
  Speaker 7: I had the Steelers slotted. And number 19 is the
• 11:34
  Speaker 7: Indianapolis Colts. Who are coming in.
• 11:38
  Speaker 6: Rob's out of the pony race.
• 11:40
  Speaker 7: Yep.
• 11:40
  Speaker 3: They beat the Commanders 30-13. However, however.
• 11:45
  Speaker 2: In London town. In London town.
• 11:48
  Speaker 7: I am happy to report that I'm actually closest to
• 11:52
  Speaker 7: the retail price among the three of us because the
• 11:55
  Speaker 7: Steelers are number 20.
• 11:57
  Speaker 3: I should have picked 21.
• 11:57
  Speaker 6: I knew I should have split the difference.
• 11:59
  Speaker 7: Justin's like, Justin's throwing his hand up in the air.
• 12:01
  Speaker 7: Justin looks like he was out on the dance floor
• 12:03
  Speaker 7: right now.
• 12:04
  Speaker 3: He's like, yep, I had him. I had 20. He's
• 12:06
  Speaker 3: throwing up gang signs right now.
• 12:07
  Speaker 6: I don't even know what Justin's doing. He's throwing up
• 12:09
  Speaker 6: gang signs at us.
• 12:10
  Speaker 3: It feels very aggressive.
• 12:12
  Speaker 5: Yeah.
• 12:13
  Speaker 7: I'm reaching into the small on my back to see
• 12:14
  Speaker 7: what I got back there after he threw it.
• 12:16
  Speaker 8: Okay.
• 12:16
  Speaker 3: Anyway.
• 12:17
  Speaker 5: Shiny.
• 12:18
  Speaker 3: Very sharp.
• 12:21
  Speaker 7: So the Steelers tumble from 14 to 20. And interesting
• 12:28
  Speaker 7: that there are still teams behind them.
• 12:31
  Speaker 4: So.
• 12:33
  Speaker 7: They're not the lowest-ranked 2-2 team. They're certainly not the highest.
• 12:36
  Speaker 7: And I suppose you can see– look, who have they beaten?
• 12:39
  Speaker 7: They've beaten a Falcons team that had their third-string quarterback,
• 12:42
  Speaker 7: and they beat a Bengals team that's ranked ahead of them,
• 12:44
  Speaker 7: of course.
• 12:46
  Speaker 3: But that's where they are. So, I guess I can't
• 12:49
  Speaker 3: gripe too much with that.
• 12:51
  Speaker 7: 21 is your 3-1 New York Giants.
• 12:55
  Speaker 3: 3-1 New York Giants are behind us.
• 12:56
  Speaker 6: That might be a little low. I mean, but it
• 12:58
  Speaker 6: is James Winston.
• 13:00
  Speaker 3: Falcons are 2-2. But that's why they use rates.
• 13:02
  Speaker 5: That's why they gave him 21 because it is James Winston.
• 13:04
  Speaker 6: Okay.
• 13:04
  Speaker 9: Yeah, exactly.
• 13:04
  Speaker 5: 22, the Falcons. 23 at 2-2 is the Packers.
• 13:05
  Speaker 3: Not a lot of belief in the Packers right now.
• 13:07
  Speaker 5: 24, the Texans at 0-4.
• 13:08
  Speaker 7: 25, the Saints at 1-3. 26, the Commanders at 1-3. 27,
• 13:10
  Speaker 7: the Jets at 1-3. 28, Arizona at 1-3. 29, the
• 13:11
  Speaker 7: Chargers 0-4.
• 13:32
  Speaker 3: Wow. Wow.
• 13:34
  Speaker 5: Yeah.
• 13:35
  Speaker 3: 30 in the box at 0-4.
• 13:37
  Speaker 7: I mean, those have got to be the two most
• 13:41
  Speaker 7: surprising 0-4 teams in quite some time in the NFL.
• 13:45
  Speaker 3: I would have to think more about that. Disappointing. Come on, man.
• 13:48
  Speaker 6: Disappointing. I would say disappointing.
• 13:50
  Speaker 5: Yeah.
• 13:51
  Speaker 7: For what they were touted. The Dolphins are 0-4 at 31.
• 13:56
  Speaker 7: Tennessee is 0-4 at 32. So your Steelers are ranked
• 14:00
  Speaker 7: number 20. We've got to take a break because our
• 14:02
  Speaker 7: buddy Jim Wexel is going to be joining us in
• 14:05
  Speaker 7: the locker room when we continue here on the Steelers
• 14:07
  Speaker 7: Audio Network.
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: This is In the Locker Room with Rob King, Max Starks,
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: and Willie Colon on Steelers Nation Radio. Brought to you
• 14:22
  Speaker 1: in part by the Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop.steelers.com.
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: And by your neighborhood Ford store. The F-150 is the
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: official truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
• 14:36
  Speaker 3: Uh-oh. Guess what day it is. Guess what day it is.
• 14:42
  Speaker 8: Huh?
• 14:42
  Speaker 5: Anybody?
• 14:43
  Speaker 3: Anybody? Julie, hey, guess what day it is. Oh, come on.
• 14:46
  Speaker 3: I know you can hear me.
• 14:48
  Speaker 6: Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike.
• 14:49
  Speaker 3: What day is it, Mike? Leslie, guess what today is.
• 14:54
  Speaker 2: It's hump day.
• 14:57
  Speaker 6: That's right.
• 14:58
  Speaker 4: When you hear that sound, Rob, you know it's a
• 15:01
  Speaker 4: Wex Wednesday here inside the locker room.
• 15:04
  Speaker 6: We are back on schedule.
• 15:06
  Speaker 2: The world is right.
• 15:08
  Speaker 4: And, of course, we have our good friend, from Steel
• 15:11
  Speaker 4: City Insider himself, the editor-in-chief, the man, the myth, the legend, Mr.
• 15:16
  Speaker 2: Jim Wexel on the line with us.
• 15:18
  Speaker 3: How are we.
• 15:18
  Speaker 6: Doing today, Jim?
• 15:20
  Speaker 9: Really good, Max. You know, Max, when I pass, I
• 15:23
  Speaker 9: want to have you present me to St. Peter there
• 15:27
  Speaker 9: at the gate to see if I can get some
• 15:30
  Speaker 9: entrance there. You're the best introduction guy I've ever had.
• 15:35
  Speaker 7: Yeah, he's... But, you know, luckily, I don't want him
• 15:39
  Speaker 7: to just do the introductions and go away.
• 15:41
  Speaker 3: We want to keep him for the entirety of the show.
• 15:44
  Speaker 7: Hey, Jim, you know, I have to tell you, and
• 15:47
  Speaker 7: I don't think we asked you about this last week,
• 15:50
  Speaker 7: and probably should have.
• 15:52
  Speaker 3: Forgive me if we did. But, you know, every time
• 15:54
  Speaker 3: I hear that.
• 15:54
  Speaker 7: Voice, it just sounds so, especially at the very beginning,
• 15:59
  Speaker 7: it sounds so much like Wolf. And I know that
• 16:02
  Speaker 7: you did the book with Wolf. I hope that that's
• 16:05
  Speaker 7: going well. I think it is. I think the sales
• 16:07
  Speaker 7: have been good. But your thoughts on Wolf going in and,
• 16:11
  Speaker 7: you know, Faith accepting that at the Hall of Honor
• 16:14
  Speaker 7: a couple of weeks ago before we get on to
• 16:16
  Speaker 7: the current state of the Steelers.
• 16:18
  Speaker 9: Yeah, well, Faith, you know, she's the best. She's been
• 16:21
  Speaker 9: the best. And she's been great to work with. I've
• 16:24
  Speaker 9: worked with her. We've done signings. And she's really enthusiastic.
• 16:29
  Speaker 9: And she is just a real positive. And I think
• 16:35
  Speaker 9: I said this. to you if I didn't, I apologize,
• 16:38
  Speaker 9: but you know, you, you see her and you want
• 16:42
  Speaker 9: to console her, but she consoles you and that, uh,
• 16:46
  Speaker 9: and of course she's not happy, but she is, uh, uh,
• 16:51
  Speaker 9: she's so enthusiastic about life in general and, uh, she's
• 16:55
  Speaker 9: handling it better than she's an example for all of us.
• 16:58
  Speaker 9: Let's put it that way. And, uh, for her to
• 17:01
  Speaker 9: watch her, uh, she's lost, I don't know, 80 pounds,
• 17:05
  Speaker 9: I think she told me in the spring, so maybe
• 17:07
  Speaker 9: it's up to 90, 100 or something. I don't know
• 17:10
  Speaker 9: if you saw how fit and svelte she looked on
• 17:15
  Speaker 9: Heinz Field when she came out. She was wearing Wolf
• 17:19
  Speaker 9: Letterman's jacket, you know, that was presented to her as
• 17:22
  Speaker 9: part of the Hall of Honor. And they took a
• 17:25
  Speaker 9: picture of her, which she now has on her Facebook page.
• 17:28
  Speaker 9: It's so cool. And you're just so happy for her
• 17:31
  Speaker 9: to have overcome this. Cause I haven't overcome it yet.
• 17:35
  Speaker 9: And obviously Rob, you haven't either. Cause I heard that.
• 17:39
  Speaker 9: I heard that. What is that? The camel or something
• 17:41
  Speaker 9: like that?
• 17:42
  Speaker 5: Yeah.
• 17:42
  Speaker 9: Mike, it sounds like.
• 17:44
  Speaker 3: Yeah. Mike, the camel intro. Yeah.
• 17:48
  Speaker 5: Yeah.
• 17:48
  Speaker 9: I heard that somewhere else last week and right away,
• 17:52
  Speaker 9: right away you think a wolf. And so I'm glad
• 17:55
  Speaker 9: you still do too. And I, I play it forever,
• 17:58
  Speaker 9: you know, So we can all remember Wolf at least
• 18:02
  Speaker 9: once a week, but for sure, of course, for sure.
• 18:07
  Speaker 6: Yeah, absolutely.
• 18:08
  Speaker 5: Jim.
• 18:08
  Speaker 4: And, and I think, you know, as we kind of,
• 18:12
  Speaker 4: you know, turn the page here to where the current
• 18:15
  Speaker 4: state of the Steelers is and, and, you know, we
• 18:17
  Speaker 4: try and operate with a Wolfley optimism, but sometimes that's
• 18:21
  Speaker 4: a little bit, a little tough when you take one
• 18:23
  Speaker 4: under the chin to the, to the team that's right
• 18:26
  Speaker 4: across the border in Ohio. Um, You know, just kind
• 18:30
  Speaker 4: of your assessment of kind of what you saw unfold
• 18:34
  Speaker 4: on Thursday night. Like, what was your knee-jerk journalistic reaction
• 18:40
  Speaker 4: to kind of how that game unfolded and ultimately ended?
• 18:45
  Speaker 9: You want to know the truth? I was impressed by
• 18:47
  Speaker 9: some of the Browns' young players. They have legitimate weapons
• 18:52
  Speaker 9: at wide receiver. That slot receiver is so quick. Concepcion.
• 18:56
  Speaker 6: Oh, Concepcion, yeah.
• 18:58
  Speaker 9: And, of course, Boston, we expected that kind of deep threat,
• 19:01
  Speaker 9: and he was. And, you know, they've got a modicum
• 19:06
  Speaker 9: of decent quarterback play, and that's the position they're still
• 19:12
  Speaker 9: going to have to find. But they have a real
• 19:14
  Speaker 9: running back, a real left tackle, that rookie left tackle.
• 19:19
  Speaker 9: To go along with some of the studs they have
• 19:21
  Speaker 9: on defense, there's a lot of talent there. So I'm
• 19:24
  Speaker 9: not as– I expected this. And I didn't see a
• 19:31
  Speaker 9: different Steeler mindset the week before. And I'm only going
• 19:35
  Speaker 9: to use Cam as an example. He's not, this isn't
• 19:38
  Speaker 9: a big deal, but just this, it was a little
• 19:42
  Speaker 9: thing to me. It told me that they still haven't
• 19:45
  Speaker 9: learned about going to Cleveland on Thursday nights when he
• 19:49
  Speaker 9: was on Rich Eisen's show and he talked a little
• 19:52
  Speaker 9: bit about the Steelers-Browns. And then he said, OK, Cam,
• 19:56
  Speaker 9: on a different level here, put on your media analyst
• 19:59
  Speaker 9: hat and tell me who you think the best team
• 20:02
  Speaker 9: in the AFC is. And I thought for sure he
• 20:07
  Speaker 9: was going to say the Cleveland Browns. I mean, that's
• 20:09
  Speaker 9: the only answer. I want to hear from a player
• 20:11
  Speaker 9: in the middle of a four-day week, a scrunched-up week
• 20:15
  Speaker 9: where you've never accomplished this feat of beating Cleveland in
• 20:20
  Speaker 9: Cleveland on a Thursday night. So he said the Bills
• 20:24
  Speaker 9: or something and gave a couple other teams. I just
• 20:28
  Speaker 9: see it's a minor thing, but it kind of revealed
• 20:31
  Speaker 9: the entire team's mindset. And when everybody was shocked and
• 20:38
  Speaker 9: pointing fingers and blaming coach and blaming Tomlin and blaming
• 20:42
  Speaker 9: the owner and blaming the GM, let alone the quarterback
• 20:46
  Speaker 9: and TJ and everyone you want to blame. I just
• 20:51
  Speaker 9: blame the mindset. As a group, they haven't learned. And
• 20:55
  Speaker 9: they did come out and score in the first drive. Great.
• 20:59
  Speaker 9: But then, you know, the tackling issue, especially in the
• 21:05
  Speaker 9: second quarter, I've seen that before on Thursday night football.
• 21:11
  Speaker 9: I don't know. If I were to ask Patrick Queen
• 21:14
  Speaker 9: today about it, I would say, is there less willingness
• 21:18
  Speaker 9: to tackle on a Thursday, especially when you have a lead?
• 21:22
  Speaker 9: And so I wondered about that. I just think you're
• 21:25
  Speaker 9: going to see some real tackling this week. They'll be
• 21:29
  Speaker 9: all over the field. And it doesn't matter who's the coach.
• 21:33
  Speaker 9: This is human nature. And that's what that Thursday night
• 21:36
  Speaker 9: away thing is. It's human nature, especially against the Browns
• 21:39
  Speaker 9: when they're 2-1. And really, the whole city is just
• 21:44
  Speaker 9: on fire because of 2-1. They're not used to that.
• 21:48
  Speaker 9: But here comes a team they always beat, and they've
• 21:50
  Speaker 9: got some really interesting young talent, along with Denzel Ward.
• 21:54
  Speaker 9: I mean, you've got that guy. Now you can play man,
• 21:57
  Speaker 9: and you can blitz a lot more than the Pittsburgh
• 21:59
  Speaker 9: Steelers are going to blitz because they don't have Denzel Ward.
• 22:03
  Speaker 9: They don't even have... Well, that's the name who shall
• 22:06
  Speaker 9: not be mentioned. So those are my thoughts. Sorry to
• 22:11
  Speaker 9: ramble on.
• 22:11
  Speaker 3: No, not at all.
• 22:15
  Speaker 8: So, Jim, obviously the headlines that's kind of been peppered
• 22:19
  Speaker 8: around the news media news world is Mike McCarthy's comments
• 22:24
  Speaker 8: as far as cleaning up the house. And I know
• 22:25
  Speaker 8: you mentioned tackling just now and how that's one of
• 22:29
  Speaker 8: the focal points, considering that they did a poor job
• 22:31
  Speaker 8: on Thursday night.
• 22:33
  Speaker 5: But I think it's bigger than that.
• 22:34
  Speaker 8: And we talked about it yesterday on yesterday's show. It's
• 22:39
  Speaker 8: I think there's the genesis of that comes from this
• 22:41
  Speaker 8: team not putting on the shoulder.
• 22:43
  Speaker 5: Pads and really getting after it.
• 22:45
  Speaker 8: The brand of football that we are accustomed to seeing
• 22:47
  Speaker 8: the Steelers play seem has to be regressed. How much
• 22:51
  Speaker 8: do you think Mike McCarthy maybe regrets? not going to
• 22:56
  Speaker 8: the traditional way or the traditional format the Steelers are
• 23:00
  Speaker 8: accustomed to playing. And how do you expect all that
• 23:04
  Speaker 8: to change in a week going against a Colts team
• 23:06
  Speaker 8: who's hungry.
• 23:07
  Speaker 5: For a win?
• 23:09
  Speaker 9: Yeah, I don't think he regrets it. That's my take.
• 23:15
  Speaker 9: And it's an interesting take. I hadn't considered that. But
• 23:18
  Speaker 9: I was there, and they hit. They didn't tackle to
• 23:22
  Speaker 9: the ground. and that's the difference with Mike Tomlin. I
• 23:29
  Speaker 9: don't think it mattered. It could. You could have nailed it.
• 23:35
  Speaker 9: Maybe I'm sleeping on it. I think it has more
• 23:39
  Speaker 9: to do with traveling off a quick week, quick turnaround,
• 23:44
  Speaker 9: physical game, and Cleveland having more desire, and Cleveland having
• 23:51
  Speaker 9: a talented running back, too. And also, you know, I
• 23:56
  Speaker 9: think the 10 days off, I think you're going to
• 23:59
  Speaker 9: see a completely different defense, completely different aggressiveness and mindset.
• 24:05
  Speaker 9: And I think it just has more to do with
• 24:08
  Speaker 9: the schedule, the time off or lack thereof. So that's
• 24:13
  Speaker 9: what I would stick with. But you make a good
• 24:15
  Speaker 9: point about the lack of tackling in training camp. That's
• 24:19
  Speaker 9: something to consider. For him to admit that, that would
• 24:22
  Speaker 9: never happen. But deep down, deep down, he may have regrets, though, too.
• 24:29
  Speaker 7: Jim, I want to put on my optimist cap for
• 24:32
  Speaker 7: a moment. Not optimist prime, but optimist. Max was going
• 24:37
  Speaker 7: to get excited here when I went optimist prime, but optimist, Max,
• 24:41
  Speaker 7: not optimist. So, you know, I was I was dismayed
• 24:45
  Speaker 7: after Thursday night because of that second quarter.
• 24:50
  Speaker 3: Like the inability to stem the time. Now, Ty, the
• 24:53
  Speaker 3: team fought back, and they get a lot of credit
• 24:56
  Speaker 3: for that. They fought back.
• 24:57
  Speaker 7: They put themselves in a position to win the game
• 24:59
  Speaker 7: late or have an opportunity to win the game late.
• 25:02
  Speaker 7: It didn't happen, but they got off the mat.
• 25:07
  Speaker 3: But I was.
• 25:07
  Speaker 7: Dismayed by that second quarter and the lack of response. Boy,
• 25:10
  Speaker 7: you make one stop or one good drive, and maybe
• 25:14
  Speaker 7: you seize control of that game again. But now that
• 25:16
  Speaker 7: I've stepped back, I've thought, okay, well, you're 2-2. And
• 25:20
  Speaker 7: you just mentioned this. The first two weeks, everyone's talking, oh,
• 25:22
  Speaker 7: the defense is great. Patrick Graham has done wonders. And
• 25:25
  Speaker 7: look at how this defensive philosophy is flexible. We've got
• 25:29
  Speaker 7: to get the offense going, right? Now the offense is going,
• 25:32
  Speaker 7: but the defense isn't going. So the optimist in me
• 25:35
  Speaker 7: wants to say, well, what happens if you get them
• 25:37
  Speaker 7: both going? And what happens if you find that balance
• 25:40
  Speaker 7: offensively within the run and the pass? There might be
• 25:43
  Speaker 7: a lot more brighter days. I want to be an
• 25:46
  Speaker 7: optimist here today on this hump day. There might be
• 25:48
  Speaker 7: some brighter days for the Steelers if they can get
• 25:50
  Speaker 7: those two halves to kind of coalesce.
• 25:54
  Speaker 9: Well, you know, the secondary is a problem. And boy,
• 26:03
  Speaker 9: everybody was so excited about the secondary coming into the season, too.
• 26:07
  Speaker 9: And that's a shame. So that's an issue. But, you know,
• 26:13
  Speaker 9: the defensive line is young. I know Harmon's out, but
• 26:18
  Speaker 9: I just don't understand all the rebuild talk, the get
• 26:25
  Speaker 9: rid of this old team, clean this up. It's really not.
• 26:28
  Speaker 9: I mean, both lines are so young. And I look
• 26:31
  Speaker 9: at that offensive line, and you're going to go through
• 26:33
  Speaker 9: some ups and downs. And the downs will come on
• 26:36
  Speaker 9: the road in a rabid stadium in which you can't hear.
• 26:39
  Speaker 9: And I feel they'll rebound this week, and they have
• 26:42
  Speaker 9: the running back. They still need weapons. It was good
• 26:46
  Speaker 9: to see D.K., come on and Roman and they're tight ends.
• 26:50
  Speaker 9: They have tight ends. They have the running back and
• 26:54
  Speaker 9: I guess Donald's back too. So, you know, to, to
• 27:01
  Speaker 9: get them both rolling, as you say, I, I just
• 27:04
  Speaker 9: think you're just going to have some ups and downs
• 27:06
  Speaker 9: with the young offensive line that I'm still excited about.
• 27:10
  Speaker 9: I I'm, I'm really excited about this offensive line and
• 27:14
  Speaker 9: you've got guys who can speak more expertly than I can.
• 27:18
  Speaker 9: But if Honitore was on the road, I thought he
• 27:20
  Speaker 9: did okay. Especially with the sacks were more coverage sacks.
• 27:26
  Speaker 9: And again, the Browns have Denzel Ward and they can
• 27:29
  Speaker 9: do things. And Tyson Campbell's a good corner too. So
• 27:33
  Speaker 9: the Steelers, they don't have that. It's a secondary issue.
• 27:36
  Speaker 9: And I know no one wants to talk about the
• 27:40
  Speaker 9: guy who shall not be named, but that's a key blow.
• 27:44
  Speaker 9: And I wonder if it had any effect on the
• 27:47
  Speaker 9: rest of the team at all last week. And if
• 27:51
  Speaker 9: it will going forward, especially with some of those veteran
• 27:55
  Speaker 9: secondary players were so close to Joey and mentoring him
• 27:58
  Speaker 9: and perhaps even guiding him through this, how's that going
• 28:02
  Speaker 9: to play out? How does TJ want like that? Those
• 28:06
  Speaker 9: are some points that have to be watched. But I'm not,
• 28:10
  Speaker 9: I'm not down on this as a, team that needs
• 28:13
  Speaker 9: to totally rebuild. I think the offensive line has been rebuilt.
• 28:17
  Speaker 9: Now it needs to play, and you're going to have
• 28:19
  Speaker 9: the ups and downs. I'm sure William Max will agree
• 28:22
  Speaker 9: with that. Look at the rebuild in 2007-2008, which they
• 28:27
  Speaker 9: were part of. They had some kids on those lines,
• 28:30
  Speaker 9: and it took some time, and they eventually pulled it out.
• 28:35
  Speaker 9: I don't know that this team could pull it out,
• 28:37
  Speaker 9: but the line's going to take some time, and I
• 28:39
  Speaker 9: think it's going to be a good And that's more
• 28:44
  Speaker 9: than half the battle when you're rebuilding.
• 28:49
  Speaker 3: Yeah, and I agree.
• 28:50
  Speaker 4: And you're absolutely right, Jim. Like, you know, this is
• 28:54
  Speaker 4: what the process looks like. And it's more a renovation
• 28:59
  Speaker 4: than a rebuild. You know, but renovations do take time.
• 29:03
  Speaker 4: You know, you go to any place. it has an
• 29:06
  Speaker 4: existing structure, you know, yeah, they're scaffolding up in some places.
• 29:09
  Speaker 9: Yeah.
• 29:10
  Speaker 6: It doesn't look good at moments, but the bones are
• 29:12
  Speaker 6: still good.
• 29:13
  Speaker 4: And you do, like you said, you had to rebuild
• 29:16
  Speaker 4: a D you're rebuilding a defensive line, rebuilding an offensive line.
• 29:20
  Speaker 6: That's where it starts. You know, for everybody that.
• 29:22
  Speaker 3: Wants to, Oh, it's a quarterback.
• 29:23
  Speaker 2: No, the quarterback is dropped in after all the other
• 29:25
  Speaker 2: things are taken care of.
• 29:26
  Speaker 6: Right.
• 29:26
  Speaker 9: You know, that's what happened with you guys.
• 29:28
  Speaker 5: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
• 29:30
  Speaker 2: So, so it's, yeah, it happened to us. And I
• 29:33
  Speaker 2: was a part of that.
• 29:34
  Speaker 3: No four.
• 29:35
  Speaker 2: We had a great defense.
• 29:37
  Speaker 6: We didn't have a quarterback.
• 29:38
  Speaker 2: The offensive line had great defense.
• 29:40
  Speaker 9: Bones.
• 29:40
  Speaker 4: You had skilled players. You went and you got Deuce
• 29:44
  Speaker 4: Staley in free agency to bolster Jerome Bettis in the backfield.
• 29:47
  Speaker 4: You had a college free agent in Willie Parker, and yeah,
• 29:51
  Speaker 4: you needed the quarterback. That was the catalyst, but you
• 29:54
  Speaker 4: can't build the house... Without, you know, I'm sorry, you
• 29:59
  Speaker 4: can't put a roof on a house that's not finished, right?
• 30:02
  Speaker 9: Exactly.
• 30:05
  Speaker 4: Yeah, so you're absolutely right, Jim. And I think that's
• 30:08
  Speaker 4: where I think a lot of people kind of get confused.
• 30:10
  Speaker 4: They're like, well, you know, hey, that roof looks good, man.
• 30:13
  Speaker 4: You know, you put on some nice tile on top
• 30:16
  Speaker 4: of that roof, but it's like there are no walls up.
• 30:19
  Speaker 4: There's like just bones. So why are you going to
• 30:22
  Speaker 4: put a roof on a house that essentially is a breezeway?
• 30:26
  Speaker 4: you know, you have to build the structure, right? You know,
• 30:29
  Speaker 4: you don't build a house without putting the floor in.
• 30:32
  Speaker 4: And so those are the things that I think people
• 30:35
  Speaker 4: kind of see. But this is that haircut moment. So,
• 30:39
  Speaker 4: you know, as you talk about, right, you know, human
• 30:42
  Speaker 4: nature is to rebound, right? When you're challenged and this
• 30:45
  Speaker 4: goes in the wild, you know, you're going to step up.
• 30:48
  Speaker 4: You know, if you're worth your salt, especially in this league,
• 30:51
  Speaker 4: you have to go and answer that. But what do
• 30:55
  Speaker 4: you see as– kind of the long-term kind of blind spots.
• 31:00
  Speaker 4: I know you talked about Cam Hayward and kind of
• 31:02
  Speaker 4: looking past the Browns, but you take that loss. Does that,
• 31:06
  Speaker 4: in your mind, does that send some clarity and sobriety?
• 31:10
  Speaker 4: Have you seen, you know, because I'm trying to think,
• 31:12
  Speaker 4: you know, I know from my, I can speak from
• 31:14
  Speaker 4: my time, but, you know, I want to get the
• 31:17
  Speaker 4: other perspective, you know, before I got there and obviously
• 31:19
  Speaker 4: after I left, just in your experience, Jim, just How
• 31:22
  Speaker 4: have you seen that play out in a long-term type
• 31:25
  Speaker 4: of deal? Do you think this is something where this
• 31:27
  Speaker 4: response has yielded that positive result when you've been challenged,
• 31:30
  Speaker 4: you take a disappointing loss? Have you seen it springboard
• 31:34
  Speaker 4: other years of Steelers where you've said, okay, this.
• 31:40
  Speaker 6: Was a turning point.
• 31:41
  Speaker 3: Is this a turning point for the team, or do you.
• 31:44
  Speaker 4: Think they haven't quite hit that rock-bottom point where they
• 31:47
  Speaker 4: start climbing themselves out?
• 31:50
  Speaker 9: Well... I'm going to have a disappointing answer for you.
• 31:55
  Speaker 9: I think it was the Browns who found themselves. I
• 31:58
  Speaker 9: think they realized they have some real talent. I mean, look,
• 32:01
  Speaker 9: they had the rookie of the year. I remember Tomlin
• 32:05
  Speaker 9: was talking about the Browns previewing them before the second meeting. And,
• 32:10
  Speaker 9: of course, in the middle, they've got a guy who's
• 32:12
  Speaker 9: probably going to be rookie of the year. And I
• 32:14
  Speaker 9: saw two or three of us wrote Mason Graham. is
• 32:18
  Speaker 9: the guy Tomlin. Tomlin wasn't talking about him. He was
• 32:21
  Speaker 9: talking about the middle linebacker, Schlesinger. So you've got him
• 32:24
  Speaker 9: and Graham and Verse and Ward and Campbell. And, boy,
• 32:29
  Speaker 9: that big safety from Toledo sure looked good. And two
• 32:32
  Speaker 9: receivers and a running back and a left tackle. That's
• 32:35
  Speaker 9: real blue-chip talent, too. That's top-five stuff the Browns have
• 32:39
  Speaker 9: been drafting for how long. So I don't know. I'm
• 32:44
  Speaker 9: just worried about the Browns, the future of this series.
• 32:48
  Speaker 9: I'm not sure adjusting the mindset will be enough going forward.
• 32:53
  Speaker 9: The Steelers, they have to get playmakers. They have to
• 32:55
  Speaker 9: get young playmakers. I'm happy with the line. I'm really
• 32:59
  Speaker 9: happy with the offensive line, especially watching a hot tour.
• 33:03
  Speaker 9: And I like Hoffman. And Dunker is back there, too.
• 33:07
  Speaker 9: So I'm really excited about that, and that's the first step.
• 33:10
  Speaker 9: Now it's time for playmakers. Guys like the Browns have
• 33:14
  Speaker 9: Judkins and Concepcion and Boston. Real playmakers. The Steelers have
• 33:21
  Speaker 9: nice tight ends. Serviceable wide receivers for now. I need
• 33:26
  Speaker 9: more out of DK Metcalf. And if Pittman has a
• 33:29
  Speaker 9: foot issue, that's a problem. That's a problem. So they
• 33:34
  Speaker 9: need playmakers. And I'm not really willing to say the
• 33:40
  Speaker 9: Steelers are going to turn it around against the Browns
• 33:43
  Speaker 9: because of this game. I just don't know.
• 33:48
  Speaker 8: Jim, can you quickly assess Aaron Rodgers up until this point?
• 33:52
  Speaker 5: You talk about playmakers. Obviously, he's the operator. How would
• 33:55
  Speaker 5: you assess where he's at currently in the season?
• 33:59
  Speaker 9: Good, but I think even he knows he could do better.
• 34:03
  Speaker 9: He's missing guys that he's never missed in the past.
• 34:06
  Speaker 9: I mean, he eventually would connect on fourth down and
• 34:09
  Speaker 9: finish the drive. He found a way to get there,
• 34:13
  Speaker 9: and I love that quarterback sneak call. I just love that.
• 34:16
  Speaker 9: That was gutty, and A lot of things I like.
• 34:21
  Speaker 9: His mobility is really surprising me. And his arm strength,
• 34:25
  Speaker 9: he still has it, but he seems to miss a
• 34:28
  Speaker 9: little too often. And he missed some open receivers, and
• 34:32
  Speaker 9: I didn't like his choice. Now, tell me if I'm wrong.
• 34:35
  Speaker 9: Didn't the Steelers have a timeout left at the end
• 34:38
  Speaker 9: of the game?
• 34:38
  Speaker 5: They sure did.
• 34:39
  Speaker 9: Yeah, they could have completed a shorter pass called timeout
• 34:43
  Speaker 9: and sent Boz out there.
• 34:45
  Speaker 6: So.
• 34:47
  Speaker 9: I don't know what Rodgers was thinking there, and it
• 34:50
  Speaker 9: just seems he's rushed, and maybe he's a little gun-shy
• 34:55
  Speaker 9: from playing behind a group that, before the offensive line
• 34:59
  Speaker 9: got to this point, they were younger. So is he
• 35:03
  Speaker 9: a little gun-shy from playing behind a really young offensive
• 35:08
  Speaker 9: line that didn't have all its pieces yet? I think
• 35:10
  Speaker 9: the pieces are now in place, and it's going to
• 35:13
  Speaker 9: get better. But I think he's a little too.
• 35:18
  Speaker 9: Happy feet. You know the old saying, he has happy feet.
• 35:22
  Speaker 9: And I think he's leaning into some sacks that are
• 35:25
  Speaker 9: being blamed on the offensive line that should maybe be
• 35:27
  Speaker 9: blamed on him. So I think he can play better.
• 35:31
  Speaker 9: I think he can play better. I think he's still
• 35:32
  Speaker 9: got the tools at 43. I think he can play better, though.
• 35:36
  Speaker 7: Jim Wexel on this hump day has been our guest
• 35:39
  Speaker 7: in the locker room. Jim, always great to get your perspective.
• 35:41
  Speaker 7: Thank you, my friend, for jumping in and joining us.
• 35:45
  Speaker 9: It was fun talking to you guys. Take care. Have
• 35:46
  Speaker 9: a great day.
• 35:47
  Speaker 3: Thanks, Jim Wexel. We're going to take a break.
• 35:51
  Speaker 7: More to come as we get over the hump day
• 35:53
  Speaker 7: and start looking forward to this Indianapolis Colts team when
• 35:56
  Speaker 7: we continue in the locker room here on the Steelers
• 35:58
  Speaker 7: Audio Network.
• 36:07
  Speaker 1: This is In the Locker Room with Rob King, Max Starks,
• 36:11
  Speaker 1: and Willie Colon on Steelers Nation Radio, brought to you
• 36:15
  Speaker 1: in part by the Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
• 36:18
  Speaker 1: from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop.steelers.com.
• 36:23
  Speaker 1: And by your neighborhood Ford store. The F-150 is the
• 36:27
  Speaker 1: official truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
• 36:31
  Speaker 2: Well, it's that time.
• 36:32
  Speaker 4: It's the final segment of the show.
• 36:35
  Speaker 6: It's the final episode. It's the final segment of the show.
• 36:38
  Speaker 4: Formerly the bell lap, but now I feel like it
• 36:43
  Speaker 4: should be the tribunal's decree.
• 36:48
  Speaker 6: That's right.
• 36:50
  Speaker 4: The trumpet horns let us know that we will be
• 36:54
  Speaker 4: dispelling and disseminating our.
• 36:58
  Speaker 4: Edicts, our thoughts, orders, all of those things. The town
• 37:03
  Speaker 4: has spoken, and now we shall respond. So, Rob, I'll
• 37:08
  Speaker 4: let you lead it off. I know we were going
• 37:10
  Speaker 4: to talk about kind of what Jim Wexel said and
• 37:12
  Speaker 4: kind of give our thoughts about it.
• 37:13
  Speaker 7: Yeah, I mean, this feels like it's a really interesting week, Willie,
• 37:20
  Speaker 7: because you have, you know, what they call the mini-bye.
• 37:23
  Speaker 7: You have some extra days after the Thursday night game.
• 37:26
  Speaker 7: didn't go the way you wanted to. Your coach comes
• 37:29
  Speaker 7: out and says, hey, we've got to clean our own house.
• 37:33
  Speaker 7: It seems like a real opportunity for a reset. I
• 37:39
  Speaker 7: think the big question, one of the big questions I'm
• 37:42
  Speaker 7: looking forward to seeing on Sunday, of course I want
• 37:45
  Speaker 7: to see the game, but how are you going to respond?
• 37:47
  Speaker 7: What is that going to look like when you're out
• 37:49
  Speaker 7: in the field? As a player, do you feel like, hey,
• 37:52
  Speaker 7: we're only four weeks in, but kind of got our
• 37:57
  Speaker 7: backs to the wall a little bit here. Our coaches
• 37:59
  Speaker 7: just said, we've got to clean our own house. And
• 38:01
  Speaker 7: I'm sure any self-evaluation says, yeah, he's right. We've got
• 38:04
  Speaker 7: to do this. So this is going to be a very,
• 38:07
  Speaker 7: very interesting response week for me to the Steelers playing
• 38:10
  Speaker 7: against the Colts.
• 38:12
  Speaker 3: Yeah, because I think it.
• 38:13
  Speaker 8: Determines whether Mike McCarthy has a repulse of the team
• 38:15
  Speaker 8: or not. Do they respect what he is throwing out there?
• 38:19
  Speaker 5: And are they actually following his orders?
• 38:22
  Speaker 8: Because, you know, like I– I talked about yesterday, we
• 38:26
  Speaker 8: knew one of Mike Thomas' superpowers is that he had
• 38:29
  Speaker 8: the ability to adjust and reset his team when he.
• 38:33
  Speaker 5: Felt like they were trending or moving in the wrong direction.
• 38:35
  Speaker 8: And now, Mike McCarthy has, you know, in his first
• 38:39
  Speaker 8: tenure as a Steeler head coach, has the opportunity to
• 38:43
  Speaker 8: show that he has the ability to right the ship
• 38:46
  Speaker 8: as a Steeler head coach. And so, you go against
• 38:49
  Speaker 8: a team who, in the Colts, who are going through
• 38:52
  Speaker 8: their own issues, right? You know, the supposedly Keenan Allen
• 38:56
  Speaker 8: will play. Alex Pierce won't be out there. The run
• 38:59
  Speaker 8: game has been up and down. The defense is struggling
• 39:02
  Speaker 8: at that. So you're going against the opposition that the
• 39:04
  Speaker 8: Steelers should beat. With that said, there's a brand of
• 39:08
  Speaker 8: football we're all looking for. Yes, we expect the Steelers
• 39:11
  Speaker 8: to beat the Colts, but we want to see offensively
• 39:16
  Speaker 8: The Steelers run the ball. You want to see us
• 39:19
  Speaker 8: have more consistency with our tight ends. We want to
• 39:22
  Speaker 8: see our defense play a more complete game where even
• 39:26
  Speaker 8: on the back end, they may be light as far
• 39:28
  Speaker 8: as depth and impersonality. You want to see the guys
• 39:31
  Speaker 8: that are out there understand the message, meaning that they
• 39:34
  Speaker 8: have to communicate and tackle a lot better.
• 39:36
  Speaker 5: And we want to see our.
• 39:37
  Speaker 8: Front seven be who they say they are. And then
• 39:41
  Speaker 8: collectively put it all together. Special teams also have to arrive.
• 39:45
  Speaker 8: So I think you're looking for a different set of–
• 39:50
  Speaker 8: I don't want to say different set of energy because
• 39:52
  Speaker 8: that's not what I mean. But you're looking for– a
• 39:56
  Speaker 8: team that played with a level of desperation and a
• 39:58
  Speaker 8: level of fight that you know things are moving in
• 40:02
  Speaker 8: the right direction because of what they're able to put
• 40:04
  Speaker 8: on tape. And it comes down to what Mike McCarthy
• 40:07
  Speaker 8: has done this week and our ability to see it
• 40:13
  Speaker 8: going into Sunday at 1 o'clock in Pittsburgh.
• 40:16
  Speaker 5: So it's going to be an interesting game.
• 40:18
  Speaker 9: It is.
• 40:19
  Speaker 8: And I think for a lot of people, I think
• 40:20
  Speaker 8: obviously optics matter and the results matter. But I think
• 40:25
  Speaker 8: a lot of people are just looking to see how
• 40:27
  Speaker 8: the Steelers respond after losing to the Browns on Thursday night,
• 40:30
  Speaker 8: having a 10-day layoff, and now have an opportunity.
• 40:34
  Speaker 5: To get a win at home. So we'll see. This
• 40:38
  Speaker 5: is a pivotal one, I think so.
• 40:39
  Speaker 3: You know, I think it's a great– I totally am
• 40:43
  Speaker 3: on board with absolutely everything you said. I will say this.
• 40:47
  Speaker 3: I'm sure that the Falcons are coming in here. I
• 40:50
  Speaker 3: beg you, the Colts.
• 40:51
  Speaker 7: If I look at the Colts, Max, and I see
• 40:53
  Speaker 7: a team under Shane Steichen, and last year it looked
• 40:56
  Speaker 7: like they were coming forward, and then Daniel Jones got
• 41:00
  Speaker 7: hurt and their season got derailed. I mean, they came
• 41:02
  Speaker 7: into Pittsburgh as one of the surprise stories, one of
• 41:04
  Speaker 7: the top teams, but they wound the season up on
• 41:07
  Speaker 7: a long losing streak. They were 8-9. His records in
• 41:11
  Speaker 7: his three years are 9-8, 8-9, 8-9. They're 2-2 this year.
• 41:15
  Speaker 7: They're almost the very definition at this point in his tenure,
• 41:20
  Speaker 7: and again, they're mitigating circumstances. But that middle of the
• 41:24
  Speaker 7: road team.
• 41:24
  Speaker 3: Right.
• 41:25
  Speaker 7: So you want to be better than a middle of
• 41:27
  Speaker 7: the road team. You know, Willie saying this is a
• 41:29
  Speaker 7: team you should beat. I think on the flip side,
• 41:31
  Speaker 7: the Colts are looking at the Steelers the same way.
• 41:34
  Speaker 7: We've told we've known this by the power rankings and
• 41:37
  Speaker 7: all the things that we look at that that the
• 41:39
  Speaker 7: way that I perceive the Chiefs as a very, very
• 41:43
  Speaker 7: much of an average team.
• 41:44
  Speaker 3: And that's not all bad. I mean, they're. you know,
• 41:46
  Speaker 3: they're an average football team. There are a lot of
• 41:48
  Speaker 3: teams worse.
• 41:49
  Speaker 7: A lot of teams are looking at the Steelers that way,
• 41:51
  Speaker 7: and a lot of people, and I'm sure they're coming
• 41:53
  Speaker 7: in here Sunday thinking, hey, this is our chance to
• 41:56
  Speaker 7: get the 3-2 and get our season going as well.
• 42:00
  Speaker 6: And right the ship from a year ago, right?
• 42:02
  Speaker 4: I mean, you know, they came in and their hopes
• 42:05
  Speaker 4: got dashed, and that essentially kind of springboarded the Steelers
• 42:09
  Speaker 4: in feeling like.
• 42:09
  Speaker 6: Okay, we're a legit team. We can still compete.
• 42:12
  Speaker 2: We're not that bad.
• 42:13
  Speaker 4: I mean, It could have been worse, you know, you
• 42:17
  Speaker 4: kind of say in your head. But you're absolutely right.
• 42:20
  Speaker 4: I mean, the Colts are trying to prove themselves and,
• 42:24
  Speaker 4: like I said, trying to bite their way out of mediocrity.
• 42:26
  Speaker 4: And who better to take down than a team that
• 42:29
  Speaker 4: kind of derailed everything from a year ago? And wouldn't
• 42:31
  Speaker 4: that exercise some demons for them as a squad? And,
• 42:37
  Speaker 4: you know, they're going to come in here pumped up
• 42:39
  Speaker 4: because they know that they just watched the Cleveland Browns
• 42:42
  Speaker 4: and they watched the New England Patriots. blitz us to
• 42:45
  Speaker 4: all hell, and we did not respond well, right? And
• 42:50
  Speaker 4: that's something that they're going to be keying in on
• 42:52
  Speaker 4: to say, you know what? This Steelers team, not as
• 42:55
  Speaker 4: good as I thought they were.
• 42:56
  Speaker 5: Not as good.
• 42:57
  Speaker 2: So, you know, we have a shot here, guys.
• 42:59
  Speaker 4: If we can just hold our water and come in
• 43:01
  Speaker 4: and just play a consistent brand, we can be the Browns.
• 43:06
  Speaker 4: They're going to come in and think they can be
• 43:07
  Speaker 4: the Browns. We have guys who can blitz. We have
• 43:09
  Speaker 4: guys who can pass rush in their mind. And so
• 43:12
  Speaker 4: for the Steelers, And Willie knows his axiom, right? It's that,
• 43:17
  Speaker 4: you know, when you put it on tape, it takes
• 43:19
  Speaker 4: at least four weeks. We always say four games to
• 43:22
  Speaker 4: erase a deficiency to where teams are not going to
• 43:25
  Speaker 4: do it. But until that point, teams are going to
• 43:28
  Speaker 4: test you every single week with the same stuff that
• 43:31
  Speaker 4: you lost to until you get four weeks removed from that.
• 43:35
  Speaker 4: So it's going to be a challenge. You're going to
• 43:38
  Speaker 4: expect double Mike A mug because we couldn't handle it.
• 43:40
  Speaker 4: You're going to expect twists and stunts. because we couldn't
• 43:43
  Speaker 4: handle it. You're going to expect the Steelers to play
• 43:46
  Speaker 4: soft zone, so a lot of underneath crossing routes and
• 43:48
  Speaker 4: clear-out routes and rub routes and choice routes to confuse
• 43:52
  Speaker 4: them in their zone, and maybe somebody will get lost
• 43:55
  Speaker 4: in the sauce. They're going to do all of these
• 43:57
  Speaker 4: things that the Browns did and that the Patriots did
• 44:00
  Speaker 4: against us because we didn't show we learned. We came out,
• 44:03
  Speaker 4: we played the Cincinnati Bengals in between those two losses,
• 44:06
  Speaker 4: but at the same time, the Bengals didn't play how
• 44:10
  Speaker 4: New England played because they had their own brand, and
• 44:11
  Speaker 4: they found out that didn't work. You can't just rush four,
• 44:14
  Speaker 4: drop seven, and run straight line rushes.
• 44:17
  Speaker 6: It's not going to work.
• 44:18
  Speaker 4: This team will beat you up up front, and they
• 44:21
  Speaker 4: did that to the Bengals' defensive line. So Cleveland said, uh-uh,
• 44:24
  Speaker 4: not on our watch. We got a man corner. We
• 44:26
  Speaker 4: can run man. We can run man press, and we
• 44:28
  Speaker 4: can force you not to throw those short routes that
• 44:30
  Speaker 4: Aaron Rodgers likes. You're going to have to go deeper
• 44:33
  Speaker 4: into the progression. I don't think you can get deeper
• 44:34
  Speaker 4: into the progression because I think our pass rush is
• 44:35
  Speaker 4: going to hit home. So those are the things that
• 44:38
  Speaker 4: they're having to work through And what they're going to
• 44:40
  Speaker 4: have to try and answer this week in practice starts
• 44:42
  Speaker 4: today to figure out how can we combat that because
• 44:45
  Speaker 4: we've put it out on tape now two times out
• 44:47
  Speaker 4: of the last four weeks.
• 44:48
  Speaker 7: And, you know, Willie, someone's going to come out of
• 44:50
  Speaker 7: this game feeling a lot better about their season. Remember
• 44:53
  Speaker 7: the Colts lost seven in a row after Jones got hurt.
• 44:56
  Speaker 7: And they were in some games. They were in the
• 44:58
  Speaker 7: game against the Seahawks. They lost in overtime to the Chiefs.
• 45:02
  Speaker 7: You know, they were in some games. But one of
• 45:04
  Speaker 7: these teams, look, you're not playing the 49ers, right? You're
• 45:08
  Speaker 7: not playing. the Chiefs, you're not playing an upper echelon
• 45:11
  Speaker 7: team this week. If you're either team, you're playing a team,
• 45:15
  Speaker 7: one of these teams is going to walk out of
• 45:16
  Speaker 7: Akershire and say, okay, we've proven that we're at least
• 45:21
  Speaker 7: in the top half of teams. Now let's go, because
• 45:23
  Speaker 7: we beat a team that's in the same kind of
• 45:25
  Speaker 7: area that we are. Now let's go get them here
• 45:27
  Speaker 7: the rest of the season. So for so many reasons,
• 45:31
  Speaker 7: this looms to me as a big game coming up
• 45:33
  Speaker 7: on Sunday.
• 45:35
  Speaker 8: The Steelers will hurt themselves mightily if they walk onto
• 45:39
  Speaker 8: the field and think what happened at Cleveland was simply
• 45:43
  Speaker 8: a farce and not look in the mirror and.
• 45:47
  Speaker 5: Understand who they currently are.
• 45:49
  Speaker 8: It's imperative that they not, you know, you've heard me
• 45:53
  Speaker 8: say this before, not eke off the bus, that once
• 45:57
  Speaker 8: they put their feet in cleats and that ball rolls
• 45:59
  Speaker 8: out there on Sunday, that there is a level of
• 46:01
  Speaker 8: desperation and fight that that exudes throughout the game. And
• 46:06
  Speaker 8: I think for everybody who, you know, I talked about
• 46:09
  Speaker 8: the naysayers. You know, we've talked about all the people
• 46:12
  Speaker 8: who are against the Pittsburgh Steelers and who they are
• 46:14
  Speaker 8: and what they stand for right now, even with the
• 46:17
  Speaker 8: aging quarterback and the overpriced defense, if you will. And now,
• 46:21
  Speaker 8: you know, JPJ, Joey Portagini is now the Cowboys. A
• 46:23
  Speaker 8: lot of people are happy, once again, that the Steelers
• 46:25
  Speaker 8: are kind of going through this turbulent time. But I
• 46:28
  Speaker 8: think this is also a time, if you're in that
• 46:30
  Speaker 8: locker room and you know everything that's circling around you,
• 46:33
  Speaker 8: it's imperative that you now understand like this is life
• 46:36
  Speaker 8: in the NFL.
• 46:36
  Speaker 5: And the only reason, only way, excuse me.
• 46:38
  Speaker 8: To get out of this kind of this time is
• 46:41
  Speaker 8: having the ability to shut people up by how you
• 46:44
  Speaker 8: play and what you put on tape. Mike Thomas said
• 46:47
  Speaker 8: it time after time, you know, your tape is your
• 46:49
  Speaker 8: walk and breathe and resume. The Steelers resume right now
• 46:52
  Speaker 8: is two and two, and there's questions riddled throughout this
• 46:55
  Speaker 8: team and you ease and you quiet some of that
• 46:59
  Speaker 8: stuff by going out and beating up on a Colts
• 47:01
  Speaker 8: team in a dominant fashion and and put the wrestling
• 47:03
  Speaker 8: division on note that you're not a sleeping dog because
• 47:08
  Speaker 8: the Browns left that game feeling like they can beat
• 47:10
  Speaker 8: the world.
• 47:10
  Speaker 5: Now by beating the Steelers.
• 47:13
  Speaker 8: It's time for the Steelers to understand that they start
• 47:17
  Speaker 8: taking names and they start making a list about who
• 47:21
  Speaker 8: they want to attack and how they want to go
• 47:22
  Speaker 8: get them. I would be motivated for a game like
• 47:26
  Speaker 8: this internally because I think we live in this world
• 47:29
  Speaker 8: of social media.
• 47:30
  Speaker 5: The Steelers aren't talked about.
• 47:32
  Speaker 8: The people feel like they're a dying dog and let
• 47:35
  Speaker 8: that dog go out to pasture and die slowly, and
• 47:38
  Speaker 8: that's how people are perceiving the Steelers. It's up to
• 47:39
  Speaker 8: the Steelers to change that narrative by simply beating the
• 47:44
  Speaker 8: Colts and stacking doves on top of that.
• 47:47
  Speaker 5: So it's up to this ball club. I think they
• 47:50
  Speaker 5: are who they are at this point. I don't think
• 47:51
  Speaker 5: anybody's coming through that door to save them. But it's
• 47:54
  Speaker 5: for them to recognize that.
• 47:55
  Speaker 3: Yep, for sure.
• 47:56
  Speaker 7: Totally agree. It is a big game for a number
• 48:00
  Speaker 7: of reasons. For the Steelers coming up tomorrow, Jerry Dulac
• 48:03
  Speaker 7: is going to join us. He's going to give us
• 48:04
  Speaker 7: the latest on the injuries and the expectations here, the
• 48:08
  Speaker 7: mood around the team. Matt Taylor, the outstanding play-by-play man
• 48:11
  Speaker 7: for the Colts, is going to join us. He'll give
• 48:13
  Speaker 7: you the intel on the Colts and what they're thinking
• 48:15
  Speaker 7: about going into this game on Sunday. Our thanks to
• 48:19
  Speaker 7: Jim Wexel for joining us. Our thanks to Justin Miller
• 48:22
  Speaker 7: at the controls. For Max Starks, for Willie Colon, I'm
• 48:26
  Speaker 7: Rob King. We thank you, as always, for being with
• 48:27
  Speaker 7: us in the locker room here on the Steelers Audio Network.