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

• 0:08
  Speaker 1: This is in the locker room with King and Starks
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: on Steelers Nation Radio, presented by your neighborhood Ford Store.
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: The F one fifty is the official truck of the
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: Pittsburgh Steelers and by Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: dot Steelers dot com.
• 0:29
  Speaker 2: And thank you very much for being with us in
• 0:31
  Speaker 2: the locker room with you, getting ready for a patch
• 0:34
  Speaker 2: up of division leading teams. The AFC North leading Pittsburgh
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: Steelers the NFC North leading Chicago Bears. This is the
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: battle for the North. This is the Starks versus the Boltons.
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: We have Max Starks. I think a Game of Thrones
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: fan with us, Max, your game of throws?
• 0:54
  Speaker 3: Wow? Wow, we we went with the Boltons. I'm giving
• 0:59
  Speaker 3: the Bear. We know who the Starks are. It's the Steelers, right,
• 1:03
  Speaker 3: I mean absolutely. I mean you know I'm not going
• 1:06
  Speaker 3: to go against that.
• 1:07
  Speaker 4: I mean, being being a fellow Starks, I'm not true.
• 1:16
  Speaker 3: Yeah, no, no, I was. I was like, okay, I
• 1:18
  Speaker 3: like where Rob's going with this already.
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: I was like, yeah, oh, Max, uh, I can't wait
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: for this one before we get too far going.
• 1:28
  Speaker 3: First of all, I hope you're doing well today on
• 1:29
  Speaker 3: this Friday. Yeah, yeah, no rain, no rain.
• 1:34
  Speaker 4: Happy to support that out here, so that makes me
• 1:37
  Speaker 4: a happy camper, of course it is. It's still a
• 1:39
  Speaker 4: little chilly, a little chillier for my liking. But but no,
• 1:43
  Speaker 4: I'm doing great. I mean, you know, Friday is always
• 1:47
  Speaker 4: that that fun day of the week in the work
• 1:49
  Speaker 4: week where it's like, all right, all the work is,
• 1:52
  Speaker 4: you know, is being done. It's the end. Now we
• 1:55
  Speaker 4: get to go have fun on the weekends. And of
• 1:57
  Speaker 4: course our definition of fun is lot different than everybody else's.
• 2:01
  Speaker 4: Ours is ours is actually going to work on Sunday
• 2:04
  Speaker 4: for us. So but going to see you know, anytime
• 2:08
  Speaker 4: you get a chance to see the Steelers play, it's
• 2:11
  Speaker 4: a delight. And you know, heading heading to the Windy
• 2:14
  Speaker 4: City and you know, still still not sure about the
• 2:18
  Speaker 4: weather conditions there for Missy Matthews, but we will chime
• 2:21
  Speaker 4: in with her later in the show that yeah.
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  Speaker 2: It's supposed to be beautiful, by the way, so we'll see
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  Speaker 2: supposed to be.
• 2:28
  Speaker 3: But it's Chicago.
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  Speaker 4: I've never put anything I don't trust, and I don't
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  Speaker 4: trust weather people that often.
• 2:34
  Speaker 2: I get you, by the way, our thanks to Noah
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: Hiles from the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, who did a feature
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: on the broadcast team that's in today's Post Gazette. So
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: if you want to check that out, you can. We
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: are getting ready for our game coming up before we
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: move ahead. Really important, really intriguing game last night between
• 2:57
  Speaker 2: the Bills and the Texans, with the Texas hanging on
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: at the end to defeat the Bills twenty three to nineteen.
• 3:04
  Speaker 2: I mean Josh Allen. So Josh Allen, by the way,
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: two hundred and fifty three yards. If you looked at
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: the numbers, two interceptions, sixty seven point four rating, you
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: know what's going on with Josh Allen. He he was
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: sacked eight times and hit another dozen times. I mean,
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: he took a beating. He early on in the game,
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: he fell awkwardly on a hit from behind by Will Anderson,
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: laid in the ground for a little while, got up.
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: You don't see that very often from Josh Allen. Stayed
• 3:37
  Speaker 2: in the game, but he was under siege the entire
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: game from Houston's top ranked defense. And now, you know,
• 3:45
  Speaker 2: we always talk about these power rankings and different things.
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: Suddenly now the Texans seem much more of a contender,
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: and the Bills now that just they by the way they'
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: won three in a row, has had the Texans and
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: now the Bills gain, they're gonna be extra desperate heading
• 4:03
  Speaker 2: into Akrascher Stadium next Sunday.
• 4:07
  Speaker 4: Yeah, no, I mean and and but this is who
• 4:10
  Speaker 4: the Bills have been, right. I haven't been able to
• 4:13
  Speaker 4: peg them yet as what they are as a team
• 4:17
  Speaker 4: because they are so up and down and it it's
• 4:22
  Speaker 4: I'm not gonna say it's frustrating.
• 4:23
  Speaker 3: Obviously.
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  Speaker 4: That's been this season like trying to figure out who
• 4:27
  Speaker 4: is who is for real who isn't. Like I said,
• 4:29
  Speaker 4: the parody, this season has been one of the best
• 4:33
  Speaker 4: because you know, everybody wants to crown somebody from week
• 4:39
  Speaker 4: to week.
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  Speaker 3: And that's why I talked about the with the power rankings.
• 4:42
  Speaker 4: You know, it's it's almost one of those things where
• 4:44
  Speaker 4: you hate putting teams up there in that top three
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  Speaker 4: because it's like the bulls eyes on their back and
• 4:50
  Speaker 4: I feel like they're gonna let you down the second
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  Speaker 4: you start to get a beat.
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  Speaker 3: On on who they are.
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  Speaker 4: And for the Buffalo Bills, this has been the tail
• 5:00
  Speaker 4: of the season for them. They are They're They're a
• 5:02
  Speaker 4: team that's I know, I know. It's like you look
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  Speaker 4: at the record, they're seven and four, which obviously you say, hey,
• 5:08
  Speaker 4: you're in a good position. But they're the second best
• 5:11
  Speaker 4: team in the AFC East, which isn't saying much. But
• 5:14
  Speaker 4: you know, New England is just the pace car for
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  Speaker 4: that AFC East right now. And they still got to
• 5:20
  Speaker 4: deal with them one more time, and this time they
• 5:22
  Speaker 4: have to come to New England because the New England
• 5:25
  Speaker 4: beat them earlier this season in Buffalo, and you know,
• 5:29
  Speaker 4: you at Miami, you thought you were going down there
• 5:32
  Speaker 4: for a game against a team that was just seemed
• 5:35
  Speaker 4: to be in shambles, and they boat raced you in Miami.
• 5:40
  Speaker 4: So it's it's looking it's looking tough for the Bills,
• 5:45
  Speaker 4: and you know, defensively, they've had a lot of injuries
• 5:49
  Speaker 4: and they've tried to overcome them. But at the same time,
• 5:53
  Speaker 4: you sit there and you're just like, man, what what
• 5:56
  Speaker 4: do we expect? Because Josh Allen's so up and down.
• 5:58
  Speaker 4: Normally you see his you see you know, him trying
• 6:01
  Speaker 4: and put the cape on and try and do too much.
• 6:02
  Speaker 3: But he does this every season.
• 6:04
  Speaker 4: There's always those games where your head scratched, like he
• 6:06
  Speaker 4: gets frustrated, he's trying to do too much, and then
• 6:09
  Speaker 4: the the issues happened. But like you said, I mean
• 6:12
  Speaker 4: that Texans defense. I had to give them all the
• 6:14
  Speaker 4: credit in the world. This defense has been this the
• 6:17
  Speaker 4: entire season. It's just the offense has not been able
• 6:19
  Speaker 4: to score. And we now say this again, with your
• 6:23
  Speaker 4: front line, franchise quarterback out, the backup comes in and
• 6:27
  Speaker 4: like saves the day to make it look better.
• 6:30
  Speaker 3: I mean we've seen a lot of times doing that. Yeah,
• 6:33
  Speaker 3: thank you for putting that out. Max.
• 6:34
  Speaker 2: I didn't mean interrupt, because I should have if people
• 6:37
  Speaker 2: didn't watch the game. Now I know you watched the game.
• 6:39
  Speaker 2: If people didn't watch the game, Yeah, Davis Mills is quarterback, right,
• 6:43
  Speaker 2: Yes he's CJ Stroud has hurt.
• 6:45
  Speaker 4: C J.
• 6:46
  Speaker 2: Stroud is expected back for their next game. So yes,
• 6:50
  Speaker 2: they're winning, or they won with Davis Mills a quarterback.
• 6:54
  Speaker 2: They've now won three in a row. And Max, they're
• 6:57
  Speaker 2: not dead. I mean, look, you you just laid out
• 6:59
  Speaker 2: the for Buffalo. So last night, as I was watching
• 7:03
  Speaker 2: the game, I started to think, Okay, can Houston, who
• 7:07
  Speaker 2: was the number one favorite to win their division among
• 7:10
  Speaker 2: all the divisions? I was listening to a pregame show
• 7:13
  Speaker 2: and they're talking about prognostications and they were putting in
• 7:15
  Speaker 2: the odds and that sort of stuff. As everyone knows
• 7:17
  Speaker 2: that listens to the show. I personally don't look at
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: lines and that kind of thing. It doesn't interest me.
• 7:23
  Speaker 2: But they were the heaviest favorite to win, right, And
• 7:27
  Speaker 2: that's what makes it interesting to me. What do people
• 7:29
  Speaker 2: think about this? So now, okay, they're six and five
• 7:35
  Speaker 2: and Indianapolis is eight and two, and Indianapolis is on
• 7:41
  Speaker 2: their by or just finished their bye. I beg your pardon.
• 7:44
  Speaker 2: So now they're coming off their by, and here is
• 7:47
  Speaker 2: their schedule. Here's Indianapolis's schedule. You ready, at Kansas City, Okay,
• 7:54
  Speaker 2: that's a desperate Chiefs team. Houston at home. Okay, that's
• 7:58
  Speaker 2: a massive game at Jacksonville at Seattle home against San
• 8:05
  Speaker 2: Francisco home against Jacksonville at Houston without looking, without you know,
• 8:11
  Speaker 2: seeing strength as scheduled. That has got to be the
• 8:15
  Speaker 2: toughest schedule any team is facing down the stretch has
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  Speaker 2: to be.
• 8:19
  Speaker 3: I mean, think about that.
• 8:22
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean it's not going to be easy. And
• 8:25
  Speaker 4: like you said, you got the Texans twice in that
• 8:29
  Speaker 4: and it's it's not gonna be a cakewalk at all.
• 8:33
  Speaker 4: And like you said, you know, the Texas now get
• 8:35
  Speaker 4: to sit and watch what everybody else does. And and
• 8:40
  Speaker 4: they've got they've got the w tucked away neatly in
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  Speaker 4: their pocket. And they're six and five football team, they're
• 8:45
  Speaker 4: above five hundred. I know we talked about how bad
• 8:47
  Speaker 4: it's been at times, but you know, you look at
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  Speaker 4: this team and it doesn't matter how how they win,
• 8:53
  Speaker 4: the defense will always keep them in games.
• 8:55
  Speaker 3: Right. And when we.
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  Speaker 4: Think about just how close these losses have been this
• 8:59
  Speaker 4: season for the Texans, you had to think. They lost
• 9:03
  Speaker 4: to the Broncos eighteen to fifteen, and that was a
• 9:06
  Speaker 4: game where you were just begging for somebody to kick
• 9:09
  Speaker 4: a field goal to win that game.
• 9:11
  Speaker 3: Right. It was a very tightly contested game. That Seahawks
• 9:14
  Speaker 3: game was painful to watch.
• 9:17
  Speaker 4: It was like the longest Monday night football game that
• 9:21
  Speaker 4: started late that I'd ever watched. I mean I was
• 9:23
  Speaker 4: up till past one am trying to watch this game.
• 9:26
  Speaker 4: And then of course you know do the post game
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  Speaker 4: four and that was a twenty seven to nineteen game,
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  Speaker 4: and really, you know, they had they had two bad
• 9:37
  Speaker 4: stretches where they lost to the Titans twenty six to zip.
• 9:41
  Speaker 4: Don't know how that happened that, but that was also
• 9:44
  Speaker 4: like week four of the season and then the Ravens
• 9:46
  Speaker 4: like boat raced you, but seventeen to ten, twenty to nineteen,
• 9:50
  Speaker 4: fourteen to nine. So this is a team that's hung
• 9:52
  Speaker 4: in with just about everybody minus two games that were
• 9:57
  Speaker 4: really bad and like you said, a three game win
• 9:59
  Speaker 4: streak with David Mills, Like who would have anticipated that?
• 10:02
  Speaker 4: But this defense is so Will Anderson is on a
• 10:05
  Speaker 4: defensive Player of the Year path right now. He is
• 10:08
  Speaker 4: playing out of his mind. He had two and a
• 10:10
  Speaker 4: half sacks Thursday night. Him and Daniel Hunter just seemed
• 10:13
  Speaker 4: to have a meeting at Josh Allen multiple times. And
• 10:16
  Speaker 4: then there was a worry for Bills fans because it
• 10:18
  Speaker 4: looked like Joshatt like he got injured really bad in
• 10:22
  Speaker 4: the game, but he came back. But this was one
• 10:25
  Speaker 4: where they just provided constant pressure on the Bills and
• 10:29
  Speaker 4: the Bills had no answer for the defensive group for
• 10:33
  Speaker 4: the Houston text. So that makes him a very dangerous team,
• 10:36
  Speaker 4: especially as we get later into the season.
• 10:38
  Speaker 2: Yeah, Will Anderson, by the way, seven sacks is a
• 10:40
  Speaker 2: rookie and you're thinking, okay, well, you know, such a
• 10:42
  Speaker 2: high pick and then eleven sacks last year. He has
• 10:45
  Speaker 2: ten and a half sacks right now in eleven games.
• 10:49
  Speaker 2: He has forced three fumbles, he's recovered two fumbles. He
• 10:53
  Speaker 2: has fourteen tackles for loss I mean he has just
• 10:57
  Speaker 2: been in Daniel Hunter. As you mentioned Hunter, He's got
• 11:00
  Speaker 2: eleven sacks, he's got eleven tackles for losses. I mean,
• 11:04
  Speaker 2: I don't know which one of those guys is is
• 11:08
  Speaker 2: Defensive Player of the Year. They might be splitting votes
• 11:10
  Speaker 2: in Houston. But you know, it's fun to watch these seasons.
• 11:16
  Speaker 3: Sort of.
• 11:18
  Speaker 2: You know, sort of you know, watched as another team's
• 11:22
  Speaker 2: journey goes up, it goes down, it goes left, it
• 11:24
  Speaker 2: goes right, and you know, we are we see what's
• 11:27
  Speaker 2: happening with the Steelers and we see them up front
• 11:29
  Speaker 2: and they're up and down and what's going on with them?
• 11:32
  Speaker 3: And you know this.
• 11:33
  Speaker 2: But I'll tell you, you know, Houston, I said this
• 11:37
  Speaker 2: before when they were ranked twentieth in the Power rankings
• 11:39
  Speaker 2: or whatever. If you told me at that point that
• 11:44
  Speaker 2: and I can't remember who number one was, maybe it
• 11:46
  Speaker 2: was the Eagles, And if you told me the first
• 11:48
  Speaker 2: ranked team in the NFL, the Eagles, We're going to
• 11:51
  Speaker 2: face the twentieth ranked team in the NFL, the Texans,
• 11:54
  Speaker 2: in the super Bowl. I'd have said, Okay, that doesn't
• 11:57
  Speaker 2: shock me. And it still wouldn't shock me that any
• 12:02
  Speaker 2: number of teams could make the super Bowl. Jerry Dulac
• 12:04
  Speaker 2: said yesterday, and this, I think this is heartening if
• 12:08
  Speaker 2: you're a Steelers fan. He said, Look, I think the
• 12:10
  Speaker 2: AFC is wide open. He said, you know, we've gone
• 12:12
  Speaker 2: through the power rankings and you know, every week, although
• 12:17
  Speaker 2: recently that's changed every week, it's you know, of the
• 12:21
  Speaker 2: top six teams, five of them have been in the NFC.
• 12:25
  Speaker 2: You have the Eagles, you have the Rams, you have
• 12:26
  Speaker 2: the Lions. Now you have the Seahawks, and on and on.
• 12:29
  Speaker 2: And Jerry says the AFC is wide open. And you
• 12:33
  Speaker 2: know what, Max, I can't disagree with him. And if
• 12:36
  Speaker 2: I'm a Steelers fan, I'm happy about that. You've got
• 12:39
  Speaker 2: just as good a chance as anybody else to get
• 12:41
  Speaker 2: into the playoffs and and and maybe you know, advance
• 12:46
  Speaker 2: for a few rounds and let's see what happens. But
• 12:49
  Speaker 2: you gotta win games like this one against Chicago. You
• 12:51
  Speaker 2: have to you have to go up and be able
• 12:53
  Speaker 2: to show you can beat quality teams like the Bears
• 12:56
  Speaker 2: on their home turf.
• 12:58
  Speaker 3: Yeah, you have to be to take the show on
• 13:00
  Speaker 3: the road.
• 13:01
  Speaker 4: You have to be able to go and play in
• 13:04
  Speaker 4: tough environments and overcome them and tough outdoor environments, right,
• 13:09
  Speaker 4: I mean, I think Chicago, you could argue, gives you
• 13:13
  Speaker 4: a very similar field of Buffalo. You know, and if
• 13:18
  Speaker 4: you go to Buffalo, you deal with similar extremes. Right
• 13:21
  Speaker 4: on the Great Lakes. You're a little bit further north,
• 13:24
  Speaker 4: and you know, the wind. The weather comes into play,
• 13:28
  Speaker 4: especially this time of year, anytime you get into November,
• 13:30
  Speaker 4: December and January football in those places, open air stadiums.
• 13:35
  Speaker 4: You know, there's a reason why Minnesota has a dome,
• 13:40
  Speaker 4: and it's not a fun place. But this is the
• 13:43
  Speaker 4: type of team, a team that's that's catching their stride offensively,
• 13:47
  Speaker 4: they have a good defensive structure.
• 13:49
  Speaker 3: So to go in there with all.
• 13:51
  Speaker 4: Things equal and being able to pull out a victory
• 13:55
  Speaker 4: and tucket in your chest, but also more importantly get
• 13:58
  Speaker 4: on a run. You know the street we you know,
• 14:01
  Speaker 4: we thought we were starting it with the Colts took
• 14:03
  Speaker 4: a step back with the Chargers. Now we're back on
• 14:05
  Speaker 4: pace again after the victory against the Bengals. Let's see
• 14:08
  Speaker 4: if we can string together some wins. That's where do
• 14:11
  Speaker 4: you know the true character of your team when you
• 14:12
  Speaker 4: can do it back to back. And that's what the
• 14:16
  Speaker 4: Steelers are searching, where they're searching for a two game
• 14:18
  Speaker 4: win streak. Right now they just have a victory, but
• 14:21
  Speaker 4: you know, you go streaking after two and this is
• 14:24
  Speaker 4: one where you want to try and keep those streaks
• 14:25
  Speaker 4: alive and gather momentum going into December football, because you
• 14:30
  Speaker 4: got a tough slate, you know, after that. And you know,
• 14:33
  Speaker 4: just as we talked about the Colts, you know, Steelers
• 14:35
  Speaker 4: have a tough slate coming up.
• 14:38
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and I listen, I can't wait. One of the
• 14:42
  Speaker 2: things when we look at the Bears and the Steelers,
• 14:45
  Speaker 2: and we mentioned this yesterday, is the turnovers. Right, the
• 14:50
  Speaker 2: Bears have forced twenty two, the Steelers have forced eighteen.
• 14:54
  Speaker 2: The Bears are number one in turnover margin in the NFL.
• 14:58
  Speaker 2: The Steelers are number three in turnover margin in the NFL.
• 15:02
  Speaker 2: But the Bears are leaders by a long shot. This
• 15:05
  Speaker 2: is what they do. And then you look at Caleb Williams.
• 15:08
  Speaker 2: Caleb Williams has five fumbles and he's lost none of them.
• 15:13
  Speaker 2: The Bears have fumbled. Now, the Steelers are the best
• 15:16
  Speaker 2: team in the NFL at recovering fumbles the Bears have lost.
• 15:19
  Speaker 2: The Bears have fumbled the ball eight times and lost
• 15:22
  Speaker 2: only one. And I wonder, Max, you know, as we
• 15:25
  Speaker 2: look and we're gonna dive into some of the specific
• 15:27
  Speaker 2: matchups again, we did some yesterday which will recap for
• 15:30
  Speaker 2: you a little bit. But I wonder if that's you know,
• 15:33
  Speaker 2: possibly an area the Steelers can exploit. Its something the
• 15:36
  Speaker 2: Bears have gotten away with this year, but maybe it's
• 15:39
  Speaker 2: something that the Steelers can pounce on a few of
• 15:41
  Speaker 2: those loose balls.
• 15:44
  Speaker 3: Yeah, well, that's that's what I'm hoping for.
• 15:46
  Speaker 4: And that's that's when the Steelers are at their best,
• 15:50
  Speaker 4: is when you're turning this team over. Now, they've been
• 15:52
  Speaker 4: a lot more judicious with the football than they have been,
• 15:55
  Speaker 4: you know, than the previous year. But that's where that's
• 15:59
  Speaker 4: where you gonna have the differentially. You have to get
• 16:01
  Speaker 4: the ball out of Caleb Williams in the offense's hands.
• 16:03
  Speaker 4: You got to steal some possessions for this game and
• 16:07
  Speaker 4: that's where we're looking at. You know some of those
• 16:10
  Speaker 4: things that you know, the reason why they have such
• 16:12
  Speaker 4: a great turnover margin is because they don't turn it
• 16:15
  Speaker 4: over and they and they seem to find a way
• 16:17
  Speaker 4: and a knack to turn the other team over. You're
• 16:19
  Speaker 4: talking about number one and number two and turnover margins
• 16:22
  Speaker 4: and both of these defenses that are going to be
• 16:24
  Speaker 4: taking the field and Soldier Field on Sunday. So you're
• 16:27
  Speaker 4: gonna have to try and gain the advantage on a
• 16:29
  Speaker 4: team that's that's relished in that advantage. That's what's helped
• 16:32
  Speaker 4: them be successful is being able to turn the ball
• 16:34
  Speaker 4: over and steal possessions from them. So we're gonna have
• 16:36
  Speaker 4: to try and steal possessions from the thiefs of possessions.
• 16:41
  Speaker 2: Sounds wonderful, sounds good. So many intriguing matchups in this
• 16:44
  Speaker 2: game is two division leaders are going to be going
• 16:46
  Speaker 2: at it on Sunday at Soldier Field. We're going to
• 16:49
  Speaker 2: get to some of those matchups. Missy Matthews joins us
• 16:52
  Speaker 2: at eleven o'clock as well. When we continue in the
• 16:55
  Speaker 2: locker room, presented by our neighborhood Forgeturing the Studis Pro
• 16:57
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• 17:00
  Speaker 2: Audio Network.
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: This is in the Locker Room with King and Starks
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: on Steelers Nation Radio, presented by your neighborhood Forward Store.
• 17:14
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  Speaker 1: Pittsburgh Steelers and by Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop
• 17:23
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• 17:26
  Speaker 2: And thanks very much for being back with us as
• 17:29
  Speaker 2: we get you ready in the locker room for the
• 17:32
  Speaker 2: Steelers and the Bears can't wait in Wrigley Field. As
• 17:37
  Speaker 2: of right now, the weather conditions don't look too bad.
• 17:40
  Speaker 2: High forties, maybe low fifties. You know, five six mile
• 17:43
  Speaker 2: an hour wins. That's relatively low, I think for the
• 17:46
  Speaker 2: windy City Max, as you know, the weather can change
• 17:50
  Speaker 2: up in Chicago, and you know, I think as you
• 17:54
  Speaker 2: think about this Bears offense, and yesterday we talked about
• 17:58
  Speaker 2: Darnell Wright and whether they will leave the really rising
• 18:02
  Speaker 2: young right tackle. He's becoming one of the best right
• 18:05
  Speaker 2: tackles in the league thirty year in first round pick
• 18:07
  Speaker 2: back in twenty twenty three, whether they will leave him
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  Speaker 2: alone with TJ. Watt, And then I think the Toney
• 18:13
  Speaker 2: matchup inside against Cam Hayward. You know, the other right guard,
• 18:18
  Speaker 2: Jonah Jackson, is a very fine player as well, and
• 18:20
  Speaker 2: so you know, either Benton or Harmon will likely for
• 18:24
  Speaker 2: the majority of the time be over him. So it's
• 18:27
  Speaker 2: a really interesting match up. The Bears went out this
• 18:29
  Speaker 2: offseason and they traded for Jonah Jackson. They traded for
• 18:33
  Speaker 2: Joe Tooney, three straight Pro Bowls for Tony, two time
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  Speaker 2: All Pro in that stretch. They picked up Drew Dolman
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  Speaker 2: at center. They solidified the middle of that line. They
• 18:42
  Speaker 2: let Darnell Write continue to mature as a player. If
• 18:45
  Speaker 2: had some injuries at left tackle, this might be an
• 18:47
  Speaker 2: opportunity for Nick Herberg or Alonzo high Smith Alex Highsmith bigger.
• 18:52
  Speaker 3: Alonzo Highsmith, Alex.
• 18:56
  Speaker 2: Ho Maco going into the wayback machine there.
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  Speaker 3: Sheeshah.
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  Speaker 2: Maybe one of those guys could provide some pressure from
• 19:04
  Speaker 2: that side. And then you know, with all that, you've
• 19:08
  Speaker 2: still got to find a way, Max to keep Caleb
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  Speaker 2: Williams in the pocket, because you know, we're talking to
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  Speaker 2: Matt Williamson yesterday, and Matt watches a lot of football
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  Speaker 2: around the league, and we all know how hard it
• 19:20
  Speaker 2: can be to get Lamar Jackson on the ground, the
• 19:22
  Speaker 2: students have been better than anybody at that But he said, hey,
• 19:25
  Speaker 2: I think Caleb Williams is the new guy, the new
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  Speaker 2: king at escaping back there. And for the games I've watched,
• 19:31
  Speaker 2: and I've watched eight of their ten games at this point,
• 19:34
  Speaker 2: I can't disagree. He is a tough guy to get down.
• 19:38
  Speaker 2: And if you play too much, man, he'll identify that,
• 19:41
  Speaker 2: he'll tuck it and he'll pick up a lot of
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  Speaker 2: yards on the ground. He's their third leading rusher.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, no, this is one that's gonna be a good challenge.
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  Speaker 4: I mean, the run game for the Bears has really
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  Speaker 4: been the engine that keeps things on track for Caleb
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  Speaker 4: Williams when he's in the air trying to pass the ball.
• 20:01
  Speaker 4: But you know, Caleb is one of those guys that
• 20:04
  Speaker 4: he is very tough to get down. He's very athletic
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  Speaker 4: in the pocket. He has great escapability, which makes him
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  Speaker 4: a slippery guy to try and take down. So, you know,
• 20:14
  Speaker 4: if you're the Steelers, you know you're picking your poison
• 20:17
  Speaker 4: on Okay, how do we want to attack this team?
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  Speaker 4: You know, because we saw a week ago where they
• 20:23
  Speaker 4: shut down that what seemed to be the top rye
• 20:26
  Speaker 4: receiving duo in the league between t Higgins and Jamar
• 20:29
  Speaker 4: Chase and held them to a very quiet six total
• 20:32
  Speaker 4: catches between the two of them. But in the previous weeks,
• 20:35
  Speaker 4: it's been stopping the run, you know, going after the
• 20:39
  Speaker 4: run game of teams and forcing the ball into the
• 20:42
  Speaker 4: quarterback's hands. Now, it didn't work out as well against
• 20:45
  Speaker 4: the Chargers with that approach, but you think about the
• 20:48
  Speaker 4: weeks before that, right, Jonathan Taylor, who's leading the league
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  Speaker 4: and rushing and touchdowns, and there he's mister Everything, Josh
• 20:54
  Speaker 4: Jacobs before that, holding them very pedestrian. So you know,
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  Speaker 4: the Steelers have shown they could do it both ways.
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  Speaker 4: And I think with the defense and how the injuries
• 21:03
  Speaker 4: have settled that group up, they've found a way. The
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  Speaker 4: secondary knows if we could hold up against these receivers,
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  Speaker 4: the pass rush is going to get after the quarterback,
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  Speaker 4: and just like we saw last night and Thursday night game,
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  Speaker 4: if you let that, if you let a pass rush
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  Speaker 4: like the Texans get after you, they're going to make
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  Speaker 4: it miserable. I think you say the same thing for
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  Speaker 4: the Steelers, right if you can, if the pass rush
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  Speaker 4: is allowed to hit home because the secondary is doing
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  Speaker 4: their job and locking up the receivers. This makes this
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  Speaker 4: a very, very tough day. But you've got to hold
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  Speaker 4: the run. The run is that glue. When you think
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  Speaker 4: about the Steelers losses, the run games have been the
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  Speaker 4: thing that have helped them. You think about, you know,
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  Speaker 4: against the Chargers, right, Kamani Vidal although he had he
• 21:44
  Speaker 4: had a rash, he was he was nearing one hundred
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  Speaker 4: yards and then at the end of the game they're
• 21:48
  Speaker 4: trying to run the ball out kind of lost some
• 21:50
  Speaker 4: yardage in the process. Chase Brown with his over one
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  Speaker 4: hundred yards rushing against I think it was one hundred
• 21:56
  Speaker 4: and nine against US. That was on display the Seahawks loss.
• 22:00
  Speaker 4: Run game was there and they were just super balanced
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  Speaker 4: across the way in that game. Uh so, you know,
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  Speaker 4: and with the Packers, right, even though you held Josh
• 22:10
  Speaker 4: Jacobs intact, Jordan Love for whatever, Well.
• 22:13
  Speaker 3: Tucker Craft, let me just the other thing. Emanuel started
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  Speaker 3: did it.
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  Speaker 2: Emmanuel Wilson started running in the second half. Yeah, he
• 22:20
  Speaker 2: got the run and it was valuable. It was valuable runs.
• 22:23
  Speaker 2: He didn't get to the century mark, but like you said,
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  Speaker 2: the key gotta have it. Third and shorts, and second
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  Speaker 2: in mediums he was able to turn those into first downs.
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  Speaker 2: So I feel like, still the run game is key,
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  Speaker 2: especially against Chicago. You've got to stop the run game
• 22:38
  Speaker 2: and then everything else will start to make sense for you.
• 22:41
  Speaker 2: And if you make them one dimensional.
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  Speaker 4: Caleb and still a young guy in the second year,
• 22:45
  Speaker 4: and he's still going to be prone to mistakes, but
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  Speaker 4: you have you can't give him the security blanket of
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  Speaker 4: a run game.
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  Speaker 3: Right, totally agree.
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  Speaker 2: And by the way, one out of every three of
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  Speaker 2: his runs results in a first down. So he's run
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  Speaker 2: the ball fifty two times and seventeen to those have
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  Speaker 2: been a first down. He's averaging, you know, twenty seven
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  Speaker 2: yards per game, five point two yards per carry. You know,
• 23:06
  Speaker 2: you think about Lamar ripping off usually longer runs than that,
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  Speaker 2: but he he seems to have that knack to be
• 23:14
  Speaker 2: able to get it, and he's just he extends plays,
• 23:17
  Speaker 2: he keeps him alive. It's it's got to be wearying.
• 23:22
  Speaker 2: We talk about, you know, time of possession and how
• 23:25
  Speaker 2: important it is. You know, not only are you out
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  Speaker 2: there for a while if you're a defensive alignment, but
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  Speaker 2: you are chasing down a guy who's moving sideline to sideline.
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  Speaker 2: You know, he steps up in the pocket. He you know,
• 23:37
  Speaker 2: maybe somebody would critique him and say he gets out
• 23:40
  Speaker 2: of the pocket too soon.
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  Speaker 3: I don't know.
• 23:42
  Speaker 2: That's for others to judge, but I do know this.
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  Speaker 2: He gets out of the pocket a lot and scrambles
• 23:47
  Speaker 2: around and makes things happen. And he had that, you
• 23:49
  Speaker 2: know what, he had, like a thirty yard sack or
• 23:52
  Speaker 2: something last year trying to make plays happen. But he's
• 23:54
  Speaker 2: gotten way better at that. He's gotten better at throwing
• 23:57
  Speaker 2: the ball away in avoiding sacks. But I think that
• 24:01
  Speaker 2: you know, again, Lamar Jackson gives you the opportunity to
• 24:05
  Speaker 2: see a guy like Caleb Williams who can escape the
• 24:12
  Speaker 2: pocket and needs to be hemmed in two ways. You
• 24:14
  Speaker 2: can't let him get out around you and get to
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  Speaker 2: the edge, and you can't let him slither through rush
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  Speaker 2: lanes and get out because now let's say you're playing
• 24:24
  Speaker 2: man de man defense and he slithers through a rush lane, Well,
• 24:27
  Speaker 2: every defender has got their back to the quarterback because
• 24:29
  Speaker 2: they're not worried about the quarterback. They're worried about defending
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  Speaker 2: their man, guarding their man downfield, and so then Caleb
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  Speaker 2: Williams has huge ground in front of him in which
• 24:39
  Speaker 2: to run, So you got to be able to keep
• 24:41
  Speaker 2: them contained in the pocket in both ways. Don't let
• 24:44
  Speaker 2: them leak out, don't let them move forward.
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  Speaker 4: No, no, you can't. And that's the thing. You have
• 24:51
  Speaker 4: to compress him. And so that leads to pushing the
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  Speaker 4: interior coming up the field. That's going to be harming
• 24:58
  Speaker 4: Kate cam and also Ya Black providing that interior push.
• 25:04
  Speaker 4: And then like you said, feed the action to the sharks, right,
• 25:08
  Speaker 4: you want to feed the action to TJ. Watt, and
• 25:10
  Speaker 4: you want to feed the action to Herbig high Smith and.
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  Speaker 3: Sawyer as well.
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  Speaker 4: Allow them to take off the edges of this and
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  Speaker 4: create a net around Caleb Williams. And you cannot give
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  Speaker 4: this guy anything up into the outsides because he loves that.
• 25:28
  Speaker 4: So you're talking about rushing at depth and then coming
• 25:30
  Speaker 4: inward for the edge guys. Then like you said, a
• 25:33
  Speaker 4: constant forward pressure taking away those windows up the middle,
• 25:38
  Speaker 4: you know, and forcing him to go back and out.
• 25:42
  Speaker 4: That's where you talked about that thirty yard stack, is
• 25:44
  Speaker 4: that he tried to go back and out and then
• 25:46
  Speaker 4: he got forced back in and he went further back
• 25:48
  Speaker 4: and went to the opposite out and that's what leads
• 25:51
  Speaker 4: to a thirty yard sack. He just kept zigzagging backwards.
• 25:55
  Speaker 4: But that's the approach that you have to take with
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  Speaker 4: Caleb Williams. You can't, you know, go overload rush and
• 26:01
  Speaker 4: then there opens up a pocket and the b gap
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  Speaker 4: on the opposite side. Right now, he can squirt through
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  Speaker 4: that and like you said, he can make you pay
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  Speaker 4: a five point two per average on a rush.
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  Speaker 3: That's huge.
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  Speaker 4: You think about that in second down passing situations, third
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  Speaker 4: in mediums Now you're talking about a guy, like you said,
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  Speaker 4: every third touch gets a touch, It gets you a
• 26:19
  Speaker 4: first down and gets you a new set of downs.
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  Speaker 4: That that is tiring for a defense because you're gonna
• 26:24
  Speaker 4: have to run to catch him. But if you can
• 26:26
  Speaker 4: compress that and create that net, now it forces him
• 26:30
  Speaker 4: to throw an aerrant ball, forces a ball to go
• 26:33
  Speaker 4: up in the fifty to fifty zone, which can turn
• 26:35
  Speaker 4: to a sixty forty either way. And so that's what
• 26:39
  Speaker 4: you're trying to get. That's the golden piece that you're
• 26:41
  Speaker 4: trying to get to and create that havoc like we
• 26:43
  Speaker 4: saw on Thursday night.
• 26:45
  Speaker 2: And when you talk about Caleb Williams. You have to
• 26:49
  Speaker 2: talk about I think the accuracy now it's gotten better.
• 26:53
  Speaker 2: He's got three straight games now in which he's completed
• 26:56
  Speaker 2: at least sixty percent of his passes. His completion percentage
• 26:59
  Speaker 2: of fifty nine point seven is is thirty first out
• 27:02
  Speaker 2: of thirty four qualifying quarterbacks. So obviously that's not great.
• 27:07
  Speaker 2: Now he does bring the run element, right, we talked
• 27:09
  Speaker 2: about that, so that does increase his value. He takes
• 27:12
  Speaker 2: care of the football thirteen touchdowns, only four interceptions. But
• 27:17
  Speaker 2: having said all that, actually I beg your pardon. It
• 27:21
  Speaker 2: was he started the season with three straight sixty percent
• 27:24
  Speaker 2: completion games. Over his last three games here we are
• 27:27
  Speaker 2: here fifty eight point eight percent, fifty five point six
• 27:31
  Speaker 2: percent and fifty percent sixteen for thirty two in then
• 27:36
  Speaker 2: win over Minnesota. So he can be inaccurate. Max, I mean,
• 27:42
  Speaker 2: he makes some throws that you're like, whoa man? I
• 27:45
  Speaker 2: mean when you see what he does, and look, he's
• 27:47
  Speaker 2: clearly made a step forward this year, no doubt. But
• 27:52
  Speaker 2: when you see some of the throws he can make
• 27:56
  Speaker 2: and does make its jaw dropping. Then when you see
• 27:59
  Speaker 2: some of the throws he also makes, it's head scratching,
• 28:03
  Speaker 2: like you know you're gonna throw it out in the
• 28:05
  Speaker 2: left flat and okay, you're under a little bit of pressure,
• 28:08
  Speaker 2: but you skip it to the guy and you know
• 28:11
  Speaker 2: you can't even get it there in the air, and
• 28:12
  Speaker 2: then the next row you drive one sixty yards down
• 28:15
  Speaker 2: the field on a line. He's I guess I would
• 28:19
  Speaker 2: say he's a maturing quarterback. But that's one of the
• 28:22
  Speaker 2: things that they talked about this with Josh Allen when
• 28:25
  Speaker 2: he came into the league. Others, you know, where's the accuracy?
• 28:30
  Speaker 2: Can you develop that at the NFL level, Josh Allen
• 28:33
  Speaker 2: has I don't know if that was a big knock
• 28:35
  Speaker 2: on Killer Williams in college, but I do know that
• 28:38
  Speaker 2: it's been an issue this year for him, just simply
• 28:40
  Speaker 2: being accurate with the football, getting guys in stride on
• 28:43
  Speaker 2: crossing patterns. You know, They've got a lot of very
• 28:46
  Speaker 2: talented receivers that they've spent a lot of high picks
• 28:49
  Speaker 2: on and spent money on in free agency to bring
• 28:51
  Speaker 2: in and support him. First round pick in Colston Lovelin
• 28:55
  Speaker 2: at tight end just this year, second round pick on
• 28:57
  Speaker 2: Luther Burden just this year. Short up the offensive line,
• 29:01
  Speaker 2: they have built this team around Caleb Williams, and I think, uh,
• 29:05
  Speaker 2: and we'll get to the running backs in a minute.
• 29:07
  Speaker 2: But the one thing that it looks like he still
• 29:10
  Speaker 2: needs to improve upon is his accuracy in the pocket.
• 29:14
  Speaker 4: An accuracy in the pocket comes from being able to
• 29:16
  Speaker 4: read read coverages. That's where he That's where he struggles, right,
• 29:20
  Speaker 4: So the disguise is going to be key on him
• 29:23
  Speaker 4: pre snap. That's why Ben Johnson does a lot of
• 29:26
  Speaker 4: pre snap motion to help him out in that process.
• 29:29
  Speaker 3: We've kind of talked about that earlier in the.
• 29:30
  Speaker 4: Week about why they motion and what that's doing to
• 29:34
  Speaker 4: help Caleb Williams. But another thing is, like I said
• 29:37
  Speaker 4: that timing, and that's something I'm going to continue to
• 29:39
  Speaker 4: harp on is the fact that you know, he is
• 29:43
  Speaker 4: way better when he's under center than when he is
• 29:46
  Speaker 4: in shotgun. His internal clock moves a lot cleaner when
• 29:50
  Speaker 4: he's taking those steps in progressions because he's figuring out
• 29:53
  Speaker 4: what he needs to do and when he needs to
• 29:55
  Speaker 4: get there. Because when he's at shotgun, you know the
• 29:59
  Speaker 4: move is there and you're trying to count in.
• 30:01
  Speaker 3: Your head on thousand and one thousand and two thousand.
• 30:03
  Speaker 4: Okay, now I look it disrupts the timing and the
• 30:06
  Speaker 4: rhythm of the passing game. So that's something that normally
• 30:11
  Speaker 4: quarterbacks love the fact that they can be in shotgun
• 30:13
  Speaker 4: right because you can see the field a lot better,
• 30:15
  Speaker 4: you can count things ahead of time, like an Aaron
• 30:17
  Speaker 4: Rodgers in the shotgun is a lot different than Caleb
• 30:20
  Speaker 4: Williams at the shotgun because Aaron has seen everything, he
• 30:25
  Speaker 4: knows everything. Caleb Williams still gathering information. We always talk
• 30:28
  Speaker 4: about this with young players versus old players. Right, you know,
• 30:31
  Speaker 4: a young player is gathering information every snap is valuable
• 30:33
  Speaker 4: because it adds to their rolodecks or their mental encyclopedia.
• 30:37
  Speaker 4: Whereas a veteran player can now pull on that information
• 30:41
  Speaker 4: from his mental encyclopedia that he's already gathered over numerous
• 30:44
  Speaker 4: years and a lot of various playing experiences. Gets you
• 30:48
  Speaker 4: more prepared to see those type of things and the
• 30:50
  Speaker 4: game slows down for you. Right now is still at
• 30:52
  Speaker 4: a sped up pace. And for Caleb, when you can't
• 30:55
  Speaker 4: read the two high versus single higher, the disguise off
• 30:57
  Speaker 4: of it, that makes it really tough when talking about
• 31:00
  Speaker 4: some of your inbreaking routes. Why he doesn't like to
• 31:02
  Speaker 4: throw it to the middle of the field because he
• 31:03
  Speaker 4: can't read it, and so everything that's spectacular of his
• 31:07
  Speaker 4: throws are usually those sideline passes. All we have to
• 31:10
  Speaker 4: do is think on our history. You know, anytime George
• 31:13
  Speaker 4: Pickens was on the sidelines, it made any quarterback that
• 31:16
  Speaker 4: was in you know, experience or not, whether it's mister bisky,
• 31:19
  Speaker 4: can he pick it? Those plays were even more spectacular,
• 31:22
  Speaker 4: right because you could throw it down the sidelines. You
• 31:24
  Speaker 4: got an athletic receiver that can go make a tremendous play.
• 31:27
  Speaker 4: But yet you go and throw the shallow crosser and
• 31:30
  Speaker 4: you know, you still throw it the same anticipation because
• 31:33
  Speaker 4: you can't tell whether it's the linebacker or the nickel
• 31:35
  Speaker 4: or the safety that's going to be on.
• 31:37
  Speaker 3: The front end of that.
• 31:38
  Speaker 4: So you get a little gun shy, start to pump fake,
• 31:40
  Speaker 4: and that's where you have to be. You have to
• 31:42
  Speaker 4: change up the coverages. You have to confuse him because
• 31:46
  Speaker 4: if not, he will hold.
• 31:47
  Speaker 3: Onto the football and that usually leads to a bad
• 31:49
  Speaker 3: thing when it gets off the timing.
• 31:51
  Speaker 2: Yeah, he is definitely. I mean, there's a reason he
• 31:54
  Speaker 2: was taken first overall by Chicago last year, and there's
• 31:57
  Speaker 2: a reason that they're building their team around him. And
• 32:02
  Speaker 2: you know, when you look at the team defensively, yeah,
• 32:04
  Speaker 2: they went out and they traded for Montes Sweat. Last year.
• 32:06
  Speaker 2: They were already trying to put the pieces in place
• 32:11
  Speaker 2: around Caleb Williams. You know a lot of people said,
• 32:13
  Speaker 2: what are you doing, You're not a very good team. Well, listen,
• 32:15
  Speaker 2: you got it when you see a good player and
• 32:17
  Speaker 2: you have a chance to grab him and you have
• 32:19
  Speaker 2: a chance to try to build something. But right now,
• 32:22
  Speaker 2: it feels like most of that building is happening on
• 32:25
  Speaker 2: the offensive side. And by the way, Max just you know,
• 32:29
  Speaker 2: and we're gonna head to a break here in a moment.
• 32:31
  Speaker 2: But just from a philosophical point of view, I'm all
• 32:35
  Speaker 2: for it. You get a young quarterback, protect him, surround
• 32:39
  Speaker 2: him with talent. It is the most important position, in
• 32:43
  Speaker 2: my opinion, in any sport. A quarterback. You got a
• 32:47
  Speaker 2: young one, you spend a first round pick on him.
• 32:49
  Speaker 2: And this isn't Buffalo trading up, this isn't Kansas City
• 32:52
  Speaker 2: trading up. This is a bad struggling team needing a
• 32:56
  Speaker 2: franchise quarterback not getting one. With Mitch Trubisky out. Think
• 33:00
  Speaker 2: you know, right, we saw Mit Trubisky here, but you didn't.
• 33:03
  Speaker 2: You didn't put pieces around him, And now they've put
• 33:05
  Speaker 2: pieces around Caleb Williams to aid with that development. From
• 33:08
  Speaker 2: a philosophical standpoint, I get what they're doing and I
• 33:11
  Speaker 2: think they're doing it the right way.
• 33:14
  Speaker 3: Well yeah, and then also Justin Fields right after him, right,
• 33:16
  Speaker 3: I mean we saw both right score, Yeah about Justin Yeah, yep,
• 33:23
  Speaker 3: that's exactly right.
• 33:25
  Speaker 4: Yeah, So I think so, I think that's where you
• 33:27
  Speaker 4: kind of look at it, and they didn't really allocate
• 33:29
  Speaker 4: the resources to either one of those quarterbacks.
• 33:31
  Speaker 3: They also went through multiple head.
• 33:32
  Speaker 4: Coaches in that time, and you know with it, you know,
• 33:38
  Speaker 4: you felt with Caleb, Okay, we're taking the number two
• 33:40
  Speaker 4: overall pick and the number one quarterback in this draft. No,
• 33:45
  Speaker 4: I'm sorry, number one overall pick and number one quarterback
• 33:48
  Speaker 4: in this draft, because it right, because Washington went second
• 33:49
  Speaker 4: and took Jadan Daniels. You know, you want to try
• 33:52
  Speaker 4: and give him every opportunity to be successful. So you
• 33:55
  Speaker 4: go and you trade for a bunch of receivers and
• 33:59
  Speaker 4: now Keenan Allen, who was there a year ago, is
• 34:01
  Speaker 4: now back with the Chargers. But you know, you went
• 34:04
  Speaker 4: and you got Roma dooms a Luther Burden, you know,
• 34:07
  Speaker 4: Coleston Lovelin, and you trade it for But you're trying
• 34:10
  Speaker 4: to put the right guys in there. You know, you
• 34:12
  Speaker 4: had DeAndre Swift from the Lions already in there. In
• 34:16
  Speaker 4: the backfield, you get a Kalman Nung guy like you
• 34:18
  Speaker 4: start to create these pieces. You're trying to insulate him
• 34:21
  Speaker 4: and give him every resource to be successful so that
• 34:25
  Speaker 4: he can be a confident guy and he can also.
• 34:27
  Speaker 3: Grow with a lot of these guys, right.
• 34:29
  Speaker 4: Because that's the other thing is developing that chemistry with
• 34:33
  Speaker 4: the guys. You're throwing the ball to the guys who
• 34:34
  Speaker 4: are protecting you as well as your running backs who
• 34:38
  Speaker 4: are your essentially your extra protector and also your pressure
• 34:40
  Speaker 4: relieve valve for a lot of these things. So you know,
• 34:43
  Speaker 4: they're trying to do everything in their power something they
• 34:44
  Speaker 4: didn't do with their previous first round quarterbacks because of
• 34:48
  Speaker 4: the uncertainty of general manager and head coach. Now you're
• 34:51
  Speaker 4: trying to develop that stability with a new coach and
• 34:54
  Speaker 4: Ben Johnson. And Ben Johnson you read rover him over
• 34:57
  Speaker 4: from Detroit, great offensive mind.
• 34:59
  Speaker 3: You know you see what he's done with Jarret Goff
• 35:02
  Speaker 3: and Company.
• 35:02
  Speaker 4: You're like, hey, well, can you unlock the Rubik's Cube
• 35:04
  Speaker 4: that is Caleb Williams for us and see if we
• 35:07
  Speaker 4: can get the most out of them. And right now
• 35:08
  Speaker 4: is paying instant dividends. Right now is sitting at first
• 35:11
  Speaker 4: at first place in the NFC North as we stand
• 35:13
  Speaker 4: here in week twelve.
• 35:15
  Speaker 2: So the Students is getting ready to take on that
• 35:17
  Speaker 2: first place Bears team. We want to remind you is
• 35:20
  Speaker 2: we head to break that you can gear up at
• 35:21
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• 35:24
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• 35:27
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• 35:30
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• 35:32
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• 35:36
  Speaker 2: or Tanger Outlets, or gear up online at shop dot
• 35:38
  Speaker 2: Steelers dot com. Get it direct from the team at
• 35:41
  Speaker 2: the Steers Pro Shop at shop dot Steelers dot com.
• 35:44
  Speaker 2: Back with more in the locker room presented by your
• 35:46
  Speaker 2: neighborhood Fords to doing the Studis Pro Shop on Stitarz
• 35:49
  Speaker 2: Nation Radio, part of the Steelers Audio Networks in.
• 35:58
  Speaker 1: The Locker Room with King Stars on Steelers Nation Radio,
• 36:03
  Speaker 1: presented by your neighborhood Ford Store. The F one P
• 36:06
  Speaker 1: fifty is the official truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers and
• 36:09
  Speaker 1: by Steelers Pro Shot. Get it direct from the team
• 36:12
  Speaker 1: at the Steelers Pro Shot at shop dot Steelers dot.
• 36:16
  Speaker 2: Com and thanks very much for being with us. Getting
• 36:20
  Speaker 2: excited now looking forward to this matchup at Soldier Field,
• 36:23
  Speaker 2: Historic Soldier Field. You know, the Bears date back to
• 36:27
  Speaker 2: nineteen twenty. That's when the NFL is kind of officially
• 36:32
  Speaker 2: saying the league began play. Nineteen thirty three is another
• 36:36
  Speaker 2: year that's important. That's when the Steelers started playing. And
• 36:39
  Speaker 2: you have the sort of original teams going at it,
• 36:43
  Speaker 2: you know, don't forget in the in the twenties, you
• 36:46
  Speaker 2: had all kinds of teams, you know, starting up and
• 36:49
  Speaker 2: folding and starting up and folding. And the Bears survived
• 36:53
  Speaker 2: all that, the Steelers in nineteen thirty the New York
• 36:55
  Speaker 2: Titans didn't make it New York Titans, and they came
• 36:58
  Speaker 2: back and then they didn't make it again. You know,
• 37:00
  Speaker 2: I mean they had like you know, I mean they
• 37:02
  Speaker 2: had it. Listen, you go back in the league, the
• 37:04
  Speaker 2: Decatur Spiders. They played like one game and they're gone.
• 37:06
  Speaker 2: And then it's you know the Duluth you know, iron
• 37:10
  Speaker 2: Man or something, you know. I mean, just on and
• 37:12
  Speaker 2: on and on. I just made up those names. By
• 37:14
  Speaker 2: the way, teams coming and going around the NFL. So
• 37:17
  Speaker 2: two of the original.
• 37:18
  Speaker 3: Met I mean, you got me going, you have me going.
• 37:20
  Speaker 3: I was I was like, wait a second, Lou iron Man,
• 37:24
  Speaker 3: I'm totally making it up. Not crazy, not crazier than
• 37:27
  Speaker 3: the ACME Packers. Yes, that's right. Yeah, the Acme.
• 37:32
  Speaker 2: Packers very very nice. So Max, I think when you
• 37:36
  Speaker 2: talk about the when you talk about the Bears, you
• 37:40
  Speaker 2: have to talk about the running attack. Kaleb Williams is
• 37:42
  Speaker 2: part of that. But Deanre Swift and Kyle Manungui, who
• 37:47
  Speaker 2: by the way, five eight two o five they listen
• 37:50
  Speaker 2: him at he's a seventh round pick this year. He
• 37:54
  Speaker 2: runs hard, he's a low ball of center of gravity
• 37:57
  Speaker 2: and me just a tough little run. And DeAndre Swift
• 38:02
  Speaker 2: has long been, you know, just a fine NFL running back.
• 38:05
  Speaker 2: And they give the ball to those guys a lot. Yeah, no,
• 38:09
  Speaker 2: they do.
• 38:11
  Speaker 4: And we kind of talked about, you know, where this
• 38:15
  Speaker 4: team really needs to lock in. I think the biggest
• 38:18
  Speaker 4: thing is going to be is how do you deal
• 38:22
  Speaker 4: with the run game and how do you slow this.
• 38:26
  Speaker 3: Run game down?
• 38:27
  Speaker 4: And I'm one of those guys that I believe you
• 38:30
  Speaker 4: just have to commit to taking away one side of
• 38:32
  Speaker 4: the ball or one of the options on that side
• 38:35
  Speaker 4: of the ball, and the run game would be the
• 38:37
  Speaker 4: easiest thing. Well, I say easy, but let me put
• 38:40
  Speaker 4: that in context. I say easy, but if I'm picking,
• 38:44
  Speaker 4: it's an easy choice to make on what to do.
• 38:47
  Speaker 4: And I think the Steelers have finally found that formula
• 38:50
  Speaker 4: on how they go about that. In certain mister fifty
• 38:56
  Speaker 4: wreck it Ralph Malik Harrison, Okay, is that that that
• 39:01
  Speaker 4: has been the one guy that that's really helped you
• 39:03
  Speaker 4: talk about easing this process and being able to go
• 39:07
  Speaker 4: after running backs in the running game. Malie Harrison has
• 39:10
  Speaker 4: been one of those fixtures the last number of weeks
• 39:14
  Speaker 4: that has been an aid in that because guess what,
• 39:16
  Speaker 4: He's the hammer that's going to go between the A
• 39:18
  Speaker 4: and B gaps and he's going to fire downhill and
• 39:21
  Speaker 4: when he hits you, you feel it. And and when
• 39:25
  Speaker 4: he when, when he when he's going to fill the gap.
• 39:28
  Speaker 4: The running backs have to make a decision to go
• 39:30
  Speaker 4: elsewhere when they when they see his number, and that
• 39:33
  Speaker 4: forces flow to Patrick Queen, to Peyton Wilson and the
• 39:36
  Speaker 4: rest of the defense. Jalen Ramsey is able to get
• 39:39
  Speaker 4: to the perimeter a lot more sound because he knows
• 39:42
  Speaker 4: that flow is going that way because Malie Harrison stuffed
• 39:45
  Speaker 4: the middle.
• 39:46
  Speaker 3: And however you deploy it.
• 39:48
  Speaker 4: Right, I know, you know, Patrick Queen's your green dot,
• 39:50
  Speaker 4: and so he technically sits at the mic position, but
• 39:52
  Speaker 4: the way that they play it, they kind of switch
• 39:55
  Speaker 4: off on that and Malik will then move post snap
• 39:58
  Speaker 4: into the middle position, and that's when you will allow
• 40:00
  Speaker 4: for Patrick Queen to either shadow the back out of
• 40:04
  Speaker 4: the backfield or he's playing he's playing in that tight
• 40:07
  Speaker 4: on the line coverage for the tight end and passing
• 40:09
  Speaker 4: him off into his zone. That's how That's how they've
• 40:12
  Speaker 4: been working at it, and it's been a beautiful thing
• 40:14
  Speaker 4: to see, you know, because I don't if I have
• 40:16
  Speaker 4: Malik Harrison in there, I'm not spot dropping him, right,
• 40:18
  Speaker 4: I'm not running Tampa two and have the mike backer
• 40:20
  Speaker 4: back up to fifteen yards at depth and play everything
• 40:23
  Speaker 4: in front. That's more Patrick Queen, that's more Peyton Wilson,
• 40:27
  Speaker 4: not Malik Harrison. So Malik is gonna be the one.
• 40:29
  Speaker 4: He's gonna be the thunder around the edges. He's the
• 40:32
  Speaker 4: guy that's gonna play in the box and he's gonna
• 40:34
  Speaker 4: he's gonna try and cover whatever interior gaps to force
• 40:37
  Speaker 4: it out to his outside guys. Right, think a Lah
• 40:40
  Speaker 4: Nick Herbig TJ Watt, Jack Sawyer. You know, all of
• 40:44
  Speaker 4: those guys are gonna be on the edges waiting for him.
• 40:46
  Speaker 4: And then you have a Jalen Ramsey as your secondary support,
• 40:50
  Speaker 4: you know, a very sure tackler indeed in Jalen Ramsey,
• 40:54
  Speaker 4: and then Kyle Duggar another guy if you're forcing. That's
• 40:58
  Speaker 4: why the perimeter tackling has been so much better in
• 41:01
  Speaker 4: these last couple of weeks because both of those guys
• 41:03
  Speaker 4: playing at safety, you know, free and strong, are literally
• 41:08
  Speaker 4: Jalen Ramsey is playing loose and free, and Kyle Duger
• 41:11
  Speaker 4: is then in there playing very strong. From that from
• 41:14
  Speaker 4: that box to exterior scene area, hashes up the middle.
• 41:19
  Speaker 4: He's playing in that and that no man's land zone
• 41:22
  Speaker 4: and he's he's creating a name for himself. And that's
• 41:25
  Speaker 4: also what has given quarterbacks issues that's why you got
• 41:27
  Speaker 4: to pick you know, a week ago, because playing in
• 41:30
  Speaker 4: that position, you think you're safe for a second. Well
• 41:33
  Speaker 4: here comes the here comes the ballhawk. And Kyle Duggar
• 41:36
  Speaker 4: has been a guy that's been really nice compliment because
• 41:39
  Speaker 4: he understands the sophistication of the defense and also the nuances.
• 41:43
  Speaker 4: He knows how to move around in it. So this
• 41:45
  Speaker 4: defensive unit is looking very solid and it's going to
• 41:49
  Speaker 4: be a good challenge for them, because, like you said,
• 41:50
  Speaker 4: you have a team that's intent on running the football
• 41:52
  Speaker 4: and setting up their play action. And I think that
• 41:54
  Speaker 4: plays of the strength of this defense.
• 41:57
  Speaker 2: You know, last year when the Ravens, it's interesting you
• 42:02
  Speaker 2: to bring up Malie Harrison because when the Ravens were
• 42:05
  Speaker 2: struggling defensively, they made a number of moves. One of
• 42:07
  Speaker 2: the moves they made was getting Malie Harrison in there
• 42:10
  Speaker 2: more often and starting more. I think he became a
• 42:13
  Speaker 2: starter actually, and he you know, was a part of
• 42:19
  Speaker 2: the turnaround, right So I'm not gonna I don't know
• 42:21
  Speaker 2: if anyone's gonna say, Malik Harrison that's the reason the
• 42:24
  Speaker 2: Steelers are better defensively right now. But it shouldn't be discounted,
• 42:28
  Speaker 2: you know what you're talking about. They've been much better
• 42:30
  Speaker 2: against the run, they've been much better in total yards allowed.
• 42:33
  Speaker 2: I know that other things come with that. You know,
• 42:36
  Speaker 2: Ramsey back at free safety now. I think it's probably
• 42:39
  Speaker 2: a big item for that as well. There are reasons
• 42:43
  Speaker 2: that this is happening, but you know this, this bears offense.
• 42:48
  Speaker 2: They run the ball straight ahead and they're not afraid.
• 42:51
  Speaker 2: We talked about this yesterday. Third and eight, they'll run
• 42:53
  Speaker 2: the ball because at fourth and two they're liable to
• 42:56
  Speaker 2: go for it. So you have to be prepared for
• 42:58
  Speaker 2: them running in any situation. But they also try to
• 43:02
  Speaker 2: stress the edges. You know, it's yes, they will run
• 43:05
  Speaker 2: between the tackles, and both Swift and Manungui are very
• 43:08
  Speaker 2: physical runner. Swift as their leading guy, averaging over seventy
• 43:12
  Speaker 2: yards per game on the ground. But they will also
• 43:16
  Speaker 2: try to get the ball to the edges with those guys,
• 43:18
  Speaker 2: but also jet motion Caleb Williams faking one way, tucking
• 43:22
  Speaker 2: and running around the edge using his speed to get
• 43:24
  Speaker 2: to the edge. So it's a very rushing attack. You know,
• 43:29
  Speaker 2: if people think about Detroit minus of course the great
• 43:35
  Speaker 2: game breaking speed that the Lions that we all know
• 43:37
  Speaker 2: that they have at their running back position.
• 43:40
  Speaker 3: It is.
• 43:41
  Speaker 2: It's not dissimilar because that was Ben Johnson who's the
• 43:44
  Speaker 2: offensive cordator there and is now the head coach of
• 43:46
  Speaker 2: the Bear. So they will try to stress you out
• 43:48
  Speaker 2: in a number of different areas in the in the
• 43:51
  Speaker 2: running attack.
• 43:54
  Speaker 4: No, they're very good at creating opportunities in space. Like
• 43:59
  Speaker 4: you know, they're not a traditional we're gonna run up
• 44:01
  Speaker 4: the middle on you, every type of we're running man
• 44:03
  Speaker 4: counter wham stuff. No, they're running zone. They're allowing they're
• 44:08
  Speaker 4: allowing their running backs to pick and choose their holes. Right, So,
• 44:11
  Speaker 4: when you're thinking about an outside zone or a stretch
• 44:13
  Speaker 4: play as we call it, it can usually be run
• 44:16
  Speaker 4: to the open side or the closed side. What we
• 44:18
  Speaker 4: say closed side is a tight end on the end
• 44:19
  Speaker 4: of the line of script. Open side is just a
• 44:21
  Speaker 4: tackle because there's less guys on the front line. So
• 44:26
  Speaker 4: let's work from that concept. We're gonna talk open side first.
• 44:30
  Speaker 4: Open side, what you're going to see, you're going to
• 44:32
  Speaker 4: see a lot of a lot of the stretch zone,
• 44:34
  Speaker 4: which means it's gonna hit c gap and then work
• 44:37
  Speaker 4: its way back in down the alphabet B to A
• 44:39
  Speaker 4: and then back to the backside ABC, and those are
• 44:43
  Speaker 4: the gaps between.
• 44:44
  Speaker 3: You know, outside the tackle is the C.
• 44:47
  Speaker 4: Outside the guard between the tackle is a B center
• 44:50
  Speaker 4: guard A, and either side is an A, and then
• 44:54
  Speaker 4: vice versa just goes, you know, goes and descending to
• 44:57
  Speaker 4: ascending order. From that, there's six gaps. So therefore C
• 45:00
  Speaker 4: is usually your widest and D is anything in the
• 45:03
  Speaker 4: unknown ether outside of a tight end. But when you
• 45:06
  Speaker 4: don't have a tight end, the C is the ether
• 45:08
  Speaker 4: and the unknown. So now that we got the base
• 45:10
  Speaker 4: comatics down right still with me there there we go.
• 45:14
  Speaker 4: Just want to make sure, thank you for journalistic integrity,
• 45:16
  Speaker 4: that we explain it it and detail.
• 45:20
  Speaker 3: Now we get to the fun stuff.
• 45:22
  Speaker 4: So outside zone anything outside the tackle's left cheek on
• 45:28
  Speaker 4: the left side, anything outside the tackles right cheek on
• 45:31
  Speaker 4: the right side if he's open. When you have a
• 45:33
  Speaker 4: tight end, that outside zone stretches just one gap wider.
• 45:38
  Speaker 4: So therefore the track think of what we normally see
• 45:41
  Speaker 4: now is more of a toss action that usually helps
• 45:45
  Speaker 4: the running back get out there because it allows him
• 45:47
  Speaker 4: to step laterally to then go forward. So it's more
• 45:51
  Speaker 4: of a tight stretch zone versus when a quarterback's under
• 45:55
  Speaker 4: center and he takes that diagonal release in the direction
• 45:58
  Speaker 4: puts the ball in the belly of the running back,
• 46:02
  Speaker 4: So that one is a little bit slower, more slower developing.
• 46:05
  Speaker 4: But if you have support guys coming in your receivers,
• 46:08
  Speaker 4: or you have an h back coming from the backside
• 46:10
  Speaker 4: to wrap or to create force at the edge, those
• 46:14
  Speaker 4: are the reasons why you go between a toss versus
• 46:18
  Speaker 4: a toss a pitch instead of the handoff, you're trying
• 46:22
  Speaker 4: to get to the to the outside a lot quicker
• 46:25
  Speaker 4: and slower when you're trying to bring more guys in
• 46:27
  Speaker 4: from different directions to help seal and create a funnel
• 46:30
  Speaker 4: along the edge. That's something they really like to do.
• 46:33
  Speaker 4: So that's one of their main tendencies they have.
• 46:37
  Speaker 2: They're a handful. Their offense is a handful. They've got.
• 46:40
  Speaker 2: They are difficult to deal with. They do a lot
• 46:42
  Speaker 2: of stuff under Ben Johnson, and it's not just stuff.
• 46:45
  Speaker 3: They've got good players. They have good players.
• 46:48
  Speaker 2: They have a former number one pick two years ago
• 46:50
  Speaker 2: at quarterback and Caleb Williams, you know, two running backs
• 46:55
  Speaker 2: that they feel good about. Receivers that they've spent high
• 46:57
  Speaker 2: picks on tight ends it's a first round or olkam
• 47:00
  Speaker 2: that's a second rounder. Additions on the offensive line including
• 47:03
  Speaker 2: a pro bowler at left guard, an emerging force at
• 47:07
  Speaker 2: right tackle, and former first round picked Darnell right So
• 47:10
  Speaker 2: this will be a challenge for the Steelers defense for sure.
• 47:14
  Speaker 3: How about what left tackle is the key? With tackle?
• 47:17
  Speaker 3: Is the key? Left tackle is the key? A great? Uh?
• 47:21
  Speaker 3: You mean tackle? Tackle?
• 47:22
  Speaker 2: Guys don't let him have more yards after the run
• 47:24
  Speaker 2: or catch after contact.
• 47:26
  Speaker 3: Yeah?
• 47:27
  Speaker 4: Tackle, But but but the guy they have, THEO Benedette
• 47:30
  Speaker 4: right now along the left.
• 47:31
  Speaker 2: Tack Why that's the banged up I thought I didn't
• 47:35
  Speaker 2: know if you meant tackling or the left tackle.
• 47:39
  Speaker 4: No, the the left to I'm talking about specific person.
• 47:42
  Speaker 4: If you're going to create havoc, it has to be
• 47:45
  Speaker 4: against mister THEO Benedette or Benedett.
• 47:48
  Speaker 3: I'm not sure how you pronounced that. Benedette is what
• 47:50
  Speaker 3: I'm going with. Yep.
• 47:53
  Speaker 4: Yeah, he is a twenty four year old rookie and
• 47:57
  Speaker 4: he is from British Columbia. That's right, British Columbia. He's
• 48:03
  Speaker 4: he's he's he's from the North A. So that is
• 48:08
  Speaker 4: a guy that has not seen a lot of americanized
• 48:11
  Speaker 4: football to my degree, because he has played his football
• 48:17
  Speaker 4: in Canada.
• 48:18
  Speaker 3: Oh, Canada. So that's the guy I'm going after.
• 48:21
  Speaker 2: I'm sorry, sorry, Well listen, Caribou. You know they benched
• 48:26
  Speaker 2: for starting with tackle. He had some injuries and now
• 48:28
  Speaker 2: it's Bennett's job. And you know, whether whether it's going
• 48:32
  Speaker 2: to be her Big or high Smith or both remains
• 48:34
  Speaker 2: to be seen and figured out on game day.
• 48:37
  Speaker 3: Is going to be a quarterback. I would even put
• 48:39
  Speaker 3: tj over there and let him just take him through
• 48:41
  Speaker 3: the spin cycle a little bit too. We have I'm
• 48:44
  Speaker 3: not going to be opposed to movement.
• 48:46
  Speaker 2: We have a lot of things to get to, including
• 48:48
  Speaker 2: some you know what's going on with the injury report.
• 48:50
  Speaker 2: Missy Matthews is going to fill us in on the
• 48:52
  Speaker 2: latest when she joined us. Also head your Keys to
• 48:55
  Speaker 2: the Game when we continue in the Locker Room presented
• 48:58
  Speaker 2: by your neighborhood Ford Store in this student's pro shop
• 49:00
  Speaker 2: on Steelers Nation Radio, a part of the Steelers Audio Network.