Latest / The Steelers Report / HR 1: Steelers Hits & Misses: Week 6

Transcript

HR 1: Steelers Hits & Misses: Week 6 · The Steelers Report

• 0:15
  Speaker 1: This is the Steelers Report with Brian Batko and Ed
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: Troup on Steelers Nation Radio, a part of the Steelers
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: Audio Network.
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: Pittsburgh Steelers getting.
• 0:28
  Speaker 3: Set to travel to South Florida. Maybe not South Florida.
• 0:33
  Speaker 3: I guess I'm getting my map wrong, Double B. I
• 0:36
  Speaker 3: guess it would be the western side of Florida, right?
• 0:39
  Speaker 3: The golf side of Florida. florida there we go now i.
• 0:42
  Speaker 4: Got well you say that ed but there is kind
• 0:45
  Speaker 4: of a misnomer a famous one the university of south
• 0:50
  Speaker 4: florida you know the green team the bulls they were
• 0:53
  Speaker 4: in the big east back in the day now they're
• 0:55
  Speaker 4: in the now they're in the american i think right
• 0:58
  Speaker 4: the american athletic conference that's in tampa so that own
• 1:02
  Speaker 4: university kind of misrepresents or mislabels where it is or
• 1:07
  Speaker 4: i suppose it's just a matter of.
• 1:11
  Speaker 5: It's subjective. Is that South Florida? You look at it
• 1:14
  Speaker 5: on a map, I think that's a little.
• 1:15
  Speaker 4: Bit of a reach, but hey, it's literally called the
• 1:18
  Speaker 4: University of South Florida, USF, and it's in Tampa.
• 1:22
  Speaker 5: Ironically, well, it's not really ironic, I guess.
• 1:26
  Speaker 4: Interestingly, University of Central Florida is in Orlando, which aren't
• 1:31
  Speaker 4: they pretty much on the same kind of plane there?
• 1:34
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I think, I believe that Orlando is right in
• 1:37
  Speaker 3: the middle, right? So on the eastern side of the Atlantic,
• 1:41
  Speaker 3: you have Jacksonville. And then if you go towards the middle,
• 1:43
  Speaker 3: you've got Orlando. And then on the western side, the
• 1:45
  Speaker 3: Gulf side, you have Tampa Bay. And then if you
• 1:47
  Speaker 3: go south of Tampa, Brian, you go to.
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: Bradenton, Florida.
• 1:51
  Speaker 3: And the reason why I know about all four of
• 1:52
  Speaker 3: those is several years ago, my two young boys, they
• 1:55
  Speaker 3: were real young at the time, we took a road
• 1:58
  Speaker 3: trip in the spring to go to Pittsburgh Pirates spring
• 2:00
  Speaker 3: training in Bradenton.
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: And we went to Jacksonville first.
• 2:03
  Speaker 3: And then over to Orlando and and then eventually to
• 2:05
  Speaker 3: Tampa Bay, and then south down through Clearwater, Brayton. I mean,
• 2:09
  Speaker 3: that's just a beautiful part of the state of Florida.
• 2:12
  Speaker 3: I was impartial towards the Gulf side. I thought it
• 2:15
  Speaker 3: was nicer than the Atlantic side. However, the Atlantic side,
• 2:19
  Speaker 3: it was early spring. It was early March, so I
• 2:21
  Speaker 3: don't think the weather was quite right yet, where on
• 2:23
  Speaker 3: the Gulf side, it seems like the weather is always right.
• 2:27
  Speaker 5: I've never been to Pirate Spring Training.
• 2:28
  Speaker 4: It's on my list of things to do from a
• 2:31
  Speaker 4: sports perspective, but I have been down to the Fort Myers, Naples,
• 2:37
  Speaker 4: Marco Island area, and I've covered a couple games at, well,
• 2:42
  Speaker 4: Miami Gardens is where the Dolphins and the Miami Hurricanes play.
• 2:45
  Speaker 4: It's not like South Beach, but the Fort Lauderdale, Miami area.
• 2:51
  Speaker 4: I'd like to make it down to spring training, and
• 2:53
  Speaker 4: I would like to make it to Key West at
• 2:56
  Speaker 4: some point. Southernmost point in the United States I think
• 3:00
  Speaker 4: would be a cool thing to see.
• 3:02
  Speaker 3: I think that'd be really cool to check out. The
• 3:04
  Speaker 3: Steelers playing in Tampa Bay. They've had some memorable games
• 3:07
  Speaker 3: there over the years, Double B, and we'll get into
• 3:09
  Speaker 3: it as we go throughout the next few days to
• 3:10
  Speaker 3: get you set for Bucs and Steelers 1 o'clock this
• 3:14
  Speaker 3: upcoming Sunday. But probably the most famous moment or game
• 3:18
  Speaker 3: that happened in Tampa Bay this did not involve the Buccaneers.
• 3:21
  Speaker 3: It involved the Steelers and the Arizona Cardinals in Super
• 3:25
  Speaker 3: Bowl XLIII. No doubt when you're there this weekend, when
• 3:28
  Speaker 3: Steeler Nation is there this weekend, that will be the
• 3:31
  Speaker 3: memory that sticks out the most. And there were several
• 3:33
  Speaker 3: plays in Super Bowl XL that stick out on that field.
• 3:36
  Speaker 3: The James Harrison interception where he takes it all the way. But,
• 3:39
  Speaker 3: of course, the ending, Santonio Holmes in the back of
• 3:42
  Speaker 3: that end zone making that memorable catch. That's the top
• 3:45
  Speaker 3: play in my mind, Brian, in our lifetime. and I
• 3:48
  Speaker 3: know there's a bunch with the Immaculate Reception and the
• 3:50
  Speaker 3: 70 Steelers and all that, but in our lifetime, for
• 3:53
  Speaker 3: those of us that were born post-1980, that is the
• 3:57
  Speaker 3: number one highlight in my head when it comes to
• 3:59
  Speaker 3: Pittsburgh Steelers football. Super Bowl XLIII, Big Ben in the
• 4:02
  Speaker 3: back of the end zone to Santonio Holmes, and a
• 4:04
  Speaker 3: close second is the James Harrison 100-yarder interception return for
• 4:08
  Speaker 3: a touchdown.
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: Both of those plays happening there in that stadium.
• 4:12
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, picking between those two plays, that's like
• 4:15
  Speaker 4: choosing your first or second kid, right? I mean, you
• 4:17
  Speaker 4: just can't, you really can't choose. You can't have one
• 4:20
  Speaker 4: without the other. So it's absolutely the place of much
• 4:25
  Speaker 4: joy and celebration for Steelers fans. I'm sure some listening
• 4:28
  Speaker 4: were fortunate enough to be there that day at Raymond
• 4:32
  Speaker 4: James Stadium. My mother-in-law was there. I didn't know my
• 4:35
  Speaker 4: wife yet. But on my side of the family, we
• 4:38
  Speaker 4: were all watching at my Uncle Mike's house, and it
• 4:40
  Speaker 4: is Really a core memory, I think, for a lot of.
• 4:44
  Speaker 5: People, myself included, as I was in high school at
• 4:48
  Speaker 5: the time.
• 4:49
  Speaker 4: And yeah, it's pretty special anytime you reflect back on
• 4:53
  Speaker 4: that Super Bowl. Two opponents in a row that get
• 4:56
  Speaker 4: us to look back at some awesome moments of yesteryear
• 5:02
  Speaker 4: for the Steelers. It was the Colts evoking all the
• 5:04
  Speaker 4: memories of that divisional round win in Indy.
• 5:08
  Speaker 5: I think they even.
• 5:08
  Speaker 4: Mentioned that on the CBS broadcast with Jim Nance and J.J.
• 5:12
  Speaker 5: Watt.
• 5:13
  Speaker 4: And then now, yeah, you're playing the Buccaneers, but you're
• 5:15
  Speaker 4: doing it at a place where you last got to
• 5:19
  Speaker 4: hoist that Lombardi trophy. The confetti fell on you, got
• 5:23
  Speaker 4: the rings. Let's hope that it's not too long before
• 5:26
  Speaker 4: we get a chance to see that again.
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: The other moment, too, is the Vance McDonald stiff arm.
• 5:31
  Speaker 2: Do you remember that?
• 5:32
  Speaker 3: From a few years ago, the Vance McDonald stiff arm
• 5:35
  Speaker 3: in Tampa Bay. That's the other big moment where he just,
• 5:37
  Speaker 3: you know, I mean, that stood out. Vance McDonald didn't
• 5:40
  Speaker 3: have a ton of highlights during his time. I mean,
• 5:41
  Speaker 3: he had a good career overall and not a bad
• 5:44
  Speaker 3: Steeler career either.
• 5:45
  Speaker 2: Don't let me knock him like that. I really liked
• 5:47
  Speaker 2: Vance McDonald.
• 5:48
  Speaker 3: He was almost like the precursor to if you took
• 5:50
  Speaker 3: Darnell Washington and Pat Fryermuth and combined the two of them,
• 5:54
  Speaker 3: you know, but that stiff arm he had in Tampa Bay,
• 5:57
  Speaker 3: I think that was a Monday night football game, if
• 5:58
  Speaker 3: my memory serves correct, right, Double B?
• 6:01
  Speaker 5: I believe so.
• 6:02
  Speaker 4: And the safety who got put into the dirt there
• 6:06
  Speaker 4: was Chris Conte was his name. So, yeah, that was
• 6:10
  Speaker 4: that was a play that just went viral around the league.
• 6:13
  Speaker 5: And you're right.
• 6:14
  Speaker 4: I mean, it's not like Vance McDonald was here for
• 6:17
  Speaker 4: a real long time or anything. But I think he
• 6:20
  Speaker 4: he made a lot of Steelers fans with that play alone.
• 6:23
  Speaker 4: I bet the next day a bunch of people ran
• 6:25
  Speaker 4: out and bought a Vance McDonald jersey.
• 6:28
  Speaker 5: He was productive.
• 6:29
  Speaker 4: When he was here, he was one of those guys
• 6:31
  Speaker 4: who retired somewhat early, and the Steelers were his final team,
• 6:34
  Speaker 4: if I'm not mistaken.
• 6:35
  Speaker 5: But, yeah, that's another good memory of playing in Tampa Bay.
• 6:40
  Speaker 3: I'll give you one more, and then we are going
• 6:42
  Speaker 3: to get into our Fix It, Get It Right Wednesday
• 6:44
  Speaker 3: segment here to open up the show for today.
• 6:46
  Speaker 2: But one more is Jerome Bettis. As you know, my.
• 6:48
  Speaker 3: All-time favorite Pittsburgh Steeler, all-time favorite NFL player. Had a
• 6:52
  Speaker 3: game way back in the late 90s in Tampa Bay.
• 6:56
  Speaker 3: Ran all over the Bucs. That's another game that sticks
• 7:00
  Speaker 3: out during the Bill Cower era, if you will, back
• 7:03
  Speaker 3: in the late 90s playing in Tampa Bay.
• 7:05
  Speaker 2: All right, let's fix it and get it right Wednesday.
• 7:08
  Speaker 3: And you know, Brian, when you come off of a loss,
• 7:10
  Speaker 3: this exercise is a lot easier because there's much that
• 7:13
  Speaker 3: you can pick out. But when you come off of
• 7:15
  Speaker 3: a win, a bit more challenging, but I did find
• 7:18
  Speaker 3: one on offense and one on defense to feed you.
• 7:21
  Speaker 3: First on offense is something we've been talking about quite
• 7:23
  Speaker 3: a bit this season, and it's the Steelers' struggles on
• 7:26
  Speaker 3: third down. Now for the season through five games, they
• 7:29
  Speaker 3: are at 33%, 20 of 61. Now on the flip
• 7:34
  Speaker 3: side of that, when you have an 80-yard score and
• 7:36
  Speaker 3: a 50-yard score like they did this past week, you
• 7:38
  Speaker 3: don't have to worry about third downs.
• 7:42
  Speaker 5: Yeah, and that's something that they've been trying to get
• 7:45
  Speaker 5: right all season.
• 7:46
  Speaker 4: Mike McCarthy has said, I think probably on more than
• 7:50
  Speaker 4: one occasion, At this point, Ed, the biggest emphasis, the
• 7:54
  Speaker 4: biggest focal point for them is being better on third down.
• 7:58
  Speaker 4: It's only going to get more challenging, I think, as
• 8:01
  Speaker 4: you lose some pieces offensively. But I think guys like
• 8:06
  Speaker 4: Jeremy Bernard, Pat Friermuth, Darnell Washington, if this means more
• 8:10
  Speaker 4: snaps for them, trickle-down effect, I feel pretty good about
• 8:14
  Speaker 4: throwing to those guys on third downs.
• 8:16
  Speaker 2: Yeah, they got good options, that's for sure, right?
• 8:18
  Speaker 3: And that's part of this offensive scheme that's going to
• 8:22
  Speaker 3: continue to improve, Brian, as the season goes on. And
• 8:24
  Speaker 3: I think that's something that, and we talked about this
• 8:27
  Speaker 3: the other day, I believe, or maybe it was even
• 8:30
  Speaker 3: last week, that this is a new coaching staff.
• 8:33
  Speaker 2: This is a new system.
• 8:34
  Speaker 3: Now, Aaron Rodgers does have a history, obviously, with Mike
• 8:37
  Speaker 3: McCarthy in this scheme and in this system, having played
• 8:40
  Speaker 3: with him many, many years in Green Bay. But for
• 8:42
  Speaker 3: the overall roster... This is a brand new coaching staff.
• 8:45
  Speaker 3: It's a brand new playbook. And it's going to take
• 8:47
  Speaker 3: some time as the season goes on. We're only five
• 8:49
  Speaker 3: games in, but I would anticipate as the season goes
• 8:51
  Speaker 3: on that they will get better and better on offense.
• 8:54
  Speaker 3: But again, I think that's something that we take for
• 8:56
  Speaker 3: granted because for 19 years, even though you had a
• 8:58
  Speaker 3: different offensive coordinators come and go, for the most part,
• 9:01
  Speaker 3: the playbook was the same year after year after year.
• 9:05
  Speaker 5: It'll be a good chess match this week.
• 9:07
  Speaker 4: Offensive play calling head coach and Mike McCarthy versus a
• 9:11
  Speaker 4: defensive play calling head coach and Todd Bowles in Tampa.
• 9:15
  Speaker 4: I think that's still the case. And, you know, I
• 9:18
  Speaker 4: probably should have mentioned, you know, a guy who's on
• 9:21
  Speaker 4: the coaching staff down there with the Buccaneers and other Steelers.
• 9:25
  Speaker 5: Great.
• 9:26
  Speaker 4: And someone who was part of some really, really good teams,
• 9:29
  Speaker 4: you know, two-time Super Bowl champion himself. So he's got
• 9:34
  Speaker 4: fond memories of Tampa. Larry Foote, former linebacker, is on
• 9:38
  Speaker 4: the defensive staff for Todd Bowles and has been for
• 9:41
  Speaker 4: a while now since 2019 current titles the run game
• 9:44
  Speaker 4: coordinator and outside linebackers coach he's also been the past
• 9:47
  Speaker 4: game coordinator and inside linebackers coach so it feels like
• 9:51
  Speaker 4: a guy who's trending in the direction of defensive coordinator
• 9:54
  Speaker 4: someday in this league if that's what he wants to
• 9:56
  Speaker 4: do Ed.
• 9:57
  Speaker 3: Yeah, Larry Foote, boy, one of the greatest Steelers to
• 10:01
  Speaker 3: play in the middle. Larry Foote, absolutely.
• 10:03
  Speaker 2: Remember him fondly. I didn't know he was a coach
• 10:05
  Speaker 2: in Tampa, Brian. That's good stuff.
• 10:08
  Speaker 3: I knew he was a coach in the NFL. I
• 10:10
  Speaker 3: knew he was coaching somewhere, but I didn't know it
• 10:11
  Speaker 3: was Tampa Bay. And for that long, seven years.
• 10:13
  Speaker 4: A lot of guys from that era have moved into
• 10:16
  Speaker 4: the coaching ranks. Antoine Randall-El. right-hand man to Ben Johnson
• 10:20
  Speaker 4: in Chicago. Now I think he's assistant head coach to
• 10:23
  Speaker 4: shake Townsend's DBs coach in Detroit. And there are, there
• 10:28
  Speaker 4: are several others at the NFL level, but then there
• 10:31
  Speaker 4: are others at the college and Heath Miller is a
• 10:34
  Speaker 4: high school football coach down in Virginia at last check.
• 10:37
  Speaker 2: That's right.
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 10:38
  Speaker 3: Heath high school football coach that's on offense. Get better
• 10:42
  Speaker 3: on third downs. The Steelers on defense have been pretty
• 10:44
  Speaker 3: good on third down so far this season. limiting their
• 10:47
  Speaker 3: opponents in and around that same 30 percentile. So good
• 10:51
  Speaker 3: job defensively, just offensively, an area that they have to
• 10:54
  Speaker 3: continue to work on to improve after the first five
• 10:57
  Speaker 3: games of the season. All right, let's get to one
• 10:58
  Speaker 3: on defense. We're fixing it and getting it right on Wednesdays.
• 11:02
  Speaker 3: And the pass rush, well, we talked about this yesterday, too.
• 11:05
  Speaker 3: Only three sacks in the last two games for the
• 11:07
  Speaker 3: Steelers overall. That's the entire defense, not just the edge rushers.
• 11:12
  Speaker 3: And only three quarterback hits last week against the Colts.
• 11:15
  Speaker 3: One sack, it was Cam Hayward. It's an area, Brian,
• 11:18
  Speaker 3: that started the season hot. They had a bunch of
• 11:20
  Speaker 3: sacks in the first couple games of the season, but
• 11:22
  Speaker 3: it's dried up a bit here as of late.
• 11:24
  Speaker 2: Now, I will say this.
• 11:25
  Speaker 3: It seemed like the Colts offensively had a game plan
• 11:28
  Speaker 3: to get the ball out of Daniel Jones' hands pretty
• 11:31
  Speaker 3: quick and not allow that pass rush to get home
• 11:33
  Speaker 3: and establish itself.
• 11:36
  Speaker 5: Yeah, this is the NFL.
• 11:38
  Speaker 4: It's tough to be consistent in every phase of the game,
• 11:41
  Speaker 4: week in and week out, because coaches are they're watching
• 11:45
  Speaker 4: what's working for their opponent and they're coming up with
• 11:47
  Speaker 4: adjustments to, to try to counteract that. I'm sure Shane
• 11:52
  Speaker 4: Steichen and Jim Bob Cooter had the Steelers pass rush
• 11:55
  Speaker 4: top of mind going into that game last week and
• 11:58
  Speaker 4: trying to protect Daniel Jones so that he didn't Daniel
• 12:01
  Speaker 4: Jones the game away. He really didn't to his credit
• 12:04
  Speaker 4: in terms of the turnovers.
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: Right.
• 12:06
  Speaker 4: But I think Patrick Graham kind of chuckled at this
• 12:08
  Speaker 4: on Monday. Somebody asked him about generating more pass rush.
• 12:11
  Speaker 4: And he's, I think he was sort of like, Hey,
• 12:14
  Speaker 4: Remember just a few weeks ago when we were talking
• 12:16
  Speaker 4: about all the sacks that we were getting and how
• 12:18
  Speaker 4: we were doing that? So it is cyclical a little bit,
• 12:22
  Speaker 4: and it's week to week. We'll see at the end
• 12:25
  Speaker 4: of the season who had the best pass rush in
• 12:28
  Speaker 4: the NFL. And I have a feeling, despite this recent drought,
• 12:31
  Speaker 4: that the Steelers are still going to be near the
• 12:33
  Speaker 4: top of that list when it's all said and done.
• 12:36
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's the ups and flows of an NFL season, Brian.
• 12:38
  Speaker 2: That's for sure. You're going to have your ups and
• 12:40
  Speaker 2: downs with it.
• 12:41
  Speaker 3: You know, I made the comment here on the show
• 12:43
  Speaker 3: with you As well, the other day when we were
• 12:45
  Speaker 3: talking about this, I think, again, in and around Pittsburgh
• 12:48
  Speaker 3: for so long, I mean, the identity of this football team,
• 12:51
  Speaker 3: the identity of the franchise has been quarterback sacks, pressure
• 12:56
  Speaker 3: in the backfield. You can go all the way back
• 12:58
  Speaker 3: to the 70s, even through the dry period of the 80s,
• 13:00
  Speaker 3: the 90s, and now here in the 2000s. This team
• 13:04
  Speaker 3: is built in and around Blitzburg, Blitz packages on defense,
• 13:07
  Speaker 3: getting home and sacking the quarterback. So when you go
• 13:09
  Speaker 3: a couple of games with a dry period, I think
• 13:12
  Speaker 3: everybody notices it a bit more than other NFL franchises.
• 13:16
  Speaker 3: It tends to stand out more. But look, they got
• 13:19
  Speaker 3: the talent that they can get home.
• 13:20
  Speaker 2: No doubt.
• 13:21
  Speaker 3: I think Nick Herbig is probably one of those players
• 13:24
  Speaker 3: that I would look at as early as this week
• 13:26
  Speaker 3: in Tampa to finally get his first sack of the season.
• 13:28
  Speaker 3: That seems weird to me so far, Brian, to even
• 13:31
  Speaker 3: say that, to come out of my mouth that Nick
• 13:33
  Speaker 3: Herbig through five games, uh, does not have a sack
• 13:36
  Speaker 3: so far. We're going to have our hits and misses
• 13:37
  Speaker 3: coming up here in a little bit in our next segment.
• 13:39
  Speaker 3: We'll see if that's a miss for the season so far, but, uh, boy,
• 13:42
  Speaker 3: you'd love to see Herbie get home here this week
• 13:44
  Speaker 3: as early against the bucks.
• 13:47
  Speaker 5: You would.
• 13:47
  Speaker 4: And, you know, I guess we'll see who's at, at QB. Um,
• 13:51
  Speaker 4: for the bucks on Sunday. It sure seems like it's
• 13:53
  Speaker 4: going to be Jalen Daniels again. I don't think Baker
• 13:56
  Speaker 4: Mayfield is going to be ready just yet.
• 13:58
  Speaker 5: Daniels only sacked once by the Cowboys.
• 14:00
  Speaker 4: Now that's not a team with a ton of well-renowned
• 14:04
  Speaker 4: pass rushers. And that's, that's been a struggle for them
• 14:08
  Speaker 4: since they traded away Mike Parsons last year, but he
• 14:12
  Speaker 4: is still an undrafted rookie and, you know, go back
• 14:15
  Speaker 4: to the Steelers six from preseason, Mike McCarthy, what he
• 14:18
  Speaker 4: wants to lay out for this team to be, sharp
• 14:21
  Speaker 4: at every week and the last one of those is
• 14:23
  Speaker 4: mannerisms and disguises and the better you disguise things on
• 14:26
  Speaker 4: the defensive end right the better chance you have of
• 14:29
  Speaker 4: getting home even against a guy who's pretty mobile and
• 14:32
  Speaker 4: pretty shifty back there like Daniels is it's I think
• 14:35
  Speaker 4: you know probably a little bit tougher to fool a
• 14:38
  Speaker 4: Daniel Jones or a Deshaun Watson or Joe Burrow.
• 14:42
  Speaker 5: Than it is a guy who's about to make his
• 14:44
  Speaker 5: second NFL start We.
• 14:45
  Speaker 2: Have a busy show planned for you today.
• 14:47
  Speaker 3: Coming up next, we're going to get into our hits
• 14:49
  Speaker 3: and misses of the week, one of our favorite segments.
• 14:52
  Speaker 3: And then at 3 o'clock today, it is Wes Euler
• 14:55
  Speaker 3: from SNR's The Drive. Of course, you can hear Wes
• 14:57
  Speaker 3: and Matt every day from 4 to 6 here on
• 15:00
  Speaker 3: Steelers Nation Radio. But we stole Wes for a quick
• 15:02
  Speaker 3: segment to talk to us a little bit about the
• 15:04
  Speaker 3: Steelers so far, five weeks into the season, as well
• 15:07
  Speaker 3: as to start to talk about Steelers-Bucks for this upcoming Sunday.
• 15:11
  Speaker 3: Wes will be there, part of our broadcast team, along
• 15:13
  Speaker 3: with Double B, Brian Bacco. And we'll get into our
• 15:15
  Speaker 3: top five offenses and defenses, our power rankings for offense
• 15:19
  Speaker 3: and defense, coming up at 320 and 340 in our
• 15:23
  Speaker 3: number two.
• 15:24
  Speaker 2: He's Bacco. I'm Troop.
• 15:25
  Speaker 3: It's the Steelers Report right here on Steelers Nation Radio,
• 15:28
  Speaker 3: part of the Steelers Audio Network.
• 15:38
  Speaker 6: That's not a warning. It's an ode to Mike T.
• 15:41
  Speaker 6: You know, I used to always say don't get beat
• 15:43
  Speaker 6: to the flat. So I wore this underneath my sweatshirt.
• 15:46
  Speaker 6: I'm kind of hot after the shower, so I decided
• 15:48
  Speaker 6: not to wear the sweatshirt.
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: This is the Steelers Report with Brian Batko and Ed
• 15:54
  Speaker 1: Troup on Steelers Nation Radio, a part of the Steelers
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: Audio Network.
• 15:59
  Speaker 3: Double B, that was Aaron Rodgers after the game on Sunday.
• 16:02
  Speaker 3: Did you happen to catch that in the shirt that
• 16:04
  Speaker 3: he had on?
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: Yes. Yes.
• 16:06
  Speaker 5: Yes, I did.
• 16:06
  Speaker 4: I used to see those shirts around a lot the
• 16:09
  Speaker 4: previous three.
• 16:11
  Speaker 5: Four, five years. He said there he's absolutely right.
• 16:15
  Speaker 4: As somebody who had a front row seat to Mike
• 16:17
  Speaker 4: Tomlin practices for seven years of my life, he did.
• 16:23
  Speaker 5: Often say, don't get beat to the flat.
• 16:25
  Speaker 4: I always thought it was kind of funny when you
• 16:27
  Speaker 4: would see offensive players wearing that shirt.
• 16:31
  Speaker 5: One anecdote that.
• 16:32
  Speaker 4: I can Because obviously that's a defensive refrain to your safeties,
• 16:37
  Speaker 4: your corners, your linebackers, whoever might have to deal with
• 16:40
  Speaker 4: the players in the flat. Right. But I remember I
• 16:43
  Speaker 4: once saw Ben Skoranek wearing it not long after the
• 16:45
  Speaker 4: Steelers acquired him a couple years ago. And I said, huh,
• 16:49
  Speaker 4: I like the shirt, but aren't you an offensive player?
• 16:52
  Speaker 4: And he said, I'm not an offensive player. I'm just
• 16:55
  Speaker 4: a football player. And now we know two or three
• 16:58
  Speaker 4: years later, the legend of Ben Skoranek and how accurate
• 17:02
  Speaker 4: that statement is from him.
• 17:04
  Speaker 3: Very much so for Ben Skoranek, who, well, now he's
• 17:07
  Speaker 3: banged up a bit, might not be in a Steeler
• 17:09
  Speaker 3: uniform for the next few weeks.
• 17:11
  Speaker 2: We will see. We'll get our first injury report later today.
• 17:14
  Speaker 3: Brian Betko joining us from the south side, the Steelers
• 17:17
  Speaker 3: facility for today's show. He'll also be there tomorrow and Friday,
• 17:21
  Speaker 3: so he'll keep us updated as the Steelers begin their
• 17:23
  Speaker 3: prep for the Tampa Bay Bucs with practice day number
• 17:27
  Speaker 3: one today. So we'll update everyone tomorrow afternoon. on the
• 17:30
  Speaker 3: show when we get that first initial injury report. We're
• 17:33
  Speaker 3: anxious to see if Rico Dowdle could potentially return to
• 17:36
  Speaker 3: the lineup on Sunday. And then from another perspective, we'll
• 17:39
  Speaker 3: see how he's used with Jalen Warren and how great
• 17:42
  Speaker 3: Jalen Warren has played the last few games. But as
• 17:44
  Speaker 3: we said, Jalen Warren cannot sustain that. No running back
• 17:48
  Speaker 3: can for an entire NFL season. You need someone to
• 17:51
  Speaker 3: be able to step in and take some of that
• 17:53
  Speaker 3: workload away to keep him healthy and keep him upright.
• 17:56
  Speaker 3: And Rico Dowdle can certainly do that. Also, Deshaun Elliott
• 18:00
  Speaker 3: now in that 21-day window. Brian anxious to see if
• 18:03
  Speaker 3: he'll be elevated by the end of this week and
• 18:05
  Speaker 3: potentially back into that lineup. The Steelers could certainly use
• 18:08
  Speaker 3: him in that secondary. That's a bit banged up right now.
• 18:11
  Speaker 3: Not sure if we'll see Jamel Dean, former Tampa Bay Bucs.
• 18:14
  Speaker 3: I'm sure he wants to play in this game on
• 18:15
  Speaker 3: Sunday in a big, big way, but he's also dealing
• 18:18
  Speaker 3: with an injury. So we'll get all those updates and more.
• 18:21
  Speaker 3: Any more thoughts in and around potential or current Pittsburgh
• 18:26
  Speaker 3: Steelers injuries?
• 18:29
  Speaker 4: Not necessarily on the injury front, Ed, but there are
• 18:31
  Speaker 4: some roster moves that haven't come home to roost, so
• 18:37
  Speaker 4: to speak, just yet. I mean, Sean Murphy Bunting was
• 18:40
  Speaker 4: active for that game the other day against the Colts,
• 18:43
  Speaker 4: but I don't think he played any defensive snaps.
• 18:48
  Speaker 5: They didn't have any injuries in the secondary that day.
• 18:53
  Speaker 5: Knock on wood. They got lucky. They got fortunate.
• 18:56
  Speaker 4: After dealing with a rash of them. But yeah, Murphy
• 18:58
  Speaker 4: Bunting didn't play at all in that one. I think
• 19:00
  Speaker 4: he was the only player in uniform and in helmet
• 19:03
  Speaker 4: who didn't have to take a snap. And granted, he
• 19:05
  Speaker 4: was with the team for a week, not even by
• 19:08
  Speaker 4: that point. But remember, he's on the 53.
• 19:10
  Speaker 5: So is Terrell Smith, who was inactive.
• 19:13
  Speaker 4: So those two corners, I mean, maybe they can just
• 19:16
  Speaker 4: provide depth in practice and not be needed on game
• 19:20
  Speaker 4: days just yet.
• 19:21
  Speaker 5: But we haven't seen him to this point.
• 19:24
  Speaker 4: We'll see if anybody gets bumped up to the 53,
• 19:29
  Speaker 4: because you only can elevate two players a week. And
• 19:33
  Speaker 4: with these little minor injuries, you don't want to see
• 19:36
  Speaker 4: guys on IR, obviously, but it makes it a little
• 19:39
  Speaker 4: bit easier from a roster perspective, because then they're off
• 19:43
  Speaker 4: the 53 for four weeks, and you have a spot
• 19:45
  Speaker 4: open up. When you have these two, three, maybe, hopefully
• 19:49
  Speaker 4: not fours, week injuries, I think it makes it a
• 19:51
  Speaker 4: little tougher because you're juggling that practice squad and you're
• 19:55
  Speaker 4: trying to squeeze the most that you can out of
• 19:58
  Speaker 4: the players that are available to you, which is every
• 20:01
  Speaker 4: week it's your 53 plus 16 on the practice squad
• 20:05
  Speaker 4: plus one international exemption player. So really 70 at your
• 20:09
  Speaker 4: disposal every week, but we know they're not all healthy.
• 20:13
  Speaker 4: And we know that, you know, there there's only so
• 20:15
  Speaker 4: many that you can bring up to the active roster
• 20:18
  Speaker 4: for every game.
• 20:19
  Speaker 2: Brian, we didn't get your thoughts yesterday.
• 20:20
  Speaker 3: I'd forgotten to ask you about Landon Roberts, who was
• 20:23
  Speaker 3: signed to the practice squad on Monday. He returns to
• 20:27
  Speaker 3: the Pittsburgh Steelers to help fit that need on the
• 20:30
  Speaker 3: inside middle linebacker spot. Your thoughts on Roberts returning and,
• 20:35
  Speaker 3: you know, what type of impact do you think he
• 20:36
  Speaker 3: can make with this defense?
• 20:39
  Speaker 4: I think you did ask me about that yesterday, Ed,
• 20:41
  Speaker 4: but that's okay. We can double down. I, well, I
• 20:45
  Speaker 4: just think everybody's happy to have him back and we'll
• 20:47
  Speaker 4: probably get a chance to, to hear from him at
• 20:51
  Speaker 4: some point here soon.
• 20:52
  Speaker 5: And what went into his thinking to.
• 20:54
  Speaker 4: Come back because at his age and two Superbowl rings,
• 20:58
  Speaker 4: like he doesn't need football at this point.
• 21:01
  Speaker 5: I mean, he could have easily just said no.
• 21:03
  Speaker 4: And, stayed home this season or waited out a 53
• 21:07
  Speaker 4: man roster spot. But obviously he wanted to get back
• 21:12
  Speaker 4: in the mix. And, you know, as Mike McCarthy put it,
• 21:15
  Speaker 4: I think, or maybe it was Patrick Graham.
• 21:16
  Speaker 5: I think it was McCarthy. The guy just wants to win.
• 21:19
  Speaker 4: So he wants to be around ball again and Steelers
• 21:22
  Speaker 4: giving him an opportunity to do that. I assume he'll
• 21:24
  Speaker 4: get his number 50 Jersey back.
• 21:27
  Speaker 5: And I don't know if it'll just be.
• 21:29
  Speaker 4: Practice squad for him, but it's, it's good to have
• 21:31
  Speaker 4: that guy as an option to elevate on any given
• 21:33
  Speaker 4: game to.
• 21:34
  Speaker 2: I did ask you yesterday. Okay, well, you know what?
• 21:36
  Speaker 2: We doubled down.
• 21:37
  Speaker 3: We got Double B giving us double feedback on, well,
• 21:41
  Speaker 3: he's not 55. You know, if there was a different
• 21:44
  Speaker 3: number for a Landon Roberts, some double type of digit number,
• 21:48
  Speaker 3: that would have been a lot easier in that sequence.
• 21:49
  Speaker 3: Now he's number 50 most likely coming back. One other question,
• 21:53
  Speaker 3: then we'll get into our hits and misses for the
• 21:54
  Speaker 3: week for you, Double B. The wide receiver spot that
• 21:57
  Speaker 3: is banged up right now, Michael Pittman Jr.
• 21:59
  Speaker 2: On the IR.
• 21:59
  Speaker 3: Roman Wilson appears to be out. We already talked about
• 22:02
  Speaker 3: Ben Skoranek being out. Good opportunities for guys like Jeremy Bernard,
• 22:05
  Speaker 3: as we've talked about, but is there another move to
• 22:08
  Speaker 3: be made? We know Brandon Smith got elevated last week
• 22:10
  Speaker 3: from the practice squad, but is there another move to
• 22:12
  Speaker 3: be made?
• 22:14
  Speaker 2: Lots of rumors out there.
• 22:15
  Speaker 3: There's always rumors about big names that have yet to sign,
• 22:18
  Speaker 3: or maybe there's a trade that could take place. I'm
• 22:21
  Speaker 3: one to think, Brian, I think the Steelers, at least
• 22:24
  Speaker 3: for this week, are going to stay on course, what
• 22:27
  Speaker 3: they have, and see how it plays out. I think
• 22:29
  Speaker 3: until you start seeing some overwhelming struggles at this position.
• 22:33
  Speaker 2: They're not going to make a move.
• 22:35
  Speaker 3: But having said that, if you go through this week
• 22:37
  Speaker 3: or the following week and you are struggling with that No.
• 22:40
  Speaker 2: 2 or No.
• 22:40
  Speaker 3: 3 wide receiver, the trade deadline is not until November,
• 22:44
  Speaker 3: so you do still have some time on the clock there.
• 22:46
  Speaker 3: And there's also a few names out there swirling.
• 22:49
  Speaker 4: You can always grab somebody off the couch, as they
• 22:52
  Speaker 4: say in the business. Yeah, I think that they'll probably
• 22:56
  Speaker 4: try to roll with what they have for this week. Because,
• 23:00
  Speaker 4: I mean, I think if you bring in someone in
• 23:01
  Speaker 4: here I mean, there's guys out there with familiarity with
• 23:05
  Speaker 4: Aaron Rodgers. I think Marquez Valdez-Scantling actually just got signed
• 23:08
  Speaker 4: to someone's 53. So take him out of the mix
• 23:11
  Speaker 4: if he was even in it. But I think Alan
• 23:13
  Speaker 4: Lazard is a free agent. You know, there's guys who
• 23:17
  Speaker 4: were around last year, like Scotty Miller, I think is
• 23:20
  Speaker 4: out there and available. But if it's somebody who doesn't
• 23:24
  Speaker 4: have any sort of banked reps or shared experience with
• 23:27
  Speaker 4: the QB, I think that'd be asking a lot to
• 23:30
  Speaker 4: jump on the, moving train and get up to speed,
• 23:35
  Speaker 4: not just with Mike McCarthy's playbook and his scheme, but
• 23:38
  Speaker 4: also all of the ancillary things that you need to
• 23:40
  Speaker 4: know playing with Rodgers. And at least guys like Brandon
• 23:43
  Speaker 4: Smith have been here working with him, a little less
• 23:46
  Speaker 4: so for Isaiah Hodgins and Brandon Johnson. But yeah, I mean,
• 23:50
  Speaker 4: the other thing that I would at least maybe toy
• 23:53
  Speaker 4: with this week, if I'm Mike McCarthy and Brian Angelico
• 23:56
  Speaker 4: is Caden Weegin. Nobody's really asked about whether He could
• 24:02
  Speaker 4: play a role and I don't think that's necessarily what
• 24:05
  Speaker 4: he was drafted to do. He played very little receiver
• 24:07
  Speaker 4: even in college at Iowa. It was sparingly and.
• 24:11
  Speaker 5: Kind of as a gadget guy, but could you do
• 24:12
  Speaker 5: that with him here?
• 24:14
  Speaker 4: You know, he still practices with that position group and
• 24:16
  Speaker 4: he got reps in training camp with that position group.
• 24:19
  Speaker 5: And you, Mike McCarthy has said.
• 24:21
  Speaker 4: How many times now going back to when he was
• 24:23
  Speaker 4: hired that everybody needs to have two jobs on game day.
• 24:27
  Speaker 4: I guess you could argue that Legion has kick returns
• 24:29
  Speaker 4: and punt returns as his job, but I think he
• 24:31
  Speaker 4: means more so he wants everybody to play multiple.
• 24:33
  Speaker 5: Phases of the game within reason.
• 24:35
  Speaker 4: You're not going to see TJ Watt out there busting
• 24:37
  Speaker 4: his hump, running down to cover kicks. But even if
• 24:41
  Speaker 4: you're not giving him the ball, I mean, can you
• 24:42
  Speaker 4: at least use him as a slot receiver? Maybe put
• 24:45
  Speaker 4: him in motion, you know, clear out some space if
• 24:48
  Speaker 4: you get deep downfield. Just a thought as, you know,
• 24:52
  Speaker 4: I'm sure the coaches are going to be working the
• 24:54
  Speaker 4: game plan here today, Thursday and Friday.
• 24:57
  Speaker 3: Let's get into some hits and misses for this week
• 24:59
  Speaker 3: for the Pittsburgh Steelers as we do each and every
• 25:01
  Speaker 3: week here on our show. We'll start with a hit.
• 25:04
  Speaker 3: Tight end Pat Friermuth is at the top of the list.
• 25:07
  Speaker 3: 19 catches, 169 yards, and four touchdowns. Of course, coming
• 25:11
  Speaker 3: off the two-touchdown performance this past week against the Indianapolis Colts, Brian.
• 25:15
  Speaker 3: But he had four touchdowns in all of 2025, and
• 25:18
  Speaker 3: we know he was underused. last year in Arthur Smith's offense,
• 25:22
  Speaker 3: but so far this year through five games, Muth already
• 25:25
  Speaker 3: ties his 2025 touchdown mark with four, and he's at
• 25:30
  Speaker 3: 169 yards receiving. A few more games like he just
• 25:33
  Speaker 3: had this past week, he will get past what he
• 25:35
  Speaker 3: did all of last year in that category as well.
• 25:37
  Speaker 2: Muth is hot.
• 25:39
  Speaker 5: Absolutely, and we love to see it.
• 25:41
  Speaker 4: He's a fan favorite, has been since his rookie year
• 25:44
  Speaker 4: when he caught so many big passes from Ben Roethlisberger,
• 25:48
  Speaker 4: and I just think the best thing about And by
• 25:52
  Speaker 4: the way, that was his first multi-touchdown game since that
• 25:55
  Speaker 4: big breakout game last season in Cincinnati on Thursday Night Football,
• 25:59
  Speaker 4: which unfortunately didn't really sustain the.
• 26:03
  Speaker 5: Rest of the year.
• 26:03
  Speaker 4: There was no momentum gained from that because I think
• 26:07
  Speaker 4: the Steelers were just in one mode of operation last
• 26:09
  Speaker 4: season offensively and maybe not enough adjustments to get Friar
• 26:13
  Speaker 4: Muth more involved. But that's water under the bridge. And
• 26:17
  Speaker 4: the water's been warm for Friar Muth so far. this
• 26:19
  Speaker 4: season and Mike McCarthy's offense, like you said, Ed already
• 26:24
  Speaker 4: matches his touchdown total from last year. Of course, he's
• 26:27
  Speaker 4: on pace to, to shatter the receptions and yardages as well.
• 26:32
  Speaker 4: So it's, it's really good to see. And the best
• 26:35
  Speaker 4: part about it is this is a guy who never complains,
• 26:40
  Speaker 4: never whined and himself before the team just as frequently said, he's,
• 26:47
  Speaker 4: If he catches zero balls but the Steelers win, that's great.
• 26:49
  Speaker 4: If he catches 10 balls for 150 yards and three
• 26:52
  Speaker 4: touchdowns but the Steelers lose, that's not good. So he's
• 26:56
  Speaker 4: always been a team-first guy, and it's good to see
• 26:58
  Speaker 4: both happening so far in 2026.
• 27:00
  Speaker 3: Yeah, that's a good point about Muth being a team
• 27:03
  Speaker 3: player and a leader for that matter throughout last year.
• 27:06
  Speaker 3: Easily could have been one of those pre-Madonna receivers or
• 27:09
  Speaker 3: tight ends in his case and complain about his lack
• 27:12
  Speaker 3: of getting the football in his hands, and he didn't.
• 27:13
  Speaker 3: He stayed the constant professional. and now it's paying off
• 27:17
  Speaker 3: here in 2026 so far. Our first miss of the week,
• 27:20
  Speaker 3: we already hinted towards Nick Herbig. Slow start for Herbig.
• 27:24
  Speaker 3: Zero sacks through five games, 12 tackles, three tackle for losses,
• 27:29
  Speaker 3: and a forced fumble.
• 27:30
  Speaker 2: That's been it for Nick Herbig so far.
• 27:32
  Speaker 3: He was such a big part of the splash plays
• 27:34
  Speaker 3: on this defense the last couple of seasons for the Steelers,
• 27:37
  Speaker 3: so it's weird to talk that we're five games in
• 27:40
  Speaker 3: and he's yet to record a sack.
• 27:43
  Speaker 4: Patrick Graham has talked about trying to weaponize Nick Herbig
• 27:46
  Speaker 4: and you know that's been a big big talking point
• 27:49
  Speaker 4: going back to the Herbig extension was how do you
• 27:53
  Speaker 4: make use of all three outside linebackers is there a
• 27:56
  Speaker 4: way to to not just rotate the three but get
• 27:59
  Speaker 4: them all out there get your best 11 on the
• 28:01
  Speaker 4: field at the same time and I think that's looked
• 28:03
  Speaker 4: good at times but you know the numbers are the
• 28:05
  Speaker 4: numbers through five games it has not resulted in an
• 28:08
  Speaker 4: uptick in sack production for Herbig. In fact, like you said,
• 28:12
  Speaker 4: it's still a goose egg in that category. Now, we
• 28:15
  Speaker 4: have short memories sometimes when we follow sports. Like, Herbig
• 28:19
  Speaker 4: has absolutely impacted games. You know, forced fumble on Ramondre
• 28:23
  Speaker 4: Stevenson in New England is a huge play.
• 28:25
  Speaker 5: Yeah, it's not a sack, but it was an impact play.
• 28:29
  Speaker 5: There's no doubt about that.
• 28:30
  Speaker 4: So it's not like he's just been loafing out there
• 28:32
  Speaker 4: and not contributing whatsoever. Just hasn't been in the column
• 28:36
  Speaker 4: that we typically expect from her big, maybe the weapon
• 28:39
  Speaker 4: is just charging up and we're going to make good
• 28:42
  Speaker 4: use of it the rest of the way.
• 28:44
  Speaker 3: Hopefully as early as this weekend in the Gulf side
• 28:47
  Speaker 3: of Florida, as we got our, you know, maps correct
• 28:50
  Speaker 3: to open up the show today when I said South Florida,
• 28:53
  Speaker 3: but Brian had my back. He pointed out South Florida,
• 28:55
  Speaker 3: Central Florida, all the different parts of Florida.
• 28:58
  Speaker 2: You'll be in and around all of that this weekend.
• 29:01
  Speaker 4: I looked at the geography a little bit more. I mean,
• 29:03
  Speaker 4: it is further South than Orlando. So Central Florida fits
• 29:07
  Speaker 4: for where that college is located but USF is still
• 29:10
  Speaker 4: a South Florida being in Tampa still a tough sell
• 29:13
  Speaker 4: for me.
• 29:13
  Speaker 3: I'm with you my friend thank you for having my
• 29:15
  Speaker 3: back though earlier as you always do all right let's
• 29:18
  Speaker 3: go to our second hit of the day Jalen Ramsey
• 29:21
  Speaker 3: 27 tackles Brian that's fourth best on the team so
• 29:25
  Speaker 3: far this season he has a tackle for loss three
• 29:27
  Speaker 3: past the foot uh defending plays an interception in five games.
• 29:32
  Speaker 3: But here's the thing about Jalen Ramsey that I've really
• 29:34
  Speaker 3: liked throughout these first five games. He has been involved
• 29:37
  Speaker 3: pretty much in every defensive playoff You see number five
• 29:41
  Speaker 3: popping in when he's on the field. I mean, he
• 29:43
  Speaker 3: has stepped up multiple times to help stop the run
• 29:46
  Speaker 3: coming in on blitz packages. Jalen Ramsey seems to be
• 29:49
  Speaker 3: everywhere on this Steeler defense right now.
• 29:53
  Speaker 4: He's obviously bought into the plan. Well, I guess I
• 29:56
  Speaker 4: shouldn't say obviously, but you know, he's, he's out there playing,
• 30:00
  Speaker 4: he's flying around. He seems to be having fun. If
• 30:02
  Speaker 4: he's not, you could have fooled me because he's, he's
• 30:05
  Speaker 4: in there all the time. Like you said, he's, he's active.
• 30:08
  Speaker 4: He's playing through what he said was a broken wrist
• 30:10
  Speaker 4: right now, which is wild. I mean, talk about tough.
• 30:14
  Speaker 5: Like, and that's a guy who, you know, sort of
• 30:16
  Speaker 5: like Elaine and Robert Superbowl winner. He's in his thirties.
• 30:19
  Speaker 5: He's made a bunch of money.
• 30:20
  Speaker 4: Like could easily just shut it down probably and, and
• 30:24
  Speaker 4: go on IR himself, but he wants to play ball
• 30:27
  Speaker 4: and he, I think somebody asked him about that last week.
• 30:29
  Speaker 5: And he said, cause I just love football.
• 30:30
  Speaker 4: And you know, if I, I feel like if I
• 30:32
  Speaker 4: can play and I'm not going to hurt my team
• 30:34
  Speaker 4: with it, then I'm going to be out there. And
• 30:36
  Speaker 4: I think it is helping the Steelers, you know, if
• 30:39
  Speaker 4: slash when Deshaun Elliott returns, does that change what it
• 30:42
  Speaker 4: looks like at all for Ramsey? Maybe, maybe not because
• 30:44
  Speaker 4: I think he's really good in that big nickel role.
• 30:48
  Speaker 4: And I just think a cool thing about Ramsey that,
• 30:51
  Speaker 4: you know, maybe he wouldn't get into himself, but, he's
• 30:54
  Speaker 4: obviously changed up his entire identity as a player from
• 30:57
  Speaker 4: a shutdown outside corner, Ramsey Island, take away your number
• 31:01
  Speaker 4: one to being on the inside of that shell and
• 31:05
  Speaker 4: being an enforcer of sorts.
• 31:07
  Speaker 5: And he's been really good at it.
• 31:09
  Speaker 2: He sure has.
• 31:10
  Speaker 3: Like I said, I've, I've seen them throughout these first
• 31:12
  Speaker 3: five games more than I have in the last, what
• 31:15
  Speaker 3: last year, you know, I mean, as far as getting
• 31:17
  Speaker 3: involved in every single Defensive play. We are just getting
• 31:20
  Speaker 3: started on our hits and misses here today. When we
• 31:22
  Speaker 3: come back, we'll get into more. And then coming up
• 31:24
  Speaker 3: at 3 o'clock, it's Wes Euler from SNR's The Drive.
• 31:28
  Speaker 3: Excited to talk to our good friend Wes, that's for sure.
• 31:31
  Speaker 3: Maybe we'll even talk a little West Virginia football with Wes.
• 31:33
  Speaker 3: We know that's his gig for sure. He's Brian Bacco.
• 31:36
  Speaker 2: I'm Ed Troop.
• 31:37
  Speaker 3: It's the Steelers Report right here on Steelers Nation Radio,
• 31:39
  Speaker 3: part of the Steelers Audio Network.
• 31:49
  Speaker 1: This is the Steelers Report with Brian Bacco and Ed
• 31:53
  Speaker 1: Swin on Steelers Nation Radio, a part of the Steelers
• 31:57
  Speaker 1: Audio Network.
• 31:59
  Speaker 3: Double B, lots of rain and storms in and around
• 32:02
  Speaker 3: the area here on Wednesday. I got to ask you,
• 32:05
  Speaker 3: I am not an umbrella guy. I mean, I have
• 32:08
  Speaker 3: this bald head. My wife is a big umbrella person.
• 32:11
  Speaker 3: I mean, if it's just a little bit of a sprinkle,
• 32:13
  Speaker 3: she's breaking out the umbrella.
• 32:15
  Speaker 2: I protest. I never use it.
• 32:17
  Speaker 3: But this morning when I pulled into our iHeart Studios
• 32:20
  Speaker 3: here in Bridgeville, The rain was coming down in buckets,
• 32:25
  Speaker 3: my friend, heavy downpour.
• 32:27
  Speaker 2: And I thought to myself, do I have an umbrella?
• 32:30
  Speaker 2: I do.
• 32:31
  Speaker 3: It was a small one and I used it. It's
• 32:33
  Speaker 3: one of the first times and only times in my
• 32:35
  Speaker 3: life that I used an umbrella. It's now here in
• 32:37
  Speaker 3: the studio. It's drying out. But where do you stand
• 32:40
  Speaker 3: on the great umbrella debate?
• 32:42
  Speaker 5: How did that make you feel, Ed? Do you feel
• 32:43
  Speaker 5: like you made the right move?
• 32:45
  Speaker 4: Are you like, are you going to become indoctrinated into
• 32:48
  Speaker 4: the umbrella life with like Were you like, wow, I'm
• 32:51
  Speaker 4: surprisingly dry.
• 32:52
  Speaker 1: This is nice.
• 32:53
  Speaker 5: What did you think?
• 32:54
  Speaker 3: Well, I was more concerned about my coffee this morning
• 32:57
  Speaker 3: that I did not want it to get wet. And
• 32:59
  Speaker 3: I knew I also have a water bottle that I carry.
• 33:01
  Speaker 3: So my hands are always full. So I had the
• 33:03
  Speaker 3: umbrella with the. the water in one hand, the coffee
• 33:06
  Speaker 3: in the other. I wanted to keep everything dry. But
• 33:09
  Speaker 3: to answer your question, Brian Bacco, this was a one-time
• 33:12
  Speaker 3: deal for me. I do not think I will, because
• 33:14
  Speaker 3: here's the problem. Now I got the umbrella in the studio.
• 33:17
  Speaker 3: I got to let it dry out, right? And then
• 33:19
  Speaker 3: I got to, you know, put it back together and
• 33:21
  Speaker 3: put it back in my car. I mean, it's just
• 33:23
  Speaker 3: too much work and I'm bald. So there's not a
• 33:26
  Speaker 3: problem when it comes to raindrops or snow or anything else.
• 33:30
  Speaker 2: I mean, I'm not going to mess up my hair.
• 33:32
  Speaker 4: Well, I got to say, The dynamics in the Batco
• 33:35
  Speaker 4: household are the exact same as they are in yours.
• 33:37
  Speaker 4: I'm not a toxic masculinity kind of guy. I'll drink
• 33:42
  Speaker 4: a fruity drink. I'll listen to Taylor Swift. I'll watch rom-coms.
• 33:47
  Speaker 4: But I'm like you. I've never been an umbrella user.
• 33:51
  Speaker 4: I don't know what it is.
• 33:54
  Speaker 5: It's almost become a point of pride for me at
• 33:56
  Speaker 5: this point. Same thing. My mom or my wife will say,
• 33:59
  Speaker 5: make sure you have an umbrella when you're walking in
• 34:01
  Speaker 5: the game. I'm like, no, I'm good. I got a raincoat.
• 34:03
  Speaker 5: You know, it's kind of like my head is covered.
• 34:07
  Speaker 4: Does it matter if the covering is immediately on it
• 34:10
  Speaker 4: or a few inches above it? I guess I've always
• 34:13
  Speaker 4: looked at it as no, it doesn't. But then, I mean,
• 34:16
  Speaker 4: you're right. You think about you've got your coffee maybe,
• 34:19
  Speaker 4: or certainly in 2026, we're always walking around with our
• 34:23
  Speaker 4: phones out, or at least I am quite often. And
• 34:26
  Speaker 4: the raincoat's not going to help your phone. You've got
• 34:29
  Speaker 4: a case on it, but it's still annoying when it
• 34:31
  Speaker 4: gets all wet, even if you've got a screen protector.
• 34:33
  Speaker 5: Maybe I should use an umbrella. Maybe I'm being way
• 34:36
  Speaker 5: too stubborn on this front.
• 34:38
  Speaker 2: Well, the deciding the other deciding factor for me this morning,
• 34:41
  Speaker 2: and then we will move on.
• 34:42
  Speaker 3: I don't want to bore our listening audience with this debate,
• 34:44
  Speaker 3: but I'm sure a lot of people feel this way
• 34:46
  Speaker 3: was I had parked. There wasn't a lot of close
• 34:49
  Speaker 3: parking spaces. I was in the back of the lot today,
• 34:52
  Speaker 3: so I had a long way to go to get
• 34:53
  Speaker 3: to that door.
• 34:53
  Speaker 5: Right.
• 34:54
  Speaker 3: And the main problem with that scenario was I just
• 34:57
  Speaker 3: didn't want to get drenched that far and running because
• 35:01
  Speaker 3: you can't really, I'm a, I'm a runner.
• 35:02
  Speaker 2: I run every morning, right? But the run.
• 35:05
  Speaker 3: That far with a coffee in hand and a water
• 35:07
  Speaker 3: in hand, the coffee would spill.
• 35:09
  Speaker 2: And then I got another problem. Oh my goodness. Well,
• 35:11
  Speaker 2: here we are. We arrived. The rain has let up
• 35:14
  Speaker 2: at this point. I'm sure. I don't know.
• 35:16
  Speaker 3: There's no windows here in the studio right now, but
• 35:19
  Speaker 3: I'll take your word for it there on the South side.
• 35:20
  Speaker 3: But uh, Steelers might have to practice indoors today, right?
• 35:23
  Speaker 2: If the weather might push them indoors, they got the
• 35:26
  Speaker 2: outside facility.
• 35:27
  Speaker 5: Yeah. Very, very rainy day here in Pittsburgh.
• 35:30
  Speaker 4: So I'm, I'm glad we got our last, uh, little kid,
• 35:33
  Speaker 4: six year old baseball, six, seven and under maybe baseball
• 35:36
  Speaker 4: game in last night. And, and that was good, but yeah,
• 35:39
  Speaker 4: I'm kind of with you on, on umbrellas just overall. Hey,
• 35:42
  Speaker 4: that's a good pun overall. Um, when you're talking umbrellas,
• 35:45
  Speaker 4: but I don't know, they're just, they're dainty. Dainty is
• 35:48
  Speaker 4: the word that I would use, but, um, I'm sure
• 35:51
  Speaker 4: there's a lot of guys out there who could beat
• 35:53
  Speaker 4: the crap out of me who swear by umbrellas. So
• 35:55
  Speaker 4: I'm just being, I'm being obtuse is what I'm being.
• 35:59
  Speaker 5: That's maybe the Uncle Tommy word.
• 36:00
  Speaker 1: Of the day.
• 36:01
  Speaker 2: Obtuse from the movie Shawshank Redemption.
• 36:04
  Speaker 5: Yes, absolutely. Great call, Ed. I'm glad you picked up
• 36:07
  Speaker 5: on that one.
• 36:08
  Speaker 3: I use it all the time with my ELA wife
• 36:10
  Speaker 3: and she always tells me I'm never using it correctly though.
• 36:14
  Speaker 5: How could you be so obtuse? Well, a lot of
• 36:16
  Speaker 5: us learn.
• 36:19
  Speaker 2: Yeah, we do from time to time, Brian.
• 36:20
  Speaker 3: We do learn on the fly when it comes to
• 36:23
  Speaker 3: these big words, vocabulary.
• 36:24
  Speaker 5: Good.
• 36:24
  Speaker 3: You cut out there for a second, my friend. The
• 36:26
  Speaker 3: South Side's trying to push you out into the street.
• 36:28
  Speaker 3: What were you going to say there?
• 36:30
  Speaker 4: No, I was just going to say most of the
• 36:31
  Speaker 4: world probably learns about obtuse through geometry before they watch
• 36:34
  Speaker 4: Shawshank Redemption. But maybe not my kids. I might get
• 36:37
  Speaker 4: my kids on Andy Dufresne. And actually, fun fact. So
• 36:42
  Speaker 4: Morgan Freeman in the movie, obviously his name is Red,
• 36:45
  Speaker 4: but we looked it up. His name is Ellis Boyd.
• 36:48
  Speaker 5: Red, Redding. My son's middle name is Ellis.
• 36:53
  Speaker 2: Is it because of that? Because of the movie?
• 36:56
  Speaker 5: Yeah.
• 36:56
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 36:57
  Speaker 4: His first name is Dawson, which is, you know, my
• 36:59
  Speaker 4: wife's favorite movie is Titanic. So Jack Dawson. And then
• 37:02
  Speaker 4: my favorite movie is the Shawshank Redemption. So we're trying
• 37:05
  Speaker 4: to find something from that movie. And it's, it's an
• 37:07
  Speaker 4: obscure reference to the movie, but if you see the
• 37:10
  Speaker 4: scene where he says, have you been rehabilitated? Great scene
• 37:14
  Speaker 4: and great soliloquy by Morgan Freeman, by the way, but,
• 37:17
  Speaker 4: They show his full legal name in there, and it's
• 37:20
  Speaker 4: Ellis Boyd Red Redding.
• 37:22
  Speaker 2: Look, we're learning. I mean, we've known each other for
• 37:24
  Speaker 2: about a year now.
• 37:25
  Speaker 3: We've been doing the show since January, but we learn
• 37:27
  Speaker 3: on the fly on things, and Shawshank Redemption, also one
• 37:30
  Speaker 3: of my favorite.
• 37:30
  Speaker 2: Movies of all time.
• 37:32
  Speaker 3: So we'll have to talk some Shawshank whenever we get
• 37:34
  Speaker 3: off the air. Have you ever gone, one last thing,
• 37:36
  Speaker 3: have you ever gone to the Ohio State old penitentiary
• 37:40
  Speaker 3: in Ohio?
• 37:40
  Speaker 2: That's where they film Shawshank.
• 37:42
  Speaker 5: Redemption, you know. No, I didn't. I didn't even know that.
• 37:45
  Speaker 4: What part of Ohio are we talking like Northeast Ohio
• 37:47
  Speaker 4: or down by Cincinnati?
• 37:49
  Speaker 2: I know it's not.
• 37:49
  Speaker 3: Within just an hour driving because my wife and I
• 37:52
  Speaker 3: said we'd have to commit for the day to go
• 37:53
  Speaker 3: do it, but we will do it at some point.
• 37:55
  Speaker 2: It's one of her favorite movies, too.
• 37:56
  Speaker 3: But definitely, I think it's not in use anymore, obviously,
• 38:00
  Speaker 3: but it is open if you want to go check
• 38:02
  Speaker 3: it out because fans of the movie have done that.
• 38:05
  Speaker 4: Yeah, well, I'm gonna have to put that on my
• 38:07
  Speaker 4: to do list because I had no idea that that
• 38:10
  Speaker 4: I think.
• 38:10
  Speaker 5: It was set in Maine. Right. But I didn't know
• 38:13
  Speaker 5: it was filmed in Ohio. That's pretty cool.
• 38:15
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it is set in Maine, and it was filmed
• 38:17
  Speaker 2: out there.
• 38:18
  Speaker 3: Maybe we'll do a Steelers report show live from the
• 38:21
  Speaker 3: Shawshank Redemption filming site in Ohio. I don't know if
• 38:23
  Speaker 3: that makes sense, but maybe we'd have to do it
• 38:25
  Speaker 3: on a Browns or Bengals week. That would probably make
• 38:27
  Speaker 3: the most sense.
• 38:28
  Speaker 2: If we did that.
• 38:29
  Speaker 3: Okay, back to hits and misses. Let's start with another
• 38:32
  Speaker 3: miss here. We talked about Nick Herbig. How about Alex Highsmith, Brian?
• 38:35
  Speaker 3: zero sacks in the last three games and only three
• 38:38
  Speaker 3: total tackles in the last three games.
• 38:41
  Speaker 2: That's it.
• 38:41
  Speaker 3: Now, listen, Alex Highsmith throughout his career, if you've followed
• 38:44
  Speaker 3: number 56, he's gone through periods like this. I mean,
• 38:47
  Speaker 3: he'll give you a lot for a few games. And
• 38:49
  Speaker 3: when I say a lot, I mean a ton. He'll
• 38:51
  Speaker 3: stand out in a good, good way for Steeler Nation.
• 38:54
  Speaker 3: But then sometimes he cools off for a bit. Might
• 38:55
  Speaker 3: just be scheme, might just be offenses, double down, blocking him. Look,
• 38:59
  Speaker 3: you got to deal with Highsmith. You got to deal
• 39:01
  Speaker 3: with TJ Watt. You have to deal with Nick Herbig
• 39:04
  Speaker 3: when he's rotated in. Maybe Alex Highsmith, much like Nick Herbig,
• 39:08
  Speaker 3: will heat up this weekend in Tampa as well.
• 39:11
  Speaker 4: Patrick Graham said about this too on Monday that in
• 39:14
  Speaker 4: his experience, they come in bunches.
• 39:16
  Speaker 5: They come in waves.
• 39:18
  Speaker 4: Sometimes it just takes a good matchup or you get
• 39:21
  Speaker 4: in the right game flow too and you can really
• 39:24
  Speaker 4: pin your ears back. and that's another thing about the
• 39:27
  Speaker 4: Colts game and I'm not saying that you can only
• 39:29
  Speaker 4: get sacks when you're up by a lot but the
• 39:32
  Speaker 4: Colts were hanging around for much of that game and
• 39:35
  Speaker 4: you know the Steelers pretty much made them one-dimensional but
• 39:39
  Speaker 4: you know they're still going to be committed to when
• 39:41
  Speaker 4: they run the ball 15 times with Jonathan Taylor and
• 39:44
  Speaker 4: you know a few here and there with the backup
• 39:46
  Speaker 4: so You know, you'd love to get a team. Maybe
• 39:48
  Speaker 4: it'll be Tampa Bay on Sunday behind early. And, you know,
• 39:52
  Speaker 4: they have no choice but to abandon the run. Then
• 39:55
  Speaker 4: you're going to make it easier on yourself to get pressure. But, yeah,
• 39:58
  Speaker 4: I mean, hey, I'm not waving away anything. There were
• 40:01
  Speaker 4: a lot of dropbacks from Daniel Jones in that game.
• 40:03
  Speaker 4: And Steelers still didn't get home until a negative one-yard
• 40:07
  Speaker 4: sack by Cam Hayward in the fourth quarter.
• 40:09
  Speaker 5: So it's got to come from somewhere. Hopefully T.J.
• 40:12
  Speaker 4: Watt doesn't get poked in the eye again. See if
• 40:15
  Speaker 4: that visor comes in handy. We'll see if he plays
• 40:17
  Speaker 4: with the visor again on Sunday.
• 40:19
  Speaker 3: I might have to. How about that? We didn't even
• 40:21
  Speaker 3: talk about that. He got his eye poked during the game, right?
• 40:23
  Speaker 2: Or not. That wasn't Alex. TJ Watt was the one
• 40:26
  Speaker 2: that got his eye poked in last week's.
• 40:28
  Speaker 1: Game, right? Yes.
• 40:30
  Speaker 4: Yeah, that was TJ from the right tackle, Jalen Travis.
• 40:35
  Speaker 4: I guess the officials didn't see it. But that's also
• 40:37
  Speaker 4: one of those kind of weird things, I guess, that's
• 40:40
  Speaker 4: happening so fast that I don't think TJ even talked
• 40:44
  Speaker 4: after the game. He probably wanted to get out of
• 40:45
  Speaker 4: the locker room and celebrate his 32nd birthday. But it's
• 40:49
  Speaker 4: no fun to get poked in the eye on your birthday.
• 40:51
  Speaker 4: At least he got a dub on his birthday.
• 40:53
  Speaker 2: Yeah, got the win.
• 40:54
  Speaker 3: That's the main thing for TJ Watt. And he was okay.
• 40:56
  Speaker 3: Did not look good at first, Brian. His eye was
• 40:58
  Speaker 3: really red. They were shown it during the broadcast.
• 41:01
  Speaker 4: And his brother was talking about it on the broadcast.
• 41:05
  Speaker 4: And I think he said that's like what I used
• 41:06
  Speaker 4: to do to him in the living room back in
• 41:09
  Speaker 4: the day.
• 41:09
  Speaker 5: And I think Jim Nance was kind of like, what? JJ,
• 41:11
  Speaker 5: this looks like it might be kind of bad.
• 41:13
  Speaker 4: Maybe we shouldn't be joking about this, but I think
• 41:16
  Speaker 4: that's sort of just what brothers do, and I'm sure
• 41:20
  Speaker 4: it was a sigh of relief when TJ returned in
• 41:22
  Speaker 4: the second half for everybody.
• 41:24
  Speaker 3: There was a family photo shot that they used during
• 41:27
  Speaker 3: the broadcast. Not sure if you caught it up in
• 41:28
  Speaker 3: the press box or not, Brian, but it was a
• 41:31
  Speaker 3: photo of JJ holding TJ Watt probably within a few
• 41:36
  Speaker 3: days old. He was a small little baby. And Derek
• 41:40
  Speaker 3: Watt was in the background as well. And I think
• 41:42
  Speaker 3: the mom was in the photo. I don't think the dad.
• 41:44
  Speaker 3: The dad was probably taking the photo, right? But I
• 41:47
  Speaker 3: thought to myself, because we all have.
• 41:48
  Speaker 2: You have kids. I have kids. And imagine.
• 41:52
  Speaker 3: thinking to yourself, not one, not two, but all three
• 41:56
  Speaker 3: of these babies, young boys, are going to grow up
• 41:58
  Speaker 3: and be NFL players one day.
• 42:00
  Speaker 2: Because they all look just like normal kids, right? Normal baby.
• 42:04
  Speaker 2: I don't know how old J.J. Watt and T.J. are separated.
• 42:06
  Speaker 3: Maybe by three or four years, he's probably four or
• 42:08
  Speaker 3: five in the photo, I would think. Derek Watt was
• 42:11
  Speaker 3: probably two or three. But I just thought to myself, wow,
• 42:14
  Speaker 3: look at that photo, and you look back and think
• 42:15
  Speaker 3: that not one, not two, but.
• 42:17
  Speaker 2: All three one day will grow up and play in
• 42:20
  Speaker 2: the NFL. Just incredible.
• 42:22
  Speaker 4: Yeah, JJ's got five years on TJ and then Derek's
• 42:26
  Speaker 4: in between. I mean, you can say that from a photo,
• 42:28
  Speaker 4: but I bet if they were outside playing football in
• 42:31
  Speaker 4: the yard or playing baseball or something, they were probably
• 42:33
  Speaker 4: smoking the other kids would be my guess.
• 42:35
  Speaker 2: I'm sure they stood out in a big, big way
• 42:37
  Speaker 2: early on.
• 42:38
  Speaker 3: Our next hit of the week, quarterback Aaron Rodgers, last
• 42:41
  Speaker 3: three games, 826 yards passing, nine touchdowns, just three interceptions, Brian,
• 42:47
  Speaker 3: and even those interceptions, as we've talked about going back
• 42:49
  Speaker 3: to the Cleveland game, In Cincinnati, weren't even his fault
• 42:53
  Speaker 3: off some fingertips of Jeremy Bernard, Hail Mary type pass.
• 42:55
  Speaker 2: Towards the end.
• 42:56
  Speaker 3: He's played some clean football these last three games for
• 42:59
  Speaker 3: the Steelers, even in that loss on Thursday night in Cleveland.
• 43:04
  Speaker 3: Aaron Rodgers, you know, it doesn't stand out when you
• 43:06
  Speaker 3: look at those stats, 826, nine touchdowns.
• 43:09
  Speaker 2: You know, it doesn't jump out at you. He's just
• 43:11
  Speaker 2: been Mr. Consistent, right?
• 43:12
  Speaker 3: Not too high, not too low, just getting the job done.
• 43:15
  Speaker 3: And with it, two wins in the last three games.
• 43:19
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, it's subjective to say it's the best
• 43:22
  Speaker 4: that he's played since he's been in Pittsburgh or really
• 43:25
  Speaker 4: even including his stint with the Jets. But just that
• 43:29
  Speaker 4: fact of the three touchdowns in three consecutive games, he
• 43:32
  Speaker 4: hasn't done that, had not done that since the 2021
• 43:35
  Speaker 4: season with the Packers, which was the most recent time
• 43:38
  Speaker 4: he won MVP, the fourth of his four MVP trophies.
• 43:42
  Speaker 4: So from that standpoint, you can comfortably say this is
• 43:46
  Speaker 4: the best Aaron Rodgers has looked since– He was the
• 43:49
  Speaker 4: best player in the NFL.
• 43:51
  Speaker 2: Our next miss, Steelers special teams kickoffs.
• 43:55
  Speaker 3: Last in the NFL, averaging 22.7 yards per return and
• 44:01
  Speaker 3: 28.6 given up on the other side.
• 44:03
  Speaker 2: We heard from Danny Crossman on the show yesterday. He
• 44:06
  Speaker 2: knows it.
• 44:07
  Speaker 3: He admits to it, and he knows that they're working
• 44:09
  Speaker 3: on it. It's an area that they definitely have to
• 44:11
  Speaker 3: clean up going forward in their season.
• 44:14
  Speaker 4: Yeah, and that's also an area that is affected and
• 44:17
  Speaker 4: impacted when, You are losing guys to injury. We always
• 44:20
  Speaker 4: think about it from the offensive and defensive standpoint. But
• 44:23
  Speaker 4: there's a trickle down to special teams when different guys
• 44:27
  Speaker 4: are in helmet and different guys are inactive. But it's
• 44:31
  Speaker 4: still not where it needs to be, obviously. And something
• 44:35
  Speaker 4: tells me they'll be working overtime this week, special teams wise,
• 44:39
  Speaker 4: to try to clean those things up and make sure
• 44:42
  Speaker 4: everybody knows their assignments and can all be on one
• 44:46
  Speaker 4: accord there. whether it's in the return game or more
• 44:49
  Speaker 4: significantly in the coverage game.
• 44:51
  Speaker 3: Our last hit, and then we'll go to break and
• 44:53
  Speaker 3: come back with Wes Euler, is this. Running back Jalen Warren.
• 44:57
  Speaker 3: We've talked about it this week. 490 total offensive yards
• 45:01
  Speaker 3: in his last three games and two touchdowns. Jalen Warren
• 45:05
  Speaker 3: continues to be at the top of our offensive conversation
• 45:08
  Speaker 3: each and every day.
• 45:10
  Speaker 4: Yeah, that's not just a hit. That's a home run.
• 45:12
  Speaker 4: That's a triple, a double. whatever you want to call it,
• 45:15
  Speaker 4: Grand Slam. He's hitting for the cycle. Right now, Ed,
• 45:19
  Speaker 4: he's just been dominant. It's really a testament, I think,
• 45:25
  Speaker 4: to Jalen's work ethic. It's a testament to the blocking.
• 45:28
  Speaker 4: It's a testament to the Steelers for extending him when
• 45:31
  Speaker 4: they did a year or two ago going into the
• 45:34
  Speaker 4: final year of his deal. A lot of belief in
• 45:37
  Speaker 4: a guy who was undrafted. They could have easily said no.
• 45:41
  Speaker 4: He's a product of the efficiency and be in the
• 45:45
  Speaker 4: backup and he can't hold up if it's, if he's
• 45:47
  Speaker 4: the number one back, clearly he can. And he has,
• 45:50
  Speaker 4: let's just all hold our breath because I feel like
• 45:53
  Speaker 4: every time he takes a big, but you know, he's
• 45:54
  Speaker 4: good at avoiding big hits.
• 45:56
  Speaker 5: I feel like knock on wood.
• 45:57
  Speaker 4: I don't want to jinx him, but it seems like
• 45:59
  Speaker 4: he does a good job of protecting himself and, you know,
• 46:01
  Speaker 4: big tree fall hard. Well, he's not a big tree,
• 46:03
  Speaker 4: so hopefully he can keep falling softly when he does
• 46:06
  Speaker 4: go down.
• 46:07
  Speaker 3: When we come back, Wes Euler from SNR's Drive will
• 46:09
  Speaker 3: join us to kick off the 3 o'clock hour.
• 46:12
  Speaker 2: I'm ET, he's BB.
• 46:13
  Speaker 3: It is the Steelers Report right here on Steelers Nation Radio,
• 46:17
  Speaker 3: part of the Steelers Audio Network.