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HR 2: Steelers Victory Monday, Watt, Heyward, Rodgers & McCarthy Sound · The Steelers Report

• 0:06
  Speaker 1: Watson turns, gives left side penetration, and the stop on
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: the play as Cam Hayward came up and stopped Judkins
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: for a loss, and the Browns lapped the punt. Washington
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: motions right to left, and Rodgers will throw to Darnell,
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: up the left.
• 0:23
  Speaker 2: Sideline, and here he goes, rumbling down the sideline and
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: trying to sneak it down, tiptoeing down inside the five
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  Speaker 2: all the way down to.
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  Speaker 3: The one-yard line.
• 0:36
  Speaker 4: This is the Steelers Report with Brian Bacco and Ed
• 0:40
  Speaker 4: Troop on Steelers Nation Radio, a part of the Steelers
• 0:44
  Speaker 4: Audio Network.
• 0:45
  Speaker 5: It's Victory Monday in southwestern Pennsylvania, and the Pittsburgh Steelers
• 0:49
  Speaker 5: are 6-2 and atop the AFC North. Welcome into the
• 0:53
  Speaker 5: second hour of the Steelers Report here on Steelers Nation Radio,
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  Speaker 5: part of the Steelers Audio Network. I am Ed Troop,
• 0:59
  Speaker 5: Brian Bacco also along with us, and Double B currently
• 1:04
  Speaker 5: on the south side as it's some media availability with
• 1:08
  Speaker 5: the coordinators, which we will hear from tomorrow here on
• 1:11
  Speaker 5: the show. They're speaking today, but we will have that
• 1:13
  Speaker 5: on the show tomorrow for you as well as our
• 1:15
  Speaker 5: top 10 plays of Steelers 27 Brown six that's coming
• 1:20
  Speaker 5: up on Tuesday here on the Steelers report later this
• 1:22
  Speaker 5: week we'll get to our hits and misses as well
• 1:25
  Speaker 5: as terrible takes as we navigate the bye week we'll
• 1:28
  Speaker 5: also get some guests on this week and next to
• 1:31
  Speaker 5: get you through these next two weeks it's a good
• 1:32
  Speaker 5: two weeks because the Steelers have a ton of momentum
• 1:35
  Speaker 5: they've won four straight games now here in their season
• 1:38
  Speaker 5: after starting two and two it was a four game
• 1:41
  Speaker 5: stretch that began against the Cincinnati Bengals on that game
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  Speaker 5: after the Thursday night loss against the Cleveland Browns, which
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  Speaker 5: was their last loss. Steelers take care of business against
• 1:51
  Speaker 5: the Colts at home, clear back on October 11th. The
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  Speaker 5: win at Tampa on the 18th, the 25th, last weekend
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  Speaker 5: in Paris, France against New Orleans, and then they come
• 2:00
  Speaker 5: back to finish things off in this four-game stretch against
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  Speaker 5: the Browns. Puts the Steelers in a position of 6-2
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  Speaker 5: with a week off here at the bye week to
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  Speaker 5: continue to get healthy. Maybe there's a chance on the
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  Speaker 5: other side of the break that they get Michael Pittman Jr.
• 2:14
  Speaker 5: back in the mix at wide receiver. Maybe they make
• 2:17
  Speaker 5: a trade there, too. The trade deadline coming up on
• 2:19
  Speaker 5: November 10th. There's still some moves to be made with
• 2:21
  Speaker 5: the Pittsburgh Steelers so far this season, potentially.
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  Speaker 6: Leading up to that trade deadline.
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  Speaker 5: On the flip side, on the defense, Derek Harmon, who's
• 2:30
  Speaker 5: been out on the IR, and it's really an incredible
• 2:32
  Speaker 5: stat that the Steelers have played so well against opposing teams'
• 2:36
  Speaker 5: run games, including yesterday, limiting the Browns to just 34
• 2:40
  Speaker 5: total rushing yards on the day. Junkins, their talented running back,
• 2:44
  Speaker 5: 11 carries for just 25 yards, a 2.3 average per
• 2:48
  Speaker 5: rush yesterday. And Sampson, their other running back, had just
• 2:52
  Speaker 5: a carry for seven yards. Deshaun Watson, Only took off
• 2:55
  Speaker 5: three times and only got two yards in the process.
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  Speaker 5: The Browns 2.3 yards per rush. And that was followed
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  Speaker 5: up from a very dominant performance against the Saints last
• 3:05
  Speaker 5: week in which the Pittsburgh Steelers limit the rushing game
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  Speaker 5: of the New Orleans Saints to just 18 yards, 1.1
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  Speaker 5: yards per rush last weekend against the Saints on 17 carries.
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  Speaker 5: So back-to-back games for Patrick Graham's defense where they've really
• 3:19
  Speaker 5: shut down the run.
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  Speaker 6: They've done it without Derek Harmon.
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  Speaker 5: So my point is maybe they get Harmon back after
• 3:22
  Speaker 5: the bye week. Sebastian Joseph Day, another nice depth piece
• 3:26
  Speaker 5: on that defensive line.
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  Speaker 6: Maybe they get him back after the break.
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  Speaker 5: But no rush to either of those players because they've
• 3:32
  Speaker 5: played very well as Patrick Graham's defense done these last
• 3:36
  Speaker 5: few handful of games.
• 3:37
  Speaker 6: Yesterday, TJ Watt, two sacks. You heard it.
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  Speaker 5: We'll play that clip for you. We played it during
• 3:42
  Speaker 5: the first hour. We'll play it again, and I'm sure
• 3:44
  Speaker 5: it'll be part of our top ten moments tomorrow. But
• 3:47
  Speaker 5: he had two sacks in the game, and he now
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  Speaker 5: has 20.5 career sacks versus the Cleveland Browns. That's the
• 3:52
  Speaker 5: most of any player against the Browns in the history
• 3:56
  Speaker 5: of the organization.
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  Speaker 6: Wow, wow, wow. Patrick Queen, also a huge game yesterday.
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  Speaker 5: A team high, 10 tackles, a sack and a half,
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  Speaker 5: a forced fumble, and a pass defended. Cam Hayward, one
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  Speaker 5: and a half sacks, a batted pass, and blew up
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  Speaker 5: a huge third and one run for a loss. of
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  Speaker 5: one early in the third quarter. That's the clip we
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  Speaker 5: played here right at the top of the hour. Nick
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  Speaker 5: Herbig had a sack. Kevin Jobity Jr., his first career
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  Speaker 5: sack yesterday. Highsmith, who had been quiet in recent weeks,
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  Speaker 5: had a game yesterday. He had a half a sack
• 4:26
  Speaker 5: along with Keanu Benton. Eight total sacks on the day.
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  Speaker 5: They limit the Browns to 34 total rushing yards. A
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  Speaker 5: pluses across the board for Patrick Graham's defense. And Cam
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  Speaker 5: Hayward spoke afterwards about this defensive performance.
• 4:41
  Speaker 7: Six and two. Taking care of the run. taking care
• 4:44
  Speaker 7: of the ball for the most part. You know, I
• 4:47
  Speaker 7: think we're just growing each week. Every week it's something different,
• 4:50
  Speaker 7: but we're building on what we've done the previous week,
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  Speaker 7: whether it's pressure, sacks, running the ball on offense. And,
• 5:00
  Speaker 7: you know, it's not just one person. It's a group
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  Speaker 7: of individuals doing the job for the team.
• 5:05
  Speaker 8: In that same.
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  Speaker 9: Vein, do you guys feel like today was the most
• 5:10
  Speaker 9: complete game that you played as a team this season?
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  Speaker 7: For the season, I would say yes. You know, I
• 5:18
  Speaker 7: thought we controlled both lines of scrimmage, especially when you
• 5:21
  Speaker 7: get 200 yards for a new rushing, and then on
• 5:24
  Speaker 7: defense you hold them to, what.
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  Speaker 3: 30-something yards. So that's something we preach around here.
• 5:30
  Speaker 7: That's something we always want to do, and when we
• 5:31
  Speaker 7: do that, it's going to lead to a win most
• 5:33
  Speaker 7: of the times.
• 5:34
  Speaker 10: Cam, what does it say about the defense when you've
• 5:36
  Speaker 10: got so many different guys making splash plays in a game?
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  Speaker 7: It says that we can execute at a high level.
• 5:45
  Speaker 7: obviously there can be broken plays but when multiple guys
• 5:48
  Speaker 7: can add to the party it leads to this can
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  Speaker 7: be sustainable this is something that you know multiple guys
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  Speaker 7: can be a part of so we got to continue
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  Speaker 7: to keep doing from here on.
• 5:59
  Speaker 11: Out that you talked about before what did you see
• 6:03
  Speaker 11: on film from the previous game against cleveland that you
• 6:05
  Speaker 11: wanted to do better and how did that come together.
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  Speaker 7: Today Better extension, better control of gaps, you know, and
• 6:12
  Speaker 7: then just throwing darts at Deshaun. You know, he's electric
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  Speaker 7: back there, so you've got to have multiple guys getting
• 6:17
  Speaker 7: after it. And I thought we controlled the B gaps
• 6:20
  Speaker 7: a lot better this time, and so we were able
• 6:22
  Speaker 7: to flush them out and make them go. But I
• 6:24
  Speaker 7: can't say enough about good things about everybody on the
• 6:27
  Speaker 7: D line. Our outside linebackers, obviously, you know, you can't
• 6:32
  Speaker 7: just go one-on-one with them. And then inside, you've got Keanu, Y.A., Jobity.
• 6:37
  Speaker 7: played well today. Um, and so it's a group effort
• 6:40
  Speaker 7: and we've got to continue to keep doing it.
• 6:41
  Speaker 12: Is this Queen one of those darts?
• 6:42
  Speaker 9: Yeah.
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  Speaker 3: Coming from the second level?
• 6:44
  Speaker 7: That's something that's, uh, we've started to pick up in
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  Speaker 7: the last couple of weeks. You know, you've had Jalen
• 6:49
  Speaker 7: get these sacks, but Queen being part of it too is,
• 6:51
  Speaker 7: is definitely a big two.
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  Speaker 13: You said after some things Jared Burst said, you said.
• 6:55
  Speaker 3: It'd be addressed.
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  Speaker 7: Did you get to talk to him at.
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  Speaker 14: All or did you at all? I didn't.
• 6:59
  Speaker 7: Um, uh, I can't say I was looking for him,
• 7:02
  Speaker 7: but you know, there was a, there was a lot
• 7:04
  Speaker 7: of people, uh, you know, Buckeyes that wanted to see. So, Um, yeah,
• 7:08
  Speaker 7: it's just a game.
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  Speaker 3: Was it motivating for you guys as a group?
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  Speaker 7: Not motivated by that. Um, we were motivated cause we
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  Speaker 7: want to get this damn win before we got to
• 7:16
  Speaker 7: the bye. So there's bigger fish to fry.
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  Speaker 6: Speaking of Buckeyes, your college career, you saw.
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  Speaker 11: Beanie Wells, keep you guys in the defense on the
• 7:23
  Speaker 11: bench in college.
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  Speaker 8: Then Le'Veon did that.
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  Speaker 12: Do you get that same vibe or feeling watching, you know,
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  Speaker 12: Jalen in this running game, kind of keep you guys
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  Speaker 12: on the bench while they're turning and turn up yards
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  Speaker 12: on the clock.
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  Speaker 7: I've been blessed to play with a lot of great
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  Speaker 7: running backs and, um, Jalen is no short in that.
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  Speaker 7: He is every bit as advertised and having Rico as well.
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  Speaker 7: They do a great job of being a one-two punch.
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  Speaker 7: And so when they're able to sustain drives, that means
• 7:47
  Speaker 7: we're on the sideline and we can put our feet up.
• 7:49
  Speaker 9: You said earlier this.
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  Speaker 13: Week that the AFC North is more about walking and talking.
• 7:53
  Speaker 13: Is that your guys' mentality as a team, you feel like,
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  Speaker 13: where you're going to let the talking on the field?
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  Speaker 7: We let our paths talk every single time. AFC North
• 8:02
  Speaker 7: is built on I don't think you can ever win
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  Speaker 7: a game by just talking about it. So, you know,
• 8:07
  Speaker 7: you got to go out there and execute. You got
• 8:09
  Speaker 7: to stop the run. And you got to make sure
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  Speaker 7: you run the ball. And that's all that's always been
• 8:14
  Speaker 7: about in the AFC North.
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  Speaker 12: The numbers call this a great defensive performance. Some of
• 8:17
  Speaker 12: the guys in there said it's not yet good enough.
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  Speaker 12: It's not yet to your potential. What else needs to
• 8:21
  Speaker 12: be done? What yet wasn't good enough about this?
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  Speaker 7: I think we can get more turnovers. And we still
• 8:27
  Speaker 7: left some sacks on the table. And when we clean
• 8:30
  Speaker 7: those up, we'll be even more dominant. You know, there
• 8:32
  Speaker 7: were a couple times we could have got off the
• 8:34
  Speaker 7: field a lot earlier, got the ball back to our offense.
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  Speaker 7: But we'll take this into the bye and grow from it.
• 8:41
  Speaker 15: Cam, talk about the attitude and the mindset of this defense.
• 8:45
  Speaker 15: You haven't given up a touchdown in seven quarters. There
• 8:48
  Speaker 15: was one play where Fanning actually took.
• 8:51
  Speaker 7: The ball down to the two-yard line.
• 8:53
  Speaker 15: So what was the attitude and mindset as far as
• 8:56
  Speaker 15: keeping them out of.
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  Speaker 11: The end zone?
• 8:58
  Speaker 7: As a defense, we just try to be as stingy
• 9:00
  Speaker 7: as possible. When we want to win games, it's about
• 9:03
  Speaker 7: keeping them out of the end zone. We take a
• 9:06
  Speaker 7: lot of pride in that. We understand that it's not
• 9:09
  Speaker 7: going to be as easy or it could be tougher
• 9:11
  Speaker 7: in the future. We're always going to make it extremely
• 9:15
  Speaker 7: hard to get in our end zone.
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: I know it was already at that point, 27-6, but
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: how big was it for your unit once they had
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: the word reception, they came back.
• 9:24
  Speaker 2: Down there, you didn't allow any points, you guys finished
• 9:26
  Speaker 2: the game.
• 9:27
  Speaker 6: What does that mean for this defense?
• 9:28
  Speaker 7: We didn't blink. We always talk about controlling the set
• 9:31
  Speaker 7: and change, and we took the field and were able
• 9:34
  Speaker 7: to get off pretty quickly.
• 9:35
  Speaker 5: That was Cam Hayward after the Steelers' big win yesterday
• 9:38
  Speaker 5: against the Cleveland Browns. Final score, once again, as we've
• 9:42
  Speaker 5: been talking here all day long, 27-6. Eight big sacks,
• 9:45
  Speaker 5: and Cam Hayward was a big part of that defensive performance.
• 9:48
  Speaker 5: Also a big part of that defensive performance yesterday was T.J.
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  Speaker 3: Watt.
• 9:52
  Speaker 5: Two sacks, now 20.5 career sacks, as we said, against
• 9:55
  Speaker 5: the Browns. Most of any player against the Browns, and T.J.
• 9:59
  Speaker 5: now stacking up. leading the Steelers in sacks with seven
• 10:02
  Speaker 5: and a half heading into the bye week, 19 tackles
• 10:04
  Speaker 5: to go along with that, 9.5 tackle for losses, three
• 10:08
  Speaker 5: pass deflections and interception, defensive touchdown in the first week
• 10:12
  Speaker 5: against the Falcons, a forced fumble, fumble recovery. TJ Watt,
• 10:15
  Speaker 5: a bit quiet the last few weeks, but still has
• 10:19
  Speaker 5: those defensive MVP type of numbers that he's starting to
• 10:22
  Speaker 5: stack here in 2026.
• 10:24
  Speaker 6: And here's what TJ had to say after the game.
• 10:26
  Speaker 10: Yeah, I mean, the amount of times we've sat in
• 10:29
  Speaker 10: here and talked about it at halftime, we had a
• 10:30
  Speaker 10: lead and we weren't able to keep the foot on
• 10:33
  Speaker 10: the gas.
• 10:35
  Speaker 8: Are countless. So to be able to have that.
• 10:39
  Speaker 10: Tenacity throughout the second half and continue to push and
• 10:43
  Speaker 10: have those splash plays and blow up when it matters.
• 10:47
  Speaker 8: Is very important, and it's huge to show that we
• 10:49
  Speaker 8: have it in us.
• 10:50
  Speaker 12: What would you like about what you did from a
• 10:52
  Speaker 12: pressure package point of view coming into this one that
• 10:54
  Speaker 12: perhaps was absent in the first half.
• 10:57
  Speaker 11: At least against Cleveland on that Thursday night?
• 10:59
  Speaker 8: I don't know. I mean, we always have a lot
• 11:02
  Speaker 8: of good packages and a lot of good schematics.
• 11:06
  Speaker 10: I think it just comes down to execution, and any
• 11:08
  Speaker 10: time you can make them as one-dimensional as we had
• 11:10
  Speaker 10: to make them today And you stop the screens, there's
• 11:13
  Speaker 10: really not much else left for them to do.
• 11:16
  Speaker 8: And we were able to pin our ears back and
• 11:17
  Speaker 8: get after him.
• 11:17
  Speaker 3: Did Marine Queen a little bit help?
• 11:19
  Speaker 8: He seemed to be active.
• 11:21
  Speaker 10: Yeah, PQ's been rushing really well. And I mean, that's
• 11:25
  Speaker 10: something that you throw on the tape. And PQ's always
• 11:27
  Speaker 10: been a phenomenal picker on the inside, a phenomenal rusher.
• 11:30
  Speaker 10: Getting to the quarterback and being able to finish against
• 11:33
  Speaker 10: a quarterback like that, he's hard to get down to.
• 11:35
  Speaker 8: So awesome plays by PQ. What do you like about
• 11:37
  Speaker 8: your arc heading into the buy-in?
• 11:39
  Speaker 7: What do you like?
• 11:40
  Speaker 8: Yeah, I mean, I like that we've won games many
• 11:42
  Speaker 8: different ways.
• 11:44
  Speaker 10: We've come from behind. We've been able to hold leads.
• 11:48
  Speaker 10: We've played games we haven't looked great. We've played games
• 11:50
  Speaker 10: we've looked great. So we just need to continue to
• 11:53
  Speaker 10: grow and build off this performance. And it's awesome to see,
• 11:56
  Speaker 10: I mean, Joe, I mean, it's just continuing to be
• 11:58
  Speaker 10: young guys. And I think D-Harm's coming back soon too, hopefully.
• 12:01
  Speaker 10: So I think this bye week comes at a great
• 12:04
  Speaker 10: time for us.
• 12:04
  Speaker 9: TJ, there was a lot of talk on the other side,
• 12:07
  Speaker 9: just kind of, rumblings about this game, things like that.
• 12:10
  Speaker 9: And you guys all week kind of said, you know, hey,
• 12:12
  Speaker 9: we're going to just let our play do the talking.
• 12:14
  Speaker 9: How do you feel that it happened, especially with the
• 12:17
  Speaker 9: fact that you guys had eight sacks today?
• 12:20
  Speaker 10: I don't care, honestly. We didn't discuss it one second,
• 12:24
  Speaker 10: what they were saying about us. So we just want
• 12:26
  Speaker 10: to go about our business. We have a lot of
• 12:28
  Speaker 10: mature guys who have done it here and done it
• 12:30
  Speaker 10: other places and had a lot of success and a
• 12:32
  Speaker 10: lot of young guys who want to continue to grow
• 12:34
  Speaker 10: and be great. And we're just focused about what's in
• 12:37
  Speaker 10: the building right now.
• 12:39
  Speaker 8: TJ, as a football player, what do you appreciate about
• 12:42
  Speaker 8: Jalen Warren? He's a bowling ball with teeth, man. You
• 12:46
  Speaker 8: can't get him down.
• 12:48
  Speaker 10: Jalen's just funny, man. He's the guy that's out there
• 12:50
  Speaker 10: in December when we're practicing. It's like 12 degrees, and
• 12:53
  Speaker 10: he's in T-shirt and shorts. And it's like, what the heck?
• 12:55
  Speaker 10: And that's just who he is. He's a hard tackle.
• 12:58
  Speaker 10: He's a great locker room guy. Very selfless. But, man,
• 13:04
  Speaker 10: he loves football, and you can see in the way
• 13:05
  Speaker 10: that he plays.
• 13:05
  Speaker 13: TJ, this defense.
• 13:08
  Speaker 15: Last seven quarters haven't given up a touchdown. So what
• 13:13
  Speaker 15: do you have to say about the effectiveness of the defense?
• 13:17
  Speaker 7: I don't know.
• 13:18
  Speaker 8: I'll just say there's more work to be done.
• 13:19
  Speaker 10: I mean, you want to continue to play great football
• 13:23
  Speaker 10: and we have so many great guys that can make
• 13:25
  Speaker 10: plays as you saw today. I mean, the distribution of
• 13:28
  Speaker 10: the splashes is going on about the whole defense. And
• 13:31
  Speaker 10: I think we just need to continue to play good.
• 13:33
  Speaker 10: Obviously we're playing good.
• 13:34
  Speaker 8: We're having a lot of fun.
• 13:35
  Speaker 10: Um, we can't take the foot off the gas one
• 13:37
  Speaker 10: second here, get our bodies back for bi-week and come
• 13:39
  Speaker 10: back blazing.
• 13:42
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 13:42
  Speaker 13: It's been one month since you lost to those guys.
• 13:45
  Speaker 13: You haven't lost since that was a mini bi-week. Coach
• 13:49
  Speaker 13: McCartney talked a lot about the self-scout and everything that
• 13:51
  Speaker 13: went into that. Was that week a big transition? It
• 13:53
  Speaker 13: looks like a turning point for your whole season that
• 13:55
  Speaker 13: happened that week.
• 13:56
  Speaker 3: Do you remember looking back.
• 13:57
  Speaker 13: To how you felt after that loss?
• 13:59
  Speaker 7: Yeah.
• 13:59
  Speaker 10: I mean, obviously it sucks. You never want to lose,
• 14:01
  Speaker 10: especially a rival game like that in a division. Um,
• 14:04
  Speaker 10: Obviously self-reflection took place and we just have so much
• 14:08
  Speaker 10: talent and we have everything we need and we just
• 14:11
  Speaker 10: need to continue to play for each other and play together.
• 14:13
  Speaker 10: And I think the trust, like I talked about this
• 14:15
  Speaker 10: week in the press conference on Friday or Saturday, whenever
• 14:17
  Speaker 10: it was.
• 14:18
  Speaker 8: Is huge.
• 14:19
  Speaker 10: When you have this many new people, especially in the
• 14:21
  Speaker 10: staff and players, you need to build that trust over time.
• 14:25
  Speaker 10: And I think that trust is being there from the
• 14:26
  Speaker 10: game plan to execution to halftime adjustments to everything along
• 14:30
  Speaker 10: those lines.
• 14:32
  Speaker 12: Yeah, I mean.
• 14:37
  Speaker 10: That sounds great, but we need to continue to go.
• 14:42
  Speaker 8: I mean, our identities still be informed as the season goes.
• 14:44
  Speaker 8: A lot of football left.
• 14:49
  Speaker 3: It means I've been playing a long time.
• 14:53
  Speaker 6: Good answer there at the end by T.J.
• 14:55
  Speaker 9: Watt.
• 14:55
  Speaker 5: I've been playing for a long time in response to
• 14:57
  Speaker 5: him now being the all-time sack leader against the Cleveland
• 15:01
  Speaker 5: Browns in the history of that franchise and the Pittsburgh
• 15:05
  Speaker 5: Steelers franchise, I guess, as far as when they've played
• 15:07
  Speaker 5: the Browns over the years. And as we know, those
• 15:09
  Speaker 5: two historic franchises have met many, many times over the years.
• 15:13
  Speaker 5: So TJ's had a lot of opportunities in his career,
• 15:16
  Speaker 5: and he's taken advantage of that. And again, a total
• 15:20
  Speaker 5: of 20.5 career sacks versus the Cleveland Browns, the most
• 15:24
  Speaker 5: of any NFL player against the Browns in the history
• 15:26
  Speaker 5: of the NFL.
• 15:27
  Speaker 6: Whenever we come back, we'll talk some Pittsburgh Steelers offense.
• 15:30
  Speaker 5: We'll also hear from Aaron Rodgers and Mike McCarthy here
• 15:32
  Speaker 5: in the second hour. It is the Steelers Report right
• 15:35
  Speaker 5: here on Steelers Nation Radio, part of the Steelers Audio Network.
• 15:54
  Speaker 4: This is the Steelers Report with Brian Batko and Ed
• 15:58
  Speaker 4: Troop on Steelers Nation Radio, a part of the Steelers
• 16:02
  Speaker 4: Audio Network.
• 16:04
  Speaker 5: The Pittsburgh Steelers' big win on Sunday against the Cleveland Browns.
• 16:11
  Speaker 5: 27-6 in Week 8. A 21-point victory for the Black
• 16:16
  Speaker 5: and Gold. I don't know about all of you out
• 16:17
  Speaker 5: there listening. I'm guessing you all had the same feeling
• 16:20
  Speaker 5: as I did in Steeler Nation.
• 16:22
  Speaker 6: It was a bit relaxing.
• 16:23
  Speaker 5: I mean, the Steelers dominated that game from the beginning
• 16:26
  Speaker 5: till the end.
• 16:27
  Speaker 6: They haven't had a game like that in a while.
• 16:29
  Speaker 5: It seems like most of the games this year have
• 16:30
  Speaker 5: been one-possession battles, which have gone to the Steelers' way.
• 16:35
  Speaker 6: Now six times and take away yesterday.
• 16:37
  Speaker 5: I guess you can say five times in those one
• 16:38
  Speaker 5: possession games, uh, two losses on the year to the
• 16:42
  Speaker 5: Cleveland Browns on that Thursday night and to the new
• 16:45
  Speaker 5: England Patriots back in week two in Foxborough. But other
• 16:47
  Speaker 5: than that, a lot of close games, but they've gone
• 16:49
  Speaker 5: the Steelers way until yesterday. So you were able to
• 16:51
  Speaker 5: sit back and relax and actually enjoy that, uh, that game.
• 16:55
  Speaker 5: And if you were at the game, weather was perfect
• 16:58
  Speaker 5: as it's been for the last two or three weeks
• 16:59
  Speaker 5: here in Southwestern Pennsylvania. Uh, Blue skies, a few clouds
• 17:04
  Speaker 5: here or there, 60s to 70 degrees, near perfect weather
• 17:08
  Speaker 5: to watch Pittsburgh Steelers football. But the 21-point win by
• 17:11
  Speaker 5: the Steelers yesterday, you'd have to go back to last
• 17:14
  Speaker 5: season on November 16th, the last time that they won
• 17:16
  Speaker 5: by 21 or more points, three touchdowns or more. They
• 17:20
  Speaker 5: defeated the Cincinnati Bengals 34-12 at home in the rematch
• 17:23
  Speaker 5: of that game in which they had lost at Cincinnati
• 17:26
  Speaker 5: earlier in 2025 on a Thursday night to Joe Flacco
• 17:30
  Speaker 5: and company. But they got it done, a 22-point win,
• 17:33
  Speaker 5: 34-12 last year on November 16th at Accuture Stadium. The
• 17:38
  Speaker 5: previous season in 2024, they defeated the New York Jets 37-15.
• 17:42
  Speaker 5: That was a 22-point win. for the Pittsburgh Steelers. And
• 17:46
  Speaker 5: then the season before that, you'd have to go back
• 17:48
  Speaker 5: to 2023. Once again, it was the Cincinnati Bengals that
• 17:52
  Speaker 5: the Steelers defeated 34 to 11. That was a 23
• 17:56
  Speaker 5: point win. So the Steelers have won by three or
• 17:59
  Speaker 5: more touchdowns in each of the last, what, three seasons, 23, 24, 25, 26.
• 18:04
  Speaker 5: So now it's four seasons, but it's few and far
• 18:08
  Speaker 5: in between. I mean, they play a lot of close
• 18:09
  Speaker 5: football games and the good news is, for Steelers Nation
• 18:13
  Speaker 5: is it usually goes towards the Steelers way in those
• 18:15
  Speaker 5: one possession battles going back to the Mike Tomlin era
• 18:18
  Speaker 5: and now the Mike McCarthy era here in 2026 but
• 18:21
  Speaker 5: yesterday was different including those games I just referenced the
• 18:24
  Speaker 5: last few years in which they won by three or
• 18:26
  Speaker 5: more touchdowns we continue to talk about Steelers 27 Brown
• 18:30
  Speaker 5: 6 here on the show we're going to hear from
• 18:32
  Speaker 5: Aaron Rodgers here in just a few moments to hear
• 18:35
  Speaker 5: what he had to say. Also, Mike McCarthy coming up.
• 18:37
  Speaker 5: But let's talk about Aaron Rodgers. 13 of 25 for
• 18:41
  Speaker 5: 172 yards yesterday.
• 18:43
  Speaker 6: He was sacked only one time, and he took two
• 18:47
  Speaker 6: quarterback hits in that game yesterday. That was it.
• 18:50
  Speaker 5: Did have the one interception, but wasn't his fault. It
• 18:52
  Speaker 5: was in and out of the hands of DK Metcalf.
• 18:55
  Speaker 5: into Denzel Ward's hands. Ward's second pick of Aaron Rodgers
• 18:59
  Speaker 5: here in 2026. I think Ward has three total for
• 19:02
  Speaker 5: the year, and two of them have now come against Rodgers.
• 19:05
  Speaker 5: But Aaron Rodgers, very good again. Again, I wouldn't put
• 19:07
  Speaker 5: that interception on him. And when you look back to
• 19:10
  Speaker 5: that game on Thursday night against the Browns the first
• 19:13
  Speaker 5: time around, Rodgers' numbers, which he piled up late in
• 19:16
  Speaker 5: the game, was under a lot of pressure throughout that game.
• 19:20
  Speaker 5: He was sacked five times on that Thursday night game.
• 19:24
  Speaker 5: And to go along with that, he took 10 quarterback hits.
• 19:27
  Speaker 5: It was one of the rough roughest, if that's a
• 19:31
  Speaker 5: word you want to use for the offensive line earlier
• 19:33
  Speaker 5: this season in that week for about it was only
• 19:36
  Speaker 5: the second game. If you remember, it was the week
• 19:37
  Speaker 5: before that against the Bengals that they made that switch
• 19:40
  Speaker 5: on the right side, bringing in Brock Hoffman and Maxi
• 19:42
  Speaker 5: on a chore. And that was only the second game.
• 19:44
  Speaker 5: It was on a short week as well. So not
• 19:46
  Speaker 5: making excuses for the offensive line, but they were not
• 19:48
  Speaker 5: great that night. Well, they were spectacular yesterday in protecting
• 19:52
  Speaker 5: Aaron Rodgers. Only two quarterback hits and the one sack.
• 19:55
  Speaker 5: And I mentioned this on the show last week, an
• 19:57
  Speaker 5: interesting tidbit on Aaron Rodgers. If you look going into
• 20:01
  Speaker 5: yesterday throughout the first seven games of this season compared
• 20:04
  Speaker 5: to his MVP year in 2021, those first seven games,
• 20:08
  Speaker 5: The numbers are almost exact. And I don't know if
• 20:12
  Speaker 5: Aaron Rodgers at age 42 in his final NFL season
• 20:14
  Speaker 5: will put up MVP-type numbers by the end.
• 20:16
  Speaker 6: We hope he does here in Steeler Nation.
• 20:18
  Speaker 5: But one thing's for certain, throughout the first seven, now eight,
• 20:21
  Speaker 5: games of his final NFL season here in 2026, he's
• 20:25
  Speaker 5: putting up the numbers that he did in 2021, that
• 20:28
  Speaker 5: MVP year. They've been strong, and they've led the Steelers
• 20:31
  Speaker 5: to the 6-2 record so far. He hasn't been the
• 20:35
  Speaker 5: only one. I mean, it's been a team effort, that's
• 20:37
  Speaker 5: for sure. But as we know, in order to win
• 20:40
  Speaker 5: football games in the NFL and in order to win
• 20:43
  Speaker 5: division titles, in order to win conference titles and Super
• 20:46
  Speaker 5: Bowl titles, your quarterback has to play well and has
• 20:49
  Speaker 5: to play consistent. And Aaron Rodgers has done that so
• 20:52
  Speaker 5: far this season. And Rodgers spoke to the media yesterday
• 20:55
  Speaker 5: after the Steeler Week 8 win.
• 20:57
  Speaker 11: Not very complete. Defense played excellent. Special teams did fine.
• 21:03
  Speaker 11: But offense should have been a lot more points. You
• 21:08
  Speaker 11: look back at those two goal line opportunities there.
• 21:11
  Speaker 3: What happened on those?
• 21:12
  Speaker 11: Well, there were a couple other opportunities, but yeah, we
• 21:15
  Speaker 11: didn't execute down there on the goal line.
• 21:18
  Speaker 13: What do you think about this team that you can
• 21:21
  Speaker 13: not play.
• 21:22
  Speaker 8: Your best but win?
• 21:23
  Speaker 11: We'd like to play our best and still win. We
• 21:26
  Speaker 11: also like to win. We're 6-2, going to the 5,
• 21:29
  Speaker 11: first in the division, so right where we want to be.
• 21:33
  Speaker 11: Did you have a good feeling about that potential coming
• 21:36
  Speaker 11: into this game, or was that just a matter of
• 21:38
  Speaker 11: they happen to be open? They happen to be open,
• 21:40
  Speaker 11: but we always feel good about our tight ends and
• 21:42
  Speaker 11: our backs and trying to get them the ball in space,
• 21:45
  Speaker 11: especially when there's going to be some man-match coverage where
• 21:51
  Speaker 11: we like the matchups inside.
• 21:52
  Speaker 8: Is there anything left to be surprised about, Aaron?
• 21:55
  Speaker 2: What?
• 21:55
  Speaker 8: Jake, is there anything left to be surprised about with Jalen?
• 21:59
  Speaker 11: No, he's put himself in all the conversations. He's playing incredible. Um,
• 22:05
  Speaker 11: you know, to be able to call a trap on
• 22:08
  Speaker 11: third and 20, get a first down is pretty wild. Uh,
• 22:11
  Speaker 11: don't expect that. I couldn't remember the last time that
• 22:13
  Speaker 11: happened when I was out there. So love having him
• 22:16
  Speaker 11: on our team, fantastic teammates. And he's just making a
• 22:19
  Speaker 11: lot of plays. No, for guys up front, you know,
• 22:24
  Speaker 11: I thought we controlled line scrimmage. You know, when we
• 22:27
  Speaker 11: played up there in Cleveland, we had a bunch of sacks, uh,
• 22:30
  Speaker 11: You know, didn't run it super efficiently. But I felt
• 22:34
  Speaker 11: like from the first go, we had a good mindset.
• 22:36
  Speaker 11: We protected well. We opened up some holes. And Jalen
• 22:39
  Speaker 11: and Rico ran well.
• 22:40
  Speaker 8: What kind of attitude do your guards bring?
• 22:42
  Speaker 11: Yeah, a lot of attitude and a lot of trash talking.
• 22:44
  Speaker 11: Good trash talking. But loved being in auto with those guys.
• 22:48
  Speaker 11: Thought they played really well. Felt like both the tackles
• 22:50
  Speaker 11: played well. And Frey seems to always play well. So
• 22:53
  Speaker 11: definitely love those boys up front. And they dominated the
• 22:58
  Speaker 11: line of scrimmage.
• 22:59
  Speaker 13: Was Mason's... Takedown at first, was that a moment you
• 23:02
  Speaker 13: guys rallied around?
• 23:05
  Speaker 11: No, I mean, I didn't see it. It was on
• 23:07
  Speaker 11: the extra point, wasn't it? Yeah, I didn't see it.
• 23:11
  Speaker 16: Did you guys at all think about kicking it? And
• 23:14
  Speaker 16: if not, I mean, how much does a touchdown in
• 23:16
  Speaker 16: that situation go into the halftime? How momentum-wise for you
• 23:20
  Speaker 16: guys going into the second half?
• 23:21
  Speaker 11: Yeah, it's huge. I wasn't coming off the field, so
• 23:23
  Speaker 11: we were going to go for that. Yeah, we feel
• 23:27
  Speaker 11: good about that. It was a half yard. We got
• 23:29
  Speaker 11: to get that, and the guys did a good job.
• 23:31
  Speaker 9: You talked about the fact that these four games here
• 23:35
  Speaker 9: were going to be a big crucial stretch for you guys,
• 23:37
  Speaker 9: and you found different ways to win all four of them.
• 23:39
  Speaker 9: Just how big is that for you guys with where
• 23:41
  Speaker 9: you are in.
• 23:41
  Speaker 8: The season and obviously looking to move forward?
• 23:43
  Speaker 11: Yeah, winning is the most important thing. Two and one
• 23:46
  Speaker 11: in the division now after a split with Cleveland, home
• 23:49
  Speaker 11: and home. I'm not sure what happened in the Bengals game,
• 23:53
  Speaker 11: but either way, that game next week or the two
• 23:56
  Speaker 11: weeks is going to be really important. But, yeah, right
• 24:00
  Speaker 11: where we want to be.
• 24:00
  Speaker 12: Aaron, what does it do to have two running backs
• 24:03
  Speaker 12: that can do as much for the offense as you
• 24:05
  Speaker 12: guys have?
• 24:06
  Speaker 11: Yeah, those guys are both playing really well. Give us
• 24:09
  Speaker 11: a lot of flexibility. Adam on the field for a
• 24:12
  Speaker 11: number of plays today as well, which is good. But, yeah,
• 24:15
  Speaker 11: they're dynamic players. We got a hole in football. There's
• 24:17
  Speaker 11: a couple a little loose with it, but I love
• 24:21
  Speaker 11: playing with those guys.
• 24:22
  Speaker 15: Last one here, last one. How do you feel that
• 24:25
  Speaker 15: this offensive.
• 24:26
  Speaker 3: Line is playing?
• 24:27
  Speaker 11: Yeah, playing well, playing really well. You know, I think
• 24:30
  Speaker 11: we had good balance today running and throwing, but I
• 24:33
  Speaker 11: felt like they controlled line scrimmage really well. There was
• 24:35
  Speaker 11: a lot of movement on defense, but I felt like,
• 24:38
  Speaker 11: you know, we got to our doubles and got up
• 24:39
  Speaker 11: on the second level and the receivers blocked well on
• 24:42
  Speaker 11: the edge, but the Lions played with a lot of confidence.
• 24:43
  Speaker 5: Aaron Rodgers yesterday after the Steelers' 27-6 win against the
• 24:48
  Speaker 5: Cleveland Browns in his final NFL season. Aaron Rodgers has
• 24:52
  Speaker 5: the Steelers at 6-2 and alone in the AFC North
• 24:55
  Speaker 5: in first place. And if the playoffs were to start today,
• 24:58
  Speaker 5: the Steelers would be the number three seed in the AFC.
• 25:01
  Speaker 6: Number one would be the Buffalo Bills.
• 25:04
  Speaker 5: Number two would be the Denver Broncos, having beat the
• 25:06
  Speaker 5: Kansas City Chiefs last night on Sunday Night Football. The Steelers,
• 25:10
  Speaker 5: the leaders of the North, would be the third seed,
• 25:12
  Speaker 5: and they would actually play the Cincinnati Bengals, who are
• 25:15
  Speaker 5: the sixth seed right now. They'd be the second team
• 25:17
  Speaker 5: in in the AFC North. The Browns and the Ravens
• 25:21
  Speaker 5: would be at if the playoffs started today.
• 25:24
  Speaker 6: In the AFC North.
• 25:25
  Speaker 5: But the Steelers in a great spot. Four-game win streak
• 25:28
  Speaker 5: going into this bye week in two weeks from yesterday, Sunday.
• 25:33
  Speaker 5: Sunday night football will be their next game. That will
• 25:35
  Speaker 5: be on Sunday, November 15th in Cincinnati. And the rematch
• 25:38
  Speaker 5: against the Bengals should be a good one. And Mike
• 25:41
  Speaker 5: Tomlin with NBC will make his first appearance at a
• 25:46
  Speaker 5: Steeler game.
• 25:47
  Speaker 6: It won't be here at home. You'll have to wait
• 25:48
  Speaker 6: for that one.
• 25:49
  Speaker 5: That'll be later on in December, on December 6th against
• 25:52
  Speaker 5: the Houston Texans at 8.20. here in Pittsburgh, but it
• 25:55
  Speaker 5: will be in Cincinnati, so it'll be something definitely to
• 25:58
  Speaker 5: watch here in less than two weeks. We talked about
• 26:02
  Speaker 5: Aaron Rodgers, and you heard Rodgers also talk about Jalen Warren. Again,
• 26:06
  Speaker 5: a huge game yesterday, a huge season. Definitely would be
• 26:09
  Speaker 5: the Steeler MVP, in my opinion. Heck, he's in the
• 26:12
  Speaker 5: top five across the board for running backs right now
• 26:15
  Speaker 5: from rushing and receiving numbers. Warren, 143 yards on 17
• 26:18
  Speaker 5: carries yesterday, 8.4 yards per carry. The offensive line, as
• 26:24
  Speaker 5: you heard Aaron Rodgers talk there at the end of
• 26:27
  Speaker 5: that game, played so well. They played downhill all game long.
• 26:31
  Speaker 5: Warren was consistently moving the chains and created some big
• 26:35
  Speaker 5: explosive runs throughout that game. Warren, a centerpiece of now
• 26:38
  Speaker 5: what is a physical run-first offense in Mike McCarthy's first
• 26:43
  Speaker 5: year as head coach and leading this offense with Brian Angelico.
• 26:46
  Speaker 5: Rico Dattle also added a solid game yesterday for the
• 26:49
  Speaker 5: Steelers coming out of the backfield. He had 15 carries
• 26:53
  Speaker 5: for 56 yards. That was an average of 3.7 yards
• 26:57
  Speaker 5: per carry. Had a long run of 15 in that
• 26:59
  Speaker 5: game and a nine-yard touchdown run to open the game
• 27:02
  Speaker 5: up to give the Steelers that early 7-0 lead in
• 27:05
  Speaker 5: the first quarter. The two running back combination gave the
• 27:08
  Speaker 5: Steelers balance and allowed that offense to control the game from.
• 27:11
  Speaker 6: The beginning to the end.
• 27:12
  Speaker 5: They didn't need a huge passing game out of Aaron
• 27:15
  Speaker 5: Rodgers yesterday.
• 27:15
  Speaker 6: He just managed the game.
• 27:17
  Speaker 5: And you can do that when Warren and Dowdle combine
• 27:19
  Speaker 5: for 199 yards rushing. By the way, Muth added the
• 27:23
  Speaker 5: one-yard touchdown run, so that gave them an even 200
• 27:26
  Speaker 5: yards rushing. So if you just look at Warren and Dowdle,
• 27:28
  Speaker 5: they're at 199, but you've got to get Muth in
• 27:31
  Speaker 5: that one-yard touchdown push. The Penn State Nittany Lions shove,
• 27:36
  Speaker 5: I think, is what Mike McCarthy referred to it. We're
• 27:38
  Speaker 5: going to hear from McCarthy whenever we come back from
• 27:40
  Speaker 5: break here.
• 27:41
  Speaker 6: After the game yesterday.
• 27:43
  Speaker 5: But Muth with the one-yard push into the end zone
• 27:45
  Speaker 5: gave the Steelers an even 200-yard rushing number for the day.
• 27:50
  Speaker 5: So Jalen Warren has definitely become the identity of this offense.
• 27:53
  Speaker 5: The Warren-Doudle combination now a few games in since Doudle's
• 27:57
  Speaker 5: been back from injury also now making an impact. Doudle
• 28:01
  Speaker 5: didn't start the season out so hot, but these last
• 28:03
  Speaker 5: three games he's been back in Tampa Bay last week
• 28:06
  Speaker 5: against the Saints and now against the Browns. You know,
• 28:08
  Speaker 5: he's putting up 50, 60 yards rushing on just a
• 28:11
  Speaker 5: handful of carries and giving Warren a much-needed break and
• 28:14
  Speaker 5: giving the Steelers offense a nice shot of running. You know,
• 28:19
  Speaker 5: they called it— I think you heard T.J. Watt talk about
• 28:21
  Speaker 5: Jalen Warren being a bowling ball. Well, Dowdle's kind of
• 28:24
  Speaker 5: that bowling ball, too. I mean, when he gets into
• 28:27
  Speaker 5: open space, he bounces off some tacklers, too. He's just
• 28:29
  Speaker 5: a bit quicker than Warren, and that's a nice— A
• 28:32
  Speaker 5: nice counter for Jalen Warren and his running style throughout
• 28:35
  Speaker 5: the game. The Rodgers-Darnell Washington connection yesterday, too, was big.
• 28:39
  Speaker 5: Rodgers again finishes the day 13 of 25, 172 yards.
• 28:43
  Speaker 5: But Darnell Washington had that big 58-yard catch and run
• 28:47
  Speaker 5: early in the third quarter, setting up Jalen Warren's touchdown
• 28:50
  Speaker 5: to give the Steelers a 27-6 lead. Washington finishes the
• 28:54
  Speaker 5: day with three catches for a career-high 94.
• 28:58
  Speaker 6: Yards receiving lead.
• 28:59
  Speaker 5: Rodgers at the end gave way to Mason Rudolph, who
• 29:02
  Speaker 5: was in the game, but the game was well in
• 29:03
  Speaker 5: hand at that point. But maybe Darnell Washington, you know,
• 29:06
  Speaker 5: he's already had a big role in this offense, but
• 29:09
  Speaker 5: it seems that he's right on the doorstep of taking
• 29:11
  Speaker 5: another leap.
• 29:12
  Speaker 6: And I say that figuratively and factually, right?
• 29:16
  Speaker 5: Because he has done that each and every game that
• 29:18
  Speaker 5: he's been involved in here recently. But Darnell Washington definitely...
• 29:21
  Speaker 5: has stepped up here in 2026. He had a big
• 29:24
  Speaker 5: year last year in 2025, but this year I feel
• 29:26
  Speaker 5: like every time he has the ball, it's not just
• 29:28
  Speaker 5: for a one or two yard gain. I mean, he's,
• 29:30
  Speaker 5: he's putting together some huge yards after catch numbers. He's
• 29:34
  Speaker 5: so hard to bring down and he's tiptoeing too. I've
• 29:36
  Speaker 5: heard we, played the highlight a few times with Rob
• 29:39
  Speaker 5: King on the call yesterday and even last week and
• 29:42
  Speaker 5: in recent games. And each time he has described it
• 29:44
  Speaker 5: as tiptoeing on the sideline. And it's hard when you're 6'7,
• 29:48
  Speaker 5: almost 300 pounds to tiptoe, folks. But Darnell Washington has
• 29:51
  Speaker 5: done that very well so far this season.
• 29:54
  Speaker 6: Washington, again, a huge game yesterday. for the Steelers.
• 29:58
  Speaker 5: That big connection and then the five targets, three catches,
• 30:01
  Speaker 5: 94 yards, an average of 31.3 yards per catch yesterday
• 30:05
  Speaker 5: was held out of the end zone only by inches,
• 30:08
  Speaker 5: but all was well as the Steelers still got the
• 30:10
  Speaker 5: touchdown right after that to extend their lead to 27-6
• 30:12
  Speaker 5: in which they hold on to get to 6-2 on
• 30:15
  Speaker 5: the season. Whenever we come back, we will wrap up
• 30:18
  Speaker 5: our number two in the show today to hear from
• 30:20
  Speaker 5: head coach Mike McCarthy. What did he have to say
• 30:23
  Speaker 5: about the Steelers getting to 6-2 and going 4-0 in
• 30:26
  Speaker 5: this important stretch of games leading into the bye week?
• 30:30
  Speaker 6: I'm E.T. alongside B.B.
• 30:31
  Speaker 5: It is the Steelers Report right here on Steelers Nation Radio,
• 30:35
  Speaker 5: part of the Steelers Audio Network.
• 30:45
  Speaker 14: Rodgers, under center, tightly punched formation, turns, gives, and this
• 30:50
  Speaker 14: is Jalen Warren, and Jalen Warren is in for a
• 30:54
  Speaker 14: Pittsburgh Steelers touchdown.
• 30:56
  Speaker 6: Set up for the Steel City shove.
• 30:58
  Speaker 14: Here's Friarwood straight ahead, and the pushing, and the shoving,
• 31:02
  Speaker 14: and the touchdown, Pittsburgh Steelers.
• 31:06
  Speaker 5: How about that call at the end of the first half?
• 31:10
  Speaker 5: Were you nervous, Steelers Nation?
• 31:12
  Speaker 6: No timeouts, either.
• 31:16
  Speaker 5: Try to get a field goal maybe if you can
• 31:17
  Speaker 5: spike the ball, but the Steelers say, no, we're going
• 31:20
  Speaker 5: to go for it. We're going to try to punch
• 31:22
  Speaker 5: it in and take complete control of this game at
• 31:25
  Speaker 5: halftime instead of it being 13-6 as it was or
• 31:32
  Speaker 5: getting a field goal, making it 16-6, 10-point lead at halftime.
• 31:35
  Speaker 5: No problems there, but a touchdown made it 20-6 on
• 31:39
  Speaker 5: that Pat Friermuth sneak.
• 31:42
  Speaker 6: And the Steelers had full control at halftime.
• 31:45
  Speaker 5: They had the other touchdown in the third quarter with
• 31:48
  Speaker 5: Jalen Warren from a yard out, 27-6. And the Pittsburgh
• 31:52
  Speaker 5: Steelers get the 6-2 on the season atop of the
• 31:55
  Speaker 5: AFC North. We're wrapping up our number two in the
• 31:58
  Speaker 5: show here for today on Victory Monday. I think earlier
• 32:03
  Speaker 5: today you probably listened to In the Locker Room with
• 32:05
  Speaker 5: Rob King. and Max Starks, who have the calls. All
• 32:09
  Speaker 5: these calls you hear during our show, we love to
• 32:10
  Speaker 5: play them back. Tomorrow we'll play back 10 of them,
• 32:12
  Speaker 5: our top 10 moments and plays of the week, are
• 32:16
  Speaker 5: courtesy of Rob King and Max Starks. And Missy Matthews,
• 32:21
  Speaker 5: also part of that broadcast team, for each and every
• 32:24
  Speaker 5: game day here on Steelers Nation Radio, Steelers Audio Network.
• 32:27
  Speaker 5: Willie Colon, though, is also in the locker room each
• 32:30
  Speaker 5: and every day here on SNR with Rob King.
• 32:33
  Speaker 6: And Max Starks.
• 32:33
  Speaker 5: Make sure you catch them from 12 to 2 each day.
• 32:36
  Speaker 5: Prior to that, it's Tom Offerman and our good friend
• 32:38
  Speaker 5: Vince Williams from 10 to 12 here on SNR. We're
• 32:42
  Speaker 5: going to actually have, I think, Tom Offerman on with
• 32:45
  Speaker 5: us later this week to talk about the Steelers at
• 32:47
  Speaker 5: the bye week. And then right after us, coming up
• 32:50
  Speaker 5: next here at 4 o'clock, is Wes Shuler and Matt
• 32:53
  Speaker 5: Williamson in the locker room. And Matt Williamson, also, we're
• 32:56
  Speaker 5: trying to get Matt in here either this week or
• 32:57
  Speaker 5: next week during the bye week to get his thoughts
• 33:00
  Speaker 5: on the first half of the Pittsburgh Steelers season so far. Well,
• 33:03
  Speaker 5: we heard from Aaron Rodgers before the break. We also
• 33:06
  Speaker 5: heard earlier from TJ Watt. Let's hear from Mike McCarthy.
• 33:10
  Speaker 5: What did Coach McCarthy have to say after the Steelers'
• 33:13
  Speaker 5: big win on Sunday?
• 33:14
  Speaker 17: I mean, definitely you got to say trending, you know,
• 33:17
  Speaker 17: winning four in a row. But, you know, I think
• 33:21
  Speaker 17: we're exactly what our record says we are. You know,
• 33:24
  Speaker 17: I think we've We've really focused on improving in certain areas,
• 33:28
  Speaker 17: and I think we're doing that. I think our run
• 33:30
  Speaker 17: defense has really set the bar really high these last
• 33:36
  Speaker 17: two weeks. I just thought the way they started the
• 33:37
  Speaker 17: game was real impressive. So we wanted to run the
• 33:43
  Speaker 17: ball was a focal point today. I feel like we
• 33:47
  Speaker 17: accomplished that, but we still have things to work on
• 33:50
  Speaker 17: to complementarily Formula football style that we're playing is, you know,
• 33:56
  Speaker 17: what we're looking for. So I think we improved today
• 34:00
  Speaker 17: as a football team. Ultimately, we want to win and improve.
• 34:04
  Speaker 17: And I think we definitely took the step today. I
• 34:07
  Speaker 17: thought the guys really coming back from France, you could see,
• 34:11
  Speaker 17: you know, midweek or even not even midweek, probably later
• 34:14
  Speaker 17: in the week, there's still a little run down. I
• 34:18
  Speaker 17: thought they did a hell of a job getting ready
• 34:20
  Speaker 17: to go and kept the game, you know, Kept it
• 34:23
  Speaker 17: about winning football. You know, we understood it was a
• 34:25
  Speaker 17: division game. Just really didn't pay no mind to anything
• 34:28
  Speaker 17: else but just getting ready to play. And I thought
• 34:30
  Speaker 17: our men did a really nice job today with that.
• 34:32
  Speaker 3: Mike, what led.
• 34:33
  Speaker 14: To or keyed the run game that.
• 34:35
  Speaker 8: We saw today?
• 34:36
  Speaker 3: What led to it?
• 34:38
  Speaker 17: I mean, it starts up front, obviously, but we got
• 34:40
  Speaker 17: two dynamic backs. I mean, Jalen is on fire. You know,
• 34:44
  Speaker 17: it's just you can't get him the ball enough. You know, Enrico's,
• 34:48
  Speaker 17: you know, he's playing well too. So I think those
• 34:50
  Speaker 17: two are hitting their stride. It's important for those two
• 34:53
  Speaker 17: men to touch the ball each and every week.
• 34:56
  Speaker 13: Coach, your thoughts on the defense keeping the Browns out
• 35:00
  Speaker 13: of the end zone, including that turnover on down?
• 35:03
  Speaker 3: Yeah, definitely.
• 35:03
  Speaker 17: I mean, I think when you get into division games,
• 35:06
  Speaker 17: the bigger the game, the importance on making those critical plays.
• 35:10
  Speaker 17: And I thought our defense really, really highlighted that today.
• 35:15
  Speaker 17: The fourth down stops, the state of keeping them out
• 35:17
  Speaker 17: of the end zone, the turnovers early, giving us the
• 35:20
  Speaker 17: field position. When you're taking care of the ball, getting
• 35:25
  Speaker 17: the takeaways, running the football, winning the time of possession. Offensively,
• 35:30
  Speaker 17: we definitely feel like we should have scored more points today.
• 35:33
  Speaker 17: That goes without being said. So it gives us things
• 35:37
  Speaker 17: to keep working on. But we took a step in
• 35:40
  Speaker 17: the right direction today. It was important for us to
• 35:42
  Speaker 17: come out of the stretch 6-2, and that's where we are.
• 35:45
  Speaker 16: Mike, on Pat's touchdown before the half, Aaron said that
• 35:48
  Speaker 16: he wasn't coming off the field. Was there any consideration
• 35:50
  Speaker 16: to kick it there and over? Scoring a touchdown there,
• 35:53
  Speaker 16: what does that do.
• 35:54
  Speaker 3: For you guys' momentum?
• 35:55
  Speaker 17: Yeah, no, it was a great call there by Aaron,
• 35:56
  Speaker 17: you know, the two-minute drill. And then obviously, you know,
• 36:00
  Speaker 17: going to the Nittany package there.
• 36:02
  Speaker 3: So, yeah, he did a great job.
• 36:09
  Speaker 18: Is there something about your faith in that group up front, though? Because,
• 36:11
  Speaker 18: I mean, there was five seconds left, no timeouts.
• 36:14
  Speaker 16: Was there any consideration to kick it there and scoring
• 36:17
  Speaker 16: a touchdown there?
• 36:18
  Speaker 9: What does that do for you guys' momentum?
• 36:20
  Speaker 3: Yeah, no, it was a great call there by Aaron,
• 36:21
  Speaker 3: you know, the two-minute drill.
• 36:22
  Speaker 17: And then, obviously, you know, going to the Nittany package there. So, yeah,
• 36:27
  Speaker 17: he did a great job orchestrating that, you know, getting
• 36:29
  Speaker 17: the clock and giving us time to get that playoff.
• 36:33
  Speaker 18: Does it say something about your faith in that group
• 36:35
  Speaker 18: up front, though? Because, I mean, there was five seconds left,
• 36:37
  Speaker 18: no timeouts, you don't get in, nothing happens. Does it
• 36:39
  Speaker 18: say something about your faith in the group to call
• 36:41
  Speaker 18: that play and then to have.
• 36:42
  Speaker 7: That next game?
• 36:43
  Speaker 3: Yeah, definitely.
• 36:44
  Speaker 17: I mean, frankly, actually, Aaron called that play, you know,
• 36:45
  Speaker 17: the Nittany. It was really, obviously, everybody agreed with it. But,
• 36:50
  Speaker 17: you know, the whole mechanics leading up to that, I
• 36:52
  Speaker 17: think it just shows, you know, the confidence they have and,
• 36:56
  Speaker 17: you know, obviously Aaron's experience of handling those situations. But yes,
• 37:01
  Speaker 17: it's a group we have a tremendous amount of faith in.
• 37:04
  Speaker 17: You know, Zach Frazier, I think, is a special player,
• 37:06
  Speaker 17: a unique player. And, you know, who wouldn't want to
• 37:09
  Speaker 17: run behind him?
• 37:11
  Speaker 12: Coach, what do you think about your team that players
• 37:13
  Speaker 12: in the locker room are talking about how the defense
• 37:15
  Speaker 12: still could have been better, Aaron saying the offense still
• 37:17
  Speaker 12: could have been better, Yet now you're top of the division.
• 37:20
  Speaker 7: You had a big win.
• 37:21
  Speaker 3: Numbers say you were great.
• 37:22
  Speaker 17: Yeah, I think that that's, that's the reality of it.
• 37:24
  Speaker 17: And that's why you got to keep it about, you know,
• 37:26
  Speaker 17: keep it about the main thing. It's about, you know,
• 37:28
  Speaker 17: winning games and self-improvement. We, you know, we, we're at
• 37:31
  Speaker 17: a point now in a season where, you know, everybody
• 37:33
  Speaker 17: has an understanding of, you know, how we're going to
• 37:35
  Speaker 17: do things, what we need to do. You know, you're, you're,
• 37:39
  Speaker 17: you're getting in and out of game plans each and
• 37:41
  Speaker 17: every week. And, you know, the, you know, I think
• 37:44
  Speaker 17: we've talked about this before in here. I think that,
• 37:46
  Speaker 17: you know, training camp really, in my view, extends into September,
• 37:49
  Speaker 17: you know, October's where it was really, really going to
• 37:52
  Speaker 17: get going. And, you know, and then the real football
• 37:54
  Speaker 17: really picks up here in November. So I think we're
• 37:56
  Speaker 17: in a good spot right now.
• 37:58
  Speaker 11: The red zone possession where you guys came up short,
• 38:00
  Speaker 11: you got really close to the goal line, two of
• 38:02
  Speaker 11: them passes.
• 38:03
  Speaker 7: Was that your call or Aaron's call?
• 38:04
  Speaker 8: Did you leave that to Aaron?
• 38:05
  Speaker 3: Yeah, that's it.
• 38:05
  Speaker 17: That series there. That's that. I wish I could have
• 38:08
  Speaker 17: those three plays back.
• 38:09
  Speaker 7: Yeah.
• 38:10
  Speaker 17: So definitely that was, you know, those are, things that
• 38:14
  Speaker 17: you go back and you look at and, but yes,
• 38:19
  Speaker 17: I wish I had that sequence back.
• 38:21
  Speaker 9: What was your message to the team coming.
• 38:23
  Speaker 8: Into this game?
• 38:25
  Speaker 17: Coming into the game? I mean, just really, it was
• 38:28
  Speaker 17: all about getting the sixth, you know, the sixth win.
• 38:30
  Speaker 17: Anytime you play division opponents, there's not a whole lot
• 38:33
  Speaker 17: to talk about. I think that, you know, they obviously
• 38:35
  Speaker 17: have more to talk about the.
• 38:37
  Speaker 3: Game than we did. And I, you know, really acknowledge it.
• 38:40
  Speaker 17: You know, frankly, I was more, into the players, just,
• 38:44
  Speaker 17: you know, making sure, you know, it's, you spend a
• 38:47
  Speaker 17: lot of time on a plane that we did in
• 38:48
  Speaker 17: the last, you know, four days, four or five days. It's,
• 38:52
  Speaker 17: you gotta, you gotta do everything you can to make
• 38:54
  Speaker 17: sure they're ready to play. And I think we were
• 38:56
  Speaker 17: clearly ready to play today. I thought our guys did
• 38:58
  Speaker 17: a great job just keeping about, you know, keeping about
• 39:01
  Speaker 17: beating Cleveland and doing the things that we need to
• 39:04
  Speaker 17: do to beat Cleveland, you know, play, play the way
• 39:06
  Speaker 17: we want to play schematically. But, you know, we're, you know,
• 39:09
  Speaker 17: we're chasing a play style and a standard of play
• 39:11
  Speaker 17: style and, and, you know, continue to get the production
• 39:14
  Speaker 17: from that place though. And cause you know, the, the,
• 39:17
  Speaker 17: the pads are, you know, it's the padded work and
• 39:20
  Speaker 17: the things that you need to work on. It you're,
• 39:24
  Speaker 17: you're in a main year and you start getting into
• 39:25
  Speaker 17: a maintain mode here in November, December. So we want
• 39:28
  Speaker 17: to get our, level as high as we can so
• 39:31
  Speaker 17: we're competing each and every week to win.
• 39:33
  Speaker 7: How much stock do you put into getting a win
• 39:37
  Speaker 7: before the bye?
• 39:37
  Speaker 17: How much stock? I mean, it definitely feels better. I mean,
• 39:43
  Speaker 17: you know, I think it's important to, yeah, I mean,
• 39:48
  Speaker 17: I don't know. you say stock, I don't know really
• 39:50
  Speaker 17: to apply the stock to, I mean, it's, yeah, it's
• 39:52
  Speaker 17: feels great.
• 39:53
  Speaker 3: It's, it's important.
• 39:55
  Speaker 17: You know, but this, this buy was going to happen regardless,
• 39:58
  Speaker 17: you know, so it's not like you can, you're going to,
• 40:00
  Speaker 17: you know, change direction. So, and our team needs a buy,
• 40:03
  Speaker 17: you know, I don't think I've ever been in a
• 40:07
  Speaker 17: season where your team didn't, didn't need a buy, you know,
• 40:10
  Speaker 17: didn't buy a week.
• 40:11
  Speaker 3: And, you know, I think it's be really good for us.
• 40:13
  Speaker 17: And, you know, I look for us to come off
• 40:14
  Speaker 17: this by, you know, really healthy and, Then we got
• 40:17
  Speaker 17: a big three game stretch. I'm already looking forward to
• 40:20
  Speaker 17: this three game stretch, two on the road and come
• 40:22
  Speaker 17: home and play a Friday game here after Thanksgiving. So
• 40:26
  Speaker 17: this is a big three game stretch where we gotta
• 40:29
  Speaker 17: get this next sequence done. And this will give us
• 40:32
  Speaker 17: what we need to just let the guys get home
• 40:34
  Speaker 17: and rest, recovery, most importantly, reboot. Family time, fill their
• 40:39
  Speaker 17: space up with all the things that we all appreciate
• 40:43
  Speaker 17: and they'll be ready to go. It's a good locker room.
• 40:47
  Speaker 17: These guys like each other. You can see what's building here.
• 40:50
  Speaker 17: Obviously winning and the fuel from winning adds to it
• 40:52
  Speaker 17: and the confidence grows, but it's a great time for
• 40:55
  Speaker 17: a bye.
• 40:56
  Speaker 10: Brock and Troy talked about the excitement for the amount
• 41:00
  Speaker 10: of traps that you guys were going to call for
• 41:02
  Speaker 10: this game.
• 41:02
  Speaker 8: And to execute it.
• 41:04
  Speaker 1: What's the strength of this offensive line that you saw
• 41:07
  Speaker 1: would be so effective in using them in those runs?
• 41:10
  Speaker 3: I think it's like anything. We're a first-year staff.
• 41:15
  Speaker 17: We're going through some things where you know, you worry
• 41:18
  Speaker 17: about volume. You really hone to the fundamentals. You know,
• 41:22
  Speaker 17: I think that's, at the end of the day, that's
• 41:25
  Speaker 17: what football, winning football comes down to. So, you know,
• 41:29
  Speaker 17: the trap is something that we, you know, haven't done
• 41:32
  Speaker 17: a lot of. And I think everybody was excited to
• 41:36
  Speaker 17: get the traps called today. And obviously it was a
• 41:38
  Speaker 17: good scheme versus their defense and so forth. So, you know,
• 41:43
  Speaker 17: the first one was huge. You know, it looked like
• 41:45
  Speaker 17: a rocket ship the way it opened up.
• 41:47
  Speaker 5: You know, those of us that have covered coaches across
• 41:51
  Speaker 5: the levels of high school, college, and pros in the
• 41:54
  Speaker 5: NFL can probably tell you, at least if you're a
• 41:57
  Speaker 5: football-minded person, I'm definitely one of those persons, would you
• 42:01
  Speaker 5: play for this guy? I have two young sons that
• 42:04
  Speaker 5: play football. Would I let my sons play for this guy?
• 42:06
  Speaker 5: Mike McCarthy's one of those dudes. Every time I hear
• 42:08
  Speaker 5: him talk, including there, I would absolutely play for Mike McCarthy.
• 42:12
  Speaker 5: I'd have my sons play for Mike McCarthy. He's just
• 42:14
  Speaker 5: that type of coach, you can just tell. And, you know,
• 42:17
  Speaker 5: he's got a couple on his staff, too. Patrick Graham's
• 42:19
  Speaker 5: another one that I feel that way about. Tom Arth,
• 42:20
  Speaker 5: the quarterback's coach, is another one. He's got a good
• 42:23
  Speaker 5: coaching staff.
• 42:24
  Speaker 6: And, look, he's 6-2.
• 42:25
  Speaker 5: I'm sure if he was 2-6, maybe some of us
• 42:27
  Speaker 5: wouldn't feel that way because the NFL is a business
• 42:29
  Speaker 5: of winning.
• 42:30
  Speaker 6: If you win, you look great. When you lose, not
• 42:33
  Speaker 6: so much.
• 42:34
  Speaker 5: But either way, it's been a great start to the
• 42:35
  Speaker 5: hometown kid and Mike McCarthy. He has his team at 6-2,
• 42:39
  Speaker 5: first place in the AFC North going into the bye week.
• 42:42
  Speaker 5: You heard him there talking about after the bye week,
• 42:44
  Speaker 5: two road games at Cincinnati. Now against a Philadelphia Eagle
• 42:47
  Speaker 5: team that is really fluttering. They've lost six straight after
• 42:52
  Speaker 5: losing last night to the Washington Commanders on Sunday Night Football.
• 42:56
  Speaker 5: They're 2-6, so I know the Steelers haven't won in
• 42:58
  Speaker 5: Philly since the 1960s.
• 43:00
  Speaker 6: I know I'm not making that up. That's a fact.
• 43:02
  Speaker 5: They have not won in Philadelphia since the 1960s, but
• 43:06
  Speaker 5: this year, Might be their best opportunity to finally win
• 43:09
  Speaker 5: in Philadelphia. But then again, the Browns haven't won here
• 43:12
  Speaker 5: since 2023. But hopefully the Steelers will be in a
• 43:15
  Speaker 5: better spot here come November 22nd.
• 43:17
  Speaker 6: And then two games at home.
• 43:18
  Speaker 5: They will not be back at Accustore Stadium yesterday, November 1st,
• 43:22
  Speaker 5: for 26 days. It'll be that Black Friday game on Friday,
• 43:26
  Speaker 5: November 27th, after Thanksgiving against the Denver Broncos. And then
• 43:30
  Speaker 5: they will turn around the following Sunday night against the
• 43:33
  Speaker 5: Houston Texans in a rematch of last year's AFC playoffs.
• 43:36
  Speaker 6: Wild card game.
• 43:37
  Speaker 5: We've been talking a lot about the defense, and rightfully
• 43:39
  Speaker 5: so here on the show today. The Steelers, again, the
• 43:42
  Speaker 5: takeaways from this big 27-6 victory. 6-2, first place AFC North,
• 43:48
  Speaker 5: but the defense led the way.
• 43:49
  Speaker 6: Eight sacks yesterday.
• 43:50
  Speaker 5: The Steelers at one point held the Browns to minus
• 43:55
  Speaker 5: one yard of total offense in the first quarter, and
• 43:58
  Speaker 5: just 34 total rushing yards for the game. A dominant
• 44:01
  Speaker 5: performance by Patrick Graham's unit. TJ Watt, two sacks. Patrick Queen,
• 44:06
  Speaker 5: a team high, 10 tackles, a sack and a half,
• 44:09
  Speaker 5: a forced fumble, and a pass defended yesterday. Queen was
• 44:13
  Speaker 5: all over the field and delivered one of the defense's
• 44:15
  Speaker 5: most complete individual games so far this season. He's been
• 44:19
  Speaker 5: great the last few games, as has Peyton Wilson. Cam Hayward,
• 44:23
  Speaker 5: a huge third and one stop, reset the tone, and
• 44:27
  Speaker 5: the Steelers forced the Browns to punt in the third quarter,
• 44:29
  Speaker 5: which led to the big pass completion. from Aaron Rodgers
• 44:32
  Speaker 5: to Darnell Washington, which then set up a touchdown that
• 44:35
  Speaker 5: gave them the 27-6 lead that they hold on for
• 44:37
  Speaker 5: the rest of the second half. Cleveland could not get
• 44:40
  Speaker 5: anything going with their run game. Deshaun Watson was on
• 44:42
  Speaker 5: the run all game long. The Steelers, probably you can
• 44:45
  Speaker 5: say their best defensive performance of the season so far,
• 44:48
  Speaker 5: and they've had some good ones, and hopefully we'll see
• 44:50
  Speaker 5: more of that here in the second half of the season.
• 44:54
  Speaker 5: And then just one other note before we wrap up
• 44:55
  Speaker 5: the show, too. We talked right before the McCarthy press
• 44:58
  Speaker 5: conference there.
• 44:58
  Speaker 6: After the game.
• 45:00
  Speaker 5: About what a lot of folks are saying, the McCarthy moment.
• 45:03
  Speaker 5: There were these McCarthy moments that they practiced up in
• 45:05
  Speaker 5: Latrobe during training camp, and they went for it with
• 45:08
  Speaker 5: just five seconds left in the first half. The Steelers
• 45:11
  Speaker 5: had the ball at the Browns' one-yard line, no timeouts remaining.
• 45:15
  Speaker 5: And as I said to start off this segment, McCarthy
• 45:18
  Speaker 5: passed on the short field goal and trusted his offense.
• 45:20
  Speaker 5: Pat Fryermuth scores in the one-yard sneak to make it
• 45:23
  Speaker 5: 20-6 at halftime. That aggressive call. paid off in a big,
• 45:28
  Speaker 5: big way. And you just heard that from Coach Mike McCarthy. Listen,
• 45:31
  Speaker 5: the McCarthy press conference, because they're on a bye week,
• 45:33
  Speaker 5: is not today. So up next, it is Wes Euler
• 45:36
  Speaker 5: and Matt Williamson on SNR's Drive. But if you still
• 45:38
  Speaker 5: needed that McCarthy press conference fix, well, we just gave
• 45:42
  Speaker 5: it to you there for the post-game show. That's going
• 45:44
  Speaker 5: to do it for the Steelers report for today. We'll
• 45:46
  Speaker 5: be back at it with you tomorrow with our top
• 45:48
  Speaker 5: 10 moments. of Steelers 27, Brown 6. But as I said,
• 45:53
  Speaker 5: up next, Wes Shuler, Matt Williamson, SNR's The Drive, right
• 45:56
  Speaker 5: here on Steelers Nation Radio, part of the Steelers Audio Network.