Latest / In the Locker Room presented by Neighborhood Ford Store (Pittsburgh Steelers) / Hour 2: Wexell Wednesday

Transcript

Hour 2: Wexell Wednesday · In the Locker Room presented by Neighborhood Ford Store (Pittsburgh Steelers)

• 0:09
  Speaker 1: Official truck of the pittsburgh steelers.
• 0:19
  Speaker 2: Oh yeah you know what that is that is the
• 0:22
  Speaker 2: sound of optimus coming in to ring in the power
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: hour here inside the locker room uh rob i know.
• 0:29
  Speaker 3: We got jerry joining us this hour um Oh, no, sorry.
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: Sorry.
• 0:33
  Speaker 3: Jim Wexel. Jim Wexel joining us this hour. We had
• 0:36
  Speaker 3: Jerry yesterday.
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 0:37
  Speaker 3: Yeah, we have Wex Wednesday coming up. Not here yet.
• 0:40
  Speaker 3: So that's why our good friend Optimus is allowed to
• 0:43
  Speaker 3: stop by the show.
• 0:45
  Speaker 4: So this is not the New Orleans Saints in the
• 0:49
  Speaker 4: locker room. This is the Pittsburgh Steelers in the locker room. So,
• 0:55
  Speaker 4: by the way, before we get started, Willie, do you
• 0:59
  Speaker 4: love the picture of Max in the beret?
• 1:01
  Speaker 5: Absolutely priceless. It looks good.
• 1:05
  Speaker 4: I told him if he could get a rush job
• 1:07
  Speaker 4: on it and get the beret done, I would be
• 1:10
  Speaker 4: happy to pick up the tab on that. I said
• 1:16
  Speaker 4: I wanted to walk around the Champs-Élysées with him three
• 1:19
  Speaker 4: steps behind just to see the tourists gawping at him
• 1:22
  Speaker 4: and the Parisians gawping at him as he strolled casually down.
• 1:26
  Speaker 5: I don't know if you know this. You should be worried, though.
• 1:30
  Speaker 5: there should be some heightened security around Max because as
• 1:40
  Speaker 5: much as I know that he is thrilled to go
• 1:43
  Speaker 5: to Paris and the game and to call the game
• 1:46
  Speaker 5: with you and hopefully see another stealer win, he's really
• 1:50
  Speaker 5: more excited that he gets to venture and take part
• 1:54
  Speaker 5: in cheese. Max is a cheese connoisseur, and.
• 2:00
  Speaker 5: I know he will be distracted because as much as
• 2:02
  Speaker 5: he loves pastries, he loves cheese. So I know supposedly
• 2:06
  Speaker 5: there's some really good cheese in France.
• 2:08
  Speaker 3: Oh, yeah.
• 2:09
  Speaker 5: He may be occupied. You may have to somehow keep
• 2:14
  Speaker 5: Max locked to his room because he will venture out
• 2:17
  Speaker 5: and discover the wonderful world of cheese in France.
• 2:21
  Speaker 4: If he does that, I hope I'm right next to him.
• 2:24
  Speaker 4: I hope I am standing right next to it.
• 2:26
  Speaker 3: The fromage will be flowing. Oh, yes.
• 2:28
  Speaker 4: The fromage. That begs the question. Now, I like all cheese, right?
• 2:35
  Speaker 4: Pretty much all cheese. Soft or sharp or in between, Max,
• 2:41
  Speaker 4: if you had a preference. You go up, you're looking
• 2:44
  Speaker 4: for some cheddar. Are you going mild, medium, or sharp?
• 2:50
  Speaker 3: I'm going to do you one better. I go extra
• 2:52
  Speaker 3: sharp on that. Oh, look at you. I am an
• 2:56
  Speaker 3: extra sharp guy when it comes to that. Now, listen,
• 2:59
  Speaker 3: don't get me wrong. I love soft cheeses. Yep, me too.
• 3:03
  Speaker 3: You've got to have the bread with it. You've got
• 3:05
  Speaker 3: to have all of those things.
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: But a hard cheese, just a nice sliced snacking on
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: the go pickup, I'm a hard cheese guy all the way. Now,
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: I will say this, like, Now, if I do see
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: the right kind of, you know, right kind of brie,
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: I love a good baked.
• 3:26
  Speaker 3: Brie as well. Absolutely.
• 3:27
  Speaker 4: Absolutely.
• 3:28
  Speaker 3: It's phenomenal.
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: I'm not as big a Camembert fan, yeah, you know, but,
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: I mean, I can do a lot of the goat
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: cheeses as well, you.
• 3:35
  Speaker 3: Know, any sheep's milk cheese.
• 3:37
  Speaker 4: A good blue cheese.
• 3:38
  Speaker 3: I'm there, yeah. Oh, a good blue, yeah. Absolutely. Gorgonzola.
• 3:43
  Speaker 3: Love Gorgonzola as well. It'll still for you.
• 3:46
  Speaker 4: So, yeah.
• 3:46
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I have a stilt and blue.
• 3:49
  Speaker 4: I've been working away on a big chunk of nice,
• 3:52
  Speaker 4: sharp Asiago cheese that I shredded over some pasta, and
• 3:55
  Speaker 4: now I'm just, oh.
• 3:56
  Speaker 3: So, Max, just remind me.
• 3:58
  Speaker 4: If you come into town a little extra time, I
• 4:01
  Speaker 4: will introduce you to my absolute favorite cheese.
• 4:05
  Speaker 3: Okay. I cannot wait.
• 4:07
  Speaker 4: I will go right down to the strip and get
• 4:08
  Speaker 4: you a big chunk of it, and then you can
• 4:11
  Speaker 4: compare it to your Parisian cheeses. Okay.
• 4:14
  Speaker 3: I like it. I like it.
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: Willie, don't act like you don't like cheese. You just
• 4:21
  Speaker 2: don't love it as much as me and Rob.
• 4:22
  Speaker 3: I get it.
• 4:24
  Speaker 5: My pizza and macaroni, you guys are savants. You guys
• 4:30
  Speaker 5: hold your noses up to the cheese I like.
• 4:33
  Speaker 4: So, I would never do that. Particularly if I thought
• 4:36
  Speaker 4: you were looking.
• 4:38
  Speaker 3: It's like that Arsenio Hall skit on Dave Chappelle.
• 4:40
  Speaker 4: So, you know... We started this show in a place
• 4:45
  Speaker 4: talking about Max's beret and his hairstyle and what he
• 4:50
  Speaker 4: wore underneath the helmet because he was commenting on the
• 4:54
  Speaker 4: fact that my hair is TV-capable right now, Willie, which,
• 4:58
  Speaker 4: as you know from seeing me on the radio, it
• 5:00
  Speaker 4: rarely is, right? But we taped our show today. We
• 5:02
  Speaker 4: taped the matchup with Missy Matthews and Matt Williamson, so
• 5:07
  Speaker 4: you missed that part of the event.
• 5:08
  Speaker 5: Yeah.
• 5:10
  Speaker 4: Now we're wandering into cheese, and I'm going to try
• 5:12
  Speaker 4: to grab a hold of the wheel and steer it back.
• 5:15
  Speaker 4: Steer it back. Here we go.
• 5:17
  Speaker 3: Here we go.
• 5:18
  Speaker 4: No, no, no, not at all. Not at all. So
• 5:22
  Speaker 4: the New Orleans Saints, we talked about this, right? Like,
• 5:28
  Speaker 4: they are, a lot of teams expected them to be
• 5:31
  Speaker 4: a surprise team this year. And you could see why
• 5:33
  Speaker 4: they would. And they have been hammered with injuries. Look,
• 5:38
  Speaker 4: the Steelers have had, Some rough injuries. But the Steelers,
• 5:42
  Speaker 4: you know, the Saints are in the beginning stages of
• 5:47
  Speaker 4: their development as a team. You know, Max, they're Australopithecus, right?
• 5:52
  Speaker 4: They're not there yet. They're still working their way out
• 5:57
  Speaker 4: of the crouch to get upright. And the Steelers are
• 6:01
  Speaker 4: way more evolved. The Steelers have had some injuries, too.
• 6:04
  Speaker 4: Every team has injuries. These injuries for the Saints have
• 6:07
  Speaker 4: been crippling. Some of these guys will be back. Some
• 6:10
  Speaker 4: of them will not be back. But you're still a
• 6:13
  Speaker 4: football team. Man, you're in a locker room. You're not
• 6:17
  Speaker 4: like thinking, oh, yeah, well, next year. No, you want
• 6:20
  Speaker 4: to win this week. You want to win this season.
• 6:24
  Speaker 4: And if you're the Saints right now and you're 2-4 and,
• 6:26
  Speaker 4: you know, you've beaten the Ravens, you lost in overtime
• 6:31
  Speaker 4: in the opener in a wild game to the Lions
• 6:34
  Speaker 4: that a lot of people don't forget. Remember the stories
• 6:37
  Speaker 4: coming out of that game? that the Saints got the
• 6:40
  Speaker 4: short straw. If the Saints don't get the short straw,
• 6:44
  Speaker 4: they're going into this game, injuries or no injuries, 3-3
• 6:49
  Speaker 4: with wins over the Ravens and the Lions and a
• 6:52
  Speaker 4: win in their last game. So, first of all, this
• 6:54
  Speaker 4: isn't a pushover, but just looking at it from their perspective,
• 6:57
  Speaker 4: that's what I'd be thinking if I was a player.
• 6:59
  Speaker 4: I'd be saying, you know what, we're still in this thing. Carolina,
• 7:02
  Speaker 4: we can catch Carolina. Atlanta, maybe they got exposed last week.
• 7:06
  Speaker 4: Maybe they're not all that. I just think, but at 2-5,
• 7:12
  Speaker 4: it's harder to convince yourself of that. At 3-4, going
• 7:16
  Speaker 4: into a bye in that division, if I'm in that
• 7:19
  Speaker 4: division or if I'm in the NFC East, I'm thinking, hey,
• 7:21
  Speaker 4: I'm in good shape. This is a huge game for
• 7:25
  Speaker 4: the Saints, huge game.
• 7:28
  Speaker 5: Yeah, I think if you're the Saints right now, you
• 7:31
  Speaker 5: feel like you have a defense too led by Brandon Staley.
• 7:35
  Speaker 5: Brandon Staley is, you know, he– He has got this
• 7:39
  Speaker 5: defense playing at a high level. I think they played
• 7:44
  Speaker 5: one of their best games of the year was against
• 7:45
  Speaker 5: the Giants, especially when the Saints fell in a hole
• 7:48
  Speaker 5: in that game. It was the defense that kind of
• 7:51
  Speaker 5: rallied and kind of got them back in that game.
• 7:54
  Speaker 5: So it's one of the things right now, the division
• 7:58
  Speaker 5: is wide open. You know who the Panthers are. You
• 8:00
  Speaker 5: know who the Falcons are. Tampa, at this point, it
• 8:04
  Speaker 5: is what it is. They're really relying on the health
• 8:06
  Speaker 5: of Baker Mayfield and to get back into hunting things.
• 8:10
  Speaker 5: But when it comes to this, you're right. When you
• 8:13
  Speaker 5: have a defense that can travel, and Max is right,
• 8:16
  Speaker 5: they will be the home team in this game. But
• 8:18
  Speaker 5: when you have a defense that can travel like they've
• 8:20
  Speaker 5: been able to do thus far, you have to feel confident, man,
• 8:24
  Speaker 5: that if the offense can somehow rally and handle their
• 8:28
  Speaker 5: side of the ball, defensively we can compete against anybody
• 8:31
  Speaker 5: and make plays internally and get takeaways. we're going to
• 8:35
  Speaker 5: be okay. And so I'm with you, Rob. I think
• 8:37
  Speaker 5: this is a type of game that if you're Mike McCarthy,
• 8:40
  Speaker 5: this is the game where you're getting your bag. You know,
• 8:42
  Speaker 5: I would like to see them opening it up as
• 8:43
  Speaker 5: much as I talked about Aaron Rodgers not throwing the
• 8:46
  Speaker 5: ball as much and figuring it out on the ground.
• 8:49
  Speaker 5: But also, I would love this to be a game
• 8:51
  Speaker 5: where we see some trick plays, right? We see it
• 8:53
  Speaker 5: throughout the NFL. Teams kind of scheme some things up
• 8:57
  Speaker 5: that pop up in the game. I think it's imperative
• 9:00
  Speaker 5: for the team to just start fast, man. Let's not
• 9:02
  Speaker 5: wait because the longer you wait, and you play down
• 9:05
  Speaker 5: to an opposition like this, man, things get spicy. And
• 9:10
  Speaker 5: this would be a setback game if they lose to
• 9:12
  Speaker 5: the Saints. But this is also the type of game
• 9:14
  Speaker 5: where the Saints can steal one and the Steelers would
• 9:16
  Speaker 5: be left like, what happened?
• 9:19
  Speaker 4: I think that's exactly right. I think they can. I
• 9:22
  Speaker 4: think they can. That's what they've got to be thinking, Max.
• 9:26
  Speaker 4: They've got to be thinking, hey, this is our season
• 9:29
  Speaker 4: right here. Think about how you're feeling. Hey, we've overcome
• 9:33
  Speaker 4: some injuries. Maybe Tyson and A-Chan get back after the bye.
• 9:37
  Speaker 4: You go in there three and four, you're thinking, okay,
• 9:40
  Speaker 4: we got Cleveland on the other end of that. We
• 9:42
  Speaker 4: can beat the Cleveland Browns. You know, this is the
• 9:45
  Speaker 4: kind of win that gets a team back on track.
• 9:48
  Speaker 4: I think that I'm always a big believer, guys, that
• 9:51
  Speaker 4: that makes an opponent dangerous. The teams are so close.
• 9:58
  Speaker 4: There's not that much that separates one NFL team from another.
• 10:01
  Speaker 4: It's not like college football. I just think that this
• 10:06
  Speaker 4: is a dangerous game for the Steelers, and I'm sure
• 10:10
  Speaker 4: that they're approaching it that way.
• 10:14
  Speaker 2: And they should, because You know, we talked about this.
• 10:17
  Speaker 2: What's on the line? Well, for the Steelers, you've got
• 10:20
  Speaker 2: to keep pace. That's the biggest thing with the rest
• 10:23
  Speaker 2: of your division because Cleveland is still the number one
• 10:25
  Speaker 2: team in this division. It's not like we're talking about
• 10:26
  Speaker 2: we're number one and we have this big lead. Us,
• 10:31
  Speaker 2: the Ravens, and the Browns are all at the same
• 10:34
  Speaker 2: record of four and two. So this is your chance
• 10:36
  Speaker 2: to differentiate yourself from the rest of the crowd. And
• 10:40
  Speaker 2: it's a team that could get heat. and you want
• 10:45
  Speaker 2: to make sure you stomp that out. They're a team
• 10:47
  Speaker 2: that has guys with skills. They're just super thin, but
• 10:51
  Speaker 2: it's not because they have a lack of talent. This
• 10:53
  Speaker 2: isn't like we're playing, you know, the homecoming game in
• 10:57
  Speaker 2: college or anything like that, right? This is a real
• 10:59
  Speaker 2: deal team with Tyler Shuck that has confidence and can
• 11:03
  Speaker 2: stay with you and is looking to get a two-game
• 11:06
  Speaker 2: win streak going, you know, because they're coming off of
• 11:10
  Speaker 2: a victory from the last game.
• 11:11
  Speaker 3: So.
• 11:12
  Speaker 2: I look at it as a chance for the Steelers
• 11:14
  Speaker 2: to kind of continue to prove themselves and continue to
• 11:16
  Speaker 2: build upon the goodwill that they've created with their style
• 11:22
  Speaker 2: and starting to show us who they are. And it's
• 11:24
  Speaker 2: always important when you get to the midseason point that
• 11:29
  Speaker 2: you're taking another evaluation of yourself to see who you are.
• 11:32
  Speaker 3: Can we get better?
• 11:33
  Speaker 2: What we know now about this team is it can
• 11:37
  Speaker 2: score 24 points consistently, right? Because they've done it four
• 11:40
  Speaker 2: straight games. You know, they've shown that they can run
• 11:44
  Speaker 2: the football and they can also, you know, pass the
• 11:46
  Speaker 2: football effectively. But can you protect against a blitz is
• 11:49
  Speaker 2: still something that we still have to answer for them.
• 11:52
  Speaker 2: But they're building a resume. And you've got your first
• 11:58
  Speaker 2: away victory. What about your second away team victory? That's
• 12:02
  Speaker 2: the next thing on the list. And so I need
• 12:05
  Speaker 2: to see consistency on the road because you're going to have.
• 12:07
  Speaker 3: To do it on the road. And we're going to
• 12:09
  Speaker 3: be on the road a good amount.
• 12:11
  Speaker 2: Because this year we're more away games than we are
• 12:14
  Speaker 2: home games because of the 17-game schedule. So we need
• 12:18
  Speaker 2: to make sure that we're continually bringing our offense and
• 12:22
  Speaker 2: bringing our defense with us.
• 12:23
  Speaker 4: Yep, I do think this is going to be a
• 12:26
  Speaker 4: stiff test for the Steelers. They're going to face a
• 12:28
  Speaker 4: team with some desperation in the Saints. We're going to
• 12:31
  Speaker 4: talk things over with our buddy Jim Wexel on this
• 12:34
  Speaker 4: hump day when we continue in the locker room here
• 12:37
  Speaker 4: on the Steelers Audio Network.
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: This is In the Locker Room with Rob King, Max Starks,
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: and Willie Colon on Steelers Nation Radio. Brought to you
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: in part by the Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop.steelers.com.
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: And by your neighborhood Ford store. The F-150 is the
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: official truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
• 13:04
  Speaker 5: Uh-oh.
• 13:05
  Speaker 3: Guess what day it is. Guess what day it is.
• 13:09
  Speaker 4: Huh?
• 13:09
  Speaker 5: Anybody?
• 13:09
  Speaker 3: Anybody?
• 13:10
  Speaker 4: Julie, hey, guess what day it is? Oh, come on.
• 13:13
  Speaker 3: I know you can hear me. Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike.
• 13:15
  Speaker 3: What day is it, Mike? Leslie, guess what today is?
• 13:20
  Speaker 3: It's hump day.
• 13:21
  Speaker 4: Woo-woo! Woo-woo! That's right.
• 13:25
  Speaker 2: Wex Wednesday coming at you live here inside the locker room.
• 13:29
  Speaker 2: The one, the only Jim Wexel, Steel City Insider, editor-in-chief,
• 13:34
  Speaker 2: and also fame and lauded author.
• 13:37
  Speaker 3: We have a second author today. in our midst as
• 13:40
  Speaker 3: we do weekly.
• 13:41
  Speaker 2: Obviously, Rob being our resident and then, of course, Jim
• 13:46
  Speaker 2: being the other one. And like I said, you know, Jim,
• 13:49
  Speaker 2: we always appreciate you coming on the show, providing your insight,
• 13:53
  Speaker 2: you know, not only from a current but also the
• 13:56
  Speaker 2: historical perspective. We really appreciate how you add the valor
• 14:00
  Speaker 2: and glamour to this show. So thank you for joining
• 14:03
  Speaker 2: us again. And I have to say bonjour to you
• 14:07
  Speaker 2: as we get ready for Paris week.
• 14:10
  Speaker 6: Bonjour, Mr.
• 14:11
  Speaker 5: Max.
• 14:14
  Speaker 6: Experience, wisdom, age. Yeah, I got it all, man. Thanks
• 14:18
  Speaker 6: for having me on.
• 14:19
  Speaker 4: Hey, Wex, before we get forward, I want to take
• 14:25
  Speaker 4: a look backward with you about your perceptions, your thoughts
• 14:32
  Speaker 4: on what this year has accomplished, did not accomplish, whether
• 14:35
  Speaker 4: it was a positive down in Tampa to be a
• 14:37
  Speaker 4: team that I think they felt like they should have
• 14:40
  Speaker 4: won and won against and did beat. What was your
• 14:45
  Speaker 4: overall 10,000-foot view of your takeaway from this victory?
• 14:54
  Speaker 6: Well, I think if you review the tape, you might
• 14:59
  Speaker 6: hear me say that this is a tough one. I
• 15:01
  Speaker 6: kind of like Tampa Bay in that game. Ten days rest,
• 15:05
  Speaker 6: elite defense. Revived their season, but still were so desperate.
• 15:13
  Speaker 6: Home underdogs, slight two points. I'm unsure why everybody in
• 15:20
  Speaker 6: the world thought this was a sure win, a team
• 15:27
  Speaker 6: they should beat. I was, you know, expectations mean a lot.
• 15:34
  Speaker 6: to fan and media reaction. I think, uh, where you
• 15:40
  Speaker 6: saw everybody, uh, on Twitter, angry, uh, just, just vilifying
• 15:48
  Speaker 6: the Steelers, McCarthy, Rogers, whomever. And, um, whereas I, I,
• 15:53
  Speaker 6: I wrote with great spirit about a great win, a
• 15:58
  Speaker 6: great game. I thought it was a fantastic game, a potential, um,
• 16:04
  Speaker 6: as someone wrote at our site at Steel City Insider today,
• 16:07
  Speaker 6: could signal a new renaissance period. That kind of win.
• 16:14
  Speaker 6: So when I write with such spirit and I'm so
• 16:16
  Speaker 6: excited for the team, I was met with either charges
• 16:26
  Speaker 6: of me being a homer or me being just crazy
• 16:31
  Speaker 6: or me just being too old to do this anymore.
• 16:35
  Speaker 6: I really thought Tampa was a dangerous, dangerous team. And
• 16:42
  Speaker 6: that quarterback through three quarters gave them more than an
• 16:47
  Speaker 6: elite defense and a home dog mentality. He played very
• 16:52
  Speaker 6: well and Rodgers looked like the undrafted rookie and the
• 16:58
  Speaker 6: kid looked like the master. but everything changed in the
• 17:03
  Speaker 6: fourth quarter. Like a true master Rogers, right? The ship
• 17:08
  Speaker 6: figured out how to beat this elite defense. I believe
• 17:12
  Speaker 6: his thoughts were to attack the secondary, uh, whether they
• 17:16
  Speaker 6: could hold their blocks long enough because running the ball, uh,
• 17:21
  Speaker 6: against Vita Bay and the rest of that line, uh,
• 17:24
  Speaker 6: number two run defense in the NFL against a good schedule. Um,
• 17:30
  Speaker 6: I understand why they didn't run the ball three times
• 17:34
  Speaker 6: and give the ball back to Tampa Bay with 41
• 17:37
  Speaker 6: seconds left. That would be the max the Steelers could
• 17:40
  Speaker 6: knock off the clock. So Tampa Bay could have gotten
• 17:44
  Speaker 6: it with 41 seconds left had the Steelers done what
• 17:47
  Speaker 6: everybody expected them to do, slam the ball against a
• 17:50
  Speaker 6: brick wall three times, kick a field goal, and kick
• 17:54
  Speaker 6: into the end zone. It looked like Boswell's approach was
• 17:57
  Speaker 6: to kick into the end zone. or not kick into
• 18:00
  Speaker 6: the end zone and accidentally went in. I don't think
• 18:03
  Speaker 6: that was a coaching call. I don't think that's under
• 18:06
  Speaker 6: the criticism that everybody's just leveling at McCarthy for what
• 18:12
  Speaker 6: happened there. I like the play calls. And sure enough,
• 18:17
  Speaker 6: Tampa Bay took seven seconds to get in the field
• 18:19
  Speaker 6: goal range. So they still had, what, 34 seconds in
• 18:24
  Speaker 6: this game. And this myth I'm creating about the ultimate
• 18:29
  Speaker 6: time period that everybody just assumes was the most horrendous,
• 18:34
  Speaker 6: I've seen abhorrent. I've seen everything, ridiculing the Steelers play
• 18:41
  Speaker 6: calling down there. So I must have been on the
• 18:44
  Speaker 6: wrong side of all of this because I think it's
• 18:47
  Speaker 6: a great win. And we can talk about individuals who
• 18:51
  Speaker 6: emerged there that are helping build this foundation. But I
• 18:56
  Speaker 6: just thought it was a great win. I thought it
• 18:58
  Speaker 6: was a really tough opponent. I didn't think that they
• 19:03
  Speaker 6: should have beaten this team, as has been quoted by Rodgers.
• 19:08
  Speaker 6: I like Rodgers' other quote, that this was a trajectory-altering win.
• 19:12
  Speaker 6: I really like that because the grit, the comeback, tough
• 19:18
  Speaker 6: win on the road, and going 4-2 could very well
• 19:24
  Speaker 6: have been a trajectory-altering win.
• 19:26
  Speaker 4: So just before you comment, Jim, I agree with absolutely
• 19:30
  Speaker 4: everything you said, except I would have run the ball
• 19:33
  Speaker 4: three times.
• 19:35
  Speaker 5: Because I don't think we did it.
• 19:36
  Speaker 4: Because the students have run the ball the fewest inside
• 19:41
  Speaker 4: the 10-yard line of any team in the NFL. And
• 19:43
  Speaker 4: I think they've only run it once. I saw this stat.
• 19:46
  Speaker 4: It was brought to my attention. Once inside the 5-yard line.
• 19:50
  Speaker 4: Which is why, one of the reasons why Jalen Warren
• 19:52
  Speaker 4: doesn't have a lot of touchdowns. Now, Aaron Rodgers has
• 19:55
  Speaker 4: been masterful down there. I would have loved to have seen,
• 19:59
  Speaker 4: because I think if you ran it three times, you
• 20:01
  Speaker 4: would have scored a touchdown.
• 20:02
  Speaker 3: That's the only thing.
• 20:03
  Speaker 4: That's it. Everything else, Jim, I totally agree. I think
• 20:07
  Speaker 4: this is a quality win. And I think it's now
• 20:10
  Speaker 4: in your back pocket that you've got a comeback win,
• 20:13
  Speaker 4: the kind of comeback win you haven't had in 34 years.
• 20:16
  Speaker 4: 34 years, the last time you came from down 13
• 20:19
  Speaker 4: or more in the fourth quarter to win a football game.
• 20:21
  Speaker 4: So I just think the big picture with you, I
• 20:24
  Speaker 4: totally agree. I think this is a good win for
• 20:27
  Speaker 4: the Steelers.
• 20:30
  Speaker 6: Okay. Well, if that's how you really think they would
• 20:34
  Speaker 6: have scored against this number two run defense in the
• 20:37
  Speaker 6: NFL that was all packed in um okay uh but.
• 20:42
  Speaker 4: Yeah but i understand i understand what you're saying i
• 20:44
  Speaker 4: understand what you're.
• 20:45
  Speaker 6: Saying with aaron rogers on this yeah you.
• 20:47
  Speaker 4: Bring up a good point jim you do um which
• 20:49
  Speaker 4: is why we love having you on i i now
• 20:53
  Speaker 4: give the floor to my buddy max starks max.
• 20:57
  Speaker 2: Well you know i i'm in agreeance with you know
• 21:01
  Speaker 2: with both of you i mean i think there's merit
• 21:04
  Speaker 2: There's merit to running the football because it creates an identity.
• 21:07
  Speaker 2: It also gives your offense a little bit more steam
• 21:11
  Speaker 2: for the offensive guys to know that the coach trusts
• 21:15
  Speaker 2: them in those situations. But I think at the end
• 21:18
  Speaker 2: of the day, a win is a win that is
• 21:19
  Speaker 2: a win, right?
• 21:20
  Speaker 4: Agreed.
• 21:20
  Speaker 2: I mean, that's what we have to. At the end
• 21:23
  Speaker 2: of the day, did you win? We were winless on
• 21:26
  Speaker 2: the road. We were 0-2, and we needed that victory.
• 21:30
  Speaker 2: We just needed to show that we could do it.
• 21:33
  Speaker 2: and boost the confidence of them. Now we get into
• 21:37
  Speaker 2: the more of the meat of it, where it's how
• 21:40
  Speaker 2: do you respond to this in a sense where can
• 21:45
  Speaker 2: you just be a consistent team on the road? Because
• 21:48
  Speaker 2: I think that's what really matters. Can you stack back-to-back
• 21:53
  Speaker 2: wins on the road? But you have to get one
• 21:57
  Speaker 2: in order to get the second one. So, you know,
• 22:00
  Speaker 2: that's where I'm like, I'm torn because I always say this,
• 22:03
  Speaker 2: by any means necessary, get the job done. And so
• 22:06
  Speaker 2: getting that job done requires unconventional things. But yes, once
• 22:10
  Speaker 2: we get into who this identity of this team is
• 22:15
  Speaker 2: and can you create that physical run, because I believe
• 22:17
  Speaker 2: run game travels.
• 22:20
  Speaker 3: And so that's where.
• 22:21
  Speaker 2: I'm like, okay, run game travels and we need to
• 22:24
  Speaker 2: be one of those guys that's dealing the run game
• 22:28
  Speaker 2: to everybody.
• 22:29
  Speaker 3: So I'm right there with you. But, Jim, I want
• 22:31
  Speaker 3: to ask you this.
• 22:32
  Speaker 2: As you kind of look at this historically, you know, Steelers,
• 22:35
  Speaker 2: outside of last year, you know, have never been a
• 22:39
  Speaker 2: good travel team, like as far as overseas. We don't
• 22:44
  Speaker 2: do a great job overseas of handling a lot of
• 22:48
  Speaker 2: these teams. And so that's where I'm like, well, how
• 22:52
  Speaker 2: are we going to do in this situation? How are
• 22:54
  Speaker 2: we going to– respond when we've only got one victory
• 22:58
  Speaker 2: overseas since they've been playing these games.
• 23:00
  Speaker 3: Right. So that's where I'm at. What, what, how do
• 23:03
  Speaker 3: you feel about that?
• 23:05
  Speaker 6: Well, um, this is a large road game. It's a
• 23:09
  Speaker 6: long way to go to stack a second road win.
• 23:13
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 23:13
  Speaker 6: Um, you know, and it was 2013 when they played
• 23:17
  Speaker 6: in England and, um, the Steelers were, uh, you know, missing, uh,
• 23:24
  Speaker 6: missing Max Starks, missing Willie Colon. They were playing with
• 23:28
  Speaker 6: young tackles, and Mike Adams played left tackle and was
• 23:33
  Speaker 6: just pummeled by Jared Allen, I believe. I think he
• 23:38
  Speaker 6: had three sacks that game. And Adrian Peterson. It was
• 23:43
  Speaker 6: a better team against a Steelers team that was really...
• 23:49
  Speaker 6: That's the problem with that era. Everybody was gone. Everybody left.
• 23:56
  Speaker 6: The Super Bowl players were gone except Ben, and Ben
• 24:00
  Speaker 6: could still get you to 500, and you couldn't replenish
• 24:04
  Speaker 6: the way you needed to. It was the same with
• 24:06
  Speaker 6: Dan Marino and Don Shula. Young quarterback joins a veteran team,
• 24:12
  Speaker 6: and the veterans all fall off while the quarterback grows
• 24:14
  Speaker 6: into his prime, and he could still get you to 500,
• 24:17
  Speaker 6: and you really can't draft special players in the top 10.
• 24:21
  Speaker 6: So the Steelers, really, that was when a rebuild was started.
• 24:27
  Speaker 6: And so they drafted a bunch of alignments. Some worked,
• 24:31
  Speaker 6: some didn't. They finally found Kelvin Beecham. But Mike Adams
• 24:35
  Speaker 6: got first crack. And it was a total rebuilding job
• 24:39
  Speaker 6: at that point. The defenders were pretty much gone or
• 24:44
  Speaker 6: just about done. So I don't want to say that
• 24:48
  Speaker 6: the road did that to them. And then last year
• 24:51
  Speaker 6: they won in Dublin. I'm unaware of any other games.
• 24:56
  Speaker 6: There might have been something in Mexico. But I do
• 25:01
  Speaker 6: believe it's a small sample size. I do like what
• 25:04
  Speaker 6: Mike McCarthy said at his press conference. I like everything
• 25:08
  Speaker 6: he had to say. I think he really has a
• 25:12
  Speaker 6: handle on the messaging and the verbiage. And after the game,
• 25:18
  Speaker 6: a clip came out about him. He gathered the team
• 25:21
  Speaker 6: around him to congratulate him on the win. But his
• 25:25
  Speaker 6: only message was stacking wins. It was a one-at-a-time message.
• 25:30
  Speaker 6: And I don't know how easy that is with the
• 25:34
  Speaker 6: revenge game against first-place Browns coming up. So he really
• 25:41
  Speaker 6: sounds like he's focused on And it really seems like
• 25:46
  Speaker 6: that he has a team focused on Saints. The Saints
• 25:49
  Speaker 6: are the best team in the NFL that they'll see
• 25:51
  Speaker 6: this week. And I think that's all they're thinking about.
• 25:55
  Speaker 6: I think the motivation for Cleveland just unfolds all by itself.
• 25:59
  Speaker 6: But the motivation for the Saints right now has to
• 26:02
  Speaker 6: come from within, overcoming this long trip, overcoming emotions from
• 26:06
  Speaker 6: the Tampa Bay game, the travel to Tampa Bay, and
• 26:10
  Speaker 6: then come home and then travel to France. This is
• 26:14
  Speaker 6: tough in that regard. The logistics are tough. This team
• 26:18
  Speaker 6: won't be as difficult as Tampa Bay, especially the run defense.
• 26:24
  Speaker 6: I think this is where you might be able to
• 26:26
  Speaker 6: begin that identity and establish your run game on the road.
• 26:32
  Speaker 6: And as you said, you put it perfectly. I want
• 26:34
  Speaker 6: to steal it, Max, if you could say it again.
• 26:36
  Speaker 6: I think you said run game travels?
• 26:40
  Speaker 3: Yeah, the run game travels.
• 26:43
  Speaker 6: Yeah, and so I think we'll get more of a
• 26:45
  Speaker 6: dose of that this week, and it'll be more effective.
• 26:49
  Speaker 6: No Vita Vey this week, no Dexter Lawrence. Zach Frazier, who,
• 26:55
  Speaker 6: according to Pro Football Focus, and I know I'll be
• 26:57
  Speaker 6: vilified for even using them as a source, but they
• 27:01
  Speaker 6: have Zach Frazier as the best center in the NFL
• 27:04
  Speaker 6: this season. And, man, he's gone up against some tough ones,
• 27:08
  Speaker 6: and I think– This week he and Mason McCormick, the
• 27:13
  Speaker 6: new leader, I really like Mason McCormick a lot. And
• 27:18
  Speaker 6: so those guys should have more of their way this week.
• 27:24
  Speaker 5: Jim, you talk about traveling. Our defense was able to travel,
• 27:26
  Speaker 5: especially late in that game against the Bucs where we
• 27:30
  Speaker 5: were able to get some takeaways. We talk about our
• 27:33
  Speaker 5: linebacker core, and you talk about Patrick Graham removing Nick
• 27:37
  Speaker 5: Herbig from blitzing from inside and allowing him to kind
• 27:39
  Speaker 5: of come off the edge where he's able to kind
• 27:41
  Speaker 5: of have an immediate impact and get some sacks and
• 27:44
  Speaker 5: play big time for the Steelers. What needs to happen
• 27:49
  Speaker 5: in this game versus the Saints defensively for us to
• 27:51
  Speaker 5: get out the building with the W?
• 27:54
  Speaker 6: Well, of course, stop the run. And I love that.
• 27:58
  Speaker 6: You know, it goes back to Dick LeBeau. You know,
• 28:02
  Speaker 6: you stop the run, then you can feast on third
• 28:05
  Speaker 6: and nines. And Tyler Shuck, as much as I loved
• 28:09
  Speaker 6: him coming out, and as much as he's proven me right,
• 28:13
  Speaker 6: I was right on a quarterback for once. So my
• 28:17
  Speaker 6: Kenny Pickett history should be abolished with this one. But
• 28:20
  Speaker 6: I do think Tyler Shuck is sackable, much more sackable
• 28:27
  Speaker 6: than what they saw in Tampa and some of the
• 28:30
  Speaker 6: other more mobile quarterbacks they see. You know, his receivers
• 28:36
  Speaker 6: are good. He's a good young quarterback. He's tall. He's 6'5.
• 28:41
  Speaker 6: And a strong arm. He can see the field and
• 28:43
  Speaker 6: get rid of it. But, man, you get some pressure
• 28:47
  Speaker 6: on him. Nick Kerbig and TJ and those guys, that's
• 28:51
  Speaker 6: the way. That's the way. I don't know what his
• 28:56
  Speaker 6: ability to read blitzes is all about. I'd like to
• 29:00
  Speaker 6: see them try. I'd like to see them test Tyler Schuch.
• 29:05
  Speaker 6: I really like what you said about Nick Herbig, and
• 29:07
  Speaker 6: I'm glad he got his two sacks to get the
• 29:09
  Speaker 6: critics off his back. We know how sacks come in bunches,
• 29:14
  Speaker 6: and Nick's been playing some really good ball. He's had
• 29:16
  Speaker 6: some really key plays that were underrated because he might
• 29:21
  Speaker 6: not have got the stat on the play, but he
• 29:24
  Speaker 6: may have applied a pressure and a key interception, things
• 29:27
  Speaker 6: like that. So it was good to see Nick get
• 29:31
  Speaker 6: two sacks. And Jalen Ramsey, I mean.
• 29:36
  Speaker 6: Here's a guy we wondered, we in the media, we wondered,
• 29:40
  Speaker 6: you know, was he mentoring Joey Porter out of town?
• 29:43
  Speaker 6: Is there a locker room problem with this? And then
• 29:47
  Speaker 6: he ripped, he lashed out on Twitter about that topic.
• 29:52
  Speaker 6: Whether guys like me who questioned his allegiance to the team,
• 30:00
  Speaker 6: whether we were right or wrong or whether he is
• 30:04
  Speaker 6: telling the truth or not, doesn't matter. That tweet showed
• 30:08
  Speaker 6: his loyalty is to the team and he's mad about
• 30:12
  Speaker 6: this and great. That was the first step. And then
• 30:16
  Speaker 6: of course, playing with a broken wrist is another step,
• 30:19
  Speaker 6: but making those, you know, two big, two big sacks,
• 30:23
  Speaker 6: you know, first, first series and last, of course, the
• 30:27
  Speaker 6: last one was big, but, Yeah, defense travels, and guys
• 30:32
  Speaker 6: like Herbig and Ramsey are keys to that. And if
• 30:37
  Speaker 6: they can sustain this, we've watched these same players not
• 30:43
  Speaker 6: finish like they did the other day. Now they're finishing.
• 30:48
  Speaker 6: Is it Patrick Graham?
• 30:50
  Speaker 5: Great.
• 30:52
  Speaker 6: Let's hope he has found the key to this defense
• 30:56
  Speaker 6: with all these big names. because that fourth quarter in
• 30:59
  Speaker 6: overtime was really special. And like you said, you need
• 31:03
  Speaker 6: that on the road.
• 31:05
  Speaker 4: You do, and you need Jim Wexel in your life.
• 31:09
  Speaker 4: Jim Wexel, as always, my friend, we love having you on.
• 31:14
  Speaker 4: We appreciate our Wex Wednesdays and your insight and the
• 31:18
  Speaker 4: fact that you think these things through and they're always
• 31:23
  Speaker 4: well thought out and love to have you on the show, man.
• 31:26
  Speaker 4: Thank you very much for being with us.
• 31:27
  Speaker 6: Hey, great questions, guys.
• 31:29
  Speaker 3: Thanks.
• 31:29
  Speaker 6: It was a real good talk. I appreciate being on
• 31:32
  Speaker 6: with you guys. Take care.
• 31:34
  Speaker 4: That's our buddy Jim Wexel. Jim, thanks so much. And
• 31:37
  Speaker 4: when we come back, again, we're going to give a
• 31:40
  Speaker 4: lot of the floor. You ever go to a wedding
• 31:43
  Speaker 4: and somebody starts getting a little crazy with the dancing,
• 31:45
  Speaker 4: you know, and the dance floor kind of widens out?
• 31:49
  Speaker 4: That's what we're doing for Willie Colon because Willie's not
• 31:52
  Speaker 4: going to be with us Friday. And that's exactly what
• 31:53
  Speaker 4: Willie lives for. Willie's got to get his dance steps in, man.
• 31:56
  Speaker 4: So we'll allow Willie to kind of give us some
• 31:59
  Speaker 4: of the keys he thinks are important to the game
• 32:02
  Speaker 4: coming up on Sunday against the Saints. Early still, we
• 32:04
  Speaker 4: don't have some injury news, but we're just going to
• 32:06
  Speaker 4: do the best we can when we continue in the
• 32:09
  Speaker 4: locker room here on the Steelers Audio Network.
• 32:14
  Speaker 1: This is In the Locker Room with Rob King, Max Starks,
• 32:18
  Speaker 1: and Willie Colon on Steelers Nation Radio. Brought to you
• 32:22
  Speaker 1: in part by the Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
• 32:25
  Speaker 1: from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop.steelers.com.
• 32:29
  Speaker 1: And by your neighborhood Ford store. The F-150 is the
• 32:33
  Speaker 1: official truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
• 32:39
  Speaker 2: Oh, it is the final segment and, you know, We
• 32:43
  Speaker 2: usually call it the King's Decree, but we're going to
• 32:44
  Speaker 2: call it the Cologne Decree.
• 32:46
  Speaker 4: Oh, I like it.
• 32:48
  Speaker 3: The Cologne Decree has been sounded.
• 32:53
  Speaker 2: And, Rob, I will let you lead the way in
• 32:55
  Speaker 2: letting Willie have the floor, but King Willie is now
• 33:01
  Speaker 2: having the stage for the final segment.
• 33:04
  Speaker 4: How does it feel, Willie?
• 33:07
  Speaker 5: What are we doing?
• 33:13
  Speaker 3: Move on, says Willie Colon. And only the most royal
• 33:15
  Speaker 3: of ways can Willie pontificate.
• 33:18
  Speaker 4: Let's move this thing along, says Willie Colon. So, Willie,
• 33:21
  Speaker 4: you know, normally you have our big-time matchups and our
• 33:24
  Speaker 4: keys to the game. We know we have your underdog
• 33:27
  Speaker 4: pick for Friday, which is hugely important since you have
• 33:32
  Speaker 4: a 1-0 lead. I, of course, am bringing up the
• 33:35
  Speaker 4: rear with a, let's face it, very tainted 0-2 record.
• 33:39
  Speaker 4: But we're not griping. We're not grumbling about that. What
• 33:41
  Speaker 4: we are talking about are the key matchups as you
• 33:45
  Speaker 4: see it against the Saints team. And, you know, I'm
• 33:49
  Speaker 4: fresh off of these things that I'll talk more about,
• 33:51
  Speaker 4: but I wanted to throw one out to you because
• 33:53
  Speaker 4: the more I thought about it, the more I thought
• 33:56
  Speaker 4: that the whole key to the game might hinge on
• 34:00
  Speaker 4: not letting Granderson and Chase Young get home. You know,
• 34:05
  Speaker 4: blindside sack, strip sack. I just think the Steelers are
• 34:10
  Speaker 4: the better team. And I don't want to take anything
• 34:13
  Speaker 4: away from the Saints because I respect them as an opponent.
• 34:15
  Speaker 4: But I think that could be a real difference maker.
• 34:17
  Speaker 4: I think these tackles are really going to be tested.
• 34:20
  Speaker 4: You know, Chase Young's the bigger name. He's third in
• 34:22
  Speaker 4: the league in sacks. You know, we know he's got
• 34:24
  Speaker 4: the pedigree. Granderson is tied for 10th in the league
• 34:28
  Speaker 4: in sacks. He's got four sacks in six games, and
• 34:30
  Speaker 4: he's got three of them in the last two games.
• 34:33
  Speaker 4: So I just think that that's– if I'm looking– and
• 34:36
  Speaker 4: we're going to talk more about this on Friday, Max
• 34:38
  Speaker 4: and I– That's one– I remember when the Steelers went
• 34:41
  Speaker 4: in to play the Colts one year, and I'm like, man,
• 34:43
  Speaker 4: you can't let Dwight Freeney beat you, you know. And
• 34:46
  Speaker 4: he darn near beat you, you know. That's the way
• 34:49
  Speaker 4: I look at Chase Young and Gray Anderson in this game.
• 34:51
  Speaker 4: You cannot let those guys beat you.
• 34:55
  Speaker 5: Yeah, and considering when you go back to last week's
• 34:57
  Speaker 5: game against the Buccaneers, you know, our tackles had a
• 35:00
  Speaker 5: bit of a struggle. You're talking about both allowed for–
• 35:04
  Speaker 5: both allowed for pressures. they allowed a couple quarterback hurries, man,
• 35:12
  Speaker 5: and both allowed a sack in that game. So what
• 35:16
  Speaker 5: you're talking about right now are tackles on the road.
• 35:18
  Speaker 5: They're not playing as well as they should be. And
• 35:22
  Speaker 5: when you have an age, you know, once again, age
• 35:25
  Speaker 5: comes into factor because Aaron Rodgers is 43 years old.
• 35:27
  Speaker 5: And as I stated earlier, you have to start worrying
• 35:29
  Speaker 5: about the preservation of Aaron Rodgers going into December because
• 35:32
  Speaker 5: that's ultimately if you want to play meaningful games in December.
• 35:35
  Speaker 5: But I think, you know, right now it's interesting because, Valet, Max,
• 35:40
  Speaker 5: and how much he gets the grace of being a
• 35:41
  Speaker 5: young rookie and learning what life is on the edge
• 35:46
  Speaker 5: for tackles in real time. Troy is a little more
• 35:50
  Speaker 5: seasoned and has to be a lot more anchored for
• 35:54
  Speaker 5: that offensive line. And so now he's going against two
• 35:56
  Speaker 5: edge rushers who, like I said, Brandon Staley, he doesn't
• 36:00
  Speaker 5: get a lot of praise, but at times he does
• 36:02
  Speaker 5: because Valet, the defensive line, plays well. But the guys
• 36:06
  Speaker 5: who are able to get home for them, sometimes he'll
• 36:08
  Speaker 5: drop them off in coverage. And it happened against the
• 36:11
  Speaker 5: Giants game. But when he lets them dogs off the leash,
• 36:14
  Speaker 5: meaning those edge rushes, they get home. So it's going
• 36:18
  Speaker 5: to be interesting how Brandon Staley, the defensive coordinator for
• 36:22
  Speaker 5: the Saints, how he wants to dial it up. These
• 36:24
  Speaker 5: tackles have to be a lot more efficient on third down,
• 36:27
  Speaker 5: win in the early downs, but just be a lot
• 36:30
  Speaker 5: more technically sound. And when you're playing on the road
• 36:33
  Speaker 5: like London, I think it's going to be neutral. I
• 36:36
  Speaker 5: think it's going to probably be more Steelers fans than
• 36:38
  Speaker 5: Saints fans, but we shall see. You expect for the
• 36:42
  Speaker 5: snap count to not be an issue. Hopefully the traveling
• 36:44
  Speaker 5: isn't an issue for this team. As you stated earlier,
• 36:46
  Speaker 5: the Saints have been there for the week. The Steelers
• 36:50
  Speaker 5: are just getting there. Hopefully there's no jet lag in
• 36:53
  Speaker 5: that regard. But this offensive line has to play a
• 36:55
  Speaker 5: lot faster. And I think You know, offensively, when you
• 36:59
  Speaker 5: talk about tempo, I would love to see the Steelers
• 37:01
  Speaker 5: pick it up from a tempo standpoint because when they
• 37:03
  Speaker 5: started to do that in the game against the Buccaneers,
• 37:06
  Speaker 5: there was momentum and things starting to happen for them.
• 37:09
  Speaker 5: So one way of helping the offensive line on the
• 37:13
  Speaker 5: road is being able to not only run the ball,
• 37:16
  Speaker 5: as we always talk about, but also get momentum on
• 37:19
  Speaker 5: your side. And when you have a quarterback like Aaron
• 37:22
  Speaker 5: Rodgers who has answers at the line of scrimmage, man,
• 37:25
  Speaker 5: it just allows you to play a lot faster because
• 37:27
  Speaker 5: he knows where he wants to go with the football
• 37:28
  Speaker 5: right away. Um, but like I said, we're just calling
• 37:30
  Speaker 5: for balance. I'm calling for balance and, uh, and just
• 37:33
  Speaker 5: be a lot more efficient on third down and continue
• 37:35
  Speaker 5: to do what you need to do in between the twenties.
• 37:38
  Speaker 5: So this, you know, the Steelers don't have to make
• 37:40
  Speaker 5: it a dog fight. And, uh, that's, it will, this
• 37:43
  Speaker 5: is always up for a dog fight, but it doesn't
• 37:45
  Speaker 5: always have to be a dog fight. And it's usually
• 37:47
  Speaker 5: a dog fight because we don't do enough on our
• 37:48
  Speaker 5: part to combat that.
• 37:51
  Speaker 4: So, um, Yeah, I think those are all well laid
• 37:54
  Speaker 4: out points. What about when the Saints have the ball?
• 37:58
  Speaker 4: I mean, again, no HN. They haven't had Jordan Tyson
• 38:01
  Speaker 4: all year. You know, Alave's obviously a great player. Juwan
• 38:05
  Speaker 4: Johnson has emerged as a really good pass-catching tight end.
• 38:09
  Speaker 4: In fact, Johnson and Fant, the other tight end, who
• 38:13
  Speaker 4: obviously has a pedigree of his own, they've got half
• 38:15
  Speaker 4: of the touchdown receptions that Tyler Shuck has thrown this year. So,
• 38:21
  Speaker 4: When you look at that offense for the Saints, what
• 38:23
  Speaker 4: do you think the keys are to being able to
• 38:27
  Speaker 4: limit them?
• 38:29
  Speaker 5: Well, you've got to understand that Tyler Shook, he's not
• 38:32
  Speaker 5: afraid to push the ball down the field. This is
• 38:34
  Speaker 5: going to be a big test for our secondary. I
• 38:35
  Speaker 5: know we're talking about some of the injuries we have,
• 38:39
  Speaker 5: but this is a young fellow who prides himself on
• 38:43
  Speaker 5: pushing the ball down the field. And as much as
• 38:45
  Speaker 5: they feel like they needed to run the ball, man,
• 38:48
  Speaker 5: this is a kid who, at the end of the day,
• 38:50
  Speaker 5: he can will this team to victory. And, you know,
• 38:53
  Speaker 5: you heard Jim talk about it. Like, he was– a
• 38:55
  Speaker 5: lot of people kind of slept on him. And what
• 38:57
  Speaker 5: we're seeing right now is that Kellen Moore is orchestrating
• 39:02
  Speaker 5: an offense that they want to be explosive, right? They
• 39:04
  Speaker 5: want to maximize the tight ends they do have, just
• 39:07
  Speaker 5: like we should be maximizing the tight ends we have.
• 39:10
  Speaker 5: And then they also feel like they have an opportunity
• 39:13
  Speaker 5: right now to– not only use Tyler Shuck in his pocket,
• 39:17
  Speaker 5: but I talked about his ability to run the ball.
• 39:19
  Speaker 5: They want to have a little more diversity in that
• 39:21
  Speaker 5: regard and roll him in out the pocket, allow him
• 39:24
  Speaker 5: to get quick passes out to the flat. And also,
• 39:28
  Speaker 5: if there's an opening down the field, to push the ball.
• 39:30
  Speaker 5: He's not a gunshot. He's not a gunshot at all.
• 39:33
  Speaker 5: The issue with the Saints offense is right now that,
• 39:38
  Speaker 5: you know, I know he may have, I guess, a
• 39:42
  Speaker 5: hand injury. Did you hear about that, Rob?
• 39:45
  Speaker 3: Shock?
• 39:46
  Speaker 5: Yeah, there's supposedly two broken bones in his non-throwing hand.
• 39:51
  Speaker 5: So we'll see. But nevertheless, man, he's been having a play.
• 39:57
  Speaker 5: But I think it's up for the pass rush of
• 39:59
  Speaker 5: the Steelers to really neutralize him. But he's not afraid
• 40:02
  Speaker 5: to push it down the field.
• 40:05
  Speaker 4: Yeah, he's been dealing with that since the game against
• 40:08
  Speaker 4: the Falcons. They are in his left hand.
• 40:13
  Speaker 5: He says it's getting better.
• 40:14
  Speaker 4: And he's been playing with some protection on it. and
• 40:19
  Speaker 4: playing through the pain, you know, obviously it's a distraction.
• 40:24
  Speaker 5: Right. I also wanted to add one thing, man. He
• 40:26
  Speaker 5: protects the football, too. He only has five interceptions on
• 40:29
  Speaker 5: the year. He's thrown 12 touchdowns thus far, and he
• 40:32
  Speaker 5: threw three touchdown passes against the Giants. So it's imperative
• 40:37
  Speaker 5: to understand that, you know, if the Steelers can get
• 40:41
  Speaker 5: a turnover, it'll be rare. But at the end of
• 40:45
  Speaker 5: the day, whatever he throws up, you've got to be
• 40:47
  Speaker 5: able to get it.
• 40:48
  Speaker 4: You know, it's interesting, too. There was a– Mike McCarthy,
• 40:51
  Speaker 4: when he was talking about the Bengals, Willie said, yeah,
• 40:54
  Speaker 4: I was thinking we needed to score 30 coming out
• 40:56
  Speaker 4: of the tunnel. Oop, maybe I shouldn't have said that,
• 40:57
  Speaker 4: you know. But he did say it. And I've thought
• 41:00
  Speaker 4: that that, you know, that's something that the Steelers have lacked,
• 41:04
  Speaker 4: that ability to come out and think about, you know,
• 41:07
  Speaker 4: they just haven't had the personnel really to be able
• 41:09
  Speaker 4: to do that on a consistent basis. I think they
• 41:11
  Speaker 4: have that more now than they've had in recent years.
• 41:14
  Speaker 4: And it isn't– it's a Saints defense that's got some elements–
• 41:19
  Speaker 4: that can hurt you, but it's an offense that can
• 41:22
  Speaker 4: definitely score points. Do you come out against a defense
• 41:27
  Speaker 4: that's struggled to keep opponents off the scoreboard and think
• 41:31
  Speaker 4: about being super aggressive in this game, almost like you're
• 41:35
  Speaker 4: playing the Bengals? Or do you have a different offensive
• 41:39
  Speaker 4: approach going into this game, do you think?
• 41:43
  Speaker 5: Well, I think it comes down to understanding what you
• 41:46
  Speaker 5: did well last week against the Giants. I think they
• 41:48
  Speaker 5: were able to throw the ball, once again, push the
• 41:50
  Speaker 5: ball down the field. They had some success on the ground.
• 41:53
  Speaker 3: Oh, I'm sorry.
• 41:54
  Speaker 4: I'm sorry, Willie. I meant from the Steelers' perspective. If
• 42:00
  Speaker 4: you're the Steelers, are you thinking, okay, we better score
• 42:03
  Speaker 4: some points against this team because they're capable offensively and
• 42:06
  Speaker 4: their defense isn't great like the Steelers did against the Bengals,
• 42:11
  Speaker 4: or do you come out with a different approach offensively?
• 42:13
  Speaker 5: Oh, I understand. Yeah, I think you have to be aggressive.
• 42:16
  Speaker 3: I really do.
• 42:17
  Speaker 5: I think this has to be a situation where you
• 42:19
  Speaker 5: can't wait to the fourth quarter to make hay there.
• 42:22
  Speaker 5: Whatever that discord has been at times between Aaron Rodgers
• 42:26
  Speaker 5: and Mike McCarthy, that has to be ironed out early
• 42:30
  Speaker 5: in the game. And I think when you talk about
• 42:34
  Speaker 5: when you watch the impact Jeremy Bernard had, when you
• 42:37
  Speaker 5: saw DK Metcalf have some significant catches, when you see
• 42:41
  Speaker 5: the offensive line validly struggle defensively, the pass protection game
• 42:44
  Speaker 5: off the edges, but when we ran the ball for
• 42:46
  Speaker 5: the most part, I thought we did our best job
• 42:48
  Speaker 5: of just trying to run and, you know, getting to
• 42:50
  Speaker 5: the edge and trying to get hay that way. All together,
• 42:54
  Speaker 5: I think one thing, if we was to show a
• 42:59
  Speaker 5: new aspect of the Steelers offense is go know how to, right,
• 43:02
  Speaker 5: like line it, just let Aaron Rodgers call it from
• 43:04
  Speaker 5: the line, have a couple check pass run options, if
• 43:09
  Speaker 5: you will, and just let them orchestrate the game. I
• 43:12
  Speaker 5: think the more pressure you can put on a defense
• 43:15
  Speaker 5: that way benefits the Steelers. Um, and, but you, you
• 43:19
  Speaker 5: also want to just be, once again, I think if
• 43:22
  Speaker 5: we are able to feature different guys in our offense,
• 43:26
  Speaker 5: like Jeremy Bernard and DK and get things going for, uh,
• 43:32
  Speaker 5: Jalen Warren, because we talked about it earlier in the
• 43:34
  Speaker 5: week that they, you know, the run game was stagnant
• 43:37
  Speaker 5: at times. So they started throwing these little dink passes
• 43:39
  Speaker 5: out to the flats where it's kind of like a
• 43:40
  Speaker 5: run in itself. Um, If we can get to a
• 43:44
  Speaker 5: lot of those early in game where momentum is on
• 43:46
  Speaker 5: our side and the rhythm, because that's ultimately what we
• 43:48
  Speaker 5: were fighting for or couldn't do, rather.
• 43:51
  Speaker 3: Is lack of.
• 43:51
  Speaker 5: It was rhythm throughout the game. It was a rhythmless
• 43:54
  Speaker 5: game up until the fourth quarter. So if they can
• 43:57
  Speaker 5: find how they can get a spark early in that
• 43:59
  Speaker 5: game and get in rhythm, stay on time with the
• 44:01
  Speaker 5: football and stay ahead of the chains, man, that just
• 44:03
  Speaker 5: bodes well for the Steelers.
• 44:05
  Speaker 4: Willie Colon, we will miss you in Paris. We'll miss
• 44:08
  Speaker 4: you over the next couple days in.
• 44:09
  Speaker 3: The locker room.
• 44:10
  Speaker 5: Enjoy, boys. I'm looking forward to all the cheese and
• 44:13
  Speaker 5: wine stories and all the food and enjoying the culture.
• 44:17
  Speaker 4: I hope we have some stories to tell, and I
• 44:19
  Speaker 4: hope we're talking about a student's victory next Tuesday when
• 44:23
  Speaker 4: we reconvene in the locker room. For Gino Annamarino, filled
• 44:29
  Speaker 4: in today as well, and Justin Miller, a show so
• 44:33
  Speaker 4: big and so vast we needed two producers to get
• 44:35
  Speaker 4: it done for us. Our thanks to the guys in
• 44:37
  Speaker 4: the iHeart Studios. For Willie Colon, For Max Starks, I'm
• 44:40
  Speaker 4: Rob King. We thank you, as always, for being with
• 44:42
  Speaker 4: us in the locker room here on the Steelers Audio Network.