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HR 1: Steelers First-Half Recap & Awards · The Steelers Report

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Thank you. Great job. Hey, we're supposed to be six
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: and two.
• 0:08
  Speaker 2: Get ready.
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: I'll cut to the chase.
• 0:10
  Speaker 3: Okay?
• 0:11
  Speaker 2: Get in the mark and your bye week begins.
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: Okay?
• 0:14
  Speaker 2: Yeah!
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: Yeah!
• 0:15
  Speaker 2: All right, Brock.
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: Here we go. Come on, Brock. Come on, 6-7. Come on, 6-7.
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: Come on, 6-7.
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: Hey, here we go.
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: Here we go.
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: Three. One, two, three.
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: Two. He's a bowling ball with teeth, man.
• 0:34
  Speaker 2: You can't get him down. Jalen's just fine, man.
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: He's the guy that's out there in December when we're practicing.
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: It's like 12 degrees, and he's in T-shirt and shorts.
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: And it's like, what the heck? And that's just who
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: he is.
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: He's a hard tackle.
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: He's a great locker room guy.
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: Very selfless.
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: But, man, he loves football, and you can see it
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: in the.
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: Way that he plays. T.J. Watt on Jalen Warren. He's
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: a bowling ball, that's for sure. As some sights and sounds...
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: Sounds for us. Sites on Steelers.com if you want to
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: check out the video of all that. The post-game speech
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: by Mike McCarthy after Sunday's win against the Cleveland Browns.
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: TJ Watts speaking about Jalen Warren. That's all up on Steelers.com.
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: Check it out.
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: But we had the audio double B of that, and
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: it was a bit of pomp and circumstance for the
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: Pittsburgh Steelers as they take a victory lap. But quickly
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: that victory lap has ended. It's their bye week. They'll rest,
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: and then they'll refocus for the second half of the season.
• 1:28
  Speaker 3: Shoot, Ed, I felt that. This bye week's been nice
• 1:30
  Speaker 3: for us.
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: Me as well.
• 1:32
  Speaker 3: No trips down to the facility, no press conferences. Well,
• 1:34
  Speaker 3: a couple on Monday, obviously, but nice and light week
• 1:38
  Speaker 3: for everybody associated with the Steelers. We're still doing shows,
• 1:42
  Speaker 3: but we won't have a show on Friday. So it
• 1:45
  Speaker 3: still applies to us too on SNR in a way.
• 1:48
  Speaker 3: And you got, yeah, you got TJ Watt with the
• 1:49
  Speaker 3: bowling ball with teeth description of Jalen Warren.
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: Not sure I'd heard that one.
• 1:53
  Speaker 3: I've heard rolling bowling ball of butcher knives or rolling
• 1:58
  Speaker 3: ball of butcher knives and then on Steelers.com right now
• 2:02
  Speaker 3: we've got a story from Teresa Varley headline Warren is
• 2:05
  Speaker 3: on fire and DK Metcalf describes him as a bat
• 2:09
  Speaker 3: out of hell so there's a lot of ways to
• 2:11
  Speaker 3: describe Jalen Warren's running style right now where does that
• 2:15
  Speaker 3: come from like a bat out.
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: Of hell uh I I think a meatloaf yeah bad
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: of hell album song right what's your favorite.
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: Meatloaf song is that the name of a song or
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: just the album.
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: I think it's both. I think it's the name of
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: the album and there's a song. What's my favorite Meat
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: Loaf song? Well, I'd do anything for love, but I
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: won't do that. That's a great 90s classic.
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: Yeah, the most known. What about Two Out of Three
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: Ain't Bad?
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: Two Out of Three Ain't Bad.
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: That's probably my favorite.
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: What's the one with the play-by-play of the baseball in
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: the background?
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: I don't know.
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: It's like, come on. I'll look it up during the break.
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: When we come back next break, I'll.
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: Let you know. I don't know a ton of Meat
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: Loaf songs, but Two Out of Three Ain't Bad. I
• 2:50
  Speaker 2: like that one. Yes, Bad Out of Hell is also
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: a song. So maybe it's that.
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: Maybe it is. I'm going to have to look it
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: up during the break. Brian, we're talking here today for
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: the first hour a lot about looking back.
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: Paradise by the Dashboard Light. That's it. That's it.
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: Thank you.
• 3:04
  Speaker 2: Good job. It's a long song.
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: Coming through. It is a very long song.
• 3:07
  Speaker 3: We had Amy Winehouse talk on yesterday's show, courtesy of
• 3:10
  Speaker 3: Patrick Graham. Now we're getting into Meatloaf, courtesy of Jalen Warren.
• 3:15
  Speaker 3: Just saying bad out of hell, and you asked me
• 3:16
  Speaker 3: for a reference, and I said... We are in the
• 3:18
  Speaker 3: iHeartRadio studios, and this is a bastion of musical taste
• 3:23
  Speaker 3: and knowledge.
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: DV's right next door.
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: DV's right next door.
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: KISS.
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: KISS is right across.
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: 3WS.
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: Right next, on the other side of you. Actually, right
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: where our studio's located here at iHeart, we are surrounded
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: by three of the top stations here in Pittsburgh.
• 3:37
  Speaker 2: We are, yeah. We can eat rock.
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: Rap and oldies, which by the way, oldies for at
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: least for.
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: Me, kisses rap.
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: I don't pop pop rap. Yeah. I guess not really rap.
• 3:50
  Speaker 3: I mean, I know the drive. I'm sure Matt and Wes,
• 3:52
  Speaker 3: I think they get into music quite a bit on
• 3:53
  Speaker 3: their show.
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: No.
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: And you and I both are big music guys. Maybe
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: we should start talking more about music folks. Can you
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: tell her a time? It's the bi-week folks. Exactly. Can
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: you tell us the bi-week that we're sitting here? No,
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: we're glad you tuned in and we appreciate you, but
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: we're going to spend the first hour today talking a
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: lot and reflecting on on the Pittsburgh Steelers' first eight
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: games of the season. Brian, next week when we come
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: back on Monday, we'll start to preview the second half
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: of the season as we get ready for the Cincinnati
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: Bengals game on Sunday. which will be a Sunday night
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: game in Cincinnati on November 15th at 820. But before that,
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: we're going to take a peek back of our picks,
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: our preseason picks during this hour, a little bit later on.
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: So that'll be fun to see where we are so far.
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: You and I will also look at our picks for
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: the first eight games, like who got the wins, who
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: got the losses. I had them at 6-2. You had
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: them at 5-3. Though I will say this. Pretty good
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: job by us overall. I didn't have them getting to
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: the 6-2, though, the way they did. So we'll break
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: that down. And I think you were similar, too, with
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: your 5-3 pick. And listen, could have won a win here,
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: could have won a win there. But let's start first.
• 4:54
  Speaker 3: Also, NFL news today. Deshaun Watson is in concussion protocol
• 5:00
  Speaker 3: for the Browns. Now, I haven't dived into it to
• 5:03
  Speaker 3: see if it was maybe from that hit at the
• 5:05
  Speaker 3: beginning of the game. Jaquan Brisker, where he went to
• 5:08
  Speaker 3: the blue tent, Watson did, and obviously got cleared to
• 5:11
  Speaker 3: return and did return after Shador Sanders took the rest
• 5:14
  Speaker 3: of that possession. But yeah, he is... He is now
• 5:18
  Speaker 3: in concussion protocol for the Browns. He may or may
• 5:20
  Speaker 3: not be cleared in time to play in New Orleans
• 5:23
  Speaker 3: on Sunday. So that's something worth monitoring in the AFC North.
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: And you asked me off the air before we came on,
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: when you told me about that, if you thought maybe
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: I thought maybe it was the Brisker hit that caused
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: that could have, it was, it was a high hit.
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: That was a 50, 50 call my opinion, Brian, because
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: I could see why the official called it because the helmet,
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: it was more of a helmet, the helmet. However, it
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: wasn't your classic helmet-to-helmet type hit. But I get it.
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: If it was Aaron Rodgers, we here in Steeler Nation
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: would be wanting a flag on that.
• 5:50
  Speaker 3: That's what I always try to do, put ourselves in
• 5:52
  Speaker 3: the shoes of– that's good life advice, not just sports analysis.
• 5:56
  Speaker 2: Try to put yourself in the shoes of.
• 5:58
  Speaker 3: Others as much as you can so that you can
• 6:01
  Speaker 3: see all vantage points of something and not get too.
• 6:05
  Speaker 2: Isolated in your own thinking.
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: But I will say this. I thought Deshaun Watson– did
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: a pretty good job acting afterwards.
• 6:11
  Speaker 3: So did Brisker, I think, based on some of his
• 6:13
  Speaker 3: post-game comments. But yeah, just regardless of how it happened or...
• 6:17
  Speaker 3: Unless he really was concussed.
• 6:19
  Speaker 2: Yeah, or what you think of the penalty.
• 6:20
  Speaker 3: I mean, he is in concussion protocol, so he's either
• 6:24
  Speaker 3: going to have to clear that by the end of
• 6:26
  Speaker 3: this week's practice up in Berea, Ohio, where our pal
• 6:29
  Speaker 3: Ashley Bastock will be on it. Thanks again to her
• 6:32
  Speaker 3: for joining us twice this season. She is officially a
• 6:34
  Speaker 3: friend of the show.
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: She's an all-star.
• 6:36
  Speaker 2: She's our favorite Browns. I bring her on every week.
• 6:38
  Speaker 2: She's our favorite Browns media member, obviously.
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: She is.
• 6:41
  Speaker 3: But yeah, and then if you can't go, obviously, Shador
• 6:44
  Speaker 3: Sanders will start under center in New Orleans, which I.
• 6:50
  Speaker 2: Feel like, is there something with the Sanders family in
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: the Saints? Did Deion play there? I know they were.
• 6:55
  Speaker 3: At Jackson State in Mississippi, but. That would be interesting
• 6:59
  Speaker 3: to see if he starts.
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: Just to go back to Ashley Bastock, she said during
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: her first appearance on the show before that Thursday night
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: game that she thought at some point this season, Shador
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: Sanders would become the quarterback. Now, I don't think she
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: thought it was due to injury.
• 7:10
  Speaker 3: Well, she said it could be, and you're covering all
• 7:13
  Speaker 3: your bases when you say he'll probably start a game
• 7:15
  Speaker 3: at some point, whether it's, yeah, poor play by Deshaun
• 7:19
  Speaker 3: or an injury. Because, yeah, I mean, Deshaun Watson has
• 7:21
  Speaker 3: been injury-prone, unfortunately, for him.
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: Also in the AFC North, news out of Baltimore and
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: their quarterback situation.
• 7:28
  Speaker 3: Seems like Joe Fagnano is going to be getting the
• 7:30
  Speaker 3: ball first tomorrow night.
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: Against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
• 7:34
  Speaker 3: You know who's on IR for them, and it would
• 7:36
  Speaker 3: have been a lot more interesting to see him start
• 7:38
  Speaker 3: is Skylar Thompson.
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: Oh, former Pittsburgh Steeler. I like Skylar Thompson.
• 7:42
  Speaker 2: Yeah, he played well in the preseason. I thought he
• 7:44
  Speaker 2: did solid.
• 7:45
  Speaker 3: The 2025 August All-Star, Skylar Thompson made the team, remember,
• 7:49
  Speaker 3: but then he pulled his hammy or something and never
• 7:52
  Speaker 3: heard from again.
• 7:53
  Speaker 2: That was the end of that. And then, yeah, then
• 7:55
  Speaker 2: he joined the Ravens this offseason, but he got hurt again, clearly.
• 7:59
  Speaker 3: And they had a lot of guys that they were
• 8:00
  Speaker 3: shuffling through. They had the dude from Vandy, Heisman runner-up,
• 8:03
  Speaker 3: Diego Pavia. He wasn't long for the NFL. But, man,
• 8:08
  Speaker 3: what a saga for the Ravens at QB. I know
• 8:11
  Speaker 3: that Lamar's status, as of us discussing this right now,
• 8:14
  Speaker 3: is still technically up in the air, I think.
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: They haven't officially put him on season anything.
• 8:18
  Speaker 3: Reporting for me in Rapoport, NFL Network, that he's going
• 8:20
  Speaker 3: to be done for the year.
• 8:22
  Speaker 2: And then Tyler Huntley, I think, has been rolled out
• 8:23
  Speaker 2: for the year.
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: They have officially.
• 8:24
  Speaker 2: That's official.
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: Yeah, the Huntley one is official, but not official on
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: Lamar yet. Man. That changes the landscape of the AFC
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: North rather quickly, doesn't it? Yeah. With those injuries.
• 8:34
  Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely.
• 8:35
  Speaker 3: And I think from a Steelers perspective and Browns, Bengals
• 8:37
  Speaker 3: fans would say the same. Like, they're glad that the
• 8:40
  Speaker 3: Ravens are potentially out of the way. But it does
• 8:44
  Speaker 3: kind of stink to see a team's, like, to be
• 8:47
  Speaker 3: a non-factor because of injury versus going out and beating
• 8:50
  Speaker 3: them fair and square.
• 8:51
  Speaker 2: Yeah. That's life in the NFL.
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: It makes the second half of the season for the Steelers,
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: at least with Baltimore having to play them twice from
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: December 20th to the end of the season, a bit different.
• 9:02
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: I mean, Lamar makes all the difference in the world.
• 9:05
  Speaker 2: Even Snoop Huntley would have helped.
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I was going to say, Huntley's not a bad quarterback.
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: If you remember in the offseason, I was toting Huntley
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: to be before Rodgers was signed.
• 9:12
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, you threw it out there as a possibility, yeah.
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: I like Snoop Huntley because of the nickname Snoop. Let's
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: talk about the Steelers in the first half of the season.
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: I want to talk offense. Then when we come back
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: on the other side of the break, we'll talk defense
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: with you, Brian. And then in and around 240 today,
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: we'll look back at our preseason picks to check in
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: to see where they are so far. at the midway point.
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: 3 o'clock hour, it's hits and misses for this week.
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: That'll be fun. And when the Steelers come off these
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: big wins, a four-game winning streak, I can tell you
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: the hits are a lot easier and lots more to
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: talk about there than the misses. That's good news for
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: Steeler Nation. And then we'll wrap up the show today
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: at 3.40 with our good friend and pal of the show,
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: Tom Offerman, host of The Blitz, right here on SNR
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: with our other good friend, Vince Williams. We've got to
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: try to get Vince on sometime, too. I know he's
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: in the middle of coaching high school football and they're
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: in the midst of their season there at Pine Richland.
• 10:01
  Speaker 2: He's a busy man.
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: He's a busy guy. Maybe in the offseason we can
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: try to get Vince back on. We'll have Tom on
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: towards the end of the show. We'll get his thoughts
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: on the first half of the season as well as
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: looking ahead to the second half. First for the Steelers offense,
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: listen Brian, no doubt they have overperformed so far, including
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: Aaron Rodgers who's now thrown for 1,871 yards, so closing
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: in on 1,900 yards passing so far this season. 13 touchdowns,
• 10:26
  Speaker 1: 6 interceptions. The only thing I will say about Aaron
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: Rodgers is those 6 interceptions. He had 7 all of
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: last year. He has 6 through the first 8 games.
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: And also the sack total. 23 sacks taken already this season.
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: Clean this past week against Cleveland, so that's good. Hopefully
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: that trend will continue.
• 10:42
  Speaker 2: He got sacked once.
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: Yeah, but other than that, they kept him pretty clean.
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: a few quarterback hits along the way. So hopefully that
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: trend will continue because he has been sacked a lot. Now,
• 10:50
  Speaker 1: some of that's his own doing too, and he's lost
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: a lot of yardage taking those sacks, but hopefully they
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: can clean that up in the second half of the season.
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: But so far, I think so good with Aaron Rodgers.
• 10:58
  Speaker 3: I think one of the themes of the show today, Ed,
• 11:00
  Speaker 3: is going to be takes that haven't aged well. And
• 11:03
  Speaker 3: some of it's, you know, nobody's going to be right
• 11:05
  Speaker 3: about everything when you're projecting things in sports or giving
• 11:09
  Speaker 3: opinions like we are paid to do on the air.
• 11:12
  Speaker 3: I mean, it'd be pretty boring if we just sat
• 11:14
  Speaker 3: here and read you the NFL stat leaders and the
• 11:16
  Speaker 3: Steelers win-loss record every single show.
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: That's right.
• 11:19
  Speaker 3: So that being said, you do sometimes need to have
• 11:22
  Speaker 3: the Fortitude, to admit that you might have been wrong
• 11:25
  Speaker 3: about something.
• 11:26
  Speaker 2: Does fortitude count as an Uncle Tommy word of the day? Oh, yeah.
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: That's an early.
• 11:29
  Speaker 2: That's three syllables.
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: I'm actually kind of disappointed because we've got a lot
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: of show left, and maybe you'll give me a second.
• 11:33
  Speaker 2: Playing with house money, yeah.
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: Well, we have a second Uncle Tommy word of the day.
• 11:36
  Speaker 2: Fortitude is the leader in the clubhouse. All right, so.
• 11:39
  Speaker 3: And I was someone who wasn't huge on the idea
• 11:42
  Speaker 3: of bringing back Rodgers for another season. But I think
• 11:45
  Speaker 3: whether you want to look at the numbers or just
• 11:47
  Speaker 3: anecdotally think of how he's played this season in some
• 11:50
  Speaker 3: of the big moments... they probably have a better record
• 11:53
  Speaker 3: with Rogers than they would have if they would have
• 11:54
  Speaker 3: just rolled the ball out with Mason Rudolph and or
• 11:56
  Speaker 3: Will Howard and or Drew Aller at QB. Because remember,
• 12:00
  Speaker 3: there was a sliver of time there where those were
• 12:01
  Speaker 3: the three players on the roster.
• 12:03
  Speaker 2: At that position.
• 12:04
  Speaker 3: Thinking back to, I guess, beginning of OTAs and right
• 12:08
  Speaker 3: after the draft, I think they have a better record
• 12:11
  Speaker 3: with Rogers than they would have if they would have said, hey, thanks,
• 12:15
  Speaker 3: but no thanks.
• 12:16
  Speaker 2: We're going to go a different direction.
• 12:17
  Speaker 3: Appreciate your one season of I don't know what it's
• 12:21
  Speaker 3: going to lead to in the end, but I'd say
• 12:23
  Speaker 3: that that take by me did not age all that well,
• 12:26
  Speaker 3: because by and large, I think Rodgers has impacted winning,
• 12:30
  Speaker 3: and it's a big reason that they're 6-2. And bottom line,
• 12:33
  Speaker 3: I don't think they'd be 6-2 without him.
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: And I also think the leadership on this football team
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: off the field has also gone a long way in
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: that locker room with those teammates. I mean, everybody speaks.
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: Last year they did, Brian, and they continue to do
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: that this year, speak very highly of Aaron Rodgers.
• 12:46
  Speaker 3: He probably has a very good trickle-down effect on the
• 12:49
  Speaker 3: likes of Jeremy Bernard. Even a guy like Zach Frazier
• 12:53
  Speaker 3: now who's in year three, but this is.
• 12:55
  Speaker 2: Year two playing with Rodgers.
• 12:57
  Speaker 3: I mean, I imagine he soaks up a lot and
• 13:00
  Speaker 3: is probably– I mean, he was a cerebral player coming
• 13:03
  Speaker 3: into the league, so I don't want to discount that.
• 13:05
  Speaker 3: We knew that he was a football IQ on the
• 13:08
  Speaker 3: ceiling type of guy at West Virginia. But this has
• 13:11
  Speaker 3: to be more beneficial for him than if he was
• 13:14
  Speaker 3: with a guy his age or something for the first
• 13:17
  Speaker 3: two or three seasons of his career. So, yeah, I mean,
• 13:19
  Speaker 3: I think there's multiple impacts of having Rodgers in his presence.
• 13:25
  Speaker 3: I think it's good for Bernard, probably good for Roman
• 13:27
  Speaker 3: Wilson as he's still trying to develop. Good for Darnell
• 13:30
  Speaker 3: Washington as a young pass catcher. Pat Fryermuth never really
• 13:35
  Speaker 3: had a veteran QB like this. I mean, he had
• 13:37
  Speaker 3: a year of Russell Wilson and a little bit of
• 13:40
  Speaker 3: Mitchell Trubisky in there, but those guys aren't Aaron Rodgers. So, yeah,
• 13:44
  Speaker 3: I think that the way he's played and what he's
• 13:48
  Speaker 3: brought to this team, it.
• 13:50
  Speaker 2: Has helped them get to where they are.
• 13:52
  Speaker 3: And if you're somebody who thinks the Steelers should have
• 13:54
  Speaker 3: just punted on the 2026 season.
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: I don't know.
• 13:58
  Speaker 2: I think it's been pretty fun, but that's just me.
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: Six out of the eight games that he's played so
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: far this season, he has thrown for 200 yards or more.
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: Only two games that he did not throw for 200 yards,
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: including this past week, 172 against Cleveland, but he didn't
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: have to throw because of the running game.
• 14:13
  Speaker 3: He could just be a point guard, distributor, game manager.
• 14:18
  Speaker 3: You mentioned the six picks, Ed. How many of those
• 14:20
  Speaker 3: were on him? The one in Cleveland to Denzel Ward,
• 14:23
  Speaker 3: but New England was a drop.
• 14:25
  Speaker 2: He threw one there. Since he was a drop, right?
• 14:28
  Speaker 2: The one that he threw against the Bengals? I forget
• 14:29
  Speaker 2: who it was. Yeah, this past week was a drop.
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: I think it was Bernard won earlier this year, too, right?
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: That went in and out of his hands.
• 14:36
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that was the one in Tampa.
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, so right there, that's more than half of
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: those interceptions were really not on him.
• 14:42
  Speaker 3: Now, the second one in Cleveland, the first game, that
• 14:45
  Speaker 3: was the last play of the game. I think it
• 14:48
  Speaker 3: was dropped, but also, I mean, he had DK underneath,
• 14:50
  Speaker 3: so I'd still sort of put that one on him. But, yeah,
• 14:53
  Speaker 3: I mean, it's a deceiving number for him to have
• 14:55
  Speaker 3: a half-dozen picks because he hasn't had a half-dozen– pick
• 14:59
  Speaker 3: worthy throws in my mind i don't think there have
• 15:01
  Speaker 3: been too many dropped ones against him either have there.
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: No not like give me missed call like oh he
• 15:05
  Speaker 1: almost got yeah no i don't i don't i don't
• 15:08
  Speaker 1: remember too many maybe one or two every quarterback's gonna
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: have one or two like that and he stayed healthy
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: through the first eight games and i'm gonna knock on
• 15:15
  Speaker 1: wood as i say that as the steelers turn the
• 15:17
  Speaker 1: corner for their second half of the season getting hit
• 15:19
  Speaker 1: in september and october is a little different than getting
• 15:21
  Speaker 1: hit in november december let alone january and it's cold
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: yep much different Whenever we come back, we are going
• 15:27
  Speaker 1: to look at the Pittsburgh Steelers' defense. And boy, have
• 15:30
  Speaker 1: they performed well through the first half of the season.
• 15:33
  Speaker 1: And then coming up at 2.40 in and around there,
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: we will revisit our preseason picks. We'll check in to
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: see where Double B and I are on what we predicted,
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: not just with the Steelers, but NFL-wise.
• 15:42
  Speaker 2: That might not be fun.
• 15:43
  Speaker 1: Maybe not. It'll be fun to look back, see where
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: we are.
• 15:46
  Speaker 2: Might be humbling.
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: Just a quick check-in, you know, just to see where
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: we are. And then hits and misses in the 3
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: o'clock hour. We'll wrap up the show with Tom Offerman
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: at 3.40 today. But first, this is the Steelers Report
• 15:57
  Speaker 1: right here on SNR, part of the Steelers Audio Network.
• 16:06
  Speaker 2: This is the Steelers Report with Brian Batko and Ed.
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: Truth on Steelers Nation Radio, a part of the Steelers
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: Audio Network. We started the show talking about music, as
• 16:19
  Speaker 1: we typically do. Get off subject a little bit just
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: to make sure that all of you out there in
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: Steeler Nation are paying attention to us. We're talking about Meatloaf.
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: Trying to think some other classic 80s, 90s rock. Probably
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: more 90s.
• 16:33
  Speaker 2: Meatloaf to me.
• 16:34
  Speaker 1: I mean, Meatloaf was back in the 70s for a
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: lot of folks. Then he kind of disappeared during the
• 16:38
  Speaker 1: 80s for a bit. Then he came back in the
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: 90s with the love song, like I said earlier. But
• 16:45
  Speaker 1: Meatloaf no longer with us.
• 16:47
  Speaker 2: RIP Meatloaf. Did he pass away? Yeah. I didn't realize that.
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: During COVID, I think. Don't quote me on that. I
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: don't want any hate mail, but I'm pretty sure you
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: can look it up over there, but I'm pretty sure, unfortunately,
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: that's what happened for all the Meatloaf fans out there.
• 17:00
  Speaker 2: Yeah, he did pass away in 2022. I didn't realize that.
• 17:04
  Speaker 3: 74.
• 17:04
  Speaker 1: I think he was in and around there, so... Welcome
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: back to the Steelers Report. I didn't take that conversation anywhere.
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: Brian Bacow was like, man, I have no rock bands
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: for you from the 90s that we can talk about.
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: I mean, well, then he's starting in the grudge conversation,
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: the Nirvana and all that good stuff, too, that we
• 17:18
  Speaker 1: could probably spend some time on, you know, digging in.
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: The X, by the way, we didn't mention the X.
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: The X is also.
• 17:22
  Speaker 2: Oh, yeah, that's true. Yeah, that's your true rock. That's that. Yeah.
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: So we got of all eras right here at iHeart.
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: We are surrounded also by them. So you can see DVE,
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: the X. Kiss, Us, and on the other side, of course,
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: you've got other SNR shows.
• 17:36
  Speaker 2: Too, in between of all of us. A lot of
• 17:38
  Speaker 2: musical influence.
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: Yep. You can probably see Vince Williams from here if
• 17:41
  Speaker 1: you look over far enough. He stands out on the
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: Blitz each and every day. Brian and I are spending
• 17:46
  Speaker 1: some time here in the first hour today on the show,
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: reminiscing through the Pittsburgh Steelers' first eight games that have
• 17:53
  Speaker 1: led them to a 6-2 record here at the bye week.
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: We were also touching some NFL news. Big shakeup in
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: the AFC North from a quarterback standpoint. Deshaun Watson has
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: a concussion. He's in the protocol. Most likely will not
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: start this week. It'll be Shador Sanders. in New Orleans
• 18:09
  Speaker 1: against the Saints. The Thursday night game tomorrow night features
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: the Baltimore Ravens and the Jacksonville Jaguars in Baltimore. Lamar
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: Jackson hasn't officially been put on the season-ending IR, but
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: earlier reports this week have him heading there. We'll wait
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: and see if Baltimore officially puts Lamar on the season-ending IR,
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: but they have put Snoop Huntley, the backup quarterback on
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: season-ending IR today. Turf toe, I think it was, wasn't it,
• 18:32
  Speaker 1: with Huntley?
• 18:34
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think it was.
• 18:34
  Speaker 3: It seems like there's been a lot of turf toe
• 18:36
  Speaker 3: going around this year. Now, Rico Dowdle had a dislocated toe.
• 18:41
  Speaker 3: Kyle Menongai from the Bears, which I know because fantasy,
• 18:46
  Speaker 3: he's got a toe thing that he's been dealing with.
• 18:48
  Speaker 3: He was playing pretty well early this season.
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: I picked up Menongai earlier this season. He was hurt
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: for a little bit, but when he's played, he's played well.
• 19:01
  Speaker 2: Yeah, he just hasn't been out there for a bit.
• 19:03
  Speaker 1: Speaking of running backs that have played well as of late,
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: Did you see Kenny Gamewell's game in Tampa last week?
• 19:08
  Speaker 3: I think if they would have put me or you
• 19:10
  Speaker 3: behind the line of scrimmage, we would have run for
• 19:12
  Speaker 3: at least a hundred bludgeoning the Falcons without completing a pass.
• 19:17
  Speaker 2: Isn't that a crazy stat? Yeah, maybe I should go
• 19:21
  Speaker 2: back and watch that game.
• 19:22
  Speaker 3: On one hand, it'd be super boring, I guess, but
• 19:24
  Speaker 3: on the other hand, just out of morbid curiosity, how
• 19:28
  Speaker 3: did that even happen? Now the Bucs, it seems like
• 19:31
  Speaker 3: they're trending in the right direction ever since the Steelers
• 19:34
  Speaker 3: went down there.
• 19:34
  Speaker 2: And pulled one out in overtime.
• 19:37
  Speaker 3: They dominated them in the run defense game, but they
• 19:40
  Speaker 3: did not dominate that game by any stretch, and yet
• 19:44
  Speaker 3: they found a way to win it, and now the
• 19:45
  Speaker 3: bucks have seemingly woken up you know baker mayfield comes
• 19:50
  Speaker 3: back but he dropped back four times he was over
• 19:53
  Speaker 3: three and he got sacked once otherwise yeah it was
• 19:55
  Speaker 3: bucky irving for 170 gain well for 140 did you
• 19:59
  Speaker 3: see the clip of baker mayfield blocking jesse bates i
• 20:01
  Speaker 3: did that was pretty cool yeah he's i always thought
• 20:04
  Speaker 3: that baker mayfield would have been very steelers-esque qb I
• 20:08
  Speaker 3: don't know that it's ever going to happen.
• 20:09
  Speaker 2: It probably won't, but he's gritty. Yeah, he is tough quarterback.
• 20:13
  Speaker 3: Michael Penix was eight for 24 for 125 yards. And
• 20:16
  Speaker 3: that came with four picks. So the Falcons, I guess
• 20:19
  Speaker 3: we're like, let's throw it.
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: In the rain.
• 20:21
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 20:22
  Speaker 1: Sometimes that doesn't work out in the game of football.
• 20:25
  Speaker 1: That's for sure. We were talking offense to start the show.
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: So let's touch on some Pittsburgh Steelers defense so far.
• 20:30
  Speaker 2: Kind of surprising. They couldn't at least complete some short ones.
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: I mean, Yeah, to go through the whole game, not
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: even just like a little screen or dump pass out
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: of the backfield to a running back, just to switch
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: things up a little bit.
• 20:40
  Speaker 3: I meant like the Falcons. I mean, if you're going
• 20:42
  Speaker 3: to complete, you know, throw 24 times. Well, see, yeah,
• 20:45
  Speaker 3: for the Bucs as well. I was afraid of the Bucs, yeah.
• 20:47
  Speaker 2: But, you know, Penix, he hit John Dotson for 76 yards.
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: Wow.
• 20:50
  Speaker 2: I wonder how that happened. I haven't seen that clip.
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: Probably yards after catch.
• 20:54
  Speaker 3: You know, if you were going to throw 24 times,
• 20:56
  Speaker 3: you couldn't complete a couple more over the middle to,
• 20:58
  Speaker 3: I don't know, Kyle Pitts or Bajon out of the backfield?
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: No.
• 21:03
  Speaker 3: Oh, well, they fall to, what, NFC South? Are they
• 21:08
  Speaker 3: in second now, the Falcons? Well, they're both 3-5. I
• 21:11
  Speaker 3: don't know who has all the tiebreakers in that division. Oh,
• 21:13
  Speaker 3: I forgot Carolina's actually still technically leading.
• 21:15
  Speaker 1: They're still alive.
• 21:16
  Speaker 2: That division. They're technically leading it because they're 3-4. They
• 21:19
  Speaker 2: have the fewest losses.
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: Well, we talked about that yesterday, that the NFC is
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: in an interesting spot with their playoff scenarios because they're
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: going to have seven legit playoff teams within the NFC
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: North and the NFC West. but only five of those
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: seven are going to make it. There are going to
• 21:33
  Speaker 1: be two of those teams that are going to be
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: on the outside looking in, and then you're going to
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: have a winner out of the South and the East
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: that potentially could have a losing record.
• 21:40
  Speaker 2: Yep.
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: I foresee the South probably most likely the winner having
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: a losing record there because they're all going to beat
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: each other up. I think the East, the Giants, who
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: are currently in first, potentially could have a winning record going.
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: It may be 9-8, maybe 10-7, but I don't know
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: if they'll be on the other side of that. But
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: I do think the winner out of the South will
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: probably most likely be under 500, don't you think?
• 22:00
  Speaker 2: Unless the Bucs turn it on here. And maybe they will.
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: Sounds like you've got some faith in the Bucs.
• 22:05
  Speaker 2: A little bit.
• 22:06
  Speaker 3: I mean, to do what they just did in the
• 22:08
  Speaker 3: rain is, I think it speaks volumes about your football team.
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: Makes that Steeler win.
• 22:13
  Speaker 2: The Falcons are in Madrid now.
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: I saw that.
• 22:16
  Speaker 2: As are the Bengals. I guess they both went over early.
• 22:18
  Speaker 3: Talked about that so much going into Paris for Steeler Saints.
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: International play took a week off last weekend. No international games,
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: but resumes this weekend.
• 22:26
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's good. 9.30 a.m. Sunday. I like it.
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: I told you, Brian.
• 22:29
  Speaker 2: I hope to watch.
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: When you were over in Paris, I know it was like, what,
• 22:32
  Speaker 1: 2.30 in the afternoon or something. Here in Pittsburgh, I
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: enjoyed it because by 1 o'clock, I was done with
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: my Steelers for the day, and I could relax and
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: had a full day of football.
• 22:41
  Speaker 3: I'm intrigued by the game, too, because we're going to
• 22:44
  Speaker 3: see the Bengals on Sunday night in Cincy following this one,
• 22:48
  Speaker 3: and then the Falcons are pretty fun to watch. They've
• 22:51
  Speaker 3: got a good offense, and it would be nice if
• 22:54
  Speaker 3: they go out and– to win a shootout against Cincy.
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: You probably don't do it because you're normally in stadium
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: in the press box, but I know maybe as your
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: kids get older, they might jump into this, especially your son,
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: but Seems like he's on that sports path from what
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: you've told me. My two boys love Red Zone, so
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: we have a Red Zone subscription, and they watch Red
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: Zone from beginning to end every single Sunday.
• 23:13
  Speaker 3: Yeah, we're both contributing to the short attention span society
• 23:16
  Speaker 3: of kids, but we're also pretty much in it ourselves,
• 23:18
  Speaker 3: so who are we to say?
• 23:19
  Speaker 1: It's quick, but it's good. I've enjoyed it, too. Steward game,
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: forget about it. I watched the whole game. That's on.
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: But after or.
• 23:27
  Speaker 2: Before, it's usually red zone.
• 23:28
  Speaker 3: If it's like a Steelers bye week, as it will
• 23:30
  Speaker 3: be Sunday, I'll probably have red zone on as well.
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: Fire up red zone, that's for sure. Okay, let's talk
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: Pittsburgh Steelers defense through the first half of the season.
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: We touched on Aaron Rodgers in the offense. Who's your
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: Aaron Rodgers on defense throughout the first half of the season?
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: The top player. I mean, you have a bunch of
• 23:43
  Speaker 1: names you can pick from.
• 23:44
  Speaker 3: I don't think Rodgers is the top player for the offense,
• 23:46
  Speaker 3: just to cut you off.
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: Oh, Jalen Warren. Yeah, yeah. But I think in a way...
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: But let me back up for a minute. Maybe the
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: most important position on the offense?
• 23:53
  Speaker 3: Well, here's how I was going to frame it. I
• 23:55
  Speaker 3: think in a way, T.J. Watt is the Aaron Rodgers
• 23:57
  Speaker 3: of the defense because, said it would be a theme
• 24:00
  Speaker 3: of the show, there were a lot of takes going
• 24:03
  Speaker 3: into the season. Now, this was one I was not
• 24:05
  Speaker 3: on board with, so I can at least get a
• 24:08
  Speaker 3: little bit of, you know, avoid that one. But a
• 24:11
  Speaker 3: lot of people were very, very down on T.J. Watt
• 24:13
  Speaker 3: coming into this season, ripping the contract that the Steelers...
• 24:17
  Speaker 3: gave him the new deal they gave him, what, I
• 24:19
  Speaker 3: guess 2025 training camp.
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: Yep.
• 24:23
  Speaker 2: I mean, he's tied for the NFL lead in sacks.
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: On the defensive player of the year path.
• 24:28
  Speaker 3: Yeah, and I was one of the people saying, can
• 24:31
  Speaker 3: we not write off TJ Watt just yet? I think
• 24:33
  Speaker 3: there's still some gas left in the tank.
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: Yep.
• 24:36
  Speaker 2: And I think we're seeing that now.
• 24:38
  Speaker 3: Six wins in eight games does not a season make.
• 24:42
  Speaker 3: And if he finishes with seven and a half sacks,
• 24:45
  Speaker 3: we'll all be disappointed. But it sure seems like he's
• 24:48
  Speaker 3: still TJ Watt. He's still him, as the kids say.
• 24:51
  Speaker 3: He's still that guy.
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: And he puts up a stat line pretty much every game.
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: You can just go across.
• 24:57
  Speaker 2: A lot of numbers. A lot of digits are in there.
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: Check that box. Check that tackle for loss. Check that box.
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: Pass deflection. Fumble recovery. Force fumble. Interception sometimes.
• 25:05
  Speaker 3: More than one thing can be true. 2025 was a
• 25:09
  Speaker 3: bit of a drop-off for him.
• 25:10
  Speaker 2: Yeah. But he's not washed. He's not cooked. as the
• 25:14
  Speaker 2: kids say.
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: But you wonder if that was more scheme and defensive calling,
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: and now Patrick Graham's figured that out here in 2026,
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: how to use him effectively with that edge rusher.
• 25:24
  Speaker 2: That could be part of it, but.
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: Seemed like he got double teamed a lot last year.
• 25:27
  Speaker 3: Yeah, but he had been in that defense for so long,
• 25:29
  Speaker 3: and he tied the NFL single season sack.
• 25:32
  Speaker 2: Record in that scheme.
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: Defensive player of the year.
• 25:34
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 25:35
  Speaker 3: And with Graham's defense, I mean, he's flipping sides with
• 25:38
  Speaker 3: Highsmith sometimes, but it's not a ton. I wouldn't say
• 25:41
  Speaker 3: that he's Completely like taught an old dog new tricks here.
• 25:44
  Speaker 3: But I give everybody involved credit for whatever it's taking,
• 25:49
  Speaker 3: you know, whether it is getting TJ more one on
• 25:51
  Speaker 3: one opportunities or the occasional flipping of sides. Just it
• 25:55
  Speaker 3: seems like everybody is at least open to trying new things.
• 25:57
  Speaker 3: And however, it's getting done. It's getting done because he's
• 26:01
  Speaker 3: tied with Will Anderson for the league lead with seven
• 26:03
  Speaker 3: and a half sacks.
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: Maybe it's fair to say that he's facing less double
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: teams so far this season. I haven't seen as many
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: double teams where I felt like last year was pretty
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: much every single snap somebody was doubling up on 90.
• 26:15
  Speaker 2: Could be.
• 26:15
  Speaker 3: And I think as far as I can tell, he
• 26:17
  Speaker 3: and Andrew Van Ginkle, still the only players in the
• 26:21
  Speaker 3: NFL who have at least one sack, one interception, one
• 26:28
  Speaker 3: forced fumble, one fumble recovered.
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: Incredible.
• 26:31
  Speaker 2: Oh, no, I'm sorry. Tuli Tuipulotu is now in that
• 26:34
  Speaker 2: mix as well. I think there's three.
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: Three players. Yeah, and the other hot take, too, before
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: the season started.
• 26:40
  Speaker 2: Let's be honest. TJ actually should have two forced fumbles.
• 26:42
  Speaker 1: Oh, yeah. He got screwed on that one. No doubt.
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: That was against the Saints in Paris. The other hot
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: take before the season.
• 26:51
  Speaker 2: Not just TJ Watt.
• 26:51
  Speaker 3: That would have been another fumble recovery for him, too.
• 26:54
  Speaker 3: He ripped it out of his hands.
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: Sack, fumble, recovery.
• 26:57
  Speaker 2: So just to level up, he's got 19 tackles.
• 27:02
  Speaker 3: Nine tfls seven and a half sacks 12 qb hits
• 27:05
  Speaker 3: one pick three pbus and then one force fumble one
• 27:08
  Speaker 3: fumble recovery probably should have two of each of those.
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: Sounds like a normal tj watt doing stuff yeah he's
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: all right uh the other hot take before the start
• 27:16
  Speaker 1: of the season brian was the contracts that were given
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: to quote unquote two backups right nick herbig and keanu
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: benton on that defense and i'd say quote unquote because
• 27:25
  Speaker 1: we know that they're way more than just secondary players
• 27:28
  Speaker 1: uh Keanu Benton has played well in that defensive line.
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: He's a big part of why the Steelers have been
• 27:32
  Speaker 1: so successful against the run defense. And Nick Herbig had
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: a slow start to the season, but that was a
• 27:38
  Speaker 1: lot more him backing into coverage. Now they're bringing him
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: more the last few weeks, blitzing, and now his numbers
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: are starting to tick up.
• 27:45
  Speaker 3: Yeah, Herbig obviously not quite as impactful just yet, but
• 27:48
  Speaker 3: I think it could be coming.
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: Trending that way.
• 27:50
  Speaker 2: Yeah, the trend is up. The arrow's pointing up. I agree.
• 27:53
  Speaker 3: As we used to say around here in Steelers land. Oh,
• 27:56
  Speaker 3: now I'm discounting some people. I found another, Jeremy Chinn.
• 27:59
  Speaker 2: DB.
• 27:59
  Speaker 1: We're up to four.
• 28:00
  Speaker 2: Yeah, he's got one sack and he's got one pick.
• 28:04
  Speaker 1: This is the most impressive thing about Brian Bacco, everyone
• 28:07
  Speaker 1: out there listening, that you can multitask.
• 28:09
  Speaker 2: That I get things wrong and then... No, no, no, no.
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: You can multitask. I mean, he's over there on his laptop.
• 28:13
  Speaker 1: He's talking to me about T.J. Watt. Then all of
• 28:14
  Speaker 1: a sudden he chimes in, oh, by the way, Meatloaf
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: had this.
• 28:16
  Speaker 2: I want to be accurate here. I don't want to
• 28:18
  Speaker 2: steer people down a wrong path.
• 28:19
  Speaker 1: Bad out of hell by Meatloaf.
• 28:20
  Speaker 2: He's a journalist in me.
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: Okay, but continue on. You were talking about Nick Herbig
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: trending up.
• 28:24
  Speaker 2: Yep, trending up. And then the other one, too, is
• 28:26
  Speaker 2: Darnell Washington. And I think people didn't realize... That's another
• 28:28
  Speaker 2: big contract. that was a very reasonable amount of money
• 28:33
  Speaker 2: to give him. I think for what he does four years,
• 28:35
  Speaker 2: 40 million, 45 million. I forget the exact numbers, but
• 28:38
  Speaker 2: it was pretty much in line with, you know, tight
• 28:40
  Speaker 2: ends of that production level. And we all know that
• 28:44
  Speaker 2: his production goes beyond what you see in the box score.
• 28:48
  Speaker 3: That's still the case. That's never going to change. I
• 28:50
  Speaker 3: don't think as long as he's six, seven, three, 10
• 28:53
  Speaker 3: or whatever he is. So I think that, Total value
• 28:57
  Speaker 3: of the contract for Washington, he is 12th in the NFL,
• 29:04
  Speaker 3: a little behind Pat Fryermuth, or maybe 10th. But either way,
• 29:09
  Speaker 3: you're getting your bang for your buck there. He's a
• 29:11
  Speaker 3: huge piece of the puzzle for them offensively. He's coming
• 29:15
  Speaker 3: off a career high, still doesn't have a 100-yard receiving game,
• 29:18
  Speaker 3: but I wouldn't be surprised if we see it at
• 29:20
  Speaker 3: some point.
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: He had, what, 93 this past week? 92? 94? 94.
• 29:24
  Speaker 1: I mean, he was close.
• 29:25
  Speaker 3: Granted, there might not be a ton of 58-yard catch
• 29:28
  Speaker 3: and runs for Darnell Washington, but that'd be cool if
• 29:30
  Speaker 3: there's more to come.
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: Somebody should have radioed down to the.
• 29:34
  Speaker 2: Six more yards.
• 29:35
  Speaker 1: I mean, do they still radio down, by the way?
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: I mean, I saw the NFL Films clip of the
• 29:39
  Speaker 1: Steelers defense. counting up the sack total.
• 29:41
  Speaker 2: That was funny.
• 29:41
  Speaker 1: That was great. Yeah, I shared that on social media.
• 29:43
  Speaker 3: That was me and our pal Mike DeFabo in the
• 29:45
  Speaker 3: postgame presser. I was talking to Jaquan Brisker, I think.
• 29:48
  Speaker 3: I was like, have you ever played behind a defense
• 29:50
  Speaker 3: that got seven sacks and Mike's like, eight sacks?
• 29:52
  Speaker 2: I was like, yeah, you're right.
• 29:53
  Speaker 3: It was eight sacks. Even I'm losing track. Yeah, Hayward
• 29:55
  Speaker 3: got one at the end and so did Kevin Jobe. So, yeah,
• 29:58
  Speaker 3: that was kind of funny that they were... That reminded
• 30:00
  Speaker 3: me of if you're playing pickup hoops or something and
• 30:02
  Speaker 3: you're kind of keeping track of your own points if
• 30:05
  Speaker 3: you want to. Or you're playing beer league softball and
• 30:07
  Speaker 3: you're like, I think I'm two for three today. That
• 30:09
  Speaker 3: was Alex Highsmith off the dome. I've got one and
• 30:12
  Speaker 3: a half. PQ got one and a half.
• 30:14
  Speaker 2: It was good. Pro athletes. They're just like us.
• 30:17
  Speaker 1: I also liked where Aaron Rodgers came up to Cam
• 30:19
  Speaker 1: Hayward at the beginning of that and called him old man.
• 30:21
  Speaker 2: He said, how you doing, old man?
• 30:22
  Speaker 1: I'm the good old man.
• 30:23
  Speaker 2: Going back and forth. Takes one to know one there.
• 30:25
  Speaker 1: Love that for sure. Whenever Brian and I come back,
• 30:28
  Speaker 1: we are going to take a peek at our preseason
• 30:30
  Speaker 1: picks in and around the NFL and for the Pittsburgh
• 30:33
  Speaker 1: Steelers to see where we are at the midway point.
• 30:36
  Speaker 1: Are we on track? Are we way off? Does it
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: seem right? Does it feel right? We will find out.
• 30:40
  Speaker 1: whenever we come back. But first, this is the Steelers
• 30:43
  Speaker 1: Report right here. And by the way, we thank you
• 30:44
  Speaker 1: for listening today, each and every day, right here on
• 30:47
  Speaker 1: Steelers Nation Radio, part of the Steelers Audio Network.
• 30:59
  Speaker 2: This is the Steelers Report with Brian Batko and Ed
• 31:03
  Speaker 2: Troup on Steelers Nation Radio, a part of the Steelers
• 31:06
  Speaker 2: Audio Network.
• 31:08
  Speaker 1: Special programming note coming up tomorrow on Thursday, it'll be
• 31:11
  Speaker 1: a special weekend edition of the Steelers Report. We are
• 31:15
  Speaker 1: off Friday for the bye week, so we will have
• 31:17
  Speaker 1: the weekend edition airing all weekend long. We'll have Matt
• 31:21
  Speaker 1: Williamson on the show tomorrow from the drive, so that'll
• 31:24
  Speaker 1: be exciting to talk to Matt. And with that, Double B,
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: we'll be back the following Monday. There'll be the Mike
• 31:29
  Speaker 1: McCarthy press conference before the Cincinnati Bengals game. Any big
• 31:33
  Speaker 1: plans for bye weekend?
• 31:35
  Speaker 2: No, don't really have a lot going on.
• 31:36
  Speaker 3: Some family in town visiting, so try to do some
• 31:40
  Speaker 3: stuff with the kids.
• 31:42
  Speaker 2: No, nothing really. What about you?
• 31:44
  Speaker 1: The break of the weather is going to happen as
• 31:46
  Speaker 1: early as today or tomorrow. That's true. Some rain, and
• 31:49
  Speaker 1: it looks like a high of like 48 on Saturday. Same.
• 31:52
  Speaker 1: We've got some family in and around town, so we're
• 31:54
  Speaker 1: going to do some family things over the weekend. I'm
• 31:57
  Speaker 1: on the other side. You've still got two little kids,
• 32:00
  Speaker 1: so you can go do some fun things out and about.
• 32:02
  Speaker 1: Mine now are on the Xbox side, being teenagers and
• 32:06
  Speaker 1: getting close to 16.
• 32:06
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 32:07
  Speaker 1: They're out with their friends doing their thing. You know,
• 32:10
  Speaker 1: it's like I got to pretty much pull them into
• 32:11
  Speaker 1: the car and, you know, basically say, hey, put this
• 32:14
  Speaker 1: seatbelt on you. We're going for a ride. And then
• 32:16
  Speaker 1: they pout and just put on their headphones the whole time. But, hey,
• 32:19
  Speaker 1: that's where you are. I've been told by older folks
• 32:21
  Speaker 1: that they come back eventually. So I'll wait for that. Yeah.
• 32:25
  Speaker 3: They they need you when they're little. Then they don't
• 32:27
  Speaker 3: need you. Then they need you again at some point.
• 32:29
  Speaker 2: Then you need them.
• 32:30
  Speaker 1: Yes. It's full circle of life.
• 32:32
  Speaker 3: Right.
• 32:32
  Speaker 1: Right.
• 32:33
  Speaker 3: But even I mean, even though my kids aren't that old,
• 32:35
  Speaker 3: they do still have like all day school on Friday.
• 32:37
  Speaker 3: So the bye week is a little bit of a
• 32:39
  Speaker 3: bye week just for me and me alone to get
• 32:41
  Speaker 3: some things done. Now, getting the actual things done is
• 32:44
  Speaker 3: the challenge. Did you get those leaves taken care of?
• 32:46
  Speaker 3: There's still some stragglers left. That might be on the
• 32:49
  Speaker 3: list of things I need to do with the buy.
• 32:51
  Speaker 1: Brian sent me a photo last week of the front
• 32:54
  Speaker 1: of his house. You've got to say it the correct
• 32:56
  Speaker 1: way when you're on Steelers Nation Radio. And my goodness, man,
• 32:59
  Speaker 1: I didn't see any grass. It was just all leaves.
• 33:02
  Speaker 1: And then Uncle Tommy checked in and said, nope, you're
• 33:04
  Speaker 1: on your own. I'm not coming over to help you.
• 33:05
  Speaker 2: Yeah, we knew that. We knew that was the case.
• 33:07
  Speaker 2: But that's all right.
• 33:09
  Speaker 1: And then I hit Brian back over the weekend and said,
• 33:10
  Speaker 1: here's mine. And I actually had a lot, too. I
• 33:12
  Speaker 1: was like, where are all these leaves? It was like
• 33:14
  Speaker 1: one night, all the leaves fell off the trees. I
• 33:16
  Speaker 1: think my trees are finally done shedding, at least. But
• 33:19
  Speaker 1: there are still some stragglers that if I have time,
• 33:21
  Speaker 1: if I get around to it, I'll take care of it.
• 33:23
  Speaker 1: I told you my lawn advice for the week was
• 33:24
  Speaker 1: mulch it up with the lawnmower, leave it there.
• 33:27
  Speaker 2: Well, I did that.
• 33:27
  Speaker 1: It'll help for next year.
• 33:28
  Speaker 3: But of course, I ran over a leaf pile that
• 33:30
  Speaker 3: was way bigger and soggier than I realized. And now
• 33:34
  Speaker 3: there's like a patch of nasty yellow grass there.
• 33:36
  Speaker 1: Oh, boy.
• 33:38
  Speaker 2: Nothing's ever simple.
• 33:39
  Speaker 1: Nothing is never simple. All right, let's get into our
• 33:41
  Speaker 1: first half awards. Now, we talked offense. We talked defense.
• 33:44
  Speaker 1: We talked Aaron Rodgers. We were talking TJ Watt last segment. So, Brian,
• 33:48
  Speaker 1: and I also want to check in on our preseason
• 33:50
  Speaker 1: picks here before we wrap up our first hour. But first,
• 33:54
  Speaker 1: let's go on offense. Who is your MVP on offense?
• 33:57
  Speaker 1: I think this is a pretty clear-cut MVP for both
• 34:00
  Speaker 1: of us. So maybe we should say, other than Jalen Warren,
• 34:02
  Speaker 1: who would be your offensive MVP? Because we're both going
• 34:05
  Speaker 1: to pick Warren. Heck, he's in the line for NFL MVP.
• 34:09
  Speaker 2: At least Offensive Player of the Year.
• 34:11
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 34:11
  Speaker 2: Oh, boy. Exactly. And who would be No. 2? Probably
• 34:14
  Speaker 2: Zach Frazier.
• 34:15
  Speaker 1: Yeah, that's where I was going.
• 34:16
  Speaker 3: Got to give it up to the O-line. That's where
• 34:18
  Speaker 3: I was going. If you're going to pick one guy
• 34:19
  Speaker 3: to represent that unit, probably be Big Fraze.
• 34:23
  Speaker 1: Yeah, that's where I would go, too. I think he
• 34:25
  Speaker 1: would be your most valuable player, anchoring that offensive line
• 34:27
  Speaker 1: and helping Jalen Warren throughout the first half of the season.
• 34:30
  Speaker 2: Best Supporting Actor.
• 34:30
  Speaker 1: Yeah, best supporting actor.
• 34:31
  Speaker 2: There you go.
• 34:31
  Speaker 1: Give him the Oscar. Give him the NFL Oscar. Okay,
• 34:33
  Speaker 1: defense MVP. This is a tricky one, potentially, because there's
• 34:38
  Speaker 1: been a bunch.
• 34:39
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I would go T.J.
• 34:40
  Speaker 3: Watt, but I do think that Cam Hayward's been very good,
• 34:46
  Speaker 3: sort of quietly under the radar.
• 34:48
  Speaker 2: And then Patrick Queen and Peyton Wilson.
• 34:50
  Speaker 1: That's where I'm going.
• 34:50
  Speaker 2: They're right there in the conversation as well.
• 34:52
  Speaker 1: I'm going Peyton Wilson. I'm going Peyton Wilson. I think
• 34:55
  Speaker 1: he leads the team in tackles, and he's been Mr.
• 34:57
  Speaker 1: Consistent through eight games. The stats don't jump out at you.
• 35:01
  Speaker 1: The splash play type stats don't jump out at you,
• 35:03
  Speaker 1: but he's been consistent.
• 35:04
  Speaker 3: He had the huge pick in Paris. They've both had
• 35:08
  Speaker 3: big interceptions this year, he and Patrick Queen. They've got
• 35:12
  Speaker 3: to be up there in a lot of the statistics
• 35:14
  Speaker 3: for inside linebacker duos because they've both rarely left the field,
• 35:18
  Speaker 3: and they're making plays when they're out there.
• 35:20
  Speaker 1: How about your biggest surprise on offense, and then we'll
• 35:23
  Speaker 1: do a defensive biggest surprise.
• 35:25
  Speaker 2: Biggest surprise on offense... I'd probably go with the lack
• 35:33
  Speaker 2: of DK Metcalf's production. We were both really high on
• 35:35
  Speaker 2: him coming out of training camp. He was making a
• 35:37
  Speaker 2: lot of plays in Latrobe.
• 35:39
  Speaker 3: I felt like he was in for a huge season,
• 35:42
  Speaker 3: kind of a bounce back from the way last season
• 35:44
  Speaker 3: ended for him. Obviously hasn't been there. Only one 100-yard
• 35:49
  Speaker 3: game thus far this year. Only two games with 60
• 35:54
  Speaker 3: or more yards.
• 35:56
  Speaker 2: And only one touchdown. And this team is....
• 36:00
  Speaker 3: Kind of been in need of more playmaking on the outside.
• 36:03
  Speaker 3: So that is probably the biggest surprise to me is
• 36:06
  Speaker 3: just that he has been as quiet as he's been
• 36:11
  Speaker 3: through eight games. He's still finding ways to win, so
• 36:13
  Speaker 3: that's a testament to everybody else, but that's been a surprise.
• 36:17
  Speaker 1: And for me to go along with that, it's the
• 36:19
  Speaker 1: whole wide receiver room has been the biggest surprise for
• 36:22
  Speaker 1: me and their lack of production. So not just DK,
• 36:25
  Speaker 1: but the whole room. And now you can throw into
• 36:27
  Speaker 1: that narrative the injuries that occurred With Roman Wilson and
• 36:30
  Speaker 1: Michael Pittman.
• 36:31
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, I almost have to give them a
• 36:32
  Speaker 3: little bit of a pass because they're not available.
• 36:36
  Speaker 1: I think it speaks volumes that Aaron Rodgers and Darnell
• 36:39
  Speaker 1: Washington and Pat Fryermuth and Jalen Warren and Rico Dowdle
• 36:42
  Speaker 1: now out of the backfield, how they have all, as
• 36:44
  Speaker 1: a collective unit, contributed to the receiving, the passing game,
• 36:48
  Speaker 1: without having DK put up huge numbers and Pittman being out,
• 36:51
  Speaker 1: Roman Wilson being out. Jeremy Bernard's been good. He's been solid.
• 36:55
  Speaker 3: Yeah, like I said, they're still finding ways to move
• 36:57
  Speaker 3: the ball and score some points, and win games. So
• 37:00
  Speaker 3: it kind of makes me feel like if DK Metcalf
• 37:03
  Speaker 3: ever does get in a groove, that could be buku
• 37:07
  Speaker 3: bucks for the Steelers offense.
• 37:08
  Speaker 1: Biggest surprise on defense. I know what mine is. I'll
• 37:13
  Speaker 1: go while you're thinking. Joey Porter Jr. not being here.
• 37:16
  Speaker 2: And the corners are still playing well.
• 37:17
  Speaker 1: And they're still playing well. Yeah. I think it's a
• 37:19
  Speaker 1: huge story. I mean, we forget about the whole JPJ saga,
• 37:22
  Speaker 1: and rightfully so. Not playing, injured, whatever you want to
• 37:26
  Speaker 1: call it, being traded to Dallas. And then the secondary
• 37:30
  Speaker 1: has done just fine without their top corner.
• 37:32
  Speaker 2: They have. And I was considering that inside linebacker duo,
• 37:37
  Speaker 2: but I wasn't totally out on them coming into this season.
• 37:41
  Speaker 3: I'm not shocked that they're playing as well as they are.
• 37:44
  Speaker 3: I thought that there was a chance that they'd really
• 37:46
  Speaker 3: fit in well with Patrick Graham's scheme and play up
• 37:50
  Speaker 3: to their potential. So I'd say maybe my biggest surprise,
• 37:53
  Speaker 3: and it's kind of like a lower-level thing, but nonetheless.
• 37:56
  Speaker 2: Gabriel Rubio and Kevin Jobity Jr. That's a good one.
• 37:58
  Speaker 3: Contributing and helping out as much as they have. Obviously,
• 38:03
  Speaker 3: they weren't necessarily thrown into the fire because they've been
• 38:06
  Speaker 3: able to kind of take baby steps and play several
• 38:09
  Speaker 3: snaps here, several snaps there. But they've both been factors,
• 38:12
  Speaker 3: and it's not like they're resulting in a huge drop-off
• 38:17
  Speaker 3: from losing the guys in front of them. So the
• 38:20
  Speaker 3: fact that they're even getting on the field... It's a
• 38:22
  Speaker 3: bit surprising this early in their careers, but the way
• 38:25
  Speaker 3: that they're playing, too, is a pleasant surprise in my mind.
• 38:28
  Speaker 1: I talked about that collective, you know, Darnell Washington, Muth,
• 38:32
  Speaker 1: you know, the running backs all contributing in that passing
• 38:35
  Speaker 1: game with Aaron Rodgers without the lack of production from
• 38:38
  Speaker 1: DK Metcalf and the other wide receivers. On defense, Brian,
• 38:42
  Speaker 1: that defensive line, you just spoke about two of them.
• 38:44
  Speaker 1: They've been able to perform the way they have without Muth.
• 38:47
  Speaker 1: Last year's first-round draft pick, Derek Harmon. Again, you forget
• 38:50
  Speaker 1: about Harmon being out. Sebastian Joseph Day has now missed
• 38:52
  Speaker 1: the last couple games. And this defensive unit, that front seven,
• 38:55
  Speaker 1: that defensive line, still playing at a high level.
• 38:58
  Speaker 2: They are.
• 38:58
  Speaker 3: And another one that I'll shout out, Robert Spears Jennings.
• 39:01
  Speaker 2: That's a good one.
• 39:02
  Speaker 3: Didn't necessarily see him having this big of a role,
• 39:04
  Speaker 3: and that's partially due to we all thought Deshaun Elliott
• 39:06
  Speaker 3: would have a much bigger role. But when he started
• 39:09
  Speaker 3: the season on IR, obviously we knew he was going
• 39:12
  Speaker 3: to miss at least four games. He ended up missing
• 39:15
  Speaker 3: six games. But in the meantime, Spears Jennings has shown
• 39:18
  Speaker 3: that he was a lot more NFL ready, obviously, than
• 39:22
  Speaker 3: he was given credit for by teams in the draft process,
• 39:25
  Speaker 3: considering he lasted until the seventh round.
• 39:27
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and he's contributed in a big way, and that's
• 39:29
  Speaker 1: a good sign. One more award, then we'll check our
• 39:31
  Speaker 1: preseason picks across the NFL, is rookie. Speaking of the rookies,
• 39:35
  Speaker 1: who would be your top rookie so far for the Steelers?
• 39:38
  Speaker 1: Because a lot of them have contributed.
• 39:40
  Speaker 2: I've got to go Maxi Honachor.
• 39:43
  Speaker 3: I think when you look at the before and after
• 39:44
  Speaker 3: of how this offense has played since he got in
• 39:47
  Speaker 3: there at right tackle following Week two, I just think
• 39:52
  Speaker 3: he's been so steady, so solid. I'd consider Jeremy Bernard, too,
• 39:56
  Speaker 3: because there's been some really nice playmaking from him, including
• 39:58
  Speaker 3: in this most recent win against the Browns.
• 40:00
  Speaker 1: Daylon Everett has had a couple sparks.
• 40:02
  Speaker 2: Yeah, he has. So has Spears Jennings. They both have
• 40:06
  Speaker 2: a pick.
• 40:06
  Speaker 3: Now Everett has another takeaway with the forced fumble and
• 40:09
  Speaker 3: fumble recovery early in that win against Cleveland.
• 40:12
  Speaker 2: But I'd probably have to go Big Macs.
• 40:15
  Speaker 1: He's been consistent on that line.
• 40:16
  Speaker 2: He's playing the most out of all of them.
• 40:17
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and he's putting together a body of work that
• 40:20
  Speaker 1: is a very good rookie season so far.
• 40:22
  Speaker 2: It's like no news is good news on Big Macs. Exactly.
• 40:23
  Speaker 2: I think he had, what, one false starter hold maybe?
• 40:27
  Speaker 1: Yeah, he hasn't been penalized hardly at all.
• 40:29
  Speaker 2: He had a holding called on him in the Browns game, right?
• 40:31
  Speaker 2: Most recently.
• 40:32
  Speaker 1: You can probably count on this hand, like one hand,
• 40:34
  Speaker 1: how many penalties he's had.
• 40:35
  Speaker 2: And that's huge. That's huge for a rookie.
• 40:36
  Speaker 1: Oh, my goodness. Absolutely.
• 40:37
  Speaker 2: It doesn't seem like there's a huge learning curve for
• 40:40
  Speaker 2: him in the NFL. Knock on wood.
• 40:42
  Speaker 3: Obviously, teams, you know, they're going to, watch him on tape,
• 40:44
  Speaker 3: try to figure out his tendencies. And yeah, he did
• 40:46
  Speaker 3: have a holding call on third down the most recent game,
• 40:51
  Speaker 3: but it was an incompletion anyway. So it's not like
• 40:54
  Speaker 3: it negated anything.
• 40:55
  Speaker 1: Our preseason picks and awards for the NFL. Let's talk
• 41:00
  Speaker 1: about the NFL ones first. We both had the Bills
• 41:02
  Speaker 1: winning the East, so we're good there. I had the
• 41:04
  Speaker 1: Steelers winning the North. You had the Bengals winning the North.
• 41:06
  Speaker 1: So both of those two teams still well in play.
• 41:09
  Speaker 1: We both had the Texans winning the South, so we're
• 41:11
  Speaker 1: missing there. Yeah. I had the Chargers winning the West. Boy,
• 41:15
  Speaker 1: was that a miss. You had Denver.
• 41:17
  Speaker 3: Wasn't unreasonable at the time. I thought the Chargers were
• 41:20
  Speaker 3: going to be pretty good. I think everybody did. If
• 41:23
  Speaker 3: anybody saw this coming, good job. I had Washington winning
• 41:27
  Speaker 3: the East. You had the Cowboys winning the East. I
• 41:30
  Speaker 3: had the Lions winning the North. You had the Bears
• 41:32
  Speaker 3: winning the North. So both of those two teams still
• 41:34
  Speaker 3: in play. Kind of missed on the Washington Cowboys pick.
• 41:37
  Speaker 3: Neither of us had the Giants. Saints in the South,
• 41:40
  Speaker 3: they were my... Darling pick.
• 41:42
  Speaker 1: Sleeper, yeah. Not so much. You had the Bucs.
• 41:45
  Speaker 2: So there you go.
• 41:45
  Speaker 1: There's your Bucs love that you had earlier in the show.
• 41:48
  Speaker 2: They're coming back around.
• 41:49
  Speaker 1: Now I know why. We both had the Rams winning
• 41:51
  Speaker 1: the West, so a bit of a miss there so far.
• 41:53
  Speaker 1: We'll see.
• 41:54
  Speaker 2: Everybody was high on the Rams coming into this season.
• 41:57
  Speaker 1: I had the Texans winning the AFC. You had the
• 42:00
  Speaker 1: Bills winning the AFC, so you definitely look way better
• 42:02
  Speaker 1: than I do. I had the Rams. We both had
• 42:04
  Speaker 1: the Rams winning the NFC. And then you had the
• 42:06
  Speaker 1: Bills winning the Super Bowl, and I had the Rams
• 42:08
  Speaker 1: winning the Super Bowl. So you're in the best shape there,
• 42:10
  Speaker 1: my friend.
• 42:11
  Speaker 2: And I don't know about the Rams getting back.
• 42:14
  Speaker 1: I don't think so.
• 42:15
  Speaker 2: But we'll see. There's still a long way to go.
• 42:17
  Speaker 1: Second half of the season still to go.
• 42:18
  Speaker 2: I'm real high on the Bears after what I've seen
• 42:20
  Speaker 2: from them this year. Yeah.
• 42:22
  Speaker 3: I wouldn't be shocked by a Bills-Bears Super Bowl matchup.
• 42:25
  Speaker 1: The Bears are heating up on defense. Kayla Williams back
• 42:29
  Speaker 1: healthy now, finally. So they are definitely trending in.
• 42:32
  Speaker 2: The right direction.
• 42:32
  Speaker 3: You could talk me into a lot of teams from
• 42:34
  Speaker 3: the NFC getting to the Super Bowl right now, whether
• 42:37
  Speaker 3: it's the Bears.
• 42:38
  Speaker 2: The Rams going on a run. Seahawks getting back there. Shoot,
• 42:42
  Speaker 2: the Packers.
• 42:44
  Speaker 3: I don't know that the Vikings are going to sustain,
• 42:47
  Speaker 3: and I don't think the Vikings' offense is good enough.
• 42:49
  Speaker 2: I don't know that the Lions' defense is good enough.
• 42:52
  Speaker 2: But those four teams, and you know what? The Niners, obviously.
• 42:56
  Speaker 3: We can't forget about them. They've just been nails on
• 42:59
  Speaker 3: both sides of the ball other than that slip up
• 43:01
  Speaker 3: against Atlanta.
• 43:02
  Speaker 1: They sure have. About MVP of the National Football League,
• 43:06
  Speaker 1: you had Josh Allen, I had Joe Burrow. Both of
• 43:08
  Speaker 1: those well in place still. More Allen, I think, than Burrow,
• 43:11
  Speaker 1: but both are still in the conversation, I would think.
• 43:13
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I think so. I think those two are maybe
• 43:17
  Speaker 3: the leaders in the clubhouse. Well, that's actually not really
• 43:20
  Speaker 3: the right term because they're still playing. They're still playing golf.
• 43:24
  Speaker 3: They're still playing football out there. NFL awards odds update
• 43:27
  Speaker 3: I saw come across the other day. Josh Allen does
• 43:31
  Speaker 3: remain the favorite. But Caleb Williams has moved up. He's
• 43:34
  Speaker 3: in fourth place now for MVP chances. You're right that
• 43:39
  Speaker 3: Burrow is two, and then Brock Purdy is number three.
• 43:42
  Speaker 1: I'm looking at these picks already, Brian. These are going
• 43:44
  Speaker 1: to be fun for you. All right, defensive player of
• 43:46
  Speaker 1: the year. I had TJ Watt. You had Jalen Carter.
• 43:50
  Speaker 2: You're doing a lot better than me on that one.
• 43:52
  Speaker 1: Looking okay there, huh?
• 43:53
  Speaker 3: I'll tell you who's currently the leaderboard is on the odds.
• 43:58
  Speaker 3: Will Anderson is the favorite. Jeffrey Simmons has gone from
• 44:03
  Speaker 3: way off there to third now that he's with the Bears.
• 44:07
  Speaker 2: Let's see.
• 44:09
  Speaker 3: Abdul Carter has gotten some love. Fred Warner's number two.
• 44:13
  Speaker 3: Aiden Hutchinson's number four. Dallas Turner and TJ Watt tied
• 44:16
  Speaker 3: for fifth.
• 44:18
  Speaker 1: Watt's in the top five. Offensive player of the year.
• 44:20
  Speaker 1: I had Josh Allen. You had Josh Allen, but I
• 44:23
  Speaker 1: also have Jalen Waddell.
• 44:24
  Speaker 2: I changed. Did you change it?
• 44:25
  Speaker 1: Yeah. You changed it to Waddell?
• 44:27
  Speaker 2: Yeah, because I'm like, they always give offensive player of
• 44:30
  Speaker 2: the year now to the best non-quarterback. Okay. But Waddle's
• 44:34
  Speaker 2: not going to. No.
• 44:35
  Speaker 1: He's not going to get that.
• 44:35
  Speaker 2: JSN's got to be the favorite to win. Oh, yeah. Actually,
• 44:39
  Speaker 2: Jameer Gibbs is the favorite.
• 44:40
  Speaker 1: And neither of us had JSN on that. Who is?
• 44:42
  Speaker 2: Jameer Gibbs.
• 44:43
  Speaker 1: Yeah, that's another good one.
• 44:43
  Speaker 2: He's having a great year.
• 44:44
  Speaker 1: This is a good one. Coach of the year. I
• 44:46
  Speaker 1: had John Harbaugh from the Giants.
• 44:48
  Speaker 2: Hey, they win the East. You're looking good there, Ed.
• 44:49
  Speaker 1: Might be okay. You had Sean Payton from Denver.
• 44:52
  Speaker 2: There's a chance. I mean, you've got to navigate.
• 44:54
  Speaker 1: They just beat the Chiefs.
• 44:55
  Speaker 2: They did.
• 44:56
  Speaker 3: And he had to take back the play calling on offense.
• 44:59
  Speaker 1: Protector of the year. I had Zach Frazier.
• 45:02
  Speaker 2: You had Joe Alt. Oh, no one's winning any awards
• 45:06
  Speaker 2: from this Chargers team.
• 45:08
  Speaker 1: Comeback player of the year. I had Jaden Daniels, quarterback
• 45:11
  Speaker 1: from the Commanders. You had Aaron Darnold, which Aaron Darnold
• 45:17
  Speaker 1: hasn't really been a factor yet.
• 45:19
  Speaker 2: No, he hasn't. Patrick Mahomes is probably going to win
• 45:21
  Speaker 2: that the way he's been playing.
• 45:22
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I agree with you there. Real quick, offensive rookie
• 45:25
  Speaker 1: of the year, I had Jeremiah Love from Arizona. I
• 45:27
  Speaker 1: think he just went out. I think he's on the
• 45:29
  Speaker 1: IR now.
• 45:29
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think he is.
• 45:30
  Speaker 1: You had Carnell Tate from the Titans.
• 45:32
  Speaker 2: He's in good shape.
• 45:33
  Speaker 1: Yeah, he's the leading rookie wide receiver so far.
• 45:35
  Speaker 3: Thank goodness I got one thing going for me.
• 45:37
  Speaker 1: Yeah, you did good there. Finally, last one, defensive rookie
• 45:40
  Speaker 1: of the year, I had Caleb Downs from the Cowboys.
• 45:42
  Speaker 1: You had Reese from the Giants.
• 45:44
  Speaker 2: He's looking good.
• 45:45
  Speaker 3: Downs got clowned the other day by Trey McBride.
• 45:47
  Speaker 2: Did you see that clip?
• 45:48
  Speaker 1: I did.
• 45:49
  Speaker 2: I did. So you're a first-round pick. For what?
• 45:51
  Speaker 1: For that. For what? What are you doing? All right,
• 45:53
  Speaker 1: that'll do it for the first hour, but coming up next,
• 45:56
  Speaker 1: hits and misses and Tom Offerman to wrap up the
• 45:58
  Speaker 1: show in the 3 o'clock hour. He's back. Oh, I'm Troop.
• 46:01
  Speaker 1: It's the Steelers Report right here on Steelers Nation Radio,
• 46:03
  Speaker 1: part of the Steelers Audio Network.