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HR2: Recap · In the Locker Room presented by Neighborhood Ford Store (Pittsburgh Steelers)

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Direct from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop.steelers.com.
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: And by your neighborhood Ford store. The F-150 is the
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: official truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
• 0:19
  Speaker 2: Willie?
• 0:24
  Speaker 3: It's the power hour. Oh, man.
• 0:27
  Speaker 4: Not.
• 0:28
  Speaker 3: We're... We're trying to get Willie into this. Max is
• 0:33
  Speaker 3: trying to get him into it. I'm neutral on the subject.
• 0:36
  Speaker 3: Thanks for being back with us in the locker room
• 0:38
  Speaker 3: here for hour number two on this Monday. It is
• 0:40
  Speaker 3: the power hour. Willie, no comment? He's still got no comment.
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: All right.
• 0:48
  Speaker 3: So, oh, you're muted there.
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: We got Willie?
• 0:54
  Speaker 3: Oh, okay.
• 0:54
  Speaker 4: I'm good.
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah. No, I mean, listen, Max loves it. I
• 0:59
  Speaker 2: love it. You love it. Everybody loves it.
• 1:01
  Speaker 4: You guys were able to adjust the bell and make
• 1:03
  Speaker 4: it a trumpet till we're moving in the right direction.
• 1:05
  Speaker 3: Oh my gosh, we got that later.
• 1:07
  Speaker 4: And so we're trending in the right, I can't, I
• 1:09
  Speaker 4: can't just, you know, come on the scene and asking
• 1:13
  Speaker 4: for multiple requests. You know, I want to be, you know, Valley,
• 1:17
  Speaker 4: I'm trying to submit myself into this awesome journey that
• 1:20
  Speaker 4: we're a.
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: Part of, but you don't want to come off and
• 1:23
  Speaker 2: seem like a, you know, too bullish or bully.
• 1:25
  Speaker 3: So I want to, You're playing a long game, aren't you?
• 1:28
  Speaker 3: You're playing a long game. Pretty much.
• 1:30
  Speaker 5: Yeah.
• 1:30
  Speaker 3: Probably. You already told Keisha.
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: You know what?
• 1:32
  Speaker 3: Next thing to go is that power hour, Keisha. I
• 1:37
  Speaker 3: already got rid of the bell. I know.
• 1:39
  Speaker 4: I realize it's not so much the Optimus Prime. I
• 1:43
  Speaker 4: think it's the Max loves it so much. You know
• 1:45
  Speaker 4: when somebody loves.
• 1:46
  Speaker 2: Something so much?
• 1:46
  Speaker 3: Yes.
• 1:47
  Speaker 4: And it's annoying that he loves it as much as–
• 1:49
  Speaker 4: I think that's part of it.
• 1:51
  Speaker 3: I get joy from it because– Max loves it so much.
• 1:55
  Speaker 3: You know what I mean? Max loves it so much
• 1:56
  Speaker 3: that I can take his joy. I'm not stealing his joy.
• 1:59
  Speaker 3: I'm just riding on the coattails of his joy. That's all.
• 2:01
  Speaker 4: Yeah, he gives me– you know like when little kids
• 2:03
  Speaker 4: see the fire truck go through the block?
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah. That's the energy he gives me.
• 2:08
  Speaker 4: And he's too big of a growing man to be
• 2:09
  Speaker 4: getting excited off a truck.
• 2:13
  Speaker 2: But I get it.
• 2:14
  Speaker 3: Can I tell you something? And Max and I share a–
• 2:21
  Speaker 3: I guess you'd probably say a little bit of nerdism
• 2:24
  Speaker 3: on certain things. We managed to get the Greek battle
• 2:31
  Speaker 3: at Thermopylae into the first game, the ancient Greek battle
• 2:33
  Speaker 3: of Thermopylae. We were both done without talking about it.
• 2:36
  Speaker 3: We were both in the same wavelength. I got to
• 2:38
  Speaker 3: tell you, though, when I was a kid, so for me,
• 2:40
  Speaker 3: it's always been sports, always. And I'm a big book guy.
• 2:44
  Speaker 3: I like to read. And if I'm not talking about sports,
• 2:47
  Speaker 3: I want to be playing sports. I've been that way
• 2:49
  Speaker 3: my entire life. I remember we had a fire truck
• 2:53
  Speaker 3: roll up, and I've got nothing but respect for firefighters, please.
• 2:57
  Speaker 3: I think what they do is unbelievable. But a fire
• 3:00
  Speaker 3: truck pulled up, and it was in second grade in Mrs.
• 3:03
  Speaker 3: Tickner's class, and everybody got up and ran to the
• 3:07
  Speaker 3: window except me. I'm like, I don't care. You know,
• 3:10
  Speaker 3: if it doesn't have a ball, if it doesn't have
• 3:13
  Speaker 3: a glove, if it doesn't have a bat, you know,
• 3:16
  Speaker 3: if you're not tackling it, it didn't interest me.
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: Right.
• 3:20
  Speaker 3: But Max is clearly into it.
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: Yeah, Max would have ran outside just to wave to
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: the firefighters. He's that type of guy.
• 3:30
  Speaker 3: Oh, man. So, listen, Willie, and I think both Mike
• 3:36
  Speaker 3: McCarthy and Aaron Rodgers said this yesterday. If the defense
• 3:40
  Speaker 3: is going to play that well, they're going to win
• 3:42
  Speaker 3: a lot of football games. We talked about, hey, look,
• 3:44
  Speaker 3: Travion Henderson got his. He got a 39-yard touchdown run.
• 3:47
  Speaker 3: I get it, but I want to talk a little
• 3:53
  Speaker 3: bit about the distribution of labor, as Mike Tomlin used
• 3:57
  Speaker 3: to call it, how guys are playing. But just your
• 4:00
  Speaker 3: overall sense of how this defense has been through two games,
• 4:03
  Speaker 3: because it was 13 points against the Falcons, much tougher test,
• 4:07
  Speaker 3: 13 points against the Patriots, forgetting the seven points they
• 4:10
  Speaker 3: got on defense. Their offense only scored 13 points.
• 4:15
  Speaker 4: I think one of the guys that popped off the
• 4:16
  Speaker 4: tape for me was Alex Heisman. I thought his effort
• 4:19
  Speaker 4: yesterday was– Totally agreed. I mean, he was a menace.
• 4:25
  Speaker 4: His ability to finish tackles, I think he made splash
• 4:28
  Speaker 4: plays in the run game.
• 4:29
  Speaker 2: I thought he was special yesterday.
• 4:33
  Speaker 4: Obviously, TJ got a sack and he got into it,
• 4:35
  Speaker 4: but I think Alex Heisman from a defensive standpoint– from
• 4:39
  Speaker 4: an individual standpoint, excuse me, was somebody that really, really
• 4:43
  Speaker 4: popped off the tape And I think collectively as a unit, man,
• 4:47
  Speaker 4: Jalen Ramsey was all over the place. I thought Jalen
• 4:49
  Speaker 4: had a really solid game. He actually saved a couple
• 4:51
  Speaker 4: of his tackles, saved big plays. And, you know, as
• 4:56
  Speaker 4: we continue to, you know, as this defense continues to
• 5:00
  Speaker 4: learn Patrick Graham's system, you know, there's another level to
• 5:03
  Speaker 4: this defense that I'm excited about. And seeing what Peyton
• 5:07
  Speaker 4: Wilson can do, not only from a coverage standpoint, which
• 5:10
  Speaker 4: I think he showed a little bit of it, but
• 5:11
  Speaker 4: his ability to blitz too, his ability to get home
• 5:14
  Speaker 4: to the quarterback. You know, I think Briscoe's still finding
• 5:17
  Speaker 4: his way. I think right now, defensively, they're starting to
• 5:22
  Speaker 4: buy in to the fact that we're on the mark
• 5:25
  Speaker 4: of being special again. And they, I mean, they showed
• 5:29
  Speaker 4: it back-to-back weeks that they, you hold the team to
• 5:31
  Speaker 4: 13 points, man, especially a team that was in the
• 5:33
  Speaker 4: Super Bowl.
• 5:35
  Speaker 2: I mean, forget about it.
• 5:36
  Speaker 4: I mean, that's something you kind of, that's how you
• 5:38
  Speaker 4: get stars on your helmet back in the college days.
• 5:40
  Speaker 3: Right, yeah. And I will say this, that, you know,
• 5:43
  Speaker 3: I think one other thing we should just point out, again,
• 5:46
  Speaker 3: before we break down, and Willie started exactly where I
• 5:49
  Speaker 3: wanted to start, but when you think about, you know,
• 5:52
  Speaker 3: I just mentioned how much I thought that Michael Pittman
• 5:55
  Speaker 3: could have played a big factor in a game like this.
• 5:57
  Speaker 3: Let's not forget this Steelers defense has turned into excellent games,
• 6:02
  Speaker 3: and they do not have two starting members of their secondary.
• 6:05
  Speaker 3: They do not have Deshaun Elliott, and they do not
• 6:07
  Speaker 3: have Joey Porter. So that is next man up. The
• 6:11
  Speaker 3: depth is very good. We talked about this at the
• 6:13
  Speaker 3: beginning of the season. Willie, it's one of the reasons
• 6:16
  Speaker 3: that I'm bullish on the Steelers having a good season
• 6:19
  Speaker 3: again because I think their depth has gotten better and
• 6:22
  Speaker 3: better over the last couple years. I mean, frankly, would
• 6:28
  Speaker 3: you want Joey Porter Jr.? Absolutely. Could they really use
• 6:31
  Speaker 3: him this week against the Bengals?
• 6:32
  Speaker 2: Yup.
• 6:34
  Speaker 3: But with Asante Samuel Jr. and with the signing of
• 6:36
  Speaker 3: Jamel Dean, you mentioned Jalen Ramsey. You have Echols coming
• 6:40
  Speaker 3: in in the slot. Now, look, you've managed to stay
• 6:43
  Speaker 3: healthy with those four guys. You really haven't missed a beat.
• 6:45
  Speaker 3: I think that secondary has been really pretty good, Willie.
• 6:50
  Speaker 4: They've been really good, but I think the biggest challenge
• 6:51
  Speaker 4: for next week, you're going against an elite receiving core
• 6:55
  Speaker 4: who can score in bunches, right? We know the Bengals
• 6:59
  Speaker 4: can put up 20 to 30-plus points, and when you're
• 7:03
  Speaker 4: going against big-time receivers like that, it's going to take
• 7:06
  Speaker 4: the disruption from the guys up front to really make
• 7:08
  Speaker 4: it hell for Joe.
• 7:09
  Speaker 2: Burrow to deliver the football.
• 7:11
  Speaker 4: And I think we talked about Alex Highsmith having a
• 7:14
  Speaker 4: solid game. But I think from an interior standpoint, this
• 7:17
  Speaker 4: is the game where you want to see Keanu Benton
• 7:20
  Speaker 4: be a game wrecker, right? This is the game where
• 7:22
  Speaker 4: you want to see Cameron Haywood and all those guys
• 7:27
  Speaker 4: really be able to collapse the pockets and get their
• 7:29
  Speaker 4: hands up to get some of those balls down, back
• 7:31
  Speaker 4: those balls down. So as much as this is a
• 7:36
  Speaker 4: big game for the secondary, to hold up against a
• 7:39
  Speaker 4: very good receiver core This is also that game where
• 7:42
  Speaker 4: you want to attack Joe Burrow. Joe Burrow is healthy now,
• 7:45
  Speaker 4: and he's starting to use his legs to kind of
• 7:47
  Speaker 4: extend drives. And one way, if you've got a quarterback
• 7:49
  Speaker 4: who can deliver the ball on time, who's an accurate
• 7:51
  Speaker 4: quarterback like Joe Burrow, you want to be able to
• 7:54
  Speaker 4: collapse that pocket. You want to make it hard. You
• 7:56
  Speaker 4: want to see him kind of make tough throws from
• 7:58
  Speaker 4: out of the well, and that's going to be the key.
• 8:00
  Speaker 4: If I'm T.J. Watt and these guys, man, they got
• 8:04
  Speaker 4: to make it hot. They got to make it hot
• 8:06
  Speaker 4: for Joe Burrow where he's, you know, they're disrupting his rhythm.
• 8:09
  Speaker 4: They're getting him off his spot. and making them see ghosts,
• 8:12
  Speaker 4: and also being able to stand up in the run
• 8:14
  Speaker 4: game is going to be crucial because, you know, one
• 8:16
  Speaker 4: thing they can do, they can fall from behind and
• 8:19
  Speaker 4: they don't really panic because they know they can score quickly.
• 8:22
  Speaker 4: So that's going to be– and it's going to be
• 8:24
  Speaker 4: imperative for the Steelers' run game to really step up
• 8:27
  Speaker 4: because if they're able to keep Joe Burrow off the
• 8:29
  Speaker 4: field and own the time of possession, that only bodes
• 8:32
  Speaker 4: well for the Steelers.
• 8:33
  Speaker 2: So it has to work hand-in-hand.
• 8:36
  Speaker 4: I know there's always going to be– there was an
• 8:38
  Speaker 4: emphasis on getting the run game going this week, but
• 8:42
  Speaker 4: more than ever, excuse me, last week, more than ever
• 8:44
  Speaker 4: this week, the run game has to be able to
• 8:47
  Speaker 4: not help not only the offense, but it has to
• 8:48
  Speaker 4: be able to help the defense to keep Joe Burrow
• 8:50
  Speaker 4: on the bench.
• 8:51
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, the best way to limit Joe Burrow
• 8:54
  Speaker 3: is to not let him have the ball because he's
• 8:56
  Speaker 3: going to make plays and they're going to score points
• 8:59
  Speaker 3: unless something unforeseen happens.
• 9:01
  Speaker 2: But, Rob, this is to your point. This is a
• 9:02
  Speaker 2: Jalen Warren game. This is a Rico McDowell game.
• 9:05
  Speaker 4: These are the games where you lean on these backs
• 9:07
  Speaker 4: to play grinded-out football. You know, three or four yards
• 9:10
  Speaker 4: is good in a game like this. Being able to
• 9:13
  Speaker 4: stay in short and medium is a good game. The
• 9:16
  Speaker 4: thing is, you don't want to fall into third and long,
• 9:19
  Speaker 4: second and long, where we kind of have to kind of,
• 9:20
  Speaker 4: you know, talk about dink and dunk. Those are the
• 9:23
  Speaker 4: things we have to do to kind of stay on
• 9:25
  Speaker 4: top of the sticks. And you want to play. Think
• 9:27
  Speaker 4: about what the Giants did to the Cowboys. They understood
• 9:29
  Speaker 4: if you give Dak Prescott multiple chops at the apple, man,
• 9:33
  Speaker 4: he's going to chew you up. So they chewed the time.
• 9:36
  Speaker 4: Dallas Cowboys only had the ball twice in the second half.
• 9:40
  Speaker 4: That's the type of game the Steelers are going to
• 9:41
  Speaker 4: have to play. That's the type of game the Steelers
• 9:43
  Speaker 4: are going to have to play against the Bengals to
• 9:45
  Speaker 4: get this win. They're going to have to keep Joe
• 9:47
  Speaker 4: Burrow on the bench, and they're going to have to
• 9:48
  Speaker 4: grind it out with the backs we got.
• 9:50
  Speaker 2: But it starts up front, man.
• 9:51
  Speaker 4: I really pray these boys up front learn from it,
• 9:54
  Speaker 4: eat it up, digest it, and just really just come refocus.
• 9:57
  Speaker 2: Destin Lawrence, he seems like he's on a warfare.
• 10:00
  Speaker 3: Right now. Yeah, he is, and we'll get, of course,
• 10:03
  Speaker 3: as we get later on in the week, we're going
• 10:04
  Speaker 3: to have Dan Hoard, play-by-play guy with the Bengals with us.
• 10:06
  Speaker 3: We'll get much more into these matchups. I think Lawrence
• 10:10
  Speaker 3: has had a massive impact on what they're doing defensively,
• 10:13
  Speaker 3: but there's going to be times where the Steelers are
• 10:15
  Speaker 3: going to have to defend. I'll be fascinated again. Patrick
• 10:19
  Speaker 3: Graham used different different personnel. But we saw the three
• 10:23
  Speaker 3: linebackers out there a lot, and I thought all three
• 10:26
  Speaker 3: guys played excellent football. I'm glad you mentioned Alex Highsmith, though,
• 10:30
  Speaker 3: because Alex had two sacks last week. He adds another
• 10:33
  Speaker 3: sack this week. He led the team in sacks a
• 10:36
  Speaker 3: year ago. He only played 13 games. He had nine
• 10:39
  Speaker 3: and a half sacks. I think probably, you know, going
• 10:42
  Speaker 3: back to the season where he had 14 and a
• 10:44
  Speaker 3: half sacks and didn't make the Pro Bowl, I think
• 10:46
  Speaker 3: he's maybe a little bit overlooked nationally. Hopefully he is
• 10:51
  Speaker 3: appreciated here in Pittsburgh. He's one of those guys, I
• 10:57
  Speaker 3: bring up the case of Sean Elliott a lot, where
• 10:59
  Speaker 3: you know he's a good player, but the more you
• 11:01
  Speaker 3: see him, the more you appreciate him. The more I
• 11:03
  Speaker 3: see Alex Highsmith, the more I appreciate him.
• 11:06
  Speaker 4: Well, you appreciate his effort. He's not one of the
• 11:08
  Speaker 4: guys that, you know, as much attention as T.J. Watt, Garner,
• 11:12
  Speaker 4: you know he's on the other end, hitting the other tackle,
• 11:15
  Speaker 4: the arsenal, the pass route. The guy's just not a
• 11:18
  Speaker 4: company of scenes. And he's a guy who could play
• 11:20
  Speaker 4: off the ball and still have impact.
• 11:22
  Speaker 2: A lot of times, especially yesterday, a couple times.
• 11:26
  Speaker 4: When he dropped off from coverage, he was able to
• 11:27
  Speaker 4: rally the ball and make a play. And so he
• 11:31
  Speaker 4: seems like there's levels to his game. And he's also
• 11:34
  Speaker 4: not a me guy, right?
• 11:35
  Speaker 2: You don't see him.
• 11:37
  Speaker 4: He'll give you a little shimmy, a little dance, but
• 11:39
  Speaker 4: he's really kind of like focused and locked in. And
• 11:43
  Speaker 4: when you hear a lot of his interviews, He's always
• 11:45
  Speaker 4: talking about what they need to do as a unit,
• 11:47
  Speaker 4: how much he can add to the unit. It's always
• 11:49
  Speaker 4: about giving, giving, giving. He's never worried about a legacy thing.
• 11:52
  Speaker 4: You know, you don't, you don't hear him talking about
• 11:53
  Speaker 4: his numbers. So he seems like a guy who just
• 11:56
  Speaker 4: brings his lunch pad to work and.
• 11:57
  Speaker 2: Goes to work. Yeah.
• 11:59
  Speaker 3: He is wife incredible in the community too, by the way,
• 12:01
  Speaker 3: to a lot of stuff. You know, you, you, the
• 12:04
  Speaker 3: way you're describing him, it reminded me of another one
• 12:07
  Speaker 3: of my favorites to these guys, especially after his first
• 12:10
  Speaker 3: couple of years when he started taking better angles in
• 12:12
  Speaker 3: his pass rush. But, I was always a big fan
• 12:14
  Speaker 3: of Bud Dupree. You played with Bud, did you not?
• 12:19
  Speaker 2: No, I didn't have Bud, no.
• 12:20
  Speaker 3: Okay, so you were gone when he got– by the
• 12:23
  Speaker 3: time he got here?
• 12:23
  Speaker 2: I was gone with Bud, yeah. I was a Jetman.
• 12:26
  Speaker 3: I always admired him because I always felt like he
• 12:29
  Speaker 3: was just an absolute hustler. Just never stop. Just hustle, hustle, hustle, hustle.
• 12:35
  Speaker 3: Love that in a player. Anyway, you have him.
• 12:40
  Speaker 5: T.J.
• 12:40
  Speaker 3: Watt had another excellent ball game. And Herbig led the
• 12:43
  Speaker 3: team in tackles, came up, he had three tackles for losses,
• 12:48
  Speaker 3: came up with a strip sack. You know, this three,
• 12:51
  Speaker 3: getting those three guys on the field a lot. And
• 12:55
  Speaker 3: it's interesting that Patrick Graham has found a way to
• 12:57
  Speaker 3: do this, and it'll be interesting still to see if
• 12:59
  Speaker 3: he still finds a way to be able to do
• 13:01
  Speaker 3: it against the Cincinnati team that's going to want to,
• 13:04
  Speaker 3: you know, try to spread you out a little bit,
• 13:06
  Speaker 3: more than a little bit. They're going to want to
• 13:07
  Speaker 3: try to throw the football on you. But it's worked.
• 13:10
  Speaker 3: It's been effective. I mean, there's hand wringing the last
• 13:12
  Speaker 3: couple of years. Well, how are you going to get
• 13:14
  Speaker 3: all three of these guys out on the field at
• 13:16
  Speaker 3: the same time? Well, Patrick Graham's doing it. He's, he's
• 13:19
  Speaker 3: showing you how it can be done.
• 13:22
  Speaker 4: Well, not only he's showing you how it's done, he's
• 13:24
  Speaker 4: showing you how effective it could be. I think when
• 13:25
  Speaker 4: you're talking about, you know, when you talk about them,
• 13:29
  Speaker 4: you know, it's, it's interesting because Herbert, a lot of
• 13:32
  Speaker 4: times when you see him, if he's not blitzing, he's,
• 13:35
  Speaker 4: he's covering the back or he's, He's picking up a
• 13:37
  Speaker 4: slot receiver. When you see Alex, sometimes Alex, he's falling
• 13:42
  Speaker 4: back and Herbig's coming. They're not just stagnating how they're
• 13:46
  Speaker 4: playing them. They're coming from different angles and different variations.
• 13:50
  Speaker 4: And I think all three guys, especially, and it started
• 13:53
  Speaker 4: with TJ. This is why I made the statement after
• 13:55
  Speaker 4: the Atlanta Falcons game. When you saw TJ buy in
• 13:59
  Speaker 4: and being able to rush from the right side and
• 14:02
  Speaker 4: to do things out of what he was being comfortable with,
• 14:07
  Speaker 4: it allowed Alex and a lot of the other guys
• 14:10
  Speaker 4: in that room to say, all right, if TJ is
• 14:11
  Speaker 4: willing to do X, Y, Z, then I have to
• 14:13
  Speaker 4: be willing to do X, Y, Z.
• 14:14
  Speaker 2: So I think it's just, it's all coming to fruition.
• 14:18
  Speaker 2: And I also think right now.
• 14:20
  Speaker 4: It can only get better really, because the more you
• 14:23
  Speaker 4: stay in the system, you learn about it and keeping
• 14:26
  Speaker 4: a lot of those guys, like even Alex took some reps,
• 14:29
  Speaker 4: they pulled some reps snaps from Alex and late in
• 14:32
  Speaker 4: the quarter, especially in the fourth quarter, third quarter, rather,
• 14:34
  Speaker 4: he looked a lot fresher. So, I think they're just
• 14:36
  Speaker 4: doing a great job of managing all those guys. And
• 14:39
  Speaker 4: when they're out there, they're all affected.
• 14:41
  Speaker 3: Yeah, we were talking during the commercial break about off-camera,
• 14:45
  Speaker 3: or off-microphone, so it wasn't part of the show, about
• 14:48
  Speaker 3: Jalen Warren. And I'm a big fan of Jalen Warren,
• 14:51
  Speaker 3: always have been. I think he helps you in so
• 14:53
  Speaker 3: many different ways. He's such a hard runner. And, you know,
• 14:56
  Speaker 3: we were talking about the usage, and you brought up
• 14:59
  Speaker 3: the great point. Hey, listen, you're trying to win a championship.
• 15:02
  Speaker 3: You're trying to advance into the playoffs. You don't want
• 15:06
  Speaker 3: to burn out Jalen Warren in September. You want him
• 15:10
  Speaker 3: playing his best football later in the season. Well, how
• 15:12
  Speaker 3: do you do that? You manage his snaps. How do
• 15:15
  Speaker 3: you get Alex Highsmith, Nick Herbig, and T.J. Watt to
• 15:18
  Speaker 3: play their best within a game, but also later in
• 15:22
  Speaker 3: the season, you manage your snaps?
• 15:26
  Speaker 4: Yeah, the thing that brought up Jalen, we even saw
• 15:29
  Speaker 4: Travis Homer get a couple snaps.
• 15:30
  Speaker 2: I know he had that big 14-yard run.
• 15:35
  Speaker 4: But I even liked the fact that they played all
• 15:37
  Speaker 4: three backs. Like I'm, I think if you're able to
• 15:40
  Speaker 4: continue to build and continue to grow and manufacture things
• 15:44
  Speaker 4: where it's a positive on top of tapping into your depth,
• 15:47
  Speaker 4: it only helps your prize horses later down the road.
• 15:50
  Speaker 4: And I think it's a smart way of approaching it.
• 15:52
  Speaker 4: I think defensively is great because we've seen late November,
• 15:56
  Speaker 4: December guys who we need to play are out with
• 15:59
  Speaker 4: an injury or something that they need some time to
• 16:01
  Speaker 4: rest and kind of play through. So yeah, um, I,
• 16:05
  Speaker 4: I just think it's smart. And I'm, I'm glad that
• 16:07
  Speaker 4: we were able to see Travis Homer's get out there.
• 16:09
  Speaker 4: Cause I thought he could, he can be a great
• 16:10
  Speaker 4: addition for the, uh, for Steelers as well.
• 16:13
  Speaker 3: So we're going to talk a little more defense. We're
• 16:14
  Speaker 3: going to talk about something that Mike Tomlin said that
• 16:17
  Speaker 3: got a reaction, uh, from, from the Browns head coach.
• 16:20
  Speaker 3: That was extremely interesting. Uh, we're going to get to
• 16:23
  Speaker 3: that in a little bit.
• 16:24
  Speaker 4: Uh, 412-919-1316.
• 16:24
  Speaker 3: We're going to, Get that number out a few times.
• 16:32
  Speaker 3: Periodically be taking your phone calls. If you want to
• 16:34
  Speaker 3: get one in today, great. If not, we'll let you
• 16:36
  Speaker 3: know when else you can call in at 412-919-1316. We
• 16:40
  Speaker 3: continue in the locker room presented by our neighborhood Ford
• 16:43
  Speaker 3: store and the Steelers Pro Shop on Steelers Nation Radio,
• 16:46
  Speaker 3: part of the Steelers Audio Network.
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: This is In the Locker Room with Rob King, Max Starks,
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: and Willie Colon on Steelers Nation Radio. Brought to you
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: in part by the Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
• 17:06
  Speaker 1: from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop.steelers.com.
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: And by your neighborhood Ford store. The F-150 is the
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: official truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
• 17:19
  Speaker 3: Well, we're trying to hit on some of the positives
• 17:20
  Speaker 3: for the Steelers. Not really... Much to talk about offensively.
• 17:24
  Speaker 3: We did mention Jalen Warren, 11 carries for 43 yards.
• 17:27
  Speaker 3: He ran hard. He always runs hard, but they're just– Hey, okay,
• 17:33
  Speaker 3: one more. Really nice to see Jeremy Bernard, although, Willie,
• 17:37
  Speaker 3: he made the rookie mistake at the end of the game,
• 17:39
  Speaker 3: as Aaron Rodgers called it, trying to run before he
• 17:41
  Speaker 3: had the ball, hit off his knee, wound up popping
• 17:44
  Speaker 3: up in the air and being interception. But good to
• 17:47
  Speaker 3: see him get his first four receptions as an NFL player.
• 17:54
  Speaker 2: Sorry, I lost you there, Rob. Go ahead.
• 17:57
  Speaker 3: I was just looking at the positives. There weren't many offensively.
• 18:02
  Speaker 3: Jalen Warren, 11 carries, 43 yards. I said, you know,
• 18:06
  Speaker 3: he always runs hard. He ran hard. But Jeremy Bernard,
• 18:10
  Speaker 3: even with the mistake late, you know, trying to run
• 18:12
  Speaker 3: before he had the ball, pops off his knee, winds
• 18:15
  Speaker 3: up being an interception. Just good to see him get
• 18:18
  Speaker 3: four receptions, you know. I mean, unfortunately for him, I mean,
• 18:22
  Speaker 3: he would probably be going to bed thinking, wow, cool,
• 18:24
  Speaker 3: four receptions. Probably thinking about that interception a little bit.
• 18:28
  Speaker 3: But just good to see him get involved in the offense.
• 18:31
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I think when we started the season, a lot
• 18:33
  Speaker 4: of people assumed he would be the number three receiver.
• 18:37
  Speaker 4: It turned out to be Roman Wilson. And I'm not
• 18:41
  Speaker 4: trying to bang on a young dude. I think he's
• 18:44
  Speaker 4: obviously talented enough to be in the NFL, but I
• 18:46
  Speaker 4: don't think he's given us anything thus far in his
• 18:48
  Speaker 4: last two weeks. Right now, when you're struggling to produce,
• 18:52
  Speaker 4: you need somebody who can get yards after the carry.
• 18:55
  Speaker 4: And I think Jeremy Bernard gives us that option. When
• 18:59
  Speaker 4: he gets to get the ball in space, he can
• 19:02
  Speaker 4: make one or two dudes miss and turn five yards
• 19:04
  Speaker 4: and potentially 30. Wilson gives me, he's more of a
• 19:08
  Speaker 4: shorthand possession receiver who necessarily, I don't know, can give
• 19:12
  Speaker 4: us that type of impact. So I think you really
• 19:15
  Speaker 4: have to now start shifting snaps towards jeremy bernard way
• 19:20
  Speaker 4: because of what he can do once the football is
• 19:22
  Speaker 4: in his hand um and how and how productive he
• 19:25
  Speaker 4: can be in space the steelers are scrambling for answers
• 19:28
  Speaker 4: right now and if dk is not as dominant as
• 19:31
  Speaker 4: we would like him pitman um is dealing with a
• 19:34
  Speaker 4: foot injury we didn't see a whole lot of uh
• 19:37
  Speaker 4: from our titans yesterday i know fair move had a
• 19:39
  Speaker 4: little bit of uh he started to get going a
• 19:42
  Speaker 4: little bit but i think it's imperative we get a
• 19:45
  Speaker 4: young guy like that his speed and size um we
• 19:48
  Speaker 4: got to find a way to get the ball in
• 19:49
  Speaker 4: his hand a lot more than what we saw yesterday.
• 19:52
  Speaker 3: Yep uh and roman uh yesterday five receptions for 28
• 19:56
  Speaker 3: yards just 5.6 yards per carry we did see him
• 19:58
  Speaker 3: get open uh in atlanta down the field he does
• 20:01
  Speaker 3: have speed and again it'll be interesting you know nothing
• 20:05
  Speaker 3: is clicked into place offensively you know it just hasn't
• 20:09
  Speaker 3: I don't know if we've seen the full picture. A
• 20:13
  Speaker 3: little bit, I use the puzzle analogy sometimes, a little
• 20:16
  Speaker 3: like trying to see the whole picture when all you
• 20:19
  Speaker 3: see is 30 puzzle pieces and you don't know yet
• 20:22
  Speaker 3: how they fit. That's the way it feels like with
• 20:24
  Speaker 3: this offense. I'm not sure how everything fits yet, Willie,
• 20:28
  Speaker 3: because we just really haven't seen it get going yet.
• 20:32
  Speaker 4: Yeah, listen, we can't evaluate anything until you continue to
• 20:36
  Speaker 4: figure out, one, where do you want to go with
• 20:39
  Speaker 4: the football and crucial situations to.
• 20:41
  Speaker 2: What your bread and butters are, right?
• 20:43
  Speaker 4: And meaning like what, when you got to have at moments,
• 20:45
  Speaker 4: what plays or schematically, what are we doing, um, to, to,
• 20:50
  Speaker 4: to execute? I also think right now, if you're the Steelers,
• 20:55
  Speaker 4: you just, you, I think we have to take a
• 20:57
  Speaker 4: more simplistic approach to the, to offense right now. I
• 21:00
  Speaker 4: think some, it seems like sometimes when they're out there,
• 21:03
  Speaker 4: things are just big. It's a little over their head
• 21:04
  Speaker 4: right now. Um, And they got to find a more
• 21:07
  Speaker 4: simplistic way to kind of play the game where everybody
• 21:11
  Speaker 4: involved is able to be effective. And I don't know
• 21:14
  Speaker 4: if that's from a pass protection standpoint. I know from
• 21:16
  Speaker 4: a run game standpoint, I assume they would be a lot,
• 21:20
  Speaker 4: they would be way more ahead than what they are.
• 21:21
  Speaker 4: But I don't even think it's a scheme with them.
• 21:23
  Speaker 4: I think they just got bullied. And from an X
• 21:27
  Speaker 4: to no standpoint, they got to be better with their mechanics.
• 21:30
  Speaker 4: And schematically, they got to be better. They just got
• 21:33
  Speaker 4: to be able to, handle the down linemen a lot better,
• 21:35
  Speaker 4: and to be able to execute on the second level
• 21:37
  Speaker 4: when those linebackers are flying around. Because we have the
• 21:39
  Speaker 4: guys up front where we can push our weight around.
• 21:42
  Speaker 2: But, you know, yesterday we got pushed around.
• 21:44
  Speaker 3: Okay. So, Willie, are you ready for your first phone
• 21:46
  Speaker 3: call as a full-time member of the locker room?
• 21:49
  Speaker 2: Okay. What we got?
• 21:52
  Speaker 3: It's, by the way, the number 412-919-1316. Starting with a
• 21:56
  Speaker 3: friend of the program, Ricky in Georgia. Ricky, thanks for
• 21:59
  Speaker 3: being with us in the locker room.
• 22:02
  Speaker 5: Hey, Rob. How you doing today, man? How y'all doing today?
• 22:04
  Speaker 3: Hey, Willie.
• 22:05
  Speaker 5: What's up with you?
• 22:06
  Speaker 3: Hey, it's great to have Willie Colon in the locker room.
• 22:08
  Speaker 3: Isn't it, Ricky?
• 22:09
  Speaker 5: Yes, sir. Yes, sir.
• 22:12
  Speaker 2: Hey, Willie.
• 22:12
  Speaker 5: Just to let you know, Matt talks about you a lot.
• 22:15
  Speaker 5: I'm glad you joined the show because you want to hit,
• 22:18
  Speaker 5: I can say, the favorite brother of his brotherhood on
• 22:20
  Speaker 5: the offensive line. So, commends to you for joining the
• 22:23
  Speaker 5: show and I get it about the truck horn and
• 22:26
  Speaker 5: the bell. I get how you feel about it. It's
• 22:28
  Speaker 5: kind of like a brother thing. You like this, I
• 22:29
  Speaker 5: like that, all like this. I appreciate that.
• 22:33
  Speaker 4: I better be his favorite. He's my son's godfather, so
• 22:36
  Speaker 4: I better be number one on his list.
• 22:40
  Speaker 5: Hey, that speaks volumes right there, man.
• 22:42
  Speaker 2: That really do.
• 22:44
  Speaker 5: And I'm going to keep good spirits around him. I
• 22:46
  Speaker 5: didn't hate that we had a call like this on
• 22:48
  Speaker 5: the first opening of the season. I was glad everybody
• 22:50
  Speaker 5: had a good offseason just because And the situation that
• 22:53
  Speaker 5: happened yesterday is kind of one of them things where, like,
• 22:56
  Speaker 5: back to the drawing board. But I think there's a
• 22:59
  Speaker 5: lot of positives, but unfortunately, I'm with you on a
• 23:03
  Speaker 5: lot of stuff with it. Like, I think it's more
• 23:05
  Speaker 5: so of a physical standpoint when it comes to the
• 23:08
  Speaker 5: offensive side. Like, I got to be better than my
• 23:11
  Speaker 5: opposition no matter what the situation is, no matter if
• 23:13
  Speaker 5: you're better than me. Don't care if you're the number
• 23:15
  Speaker 5: one or top 100 on the last. I'm going to
• 23:17
  Speaker 5: show you who– Who's the best out here? And I
• 23:20
  Speaker 5: think that's kind of what it is that we kind
• 23:22
  Speaker 5: of like lost sight of that because I didn't see
• 23:24
  Speaker 5: really no guys on offense really sinking together on all levels.
• 23:28
  Speaker 5: One day, one play, you got this good play, then
• 23:30
  Speaker 5: you got a bad play, then you got a penalty here,
• 23:32
  Speaker 5: then you got the momentum shift here. It's just too
• 23:35
  Speaker 5: many different variables to control at one time. Even if
• 23:38
  Speaker 5: I was a coach, I might have to have a
• 23:39
  Speaker 5: kind of justice play call, and the game was kind
• 23:42
  Speaker 5: of like out of momentum sink on those things. So
• 23:44
  Speaker 5: that's why we kind of lost that battle to them.
• 23:46
  Speaker 5: And the defense, they did what they normally do. Yeah,
• 23:49
  Speaker 5: they had a little hiccup here and there, but what
• 23:50
  Speaker 5: can we expect out of them when we ain't winning
• 23:52
  Speaker 5: the time and position game? So, obviously, they're going to
• 23:54
  Speaker 5: get a little tired and lagging about the game. So,
• 23:57
  Speaker 5: it's just one thing about it. So, everyone lost. I
• 24:00
  Speaker 5: hate this, the Patriots. I'm glad it wasn't the Bengals, Browns,
• 24:02
  Speaker 5: or the Ravens. So, it ain't no division loss. And
• 24:04
  Speaker 5: we don't play the L.C. East this year. So, it
• 24:07
  Speaker 5: won't hurt unless it's like coming like a bracketing thing
• 24:10
  Speaker 5: at the end of the season. We lost to the Patriots.
• 24:11
  Speaker 5: But we're going to take this loss as a good loss.
• 24:15
  Speaker 5: We know we've got to work on some things and
• 24:16
  Speaker 5: get better. And keep moving forward.
• 24:19
  Speaker 3: Ricky, thanks for the call. Always good to hear from you,
• 24:21
  Speaker 3: my friend. Glad you're back in the locker room with us.
• 24:24
  Speaker 3: I will say this. You know, it's one of three
• 24:26
  Speaker 3: elite teams the Steelers are playing non-conference because they won
• 24:29
  Speaker 3: the AFC North. The Patriots, the Broncos, the Eagles. And,
• 24:35
  Speaker 3: you know, this would be... If this was a 20-3 beatdown, Willie,
• 24:41
  Speaker 3: I don't think any of us feel like this was
• 24:43
  Speaker 3: a beatdown. This was... And, you know, just listening to
• 24:47
  Speaker 3: some of the stuff Ricky was talking about, look, through
• 24:49
  Speaker 3: two games, you're five for 25 on third down. I
• 24:52
  Speaker 3: know some of that comes from not running the ball better.
• 24:55
  Speaker 3: You know, that bizarre 36-yard fumble that takes a score
• 25:01
  Speaker 3: off the board. You're in Chris Boswell field goal range.
• 25:03
  Speaker 3: The interception late. It wasn't like the Steelers went up there.
• 25:07
  Speaker 3: The Steelers won time of possession. It wasn't like they
• 25:09
  Speaker 3: went up there and got abused and got outclassed. They
• 25:14
  Speaker 3: lost the game. You could lose the game. I used
• 25:16
  Speaker 3: to tell this to people all the time. Willie, you
• 25:18
  Speaker 3: were part of these teams. Sometimes the Steelers beat teams
• 25:21
  Speaker 3: 20-3 and it was a blowout.
• 25:23
  Speaker 2: You know what I mean?
• 25:23
  Speaker 3: Like you never had any chance. The team never had
• 25:26
  Speaker 3: a chance. Other teams are putting up 49 points. Oh,
• 25:29
  Speaker 3: it was a blowout. Well, yeah, the Steelers won 20-3.
• 25:32
  Speaker 3: That was a blowout too. I didn't feel that way
• 25:35
  Speaker 3: at all about yesterday's game at all. You went against
• 25:39
  Speaker 3: the AFC champs back to the wall already early in
• 25:42
  Speaker 3: the season. their place, home opener, all that going for them.
• 25:46
  Speaker 3: And I didn't feel like it was, you were outclassed
• 25:49
  Speaker 3: at all.
• 25:51
  Speaker 2: Well, I think you just, I saw a couple things.
• 25:53
  Speaker 4: I think you go into the season feeling like you just,
• 25:56
  Speaker 4: you had enough talent to kind of win dogfights, right?
• 25:59
  Speaker 4: From a roster standpoint. And that didn't show up for you.
• 26:02
  Speaker 4: So you're disappointed from that aspect. To Ricky's point, yeah,
• 26:06
  Speaker 4: you lost to the Patriots and you haven't played any
• 26:10
  Speaker 4: division games yet. But like I said earlier, Playing the
• 26:13
  Speaker 4: Patriots was like a litmus test. You want to see
• 26:15
  Speaker 4: how you fare against another worthy opposition. And when you
• 26:19
  Speaker 4: offensively don't live up to the challenge, it makes you
• 26:23
  Speaker 4: question everything around you, especially up front in which way
• 26:26
  Speaker 4: we got handled. I think right now it's more of,
• 26:30
  Speaker 4: for the Steelers, especially the offensive line and Aaron Rodgers,
• 26:34
  Speaker 4: I think it's more of a chemistry thing than a
• 26:36
  Speaker 4: talent thing, which are two different conversations. I do think
• 26:39
  Speaker 4: we have the talent to compete against anybody. It's not
• 26:42
  Speaker 4: like we lack talent to compete with anybody. That's a
• 26:45
  Speaker 4: bigger issue. There are some teams in the NFL who
• 26:48
  Speaker 4: are dealing with talent issues. The Steelers aren't dealing with
• 26:50
  Speaker 4: a talent issue. They're dealing with a continuity issue. They're
• 26:53
  Speaker 4: dealing with a chemistry issue. They're dealing with a communication issue.
• 26:57
  Speaker 4: Because from a talent standpoint, I do think we are
• 27:00
  Speaker 4: competent enough and competitive enough to go against anybody. But
• 27:03
  Speaker 4: when you're dealing with not having Michael Pitt out there,
• 27:06
  Speaker 4: who is huge, not getting more production out of your
• 27:08
  Speaker 4: tight end, not being able to run the ball, Those
• 27:11
  Speaker 4: are all things, in my eyes, you can fix.
• 27:15
  Speaker 2: It's not like we don't have the guys to fix them.
• 27:17
  Speaker 4: So I don't wake up Monday feeling like, oh, you know,
• 27:22
  Speaker 4: the sky is coming down. I wake up feeling like,
• 27:25
  Speaker 4: all right, this Steelers team needs to get in the
• 27:26
  Speaker 4: lab and really figure out who they are and what
• 27:29
  Speaker 4: they want to be and how can they continue to
• 27:32
  Speaker 4: protect Aaron Rodgers. And Aaron Rodgers, you know, him getting
• 27:35
  Speaker 4: knocked around, I don't know how to say it.
• 27:38
  Speaker 2: I'm just going to say it. It was a good thing, right?
• 27:41
  Speaker 4: It's a good thing because I think if you live
• 27:43
  Speaker 4: in this world feeling like you're not going to hit
• 27:45
  Speaker 4: or you constantly have to get rid of the football
• 27:46
  Speaker 4: so you don't get hit, sometimes you need to kind
• 27:50
  Speaker 4: of get your bell rung to kind of set off
• 27:52
  Speaker 4: the alarm.
• 27:52
  Speaker 2: A little bit.
• 27:53
  Speaker 4: So I think this is going to be a better–
• 27:56
  Speaker 4: it's going to be– they'll be fine. I know they
• 27:58
  Speaker 4: will be fine. It's just a matter of them staying together.
• 28:02
  Speaker 4: I think if I was any cause for concern, sometimes
• 28:05
  Speaker 4: you tend to panic Because there's an expectation, and when
• 28:08
  Speaker 4: you don't meet the expectation, you start finding things to
• 28:10
  Speaker 4: kind of try to put out when you really just
• 28:12
  Speaker 4: have to continue to be focused on your work and
• 28:16
  Speaker 4: just be in detail about your work.
• 28:18
  Speaker 2: And usually that gets you out of whatever rut you're in.
• 28:20
  Speaker 3: You know, we talked. I just want to finish off
• 28:22
  Speaker 3: one thing. We want to get to the Mike Tomlin
• 28:25
  Speaker 3: thing coming up in the next segment. Very interesting from
• 28:27
  Speaker 3: Sunday Night Football. One other guy I wanted to point
• 28:29
  Speaker 3: out that I thought played a good game, and I
• 28:32
  Speaker 3: think we identified the three outside linebackers. when I say
• 28:35
  Speaker 3: the three, obviously they're not the only three that played
• 28:38
  Speaker 3: Jack Sawyer was out there as well, but those three
• 28:40
  Speaker 3: highly paid guys, um, really getting the job done on defense. Uh,
• 28:45
  Speaker 3: Derek Harmon up front, eight tackles had a half a
• 28:47
  Speaker 3: sack early on in the game. Um, Hey, look again, I,
• 28:52
  Speaker 3: you know, you invested a first round pick in this guy.
• 28:55
  Speaker 3: And so you want him to produce. And he went
• 28:57
  Speaker 3: out there. That's where he played his first game last year,
• 28:59
  Speaker 3: by the way, after missing the first couple of an injury,
• 29:02
  Speaker 3: also had a sack in that game. Um, He produced.
• 29:04
  Speaker 3: I thought Derek Harmon looked good. I, too.
• 29:08
  Speaker 2: And we talked about we needed those type of games
• 29:11
  Speaker 2: from him.
• 29:11
  Speaker 4: We're going to continue to need those type of games
• 29:13
  Speaker 4: because we're going to need to own the.
• 29:14
  Speaker 2: Line of scrimmage.
• 29:15
  Speaker 4: And I said this going into the game against the Patriots.
• 29:20
  Speaker 4: For them to have a shot, they were going to
• 29:22
  Speaker 4: have to own the line of scrimmage.
• 29:23
  Speaker 2: And, yeah, sure.
• 29:24
  Speaker 4: And Ricky alluded to it, and you talked about it.
• 29:27
  Speaker 4: They had a couple of runs to get away from him.
• 29:28
  Speaker 4: For the most part, we handled those guys. And they
• 29:30
  Speaker 4: lost their big right tackle. Excuse me, their big right guard,
• 29:33
  Speaker 4: who I love, um, Michael Anuano, the right guard for
• 29:37
  Speaker 4: the Patriots. He went down, but overall, man, it was
• 29:40
  Speaker 4: good to see Derek and those boys up front really
• 29:43
  Speaker 4: kind of control the line of scrimmage and be effective
• 29:45
  Speaker 4: and have an impact to the point where they felt
• 29:47
  Speaker 4: like they had to throw the ball to kind of
• 29:49
  Speaker 4: compete against the Steelers.
• 29:50
  Speaker 2: Um, and it wasn't just, Hey, we want to spread
• 29:52
  Speaker 2: them out and, and run down their throats. That wasn't
• 29:55
  Speaker 2: the case at all.
• 29:57
  Speaker 3: Steelers lose by the final score of 20 to three. And, uh,
• 30:00
  Speaker 3: Maybe a little more talk on that, but some interesting
• 30:03
  Speaker 3: comments from Willie's former head coach on Mike Tomlin. Got
• 30:06
  Speaker 3: some very interesting comments in response from Todd Munkin. We
• 30:10
  Speaker 3: will tell you about that. You're going to hear those
• 30:12
  Speaker 3: comments when we continue. In the locker room, presented by
• 30:15
  Speaker 3: your neighborhood Ford store and the Steelers Pro Shop on
• 30:17
  Speaker 3: Steelers Nation Radio, a part of the Steelers Audio Network.
• 30:26
  Speaker 1: This is In the Locker Room with Rob King, Max Starks,
• 30:30
  Speaker 1: and Willie Colon on Steelers Nation Radio, brought to you
• 30:34
  Speaker 1: in part by the Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
• 30:37
  Speaker 1: from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop.steelers.com.
• 30:41
  Speaker 1: And by your neighborhood Ford store. The F-150 is the
• 30:46
  Speaker 1: official truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
• 30:50
  Speaker 6: All right, Max Stortz is not here. The driver, the
• 30:54
  Speaker 6: captain of the ship, Rob King, is doing a hell
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  Speaker 6: of a job as always. And it's that time of
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  Speaker 6: the show where we drop the bell and we blow
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  Speaker 6: the horns.
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  Speaker 5: Yes, yes, yes, yes.
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  Speaker 3: Oh, man.
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  Speaker 2: We've got to love it.
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  Speaker 3: We did it. Well done, Willie.
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  Speaker 2: I appreciate it, brother.
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  Speaker 3: So, yeah, if you're just joining us now, and by
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  Speaker 3: the way, our thanks to Ricky for being the first
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  Speaker 3: phone call. We're going to be taking phone calls periodically
• 31:30
  Speaker 3: throughout the course of the show. Mondays, I think, are
• 31:32
  Speaker 3: going to be our days. We look forward to your
• 31:34
  Speaker 3: reaction following the Steelers' hopefully victories, but also losses at 412-919-1316. So,
• 31:42
  Speaker 3: Willie got his first call with Ricky and his first
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  Speaker 3: introduction of the Bell dinner. We still don't know what
• 31:48
  Speaker 3: to call that. We still haven't come up with a name.
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  Speaker 4: I guess it's kind of the– we'll let that be
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  Speaker 4: the horn to let the troops come home.
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  Speaker 2: Everybody just rally on back to the house.
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  Speaker 3: That's what it'll do.
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  Speaker 5: Yep.
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  Speaker 3: I love it, too. I love the sound. By the way,
• 32:03
  Speaker 3: Max tried to share this stat with us. We talked
• 32:04
  Speaker 3: about next-gen stats. One final thing on the O-line and
• 32:09
  Speaker 3: the Aaron Rodgers dropbacks. This was one of those next-gen stats.
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  Speaker 3: The highest pressure rate he has faced as a Steelers
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  Speaker 3: starting quarterback 19 of 44 dropbacks. He went eight for 17,
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  Speaker 3: 42 yards, two sacks, and a pick. Of course, that
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  Speaker 3: pick was not his pick, really. Got to protect him better.
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  Speaker 3: Got to run the football better. We know all that.
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  Speaker 3: We'll dive more into that. But, Willie, last week on
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  Speaker 3: Sunday Night Football, Mike Tomlin was asked about the Browns
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  Speaker 3: after they suffered their blowout loss in week one. And
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  Speaker 3: he said, as my good friend Juju Smith-Schuster once said,
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  Speaker 3: The Browns is the Browns. So, evidently that didn't sit
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  Speaker 3: well in Cleveland because I don't think Todd Munkin was
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  Speaker 3: actually asked about this. But this was his reaction after
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  Speaker 3: the Browns came up with a week two victory.
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  Speaker 5: In the words of my friend Juju Smith-Schuster, the Browns
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  Speaker 5: is the Browns.
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  Speaker 3: Browns are going to Browns.
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  Speaker 2: F * * * that. Okay?
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  Speaker 3: So, the guys took that to heart. Thank you.
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  Speaker 4: I guess we lost Rob. Rob is down right now.
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  Speaker 4: We're responding back to the Todd Munkin comments. And listen,
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  Speaker 4: what's interesting about Todd Munkin, he is somebody who's, you know,
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  Speaker 4: taking on the new head coaching job for Cleveland Browns.
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  Speaker 4: He's trying to shuffle out, trying to get rid of
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  Speaker 4: the media controversy that kind of surrounds his team with
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  Speaker 4: Deshaun Watson and Shador Sanders. they played well yesterday against
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  Speaker 4: the Buccaneers. It was a scrappy fight. Deshaun Watson did
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  Speaker 4: play better. They put up a fight. If you need
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  Speaker 4: the Steelers and Mike Tomlin's commentary to kind.
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  Speaker 2: Of motivate you to play better, then we did you
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  Speaker 2: a favor.
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  Speaker 4: Because as we know, the division is getting a lot stronger.
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  Speaker 4: The Baltimore Ravens look better. The Bengals obviously are who
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  Speaker 4: they are. They can score points. But collectively, the Steelers
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  Speaker 4: right now, If you need a retired head coach in
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  Speaker 4: Mike Tomlin to motivate you to get you to play better,
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  Speaker 4: then Todd Munkin shouldn't be discouraged about what Mike Tomlin
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  Speaker 4: had to say. He should say thank you. So if
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  Speaker 4: I'm Coach Munkin, if you will, you know, hate to
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  Speaker 4: play it, not the game, if you will, Justin.
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  Speaker 2: You know, and here's what– I also would say this.
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  Speaker 2: Are you back, Rob?
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  Speaker 5: Yeah, go ahead, Will.
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  Speaker 2: Say it. No, I was going to say this.
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  Speaker 4: As much as we want to, you know, Todd Monken
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  Speaker 4: wants to hate Mike Tomlin, Mike Tomlin motivated a team
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  Speaker 4: that needed motivation. You know, after you lose a bad
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  Speaker 4: game to, first of all, Jaguars are a damn good team.
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  Speaker 4: They lost just at the post, but we expect them
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  Speaker 4: to be, have a place at the table playoff time.
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  Speaker 4: But if Todd Monken wants to credit Mike Tomlin's, you know,
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  Speaker 4: commentary to getting his team up to par and ready
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  Speaker 4: to play, then he should be careful because Mike Tomlin
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  Speaker 4: may be the next coach of the Browns.
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  Speaker 2: Maybe he's the one that can stir that, you know,
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  Speaker 2: drive that ship. So we'll see.
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  Speaker 4: But I think Tom Munkin allowed Mike Tomlin to live
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  Speaker 4: rent-free in his head when it really should be all
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  Speaker 4: about the Browns.
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  Speaker 3: Mike Tomlin, of course, what I was saying, Willie, unfortunately,
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  Speaker 3: I don't know what happened technically, but what he said
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  Speaker 3: after the game, because you're never going to get the
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  Speaker 3: last word of Mike Tomlin. You know, he's always going
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  Speaker 3: to have something that he's going to be able to
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  Speaker 3: come back with. And when they showed that clip after
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  Speaker 3: the game, he said, well, I'm still glad that I
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  Speaker 3: can motivate guys and I'm not even a head coach anymore.
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  Speaker 3: So that was exactly his comment, which you just said,
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  Speaker 3: which is priceless and good stuff from Mike Tomlin. But, hey,
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  Speaker 3: you know what? One of the things I'll say about
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  Speaker 3: Mike Tomlin and, you know, you sometimes wonder whether guys
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  Speaker 3: are going to come on those national programs and say
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  Speaker 3: what they feel. One thing I hope people have already
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  Speaker 3: figured out in the locker room here is with Willie Cologne,
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  Speaker 3: the New Yorker and Willie Cologne. Willie Cologne is going
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  Speaker 3: to tell you what he thinks, right? A lot of guys,
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  Speaker 3: they get on TV, they don't want to tell you
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  Speaker 3: what they think, right? Luckily for me, my job is
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  Speaker 3: not to tell people, normally is not to tell people
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  Speaker 3: what I think. My job is to let the analysts
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  Speaker 3: tell people what they think. But he hasn't equivocated, man.
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  Speaker 3: He's come out and said what he thinks. And that
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  Speaker 3: is refreshing because a lot of guys want to tow
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  Speaker 3: the company line and and don't want to cross over it.
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  Speaker 3: And Mike Tomlin has shown early on that that doesn't
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  Speaker 3: bother him.
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  Speaker 4: Well, it's still good to see he still has some
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  Speaker 4: of that AFC North blood lust kind of boiling in
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  Speaker 4: his veins. I think for anybody who knows Mike Tomlin,
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  Speaker 4: watched him, he's never going to– yeah, he can be
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  Speaker 4: a trickster with words, so to speak. He can definitely
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  Speaker 4: paint the picture. But it's not– He doesn't study. He
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  Speaker 4: doesn't slur his words. It may not come.
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  Speaker 2: It comes like a breeze, and you're able to feel
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  Speaker 2: where he's coming from.
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  Speaker 4: So I think Todd Munkin and the rest of the division,
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  Speaker 4: I think people are starting to, I think collectively, and
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  Speaker 4: this is what you need to do, man. You have
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  Speaker 4: to feel motivated because I think everybody that picked the
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  Speaker 4: division winner, whether it was going to be the Bengals,
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  Speaker 4: the Ravens, hell, now the Browns seem like they're starting
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  Speaker 4: to catch sail by beating the Bucs. The Steelers have
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  Speaker 4: a great opportunity to kind of ride underneath the radar
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  Speaker 4: in a weird way because nobody's expecting anything in front
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  Speaker 4: of them.
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  Speaker 2: You get what I'm saying, Rob?
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  Speaker 4: A lot of people are saying like, well, they look
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  Speaker 4: like the same old Steelers. They smell like the same
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  Speaker 4: old Steelers. There's nothing that we should be wild out
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  Speaker 4: or interested in. And for me, that's okay.
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  Speaker 2: You know what I mean?
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  Speaker 4: It's okay from this standpoint. If you're not going to
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  Speaker 4: pay us any attention or if you're not going to
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  Speaker 4: give us the national love, whatever the case may be,
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  Speaker 4: It just allows us to continue to work. And when
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  Speaker 4: we have a place at the table and people are like, well,
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  Speaker 4: how did they get there? They had a 42-year-old quarterback.
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  Speaker 4: They couldn't run the ball. They just down to third.
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  Speaker 4: They just tell us to turn on the tape.
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  Speaker 2: We got better. We continue to grind. We continue to
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  Speaker 2: figure it out.
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  Speaker 4: And we did it under a new head coach in
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  Speaker 4: Mike McCarthy, who, by the way, has a winning record,
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  Speaker 4: who has done things from his past to kind of
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  Speaker 4: revamp and revitalize an offense. So I'm a fan of
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  Speaker 4: the underdog, because it only makes you more hungry and
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  Speaker 4: makes you more detailed on your work.
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  Speaker 2: So if that's the approach the Steelers are going to take,
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  Speaker 2: watch out.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, and it is a national narrative, even in the,
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  Speaker 3: I believe it was the first Fox game when I
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  Speaker 3: was listening back, it was, well, they seem to be
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  Speaker 3: stuck in this, you.
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  Speaker 2: Know, middle ground of nine, ten wins.
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  Speaker 3: And losing in the first round of the playoffs, which,
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  Speaker 3: and I understand that, but that's the middle ground, it's
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  Speaker 3: the high middle ground, you know, there's still 18 teams
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  Speaker 3: a year not making the playoffs, but I'm not trying
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  Speaker 3: to defend that, I'm just saying that that's that's the perception. Look,
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  Speaker 3: the Steelers have stated that their goal is not to
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  Speaker 3: just be in that, if you want to call that
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  Speaker 3: purgatory either. But it's, I think that people are, there's
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  Speaker 3: a little bit of exhaustion of nine, 10 wins and
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  Speaker 3: people want to see them out of that. They want
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  Speaker 3: somebody else with some fresh blood and some new team
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  Speaker 3: with a different scheme and a different way of doing things.
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  Speaker 3: The Steelers don't want to be that team that seeds
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  Speaker 3: that to another program. Good for the Steelers. Hopefully they
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  Speaker 3: can continue to move on. Willie, the final thing that
• 39:39
  Speaker 3: I want to ask you as we move on here
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  Speaker 3: after this week and of course we'll have Max Starks
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  Speaker 3: coming in tomorrow. We'll get a couple of his comments
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  Speaker 3: as well. What happens now after a loss like this?
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  Speaker 3: I know we know Mike McCarthy is going to speak today.
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  Speaker 3: The coordinator is going to speak today. From the player's perspective.
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  Speaker 2: What's going to happen? What is the expectation?
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  Speaker 3: Look, there are losses where you probably come in and
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  Speaker 3: expect to get reamed by the coaching staff. I don't
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  Speaker 3: think this is one of those losses that's week two
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  Speaker 3: of the season. What is going to be the message,
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  Speaker 3: do you think, and what is going to be the
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  Speaker 3: necessary response from the players and the coaching staff to
• 40:18
  Speaker 3: get themselves ready for the first AFC North game on Sunday.
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  Speaker 2: So you're right, Rob.
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  Speaker 4: I don't think this is one of those games where
• 40:25
  Speaker 4: you ring the players out, but this is one of
• 40:28
  Speaker 4: the games where you need to ring the.
• 40:29
  Speaker 2: Players out, and I'll tell you why.
• 40:31
  Speaker 4: Because you can't allow the standard to fall, especially if
• 40:39
  Speaker 4: you're Mike McCarthy. The standard is not only do you
• 40:44
  Speaker 4: expect to win individual attempts, But you would expect a
• 40:47
  Speaker 4: brand of football to look a lot better than what
• 40:49
  Speaker 4: it's been the last.
• 40:49
  Speaker 2: Two weeks from an offensive standpoint.
• 40:53
  Speaker 4: You can't have last year's woes be this year's woes.
• 40:56
  Speaker 2: You have to be able to run the football.
• 40:58
  Speaker 4: You have to be able to depend on an offensive
• 41:00
  Speaker 4: line that's not young anymore. Those guys have played enough
• 41:02
  Speaker 4: football together where they should be playing better, even despite
• 41:08
  Speaker 4: maybe some communication errors or whatever. You just expect a
• 41:12
  Speaker 4: level of play to be better on the road when
• 41:15
  Speaker 4: you're My mantra and how I was taught the game,
• 41:18
  Speaker 4: especially as a younger guy, learning about the offensive line
• 41:21
  Speaker 4: and what it means to be an offensive lineman, your
• 41:24
  Speaker 4: goal is to put out fires. When everything around you
• 41:27
  Speaker 4: is kind of on fire and you're looking for answers,
• 41:29
  Speaker 4: the offensive line has to be the unit to get
• 41:32
  Speaker 4: you out of that burning building. And collectively, when you
• 41:36
  Speaker 4: don't see them respond in that manner, now you have
• 41:38
  Speaker 4: to go underneath the hood and you got to.
• 41:40
  Speaker 2: Find out why.
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  Speaker 4: And if you know behind the curtain guys aren't, doing
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  Speaker 4: what they need to do, aren't taking extra time in
• 41:47
  Speaker 4: the building, aren't doing that extra things at practice, aren't
• 41:51
  Speaker 4: more focused on the details of work, then that's a
• 41:54
  Speaker 4: problem because there is an expectation for this office to
• 41:57
  Speaker 4: be explosive, to do a better job in a run game.
• 42:00
  Speaker 4: And you have to let know, you have to let
• 42:01
  Speaker 4: these guys know, yeah, it's week two, but the performance isn't,
• 42:06
  Speaker 4: isn't acceptable. You know, you just, you're dealing with a
• 42:09
  Speaker 4: quarterback who can get you over the hump, but he
• 42:12
  Speaker 4: can't do it alone. So yeah, Yeah, you don't want
• 42:14
  Speaker 4: the guys to panic, but you damn sure want to ring.
• 42:17
  Speaker 4: You damn sure you want.
• 42:18
  Speaker 2: To knock some heads around and let them know that
• 42:20
  Speaker 2: they have to play better. Why? Because schedule gets harder, right?
• 42:23
  Speaker 4: There will be times where they're going to have to
• 42:26
  Speaker 4: lean on the offensive line to close games. The only
• 42:29
  Speaker 4: way to close games is by being able to clock
• 42:31
  Speaker 4: and run the football. And so you have to set
• 42:34
  Speaker 4: a precedent of what's expected of those guys up front
• 42:37
  Speaker 4: and what they need to be. That doesn't mean they
• 42:38
  Speaker 4: have to tuck their tails and get all, you know, oh,
• 42:42
  Speaker 4: woe is me. No, that's not the way of going
• 42:44
  Speaker 4: about it. But as a unit, any time we've ever
• 42:48
  Speaker 4: had tough games, from the coaches I have, whether it
• 42:50
  Speaker 4: was from Russ Grimm to Sean Coogler to Larry Zerline,
• 42:55
  Speaker 4: we got rid of our rights. But we responded by
• 42:58
  Speaker 4: being mentally tougher and, two, figuring out what was wrong
• 43:01
  Speaker 4: and why and make sure that doesn't happen again. So
• 43:04
  Speaker 4: this isn't about throwing the tape away and saying, oh,
• 43:06
  Speaker 4: that was just an ugly loss.
• 43:08
  Speaker 2: We'll get over it. No, you got to read the team.
• 43:10
  Speaker 4: You got to read them boys their rights and show
• 43:13
  Speaker 4: them that they have to be firefighters, man.
• 43:15
  Speaker 2: They got to put out fires because that's what's expected
• 43:17
  Speaker 2: of them.
• 43:19
  Speaker 3: Willie Colon, perfect way to wrap up the show. A
• 43:23
  Speaker 3: show that saw Willie introducing the trumpet, horn, bugle, whatever
• 43:27
  Speaker 3: the heck we're calling it, and take his first phone
• 43:29
  Speaker 3: call with Ricky in Georgia. Max starts back tomorrow. Willie,
• 43:33
  Speaker 3: a lot of fun spending time with you today, my friend.
• 43:35
  Speaker 2: Appreciate it. Yes, sir. Appreciate it.
• 43:39
  Speaker 3: For Willie Colon, for Justin Miller, the controls back at
• 43:42
  Speaker 3: our iHeart Studio, I'm Rob King. We thank you, as always,
• 43:45
  Speaker 3: for listening. In the locker room, presented by our neighborhood
• 43:47
  Speaker 3: Ford store and the Steelers Pro Shop on Steelers Nation Radio,
• 43:50
  Speaker 3: a part of the Steelers Audio Network.