Latest / The Steelers Report / HR 2: Tom Opferman Joins the Show, NFL Hot Takes & Leaders

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HR 2: Tom Opferman Joins the Show, NFL Hot Takes & Leaders · The Steelers Report

• 0:07
  Speaker 1: This is the Steelers Report with Brian Batko and Ed
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: Truth on Steelers Nation Radio, a part of the Steelers
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: Audio Network.
• 0:17
  Speaker 2: Kicking off our second hour with a familiar face, a
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: familiar voice. One of our favorites here on SNR, that's
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: for sure. Tom Offerman, his debut on the Steelers Report.
• 0:30
  Speaker 3: How about that, Tom? This is your first time on
• 0:32
  Speaker 3: the Report.
• 0:33
  Speaker 4: It's such an incredible honor. I can't believe it. I
• 0:37
  Speaker 4: didn't realize that until you said that to me, so
• 0:39
  Speaker 4: now I just feel the pressure of the hit, and
• 0:42
  Speaker 4: I hope I can deliver.
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: Well, Tom is the OG of the Steelers Standard, which
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: used to be here on SNR a while back, in
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: which Brian Bacco and I hosted here leading up to
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: just about a month ago then we retired the Steelers
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: standard and we debuted the Steelers report so Tom you're
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: of course have been on the blitz here at SNR
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: this is your second year and now with Vince Williams
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: who's also a familiar voice and face for Brian and
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: I because we had him on there our show earlier
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: this summer for a few times a test run for
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: for Vince, and now he's with you each and every day.
• 1:16
  Speaker 3: You guys are doing a great job on there.
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: It has to be really cool to be with Vince
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: each and every day to talk Steeler football.
• 1:22
  Speaker 4: Oh, my God, yeah. It's been incredible being with Vince Williams.
• 1:25
  Speaker 4: He's taken to it in such an incredible way so quickly,
• 1:30
  Speaker 4: and his ability to kind of get his knowledge out
• 1:34
  Speaker 4: of his football brain and bring it to the listeners
• 1:38
  Speaker 4: and make it palatable for them and put it in
• 1:40
  Speaker 4: ways that they can understand, he's been incredible, yeah. But
• 1:43
  Speaker 4: I don't want to suck up to the guy too much.
• 1:45
  Speaker 4: I mean, we've got to keep him humble, right?
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: That's right.
• 1:46
  Speaker 3: You've got to keep him on that path, my friend.
• 1:48
  Speaker 3: That's for sure.
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: Well, Tom, let's talk about the Pittsburgh Steelers so far.
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: Two and two on the season. A bit of a
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: mixed bag, right? Up and down, rollercoaster of a ride
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: through four games. One thing that, and I'm sure you
• 1:58
  Speaker 2: and Vince have talked on The Blitz this week about
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: that Brian and I have talked about here on The Report,
• 2:03
  Speaker 2: is this being a bounce-back week for the black and gold.
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: Much like what we saw in New England in Week 2,
• 2:08
  Speaker 2: They turn around, they respond against the Bengals. The Cleveland
• 2:11
  Speaker 2: game was a different animal than the New England game.
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: First and fourth quarter, hey, thumbs up, right? Second and
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: third quarter, not so much. But this is a good week,
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: a bounce-back week potentially for the Black and Gold.
• 2:21
  Speaker 4: It is, and I have a lot of confidence that
• 2:23
  Speaker 4: they're going to bounce back because we saw them bounce
• 2:26
  Speaker 4: back against Cincinnati when things seemed pretty dire following that
• 2:29
  Speaker 4: New England game. It was a lot of how they're
• 2:31
  Speaker 4: going to beat the Bengals. They got no shot in
• 2:33
  Speaker 4: this game. I think I even picked the Bengals to
• 2:35
  Speaker 4: win that football game against the Steelers, so They surprised
• 2:38
  Speaker 4: us all. Typical thing that would happen under Mike Tomlin,
• 2:42
  Speaker 4: but this isn't Mike Tomlin anymore. So it was an
• 2:44
  Speaker 4: unknown of how they'd respond under the new coaching staff.
• 2:47
  Speaker 4: And they did it. They responded well. So I got
• 2:49
  Speaker 4: a lot of confidence now that we're in a bounce
• 2:51
  Speaker 4: back situation again, that they'll be able to bounce back
• 2:56
  Speaker 4: and the team will be in the right mindset. But
• 2:58
  Speaker 4: here's the thing, Ed, I don't want to keep having
• 3:00
  Speaker 4: to bounce back. Like, okay, it's fine that you had
• 3:02
  Speaker 4: to bounce back after week two. It's fine that you
• 3:05
  Speaker 4: had to bounce back after week four. But if we're
• 3:07
  Speaker 4: bouncing back after week seven and then week nine, week 12,
• 3:10
  Speaker 4: that's how you get to nine and eight or eight
• 3:11
  Speaker 4: and nine.
• 3:12
  Speaker 3: Yeah, it's definitely the path to get there.
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: You got to start putting some consistency together and some
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: wins together, Tom. And, you know, you look at these
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: next four games. You got the game against the Colts
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: this week. Then you turn around with a game at
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: Tampa Bay. You go to Paris and France to play
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: the New Orleans Saints. before coming back home to get
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: a rematch against the Browns. I've said it all week,
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: the Steelers really, I mean, you want to win all four,
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: but you really need to go 3-1 in these next
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: four going into the bye week, because after that bye week,
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: once again, the second half of the schedule is very heavy.
• 3:41
  Speaker 4: I think that's non-negotiable. I think you have got to,
• 3:43
  Speaker 4: at the very least, be 3-1. You'll be 5-3 then,
• 3:47
  Speaker 4: heading into the second half of the season. I can
• 3:50
  Speaker 4: stomach that. I'm worried about it, but I can stomach that.
• 3:53
  Speaker 4: I could see them getting to the playoffs from there.
• 3:55
  Speaker 4: 6-2 would make you feel a lot better. If they
• 3:58
  Speaker 4: were 6-2, I could see them getting four more wins,
• 4:02
  Speaker 4: getting to 10 and getting into the playoffs. I don't
• 4:04
  Speaker 4: want to say easily, but the path is a lot
• 4:07
  Speaker 4: clearer then. But sweeping all of these games, going on
• 4:11
  Speaker 4: a 4-0 run into the bye week, not impossible, but...
• 4:17
  Speaker 4: But the team itself, the Steelers, haven't really given you
• 4:19
  Speaker 4: any inclination that they'd be capable to do that.
• 4:21
  Speaker 2: At least up to this point, they haven't given you
• 4:24
  Speaker 2: that look through the first four games. But one look
• 4:27
  Speaker 2: they have given us the last two weeks is an
• 4:29
  Speaker 2: improved running game in the uses of Jalen Warren. His
• 4:34
  Speaker 2: last two games, he has gone for 34 carries for
• 4:37
  Speaker 2: 220 yards on the ground, another six catches for 82 yards,
• 4:40
  Speaker 2: 302 total offensive yards in two games. Right now, Jalen
• 4:44
  Speaker 2: Warren would be your team MVP if the season ended today.
• 4:47
  Speaker 2: They've got to continue to get Warren the football out
• 4:49
  Speaker 2: of the backfield, either running or throwing it to him.
• 4:52
  Speaker 4: I think it's very clear who their best weapon is
• 4:55
  Speaker 4: on the offensive side of the ball. McCarthy this week,
• 4:58
  Speaker 4: Mike McCarthy saying that we need to get some of
• 5:00
  Speaker 4: the younger guys involved in the running game. I kind
• 5:03
  Speaker 4: of hope he's not truthful as far as that's concerned.
• 5:06
  Speaker 4: If Dowdle can play, which doesn't look like he's going
• 5:08
  Speaker 4: to again this week, but if he can play, I'm
• 5:11
  Speaker 4: open to having him dip into some of the Warren
• 5:13
  Speaker 4: carries to help Warren's durability issues and sustain him throughout
• 5:18
  Speaker 4: games and this season. But if it's not him, I
• 5:22
  Speaker 4: don't want to take that ball out of Warren's hands whatsoever.
• 5:26
  Speaker 4: And to steal a line from the old head coach,
• 5:28
  Speaker 4: I'm not going to live in my fears with that
• 5:30
  Speaker 4: where he might get hurt. So we have to guard
• 5:33
  Speaker 4: against that. Can't afford that. He's the best player on
• 5:36
  Speaker 4: the offensive side of the ball. I mean, Ed, you
• 5:38
  Speaker 4: look at the yards per carry, he's like fifth in
• 5:41
  Speaker 4: the league. He is as effective as some of the
• 5:44
  Speaker 4: premier running backs in the NFL. His carries just aren't
• 5:48
  Speaker 4: matching the carry total that some of those other backs have.
• 5:52
  Speaker 4: And I'm not saying he's got to be 89 carry
• 5:54
  Speaker 4: guy like Derrick Henry is or Jonathan Taylor is who
• 5:57
  Speaker 4: we're playing this Sunday, but lean into him a lot more.
• 6:02
  Speaker 4: And it doesn't have to just be with carries. It
• 6:04
  Speaker 4: can be out of the backfield in the passing game,
• 6:06
  Speaker 4: five or six touchdowns. Put it this way, and Vince
• 6:09
  Speaker 4: has said this earlier in the Blitz, 25 touches is
• 6:13
  Speaker 4: what you need from Jalen Warren. If it's got to
• 6:15
  Speaker 4: be 10 in the pass, 15 in the rush, whatever,
• 6:19
  Speaker 4: Just get them the ball 25 times.
• 6:21
  Speaker 2: Yeah, they'll take that for sure. They have to, especially
• 6:25
  Speaker 2: the last two games. The offensive line's starting to block
• 6:27
  Speaker 2: a bit better. Some clunky blocking in that Cleveland game.
• 6:30
  Speaker 2: It wasn't as clean as it was against the Cincinnati Bengals,
• 6:33
  Speaker 2: but at least they're back on track there. We're talking
• 6:36
  Speaker 2: with Tom Offerman, who's the host of the Blitz here
• 6:38
  Speaker 2: on SNR. You can hear that each and every day
• 6:40
  Speaker 2: from 10 until 12 with Vince Williams. You can also
• 6:43
  Speaker 2: hear Tom on Game Day's Countdown to Kickoff. which kicks
• 6:47
  Speaker 2: off each and every Pittsburgh Steelers game with Matt Williamson. Tom,
• 6:50
  Speaker 2: let's talk about DK Metcalf in his last couple games.
• 6:53
  Speaker 2: He's really starting to heat up. Maybe DK has figured
• 6:56
  Speaker 2: out DK. Maybe the Steelers offense with Mike McCarthy has
• 6:59
  Speaker 2: figured out DK Metcalf.
• 7:01
  Speaker 3: But facts are facts.
• 7:02
  Speaker 2: Their last two games, he has eight catches for 146
• 7:04
  Speaker 2: yards and a touchdown on 14 targets.
• 7:08
  Speaker 4: Having those kind of statistical performances from Metcalf, They don't
• 7:13
  Speaker 4: go where they want to go as a team, as
• 7:16
  Speaker 4: an offense, if he's not kind of pushing that bus forward.
• 7:20
  Speaker 4: I think when you spread the ball around, when you
• 7:23
  Speaker 4: get everybody else involved, the attention off of DK Metcalf,
• 7:27
  Speaker 4: he then can be who we think he can be,
• 7:30
  Speaker 4: what he's paid to be in this offense. I just
• 7:34
  Speaker 4: think that this week in particular, too, against the Indianapolis Colts,
• 7:38
  Speaker 4: That's a secondary that gives up a lot of explosive plays.
• 7:41
  Speaker 4: And I know Sauce Gardner is a great player, but
• 7:44
  Speaker 4: he's not playing that great. And there's really no one
• 7:46
  Speaker 4: else around him. And there's no pass rush up front
• 7:49
  Speaker 4: for the Indianapolis Colts either. DK needs to build off
• 7:53
  Speaker 4: of his performance last week in Cleveland. He needs a
• 7:56
  Speaker 4: 100-yard performance. I know Sauce, again, is elite. But this
• 7:59
  Speaker 4: is probably the weakest overall secondary he's faced.
• 8:02
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I agree with you on that as well.
• 8:04
  Speaker 2: There's going to be some opportunities for DK Metcalf this
• 8:07
  Speaker 2: upcoming Sunday. Specifically, what you just said, it's not the
• 8:09
  Speaker 2: same secondary that he saw the first four weeks of
• 8:13
  Speaker 2: the season. We're talking with Tom Offerman. Once again, Tom
• 8:15
  Speaker 2: is the host. of the Blitz here on SNR with
• 8:18
  Speaker 2: Vince Williams. You can also catch Tom on Countdown to
• 8:20
  Speaker 2: Kickoff on game days with Matt Williamson right here on
• 8:23
  Speaker 2: Steelers Nation Radio and the Steelers Audio Networks. One more
• 8:27
  Speaker 2: thought on the wide receiver room, Tom. I want to
• 8:29
  Speaker 2: get your thoughts on Roman Wilson so far this season.
• 8:32
  Speaker 2: The 2025 season, 12 catches, 166 yards, two touchdowns in
• 8:37
  Speaker 2: 13 games. So far this season in just four games,
• 8:40
  Speaker 2: 14 catches for 188 yards and two touchdowns. Your thoughts
• 8:45
  Speaker 2: on Roman Wilson so far this season?
• 8:47
  Speaker 4: I actually think that Roman Wilson is really starting to
• 8:49
  Speaker 4: emerge as just the number three wide receiver in this offense,
• 8:53
  Speaker 4: but potentially the number two wide receiver in the offense.
• 8:55
  Speaker 4: And we were talking on the Blitz this week about
• 8:57
  Speaker 4: how DK and Roman are really starting to maybe form
• 9:00
  Speaker 4: that one-two punch as far as the receiving room is concerned.
• 9:04
  Speaker 4: The Pittman thing is upsetting. Injuries happen. You can't control them.
• 9:07
  Speaker 4: But it is upsetting that he has been plagued by
• 9:09
  Speaker 4: these injuries through the start of his Steelers career. But
• 9:12
  Speaker 4: it's an opportunity for Roman Wilson and one that he's taken.
• 9:16
  Speaker 4: And I'm encouraged that he had a great game against
• 9:18
  Speaker 4: the Bengals until he didn't. He had the gaff drop,
• 9:20
  Speaker 4: picked off. Cincinnati gets a ton of momentum off of that.
• 9:23
  Speaker 4: Then he gets pinched. I think he played well against
• 9:25
  Speaker 4: the Bengals. He found his own again. But he avoided
• 9:27
  Speaker 4: that low light. He didn't really have the low light
• 9:29
  Speaker 4: against Cleveland. You're seeing progression with him. You're seeing him
• 9:32
  Speaker 4: get comfortable at the NFL level. I'm very, very high
• 9:35
  Speaker 4: on Roman Wilson so far this year. You're finally starting
• 9:38
  Speaker 4: to see on the actual playing field what so many
• 9:41
  Speaker 4: reporters and our colleagues at the Audio Network, Ed, said
• 9:44
  Speaker 4: they were seeing in practices and training camp.
• 9:46
  Speaker 3: Yeah, 100%. I'm with you there on Roman Wilson, too.
• 9:49
  Speaker 2: And quite frankly, Tom, the Steelers need Roman Wilson to
• 9:53
  Speaker 2: be that dude, to be that guy in this offense.
• 9:56
  Speaker 2: They need Roman Wilson to have that breakout. They need
• 9:59
  Speaker 2: Roman Wilson to take that next step forward in this offense.
• 10:02
  Speaker 3: And I'm with you so far. So good.
• 10:05
  Speaker 2: Tom, just a few more minutes left with you. We've
• 10:07
  Speaker 2: talked a lot of offense. Let's talk some defense now.
• 10:09
  Speaker 2: TJ Watt on a tear through four games, 13 tackles,
• 10:14
  Speaker 2: four and a half sacks, six and a half tackle
• 10:16
  Speaker 2: for losses. Two pass deflections, a touchdown, forced fumble, fumble recovery,
• 10:20
  Speaker 2: tight end. The two plays in Cleveland that really stood
• 10:24
  Speaker 2: out to me was the batted down pass where he
• 10:26
  Speaker 2: went from behind on a would-be screen type setup from
• 10:29
  Speaker 2: Deshaun Watson to Junkins. And the other was when they
• 10:32
  Speaker 2: showed a fake handoff to the inside and TJ Watts
• 10:36
  Speaker 2: showed Deshaun Watson that he was biting on it, but oh,
• 10:39
  Speaker 2: not so fast, my friend. He went to the other
• 10:41
  Speaker 2: direction and then sacked Deshaun Watson in the backfield. I mean,
• 10:45
  Speaker 2: really just two incredible special plays that you just don't
• 10:48
  Speaker 2: see in the NFL.
• 10:49
  Speaker 3: And T.J.
• 10:50
  Speaker 2: Watt looks like he's back on that path for potentially
• 10:53
  Speaker 2: Defensive Player.
• 10:54
  Speaker 4: Of the Year. Yeah, you said earlier I think Jalen
• 10:57
  Speaker 4: Warren might be the team MVP for the Steelers this year.
• 10:59
  Speaker 4: Certainly a candidate, but I think it's T.J. I think T.J.
• 11:02
  Speaker 4: 's been the team MVP. He has been what you
• 11:05
  Speaker 4: want him to be, what you expect him to be.
• 11:08
  Speaker 4: And he's already, like, what, three sacks away from matching
• 11:11
  Speaker 4: his total from last season already? Everything is perfect as
• 11:16
  Speaker 4: far as Watt is concerned. I like the usage of him.
• 11:19
  Speaker 4: No real negative marks as far as Watt's concerned this season.
• 11:22
  Speaker 4: But the guys around him, his supporting cast in that
• 11:25
  Speaker 4: edge-rushing room. Highsmith had a hot start. Where's he been
• 11:29
  Speaker 4: the past couple of weeks? Herbig has had one good
• 11:31
  Speaker 4: game this year against the New England Patriots. It's not
• 11:34
  Speaker 4: about Watt. It's about the cast around him stepping up.
• 11:37
  Speaker 4: when it comes to the defense.
• 11:38
  Speaker 3: Yeah, you mentioned it.
• 11:39
  Speaker 2: Some of those other edge rushers have disappeared at times,
• 11:42
  Speaker 2: but TJ Watt has been Mr.
• 11:44
  Speaker 3: Consistency.
• 11:44
  Speaker 2: Last question for you, Tom, before we let you go.
• 11:47
  Speaker 2: The Steelers are banged up a little bit on defense too.
• 11:49
  Speaker 2: Derek Harmon now on the IR. He'll be out for
• 11:52
  Speaker 2: four weeks. Jalen Ramsey is nursing the wrist. Jamel Dean
• 11:55
  Speaker 2: does not look to be a go for this upcoming weekend.
• 11:58
  Speaker 2: How do the Steelers respond to some of these injuries?
• 12:00
  Speaker 2: I mean, every NFL team has injuries. The Colts have
• 12:03
  Speaker 2: a bunch of injuries, too, by the way. But they
• 12:05
  Speaker 2: have to get through it here the next few weeks,
• 12:07
  Speaker 2: and they will miss Derek Harmon at least for the
• 12:09
  Speaker 2: next four.
• 12:09
  Speaker 4: I'm less nervous about Harmon than I am Jamel Dean
• 12:13
  Speaker 4: in the secondary. I just think that you have Cam Hayward,
• 12:17
  Speaker 4: first and foremost. You have Keanu Benton, who, by the way,
• 12:21
  Speaker 4: got to step up now, got your money. It's time
• 12:23
  Speaker 4: to now be a run-stuffer. I know that that's not
• 12:26
  Speaker 4: your thing. your bag. You don't necessarily like that, but
• 12:29
  Speaker 4: no choice now. You're going to have to be better
• 12:30
  Speaker 4: as far as that's concerned.
• 12:32
  Speaker 2: Y.A.
• 12:32
  Speaker 4: Black, solid. Sebastian Joseph Day, solid. These two rookies, Rubio
• 12:37
  Speaker 4: and Jobity, confidence, but a confidence nonetheless when it comes
• 12:39
  Speaker 4: to them surviving the Harmon injury. Secondary is the part
• 12:42
  Speaker 4: that worries you more so, I think, and Daylon Everett
• 12:46
  Speaker 4: is going to just have to play a lot. I
• 12:49
  Speaker 4: don't think Sean Murphy, Bunting, or Terrell Smith These practice
• 12:52
  Speaker 4: squad guys that they signed, they're going to get helmets.
• 12:54
  Speaker 4: I don't think they jump right into the pecking order
• 12:56
  Speaker 4: of being the starting outside corner. So it's on Samuel
• 12:59
  Speaker 4: and it's on Everett. Ed, fortunate in a way that
• 13:03
  Speaker 4: this is your matchup because there's no one with Pierce
• 13:06
  Speaker 4: injured for the Colts that can really take the top
• 13:08
  Speaker 4: off your defense. It's going to be a lot of
• 13:09
  Speaker 4: underneath stuff and a lot of tackling after the catch
• 13:12
  Speaker 4: for the secondary.
• 13:12
  Speaker 2: If there was one week that that has to happen,
• 13:15
  Speaker 2: this would be the week to do it.
• 13:16
  Speaker 3: Against the Colts. And as you said, that wide receiver
• 13:19
  Speaker 3: core banged up too. Hey, Tom, we enjoyed it. Thank
• 13:21
  Speaker 3: you so much for stopping by. We will do it again,
• 13:24
  Speaker 3: my friend. It's always good to talk to you.
• 13:25
  Speaker 2: And again, you can hear Tom Offerman, Matt Williamson this Sunday,
• 13:30
  Speaker 2: kicking things off on the countdown to kickoff to get
• 13:32
  Speaker 2: you set for Colts Steelers, as well as each and
• 13:34
  Speaker 2: every day with our good friend, Vince Williams.
• 13:37
  Speaker 3: On the Blitz from 10 till 12. Thanks again, Tom.
• 13:39
  Speaker 4: Anytime, guys. Always a pleasure.
• 13:41
  Speaker 3: Whenever we come back here.
• 13:42
  Speaker 2: On The Report, we're going to get into some terrible
• 13:44
  Speaker 2: takes in and around the NFL.
• 13:46
  Speaker 3: He's Brian Bacco. I'm Ed Troop.
• 13:47
  Speaker 2: It's The Steelers Report right here on Steelers Nation Radio,
• 13:50
  Speaker 2: part of the Steelers Audio Network.
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: This is the Steelers Report with Brian Batko and Ed
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: Troop on Steelers Nation Radio, a part of the Steelers
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: Audio Network.
• 14:11
  Speaker 2: Awesome stuff from Tom Offerman. Always good to talk to Tom.
• 14:16
  Speaker 2: He's the host of The Blitz, as we said, right
• 14:18
  Speaker 2: here on SNR with Vince Williams, 10 to 12 each day.
• 14:21
  Speaker 2: You can also hear him with Matt Williamson on Countdown
• 14:23
  Speaker 2: to Kickoff. And Tom's a busy guy this time of
• 14:27
  Speaker 2: the year. We're all busy this time of the year,
• 14:29
  Speaker 2: Double B, that's for sure. But it's always good to
• 14:31
  Speaker 2: get some insight from some other hosts in and around
• 14:34
  Speaker 2: the SNR family. We'll have Wes Shuler on either next
• 14:38
  Speaker 2: week or the week after as well.
• 14:39
  Speaker 3: We'll talk to him. He's the host of The Drive,
• 14:41
  Speaker 3: which you can hear.
• 14:41
  Speaker 2: Up next with Matt Williamson starting today at 4 o'clock.
• 14:47
  Speaker 5: Of our SNR crew, our SNR family, it's going to
• 14:51
  Speaker 5: be a fun rest of this first season with the
• 14:54
  Speaker 5: new look line up and getting some new voices in here.
• 14:59
  Speaker 5: Tom's not a new voice, obviously, on the network, but
• 15:02
  Speaker 5: he is for our show, The Steelers Report. And he's
• 15:06
  Speaker 5: got his new co-host, Vince Williams.
• 15:09
  Speaker 6: And this is going to be all gas, no brakes.
• 15:12
  Speaker 5: Well, maybe a little bit of brakes on the bye week,
• 15:14
  Speaker 5: but we'll see. We'll cross that bridge when we get
• 15:16
  Speaker 5: to it. Can't think that far ahead. But even in Paris,
• 15:18
  Speaker 5: we'll be doing shows from out there. I think Wes
• 15:21
  Speaker 5: and I will be chopping it up for you guys.
• 15:24
  Speaker 6: It'll be.
• 15:26
  Speaker 5: afternoon-ish time here but it'll be evening time out there
• 15:29
  Speaker 5: the the locker room will still be going strong from
• 15:32
  Speaker 5: out there so uh looking forward to that and you
• 15:34
  Speaker 5: ed will get a chance i think to maybe kick
• 15:36
  Speaker 5: your feet up a little bit and i don't know
• 15:39
  Speaker 5: eat a baguette or what else do they do in
• 15:42
  Speaker 5: paris uh what do.
• 15:43
  Speaker 3: They what do they drink in paris.
• 15:46
  Speaker 2: Uh i'm not sure i mean maybe i'm not sure
• 15:49
  Speaker 2: double b i mean french fries are always a popular
• 15:52
  Speaker 2: uh popular item over.
• 15:53
  Speaker 5: There right And I guess champagne would be the obvious one.
• 15:58
  Speaker 5: You can pop some bubbly and, you know, not have
• 16:01
  Speaker 5: to talk to me for a little bit. So congratulations
• 16:04
  Speaker 5: to you.
• 16:05
  Speaker 2: We'll definitely work it out on our side. That's coming
• 16:08
  Speaker 2: up in just a few weeks. It's coming up quick
• 16:11
  Speaker 2: being over in Paris. Double B, let's get to some leftovers.
• 16:15
  Speaker 2: Do you like leftovers or are you big on leftovers?
• 16:18
  Speaker 2: And if you are, what is your favorite leftover to have?
• 16:21
  Speaker 3: I think it depends.
• 16:22
  Speaker 5: I think the stuff that holds up best leftover-wise is
• 16:25
  Speaker 5: like Thai food because sometimes the spices and the sauces
• 16:30
  Speaker 5: mix in there even better. I'd say probably the same
• 16:32
  Speaker 5: for Indian, maybe Chinese as well, Japanese. Worst stuff for leftovers,
• 16:40
  Speaker 5: I mean, I think any bread-related item, that's going to
• 16:44
  Speaker 5: be a tough one. Anything with lettuce is going to
• 16:46
  Speaker 5: be a tough one. So, yeah, I'm generally pro-leftovers. it's
• 16:52
  Speaker 5: not as good as getting stuff fresh, but Thanksgiving leftovers,
• 16:57
  Speaker 5: if we're just talking American food, I guess, if you will,
• 17:01
  Speaker 5: that probably takes the cake.
• 17:04
  Speaker 3: Oh, for sure. No doubt. Thanksgiving.
• 17:06
  Speaker 4: Absolutely.
• 17:07
  Speaker 2: I mean, you can eat that stuff for like a
• 17:08
  Speaker 2: week afterwards. I'm big on pizza, leftover pizza, of course,
• 17:12
  Speaker 2: and also pasta. I like leftover pasta and Maybe I'm
• 17:16
  Speaker 2: a little bit crazy.
• 17:17
  Speaker 3: I don't know.
• 17:17
  Speaker 2: Maybe our listening audience can tell me. I like cold pasta.
• 17:20
  Speaker 2: I'll get it out of the fridge and just eat
• 17:22
  Speaker 2: it cold. Not when I make it. When I make it,
• 17:24
  Speaker 2: I got to eat it hot. But as a leftover,
• 17:25
  Speaker 2: I like it cold.
• 17:27
  Speaker 6: Can't really get on board with that one.
• 17:29
  Speaker 5: I mean, don't get me wrong. If it's a really
• 17:31
  Speaker 5: good pasta, I'll do it. And, you know, cold pizza
• 17:35
  Speaker 5: is fine with me. But I think Thanksgiving is probably
• 17:38
  Speaker 5: the leftover holiday of the year. As long as you
• 17:43
  Speaker 5: don't wait too long and then those mashed potatoes get.
• 17:45
  Speaker 6: Kind of Wumpy and gross.
• 17:47
  Speaker 5: I'll tell you what's been a leftovers game changer for
• 17:50
  Speaker 5: me is the air fryer sometimes to to just real
• 17:54
  Speaker 5: quickly crisp something up again.
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: Yes.
• 17:57
  Speaker 5: You don't have to go microwave or stovetop. Just pop
• 17:59
  Speaker 5: it in that air fryer and suddenly you're your chicken
• 18:03
  Speaker 5: tendies or your fries are pretty good again.
• 18:05
  Speaker 2: And go ahead and heat up that. I mean, cold
• 18:07
  Speaker 2: pizza is great cold. But if you want to warm
• 18:09
  Speaker 2: it up, put it in the air fryer. Have you
• 18:11
  Speaker 2: done that?
• 18:12
  Speaker 5: I don't know that I've tried that move yet, but
• 18:15
  Speaker 5: I generally don't even worry about it because I am,
• 18:17
  Speaker 5: like I said, a cold pizza guy, but I will
• 18:21
  Speaker 5: give that a shot. I haven't had a ton of
• 18:23
  Speaker 5: pizza lately. My kid gets pizza every Friday at school.
• 18:26
  Speaker 5: That's like their thing in their lunch cafeteria. So I
• 18:30
  Speaker 5: don't usually want him to double down with a second
• 18:33
  Speaker 5: pizza on dinner on Friday nights. And I think for
• 18:36
  Speaker 5: most people out there, Friday is the best day to
• 18:38
  Speaker 5: have pizza. I don't usually go searching it out on a,
• 18:42
  Speaker 5: monday or tuesday but i might have to do that.
• 18:44
  Speaker 2: Soon that's pizza night for us and we will travel
• 18:47
  Speaker 2: to get good pizza on friday night and when i
• 18:49
  Speaker 2: say travel i'm talking about going uh you know out
• 18:53
  Speaker 2: of the area at least maybe not more than an
• 18:55
  Speaker 2: hour double b i'd probably keep it at least under
• 18:57
  Speaker 2: an hour before um i would uh you know i
• 19:02
  Speaker 2: don't know maybe i would go longer than an hour
• 19:03
  Speaker 2: to go get a good pizza i don't know send
• 19:05
  Speaker 2: us a tweet out there what's your favorite pizza Let
• 19:08
  Speaker 2: us know, and maybe we'll even get me and Brian
• 19:11
  Speaker 2: one of these days on the show to talk about
• 19:14
  Speaker 2: what our favorite pizzas are. There's a lot of good
• 19:17
  Speaker 2: ones in and around the city, Brian, that's for sure.
• 19:19
  Speaker 2: So maybe a whole segment one of these days will be,
• 19:22
  Speaker 2: what is our favorite pizza?
• 19:24
  Speaker 5: In the spring, certainly, when we're trying to lighten the
• 19:28
  Speaker 5: mood and liven up the atmosphere in these dog days
• 19:31
  Speaker 5: of post, well, after the season, before, the draft and
• 19:37
  Speaker 5: all of that, yeah, that's a good idea. We'll put
• 19:40
  Speaker 5: a pin in that one, Ed.
• 19:41
  Speaker 2: Well, we're talking leftovers because I have some leftover terrible
• 19:43
  Speaker 2: takes for you, but these ones involve the NFL. First up,
• 19:47
  Speaker 2: the 49ers are the best of the four. 4-0 undefeated
• 19:51
  Speaker 2: teams left. They're better than Kansas City and they're better
• 19:54
  Speaker 2: than the Vikings.
• 19:58
  Speaker 5: I'm going to say that's a terrible take. This is
• 20:00
  Speaker 5: baked into my rankings, I guess, from yesterday's show. I
• 20:05
  Speaker 5: think the Chiefs are the best 4-0 team in my
• 20:08
  Speaker 5: mind and it's it's partially the health, but it's also,
• 20:12
  Speaker 5: you know, they're not as healthy as they were coming
• 20:15
  Speaker 5: into the season, but it's also just, you've seen them
• 20:18
  Speaker 5: do it. To me, there's some comfort in the Andy Reid,
• 20:23
  Speaker 5: Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelsey, Chris Jones, Nucleus has been to
• 20:27
  Speaker 5: the mountaintop and won it all, what, three times is
• 20:31
  Speaker 5: it now, I think? So, yeah, I mean, they would
• 20:34
  Speaker 5: get the nod for me. The 49ers have been very good,
• 20:37
  Speaker 5: but No, I wouldn't really vacillate too much between those two.
• 20:42
  Speaker 5: I think it's pretty clearly the Chiefs for my money.
• 20:45
  Speaker 2: I'm with the 49ers. I think they're the best of
• 20:48
  Speaker 2: those three, but the Chiefs are not far behind. And
• 20:50
  Speaker 2: I tell you what, I love that defense of the
• 20:52
  Speaker 2: Vikings that you've been selling me the last few weeks,
• 20:54
  Speaker 2: and I finally bought this week when we did our
• 20:57
  Speaker 2: power rankings yesterday. They seem to be the real deal
• 21:00
  Speaker 2: after four weeks. We'll see if they can continue that
• 21:02
  Speaker 2: throughout this season. And as I said yesterday... Look, the
• 21:06
  Speaker 2: 2000 Ravens didn't have an offense. They had a defense,
• 21:09
  Speaker 2: the best in the NFL, one of the best ever
• 21:11
  Speaker 2: in the NFL, and they rode that all the way
• 21:13
  Speaker 2: to a Super Bowl title. All right, let's talk 0-4
• 21:16
  Speaker 2: teams next. The Dolphins are the worst of the 0-4
• 21:19
  Speaker 2: teams left with the Houston Texans, the LA Chargers, the
• 21:23
  Speaker 2: Tennessee Titans, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
• 21:27
  Speaker 5: Not a terrible take. I think that one's maybe pretty obvious,
• 21:31
  Speaker 5: although if the Bucs don't get Baker Mayfield back soon,
• 21:36
  Speaker 5: It might be Tampa, surprisingly enough, my preseason NFC South
• 21:41
  Speaker 5: winner choice to take that division. I think Jeff Halfley
• 21:46
  Speaker 5: is going to be a good head coach. I think
• 21:49
  Speaker 5: he has what it takes. But I just think this
• 21:50
  Speaker 5: Dolphins roster was so depleted. And I mean, let's just
• 21:56
  Speaker 5: keep it real for a second. Like they basically punted
• 21:58
  Speaker 5: on this year. I know they signed Malik Willis. I
• 22:01
  Speaker 5: don't think that was like a, hey, we're expecting to
• 22:04
  Speaker 5: hit the ground running with him and compete. In year one, granted,
• 22:07
  Speaker 5: the Raiders are doing that over in the other end
• 22:10
  Speaker 5: of the AFC. But yeah, I think the Dolphins are
• 22:14
  Speaker 5: are pretty clearly the the worst team in the league
• 22:16
  Speaker 5: right now.
• 22:17
  Speaker 2: You know, we talked a lot about Malik Willis being
• 22:19
  Speaker 2: a potential fit for the Steelers this past offseason. He
• 22:22
  Speaker 2: was the hottest free agent when it came to a quarterback.
• 22:24
  Speaker 2: I have not seen the Dolphins play much, but I
• 22:26
  Speaker 2: did catch them a bit last week, and I did
• 22:28
  Speaker 2: watch Malik Willis. Didn't really stand out to me much, Brian.
• 22:32
  Speaker 2: I want to ask you, I'm guessing you're probably just
• 22:34
  Speaker 2: like me. You haven't seen much of Willis so far
• 22:36
  Speaker 2: this season, but if you were able to catch a
• 22:38
  Speaker 2: couple clips, what have you made out with him now
• 22:41
  Speaker 2: being a starting quarterback in the NFL, specifically for the Dolphins?
• 22:46
  Speaker 5: That's exactly it, Ed. I've seen some clips, and in
• 22:50
  Speaker 5: a way, that's not really surprising because Malik Willis, the
• 22:55
  Speaker 5: whole kind of conceit of him this offseason was he
• 22:59
  Speaker 5: was a small sample size guy, but there's some really
• 23:02
  Speaker 5: wild moments in that small sample. And I feel like
• 23:05
  Speaker 5: it's been much the same way through his first four
• 23:08
  Speaker 5: games in Miami. I saw one the other day. I
• 23:10
  Speaker 5: think he was rolling out to his right and somehow
• 23:13
  Speaker 5: like one of those plays where he fired it off
• 23:15
  Speaker 5: right before he got to the sideline, right before he
• 23:17
  Speaker 5: got hit. And it was on a rope and an
• 23:20
  Speaker 5: accurate throw. We know he's mobile. We know he's got
• 23:23
  Speaker 5: a big arm. We saw that in his spurts with
• 23:25
  Speaker 5: the Packers. There's not much around him right now. So
• 23:29
  Speaker 5: I'm going to reserve judgment on whether that was a
• 23:32
  Speaker 5: good or bad signing until the Dolphins can get... Here
• 23:36
  Speaker 5: are the leading target getters for the Dolphins so far, Ed.
• 23:40
  Speaker 5: Malik Washington, Caleb Douglas, Chris Bell, Ryan Miller, Greg Dolsic.
• 23:46
  Speaker 5: I mean, what are we doing here, Miami? If any
• 23:50
  Speaker 5: team needs Jeremiah Smith, next season i think it's his
• 23:53
  Speaker 5: his hometown.
• 23:54
  Speaker 2: Team well that seems to be the path that they
• 23:57
  Speaker 2: are on they are they are in that sweepstakes deep
• 24:00
  Speaker 2: right now at oh and four speaking of oh and
• 24:02
  Speaker 2: four one last take terrible or not uh on the
• 24:05
  Speaker 2: own four teams the chargers at oh and four are
• 24:09
  Speaker 2: more of a surprise than the texans who are also.
• 24:12
  Speaker 4: Oh and four.
• 24:14
  Speaker 3: Um but who was the first team you said the
• 24:18
  Speaker 3: la chargers Yeah, yeah.
• 24:20
  Speaker 5: All right, so Chargers or Texans? Ooh, that's a good
• 24:24
  Speaker 5: one because I had both making the playoffs, I think,
• 24:27
  Speaker 5: coming into the season.
• 24:29
  Speaker 1: Yep.
• 24:29
  Speaker 5: I think the Texans are the most surprising because they
• 24:31
  Speaker 5: didn't have as much instability. I should say they didn't
• 24:36
  Speaker 5: have as much change in the coaching realm. The Chargers
• 24:41
  Speaker 5: brought in Mike McDaniel. I thought that was really going
• 24:43
  Speaker 5: to work for their offense. It has not yet. You
• 24:46
  Speaker 5: had to at least keep open the possibility that it
• 24:48
  Speaker 5: was not going to work. Whereas the Texans, they had
• 24:51
  Speaker 5: so much continuity year over year for a team that
• 24:55
  Speaker 5: really played well down the stretch last season. Obviously came
• 24:57
  Speaker 5: into Pittsburgh and gave the Steelers a real tough night
• 25:02
  Speaker 5: there in the wildcard round. And then were in the
• 25:05
  Speaker 5: fight all the way to the end with New England,
• 25:07
  Speaker 5: if not for some poor play from C.J.
• 25:09
  Speaker 4: Stroud.
• 25:11
  Speaker 5: So it's even more surprising how it's happened that the
• 25:14
  Speaker 5: defense has kind of fallen behind. fallen on its face
• 25:17
  Speaker 5: and Stroud's actually been okay from what I've seen. So yeah,
• 25:20
  Speaker 5: I think from that standpoint and just in general preseason expectations,
• 25:24
  Speaker 5: I'd say both are, both are shocking to me, but
• 25:28
  Speaker 5: the Texans even a little bit more.
• 25:29
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 25:30
  Speaker 2: Texans with me too, especially because of that defense coming
• 25:33
  Speaker 2: into this season.
• 25:34
  Speaker 5: All right.
• 25:34
  Speaker 2: Our next terrible take, let's look at the NFC South.
• 25:37
  Speaker 2: The Panthers are two and two. The Falcons are two
• 25:40
  Speaker 2: and two after a O and two start. They've won
• 25:42
  Speaker 2: two straight. The Saints one and three, they've lost two
• 25:45
  Speaker 2: straight now. after starting 1-1. And the Tampa Bay Bucs,
• 25:48
  Speaker 2: as we already talked about, are 0-4 on the season.
• 25:51
  Speaker 2: So here's my terrible take, or not for you, Double B.
• 25:53
  Speaker 2: The Falcons in that division at 2-2 will win the
• 25:57
  Speaker 2: NFC South.
• 26:00
  Speaker 5: Not a terrible take. I mean, I said it yesterday.
• 26:02
  Speaker 5: I think this Falcons offense has a case for, if
• 26:06
  Speaker 5: not top five, right there knocking on the door. It's
• 26:09
  Speaker 5: only been two games with Michael Penix under center, but
• 26:13
  Speaker 5: He's getting the ball to Drake London. He's not getting
• 26:15
  Speaker 5: the ball to Kyle Pitts. Now, if they unlock their
• 26:19
  Speaker 5: uber-talented tight end at some point, they could really be
• 26:22
  Speaker 5: cooking with gas. I don't know that the defense will
• 26:25
  Speaker 5: hold up, but they do still have some good pieces there,
• 26:29
  Speaker 5: particularly in the secondary. So, yeah, I wouldn't be surprised
• 26:34
  Speaker 5: at all if they keep this going, parlay it into
• 26:37
  Speaker 5: a surprising division title. Kevin Stefanski, for all the grief
• 26:41
  Speaker 5: that he does get sometimes from Cleveland fans, and I
• 26:44
  Speaker 5: guess for that matter, Steelers fans, given the rivalry. I mean,
• 26:47
  Speaker 5: he knows what he's doing. He's a good coach. He's
• 26:50
  Speaker 5: been here before. He's overseen a turnaround in Cleveland or two.
• 26:55
  Speaker 5: So I think the same could happen for the Dirty Birds.
• 26:58
  Speaker 5: And like I said earlier this week, have at it
• 27:01
  Speaker 5: now that you've got the rest of the AFC North
• 27:03
  Speaker 5: on your schedule, Atlanta and Michael Penix Jr. Stay healthy,
• 27:07
  Speaker 5: Michael Penix Jr., and put some L's on the ledger
• 27:10
  Speaker 5: for Baltimore, Cleveland, and Cincy.
• 27:12
  Speaker 3: I'm with you there.
• 27:13
  Speaker 2: And the Saints, who were my preseason darling comeback team
• 27:17
  Speaker 2: of the year, whatever you want to call them, they're 1-3.
• 27:20
  Speaker 2: They've got to get to work if they want to
• 27:22
  Speaker 2: be able to compete in this division because it seems
• 27:24
  Speaker 2: like the Panthers and Falcons are starting to take off
• 27:26
  Speaker 2: a bit after four weeks. Okay, so we're two for two,
• 27:29
  Speaker 2: and then we have one more here before break. The
• 27:31
  Speaker 2: final terrible take or not will determine the winner here
• 27:34
  Speaker 2: for the NFL terrible take, some of our leftovers. The Browns, 3-1,
• 27:40
  Speaker 2: will win the AFC North Double B.
• 27:44
  Speaker 5: Yeah, that's a terrible take. I like what the Browns
• 27:47
  Speaker 5: are doing, and I did say coming out of that game,
• 27:52
  Speaker 5: if Deshaun Watson's going to keep looking like vintage Deshaun Watson,
• 27:55
  Speaker 5: more or less, maybe not entirely, but certainly more than
• 28:00
  Speaker 5: I anticipated coming into 2026, and those young players keep ascending,
• 28:05
  Speaker 5: they're going to be a problem. I just don't know
• 28:06
  Speaker 5: that it's going to be as soon as this season
• 28:09
  Speaker 5: in the AFC North. Maybe they're still a year away,
• 28:12
  Speaker 5: but maybe Todd Munkin is like, what was the colorful
• 28:16
  Speaker 5: phrase that he used? We'll just go with forget that
• 28:18
  Speaker 5: on the Browns is the Browns. So maybe he'd say
• 28:20
  Speaker 5: forget that, Brian Batko.
• 28:22
  Speaker 6: We're not a year away.
• 28:23
  Speaker 5: This is the year. We're going to keep it rolling
• 28:25
  Speaker 5: right now. But the issue with the Browns, and it
• 28:29
  Speaker 5: always comes back to Watson in their current state, I
• 28:32
  Speaker 5: don't know how they can afford to bring him back
• 28:33
  Speaker 5: next year. It would be extremely unwieldy to do so
• 28:37
  Speaker 5: so maybe it is a strike while the iron's hot
• 28:41
  Speaker 5: situation and if it's not um you know they're gonna
• 28:44
  Speaker 5: have to figure it out under center again uh a
• 28:46
  Speaker 5: season from now i.
• 28:47
  Speaker 2: Had the dump button ready to go on that quote
• 28:50
  Speaker 2: from coach munkin but i didn't have to use it
• 28:51
  Speaker 2: that will be the professional that you are you're still
• 28:54
  Speaker 2: undefeated and you will remain undefeated if i were to
• 28:57
  Speaker 2: make a bold prediction 3-2, terrible takes. Take it for
• 29:00
  Speaker 2: our leftover segment of NFL terrible takes. Whenever we come back,
• 29:03
  Speaker 2: we'll look at the season stat leaders so far this
• 29:06
  Speaker 2: season across the NFL four weeks in. And again, we
• 29:09
  Speaker 2: are getting set for Week 5, the Indianapolis Colts 2-2
• 29:13
  Speaker 2: at your Pittsburgh Steelers, who are 2-2 as well.
• 29:16
  Speaker 3: I'm ET, he's BB.
• 29:18
  Speaker 2: It is the Steelers Report here on Steelers Nation Radio,
• 29:20
  Speaker 2: part of the Steelers Audio Network.
• 29:29
  Speaker 1: This is the Steelers Report with Brian Batko and Ed
• 29:33
  Speaker 1: Truth on Steelers Nation Radio, a part of the Steelers
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: Audio Network.
• 29:39
  Speaker 2: Coming up on the show tomorrow, on Friday, we will
• 29:42
  Speaker 2: have a full preview of Colts and Steelers.
• 29:47
  Speaker 3: Get you all set for week five.
• 29:49
  Speaker 2: And Double B, when you think about the Colts and
• 29:52
  Speaker 2: the Steelers, it's hard not to think about that AFC
• 29:55
  Speaker 2: divisional playoff game Then RCA Dome in Indianapolis, January 15th, 2006.
• 30:03
  Speaker 2: Steelers 21, Colts 18. It was the march for one
• 30:09
  Speaker 2: for the thumb. What a crazy game that was. I'll
• 30:12
  Speaker 2: never forget that game. And Jerome Bettis, as you know,
• 30:16
  Speaker 2: my all-time favorite Pittsburgh Steelers NFL player of all time.
• 30:20
  Speaker 2: And when the bus fumbled that ball, I thought to myself,
• 30:23
  Speaker 2: there is no way his hall of fame career can
• 30:26
  Speaker 2: end like this.
• 30:28
  Speaker 6: He was so reliable.
• 30:29
  Speaker 5: Um, you know, Matt stats, which is up now on
• 30:32
  Speaker 5: steelers.com every week pieces from Matt Williamson. He does a
• 30:37
  Speaker 5: most memorable moment between these two opponents. And of course
• 30:41
  Speaker 5: he chose that game and, you know, he relived that
• 30:45
  Speaker 5: crazy final sequence with the bus fumble. Um, And what
• 30:49
  Speaker 5: a range of emotions as Nick Harper picks it up
• 30:52
  Speaker 5: and he's returning it. But then Ben Roethlisberger out of
• 30:55
  Speaker 5: nowhere reaches out like the, that famous sculpture painting the hand.
• 31:00
  Speaker 6: Of God and just trips him up.
• 31:02
  Speaker 5: And then Mike Vanderjagt still can't believe that he missed
• 31:05
  Speaker 5: that kick. And it's, it's what, 20 years later, I
• 31:09
  Speaker 5: still can't believe he missed that kick.
• 31:12
  Speaker 2: And, you know, Bill Cower pointed to him, called the
• 31:15
  Speaker 2: timeout to ice him before that. and had a good
• 31:18
  Speaker 2: laugh with that afterwards because Van Drack looked right at
• 31:21
  Speaker 2: him and pointed right back at him saying, hey, look,
• 31:23
  Speaker 2: I got this.
• 31:24
  Speaker 3: You're not going to ice me.
• 31:25
  Speaker 2: Missed the kick, and I'll never forget listening to the
• 31:28
  Speaker 2: radio broadcast of that with Bill Hillgrove. Craig Wolfley was
• 31:32
  Speaker 2: part of that broadcast, but Tunch Ilken specifically said, Order.
• 31:35
  Speaker 3: The tickets for Denver. We're good to go.
• 31:37
  Speaker 2: And then when that bus fumbled happened, he said, no, no,
• 31:40
  Speaker 2: call your ticket agent back.
• 31:42
  Speaker 3: Cancel the tickets. We're not going to Denver. We might
• 31:45
  Speaker 3: not be going to Denver.
• 31:46
  Speaker 2: And then at the end of the game said, go
• 31:48
  Speaker 2: ahead and order those tickets. They were off to Denver
• 31:50
  Speaker 2: in that game. The Steelers dominated the Broncos that following
• 31:54
  Speaker 2: week in the AFC championship game en route to Super
• 31:57
  Speaker 2: Bowl 40. And, of course, we know the rest with
• 31:59
  Speaker 2: the win over the Seahawks for the fifth Super Bowl
• 32:02
  Speaker 2: Lombardi tournament.
• 32:02
  Speaker 5: I remember going out to Roth Park Mall. and buying
• 32:05
  Speaker 5: a shirt that said sixth seed.
• 32:09
  Speaker 6: That's all it said.
• 32:09
  Speaker 5: It had like three black hypocycloids. It was a yellow shirt.
• 32:13
  Speaker 5: I might still have it lying around somewhere. I should
• 32:17
  Speaker 5: wear it tomorrow if I can find it, given the
• 32:20
  Speaker 5: Steelers-Colts history. If you're not familiar, they were the first
• 32:26
  Speaker 5: sixth seed to go and run the table and win
• 32:30
  Speaker 5: the Super Bowl. I think it's been done since, but
• 32:32
  Speaker 5: that was such a special moment special journey for that
• 32:36
  Speaker 5: Steelers team and you're so right Ed I feel like
• 32:38
  Speaker 5: that that Broncos game is like it's crazy to say
• 32:41
  Speaker 5: an AFC championship is forgettable but it is the way
• 32:45
  Speaker 5: the Colts game ended and how the Colts were the
• 32:48
  Speaker 5: big bad that year at 14 and 2 in the
• 32:50
  Speaker 5: regular season and they were unstoppable with Peyton Manning and
• 32:54
  Speaker 5: company but then yeah the the Steelers find a way
• 32:57
  Speaker 5: to grind out that win you know and go to
• 33:01
  Speaker 5: Denver and like you said just quickly sort of dispatched
• 33:04
  Speaker 5: Jake Plummer it was almost anticlimactic but then of course
• 33:07
  Speaker 5: it was very climactic leading into that Super Bowl against
• 33:11
  Speaker 5: the Seahawks we're gonna.
• 33:12
  Speaker 2: Get to some season stat leaders though you know what
• 33:14
  Speaker 2: Double B there's one other game though before we since
• 33:16
  Speaker 2: we're talking Colts Steelers there's one other one and you
• 33:19
  Speaker 2: were barely alive because I think you were maybe just
• 33:22
  Speaker 2: born in and around 1995 I believe yeah I know.
• 33:25
  Speaker 5: The one that you're talking about it was there was
• 33:26
  Speaker 5: a Hail Mary and Jim Harbaugh involved am I right
• 33:29
  Speaker 5: on that.
• 33:29
  Speaker 3: Yes, exactly. I mean, that for me, I was 15
• 33:32
  Speaker 3: years old at the time.
• 33:34
  Speaker 2: That was the highlight because the Steelers had just when
• 33:38
  Speaker 2: I say highlight, I mean, highlight of my my childhood
• 33:40
  Speaker 2: watching the Pittsburgh Steelers because they just lost the previous
• 33:43
  Speaker 2: year in 1994 at Three River Stadium against the San
• 33:48
  Speaker 2: Diego Chargers at the time, and it was three more yards.
• 33:52
  Speaker 2: Neil O'Donnell tried to hit Barry Foster in the back
• 33:54
  Speaker 2: of the end zone. Dennis Gibson, boy, I'll never forget
• 33:57
  Speaker 2: that name. There's Francisco Corbera with the 92 Braves that
• 34:00
  Speaker 2: ruined my childhood, and Dennis Gibson, the linebacker for the Chargers,
• 34:03
  Speaker 2: was the second part that ruined my childhood when it
• 34:06
  Speaker 2: came to Pittsburgh sports. Knocked down that pass, and the
• 34:09
  Speaker 2: Steelers were defeated, upset at home, did not go to
• 34:12
  Speaker 2: the Super Bowl. So the following year, they get to
• 34:14
  Speaker 2: the AFC title game against the Colts.
• 34:16
  Speaker 3: They have them.
• 34:17
  Speaker 2: Right at the end, the Hail Mary pass from Jim
• 34:20
  Speaker 2: Harbaugh falls short in the end zone. And I'll never
• 34:23
  Speaker 2: forget the close-up of Jim Harbaugh. He kept saying, I
• 34:28
  Speaker 2: thought he caught it. I thought he caught it. But
• 34:30
  Speaker 2: Double B, there was no instant replay back then. So
• 34:34
  Speaker 2: they would not have reviewed it if they would have
• 34:36
  Speaker 2: called it a catch. The official just happened to be
• 34:39
  Speaker 2: in that right corner at the right time to see
• 34:42
  Speaker 2: that football. I believe it was David Bailey was the
• 34:45
  Speaker 2: wide receiver for the Colts. It was right in his belly.
• 34:47
  Speaker 2: It hit the turf. It was no good. The Steelers
• 34:50
  Speaker 2: go on to, of course, lose Super Bowl 30, but
• 34:52
  Speaker 2: it was huge for Bill Cowher. It was huge for
• 34:54
  Speaker 2: the city because they finally got over the hump and
• 34:56
  Speaker 2: they got back to the Super Bowl for the first
• 34:58
  Speaker 2: time since 1979.
• 34:59
  Speaker 5: Yeah, and I mean, that brings me back to, you know,
• 35:05
  Speaker 5: the Steelers Colts of my time. And yes, you're right.
• 35:07
  Speaker 5: I was, I guess, five or six years old for
• 35:10
  Speaker 5: that one. But that 2006 one, it was just such
• 35:14
  Speaker 5: a heavy game. And like, when you think back to
• 35:16
  Speaker 5: listening to it on the radio, I'm glad that the
• 35:19
  Speaker 5: late great Tunchokin could have such a sense of humor
• 35:21
  Speaker 5: as it was unfolding because it was just a momentous
• 35:26
  Speaker 5: time for the Steelers because they'd come so close in
• 35:29
  Speaker 5: previous years. You know, we talked about The AFC Championship
• 35:33
  Speaker 5: heartbreaks against the Patriots earlier in that decade. So you
• 35:38
  Speaker 5: really didn't want another good team to squander an opportunity. And,
• 35:43
  Speaker 5: you know, I mean, don't get me wrong. We knew
• 35:45
  Speaker 5: that the future was bright at that point with Ben Roethlisberger.
• 35:48
  Speaker 5: But you never take for granted getting to that stage.
• 35:51
  Speaker 5: And thank goodness they pulled it off against the Colts
• 35:54
  Speaker 5: that day.
• 35:55
  Speaker 6: And, yeah, a little, what, I guess.
• 35:58
  Speaker 5: than like 13 or 14 year old me going to
• 36:01
  Speaker 5: the mall kiosk and getting something that wasn't even.
• 36:03
  Speaker 6: Allowed to have the Steelers.
• 36:05
  Speaker 5: Logo or a licensing or trademark on it, but six seed,
• 36:09
  Speaker 5: you don't need to say anything more than that for
• 36:11
  Speaker 5: that squad.
• 36:11
  Speaker 2: Now you've come a long way, my friend, you're now
• 36:13
  Speaker 2: wearing all that Steeler gear, working for the team with
• 36:16
  Speaker 2: all the Nike stuff on there and the hat and
• 36:18
  Speaker 2: you got everything going on. So yeah, you're in good shape.
• 36:21
  Speaker 2: You've come a long way since that kiosk and Ross
• 36:23
  Speaker 2: park mall.
• 36:23
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 36:24
  Speaker 5: It's a little bit nicer stuff now, but Hey, if
• 36:27
  Speaker 5: I do find that shirt, I feel like it'll be in,
• 36:29
  Speaker 5: it'll be in good condition. So stay tuned for more
• 36:32
  Speaker 5: More vintage finds from Brian Batko's closet, or I guess
• 36:35
  Speaker 5: more accurately, Brian Batko's childhood home closet. I had the
• 36:39
  Speaker 5: inaugural season. He's in a hat from 2001 earlier this week.
• 36:45
  Speaker 5: Now I must set off to find the sixth seed tee.
• 36:49
  Speaker 2: Yes, that is your weekend project, my friend. Forget about
• 36:51
  Speaker 2: covering the Colts and Steelers on Sunday. Find that shirt.
• 36:54
  Speaker 2: I want to see it next week when you're back
• 36:56
  Speaker 2: in studio with us. Brian is on the south side
• 36:58
  Speaker 2: for today's Steeler practice, day number two. We'll get another
• 37:02
  Speaker 2: update from him on Friday before we wrap up our
• 37:04
  Speaker 2: week tomorrow. with some injury updates and whatnot there. Brian,
• 37:08
  Speaker 2: we'll get into some season stat leaders here finally on
• 37:12
  Speaker 2: the season. Let's start with the passing leaders going into
• 37:17
  Speaker 2: week number five.
• 37:18
  Speaker 3: What's your pick?
• 37:19
  Speaker 2: I always like to have you guess the leader for
• 37:21
  Speaker 2: each category to see if you get it or not.
• 37:23
  Speaker 2: Who do you think is the leading passer going into
• 37:25
  Speaker 2: week number five?
• 37:26
  Speaker 5: I feel like Bryce Young might be in that top
• 37:28
  Speaker 5: spot now after watching The Panthers fling the ball all
• 37:32
  Speaker 5: around against the Lions the other night, or is Tyler
• 37:35
  Speaker 5: Shuck still there?
• 37:36
  Speaker 3: It is Bryce Young.
• 37:37
  Speaker 2: He is at top of the leaderboard, 1,268 yards, just
• 37:42
  Speaker 2: over 1,200 yards.
• 37:43
  Speaker 6: Much like the.
• 37:44
  Speaker 5: Geno Smith line from a few years ago, maybe Bryce
• 37:47
  Speaker 5: Young should invoke it himself. They wrote him off, but
• 37:49
  Speaker 5: he didn't write back. Everybody was counting out the former
• 37:52
  Speaker 5: number one overall pick. Too small, too short, can't get
• 37:56
  Speaker 5: the job done. Panthers will have to go back to
• 37:58
  Speaker 5: the drawing board. Maybe he's– don't stick a fork in
• 38:02
  Speaker 5: Bryce Young just yet. He's been playing really well.
• 38:04
  Speaker 2: Number two is Jared Goff, 1,214 yards, just over 1,200 yards.
• 38:09
  Speaker 2: Tyler Shuck with New Orleans at number three. Matthew Stafford
• 38:13
  Speaker 2: is your fourth leading passer, just over 1,189 yards.
• 38:15
  Speaker 3: And Joe Burrow.
• 38:19
  Speaker 2: Checks in at number five now. He has 1,171 yards.
• 38:23
  Speaker 2: Who's your leading rusher after the first four weeks of
• 38:26
  Speaker 2: the season, Double B?
• 38:27
  Speaker 6: Kenneth Walker III. That one I know for sure.
• 38:29
  Speaker 5: We were diving through the running back stats yesterday on
• 38:32
  Speaker 5: the Jalen Warren front.
• 38:33
  Speaker 6: Kenneth Walker's totals stuck out to me.
• 38:36
  Speaker 5: I mean, if you don't go by yards per game
• 38:38
  Speaker 5: and you just go counting stats, he's going to maybe
• 38:40
  Speaker 5: lose that crown.
• 38:42
  Speaker 6: After this week because the.
• 38:43
  Speaker 5: Chiefs are on bye, but I don't think he'll lose
• 38:45
  Speaker 5: it for long.
• 38:46
  Speaker 6: He's just been unstoppable.
• 38:47
  Speaker 2: Yeah, Kenneth Walker, 537 yards rushing so far this season.
• 38:52
  Speaker 2: He's been number one since week one. He continues to
• 38:54
  Speaker 2: do that. Bajon Robinson, though, moving up the leaderboard. Number
• 38:58
  Speaker 2: two now, 494 yards rushing on the season after his
• 39:02
  Speaker 2: big Monday night in New Orleans. James Cook from Buffalo
• 39:05
  Speaker 2: is third with 421 yards rushing.
• 39:06
  Speaker 4: Derrick Henry.
• 39:09
  Speaker 2: Continues to have a very strong 2026 season with 374
• 39:13
  Speaker 2: yards rushing. And number five in the NFL is who
• 39:16
  Speaker 2: the Steelers will face on Sunday. Yes, Jonathan Taylor, 353
• 39:21
  Speaker 2: yards rushing through four games. He's your fifth leading rusher
• 39:24
  Speaker 2: in the NFL.
• 39:25
  Speaker 6: I'll tell you this much, Ed.
• 39:26
  Speaker 5: I hope that Kenneth Walker the third is still in
• 39:28
  Speaker 5: the top spot after this week because that'll mean that
• 39:31
  Speaker 5: the Ravens held or no I I don't want Kenneth
• 39:35
  Speaker 5: Walker the third to be in the top spot because
• 39:37
  Speaker 5: that would mean that the Ravens held Bajon Robinson under
• 39:40
  Speaker 5: whatever 50 yards and and he catches up, but hopefully
• 39:45
  Speaker 5: the Steelers, too, don't let Jonathan Taylor go streaking past
• 39:48
  Speaker 5: Kenneth Walker III while the Chiefs are idle. Are you
• 39:52
  Speaker 5: a big fan of idle instead of bye week when
• 39:54
  Speaker 5: you get into NFL nomenclature?
• 39:56
  Speaker 2: I can use either term, my friend. You know, bye
• 39:59
  Speaker 2: week's fine with me, though. I guess I'm an old-school traditionalist.
• 40:02
  Speaker 2: I'll stick with the bye, even though you are idle
• 40:04
  Speaker 2: technically this week, right?
• 40:05
  Speaker 5: Well, the really old-school traditionalists would say not to use
• 40:08
  Speaker 5: bye week because a bye is for a tournament, but
• 40:10
  Speaker 5: obviously it's become... completely synonymous with having the week off
• 40:14
  Speaker 5: but i remember when i first started working at the
• 40:16
  Speaker 5: post gazette behind the scenes uh editing stories and on
• 40:19
  Speaker 5: the night desk for sports some of those uh you
• 40:23
  Speaker 5: know long and long in the tooth editors some of
• 40:26
  Speaker 5: whom are no longer with us unfortunately but they said
• 40:29
  Speaker 5: no it's i don't care what the nfl calls it
• 40:32
  Speaker 5: it's not a bye week you get a bye in
• 40:34
  Speaker 5: the playoffs in season when you don't play you have
• 40:37
  Speaker 5: an off week you're idle or here's a real uh
• 40:42
  Speaker 5: A real inside journalism in the weeds one.
• 40:44
  Speaker 6: Open date, Ed. They have an open date.
• 40:47
  Speaker 2: That is old school there. Get out that AP style book,
• 40:50
  Speaker 2: my friend. Make sure you get it. You're a former editor.
• 40:53
  Speaker 2: I know you did that back in the day as well.
• 40:55
  Speaker 2: And you continue to, I'm sure you edit your own work.
• 40:57
  Speaker 3: We all do. for Steelers.com. All right, passing. We did
• 41:01
  Speaker 3: passing leaders. We did rushing leaders.
• 41:02
  Speaker 2: Let's do receiving leaders, and we'll get to a couple
• 41:04
  Speaker 2: defensive stats before we wrap up the day here. Who
• 41:07
  Speaker 2: is your leading receiver through the first four weeks? I
• 41:10
  Speaker 2: feel like you've gotten this one correct the last few weeks.
• 41:12
  Speaker 2: I'm not sure you'll get five for five. Let's see
• 41:14
  Speaker 2: what you think.
• 41:14
  Speaker 5: I'm still just chuckling at like you're having a conversation
• 41:17
  Speaker 5: at the bar with someone. They're like, oh, you know
• 41:18
  Speaker 5: who the Steelers got this week? Ah, they're idle. They
• 41:22
  Speaker 5: have an open date. The person would look at you
• 41:23
  Speaker 5: like you have six heads but anyway i'm gonna i'm
• 41:26
  Speaker 5: gonna say leading leading receiver uh uh chris alave is
• 41:31
  Speaker 5: he still in the top spot i think he had
• 41:32
  Speaker 5: a decent monday night football game even though the saints
• 41:36
  Speaker 5: went down in flames to the falcons i'm gonna say
• 41:38
  Speaker 5: alave or perhaps no justin jefferson has been dinged up
• 41:44
  Speaker 5: i'll take her away from new orleans final answer.
• 41:46
  Speaker 2: Yeah well you got that that was your guess the
• 41:48
  Speaker 2: last few weeks you were correct but alave is now
• 41:50
  Speaker 2: second in the nfl With 491 yards receiving, your new
• 41:54
  Speaker 2: leader just over 491 at 498 is C.D. Lamb, who
• 41:59
  Speaker 2: had that huge game last week. And this isn't number
• 42:01
  Speaker 2: of receptions. This is receiving yardage. He has 498. Jackson
• 42:05
  Speaker 2: Smith and Jigba. number three at 481. Tee Higgins from Cincinnati,
• 42:10
  Speaker 2: 401 is number four. And Devontae Adams coming back with
• 42:13
  Speaker 2: the Rams. I have him on one of my fantasy
• 42:15
  Speaker 2: football teams, Double B. He has 390 yards receiving, number
• 42:19
  Speaker 2: five in the NFL.
• 42:20
  Speaker 5: As do I, and I've got two teams myself. I've
• 42:24
  Speaker 5: always told myself, in recent years at least, since I
• 42:26
  Speaker 5: became more of a quote-unquote grown-up or adult, that I
• 42:29
  Speaker 5: didn't want too many fantasy teams. So I kind of
• 42:32
  Speaker 5: capped myself at two Now my first graders kind of
• 42:35
  Speaker 5: into it and we've got like a neighborhood one. So I'm,
• 42:38
  Speaker 5: I'm helping him with his, I don't necessarily consider it mine. Uh,
• 42:42
  Speaker 5: so I kind of have two and a half, but, uh, yeah,
• 42:45
  Speaker 5: I've got Adams. I wish I had some of those
• 42:47
  Speaker 5: other guys, unfortunately, uh, No Olave here, no CeeDee Lamb here.
• 42:52
  Speaker 5: My wife's got Olave in that same league with me
• 42:54
  Speaker 5: and my son, and her team's pretty stacked, but they
• 42:58
  Speaker 5: can't really find.
• 42:59
  Speaker 6: A way to get a win.
• 42:59
  Speaker 2: Olave, it kind of sounds like something you have on
• 43:03
  Speaker 2: a roll at dinner. I'm going to put some of
• 43:04
  Speaker 2: that Olave butter on that roll. It sounds like something
• 43:07
  Speaker 2: really good.
• 43:08
  Speaker 5: And the Steelers are going to see him in a
• 43:09
  Speaker 5: couple weeks in Paris, and they need to do better
• 43:15
  Speaker 5: this time against a Guardian cap-wearing receiver here than they
• 43:18
  Speaker 5: did against New England. So maybe that'll make Matt's stats
• 43:21
  Speaker 5: that week. The Steelers have given up whatever it was
• 43:24
  Speaker 5: to Romeo Dobbs. in that loss to the Patriots, to
• 43:28
  Speaker 5: receivers who wear Guardian caps because Chris Olave is most
• 43:31
  Speaker 5: known for that, along with Dobbs and along with Jeremy
• 43:34
  Speaker 5: Bernard right here in Pittsburgh.
• 43:35
  Speaker 3: That's right.
• 43:35
  Speaker 2: Maybe Jeremy Bernard can become your Guardian cap leader.
• 43:38
  Speaker 3: When it comes to receiving yards.
• 43:40
  Speaker 2: That's going to do it for the show for today.
• 43:42
  Speaker 2: I'm Ed Troop alongside Brian Bacco. Thanks for listening to
• 43:45
  Speaker 2: the Steelers Report. Up next, it's Wes Shuler and Matt
• 43:48
  Speaker 2: Williamson on SNR's The Drive right here on Steelers Nation Radio,
• 43:52
  Speaker 2: part of the Steelers Audio Network.