January 9, 2026 • 11 mins
With Wild Card weekend set to kick off tomorrow afternoon, many fans are awaiting Monday's AFC duel between C.J. Stroud and Aaron Rodgers, with the Houston Texans set to take on the Pittsburgh Steelers. Weighing out all the odds and possibilities regarding Monday's outcome of who moves on to the Divisional Round, former Pittsburgh Steeler and 2x Super Bowl Champion and now Pittsburgh's color commentator, Max Starks, joins Dan and Cole ahead of Monday's showdown, tossing around a few predictions on who he thinks will emerge as Monday's victor.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Well, let's find out more about him as a former
Steelers offensive lineman now part of their radio network. Max
Starks pops on with us for a few minutes. Max,
appreciate your time this morning. You got myself, Dan Matthews,
you got Cole Thompson. You know, let's just start, you know,
just with this Steelers team. I mean, you know, I
asked this yesterday to Andrew phil a pony, one of
your guys up there.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
How's this fan base looking at this team?
Speaker 1 (00:23):
Like are they looking at it as hey, we got
a real shot on Monday night?
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Or is it kind of like what's next?
Speaker 3 (00:32):
You know, good morning guys, And yeah, I would I
would definitely say the fan base is looking forward to
thinking that this is a game that they could possibly win.
When you kind of look at the season and how
things have transpired at different points, you know, unlike in
years pass right, you know, last year with Russell Wilson
as our quarterback, and even two years ago when Mason
(00:54):
Rudolph was leading the charge, I think, you know, there
was a sense of Okay, what next, like what's coming
next year? But with Aaron Rodgers, it gives a completely
different complexion to what they can do. And then defensively,
you have a really solid squad detensively that's been playing
(01:14):
some of his best football at Spurts. It has not
been full complete four quarter defensive effort, but they've been
able to manage and put out some quality three quarters
of games, and they're thinking that there's still an opportunity
for his defense to get even better. So there's a
lot of hope in the city of Pittsburgh. Max.
Speaker 4 (01:36):
Let me ask you last season when you went to
the playoffs, you were on a four game losing streak,
and then this time around you win four of the
last five games. It's larger to the Aaron Rodgers and
the offense just getting the job done. But when you
go into a playoff run and you're facing off against
a team like Baltimore, it maybe feels like it is
a bit of a souring feel. But knowing that you
(01:56):
did end the year on much of a high note,
that kind of change the narrative about what a team
feels like going into a postseason.
Speaker 3 (02:05):
Oh absolutely absolutely. I mean, you know, even from my
days and then my experience as a player, you know,
how you play in December largely will give you an
insight into how a team's going to perform in January.
And if you're ending on a high note or you're
trending in the right direction, you know, you have a
(02:29):
lot of that momentum that goes in your favor as
you get ready for a playoff push. And I fortunately
have done it from two different perspectives. I've done it
from the wildcard spot when we were a six seed
back in two thousand and five, and then also a
number two seed in two thousand and eight, and then
we've been a one seed in eleven. And how you
(02:51):
play in December, how you manage those games, how this
team kind of rides that wave instead of limping into
the playoffs really makes it big difference and how you're
going to perform, you know, because I think of you know,
two thousand and two thousand and uh and seventh season,
(03:12):
the year after or two years after I should say,
we went you know, we lived into that playoff, had
a lot of injuries going into that. I think about,
you know that that that two ten season as well,
the whole Tim Tebow game in Denver, you know, and
and how we kind of just limped a lot of injuries,
not a lot of momentum in our favor just kind
(03:33):
of made it. And you know your team feeds off
of that type of energy as they get ready for
a playoff.
Speaker 1 (03:41):
Bush again, former Steelers offensive lineman, two times Super Bowl champion,
now part of the Steelers radio network, Max Starks, hopping
on with us and Max, I mean one of those
Super Bowl runs you were, you were part of it
with Mike Tomlin, And I know that there's been a
lot of questions about his future up there. But if
anybody ever comes to you and says, hey, Max, it's
time to move off from this guy.
Speaker 2 (04:03):
You played for him. You know what makes him who
he is, what do you say to them?
Speaker 3 (04:09):
I'm saying, you know, for a lot of those you know,
bandwagon fans or you know, negative people, Let's just say,
if Mike Tomlin went on the streets tomorrow, just like
John Harbo and Adam Shefter report, there would be nine
teams college immediately saying hey, uh, would you like to
come coach our team? I mean, he is he's a
(04:32):
leader of men. I think that's something that's rare for
head coaches. But I think Demiko is a similar guy. Uh.
I played against Demiko, you know, I know a lot
of his former teammates. I mean, heck, my cousin played
for the Texans, so what two of my cousins actually
played for the Texas, So you know, I know what
(04:54):
that personality is. I know what you know, those type
of people bringing to the table, what they bring. It's
not just x's and o's, right, it's not just oh,
this guy is an offensive guru and he can draw
up plays, right, But when you're a leader of men,
you know how to communicate with people to get them
to rise up above their capabilities or take their abilities
(05:17):
to another level. That's a rare thing. And that's why
you keep those coaches for a long time. And that's
why you have successful stability within an organization with the
head coach and the coaching staff and your general manager
front office group. So you know, that's one of the
rare intrinsic skills. And to do that for two decades,
(05:37):
and also, by the way, never have a tanking season
or a losing season on your resume as well for
two decades. That that's a rare thing that people, you know,
you hate to say, people get tired of winning, People
get tired of being above average, but being above average
that long and never having to put the paper bag
over your head's a pretty special thing.
Speaker 4 (05:57):
I mean, Max, I tell people all the time, remember
when Andy you'd got let go by Philadelphia and they
literally fired a coach to go bring him on into Kansas.
Speaker 2 (06:05):
It's the same thing with Tomlin, Like.
Speaker 4 (06:07):
There's an organization out there that will literally think of, Hey,
we're gonna move off of this guy because if Tomlin
may even consider us, and we're willing to take the risk.
But I do want to get your thoughts on dk
metcast return. He missed the last two games because of
the suspension from a locker's perspective and from a player's mindset,
knowing that this is an opportunity for you to kind
(06:27):
of win back the fan base because of what your
impact would be on the game. Is Is there a
lot of pressure riding on him for having that breakout
performance against Houston Secondary?
Speaker 3 (06:39):
Uh? You know what, no, I think, because I think
there's two separate things that you mentioned there, locker room
versus fan base. Fan base has a different perspective than
the guys who are between the four walls with them, right,
the guy that you had to change that you changed
next to and you go out on the field and
you you went with and you get frustrated and you
(07:03):
have the emotions of a season with. And so his
teammates have always been in this quarter and they're just
happy to have him back because I think they probably
feel like, man, if we had him, we probably would
have beat Cleveland, you know, and you know, to have
him on a side going into this playoff push, it's
like getting a player back at a critical moment. And
(07:23):
so to have him back, he's welcome with open arms.
And I think for the fan base the most part,
I think they thought that the two games being upheld
was a bit excessive. They thought that, hey, one game
probably made sense of hey, this is the era on
your part, Okay, slap on the wrist. One game and
(07:44):
let's drop it to you know, let's just drop it
from two to one. But the fact they upheld it,
I think a lot of fans are kind of even
more in his corener lock, like this was excessive, Like
you got targeted by the league for this type of suspension.
Speaker 2 (07:59):
Again.
Speaker 1 (07:59):
Max Stark join us here on the Morning Drive with
Dan and Coles Sports Talk seven nineties. A two time
Super Bowl winner, also part of the Steelers radio network Max.
We saw that Steelers defensive front, even with the banked
up Cam Hayward able to get after Lamar Jackson a
little bit on Sunday night. Do you feel like that's
going to be the game plan against c J. Stroud
(08:20):
and trying to be able to make his Monday nights
really tough?
Speaker 3 (08:26):
Absolutely? I think the game plan is you have to
get pressure with your defensive line, and you know, and
you should know this goal, right, four man pressure makes
your secondary a lot happier. The more guys you could
drop in the coverage, the more that you can do
to affect his normal stasis and operating movements. By being
(08:48):
able to only rush for is a huge advantage for
your defense. And you know, you think about that. You
have daneil Hunter and Will Anderson that are exceptional and
of course you throw out to OGII and company in
the middle and those guys can get after you, and
you don't really need to add Henry Totoe, right, you
could drop him in the coverage, you can send him
(09:10):
with the tight end, and you can you can applot
with your with your down lineman. That's a huge advantage
for your defense. So I think for the Steelers, we
come from that five man front, even if not rushing
all five, if you can bring four out of those
five and have success, you're in a lot better place
and you make your secondary that much better. And you
(09:32):
have to be able to affect CJ. You have to
be able to get him off this point. He's a
highly accurate quarterback. I mean he he could put he
could drop the ball in the well, you know, from
eighty yards out, Like that's just how good he is.
So you have to get him off this point and
get him moving, Max, I.
Speaker 4 (09:47):
Get you out of here on this Kenny Gainwell, what
needs to happen to slow him down, because if you
have him in space, it feels like it's game over
on a lot of first downs, and that keeps going
him my favorite Pittsburgh.
Speaker 3 (10:01):
He's our team MVP for a reason. Cole. He is
a dynamic guy. Whether you hand him the ball or
whether you throw him the football, he knows how to
make things happen. This is also a guy coming off
of a Super Bowl year the previous year with Philly,
so he knows what it looks like, he knows what
it takes received the game ball. Because of his performances
(10:23):
in the playoffs. So he's a guy that just has experience,
and like you said, to slow him down, you have
to dedicate multiple guys to him. You have to outflank
him when it is his term. But the problem is
you never know when his term because Aaron distributes the
football equally around the field a lot, and so it's
tough to get a beat on that. You know, when
(10:43):
you can double team a receiver, you can dedicate two
guys to the running back in the run game, it
makes their life a lot harder. But the problem is
you have multiple fires and you don't have enough guys
you can keep on the field to be able to
cover everybody.
Speaker 1 (10:59):
Max Starks and two time Super Bowl champion now part
of the Steelers Radio Network, giving us the Steelers side
of Monday Night against the Texans and the Wildcard round.
Speaker 2 (11:08):
Hey, Max, have a great call.
Speaker 1 (11:09):
We really appreciate your time this morning, and hopefully we'll
be able to catch up again soon with these two
teams link up.
Speaker 2 (11:15):
Thanks again, Max.
Speaker 3 (11:18):
All right, thanks man, y'all take care
Well, let's find out more about him as a former
Steelers offensive lineman now part of their radio network. Max
Starks pops on with us for a few minutes. Max,
appreciate your time this morning. You got myself, Dan Matthews,
you got Cole Thompson. You know, let's just start, you know,
just with this Steelers team. I mean, you know, I
asked this yesterday to Andrew phil a pony, one of
your guys up there.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
How's this fan base looking at this team?
Speaker 1 (00:23):
Like are they looking at it as hey, we got
a real shot on Monday night?
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Or is it kind of like what's next?
Speaker 3 (00:32):
You know, good morning guys, And yeah, I would I
would definitely say the fan base is looking forward to
thinking that this is a game that they could possibly win.
When you kind of look at the season and how
things have transpired at different points, you know, unlike in
years pass right, you know, last year with Russell Wilson
as our quarterback, and even two years ago when Mason
(00:54):
Rudolph was leading the charge, I think, you know, there
was a sense of Okay, what next, like what's coming
next year? But with Aaron Rodgers, it gives a completely
different complexion to what they can do. And then defensively,
you have a really solid squad detensively that's been playing
(01:14):
some of his best football at Spurts. It has not
been full complete four quarter defensive effort, but they've been
able to manage and put out some quality three quarters
of games, and they're thinking that there's still an opportunity
for his defense to get even better. So there's a
lot of hope in the city of Pittsburgh. Max.
Speaker 4 (01:36):
Let me ask you last season when you went to
the playoffs, you were on a four game losing streak,
and then this time around you win four of the
last five games. It's larger to the Aaron Rodgers and
the offense just getting the job done. But when you
go into a playoff run and you're facing off against
a team like Baltimore, it maybe feels like it is
a bit of a souring feel. But knowing that you
(01:56):
did end the year on much of a high note,
that kind of change the narrative about what a team
feels like going into a postseason.
Speaker 3 (02:05):
Oh absolutely absolutely. I mean, you know, even from my
days and then my experience as a player, you know,
how you play in December largely will give you an
insight into how a team's going to perform in January.
And if you're ending on a high note or you're
trending in the right direction, you know, you have a
(02:29):
lot of that momentum that goes in your favor as
you get ready for a playoff push. And I fortunately
have done it from two different perspectives. I've done it
from the wildcard spot when we were a six seed
back in two thousand and five, and then also a
number two seed in two thousand and eight, and then
we've been a one seed in eleven. And how you
(02:51):
play in December, how you manage those games, how this
team kind of rides that wave instead of limping into
the playoffs really makes it big difference and how you're
going to perform, you know, because I think of you know,
two thousand and two thousand and uh and seventh season,
(03:12):
the year after or two years after I should say,
we went you know, we lived into that playoff, had
a lot of injuries going into that. I think about,
you know that that that two ten season as well,
the whole Tim Tebow game in Denver, you know, and
and how we kind of just limped a lot of injuries,
not a lot of momentum in our favor just kind
(03:33):
of made it. And you know your team feeds off
of that type of energy as they get ready for
a playoff.
Speaker 1 (03:41):
Bush again, former Steelers offensive lineman, two times Super Bowl champion,
now part of the Steelers radio network, Max Starks, hopping
on with us and Max, I mean one of those
Super Bowl runs you were, you were part of it
with Mike Tomlin, And I know that there's been a
lot of questions about his future up there. But if
anybody ever comes to you and says, hey, Max, it's
time to move off from this guy.
Speaker 2 (04:03):
You played for him. You know what makes him who
he is, what do you say to them?
Speaker 3 (04:09):
I'm saying, you know, for a lot of those you know,
bandwagon fans or you know, negative people, Let's just say,
if Mike Tomlin went on the streets tomorrow, just like
John Harbo and Adam Shefter report, there would be nine
teams college immediately saying hey, uh, would you like to
come coach our team? I mean, he is he's a
(04:32):
leader of men. I think that's something that's rare for
head coaches. But I think Demiko is a similar guy. Uh.
I played against Demiko, you know, I know a lot
of his former teammates. I mean, heck, my cousin played
for the Texans, so what two of my cousins actually
played for the Texas, So you know, I know what
(04:54):
that personality is. I know what you know, those type
of people bringing to the table, what they bring. It's
not just x's and o's, right, it's not just oh,
this guy is an offensive guru and he can draw
up plays, right, But when you're a leader of men,
you know how to communicate with people to get them
to rise up above their capabilities or take their abilities
(05:17):
to another level. That's a rare thing. And that's why
you keep those coaches for a long time. And that's
why you have successful stability within an organization with the
head coach and the coaching staff and your general manager
front office group. So you know, that's one of the
rare intrinsic skills. And to do that for two decades,
(05:37):
and also, by the way, never have a tanking season
or a losing season on your resume as well for
two decades. That that's a rare thing that people, you know,
you hate to say, people get tired of winning, People
get tired of being above average, but being above average
that long and never having to put the paper bag
over your head's a pretty special thing.
Speaker 4 (05:57):
I mean, Max, I tell people all the time, remember
when Andy you'd got let go by Philadelphia and they
literally fired a coach to go bring him on into Kansas.
Speaker 2 (06:05):
It's the same thing with Tomlin, Like.
Speaker 4 (06:07):
There's an organization out there that will literally think of, Hey,
we're gonna move off of this guy because if Tomlin
may even consider us, and we're willing to take the risk.
But I do want to get your thoughts on dk
metcast return. He missed the last two games because of
the suspension from a locker's perspective and from a player's mindset,
knowing that this is an opportunity for you to kind
(06:27):
of win back the fan base because of what your
impact would be on the game. Is Is there a
lot of pressure riding on him for having that breakout
performance against Houston Secondary?
Speaker 3 (06:39):
Uh? You know what, no, I think, because I think
there's two separate things that you mentioned there, locker room
versus fan base. Fan base has a different perspective than
the guys who are between the four walls with them, right,
the guy that you had to change that you changed
next to and you go out on the field and
you you went with and you get frustrated and you
(07:03):
have the emotions of a season with. And so his
teammates have always been in this quarter and they're just
happy to have him back because I think they probably
feel like, man, if we had him, we probably would
have beat Cleveland, you know, and you know, to have
him on a side going into this playoff push, it's
like getting a player back at a critical moment. And
(07:23):
so to have him back, he's welcome with open arms.
And I think for the fan base the most part,
I think they thought that the two games being upheld
was a bit excessive. They thought that, hey, one game
probably made sense of hey, this is the era on
your part, Okay, slap on the wrist. One game and
(07:44):
let's drop it to you know, let's just drop it
from two to one. But the fact they upheld it,
I think a lot of fans are kind of even
more in his corener lock, like this was excessive, Like
you got targeted by the league for this type of suspension.
Speaker 2 (07:59):
Again.
Speaker 1 (07:59):
Max Stark join us here on the Morning Drive with
Dan and Coles Sports Talk seven nineties. A two time
Super Bowl winner, also part of the Steelers radio network Max.
We saw that Steelers defensive front, even with the banked
up Cam Hayward able to get after Lamar Jackson a
little bit on Sunday night. Do you feel like that's
going to be the game plan against c J. Stroud
(08:20):
and trying to be able to make his Monday nights
really tough?
Speaker 3 (08:26):
Absolutely? I think the game plan is you have to
get pressure with your defensive line, and you know, and
you should know this goal, right, four man pressure makes
your secondary a lot happier. The more guys you could
drop in the coverage, the more that you can do
to affect his normal stasis and operating movements. By being
(08:48):
able to only rush for is a huge advantage for
your defense. And you know, you think about that. You
have daneil Hunter and Will Anderson that are exceptional and
of course you throw out to OGII and company in
the middle and those guys can get after you, and
you don't really need to add Henry Totoe, right, you
could drop him in the coverage, you can send him
(09:10):
with the tight end, and you can you can applot
with your with your down lineman. That's a huge advantage
for your defense. So I think for the Steelers, we
come from that five man front, even if not rushing
all five, if you can bring four out of those
five and have success, you're in a lot better place
and you make your secondary that much better. And you
(09:32):
have to be able to affect CJ. You have to
be able to get him off this point. He's a
highly accurate quarterback. I mean he he could put he
could drop the ball in the well, you know, from
eighty yards out, Like that's just how good he is.
So you have to get him off this point and
get him moving, Max, I.
Speaker 4 (09:47):
Get you out of here on this Kenny Gainwell, what
needs to happen to slow him down, because if you
have him in space, it feels like it's game over
on a lot of first downs, and that keeps going
him my favorite Pittsburgh.
Speaker 3 (10:01):
He's our team MVP for a reason. Cole. He is
a dynamic guy. Whether you hand him the ball or
whether you throw him the football, he knows how to
make things happen. This is also a guy coming off
of a Super Bowl year the previous year with Philly,
so he knows what it looks like, he knows what
it takes received the game ball. Because of his performances
(10:23):
in the playoffs. So he's a guy that just has experience,
and like you said, to slow him down, you have
to dedicate multiple guys to him. You have to outflank
him when it is his term. But the problem is
you never know when his term because Aaron distributes the
football equally around the field a lot, and so it's
tough to get a beat on that. You know, when
(10:43):
you can double team a receiver, you can dedicate two
guys to the running back in the run game, it
makes their life a lot harder. But the problem is
you have multiple fires and you don't have enough guys
you can keep on the field to be able to
cover everybody.
Speaker 1 (10:59):
Max Starks and two time Super Bowl champion now part
of the Steelers Radio Network, giving us the Steelers side
of Monday Night against the Texans and the Wildcard round.
Speaker 2 (11:08):
Hey, Max, have a great call.
Speaker 1 (11:09):
We really appreciate your time this morning, and hopefully we'll
be able to catch up again soon with these two
teams link up.
Speaker 2 (11:15):
Thanks again, Max.
Speaker 3 (11:18):
All right, thanks man, y'all take care
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