November 20, 2025 • 41 mins
Max and Rob take a look back at Mike Tomlin's press conference and continue to preview this weekend's matchup in Chicago against the Bears. Gerry Dulac then joins the guys to discuss this weekend's game, as well as some news within the roster this week.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:04):
This is in the Locker Room with King and Starks
on Steelers Nation Radio, presented by your neighborhood Ford Store.
The F one point fifty is the official truck of
the Pittsburgh Steelers and by Steelers Pro Shop. Get it
direct from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at
shop dot Steelers dot com.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
And thanks very much for being with us.
Speaker 3 (00:28):
In the Locker Room, presented by our neighborhood Ford Stow
and this Jeerers Pro Shop here on Steevens Nation Radio
parties Tow's audio network.
Speaker 4 (00:34):
I'm Rob King with.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
Matt Starks and Justin Millard's controls in our iHeart studio.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Lots to get to.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
Jerry Dulac is going to be joining us in just
a little bit as we sort of await with baited
breath the injury news, particularly at the quarterback position for
this jus, But there are other guys dinged up. Jalen
Warren is dinged up with Alex Highsmith be able to play.
Hopefully we'll get some clarity here as we move to
the later part of the week, and of course a
Chicago Bears game to get to, with plenty of intriguing
(01:02):
matchups in this game, another battle of two first place
teams for the third time in four weeks. The Steelers
will be taking on a division leader when they visit
the Bears at Soldier.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
Field, so plenty to get to before we move forward.
Speaker 3 (01:15):
Let's move back just about a day and a half
or so ago to Mike Tomlin's press conference and his
comments as he wraps up the victory over the Bengals
and begins to look forward to this game on Sunday
against the Chicago Bears.
Speaker 5 (01:29):
Assessment of our last performance. I just thought as the
game went on, our fight was evident. We made more
plays in all three phases, the deeper we got into
the game, and that's what you want to see and
feel from a group that's fighting, and I felt it certainly.
(01:50):
I thought it was significant. There was less speculation from
a defensive perspective of what we might get from Flacco
and company. The first time we played those guys. We
had a one week body of work to study and
it wasn't a complete week, and so there were more.
There was more speculation about how Joe would would alter
their attack, how the lens through which he would see it,
(02:13):
the things that they would do to get to the
ball obviously to their two top playmakers. And you know,
as we stood in here last week, we said there
were less speculation there although they had been highly successful.
I think Jord thrown for over four hundred yards a
week prior to our game. Uh, there was less speculation there.
We could anchor down and make some hardcore decisions about
how to allocate our schematic resources and our talent. I
(02:36):
thought the guys did a nice job absorbing to plan
and executing the plan.
Speaker 4 (02:42):
End games.
Speaker 5 (02:42):
Certainly we had some challenges and guys continually step up
for us.
Speaker 4 (02:47):
Two guys in the.
Speaker 5 (02:49):
Secondary certainly worth mentioning or Or Kyle Duggar and and
James Pierre. But I think we also talked about those
guys a week ago. From an office of perspective, it's
good when when you absorb some attrition in the ball.
Keith Rowland can't say enough about Mason Rudolph. Although we're
(03:11):
used to it, it's still appreciated. He's proven over his
time here that he's capable of coming in and playing
winning football for us. And that's no small task. When
you're preparing during the course of a week as a backup,
you have a limited number of reps. Usually the guts
of the plan are geared toward the specific talents of
(03:33):
the starters, and so you may get some reps, but
it might not be quote unquote plays that are you know,
perfectly in your wheelhouse. He's always found a way to
manage those challenges, to to remain confident, for that confidence
to to ooze out of him and and be a
catalyst for a collective performance, and we got that. We
(03:55):
certainly got quality efforts from Kenny gangwell as well once
Jalen was limited in the game. Can't say enough about Kenny.
Kenny does a lot of things well for US. I
always referred to him as a football player, first in
a running back. Second, he's good in the running game.
He's good in the passing game. He returns kicks for us,
(04:17):
he covers kicks. He had a kickoff tackle I think
on Sunday as a reflection of that versatility, and so
excited about our ability to secure that very important AFC
North win, and it.
Speaker 3 (04:33):
Was an important win by the way. Gamewell finished the
game with a career high in both perceptions and receiving yards,
most of that coming in the second half of Jalen
Warren who Mike Thomlinson was available to play, but he
decided not to play him was on the bench. Now,
whether Jalen Warren's going to be available to play or not,
we don't know. Didn't practice yesterday, so we'll wait to
see again. He doesn't need a lot of time to
(04:54):
ramp up with the ankle. Same thing with Aaron Rodgers
that fractured wrist. As far as the injury is concerned,
let's get to those and then we'll talk about what
this win meant in the AFC North before we move
on and are joined by Jerry Dulac. But first here's
Mike Tomlin assessing the injury situation for his team.
Speaker 5 (05:11):
From a health standpoint. I'll talk about some things first.
Speaker 4 (05:15):
Aaron.
Speaker 5 (05:16):
Aaron's got a fracture in his wrist. It does not
require surgery. Really is just about bracing it and securing
it for his comfort and safety. And then it's about
how functional he is. And so we don't have the
answers to that as we say in here today, but
(05:38):
certainly I would imagine we will get some clarity as
we push through the week. I think his experience really
kind of aids in that he's the type of guy
and has the type of profile. It doesn't require a
lot of physical work and an effort to be ready
to play, and that's helpful in the meanwhile. Certainly, it'll
provide opportunities for Mason and Will to get quality work
(06:00):
as we start the week, and I think that's the
posture that we're in a little later in the week,
we'll take a look at erin and again, as I mentioned,
the variables are stabilizing it and making sure that he's
safe and he can protect himself, brace himself as he falls,
et cetera. Pain tolerance, but that doesn't seem to be
(06:21):
an issue with Aaron. He wanted to go back in
the game on Sunday, and then lastly, obviously how effective
he can be. And so you know, Friday's probably a
big day in terms of some of those things. I
know he's working his tail off to to to be
a component of this this week. He and I talked yesterday.
(06:45):
He expressed that directly, I'm of the mindset of supporting
that while at the same time I got a healthy
collective of guys as a team and as a unit
to ready in the meanwhile, that will be our mindset, right.
Speaker 3 (07:01):
So we're waiting for that and we'll see if Jerry
Dulac has any further information for us. Jerry is going
to be joining us in just a few minutes here
in the locker room. As for the importance of the victory,
it is hard and Mike Tomlin began the press conference
talking about that. It's hard to understate just how important
this win was for the Steelers. With the loss, they
(07:21):
would have dropped back into a first place tie with
the Baltimore Ravens, who have a much easier slate over
the next couple of days of their schedule of the
next couple of games leading up to their matchup with
the Steelers in Baltimore in early December, So clearly that
was important for that. And then the Cincinnati Bengals would
have been a game behind both the Steelers and the
(07:44):
Ravens unbeaten in the division two victories over the Steelers,
so they would have won the tie breaker games still
coming up against the Ravens. That would have put them
in a position in which they could start thinking about
the AFC North title. Now that loss drops them back
to three and seven, there are three games behind the Steelers,
two games behind the Ravens, and so their notion of
(08:06):
potentially winning the AFC North probably went up in flames.
And you'd never say never, but probably went up in
flames in Akrosher Stadium. Will that affect the possible return
of Joe Burrow, who returned to practice last week amid
some fanfare. Difficult to say, but that loss for the
Bengals extremely costly and the victory for the Steelers much
(08:28):
needed as they get ready to take on the Chicago
Bears coming up at Soldier Field on Sunday. Get another
matchup of division champions. We're going to dive into that
with Jerry Dulac. Before we had to break, we want
to remind you you can gear up with the latest
game day necessities at the official Steelers Pro shops. Get
the latest sideline apparel of Jerseys, terrible tows, authentic memorabilia,
(08:50):
and custom exclusives you can only find directly from the team.
Visit one of the Official Steelers Pro shops located at
Akrosher Stadium, Grove City Premium Outlets or Tanger Outlets, or
gear up online at Shop dot Steelers dot com. Get
it direct from the team at the Steerers Pro Shop
at Shop dot Steelers dot com. Jerry Dulac joins us
next in the Locker Room, presented by our neighborhood Forward
(09:12):
Store and the Steerers Pro Shop on Steers Nation Radio,
part of the Steelers Audio Network.
Speaker 1 (09:22):
This is in the Locker Room with King and Starks
on Steelers Nation Radio, presented by your neighborhood Ford Store.
The F one fifty is the official truck of the
Pittsburgh Steelers and by Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at Shop
dot Steelers dot.
Speaker 3 (09:41):
Com and welcome back. We are very very happy to
be joined by our buddy Jerry Dulac, the cool breeze
blowing through a guy so big, so big that he
has two sponsorships, putting the due in that Jerry's brought
(10:02):
to you by Palmadora on Wexford three dollars butt light
sixteen ounce drafts for all Steeler games. Jerry, how are you,
my friend? Thanks very much for being with us.
Speaker 6 (10:13):
Rob, I am well, It's always good to be with
you boys. I got to spend a little bit of
time with you yesterday.
Speaker 4 (10:20):
We did.
Speaker 6 (10:20):
I'll look forward to seeing you later later this afternoon
at the.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
South Side I look forward to it as well, Jerry.
Speaker 3 (10:28):
The I think the big news before we get into
the importance of the game, and you know, sometimes some
news overshadows things a little bit. I guess the big
question is, you know, who's going to be a quarterback?
Is Jalen Warren going to be ready? What about alex Heighsmith?
A lot of injury news that's of great importance for
another game looming large for the Steelers when they take
(10:51):
on the Bears on Sunday.
Speaker 6 (10:53):
Yeah, all all though overshadowed by what's going to happen
with Aaron Rodgers, which, right you mentioned that is the
right the biggest news of all That's what everybody wants
to know. That's the whole league talks about. You know, Rob,
I will tell you I do not know what's going
to happen. I have some feelings on the subject based
(11:15):
on people I've talked to, But I think he the
big thing is going to be fined. The big thing
is going then, even he said yesterday, is safety, meaning
you know, can he protect himself? You know, what's the
risk of further injury if he falls or gets hit,
Mainly if he falls and tries to protect himself when
he goes to the ground. You know, you don't want
(11:36):
him going to the ground with no arm support and
bang his head off the surface. So that's the biggest thing.
But I think he said he's going to try to
practice today, and I'm sure what that is is trying
to find out what brace, what support, what protective device
works well for him. You know, talking to people handoffs
(11:58):
won't be a problem. He has to do it with
one hand, you know, one arm. Oh well, we've seen
Ben Roethlisberger. I certainly have seen him do that in
the past, so that's not an issue. Aaron Rodgers mainly
lines in the shotgun, so the shotgun snap is softer
than the center snap, so that shouldn't be a huge issue.
(12:21):
But it's just going to be you know, securing the
ball if he's hit and protecting himself. So do I
think he's gonna play? I don't know this. I don't.
Speaker 4 (12:34):
I don't.
Speaker 6 (12:35):
That doesn't mean he won't. And I say part. I
say that in part because I think the Steelers are
very comfortable with Mason Rudolph. Not thinking that Mason Rudolph
is a better option than Aaron Rodgers. That's not it
they're just very comfortable with him and they saw what
he did the other day and so you know, look,
this could go either way. But that's kind of how
(12:56):
I think it's going to play out. But I don't
know that for certain.
Speaker 7 (13:01):
And Jerry, I think I think that's kind of you know,
story number one in this one. You know, story number
two is you know, and and let me know if
this is the same way you feel. But can the
Steelers string back to back victories in you know, we
did it earlier in the year, but we haven't been
able to do that, you know post the Colts game.
(13:22):
You know, can this team, you know, travel take their
show on the road and can defense you know, stand
up the way that they have, you know, for a
second game in a row. What do you think about
the consistency? Has that been a topic that's been discussed
around around there?
Speaker 6 (13:39):
Well, Max, I couldn't agree with you more. And we
have seen an inconsistent offense the past two games, past
three games. Really, I know what they did against Indy,
capitalizing on those turnovers, converting four of them into touchdowns,
all passes by Aaron Rodgers, but they haven't exactly been
(14:01):
lighting it up the past three weeks, and the inconsistency
of the defense is probably more puzzling because we've seen
them shut down teams like Minnesota and Indianapolis and do
a good job last week against Joe Flacco and that
passing attack, holding t Higgins and Jamar Chase to six
catches in ninety three yards. But I think we need
(14:23):
to see more of that from the defense, especially on
the road and especially against a team that with Ben
Johnson has turned into a pretty good offensive unit. So yeah,
I'm with you, and you know here we are. We're
at week eleven, well, game eleven, and it's time. It's
time to, you know, show some consistency and fellas, if
(14:45):
I asked you what's the identity of this team, I'm
going to bet a lot of money that neither of
you can can come up with an accurate identity of
what this team is both offensively and defensively. We're getting
a little glimpse defensively, you know, with the move to
Jalen Moore, excuse me, Jalen Ramsey and the addition of
Kyle Duggart in the back end. Let's face it, it's
been pretty darn good since Kyle Duggar came along and
(15:08):
since Jalen Ramsey moved to safety. But the identity of
this team, I'm not sure what it is, and I
think it's about time that if they are going to
show an identity, you can't tell me if they're a
running team, a tight end oriented team, a DK metcalf team.
You know, we don't know. But I think it's about
(15:29):
time we kind of find find out because they really
don't have one.
Speaker 3 (15:35):
Jerry, I think that's an excellent point. And Jerry, as
we mentioned two sponsors presented by our neighborhood Fords, so
as well, the F one fifty is the official truck
of the Pittsburgh Stee there's Jerry, I agree with you wholeheartedly.
And I think that you know, it reminds me a
little bit of I think, and I don't know if
I'm reading this. This is just my own feeling on it.
(15:55):
Like a like a puzzle, right, Like there's a bunch
of puzzle pieces on the table. We've seen how we've
seen some of the pieces they haven't quite come together.
You know, we've seen the passing attack look good at times,
running attack look good at times. Offensively, we haven't seen
that you really coalesce much into a complete offensive performance,
certainly not on a consistent basis. And maybe the identity
(16:17):
is just going to be an offense that runs through
Aaron Rodgers, I don't know, and goes weak to week,
But they do need more consistency. Whether there is an identity,
they need more consistency, and I think that will you know,
I keep banging the same drum. I think that will
help the defense be better. But they've got to find
ways to be more consistent offensively, and I think then
(16:41):
that will help unleash the Steelers defense, which, as we've
seen at times, can be extremely potent when it's unleashed.
But that's my take on it is that I think
it has to start with getting more consistent offensive play.
Although I certainly would love to hear your feeling on it.
Speaker 6 (16:58):
Well, I agree with you, and you know, you look
at every game's year. Ten games, they have yet to
run more plays than the opponent. Now, the other day
it was close for a change. I think it was
only three plays difference, four plays difference, whatever it was,
but the average for the season has been a fourteen
play disparity, and you know that takes its toll as
the season goes on, it's just hard to keep pay.
(17:21):
Soh that's okay for a couple of games, but not
when the opponent's running fifteen, seventeen, nineteen more plays than
you and fourteen on average every game. And to your
point about Aaron Rodgers, I think the one quote identity
of this team is that, Yeah, the offense runs through
Aaron Rodgers. And that's no surprise because it's Aaron Rodgers.
(17:43):
But the point being is that so much of the
offense is run at the line of scrimmage for the
most part, and there's not that there's anything wrong with it,
but I think that's why we see a lot of
times Aaron Rodgers gets the snap, he takes one look,
and he throws the ball on the ground because he's
changing some routes, he's changing some assignments, he's changing not
(18:04):
so much the plays, but changing what some of the
responsibilities are. And when you do that, you have to
be reliant on the other players being where they're supposed
to be, being where Aaron Rodgers expects them to be.
And when he sees that's not the case, the play
blows up. And that's probably asking a lot of all
(18:25):
the players to be in the right place at the
right time, because as Max knows, it just doesn't happen.
And so when that doesn't happen, you know, there goes
the play. And the difference between Aaron Rodgers and Mason
Rudolph is that the play is called for Mason Rudolf.
It's called in the huddle, and yes, every play has
its checks and options, but they call the play and
(18:45):
Mason goes and executes it. And that's not saying that's
the right way. It's just the difference in the way
the offense operates under the two. And they like to
play fast with Mason Rudolf. If you notice, I mean
that is the way he played in college. I know
that was a long long time ago at Oklahoma State,
but they like to play faster with Mason Rudolph. And
so that's one of the things you notice. And that's
(19:07):
why people say, well, it looks smoother with Mason Rudolph.
It looked like there was more flow. Well that's why
that doesn't mean it's necessarily it's better, but that's kind
of the difference between the two quarterbacks. But when Mason's
been in there, that's you know, he's played well there's
no there's no denying that, and that's all the credit
to him that he's keeps himself prepared and ready to go.
Speaker 7 (19:31):
And Jerry, I think I think when I kind of
they just getting ready for the season, and attrition happens
all the time, right, I mean, you know, we've we've
seen injuries defensively, Darius Slay is a guy obviously we're
going to be welcoming him back miss last week, and
you know, we're waiting to hear this Aaron Mason news,
(19:52):
which is you know, kind of kind of crazy that
we're having this conversation this point in the year. But
we haven't really seen any significant attrition. I'm trying to
I'm trying to figure out how to word by words here.
We haven't seen any real attrition really at the offensive
side of the ball this season, right, Jerry, I mean there,
you know, we've had Nick and Bruce's guys that have
(20:14):
been out for like a game or a little bit.
But you know, this is really the first one to
a major position group, you know, the only that's a
group of three essentially, and the impact that can have,
especially when we talk about like the record that Aaron
has and all of that. Was there any surprises in
(20:39):
the in the injury report when Mike came back and
you know or you know not not that was there
a sense of relief when you heard about Jalen Warren
and Kenneth game Well look at looking to be all
right and ready to go for this week.
Speaker 6 (20:55):
Well, you know what, what surprised me, what Mike said
when talking about the injuries, was that Jalen Warren was
cleared to go back into the game, but they liked
what Kenny Gainwell was doing at that point, which strikes
me as odd because at halftime, Jalen Warren was averaging
(21:17):
six point eight yards per carry and he had two
catches for like eleven yards or whatever it was, and
at that point in time when he was injured, Kenny
Gainwell had two carries for ten or eleven yards and
he had the touchdown catch. But Mike Tomlins said, I
liked what Kenny Gainwell was doing at the time, and
(21:43):
Jalen Warren was doing was not ideal, And I thought,
wait a minute, Kenny Gainwell, other than catching the touchdown. Now,
he had a fantastic game, no question, in the second half,
but at that point in time, it wasn't like Kenny
Gainwell was standing out and Jalen Warren wasn't. The act
the exact opposite was true, and so it struck me
as odd that basically what he's saying is we wanted
(22:05):
to play Kenny Gainwell more than we wanted to play
Jalen Warren, even though they were running the ball very
well with Jalen Warren. That's what struck me about that.
And you know, Kenny Gainwell, when you go back to
the Minnesota game in Ireland, Jalen Warren didn't play best
game in his career. Jalen Warren doesn't play in the
second half, and Kenny Gainwell plays the you know, predominantly
(22:26):
the rest of the snaps plays outstanding. So, you know what,
Kenny Gainwell was proving that when he gets into the game,
they're certainly very comfortable. But it was just odd to
me that Jalen Warren, he was their best player in
LA and Kenny Gainwell got more snaps. So I don't
know how they're going to figure that out or play that.
(22:49):
You know, maybe it's going to become, you know, more
of one and one A than running back A and
running back B. But that kind of surprised me, and
of course everybody's up in arms that Mike Tomlin said
that Darius Slay will start basically, you know, after the
way James Pierre has played, I think one he has
(23:09):
to say that too. He wants to say that. But
just because Darius Slay starts, if he's cleared, doesn't mean
he's going to play the majority of the time or
even finish. Because James Pierre has been very, very good
in the last two games.
Speaker 3 (23:26):
Jerry, you're making all excellent points, and I agree with
everything like it's you know, I've said very frequently that
I don't care if you win a game three to
two in September, just win the game, start chalking up points.
But this is the time of years you begin to
kind of turn the corner and get into December. This
is when you want to start putting that identity in place,
(23:48):
while also of course still winning games. I mean that
still remains the priority. I think that you know the
Steelers are, They're six and four right now, there are
a game up on the Ravens. They've got the Ravens
coming up in a couple of weeks. The schedule is
not easy, but again it's the NFL, right Like, if
you're good enough, you'll win enough games to get in
the playoffs, and if you're not good enough, you won't
(24:09):
win enough games to get in the playoffs. That's kind
of the way it works. That's why you play a season.
Having said all that, this game coming up in Chicago
feels once again like a really big game for the
Steelers against the team. You know, look, you want, you
almost you almost had to win last week. I know
you didn't have to win, but you almost had to
(24:30):
win last week. I don't think this game is any
less important against.
Speaker 6 (24:35):
Chicago well, and you look at this stretch of games
Rob Bears, Bills, and Ravens, it's a tough three game stretch.
This game will stress their defense because of the way
the Bears have performed offensively with Caleb Williams, and Ben
Johnson has done a great job, you know, in his
first year with that offense, he's making Caleb Williams look
(24:55):
like the number one overall pick.
Speaker 4 (24:57):
That he was.
Speaker 6 (24:58):
I think that Bengals win was huge because if you lose,
that's for your last five that you've lost. You've been
swept by a division opponent who has a chance to
be at the bottom of the division and you drop
into a first place tie with the Ravens after ten games,
when you had a three and a half game lead
on them when they were one and five. So I
(25:19):
thought that Bengals win was very necessary for them for
their confidence and their psychees. You know, if you look
at these next three games, they could lose to the
Bears and win the next two and everybody will say
that's fine, and it would be fine. But I think
going on the road and winning against a team that
(25:41):
you know has won what seven of their last eight,
is going to be big for their confidence as well.
I will say this about the Bears. This is the
first time they've played a team beating the team will
have beaten the team if they do with a winning record,
so you know, their wins are not against the upper
(26:02):
echelon teams of the league, and so this is going
to be a test for the Bears as well to
see are okay, are they as good as a lot
of people think they are. You know, they lead the
NFC North, which is a tough division. Got to give
them all the credit in the world, but they haven't
exactly beaten up on the best teams in the league.
Speaker 7 (26:18):
Either absolutely, and and that's one of those is going
to be good on good come Sunday, Jerry. Question, Jerry,
just as you look at this Bears offense, I mean,
it has all the hallmarks of great play. And you know,
we talked about the you know, I talked about earlier
(26:39):
this week, the defense that was put together for the
specific purpose of stopping the Cincinnati Beings. They finally overcame that,
right because that was what all the offseason acquisition moves
were built to beat Baltimore and to beat you know,
to beat Cincinnati. How do we see.
Speaker 4 (27:05):
That?
Speaker 7 (27:06):
Is that the justification? You know, do you hang your
hat on the New England you know, we'll see what
Buffalo becomes a Kansas City elite tier that's dominated the
AFC for so long, or do we actually see a
crack at an opening to get to get into that
spot with him?
Speaker 6 (27:28):
You know, Max, I think the best teams in the
league are in the NFC, and I think the AFC
is wide open to the point that I do not
discount the Chiefs at five and five, especially if they
could just get into the postseason. I do not want
to see him win the division because the last thing
I want to watch is another playoff game in Arrowhead Stadium.
But if they get into the they get into the tournament,
(27:51):
as they say in Augusta, Georgia, then all bets are
off with them, boy, because despite their record, they have
been playing very, very well. The Bills have proven to
be inconsistent. The one consistent team is New England Patriots,
but I'm just going to hold off on that for
a while because they are a young team. And so
(28:13):
you look in the West Denver, who has you know,
tied for the best record, is won what eight in
a row, but their offense has been terribly inconsistent, but
they have a very good defense. So I think the AFC,
I'm not going to say it's wide open, but it's
a lot more wide open to me than the NFC,
where I think the Rams are the best team, and
that's hard to say when you have an Eagles team
(28:34):
that's eight and two and the defending champs. But I
think the four best teams are in the NFC, and
I think the AFC there's a path there if the Steelers,
I'm not going to say a path to the super Bowl,
but there's a path to get into the postseason and
maybe and maybe take a step forward and win a game.
But you know they're going to have to do something
(28:56):
they haven't done in December recently, and that's win consistently.
And we know those three game losing streaks in December
for the last six years and it's either knocked them
from the playoffs or knocked down their postseason seeding. So
that that's what everybody's leary about. And that's what we're
going to have to see if they can, you know,
maintain some consistency or develop some consistency forget and maintained
(29:20):
develop some consistency here leading into the second you know,
especially the late stages of the season.
Speaker 3 (29:26):
Yeah, that's what we're going to be looking for for sure.
Jerry dol I'll be looking for you coming up soon.
Speaker 6 (29:32):
But well, i'll see you later, brother. I'll try and
I'll try and have some food ready for you. Maybe
I don't know if you want some flowers or fireplace
or something, but we'll be ready.
Speaker 3 (29:41):
For you if you could. Just yeah, make sure I've
got a napkin. I like to tuck it up under
my chin. You know, I'm spelling anything for on it,
you know.
Speaker 4 (29:47):
But the soup.
Speaker 2 (29:49):
Thanks to see surely my friend.
Speaker 6 (29:52):
Uh good talking with you fellas as always.
Speaker 3 (29:54):
Okay, that's Jerry Dola Jarry, Yeah, man, he's just giving
us so much to talk about.
Speaker 4 (30:01):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (30:02):
Two things that come to mind. First of all, this
is a super important game for the Bears. Look the
Bears for a number of reasons. The Bears, yes, they
want to prove that they are legit. You know, they
had a chance against the Ravens, and the Ravens pretty
well took care of them. They haven't beaten good competition. Secondly,
(30:22):
they've got Green Bay and Detroit right on their heels.
They can't afford to slip up. And for them, I'm
sure they are expecting to win this game. This would
constitute a slip up if they lost this game. So
that's number one for me. I'll hit you up with
topic number two. But that's number one for me, is
that the Bears. I'm not going to say they're desperate
(30:44):
like the Bengals were on that Thursday night in Cincinnati,
but man, they're got to be close. They know this
is a huge game for them.
Speaker 4 (30:52):
Yeah.
Speaker 7 (30:52):
Right now, sitting first in the NFC North, something they
have not been in in a very long time. In fact,
I was just talking with two Chicago fans, long time
Chicago fans, as I was getting my girls.
Speaker 4 (31:04):
From volleyball, and they were.
Speaker 7 (31:09):
Over the moon would be an understatement, but just so
exactly like we do it. Short lived, but but you know,
they kind of always expect the other shoot to drop
with the Bears and the other Bear.
Speaker 4 (31:20):
The Bears have been good this year.
Speaker 7 (31:21):
They've been great at one score games, They've been able
to come back, but they but what what's been most
impressive is how fast they can jump on top of
you with scoring. That's gonna be really the key for
our defenses, stopping stopping the run, and you know, making
sure that Caleb Williams is not comfortable in the pocket.
(31:45):
He must be pressured, he must be hit. This is
a guy that you know, yes he yes, he's yes, he's.
Speaker 4 (31:52):
Toned down.
Speaker 7 (31:53):
You know, a majority of the athletic tape is still open,
you know, And I think that's what that's what that's
what you kind of look at. And I just want
to make sure our defense, you know, travels. That's gonna
be my biggest thing. Can this defense travel? Can it
still be intimidating? Can it still be tenacious and get
(32:13):
the turnovers against you know, a young quarterback, a young
quarterback who's getting on the job, training as a starter
and trying to figure out where Kyle Manung guy DeAndre
Swift that run game Colson Lovelin in the past game
and every once in a while, you know, they will
(32:35):
hand them off on a jet sweep. So it's a
It's a lot of really Q work and perimeter tackling,
which I think when you have two safeties like a
Kyle Ducker and a Jalen Ramsey that both have a
pension for hitting but also you know a pension forward
for defense, is crazy to analyze kind of their impact
(32:59):
and what is needed of them and them just being
able to consistently deliver that I think is pretty pretty huge.
But I really want to see this team just stemy
Chicago and just in this curse that happens to be
looming over Sozier Field that only comes out when Steelers
(33:20):
are playing them.
Speaker 3 (33:21):
So many different subjects to get to, so many matchups
in this game that are key, and not only key,
but there's some really fun matchups in this game, particularly
in the trenches. I think that I want to get
to with Max. But that's all when we continue in
the Locker Room presented by our neighborhood Ford Store and
the Steelers Pro Shop on Steelers Nation Radio, well part
of the Steelers Audio Network.
Speaker 1 (33:45):
This is in the Locker Room with King and Starks
on Steelers Nation Radio presented by your neighborhood Ford Store.
The F one fifty is the official truck of the
Pittsburgh Steelers and by Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop
dot Steelers dot com.
Speaker 3 (34:07):
And thank you very much for being with us inside
the locker room at Max.
Speaker 2 (34:11):
I told you there's two things I wanted to talk about.
Speaker 3 (34:13):
One was the importance of the game for Chicago, which
I always think makes an opponent dangerous when they've got
a lot to play for. The other was the notion that, Okay,
you're six and four and the schedule is tough, and
you know you let games slip away. You know fans
are going to say, well, you should have won this game,
should have won that game. We'd all be happier. If
the Steelers are seven to three, which would have been two,
(34:34):
would have meant two things. One, you would add a
better record and room for a slip up in two,
you would have.
Speaker 2 (34:39):
Played better football because you would have had a better record.
Speaker 3 (34:42):
That having been said, look, if you want to the
stated goal here is not slipping into the playoffs, It
is not having a five hundred season. And those are
all Those aren't things that should be taken lightly. You know,
there's lots of teams out there. You know, if you're
Jacksonville and you slip into the playoffs, your season's been
(35:04):
a success. If you're the Chicago Bears, who've been to
the playoffs three times since Mike Tomlin has taken over
as head coach, Susan been of the playoffs twelve times.
The Bears have been there three times. Slipping into the
playoffs would be a definition of a successful season. That's
not the way things work in Pittsburgh. They don't want
to slip into the playoffs. They don't want to be
nine to eight and extend the record number of winning seasons,
(35:28):
which is again a record, it's a feat. It's something
to be celebrated in other places. My point is this,
if you want to get to where you're going to
get to, you're eventually going to have to beat the
Baltimore Ravens or the Buffalo Bills or the Detroit Lions.
So if that's the schedule, bring it on. And if
you're good enough to get to the playoffs and make
(35:49):
some noise, you're going to find out that's what the
schedule is showing you. That's what's in front of you,
and to get to your state of goal, these are
the kind of teams you have to be able to beat.
Speaker 7 (36:00):
Well, and I think I think more so than anything else,
Rob Right, it's it's it's you're chasing your own standard,
and that's what they have to keep in mind. You
can't look at the opponent and say, oh my gosh,
it's Chicago, oh that you know, there's all these guys
over here, Roma Doomsday, DJ Moore, you know, and Colston Love.
(36:26):
You start to name all these names, but you know,
Mike town has always said nameless great faces. Right, It's
just it's the opponent that that's that's who you're going
up against. But the standard that you're fighting to to
to play to is to your own standard. You know,
you're not playing down to competition. You shouldn't need a
(36:48):
better team to elevate your game. You should just naturally
be able to do that, and the good and elite
teams can, and I think for the Steelers specifically for
this game in Chicago, you know, let us worry about,
you know, the magic and how many wins and plays
(37:09):
versus the Packers somebody's or the Bear somebody's played. It's
we have to get to seven and four. We have
to create we we have to go at the same
pace the Baltimore Ravens are to maintain that one game lead.
And you can't have time for doubt. You can't have
time for the anxiety of the moment. You just need
(37:36):
to go out and the way, you know, I say
this a lot, the work is the work. So be
prepared to do work and go in a manner that
denotes a quality team.
Speaker 4 (37:50):
Prove that you.
Speaker 7 (37:51):
Deserve to be in that in that championship conversation, that
playoff conversation. You drop this game, like you said, you
still give the Bengals life, although how small you know
it is. You give the yeah, yeah, okay, thank you,
thank you, okay, okay. I was trying to be diplomatic.
Speaker 2 (38:14):
They lost last week.
Speaker 3 (38:15):
My point was if the Stevens last week's game was
important because steps had lost last week, the Bengals would
be right in it this week, I think. I mean,
I'm not ready to ring the death knell yet because
you just never know. But man, oh man, we got
the bell out and we got the hammer ready, and
we're standing on top.
Speaker 4 (38:32):
Of the hill.
Speaker 7 (38:33):
Yeah, we're just staring at the foreman telling us giving
us to go ahead.
Speaker 4 (38:37):
Yes, wait, are we on time yet? Are on time?
You know? I'm union right, you know, I'm not.
Speaker 7 (38:44):
I'm not I'm not swinging I'm not swinging it until
you ring it.
Speaker 4 (38:49):
You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 7 (38:51):
But but but that's really what you have to fight it.
You have to fight that sense of mediocrity. You have
to fight that sense complacency, comfort ease. You know, I
don't know a single team that's won a championship that
hasn't had had to display grit right out the gates,
(39:15):
right and you and you had to do it, you know,
rather rather quickly because the opponent was the opponent and
they and they're coming for your head off. So I'm
just I'm cautiously optimistic about this game on Sunday, But
(39:35):
it's all hinging upon how well the players have bandaged
each other and managed the known spots and getting into
those areas and not being denied, not for whatever, getting
a mental error and a mental break, or getting you know,
(39:55):
getting into just this this dog fight assault. You know,
I would love to see a mix of low scoring
mixed with the course of Steelers.
Speaker 4 (40:04):
Having the higher of the two scores.
Speaker 7 (40:05):
I would That's what I would love to see, you know,
And the comfort and easibility it is in having something
like that small bis packed with so much stuff be
able to just deliver, deliver. I want our defense to
deliver in this game. And I feel like if we
can get Darius slayback, that now gives us a good
(40:28):
rotation of guys. Alex high Smith would help with that
run game. Even though the run game did not allow
one hundred yard passer or rusher, it still gave up
over one hundred yards and that's where I would love
to see them stematize on that. But hey, baby steps
in this moment. I mean, you did shut down Josh
(40:49):
Jacobs and Jonathan Taylor in consecutive weeks, so we know
you have it in you, so why not go do
it again in Chicago?
Speaker 4 (40:57):
Agreed?
Speaker 3 (40:58):
I mean, this is uh, it's it's a big game.
But again, It is a big game for both these teams,
and it's not just a big game for the Steelers.
You know, you know, it's certainly a big game from
our perspective, but if you're up in Chicago and you're
thinking about you know, they got off to a decent
start last year. Things slipped away from them, and I've
(41:18):
got a new coach, They've got a lot of promise.
They went out and made big moves in free agency,
which we're going to get.
Speaker 4 (41:24):
To in a little bit.
Speaker 3 (41:25):
This is not just a big game for the Steelers,
the expectations in Chicago or high. It is a matchup
of first place teams. Cannot wait to dig into some
of the specific matchups, which we're going to do next
when we continue in the Locker Room, presented by your
neighborhood Forward Stour and the Steers Pro Shop on Steelers
Nation Radio, a part of the Steelers Audio netw
This is in the Locker Room with King and Starks
on Steelers Nation Radio, presented by your neighborhood Ford Store.
The F one point fifty is the official truck of
the Pittsburgh Steelers and by Steelers Pro Shop. Get it
direct from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at
shop dot Steelers dot com.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
And thanks very much for being with us.
Speaker 3 (00:28):
In the Locker Room, presented by our neighborhood Ford Stow
and this Jeerers Pro Shop here on Steevens Nation Radio
parties Tow's audio network.
Speaker 4 (00:34):
I'm Rob King with.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
Matt Starks and Justin Millard's controls in our iHeart studio.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Lots to get to.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
Jerry Dulac is going to be joining us in just
a little bit as we sort of await with baited
breath the injury news, particularly at the quarterback position for
this jus, But there are other guys dinged up. Jalen
Warren is dinged up with Alex Highsmith be able to play.
Hopefully we'll get some clarity here as we move to
the later part of the week, and of course a
Chicago Bears game to get to, with plenty of intriguing
(01:02):
matchups in this game, another battle of two first place
teams for the third time in four weeks. The Steelers
will be taking on a division leader when they visit
the Bears at Soldier.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
Field, so plenty to get to before we move forward.
Speaker 3 (01:15):
Let's move back just about a day and a half
or so ago to Mike Tomlin's press conference and his
comments as he wraps up the victory over the Bengals
and begins to look forward to this game on Sunday
against the Chicago Bears.
Speaker 5 (01:29):
Assessment of our last performance. I just thought as the
game went on, our fight was evident. We made more
plays in all three phases, the deeper we got into
the game, and that's what you want to see and
feel from a group that's fighting, and I felt it certainly.
(01:50):
I thought it was significant. There was less speculation from
a defensive perspective of what we might get from Flacco
and company. The first time we played those guys. We
had a one week body of work to study and
it wasn't a complete week, and so there were more.
There was more speculation about how Joe would would alter
their attack, how the lens through which he would see it,
(02:13):
the things that they would do to get to the
ball obviously to their two top playmakers. And you know,
as we stood in here last week, we said there
were less speculation there although they had been highly successful.
I think Jord thrown for over four hundred yards a
week prior to our game. Uh, there was less speculation there.
We could anchor down and make some hardcore decisions about
how to allocate our schematic resources and our talent. I
(02:36):
thought the guys did a nice job absorbing to plan
and executing the plan.
Speaker 4 (02:42):
End games.
Speaker 5 (02:42):
Certainly we had some challenges and guys continually step up
for us.
Speaker 4 (02:47):
Two guys in the.
Speaker 5 (02:49):
Secondary certainly worth mentioning or Or Kyle Duggar and and
James Pierre. But I think we also talked about those
guys a week ago. From an office of perspective, it's
good when when you absorb some attrition in the ball.
Keith Rowland can't say enough about Mason Rudolph. Although we're
(03:11):
used to it, it's still appreciated. He's proven over his
time here that he's capable of coming in and playing
winning football for us. And that's no small task. When
you're preparing during the course of a week as a backup,
you have a limited number of reps. Usually the guts
of the plan are geared toward the specific talents of
(03:33):
the starters, and so you may get some reps, but
it might not be quote unquote plays that are you know,
perfectly in your wheelhouse. He's always found a way to
manage those challenges, to to remain confident, for that confidence
to to ooze out of him and and be a
catalyst for a collective performance, and we got that. We
(03:55):
certainly got quality efforts from Kenny gangwell as well once
Jalen was limited in the game. Can't say enough about Kenny.
Kenny does a lot of things well for US. I
always referred to him as a football player, first in
a running back. Second, he's good in the running game.
He's good in the passing game. He returns kicks for us,
(04:17):
he covers kicks. He had a kickoff tackle I think
on Sunday as a reflection of that versatility, and so
excited about our ability to secure that very important AFC
North win, and it.
Speaker 3 (04:33):
Was an important win by the way. Gamewell finished the
game with a career high in both perceptions and receiving yards,
most of that coming in the second half of Jalen
Warren who Mike Thomlinson was available to play, but he
decided not to play him was on the bench. Now,
whether Jalen Warren's going to be available to play or not,
we don't know. Didn't practice yesterday, so we'll wait to
see again. He doesn't need a lot of time to
(04:54):
ramp up with the ankle. Same thing with Aaron Rodgers
that fractured wrist. As far as the injury is concerned,
let's get to those and then we'll talk about what
this win meant in the AFC North before we move
on and are joined by Jerry Dulac. But first here's
Mike Tomlin assessing the injury situation for his team.
Speaker 5 (05:11):
From a health standpoint. I'll talk about some things first.
Speaker 4 (05:15):
Aaron.
Speaker 5 (05:16):
Aaron's got a fracture in his wrist. It does not
require surgery. Really is just about bracing it and securing
it for his comfort and safety. And then it's about
how functional he is. And so we don't have the
answers to that as we say in here today, but
(05:38):
certainly I would imagine we will get some clarity as
we push through the week. I think his experience really
kind of aids in that he's the type of guy
and has the type of profile. It doesn't require a
lot of physical work and an effort to be ready
to play, and that's helpful in the meanwhile. Certainly, it'll
provide opportunities for Mason and Will to get quality work
(06:00):
as we start the week, and I think that's the
posture that we're in a little later in the week,
we'll take a look at erin and again, as I mentioned,
the variables are stabilizing it and making sure that he's
safe and he can protect himself, brace himself as he falls,
et cetera. Pain tolerance, but that doesn't seem to be
(06:21):
an issue with Aaron. He wanted to go back in
the game on Sunday, and then lastly, obviously how effective
he can be. And so you know, Friday's probably a
big day in terms of some of those things. I
know he's working his tail off to to to be
a component of this this week. He and I talked yesterday.
(06:45):
He expressed that directly, I'm of the mindset of supporting
that while at the same time I got a healthy
collective of guys as a team and as a unit
to ready in the meanwhile, that will be our mindset, right.
Speaker 3 (07:01):
So we're waiting for that and we'll see if Jerry
Dulac has any further information for us. Jerry is going
to be joining us in just a few minutes here
in the locker room. As for the importance of the victory,
it is hard and Mike Tomlin began the press conference
talking about that. It's hard to understate just how important
this win was for the Steelers. With the loss, they
(07:21):
would have dropped back into a first place tie with
the Baltimore Ravens, who have a much easier slate over
the next couple of days of their schedule of the
next couple of games leading up to their matchup with
the Steelers in Baltimore in early December, So clearly that
was important for that. And then the Cincinnati Bengals would
have been a game behind both the Steelers and the
(07:44):
Ravens unbeaten in the division two victories over the Steelers,
so they would have won the tie breaker games still
coming up against the Ravens. That would have put them
in a position in which they could start thinking about
the AFC North title. Now that loss drops them back
to three and seven, there are three games behind the Steelers,
two games behind the Ravens, and so their notion of
(08:06):
potentially winning the AFC North probably went up in flames.
And you'd never say never, but probably went up in
flames in Akrosher Stadium. Will that affect the possible return
of Joe Burrow, who returned to practice last week amid
some fanfare. Difficult to say, but that loss for the
Bengals extremely costly and the victory for the Steelers much
(08:28):
needed as they get ready to take on the Chicago
Bears coming up at Soldier Field on Sunday. Get another
matchup of division champions. We're going to dive into that
with Jerry Dulac. Before we had to break, we want
to remind you you can gear up with the latest
game day necessities at the official Steelers Pro shops. Get
the latest sideline apparel of Jerseys, terrible tows, authentic memorabilia,
(08:50):
and custom exclusives you can only find directly from the team.
Visit one of the Official Steelers Pro shops located at
Akrosher Stadium, Grove City Premium Outlets or Tanger Outlets, or
gear up online at Shop dot Steelers dot com. Get
it direct from the team at the Steerers Pro Shop
at Shop dot Steelers dot com. Jerry Dulac joins us
next in the Locker Room, presented by our neighborhood Forward
(09:12):
Store and the Steerers Pro Shop on Steers Nation Radio,
part of the Steelers Audio Network.
Speaker 1 (09:22):
This is in the Locker Room with King and Starks
on Steelers Nation Radio, presented by your neighborhood Ford Store.
The F one fifty is the official truck of the
Pittsburgh Steelers and by Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at Shop
dot Steelers dot.
Speaker 3 (09:41):
Com and welcome back. We are very very happy to
be joined by our buddy Jerry Dulac, the cool breeze
blowing through a guy so big, so big that he
has two sponsorships, putting the due in that Jerry's brought
(10:02):
to you by Palmadora on Wexford three dollars butt light
sixteen ounce drafts for all Steeler games. Jerry, how are you,
my friend? Thanks very much for being with us.
Speaker 6 (10:13):
Rob, I am well, It's always good to be with
you boys. I got to spend a little bit of
time with you yesterday.
Speaker 4 (10:20):
We did.
Speaker 6 (10:20):
I'll look forward to seeing you later later this afternoon
at the.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
South Side I look forward to it as well, Jerry.
Speaker 3 (10:28):
The I think the big news before we get into
the importance of the game, and you know, sometimes some
news overshadows things a little bit. I guess the big
question is, you know, who's going to be a quarterback?
Is Jalen Warren going to be ready? What about alex Heighsmith?
A lot of injury news that's of great importance for
another game looming large for the Steelers when they take
(10:51):
on the Bears on Sunday.
Speaker 6 (10:53):
Yeah, all all though overshadowed by what's going to happen
with Aaron Rodgers, which, right you mentioned that is the
right the biggest news of all That's what everybody wants
to know. That's the whole league talks about. You know, Rob,
I will tell you I do not know what's going
to happen. I have some feelings on the subject based
(11:15):
on people I've talked to, But I think he the
big thing is going to be fined. The big thing
is going then, even he said yesterday, is safety, meaning
you know, can he protect himself? You know, what's the
risk of further injury if he falls or gets hit,
Mainly if he falls and tries to protect himself when
he goes to the ground. You know, you don't want
(11:36):
him going to the ground with no arm support and
bang his head off the surface. So that's the biggest thing.
But I think he said he's going to try to
practice today, and I'm sure what that is is trying
to find out what brace, what support, what protective device
works well for him. You know, talking to people handoffs
(11:58):
won't be a problem. He has to do it with
one hand, you know, one arm. Oh well, we've seen
Ben Roethlisberger. I certainly have seen him do that in
the past, so that's not an issue. Aaron Rodgers mainly
lines in the shotgun, so the shotgun snap is softer
than the center snap, so that shouldn't be a huge issue.
(12:21):
But it's just going to be you know, securing the
ball if he's hit and protecting himself. So do I
think he's gonna play? I don't know this. I don't.
Speaker 4 (12:34):
I don't.
Speaker 6 (12:35):
That doesn't mean he won't. And I say part. I
say that in part because I think the Steelers are
very comfortable with Mason Rudolph. Not thinking that Mason Rudolph
is a better option than Aaron Rodgers. That's not it
they're just very comfortable with him and they saw what
he did the other day and so you know, look,
this could go either way. But that's kind of how
(12:56):
I think it's going to play out. But I don't
know that for certain.
Speaker 7 (13:01):
And Jerry, I think I think that's kind of you know,
story number one in this one. You know, story number
two is you know, and and let me know if
this is the same way you feel. But can the
Steelers string back to back victories in you know, we
did it earlier in the year, but we haven't been
able to do that, you know post the Colts game.
(13:22):
You know, can this team, you know, travel take their
show on the road and can defense you know, stand
up the way that they have, you know, for a
second game in a row. What do you think about
the consistency? Has that been a topic that's been discussed
around around there?
Speaker 6 (13:39):
Well, Max, I couldn't agree with you more. And we
have seen an inconsistent offense the past two games, past
three games. Really, I know what they did against Indy,
capitalizing on those turnovers, converting four of them into touchdowns,
all passes by Aaron Rodgers, but they haven't exactly been
(14:01):
lighting it up the past three weeks, and the inconsistency
of the defense is probably more puzzling because we've seen
them shut down teams like Minnesota and Indianapolis and do
a good job last week against Joe Flacco and that
passing attack, holding t Higgins and Jamar Chase to six
catches in ninety three yards. But I think we need
(14:23):
to see more of that from the defense, especially on
the road and especially against a team that with Ben
Johnson has turned into a pretty good offensive unit. So yeah,
I'm with you, and you know here we are. We're
at week eleven, well, game eleven, and it's time. It's
time to, you know, show some consistency and fellas, if
(14:45):
I asked you what's the identity of this team, I'm
going to bet a lot of money that neither of
you can can come up with an accurate identity of
what this team is both offensively and defensively. We're getting
a little glimpse defensively, you know, with the move to
Jalen Moore, excuse me, Jalen Ramsey and the addition of
Kyle Duggart in the back end. Let's face it, it's
been pretty darn good since Kyle Duggar came along and
(15:08):
since Jalen Ramsey moved to safety. But the identity of
this team, I'm not sure what it is, and I
think it's about time that if they are going to
show an identity, you can't tell me if they're a
running team, a tight end oriented team, a DK metcalf team.
You know, we don't know. But I think it's about
(15:29):
time we kind of find find out because they really
don't have one.
Speaker 3 (15:35):
Jerry, I think that's an excellent point. And Jerry, as
we mentioned two sponsors presented by our neighborhood Fords, so
as well, the F one fifty is the official truck
of the Pittsburgh Stee there's Jerry, I agree with you wholeheartedly.
And I think that you know, it reminds me a
little bit of I think, and I don't know if
I'm reading this. This is just my own feeling on it.
(15:55):
Like a like a puzzle, right, Like there's a bunch
of puzzle pieces on the table. We've seen how we've
seen some of the pieces they haven't quite come together.
You know, we've seen the passing attack look good at times,
running attack look good at times. Offensively, we haven't seen
that you really coalesce much into a complete offensive performance,
certainly not on a consistent basis. And maybe the identity
(16:17):
is just going to be an offense that runs through
Aaron Rodgers, I don't know, and goes weak to week,
But they do need more consistency. Whether there is an identity,
they need more consistency, and I think that will you know,
I keep banging the same drum. I think that will
help the defense be better. But they've got to find
ways to be more consistent offensively, and I think then
(16:41):
that will help unleash the Steelers defense, which, as we've
seen at times, can be extremely potent when it's unleashed.
But that's my take on it is that I think
it has to start with getting more consistent offensive play.
Although I certainly would love to hear your feeling on it.
Speaker 6 (16:58):
Well, I agree with you, and you know, you look
at every game's year. Ten games, they have yet to
run more plays than the opponent. Now, the other day
it was close for a change. I think it was
only three plays difference, four plays difference, whatever it was,
but the average for the season has been a fourteen
play disparity, and you know that takes its toll as
the season goes on, it's just hard to keep pay.
(17:21):
Soh that's okay for a couple of games, but not
when the opponent's running fifteen, seventeen, nineteen more plays than
you and fourteen on average every game. And to your
point about Aaron Rodgers, I think the one quote identity
of this team is that, Yeah, the offense runs through
Aaron Rodgers. And that's no surprise because it's Aaron Rodgers.
(17:43):
But the point being is that so much of the
offense is run at the line of scrimmage for the
most part, and there's not that there's anything wrong with it,
but I think that's why we see a lot of
times Aaron Rodgers gets the snap, he takes one look,
and he throws the ball on the ground because he's
changing some routes, he's changing some assignments, he's changing not
(18:04):
so much the plays, but changing what some of the
responsibilities are. And when you do that, you have to
be reliant on the other players being where they're supposed
to be, being where Aaron Rodgers expects them to be.
And when he sees that's not the case, the play
blows up. And that's probably asking a lot of all
(18:25):
the players to be in the right place at the
right time, because as Max knows, it just doesn't happen.
And so when that doesn't happen, you know, there goes
the play. And the difference between Aaron Rodgers and Mason
Rudolph is that the play is called for Mason Rudolf.
It's called in the huddle, and yes, every play has
its checks and options, but they call the play and
(18:45):
Mason goes and executes it. And that's not saying that's
the right way. It's just the difference in the way
the offense operates under the two. And they like to
play fast with Mason Rudolf. If you notice, I mean
that is the way he played in college. I know
that was a long long time ago at Oklahoma State,
but they like to play faster with Mason Rudolph. And
so that's one of the things you notice. And that's
(19:07):
why people say, well, it looks smoother with Mason Rudolph.
It looked like there was more flow. Well that's why
that doesn't mean it's necessarily it's better, but that's kind
of the difference between the two quarterbacks. But when Mason's
been in there, that's you know, he's played well there's
no there's no denying that, and that's all the credit
to him that he's keeps himself prepared and ready to go.
Speaker 7 (19:31):
And Jerry, I think I think when I kind of
they just getting ready for the season, and attrition happens
all the time, right, I mean, you know, we've we've
seen injuries defensively, Darius Slay is a guy obviously we're
going to be welcoming him back miss last week, and
you know, we're waiting to hear this Aaron Mason news,
(19:52):
which is you know, kind of kind of crazy that
we're having this conversation this point in the year. But
we haven't really seen any significant attrition. I'm trying to
I'm trying to figure out how to word by words here.
We haven't seen any real attrition really at the offensive
side of the ball this season, right, Jerry, I mean there,
you know, we've had Nick and Bruce's guys that have
(20:14):
been out for like a game or a little bit.
But you know, this is really the first one to
a major position group, you know, the only that's a
group of three essentially, and the impact that can have,
especially when we talk about like the record that Aaron
has and all of that. Was there any surprises in
(20:39):
the in the injury report when Mike came back and
you know or you know not not that was there
a sense of relief when you heard about Jalen Warren
and Kenneth game Well look at looking to be all
right and ready to go for this week.
Speaker 6 (20:55):
Well, you know what, what surprised me, what Mike said
when talking about the injuries, was that Jalen Warren was
cleared to go back into the game, but they liked
what Kenny Gainwell was doing at that point, which strikes
me as odd because at halftime, Jalen Warren was averaging
(21:17):
six point eight yards per carry and he had two
catches for like eleven yards or whatever it was, and
at that point in time when he was injured, Kenny
Gainwell had two carries for ten or eleven yards and
he had the touchdown catch. But Mike Tomlins said, I
liked what Kenny Gainwell was doing at the time, and
(21:43):
Jalen Warren was doing was not ideal, And I thought,
wait a minute, Kenny Gainwell, other than catching the touchdown. Now,
he had a fantastic game, no question, in the second half,
but at that point in time, it wasn't like Kenny
Gainwell was standing out and Jalen Warren wasn't. The act
the exact opposite was true, and so it struck me
as odd that basically what he's saying is we wanted
(22:05):
to play Kenny Gainwell more than we wanted to play
Jalen Warren, even though they were running the ball very
well with Jalen Warren. That's what struck me about that.
And you know, Kenny Gainwell, when you go back to
the Minnesota game in Ireland, Jalen Warren didn't play best
game in his career. Jalen Warren doesn't play in the
second half, and Kenny Gainwell plays the you know, predominantly
(22:26):
the rest of the snaps plays outstanding. So, you know what,
Kenny Gainwell was proving that when he gets into the game,
they're certainly very comfortable. But it was just odd to
me that Jalen Warren, he was their best player in
LA and Kenny Gainwell got more snaps. So I don't
know how they're going to figure that out or play that.
(22:49):
You know, maybe it's going to become, you know, more
of one and one A than running back A and
running back B. But that kind of surprised me, and
of course everybody's up in arms that Mike Tomlin said
that Darius Slay will start basically, you know, after the
way James Pierre has played, I think one he has
(23:09):
to say that too. He wants to say that. But
just because Darius Slay starts, if he's cleared, doesn't mean
he's going to play the majority of the time or
even finish. Because James Pierre has been very, very good
in the last two games.
Speaker 3 (23:26):
Jerry, you're making all excellent points, and I agree with
everything like it's you know, I've said very frequently that
I don't care if you win a game three to
two in September, just win the game, start chalking up points.
But this is the time of years you begin to
kind of turn the corner and get into December. This
is when you want to start putting that identity in place,
(23:48):
while also of course still winning games. I mean that
still remains the priority. I think that you know the
Steelers are, They're six and four right now, there are
a game up on the Ravens. They've got the Ravens
coming up in a couple of weeks. The schedule is
not easy, but again it's the NFL, right Like, if
you're good enough, you'll win enough games to get in
the playoffs, and if you're not good enough, you won't
(24:09):
win enough games to get in the playoffs. That's kind
of the way it works. That's why you play a season.
Having said all that, this game coming up in Chicago
feels once again like a really big game for the
Steelers against the team. You know, look, you want, you
almost you almost had to win last week. I know
you didn't have to win, but you almost had to
(24:30):
win last week. I don't think this game is any
less important against.
Speaker 6 (24:35):
Chicago well, and you look at this stretch of games
Rob Bears, Bills, and Ravens, it's a tough three game stretch.
This game will stress their defense because of the way
the Bears have performed offensively with Caleb Williams, and Ben
Johnson has done a great job, you know, in his
first year with that offense, he's making Caleb Williams look
(24:55):
like the number one overall pick.
Speaker 4 (24:57):
That he was.
Speaker 6 (24:58):
I think that Bengals win was huge because if you lose,
that's for your last five that you've lost. You've been
swept by a division opponent who has a chance to
be at the bottom of the division and you drop
into a first place tie with the Ravens after ten games,
when you had a three and a half game lead
on them when they were one and five. So I
(25:19):
thought that Bengals win was very necessary for them for
their confidence and their psychees. You know, if you look
at these next three games, they could lose to the
Bears and win the next two and everybody will say
that's fine, and it would be fine. But I think
going on the road and winning against a team that
(25:41):
you know has won what seven of their last eight,
is going to be big for their confidence as well.
I will say this about the Bears. This is the
first time they've played a team beating the team will
have beaten the team if they do with a winning record,
so you know, their wins are not against the upper
(26:02):
echelon teams of the league, and so this is going
to be a test for the Bears as well to
see are okay, are they as good as a lot
of people think they are. You know, they lead the
NFC North, which is a tough division. Got to give
them all the credit in the world, but they haven't
exactly beaten up on the best teams in the league.
Speaker 7 (26:18):
Either absolutely, and and that's one of those is going
to be good on good come Sunday, Jerry. Question, Jerry,
just as you look at this Bears offense, I mean,
it has all the hallmarks of great play. And you know,
we talked about the you know, I talked about earlier
(26:39):
this week, the defense that was put together for the
specific purpose of stopping the Cincinnati Beings. They finally overcame that,
right because that was what all the offseason acquisition moves
were built to beat Baltimore and to beat you know,
to beat Cincinnati. How do we see.
Speaker 4 (27:05):
That?
Speaker 7 (27:06):
Is that the justification? You know, do you hang your
hat on the New England you know, we'll see what
Buffalo becomes a Kansas City elite tier that's dominated the
AFC for so long, or do we actually see a
crack at an opening to get to get into that
spot with him?
Speaker 6 (27:28):
You know, Max, I think the best teams in the
league are in the NFC, and I think the AFC
is wide open to the point that I do not
discount the Chiefs at five and five, especially if they
could just get into the postseason. I do not want
to see him win the division because the last thing
I want to watch is another playoff game in Arrowhead Stadium.
But if they get into the they get into the tournament,
(27:51):
as they say in Augusta, Georgia, then all bets are
off with them, boy, because despite their record, they have
been playing very, very well. The Bills have proven to
be inconsistent. The one consistent team is New England Patriots,
but I'm just going to hold off on that for
a while because they are a young team. And so
(28:13):
you look in the West Denver, who has you know,
tied for the best record, is won what eight in
a row, but their offense has been terribly inconsistent, but
they have a very good defense. So I think the AFC,
I'm not going to say it's wide open, but it's
a lot more wide open to me than the NFC,
where I think the Rams are the best team, and
that's hard to say when you have an Eagles team
(28:34):
that's eight and two and the defending champs. But I
think the four best teams are in the NFC, and
I think the AFC there's a path there if the Steelers,
I'm not going to say a path to the super Bowl,
but there's a path to get into the postseason and
maybe and maybe take a step forward and win a game.
But you know they're going to have to do something
(28:56):
they haven't done in December recently, and that's win consistently.
And we know those three game losing streaks in December
for the last six years and it's either knocked them
from the playoffs or knocked down their postseason seeding. So
that that's what everybody's leary about. And that's what we're
going to have to see if they can, you know,
maintain some consistency or develop some consistency forget and maintained
(29:20):
develop some consistency here leading into the second you know,
especially the late stages of the season.
Speaker 3 (29:26):
Yeah, that's what we're going to be looking for for sure.
Jerry dol I'll be looking for you coming up soon.
Speaker 6 (29:32):
But well, i'll see you later, brother. I'll try and
I'll try and have some food ready for you. Maybe
I don't know if you want some flowers or fireplace
or something, but we'll be ready.
Speaker 3 (29:41):
For you if you could. Just yeah, make sure I've
got a napkin. I like to tuck it up under
my chin. You know, I'm spelling anything for on it,
you know.
Speaker 4 (29:47):
But the soup.
Speaker 2 (29:49):
Thanks to see surely my friend.
Speaker 6 (29:52):
Uh good talking with you fellas as always.
Speaker 3 (29:54):
Okay, that's Jerry Dola Jarry, Yeah, man, he's just giving
us so much to talk about.
Speaker 4 (30:01):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (30:02):
Two things that come to mind. First of all, this
is a super important game for the Bears. Look the
Bears for a number of reasons. The Bears, yes, they
want to prove that they are legit. You know, they
had a chance against the Ravens, and the Ravens pretty
well took care of them. They haven't beaten good competition. Secondly,
(30:22):
they've got Green Bay and Detroit right on their heels.
They can't afford to slip up. And for them, I'm
sure they are expecting to win this game. This would
constitute a slip up if they lost this game. So
that's number one for me. I'll hit you up with
topic number two. But that's number one for me, is
that the Bears. I'm not going to say they're desperate
(30:44):
like the Bengals were on that Thursday night in Cincinnati,
but man, they're got to be close. They know this
is a huge game for them.
Speaker 4 (30:52):
Yeah.
Speaker 7 (30:52):
Right now, sitting first in the NFC North, something they
have not been in in a very long time. In fact,
I was just talking with two Chicago fans, long time
Chicago fans, as I was getting my girls.
Speaker 4 (31:04):
From volleyball, and they were.
Speaker 7 (31:09):
Over the moon would be an understatement, but just so
exactly like we do it. Short lived, but but you know,
they kind of always expect the other shoot to drop
with the Bears and the other Bear.
Speaker 4 (31:20):
The Bears have been good this year.
Speaker 7 (31:21):
They've been great at one score games, They've been able
to come back, but they but what what's been most
impressive is how fast they can jump on top of
you with scoring. That's gonna be really the key for
our defenses, stopping stopping the run, and you know, making
sure that Caleb Williams is not comfortable in the pocket.
(31:45):
He must be pressured, he must be hit. This is
a guy that you know, yes he yes, he's yes, he's.
Speaker 4 (31:52):
Toned down.
Speaker 7 (31:53):
You know, a majority of the athletic tape is still open,
you know, And I think that's what that's what that's
what you kind of look at. And I just want
to make sure our defense, you know, travels. That's gonna
be my biggest thing. Can this defense travel? Can it
still be intimidating? Can it still be tenacious and get
(32:13):
the turnovers against you know, a young quarterback, a young
quarterback who's getting on the job, training as a starter
and trying to figure out where Kyle Manung guy DeAndre
Swift that run game Colson Lovelin in the past game
and every once in a while, you know, they will
(32:35):
hand them off on a jet sweep. So it's a
It's a lot of really Q work and perimeter tackling,
which I think when you have two safeties like a
Kyle Ducker and a Jalen Ramsey that both have a
pension for hitting but also you know a pension forward
for defense, is crazy to analyze kind of their impact
(32:59):
and what is needed of them and them just being
able to consistently deliver that I think is pretty pretty huge.
But I really want to see this team just stemy
Chicago and just in this curse that happens to be
looming over Sozier Field that only comes out when Steelers
(33:20):
are playing them.
Speaker 3 (33:21):
So many different subjects to get to, so many matchups
in this game that are key, and not only key,
but there's some really fun matchups in this game, particularly
in the trenches. I think that I want to get
to with Max. But that's all when we continue in
the Locker Room presented by our neighborhood Ford Store and
the Steelers Pro Shop on Steelers Nation Radio, well part
of the Steelers Audio Network.
Speaker 1 (33:45):
This is in the Locker Room with King and Starks
on Steelers Nation Radio presented by your neighborhood Ford Store.
The F one fifty is the official truck of the
Pittsburgh Steelers and by Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop
dot Steelers dot com.
Speaker 3 (34:07):
And thank you very much for being with us inside
the locker room at Max.
Speaker 2 (34:11):
I told you there's two things I wanted to talk about.
Speaker 3 (34:13):
One was the importance of the game for Chicago, which
I always think makes an opponent dangerous when they've got
a lot to play for. The other was the notion that, Okay,
you're six and four and the schedule is tough, and
you know you let games slip away. You know fans
are going to say, well, you should have won this game,
should have won that game. We'd all be happier. If
the Steelers are seven to three, which would have been two,
(34:34):
would have meant two things. One, you would add a
better record and room for a slip up in two,
you would have.
Speaker 2 (34:39):
Played better football because you would have had a better record.
Speaker 3 (34:42):
That having been said, look, if you want to the
stated goal here is not slipping into the playoffs, It
is not having a five hundred season. And those are
all Those aren't things that should be taken lightly. You know,
there's lots of teams out there. You know, if you're
Jacksonville and you slip into the playoffs, your season's been
(35:04):
a success. If you're the Chicago Bears, who've been to
the playoffs three times since Mike Tomlin has taken over
as head coach, Susan been of the playoffs twelve times.
The Bears have been there three times. Slipping into the
playoffs would be a definition of a successful season. That's
not the way things work in Pittsburgh. They don't want
to slip into the playoffs. They don't want to be
nine to eight and extend the record number of winning seasons,
(35:28):
which is again a record, it's a feat. It's something
to be celebrated in other places. My point is this,
if you want to get to where you're going to
get to, you're eventually going to have to beat the
Baltimore Ravens or the Buffalo Bills or the Detroit Lions.
So if that's the schedule, bring it on. And if
you're good enough to get to the playoffs and make
(35:49):
some noise, you're going to find out that's what the
schedule is showing you. That's what's in front of you,
and to get to your state of goal, these are
the kind of teams you have to be able to beat.
Speaker 7 (36:00):
Well, and I think I think more so than anything else,
Rob Right, it's it's it's you're chasing your own standard,
and that's what they have to keep in mind. You
can't look at the opponent and say, oh my gosh,
it's Chicago, oh that you know, there's all these guys
over here, Roma Doomsday, DJ Moore, you know, and Colston Love.
(36:26):
You start to name all these names, but you know,
Mike town has always said nameless great faces. Right, It's
just it's the opponent that that's that's who you're going
up against. But the standard that you're fighting to to
to play to is to your own standard. You know,
you're not playing down to competition. You shouldn't need a
(36:48):
better team to elevate your game. You should just naturally
be able to do that, and the good and elite
teams can, and I think for the Steelers specifically for
this game in Chicago, you know, let us worry about,
you know, the magic and how many wins and plays
(37:09):
versus the Packers somebody's or the Bear somebody's played. It's
we have to get to seven and four. We have
to create we we have to go at the same
pace the Baltimore Ravens are to maintain that one game lead.
And you can't have time for doubt. You can't have
time for the anxiety of the moment. You just need
(37:36):
to go out and the way, you know, I say
this a lot, the work is the work. So be
prepared to do work and go in a manner that
denotes a quality team.
Speaker 4 (37:50):
Prove that you.
Speaker 7 (37:51):
Deserve to be in that in that championship conversation, that
playoff conversation. You drop this game, like you said, you
still give the Bengals life, although how small you know
it is. You give the yeah, yeah, okay, thank you,
thank you, okay, okay. I was trying to be diplomatic.
Speaker 2 (38:14):
They lost last week.
Speaker 3 (38:15):
My point was if the Stevens last week's game was
important because steps had lost last week, the Bengals would
be right in it this week, I think. I mean,
I'm not ready to ring the death knell yet because
you just never know. But man, oh man, we got
the bell out and we got the hammer ready, and
we're standing on top.
Speaker 4 (38:32):
Of the hill.
Speaker 7 (38:33):
Yeah, we're just staring at the foreman telling us giving
us to go ahead.
Speaker 4 (38:37):
Yes, wait, are we on time yet? Are on time?
You know? I'm union right, you know, I'm not.
Speaker 7 (38:44):
I'm not I'm not swinging I'm not swinging it until
you ring it.
Speaker 4 (38:49):
You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 7 (38:51):
But but but that's really what you have to fight it.
You have to fight that sense of mediocrity. You have
to fight that sense complacency, comfort ease. You know, I
don't know a single team that's won a championship that
hasn't had had to display grit right out the gates,
(39:15):
right and you and you had to do it, you know,
rather rather quickly because the opponent was the opponent and
they and they're coming for your head off. So I'm
just I'm cautiously optimistic about this game on Sunday, But
(39:35):
it's all hinging upon how well the players have bandaged
each other and managed the known spots and getting into
those areas and not being denied, not for whatever, getting
a mental error and a mental break, or getting you know,
(39:55):
getting into just this this dog fight assault. You know,
I would love to see a mix of low scoring
mixed with the course of Steelers.
Speaker 4 (40:04):
Having the higher of the two scores.
Speaker 7 (40:05):
I would That's what I would love to see, you know,
And the comfort and easibility it is in having something
like that small bis packed with so much stuff be
able to just deliver, deliver. I want our defense to
deliver in this game. And I feel like if we
can get Darius slayback, that now gives us a good
(40:28):
rotation of guys. Alex high Smith would help with that
run game. Even though the run game did not allow
one hundred yard passer or rusher, it still gave up
over one hundred yards and that's where I would love
to see them stematize on that. But hey, baby steps
in this moment. I mean, you did shut down Josh
(40:49):
Jacobs and Jonathan Taylor in consecutive weeks, so we know
you have it in you, so why not go do
it again in Chicago?
Speaker 4 (40:57):
Agreed?
Speaker 3 (40:58):
I mean, this is uh, it's it's a big game.
But again, It is a big game for both these teams,
and it's not just a big game for the Steelers.
You know, you know, it's certainly a big game from
our perspective, but if you're up in Chicago and you're
thinking about you know, they got off to a decent
start last year. Things slipped away from them, and I've
(41:18):
got a new coach, They've got a lot of promise.
They went out and made big moves in free agency,
which we're going to get.
Speaker 4 (41:24):
To in a little bit.
Speaker 3 (41:25):
This is not just a big game for the Steelers,
the expectations in Chicago or high. It is a matchup
of first place teams. Cannot wait to dig into some
of the specific matchups, which we're going to do next
when we continue in the Locker Room, presented by your
neighborhood Forward Stour and the Steers Pro Shop on Steelers
Nation Radio, a part of the Steelers Audio netw
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