October 15, 2025 • 49 mins
Rob and Wes today, as the duo previews the Thursday night matchup for the black and gold as well as chat with Gerry Dulac.
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
This is in the locker room with King and Starks
on Steelers Nation Radio, presented by your neighborhood Forward 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 2 (00:27):
And we thank you for being with us in this
truncated week of preparation because we have a game on
Thursday night. And in the locker room today as Max
Starks is shortly to be airborne leaving from Arizona and
flying to Cincinnati is Wes Euler. I just had a
sudden flashback to Steve Miller when he no, not Steve Miller,
(00:55):
Steve Martin, when he did the song King Tut, which
is before you were born. Wes born in Arizona, had
a condo made of Stona. For some reason, when I
thought of Max Fleet flying from Arizona, there you go.
That popped into my mind. How are you doing, my friend?
Speaker 3 (01:11):
I'm doing well. Kinger always happy to be joining you
here on a little basement tour from our opposite studios.
And I was raised on Father of the Bride and
the Jerk, so I've got a little bit of a
little Steve Martin acumen here.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
Yeah, I've I have not seen I'm dating myself, but
I have not seen The Jerk since I was a
young man and it came out in the movie theaters.
I don't know if it's worth which is it worth
watching again?
Speaker 3 (01:38):
Yeah? Absolutely, It's one of those movies. And I think
everybody's got those handful of movies in their life that
when you're just scrolling through the channels on a you know,
random Saturday, and you're like, oh, the Jerk is on,
I gotta watch this, and you find yourself sitting there
for forty five minutes. That's one of those for me.
And then, of course, obviously when you talk about Steve Martin,
you got to mention the greatest Thanksgiving movie of them all.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
Play. Yeah, it's funny because that is one even though
it's a comedy, you know, that's one you can watch
pretty much every year, you know, Love Actually there's another
there's a Christmas movie with some humor, and you can
watch that one every year. But most comedies, you know,
if you you know some of my favorite comedy there's
something about Mary, my absolute favorite. As you probably know.
(02:20):
I don't know if I've discussed this with you. Raising
Arizona to me is it is the the Catablanca, it
is the Quadrophenia. It is my number one and everything
else is second. But you can only watch it so
often because you know the jokes. When the jokes don't
surprise you, when you're watching the Hangover and you know
what they're gonna say, Yeah, you have to space those
(02:43):
things out. So I actually watched Dumb and Dumber with
my wife and uh, not too long ago, and and
I didn't laugh that much because I'd watched it too
recently for to find.
Speaker 3 (02:52):
You know what you're saying there, Yeah, I know. So
my my holy grail of comedies is Ace Venture, a
pet detective. Okay, And I know what you mean though.
If you catch it like once every two or three years,
it's fantastic. But if you see it too often, you're like,
you're like mimicking the jokes in the back of your
mind as they're getting said. So I can relate to
(03:13):
that certainly. How about one more for you? How about
how about the Three Amigos? You a big Three Amigos guy?
Speaker 2 (03:18):
Never seen it? I haven't seen You've never seen Aura.
I haven't seen as Ventura since I saw at the
movie theater. I don't even know who's in three who's
in Three Amigos.
Speaker 3 (03:29):
It's Steve Martin, Chevy Chase and Martin Short.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
It's a fantastic catch, Okay, all right, and that's where,
uh I think that's I think I just read recently.
That's where Steve, Martin and Martin Short became just fast friends.
Speaker 3 (03:42):
I believe. So there's a fantastic scene where they they
sing a little song, a little diddy together and do
a little dance in a in a cantina in a
in that movie. And and yes, I would for them
to be strutting their stuff together like they were. I
would imagine they had to become pretty good buddies.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
Okay, So, uh, we do have a football game coming up.
We've had that's comedic interests and looking forward to this
game on Thursday night. You know, look, I know you
do your show with Matt Williamson and doing a great
job in the drive. You and Matt. It's a phenomenal show,
and you know what is kind of your guy's general sense,
(04:20):
and you know, I'll remove Matt from the equation because
I do I get to do a show with Matt
as well, two shows actually, So let's remove Matt from
the equation and give us your thoughts on sort of
where this Dealers stand and your expectations for this game
coming up on Thursday night.
Speaker 3 (04:37):
Well, I think they stand in a fantastic spot Kinger
four and one. Their lone loss is an NFC game
that doesn't affect you for tiebreaker purposes of course, and
everyone else in the division keeps losing. I mean, the
Ravens are one in five. Cleveland and Cincinnati now both
have losing records as well too, And it feels like
(04:58):
while the Steelers, and this is something Matt and I
have talked about every single week still, I keep making
this joke that there's still not a Mona Lisa, like,
the Steelers are not a work of art. But you
don't need to be in the middle of October. What
you need to be is winning games, staying relatively healthy,
you know, not having any losing Joe Burrow for three months,
you know, type crippling injuries like Cincinnati has had. Baltimore's
(05:21):
had a couple as well too. Keep winning games, keep improving,
stay relatively healthy in your key areas, check, check and
check for the Steelers in that regard, and it's gone.
You know, one man gathers what another man spills. Kinger,
as the Grateful Dead would have said, And I mean,
the Steelers are gathering and everybody else in the AFC
(05:42):
North is spilling. They are in a fantastic spot. If
you could go to Cincinnati tomorrow, well, we'll all be
leaving later this afternoon, you and I and everybody on
the plane. But you go to Cincinnati tonight or tomorrow,
you take care of business. You're five and one. I mean,
you would have a four game lead on the Ravens
in the division. You would be just in a fantastic
(06:04):
spot already. Two and oh in the AFC North, three
and oh in the AFC. Your tiebreaker scenarios would be good.
I mean, I think right now you have to feel listen.
I get there's a I think like a portion of
Steelers fans and media that are like, none of this
really matters until we get to January and you can
(06:26):
prove that you can win a playoff game. And from
thirty thousand feet out, I kind of agree with that.
What we're going to remember about this team is what
happens in January without a doubt. But I think as
we sit here in the middle of October, you have
got to feel better about the Steelers in their position
now than you have any time in the recent history.
(06:46):
And I realized this team was ten and three last year,
but I think even you know, this year with Aaron
Rodgers in particular, with the pieces they've added on defense,
I don't remember feeling like a Steelers team was in
this ideal of a position in October, from their own record,
from their division outlook. And like I said, they're playing
(07:08):
better now than they did in September, but they can
certainly be better playing on Thanksgiving than they are now.
You know, I think this is a team that is
going to continue to improve that despite the strong record,
despite the strong start, still has a lot that they
can get him better and improve upon. To me, that's
almost the exact perfect place that you want to be
in the middle of October.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
Yeah, So, first of all, from Ace Venture to Saint Stephen,
we got you cover here with Wes Euler the Grateful
Dead nod. But we're also you know, I was glad
to see Aaron Rodgers say I think it was either
after this game or the game before. I think it
was after this game, you want to be playing your
best football in December. And I just think that's so true.
(07:50):
I think it's so true and right now the important thing.
And I was glad to hear him say that, because
that's kind of what I've been preaching, and you get
tired of hearing your own voice talking about it. But I
don't care if they win games three to two, as
long as they win now. At some point, you've got
to start to put pieces together. And I'm gratified when
(08:10):
I look at the Steelers because you know, I said
before the season started, I was mystified as to why
teams didn't why you know, prognosticators around the country didn't
have the Steelers, you know, at least going to the playoffs,
you know, because I thought that they were, you know,
a better team across the board than the team that
went ten and seven a year ago, especially with Aaron
(08:32):
Rodgers at quarterback. That's the biggest improvement at all of all.
But I think people saw, oh, there's gonna be personality clashes,
and you know, look, we don't know what's going to happen,
right Everybody else could be right, and I could be wrong,
and I said, I told backs that happens. I go
on the air and say I'm sorry I was wrong.
Everybody else was right. But I like the way this
team's going now. Having said it doesn't matter, I still
(08:56):
want to go through the power rankings. We went through
the power rank with Max yesterday with the Athletic. We
do this with kind of our tongue and our cheek
because I think that some of its clickbait, some of
it is, you know, designed to get people talking about
the selections and all that other stuff that's going to
come up a little bit later on. We also have
(09:19):
Jerry Dulax going to be joining us normally here on
a Thursday. He's going to be coming up a ten
to twenty. Jim Wexel it's our wex Wednesday. He'll be
coming up at eleven o'clock as well. And before we
get to any of that stuff, it's time to go
inside Steelers Nation, presented by UPMC, the official healthcare provider
and health plan of the Pittsburgh Steelers. And you know, Wes,
(09:40):
I think that you know, coming out of the by
the Steelers had a chance to get healthy. And I
think with the exception of Miles Killerbrew and what a
shame to see him go down with what has been
termed a significant injury. And Calvin Austen, who you know,
I would suspect is trending toward maybe playing in the
(10:03):
not too distant future. This team is healthy and in
a good position, and enjoy it because if there's one
thing we know about the NFL, it's probably not gonna last.
So we are getting an opportunity to see the Steelers
if they haven't peaked as far as a team is concerned,
putting all the pieces together, getting that continuity there still is.
(10:26):
We do get a glimpse of upside or what have you,
with the fact that this whole roster for the most part,
is out there for the Steelers.
Speaker 3 (10:35):
Yes it is. And again you've had like you've had losses, Kinger,
it's I'm sure Max talks about this all the time.
When you when you play in the National Football League,
a sport like football, it's you know, it's a car
crash on every single play. You're going to have injuries.
You just want them to be manageable. You want them
to be weak to weak and not you know, month
(10:55):
to month or obviously year long type season ending injuries.
And I mean the Steelers had some early attrition on
that defense. Without a doubt, Derek Harmon, their first round pick,
wasn't ready to start the season. You know, Joey Porter
Junior missed time, Darius or Deshaun Elliott part of me
missed time. You know, Jalen Ramsey has been a little
(11:16):
banged up. They have, you know, missed some guys. You
mentioned Miles Killibrew, you know, Calvin Austin has missed some games. There.
There have been some absences and some key absences, but
they haven't been debilitating. They haven't been this guy's gonna
be out for two or three months. This guy's out
for the season. You know, it hasn't been your quarterback
or you know, one of your offensive linemen where you're
(11:39):
pretty thin after those five starters and Anderson. It hasn't
been a you know, a TV Yeah, they lost Alex
Highsmith for a couple of weeks, but you still got TJ. Watt,
you still got her big and now high Smith is
back and you're able to see them getting all three
of those guys on the field at the same time.
They'll have more injuries that's just the nature of this game.
But as long as they continue to be this guy
(12:01):
might miss a game or two, but he's not going
on ir He's not gonna be out for multiple months
things like that. It's it's manageable. And we spend a
ton of time I know you and Max did, myself
and Matt did, all of us when we do crossover
stuff in the different shows that we do in training
camps and those type of things. Talking about how well
(12:24):
Omar Khan and company did of building the depth on
this roster. I mean again, I think other than offensive line,
we are maybe wide receiver, supremely confident in the depth
just about everywhere on this team in this franchise right now,
and that is I think what adds to some of
the optimism here in mid October. You are, without a doubt,
(12:46):
gonna lose some more guys throughout the course of this journey,
but as long as they're not devastating, long term, debilitating absences,
you've got the You've got the horses to keep running
in the meantime, and that I think has already played
out through their first five games.
Speaker 2 (13:01):
Yeah, and there are exceptions as to who can be
injured and who can't. And you know what an injury
would mean to a team. I think we can identify
certain guys on this team that you know it would
it would put you in a lot of trouble if
that guy wasn't there. And I think for most teams
the number one position in that regard is the quarterback position.
(13:24):
And we're seeing that this week with Cincinnati. Know Joe
Burrow and the team is two and four. With Joe Burrow,
they were one to oh, they turn things over to
Browning after after Burrow gets hurt, they pull a rabbit
out of the hat and that week two win and
they improve the two and zero and their own four cents.
So and by the way, I just have to throw
(13:47):
this in here. Every time I talk about quarterback injuries,
I just have to throw this in here. Think about
the injuries and the guys who played the quarterback position
for the Steelers over the last several years, and think
about the fact that Mike Tomlin has been able to
maintain a high floor with his team. Is the ceiling
where it wants to be? No, it's not where Mike
Tomlin wants it to be. It's not where the Steelers
(14:08):
organization wants it to be. It's not where the players
want it to be, and it's certainly not where the
fans want it to be. We know all that, but
it is remarkable when you look around to teams that
have lost quarterbacks and or have a young quarterback starting.
I think when you identify, you know, the job that
(14:28):
some of these coaches are able to do, like Mike
Tomlin and a few others, I think, now, look, it's
not all just on the coach. It's some A lot
of it is roster construction. How good is the team
around it. But I think you get a pretty good
feel of which organizations and which coaches can cope with
losses in which camp.
Speaker 3 (14:50):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely, And that's not necessarily referring to the
I'm not necessarily referring to the Bengals here, right, I'm
not trying to like get anybody all up, and I'm
just saying in general, I'm turning this conversation back to
the Steelers and saying, you know, for for as much
as people gripe and I understand it, look, I understand
(15:11):
you know, I want.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
To call a Super Bowl game, Wes. I'd love to
do that, I really would. I'd like the Workloff thing
a lot of fun. I'd like to get deep into
the playoffs. It's fun doing those games. I'm just pointing
out what a remarkable job that's been. But the Bengals
add Joe Flacco and but again no Burrow and now
possibly we don't know yet, no Gas sick. He's going
(15:33):
to be out. He's a good tight end for him,
but very possible. No Trey Hendrickson playing. We should know
by the end of today. So that would be a
massive blow for the Bengals defense.
Speaker 3 (15:46):
It would And you know, hey, this is kind of
the the ebbs and flows of the NFL, like it's
it is. One thing that Mike Tonlin does well is
navigating these crucial injuries. I mean, heck, I think everyone
remembers twenty nineteen when you know, Ben Roethlisberger was lost
for the season just six quarters into the year and
the Steelers still managed to be eight and five at
(16:07):
one point, finished eight to eight five hundred, despite going
back and forth between Duck and Mason all season. I
think the team that we're about to see here in
a little over twenty four hours Kinger is a good
example as well, too. The Cincinnati Bengals two years ago
lost Joe Burrow pretty much for the whole season, they
were able to go nine and eight be the eighth
(16:29):
seeded team in the AFC. Right they were the first
out of the playoff picture at nine and eight despite
missing Joe Burrow for pretty much the whole season. This year, though,
it becomes a little more difficult. You know that defense
has really fallen off from where they were a couple
of years ago, and it just hasn't clicked for them
with Jake Browning like it did at a at a time,
(16:51):
it can be very difficult. Sometimes you can have success
doing it. You can manage to go nine and eight
without Joe Burrow. Other times, you know, you're not even
a Halloween yet, and it looks like the wheels are
falling off and everything's falling apart. I think we saw
this from the Ravens at times in the past two
where they had someone like, you know, like Huntley or
Taylor filling in, filling in for Lamar, and they were
(17:13):
able to navigate it. Now for Baltimore, so many injuries,
so many key areas, it seems to be sinking them.
I do think that that is one of the things
that Again, the Steelers organization always does a good job
of positioning themselves knowing it's not if it's when we're
going to have to turn to this depth, So we
better be pretty confident in what we've got.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
There for sure. He's Wes Euler. I'm rob king up
next Jerry Dulac when we continue into the Locker Room
presented by your neighborhood Ford Store and the Steelers Pro
Shop on Steelers Nation Radio, a part of the Steelers
Audio Network.
Speaker 1 (17:50):
This is in the Locker Room with King and Starks
on Steelers Nation Radio presented by your Neighborhood Forward Store.
The f 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 (18:14):
Cool Breeze Akaa Jerry Ulac presented by your Neighborhood for
Warts of the F one fifty is the official truck
in the Fitzburgs Steers and I think we have to
start calling him Jerry Dulac du Lac because he gets
he's so big, he we gotta say him twice. Jerry
Doulac is also brought to you by bella note in
this strip two fifty bud Light sixteen out drafts ounce
(18:36):
of drafts for all Steelers games. Jerry, Jerry, thanks very
much for being with us.
Speaker 3 (18:43):
Rob.
Speaker 4 (18:44):
Always good to be with you, my friend. I'm loading
up the family truckster. Nice to drive to Cincinnati. Uh
and a big, big tilt tomorrow evening.
Speaker 2 (18:55):
As they like to say, Yeah, hey, do you win
the first A North game? You turn around four days later,
you play one on the road. Uh AFC North games
on the road on Thursday nights. You know, you know,
if you want to, if you want to, you know,
throw a pin into Mike tomlins coaching record is he
he cruises towards the top ten all time in victories,
(19:17):
which he should get to this season. His Thursday night
record has not been good on the road, and particularly
in division. It's been a long time since this year's
won a division Thursday night game on the road. Do
you think there's you think that's just coincidence? You think
there's something to it. You know you can counter that
(19:40):
maybe with Aaron Rodgers has been phenomenal on Thursday nights.
I mean, what are we looking at here? Is this
too much? Are we parsing up these numbers too much
and it's just another game, or is there something to
Thursday Night?
Speaker 4 (19:52):
Well, I think Rob that it just depends on which
number you want to listen to and and and think
that it matters. And to your point to throw Aaron
Rodgers record there on Thursday night, you could point to
the fact that the Steelers are twenty five and five
all time at Paul Brown Stadium, which is now pay
(20:13):
Course Stadium. I mean that for years they just joked
that was like their second home. Their dominance there has
been ridiculous, and that includes a couple of playoff games,
So you know, it depends what you want to believe. Look,
a Thursday night road game is always difficult, and I
think the league wide percentage is obviously under fifty percent,
(20:33):
and that's not surprising. But you know, why are the Steelers.
Why is Mike Tomlin fifteen and four after a bye week?
What do you think he does differently When every team,
by Player Association rules, has to give the players four
days off Thursday through Sunday and then the other days
are light, they get a bonus day Monday. Every team
has that. So is what is it that he does
(20:58):
or maybe he doesn't do that explains why they're fifteen
and four. So sometimes that's circumstantial. Again, it just depends
what number you want to believe or listen to. And
so I don't put a lot of stock in that stuff.
I haven't gone back to look to see who their
Thursday Night opponents were. How good the Stealers were at
(21:21):
the time. Yeah, I don't know, but look, Rob, it's
the NFL and we see it every week. We just
saw it this past weekend. The Giants beaten the Eagles.
You know, the Falcon's beaten the Bills. Although I think
the Falcons are a schizophrenic team, they could be very
good and they could be very bad. And then you
see the Bears beating the Commanders. You had three instances there.
(21:44):
Even though the Bears are won three in a row,
You've had three instances there where the team that you
would expect to win doesn't win. And it happens all
the time in the NFL, and it could happen again
tomorrow night, because that's just the way the league is.
Speaker 1 (22:01):
Jerry.
Speaker 3 (22:02):
One of the things that encourages me is Aaron Rodgers
has had a very successful Thursday Night track record in
his career, he's thirteen and six overall, nine and one
when he faces teams in his own division on a
Thursday night, and I have to think you can draw
a direct correlation there between just how savvy, how good
(22:25):
Aaron Rodgers is above the shoulders, above the neck, his
game brain at the line of scrimmage, and how that
gives you an advantage on a week where everyone's got
less preparation, less playing time, less film time, less practice time.
I think when you're going into you know, especially on
the road, when you've really just got kind of one
one and a half days of practice at most. To
(22:47):
have a quarterback his experiences, Aaron Rodgers almost like an
extra offensive coordinator at the line of scrimmage who is
able to diagnose what the defense is doing and get
you out of bad situations. I've got to think that
that's a huge advantage for a team on a short week.
Speaker 4 (23:02):
Yeah, and and and I also think though to the
problem with Thursday night games isn't so much the mental aspect,
which certainly helps, but it's the physical aspect. How how
beat up is your team, how how tough was the
previous game? You know, when you look last year, I
believe both games on a short week for the Steelers
(23:27):
came after they played the Ravens, which is always the
most physical game of the year, and that is a
distinct disadvantage when you're playing a game like that and
then have a short week. Now the Browns are no,
you know, that's no cakewalk. Even though even though the
game was lopsided, that doesn't mean it's not a physical game.
(23:47):
All Division games are physical, especially especially against the Ravens,
uh and the Browns. So I think that's what factors
into it, probably more than anything. It's it's how how
physical was that previous game, and then when you have
to go on the road, it just cuts into your
work schedule. I mean, the Steelers are leaving an extra
(24:07):
hour later today so they can get in some of
the work for which would basically be there really only
full practice of the week, if you will. But I
think that's the biggest aspect of playing on a short week,
is the physicality of it and how quickly your players
and their bodies recover.
Speaker 2 (24:29):
Yeah, and for a lot of players, Thursday is kind
of the first day they begin to feel normal, you know.
And now that's exactly right, and now you're out there.
You're playing on a Thursday, you know, so do where
do you think? And our guest is Jerry Dulac stepping
in on a on a Wednesday instead of a Thursday,
of the game coming up tomorrow here in the locker room,
(24:51):
where do you think? You know? If you were to
give an overview of where you think the Steelers stand
compared to either where you thought they would be at
this point or where they want to be at this point,
how would you categorize this four and one Steelers team?
Speaker 4 (25:08):
You know, Rob when and you know you and I
have talked about this. You heard me say this. I
thought after they made the Jalen Ramsey johnas Smith trade.
And I will say, as a side note to that
that Jalen Ramsey has made more plays in five games
than Miketh Fitzpatrick did all of last year. And I
don't mean that as a knock against me make a
(25:30):
Fitzpatrick per se, because he's a good football player. But
that's why they moved on from him, because they're paying
him a lot of money and there weren't any plays
being made. And you can already point to a handful
of plays by Jalen Ramsey in just five games. But
once they made that trade, that told me they were
a better team than last year, and so I had
(25:51):
him at ten and seven last year that's where they finished.
I have him as an eleven and sixteen. A little
few breaks, maybe they're twelve and five with some bad luck,
maybe they're ten to seven. So to me, looking at
their schedule, I think they're kind of right where I
thought they might be. Could they be five and zero,
of course, but they could also be, you know, three
(26:14):
and two. But I think they're taking care of business.
I think they're getting better each game. The last two games,
the defenses looked like what we thought it would be
and what they thought it would be. So there's no
question that they are trending upward. But I've seen too
many Decembers, and I just remember last year they were
(26:36):
ten and three and looking like world beaters after putting
up forty four points in Cincinnati and Russell Wilson out
dueling Joe Burrow, and that offense was clicking. They were
averaging in that seven and one stretch twenty nine points
a game, yep, and then it all fell apart. So
you know, I've just learned over the years and that's
just the most recent reminder to We'll see. It's a
(26:58):
long way to go, but where they are right now
is among the best records in the league, and they're
taking care of business, They're doing what they're supposed to do.
They're beating the teams that they should be. This is
another example. And then they'll get into Green Bay and Indy,
which should be tougher test. Both of those are at home,
So yeah, I kind of this is kind of where
(27:19):
I thought an eleven and six team, eleven and six
team would be judging from their schedule the converses. Look
at the Ravens. Five of their first six games were
against twenty twenty four playoff teams, and with injuries, they're
paying the price. So that's what I think of.
Speaker 2 (27:37):
Them right now.
Speaker 3 (27:38):
Rocks, Jerry, we know a real test Thursday night in
the form of Jamar Chase and T Higgins obviously not
quite the same beast when Joe Burrow isn't the quarterback,
isn't the conductor back there leading this offense. But the
(27:59):
Steelers made a lot of overhaul moves to that secondary
this offseason, and and you know, when you play in
a division with two wide receivers like this, as talented
and as capable as this Bengals offense is, even with
Joe Flacco at the helm. Now, we still saw them
making plays against the Packers. This feels like, you know,
(28:21):
they they had a pretty significant test a couple of
weeks ago in the form of Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison.
This this feels like maybe even another half step up
with the talented Jamar Chase and T Higgins on tap
Thursday night.
Speaker 4 (28:36):
Yeah, that game, that game doesn't compare to what they
feel that they have to do with these two guys. Look,
those moves were made in the offseason with one thing
in mind, and that is the Bengals, Jamar Chase and
T Higgins. That's why they did it. I will tell
you know, Mike Common wouldn't say publicly, but he's downright
(28:57):
giddy at the prospect of being able to match up
with those two guys. We've heard him talk in general
about the ability to you heard him say we can
cover and run with anyone, and specifically without him saying,
he means the Bengals. And so this is their test. Now,
you know, I went back and look, this is only
the fifth time both of them will be playing the
(29:20):
same will be together in the same game against the Steelers,
usually one or the other. It just seems that has
has been hurt and actually tig T Higgins has hurt
them more than Jamar Chase. But this is why they
made those moves. So if they want to single up
on both of them, and I don't know that that's
going to be the case, but if they want to,
(29:41):
they can. And so between Porter and Jalen Ramsey and
throw Darius Slay in there, you have three cover guys. Now.
Darius Slay joke the other day he goes, hey, I
don't do that anymore. I did that my whole career.
I let those two argue over who they want to cover.
I get the leftovers. But that's why they made this move.
That's why they made this move. If you want to
(30:02):
win your division, you have to be able to get
out of your division. And one of the ways to
get out of the division, they feel is you've got
to be able to contain those two guys in addition
to everybody else you're going to face, whether Justin Jefferson
and Jordan Madison or whoever else it might be down
the road. But when you have two guys like that,
they want to be sure they can handle them. And
(30:23):
while they have for the most part, again, when you
have both of them on the field, the Steelers have
no qualms about being able to cover. And we'll see
now how it works. But that was the entire impetus
for those moves, those two.
Speaker 2 (30:37):
Receivers, and one other thing that's happened, Jerry. No one's
going to come out and say this. I don't think
it feels to me like their actions are speaking. But sometimes,
you know, maybe I'm just listening to the wrong thing
on the wind, but it feels like they just didn't
trust their defensive backfield enough to bring pressure. Last year
(30:59):
the can Plants, well, you know TJ. Watt who likes
to line up on that left side, and they're moving
him a little bit more. You know, why aren't they
blitzing more often? Well, it feels like the answer to
that is because they didn't trust the back end. And
they trust the back end now. So you talk about
Mink and Jalen Ramsey making more plays, and Ramsey's been
identified and people are now the Steelers are openly saying
(31:21):
gold Jacket guy Andy Widel said as much future Hall
of Famer when he when he addressed the media in
the preseason. But it feels like that's giving them the boldness,
the allowing them to be able to bring pressure. Their
blitz rate is extremely high after being very low. Their
(31:41):
sack totals are back to where the Steelers we expect
them to be. So it's not to me, not just
the ability to maybe match up as well as anybody. Look,
Jefferson's going to get his you know, Jamar Chase or Higgins,
those guys are going to get theirs too, But it
frees up the rest of the defense to be the
(32:03):
more and some of it's personnel, I get it. Derek
Carmon's a big addition, But it just feels like it's
freed up this defense to be able to do more
and be more aggressive. So it's had kind of numerous
effects on the defense and getting guys like Slay and Ramsey.
Speaker 4 (32:19):
Well Robin to that point. The other aspect of that
is the ability of not having to use some of
what Mike Tomlinlock likes to call those bogus defenses and
you know, try and scheme up different looks to cover
up maybe your weaknesses. To your point, but to not
(32:41):
have to worry about trying to disguise everything, giving them
a zone look when you're playing man, give them a
man look when you're playing zone. The ability to line
up and say, okay, this is what we're doing, and
we feel we can shut you down. You know, the
old Steelers played that way back in the seventies. You
know that wasuck knows thing. You know, here we are,
(33:02):
we're going to line up, you stop us. Hey, don't
worry what the other team did. And it's almost that
same instance with the guys they have back there. And
so that's the other aspect of that. They don't have
to worry about trying to disguise their defenses as much.
So they still do it, of course they do, but
not like they not like they did before when they
(33:22):
were trying to cover up for some of their inadequacies.
And so this allows them to if they want to
play man, they're going to come out and they're going
to play strict man and they say, okay, you beat us,
and they don't have to worry so much of trying
to disguise everything and dress it up to try and
fool the other team as much.
Speaker 2 (33:39):
You know, Jerry, I we just had the weather forecast
on a little while ago. I don't know where the
winds are officially coming out of, but I know the
breeze is coming out of the east and blowing towards Cincinnati.
Jerry is It is wonderful to have you on, my friend.
I hope you drive safely and I look forward to
seeing you hopefully tonight. I's not certainly tomorrow in Cincinnati.
Speaker 4 (34:05):
Well holler at me when you get there, boys, and
always a treat to be with you, as you know.
But thanks for the well wishes.
Speaker 2 (34:12):
Jerry Dulac brought to you by Bellinote in the strip
to fifty bud Light sixteen OUs drafts for all Steelers games.
Jerry Dulac going to be on the scene part of
the Steelers Audio Network, bringing you coverage tomorrow as the
Steelers get set to take on the Bengals. West Yuler
is with us today and we will continue in the
Locker Room, presented by your neighborhood Ford Store and the
(34:33):
Steelers Pro Shop on Steelers Nation Radio, a part of
the Steelers Audio Network.
Speaker 1 (34:41):
This is in the Locker Room with Kingyon 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.
Speaker 2 (35:02):
So one of the funniest things that I've heard this
week is Cam Hayward giving a name to this game
on Thursday night, because it is just a third matchup
in NFL history in which two forty year old starting
quarterbacks will be going at it. The other two both
involved Tom Brady and Drew Brees. So this is Aaron
(35:25):
Rodgers against Joe Flacco and one Aaron Rodgers. Was addressing
the media yesterday after practice, Cam Hayward sauntered over and said, Hey,
I'm looking forward to the Icy Hot Bowl, of which
is hilarious.
Speaker 3 (35:41):
That is pretty good. That's not too bad, I tell you. Yeah,
the the Icy Hot Bowl, the Bengay Bowl. Right, There's
there's definitely some some AARP jokes in there as well too.
Speaker 2 (35:53):
Yeah. By the way, official Mike Gasicki is out pectortal
injury tight end for the Browns. By the way, a
lot made to the fact that very few teams have
four tight ends like the Steelers on the roster. The
Bengals had five five tight ends on their roster. They
(36:14):
will now have four, depending on whether they would call
somebody up from their practice squad or or go out
and try to get somebody. I don't believe they have
a tight end on there. In fact, I know they
don't have a tight end of their practice squad, so
presumably they would go in with four tight ends. Although
Tanner Hudson suffered a concussion, that is an awfully quick
(36:35):
turnaround to come back from a concussion, so it's possible
he could be out and the Bengals could be down
to three tight ends, you know, So when you look
at this matchup, Wes and we'll dive a little more
into it in the next hour because we're gonna do
our new power rankings as well, which we love doing.
Max and I get a kick out of the power rankings,
(36:56):
and I'm actually going to go side by side. We
did the athletic yesterday. I had the Bills I believe fifteenth,
fifteenth for the Bills and the Steelers eleventh, up two spots,
so we'll get to some side by side comparisons of
a couple other power rankings in the next hour. But
you know, I had an opportunity to watch Joe Flacco
(37:19):
in his last game, and I did not think Joe
looked very good against the Browns. With the Browns, I
beg your pardon. He did not look like a guy
who had much left. And then I watched him for Cincinnati.
Now I'm like, wait a minute. Now, you know there
might be more there. And you know, you see the
Packers win, and I think it was a double digit
(37:41):
I think it was an eleven point win. I don't
remember the final score. But Flaco, he was victimized by
three huge drops by andre Yoshavash And you know, one
was for a first down that prevented them from scoring points.
Another would have given them a first down in the
(38:02):
red zone, which a drive they wound up settling for
a field goal instead of getting seven points. You know,
I thought the Bengals were extremely lucky to be two
to zero. I thought they probably should have lost their
first two games of the season. Having said that, the
Viking score was not nearly as much of a blowout
(38:22):
as it seemed. You know, you don't give up two
defensive touchdowns very often turnovers in the red zone. I
mean you're talking about massive ten to fourteen points swings
in that game that really tilted in favor of the Vikings.
But I thought Joe Flacco looked a lot better, a
lot different. And if you watch that game and you
(38:43):
watched it through that lens of what can Flacco bring
to that offense, it should have gotten your attention.
Speaker 3 (38:51):
Yeah, I think that's a great way to put it. Kinger,
I think that's well said. He he is a professional quarterback.
You know, he's He's not obviously the guy that he
was a decade ago. He's not obviously still as good
at his late stage career now as you know Aaron
Rodgers is or someone like Tom Brady or Drew Brees was.
(39:14):
But he's effective. He's a professional quarterback and he knows
his job is to get the ball to those talented
eligibles that they have there in Cincinnati, which he did
very well in his first opportunity against Green Bay on
you know, short week, well not short week, but a
new week for him with a new team. First week.
(39:36):
That's the term I'm looking for there on the road
at a place like Lambeau. Good Packers team, good Packers defense,
tough environment to play, in and kind of hopping on
a moving train. He goes twenty nine to forty five
two hundred and nineteen yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions, I mean,
twelve targets for Jamar Chase, Kinger, he caught ten of
(39:58):
them for ninety four yards in a touchdown. Eight targets
for T Higgins. He caught five of them for sixty
two yards twelve point four yards per reception for T Higgins.
I mean twenty of his throws went to either Jamar
Chase or T Higgins. He understands the assignment, Kinger. I
think that's probably the best way to put it with
(40:19):
Joe Flacco at this point. He knows the assignment. It's
for him to go back there, be a professional and
to get the ball in the hands of number one
and number five as much as he can and in
that department. From that standpoint, he did a pretty decent job.
Again for hopping on a moving train, first week with
a new team, tough opponent on the road. I mean,
(40:40):
that's a I think that's a solid that's a fair
baseline for him and them going forward. What you have
to do now, if you're tasked with the Steelers, obviously,
is try and get him into some more turnover worthy
throws and plays he was I know, he got hit
a bunch, but he was only sacked once against the Packers.
Let's get that number up closer to three or four
(41:01):
or five in this game. Like you know, it's the
it's kind of the classic. Like I remember, Mike Tomlin,
you know, used to you know, used to call Ben
Roethlisberger a gunslinger, and you know, and he's gonna make
his plays and sometimes he's gonna get shot. You know,
gun slingers make plays and sometimes they get shot. You
just have to make sure that Joe Flacco is getting
(41:22):
shot more than he is making plays, because he's going
to hit a couple nice throws, a couple you know,
whether they're deep bombs or just nice chunk intermediate gains.
Jamar Chase and t Higgins are gonna make some plays,
and Joe Flacco's gonna make some throws. I think that's
just inevitable. But if you're limiting what those guys can do,
(41:42):
you're making sure it's just one or two big plays
from those guys, not four or five, and you're able
to get Joe Flacco on the ground more than once.
Force a turnover or two as well. I think he'll
be in great in great shape. But I mean there
is no doubt that this Bengals game is is a
little bit greater of a challenge with Joe Flacco under center.
(42:04):
I also think that's why we saw some of that
cantankerous nature from Mike Tomlin on Monday when he was
talking about it as well, too.
Speaker 2 (42:13):
Yeah, that was it amused me. I don't know an
amuse it very much.
Speaker 3 (42:18):
Is that a good word to use their cantankerist to
describe coach t on Monday?
Speaker 2 (42:22):
Yeah, it was. It was certainly interesting. I don't think
he was I don't think he was real pleased with
with you know, the the notion that an intra divisional
trade at the quarterback position had been made. I don't
think that that was I don't think that that was
(42:44):
anything that really got him really super excited. But you know,
he does give you. He gives you kind of what
I would call like a puncher's chance. You know, he
gives you the opportunity to to turn back the clock
and finds him throws down the field. He still has
good arm strength. Can you protect him? They haven't been
(43:07):
able to get Chase Brown going. So now maybe you
can throw the ball, you can get Chase Brown going.
You know, who looked like a really good running back
for them a year ago doesn't look hasn't looked really
good at all this year. Two point seven yards per Kerry.
But again, you know, that's the offensive line and teams
understanding that you can, you know, you can start to
try to bottle up what was Jake browning. And now
(43:29):
maybe with Joe Flacco that loosens things up a little
bit for Chase Brown as well. And he's a guy
that can be a weapon for them, So you know, presumably,
and look at this now, if you don't want to
hear Joe Flack or whatever, look at this from their perspective.
They're a team who a lot of people picked to
finish second in the division, a lot of people picked
(43:51):
to go to the playoffs, and they just went through
a season in which they didn't have Joe Burrow for
a lot of the season and it didn't you know,
they weren't able to make the playoffs. And and you know,
they they feel like they're a contender and without Joe
Burrow they're now you know, you go into that before
(44:12):
that Flacco trade. You're two and three. Maybe Burrow comes back,
but are you really willing to sit by after you
signed Hendrickson to a contract extension and watch another season
just dissipate. So no, you want to go out and
get the best quarterback you can to try to win
games for you. You know, Russell Wilson was probably available. Others
(44:35):
were probably available. You know, you're always I don't know
what discussions they had. I don't know what you know,
what the cost analysis and all that other stuff. Who
knows what the Giants wanted for Russell Wilson or whether
they would entertain trading him. But I mean, you are
looking at the guy that they thought gave them the
best chance to win, and I think there there has
(44:55):
to be a level of respect for that.
Speaker 3 (44:59):
Yeah, I completely agree. I actually kind of commend Cincinnati.
Now I think that this could also this could come
back to bite me because I was about to say
I commend Cincinnati for, you know, not punting on this season,
going out and getting a veteran quarterback like Joe Flacco,
saying hey, you know at that time we were two
(45:19):
and three. We are still you know, we have got
plenty to play for there's still a lot of opportunity
ahead of us now. It also wouldn't surprise me if
in the next week or two they trade Trey Hendrickson
and then maybe we're singing a different tune. But I
do think from Cincinnati standpoint, it was like, Hey, we
are hopeful that we're going to be able to get
Joe Burrow back at some point in December. If we
(45:41):
can be seven and seven when we get Joe Burrow back,
we've got a shot. If we can be eight and
six and we get Joe Burrow back, we've got a
shot to sneak into the playoffs. I do commend them
for that. But if you fall to two and five,
you know, all of a sudden, maybe Trey Hendrickson starts
looking like, you know, I'm not going to be here
for that much longer or anyways, why don't we move
(46:01):
on and you guys get something for me? Because they
did rework that contract.
Speaker 2 (46:05):
Kinger, Yeah, they start an extension. They just gave one.
Speaker 3 (46:08):
Yes, that's right, Yes, So you know, I I think
that we could sing a different tune about Cincinnati in
what another two three weeks when the trade deadline is here.
But for Now I kind of commended what they were doing.
They looked around the division. They said, the Browns don't
scare us, the Ravens don't scare us. You know, we've
got an opportunity to hang in this thing until we
get Joe Burrow back. But again, like I said, you
(46:31):
fall to two and five, you got some injuries piling up.
Maybe in another week or two they're singing a different
tune and sending Trey Hendrickson to you know, Philadelphia or
San Francisco or one of those NFC UH teams that is,
you know, has a winning record and need some help
on the defensive line. But I agree with you in general.
I like Cincinnati kind of you know, not punting on
(46:53):
this season and saying, hey, you know, we've still got
some playmakers, We've still got some opportunity. But man, for them,
it feels like that rubber is meeting the road pretty
quickly as well too, where you gotta have something to
show for.
Speaker 2 (47:04):
Yeah. I just didn't think they could do it, and
they're really really trying hard not to do it, So
you know, we'll see and we'll see. You know, this
is keep in mind. Look we're looking at this from
our perspective, we're saying, Hey, you know, Steelers five and
one in command and the division, what a great place
(47:25):
that is to be. Hey, the Browns are one and five,
the Ravens going into a buyer one and five, you know,
the Bengals are reeling. Now look at this from the
Bengals perspective. You know, you win this game, and you're
three and four, and you're part way to that scenario
that you just laid out about being in decent position
if and when Joe Burrow comes back and all of
(47:47):
a sudden that you know, that division lead for the
Steelers isn't what everybody thought it was going to be.
This is a I'm not saying it's making break, make
or break for the Bengals, but this is just a
game of massive importance for them, massive importance.
Speaker 3 (48:03):
Absolutely. It's a crossroads of your season type game in
Cincinnati Thursday night, and I expect them to reflect that energy.
Speaker 2 (48:12):
Yep. So we're going to talk more about that. We
got to get into these power rankings. They're always fun.
I kind of like the power rankings. We do want
to mind everybody, though, First gear up with the latest
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(48:34):
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(48:55):
the Steers Pro Shop on Steelers Nation Radio, a part
of the Steelers Audio Network
This is in the locker room with King and Starks
on Steelers Nation Radio, presented by your neighborhood Forward Store.
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Speaker 2 (00:27):
And we thank you for being with us in this
truncated week of preparation because we have a game on
Thursday night. And in the locker room today as Max
Starks is shortly to be airborne leaving from Arizona and
flying to Cincinnati is Wes Euler. I just had a
sudden flashback to Steve Miller when he no, not Steve Miller,
(00:55):
Steve Martin, when he did the song King Tut, which
is before you were born. Wes born in Arizona, had
a condo made of Stona. For some reason, when I
thought of Max Fleet flying from Arizona, there you go.
That popped into my mind. How are you doing, my friend?
Speaker 3 (01:11):
I'm doing well. Kinger always happy to be joining you
here on a little basement tour from our opposite studios.
And I was raised on Father of the Bride and
the Jerk, so I've got a little bit of a
little Steve Martin acumen here.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
Yeah, I've I have not seen I'm dating myself, but
I have not seen The Jerk since I was a
young man and it came out in the movie theaters.
I don't know if it's worth which is it worth
watching again?
Speaker 3 (01:38):
Yeah? Absolutely, It's one of those movies. And I think
everybody's got those handful of movies in their life that
when you're just scrolling through the channels on a you know,
random Saturday, and you're like, oh, the Jerk is on,
I gotta watch this, and you find yourself sitting there
for forty five minutes. That's one of those for me.
And then, of course, obviously when you talk about Steve Martin,
you got to mention the greatest Thanksgiving movie of them all.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
Play. Yeah, it's funny because that is one even though
it's a comedy, you know, that's one you can watch
pretty much every year, you know, Love Actually there's another
there's a Christmas movie with some humor, and you can
watch that one every year. But most comedies, you know,
if you you know some of my favorite comedy there's
something about Mary, my absolute favorite. As you probably know.
(02:20):
I don't know if I've discussed this with you. Raising
Arizona to me is it is the the Catablanca, it
is the Quadrophenia. It is my number one and everything
else is second. But you can only watch it so
often because you know the jokes. When the jokes don't
surprise you, when you're watching the Hangover and you know
what they're gonna say, Yeah, you have to space those
(02:43):
things out. So I actually watched Dumb and Dumber with
my wife and uh, not too long ago, and and
I didn't laugh that much because I'd watched it too
recently for to find.
Speaker 3 (02:52):
You know what you're saying there, Yeah, I know. So
my my holy grail of comedies is Ace Venture, a
pet detective. Okay, And I know what you mean though.
If you catch it like once every two or three years,
it's fantastic. But if you see it too often, you're like,
you're like mimicking the jokes in the back of your
mind as they're getting said. So I can relate to
(03:13):
that certainly. How about one more for you? How about
how about the Three Amigos? You a big Three Amigos guy?
Speaker 2 (03:18):
Never seen it? I haven't seen You've never seen Aura.
I haven't seen as Ventura since I saw at the
movie theater. I don't even know who's in three who's
in Three Amigos.
Speaker 3 (03:29):
It's Steve Martin, Chevy Chase and Martin Short.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
It's a fantastic catch, Okay, all right, and that's where,
uh I think that's I think I just read recently.
That's where Steve, Martin and Martin Short became just fast friends.
Speaker 3 (03:42):
I believe. So there's a fantastic scene where they they
sing a little song, a little diddy together and do
a little dance in a in a cantina in a
in that movie. And and yes, I would for them
to be strutting their stuff together like they were. I
would imagine they had to become pretty good buddies.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
Okay, So, uh, we do have a football game coming up.
We've had that's comedic interests and looking forward to this
game on Thursday night. You know, look, I know you
do your show with Matt Williamson and doing a great
job in the drive. You and Matt. It's a phenomenal show,
and you know what is kind of your guy's general sense,
(04:20):
and you know, I'll remove Matt from the equation because
I do I get to do a show with Matt
as well, two shows actually, So let's remove Matt from
the equation and give us your thoughts on sort of
where this Dealers stand and your expectations for this game
coming up on Thursday night.
Speaker 3 (04:37):
Well, I think they stand in a fantastic spot Kinger
four and one. Their lone loss is an NFC game
that doesn't affect you for tiebreaker purposes of course, and
everyone else in the division keeps losing. I mean, the
Ravens are one in five. Cleveland and Cincinnati now both
have losing records as well too, And it feels like
(04:58):
while the Steelers, and this is something Matt and I
have talked about every single week still, I keep making
this joke that there's still not a Mona Lisa, like,
the Steelers are not a work of art. But you
don't need to be in the middle of October. What
you need to be is winning games, staying relatively healthy,
you know, not having any losing Joe Burrow for three months,
you know, type crippling injuries like Cincinnati has had. Baltimore's
(05:21):
had a couple as well too. Keep winning games, keep improving,
stay relatively healthy in your key areas, check, check and
check for the Steelers in that regard, and it's gone.
You know, one man gathers what another man spills. Kinger,
as the Grateful Dead would have said, And I mean,
the Steelers are gathering and everybody else in the AFC
(05:42):
North is spilling. They are in a fantastic spot. If
you could go to Cincinnati tomorrow, well, we'll all be
leaving later this afternoon, you and I and everybody on
the plane. But you go to Cincinnati tonight or tomorrow,
you take care of business. You're five and one. I mean,
you would have a four game lead on the Ravens
in the division. You would be just in a fantastic
(06:04):
spot already. Two and oh in the AFC North, three
and oh in the AFC. Your tiebreaker scenarios would be good.
I mean, I think right now you have to feel listen.
I get there's a I think like a portion of
Steelers fans and media that are like, none of this
really matters until we get to January and you can
(06:26):
prove that you can win a playoff game. And from
thirty thousand feet out, I kind of agree with that.
What we're going to remember about this team is what
happens in January without a doubt. But I think as
we sit here in the middle of October, you have
got to feel better about the Steelers in their position
now than you have any time in the recent history.
(06:46):
And I realized this team was ten and three last year,
but I think even you know, this year with Aaron
Rodgers in particular, with the pieces they've added on defense,
I don't remember feeling like a Steelers team was in
this ideal of a position in October, from their own record,
from their division outlook. And like I said, they're playing
(07:08):
better now than they did in September, but they can
certainly be better playing on Thanksgiving than they are now.
You know, I think this is a team that is
going to continue to improve that despite the strong record,
despite the strong start, still has a lot that they
can get him better and improve upon. To me, that's
almost the exact perfect place that you want to be
in the middle of October.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
Yeah, So, first of all, from Ace Venture to Saint Stephen,
we got you cover here with Wes Euler the Grateful
Dead nod. But we're also you know, I was glad
to see Aaron Rodgers say I think it was either
after this game or the game before. I think it
was after this game, you want to be playing your
best football in December. And I just think that's so true.
(07:50):
I think it's so true and right now the important thing.
And I was glad to hear him say that, because
that's kind of what I've been preaching, and you get
tired of hearing your own voice talking about it. But I
don't care if they win games three to two, as
long as they win now. At some point, you've got
to start to put pieces together. And I'm gratified when
(08:10):
I look at the Steelers because you know, I said
before the season started, I was mystified as to why
teams didn't why you know, prognosticators around the country didn't
have the Steelers, you know, at least going to the playoffs,
you know, because I thought that they were, you know,
a better team across the board than the team that
went ten and seven a year ago, especially with Aaron
(08:32):
Rodgers at quarterback. That's the biggest improvement at all of all.
But I think people saw, oh, there's gonna be personality clashes,
and you know, look, we don't know what's going to happen,
right Everybody else could be right, and I could be wrong,
and I said, I told backs that happens. I go
on the air and say I'm sorry I was wrong.
Everybody else was right. But I like the way this
team's going now. Having said it doesn't matter, I still
(08:56):
want to go through the power rankings. We went through
the power rank with Max yesterday with the Athletic. We
do this with kind of our tongue and our cheek
because I think that some of its clickbait, some of
it is, you know, designed to get people talking about
the selections and all that other stuff that's going to
come up a little bit later on. We also have
(09:19):
Jerry Dulax going to be joining us normally here on
a Thursday. He's going to be coming up a ten
to twenty. Jim Wexel it's our wex Wednesday. He'll be
coming up at eleven o'clock as well. And before we
get to any of that stuff, it's time to go
inside Steelers Nation, presented by UPMC, the official healthcare provider
and health plan of the Pittsburgh Steelers. And you know, Wes,
(09:40):
I think that you know, coming out of the by
the Steelers had a chance to get healthy. And I
think with the exception of Miles Killerbrew and what a
shame to see him go down with what has been
termed a significant injury. And Calvin Austen, who you know,
I would suspect is trending toward maybe playing in the
(10:03):
not too distant future. This team is healthy and in
a good position, and enjoy it because if there's one
thing we know about the NFL, it's probably not gonna last.
So we are getting an opportunity to see the Steelers
if they haven't peaked as far as a team is concerned,
putting all the pieces together, getting that continuity there still is.
(10:26):
We do get a glimpse of upside or what have you,
with the fact that this whole roster for the most part,
is out there for the Steelers.
Speaker 3 (10:35):
Yes it is. And again you've had like you've had losses, Kinger,
it's I'm sure Max talks about this all the time.
When you when you play in the National Football League,
a sport like football, it's you know, it's a car
crash on every single play. You're going to have injuries.
You just want them to be manageable. You want them
to be weak to weak and not you know, month
(10:55):
to month or obviously year long type season ending injuries.
And I mean the Steelers had some early attrition on
that defense. Without a doubt, Derek Harmon, their first round pick,
wasn't ready to start the season. You know, Joey Porter
Junior missed time, Darius or Deshaun Elliott part of me
missed time. You know, Jalen Ramsey has been a little
(11:16):
banged up. They have, you know, missed some guys. You
mentioned Miles Killibrew, you know, Calvin Austin has missed some games. There.
There have been some absences and some key absences, but
they haven't been debilitating. They haven't been this guy's gonna
be out for two or three months. This guy's out
for the season. You know, it hasn't been your quarterback
or you know, one of your offensive linemen where you're
(11:39):
pretty thin after those five starters and Anderson. It hasn't
been a you know, a TV Yeah, they lost Alex
Highsmith for a couple of weeks, but you still got TJ. Watt,
you still got her big and now high Smith is
back and you're able to see them getting all three
of those guys on the field at the same time.
They'll have more injuries that's just the nature of this game.
But as long as they continue to be this guy
(12:01):
might miss a game or two, but he's not going
on ir He's not gonna be out for multiple months
things like that. It's it's manageable. And we spend a
ton of time I know you and Max did, myself
and Matt did, all of us when we do crossover
stuff in the different shows that we do in training
camps and those type of things. Talking about how well
(12:24):
Omar Khan and company did of building the depth on
this roster. I mean again, I think other than offensive line,
we are maybe wide receiver, supremely confident in the depth
just about everywhere on this team in this franchise right now,
and that is I think what adds to some of
the optimism here in mid October. You are, without a doubt,
(12:46):
gonna lose some more guys throughout the course of this journey,
but as long as they're not devastating, long term, debilitating absences,
you've got the You've got the horses to keep running
in the meantime, and that I think has already played
out through their first five games.
Speaker 2 (13:01):
Yeah, and there are exceptions as to who can be
injured and who can't. And you know what an injury
would mean to a team. I think we can identify
certain guys on this team that you know it would
it would put you in a lot of trouble if
that guy wasn't there. And I think for most teams
the number one position in that regard is the quarterback position.
(13:24):
And we're seeing that this week with Cincinnati. Know Joe
Burrow and the team is two and four. With Joe Burrow,
they were one to oh, they turn things over to
Browning after after Burrow gets hurt, they pull a rabbit
out of the hat and that week two win and
they improve the two and zero and their own four cents.
So and by the way, I just have to throw
(13:47):
this in here. Every time I talk about quarterback injuries,
I just have to throw this in here. Think about
the injuries and the guys who played the quarterback position
for the Steelers over the last several years, and think
about the fact that Mike Tomlin has been able to
maintain a high floor with his team. Is the ceiling
where it wants to be? No, it's not where Mike
Tomlin wants it to be. It's not where the Steelers
(14:08):
organization wants it to be. It's not where the players
want it to be, and it's certainly not where the
fans want it to be. We know all that, but
it is remarkable when you look around to teams that
have lost quarterbacks and or have a young quarterback starting.
I think when you identify, you know, the job that
(14:28):
some of these coaches are able to do, like Mike
Tomlin and a few others, I think, now, look, it's
not all just on the coach. It's some A lot
of it is roster construction. How good is the team
around it. But I think you get a pretty good
feel of which organizations and which coaches can cope with
losses in which camp.
Speaker 3 (14:50):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely, And that's not necessarily referring to the
I'm not necessarily referring to the Bengals here, right, I'm
not trying to like get anybody all up, and I'm
just saying in general, I'm turning this conversation back to
the Steelers and saying, you know, for for as much
as people gripe and I understand it, look, I understand
(15:11):
you know, I want.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
To call a Super Bowl game, Wes. I'd love to
do that, I really would. I'd like the Workloff thing
a lot of fun. I'd like to get deep into
the playoffs. It's fun doing those games. I'm just pointing
out what a remarkable job that's been. But the Bengals
add Joe Flacco and but again no Burrow and now
possibly we don't know yet, no Gas sick. He's going
(15:33):
to be out. He's a good tight end for him,
but very possible. No Trey Hendrickson playing. We should know
by the end of today. So that would be a
massive blow for the Bengals defense.
Speaker 3 (15:46):
It would And you know, hey, this is kind of
the the ebbs and flows of the NFL, like it's
it is. One thing that Mike Tonlin does well is
navigating these crucial injuries. I mean, heck, I think everyone
remembers twenty nineteen when you know, Ben Roethlisberger was lost
for the season just six quarters into the year and
the Steelers still managed to be eight and five at
(16:07):
one point, finished eight to eight five hundred, despite going
back and forth between Duck and Mason all season. I
think the team that we're about to see here in
a little over twenty four hours Kinger is a good
example as well, too. The Cincinnati Bengals two years ago
lost Joe Burrow pretty much for the whole season, they
were able to go nine and eight be the eighth
(16:29):
seeded team in the AFC. Right they were the first
out of the playoff picture at nine and eight despite
missing Joe Burrow for pretty much the whole season. This year, though,
it becomes a little more difficult. You know that defense
has really fallen off from where they were a couple
of years ago, and it just hasn't clicked for them
with Jake Browning like it did at a at a time,
(16:51):
it can be very difficult. Sometimes you can have success
doing it. You can manage to go nine and eight
without Joe Burrow. Other times, you know, you're not even
a Halloween yet, and it looks like the wheels are
falling off and everything's falling apart. I think we saw
this from the Ravens at times in the past two
where they had someone like, you know, like Huntley or
Taylor filling in, filling in for Lamar, and they were
(17:13):
able to navigate it. Now for Baltimore, so many injuries,
so many key areas, it seems to be sinking them.
I do think that that is one of the things
that Again, the Steelers organization always does a good job
of positioning themselves knowing it's not if it's when we're
going to have to turn to this depth, So we
better be pretty confident in what we've got.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
There for sure. He's Wes Euler. I'm rob king up
next Jerry Dulac when we continue into the Locker Room
presented by your neighborhood Ford Store and the Steelers Pro
Shop on Steelers Nation Radio, a part of the Steelers
Audio Network.
Speaker 1 (17:50):
This is in the Locker Room with King and Starks
on Steelers Nation Radio presented by your Neighborhood Forward Store.
The f 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 (18:14):
Cool Breeze Akaa Jerry Ulac presented by your Neighborhood for
Warts of the F one fifty is the official truck
in the Fitzburgs Steers and I think we have to
start calling him Jerry Dulac du Lac because he gets
he's so big, he we gotta say him twice. Jerry
Doulac is also brought to you by bella note in
this strip two fifty bud Light sixteen out drafts ounce
(18:36):
of drafts for all Steelers games. Jerry, Jerry, thanks very
much for being with us.
Speaker 3 (18:43):
Rob.
Speaker 4 (18:44):
Always good to be with you, my friend. I'm loading
up the family truckster. Nice to drive to Cincinnati. Uh
and a big, big tilt tomorrow evening.
Speaker 2 (18:55):
As they like to say, Yeah, hey, do you win
the first A North game? You turn around four days later,
you play one on the road. Uh AFC North games
on the road on Thursday nights. You know, you know,
if you want to, if you want to, you know,
throw a pin into Mike tomlins coaching record is he
he cruises towards the top ten all time in victories,
(19:17):
which he should get to this season. His Thursday night
record has not been good on the road, and particularly
in division. It's been a long time since this year's
won a division Thursday night game on the road. Do
you think there's you think that's just coincidence? You think
there's something to it. You know you can counter that
(19:40):
maybe with Aaron Rodgers has been phenomenal on Thursday nights.
I mean, what are we looking at here? Is this
too much? Are we parsing up these numbers too much
and it's just another game, or is there something to
Thursday Night?
Speaker 4 (19:52):
Well, I think Rob that it just depends on which
number you want to listen to and and and think
that it matters. And to your point to throw Aaron
Rodgers record there on Thursday night, you could point to
the fact that the Steelers are twenty five and five
all time at Paul Brown Stadium, which is now pay
(20:13):
Course Stadium. I mean that for years they just joked
that was like their second home. Their dominance there has
been ridiculous, and that includes a couple of playoff games,
So you know, it depends what you want to believe. Look,
a Thursday night road game is always difficult, and I
think the league wide percentage is obviously under fifty percent,
(20:33):
and that's not surprising. But you know, why are the Steelers.
Why is Mike Tomlin fifteen and four after a bye week?
What do you think he does differently When every team,
by Player Association rules, has to give the players four
days off Thursday through Sunday and then the other days
are light, they get a bonus day Monday. Every team
has that. So is what is it that he does
(20:58):
or maybe he doesn't do that explains why they're fifteen
and four. So sometimes that's circumstantial. Again, it just depends
what number you want to believe or listen to. And
so I don't put a lot of stock in that stuff.
I haven't gone back to look to see who their
Thursday Night opponents were. How good the Stealers were at
(21:21):
the time. Yeah, I don't know, but look, Rob, it's
the NFL and we see it every week. We just
saw it this past weekend. The Giants beaten the Eagles.
You know, the Falcon's beaten the Bills. Although I think
the Falcons are a schizophrenic team, they could be very
good and they could be very bad. And then you
see the Bears beating the Commanders. You had three instances there.
(21:44):
Even though the Bears are won three in a row,
You've had three instances there where the team that you
would expect to win doesn't win. And it happens all
the time in the NFL, and it could happen again
tomorrow night, because that's just the way the league is.
Speaker 1 (22:01):
Jerry.
Speaker 3 (22:02):
One of the things that encourages me is Aaron Rodgers
has had a very successful Thursday Night track record in
his career, he's thirteen and six overall, nine and one
when he faces teams in his own division on a
Thursday night, and I have to think you can draw
a direct correlation there between just how savvy, how good
(22:25):
Aaron Rodgers is above the shoulders, above the neck, his
game brain at the line of scrimmage, and how that
gives you an advantage on a week where everyone's got
less preparation, less playing time, less film time, less practice time.
I think when you're going into you know, especially on
the road, when you've really just got kind of one
one and a half days of practice at most. To
(22:47):
have a quarterback his experiences, Aaron Rodgers almost like an
extra offensive coordinator at the line of scrimmage who is
able to diagnose what the defense is doing and get
you out of bad situations. I've got to think that
that's a huge advantage for a team on a short week.
Speaker 4 (23:02):
Yeah, and and and I also think though to the
problem with Thursday night games isn't so much the mental aspect,
which certainly helps, but it's the physical aspect. How how
beat up is your team, how how tough was the
previous game? You know, when you look last year, I
believe both games on a short week for the Steelers
(23:27):
came after they played the Ravens, which is always the
most physical game of the year, and that is a
distinct disadvantage when you're playing a game like that and
then have a short week. Now the Browns are no,
you know, that's no cakewalk. Even though even though the
game was lopsided, that doesn't mean it's not a physical game.
(23:47):
All Division games are physical, especially especially against the Ravens,
uh and the Browns. So I think that's what factors
into it, probably more than anything. It's it's how how
physical was that previous game, and then when you have
to go on the road, it just cuts into your
work schedule. I mean, the Steelers are leaving an extra
(24:07):
hour later today so they can get in some of
the work for which would basically be there really only
full practice of the week, if you will. But I
think that's the biggest aspect of playing on a short week,
is the physicality of it and how quickly your players
and their bodies recover.
Speaker 2 (24:29):
Yeah, and for a lot of players, Thursday is kind
of the first day they begin to feel normal, you know.
And now that's exactly right, and now you're out there.
You're playing on a Thursday, you know, so do where
do you think? And our guest is Jerry Dulac stepping
in on a on a Wednesday instead of a Thursday,
of the game coming up tomorrow here in the locker room,
(24:51):
where do you think? You know? If you were to
give an overview of where you think the Steelers stand
compared to either where you thought they would be at
this point or where they want to be at this point,
how would you categorize this four and one Steelers team?
Speaker 4 (25:08):
You know, Rob when and you know you and I
have talked about this. You heard me say this. I
thought after they made the Jalen Ramsey johnas Smith trade.
And I will say, as a side note to that
that Jalen Ramsey has made more plays in five games
than Miketh Fitzpatrick did all of last year. And I
don't mean that as a knock against me make a
(25:30):
Fitzpatrick per se, because he's a good football player. But
that's why they moved on from him, because they're paying
him a lot of money and there weren't any plays
being made. And you can already point to a handful
of plays by Jalen Ramsey in just five games. But
once they made that trade, that told me they were
a better team than last year, and so I had
(25:51):
him at ten and seven last year that's where they finished.
I have him as an eleven and sixteen. A little
few breaks, maybe they're twelve and five with some bad luck,
maybe they're ten to seven. So to me, looking at
their schedule, I think they're kind of right where I
thought they might be. Could they be five and zero,
of course, but they could also be, you know, three
(26:14):
and two. But I think they're taking care of business.
I think they're getting better each game. The last two games,
the defenses looked like what we thought it would be
and what they thought it would be. So there's no
question that they are trending upward. But I've seen too
many Decembers, and I just remember last year they were
(26:36):
ten and three and looking like world beaters after putting
up forty four points in Cincinnati and Russell Wilson out
dueling Joe Burrow, and that offense was clicking. They were
averaging in that seven and one stretch twenty nine points
a game, yep, and then it all fell apart. So
you know, I've just learned over the years and that's
just the most recent reminder to We'll see. It's a
(26:58):
long way to go, but where they are right now
is among the best records in the league, and they're
taking care of business, They're doing what they're supposed to do.
They're beating the teams that they should be. This is
another example. And then they'll get into Green Bay and Indy,
which should be tougher test. Both of those are at home,
So yeah, I kind of this is kind of where
(27:19):
I thought an eleven and six team, eleven and six
team would be judging from their schedule the converses. Look
at the Ravens. Five of their first six games were
against twenty twenty four playoff teams, and with injuries, they're
paying the price. So that's what I think of.
Speaker 2 (27:37):
Them right now.
Speaker 3 (27:38):
Rocks, Jerry, we know a real test Thursday night in
the form of Jamar Chase and T Higgins obviously not
quite the same beast when Joe Burrow isn't the quarterback,
isn't the conductor back there leading this offense. But the
(27:59):
Steelers made a lot of overhaul moves to that secondary
this offseason, and and you know, when you play in
a division with two wide receivers like this, as talented
and as capable as this Bengals offense is, even with
Joe Flacco at the helm. Now, we still saw them
making plays against the Packers. This feels like, you know,
(28:21):
they they had a pretty significant test a couple of
weeks ago in the form of Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison.
This this feels like maybe even another half step up
with the talented Jamar Chase and T Higgins on tap
Thursday night.
Speaker 4 (28:36):
Yeah, that game, that game doesn't compare to what they
feel that they have to do with these two guys. Look,
those moves were made in the offseason with one thing
in mind, and that is the Bengals, Jamar Chase and
T Higgins. That's why they did it. I will tell
you know, Mike Common wouldn't say publicly, but he's downright
(28:57):
giddy at the prospect of being able to match up
with those two guys. We've heard him talk in general
about the ability to you heard him say we can
cover and run with anyone, and specifically without him saying,
he means the Bengals. And so this is their test. Now,
you know, I went back and look, this is only
the fifth time both of them will be playing the
(29:20):
same will be together in the same game against the Steelers,
usually one or the other. It just seems that has
has been hurt and actually tig T Higgins has hurt
them more than Jamar Chase. But this is why they
made those moves. So if they want to single up
on both of them, and I don't know that that's
going to be the case, but if they want to,
(29:41):
they can. And so between Porter and Jalen Ramsey and
throw Darius Slay in there, you have three cover guys. Now.
Darius Slay joke the other day he goes, hey, I
don't do that anymore. I did that my whole career.
I let those two argue over who they want to cover.
I get the leftovers. But that's why they made this move.
That's why they made this move. If you want to
(30:02):
win your division, you have to be able to get
out of your division. And one of the ways to
get out of the division, they feel is you've got
to be able to contain those two guys in addition
to everybody else you're going to face, whether Justin Jefferson
and Jordan Madison or whoever else it might be down
the road. But when you have two guys like that,
they want to be sure they can handle them. And
(30:23):
while they have for the most part, again, when you
have both of them on the field, the Steelers have
no qualms about being able to cover. And we'll see
now how it works. But that was the entire impetus
for those moves, those two.
Speaker 2 (30:37):
Receivers, and one other thing that's happened, Jerry. No one's
going to come out and say this. I don't think
it feels to me like their actions are speaking. But sometimes,
you know, maybe I'm just listening to the wrong thing
on the wind, but it feels like they just didn't
trust their defensive backfield enough to bring pressure. Last year
(30:59):
the can Plants, well, you know TJ. Watt who likes
to line up on that left side, and they're moving
him a little bit more. You know, why aren't they
blitzing more often? Well, it feels like the answer to
that is because they didn't trust the back end. And
they trust the back end now. So you talk about
Mink and Jalen Ramsey making more plays, and Ramsey's been
identified and people are now the Steelers are openly saying
(31:21):
gold Jacket guy Andy Widel said as much future Hall
of Famer when he when he addressed the media in
the preseason. But it feels like that's giving them the boldness,
the allowing them to be able to bring pressure. Their
blitz rate is extremely high after being very low. Their
(31:41):
sack totals are back to where the Steelers we expect
them to be. So it's not to me, not just
the ability to maybe match up as well as anybody. Look,
Jefferson's going to get his you know, Jamar Chase or Higgins,
those guys are going to get theirs too, But it
frees up the rest of the defense to be the
(32:03):
more and some of it's personnel, I get it. Derek
Carmon's a big addition, But it just feels like it's
freed up this defense to be able to do more
and be more aggressive. So it's had kind of numerous
effects on the defense and getting guys like Slay and Ramsey.
Speaker 4 (32:19):
Well Robin to that point. The other aspect of that
is the ability of not having to use some of
what Mike Tomlinlock likes to call those bogus defenses and
you know, try and scheme up different looks to cover
up maybe your weaknesses. To your point, but to not
(32:41):
have to worry about trying to disguise everything, giving them
a zone look when you're playing man, give them a
man look when you're playing zone. The ability to line
up and say, okay, this is what we're doing, and
we feel we can shut you down. You know, the
old Steelers played that way back in the seventies. You
know that wasuck knows thing. You know, here we are,
(33:02):
we're going to line up, you stop us. Hey, don't
worry what the other team did. And it's almost that
same instance with the guys they have back there. And
so that's the other aspect of that. They don't have
to worry about trying to disguise their defenses as much.
So they still do it, of course they do, but
not like they not like they did before when they
(33:22):
were trying to cover up for some of their inadequacies.
And so this allows them to if they want to
play man, they're going to come out and they're going
to play strict man and they say, okay, you beat us,
and they don't have to worry so much of trying
to disguise everything and dress it up to try and
fool the other team as much.
Speaker 2 (33:39):
You know, Jerry, I we just had the weather forecast
on a little while ago. I don't know where the
winds are officially coming out of, but I know the
breeze is coming out of the east and blowing towards Cincinnati.
Jerry is It is wonderful to have you on, my friend.
I hope you drive safely and I look forward to
seeing you hopefully tonight. I's not certainly tomorrow in Cincinnati.
Speaker 4 (34:05):
Well holler at me when you get there, boys, and
always a treat to be with you, as you know.
But thanks for the well wishes.
Speaker 2 (34:12):
Jerry Dulac brought to you by Bellinote in the strip
to fifty bud Light sixteen OUs drafts for all Steelers games.
Jerry Dulac going to be on the scene part of
the Steelers Audio Network, bringing you coverage tomorrow as the
Steelers get set to take on the Bengals. West Yuler
is with us today and we will continue in the
Locker Room, presented by your neighborhood Ford Store and the
(34:33):
Steelers Pro Shop on Steelers Nation Radio, a part of
the Steelers Audio Network.
Speaker 1 (34:41):
This is in the Locker Room with Kingyon 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.
Speaker 2 (35:02):
So one of the funniest things that I've heard this
week is Cam Hayward giving a name to this game
on Thursday night, because it is just a third matchup
in NFL history in which two forty year old starting
quarterbacks will be going at it. The other two both
involved Tom Brady and Drew Brees. So this is Aaron
(35:25):
Rodgers against Joe Flacco and one Aaron Rodgers. Was addressing
the media yesterday after practice, Cam Hayward sauntered over and said, Hey,
I'm looking forward to the Icy Hot Bowl, of which
is hilarious.
Speaker 3 (35:41):
That is pretty good. That's not too bad, I tell you. Yeah,
the the Icy Hot Bowl, the Bengay Bowl. Right, There's
there's definitely some some AARP jokes in there as well too.
Speaker 2 (35:53):
Yeah. By the way, official Mike Gasicki is out pectortal
injury tight end for the Browns. By the way, a
lot made to the fact that very few teams have
four tight ends like the Steelers on the roster. The
Bengals had five five tight ends on their roster. They
(36:14):
will now have four, depending on whether they would call
somebody up from their practice squad or or go out
and try to get somebody. I don't believe they have
a tight end on there. In fact, I know they
don't have a tight end of their practice squad, so
presumably they would go in with four tight ends. Although
Tanner Hudson suffered a concussion, that is an awfully quick
(36:35):
turnaround to come back from a concussion, so it's possible
he could be out and the Bengals could be down
to three tight ends, you know, So when you look
at this matchup, Wes and we'll dive a little more
into it in the next hour because we're gonna do
our new power rankings as well, which we love doing.
Max and I get a kick out of the power rankings,
(36:56):
and I'm actually going to go side by side. We
did the athletic yesterday. I had the Bills I believe fifteenth,
fifteenth for the Bills and the Steelers eleventh, up two spots,
so we'll get to some side by side comparisons of
a couple other power rankings in the next hour. But
you know, I had an opportunity to watch Joe Flacco
(37:19):
in his last game, and I did not think Joe
looked very good against the Browns. With the Browns, I
beg your pardon. He did not look like a guy
who had much left. And then I watched him for Cincinnati.
Now I'm like, wait a minute. Now, you know there
might be more there. And you know, you see the
Packers win, and I think it was a double digit
(37:41):
I think it was an eleven point win. I don't
remember the final score. But Flaco, he was victimized by
three huge drops by andre Yoshavash And you know, one
was for a first down that prevented them from scoring points.
Another would have given them a first down in the
(38:02):
red zone, which a drive they wound up settling for
a field goal instead of getting seven points. You know,
I thought the Bengals were extremely lucky to be two
to zero. I thought they probably should have lost their
first two games of the season. Having said that, the
Viking score was not nearly as much of a blowout
(38:22):
as it seemed. You know, you don't give up two
defensive touchdowns very often turnovers in the red zone. I
mean you're talking about massive ten to fourteen points swings
in that game that really tilted in favor of the Vikings.
But I thought Joe Flacco looked a lot better, a
lot different. And if you watch that game and you
(38:43):
watched it through that lens of what can Flacco bring
to that offense, it should have gotten your attention.
Speaker 3 (38:51):
Yeah, I think that's a great way to put it. Kinger,
I think that's well said. He he is a professional quarterback.
You know, he's He's not obviously the guy that he
was a decade ago. He's not obviously still as good
at his late stage career now as you know Aaron
Rodgers is or someone like Tom Brady or Drew Brees was.
(39:14):
But he's effective. He's a professional quarterback and he knows
his job is to get the ball to those talented
eligibles that they have there in Cincinnati, which he did
very well in his first opportunity against Green Bay on
you know, short week, well not short week, but a
new week for him with a new team. First week.
(39:36):
That's the term I'm looking for there on the road
at a place like Lambeau. Good Packers team, good Packers defense,
tough environment to play, in and kind of hopping on
a moving train. He goes twenty nine to forty five
two hundred and nineteen yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions, I mean,
twelve targets for Jamar Chase, Kinger, he caught ten of
(39:58):
them for ninety four yards in a touchdown. Eight targets
for T Higgins. He caught five of them for sixty
two yards twelve point four yards per reception for T Higgins.
I mean twenty of his throws went to either Jamar
Chase or T Higgins. He understands the assignment, Kinger. I
think that's probably the best way to put it with
(40:19):
Joe Flacco at this point. He knows the assignment. It's
for him to go back there, be a professional and
to get the ball in the hands of number one
and number five as much as he can and in
that department. From that standpoint, he did a pretty decent job.
Again for hopping on a moving train, first week with
a new team, tough opponent on the road. I mean,
(40:40):
that's a I think that's a solid that's a fair
baseline for him and them going forward. What you have
to do now, if you're tasked with the Steelers, obviously,
is try and get him into some more turnover worthy
throws and plays he was I know, he got hit
a bunch, but he was only sacked once against the Packers.
Let's get that number up closer to three or four
(41:01):
or five in this game. Like you know, it's the
it's kind of the classic. Like I remember, Mike Tomlin,
you know, used to you know, used to call Ben
Roethlisberger a gunslinger, and you know, and he's gonna make
his plays and sometimes he's gonna get shot. You know,
gun slingers make plays and sometimes they get shot. You
just have to make sure that Joe Flacco is getting
(41:22):
shot more than he is making plays, because he's going
to hit a couple nice throws, a couple you know,
whether they're deep bombs or just nice chunk intermediate gains.
Jamar Chase and t Higgins are gonna make some plays,
and Joe Flacco's gonna make some throws. I think that's
just inevitable. But if you're limiting what those guys can do,
(41:42):
you're making sure it's just one or two big plays
from those guys, not four or five, and you're able
to get Joe Flacco on the ground more than once.
Force a turnover or two as well. I think he'll
be in great in great shape. But I mean there
is no doubt that this Bengals game is is a
little bit greater of a challenge with Joe Flacco under center.
(42:04):
I also think that's why we saw some of that
cantankerous nature from Mike Tomlin on Monday when he was
talking about it as well, too.
Speaker 2 (42:13):
Yeah, that was it amused me. I don't know an
amuse it very much.
Speaker 3 (42:18):
Is that a good word to use their cantankerist to
describe coach t on Monday?
Speaker 2 (42:22):
Yeah, it was. It was certainly interesting. I don't think
he was I don't think he was real pleased with
with you know, the the notion that an intra divisional
trade at the quarterback position had been made. I don't
think that that was I don't think that that was
(42:44):
anything that really got him really super excited. But you know,
he does give you. He gives you kind of what
I would call like a puncher's chance. You know, he
gives you the opportunity to to turn back the clock
and finds him throws down the field. He still has
good arm strength. Can you protect him? They haven't been
(43:07):
able to get Chase Brown going. So now maybe you
can throw the ball, you can get Chase Brown going.
You know, who looked like a really good running back
for them a year ago doesn't look hasn't looked really
good at all this year. Two point seven yards per Kerry.
But again, you know, that's the offensive line and teams
understanding that you can, you know, you can start to
try to bottle up what was Jake browning. And now
(43:29):
maybe with Joe Flacco that loosens things up a little
bit for Chase Brown as well. And he's a guy
that can be a weapon for them, So you know, presumably,
and look at this now, if you don't want to
hear Joe Flack or whatever, look at this from their perspective.
They're a team who a lot of people picked to
finish second in the division, a lot of people picked
(43:51):
to go to the playoffs, and they just went through
a season in which they didn't have Joe Burrow for
a lot of the season and it didn't you know,
they weren't able to make the playoffs. And and you know,
they they feel like they're a contender and without Joe
Burrow they're now you know, you go into that before
(44:12):
that Flacco trade. You're two and three. Maybe Burrow comes back,
but are you really willing to sit by after you
signed Hendrickson to a contract extension and watch another season
just dissipate. So no, you want to go out and
get the best quarterback you can to try to win
games for you. You know, Russell Wilson was probably available. Others
(44:35):
were probably available. You know, you're always I don't know
what discussions they had. I don't know what you know,
what the cost analysis and all that other stuff. Who
knows what the Giants wanted for Russell Wilson or whether
they would entertain trading him. But I mean, you are
looking at the guy that they thought gave them the
best chance to win, and I think there there has
(44:55):
to be a level of respect for that.
Speaker 3 (44:59):
Yeah, I completely agree. I actually kind of commend Cincinnati.
Now I think that this could also this could come
back to bite me because I was about to say
I commend Cincinnati for, you know, not punting on this season,
going out and getting a veteran quarterback like Joe Flacco,
saying hey, you know at that time we were two
(45:19):
and three. We are still you know, we have got
plenty to play for there's still a lot of opportunity
ahead of us now. It also wouldn't surprise me if
in the next week or two they trade Trey Hendrickson
and then maybe we're singing a different tune. But I
do think from Cincinnati standpoint, it was like, Hey, we
are hopeful that we're going to be able to get
Joe Burrow back at some point in December. If we
(45:41):
can be seven and seven when we get Joe Burrow back,
we've got a shot. If we can be eight and
six and we get Joe Burrow back, we've got a
shot to sneak into the playoffs. I do commend them
for that. But if you fall to two and five,
you know, all of a sudden, maybe Trey Hendrickson starts
looking like, you know, I'm not going to be here
for that much longer or anyways, why don't we move
(46:01):
on and you guys get something for me? Because they
did rework that contract.
Speaker 2 (46:05):
Kinger, Yeah, they start an extension. They just gave one.
Speaker 3 (46:08):
Yes, that's right, Yes, So you know, I I think
that we could sing a different tune about Cincinnati in
what another two three weeks when the trade deadline is here.
But for Now I kind of commended what they were doing.
They looked around the division. They said, the Browns don't
scare us, the Ravens don't scare us. You know, we've
got an opportunity to hang in this thing until we
get Joe Burrow back. But again, like I said, you
(46:31):
fall to two and five, you got some injuries piling up.
Maybe in another week or two they're singing a different
tune and sending Trey Hendrickson to you know, Philadelphia or
San Francisco or one of those NFC UH teams that is,
you know, has a winning record and need some help
on the defensive line. But I agree with you in general.
I like Cincinnati kind of you know, not punting on
(46:53):
this season and saying, hey, you know, we've still got
some playmakers, We've still got some opportunity. But man, for them,
it feels like that rubber is meeting the road pretty
quickly as well too, where you gotta have something to
show for.
Speaker 2 (47:04):
Yeah. I just didn't think they could do it, and
they're really really trying hard not to do it, So
you know, we'll see and we'll see. You know, this
is keep in mind. Look we're looking at this from
our perspective, we're saying, Hey, you know, Steelers five and
one in command and the division, what a great place
(47:25):
that is to be. Hey, the Browns are one and five,
the Ravens going into a buyer one and five, you know,
the Bengals are reeling. Now look at this from the
Bengals perspective. You know, you win this game, and you're
three and four, and you're part way to that scenario
that you just laid out about being in decent position
if and when Joe Burrow comes back and all of
(47:47):
a sudden that you know, that division lead for the
Steelers isn't what everybody thought it was going to be.
This is a I'm not saying it's making break, make
or break for the Bengals, but this is just a
game of massive importance for them, massive importance.
Speaker 3 (48:03):
Absolutely. It's a crossroads of your season type game in
Cincinnati Thursday night, and I expect them to reflect that energy.
Speaker 2 (48:12):
Yep. So we're going to talk more about that. We
got to get into these power rankings. They're always fun.
I kind of like the power rankings. We do want
to mind everybody, though, First gear up with the latest
game day necessities at the official Steelers Pro shops get
the latest Sideline apparel, jerseys, terrible towels, authentic memorabilia and
custom exclusives you can only find directly from the team.
From the team, I Beg Your pardon, visit one of
(48:34):
the Officials Students Pro shops located at Akroscher Stadium, Grove
City Premium Outlets or Tanger outlets, or gear Up online
atshop dot Steelers dot com. Get it direct from the
team at the Steers Pro Shop at shop dot Steelers
dot com. We will be back with Jim Wexel on
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(48:55):
the Steers Pro Shop on Steelers Nation Radio, a part
of the Steelers Audio Network
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